Lithuania Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Neringa Kažukauskaite Pay TV company Sky’s drama-documentary series “The Royal Mob,” directed by Fraser McDonald, is shooting in Lithuania. The show tells the saga of an extended royal family that once ruled large parts of Europe, and how their loves, marriages and feuds triggered World War I, Film New Europe reports.

David Harbour underwent a dramatic physical transformation for season 4 of Stranger Things, surprising viewers with his new look following the complex storyline of his character, being locked up in a Soviet prison for a long period of time.The 47-year-old actor recently opened up about the process, revealing to British GQ that he lost a significant amount of weight to achieve the look for the fan-favorite character of the Netflix series. “I lost about 80 pounds from season 3.

Ground-breaking France-based British theater director Peter Brook, who revolutionized 20th-century theater, has died at the age of 97-years-old in Paris.

Guy Lodge Film CriticShould the apocalypse strike and any of us happen to survive it, you can’t accuse the movies of leaving us unprepared. Dystopian futures are a dime a dozen in science-fiction cinema these days, with a generally shared aesthetic that leads us to expect, for better or (probably) worse, a lot of damp, ashy slurry and unflattering sackcloth.

Alissa Simon Film CriticSci-fi and fantasy fans can soon rejoice in another intrepid YA heroine as “Vesper,” the Lithuania-France-Belgium co-production from directors-writers Kristina Buožytė and Bruno Samper, makes its world premiere in competition at Karlovy Vary Film Festival on Saturday. The Czech debut marks a busy start to the month for the filmmakers. They will also present the film at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in Korea and the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland.The sci-fi-fantasy thriller, which takes place after the collapse of the earth’s eco-system and centers on a 13-year-old girl caring for her paralyzed father, who must use her wits and bio-hacking abilities to fight for survival and the possibility of a future, has proved a popular item for sales agent Anton.

A school bus carrying pupils burst into flames on a Scots road this afternoon.

Crystal Globe Competition“America,” Ofir Raul Graizer (Israel, Germany, Czech Republic)“Chemi otakhi” (“A Room Of My Own”), Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze (Georgia, Germany)“Edna provintsialna bolnitsa” (“A Provincial Hospital”), Ilian Metev, Ivan Chertov, Zlatina Teneva (Bulgaria, Germany)“F—ing Bornholm,” Anna Kazejak (Poland)“Hranice lásky” (“Borders of Love”), Tomasz Wiński (Czech Republic, Poland)“Isihia 6-9” (“Silence 6-9”), Christos Passalis (Greece)“The Ordinaries,”  Sophie Linnenbaum (Germany)“Slovo” (“The Word”), Beata Parkanová (Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Poland)“Tabestan Ba Omid” (“Summer with Hope”), Sadaf Foroughi (Canada)“Tenéis que venir a verla” (“You Have to Come and See It”), Jonás Trueba (Spain)“Tooi tokoro” (“A Far Shore”), Masaaki Kudo (Japan)“Vesper,” Kristina Buožytė, Bruno Samper (Lithuania, France, Belgium)Proxima Competition“A pak přišla láska…” (“And Then There Was Love…”),  Šimon Holý (Czech Republic)“Los Agitadores” (“Horseplay”), Marco Berger (Argentina)“Au grand jour” (“In Broad Daylight”), Emmanuel Tardif (Canada)“Balaye aseman zire ab” (“Like a Fish on the Moon”), Dornaz Hajiha (Iran)“Głupcy” (“Fools”), Tomasz Wasilewski (Poland, Romania, Germany)“Još jedno proleće” (“Another Spring”), Mladen Kovačević (Serbia, Qatar)“La pietà” (“Piety”), Eduardo Casanova (Spain, Argentina)“Ramona,” Andrea Bagney (Spain)“Stric” (“The Uncle”), David Kapac, Andrija Mardešić (Croatia, Serbia)“Tinnitus,”Gregorio Graziosi (Brazil)“Zkouška umění” (“ART talent show”), Tomáš Bojar, Adéla Komrzý (Czech Republic)“Zoo Lock Down,” Andreas Horvath (Austria)Special Screenings“BANGER.” Adam Sedlák (Czech Republic)“June Zero,” Jake Paltrow (USA, Israel)“The Killing of a Journalist,” Matt Sarnecki (Denmark, USA, Czech

Neringa Kažukauskaite The second season of the German TV series “Sisi,” which follows the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (also known as Sisi), is currently shooting in Lithuania, Film New Europe reports.The series is produced by Story House Pictures GmbH for RTL+ and serviced by the Lithuanian company UAB Nordic Productions. The shoot is benefiting from Lithuanian Film Center’s tax incentives.The six-part second season is directed by Sven Bohse (“Dark Woods”) and Miguel Alexandre (“Spy City”), and it is written by Elena Hell, Svenja Rasocha, Robert Krause and Andreas Gutzeit.More than 100 Lithuanians are part of the international team, including production designer Algirdas Garbačiauskas and costume designer Daiva Petrulytė.

here.) The New York City fest began June 8 and concludes June 19.Read below for the full list of competition winners.U.S. NARRATIVE COMPETITIONThe Founders’ Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature: Good Girl Jane (United States)Dir.

