German TV Network ARD Accused Of Censorship For Shelving Broadcast Of Palestinian Director Annemarie Jacir’s Feature ‘Wajib’ Due To Israel-Hamas Conflict

Ed Meza @edmezavar Berlin’s European Film Market has unveiled a new finance forum in collaboration with conference producer Winston Baker and the inaugural edition of AfroBerlin, focusing on the African film industry, among its new initiatives in its forthcoming edition, which runs Feb. 15-21. Winston Baker’s Entertainment Finance Forum Berlin, taking place Feb.

EXCLUSIVE: Half Yard Productions, the company behind TLC’s long-running series Say Yes To The Dress, is losing its two most senior executives.

Edward Berger To Address Israel’s Sam Spiegel International Film Lab

Callum McLennan ZDF, one of Germany’s leading broadcasters, has announced its co-production involvement ,via ZDF–Das Kleine Fernsehspiel, in the upcoming feature “Marriage by Abduction” (“Brautraub”). The film is directed by Sophia Mocorrea and builds on her short “The Kidnapping of the Bride” which took accolades at both Berlin and Sundance. It is now one of the high profile projects at Ventana Sur’s Proyecta lineup, its main arthouse project platform.

The Match Factory has posted a raft of deals for Michel Franco’s drama Memory, starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Saarsgard, who won the Coppa Volpi for Best Actor in Venice following its world premiere there in September.

Michaela Zee Henry Kissinger, the secretary of state for Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford who shaped U.S. foreign policy for decades, has died. He was 100.

Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state and national security advisor under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and advisor to George W. Bush, has died, according to a release from his Kissinger Associates. He was TK.

UPDATE, NOV. 28, 2023: Hand surgeon and reality TV star Grant Robicheaux today has taken a plea deal in a Fullerton, Calif. court on non-sex-related charges that leaves him free on probation.

Manchester United will reportedly make an approach to Thomas Muller if his Bayern Munich contract is not renewed.

Howard Donald may perform to thousands of people as one third of chart-toppers Take That, but he lives a much quieter family life away from the spotlight.The fifty five year old singer is a proud dad to two sons, Bowie Taylan, seven, and Dougie Bear, six, whom he shares with his wife, illustrator Katie Halil.The couple met on the set of a Marks and Spencer Christmas advert and tied the knot in 2015. Howard also has two grown-up daughters, Grace and Lola, from previous relationships.

EXCLUSIVE: A fast turnaround doc from filmmaker Duki Dror profiling the survivors of the surprise Hamas-led attack on a music festival in Israel is set to launch in Germany and France.

AC/DC may be planning to tour Europe in 2024, as a German mayor accidentally reveals plans for a show in Munich.Speculation that the rock veterans will be hitting the road again next year arose after Dieter Reiter, the mayor of Munich, accidentally let slip to a reporter that AC/DC will be performing at the city’s Olympic Stadium on June 12, 2024.“I didn’t know it was supposed to be a secret,” Reiter said after inadvertently leaking the date of the AC/DC concert during a city council meeting (via Planet Radio).If the show is confirmed by AC/DC and goes ahead next summer, it will mark their first performance in Europe since their slot at Dusseldorf Espirit Arena in June 2016 – back when Axl Rose was acting as frontman for the band.It will also mark their first show since they made their comeback at the huge Power Trip festival in Indio, California back on October 7. The slot saw the band close out the second of three nights at the rock festival, and featured a massive 24-song set with Brian Johnson and Cliff Williams returning to the line-up.Unsurprisingly, the accidental leak has led to some fans speculating that the show may be part of a larger European tour – possibly including shows in the UK too.At time of writing, however, the Munich show remains unconfirmed and the band have not yet announced any plans to play live in Europe throughout 2024.If the tour does come to fruition, it is expected that the band will recruit Matt Laug to take on drumming duties for the live shows.

EXCLUSIVE: Bombay Berlin Film Productions (BBFP) has revealed that August Diehl has been cast to play the role of German Olympic athlete Otto Peltzer in upcoming biopic The Distant Near. 

Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabaly is leaving the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam with a major award: Best Director in International Competition for his film Life Is Beautiful. But where he goes next is uncertain – he can’t return to Gaza for the time being because the border is closed as the Israel-Hamas war rages on.

EXCLUSIVE: Amidst the continuing tragedy of the Israel-Hamas war, Leviathan Production has entered development on a feature adaptation of Henry Ford’s War on Jews and the Legal Battles Against Hate Speech, a historical work penned by Victoria Saker Woeste.The film will tell the story of the campaign of antisemitism waged by automotive pioneer Henry Ford throughout the 1920s. It was in 1925 that Aaron Sapiro, a self-made lawyer and activist, sued Ford for libel. After a dramatic court case that gripped the nation, Sapiro forced Ford to shut down his antisemitic newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, and apologize publicly to the Jewish people.

EXCLUSIVE: Germany’s second biggest broadcasting network ARD has said it pulled Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s 2017 feature Wajib from its schedule this weekend due to concerns over its “narrative perspective” amid the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed Ilker Çatak, the writer-director behind Germany’s official International Feature Oscar entry The Teachers’ Lounge, for representation in all areas.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor More than 800 film industry professionals in Germany and Austria have signed an open letter opposing antisemitism, with the number of signatories continuing to grow. The signatories include a wide range of directors, writers, producers and other film industry professionals.

Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 has seen its financial picture stabilizing as the local TV advertising market began to show signs of recovery.

Naman Ramachandran Gains made from streamer Joyn have offset the continuing decline in TV advertising in the German-speaking region at media giant ProSiebenSat.1. Quarterly results published on Tuesday reveal that group revenues are relatively stable with a 3% decline in the third quarter of 2023 to €888 million ($950 million) compared to €911 million ($974 million) in the previous year. The numbers are a marginal improvement from the second quarter results where the group’s revenues declined from €1.04 billion ($1.14 billion) in 2022 to €868 million ($950 million) this year.