‘Sweet Planet’ Chinese-Dutch Documentary Culinary Series to Air on CGTN (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran Athens-based boutique film outfit Heretic has two titles in the Cannes ACID (Association for the International Distribution of Independent Cinemas) sidebar. Heretic’s own Greek production, co-produced with North Macedonia’s List Production, “Kyuka Before Summer’s End,” by debut director Kostas Charamountanis, is the opening film of the ACID program.

Selena Kuznikov Get ready for some fun, fun, fun! Disney+ has released the trailer for its “The Beach Boys” documentary, which is set to stream on the platform May 24. The trailer features clips from interviews with original band members, rock and roll historian Josh Kun, music star Janelle Monáe and more. The film is a celebration of the band that encapsulated the California dream in their revolutionary pop music.

Selena Kuznikov Cineverse plans to release the Turkish zombie drama “The Funeral” this fall across all platforms, including its Bloody Disgusting-powered streaming service. The entertainment company acquired the film out of Berlinale. Director Orçun Behram tells the story of 40-year-old Cemal, a lonely hearse driver who has been given a secret task: a young girl named Zeynep has been murdered and her body needs to be delivered to her family.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China’s video streamers, much like their counterparts in the west, have passed their peak growth phase and have been forced to refocus their efforts on achieving profitability. In the case of IQiyi, which is a subsidiary of tech giant Baidu but has its own stock market listing on the NASDAQ, that transition has meant reduced content spending and a more rigorous approach to quality and investment in winning shows. “To the Wonder,” which debuted on Sunday in competition at Canneseries, is a product of that less-is-more approach.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Pure Fiction Television, the independent production company helmed by Tom Winchester (“Shogun,” “Clickbait,” “The Capture”), has secured the rights to bestselling author Dolores Redondo’s Baztan Trilogy and the prequel, “La Cara Norte Del Corazón” (The North Face of the Heart), and is developing them into a returning, premium international TV series. The trilogy and prequel novel, which feature homicide detective Amaia Salazar, are gripping psychological thrillers infused with mystery, mythology and superstition, set in the beautiful Basque region of Northern Spain, as well as in New Orleans.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Romantic comedy series “Top End Bub” will begin production next month in Australia as a sequel to hit 2019 feature film “Top End Wedding.” Stars Miranda Tapsell (“The Sapphires”) and Gwilym Lee (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) will reprise their roles. The series is created, executive produced and written by “Top End Wedding” writers Joshua Tyler and Tapsell and produced by Goalpost Pictures.

Naman Ramachandran Toonz Media Group and Be That Spark Corp, a joint venture between BLKBX Originals and Zuroam Media, have signed a co-production and co-distribution agreement for upcoming 3D animated series “Little Sparks.” “Little Sparks” is based on the children’s book series “A Little Spark” by Chris Parsons, recipient of the Mom’s Choice Award Gold Medal for family-friendly media. The books will be adapted into a CGI animated series aimed at the four to eight age group.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Universal’s “The Fall Guy” will open in mainland Chinese cinemas next month, ahead of its debut in the U.S. and star Ryan Gosling’s native Canada. The film is set to release officially in China on April 30.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Sesame Street” parent company Sesame Workshop has named Dannette “Danni” Hill its first-ever chief people officer. In this newly created role, Hill will oversee human resources, leading a division that supports “innovative best practices and organizational excellence” for Sesame Workshop, per the global impact nonprofit.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Acclaimed Chinese film director Chen Daming is expected to direct “The Peking Express,” a book-to-film adaptation of the story of an infamous train robbery that took place 100 years ago. The non-fiction book was written Beijing-based writer and lawyer James Zimmerman and was an ‘Editor’s Choice’ selection by the New York Times. It describes the raid on a luxury express train by Chinese bandits in Shandong Province in 1923 and the ensuing six-week hostage standoff that captivated the world.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Fashion, East-West Asian identities, corporate espionage and romance are on the agenda in “Morning, Paris!,” a new mini-series project being pitched at Series Mania by veteran filmmaker Quentin Lee (“The People I’ve Slept With,” “White Frog”). “’Morning, Paris!’ is a heartfelt comedy about a young modern BIPOC Canadian woman discovering herself in the most romantic city in the world,” says Lee. “Or put another way, it is a limited television series about an aspiring female fashion designer from Vancouver who ends up in Paris Fashion week with a very unlikely companion because she wants to spy on her boss on whom she has a crush.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Five months of production has been completed on Jacob Elordi-starring drama series “The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” which is set in the “Euphoria” and “Saltburn” star’s native Australia. An adaptation of the Booker Prize-winning novel by Richard Flanaghan, the five-part series is love-story set against the backdrop of World War II. Elordi portrays Lieutenant-Colonel Dorrigo Evans and co-stars with Odessa Young (“Mothering Sunday,” “Shirley”).

