Locarno Pro Sets Christine Vachon Masterclass, Neon Distribution Panel

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s True Colours has sold Mario Martone’s Naples-set Cannes competition drama “Nostalgia” to Curzon Film for the U.K. and Ireland, among other new territories.The deal, negotiated by True Colours sales manager Francesca Tiberi and Curzon acquisitions executive Eleonora Pesci, marks the first partnership between the companies.At the Italian Screenings market event recently held in Lecce, Southern Italy, the Rome-based sales company also sealed fresh deals on several other films, including pre-sales on upcoming Locarno title “Delta,” which is a revenge drama with a contemporary Western vibe.Martone’s “Nostalgia,” which has been praised by Variety critic Guy Lodge as the prolific Italian auteur’s “most rewarding film in years,” stars Pierfrancesco Favino as the middle-aged Felice Lasco, who returns to the bustling port city after having lived in Egypt for 40 years.

Bonding with his brothers! Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard shared precious photos of their newborn baby, Frederick, spending time with their two older sons.

As the dust on the Warner Bros. Discovery merger settles, the company has set its global corporate communications and media relations team.The team members and their roles were announced in an internal email by chief corporate communications officer Nathaniel Brown.“It’s been a very busy, productive few months since the launch of our new combined company.

Brexit, according to new research.Campaign group Best For Britain – which is “pushing for closer relationships with Europe and the world” – shared the figures today (July 21). They showed that the number of British artists scheduled to perform in Europe as part of this year’s festival season had decreased by 45 per cent when compared to 2017-2019 (pre-Brexit).Naomi Smith, CEO of Best For Britain, explained of the findings: “The Beatles famously made their name in Europe and it’s on tour that many musicians gain the formative experiences and audiences they need to take off.“With their dud Brexit deal, our lame duck Government has not only robbed emerging British talent of these opportunities abroad, but has also made international acts think twice before including Glasgow or London in their European tours.”Chief Executive of the Incorporated Society of Musicians and UK Trade and Business Commissioner, Deborah Annetts, added: “Previous witnesses to our commission have described how, if you’re a festival organiser in Barcelona who needs to fill a last-minute slot, British bands will be at the bottom of your list due to new barriers created by this botched Brexit deal.“Whoever ends up replacing Boris Johnson must commit to removing this needless bureaucracy which is stifling the prosperity and creativity of the next generation of British musicians.”Earlier this year, artists, management and politicians spoke to NME about the ongoing issues of performing live in Europe post-Brexit.It came over one year on from the music industry essentially being handed a “No Deal Brexit” when the UK government failed to negotiate visa-free travel and Europe-wide work permits for musicians and crew.

EXCLUSIVE: Eddie Murphy is set to star in Candy Cane Lane, a Reginald Hudlin-directed holiday comedy for Prime Video. Produced by Amazon Studios, Imagine Entertainment, and Eddie Murphy Productions, the comedy was acquired as a spec script written by Kelly Younger and inspired by Younger’s childhood holiday experiences. Production begins this winter in Los Angeles.

K.J. Yossman “Rugrats” co-creator Gábor Csupó is set to direct a feature-length adaptation of Rumer Godden’s children’s Christmas classic book “The Story of Holly and Ivy.”“Lonely young Ivy runs away from her orphanage during Christmas, while spirited but unsold doll Holly waits in her toy store window for the child who will give her existence meaning,” reads the official logline.

EXCLUSIVE: Rosie Perez is joining Bryan Cranston in the upcoming second and final season of Showtime’s Your Honor, in a major recurring role.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentThe setting for “The Head” Season 2, the second part of one of Spain’s biggest breakout hits, is a massive ocean freighter at the Pacific Ocean’s Nemo Point, the most remote place on earth, 1,681 miles from land.The set for many of its interiors, including the freighter’s high-tech research lab, is slightly more accessible – Villaviciosa de Odón, 8 miles from central Madrid. A set visit on Wednesday said much about one of Spain’s biggest upcoming TV swings, now building into a franchise.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorDark comedy-drama “My Neighbor Adolf,” which will world premiere in Piazza Grande at the Locarno Film Festival, has debuted its trailer. The film stars David Hayman, Udo Kier and Olivia Silhavy, and is directed by Israeli helmer Leon Prudovsky. Beta Cinema is handling world sales.The film, which Prudovsky has described as a cross between “Rear Window” and “Grumpy Old Men,” is set in Colombia in May 1960, just after Israel’s abduction of Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.

EXCLUSIVE: The latest casting round of tributes and mentors in Lionsgate’s prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes includes Irene Boehm, Cooper Dillon, Luna Kuse, Kjell Brutscheidt, Dimitri Abold, Athena Strates, Dakota Shapiro, George Somner and Vaughan Reilly.

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EXCLUSIVE: Here’s your first trailer for German director Kilian Riedhof’s drama You Will Not Have My Hate based on the true story of a man’s quest to rebuild his life without hatred after his wife was killed in the 2015 Bataclan attack in Paris.

Marta Balaga Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival has revealed the lineup for its 75th edition, sticking to its promise of discovering new talent.A slew of debuting filmmakers will showcase their works, from Italy’s Nicola Prosatore with “Piano Piano” to Caterina Mona, focusing in “Semret” on an Eritrean single mother working at a Zurich hospital and dreaming of becoming a midwife.Thomas Hardiman’s U.K.’s proposition “Medusa Deluxe,” a murder mystery set in a competitive hairdressing competition — boarded by New Europe Film Sales — is also bound to generate some excitement.“‘Medusa Deluxe’ is one of the coolest debuts of the year,” the company’s CEO Jan Naszewski enthused to Variety. “I’m sure it will rock the Piazza Grande and give the festival a great spark.”But Locarno will also bring in heavyweights, starting with a screening of the much-anticipated Brad Pitt vehicle “Bullet Train,” directed by “Atomic Blond” helmer David Leitch, and Olivia Newman’s “Where the Crawdads Sing” with Daisy Edgar-Jones and David Strathairn.Anna Gutto’s “Paradise Highway” packs star power as well, starring the likes of Morgan Freeman, “Captain America’s” Frank Grillo and Juliette Binoche, cast as a truck driver forced to smuggle illicit cargo to save her brother from a prison gang.In an interview with Variety earlier this year, the French actor described the role as a “worthwhile challenge.”“I never imagined I’d play a truck driver! I was drawn to incongruity and the prospect of embarking on a new adventure.

The Locarno Film Festival has announced the full line-up and juries for its 75th edition, which is due to unfold August 3-13.

Cineworld and its CEO, Mooky Greidinger, have been found guilty by an Israeli court of infringing merger conditions dating back to 2010 over the supply of films to a movie theater in Tel Aviv. A suit brought by the local competition authority argued that Cineworld’s local distributor, Forum Film, did not provide eight movies over a ten-year period to the Tel Aviv-based Lev Cinema. The court found in favor of the plaintiffs this week with a fine to be set in October.

Peacock has scheduled the premiere dates for several of its upcoming shows, including Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre’s “Vampire Academy,” and “Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin.”On Wednesday, the streamer announced that “Vampire Academy” will debut Sept. 15.

EXCLUSIVE: The Jewish non-profit Reboot has launched its own production company Reboot Studios, which will provide seed funding for and develop Jewish content across theater, television, film, podcasts, music and publishing.