Embracing Pulpy Genre, Germany’s Hnywood Aims for the Stars (EXCLUSIVE)

Teeny sandwiches, cakes, scones and a pot of tea - those are the things that immediately spring to mind when I hear the words afternoon tea. Expensive is another one.

The White Lotus universe is quickly expanding with season three being filmed in Thailand, and many are hoping characters from previous seasons make epic returns.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent MALAGA — Dark Star Pictures, the L..A.-based distribution company, has secured North America distribution rights to “On the Go,” which showcases the acting talents of “Elite’s” Omar Ayuso, here playing a Grindr addict with vengeance in his heart. Celebrating its world premiere at last August’s Locarno Film Festival, “On the Go” was acquired for world sales in the run-up to the Swiss festival by Paris-based MPM Premium.

Jessie Ware has shared her love for The Last Dinner Party, and revealed her hopes to join forces with the band in the future. Watch our interview above.The moment took place on the red carpet for the BRIT Awards this weekend (March 2), when the pop icon spoke with NME ahead of the ceremony. On the night, Ware was nominated for the Artist of the Year award, and was up against Arlo Parks, Dave, Fred again.., Little Simz, Olivia Dean and RAYE, with the latter ultimately taking home the trophy.During the interview with NME, Ware shared her admiration for other artists nominated that night – in particular, rising British indie band The Last Dinner Party.“I think The Last Dinner Party are really cool.

.Ever since Kensington Palace announced that the princess would be undergoing a the public has wondered why there haven’t been more frequent or clear updates about her health. Yes, Kate has a right to privacy, but given that King Charles III is also being treated for medical issues (cancer), and that all the top four royals (King Charles III, Queen Camilla, Princess Catherine, Prince William) are taking time off from royal duties to deal with these illnesses, many started to wonder if something was…afoot.

Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the Oscars this year for the fourth time. Other than Bob Hope (19 times), Billy Crystal (nine) and Johnny Carson (five), no solo host has done it more. (Whoopi did it 4 times as well.) But it is a good bet that among those hosts, no one has seen as many of the nominated films. Kimmel is a self-described movie fan, and as I learned from our conversation he not only spends weeks, months even, prepping his monologue, but he also might be one of the few in the room at the Dolby Theater who actually has seen everything. And I mean everything.

After an all-too-brief respite, Southern California is once again being hit with a winter storm.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Following its world premiere in the competition section of the Berlin Film Festival, Beta Cinema has revealed first sales across Europe and to Australia and New Zealand for Andreas Dresen’s “From Hilde, With Love.” The drama about anti-Nazi activists in Berlin, which is led by “Babylon Berlin’s” Liv Lisa Fries and introduces Johannes Hegemann in his first big screen appearance, will be released in France by Haut et Court, in Italy by Teodora and throughout Scandinavia by Angel Films. Beta Cinema also closed deals for Benelux (September Film), Portugal (Outsider), former Yugoslavia (Discovery), Hungary (Cirko) and Czech Republic (Film Europe). Palace Film picked up the film for Australia and New Zealand.

Coronation Street star Jodie Prenger was bowled over by the support of her friends and co-stars as she briefly broke away from the cobbles for another role. The actress, who plays Glenda Shuttleworth in the ITV soap, returned to her musical theatre roots over the weekend.

Sting and Billy Joel kicked off their co-headlining concert in Tampa, Florida by treating their fans to a duet – watch fan-shot clips of the concert below.Performing at the Raymond James Stadium this past Saturday (January 24), Sting wasted no time surprising fans, kicking off the pair’s co-headlining concert by bringing out Billy Joel to perform ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic’.While the surprise duet to start the night was undoubtedly a big event in itself, the Tampa Bay Times reports that a big chunk of the night’s audience were unable to catch it as they were stuck in traffic outside the stadium.Fortunately, these unlucky fans were able to catch the night’s second duet when Billy Joel brought Sting out to perform ‘Big Man on Mulberry Street’ late into his set. Watch fan-shot footage of the performance below.Sting and Billy Joel will next share co-headlining dates together in April and September as part of Joel’s ongoing tour, which also includes stops with Stevie Nicks.

