When David Kaplan, the New York-based producer of Beth de Araújo’s Sundance prizewinning “Josephine,” arrived at the fireside chat hosted by European Film Market on Sunday afternoon, he sounded like he’d been working across different time zones, which, by all accounts, he has.
“Pulp Fiction” co-writer Roger Avary recently told the “Joe Rogan Experience” that it was “impossible” for him to get his movies made through “traditional” means. But after launching his AI production banner General Cinema Dynamics, he now has three features in production. “I
In the last decade, I’ve occasionally written pieces that compared what’s happening in the world — specifically, in the Trump presidency — to something we’re used to seeing on the big screen. Eight months into his first term, I wrote a column entitled “Donald Trump’s
The 2026 NBA All-Star Game has the best of the best players in the NBA, such as LeBron James, Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic, Cade Cunningham, Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Edwards and many others. The pro basketball game takes place at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on
David Kaplan, the Brooklyn-based independent producer whose latest film, “Josephine,” won a pair of awards at Sundance and will next compete at the Berlinale, has set his next ambitious project, “Triumph of the Will,” with a cast led by Shira Haas (“Unorthodox”). Currently in
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi's new movie is tipped to win the Valentine's Day/Presidents Day weekend in North America, but Sony Animation and Stephen Curry's 'GOAT' is gaining ground far too quickly for comfort.
A clear sign that the world has gone topsy-turvy is when the Grammys are more political than the Berlinale. But while anti-ICE pins and punchy statements were the surprise headline act in L.A. earlier this month, over in Berlin, historically an event where politics has played
“Wuthering Heights” was No. 1 at the global box office with $82 million, ranking as the top worldwide debut of the year. Those ticket sales include a better-than-expected $42 million internationally from 76 territories as well as $40 million over the four-day domestic debut.
From Pablo Larraín’s “Jackie,” “Spencer” and “Maria” to Sebastián Lelio’s Oscar-winning “A Fantastic Woman,” Chile has built its international reputation on auteur-driven cinema. At the 2026 Berlin International Film Festival, however, the country is drawing just as much
While jumping through the hoops of her first U.S. awards season two years ago for “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest,” it must have amused Sandra Hüller to be labeled a “breakthrough performer” — as if the “Toni Erdmann” star hadn’t repeatedly proven herself one of
First Look, the works-in-progress program of Locarno Pro, will turn its focus to Uruguay during the 79th Locarno Film Festival (Aug. 5–15). Established as a premier post-production showcase for international arthouse cinema, the initiative offers producers a strategic platform
“Dark Winds” star Zahn McClarnon gratefully accepts a black raspberry Italian ice in a blazing hot New Mexico parking lot. McClarnon, who plays Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn on the AMC+ series, is previewing for a visiting reporter what’s in store for Season 4, which premieres Feb.
The veteran Indonesian filmmaker returns to the Berlin International Film Festival with a socially conscious horror flick set in a wig factory.
Sam Pollard's documentary on Archbishop Desmond Tutu premieres in Berlin on Monday.
Tom Morello discussed the inherently political nature of his directorial debut “The Ballad of Judas Priest” at its Berlin Film Festival press conference, saying that the band is a model for “how we all can do better.” When asked to weigh in on the conversation surrounding
“Wuthering Heights,” a steamy romantic drama starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, is heating up the box office over Valentine’s Day weekend. The R-rated film has debuted to $34.8 million from 3,682 North American theaters and is projected to earn $40 million through
How do you justify the unjustifiable? How do you get to the point where you feel morally in the right while you slaughter unarmed men, women and children? These are the questions director Emin Alper seeks to explore in “Salvation,” a film notionally about the longtail fallout
Co-founder Wieland Speck shares insight into the past and future of the award whose winners have included Pedro Almodóvar, Todd Haynes, Tilda Swinton, Derek Jarman, Céline Sciamma, Christine Vachon, Gus Van Sant, John Hurt, and Sophie Hyde.
Projeto Paradiso, a philanthropic initiative supporting the Brazilian film sector from the Olga Rabinovich Institute, has selected the buzzy Brazilian film capital of Recife as the location for its third Paradiso Talent Network national meeting in April. Recife has skyrocketed
Turkish writer/director Emin Alper – who was at the Berlinale in 2019 with “A Tale of Three Sisters,” followed by his incendiary 2022 Cannes entry “Burning Days” – is back in Berlin with timely drama “Salvation” that delves, he says, into the dynamics of contemporary “mass
The blockbuster director pivots to indie filmmaking for a Berlin-premiering sci-fi comedy about artificial intelligence, creative survival and why “women will save the world.”
