Sebastian Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

San Sebastian Fetes Veteran Director Victor Erice

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Victor Erice, one of the greatest of Spanish filmmakers, will receive a prestigious Donostia Award, given for career achievement, granted by the San Sebastian Film Festival. The award will coincide with screening of Erice’s latest film, “Close Your Eyes” (Cerrar los Ojos), which world premiered at the Cannes Festival this May.

UK director James Marsh’s literary biopic Dance First, starring Gabriel Byrne as iconic Irish writer Samuel Beckett, will close the 71st San Sebastian Film Festival.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “Dance First,” a portrait of Irish writer Samuel Beckett starring Gabriel Byrne and directed by Oscar winner James Marsh, will close this year’s San Sebastian Film Festival, playing out of competition. Byrne, a memorable lead in “The Usual Suspects” and “Miller’s Crossing” who also won a Golden Globe for his performance in “In Treatment,” plays Samuel Beckett, driving into his deep contradictions and inner torment of a writer who was a Parisian bon vivant, a WWII Resistance fighter and then Nobel Prize-winning playwright who, however, became a recluse, living the last years of his life in a single room in a nursing home, ashamed of past actions and convinced that for much of his life he had been a failure.

That's right, to celebrate the girls in the green and the gold on their World Cup endeavours, Jules has plated up an Aussie-themed, soccer party plate - perfect for munching on when watching matches at home!

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Living legend Hayao Miyazaki’s animated fantasy epic “The Boy and the Heron,” the latest from Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli, will open the 71st San Sebastian Festival, screening on Sept. 22. Bowing San Sebastian, Miyazaki’s film, which he has declared to be his last, will score an extraordinary double of opening both the Toronto and San Sebastian festivals in the space of a couple of weeks.

Hayao Miyazaki will open the 71st edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival with his latest pic, The Boy and the Heron.

Sebastian Yatra is kicking off the US Open by performing some of his greatest hits for a crowd of tennis lovers. While that’s within his wheelhouse, he’ll also be playing Carlos Alcaraz, and has recruited some help from Rafa Nadal to get the job done. Rafa Nadal shares photos of Greek summer and takes selfies with fansCarlos Alcaraz invites Sebastian Yatra to kick off US OpenA post shared by Sebastian Yatra (@sebastianyatra)The video was shared by Yatra, who recorded a Facetime call between himself and Nadal.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Argentina’s Tarea Fina, a producer on Cannes Camera d’Or winner “Las Acacias,” International Oscar entry “The Sleepwalkers” and Ventana Sur hit “Sublime,” has boarded “A Loose End,” the third feature as a director from Uruguay’s Daniel Hendler, a Berlin Silver Bear winner for Best Actor in Daniel Burman’s 2004 international breakout “The Lost Embrace.” Set up at Montevideo’s Cordon Films, founded in 2007 by producer-TV director Micaela Solé and Hendler, “A Loose End” (“Un cabo suelto”) is one of the highest-profile projects announced on Monday by the San Sebastián Festival as part of its Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, its industry centerpiece. Written by Hendler, his third directorial outing returns to a central theme in his first two features as a writer-director: Identity.

Federico Veiroj, Theo Court, Alicia Scherson and Daniel Hendler head a muscular project lineup at September’s San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, the Spanish festival’s industry centerpiece which underscores this year a welling sea-change in the region’s filmmaking. “The Moneychanger,” the latest film from Uruguay’s Veiroj, was selected for Toronto’s 2019 Platform; “White on White,” from Chile’s Court, won a best director Silver Lion at 2019’s Venice Horizons; Chile’s Alicia Scherson’s debut “Play” snagged new narrative director at Tribeca in 2005: multi-hyphenate Hendler, from Uruguay, scooped best director at Miami for “The Candidate” in 2017.

Several members of the “Parks and Recreation” cast reunited this week — not for a reboot or TV special, but on the picket line as they join the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

The cast of Parks and Recreation reunited on the picket line as the stars and crew members came together to fight for a better contract with the studios.

Several members of the “Parks and Recreation” cast reunited this week — not for a reboot or TV special, but on the picket line as they join the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Carlos Alcaraz, the youngest number 1 tennis player in the world, figured that a good way to kick things off would be to invite his friend Sebastian Yatra, welcoming fans to the tournament that’s hosted in New York on a yearly basis. Rafa Nadal shares photos of Greek summer and takes selfies with fansCarlos Alcaraz shares the text he received from Rafael Nadal before Wimbledon triumphAlcaraz’s invitation was cleverly staged between himself and Yatra, with their exchange being recorded on a FaceTime call.“Carlos Alcaraz is calling me,” said Yatra in Spanish to the camera. “What does he want?”“I’m calling to say that you should come to the Fan Week at the US Open and sing something,” said Alcaraz.

