News

Daisy Ridley is going from Star Wars to soccer stardom in her latest gig.

The actress has signed on to narrate We Were There, an eight-part doc series about the controversial 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar from the country’s Supreme Committee, UK indie Noah Media Group and Host Broadcast Services (Hbs).

The doc, which runs to eight half-hours, claims it will go “beyond the headlines” and explore “the remarkable human stories from the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.” Luke Mellows is the director, Noah’s Tarun Thind is the producer and the executive producer is Richard Makinson. Noah’s Head of International Sales, Catherine Quantschnigg, is handling the global sales.

According to the producers, it will follow ‘key protagonists from a remarkable tournament, both on and off the field,” with each episode a “mini documentary with a multi-layered narrative which...

“Star Wars” alum Daisy Ridley is set to narrate “We Were There,” a newly-announced doc series set to explore what are described as the “remarkable human stories” from the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The series — which was announced by both FIFA and Qatar’s supreme committee, the government body that was set up to help deliver the World Cup — is being co-produced by Noah Media Group and Hbs, and will be available worldwide as an 8-part series of 30-minute episodes centred around key protagonists from the tournament, both on and off the field.

As well as telling the story of the tournament, each episode is constructed as a mini documentary with a narrative which establishes the backstory of the lead characters and discovers their journey to Qatar, witnessing key matches through their eyes. Among the contributors are several members of the winning Argentina team, including coach Lionel Scaloni, goalkeeper...

Biopics about musical artists seem to be pumped out without much consideration of whether or not the artist in question has a story that’s really worth telling. But Giwar “Xatar” Hajabi, a Kurdish rapper famous in Germany, has a genuinely extraordinary life story, having gone from an Iranian refugee who spent time as a child in a Bagdad prison to a gangster to a highly successful artist and businessman. It’s the type of rags-to-riches ascent that you couldn’t script better — which makes it a shame that the thoroughly mediocre “Rhinegold” can’t shape Habaji’s life into anything particularly engaging.

“Rhinegold” comes from director Fatih Akin, a Golden Bear winner for his 2004 breakout film “Head-On,” whose other achievements include a Best Screenplay prize for 2007’s “The Edge of Heaven” and a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film for 2017’s “In the Fade.” Despite Akin’s obvious pedigree...

Fatih Akin’s WWII coming-of-age tale Amrum has begun shooting in Hamburg with newcomer Jasper Billerbeck joining German stars Laura Tonke and Diane Kruger in the cast.

The feature, which was first announced in 2022, is set on Germany’s North Sea island of Amrum in the spring of 1945, in the final days of World War Two.

It revolves around a 12-year-old boy called Nanning who goes seal hunting, fishing at night and toils in the fields to help his mother feed the family. When peace is declared, completely new conflicts arise, and Nanning must learn to find his own way.

The screenplay is based on the childhood memories of German director and screenwriter Hark Bohm, a long-standing friend of Akin.

The pair previously collaborated on the screenplay of Turkish-German director Akin’s award-winning 2017 feature In The Fade.

“What began as a Hark Bohm film now becomes my twelfth feature film...

Beta Cinema is launching international sales in Cannes for director Fatih Akin’s upcoming film “Amrum,” which starts shooting in Hamburg Monday. The film stars Jasper Billerbeck, Laura Tonke and Diane Kruger.

“Amrum” will be released in German theaters in September 2025, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

It is set on the island of Amrum in spring 1945. Seal hunting, fishing at night, toiling in the fields – nothing is too dangerous or too arduous for 12-year-old Nanning to help his mother feed the family in the final days of World War II. With the longed-for peace, however, completely new conflicts arise, and Nanning must learn to find his own way.

The story is based on the childhood memories of German director and screenwriter Hark Bohm. Akin said: “What began as a Hark Bohm film now becomes my 12th feature film and an extraordinary mission: ‘Amrum’ is the journey of young Nanning, who...

If a silly golf tournament and exhibition tennis were not your thing, can Netflix interest you in Mike Tyson boxing Jake Paul live? Yes, yes, it can.

The streamer will host the fight on Saturday, July 20, 2024 from the 80,000-seat capacity AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. Someone copyright “Malice in Dallas” — quick.

Tyson’s professional record is 50-6 with 44 KOs, Paul’s is 9-1 with 6 Kos. There is quite a significant age difference between the two: Tyson is 57 and Paul is 27. Good luck handicapping this one, sportsbooks.

Paul recently knocked-out a pair of professional boxers and Golden Glove winners: Ryan Bourland this past Saturday, March 2, and Andre August in December 2023.

Tyson has earned every letter in his “Baddest Man on the Planet” moniker. At 20, Tyson was the youngest heavyweight champion ever when he ratted off 37 consecutive victories, 33 of them by Ko, with many...

The Match Factory has acquired the international rights to the recently remastered 4K version of Fatih Akin’s 2005 documentary “Crossing the Bridge — The Sound of Istanbul.” The film is celebrating its new restored version with the premiere tomorrow at Red Sea Film Festival.