Miss Universe 2023 Sheynnis Palacios is enjoying her time on tour before passing down the crown to the next winner in September. The tour began in Miami, Florida, and she will next head to Asia.

Holly Jones Germany’s Beta Film (“Babylon Berlin”) sets its sights on the Croisette for the world premiere of Dutch Royal drama “Máxima,” selected to screen out-of-competition at Canneseries on April 9. In tow, Delfina Chaves (“The Secret of the Greco Family”), who portrays the titular character in the series that Variety recently likened to Emmy-Award-Winning Netflix Drama “The Crown.” Teased at last month’s London TV Screenings, the six-part drama series unravels the love story between then Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander (Martijn Lakemeier) and his enigmatic Argentine love interest, Máxima, who goes on to become Queen, at his side.

Addie Morfoot Contributor After making their first narrative feature “Nyad,” which debuted last year and earned Oscar nominations for the film’s stars Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, Academy Award winning directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (“Free Solo”) are returning to their documentary roots with “Photographer.” The six-part National Geographic docuseries features seven photographers — Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen, Dan Winters, Campbell Addy, Krystle Wright, Muhammed Muheisen, and Anand Varma. Vérité footage of each subject’s current mission is interwoven with interviews and archival footage to demonstrate how each photographer approaches their work, the intention behind that work, their process, and how they each discover, see and experience the world.

Ryan Thomas didn't shy away from responding to one social media who made a claim about his Dancing on Ice win. It's just over a week since the actor emerged victorious in the ITV skating competition alongside professional skating partner Amani Fancy.

Karen Boyer, Gene Wilder’s widow, remembered the last words her late husband said before his death in August 2016.A new “Remembering Gene Wilder” documentary focused on the actor’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease and into his final days.In the film, Boyer recalled listening to Ella Fitzgerald’s legendary hit, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” with Gene before he spoke for the last time.“The music was playing in the background — Ella Fitzgerald was singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’ and I was lying next to him, and he sat up in bed, and he said, ‘I trust you,'” she said, per People magazine. “And then he said, ‘I love you.’ That’s the last thing he said.”Wilder died on August 29, 2016, from complications with Alzheimer’s disease.

Callum McLennan “House of Gods,” a Matchbox Pictures six-part series, boasting an entirely Arab Australian cast, presents a perspective seldom seen on screen, a Muslim community in Fairfield, Australia. “You can’t manufacture authenticity. Audiences are so intuitive and adept, they can smell if something is off a mile away.

The prestigious 80-year-old Al-Ahram Studio in Cairo‘s Giza district has been destroyed in a fire early on Saturday morning that took six hours to extinguish.

Savina Petkova Documentaries can reach places justice cannot: this is the credo of Argentinian writer-director-producer María Silvia Esteve, whose latest project “Mailin” won the 2|35 Post-Production Company Award at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. For seven years, Esteve has been working with Mailin Gobbo in Buenos Aires to document her story of overcoming systematic sexual abuse.