‘Kelly,’ Norwegian Democrazy,’ ‘Women of God’ Among European Section at Hot Docs

Annika Pham New York-based director/producer Katy Scoggin has worked with high-profile U.S. documentary filmmaker/journalist Laura Poitras on two shorts and three features, notably as co-producer and DP on Poitras’ Oscar-winner “Citizenfour” and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight’s “Risk.” Poitras now serves as executive producer on Scoggin’s feature debut “Flood,” one of six creative documentaries to be pitched as works in progress April 16, at the Visions du Réel festival in Nyon, Switzerland. “Flood” centers on Scoggin’s journey to repair her relationship with her former missionary father, with whom she has become estranged.

Naman Ramachandran Circle Women Doc Accelerator, an international training program dedicated to women and non-binary filmmakers, has unveiled the four projects that will take part in its showcase as part of the Cannes Docs program of the upcoming Cannes Film Market. For the fifth consecutive year, four alumnae of the program will present their works-in-progress during the market. “Dreamers” by Imam Hasanov, produced by Maria Ibrahimova for Cinex production (Azerbaijan), is set in rural Azerbaijan, where former football player Mamed coaches an all-girls football team.

Max‘s long-awaited debut in Europe is nearing and it’s coming with a saucy original out of Norway.

Stormy Daniels Doc Finds Global Distribution

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Reviews will have to wait till the Cannes Film Festival kicks off on May 14, but it’s not too early for a critic to weigh in on this year’s lineup — or how it looks on paper, at least, and what the selection might say about the state of things. At the top of the press conference, festival director Thierry Frémaux noted that last year would be a tough edition to top.

Manchester Airport has announced a new route to Hamburg. Eurowings will operate a service four times a week to the German city, flying on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Annika Pham Norwegian broadcaster NRK has excelled in recent years at bringing bold and thought-provoking shows to the world. After their latest Canneseries winners “Power Play” (2023), “Afterglow” (2022), “Countrymen” (2021) and “State of Happiness” (2018), their latest bet “Dumbsday” (“Dummedag”) has its international premiere April 8 in the French TV festival’s main competition. It first aired on the Norwegian pubcaster Nov.

Having spent the last six decades working in TV and radio, Gloria Hunniford needs little introduction. And the presenter, who celebrates her 84th birthday this week, is showing no signs of slowing down. She’s as driven now, in her current roles on Loose Women and Rip Off Britain, as she was in her early broadcasting days on Good Evening Ulster in the late 70s.

Loose Women's Nadia Sawalha had her co-stars and the audience in fits of laughter as she stripped down to her underwear live on TV.The hilarious moment happened during Friday's episode, when Nadia was challenged to try on a pair of skinny jeans, following news of their revival for autumn and winter 2024. Initially hesitant, Nadia eventually gave in and removed her trousers, revealing her underwear to the shocked studio audience. She was then handed a pair of skinny jeans, but struggled to get comfy in them, unable to adjust the fit or even fasten them.

Finnair is expanding its services from Manchester Airport to Helsinki as it celebrates 30 years of direct flights from the Finnish capital to Manchester. The airline will increase capacity to 12 weekly flights this summer, with plans to launch double daily flights by winter 2024.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” stomped to the top of box office charts, collecting a better-than-expected $80 million from 3,861 North American theaters in its debut. Heading into the weekend, the monster mashup was projected to earn $50 million to $55 million to start. But “Godzilla x Kong,” which sees the two otherworldly beasts team up to save the planet, trounced those projections after benefitting from several factors, including audience enthusiasm (it landed an “A-” CinemaScore”) and premium large formats (accounting for 48% of ticket sales).

Loose Women legend Coleen Nolan poignantly broke down in tears this week as she concluded her UK tour in a milestone moment.The 59 year old singer was visibly overwhelmed by hitting the all important milestone, which came after she stripped off last year in order to promote it. Sharing a video of the all important achievement, Coleen said: “So it’s the last night of the tour. I’m really sad that it’s come to an end.

Dame Kelly Holmes, Olympian turned motivational speaker and author, couldn’t have been in better spirits when she caught up with OK ! after hosting an Athena Effect women’s networking event at the Corinthia London hotel. Despite spending the whole day engaging in deep conversations about empowering women, Kelly brought just as much passion and enthusiasm when she chatted to us about her “transformation” and life now.The 53-year-old former middle distance runner, who this year marks two decades since winning double gold medals at the Olympics in Athens, has found a sense of peace and serenity in recent years, telling us she’s “got to a point in life where I’ve found my own voice” and that she “really doesn’t care” what anyone thinks of her.

Bonjour and hello, Insiders. This was the week in which the end of the historic MIPTV Cannes confab was confirmed after six decades. Jesse Whittock with you. Let’s begin, and sign up for the newsletter here.

It was an emotional episode of Loose Women on ITV this morning, with host Charlene White breaking down in tears as she spoke about grieving her late mother. Charlene's mum Dorrett died aged 42 after suffering with bowel cancer when the Loose Women star was just 16 years old. Speaking about handling grief on Loose Women, Charlene, 43, became emotional as she remembered her late mother.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Bettina Blümner’s “Vamos a la playa” won ArteKino Festival’s European Audience Award at a ceremony co-organized by the iconic French fashion house Chanel in Paris. Held at La Femis, Paris’ prestigious film school, the event also included a conversation with French filmmaker Rebecca Zlotowski (“Other People’s Children”), followed by a ceremony honoring Blümner and a screening of “Vamos a la playa,” as well as a posh cocktail which brought together film talent, executives and students.

The ten film programmers who led a mass exodus this week out of Canada’s Hot Docs Film Festival have said a “toxic workplace” environment was the central issue behind their public exit. 

What’s the biggest documentary festival in the world? The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam. For now.

Naman Ramachandran Artistic director Hussain Currimbhoy and several programmers have stepped down ahead of this year’s edition of Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival. Festival director Heather Haynes will now lead the programming department. A statement from the Toronto-based event said: “Hot Docs has announced that Hussain Currimbhoy stepped down from his role as Artistic Director on March 20th due to personal reasons.

UPDATED, 3:55 p.m.: Without acknowledging them by name, a spokesperson for leading documentary festival Hot Docs has confirmed the departure of “some members of the programming team,” as well as recently appointed Artistic Director Hussain Currimbhoy.