In the film, Akin goes on a journey through Istanbul, the city that bridges Europe and Asia, and challenges familiar notions of East and West. His voyage led to the discovery of a broad spectrum of music ranging from modern electronic, rock and hip-hop to classical “Arabesque.”

“Crossing the Bridge – The Sound of Istanbul” is a crossover experience of both traditional and modern music where East meets West in the bustling Bosporus metropolis. The documentary is a significant component of Akin’s filmography with a mix of Turkish culture, German background and a good pinch of music and lifestyle.

“This restored documentation can serve as a reminder of what was lost.

Remastered 4K version is premiering tomorrow at Red Sea International Film Festival

The Match Factory has acquired the international rights to the recently remastered 4K version of Fatih Akin’s Crossing The Bridge - The Sound Of Istanbul (2005).

The documentary’s restored version is premiering tomorrow (December 2) at Red Sea International Film Festival.

It sees Akin goes on a journey through Istanbul’s music scene, discovering a broad spectrum ranging from modern electronic, rock and hip-hop to classical “Arabesque”.

“This restored documentation can serve as a reminder of what was lost. It gives a precise portrait of a momentum of two decades ago in Turkey.

The Match Factory has acquired international rights to the newly restored 4K version of Fatih Akin’s documentary Crossing The Bridge: The Sound Of Istanbul ahead of its retrospective screening at the Red Sea International Film Festival.

The film, which originally played Out Of Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005, goes on a journey through Istanbul, exploring its position as a city that bridges Europe and Asia through its music.

The crowd-pleasing work, which won Audience Award at the music-focused Ghent International Film Festival in 2005, brings in a wide spectrum of music from modern electronic, rock and hip-hop to classical “Arabesque.”

The documentary is considered a significant component of Akin’s filmography, which is infused with his Turkish roots and German upbringing.

“This restored documentation can serve as a reminder of what was lost. It gives a precise portrait of a momentum of two decades ago in Turkey. The...

While there’s plenty to be said and appreciated about cozy, comforting horror that offers catharsis, the genre’s ultimate aim is to terrify, shock, and even repulse. Of course, there is no shortage of ways that filmmakers accomplish this, frequently through gore, violence, and potent scare tactics, but transgressive horror is in a league of its own.

More than just gore, transgressive horror films revel in the taboo. Transgressive horror shatters cultural norms and seeks to explore beyond the boundaries of taste and social sensibilities, challenging viewers with shocking and sacrilegious imagery and themes. And yet, it’s not solely for shock value; transgressive horror has more on its mind than simply gore and depictions of depravity. There’s a purpose behind the pain. This week’s streaming picks are for the seekers of extreme cinema, unafraid to test their limits.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

Sacha Jenkins and Raquel Cepeda’s Resurgent Pictures has partnered with Imagine Documentaries to develop and co-produce film, television and documentaries.

The partnership with the nonfiction division of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment and Resurgent Pictures is a multi-year agreement.

Headed by Sara Bernstein, Imagine Documentaries recently co-produced Jenkins’ “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues.” The Apple TV+ docu, which debuted at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival in 2022, explores the life and art of the legendary jazz performer.

“We’ve had an empowering experience with Imagine and are delighted to be working with them on future projects,” Jenkins and Cepeda said in a joint statement. “We believe our companies share a commitment to pushing the boundaries of storytelling, and this collaboration will amplify our creative capabilities. Having their support is just killer.”

Jenkins and Cepeda, who are married, launched Resurgent Pictures in 2022 as a boutique production company that develops and produces documentary,...

The founders are producers Roshanak “Rosh” Khodabakhsh and Jorgo Narje.

Netflix and Amazon Studios are among the backers of a new German programme entitled NewMotion to promote greater diversity in the nation’s film industry. It was officially launched at the Explorer Conference at Filmfest Hamburg this month.

The programme is the brainchild of producers Roshanak “Rosh” Khodabakhsh (Port au Prince Film und Kultur Produktion) and Jorgo Narjes (X Filme Creative Pool) in cooperation with the Producers Alliance Initiative for Qualification (Paiq).

“A central element of this initiative is a shadowing programme giving on-the-job training where you follow one person...

It’s easy to take the underrated Matt Damon for granted. For one thing, he looks like he could be the assistant manager of your local Ralphs. He’s neither particularly handsome nor bad looking. He also has a habit, in life and on screen, of rarely calling attention to himself. So it’s easy to miss him. You know he’s there, you know he’s good, but you’re still not necessarily going to single him out for a rave. Why? Because he’s perhaps even more of an everyman than the guy we’ve come to attach to the term, Tom Hanks. Yes, all Damon does is put his head down and turn in sterling work. Every. Single. Time.

Typically, few people are talking about Damon being a serious Oscar contender in 2024. But he’s got a decent shot all the same – two of them, in fact.