Donald Trump’s former aid Sebastian Gorka gave short shrift to the BBC’s political editor this week, eventually asking him, “Do you not speak English?”

EXCLUSIVE: The Lives of Others star Sebastian Koch and The Death of My Mother‘s Elsie de Brauw have joined Máxima, RTL’s upcoming drama about the Argentine-born Queen of the Netherlands. Germany’s Beta Film has also joined the Millstreet Films production.

Filmmaker and actor Benny Safdie is speaking about about sexual misconduct allegations lodged against Sebastian Bear-McClard, who was a producer on Safdie’s “Uncut Gems”.

 producer and Elara Pictures co-founder was accused of sexual misconduct and grooming teenage girls in March 2023. Per the outlet, a spokesperson for Benny and his brother Josh Safdie had previously said they fired him upon becoming aware of the behavior in July 2022«It's disgusting, and when you find out something about somebody that you didn't realize, you just have to be much more careful,» the actor-producer said in a new interview with .

Benny Safdie is opening up about the accusations against Sebastian Bear-McClard.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Oscar winner Fernando Trueba (“Belle Epoque”), “The Secret Life of Words” director Isabel Coixet and “Veneno” writer-director-producers Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo feature among talent behind Spanish titles at September’s San Sebastian Film Festival, the highest profile film event in the Spanish-speaking world.  Coixet will compete for the first time in San Sebastian’s main competition with “Un Amor,” a probing village-set tale of emotional dependence starring Laia Costa (“Lullaby”) and “Money Heist’s” Hovik Keuchkerian.    Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal will present as a special screening animated feature “They Shot the Piano Player,” a joyful and finally devastating portrait of the life and fate of pianist Francisco Tenorio Jr. narrated by Jeff Goldblum. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent A bevy of established auteurs – Joachim Lafosse, Cristi Puiu, Robin Campillo and Martín Rejtman – rub shoulders with the fast-rising figures of Maria Alche and Benjamín Naishtat and new U.S. discovery Raven Jackson among a first batch of directors contending in main competition at September’s San Sebastian Film Festival.  Also in the mix, announced Friday, is U.S. writer-director Noah Pritzker (“Quitters”) whose “Ex-Husbands” headlines “After Hours” co-stars Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette.  Always open under director José Luis Rebordinos to a broader gamut of movies than many other “A” fests, the first features confirmed Friday include four comedies with notably a change of register to lighter comedy for both Naishtat and Alche, who triumphed at 2017’s San Sebastián with “Rojo” and “A Family Submerged,” best director and Horizontes winners respectively. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Japan’s Hiroshi Teshigahara, who seemed on track for greatness after winning two Oscar nominations for “Woman in the Sands,” will be the subject of a San Sebastian Festival retrospective.  Nominated for best foreign-language film in 1964, and winning Teshigahara a best director Academy Award nomination a year later, “Woman in the Sands” was just Teshigahara’s second feature, a social and erotic allegory which yoked the political convictions of Teshigahara and screenwriter Kobo Abe, both members of Japan’s communist party in their youth, with Abe’s penchant for the darkly surreal.  Turning on an entomologist from Tokyo who discovers a young widow living at the bottom of an enormous sandpit on a deserted beach, it also won a Cannes Special Jury prize. Hailed as a masterpiece, and building on 1961’s “The Pitfall,” a political allegory which won Teshigahara fans, with Abe adapting his TV play, it looked like Teshigahara would find a niche on the same pantheon as contemporaries Nagisa Oshima and Shohei Imamura. 

The stars are stepping out for the Loewe Menswear Spring/Summer 2024 Fashion Show!

Malin Akerman and her husband Jack Donnelly shared a cute moment on the red carpet this weekend with her 12-year-old son Sebastian!

“Write what you know,” is the sage advice usually attributed to Mark Twain. And comedian extraordinaire, Sebastian Maniscalco, has made a very successful career taking it literally. Although his standup act has brought him fame, his latest project, the autobiographical film “About My Father,” is the passion project he says his father has “been living 77 years for.”Although many of the story details of the comedy film that Maniscalco both stars in and co-wrote are fictional – but what is hit-the-nail-on-the-head true is his relationship with his father, played in the movie by Robert De Niro.“My relationship with my father’s pretty accurate.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer On a recent quiet morning at The Summit, the ultra-exclusive gated community in Los Angeles, a crane was called to deliver olive trees to Sebastian Maniscalco’s house. The Illinois native, known for relatable stand-up about his immigrant parents, and for his onstage physicality and boisterousness, went uncharacteristically silent watching the evergreens drop down on his stunning views of Beverly Hills. He’s used to talking about his much humbler roots. “I like to poke fun or make light of what we see in society and make fun of my own family and my old-world immigrant upbringing. I think I do it in a way where we’re all laughing together,” he tells Variety.

