Bollywood singer Jonita Gandhi, who headlined Toronto’s DesiFest over the weekend, spoke with ET Canada about how growing up in a multi-cultural area near Toronto paved the path for her career in the industry.
19.05.2023 - 06:17 / variety.com
Naman Ramachandran XYZ Films has unveiled the first clip from Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection “In Flames,” a Pakistani-Canadian horror film directed by Zarrar Kahn. The film, produced by Anam Abbas and executive produced by Shant Joshi, Todd Brown and Maxime Cottray, is part of XYZ’s New Visions slate. As revealed by Variety, XYZ had boarded the title last year. In the Karachi-set film, after the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter’s precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their past – both real and phantasmal. They must find strength in each other if they are to survive the malevolent forces that threaten to engulf them.
It is the first Pakistan-set film in Directors’ Fortnight since Jamil Dehlavi’s “The Blood of Hussain” was selected in 1980.
Kahn, who is now based in Canada, was born in and grew up in Karachi. “In Flames,” which is Kahn’s feature debut grew out of “Dia,” a 24-minute 2018 short, which in turn was based on his eight-minute short “Pak.” “It was supposed to be a drama about a young woman and her secret boyfriend. And then it ended up becoming a thriller,” Kahn told Variety. “Dia” premiered at Locarno, where Kahn was pleased with the response to it and wanted to revisit the themes in it. “The themes were becoming also more relevant to what is happening in Pakistan at this time, around the conversation of women’s rights, property rights – a lot of these time optics are really in flux and in conflict right now, and those themes were also becoming more violent. So, it was really feeling not only is this the film that I could make, this is also the film that needs to be made,” Kahn said. “I was starting to feel a greater sense of urgency that we need to get this film out
Bollywood singer Jonita Gandhi, who headlined Toronto’s DesiFest over the weekend, spoke with ET Canada about how growing up in a multi-cultural area near Toronto paved the path for her career in the industry.
Canada’s Citytv has ordered Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, a local adaptation of the venerable Law & Order brand. The 10-episode series is slated to begin production this fall in Toronto for a spring 2024 premiere.
Studiocanal has nearly sold out worldwide on Andrew Garfield-Florence Pugh romantic drama “We Live in Time,” executive produced by Benedict Cumberbatch. Owned by Vivendi’s Canal Plus Group, Studiocanal has also closed half the world on both James McAvoy’s “Control” and Thomas Cailley’s Un Certain Regard opening film “Animal Kingdom,” a critics’ favorite at this year’s festival. The banner sales news, replicated across other titles on Studiocanal’s broad sales slate, follows quick on the heels of two signature deals at Cannes: A24’s U.S. pickup on “We Live In Time”; a pact with Sony Pictures for the U.S., Canada and much of the world for “Paddington in Peru.”
Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International The Toronto International Film Festival has hired veteran Canadian media executive Judy Lung as its VP of public relations and communications. Lung, who starts in the role on Monday, most recently served as director of communications for Canadian exhibition giant Cineplex. Over her 20-year career, Lung has handled public relations and communications for some of Canada’s leading arts and entertainment organizations. Her recent publicity campaigns span titles such as “Scarborough,” which is based on the novel by Catherine Hernandez, and David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future.”
AC Bonifacio is ready to take on the world.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan would have some wise words for her younger self if she’d have known how the show “Never Have I Ever” would have changed her life.
Naman Ramachandran A first teaser has been unveiled for Canadian filmmaker Pier-Philippe Chevigny’s debut feature “Temporaries” (“Richelieu”), which will bow at the Tribeca Festival followed by the Karlovy Vary Film Festival and Fantasia International Film Festival. The film follows Ariane (Ariane Castellanos), who moves back home to the Richelieu Valley after a breakup and gets a job as an interpreter for seasonal migrant workers in a factory. Witnessing workplace abuses perpetrated by Stephane (Marc-André Grondin), the factory’s aggressive supervisor, Ariane must decide how far she is willing to go to speak out against injustice. Chevigny grew up in the Richelieu Valley in Quebec and observing migrant workers there informed the film. “My first feature aims to question the image of Canada as a perfect, injustice-free country. Launching at Tribeca, Karlovy Vary and Fantasia matters because it gives the weight of international attention to that criticism: it’s harder to ignore the noise when the rest of the world is showing concern,” Chevigny told Variety.