Markus Lynn Betts better known as Mookie Betts was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 2011 MLB Draft. He was a member of the team in 2018 when the Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Two years later, he was traded to the Dodgers and won a World Series with that club the same year. The outfielder has also made several All-Star appearances and won multiple Golden Glove and Silver Slugger awards.

With all the success he’s had on both coasts fans from all over want to know more about his life off the field. Here’s more about Betts’ wife, Brianna Hammonds, and their family.

Mookie Betts and his wife, Brianna Hammonds, attend the ESPYs | Momodu Mansaray/WireImage How Betts and Hammonds met each other

While some athletes met their significant others in college or even high school, not too many are middle school...

Kozhikode, April 19 (Ians) Atk Mohun Bagan’s highly forgettable Super Cup 2023 campaign ended on an even more sour note when they went down 0-1 to Fc Goa in their concluding Group C match at the Ems Corporation Stadium.

Syrian recruit Fares Al Arnaout scored the only goal of the match in the 88th minute.

It was a match of no consequence, as Jamshedpur Fc have already qualified for the semi-finals from this group. While Jamshedpur finished with nine points from three wins, Fc Goa found second place with six points. Atk Mohun Bagan are placed third with three points.

Atk Mohun Bagan head coach Juan Ferrando rested some of his front-ranking players from the starting line-up, including creative midfielder Hugo Boumous and captain Pritam Kotal. Lalrinliana Hnamte was given his first start in the competition. Fc Goa head coach, Carlos Pena, rested Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem and gave young custodian Arshdeep Singh his first start.

Like many film fans, Tessa Thompson first noticed her “Creed III” co-star Jonathan Majors during the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, when he co-starred in Joe Talbot’s luminous feature debut “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” alongside Jimmie Fails. She was taken with him from the start, and eager to work with the rising star.

Four years later, she got her wish. The pair star (alongside director Michael B. Jordan) in “Creed III,” which returns Thompson to the role of Bianca Creed and introduces Majors as an old friend of Jordan’s Adonis Creed, the fierce former Golden Glove champ Dame Anderson. For Thompson, it’s a full circle moment.

“I’ve been a fan of his from afar. I was at Sundance the year that his film, ‘The Last Black Man in San Francisco,’ premiered, and it was the first time I got to see his work and just thought he was so tremendous,...

The German-based distribution and production company Port au Prince Film And Kultur Produktion has hired Roshanak “Rosh” Khodabakhsh as a producer and executive board member.

Khodabakhsh will start the role on March 1. One of her tasks will be to further expand and lead the company’s Berlin branch.

Khodabakhsh mostly recently spent three years at the German distributor-producer Dcm, where she was a producer. Prior to Dcm, Khodabakhsh spent six years as a freelance production coordinator and production manager on projects such as Netflix’s Sense8, UFA’s Charité, and the X Filme series Babylon Berlin. She has also worked with directors such as Tom Tykwer, Sönke Wortmann, Fatih Akin (The Golden Glove), Jan Schomburg (Divine), and Ilya Khrzhanovsky (Dau).

Port Au Prince Producer and Managing Director Jan Krüger previously collaborated with Khodabakhsh in 2009 on Ali Samadi-Ahadi’s Grimme Award-winning doc The Green Wave.

“I would like to thank Marc Schmidheiny,...

Picture Tree Intl. has taken global sales rights for “The Peacock” by Lutz Heineking Jr. The black comedy is based on the best-selling novel of the same title by German author Isabel Bogdan, which has been published in key European territories. Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer (below).

The film’s cast is filled with German stars including Lavinia Wilson, Tom Schilling, David Kross and Jürgen Vogel. Tobis Film releases the film in Germany on March 9.

When investment banker Linda Bachmann and her team arrive at the country estate of Lord and Lady McIntosh for a team building seminar, the prospects for having a relaxing weekend in Scotland are not good: the annual balance sheet is lousy, the team is keeping a suspicious eye on each other and their boss, and there are rumors that a compliance officer will soon be restructuring the department.

To make matters worse,...

East and west clash in Rheingold, the latest feature from Fatih Akin, which takes him back to the streets of urban Germany after 2019’s controversial serial-killer drama The Golden Glove. This too, though, is a biopic of sorts, with a similarly notorious subject matter: Kurdish rapper, record label boss and sometime jailbird Giwar Hajabi, Aka Xatar.

Born in a bat-infested cave under heavy bombing during the Iran-Iraq war, Hajabi — still only 40 — has had an interesting life, to put it mildly. One suspects this often warts-and-all portrait is simply the tip of a very dark iceberg (the eye-popping extent of Hajabi’s drug-dealing career is only glimpsed in a brief montage), but a charismatic, even vulnerable performance by star Emilio Sakraya is enough to keep us onside.

The start is bold, with a would-be epic set-up that it can’t quite deliver on: Hajabi and his three accomplices are delivered to a prison in Syria,...

