EXCLUSIVE: Producer Amy Williams has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Waheed AlQawasmi, the writer and director of upcoming indie feature Jacir, starring Lorraine Bracco.
01.03.2023 - 18:43 / variety.com
Christopher Vourlias When he began working on his sophomore documentary feature, “Iron Butterflies,” in 2019, Ukrainian filmmaker Roman Liubyi said he was “making the film as a warning, before the Third World War.” The film, which world premiered at Sundance, follows the Russian disinformation campaign surrounding the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine in 2014, a tragedy that was determined by a Dutch court in Nov. 2022 to have been caused by a missile supplied by the Russian military to separatists in Eastern Ukraine. Many Ukrainians thought the tragic event, which killed 289 civilian passengers and crew, would serve as a wake-up call to Europe and the U.S., which had largely turned a blind eye to Russia’s meddling in the region, said the director. But the years dragged on and the long-running conflict in Donbas retreated from the headlines — until an increasingly emboldened Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale assault on Ukraine last year.
In the wake of that invasion, “there was no point of a warning — it was already happening,” Liubyi said. “Now it’s a story about lost opportunity. I hope that it can change something in the future.” “Iron Butterflies” plays this week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, following its European premiere in Berlin. Sherry Media Group recently acquired all rights for Canada and is planning a theatrical release. The film uses open-source footage of Russian TV news segments, audio intercepts and social media posts to explore how the Russian propaganda machine quickly tried to steer the narrative in the wake of the tragic crash, laying bare the absurdity of the version of events being pushed by the Kremlin within hours of the tragedy. In one scene, a Russian
EXCLUSIVE: Producer Amy Williams has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Waheed AlQawasmi, the writer and director of upcoming indie feature Jacir, starring Lorraine Bracco.
Taron Egerton has responded to rumours he could take on the role of James Bond, saying that he doesn’t think he’s “the right choice for it”.The actor initially rose to fame in the Bond-like franchise Kingsman, though with the departure of Daniel Craig as 007 Egerton’s name has been in the mix of potential actors who could take over.“I don’t think I’m the right choice for it,” the star told The Daily Telegraph. “You have to be consistently statuesque to be that guy.
Nicola Sturgeon 's sister has said she would "rather vote Tory" than SNP leadership candidates Kate Forbes and Ash Regan.
An arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin has been issued due to his actions in Ukraine.
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency Taskovski Films has acquired “!Aitsa” and “Fighters,” which both have premieres at CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival. Dane Dodds’ “!Aitsa” has its world premiere in the festival’s Science Program. The film focuses on the spiritual lives of the inhabitants of South Africa’s Great Karoo desert. This is the place where some of the first humans likely lived. Here, in the Blombos cave, an unearthed piece of engraved ochre represents perhaps the earliest ever example of abstract human thinking. At the other extreme of the Karoo, bordering the Kalahari in the North, the town of Carnarvon is home to one of the biggest science projects in the world, the so-called Square Kilometer Array. Still under construction, the SKA will consist of hundreds of satellite dishes the size of three-story buildings. Its stated objectives are to explore dark matter, dark energy and the beginning of the universe, and search for extra-terrestrial intelligence.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary that bears his name, remains imprisoned outside Moscow, and thus unable to attend the Academy Awards tonight. But he will be represented at the ceremony by his closest family members.
Bindi Irwin has revealed she’s struggled with endometriosis for ten years and recently underwent surgery to treat the condition. "Dear Friends, I battled for a long time wondering if I should share this journey with you in such a public space.
mysteriously lost all radar contact a mere minute and a half later.The flight had vanished without a trace and to this day, what actually happened in the air remains one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history. A new Netflix docuseries, “MH370: The Plane That Disappeared,” examines several theories as to what happened that night.
The family of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya has said an upcoming film inspired by her life is “grossly inaccurate” and misrepresents her work in a statement sent to journalists Tuesday afternoon.
We’ve literally been talking about who is going to replace Daniel Craig as James Bond in the film franchise for years now. Ever since it was announced that Craig was going to leave the role after last year’s “No Time to Die,” fans have been desperately trying to figure out who Barbara Broccoli and the other producers of the franchise would choose to carry the mantle as 007.
Seth Rogen dropped some news Saturday at the 2023 Kids’ Choice Awards worthy of a rowdy cowabunga!
One Direction is undeniably one of the biggest boy bands to hit the scene since the early millennium bubblegum pop explosion, and the members of the group amassed impressive fortunes over the years.
A classic theme park ride is getting a new look on the big screen.
Way back in 2016, filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (“Drive,” “Only God Forgives”) revealed he was working with James Bond in-house writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (“Casino Royale,” “Quantum Of Solace,” “Skyfall,” “No Time to Die “). Refn always played coy about what the project was, but when asked if the film was the Asia-set action thriller called “The Avenging Silence,” he responded, “Well, I think it may very well be.
There's nothing like ending a boozy night out with heading straight to the nearest takeaway shop to satisfy those alcohol-fuelled cravings. However, it seems one clever person could not wait for the night to end and instead found a way to enjoy some chips while still in a nightclub.
EXCLUSIVE: On February 24, 2022 Sean Penn and his documentary filmmaking team got up before dawn in Kyiv in anticipation of a planned interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Suddenly, explosions shattered the quiet and missile fire turned the darkened sky to malevolent orange. Russia’s full-scale attack on its neighbor had begun — what President Vladimir Putin later that day euphemistically dubbed a “special military operation.”
Ukrainian filmmaker Roman Liubyi is marking the first anniversary on Friday of Russia’s invasion of his country with a screening at the Berlin Film Festival of documentaryIron Butterflies in its Panorama section.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it is understood that he believed a takeover would only take a few days.
Today marks one full year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began and fears remain that it could last for another.
On this day last year, Vladimir Putin ordered his troops across the Ukraine border, marking the start of a deadly conflict which has taken the lives of thousands.