Winona Oak Talks Sharing Grief on Heartbreaking EP 'Void,' the Reign of Swede Pop & More (Exclusive Interview)

Taylor Swift is continuing to add more songs from her latest album to The Eras Tour!

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed the first international sales for Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” ahead of its world premiere on Friday in the Competition section of the Cannes Film Festival. The film has been acquired in Italy by BiM Distribuzione and Lucky Red, Benelux by September Film Distribution, Spain by Bteam Pictures, Greece by Ama Films, Hungary by Cirko Film, Norway by Selmer Media, Portugal by Leopardo Filmes, Taiwan by Hooray Films and Turkey by Bir Film.

Annika Pham Maverick Icelandic scribe Sjón, Oscar-nominated for the lyrics of Lars von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” and co-writer of the eerie Cannes Un Certain Regard title “Lamb,” has teamed up with multi-awarded Swedish-Costa-Rican Nathalie Álvarez-Mesén (“Clara Sola”) on her sophomore feature “The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands,”, Variety has learned. The English-language gothic period drama is backed by Hobab’s Nima Yousefi, Swedish co-producer on this year’s Cannes competition entry “The Apprentice” and Critics’ Week’s “Julie Keeps Quiet”.

Annika Pham Billed the ‘Trollywood’ of the North for its close ties to talent, the leading Scandinavian regional film fund Film i Väst in Sweden’s Trollhättan has boarded the Noomi Rapace starrer “Mother, to be helmed by Macedonia’s Teona Stugar Mitevska. The biopic, in which Rapace will play the legendary religious figure Mother Teresa, will mark the English-language debut of esteemed auteur Mitevska, credited for the 2019 Berlin entry “God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya”.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Succession” star Nicholas Braun is in talks to star in Ruben Östlund’s “The Entertainment System Is Down.” Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Brühl are already on board the buzzy satire. “The Entertainment System Is Down” is one of the sexiest packages being shopped at the Cannes Film Market, where the Coproduction Office has launched international sales.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Cinema has closed a slew of international territory sales on its resistance epic “William Tell,” Nick Hamm’s adaptation of Friedrich Schiller’s play. WME Independent represents domestic rights.

Magnus von Horn’s sophomore feature Sweat earned its director a spot in Cannes’ Official Selection in 2020, after his debut, The Here After, played in Directors’ Fortnight in 2015. But the festival of 2020 was canceled in the wake of the Covid pandemic, so von Horn’s place in this year’s Competition, with his third feature The Girl With the Needle, must surely mark the Swedish director’s coming-of-age. The film, starring Vic Carmen Sonne and Trine Dyrholm, riffs on one of Denmark’s most notorious murder cases to weave a poetic and dark fairytale about the people living on the margins in the aftermath of the First World War. 

Eurovision bosses have defended the recent decision to disqualify Joost Klein from the 2024 final.The 26-year-old singer was selected to represent the Netherlands with his song ‘Europapa’ for this year’s edition of the song contest, but was withdrawn from the competition just hours before Saturday’s final (May 11).The incident marked the first time in the competition’s 68-year history that an act had been disqualified after reaching the Grand Final.

Alex Ritman Paris-based sales house Charades has sold the Argentinian Western-inspired documentary “Gaucho Gaucho” across much of Europe. The film — which won a Sundance Jury Prize in January and recently played at CPH:DOX — has landed deals with Tandem (France), Filmin (Spain), Selmer Media (Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark), M2 (Romania, Poland, Hungary. Ex-Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria), Praesens (Switzerland) and Bantam Films (Benelux).

In 2020, Magnus von Horn was excited to find that his film Sweat had been accepted into the Official Selection at Cannes, a big step up from his debut, The Here After, which made Directors’ Fortnight in 2015. The pandemic put an end to that, but his disappointment was short-lived; this year, his dark atmospheric follow-up, The Girl With the Needle, sees him joining the big league. “This is huge to me,” he beams. “The main competition!”

Rylan Clark and his co-star Rob Rinder made a dazzling appearance at the BAFTA Television Awards, fresh off the back of Rylan's stint at the Eurovision Song Contest. The 35 year old TV personality was among the esteemed guests at the ceremony held at London's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday. Rylan had just jetted back to the UK after his engagement in Sweden for the previous night's song contest.

Annika Pham Scandinavia’s top sales agent TrustNordisk has scored major deals on the English-language epic “Stockholm Bloodbath” by Oscar-nominated Mikael Håfström (‘Evil”), which has sold to Brainstorm Media and Sunrise Films for the US and Canada, The Jokers for France and Divisa Red for Spain. The Claes Bang-vehicle, produced by Helena Danielsson for Viaplay Studios Sweden, is due to screen at the Cannes Market May 18, in a new international version.

Annika Pham Paris-based The Party Film Sales and Heather Millard of Iceland’s Compass Films have reunited with “When the Light Breaks” Rúnar Rúnarsson on his next poetic filmic venture ‘O’. The Icelandic film “When the Light Breaks” is due to open Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section May 15.Headlining Iceland’s major international star Ingvar E.

Eurovision Song Contest 2024.This year’s competition, which was ultimately won by Switzerland’s Nemo, was surrounded by controversy for allowing Israel to compete amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza.A statement shared by the EBU to both The Mirror and The Irish Times read: “We regret that some delegations at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö didn’t respect the spirit of the rules and the competition both onsite and during their broadcasts. We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention.It continued: “The EBU’s governing bodies will, together with the heads of delegations, review the events surrounding the ESC in Malmö to move forward in a positive way and to ensure the values of the event are respected by everyone.A post shared by European Broadcasting Union (@ebu_hq)“Individual cases will be discussed by the event’s governing body, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group made up of representatives from participating broadcasters, at its next meeting.”The statement’s release comes after the slew of controversies that took over this year’s edition of the song contest.

Annika Pham Rome-based Intramovies has clinched further key sales on the Swedish pic “Paradise is Burning” for which rising talent Mika Gustafson won best director and writer at the 2023 Venice Orizzonti. The coming-of-age drama was sold to Conic in the U.K. and Ireland, HBO Max for Eastern Europe (TV and VOD rights), Leopardo Filmes in Portugal, Providence/Belas Artes Grupo Brazil, and Mongsang in South Korea.

Switzerland’s Nemo has won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest!

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest champion will be crowned tonight in Malmo, Sweden. But the action on stage is almost dwarfed by the background controversies.

The Netherlands will not be represented in this evening’s Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final after their artist Joost Klein was disqualified.

Eurovision contestant Joost Klein has been disqualified from the contest after being accused of making verbal threats towards a female member of production crew, police have said.Klein was placed under investigation by the organisers yesterday (May 10) due to an “incident” and was not allowed to perform his song ‘Europapa’ during the final dress rehearsal.A police spokesperson confirmed the incident took place after Klein’s performance on Thursday night at the Malmö Arena where the contest is being held.The EBU, which organises the contest, said in a statement: “The Dutch artist Joost Klein will not be competing in the Grand Final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.“Swedish police have investigated a complaint made by a female member of the production crew after an incident following his performance in Thursday night’s Semi Final. While the legal process takes its course, it would not be appropriate for him to continue in the Contest.“We would like to make it clear that, contrary to some media reports and social media speculation, this incident did not involve any other performer or delegation member.“We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour at our event and are committed to providing a safe and secure working environment for all staff at the Contest.

K.J. Yossman It’s that time of year again, when Europe and pop music collide in a riotous (and sometimes downright bonkers) display of color, rhythm and fun. This year, the Eurovision Song Contest is being held in Malmo, Sweden, after Swedish singer Loreen won the 2023 competition.