Turkish-German filmmaker Fatih Akin shot to international fame when his fourth feature Head-On won the Golden Bear at the 2004 Berlinale. Since then he’s competed in Cannes twice, winning Best Screenplay for The Edge of Heaven and earning Diane Kruger a Best Actress prize for In the Fade. That’s a very impressive streak carried by poignant, deeply sensitive observations of the Turkish immigrant experience. This track record took quite a hit with his ill-received serial killer portrait The Golden Glove in 2019, a rare film so repulsive it practically smells. And now Akin’s rebounded somewhat with a thoroughly entertaining (if wholly unambitious) biopic that could well become his biggest commercial success to date.

Premiering at the 30th edition of the Filmfest Hamburg, Rheingold tells the rather extraordinary life story of refugee-turned-gangster-turned-musician Giwar “Xatar” Hajabi, who we first meet in the Syrian desert in 2010, where he’s kept in captivity and tortured alongside two buddies.

Exclusive: Fresh off strong notices for Darren Aronofsky’s Venice Film Festival drama The Whale, Stranger Things star Sadie Sink has been tapped to star with Eric Bana (Munich) and Sylvia Hoeks (Blade Runner 2049) in thriller Berlin Nobody, which got underway in the German capital today.

Rising German actor Jonas Dassler — who got his breakthrough as a 1970s murderer in Fatih Akin’s Berlin title The Golden Glove — and Sophie Rois (Tom Tykwer’s Drei and Der Architekt) have also joined the cast of Jordan Scott’s movie about American ex-pat and social psychologist Ben Monroe (Bana) who relocates to Berlin to further his research on the epidemic of cult mentality. While he immerses himself in German cultism, his rebellious teenage daughter, Mazzy (Sink), becomes entwined with a mysterious and enigmatic local boy (Dassler). The film is inspired by Nicholas Hogg’s 2015 novel Tokyo.

Produced by Scott Free’s...

Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month and amongst the highlights is a tribute to Tilda Swinton, featuring I Am Love and a trio of early films: Cycling Frame, The Box, and Egomania: Island Without Hope. There’s also a handful of notable festival favorites and new releases from the past year or so, including Maureen Fazendeiro and Miguel Gomes’ The Tsugua Diaries, Charlotte Gainsbourg’s Jane by Charlotte, Ted Fendt’s Outside Noise, Émilie Aussel’s Our Eternal Summer, and Kofi Ofosu-Yeboah’s Public Toilet Africa.

Also including films by Takashi Miike, Fatih Akin, Zhang Yimou, Albert Maysles, Andrew Dominik, Rick Alverson, and more check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.

August 1 – Ichi the Killer, directed by Takashi Miike | Takashi Miike: A Double Bill

August 2 – Nest, directed by Hlynur Palmason | Brief Encounters

August 3 – Our Eternal Summer, directed by Émilie Aussel | Festival Focus:...

German-Turkish film director, screenwriter, and producer Fatih Akin has signed a first-look deal with WarnerMedia, the first such agreement the filmmaker has made in his career.

The multi-year deal will cover German and Turkish language movies and series for theatrical release, TV and for HBO Max.

Akin and WarnerMedia have previously worked together on three movies: the 2017 Golden Globe winning In The Fade, for which Diane Kruger won Cannes Film Festival’s Best Actress prize; the 2019 pic The Golden Glove, which debuted at Berlin in competition; and Rheingold starring Emilio Sakraya, which will be released theatrically on October 27 this year.

Hannes Heyelmann, EVP Programming Emea at WarnerMedia, said: “We’ve worked with Fatih Akin for a number of years now and this deal furthers our fantastic relationship together. We know how important local content is to our audiences and together with Fatih we want to produce some great German and Turkish language content.

US studio was previously a producer partner on In The Fade, The Golden Glove and Rhinegold.

Award-winning German-Turkish director Fatih Akin has signed a multi-year first-look deal with WarnerMedia for German and Turkish language movies and series for theatrical release, TV and for HBO Max.

It marks the US studio’s growing interest in local European content as it rolls out its HBO Max streaming service internationally.

WarnerMedia will take all global rights for any project it boards apart for theatrical films which will be dealt with on a project by project basis.

Akin’s recent credits include the upcoming...

Camryn Manheim has been cast in NBC’s “Law & Order” revival premiering on Feb. 24, 2022. As a series regular, she will play Lieutenant Kate Dixon.

Dixon is a new character to the famed Dick Wolf series. She takes over from Lieutenant Anita Van Buren, who was played by S. Epatha Merkerson in Seasons 4 through 20. Merkerson was unavailable for the “Law & Order” revival as she is currently appearing in Dick Wolf’s “Chicago Med.”

Manheim is best known for starring as lawyer Ellenor Frutt in the ABC legal drama “The Practice,” a role that won her both an Emmy Award and a Golden Glove. She also received Golden Globe nomination for playing Gladys Presley in CBS’ “Elvis,” with other television credits including “Stumptown,” “Criminal Minds,” “Two and a Half Men” and “How I Met Your Mother.”

