Singapore’s Akanga Film Asia Reveals Eight-Film Slate, Including Venice Production Bridge Title ‘Stranger Eyes’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran Blue Finch Films has boarded international sales on European genre titles, Scandinavian thriller “Good Boy” and found footage film “Stéphane,” ahead of their world premieres at Beyond Fest. “Good Boy,” which delves into the perils of the modern dating world, follows Sigrid who thinks she’s met the perfect match in Christian until she comes to find out that he lives with a man who acts like his pet dog. French thriller “Stéphane,” a new take on the found footage genre, follows Timothée, as he documents his time with the larger-than-life, and almost unbelievable character that he meets whilst shooting a short film. As time goes on their jovial and eccentric talks become something far more sinister.

Naman Ramachandran After six years at London’s Royal Albert Hall, the EE BAFTA Film Awards are shifting venue across the city to the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, which also hosts the BAFTA TV and games awards. The venue is located in the heart of London on the River Thames, close to landmarks including Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the National Theatre, BFI and the London Eye. In recent years, the Royal Festival Hall has become the flagship venue for red carpet galas at the BFI London Film Festival. “The move will see BAFTA program its most ambitious and accessible night yet, bolstered by a refreshed production and format,” the organization said.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video compete for second position behind Netflix in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region’s most developed streaming market. But, increasingly, all premium SVOD suppliers are focusing on profitability rather than simple growth. A new report from consultancy and research firm Media Partners Asia, “Australia Online Video Consumer Insights & Analytics” shows that Australian consumers streamed 24 billion minutes of premium online video between January and August this year. SVOD platforms accounted for 70% of viewing time, while broadcaster-operated platforms (BVOD) claimed 30%. The numbers reflect a mixture of measured usage and a panel of viewers.

The BFI London Film Festival will present nine new feature films and documentaries by UK-based filmmakers at its third annual Works-in-Progress showcase. Scroll down for the lineup.

's season 6 home entertainment release on Tuesday, executive producer Maril Davis details why Sam Heughan, who has played the beloved character since the popular series' inception in 2014, was the perfect guy for the role.«I remember we were at our offices in Pasadena. You're watching tapes and on the first round of casting, Sam's audition tape came up and we watched it, and we all realized in that moment that this was our Jamie,» Davis recalls in the clip. «And all along we assumed we'd never find him.

Batman universe called The People’s Joker has been pulled from Toronto International Film Festival.The film, which reimagines the character of the Joker through a transgender origin story, had one public screening before the rest were cancelled over “rights issues”.A message on the TIFF ticketing page reads: “The filmmaker has withdrawn this film due to rights issues. We apologise for any inconvenience.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Alvaro Longoria, partner-producer at Morena Films, one of Spain’s top production shingles, is teaming with the Government of Cantabria to create El Bosque del Cine, a pioneering reforestation scheme offering producers a simple but inspiring way of cancelling productions’ carbon footprints.  The program is set to be unveiled on Sept. 13 at a round table at this week’s Santander Film Festival. El Bosque del Cine aims to plant 34,000 trees over 40 hectares, lent to the program by the Government of Cantabria. Creation will be divided into two phases of 20 hectares each, the first beginning this year. The forest will absorb 19,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions, equivalent to the footprint of 320 movies. 

Zooey Deschanel leans back for a kiss from boyfriend Jonathan Scott at the premiere of her movie, Dreamin’ Wild, during the 2022 Venice Film Festival on Wednesday night (September 7) in Venice, Italy.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Saudi Film Commission (SFC) has announced that four feature film project that are winners of its Daw Film Competition to discover new local talent and champion the next generation of filmmakers have finished principal photography. These works, which are likely to surface on the festival circuit, are a tangible sign that Saudi Arabia’s nascent local industry is fostering local films with potential to travel as well as to play for local audiences. The films are: “Within Sand,” a first work by Moe Alatawi inspired by the true story of a 23-year-old tobacco merchant ambushed by thieves in the desert who leave him to fend for himself with only a dagger. The film, produced by Reem Alatawi and Riyadh-based Alsarid Films, features an all-Saudi cast, while 70% of its film crew hails from Saudi Arabia. This is the first homegrown production to shoot in the unique landscapes of NEOM, the futuristic megacity in-the-making where the $100 million U.S./Saudi actioner “Desert Warrior” was shot. NEOM is situated along the kingdom’s Red Sea coast in Tabuk, in the northwest of the kingdom.

Darren Aronofsky loves reclaiming the broken, the damaged, the forgotten. Take his magnum opus, 2008’s “The Wrestler,” the story of an aging WWE entertainer who gives it all for one more shot at glory.