Coming-of-age drama Good Girl Jane, written and directed by Sarah Elizabeth Mintz, took the Tribeca Festival Founders’ Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature on Thursday while its star Rain Spencer won for Best Performance at the fest, which announced its winners ahead of wrapping this weekend.

Naman Ramachandran The Walt Disney Company’s streamer Disney+ will be available in 42 new countries and 11 new territories this week following the launch on Tuesday in Greece, Turkey and countries in Central Eastern Europe, including Poland, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic and Croatia. Tuesday’s series of launches follow the arrival of the service in South Africa on May 18 and across West Asia and North Africa on June 8.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorKarlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival’s industry section, Eastern Promises, has unveiled its lineup of 35 film projects, which will be showcased during the Works in Progress, Works in Development – Feature Launch, First Cut+ Works in Progress and Odesa International Film Festival Works in Progress presentations.

Prince William has been pictured selling the Big Issue magazine in central London, dressed in the distinctive red seller’s hat and vest. The Duke of Cambridge quietly took to the streets of Westminster to sell copies of the magazine, which has been sold since 1991 to offer homeless people the chance to earn income. The identity of the street vendor was discovered by various members of the public who stopped to take photos.

Charlie Amter As the war in Ukraine rages on, recently marking a grim 100-day milestone, some of the country’s music stars are banding together to raise funds abroad in an effort to aid their countrymen, and women, still fighting in the east of the now war-torn nation.Ivan Dorn, one of Ukraine’s most eclectic and best-known music names, just finished a string of European tour dates and he now will be joined by Ukrainian artists The Hardkiss, ONUKA, and Artem Pivovarov in a small American “Stand Up For Ukraine” tour this summer. The trek is set to begin in Miami later this month, with shows to follow next month in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle.For Dorn, the gigs are a chance to play for Ukrainian fans currently living in the United States, as well as for liberal Russian expatriates and curious Americans who are sympathetic to Ukraine’s current predicament.

EXCLUSIVE: IFC Films has acquired North American rights to sci-fi thriller Vesper (formerly known as Vesper Seeds) directed by Lithuania’s Kristina Buozyte and France’s Bruno Samper.

Jon Burlingame editorAs the Marvel Cinematic Universe has expanded into television, its musical reach has also grown, embracing diversity both in terms of its composers and the music they make.English composer Natalie Holt (pictured above) brought unexpected sonorities to “Loki”; Cairo-based Hesham Nazih added specific Egyptian sounds to “Moon Knight”; and American composer Laura Karpman employed a traditional orchestra and choir on the animated “What If…?”“Loki is sort of a likable baddie,” says Holt, “a grand, Machiavellian, Shakespearean character, so I wanted some kind of gravitas, classical weight, to his theme.”Yet, in last summer’s six-part series, the Norse god of mischief (Tom Hiddleston) is also playing with time, which suggested more unusual sounds: the wailing of a theremin and its equally eerie French cousin, the ondes Martenot. “I’d been listening to [Lithuanian theremin virtuoso] Clara Rockmore and [BBC Radiophonic Workshop pioneer] Delia Derbyshire,” Holt explains.

Millie Bobby Brown is the latest celeb to take on the “Hot Ones” wings of death.

India’s All That Breathes followed up its victory at the Sundance Film Festival by winning top documentary honors in Cannes.

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Shaunak Sen’s “All That Breathes” has won the Cannes Film Festival’s top documentary award, the Golden Eye.The film won the documentary grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was acquired by HBO Documentary Films during Cannes, where it played as a special screening.Set in Indian capital Delhi, where, in an unbreathable atmosphere, the threat of inter-religious massacres floats in the air, the film follows two brothers, Nadeem and Saud, who along with their assistant, dedicate their lives to save the migratory black kites that are destroyed by human madness.The Golden Eye jury, composed of Agnieszka Holland, Iryna Tsilyk, Pierre Deladonchamps, Alex Vicente and Hicham Falah, said: “The Golden Eye goes to a film that, in a world of destruction, reminds us that every life matters, and every small action matters. You can grab your camera, you can save a bird, you can hunt for some moments of stealing beauty, it matters.

