Czech Republic Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Naman Ramachandran Classic cult film streamer Cultpix has struck a deal with Polish cultural institution WFDiF – Documentary and Feature Film Studios (Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych i Fabularnych) for a season of Polish erotic cinema classics from the 1980s and early 1990s. Titles featured in the season include Krzysztof Nowak’s “What Do the Tigers Like: (1989); Andrzej Barański’s “Bachelor Life in a Foreign Country” (1992); Roman Załuski’s “Och Carol” (1985); Ryszard Ber’s “Thais” (1983); Marek Koterski’s “Porn” (1990); and Jacek Bromski’s The Art of Loving (1989). The deal was revealed at the ongoing Cannes film market, where Cultpix expanded deals with previously signed film libraries – Germany’s The Playmaker Munich, as well as Echelon Studios and Vinegar Syndrome from the U.S. – for over 250 titles to be released later in 2023 and in early 2024.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Paris-based company Indie Sales has closed further sales on “Richard the Stork 2,” and expects to sell the last remaining territories during the Cannes Film Market. The film, also known as “Richard the Stork and the Mystery of the Great Jewel,” is a follow up to “Richard the Stork” (released in North America as “A Stork’s Journey”), which was widely distributed in 155 countries and grossed more than $20 million worldwide. Indie Sales, which sold Oscar nominee “My Life as a Zucchini” to more than 80 territories, is increasingly focusing on acquiring big budget animation.

Sales: Luxbox Living in an idyllic Andalusia, a couple in love grapples with the realities of making a living through OnlyFans. Screened at Seville and Tallinn. Sales: Begin Again Films. One of the big Spanish action-thrillers hitting this Cannes market, from a specialist (“Sky High”). Pre-sold to France (Kinovista), Germany and Italy (Koch Media) with Tripictures releasing in Spain. Sales: Latido

Metro Puerto Rico, the delegates of Aguada (Jinny Valentín), Añasco (Ninoshka Rodríguez), and Carolina (Luisa Angélica Vázquez) are among the moms trying to take the title after the Miss Universe organization began allowing young, married, divorced and mothers to compete.The current Miss Puerto Rico, Ashley Ann Cariño Barreto, will crown her successor, on Thursday, August 24, 2023, after a preliminary competition set to take place on Sunday, August 20.Daniela Victoria Arroyo González will also compete for the crown of Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2023 as the first transgender woman in the island’s beauty pageant. “The emotion and pride that I feel in this moment overwhelms me with joy,” Arroyo said in a video.

Films Boutique has closed multiple territory deals on Agnieszka Holland’s “The Green Border,” which just completed principal photography in Poland. The film has been sold to Condor (France), September Films (Benelux), Movies Inspired (Italy), Leopardo Filmes (Portugal), MCF Megacom (former Yugoslavia), Kino Swiat (Poland) and AQS (Czech Rep./Slovakia). “The Green Border” tells the story of a family of Syrian refugees, a solitary English teacher from Afghanistan and a young border guard, all of whom meet on the Polish-Belarusian border during the most recent humanitarian crisis triggered by Belarus’ president Alexander Lukashenko, who opened the country’s doors to migrants as a back door to enter the EU.

Police officers around the world are finding new and fascinating ways of abusing their power, with cops in New York City and London facing charges and penalties for misconduct surrounding their presence at music festivals. First off: a bottle service heist. On Monday, The New York Times reported that three detectives had been charged in the theft of $3,000 worth of champagne at Electric Zoo.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Five Catalan movies made Cannes Festival’s cut, six were selected for Marché du Film sections. Details and other top Catalan movies on the Croisette: “20,000 Species of Bees,” (Estibaliz Urresola) One of the big winners at Berlin, taking Leading Performance, and two other key prizes, and now healthy racking up healthy sales, including a Film Movement U.S. pickup, “Bees” builds from a naturalistic base – a family off for a village summer holiday – to become a moving an ode to women’s freedom. Produced out of Barcelona by Valérie Delpierre’s Inicia Films. Sales: Luxbox

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Global Screen has closed further presales for “Lassie — A New Adventure,” the sequel featuring the most famous dog in the history of cinema. The film, directed by Hanno Olderdissen, has sold to A Contracorriente for Spain; ADS Service for Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Moldavia; Turkey’s Bir Film; GPI for the Baltic states; Bulgaria’s Pro Films; Karantanija for ex-Yugoslavia; and Greece’s Zinos Panagiotidis. Poland and Benelux are in negotiation. Sales were previously concluded with Lucky Red (Italy), AB Svensk Filmindustri (Scandinavia) and Film House (Israel).