She is repped by Framework Entertainment, UTA and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.

Edgar Wright already has two films arriving this year from Focus Features, Last Night in Soho and The Sparks Brothers, and now he’s eying a new project. Deadline reports he’s been set by Paramount to direct a new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man. Written by Michael Bacall, who developed the story with Wright, the film will hew closer to King’s novel than the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The original novel set was set in a dystopian United States in 2025 as a competitive game show featuring deathly consequences gets underway.

Next up, bouncing back from his serial killer drama The Golden Glove, German director Fatih Akin has unveiled his latest project. He’ll be helming Rheingold, which will capture the life of German hip-hop rapper, entrepreneur, and ex-convict Xatar aka Giwar Hajabi, Cineuropa reports. Adapted from the 2015 biography Alles oder Nix, the film is also...

Rheingold by Fatih Akin and 1000 Zeilen by Michael Bully Herbig are to receive funding from the Ffhsh high-end committee. The committee of the German Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein in charge of allocating production funding to high-end film projects has decided to grant around €2 million to ten upcoming productions. To be eligible, the films and series must have production costs that exceed €3.5 million. German director Fatih Akin (The Golden Glove) is adapting the biography of German hip-hop rapper, entrepreneur and ex-convict Xatar, Alles oder Nix (2015), in his new film, Rheingold. Bombero International in Hamburg will be in charge of the production of the gangster drama and can now count on the support of the Filmförderung to the tune of €700,000. Xatar, aka Giwar Hajabi, is an important figure on the German hip-hop scene, and his life represents an immigrant success story. The film will be shot in Hamburg...

Akin’s new film is a gangster drama called ‘Rheingold’.

Fatih Akin’s gangster drama Rheingold and Michael Bully Herbig’s media satire 1000 Lines are among the new film projects to receive funding from Hamburg’s Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (Ffhsh) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Mbb).

Akin’s gangster biopic is based on the 2015 book Alles oder Nix by the German hip hop rapper and label boss Xatar. It received €700,000 – the largest single amount at last week’s sitting of Hamburg’s committee for high-end films and series with production budgets over €3.5m.

Akin’s bombero international is producing the film which...

Akin’s new film is a gangster drama called ‘Rheingold’.

Fatih Akin’s gangster drama Rheingold and Michael Bully Herbig’s media satire 1000 Lines are among the new film projects to receive funding from Hamburg’s Filmfoerderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein (Ffhsh) and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Mbb).

Akin’s gangster biopic is based on the 2015 book Alles oder Nix by the German hip hop rapper and label boss Xatar. It received €700,000 - the largest single amount at last week’s sitting of Hamburg’s committee for high-end films and series with production budgets over €3.5m.

Akin’s bombero international is producing the film...

Bambolim (Goa), Feb 7 (Ians) Two teams that dominate most of the statistics in the Indian Super League (Isl) will go head-to-head when Mumbai City Fc take on Fc Goa at the Gmc Stadium in Bambolim on Monday.

Mumbai and Goa are first and second in most metrics, except on the table where the latter lie third, a full eleven points behind. Sergio Lobera has once again got his team to hog the ball throughout the season, an aspect at which he has only been bettered by Juan Ferrando, the man who replaced him as Goa coach.

Goa's 59 percent possession and 489 passes per game are the highest such numbers in the league with Mumbai's 56 percent possession and 486 passes per game come a close second. Mumbai have the best passing accuracy in the league (75.71%) while Goa come in second with 74.04 per cent.

The first game between these two teams was heavily hyped...

German cinema looks set for an exciting year with forthcoming works that include a high-profile Cannes selection celebrating one of Germany’s most iconic filmmakers, an expressionistic thriller set in 1920s Vienna, a tale of Nazi seduction and a new Thomas Mann adaptation.

The Covid-19 pandemic dashed the excitement of a splashy Cannes premiere for Oskar Roehler’s “Enfant Terrible,” part of the festival’s Official Selection, but the film is nevertheless certain to generate buzz with its portrayal of legendary filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and his turbulent film career that spanned 1969 to 1982.

In making the film, Roehler found inspiration in Fassbinder’s own work.

“We didn’t want to do your standard biopic,” says producer Markus Zimmer, managing director of Bavaria Filmproduktion. “I think we did come very close to what Fassbinder would have made out of his own life. We tried to be in line with the artistic...

This is exciting news!

Golden Glove winner and Oscar nominee, Michael Keaton, is returning to the small screen to star in and executive produce a Hulu original series.

Hulu announced the straight-to-series order for Dopesick, from Emmy-Award-winning writer, Danny Strong, earlier today.

Dopesick is based on the New York Times bestselling book of the same name by Beth Macy, and comes to Hulu from Fox 21 Studios and The Littlefield Company.

