‘Woman King’ Director Gina Prince-Bythewood and ‘Triangle of Sadness’ Star Dolly De Leon Among Middleburg Film Festival Honorees

Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age drama The Fabelmans has been announced as the opening film of 44th Cairo International Film Festival, running from November 13 to 22.

Clayton Davis J.D. Dillard’s “Devotion” was announced as the Audience Award winner for best narrative film following the conclusion of the Middleburg Film Festival. The Sony Pictures historical drama, which stars Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell, was a heavy favorite from patrons and could be a quiet dark horse contender in the Oscar race. Dillard and actor Christina Jackson were both in attendance in Virginia for a post-screening Q&A. Written by Jake Crane and Jonathan Stewart, the film is based on Adam Makos’ novel and tells the inspirational, true story of two elite U.S. Navy fighter pilots who fought in the Korean War in the 1950s. “We were honored to have these filmmakers join us at the festival to present their exceptional films to our audiences and engage in thoughtful conversations,” said Susan Koch, MFF executive director.

Lise Pedersen U.S. film writer and director James Gray (“Little Odessa”, “Two Lovers”, “The Immigrant”, “Armageddon Time”) drew several laugh-out-loud moments from a packed theatre during a masterclass at the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon.   In a disarmingly honest conversation laced with humorous self-deprecation, the Venice Silver Lion Winner (“Little Odessa”, 1994) opened up about his love of cinema and the ups and downs of his career.  Speaking about the highly autobiographical nature of his new film, “Armageddon Time”, a deeply personal look at his Queens childhood in 1980s America, Gray explained that it was a natural evolution after his two previous films, “The Lost City of Z”, which is partly set in the Amazon and left him physically exhausted, and “Ad Astra.”  

Andrea Iervolino’s Social Media App TaTaTu Lists On Euronext

Austrian filmmaker Marie Kreutzer clinched the best film award in the main Official Competition of the 66th London Film Festival with her latest feature Corsage, starring Vicky Krieps.

Is there a better way to prove the virtue of the cinematic experience than to get 5,000 people on their feet giving a film a standing ovation?  Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Fremaux did just that on the opening night of his 14th Lumière Film Festival in Lyon with Louis Garrel’s romantic comedy “The Innocent.”  The movie played in the jam-packed Halle Tony Garnier before a star-studded crowd, including Garrel and his cast, Noémie Merlant and Roschdy Zem, as well as Sebastián Lelio, Costa Gavras, Leila Bekhti, Marina Fois, Lee Chang-dong, Nicole Garcia, Sabine Azema and Damien Bonnard. 

Clayton Davis Director Gina Prince-Bythewood knows you can’t win an argument on Twitter. That’s why she stays off social media platforms and chose not to engage with users that were attacking her, and the filmmakers from her box office hit “The Woman King” for taking license in its depiction of the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries, and its role in the slave trade. “There was an absolute assumption we weren’t dealing with it,” Prince-Bythewood says. “So much of the argument is based on bad facts. So, what the ‘Wikipedia historians’ are parroting is history written from the wrong point of view.” Listen below:

While your future planning probably only extends to Thanksgiving, the Sundance Film Festival is already thinking ahead to January, the 2023 edition of their festival. Today,  the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the first two films in the lineup for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and they are the 25th Anniversary and digital restoration screening of “SLAM” and the uncensored director’s cut and restoration of “The Doom Generation.” Directed by Marc Levin and written by Levin, Saul Williams, Sonja Sohn, and Richard Stratton, “SLAM” was first introduced to audiences at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered in the U.S.

Japanese director Naomi Kawase will preside over the international jury of the 44th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival, running November 13 to 22.

Naman Ramachandran Oscar and Venice-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (“Citizenfour,” “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”) and fellow filmmakers Georgia Oakley (“Blue Jean”), Roberto Minervini (“What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?”) and Ondi Timoner (“Last Flight Home”) were among those who protested against the imprisonment of Iranian filmmakers and other incarcerated artists around the world, and to demonstrate support for the tenacious women of Iran who are challenging for their freedom at the BFI London Film Festival on Monday. They joined festival director Tricia Tuttle, producer Madeleine Molyneaux (“Gospel Hill”); actors Aurélia Petit (“Saint Omer”) and Taki Mumladze (“A Room of My Own”); actor and writer Mariam Khundadze (“To Batumi and every single memory”); writer Morgan M. Page (“Framing Agnes”); industry leaders Tabitha Jackson, Clare Binns and Jason Wood; and other festival delegates in a moment of solidarity and reflection.

