Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian actor Sandra Milo, known for memorable roles in Federico Fellini’s “8½” and “Juliet of the Spirits” as well as her work with Roberto Rossellini, died on Monday at her Rome home. She was 90.
15.01.2024 - 15:13 / variety.com
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Sveva Alviti (“Dalida”) and U.S. actor Newton Mayenge (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”) are attached to star in Cannes-set romantic drama “The Other Side of Fame” to be directed by Erik Bernard (“Free Dead or Alive”).
Alviti is a model and actor who played the iconic Egyptian-Italian singer in the 2017 “Dalida” biopic by French director Lisa Azuelos. In “The Other Side of Fame,” she will play a young woman who becomes romantically entangled in Cannes with an elusive American played by Mayenge, “compelling her to confront the profound choice between the allure of fame and the promise of true love,” according to the project’s synopsis.
Besides Mayenge – who played NBA legend Jim Chones in the HBO series about the Los Angeles Lakers – “The Other Side of Fame” will also feature Alejandro De Hoyos, who recently appeared in action comedy “The Man From Toronto” with Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson, and in Bernard’s indie thriller “Free Dead or Alive.” Bernard, who besides planning to direct also wrote the script for “The Other Side of Fame,” said in a statement that the story stems from attending the Cannes Film Festival in 2022 and that the South of France “will definitely be a character in the film.” The plan is to shoot in Cannes and the surrounding area this winter. “The Other Side of Fame” is being produced by Bernard, Denise Bernard and Jasmin Espada under the Rebel 6 Film banner along with Untold Content’s Joel M.
Gonzales and Pejman Partiyeli. Alviti is represented in Europe by Diberti & Company.
.Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian actor Sandra Milo, known for memorable roles in Federico Fellini’s “8½” and “Juliet of the Spirits” as well as her work with Roberto Rossellini, died on Monday at her Rome home. She was 90.
A handful of indies bow or expand this weekend as Oscar hopefuls from Poor Things to The Holdovers and American Fiction crowd theaters after nominations earlier this week. Anatomy Of A Fall is getting a big bump. Oppenheimer is back on Imax.
Naman Ramachandran Award-winning artist Justin Anderson’s debut feature “Swimming Home” has its world premiere in competition at International Film Festival Rotterdam. Variety has secured access to the first clip from the film. The film, an adaptation of Deborah Levy’s 2012 Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel, centers on poet Joe (Christopher Abbott) and war photographer Isabel (Mackenzie Davis), whose marriage is dying when Kitti (Ariane Labed), a naked stranger found floating in the pool at their sunny holiday villa in Greece, is invited to stay.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony Pictures‘ “Madame Web,” a standalone origin story in the studio’s array of “Spider-Man”-based Marvel characters, has been granted a theatrical release in mainland China. The film will open in the country on March 1 — two weeks after the title’s Valentine’s Day bow in North America and multiple international territories, including the Chinese-language markets of Taiwan and Hong Kong. The release marks a welcome opportunity for Sony, which, along with the other traditional studios faced difficulty in securing theatrical runs in China over recent years.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent By now, even the most hardcore fans of French cuisine and “Chocolat” star Juliette Binoche can agree that Justine Triet‘s “Anatomy of a Fall” – rather than Tran Anh Hung’s “The Taste of Things” — was the one movie that could have given France its first Oscar win for best international feature in over 30 years, since Régis Wargnier’s “Indochine.” Over the last three decades, a number of French movies have earned Oscar recognition, but none have been the official French Oscar submission. Michael Haneke’s “Amour” earned five Oscar noms in 2013 and even won the best foreign-language Oscar but it represented Austria.
Naman Ramachandran Indian star Shruti Haasan will headline India-U.K. film co-production “Chennai Story.” Haasan, who is also a renowned musician, has acting credits across India’s various language film industries and in the U.S. and U.K.
Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall continued its prize-winning run on Monday at France’s 29th Lumière Awards clinching Best Film and Best Screenplay, while its German star Sandra Hüller won Best Actress.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Already one of France’s most beloved and bankable actors (“The Stronghold”), Gilles Lellouche is about to graduate as a big-shot filmmaker five years after delivering his sophomore outing, “Sink or Swim,” a B.O. hit which lured more than four million moviegoers (over $35 million) in theaters.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Sound of Freedom,” the indie action-drama film that earned some $184 million at the North American box office, has set a significant theatrical release in South Korea. Angel Studios, the crowd-funded Utah-based production and distribution firm behind the film, initially set up direct-to-theater releases for the film’s first international outings in the U.K., Australia and Latin America. In Korea, rights have been licensed in conventional fashion by the N.E.W. – Contents Panda group, which plans to give the picture a release from Feb. 21, 2024.