Robyn Ottolini can’t wait to be the opening act for fellow “Ontario girl”, Shania Twain.
Lana Del Rey has officially kicked off sad girl summer! On Saturday, the «Pretty When You Cry» singer took the stage at the MITA festival in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Bringing the drama, Lana donned a blonde wig — channeling Marilyn Monroe — and a black dress suit.
Hayley Kiyoko is “so excited” and “honoured” to be headlining Canada’s first-ever queer music festival, Lavender Wilde, in Toronto this weekend.
Sidhu Moose Wala’s grieving father has expressed frustration over the slow progress of the investigation into the murder of the late Punjabi-Canadian hip-hop star.
Sophie Thatcher “had a lot of different fears” growing up.
Kelly Rowland spoke about working with Tyler Perry in a movie during a recent chat with ET Canada.
The arthouse box office hasn’t recovered quickly post-Covid, but one of the oases for the sector, even by pre-pandemic benchmarks, has always been a Wes Anderson movie.
A group of South Asian filmmakers, including Indian director Anurag Kashyap (Kennedy) and the team behind Pakistani Directors Fortnight title In Flames talked on a Cannes panel about how cinema can cross the political barriers that are keeping their countries apart.
EXCLUSIVE: Maika Monroe (It Follows) and Troy Kotsur (CODA) have been cast as leads in crime thriller In Cold Light which will mark the English-language debut of French-Canadian director Maxime Giroux (Felix And Meira).
Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Douglas Booth, Alison Pill and Iris Apatow have joined an adaptation of the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe classic “The Sorrows of Young Werther.” The film, simply titled “Young Werther,” is produced by Toronto-based film and TV outfit Wildling Pictures, which describes the project as a modern retelling of the book. Booth (“That Dirty Black Bag”) and Pill (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”) will take lead roles, with Apatow (“The Bubble”) also set to star along Patrick J. Adams (“Suits”). Production will begin this month in Toronto. Drawing from Goethe’s passionate personal accounts, which were first published in letter form in 1774, “Young Werther” is the story of a charmingly irresponsible and enthusiastic young man named Werther (Booth) who finds himself at the mercy of Charlotte (Pill), whose allure and commitment to her impressive fiancé Albert turns Werther’s life upside down.
Naman Ramachandran Amazon Freevee has released the first images of Mischa Barton in the revival of long-running Australian soap “Neighbours,” production on which started April 17 in Melbourne. The images also feature cast members Jackie Woodburne and Alan Fletcher. The new series will premiere exclusively for free on Amazon Freevee in the U.K. and U.S. this fall and will include streaming rights to thousands of episodes from the previous seasons, which will be available prior to the new series’ premiere. The series will also stream on SVOD counterpart Prime Video in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Australia’s Network 10, the home of “Neighbours” for 36 years, will retain first-run rights in the country.
EXCLUSIVE: FilmSharks has acquired world rights to the Spanish horror pic The Boogeyman: The Origin of the Myth (El Hombre Del Saco) and locked a series of key international deals out of Cannes.
Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield-led romantic drama “We Live in Time” has sold into Canada’s Sphere Films. The Montreal- and Toronto-based company has picked up Canadian rights to the drama directed by “Brooklyn” helmer John Crowley, who also directed Garfield in his breakout role in “Boy A.” The film is currently in production in London and specific plot details are being kept closely under wraps. All that’s known so far is that the pic is an immersive love story. “We Live in Time” is scripted by playwright and screenwriter Nick Payne with Benedict Cumberbatch on board as executive producer. The project is developed and produced by Studiocanal with partners at SunnyMarch including Leah Clarke, Adam Ackland and Guy Heeley. It is co-financed by Film4 and Studiocanal. International sales are handled by Studiocanal while the U.S. distribution rights have been acquired by A24.