Variety to Celebrate 10 Artisans to Watch at SCAD Savannah Film Festival

Bono surprised attendees at the Sarajevo Film Festival in Bosnia with an a cappella rendition of Bob Marley‘s ‘Redemption Song’ – watch the moment below.The frontman and The Edge were present at the film festival for a special screening of U2‘s Kiss The Future documentary when the legendary Irish vocalist hopped on the mic to serenade the crowd.Fans quickly joined in to sing along to the track after Bono unexpected belted out the opening lines to the Bob Marley classic. Watch a clip of the performance below.#Bono & #TheEdge at the #SarajevoFilmFestival for #KissTheFuture: "Redemption Song"Video © @28th_sff"When Bono's voice meets the silver screen.

Iranian filmmaker Ali Ahmadzadeh clinched the Golden Leopard in the main international competition of the 76th Locarno Film Festival with his latest feature Critical Zone (Mantagheye Bohrani).

Marta Balaga The hype is real: Ali Ahmadzadeh’s “Critical Zone” (“Mantagheye bohrani”) has picked up the top Golden Leopard at Locarno. It has been a bumpy ride for the film, set in Tehran over the course of one lonely night and described by the fest as “a hymn to freedom and resistance.” As reported by Variety, Iranian authorities have been pressuring Ahmadzadeh to pull it from the Swiss festival – arguing it was shot without permission – and with the director himself banned from leaving the country. “Instead of actors, I worked with real people.

EXCLUSIVE: An announcement today from the Points North Institute will provide a major career boost to a diverse group of documentary filmmakers. 

Sophia Scorziello editor This season, television was pushed to its limits and into spaces that teetered genres and kept audiences guessing. From an improv show about a fake court trial to mockumentaries about public schools and vampires, a sci-fi drama about nuns, the 2023 Emmy nominations were a grab bag full of interesting television, and artisans helped take them even further.

Sylvester Stallone’s “Sly” will officially close the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 16.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay will be honored by international AIDS organization amfAR with its Award of Inspiration during the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 3. The black-tie gala and dinner, taking place at La Misericordia, will include performances by singers Rita Ora and Leona Lewis.

EXCLUSIVE: The Austin Film Festival has set producer Lauren Shuler Donner, writer-producer James V. Hart and filmmaker So Young Shelly Yo as honorees of its 30th edition, taking place from October 26 – November 2.

Film at Lincoln Center has set the 32 features from 18 countries making up the Main Slate of the New York Film Festival, from Cannes prize-winners Anatomy Of A Fall by Justine Triet (Palme d’Or) and Zone Of Interest by Jonathan Glazer (Grand Prix), to the latest by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Wim Wenders, Agnieszka Holland, Hong Sangsoo, Radu Jude, Yorgos Lanthimos and Alice Rohrwacher.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Cannes favorites including Jonathan Glazer’s searing drama “The Zone of Interest” and Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winning crime thriller “Anatomy of a Fall” will play at this year’s New York Film Festival. Film at Lincoln Center, which presents the annual fete, on Tuesday announced the 32 films that comprise the main slate of the 61st edition.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Sylvester Stallone’s documentary “Sly” will close the 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival. The movie will have its world premiere on Sept. 16 at Roy Thomson Hall.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor It took a village to bring Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” to life and into homes. The Middle-earth fantasy drama wowed Emmy voters with its craft- work, scoring nominations in main-title design, prosthetic makeup, fantasy/sci-fi costumes, sound editing, special visual effects and original main-title theme music. Set thousands of years before the Third Age of the Peter Jackson-helmed “The Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, the first season introduced viewers to elves, dwarves, orcs and Harfoots (one of three hobbit races) during a time of prosperity and relative peace.

Ellise Shafer Diane Kruger is set to receive the Golden Eye Award at this year’s edition of Zurich Film Festival. Throughout the course of her career, Kruger has worked with high-profile directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Wolfgang Peterson and Robert Zemeckis. She is best known for her roles as Helen of Sparta in “Troy” (2004), Abigail Chase in “National Treasure” (2004) and its sequel “Book of Secrets” (2007), Bridget von Hammersmark in Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” (2009), Anna in “Mr.

William Earl Variety has announced the programming for its inaugural Creative Collaborations: The Nominees brunch, featuring two panels with the contending directors and artisans behind the year’s top TV series. The invite-only brunch will take place in Los Angeles on Aug.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Zurich Film Festival will honor the chief executive of German film and TV company Leonine Studios, Fred Kogel, with its Game Changer Award, which is presented to a leading personality from the film industry whose “extraordinary efforts serve to advance the sector.” Kogel set up Leonine four years ago, and it has grown rapidly to become Germany’s leading independent film company, as well as a major TV producer. Its successes as a film distributor have included the release of “The School of Magical Animals,” “Knives Out” and the “John Wick” franchise.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor When “Haunted Mansion” production designer Darren Gilford was working with director Justin Simien to bring the beloved Disney ride back to the big screen, he had a rather unique perspective. As a former Imagineering intern, Gilford had learned first-hand how the Disneyland attractions were conceived. Gilford’s design entry point for the film was a bible devoted to the ride from Imagineering.

Jaden Thompson Festival Director Eugene Hernandez has released a letter letting the public know what to expect from the 40th Sundance Film Festival. The upcoming festival, which will take place Jan. 18–28 in Park City, Utah, will be Hernandez’s first time serving as festival director.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agent Pluto Film has boarded “Forever-Forever” (“Nazavzhdy-Nazavzhdy”), Ukrainian filmmaker Anna Buryachkova’s feature directing debut, ahead of its world premiere in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Extra competition. After transferring from a downtown high school, Tonia (Alina Cheban) befriends a group of badass youngsters, trying to find protection from the people from her past and a place she truly belongs. They spend time together, roaming around Kyiv’s post-socialist suburbs, having fun and getting in trouble.

Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera is refusing to row back on his decision to invite controversial movie-biz bigwigs Roman Polanski, Woody Allen and Luc Besson to the late summer event, which will take place despite the potential disruption by the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. “Luc Besson has been recently fully cleared of any accusations. Woody Allen went under legal scrutiny twice at the end of the ’90s and was absolved,” Barbera said in a new interview with Variety.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera is in a good mood after Tuesday’s lineup announcement managed to stave off the impact of the SAG-AFTRA strike, something which could have been “devastating” to the event, he says. In the end, the only U.S. film that skipped the Lido is Luca Guadagnino’s Zendaya-starrer “Challengers,” which Barbera says was against Guadagnino’s wishes.