‘Chicken For Linda!’, ‘Four Souls Of Coyote’ Take Top Prizes At Annecy Animation Festival

Prince William was left physically sick prior to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

When Anthony Mackie makes his big-screen debut as Captain America in the upcoming “Captain America: Brave New World”, he’ll be joined by Marvel newcomer Harrison Ford.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is gunning for the top spot on box office charts. The fifth and final adventure to star Harrison Ford as the legendary, globe-trotting explorer is targeting at least $65 million from 4,500 North American theaters in its opening weekend. The latest Indy installment is also debuting day-and-date at the international box office, where it’s aiming to add $80 million for a global start of $145 million to $150 million. Those ticket sales are decent, especially for the fourth sequel to a decades-old property that’s aimed at older audiences. But Disney spent a mind-boggling $295 million to bring the action-adventure to life. That’s not including marketing costs, such as a no-expense-spared premiere and afterparty at the Cannes Film Festival where much champagne was tippled. Even in the best circumstances, it’ll take a heroic feat — and a lot of nostalgia from long-time fans of the series — for “Indiana Jones 5” to turn a profit in its theatrical run.

John Bleasdale Guest Contributor As “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” rolls through its premiere schedule like a boulder chasing the eponymous hero, Variety spoke with Harrison Ford at the 69th Taormina Film Festival. On the terrace of Hotel Metropole, Ford looked resplendent in his black tuxedo, reminiscent of the suave version of Indiana Jones that opened “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Despite a curmudgeonly reputation, underlined even more by his role as the scene-stealing psychiatrist Paul in the hit Apple sitcom “Shrinking,” Ford seems to be enjoying his goodbye tour as he celebrates his fifth and final outing as the whip cracking archaeologist.

McKinley Franklin editor The Palm Springs International ShortFest winners were announced on Sunday, with Japan and the U.S.’s “The Old Young Crow” taking the prize for best of the festival. Lithuania’s “Way Better” won best animated short and China’s “Will You Look At Me” landed best documentary short. Additionally, the award for best live-action short over 15 minutes went to France’s “Sèt Lam” and Spain’s “Mystic Tiger” took home the award for the best live-action short 15 minutes and under. The festival handed out cash prizes worth $25,000, as well as five awards to help winners qualify for the Academy Awards. The competition included some 299 short films within the official selection. The annual festival began on June 20 and will conclude Monday, June 26.

Christopher Vourlias Iranian filmmaker Dornaz Hajiha took home the top prize Saturday at the Transilvania Film Festival, as the jury awarded the first-time director with the Transilvania Trophy for “Like a Fish on the Moon,” a moving family drama about two parents coping with the emotional fallout when their young son suddenly stops talking. In the jury’s citation, Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco highlighted “the originality of its premise, the power of its performances, and the intelligence with which it explored very difficult subject matter,” describing “Like a Fish on the Moon” as “a film that resonated long after it ended.” Hajiha was visibly moved as she took the stage to accept the award, which was presented to her by Transilvania Lifetime Achievement Award winner Geoffrey Rush moments after the Australian actor delivered an impassioned and at times whimsical tribute to the power of cinema.

Ben Croll Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach’s hand-painted marvel “Chicken for Linda!” took home dual honors at the Annecy Animation Festival on Saturday, scooping up the festival’s top prize, the Cristal Award for best feature, as well as the Gan Foundation award for distribution. A bittersweet childhood tale that finds screwball humor in mourning and melancholy, the French-language film premiered to some acclaim out of Cannes’ ACID sidebar last month, and was picked up for North American distribution by Gkids while competing in Annecy. “We wanted something both funny and affecting,” said co-director Chiara Malta. “The two elements were never in conflict, because we made the film for children, putting ourselves in their perspectives while adopting their language.”

Michael Morpurgo’s 1999 children’s book comes vividly to life in Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry’s joint feature debut, a castaway fantasy in which a young boy learns vital lessons about the natural order of things. Seasoned screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce is on board too, and yet this is likely one of his sparsest screenplays yet, leaning into the subtleties of the animation: traditional hand-drawn 2D with mixed-media elements for the background. Older kids will likely love it, but a beautifully stark encapsulation of the bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 may rule it out as something for the whole family.