“The minute we met with Danny Strong about Beth Macy’s bestselling book, we immediately knew it was the kind of groundbreaking series we just had to bring to Hulu.

"Danny’s unflinching and deeply compelling take on America’s opioid crisis will bring to life one of the most important stories impacting our culture.

"Add to that the cinematic vision of Barry Levinson and the extraordinary talent of Michael Keaton, and we’ve got an undeniable series that perfectly embodies our Hulu Originals brand,...

Sales agent Beta Cinema is launching its Cannes Market slate, which is headlined by psychological thriller “Corvidae,” with a playful and novel approach. The company has produced an entertainment show, in the style of a late-night chatshow, featuring its sales team pitching its films and presenting exclusive clips from them. Variety has been given an exclusive sneak peek at the show before it goes live on Friday.

Beta Cinema CEO Dirk Schürhoff is the charismatic host of chatshow “The Beta Cinema Show,” filmed at the company’s offices in Oberhaching, near Munich, while Thorsten Ritter, exec VP acquisitions, sales and marketing, leads the house band on electric guitar. Its sales executives beam in their reports from around the world, while the kangaroo from the hit film “The Kangaroo Chronicles” assists. The tone is fun and tongue-in-cheek, but it’s a serious attempt to add a bit of showbiz pizzazz to the virtual market format.

Variety’s “10 Europeans to Watch” were feted Saturday night at a party held by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg at Berlin’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Co-hosting the evening were Kirsten Niehuus and Helge Jürgens, managing directors of Medienboard, the regional film, TV and digital-media funding body.

Pictured above are U.K. filmmaker and rapper Andrew Onwubolu, known by his alias Rapman, Irish producer Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Italian director Carlo Sironi (“Sole”), German director Leonie Krippendorff (“Cocoon”), Estonian director Tanel Toom, Germany-based Kosovan director Visar Morina (“Exile”), and Hungarian actor Abigél Szõke (“Those Who Remained”).

Before welcoming to the stage some of Europe’s most promising stars of tomorrow, Variety executive VP of content Steven Gaydos noted: “Variety is celebrating our 115th year covering international entertainment, before people were watching movies.”

He also shared the story of local producer Sol Bondy, who met Russian producers Ilya Stewart and Murad Osmann at Variety’s “10 Producers to...

In the run to the Berlin Film Festival, MovieChainer, the cloud-based app allowing right-holders to model and track the legal and financial structure of their film projects, has added German sales powerhouse The Match Factory and France’s Memento Film Distribution, to its client roster.

Created by the Paris-based production banner Backup Films in 2014, MovieChainer also caters to TF1 Group, MK2, Bankside Films, Memento International, Charades, as well as Superights, Fintage and Endemol Shine.

A prominent sales banner which boasted six films, including Fatih Akin’s “Golden Glove” (pictured) at last year’s Berlinale, The Match Factory will be MovieChainer’s first client out of Germany. Memento Film Distribution, meanwhile, will be the service’s first member focusing on theatrical distribution.

The app improves filmmakers, producers, sales agents and distributors’ ability to perform quick and accurate revenue simulations and keep track of their revenue shares throughout the commercial life of their films.

#20. What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire? – Dir. Roberto Minervini (Us)

#19. The Golden Glove – Dir. Fatih Akin (Germany)

#18. In Fabric – Dir. Peter Strickland (UK)

#17. Dolemite is My Name – Dir. Craig Brewer (Us)

#16. The Lighthouse – Dir. Robert Eggers (Us)

#15. Luce – Dir. Julius Onah (Us)

#14. The Painted Bird – Dir. Vaclav Marhoul (Czech Republic)

#13. The Wild Pear Tree – Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey)

#12. Parasite – Dir. Bong Joon-ho (South Korea)

#11. Waves – Dir. Trey Edward Shults (Us)

#10. Clemency – Dir. Chinonye Chukwu (Us)

#09.…...

New Indie

“The Lighthouse” (Lionsgate) is the kind of movie that yields new discoveries with every viewing, so why not make this new Blu-ray part of your permanent collection? Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star as keepers of the titular structure, driving themselves and each other insane in a desolate and solitary location. Jarin Blaschke’s Oscar-nominated cinematography adds layers of grotesque delight to writer-director Robert Eggers’ fascinating follow-up to “The Witch.”

Also available: Inspirational sports tale “Sprinter” (FilmRise) features a cameo by Olympic medalist Usain Bolt; Jess Wexler and Adam Pearson play star-crossed co-stars in the uniquely offbeat “Chained for Life” (Kino Lorber); the Helen Hunt thriller “I See You” (Saban/Paramount) premiered at South by Southwest; Tim Heidecker runs for public office in the unsettling mockumentary “Mister America” (Magnolia Home Entertainment).

America’s stoner superheroes snooch one last bootch in “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” (Lionsgate); Laurence Fishburne...