Daveed Diggs queued up outside Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre, his hometown multiplex, to see “The Little Mermaid” with his father, Dountes. “It must’ve been opening weekend. The line wrapped around the block,” Diggs recalls. “I remember loving Scuttle, thinking he was just the funniest thing I’d seen up to that point, and loving the songs.” Thirty years later, Diggs is a Tony- and Grammy-winning actor, rapper and filmmaker, best known for “Blindspotting” (both the 2018 film and the Starz series) and “Hamilton,” where he delighted Broadway audiences by putting his unique imprint on Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette. After playing those historical figures night after night, one might imagine he’d have no qualms about taking on another well-known character — the calypso-singing crab Sebastian in Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid,” which opens on May 26.

If Sebastian Maniscalco really is the most popular comic in the country at the moment, you’d never know why from his film debut in About My Father. So unfunny it’s embarrassing, this is an over-the-top, under-achieving generational comedy that feels like it was written in the mid- to late-1960s and has been moldering in a drawer ever since.

Todd Gilchrist editor Following a handful of supporting roles in “Tag,” “Green Book” and “The Irishman,” Sebastian Maniscalco makes his first bid for leading-man status with “About My Father,” a family comedy sourced from the same semi-autobiographical material that made his stand-up a commercial and cultural phenomenon. To say it’s better than all three “Meet the Parents” films may be a dubious compliment, but it’s one made more significant because it co-stars Robert De Niro — and more importantly, actually features recognizable human behavior amidst its suitably outlandish set pieces. Whether or not Maniscalco has a legitimate future as a movie star, he proves a likeable presence as a romantic lead, while director Laura Terruso skillfully delivers comedic payoffs that tap into his wheelhouse while introducing him to a wider audience.

, with Robert De Niro, comedian Sebastian Maniscalco is reuniting with the two-time Oscar winner in the loosely biographical comedy,. While speaking to ET's Rachel Smith, Sebastian opened up about teaming up with the screen legend as well as working on his upcoming Max series, . In the movie, which opens in theaters on Friday, May 26, De Niro portrays a version of Maniscalco's immigrant, hairdresser father, Salvo Maniscalco, who finds himself amid a culture clash with the parents of his son's fiancée (Leslie Bibb) after their two families get together for a summer weekend. «It's a classic situation between the in-laws,» De Niro said of the movie, describing Bibb's onscreen family as «very waspy and just the opposite of Salvo.» And as a result, «there's a lot of humor in it,» he said, adding that «anybody can relate to it.»  But when it came to telling this heightened version of his father, Maniscalco revealed, «My father said, 'You're not going to make this movie unless you get De Niro to play me,'» before joking that Salvo got to approve whoever ended up in the titular role.

“This was not planned,” says stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco about his auto-biopic comedy About My Father making it to the screen.

Parent chat! Robert De Niro asked Sebastian Maniscalco‘s dad for tips before playing him in the upcoming movie About My Father.

YouTuber Linus Sebastian announced he was stepping down Thursday as CEO at Linus Media Group, a privately held entertainment company he owns and operates with his wife. Known for his popular “Tech Tips” channel, Sebastian announced the change will take effect July 1.His departure means he will no longer be the chief executive officer for Linus Media Group, Floatplane Media and Creator Warehouse, but he said he will assume the role of chief vision officer.

Christopher Vourlias Actor Sebastian Stan has come on board to produce “Blue Banks,” the feature debut of Romanian director Andreea Cristina Borțun, whose 2021 short film “When Night Meets Dawn” premiered in Directors’ Fortnight. Pic follows Lavinia, a single mother trying to make a better life on her own terms for herself and her 13-year-old son, who live in a poor Romanian village. She is impulsive, prone to misreading situations, and not sure how to love. But her son, on the threshold between childhood and adolescence, needs his mother more than ever, and over the course of four seasons their relationship is put to the test. Stan, who was born in Romania, will produce the film alongside Romanian producer Gabi Suciu, French co-producers Jean-Laurent Csinidis and Jerome Nunes and Slovenian co-producer Ales Pavlin. Shooting will take place in Romania throughout the year and is set to wrap in October.

"I didn't want to ruin the friendship because we were best mates. And I think that's what got us through life," Guy divulged on 60 Minutes in 2020. 

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Javier Bardem is the first recipient of San Sebastian’s prestigious Donostia Award for this year’s 71st edition. He will accept the prize, San Sebastian’s highest accolade, granted for career achievement, at the festival’s opening gala on September 22. His image will also feature on the poster of this year’s edition, unveiled today in San Sebastian.  The only surprise about Bardem’s Donostia Award is that it hasn’t come earlier. A rugby player for Spain’s national team, Bardem first came to fame as a local village hulk playing opposite his now spouse Penélope Cruz in Bigas Luna’s 1992 flamboyant social critique “Jamón, Jamón.”