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cheerful as one would hope. Monday night’s Emmy 2024 saw the beloved sitcom “Cheers” cast reunion with acting legends Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, Kelsey Grammer, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt gracing the Los Angeles’s Peacock Theater stage. However, one person from the beloved 1980s show sadly did not visit the reconstructed Bull & Finch Pub where the cast discussed their “long overdue class reunion.”Woody Harrelson, who appeared in the show’s fourth season as bartender Woody Boyd, was noticeably absent from the stage.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Mongrel,” a Taiwan-set drama film that has done the round of project markets, will appear at the International Film Festival Rotterdam as a work in progress. In addition to the screening of 15 minutes of footage, Taiwan-based Singaporean director Chiang Wei Liang has confirmed the film’s cast as being headed by Thai actor Wanlop Rungkumjad (“Eternity,” “Manta Ray”) alongside Taiwanese female actor Lu Yi-ching (“The River”, “Stray Dogs”) and rapper Hong Yu-hong (“Bad Education”, “Miss Shampoo”) from Taiwanese hip-hop group Nine One One. Other key cast include Atchara Suwan (“By the Time It Gets Dark”), and Guo Shu-wei in his debut role.
Alex Ritman The nominees for the 2024 EE BAFTA Film Awards are set to be revealed on Thursday, with Naomi Ackie and Kingsley Ben-Adir — both former BAFTA Rising Star nominees — making the announcement at 12 p.m. U.K. time (4 a.m.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Salaud Morisset, the Paris- and Berlin-based sales and production outfit, has closed deals on “Excursion,” Una Gunjak’s feature debut which won the Jury Special Mention at the Locarno Film Festival. Salaud Morisset, which also co-produced “Excursion,” has closed sales deals with Angel Films (Denmark), Filmin (Spain), Zero em Comportamento (Portugal), Access Cinema (Ireland), JUNO11 Distribution (Hungary), Hakka Distribution (Tunisia), Fivia (Slovenia), MCF MegaCom (Montenegro & North Macedonia), No Blink Film (Bulgaria) and Silver Screen (Romania).
Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has spoken about the role Jose Mourinho played in his career, after the Portuguese manager was axed by Italian side Roma this week.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Nicola Maccanico, a former Warner Bros. and Sky Italia senior exec, has been spearheading the radical overhaul of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios since April 2021, when the government-owned facilities embarked on a mission to secure a multi-million dollar loan provided by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund. Three years later, the studios are equipped with 20 state-of-the-art soundstages, including one of Europe’s largest LED walls, and have become a magnet for Hollywood productions such as Roland Emmerich’s gladiator series “Those About to Die.” As the production hiatus brought on by the Hollywood strikes eases up, more U.S.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Ben Aldridge (“Knock at the Cabin”) and Martina Garcia (“The Hidden Face”) have joined the cast of “Dear Paris,” Marjane Satrapi‘s (“Persepolis”) ensemble drama which is one Studiocanal‘s highlights at this week’s Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase, along with Gilles Lellouche‘s sprawling romance thriller “Beating Hearts.” “Dear Paris” (“Paris Paradis”), produced by Vito Films, is a dark comedy set in the French capital where a flurry of charming characters confront death only to embrace life once again. The film also stars Monica Bellucci as a narcissistic Italian opera singer and Rossy De Palma as an eccentric elderly Colombian woman, as well as Eduardo Noriega, André Dussollier, Alex Lutz, Roschdy Zem and singer-turned-actor Gwendal Marimoutou (“Sam”).
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has dropped a teaser trailer for “Supersex,” the series freely inspired by the real life of global porn star Rocco Siffredi, which will world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival and drop March 6 on the streamer. “Every power is an enigma. It can give you light, or throw you into darkness.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Newen Connect has closed a raft of sales on “Kina & Yuk,” a live action family adventure from the team behind “Ailo’s Journey,” ahead of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase. Directed by Guillaume Maidatchevsky (“Ailo’s Journey”), the feature is a wild arctic tale following two foxes who are separated by the melting polar ice and must overcome a number of dangers in the hope of being reunited and raise a family together. The movie was released in French theaters by UGC on Dec.
Alison Herman TV Critic Looking back, 2014 was truly a different time: Obama was in office, skinny jeans still reigned supreme and “True Detective” established itself with an unabashed emphasis on masculinity. Three years earlier, Ryan Murphy had revived the anthology series with “American Horror Story,” but it took the imprimatur of HBO, massive movie stars and a “serious” genre like crime to give the format real prestige.