With a raft of new streaming services coming our way this year, it’s impressive that Shudder continues to develop compelling content and a solid horror library to keep fans returning. Having already snapped up the rights to Rob Zombie’s 3 From Hell, they’ve now announced their full lineup of titles for February 2020, which includes new original series, shorts, and a lot of classic movies.

In terms of original series, Shudder have The Dead Lands on Thursdays through March 5th, with the show adapting a 2014 New Zealand film focusing on Māori mythology. The plot covers a warrior returning from the afterlife who has to contend with the spirits of the recently dead. Given Shudder’s confirmation of a second season for Creepshow, it’ll be fascinating to see what they do with this material as they increase their original series commitments.

On the original movies front, Shudder have Bliss,...

Upcoming talent to be showcased at the Berlin Film Festival.

The 10 young actors selected for this year’s European Shooting Stars has been unveiled.

European Film Promotion (Efp) has revealed the selection of upcoming talent, which will be introduced to international casting directors, producers and filmmakers at the Berlin Film Festival next month.

They include Germany’s Jonas Dassler, who starred as serial killer Fritz Honka in Faith Akin’s The Golden Glove, a biography of German serial killer Fritz Honka, which played in competition at last year’s Berlinale.

The selection also features Poland’s Bartosz Bielenia from Poland,...

European Film Promotion has unveiled the 10 Shooting Stars, up-and-coming acting talents set to break out internationally, who will be honored at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival.

The selection comprises Bartosz Bielenia from Poland, star of Jan Komasa’s “Corpus Christi,” among films shortlisted for this year’s best international feature film Oscar; France’s Zita Hanrot, the voice talent of Zunaira in animated Oscar contender “The Swallows of Kabul” who broke out locally with Philippe Faucon’s “Fatima”; and Portugal’s Joana Ribeiro who is currently shooting Antoine Fuqua’s action thriller “Infinite” for Paramount alongside Mark Wahlberg and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Previous Shooting Stars include Alicia Vikander, Alba Rohrwacher, Matthias Schoenaerts, Pilou Asbæk and Baltasar Kormákur.

The Shooting Stars initiative is also honoring German actor Jonas Dassler, who made a splash at Berlin last year with his performance as a serial killer in Fatih Akin’s “The Golden Glove”; Dutch actor Bilal Wahib,...

The 2020 edition of European Shooting Stars has unveiled the 10 young acting talents it will spotlight, with participants arriving with credits including Polish Oscar shortlisted feature Corpus Christi.

On the list is Polish actor Bartosz Bielenia, whose turn as an amateur priest in Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi has already earned him acting awards at the Stockholm, Chicago and El Gouna film festivals.

He is selected alongside Danish actress Victoria Carmen Sonne, who has appeared in Hlynur Palmason’s Winters Brothers and Isabella Eklöf’s 2018 Sundance pic Holiday; she has won two Danish Academy awards (Bodils).

Also named is Swiss actress Ella Rumpf, who lead the cast of Julia Ducournau’s 2016 Cannes selection Raw, which won her the Révelation prize at the 2018 César Awards, and Jakob Lass’s 2017 Berlin title Tiger Girl. Rumpf will also appear this year in upcoming German Netflix series Freud.

Portuguese talent Joana Ribeiro makes the 2020 cut...

John Waters has revealed his top 10 films list for Artforum and, in keeping with the “Pink Flamingos” director’s typically eccentric taste, it’s always a dark treat. His top pick for the year is Gaspar Noé’s acid-laced dance freakout “Climax.” “Frenzied dance numbers combined with LSD, mental breakdowns, and childhood trauma turn this nutcase drama into ‘The Red Shoes’ meets ‘Hallucination Generation,'” Waters wrote.

Waters is also high on “Joker,” the most controversial movie of the year. “Irresponsible? Maybe. Dangerous? We’ll see. The first big-budget Hollywood movie to gleefully inspire anarchy. Bravo, Todd Phillips! Only you could get away with it,” Waters wrote. It’s number 10 on his list, which also includes Bruno Dumont’s “Joan of Arc,” the creepy Swedish fairytale “Border,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir” (which topped Sight & Sound’s recent list), Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain & Glory,...

The onslaught of best-of-the-year lists from guilds and critics groups have only just begun, but one of the few of genuine interest each year comes from a single person: the wonderfully eccentric director John Waters, whose eclectic tastes always includes a mix of the unexpected and underseen.

Topping his list this year is Gaspar Noé’s drug-fueled dance freak-out Climax. Also on his list is Bruno Dumont’s sequel to Waters’ #1 film of 2017, Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc, as well as the latest films from Quentin Tarantino and Pedro Almodóvar. As he already revealed, his love for Joker is present as is Penny Lane’s documentary on the Satanic Temple and Fatih Akin’s virtually universally reviled serial killer drama The Golden Glove. Curiously, the enchanting off-kilter fairy tale Border made the list, even though it came out last year.

Check out the list below courtesy of Art Forum,...

