‘There’s an Awakening’: European Industry Sounds Rallying Cry, Calls for Greater Diversity and Inclusion

Christopher Vourlias For a field that has often blurred the line between cinema and anthropology, documentary filmmakers have long set off for foreign lands, lured by the prospect of “discovering” some seemingly untold story, set against an exotic backdrop that is all but certain to attract audiences and funding bodies alike. Rarely in the past have filmmakers from the West questioned the entitlement that enables them to tell those stories, or whether those communities have the right to share their own story in their own way. “For a very long time, this has just been an acceptable practice,” said Selin Murat, markets manager at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), during a panel discussion March 7 at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival. “There has been a pervasive idea that you can tell whatever story you want without understanding the sociopolitical dynamics at play.”

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Denmark has finally started addressing the lack of diversity in local movies and TV series. From afar, the country is the epitome of liberalism and home to provocative filmmakers like Lars von Trier and a new wave of directors with foreign origins, such as Ali Abassi (“Holy Spider”) and Milad Alami (“The Charmer”). But up close, the Nordic country has been sliding to the far right and enacting Europe’s harshest anti-immigration laws, pushing the local film community to react. The alarm was recently rung by A Bigger Picture, a female-led advocacy group spearheaded by Laura Allen Müller (“Borgen”), Sandra Yi Sencindiver (“The Wheel of Time”), Malaika B. Mosendane (“Chosen”), Siir Tilif (“Fatal Crossing”) and Dorcas Joanna Hansen (“Elvira”).

Sparks have shared the title track for their new album ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’.The Los Angeles duo – comprising brothers Ron and Russell Mael – also announced that the song, which you can listen to below, will come with a video featuring actress Cate Blanchett at 5pm GMT tomorrow (March 3) here.They said via press release: “We met Cate Blanchett in Paris at the César Awards last year, little knowing that a year later, one of the great actors of our time (and a splendid person!) would graciously consent to lending her bootie-shaking skills to the first video from our new album, ‘The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte’. Dreams really do come true.

Ray J and Princess Love are giving their marriage another shot. According to multiple reports, the singer has requested to dismiss his divorce case against Princess.Ray J, whose real name is William Ray Norwood Jr, filed a request to dismiss the divorce case on Thursday.In October 2021, the 40-year-old singer and reality star filed for divorce – the third time the couple decided to end their marriage since May 2020, after twice previously filing and then dismissing divorce requests.Love first filed for divorce from her husband in May 2020, and she later filed to have her request dismissed the following July.

When you’re looking for younger actors to take on roles in a film, you have to assume a filmmaker is on the hunt for the next big thing, right? Well, if that’s the barometer for success, filmmaker Daniel Minahan (“Six Feet Under,” “True Blood, “The Newsroom”) seems to have nailed the casting of his upcoming film, “On Swift Horses.” READ MORE: ‘Beautiful’: Daisy Edgar-Jones To Star As Carole King For Lisa Cholodenko’s Musical Biopic According to Deadline, Minahan is set to direct “On Swift Horses,” featuring a cast that includes Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Will Poulter, Diego Calva, and Sasha Calle.

Many of Greater Manchester's levelling up fund bids were 'guaranteed to fail' as the Government changed the selection criteria after applications had been received, councillors have heard. In January, Greater Manchester missed out on more than £276m of Levelling Up money in the latest round of funding announced by the government.

Slowthai has announced the UK and European legs of his ‘UGLY’ 2023 world tour – see the dates below and buy tickets here.The Northampton rapper’s forthcoming third album, also titled ‘UGLY’, is due out on March 3 via Method Records. So far, it’s been previewed by the singles ‘I Know Nothing’, ‘Selfish’ and ‘Feel Good’.This September, he will bring the new album on his biggest UK and European tour to date, featuring a full band for the first time and support slots from Nia Archives and Sainté.The dates begin in Glasgow at the Barrowland Ballroom on September 20, before other UK dates in Manchester, Birmingham and at London’s Alexandra Palace.He’ll then head to the continent for gigs in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and Brussels.Tickets for the ‘UGLY’ UK and European tour will go on sale on Friday, March 3 at 10am GMT.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Global indie streamer distributor and producer MUBI has acquired all rights in several key European territories to “Passages,” the erotic drama by Ira Sachs that bowed with a splash at Sundance and just had its European premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Following the world premiere of “Passages” at Sundance MUBI last month snapped up all rights for the U.S., U.K., Ireland and Latin America to the U.S. indie darling director’s first film shot in France. Now MUBI has acquired additional European territories on “Passages” including for Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey and Benelux. The Benelux pickup is in partnership with Belgium’s Imagine Film Distribution.

Danish actor Nikolaj Lie Kaas is best known for his work on-screen with filmmakers such as Lars von Trier and Anders Thomas Jensen, but he’s in Berlin this week with Agent, his first project as a writer-director.

Shades of Blue creator Adi Hasak didn’t mince his words when discussing the state of U.S. television at the EFM’s Berlinale Series Market today.

