Jalena Keane-Lee’s ‘Standing Above the Clouds’ Takes Audiences Beyond Headlines and Frontlines of Land-Protection Activism (EXCLUSIVE)

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Tennis champion Naomi Osaka’s company Hana Kuma has boarded Leonardo Van Dijl’s debut feature “Julie Keeps Quiet” ahead of its world premiere on Saturday in Cannes Critics’ Week. The film is being sold by New Europe Film Sales. Osaka and her longtime agent and business partner Stuart Duguid’s Hana Kuma, an Emmy Award-nominated creative house, will serve as executive producers on the film.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Microsoft‘s Activision has launched a new internal, standalone studio with one mission: creating a new narrative-based and genre-defining AAA franchise. Titled Elsewhere Entertainment, the studio will be headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, with additional staff in the United States.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Untamed Talent, the recently launched Arab world management and production company led by former Mister Smith Entertainment executive Antone Saliba is rebranding as 75East and bringing on board Shams Mohajerani, a former acquisitions executive at Cairo-based MAD Solutions, as its chief manager and producer. The change in name to 75East of the company, which launched last December with backing from Front Row Productions – a joint venture between leading Middle East distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment – is a geographical reference to the wider Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) region from Morocco to Pakistan, “reflecting the company’s commitment to representing talent beyond Arabic-speaking territories,” according to a statement.

Christopher Vourlias Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa arrives at the Cannes Film Festival this week with his latest documentary, “The Invasion,” worried that the world’s attention has largely drifted from the Ukraine conflict in the two-plus years since Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion. The film premieres with a special screening May 16. Yet from the movie’s powerful opening sequence, which follows a funeral procession for four soldiers killed in battle, Loznitsa reminds us that the war continues to extract a devastating cost from its victims.

K.J. Yossman U.K. distributor Other Parties has launched a new production arm headed by former Amazon Studios U.K.

BIBI has gone viral again for kissing at fan at one of her concerts, this time during her set at Head in the Clouds New York 2024.BIBI performed on the second day of Head in the Clouds New York 2024 this past weekend on May 12, which also featured appearances from Joji, ATARASHII GAKKO!, Warren Hue and more.While performing her 2022 single ‘BIBI Vengence’, the singer jumped offstage to get closer to the audience. In one clip, which has since garnered over 139,000 likes, the singer serenades an audience member before kissing the fan’s hand.mother bibi at hitc ny is now a core memory #bibi #bibivengeance #hitcny #headintheclouds #88rising #newyork #foryou @Head In The Clouds Festival @88rising @nakedbibi ♬ BIBI Vengeance – BIBI A separate clip of the moment, which has since gone viral on X (formerly Twitter) with over 1.5million views, shows BIBI hugging a fan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Female stunt performer Wiriya Caesar will step up into the lead performer role in upcoming Thai action film “The 24.” The film project is being launched this week in the Cannes Market by new international sales firm Boz Pictures. Wiriya (aka Porntip Wiriya, aka “Fan”) has previously been a stunt double for Mary-Elizabeth Winstead in “Kate” and Golshifteh Farahani in “Extraction,” and has other credits on “Thirteen Lives” and “Hidden Strike.” In “The 24” she will star as an assassin who wakes up with a time bomb strapped to her body. She has clear instructions to kill a hit list of 24 members of the Bangkok underground, with each successful hit buying her more time alive. Caesar is joined in the cast by Japan’s Sakaguchi Tak (“Re:Born,” “One Percenter,” “Versus”), Dan Chupong (“Ong Bak 1 &2,” “Born to Fight”), Sunny Pang (“The Night Comes for Us,” “Headshot” and Gareth Evans’ upcoming “Havoc”) and Simon Kook (“Ip Man 3,” “Mayhem”). The film, which will shoot in the fourth quarter of this year, is written and directed by Lee Thongkham (“The Maid,” “The Lake,” “Kitty the Killer”).

