The Match Factory Boards ‘The Ordinaries’ Ahead of Karlovy Vary Competition Screening (EXCLUSIVE)

Geoffrey Rush and Benicio Del Toro will be honored with career awards at the 56th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF), running July 1-9 against the backdrop of the picturesque Czech Republic spa town.

Crystal Globe Competition“America,” Ofir Raul Graizer (Israel, Germany, Czech Republic)“Chemi otakhi” (“A Room Of My Own”), Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze (Georgia, Germany)“Edna provintsialna bolnitsa” (“A Provincial Hospital”), Ilian Metev, Ivan Chertov, Zlatina Teneva (Bulgaria, Germany)“F—ing Bornholm,” Anna Kazejak (Poland)“Hranice lásky” (“Borders of Love”), Tomasz Wiński (Czech Republic, Poland)“Isihia 6-9” (“Silence 6-9”), Christos Passalis (Greece)“The Ordinaries,”  Sophie Linnenbaum (Germany)“Slovo” (“The Word”), Beata Parkanová (Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland)“Tabestan Ba Omid” (“Summer with Hope”), Sadaf Foroughi (Canada)“Tenéis que venir a verla” (“You Have to Come and See It”), Jonás Trueba (Spain)“Tooi tokoro” (“A Far Shore”), Masaaki Kudo (Japan)“Vesper,” Kristina Buožytė, Bruno Samper (Lithuania, France, Belgium)Proxima Competition“A pak přišla láska…” (“And Then There Was Love…”),  Šimon Holý (Czech Republic)“Los Agitadores” (“Horseplay”), Marco Berger (Argentina)“Au grand jour” (“In Broad Daylight”), Emmanuel Tardif (Canada)“Balaye aseman zire ab” (“Like a Fish on the Moon”), Dornaz Hajiha (Iran)“Głupcy” (“Fools”), Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland, Romania, Germany)“Još jedno proleće” (“Another Spring”), Mladen Kovačević (Serbia, Qatar)“La pietà” (“Piety”), Eduardo Casanova (Spain, Argentina)“Ramona,” Andrea Bagney (Spain)“Stric” (“The Uncle”), David Kapac, Andrija Mardešić (Croatia, Serbia)“Tinnitus,”Gregorio Graziosi (Brazil)“Zkouška umění” (“ART talent show”), Tomáš Bojar, Adéla Komrzý (Czech Republic)“Zoo Lock Down,” Andreas Horvath (Austria)Special Screenings“BANGER.” Adam Sedlák (Czech Republic)“June Zero,” Jake Paltrow (USA, Israel)“The Killing of a Journalist,” Matt Sarnecki (Denmark, USA, Czech

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentAs Paramount+ prepares for its splashy, star-studded U.K. and Ireland launch in London on Monday, Paramount’s president and CEO of streaming Tom Ryan spoke to Variety about the rebranded company’s global streaming biz expansion that, besides being powered by original content, stands out in the field for its diversified model.This model involves a mix of platforms and partnerships, combining direct-to-consumer and a la carte offerings with a market-by-market approach.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentStudiocanal has acquired a majority stake in Dutch FilmWorks, a leading film production and distribution company operating in Benelux.Launched in 1998, Dutch FilmWorks produces and distributes 25 films each year, and has built up a library of over 900 Dutch and international films, including the popular family franchise “The Claus Family.” The acquisition of Dutch FilmWorks is part of Studiocanal’s aim to consolidate its pipeline of premium European content with international potential.Owned by Vivendi-backed Canal+ Group, Studiocanal already operates in all four major European markets — France, U.K., Germany and Spain — as well as in Australia and New Zealand. The banner also produces more than 200 hours of TV series each year at an international level, either in-house with Studiocanal Original, or through its network of European production labels, including Germany’s Tandem Productions, the U.K.’s RED Production Company, the U.K.’s Urban Myth Films and SunnyMarch TV, Spain’s Bambu Producciones or Scandinavia’s SAM Productions.

here.) The New York City fest began June 8 and concludes June 19.Read below for the full list of competition winners.U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITIONThe Founders’ Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature: Good Girl Jane (United States)Dir.