Berlin Film Festival. At least not according to the co-chiefs of Turkey’s Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival. “The festival’s opening ceremony started with Ukraine, ended with Ukraine and touched on Iran. But I don’t think they ever mentioned Turkey,” said Ahmet Boyacıoğlu, president of the fest that has historically always been the country’s prime local cinema catalyst.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent The latest series from Alex de la Iglesia and “Veneno” creators Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo feature at a first-look Next from Spain Showcase which marks a massive step-up in the country’s presence at the Berlinale Series Market. Running Feb. 20-22, the showcase also unveils “Rapa” Season 2, with its first season proving Movistar+’s biggest 2022 bow, and “This Is Not Sweden,” a pioneering Spanish co-production with Scandinavia and Germany.  The Showcase titles are joined by Isaki Lacuesta’s “The Chauffeur’s Son,” a Co-Pro Series project from “Elite’s” Zeta Studios, and “Selftape,” a Filmin Original from Filmax and a Series Market Screening.

Israeli film producer Yoav Roeh spoke passionately at the Berlin Film Festival on Sunday about the threat to freedom of speech in Israel under a proposed overhaul of the country’s judiciary by Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government.

Ed Meza @edmezavar German cinema looks set for a major boom this year with a strong lineup of diverse works that span historical dramas, coming-of-age tales, high-octane nostalgia, animation and sci-fi fun. The Berlin Film Festival is bowing a muscular selection of local titles, among them “Afire,” by Berlinale mainstay Christian Petzold (“Undine”), screening in competition. The films centers on a group of young people staying at a holiday house near the Baltic Sea during a hot, dry summer, exploring volatile emotions that start to sizzle when a wildfire spreads through the surrounding forest. Likewise vying for the Golden Bear is Margarethe von Trotta’s biopic “Ingeborg Bachmann: Journey Into the Desert,” starring Vicky Krieps (“Corsage”) as the radical Austrian author. The film examines her relationship with Swiss writer Max Frisch and her 1964 journey of self-discovery through the Egyptian desert.

Boris Becker has revealed he started crying in jail, as he watched Novak Djokovic win Wimbledon in 2022. 

Naman Ramachandran Singapore-based film production outfit Potocol, whose “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” by Jow Zhi Wei bowed at the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation 14plus competition, has revealed a diverse Asian slate. Potocol’s recent triumphs include Bangladeshi filmmaker Abdullah Mohammad Saad’s Cannes selection “Rehana Maryam Noor” and Indonesian director Makbul Mubarak’s Venice winner “Autobiography.” The company, led by Jeremy Chua who is currently at the Berlinale, has a growing reputation for championing the rise of young filmmakers from across Asia. Potocol has four films in post-production and several more in development. Nicole Midori Woodford’s debut feature “Last Shadow at First Light” is a supernatural road trip drama that follows a Singaporean teenager tracing the footsteps of her missing mother in Japan and explores the ripple effects of a traumatic event subconsciously buried within the family unit.

Sean Penn and a gonzo documentary camera crew found themselves on the frontlines of war as they waited to see if they could interview Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Not only did he land that interview, but he continued to travel back to Ukraine to chronicle the horrors of war a total of six times for “Superpower,” a documentary Penn co-directed that premiered to a standing ovation at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday. In the nearly two-hour-long film, produced by Vice, Penn underlines America’s shortcomings in supporting Ukraine in the war. Zelenskyy, who grows increasingly comfortable around the Oscar-winning actor in a series of interviews, reveals his frustrations at the lack of support in the form of high-impact weapons received from the Biden administration.

Christopher Vourlias When a rock festival held in Tallinn in the summer of 1988 was shut down by Soviet authorities, thousands of Estonians took to the streets, waving Estonian flags and singing patriotic songs in a bold show of defiance of Soviet rule. By the festival’s final night, some 200,000 people had joined what would later be dubbed the Singing Revolution, a catalyst for the non-violent movement that swept across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the early-‘90s and paved the way for independence. Even under Moscow’s thumb the Baltics demanded to be heard. For decades the three small nations have drawn on their historical, cultural and economic ties to create a sum that’s bigger than its parts, a collaborative spirit that’s also energized the countries’ growing screen industries, which will share the stage as joint Countries in Focus at this year’s European Film Market.

Christopher Vourlias This year, Latvia is sharing a spotlight with neighboring Lithuania and Estonia at the European Film Market, which has dedicated its 2023 Country in Focus Spotlight to the Baltic nations. It’s a sign of the tremendous strides the country has taken to put itself on the world cinema map, with the screen industries both producing more films and TV series than ever before and luring increasingly ambitious international projects to Northeastern Europe. Here’s a rundown of some of the top Latvian projects in the pipeline that their producers will be pitching in Berlin: Blue BloodDirector: Juris KursietisProducers: White Picture, Stellar Film, Asterisk*The follow-up to Kursietis’ Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “Oleg” is the story of a successful couple whose comfortable life is turned upside-down when the husband is implicated in a massive corruption scandal.Sales: N/A

Vivienne Chow The slate of offerings from Taiwan at this year’s European Film Market is a solid one, without a doubt. Among the 92 titles of films and projects, there are recent Golden Horse award-winning titles as well as new regional and international co-productions, both completed or works in-progress, in a diverse range of genres that come with promising premises, and a delegation of at least 10 sales companies that will present at the event in Berlin. Such a strong line-up of films available for international sales can be understood as a snapshot of current state of Taiwan cinema. There’s an emergence of a generation of new talent who dare to challenge the status quo of filmmaking and storytelling, and the ambition to reach an audience beyond the self-governed island is loud and clear. This is especially true following the international attention that “A Sun” and “The Falls” had previously garnered, the growing number of co-productions with new countries and partners thanks to the strong boost of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) through its funding support, as well as new exhibition windows available from international streaming platforms.