Ticketmaster with the code “SOUNDCHECK”. General tickets go on sale on Friday, May 17, at 10am local time via Ticketmaster.NOVEMBER02 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom03 – San Francisco CA – The Regency Ballroom06 – Santa Ana, Ca – The Observatory07 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco08 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco10 – Denver, CO – The Summit12 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall14 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox15 – Seattle, WA – The ShowboxDECEMBER07 – Austin, TX – The Mohawk09 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club11 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer13 – New York, NYC – Irving Plaza14 – New York, NYC – Irving Plaza20 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall21 – Chicago, IL – Thalia HallBesides announcing their first tour in 10 years, The Blood Brothers have also announced a 20th anniversary reissue of their seminal 2004 album, ‘Crimes’.

Anna Marie de la Fuente When an estimated 1,000 international TV buyers descend on Los Angeles for the annual TV event known as the LA Screenings, they will see a contracted market still recovering from the twin Hollywood strikes of last year and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the pandemic. It kicks off with the LA Screenings Independents, held May 15-17 for smaller studios and distributors at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel, which are then followed by screenings at the major studios’ respective lots across May 18-22 where they present their latest shows.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Zurich and Berlin-based distrib DCM has nabbed Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice” ahead of its May 20 world premiere in Cannes, where its screening in competition. Written by Gabriel Sherman, “The Apprentice” follows Donald Trump’s real estate career in New York during the 1970s and ’80s and his relationships with lawyer Roy Cohen (Jeremy Strong), wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova) and father Fred Trump (Martin Donovan).

A WASTE firm has pointed the finger at axed Green Party minister Lorna Slater for them suffering a £150million loss over the failed bottle recycling scheme.

An estimated 32,000 in Scotland are unknowingly living with with an undiagnosed autoimmune disease that can cause serious consequences if left untreated.

Eurovision 2024 entrant Joost Klein has been placed under investigation by the contest’s organisers due to an unexplained “incident”.The singer was not allowed to perform his song ‘Europapa’ during the final dress rehearsal in Malmö, Sweden on Friday (May 10), and it is currently unknown whether he will be able to perform in the grand final on Saturday (May 11).The European Broadcasting Union said in a statement: “We are currently investigating an incident that was reported to us involving the Dutch artist. He will not be rehearsing until further notice.“We have no further comment at this time and will update in due course.”Klein’s most recent public appearance was during the flag parade at the start of the Friday rehearsal, but he did not appear during his performance slot approximately 30 minutes later.Klein is scheduled to perform in the fifth slot in the ceremony, one place before Israel’s Eden Golan.

Fans could see Lala Kent make the move to The Valley next season!

Alex Ritman Writer-director S. Craig Zahler (“Bone Tomahawk”) is set to reunite with his “Dragged Across Concrete” and “Brawl in Cell Block 99” star Vince Vaughn and Oscar winner Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”) for upcoming crime thriller “The Bookie & the Bruiser.” Anton will introduce the film to international distributors at the upcoming Marche du Film in Cannes. UTA Independent Film Group and Range Media Partners arranged the financing and will be representing the North American distribution rights.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent New Dubai-based distribution and production studio The Plot Pictures is headed for the Cannes Marche du Film after snapping up Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT) rights to a slew of indie titles across different genres. They include “Locust,” a first feature film from Taiwanese American multidisciplinary artist Keff that is playing in Critics Week, and Nick Hamm’s epic “William Tell.” The Plot Pictures CEO Pratixa Shah and head of sales Ozge Conduroglu – who was previously with Starz Play Arabia – are assembling a slate spanning “different genres, regions, and languages,” as Shah put it in statement.

Katcy Stephan Celine Song‘s “Materialists” has rounded out its cast with Zoë Winters (“Succession”), Dasha Nekrasova (“Bad Behaviour,” “Wobble Palace”), Louisa Jacobson (“The Gilded Age”) and Marin Ireland (“Eileen”). The A24 feature starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal is described as a New York-set rom-com following a high-end matchmaker who gets involved with a wealthy man.

Erik ten Hag insists Bruno Fernandes will "definitely" see out his contract at Manchester United despite the Portuguese suggesting he could leave in the summer.

Chance Perdomo is not being recast.

Glasgow-born Sally Magnusson has been updating Scots across the country with the latest news on Thursdays and Fridays since 1997.