Naman Ramachandran Bhutanese filmmaker Dechen Roder’s new film, “I, The Song,” which is selected at the Venice Production Bridge’s gap financing market, will commence principal photography in December. Roder’s debut feature “Honeygiver Among the Dogs” premiered at Busan in 2016, and went on to have a successful festival run including at Berlin, Locarno, Hong Kong, Taipei and Fribourg, where it won three major awards. “I, The Song” was born when two friends of Roder experienced the horror of being in non-consensual pornographic videos and photos in Bhutan, where in both cases it was recorded and shared without their knowledge or consent.

Shia LaBeouf plays the title character in this period piece, and his face dominates the promotional material, but the latest film from the ridiculously prolific Abel Ferrara, now into his 70s, is really more of an ensemble with a supporting cast that’s near-unknown outside Italy.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two Korean and two Indian movies make the cut in the Busan International Film Festival’s New Currents main competition section. Thet are joined by one each from Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Germany. The section has a track record of making significant discoveries among new Asian films and directors.The selected titles are eligible for multiple awards, including the New Currents Award, the FIPRESCI Award, the NETPAC Award, and the KB New Currents Audience Award. The selection comprises: “Ajooma,” directed by Hu Shuming (Singapore-Korea); “Blue Again” from Thailand’s Thapanee Loosuwan; “Hail to Hell,” by Korea’s Lim Oh-jeong; “Memento Mori: Earth,” by Vietnam’s Marcus Vu Manh Cuong; “No End,” directed by Nader Saeivar and flying the flags of Germany, Iran and Turkey; “A Place Called Silence,” by Malaysia’s Sam Quah; “Shivamma,” fromIndia’s Jaishankar Aryar; Japanese director Kubota Nao’s “One Thousand and One Nights”; “A Wild Roomer,” from Korea’s Lee Jeong-hong; and The Winter Within,” directed by Aamir Bashir, and structured as a co-production between India, France and Qatar.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine made an impassioned speech on Wednesday during the Venice Film Festival’s opening ceremony, pleading for the global film community to rally to the country’s cause as it suffers a a mounting death toll amid fierce fighting with Russia. “Personalities of culture: directors, producers and actors, screenwriters, cameramen, composers, artistic directors, set designers, critics and many, many more, from many countries in the world, all belonging to the same family of cinema!,” Zelenskyy said in a recorded speech beamed onto the festival’s Sala Grande screen. “Your opinion is important and your voice counts.”

Outside of Cannes, which still has big problems with showing Netflix content in-competition, most major film festivals are littered with premieres from the world’s biggest streamer. And this year, Netflix is spreading the wealth to even include the BFI London Film Festival, which is getting the honor of being the world premiere event for Guillermo del Toro’s highly-anticipated animated feature, “Pinocchio.” Today, the BFI London Film Festival announced a slate of world premieres coming to the event.

Vivienne Chow Venice Production Bridge – Venice Gap-Financing Market  “Mirror” – Director: Wu De-Chuen“Mirror” is a story of three men from different generations of the same family. They live in different eras and have starkly different jobs —as an engraver, a tailor and a trader. But their lives are oddly similar. They share the same ambition to attain the definition of man, but at the same time, they each take their significant others for granted and undermine their own values, thus reliving the paths of their predecessors. “Fathers’ Video Tapes” – Director: Baboo LiaoTaiwan might be one of the most liberal societies in Asia today, especially in the matter of gay rights and was the first territory in the region to legalize same-sex marriage. But there was a time where homosexuals on the island struggled for acceptance. “Father’s Video Tapes” gives a nod to this forgotten past of Taiwan’s LGBT community through a three-part narrative that inserts audiences between real space and VR, through bodily interactivity. 

Vivienne Chow Taiwan at Venice 2022 — Venice Immersive Competition “All That Remains” – Director: Craig Quintero Among the latest explorers in the VR realm is Riverbed Theatre, a “total theater” company that was formed in Taipei in 1998 and combines visual and performing arts. “All That Remains” is directed by the company’s artistic director Craig Quintero. The film challenges audiences’ perceptions of truth by questioning the possibilities beyond the everyday patterns that are constructed from known facts and familiarity. The idea is to nudge viewers out of their comfort zone. It positions itself as a meditation on the malleability of facts and the increasingly fluid boundary between truth and fiction as humans are facing unprecedented alienation from each other. The film was financially backed by a grant from the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA). 

Cameron Diaz's first career choice may surprise you. In celebration of Diaz's 50th birthday, ET is throwing it back to some of our first interviews with the A-list actress, where she revealed that her plan wasn't to be in front of the camera at all.«I always wanted to be a zoologist, you see,» Diaz said at the time.