Bentonville Film Festival, Led by Geena Davis, Announces Lineup Including Opener ‘Out of My Mind’

Demi Moore looks stunning while hitting the red carpet at the premiere of her movie The Substance held at Palais des Festivals on Sunday (May 19) in Cannes, France.

Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, three times president of Brazil, was born in 1945. He grew up poor in Sao Paulo and left school early to help support his family. Having trained as a lathe operator, he reached a milestone when he became the first member of his family to earn more than the minimum wage. Initially reluctant to get involved in politics, he was president of the steelworkers’ union by the time he was 30, leading a strike that achieved better wages that he saw were soon soaked up by a rise in rents. “It was time for workers to think about ruling their own country,” he says in voice-over in Oliver Stone and Rob Wilson’s documentary, simply called Lula.

Cannes Film Festival. The actress and singer, 31, was moved to tears after her new film, “Emilia Perez” received a 9 minute-long standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. This marked the longest standing ovation for any movie premiere at the France-based cinema bash so far this year.A Variety video shows Gomez smiling and tearing up as the crowd cheers after watching her performance in the film.Directed by Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Perez” is about a Mexican cartel leader, played by Karla Sofía Gascón, who is seeking gender-affirming surgery.

When Adi (Ciprian Chiujdea) is beaten up outside the one dance club in the village where he grew up, his father takes up the cudgels, chivvying the local police chief into finding out who did it. It would be obvious enough to anyone but dad Dragoi (Bogdan Dumitrache) that this is a straight-up case of gay-bashing, which would seem to signal that Emanuel Parvu’s Cannes Competition title Three Kilometers to the End of the World, a slice of Romanian life, will be a worthy but familiar story of a boy’s coming out to a hostile world. Indeed, bloodied Adi with his black eyes and traumatic lesions is soon being punished, locked in his room by his parents as his desperate mother prays to the icons on the wall for guidance. We have undoubtedly been down this donkey-track before. 

Rithy Panh has dedicated the lion’s share of his career to interrogating the genocidal Khmer Rouge era in his native Cambodia, and it is no trivial obsession. Panh fled Phnom Penh when he was just 11, and after his family was devastated in the Killing Fields, he escaped to a Thai refugee camp at 15. Now 60, Panh has been committed to keeping the memory of the impact of Pol Pot’s tyrannical regime alive in documentary, narrative and animated film.

“Mommie Dearest” actress walked the red carpet at the premiere of the action film “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” starring Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy. She was joined by Laurent Bouzereau, 62, who is the director of her new documentary that is premiering at Cannes, and her son Liam Dunaway O’Neill, 43, who appears in the HBO doc.The Hollywood icon wore a black blazer over a white shirt with black pants.

If cinema is somehow retracting, contracting, or diminishing, don’t tell the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival and all its many sidebars. Thank god for them because when you look at the Cannes 2024 line-up, cinema seems to be in great health and shape.

Robert De Niro.The off-shoot, appropriately titled De Niro Con promises to be a fitting tribute to the Oscar winner. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate 80 years of Robert De Niro, my dear friend and co-conspirator for the past 35 years, than by throwing a big bash for his fellow New Yorkers,” Tribeca co-founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal said in a statement.The extravaganza, which takes place from June 14-16, is a De Niro delight.And many famous co-stars and directors will be joining in.Film screenings include “A Bronx Tale” with an introduction by co-star Chazz Palminteri.“Jackie Brown” will be followed by a conversation between Quentin Tarantino and De Niro.Billy Crystal will be chatting with De Niro after a screening of “Analyze This.”“Silver Linings Playbook” will include a convo with director David O.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Jeonju International Film Festival, South Korea’s second most important generalist film festival, on Tuesday announced “The Major Tones” and “Time to Be Strong” as the Grand Prix winners of its two competition sections. The festival continues until Friday. Directed by Argentina’s Ingrid Pokropek, “The Major Tones” is a mystery film about a youngster with a metal plate in her arm which begins to receive peculiar messages in Morse Code. It premiered at the Mar del Plata festival and also played in Berlin’s Generation KPlus section.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent One day after the “Sous les écrans la dèche” collective, made up of freelance festival workers, issued a call for a strike during the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, organizers have issued a joint statement where they encouraged all parties to “come together around the bargaining table.” The statement, signed by the Cannes Film Festival as well as parallel sections Directors’ Fortnight, Critics’ Week and ACID, said they acknowledge the “difficulties faced by some of their staff” due to a reform of the “French unemployment insurance scheme,” and that they “hope that solutions will be found.” The organization is protesting against a looming labor reform that will see their unemployment indemnities slashed by more than half. The org brings together hundreds of workers at festivals, from projectionists to drivers and caterers, who are threatening to strike during Cannes which could potentially cause major disruptions.

EXCLUSIVE: The Latino Film Institute has set its lineup for the 23rd Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, which will take place from May 29th through June 2nd at the TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood.

Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival has revealed the full program lineup for its 34th edition. The festival champions 2SLGBTQ+ filmmakers from across the globe, and will showcase 106 films from 25 countries, including 30 feature films and 5 world premieres. The festival will take place May 24th to June 1st in Toronto, Canada at TIFF Lightbox as well as online. Inside Out’s Co-Head & Executive Director, Elie Chivi, and Co-Head & Artistic Director, Andrew Murphy, made today’s announcement. ​​ 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Meryl Streep will receive the honorary Palme d’Or on the opening night of the 77th edition of Cannes Film Festival, Variety has learned. Luring the Oscar winner is yet another feat for this Cannes edition, which will bring together a flurry Hollywood legends. Notably, George Lucas will receive the honorary Palme d’Or during the closing ceremony; Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” and Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” are playing in competition; and George Miller‘s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and Kevin Costner’s Western epic “Horizon, an American Saga” are playing out of competition.

There was a fleeting moment in the early and mid-00s when being selected for the Slamdance Film Festival could mean something for a filmmaker’s career. Sure, it wasn’t the same as being part of the more prestigious and larger Park City, Utah film festival, but the edgier offshoot event gave a voice to independent films that didn’t have an industry connection or agency influence to make the Sundance cut.

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.

Angelique Jackson The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) has set its lineup of narrative and documentary features for its 28th edition, including Jussie Smollett’s return to acting in “The Lost Holliday,” filmmaker Christine Swanson’s latest drama “Albany Road” and the acclaimed Luther Vandross doc “Never Too Much.” This year’s festival takes place June 12-16 in Miami Beach, Fla., followed by a virtual segment June 17-24 on ABFF PLAY. Winners of film festival competition will be announced on June 15, during the “Best of ABFF Awards” hosted by Emmy-nominee Dondré Whitfield.

The trailer for Zoe Kravitz‘s directorial debut, Blink Twice, has debuted online!

Jack Dunn Amazon MGM Studios has unveiled the first trailer for Zoë Kravitz’s twisted directorial debut “Blink Twice.” Originally titled “Pussy Island,” the movie follows Frida (Naomi Ackie) and Jess (Alia Shawkat) as they are charmed by tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) and lured to his private island for a weekend getaway. What starts as a steamy vacation soon devolves into a reality-bending nightmare that the women soon learn they must escape if they want to live. “So do you think the human sacrifice is before or after dinner?” Jess asks Frida in jest, before things get truly scary.

Ellise Shafer The Cannes Film Festival has announced the selections for its Immersive lineup, including projects voiced by stars like Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell and Jessica Chastain. According to a press release, the Immersive competition includes “collective location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, and projection mapping and holographic works.

The rumors are true. After 40 years, the Sundance Film Festival may (and an emphasis on “may”) be leaving the confines of Park City, Utah.