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The last love of Franz Kafka, the celebrated Czech author of “Metamorphosis,” will be portrayed in romantic drama “The Glory of Life.” TrustNordisk has boarded international sales ahead of Cannes, while Majestic is handling the domestic rights. Currently shooting, “The Glory of Life” is directed by Georg Maas (“Two Lives”) and is inspired by the love story between Kafka and Dora Diamant. The period drama was penned by Michael Gutmann and Maas. Producers are Helge Sasse and Solveig Fina for Tempest Film and Tommy Pridnig for Lotus Film. Kafka and Diamant met in 1923 on the Baltic Sea coast, a year before the author died from tuberculosis. The worldly wise Diamant, who was working in a Jewish community, took him to Berlin, and as Kafka’s health deteriorates rapidly, they traveled together to a sanatorium in Austria. The memory of their time together will shape Diamant for the rest of her life.

dating in New York. “When you get out of your 30s and into your 40s, the dating pool shifts for single men,” the fed-up finance worker told The Post. “Now you are meeting men who are married and cheating, or in the process of a divorce, or separated.

EXCLUSIVE: Here’s a splashy European project to end the week: Gerard Butler’s Has Fallen film franchise is getting the television treatment, with filming set to get underway at the end of the month.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Rolling off a successful collaboration on “Charlatan,” Films Boutique has boarded Agnieszka Holland’s next film “The Green Border,” which just completed principal photography in Poland. Now in post production, “The Green Border” tells the fateful story of a family of Syrian refugees, a solitary English teacher from Afghanistan and a young border guard, all of whom meet on the Polish-Belarusian border during the most recent humanitarian crisis triggered by President Lukaschenko opening doors to migrants in Belarus as a back door to enter the EU.  The screenplay, penned by Holland, Gabriela Łazarkiewicz-Sieczko and Maciej Pisuk, is inspired by real events. Research for the film included hundreds of hours of document analysis, interviews with refugees, border guards, borderland residents, activists and experts.

The first round of Eurovision 2023 semi-finals have taken place at Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena, with hosts Alesha Dixon, Hannah Waddingham and Julia Sanina welcoming 15 acts to battle it our for a place in this weekend's grand final.

It's really happening!

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based sales company Charades has finalized a raft of deals with international buyers for its upcoming comedy Northern Comfort, which debuted at SXSW in March.

Eurovision 2023 — check out a full list of the latest odds below.This year’s instalment of the concert will take place in Liverpool, following the ongoing political conflict taking place in Ukraine — who won the competition last year. The semi-finals take place today (May 9) and Thursday (11 May), ahead of the grand finale on Saturday (13 May).Currently, Sweden is taking the lead with Loreen’s ‘Tattoo’, which has odds listed as 8/13 on bet365. The singer, who returned to the stage after winning the 2012 contest, is set to face tight competition from Finland this year.Represented by Käärijä with the song ‘Cha Cha Cha’, Finland is in second place with 9/4 according to bet365.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Memento International has closed major deals on Martin Provost’s “Bonnard, Pierre And Marthe” ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Slated for Cannes Premiere, the period film revolves around the colorful relationship and epic love between renowned French painters Pierre and Marthe Bonnard who are played by Vincent Macaigne (“Irma Vep”) and Cecile de France (“Lost Illusions”). The film has been pre-sold by Memento International to key distributors in Italy (I Wonder), Canada (Sphère Films), Latin America (California Filmes), South Korea (AUD), Taiwan (Flash Forward), Airlines (Skeye), Poland (Hagi), Hungary (Vertigo), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Czech Republic (Cinemart), Bulgaria (Beta Film), Ex-Yugoslavia (Demiurg).

Marta Balaga Danish sales agent LevelK has fallen for stop-motion animation “Tony, Shelly and the Magic Light” (“Tonda, Slávka a kouzelné světlo”), set to premiere in Annecy’s feature film Contrechamp competition in June. Directed by Filip Pošivač and written by Jana Šrámková, the film is produced by Pavla Janoušková Kubečková and Jakub Viktorín for nutprodukce (Czech Republic) and nutprodukcia (Slovakia), with Hungary’s Filmfabriq, Česká televize and RTVS – Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska also on board. “I believe we are creating a film which, on one side, can be entertaining for the whole family, but it can also motivate the upcoming generation of viewers to be more open to different art genres. And, most importantly, to be open to diversity and tolerance in our society,” says Viktorín, also behind Oscar submission “Victim.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Monte-Carlo Television Festival has revealed the nominees for its Golden Nymph Awards. The festival will open June 16 with the world premiere of the first episode of “Harlan Coben’s Shelter.” Hollywood producer and writer Howard Gordon (“The X-Files,” “24,” “Homeland,” “Accused”) will receive the Honorary Golden Nymph Award, the festival’s highest accolade, bestowed on a professional for their contribution to the entertainment industry. In the Fiction competition are “Poker Face” (U.S.), starring Natasha Lyonne, “The Warrant: Breaker’s Law” (U.S.), “Ten Pound Poms” (U.K./Australia), “The Seed” (Germany, Norway, Czech Republic), “Chorus Girls” (Denmark), “Fence” (Japan), “Le Colosse aux pieds d’argile” (France), “Miró” (Spain) and “Trust No One” (Israel).

