Sydney Film Festival Teases Dozen First Picks

The topic of streaming loomed large over the keynote industry session of the Sands Film Festival’s second edition, featuring Joe Russo and Cinetic Media founder John Sloss.

Hollywood stars Stanley Tucci and director Joe Russo were in St Andrew's this weekend to attend the film festival at the Byre Theatre.

The Sands International Film Festival, Scotland’s burgeoning film event, opened its second edition this weekend with the world premiere screening of Citadel, the much-talked-about Prime Video series from Marvel auteurs Anthony and Joe Russo.

The Weeknd’s new HBO series “The Idol” will get a 2023 Cannes Film Festival rollout.

The Cannes Film Festival revealed the lineup for its 76th edition Thursday morning, and the Official Selection featured a record number of films directed by women filmmakers set to play in Competition.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The anticipation is running high at the Cannes Film Festival’s packed annual press conference on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where festival chief Thierry Fremaux is expected to unveil the bulk of the Official Selection for the 76th edition. The festival has been teasing cinephiles with splashy announcements about Martin Scorsese returning to the Croisette with “Killers of the Flower Moon,” 38 years after winning best director with “After Hour,” as well as Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and Pedro Almodóvar’s short film, “Strange Way of Life.” But Fremaux, who is leading the presser with the festival’s new president Iris Knobloch, is expected to have saved a few high-profile surprises, including Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” starring an ensemble cast that includes Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton; Todd Haynes’ “May December” with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore; Karim Aïnouz’s Henry VIII drama “Firebrand” with Alicia Vikander and Jude Law; and HBO’s “The Idol,” the Weeknd-led series.

The Cannes Film Festival will announce the lineup for its 76th edition Thursday morning at 11 a.m. Paris time (2 a.m. PT/5 a.m. ET). The press conference will stream live from the UGC Normandie cinema on the Champs-Elysées.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief U.K.-based sales agent Mister Smith Entertainment has picked up international rights to “Grafted,” a New Zealand-set horror film which marks the feature directing debut of Sasha Rainbow. The film is now in production. Mister Smith will launch sales next month in Cannes. The film tells story of a Chinese student who travels to New Zealand to complete the scientific work of her deceased father only to find a new way of achieving popularity, one body at a time.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Huang Ji and Otsuka Ryuji’s “Stonewalling” won the Chinese-language section of the Hong Kong International Film Festival’s Firebird Young Cinema competition. Lila Aviles’s “Totem” won the equivalent Firebird Award for international films. The festival began on March 30 and concluded on Sunday evening with a world premier screening of “Vital Sign” at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre’s Grand Theatre. The screening was accompanied by cast and crew including Louis Koo, director Cheuk Wan-chi, producer Jacqueline Liu and performers Neo Yao, Angela Yuen, Ng Wing-sze, Tony Wu and So Yuet-yin. In total, “Stonewalling” picked up three awards. In addition to the best film prize, it also collected the best actress prize for leads Huang Xiaoxiong and Yao Honggui and the FIPRESCI Award. The tale of an unwanted pregnancy, the film premiered at Venice and Toronto last year. The HKIFF jury said it “[reminds] us of the confusion, difficulty and suffering women face nowadays and the inescapable responsibilities they have to shoulder.  It inspires the audience to reflect on this important issue in modern society.  It is an invaluable film replete with empathy.”

one of three directors working on new live-action “Star Wars” films. Technically, Filoni — who writes, directs and executive produces the currently streaming “Mandalorian” and upcoming “Ahsoka” series — has already directed a “Star Wars” film: 2008’s animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” But taking on a big budget, big-screen live-action project is new territory for the franchise veteran.Filoni is relatively new to the live-action directing game.

Stonewalling, co-directed by Huang Ji and Otsuka Ryuji, was the big winner at Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF), taking home three prizes including best film in the Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language) of the Firebird Awards. 

EXCLUSIVE: Jimmy Fallon is ratings royalty for NBC.

Jeanne Vaubernier, a young working-class woman hungry for culture and pleasure, uses her intelligence and allure to climb the rungs of the social ladder one by one. She becomes the favourite of King Louis XV who, unaware of her status as courtesan, regains through her his appetite for life.

Johnny Depp will be making his comeback in a big way this year.

The Cannes Film Festival has confirmed that it will announce the Official Selection for its 76th edition on April 13 in Paris.

Shanghai Film Festival Sets Dates For Return As In-Person Event

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Shanghai International Film Festival has unveiled plans for its return to an in-person event that will mark its 25th edition and its 30th anniversary. The festival was canceled last year, due to the severe restrictions imposed on the city in reaction to a Spring flare-up in the COVID outbreak. The 2023 edition will run June 9-18, 2023, organizers confirmed on Tuesday. They said it would, “open a two-way journey between Chinese films and world films.” The Jinjue (Golden Goblet) Awards competition will this year operate across five categories: main feature film competition, Asian newcomers, documentaries, animation and short films.

Sophia Scorziello editor The Sun Valley Film Festival announced their 2023 award winners, with National Geographic’s Documentary “Wild Life” taking home the audience award, “Fancy Dance” winning best narrative and “Nascondino” earning the documentary feature film prize. The annual Idaho Awards Bash took place from March 29 to April 2 at Whiskey Jacques.   In addition to the film awards, the festival hosted a performance by Blair Gun and Variety honored this year’s 10 Producers to Watch. Other highlights include Josh Brolin receiving the Vision award, Emilio Estevez receiving the Pioneer award, Sophie Thatcher receiving the Rising Star award and Nina Yang Bongiovi receiving the Creative Impact Honoree in Producing. 

Harrison Ford reprises his role as the legendary hero archaeologist in the highly anticipated fifth and final installment of the iconic Indiana Jones franchise.

Disney and Lucasfilm are really hoping to send the “Indiana Jones” franchise off into the sunset with a bit of a bang.