Vietnam’s First Ho Chi Minh City Int’l Film Festival Wraps With Prizes For ‘The Gospel Of The Beast’, ‘Last Shadow At First Light’

Sheynnis Palacios, the reigning Miss Universe 2023, is causing a stir across Asia. Her most recent adventure? The captivating and culturally diverse Thailand.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Visinema Studios, the family division of leading Indonesian entertainment company Visinema Group, is set to make its debut in live theater with “Keluarga Cemara: The Musical.” “Keluarga Cemara” (aka “Cemara Family”) has previously existed as a classic Indonesian novel about a family facing up to financial hardship, but emerging resilient and optimistic. It has since been adapted as two feature films “Keluarga Cemara” and “Keluarga Cemara 2,” which attracted over two million theatrical admissions, and the recent “Keluarga Cemara: The Series” which played on Disney+ Hotstar Indonesia. The stage show will be presented with cultural institution Galeri Indonesia Kaya and the Teater Musikal Nusantara.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Vietnamese French director and screenwriter Tran Anh Hung has been named as president of the jury for the upcoming Shanghai International Film Festival. The festival, which runs June 14 to 23, said that his works “blend the expressions of Eastern and Western cultures, with sensitivity, delicacy, and a romantic style.” His films include: 1992’s “Scent of the Green Papaya”; 1995’s “Cyclo,” starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai; 2009 English-language thriller “I Come With the Rain,” starring Josh Hartnett; and “The Taste of Things,” which earned him the best director prize at Cannes last year. The jury president role marks a return and a promotion for the director. He was previously on the Shanghai festival’s jury in 2011, when he also screened his “Norwegian Wood.” SM Cinema, the largest exhibitor in the Philippines, is to open giant screen Imax cinemas in three new venues.

Greta Gerwig has her jury. This evening, the Cannes Film Festival revealed the rest of the nine-member jury filled with festival veterans and Academy members.

NEW YORK — Dan Rather returned to the CBS News airwaves for the first time since his bitter exit 18 years ago, appearing in a reflective interview on “CBS Sunday Morning” days before the debut of a Netflix documentary on the 92-year-old newsman’s life.After 44 years at the network, 24 as anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” Rather left under a cloud following a botched investigation into then-President George W. Bush’s military record.

Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated documentary Four Daughters and Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s Lupita Nyong’o-EPed drama Goodbye Julia lead the nominations in the eighth edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films.

ZEROBASEONE have dropped the music video for their new single, ‘Sweat’, a cut off their upcoming mini-album, ‘You Had Me At Hello’.In the music video for ‘Sweat’, the members of ZEROBASEONE perform the song and its energetic choreography on a stage that’s right in the middle of a water park. Footage of the members by the pool, enjoying the summer heat are also featured in the clip.“Oh baby I’ll make you sweat, sweat, sweat, sweat, sweat / You toward me, burn it up / With your touch, turn it up / Oh baby I wanna sway, sway, sway, sway, sway / Me toward you, dive into you / Following me, like this everyday,” they belt on the chorus.‘Sweat’ will appear on their upcoming mini-album ‘You Had Me At Hello’, which is set to drop in full on May 13 at 6pm KST.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Epic war-time survival tale “The Guns of Muschu” has already assembled a weighty cast ahead of a production start in the first quarter of 2025. The film is an adaptation of the non-fiction book “The Guns of Muschu,” written by Don Dennis, with an adapted screenplay by Tom Broadhurst and Jack Brislee (“Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan”). The narrative brings to life a pivotal chapter of Australian war history with gritty authenticity, recounting the high body count Operation Copper, a mission during WWII when Australian and New Zealand troops were sent into the jungles of Papua New Guinea. The objective of the mission was to investigate the Japanese defenses on Muschu Island, capture a Japanese officer for interrogation and discover the location of two naval guns on the island that were protecting a harbor.

The White Lotus season three is being filmed in Thailand, and fans are anxious to know if any past stars will be making surprise appearances in the upcoming episodes.

EXCLUSIVE: Pocket.watch, and Sunlight Entertainment, the Kaji family owned production studio, are partnering with theatrical distributor, Falling Forward Films, to extend the domestic theatrical release of Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure. Directed by Albie Hecht and produced by Shion Kaji and Loann Kaji, with executive production by Chris M. Williams, the film is slated to premiere on over 2,100 screens on Friday, August 16th, 2024.

Actor Mohammed Elshehri belongs to a generation of emerging Saudi talents who first cut their teeth on YouTube and are now making their names in film and TV.

Just over six years have passed since Saudi Arabia announced the lifting of its 35-year cinema ban as part of a strategy to open up the country and move its economy away from a reliance on oil.

After wrapping its inaugural edition, the Ho Chi Minh Film Festival (HIFF) has set its sights on becoming the largest film festival in Southeast Asia.

Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation studio co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki, will be feted with the Honorary Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. This marks the first time Cannes has handed its Honorary Palme d’Or to a collective. 

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Studio Ghibli, the animation studio behind “My Neighbor Totoro” and the Oscar-winning animated feature “The Boy and the Heron,” is being awarded an Honorary Palme d’Or at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival. It marks the first time that the award will be given to a group.

Led by Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Warner Bros has crossed the $1B mark at the international box office, becoming the first studio to reach the milestone this year. Getting there in just 15 weeks, this also sets a new speed record for WB, besting the 17 weeks it took in 2018. The full international estimate through today is $1.04B.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Netflix has acquired “Rather,” the documentary about veteran journalist Dan Rather‘s landmark career in news. The film, which premieres April 24 on the streamer, utilizes the story of of Rather’s life on television to also explore the evolution of broadcast journalism, the troubles a free press now faces, along with the slide of American society from hard-fought advances in social justice and democratic freedoms.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia has landed its first film in the Cannes Film Festival official selection with “Norah,” a drama by pioneering director Tawfik Alzaidi set in 1990s Saudi, when conservatism was at its height and all forms of art and painting were banned for religion-related reasons. “Norah,” which premiered locally in December at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, will be launching internationally from Cannes’ prestigious Un Certain Regard section, marking the first Saudi film to screen in Cannes and becoming a symbol of the kingdom’s rapidly growing moviemaking ambitions since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinema in 2017.

Un Certain Regard title “Việt and Nam” by Vietnamese auteur Trương Minh Quý. Shot on 16mm stock, the film is a drama about two young miners who must complete a mission before fate pulls them apart. “In the depths of the underground coal mines, where danger awaits and darkness prevails, Nam and Việt, both young miners, cherish fleeting moments, knowing that one of them will soon leave for a new life across the sea.

Christian Nodal and Cazzu are basking in the happiness of parenthood with their daughter, Inti. Since becoming first-time parents, the family has been experiencing many “firsts” together. Most recently, they introduced Inti to the ocean.