Israel Signs Filmmaking Deal With Russia

Superpower director Sean Penn isn’t mincing words in his denunciation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Marta Balaga “Death Is a Problem for the Living,” now also in Italy. The Finnish black comedy, directed by Teemu Nikki of “Euthanizer” fame, will premiere at the Rome Film Festival in October. “I am so proud of everything we have made together, especially ‘Euthanizer’ and [Venice Horizons Extra winner] ‘The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic,’ but this one is certainly the most consistent.

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures Classics is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Daddio, the Christy Hall-directed two-hander starring Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson. The film established itself as a bright spot in its premiere at Telluride and then at Toronto. SPC will get North America, Latin America and territories throughout Europe and Asia.

EXCLUSIVE: Jack Thorne’s heartwrenching BBC drama Best Interests starring Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen has sold to a wealth of territories.

EXCLUSIVE: Fremantle has struck a multi-year output deal for Jamie Oliver shows in Germany with RTL.

Motorists can pay more than £20 extra to fill up their cars depending on which petrol station they visit, according to the first-ever official forecourt figures.

Cody Rigsby cemented his status as everyone’s favorite at-home personal trainer when Peloton became one of the most popular workouts during the pandemic and now we’re finally getting the chance to learn more about him through his new book!

Ayelet Menahemi’s family comedy Seven Blessings swept the board at Israel’s Ophir Awards on Sunday evening, triumphing in nine categories including in best film.

Tim Chan If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. It’s a big night for UFC fans, as Israel Adesanya (a.k.a. “The Last Stylebender”) defends his middleweight title against Sean Strickland at UFC 293.

Prince Harry teased a “competition” with his wife Meghan Markle at the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games 2023, ahead of their reunion. During his opening speech, Harry revealed that the Duchess of Sussex will be cheering for Nigeria this year after discovering that she is of Nigerian descent.

Tom Brady is checking out some tennis with two of his three kids!

Emily Blunt and John Krasinski are enjoying a family outing!

Fauda, the breakout Israeli thriller drama, is unexpectedly returning for a fifth season, Deadline has confirmed with sources.

With Tatami, Golda helmer Guy Nattiv and Holy Spider star Zar Amir have crafted what’s billed as the first feature co-directed by an Israeli and an Iranian. The film, which bowed in the Horizons section here in Venice, is a sports drama with stakes that are far higher than winning or losing a match.

When British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi was watching the UK media coverage of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011, it had a profound impact on her. At the time, Shalit was an Israeli occupation soldier who had been abducted in 2006 by Palestinian freedom fighters and the first Israeli soldier to be captured by Palestinians since 1994. Shalit was eventually released five years later in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian political prisoners, including hundreds of which were women and children. 

Kanye West has shared a preview of a new song called ‘Israel’, in which he raps about meeting the devil.The track is set to appear on ‘Dying Near A Charger’, the new album from Al Be Back, and comes after Ye was reportedly ready to drop new music “imminently”.On the preview of ‘Israel’, Kanye raps: “Tell me right now is it real / Y’all be talking about the devil I seen a close-up / Every night I could’ve told everything they told us.“They was talking about the style I said n***a Moses / Ain’t nobody pardon [Larry] Hoover but we got the closest.”Watch a preview of the track below.Albe Back previews "Israel" featuring Ye pic.twitter.com/OX6O8O5vmQ— Donda Times (@dondatimes) September 6, 2023West was declared ‘Antisemite Of The Year’ by the watchdog group StopAntisemitism in response to his anti-Semitic comments in the last year. He has been widely condemned by many figures in the entertainment world, as well as several political figures and organisations that represent Jewish communities.

Christopher Vourlias Three decades ago, just a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall ushered in a new era of hope and promise in Europe, Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland made the historical drama “Europa, Europa,” which follows the harrowing ordeal of a Jewish teenager who goes to impossible lengths to survive the Holocaust. The title, says Holland, was meant to express “the duality of the European tradition: Europe of our aspirations, the cradle of culture and civilization, the rule of law and democracy, human rights, equality and fraternity, but on the other hand, Europe as the cradle of the worst crimes against humanity, selfishness and hatred.” Throughout her career, the three-time Academy Award nominee has found inspiration in “the great and tragic subjects of the 20th century,” powered by the conviction that “history is relevant, that what happened is relevant,” Holland tells Variety.

Charity Lawson is one of the two celebrities confirmed to compete on the upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars, and the most recent Bachelorette star got some advice from former winner, Kaitlyn Bristowe.

Israel has defied the international film community by striking a filmmaking pact with Russia.

EXCLUSIVE: Sipur, the Israeli studio behind North Road-backed Bad Boy and award-winning doc series The Devil’s Confession, has struck a multi-year deal with local network Reshet13.