Santa Barbara Film Festival to honor Haim, DeBose, 6 others

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival has confirmed its various juries, including who will be joining M. Night Shyamalan to award the International Competition prizes.

As you know, the in person festival was canceled due to rising concerns of the omicron variant of Covid-19 and it has moved to an online screening format for press and attendees.

Wilson Chapman editorThe Miami Film Festival has announced its opening and closing titles for its upcoming 39th edition.The festival, which showcases works from filmmaker’s in the Ibero-American diaspora, will premiere and end with two films listed on the Oscar shortlist for international feature film. “The Good Boss” (El Buen Patrón), a comedy written and directed by Spain’s Fernando León de Aranoa, will open the festival, which will close with “Plaza Catedral,” the sophomore narrative feature of Panamanian director Abner Benaim.“The Good Boss” stars Javier Bardem as Blanco, the owner of a family business up for consideration for a local award for business excellence. Determined to win the award, Blanco begins meddling in the lives of his employees, setting off a chain of events that leads to shocking repercussions.

Jamie Lang “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral” director Mike Newell and actor Jason Wong (“The Gentlemen,” “Dungeons & Dragons”) are launching the Kingston International Film Festival (KIFF) to support independent film makers in a post-pandemic world. Taking place June 24-26, the festival is a 50:50 partnership between Blue Elephant Films and Rose Theatre which aims to address a decline in the independent film industry by establishing a new platform for emerging talent and creating opportunities which will link new filmmakers and industry experts.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterNational Geographic Documentary Films has acquired “The Territory,” a timely look at indigenous-led land defense in the Amazon rainforest, following its premiere at the virtual Sundance Film Festival.The company plans to release “The Territory” theatrically later this year before the film heads to its streaming platforms.Alex Pritz directed “The Territory” in his feature film debut. Using verité-style footage captured over three years, the documentary tells the fight of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against rapidly approaching deforestation brought by illegal loggers and nonnative farmers in the Brazilian Amazon.In Variety’s review of “The Territory,” which screened in the world cinema documentary competition, film critic Guy Lodge described the doc as “riveting and despairing in equal measure.” “Dual forces of climate change and cultural genocide overlap to devastating effect in “The Territory,” threatening not just a native community but a wider ecosystem — and cheered on by the actively hostile powers that be,” Lodge wrote.Darren Aronofsky, the Oscar-winning director of “Black Swan,” “The Wrestler” and “Requiem for a Dream,” served as a producer on “The Territory.” The film has been co-produced by the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau community, with activist Txai Suruí on board as an executive producer.

Manchester United and Norwich City fans have heaped praise on Brandon Williams after a number of impressive performances of late.

EXCLUSIVE: The Santa Barbara Film Festival will be getting a touch of Lucy and Desi by way of honoring another pair of major stars.

score record-breaking pacts despite the fact that all-night bidding wars were conducted over Zoom.This year’s festival has a number of high-profile features that should attract buyers’ attention, either because they feature A-list stars like Lena Dunham, Dakota Johnson and Regina Hall or because they deal with hot topics like abortion rights and religion. There are also a number of documentaries exploring everything from the rise of TikTok to the fight to prevent a climate change catastrophe that could score major sales.

Mexico’s Oscar-shortlisted Prayers For the Stolen directed by Tatiana Huezo won the FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film at the Palm Springs Film Festival, which revealed its juried winners Wednesday despite being forced to cancel its 2022 edition.

The lights may be dim at the Eccles Theater and Park City's Main Street will have fewer cinephiles packing the snowy sidewalks when the Sundance Film Festival begins its 44th edition Thursday night. But if 2021 proved anything, it's that the world's premier independent film festival is more than its ski town locale.This year Sundance is back online and armed with nine days of high profile documentaries about everyone from Kanye West and Princess Diana to Lucille Ball and Bill Cosby, buzzy first films from knowns and unknowns, virtual gatherings and filmmaker Q&As.

It feels like yesterday that I was on the phone to Berlinale directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian following their pre-recorded video announcement of the 2021 festival program, the three of us casting an eye forward to the following year with the hope that this pandemic would finally be behind us.

The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival is revealing its Competition line-up this morning from 11am CET, refresh this page for updates.

EXCLUSIVE: Benedict Cumberbatch has been named the honoree of the Santa Barbara Film Festival’s Cinema Vanguard Award, which will be presented March 9 following an in-person conversation I will moderate about his career. That résumé includes Oscar-nominated turns in movies like The Imitation Game and Emmy-winning work in the iconic Sherlock Holmes series. It also includes a banner 2021 not only with his critically acclaimed SAG- and Critics Choice-nominated Oscar-buzzed performance in Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, but also praised work in The Courier, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, as well as reprising Dr. Peter Strange in the uber-blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

The Sundance Institute today unveiled the 2022 Sundance Film Festival’s Beyond Film line-up of events that are free to the public. Speakers will include such artists from this year’s program as La Guerra Civil director Eva Longoria Bastón, Dual star Karen Gillan, Cha Cha Real Smooth and Am I OK? star Dakota Johnson, Alice star Keke Palmer and Lucy & Desi director Amy Poehler.

Peter von Kant by François Ozon Opens the 2022 BerlinaleThe 72th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival will be inaugurated by Peter von Kant  by writer/director François Ozon. The film which stars Denis Menochet, Isabelle Adjani and Hanna Schygulla is part of the international Competition and will celebrate its world premiere on February 10, 2022, at the Berlinale Palast.Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian: “We are beyond thrilled to welcome back François Ozon to the festival and are happy to launch our next edition with his new film.

Jane Alsobrook, a marketing and publicity specialist who coordinated the U.S. campaigns for numerous successful independent and foreign films in the 1970s and 1980s, has died. She was 78.

Prince William and Kate Middleton are said to have accepted their 'broken' relationship with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

After three years with the Toronto Film Festival, Diana Sanchez has exited her role as Senior Director, Film.