BFI London Film Festival Taps Kristy Matheson as New Director

In 1982, the same year Sir Ben Kingsley won his Best Actor Oscar for Gandhi, the year’s other big movie was Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial. Now, 40 years later, Kingsley has found his own E.T., a sort of combination of that classic with a bit of Cocoon, and perhaps The Father. But Jules, the new dramedy having its World Premiere as opening night of the Sonoma Film Festival, marches to its own sweet beat, and represents yet another game attempt to bring that older adult audience back to theaters. A smart distributor should take a close look.

It may have only been two weeks since former Love Island star Maura Higgins wowed fans with her daring new bob, but she’s already changed her look up again – and this time with some extra-long hair extensions. Maura originally showed off her new blunt, choppy bob at the premiere of Creed 3 just two weeks ago, where she had swapped her usual sleek long locks for a textured bob that stopped above her shoulders and featured a full fringe that was also cut into a blunt style.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Asian premiere of Soi Cheang’s “Mad Fate” is just one of three locally-produced movies that have been set as the opening and closing titles of the upcoming Hong Kong International Film Festival. “Mad Fate” is joined in the festival opening slot on March 30 by “Elegies,” Ann Hui’s documentary portrayal of the topography of contemporary local poetry, which will have its world premiere. The closing film, another world premiere, is “Vital Sign,” an affecting drama directed by Cheuk Wan-chi and starring Louis Koo, Yau Hawk-sau, and Angela Yuen, which will wrap up proceedings on 10 April. In total, the festival has programmed some 200 films from 64 countries and territories. These include nine world premieres, six international premieres, and 67 Asian premieres.

This year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) will open with two local films – Soi Cheang’s noir thriller Mad Fate and the world premiere of Ann Hui’s Elegies, a documentary about contemporary local poetry.

Naman Ramachandran After a blockbuster debut in 2022, the London Action Festival is set to return this summer for its second edition. The festival is timed to be squarely in the middle of the summer action movie season. This summer will see the release of “Fast X,” “Kandahar,” “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” and “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning – Part One” in the May-July time frame and the festival will unspool June 21-25. Highlights of the inaugural edition included The World’s Greatest Screening Ever… Probably! – an enhanced screening experience of “Die Hard” with director John McTiernan; a making of “Jurassic World Dominion” with an Academy Award-winning VFX panel presented by Proof Inc. and director Colin Trevorrow participating; exclusive previews of season 2 of Sky original “Gangs of London” with director Corin Hardy and MARV’s “School Fight” from stunt coordinator turned director Damien Walters; and screenings of “Predator” and “Con Air” followed by panels with directors McTiernan and Simon West.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Kuwaiti-born writer-director Zeyad (also known as “Z”) Alhusaini, whose action movie with comedic undertones “How I Got There” recently won the audience award at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival, has joined United Talent Agency for representation in all areas. The groundbreaking film about two best buddies from childhood, named Salem and Asad, who stumble upon a gun shipment and try to seize this opportunity to get rich quick is set entirely in the Persian Gulf. “How I Got There” provides a relatively realistic glimpse of Kuwait’s present-day melting-pot of cultures, and its underworld of gun-running mercenaries, gangs, and terrorists, plus the local rap scene.

Dredge, clockwork puzzler Mechinus and Demonschool.The Official Selection was announced today (March 9) and features over 30 games that will be playable during London Games Festival, which will run between March 29 and April 9.The games are spread across five categories: Best Of British, High Energy, Historial Adventure, International Innovators and Pixel Power.You can check out the festival’s Official Selection below.When London Games Festival kicks off, these games will be showcased at the Platform Bar Exhibition.Elsewhere, London Games Festival will also feature partner events with W.A.S.D, the BAFTA Games Awards and Now Play This.

K.J. Yossman The Edinburgh International Film Festival is returning for its 76th edition following financial difficulties.

The British Film Institute has hired Kristy Matheson as its new Festivals Director.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is set to return in August with a scaled-down “special one-year iteration” that will run in conjunction with the Edinburgh International Festival.

Charna Flam Outfest has announced the lineup for its 2023 Outfest Fusion QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous and People of Color) Film Festival, which will run from March 24 through April 2. Outfest Fusion will be celebrating its 20th anniversary by showcasing LGBTQIA+ filmmakers and their various films depicting queer and transgender stories. There will be nine features, including two 2023 Sundance documentaries, “Little Richard: I Am Everything” from Lisa Cortés and “The Stroll” from Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker. Cortés documentary explores how Richard “Little Richard” Penniman worked through his struggles with his sexuality, all while he made his mark on rock n’ roll. While Lovell and Drucker follow transgender women of color as they detail the community’s history of sex work in New York City.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival marks its 40th edition, running March 3-12, with a full-blown return to the in-person festival experience with a sidebar of only 10 titles available online.  “We’re celebrating the human connection and getting back into cinemas again,” says programming head Lauren Cohen who in her first year flying solo at the helm, is putting her personal stamp on the festival with female-centric topics dominating the Master Classes.  “It’s our 40th anniversary, which is such a milestone for us, we want it to be bigger and better than ever,” she continues. 

EXCLUSIVE: The British Film Institute is close to appointing a new Festivals Director, with an announcement expected imminently, Deadline understands.

Killers Of The Flower Moon, Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, and Asteroid City are among the high-profile movies in contention for a Cannes splash this year.

Organizers of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival said Wednesday that they are canceling their opening ceremony and “all festive events and concerts” related to the event following a tragic train crash in Greece late Tuesday that killed at least 38 people and injured more than 60.

EXCLUSIVE: Clock, a timely horror feature from 20th Digital Studio and Hulu Originals has dropped new images.

Clock, a timely horror feature from 20th Digital Studio and Hulu Originals will have its World Premiere at the Overlook Film Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana before debuting exclusively on Hulu on April 28. The film will be available on Disney+ internationally at a later date.

Julia MacCary editor Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult’s vampire horror-comedy “Renfield” will get its world premiere at the Overlook Film Festival on March 30. Hoult (“The Menu,” “About a Boy”) stars as Renfield, the tortured aide to Dracula, who is being played by Cage (“Face/Off,” “The Rock”). Chris McKay (“The Tomorrow War,” “The Lego Movie”) directed the film, and Ryan Ridley (“Rick and Morty,” “The Wastelander”) penned it. Additional cast members include Awkwafina, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brandon Scott Jones and Ben Schwartz. Lee Cronin’s “Evil Dead Rise” will close out the festival on April 2. Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland star in the film about estranged sisters reuniting, only to have flesh-possessing demons force them into a battle to survive. Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campell produced the film.

The Overlook Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup for its 2023 edition, taking place in New Orleans from March 30-April 2, naming the world premiering Universal horror-comedy Renfield as its opening night film, and Warner Bros’ Evil Dead Rise as its closer.

The 76th Cannes Film Festival is less than 12 weeks away and while rumors are flying about what films will screen and which films won’t, an important step in the process has officially taken place. The 2023 edition of the festival now has its Jury President.