Saudi Arabia Submits ‘Scales’ To International Oscar Race

Andrei Konchalovsky’s acclaimed historical drama Dear Comrades! is inspired by the true story of a state-sponsored massacre in the Russian city of Novocherkassk in the early 1960s.

Parasite has blown open the doors of the international feature category, long thought to be the purview of solemn message movies, to the experimental and the strange. If a movie that shifts in tone among thriller, horror and straight-out farce can win the international feature Oscar, then maybe other overseas films that are even more adventurous with genre have a shot this awards season.

Documentary filmmaker Bryan Fogel has become expert at telling complex stories of international intrigue.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentEnding a bitter rift between Qatar and several Arab countries, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced that the trade and travel blockade it led for more than three years against its tiny but super rich neighbor is finally over.The sudden rapprochement saw Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman invite and welcome Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to a Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in the kingdom.

If you are an awards pundit looking to past habits to predict the trajectory of this awards season, think again. All bets are off as we are clearly, and rather obviously, in uncharted territory when trying to assess how voters, particularly the early ones at SAG and the Golden Globes will be leaning.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAs it ramps up original productions, Middle Eastern broadcaster MBC is launching lavish 1980s-set Arabic crime drama ‘Rashash,’ created by Britain’s Tony Jordan (“EastEnders”) and touted as its most ambitious Saudi series to date.Directed by another Brit, Collin Teague, whose credits include “Doctor Who,” “Rashash” is based on the true story of a Saudi Arabian drug trafficker convicted of murder and other crimes after being caught by the police in Saudi

Saudi Arabia and its allies are expected to sign a deal Tuesday officially ending a feud with Qatar in an agreement negotiated by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, a government official confirmed Monday. The détente — designed to further isolate Iran — follows a slew of historic Middle East peace deals brokered by the Trump White House in recent months normalizing relations between Israel and some of its Arab neighbors.

Comedians Dan Levy and Natasha Leggero are joined by Seth Rogen for an all-new season of “House Hunters: Comedians on Couches Unfiltered”. The actor is one of several guests who appear on the Discovery+ series as they rewatch classic episodes of “House Hunters” and share their hilarious commentary.

Seth Rogen for an all-new season of. The actor is one of several guests who appear on the Discovery+ series as they rewatch classic episodes of and share their hilarious commentary. Rogen joins Levy and Leggero to lampoon “Three’s Not a Crowd in Colorado Springs,” in which a throuple -- Brian, Lori and Geli — searches for their perfect home near the Rocky Mountains.

Tony Rice, the master bluegrass picker who drew fans worldwide for the chance to hear the quick, fluid sounds he conjured from his storied Martin D-28 guitar, has died at age 69.Rice died Friday at his home in Reidsville, North Carolina, according to International Bluegrass Music Association spokesperson Casey Campbell, who did not immediately provide additional details.

A Delaware Chancery Court Wednesday rejected Shari Redstone’s motion to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit claiming she breached her fiduciary duty by pushing allies to ram through the Viacom-CBS merger at stockholder expense in a quest to attain the status of “media magnate” like her father, the late Sumner Redstone.

as his most aggressive client.Ronnie Renucci QC said Richey’s conduct made him question whether the decision to free him was the right one.He also told how his client tried to intimidate police when he was interviewed in connection with an assault and robbery.The former US Marine, originally from Edinburgh, was sentenced to death for the murder of two-year-old Cynthia Collin who died in a fire at her mother’s apartment in Columbus Grove, Ohio, in June 1986.He claimed it was a miscarriage of

For years the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi walked a tightrope—balancing his access to powerful Saudi Royals while pushing for reform in the kingdom—until the tightrope became a noose.

Comedian John Mulaney exhibited signs of a relapse during a bizarre skit he performed with Seth Meyers weeks before he checked into rehab, according to a new report. The former "Saturday Night Live" writer entered a rehab facility in Pennsylvania over the weekend, according to Page Six, following an alleged relapse consisting of alcohol and cocaine abuse.

Establishing peaceful relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors has been a goal of U.S. presidents since the modern Jewish state was established in 1948.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterThe Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based production company AGBO.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentSaudi director Shahad Ameen‘s feminist fable “Scales” has been selected as Saudi Arabia’s official candidate for the Oscar in the international feature film category.“Scales” draws on Arabic folklore about a young woman named Hayat – played by newcomer Basima Hajjar – who rebels against the tradition in her fishing village of sacrificing female children to monstrous mermaids lurking in the sea.

Guy Lodge Film CriticYou can take the girl out of the woods, but you can’t take the woods out of the girl — unless, of course, you take the woods away altogether. Such are the tough lessons learned in “Toorbos,” a satisfying marriage of folky period romance and environmental parable from the misty, mossy depths of South Africa’s Knysna forest region: a national beauty spot much enshrined in local literature and lore, but rarely given this kind of grand-scale screen showcase.