China, Taiwan, And The ‘Island In Between’: Perilous Outpost Explored In Oscar-Nominated Short

EXCLUSIVE: Celebrating his 50th year as an indie filmmaker and distributor, Jeff Lipsky is prepping the release of his eighth feature as director. Goldilocks and the Two Bears is due to open domestically via Glass Half Full Media in July for a limited theatrical run, followed by a general release in late summer/early fall. Check out an exclusive clip above.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Film projects to be produced by Andrew Lau (“Infernal Affairs,” “Initial D”) and Han Sanping, the former head of China Film Corp., are among the new in-development titles that grace the FilMart slate of Hong Kong studio Media Asia. The Peter Lam-controlled studio is also poised, at an event within FilMart on Monday, to detail its new alliance with China’s Alibaba Pictures Group. Lau is producing “Behind the Scene,” a book-to-film adaptation to be directed by Lee Kwong-yiu (“Insanity”) in which four friends uncover a meticulously planned murder that is carefully disguised as a kidnapping. Suspicions fall on a bank president who is involved in counterfeiting. Han is aiming to produce “Fading Tracks,” another crime title that is also adapted from a novel.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic In a strange reversal of a longstanding trend with the Academy, this year’s documentary short ballot is almost entirely domestic (which is to say, films made by or about Americans), while the feature doc category — where subtitles aren’t so common — is entirely international. Judging by the overall quality of the films in the 141-minute “2024 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Documentary” lineup, that’s no sign of compromise. In fact, for Oscar completists, ShortsTV’s annual roundup is one of the most rewarding theatrical experiences audiences could hope for this year.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok, the massively popular video app owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance, apparently has an ally in Donald Trump. The former U.S. president expressed opposition to a national ban of TikTok not for, say, First Amendment reasons but because such a move would likely boost the fortunes of Meta’s Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Netflix is once again trying to whet the whistle of genre fans by dropping another trailer for 3 Body Problem, its long-in-the-works mystery series that’s inspired by the novel of the same name. 

Thrill seekers are getting the chance to trail run, kayak and mountain bike their way through spectacular landscapes in Greater Manchester this summer.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Taiwanese-produced crime action film “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” opened on top of the mainland China box office over the weekend, ahead of a quartet of holdover titles from Lunar New Year. Sony’s ‘Madame Web’ and a rereleased “Dune” also opened, but they failed to penetrate the top five. “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” earned $16.2 million (RMB115 million), according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood star Yami Gautam reveals her process in making “Article 370” and has addressed the issue of the film being banned in the Middle East. A political action thriller, the film deals with the events leading to the 2019 revocation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which granted special status to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, some parts of which are under dispute between India, Pakistan and China since independence from the British Empire in 1947. Gautam plays Kashmiri Indian National Intelligence Agency officer Zooni Haksar who is sent back to Kashmir by Prime Minister’s Office official Rajeshwari Swaminathan (Priyamani, “Jawan”) on a mission to achieve the revocation with minimal bloodshed.

UPDATED: A federal judge has found Catherine Herridge in civil contempt of his order that she reveal the source of stories she wrote when she worked for Fox News.

The latest task on the BBC One's hit show 'The Apprentice' will see candidates challenged to launch their own Formula E team.

EXCLUSIVE: Few people embody the act of balancing legacy media with the digital frontier quite like Bill Owens.

He may have turned 51 this week, but Peter Andre certainly isn't letting age slow him down. Showing he's still got it, the Australian singer displayed his toned torso in a new Instagram snap this week. Enjoying a workout with his 18 year old son Junior in the gym, Peter snapped a shirtless selfie in the mirror, where his golden tan and six pack could be seen.

As U.S. policymakers try to bolster defense for Taiwan vis a vis mainland China, S. Leo Chiang, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary short Island in Between, talks of the “crazy gymnastics” that the country finds itself in between the two world superpowers.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Match Factory has revealed multiple distribution deals for two Berlinale competition titles: German director Matthias Glasner‘s “Dying,” which won the festival’s Silver Bear for best screenplay, and Russian director Victor Kossakovsky‘s documentary “Architecton.” “Dying,” which stars Lars Eidinger, Lilith Stangenberg and Corinna Harfouch, also picked up the Guild of German Arthouse Cinemas and the Berliner Morgenpost Readers’ Jury Award. Variety‘s review describes the film as “a profoundly affecting exploration of life and loss.” The Match Factory closed deals for the film in France (Bodega Film), Italy (Satine Film), Benelux (September Film Distribution), Norway (Selmer Media), Poland (Aurora), CIS (Provzglyad), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF MegaCom Film), Hungary (Cirko Films), Greece (Cinobo), Romania (Freealize), Taiwan (Andrews Film) and South Korea (Pancinema).

Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and EventsFebruary kicked off with a slew of Grammy pre-parties before the big awards night, which included a Miley Cyrus performance, a surprise appearance by Celine Dion and Variety cover star Victoria Monét going home with multiple statuettes.At about the same time, “Rustin” star Colman Domingo was in New York City being honored by the Human Rights Campaign and Selena Gomez joined her friend, first-time director, Nicola Peltz-Beckham at the premiere of “Lola” in Los Angeles.Despite the torrential downpour clobbering Los Angeles, Cole Sprouse and Kathryn Newton premiered their new Zelda Williams-directed horror comedy, “Lisa Frankenstein,” at the Hollywood Athletic Club after a location change from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery due to the bad weather.Keep checking back here all month long for the best February celebrity pics from Hollywood, New York and beyond.Olivia Rodrigo kicks off her Guts World Tour at Acrisure Arena on Feb. 23 in Palm Springs, California.“Kung Fu Panda 4” star James Hong at his Hand and Footprint Ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on Feb.

The late Queen Elizabeth was rarely seen without a handbag on her arm, and tucked inside usually would be her favourite lipstick, some mints, a pair of reading glasses – and occasionally her much-loved camera. Accustomed to having her every move documented throughout her reign, she loved turning the lens on her own family and surroundings.

Marry My Husband star Park Min-young has opened up about how starring in the series has helped her out of a “dark” period of her life.Park Min-young spoke about how the series has been like “medicine” for her, following a two-year absence from the entertainment industry. In late 2022, the singer was caught up in a scandal involving her ex-boyfriend Kang Jong-hyun, a businessman alleged to have been involved in “illegal activities”.The actress described the past two years of her life as “a long and dark tunnel” in an interview with The Korea Times.

By any indicator, filmmaker Sean Wang has had a career year–and we’re only in Month Two. His narrative feature debut, Dìdi, captured the Audience Award and a Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble in the US Dramatic Competition at the recently concluded Sundance Film Festival, and that same week, he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short Subject for Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma). What’s more, Focus Features acquired Dìdi for a mid-summer release, and Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó just premiered on Disney+ as part of the streamer’s “People & Places” series.

Pedro Pascal, Dakota Johnson, and Chris Evans are in talks to star in “Materialists,” a romantic-comedy. Directed by Celine Song, who recently directed and wrote the Academy Award nominee “Past Lives,” “Materialists” is described as a romantic-comedy, and has already acquired international distribution.What Marcello Hernandez’s mom thinks about his SNL skit with Pedro PascalPedro Pascal reveals ‘the other Fantastic Four’ in sweet family moment“Materialists” is being sold by A24, which will be its US distributor.

MAY 202402: Seoul, South Korea03: Seoul, South Korea04: Seoul, South Korea11: Osaka, Japan12: Osaka, Japan18: Jakarta, Indonesia25: Tokyo, Japan26: Tokyo, JapanJUNE 202402: Nagoya, Japan15: Hong Kong, China16: Hong Kong, China22: Bangkok, Thailand23: Bangkok, Thailand29: Singapore, Singapore30: Singapore, SingaporeAUGUST 202410: Manila, the Philippines11: Manila, the PhilippinesTBALatin America: August to September 2024US: September 2024Europe: October to November 20242024 NCT DREAM WORLD TOUR <THE DREAM SHOW 3>SEOUL ➫ 2024.05.02-04OSAKA ➫ 2024.05.11-12JAKARTA ➫ 2024.05.18TOKYO ➫ 2024.05.25-26NAGOYA ➫ 2024.06.02HONG KONG ➫ 2024.06.15-16BANGKOK ➫ 2024.06.22-23SINGAPORE ➫ 2024.06.29-30MANILA ➫ 2024.08.10-11LATAM ➫… pic.twitter.com/L6FeXT8dVS— NCT DREAM (@NCTsmtown_DREAM) February 20, 2024In other touring news, K-pop girl group aespa have announced their upcoming 2024 ‘SYNK: Parallel Line’ world tour, featuring concerts in Asia, Australia and more.