The first image from “The Idiot(s),” directed by Małgorzata Szumowska, who has twice won the Berlinale’s Silver Bear, and Michał Englert, has been released. “The Idiot(s)” stars “White Lotus” breakout Aimee Lou Wood, Johnny Flynn, who is in Berlin with “A Prayer for the Dying,”
Johnny Knoxville and Jason Flemying are starring in two new thrillers from Vienna-based Pont Pictures that are slated to film in Serbia this year. Knoxville is toplining the psychological thriller “Night Sessions,” based a script by American writer Christopher Beachum that Pont
Austria continues to entice international film, TV and streaming productions with targeted funding, diverse locations and impressive infrastructure, despite the slashing of a key incentive that has rattled the local industry. The country’s film funding programs, while reduced,
The Doha Film Institute has recruited Mexican multi-hyphenates Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, Venice prizewinner Alice Diop, Moroccan auteur Faouzi Bensaïdi, and Oscar-winning composer and producer Gustavo Santaolalla to hold onstage conversations and act as mentors during
Variety is exclusively unveiling a new clip from “Light Pillar,” the feature debut from Chinese writer-director Xu Zao, which is in the Berlin Film Festival’s Perspectives section. Dubai-based company Cercamon recently acquired worldwide sales rights to the production, which
Taiwanese prison drama “Sunshine Women’s Choir” has become the highest-grossing local film in Taiwan’s box-office history, surpassing NT$545 million ($17.3 million) on Feb. 14 and dethroning the previous record-holder “Cape No. 7” (2008). The drama follows a baby girl born
Berlin’s EFM Animation Days industry showcase presented a selection of eight German animation projects on Friday in a lively pitching session that offered a wide range of family-friendly and darker, adult-themed fare. Projects included modern twists on such classics as Robert
Spain’s muscular presence at this year’s Berlinale and European Film Market was bolstered on Saturday with an inaugural presentation and networking event organized by the Madrid Audiovisual Cluster in collaboration with the Madrid Film Office and Film Madrid Region. The
Hanna Bergholm’s Finnish chiller “Nightborn” shook up Berlinale’s competition, with some viewers laughing during its violent scenes. But its star, Seidi Haarla, isn’t laughing. “We were dead serious while making it,” she tells Variety. Haarla plays Saga, who moves with her
“Between a mother-tree and a young seed at the same time” is how Brazilian director Priscilla Kellen felt as she became a mother at 36. A very free and independent woman until then, it was this pregnancy and birth that shaped what would become “Papaya”, Kellen’s feature
Sebastian Brameshuber discusses his Panorama title, his own experience with shared rides, bringing together people in a studio for free-flowing conversations, and not shying away from emotions.
Emma Laird recalls a moment — not all that long ago — when she was stood on the rooftop of her apartment in Los Angeles, looking out across a picture-postcard sunset skyline and smoking a cigarette. “It was so cinematic,” she says. “And I was crying my eyes out.” The Brit had
While 'Iron Sky' told a “story of Nazis hiding on the dark side of the Moon,” the new films “shift the battleground to Mars, where the Red Menace is alive and well.”
The Berlin Film Festival has issued a lengthy statement from head Tricia Tuttle over what it describes as a “media storm” that has swept over the festival. The note — sent out late on Saturday night — comes following criticism faced by multiple attendees over the comments about
Sam Worthington and Taiwanese actress Ke-Xi Wu strike a tense note in the evocative first look at the expat thriller, which co-stars David Duchovny and is now being shopped to buyers at Berlin’s European Film Market.
Agnis Shen Zhongmin’s debut feature, “Shanghai Daughter,” approaches China’s Down to the Countryside Movement through an unconventional lens, treating the southwestern rubber plantations where her late father was sent during the Cultural Revolution as what she calls “a
Sales outfit Reinvent Yellow has closed deals in several territories for adventure-family film “Rocky the Troll,” which it is selling at the European Film Market in Berlin. It is produced by the team behind “Troll” (2022), the most watched non-English-language film on Netflix.
From teen breakout to seasoned leading man, the British actor returns to the Berlinale with a competition film that echoes the emotional themes of his early work.
Veteran producer Bill Kong is bringing four commercial titles to the European Film Market through his Edko Films banner as Hong Kong makes a strong showing at the 2026 Berlin Film Festival with Singapore-Hong Kong-China co-production “Panda” selected for the Forum section.
Chinese and Greater China cinema have a significant presence at the 2026 Berlin Film Festival and European Film Market, with multiple official selections and several market premieres being introduced to international buyers. Hong Kong-based Golden Network Asia is bringing
'The Studio,' 'Palm Royale,' 'Saturday Night Live' and 'Skeleton Crew' were the top winners in the TV categories at the ceremony that also recognized Amy Madigan, Michael Johnston and Greg Nelson and Judy Alexandra Cory with honorary awards.
“Sinners,” “Frankenstein” and “One Battle After Another” took home the top prizes in the Feature Motion Pictures categories at the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild (IATSE Local 706) Awards. “One Battle After Another” took home two awards winning best contemporary make-up
Shudder has secured North American rights to “Hellcat,” a psychological horror thriller that marks the feature directorial debut of Brock Bodell, Blue Finch Films revealed at Berlin’s European Film Market. The streamer plans to release the film later this year following its
Turkish cinema, despite being held back by economic and political constraints, looks poised for a global breakthrough this year. Its milestone Berlin 2026 contingent — comprising three feature film premieres, two of which are competing for the Golden Bear — kicks off the
Catherine Laga’aia, who is set to make her breakout as the titular character in Disney’s upcoming live-action “Moana,” has been tapped to lead the Australian Gen-Z thriller “Crashout.” Deadhouse Films unveiled the casting for the project at Berlin’s European Film Market. The
Since arriving on the world cinema stage with the deeply personal docudrama “Bye Bye Africa” (1999), Chadian auteur Mahamat-Saleh Haroun has been at the forefront of a generation of filmmakers who have landed African cinema squarely on the map. Despite emigrating to France in
Paramount Skydance accused ByteDance of engaging in “blatant infringement” of its intellectual property with its Seedance video and Seedream image generative AI platforms, alleging the Chinese internet giant is illegally ripping off IP including “South Park,” “Star Trek,” “The
Rafael Manuel spent seven or eight years developing “Filipinana,” his debut feature about a teenage girl working at an elite Manila country club — years before HBO’s “The White Lotus” turned the luxury resort satire into prestige television gold. “I get the comparisons, of
Urban Sales has closed a raft of deals on “The Doll” (“La Poupée Vertigo”), a French romantic comedy starring Vincent Macaigne (“Maria”), Cécile de France (“The New Pope”) and Zoé Marchal (“Overdose”). Sophie Beaulieu’s debut feature, “The Doll” is one of the many romantic