This eye-catching, dimension-traveling adventure might be aimed at kids, but there’s plenty here for adults who grew up believing the possibilities of animation might be endless. Now that Disney has done its best to persuade us otherwise, Benoît Chieux’s fabulous Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams is here as a palate-cleanser, tucking away a tender story of love and loss in an insanely imaginative psychedelic brainstorm. If Matt Groening and Miyazaki took magic mushrooms and watched The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine together, they could conceivably come up with a movie to match this.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Cypher,” a drama about the astronomical rise of rapper Tierra Whack, and “A Strange Path,” which follows a young filmmaker who returns to his country of Brazil during the pandemic to reconnect with his father, won the top prizes for U.S. narrative feature and international narrative feature, respectively, at this year’s Tribeca Festival. “Between the Rains,” a film that captures the Turkana-Ngaremara community as they contend with prolonged drought, took home the award for documentary feature. The festival, which dropped the word “film” from its name in 2021, hosts more than 600 events across New York City and hands out awards in categories including short film, audio storytelling and games. This year’s edition ends on June 18.

U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITIONBest Performance in a U.S. Narrative Feature: Ji-Young Yoo for “Smoking Tigers,” (United States) – World Premiere.

Ben Croll Gkids has scooped North America rights to “Chicken for Linda!,” a hand-painted, Franco-Italian co-production that premiered out of Cannes’ ACID sidebar and is now competing in Annecy. Written and directed Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach, the bittersweet film focuses on the madcap energy of childhood without overlooking the melancholy.  “We wanted something both funny and affecting,” said co-director Chiara Malta. “The two elements were never in conflict, because we made the film for children, putting ourselves in their perspectives while adopting their language.” “And when you’re a child, you go very, very quickly from laughter to tears,” added co-director Sébastien Laudenbach. “Think of children playing in the park. One minute they’re laughing, the next they’re crying, then laughing again.”

 “It’s a blessing and a privilege to be part of the highly curated lineup of GKIDS,” said Charades’ Yohann Comte. “They committed immediately after seeing the film, which is exceptional given the challenges of the US theatrical market today.

The Sundance Institute revealed on Wednesday that it has received the largest endowment gift in its history, a $4M endowment in support of the the Institute’s Indigenous Program from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which will provide new support for artists from California-based tribes, both federally and non-federally recognized.

Jennifer Lopez, Dakota Johnson, Natalie Portman, Lucy Hale, Ashlee Simpson, Cindy Crawford, Kate Bosworth, and more celebs are on the hunt for unique fashion finds, all they have to do is pop into American Rag Cie in Los Angeles, California, and their style needs are bound to be met. The store has been the go-to destination for It-girls since its opening in 1984, and it all comes down to the retailer’s curated merchandise. Think: Vintage T-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, shorts, jackets, hats, belts, and jeans laid out in a 4,000-square-foot space, along with must-haves from brands like Ganni, Comme des Garçons Play, Paloma Wool, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Les Tien in the shop’s contemporary section.«Our pieces can be new, quirky, fun, whimsical, and sometimes humorous, but they’re always chic, tasteful, and stylish, so they can be worn over a long period of time,» founder and owner Mark Werts tells ET. «We seek unusual items that bring a little something more. … We want our customers to feel special when they wear or use items purchased at American Rag,» he continues. To gather this exclusive inventory, Werts makes an effort to stay inspired by traveling, reading, following his heart, and being friendly to everyone he comes across. «Celebrities and stars love the store because we treat everyone the same and with a big gracious smile.

The 47th edition of Annecy International Film Festival opened on a defiantly upbeat note on Sunday evening just three three days after its picturesque lakeside home was rocked by a violent knife attack.

Former Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard is searching for a new club after leaving Nottingham Forest.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Forest,” an Italian eco-themed animation film about deforestation, has scored some strong pre-sales for Rome-based True Colours at the Cannes Marché du film. The still-in-production 3-D animation feature – the protagonist of which is a young mushroom named Fey – has been picked up for roughly 20 territories by Top Film Distribution which will distribute “Forest” in Ukraine, CIS, the Baltics, and Eastern European countries including former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech and Slovak Republics, Romania, and Hungary.  Helmed by Luca Della Grotta and Francesco Dafano, the film is produced by Italy’s AI One, the same team that previously spawned 2020 similarly themed animation feature “Trash” that sold in more than 30 countries. 

Organizers of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival said today that the event will open on June 11 as planned, but open-air screenings will be postponed a day following a Thursday knife attack in the city involving a group of nursery school-age children.

Ben Croll This year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival looks to break records with a wider international reach and greater studio participation than ever before. Already set to overtake last year’s attendance, the French lakeside fest,  runs June 11-17 and had run up 13,300 guests by late May — among them a U.S. delegation more than 700 strong.   “[This year marks] the most important U.S. presence ever at Annecy,” says artistic director Marcel Jean. “We’re taking in historical players such as Disney, DreamWorks and Pixar who will still come, as well as global platforms such as Netflix, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery. And [we’re welcoming] a number of big titles.”