K.J. Yossman “Paris in Harlem” director Christina Kallas is set to direct limited series ‘The Second Attack’ for ARD Mediathek, Variety can exclusively reveal.The six-part political thriller envisions what would happen if an “unthinkable war” were to take place on the world stage.Oliver Bottini (“Algiers Confidential”) has written the screenplay alongside Abdel Raouf Dafri (“A Prophet”) and Frédéric Jardin (“Braquo”).“Inspired by true events, ‘The Second Attack’ follows Alex, a young German who tries to uncover the truth about the murder of his father in 2003, a sniper for the Bundeswehr,” reads the official logline.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMusic Box Films has acquired North American rights to “Rodeo,” the bold feature debut of Lola Quivoron which premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes where it won the Coup de Cœur du Jury special prize. Produced by Charles Gillibert (“Annette”) at CG Cinema and represented by Les Films du Losange, “Rodeo” stars newcomer Julie Ledrue a Julia, a hot tempered and fiercely independent young woman who infiltrates an underground dirt bike community in France.After a chance meeting at an urban ‘Rodeo,’ Julia finds herself drawn into a clandestine and volatile clique and striving to prove herself to the ultra-masculine group, but is she is faced with a series of escalating demands that will make or break her place in the community.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentKinology (“Annette”) has closed a raft of deals on two highlights from its slate, “Argonuts,” an animated feature produced by TAT Productions, the banner behind “The Jungle Bunch,” and Emmanuel Mouret’s “Diary of a Fleeting Affair” which premiered at Cannes. A Pixar/Dreamworks-style family film, “Argonuts” is a comedy adventure set in a magical yet hostile world of Greek mythology. It follows the journey of Pathie, a young, smart and daring mouse, and her mate Sam who set off to fight the most bizarre and dangerous creatures in Ancient Greece, including Poseidon himself.“Argonuts” reunites “The Jungle Bunch” director, David Alaux, and producer, Jean-François Tosti at TAT Productions.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThe Banff World Media Festival revealed the winners of the 2022 Rockie Awards International Program Competition on Monday, with big winners including the “Friends” Reunion, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “We Are Lady Parts” and more.The event, held in Banff and hosted by comedian Rakhee Morzaria (“Run the Burbs”) featured winners chosen by a panel of 150 international industry professionals. The Rockie Awards International Program Competition presented awards in 28 categories spanning Documentary & Factual, Arts & Entertainment, Children & Youth, Scripted, and Podcast.The competition featured 148 nominations from 45 countries including the UK, United, Canada, Australia, France, China, Germany, Italy and Norway.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterCAA’s strategic consulting service CAA Social Impact has struck a partnership with global sustainability company Aspiration to provide sustainability services, carbon reduction services and customer-centric climate impact solutions to corporate, sports and entertainment industry brands, Variety has learned exclusively.Per the companies, “CAA Social Impact and Aspiration recognize the importance of sustainability as a winning business strategy and the opportunity for sports and entertainment to play a critical role in influencing culture, to build public will for solutions in the face of a deepening climate crisis.”With an increase in companies’ awareness and focus on their sustainability efforts, “the partnership enables CAA Social Impact and Aspiration to combine their expertise and resources to develop sustainability and carbon mitigation strategies for leading brands and organizations.” Additionally, Aspiration is working closing with CAA on its own carbon reduction efforts. Run by Aubree Curtis and Judee Ann Williams, CAA Social Impact has led philanthropic work for companies including KPMG, Walmart, PGA TOUR, Continental (Germany), Volvo (UK), and AppHarvest, and helped shape strategies for organizations including The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Alzheimer’s Association.“Businesses urgently need clear and comprehensive solutions to curb their emissions and improve their impact on the planet,” Curtis said.

