‘Totem,’ ‘Women of Rote Island’ Win Jakarta Film Week

Martin Dale Contributor Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes” won best film at the 17th edition of Leffest Lisboa Film Festival, which announced awards Saturday night. Marking Erice’s first feature film since his 1992 docudrama “The Quince Tree Sun” and garnering almost universal positive reviews – Variety called it “an aching ode to film, time and memory” – following its world premiere at Cannes, “Close Your Eyes” has screened at Toronto, Busan, BFI London and New York.

Writer Samantha Herman can’t get enough of the holiday season and being in love with love—so naturally, she writes Christmas movies for the Hallmark Channel.

gay Pride flags during performances as a show of solidarity with the LGBTQ community.The band was scheduled to play before a crowd of 70,000 at Gelora Bung Karno stadium in the capital city of Jakarta on Wednesday, November 15, as part of its “Music of the Spheres World Tour,” which sold out within hours of tickets going on sale, reports Agence France-Presse.Outside the concert, at least 300 conservative Muslim demonstrators calling themselves the “anti-LGBT movement” chanted and held banners accusing Coldplay of spreading “LGBT propaganda” and damaging the country’s “faith and morals.”They also booed and heckled concertgoers, accusing them of being LGBTQ supporters, demanding the show’s cancellation, and denouncing the band. The same protest group also staged demonstrations at several locations in Jakarta in the run-up to the concert.The same protest group also staged demonstrations last week at several locations in Jakarta, including outside the British Embassy, reports NBC News.When some of the protesters began pushing and shoving, police attempted to step in and restore order.

Documentaries about the impact of war claimed two of the top prizes as the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam handed out awards Thursday night.

Cristy has become the latest contestant on The Great British Bake Off to be eliminated after she failed to impress during party bakes week.

he listed his sprawling 26-acre estate in Oyster Bay for an eye-watering $49 million. Records show Joel acquired the property, initially spanning 14 acres, in 2002 for $22.5 million.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “The Marvels” topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend, but failed to lift cinema activity out of its recent slump. “The Marvels” opened with $2.35 million between Friday and Sunday, and a market share of nearly 42%, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). Over its five-day opening run the film pulled in a total of $3.4 million. Those scores were enough to take top place from “The Boy and the Heron,” which had been number one for the two previous weekends, but not enough to increase cinemagoing in Korea.

A garden expert has shared her professional advice to protect hydrangeas through the winter, which gardeners should do now to protect the colourful flowers.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Auto-bio Pamphlet,” a Marathi-language film that is both a love story and a rage against class divisions, will open the 18th edition of the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival later this month. The festival will close with the world premiere of spy thriller “13 Bombs in Jakarta.” JAFF run Nov.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has announced a new batch of mostly international titles set to launch in its Festival Favorites and Treasures strands, including the international premiere of U.S. actor-turned-director Jennifer Esposito’s New York City mob drama “Fresh Kills.” Inspired by Esposito’s upbringing in Staten Island, “Fresh Kills” – in which Esposito co-stars with Annabella Sciorra – bowed stateside at the Tribeca Festival in June.

Caroline Brew editor Doug Jones, a veteran film programmer, curator and exhibitor at several U.S. film festivals, has died. He was 53.

Japan has dominated this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), with German filmmaker Wim Wenders’ latest Tokyo-set pic and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car follow-up taking the top prizes. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two films from Japan, Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days” and Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” won the top prizes at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards on Friday. Multiple other honors went to films from Korea and Kazakhstan. The 16th edition of the APSA Awards was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and recognized films from eight countries. “Perfect Days,” a gentle comedy drama about a toilet cleaner in Tokyo finding happiness in the everyday, premiered in Cannes and more recently was selected as Japan’s Oscar contender and as the opening title of the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Mark Schilling Japan Correspondent “Snow Leopard,” the last film by Tibetan director Pema Tseden prior to his death in May, was awarded the Grand Prix at the closing ceremony of the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival on Wednesday. Premiering out of competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival and later screening at Toronto, the film depicts the argument between a father and his adult son of how to deal with the title beast, which has descended from the mountains to kill sheep in their village.

EXCLUSIVE: James McAvoy (X-Men franchise), Lucas Bravo (Emily In Paris), Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale) and Almudena Amor (The Good Boss) have been set for thriller Turn Up The Sun! which has begun production in the UK under an Equity PACT agreement.

Jennifer Esposito, who accumulated around 70 credits as an actress in movies and series before making her debut as writer and director of Fresh Kills, has signed with Echo Lake Entertainment. The management company is tasked with helping her forge a new career path. When you have mortgaged your house to make her first film as Esposito did, it stands to reason you would not be happy thinking you got that out of your system, and go back to waiting for the phone to ring with acting jobs.

Weather experts have confirmed that snowfall is on the way for Scotland this week as temperatures begin to drop.

Just last month, “Star Wars” fans were treated to the news that Guillermo del Toro was working with Lucasfilm, at least at one point, on a couple of projects, including a solo film about the villainous Jabba the Hutt. Obviously, that was during a time where “Star Wars” was in a state of flux and Lucasfilm was desperately trying to figure out the way of the world under Disney’s ownership.

With “All The Light We Cannot See” hitting Netflix next week, Shawn Levy is making the press rounds to promote his miniseries. And that gives him a chance to talk about his upcoming projects, too, like “Deadpool 3” and the “Star Wars” project he has in development.

At least 20 Perth firefighters and a Perth City North councillor will this week join firefighters from across Scotland protesting outside the Scottish Parliament against "dangerous" cuts to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS).