Yasukawa Yuka Continues Exploration of Women’s Societal Issues in Tokyo Festival’s ‘Nighthawk’

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Torino Film Festival, the pre-eminent event for young directors and indie cinema — now being revamped after going virtual due to the pandemic — will somewhat symbolically kick off its upcoming 39th edition with the international premiere of “Sing 2” with director Garth Jennings in tow.“It’s a hymn to going back into movie theaters,” says Torino artistic director Stefano Francia di Celle on choosing the animated musical comedy, featuring more

Naman Ramachandran Italy’s Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the Oscar, BAFTA and Cannes winning film “Cinema Paradiso,” will preside over the features competition jury at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival (Dec. 6-15).

A cherry blossom tree will be planted in memory of Bay City Rollers singer Les Mckeown in the Meadows.

George Bird Two of the most acclaimed climbing films of the year, Max Lowe’s “Torn” and The Alpinist, from Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen, have taken big awards at this year’s Kendal Mountain Film Festival, held in the U.K.’s Lake District.Its hybrid edition proved once more a dazzling showcase of mountain and sports films whose subjects, themes and emotions went far beyond the adrenalin-rush thrills of reportage.Awards for the festival’s main international film competition were unveiled

EXCLUSIVE: Midas Man, the biopic of Beatles manager Brian Epstein, has hired a new director as it looks to get back into production as soon as possible.

Queen Elizabeth did not attend the Church of England’s national assembly on Tuesday (November 16) as she continues to rest for her health.

Guy Lodge Film CriticFilm festivals have been the primary hatching-ground for Oscar contenders ever since the Academy’s tastes shifted predominantly from studio to independent cinema earlier this century — though in the international feature category, this has been the case for far longer.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Middle East premiere of British director Joe Wright’s dazzling romantic drama “Cyrano” will open the Red Sea Film Festival, which is Saudi Arabia’s first full-fledged film festival and market with international ambitions.The ambitious event, which is a key plank of the kingdom’s plans to diversify its oil-based economy and become a prominent Middle East moviemaking hub – following the 2017 removal of its religion-related ban on cinema – is set to

At least sixteen lawsuits have now been filed in relation to the tragedy that occurred at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas on Friday.

Vera Dreams of the Sea,” Kaltrina Krasniqi’s semi-autobiographical drama about a sign-language interpreter who battles for her rights in an inheritance dispute, was awarded the Tokyo Grand Prix at the closing ceremony of the 34nd Tokyo International Film Festival on Monday.

Three victims of the Astroworld Festival tragedy were identified on Saturday, just one day after the deadly event took place., The family of Brianna Rodriguez, 16, confirmed to PEOPLE that she was one of the eight concertgoers who passed away on the first day of Travis Scott‘s massive two-day outdoor festival at Houston NRG Park. A tribute to her, which revealed she was a high school junior, was posted on Facebook.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIchiyama Shozo returned this year to the Tokyo International Film Festival as its head selector, having for the last twenty years headed the rival Tokyo Filmex event.COVID last year forced the two festivals to put aside their rivalry and to cooperate in the key autumn slot.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaLionsgate swung back into profitable terrain during its most recent fiscal quarter, another sign that the pandemic’s cloud is beginning to lift. But the company also announced that it could soon be slimmed down as it hopes to capitalize on the consolidation in the media space, one that has already seen Amazon agree to buy Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, Discovery announce plans to merge with WarnerMedia, and Disney’s purchase of much of 21st Century Fox.

Katherine Tulich Australian film maker Gabriel Shipton wants his new documentary “Ithaka”, which will have its world premiere at the Sydney Film Festival on Sunday, to shine a new perspective on his brother, the polarizing Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange.“It’s a story that’s never been told before,” Shipton, who produced the film, told Variety. “We’ve learned Julian’s story through media headlines, but I wanted to tell this story through his family.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentFestival Ambassador for this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival, Hashimoto Ai is an inspired choice for the role and not only because she is an A-list actor who has starred in hit TV series (“Amachan”) and worked with internationally acclaimed directors like Nakashima Tetsuya (“Confessions”) and Yoshida Daihachi (“The Kirishima Thing”).She is also a certified film nerd, who has proclaimed her love of everything from 1970s “pink” (softcore adult) classics

Nintendo will not reach its production targets for the Nintendo Switch this fiscal year, missing them by around 20 per cent.According to a new report in Nikkei, as spotted by VGC, the ongoing chip shortage is going to cause the Japanese firm to miss its target by around 20 per cent.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentOne way to help the film industry prepare for the post-COVID future would be to look at lessons from the past, a Monday seminar at TIFFCOM, the market component of the Tokyo International Film Festival, heard.Shiina Yasushi, head of TIFFCOM, said that Japanese film studios faced a similar dilemma with the growth of home video in the 1980s. They managed to counter falling box office revenues by getting into video themselves.

Marta Balaga FAMU graduate Francesco Montagner is following his win at Locarno with another trophy: the title of the best film in Ji.hlava’s Czech Joy section. “Brotherhood” was also noticed for its cinematography courtesy of Prokop Souček, called “one of the best cinematographers of his generation” by the jury. A Nutprodukce production, it was made in co-production with Nefertiti Film and Rai Cinema, Arte G.E.I.E., Czech television and Al Jazeera Documentary.

Kishida Fumio sent a video message on Saturday to the opening ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival.“I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for your ingenuity and dedication in organizing this new type of film festival, a hybrid of the real and online,” Kishida said.Where previous Japanese premiers have trod the red carpet, Kishida’s careful social distancing was in keeping with a low-key ceremony and prevailing anti-COVID conditions.