Manori Ravindran International EditorSkyShowtime — the joint venture between Comcast and Paramount Global — has unveiled key hires for the European streaming service, including its head of programming.BBC Select executive Jon Farrar has been named head of programming, Variety can reveal. The executive joins from BBC Studios, where he led the direct-to-consumer programming strategy in his dual role as global VOD director and editor-in-chief of North American SVOD service BBC Select.Farrar was also part of the team that developed BritBox, the streaming joint venture between BBC Studios and ITV.Reporting into SkyShowtime CEO Monty Sarhan, Farrar will be responsible for programming strategy, overseeing the platform’s pipeline of studio content, and building a programming team across SkyShowtime’s 20 markets to develop original and local content.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentLooking beyond its The Alliance partnership with France Télévisions and Italy’s RAI, Germany’s ZDF Studios has boarded six-part series “Boundless,” (“Sin Límites”), an epic adventure tale of the first circumnavigation of the world 500 years ago whose backers include Spanish pubic broadcaster RTVE.Directed by Simon West (“Con Air,” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”), “Boundless” stars Alvaro Morte, the Professor in “Money Heist,” as Spaniard Juan Sebastián Elcano and “Westworld’s” Rodrigo Santoro as Portugal’s Ferdinand Magellan.The six-part series is described by Robert Franke, VP drama, ZDF Studios, as “one of the biggest and most ambitious dramas that ZDF Studios has ever had the pleasure of being involved with.” “Boundless” is produced by Miguel Menéndez de Zubillaga (“Loving Pablo”) for Madrid-based Mono Films (“Descarrilados”) in co-production with Leo Pearlman and Heather Greenwood at London’s Fullwell 73 (“One Direction 3D: This is Us,” “Bros: After the Screaming Stops”). It is co-produced by Patrick Fischer and Richard Kondal.Backed by Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, it is also one of the biggest Spanish-language plays to date of Amazon’s Prime Video which will bow the flagship drama in exclusivity in Spain and Latin America on June 10.

Michael Owen has flown out of the UK ahead of tonight’s hotly anticipated Love Island return. The former England player departed the country to head for Germany after admitting he was living “every father’s nightmare” ahead of his daughter’s debut on the show. Gemma Owen, 19, is the oldest of his four children and is set to make her debut on the iconic dating show on Monday night - however dad Michael won’t be at home to see it as he shared a snap from beside the Olympiastadion in Munich, on Monday.

Nicolas Cage is peeling back the curtain on playing «Nick Cage» in the meta action comedy .The film finds the seasoned actor playing a heightened version of himself and kicks off when Nick Cage accepts a $1 million offer to attend a wealthy fan's birthday party. Things take a wildly unexpected turn when a CIA operative recruits Cage for an unusual mission.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentParis-based sales company Charades has closed a raft of deals on “Forever Young,” Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s film which competed at Cannes and earned a warm critical welcome. “Forever Young” opens at the end of the 1980s in Paris and follows a young troupe of comedians who have just have been admitted to Les Amandiers, the prestigious theater school headed by Patrice Chéreau. Bruni Tedeschi wrote the script alongside Agnès De Sacy and regular collaborator Noémie Lvovsky.

Sir Elton John has been pictured days before he’ll join a star-studded line-up of musicians performing at the Queen’s special Jubilee concert.  The Candle In The Wind singer arrived at Leipzig Airport this week to fly back to his home in Nice on the Cote d’Azur.  During his visit to Germany, Sir Elton had performed two shows, in Frankfurt and Leipzig, on his long-running Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThirty-three films comprise the eclectic lineup for the 56th Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, the programming team led by the artistic director Karel Och revealed Tuesday.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMads Mikkelsen is set to star in Nikolaj Arcel’s (“A Royal Affair) epic period drama “King’s Land” which is being represented in international markets by TrustNordisk. “King’s Land” will mark Arcel’s first Danish film since “A Royal Affair” which also starred Mikkelsen and earned an Oscar nomination, two awards at the Berlinale, as well as sold to over 80 territories.Set to start shooting on Sept.