Melbourne Film Festival Unveils Competition Section With $100,000 First Prize

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd has announced dates for his “After Hours Til Dawn” stadium tour, which launches in his hometown of Toronto on July 8 and heads across North America before wrapping in Los Angeles on Sept. 2 and then moving overseas.

Married at First Sight season nine is in full swing introducing a whole new batch of brides and grooms. Ella Ding is one of this year's singles signed up to walk down the aisle with a total stranger.The 27 year old's appearance on the reality show has left viewers curious to find out more about her life before the experiment. Ella lives in a trendy three bedroom home located in Melbourne's Bayside suburb of Brighton East.Thanks to social media, she is often sharing updates from her home giving glimpses into her interior style.

Kate McKinnon and Jimmy Fallon are trying to outsmart Alexa!

Kate McKinnon and Jimmy Fallon played a game with Alexa on Monday’s “Tonight Show”.

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics has announced its Dorian Award nominations for the best in movies.  Netflix and Neon dominate the nominations this year.

Outlander's Sam Heughan claims the Everest film with Ewan McGregor and Mark Strong will not go ahead for the foreseeable after schedule issues.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Novelist’s Film,” which Wednesday earned Korean director Hong Sang-soo the Grand Jury Prize in Berlin, has scored multiple rights deals. With Seoul-based Finecut handling the rights sales, the film was licensed to Ama Films for Greece and Cyprus, Mimosa Films for Japan, L’Atalante Cinema for Spain, Arizona Films Distribution for France and to The Cinema Guild for the U.S.Finecut also did European Film Market business with “Contorted,” an unorthodox horror about a family tragedy.

Melbourne Film Festival Launches $100K Best Film Prize; Southern Hemisphere’s “Richest” Feature CompetitionThe Melbourne International Film Festival is introducing a feature film competition ahead of its 70th anniversary edition.

Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has announced that its 70th anniversary edition in August will include the debut of the annual MIFF Film Competition. Already the Southern Hemisphere’s largest and longest-running film festival, MIFF will now also offer one of the world’s most substantial festival prize pools.Initially comprising three awards, the MIFF Film Competition‘s flagship prize will be the AUD$140,000 (approx.

ViacomCBS unveiled a slew of new news Tuesday during an investor day presentation that followed the release of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings.

Geordie Shore’s Ricci Guarnaccio, he of first-man-to-put-a-ring-on-VIP-Vicky-Pattison fame, has made his acting debut in an indie horror film from Down Under.Yep, in a pivot away from reality TV and DJing, Ricci has given his acting chops a go and we have to say, he’s not half bad.Ricci posted a clip of his starring role in the 2017 film Boar to his Instagram and wrote, “My Australian @universalpictures debut, on a @christopherleesun film.

Carole Horst Rose Byrne’s array of credits includes a wide range of projects, from comedies such as “Neighbours” and “Bridesmaids” to historical dramas including “Mrs. America” and superhero pics “X-Men: First Class,” horror films and gems “Juliet, Naked.” Now, her production company Dollhouse Pictures has “Seriously Red,” being sold by Arclight Films at the EFM. The film, written and starring Krew Boylan (another Dollhouse principal), follows Red, a vivacious and at times misguided redhead who trades in her real estate career to become a full-time Dolly Parton impersonator.

EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American rights to the narrative documentary Acting: The First Six Lessons, written by and starring Beau Bridges and his daughter Emily Bridges, as well as to the Batman-themed feature documentary Batman and Me, from director Michael Wayne. The digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios plans to release both titles across VOD platforms on March 8.

Naman Ramachandran Protagonist Pictures has closed multiple deals for several key territories on Sundance selection and Berlin Film Festival competition title “Call Jane.”Territories sold include DCM for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Umbrella Entertainment for Australia and New Zealand, Mis.label for Scandinavia, Eagle for Italy, Shaw for Singapore and Empire for South Africa.Directed by Phyllis Nagy, the Oscar nominated writer of “Carol,” the film stars Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara and Chris Messina. The film follows Joy (Banks), a traditional 1960s housewife who unexpectedly falls pregnant and finds the Janes, an underground abortion movement led by Virginia (Weaver).

Flume will return to North America for his first tour dates in nearly three years this April, in support of his forthcoming album ‘Palaces’.Flume had previously been announced as part of the 2022 Coachella line-up in April, as well as Bonnaroo and New York City’s Governors Ball this June. Headlining shows for the producer have now been announced that are largely based around these festival dates.

Star-crossed lovers? Liam Neeson confessed that he nearly sparked a romance while filming his new action film, Blacklight, in Australia.

Liam Neeson had quite the time in Melbourne, Australia, while shooting his new film “Blacklight” in 2020.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorWide has come on board to represent international sales on Slovenian-Australian writer/director Sara Kern’s debut feature “Moja Vesna,” which premieres in the Generation Kplus section at the Berlin Film Festival.“Moja Vesna” stars newcomer Loti Kovačič as Moja, a 10-year-old girl who lives with her grief-stricken Slovenian dad and pregnant 20-year-old sister Vesna in an outer suburb of Melbourne. Unable to accept the reality of her mother’s sudden death, Moja focuses on preparing for the baby while Vesna is lost in troubles of her own.Adamant and full of light, Moja carries on, hoping in vain that Vesna will eventually fill the mother-shaped hole in her life.