Shorts International Pacts With Rakuten TV for European Expansion (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentVeteran Australian director Rolf De Heer (“Ten Canoes”) is shooting a new film with an Aboriginal theme set in South Australia and Tasmania titled “The Mountain,” for which Italy’s Fandango Sales is launching sales at the online AFM.“The Mountain” (pictured above in a first-look image) tells the story of a central character named BlackWoman, who is abandoned in a cage in the middle of the desert.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentBestselling Italian writer-turned-director Donato Carrisi (“The Girl in the Fog,” “Into the Labyrinth”) has started shooting near Lake Como on his third feature film “I Am the Abyss.”Vision Distribution is launching international sales at the online American Film Market on the pic, which based on his new thriller by the same title.Carrisi, who has penned 11 international bestsellers and sold over 3 million copies of his books worldwide, shot to the top

Friday’s the day: here’s your weekly International Insider and it’s Max Goldbart taking you through the biggest stories of the past seven days. To get this sent to your inbox every Friday, sign up here.

e got off to a slow startthis year, but it has now heated up with the submissions of crowd-pleasing films from Norway and Denmark, movies from past winners from Italy and Iran and a French submission that could shake up the race even if it horrifies as many voters as it thrills.The latest big-name submission came on Tuesday, when the Italian selection committee announced the choice of “The Hand of God,” an autobiographical fantasia from director Paolo Sorrentino.

Italy has submitted Paolo Sorrentino’s Venice Grand Jury Prize winner The Hand Of God to represent the country for the Oscars’ International Feature Film category. The selection marks a natural continuation on the lauded title’s trajectory.

Alissa Simon Film CriticOne of several animated biopics about to segue from the festival circuit to the big screen, “Josep” is a slim but engaging tribute to the legacy of Spanish artist Josep Bartolí (1910-95), a Catalonian republican whose Goya-esque drawings of his time in French concentration camps inspired the film’s Gallic helmer and art director Aurel (birth name Aurélien Froment), himself an acclaimed press illustrator and cartoonist.

JD Linville Filmax has acquired international rights to animated Basque feature “Save the Tree,” a new film from director duo Iker Alvarez and Haizea Pastor following the adventures of forest pixies and their quest to reconnect children with nature.A market premiere at this week’s Spanish Screenings-Málaga de Cine, the film has a central theme of environmental protection and subtly warns of the dangers of our technologically obsessed culture.“Save the Tree” is set amongst the forests of the

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentThe European Arthouse Cinema Day, an initiative aimed at promoting European films and moviegoing, will be hosting its sixth edition with ambassadors including Oscar-nominated Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi (“The Story of My Wife”) and Italian actor Valeria Golino (“The Morning Show”).

Manori Ravindran International EditorA new film about the development, regulation and roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines from “How to Survive a Plague” director David France has scored a raft of international sales.Documentary specialists Dogwoof have sold the film — which will debut on HBO and HBO Max in 2022 — into Sky in the U.K., Germany and Italy; NRK for Norway; DR for Denmark; SVT for Sweden; Channel 8 and YesDocu for Israel; and HBO and HBO Max in Latin America.Filming on the documentary,

Sweden is sending Ronnie Sandahl’s Tigers to this year’s International Oscar race.

Spain; Eva Gevorgyan representing Russia and Armenia; Jakub Kuszlik and Kamil Pacholec of Poland; Japan’s Aimi Kobayashi and Kyohei Sorita; China’s Hao Rao; and Hyuk Lee of South Korea.Bowing to their artistry, the 17-member jury allowed two more finalists this year than usual.

EXCLUSIVE: Last week, Deadline broke the news that Starzplay, the international streaming service from Starz, is partnering with Sony Pictures Television for what will be one of its most ambitious originals to date.

Naman Ramachandran SALESRed Arrow International has sold documentary “Controlling Britney Spears” to a raft of territories.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaSony’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” loomed large at the international box office this weekend, sinking its prodigious chompers into $62.3 million. That pushes the superhero adventure’s global haul to a muscular $283.7 million.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is delighted with his players' form over the recent international break.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentViacomCBS International Studios and Italy’s expanding Minerva Pictures have teamed up on “Miss Fallaci Takes America, a high-profile TV series about the 1958 journey to the U.S.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentCatalan director Clara Roquet’s teenage female friendship drama “Libertad” and Ferit Karahan’s social drama “Brother’s Keeper,” about Kurdish kids living in fear at a Turkish boarding school, won the best film awards respectively in the international and national competitions at Turkey’s 58th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival which wrapped Saturday.“Libertad,” a first feature that centers on a bond that forms during a summer in Spain’s Costa Brava

Here are your Manchester United morning headlines on Sunday, October 10.