This week came in like a lamb as the Emmys season ended and went out like a lion as critics lost their minds at the press screenings of Martin Scorsese’s New York Film Festival opener-turned-legit-Oscar-candidiate “The Irishman.” As weekly bookends go, it’s a pretty accurate portrait of what the entertainment world looks like right now, and it’s one with no shortage of contradictions.

The annual Fall TV preview is always a massive undertaking, and this time Ann Donahue’s team had the task of narrowing down the list of hot new shows from the gale-force tsunami of TV content headed our way. At this point, Hollywood can recite the incoming streamers with nursery-rhyme familiarity — Apple+, Disney+, Peacock and more! — but no one knows entirely what to expect once they make themselves at home. Where will loyalties lie? What’s the human capacity for remembering which show is where,...

This week came in like a lamb as the Emmys season ended and went out like a lion as critics lost their minds at the press screenings of Martin Scorsese’s New York Film Festival opener-turned-legit-Oscar-candidiate “The Irishman.” As weekly bookends go, it’s a pretty accurate portrait of what the entertainment world looks like right now, and it’s one with no shortage of contradictions.

The annual Fall TV preview is always a massive undertaking, and this time Ann Donahue’s team had the task of narrowing down the list of hot new shows from the gale-force tsunami of TV content headed our way. At this point, Hollywood can recite the incoming streamers with nursery-rhyme familiarity — Apple+, Disney+, Peacock and more! — but no one knows entirely what to expect once they make themselves at home. Where will loyalties lie? What’s the human capacity for remembering which show is where,...

Just two weeks until the Telluride Horror Show descends on the small Colorado town and the festival has announced its second wave of titles, rounding out this year's lineup.    Festival favorites Daniel Isn't Real and Extra Ordinary lead the pack. Our friend Can Evrenol's new flick The Girl With No Mouth is playing there as well. And if our Josh has anything to say about it German serial killer flick The Golden Glove may be the most divisive film in the weekend lineup.    Festivities will kick off a night early this year. There will be a special Scares that Care fundraise on Thursday, October 11th. " In honor of Sid Haig, the 1967 film Spider Baby will kick off the evening, followed by a restored Gore-Cut...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

No Glove No Love: Akin Revels in Garish Grotesqueries with Squalid Period Piece

Turkish-German director Fatih Akin resurrects the obscure German serial killer Fritz Honka in the grotesque 1970s set The Golden Glove, an exercise clearly designed to disgust, assail and repulse. In these terms, it is the director’s most effective exercise to date, a formidable gut punch and a far cry from the topical proselytizing of his homegrown terror drama In the Fade.

Based on a 2016 novel by Heinz Strunk, Akin paints a portrait of a madman whose crimes flourished in the squalid red-light district of 1970s Hamburg, brutally raping and murdering a number of prostitutes over several years before his neglectful disposal of their dismembered bodies finally brought his killing spree to an end.…...

Back in August, Adam Egypt Mortimer's Daniel Isn't Real won the Feature Film Jury Prize at Popcorn Frights, and following its recent screening at Fantastic Fest, it will continue to take its imaginative story around the festival circuit now that it's been announced for the second wave of programming for Telluride Horror Show.

In addition to Daniel Isn't Real, the Telluride Horror Show's second wave of programming also includes Wounds, the horror anthology Scare Package, Extra Ordinary, and more.

You can read the full second wave of programming below, check here for the first wave of programming, and to learn more, visit Telluride Horror Show's official website.

Press Release: Telluride, Co - The full film lineup, special events, and festival schedule are now live for the 10th anniversary Telluride Horror Show, slated for October 11-13, 2019 in the mountain resort town of Telluride, Colorado.

The second wave includes highly-anticipated genre films from Blumhouse,...

After reaching a career high with the gripping “In the Fade,” which won Best Actress laurels for Diane Krueger at Cannes as well as the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, Fatih Akin regresses considerably with “The Golden Glove.”

His latest is yet another in a long line of serial-killer dramas under the impression that it needs to be as ugly as its subject in order to be authentic, ultimately serving as further proof that verisimilitude isn’t a virtue in and of itself. In attempting to tell the story of notorious German murderer Fritz Honka, the film inadvertently succeeds in affirming that some things are better left to the imagination.

Honka’s exploits were infamous among those who frequented Hamburg’s red-light district in the ’70s, though he himself remained unknown until after the bodies of four prostitutes were discovered in his attic apartment. Neither Akin nor star...

Fatih Akin‘s The Golden Glove is the rawest, most real, and most brutal serial killer movie since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Unflinchingly gruesome, and covered in a thick layer of grime, Akin’s film tells the true story of Fritz Honka, a murderer who stalked 1970s Hamburg, preying on the weak, the old, and the destitute. Honka was […]

The post ‘The Golden Glove’ Review: One of the Most Disturbing Serial Killer Movies In Decades [Fantastic Fest 2019] appeared first on /Film.