Spain’s South International Series Festival Launches First Edition With Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Peter Morgan, Stephen Daldry

Peter Morgan, the creator of Netflix’s sweeping Queen Elizabeth II series “The Crown,” is having a royal crisis. Only a tiny contingent of people sworn to secrecy have seen the show’s sixth and final season, set to premiere in November. But somehow a tabloid — as is always the case with anything related to the royal family — has got hold of a scene in which Prince Charles talks to a vision of Diana after her death.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In a bid to bypass traditional distribution channels and open up new ones, Madrid-based 59 En Conserva has launched a newly expanded Les Films de la Résistance, its international sales agency for non-fiction and hybrid Spanish films. Among the first titles in its roster is the critically acclaimed feature debut of 59 En Conserva co-founder Irene M. Borrego, “The Visit and a Secret Garden” (“La visita y un jardín secreto”).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Annecy Animation Film Festival, which hosted the world premiered of Disney’s “Once Upon a Studio” and welcomed more than 16,000 people during its latest edition, is expanding its scope with a sprawling €26 million ($27.5 million) international institute dedicated to the world of animation. Called the Cité Internationale du Cinema d’Animation, the venue is expected to launch during the second half of 2025 and will boast a 330-seat screening room, an artists’ residency, special areas for training courses and cultural action, a space for temporary exhibitions, a permanent exhibition to showcase the animation film collections from Annecy’s Musée-Château, a bookstore and a gift shop.

Jaden Thompson Tonya Mantooth, CEO and artistic director of the San Diego International Film Festival, is keenly aware that film is a uniquely immersive medium with the power to connect people — even strangers. And that power will be evident at SDIFF’s 22nd edition, which will run in person Oct.18-22, with screenings at various venues in the San Diego area. The event will also feature panels, Q and A’s, filmmaker happy hours and more special programming.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The inaugural edition of the Cinema at Sea – Okinawa Pan-Pacific International Film Festival will be held next month (Nov. 23-29) on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

Did you know that Jennifer Lawrence and Phoebe Waller-Bridge are friends? Well, if you didn’t, then now you do!

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Igloo Coolers is partnering with one of the coolest punk bands from the ’90s, Green Day, in a collaboration that will help you have the “Time of Your Life” at a tailgating party, backyard get-together, the beach, or any other fun-filled occasion.

After finishing in third place on Love Island earlier this year, Ella Thomas has now launched her first ever fashion edit with PrettyLittleThing. As PLT’s newest brand ambassador, Ella’s collection is ‘serving serious weekend energy’, making it perfect for the upcoming party season.The edit contains 15 pieces chosen by Ella herself, and is all about helping women channel their inner confidence.

Between the Rains and The Echo are among the big winners at the prestigious Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Arkansas.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Like other streamers, Netflix seems eager to get into live sports. But it isn’t quite ready to start paying the massive rights fees that such activity usually requires. So, the streaming giant intends to launch a “Netflix Cup,” a golf tournament that will pit race-car drivers from its popular Formula 1 documentary series “Drive to Survive” against golfers from a similar effort called “Full Swing.” Both sides will tee up in a match play tournament at Wynn Golf Club on the Las Vegas Strip.

Coronation Street viewers have been left fuming as Weatherfield residents turned on fan-favourite Peter Barlow. On Friday night, millions of viewers were shocked when Peter mowed down serial killer Stephen Reid on the cobbles in front of Stephen’s horrified family and Peter’s wife Carla.

Wei Shujun’s Only The River Flows was presented with Best Film in the Fei Mu Awards at this year’s Pingyao International Film Festival (PYIFF), while Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, directed by Vietnam’s Pham Thien An, won Best Film in the festival’s Roberto Rossellini Awards.

EXCLUSIVE: Fleabag EPs Harry and Jack Williams have said they wanted to “go back to something simple and primal” with upcoming BBC series Boat Story, which comes at the back-end of an “era of peak TV when you start to feel every story is being told.”

The Wrestler, directed by Bangladeshi-Canadian filmmaker Iqbal H. Chowdhury, and September 1923, from Japan’s Tatsuya Mori, picked up the New Currents Awards as Busan International Film Festival wrapped a busy 28th edition on October 13. 

EXCLUSIVE: Mathieu Kassovitz has quit the Paris Has Fallen television series citing creative differences. He has been replaced by Spiral actor Tewfik Jallab.

China’s Pingyao International Film Festival has announced the line-up for its seventh edition (October 11-18), which will open with Wei Shujun’s Only The River Flows and close with the world premiere of Fei Yu’s Football On The Roof. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The Berlin Film Festival will be launching a new section, called Newcomer German Films, during its next edition taking place from Feb. 15-25. The section will highlight emerging German filmmakers, and will be part of the main program alongside the Competition, Encounters, Panorama, Generation and Forum sections.

The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam is beginning to fill out its lineup leading up to IDFA’s 36th edition next month. The largest all-documentary festival in the world today announced selections for the Competition for Short Documentary and the IDFA Competition for Youth Documentary, along with the films selected for the Best of Fests section and the “Signed” section, a new addition to the IDFA program. 

Since NASA’s conception just over six decades ago, 600 astronauts have traveled to space, yet only 18 have been Black Americans. Hindered in equal parts by racial discrimination and the lack of educational and economic resources given to the Black community in the space administration’s formative years led to a significant racial disparity among those who aimed to reach for the stars.

Carole Horst Tucked in the beautiful countryside north of San Francisco, Mill Valley has been home to artists, musicians, filmmakers, writers, and all sorts of dreamers. Thus it makes sense that the local film festival, celebrating 46 years, has programmed the best of the fest circuit and buzzy premieres — and mixed it up with art and music events. The event runs Oct.