Nick Clement Celebrating its 10th year as a major east coast destination for cinema lovers, the Middleburg Film Festival, held in scenic Middleburg, Virginia from October 13th to 16th, continues to highlight an outstanding selection of titles while presenting informative special events and forums. “We’re extremely excited because this year is a true milestone, and it’s a chance to celebrate how far we’ve come as a group, and to celebrate all of the filmmakers who have helped to make the festival a success. We cater to true cinephiles, so it’s not unusual for people to see 10 films over the course of the weekend. And because the festival draws a great mix of Washington DC influencers and people in the film industry, there’s lots of tremendous insight being shared before and after screenings,” says Susan Koch, Executive Director.

Italian producer Lorenzo Mieli gave a spirited and often humorous rundown of his career as a producer working with directors such as Luca Guadagnino and Paolo Sorrentino during a keynote talk at the London Film Festival Monday.

The strengths and possibilities of cinematic language were heavy on Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s mind as he sat down for a keynote ‘screen talk’ at the London Film Festival on Sunday afternoon.

K.J. Yossman “White Noise” director Noah Baumbach spoke about his career highlights – and low points – as well as his creative partnership with Greta Gerwig during the BFI London Film Festival on Friday afternoon (Oct. 7). Asked about the eight-year gap between making “Mr. Jealousy” and “The Squid and the Whale,” Baumbach quipped: “I thought, you know what? I really needed about eight years off.” “No, it wasn’t by design, it was by accident,” he quickly clarified. “I sort of had two careers in a way. I had this early career very quickly and I was really figuring it all out as I was doing it. I had never really been on a movie set before I made ‘Kicking and Screaming.’ But I had this sense of how a movie should be and what I wanted a movie to be. And then after ‘Mr. Jealousy’ [the way] I experienced it at the time is that I was having trouble getting things made. I think, also, I didn’t really know what I wanted to make. And I think maybe, in some ways, my ambitions sort of exceeded my ability.”

Emma Thompson, Stephen Graham, and Lashana Lynch passed through the London Film Festival on Wednesday, where they discussed their new film Matilda The Musical, directed by Matthew Warchus.

Ed Meza @edmezavar In Leni Lauritsch’s gritty sci-fi thriller “Rubikon,” the final frontier could well be humankind’s last refuge. The film, which stars Julia Franz Richter, Georg Blagden (“Versailles”) and Mark Ivanir, screens in the Zurich Film Festival’s Focus Competition. Set in a dark future in which a polluted and barely sustainable Earth is plagued by corporate armies battling for depleting resources as the wealthy live in air domes that protect them from the contaminated atmosphere, the story centers on three astronauts aboard the space station Rubikon, where scientists have developed a possible means of survival, a sustainable algae project to provide oxygen and food.

Marta Balaga Laura Mora’s “The Kings of the World” was named Best Film at Zurich Film Festival. The jury, presided over by Asghar Farhadi and featuring Clio Barnard, Daniel Dreifuss, Petra Volpe and Piodor Gustafsson, was taken with the coming-of-age drama about young friends living on the streets of Medellín, one that has triumphed at San Sebastian as well. Film Factory Entertainment handles sales. “I am so happy the jury voted for it. I am convinced this film will stand the test of time,” artistic director Christian Jungen told Variety. “It shows that film can be an art form, but it also provides social criticism on the situation in Colombia. Where poor, regular people can’t easily access their rights.”

Michaela Zee editor Ron Howard will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Directing at the 25th annual SCAD Savannah Film Festival on Sunday, Oct. 23. Recently, Howard directed and produced the biographical survival feature, “Thirteen Lives,” starring Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell and Joel Edgerton. Based on the Tham Luang cave rescue in 2018, the film revolves around a team of divers and their mission to rescue twelve boys and the coach of a Thai soccer team who are trapped in a system of underground caves. “Thirteen Lives” will be screened at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, followed by an in-person conversation with Howard about his career.

Erykah Badu has announced a pair of shows at London’s Royal Festival Hall to celebrate 25 years of her debut album ‘Baduizm’.The US singer-songwriter will perform at the Southbank Centre hall on Saturday, November 5 and Sunday, November 6. Tickets go on general sale this Thursday (September 29) at 10am BST here.Badu’s two shows are her only UK dates scheduled for the remainder of the year.