Palme d’Ors don’t grow on trees, so it’s small wonder that the world has fallen for Justine Triet’sAnatomy of a Fall, and the outstanding lead performance of Sandra Hüller, since it won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize. Hüller’s turn dominates the ‘sort of’ courtroom drama of the film, in which her German novelist — also called Sandra — is accused of pushing her French husband Samuel (Samuel Theis), also a writer, from the top floor of their alpine home. Sandra maintains he fell, or jumped, and the film spends much of its runtime chewing over the truth, though never revealing it.

Star Wars script Harrison Ford left in a London flat sold for thousands last week.The actor rented the flat in 1976 while filming Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and when he moved out, he accidentally left a draft of the film’s script.A description of the item from the auction read: “A revised fourth draft of STAR WARS EPISODE 1: A NEW HOPE – originally titled here as The Adventures of Luke Star Killer as taken from the ‘Journal of the Whills’ by George Lucas (Saga I) STAR WARS (March 15, 1976).”On the items provenance, the description added: “This item came from the home of a family in which Harrison Ford stayed during the filming of Star Wars throughout 1976 and is likely his own copy that was left behind along with other items.“Includes the scene where we first meet Chewbaca in the cantina and where Han Solo introduces the crew to the Milennium Falcon, among many other famous scenes and lines of dialogue including ‘Boring conversation anyway.'”Last weekend (February 18), the script sold for £10,795 following via Excalibur Auctions to an unnamed collector.The auction house went on to add more information about the owners of the flat in the description of the item, writing: “…The vendor recollects that in 1976 she had an advertisement in The Sunday Times “Flat to Let”. She and her husband were looking for a lodger in their home.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Oscar nominee America Ferrera has been cast in her next role outside of Barbie World. Ferrera has signed on to star in Oscar nominee Paul Greengrass’ upcoming drama “The Lost Bus” alongside Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey, Variety has learned exclusively.

Love Island fans saw Tom Clare and Molly Smith crowned winners of the first-ever All Stars series on Monday night, after five weeks of looking to find love on-screen once again. In new pictures of the couples landing back in the UK after their sun-soaked - and drama-filled - South African sojourn, the winning couple were papped at the airport looking as smitten as ever, alongside the other four final couples.

Ellise Shafer Martin Scorsese was lauded with the Berlin Film Festival‘s honorary Golden Bear on Tuesday night, celebrating a lifetime of achievement in cinema. As he accepted the award, Scorsese — whose most recent film, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” is currently up for 10 Oscars — reflected on his career thus far and even teased a return to the festival “in a couple years.” Scorsese was introduced by German director Wim Wenders, who is also Oscar-nominated for his latest feature, “Perfect Days.” Wenders told a hilarious story, complete with a photo slideshow, about one of his earliest interactions with Scorsese at the Telluride Film Festival in 1978, where he came upon the director and his then-girlfriend Isabella Rossellini on the side of the road with a flat tire.

Ready or not, here Bridgit Mendler is coming with some BIG news for fans!

Joe Biden‘s return trip to Los Angeles today for another round of fundraising is likely to add a huge haul to his campaign war chest, but there’s also the prospect of more protests over the administration’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas.

Ed Meza @edmezavar While medical dramas have long been a favorite staple on German TV, a new series helmed by Alex Schaad, director of the award-winning fantasy romance “Skin Deep,” and penned by British writer Samuel Jefferson looks set to give the genre a bold, modern take. “KRANK Berlin” is an eight-part series that follows a young team of doctors in the toughest and most overcrowded medical facility in the city.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Since its establishment in 2018, Gaumont Germany has produced a wide range of series and TV movies, among them such timely shows as the critically acclaimed “Deutsches Haus” (“The Interpreter of Silence”), which was nominated for the Critics Choice Awards, and the Ukrainian series “In Her Car.” A subsidiary of the French entertainment powerhouse, the Cologne and Berlin-based company also created such ambitious shows as Netflix’s historical epic “Barbarians” – the first season of which was one of the streamer’s most successful non-English-language series worldwide – and the award-winning Sky Original comedy “The Wasp,” about a professional dart player seeking to return to his former glory. Discussing the company’s latest productions, Gaumont Germany President Sabine de Mardt says it’s important to combine broader entertainment with relevance, something both “The Interpreter of Silence” and “In Her Car” offer.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Berlin Film Festival hosted the 10 young European actors selected for the Shooting Stars program, run by European Film Promotion, at a gala event Monday. The presentation of the Shooting Stars took place prior to the screening of Claire Burger’s “Langue Étrangère,” which plays in competition.