CPH:DOX Premieres ‘A Poem For Little People,’ Documentary Celebrating “Courage And Resilience Of Ordinary Ukrainians”

Lise Pedersen In her first media interview published ahead of the world premiere of her debut feature “Fragments of Ice” at Swiss documentary film festival Visions du Réel, Ukrainian director Maria Stoianova tells Variety how her film’s intention shifted after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Based entirely on archival footage shot on a camcorder by her father, a figure skater in former Soviet Ukraine, the film is voiced by the director, who was born in 1986 and takes the viewer back to the mid 80s and early 90s through her family’s story, as they experience the dissolution of the Soviet Union and of their dreams of a Western paradise.

The Champions League has not been a happy hunting ground for Manchester United in recent years.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Talpa Studios, the company founded by “The Voice” and “Big Brother” creator John de Mol, has closed further territory sales for quiz-show format “The Floor.” Variety can also reveal that the show has been named by research organization K7 Media as the “Format to Watch” in its “Tracking the Giants” format sales report, which was released Saturday at MipFormats. The recognition is based on the show’s territory sales. K7 said: “’The Floor’ is the best-selling format in 2023 and early 2024 among all the unscripted formats that were newly created in 2023.

Annika Pham Keshet International (KI) has picked up global rights to Finnish sci-fi thriller “Valhalla Project” (“Operaatio Valhalla”), produced by L.A. and Helsinki -based Snapper Films for Finnish streaming service Elisa Viihde.

EXCLUSIVE: Canadian indie Boat Rocker Studios has struck a deal with Shark Teeth Films for a trio of upcoming unscripted shows.

The Dandy Warhols and The Black Angels have announced a UK and European co-headline tour for this autumn – find all the details below.The run of joint dates is set to kick off in Paris on September 21 before the two bands head to Brussels, Den Haag, Utrecht and Berlin ahead of a stop-off at Cannonball Festival in Copenhagen.From there, The Dandy Warhols and The Black Angels will head to the UK and Ireland for concerts in Dublin, Glasgow, Manchester, London and Bristol at the end of September and into early October.Tickets go on general sale at 9am BST this Friday (April 5).

A North Ayrshire Council initiative is helping parents to find work while expanding the talent pool for local employers.

We’re getting the first look at Jeremy Renner in the upcoming third season of Mayor of Kingstown. Paramount+ has dropped the first trailer and unveiled a spring premiere date for the upcoming season which sees Renner’s Mike McClusky in a fight against a fierce Russian mob.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Sweet Planet,” a one of the highest-profile China-Europe co-productions of recent years, will air on China Global Television Network from Friday. The six-part culinary documentary is a co-production between millennial-focused global channel operator Insight TV, Netherlands-based production company JOIIN, and CGTN. It explore the culinary and cultural impact of sugar in cooking and food rituals around the world.

What’s the biggest documentary festival in the world? The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam. For now.

EXCLUSIVE: Rob Kirkland will return as Police Captain Walter in Season 3 of the Paramount+ Original series Mayor of Kingstown, currently in production.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Dahomey,” the Berlinale Golden Bear-winning film helmed by French-Senegalese director Mati Diop, has been sold to a raft of international territories by Les Films du Losange. Along with being acquired by Mubi in key markets, “Dahomey” has been acquired in Australia & New Zealand (Rialto), China (Hugoeast), Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Nitrato Filmes), Greece (One From the Heart), Scandinavia (NonStop Entertainement), Benelux (Cinéart), Bulgaria (Beta Films), Ex-Yugoslavia (Discovery), Hungary (Mozinet), Czech Republic (Film Europe), Romania (Voodoo), Baltic Countries (Taip Toliau), Poland (New Horizons), Ukraine (Kyivmusicfilm), Taiwan (Joint Entertainment), Indonesia (PT Falcon) and Sudu Connexion in Africa.

The Flats, a film about The Troubles in Northern Ireland, won the top award at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen at a Friday night, earning a €10,000 prize. 

Annika Pham Coming straight from Sundance with their respective buzzy docs “Power” – a Netflix Original – and “Union,” U.S. director/producer Yance Ford and his Canadian counterpart Brett Story delivered March 20 an empowering talk at Copenhagen’s “Film:makers in Dialogue” session, where they bounced ideas between each other about power structure in American society, capitalism, race and class divides from historical and contemporary perspectives. “Power,” which was competing at CPH:DOX for the Human Rights Award, is a forceful documentary essay on the origin of U.S.

Lise Pedersen The ongoing war in Gaza was high on the agenda at the awards ceremony of CPH:DOX, Copenhagen’s international documentary film festival, with numerous filmmakers calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as they picked up their awards. Opening the ceremony following a concert by the locally-based Middle East Peace Ensemble, artistic director Niklas Engstrøm told the crowd gathered in Copenhagen’s historic Kunsthal Charlottenborg, which is home to the fest throughout the 10-day event: “It felt right to start with this basic human message of hope and peace.” On the theme of conflicts past and present, Italian director Alessandra Celesia picked up the top Dox:Award for “The Flats,” a powerful, timely and haunting film about a community living in the shadow of the pain and trauma of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

After a wait that felt like years, Lucasfilm finally unveiled the first look and trailer of the new “Star Wars” mystery thriller, “The Acolyte.” With the veil on the shadowy, secretive project lifted, the show’s creator, Leslye Headland (“Russian Doll”), could finally delve into the series’ details. In A new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Headland spoke about the series’ influences, such as “Kill Bill” and “Rashomon,” and how exactly she pitched the idea to Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy.

Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead are husband and wife, and despite being married since 2022, the couple still used an intimacy coordinator on the set of the series A Gentleman in Moscow.

Total War: Warhammer 3 has just launched a new hotfix that, among other things, removes a randomly generated High Elf name that shared ties with a German general from World War Two.One of the randomly generated High Elf names, Guderian, is the surname of Heinz Guderian, a Nazi general. He led armoured divisions into Poland, France, and Russia, and was an early pioneer of the infamous blitzkrieg tactic employed by Germany to rapidly overwhelm countries in World War 2.Guderian rose to the role of Hitler’s personal advisor, but he ultimately surrendered to the U.S.

Zendaya and Tom Holland were spotted enjoying a date day in California at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.The Hollywood duo looked to be fixated on the BNP Paribas Open, as they watched Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Daniil Medvedev of Russia compete in the Men's Final. Euphoria star Zendaya, 27, and Spider-Man actor Tom, also 27, were joined by a friend as they watched the match unfold from the stands.The couple chatted and reacted to the match, with Tom covering his mouth at one point. The star looked stylish in a dark brown open shirt and white top, paired with tinted glasses and his hair swept to the side.

Disney+ has revealed a spring premiere date for The Acolyte, the new Lucasfilm Star Wars series. Star Wars: The Acolyte will be released June 4 on the streaming service. The date was revealed Monday on Star Wars verified X account, which also teases more news to come tomorrow. (See below).