Russell Crowe is set to receive the coveted Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. To celebrate his achievements, the festival will be presenting a 20-year anniversary screening of Peter Weir’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which earned Crowe a Golden Globe nomination. 

Russell Crowe will receive the Crystal Globe Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at the 2023 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, KVIFF organizers announced on Friday. And unlike past recipients of the Crystal Globe like Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Mel Gibson, Judi Dench and Robert De Niro, Crowe will also perform on the festival’s opening night with his rock band, Indoor Garden Party.The festival, which takes place in a spa town outside Prague in the Czech Republic, will present Crowe with the award on its opening night, June 30.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Twenty emerging producers from across Europe have been selected to take part in European Film Promotion’s promotion and networking platform Producers on the Move before and during the Cannes Film Festival. The producers who were selected for the program from nominations submitted by EFP’s member organizations are Gentian Koçi (Albania), David Bohun (Austria), Julie Esparbes (Belgium), Vanya Rainova (Bulgaria), Miljenka Čogelja (Croatia), Stelana Kliris (Cyprus), Alice Tabery (Czech Republic), Emile Hertling Péronard (Denmark), Emilia Haukka (Finland), Silvana Santamaria (Germany), Vicky Miha (Greece), Júlia Berkes (Hungary), Kathryn Kennedy (Ireland), Valon Bajgora (Kosovo), Dominiks Jarmakovičs (Latvia), Erik Glijnis (The Netherlands), Elisa Fernanda Pirir (Norway), Radu Stancu (Romania), Juraj Krasnohorský (Slovak Republic), and Julia Gebauer (Sweden).

. Anna Wintour adheres to the traditional rule that people should mix and mingle at parties. And since Suki Waterhouse and Robert Pattinson are wearing different labels to the event, they definitely won't be attached at the hip all night.

King Krule is heading out on tour with the announcement of a huge tour across North America and Europe. Krule, who recently announced details of new album Space Heavy and shared lead single "Seaforth," will begin his run of dates in North America with a show in Minneapolis on July 21.

Jennie Punter The Changing Face of Europe, which is presented by European Film Promotion (EFP) in collaboration with Hot Docs, returns to Toronto with the sixth edition of its festival-within-a-festival program—nine features and one mid-length film—exploring themes around identity, belonging and struggle. “Over the years, the Changing Face of Europe has become one of the more impactful programs in the lineup, and also an essential component of our festival programming,” Hot Docs artistic director Shane Smith told Variety in advance of the festival. “Europe has a rich history of and strong connection to the art of documentary filmmaking,” he said. “We are delighted to showcase the powerful work coming out of the continent that sheds light on crucial issues facing Europeans today.”

XYZ Films has hired Manon Barat, a former executive at the Spanish sales company Film Factory, to head a slate of titles that will fall under the company’s newly-launched global film initiative, New Visions.

Naman Ramachandran XYZ Films has unveiled New Visions, an initiative designed to spotlight bold new voices alongside established talent striking a new path in the international cinema space. The initiative will serve as a curated collection of films that “exists to discover and support the next generation of great filmmakers at the inception of their career, and to give established talents room to do something smaller, more intimate, or challenging outside of the usual box of independent filmmaking,” XYZ said in a statement. The slate will launch in Cannes with Directors’ Fortnight selection “In Flames,” a Pakistani-Canadian horror film directed by Zarrar Kahn and executive produced by Shant Joshi. 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.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Studiocanal has sold two new thrillers from Benelux to international buyers at MipTV in Cannes. The eight-part crime thriller “1985,” produced by Eyeworks for Belgian public broadcasters VRT and RTBF, follows three friends as they move to Brussels and get caught up in the horrifying events of Belgium’s most notorious unsolved crime spree that shocked a generation and left a scar on the entire country. The series went to SBS Australia; Filmin for Portugal and Spain; Canal+ for France, Czech Republic and Slovakia; TG4 in Ireland; and Free TV in Israel.

Regal parent Cineworld has decided to terminate the marketing process for its businesses outside of the U.S., UK and Ireland. Although it received offers from “a number of prospective counterparties,” the proposals “did not meet the value level required by the group’s lenders,” the exhibition giant said today. The so-called “rest of world” businesses include cinemas in Israel, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.