Rating: 2/5PRURating: 2/5Sue Perkins has hit by accident on a whole new format for a detective series. Give her old Bake Off chum Mel Giedroyc a box of family photos and let her go to work. She’s a natural sleuth, a Mel Marple.

glitziest film festival is sometimes portrayed as a bubble – and to some extent, that is true. One could easily have spent a week on the Croisette without noticing that the host country has a whole new government, and only the second woman prime minister in its history.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentREinvent International Sales has closed major territory sales on “UFO Sweden,” a science fiction movie adventure from Crazy Pictures, a Swedish film collective whose past credits includes the 2018 hit movie “The Unthinkable.”Described as a mix between “X-Files” and “Stranger Things,” “UFO Sweden” is set in a small town and follows a teenage rebel placed in foster care, who suspects that her father is not dead, but has been kidnapped by UFOs. With the help from a UFO association, she is determined to find out the truth.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentREinvent Intl. Sales has scored sales across its slate, including Alex Herron’s horror film “Leave” and Sanna Lenken’s “Comedy Queen.”“Comedy Queen,” which world-premiered at Berlin and won the Crystal Bear in the Generation section, has sold to Benelux (In the Air), France (Les Films Du Preau), Spain (Yoda Films), Poland (Vivarto), Hungary (ADS Service), Lithuania (Scanorama) and the former Yugoslavia (Fivia).“Comedy Queen” follows Sasha, a 13-year-old girl who dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentBrazilian writer-director Caru Alves de Souza, whose second feature, “My Name Is Baghdad,” won the Crystal Bear for best film at Berlin’s 2020 Generation 14plus sidebar, has been selected for the Pop Up Film Residency 2022 program.Alves de Souza will use the Residency to develop “Lonely Hearts,” her new fiction feature.The award was announced Saturday at Cannes Marché du Film by Josephine Bourgois and Rachel do Valle, executive director and program director at Brazil’s Projeto Paradiso, which is backing the prize, and former Cannes Critics’ Week programmer Matthieu Darras, creator of Pop Up.Alves de Souza will participate in the mentoring program for the development of a fiction feature, which runs over three weeks, in August, in Vilnius, Lithuania. She will receive a Paradiso Scholarship and travel support in the amount of Reais 5,000 ($1,000), in addition to becoming part of the Paradiso Talent Network.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic“Mariupolis 2” is a document of the war in Ukraine that’s as raw and real as they come. It was made by the Lithuanian filmmaker and anthropologist Mantas Kvedaravičius, who was killed, on April 2, during the siege of Mariupol (he was taken captive and shot by Russian soldiers).

Volodymyr Zelenskyy outshone all of the stars at the Cannes Film Festival after he addressed the opening night crowd of actors and filmmakers, delivering an emotional plea on behalf of his war-torn country. Appearing via video, Zelenskyy had festival-goers dabbing their eyes.“We continue fighting,” Zelenskyy said.

CANNES, France -- After a canceled 2020 edition and a scaled back gathering last year, the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday rolled out the red carpet for what organizers hope will be a f ully resuscitated French Riviera spectacular.The 75th Cannes Film Festival is set to open Tuesday night with the premiere of Michel Hazanavicius' zombie comedy “Final Cut.” Over the next 12 days, 21 films will vie for the festival's prestigious top award, the Palme d'Or, while a handful of high-profile Hollywood titles — including “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Elvis” and “Three Thousand Years of Longing” — will also launch in Cannes.“This year, everyone wanted to come to Cannes,” said Thierry Frémaux, artistic director of the festival, ahead of the opening. “Everyone wanted to meet again.”This year's Cannes will officially begin Tuesday evening with an opening ceremony preceding the premier of “Final Cut," which was renamed from its original title, “Z,” after Ukrainian protesters noted that the letter Z to some symbolizes support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.The war in Ukraine is expected to be a regular presence in Cannes.

Ukraine won Eurovision 2022 in a historic evening in Turin.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorLeading arthouse sales company The Match Factory has acquired distribution rights to murdered Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius’ documentary “Mariupolis 2,” ahead of the film’s premiere next week at the Cannes Film Festival as a Special Screening.Kvedaravičius was captured and murdered by the Russian army in Mariupol, Ukraine in early April. The film was co-directed by Kvedaravičius’ fiancée Hanna Bilobrova, who was with him at the time of his death, and was able to bring back the footage filmed there, and edited it with his editor Dounia Sichov.The Match Factory worked with Kvedaravičius on his debut feature “Barzakh,” which played in the Berlinale in 2011.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian state broadcaster RAI’s president Marinella Soldi, who is a former CEO of Discovery Networks Southern Europe, has a longstanding rapport with the Eurovision Song Contest. It’s the show on which she remembers first seeing ABBA, one of her favorite pop bands, “with their white flares.” Soldi more recently was mesmerized by Måneskin and the swagger of the Italian glam-rock band, which by triumphing last year at Eurovision, against all odds, caused RAI to be host broadcaster of the 2022 edition of this massive event. Måneskin will be performing during the grand finale on Saturday.In a rare interview, Soldi spoke to Variety about the politically heated lead-up to this year’s contest and the European Broadcasting Union’s decision to ban Russia from competing at Eurovision after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.