Variety to Honor German Film Company LEONINE Studios at Cannes

EXCLUSIVE: Germany’s top scripted conference Seriencamp is headed for a new home in Cologne this summer, and its line-up is coming together.

Honoring a legend. The stars hit the red carpet for the 2023 Met Gala in New York on May 1 wearing wild beauty and fashion style inspired by Karl Lagerfeld’s ideology. Who wore it best?

Late German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld will be honored at the 2023 Met Gala on Monday despite, what many commentators called, his "controversial" past statements and views.  The theme, which was announced in September, will feature an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute titled "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" and display approximately 150 of his designs as well as his original sketches.The dress code of the red carpet event, announced in January, will also be "In honor of Karl."  The Met Gala is a star-studded event where celebrities and other notable figures display unique fashion choices where they raise money for the Met’s Costume Institute However, many media outlets and celebrities called out this year's decision to honor the late fashion designer, claiming that Lagerfeld’s past statements should disqualify him from being honored at the event. He criticized the #MeToo movement in 2018.

This is the moment a professional dogwalker wrestled an out-of-control German Shepherd to the ground after it attacked his own dog and bit his wife.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Argentina-Chile coproduction “The Punishment,” directed by Matias Bize, was named best feature over the weekend at the close of the Beijing International Film Festival. Mexico’s Lila Avilés won the Tiantan Award for best director for her film “Totem.” Antonia Zegers and Line Renaud shared the best actress award for “The Punishment” and “Driving Madeleine,” respectively. The best actor award went to Xin Baiqing for Chinese movie “The Shadowless Tower.” The film, which premiered in February in Berlin, was the numerical winner. With the best screenplay, music, cinematography and artistic contribution awards, it won a total of five prizes.

EXCLUSIVE: Ron Ninio, whose crime drama Kvodo was remade for Showtime as Your Honor, has signed with CAA for worldwide representation.

A collective of Afro-German filmmakers and industry professionals have published an open letter raising concerns about what they have described as the selection of anti-Black films at the recent Berlin Film Festival.

French director Catherine Corsini and her producer Elisabeth Perez have published an open letter denying wrongdoing on the set of upcoming Cannes Palme d’Or contender Le Retour.

The editor of a German magazine that ran an “interview” with former Formula One champion Michael Schumacher – including quotes generated by artificial intelligence – has been sacked.

Any guesses on what film will close the 2023 Cannes Film Festival? How about the upcoming Disney/Pixar movie “Elemental“? If that sounds outlandish, remember that the festival has picked three other Pixar movies over the years: “Up,” “Inside Out,” and “Soul,” respectively. READ MORE: ‘Elemental’ Trailer: Fire & Water Don’t Mix Well In Pixar’s New Animated Film Even then, given the overall critical reception to the past three Pixar releases, including last year’s misfire “Lightyear,” it feels strange for the animation studio to return to Cannes, much less provide the fest’s final film.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French director Catherine Corsini was meant to be the seventh female director in competition at the 72nd edition of Cannes with her film “Le Retour” (The Return). But her competition slot is on hold for now after news broke about several alleged inappropriate incidents during filming. The night before the press conference on April 13, Cannes chief Thierry Fremaux confirmed to the director that she would have a competition slot, but shortly before the start of the announcement, the festival’s administration board decided to hold off on including the title as part of the lineup. The delay came after the board discovered that Corsini was allegedly being accused of harassment by crew members, while other members of the crew had been allegedly been accused of inappropriate acts against two female actors, according to French reports. Fremaux told Variety the “administration board wished to gather more information about the situation around the film before taking a decision on whether to include the film in its Official Selection.”

Ed Meza @edmezavar CJ ENM Sells Remake Rights to hit Korean Drama ‘Train’ to Firebrand Studios The U.K.’s Firebird Studios has acquired remake rights for hit Korean drama “Train” from entertainment giant CJ ENM. “Train” follows a detective investigating his love’s death who discovers a parallel universe, where his late partner is very much alive. Moving back and forth between the two worlds, he tracks down the truth behind her death in one, while protecting her in the other. “With two unforgettable central characters, ‘Train’ is a love story, a detective show, a journey across the multiverse,” said Firebird Pictures CEO Elizabeth Kilgariff. It’s “a story that defies expectations at every turn and one that we can’t wait to re-tell in a British setting.”

EXCLUSIVE: Details are emerging about Wim Wenders’ 3D documentary Anselm, which will gets its world premiere as a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” Thursday, the Academy Award winner took a trip down memory lane with the host while promoting his new film, “Renfield.”While Cage, whose real name is Nicolas Coppola, has some impressive blockbusters under his belt — including “National Treasure,” “Moonstruck,” and “The Rock” — the 59-year-old’s top five is comprised of his lesser-known work.“I’m going to start with ‘Pig’ that is my favorite movie I have ever made,” Cage told Colbert. “I love ‘Mandy,’ the movie that Panos [Cosmatos] directed. I love ‘Bringing Out The Dead’ that Martin Scorsese directed.

EXCLUSIVE: The Match Factory will be handling world sales on Wim Wenders’ Japan-set Cannes Competition entry Perfect Days.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cannes Film Festival’s longtime director Thierry Fremaux sat down with Variety following the announcement of this year’s lineup, which includes a bevy of star-studded period movies, including Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Karim Aïnouz’s “Firebrand” and Jonathan Glazer’s “Zone of Interest.” Along with a raft of politically-minded films, there’s also a record six movies directed by female helmers in competition, including newcomers like Senegalese direcotr Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s feature debut “Banel et Adama.” Fremaux said his only regret this year is to miss out on “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” but he’s keeping high hopes to convince Scorsese to vie for a second Palme d’Or 47 years after winning his first with “Taxi Driver.” He also revealed that as many as two or three movies are expected to be added to the competition next week, after Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week announce their respective lineups.

After a stellar 2022 edition, the Cannes Film Festival is gearing up for its 76th edition next month. Today, Iris Knobloch, President of the Festival de Cannes, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, revealed most of the In Competition, Un Certain Regard, and Out of Competition slates.

Refresh for latest…: While a handful of big-ticket Cannes Film Festival titles have already been revealed, the bulk of the Official Selection for the 76th edition will be unveiled today. General Delegate Thierry Frémaux is announcing the lineup for the May 16-27 event from Paris’ UGC Normandie cinema this morning and we are updating the list live below; you can also watch the livestream here.

Brexit rule changes.“Today we got refused at the UK border for weird reasons,” the band wrote in a Facebook update. “We would have needed a special certificate of sponsorship but no one knew before, not even the venues, promoters, or the German customs authority.”“Brexit bureaucracy??? A post-Brexit nightmare,” they continued, adding that the whole ordeal at the UK border was “humiliating” and “sad”.They elaborated on the reasons behind their denied entry into the UK in another update, saying that the UK authorities expected them to have “a so-called certificate of sponsorship from all seven clubs,” – something which they claim even the organisers were unfamiliar with.“I think I’ve never felt so degraded, sad, and bad as I do today.

Star Wars Celebration is in full swing in London. Yesterday, we got some big updates about new films from James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Daisy Ridley‘s return as Rey for the upcoming movie helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (“Ms.