Lithuania Showbiz Latest News and Updates

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.

Zack Sharf The Cannes Film Festival has announced the final movie from Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius will be screened during the upcoming 2022 edition. Kvedaravičius was filming a Ukraine-set documentary on location in the city of Mariupol when he was killed in early April amid Russia’s invasion of the country.

Eurovision Song Contest.The act are currently favourites to win the overall contest, which takes place this week in Turin amid Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.Last night (May 10) the first semi-finals were held ahead of Saturday’s (May 14) grand final, with Ukraine progressing along with Armenia, Greece, Iceland, Lithuania, Moldova, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland.Kalush Orchestra frontman Oleh Psiuk said following their qualification: “We understand we need to stay focused because we want to promote Ukrainian culture and let everyone know about it, This is our goal.”Here's the 10 qualifiers from the First Semi-Final! #Eurovision #ESC2022 pic.twitter.com/qxqezFuY9g— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 10, 2022Kalush Orchestra, a rap group who formed in 2019, replaced Ukraine’s original entrant Alina Pash, who withdrew from the competition in February, for Eurovision 2022. The group’s track ‘Stefania’ is an ode to powerful mothers.Speaking to NME this week, Psiuk explained how their taking part was a “huge responsibility”, given the ongoing war with Russia.“To represent Ukraine in the international arena is always a responsibility, but to represent it during the war is just the highest responsibility possible,” he said.“The song [‘Stefania’] was composed and dedicated to my mother, but after the war the song has acquired lots of nuances because a lot of people are perceiving it as if Ukraine is my mother,” said Psiuk.

Pussy Riot’s Masha Alyokhina has escaped from Russia as president Vladimir Putin continues to crack down on dissidents in the country.Alyokhina, along with her bandmates, has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times over the past decade and more for publicly protesting Putin’s rule, most recently last year when she was detained for 48 hours after attending protests encouraging others to protest on social media.Amid the continued Russian invasion of Ukraine, a new story in The New York Times reveals that Alyokhina was under house arrest and, when authorities decided to turn that into a 21-day jail sentence last month, she decided to flee Russia.The story outlines Alyokhina’s escape, which included posing as a food courier and being placed on Russia’s wanted list after being refused entry into Belarus on account of her Russian passport having been confiscated by authorities.The report then reveals that Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson was able to assist Alyokhina in getting her a travel document from a European country that allowed her to travel freely from Russia to the EU. It adds that she has now travelled to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.“I still don’t understand completely what I’ve done,” she said in the piece.

Shanina Shaik has announced that she is pregnant with her first child with her boyfriend, Matthew Adesuyan.The supermodel revealed the happy news on Sunday, which was Mother's Day in Australia and USA, as she shared snaps of her blossoming bump from a stunning photoshoot. "To the new love of my life, Thank you for choosing me to be your Mum. I have always wanted you for as long as I can remember, and at times my patience was tested," the 31 year old Victoria's Secret began.

Spain has confirmed that Covid-19 travel rules will remain in place for UK flyers until May 15.

Tristan Priimägi Elmo Nüganen’s historical crime thriller “Melchior the Apothecary” has become the first Estonian film to cross the 50,000 admission mark at the local box office in the two years of the pandemic. The film, which was released by Hea Film on April 11, tops the box office with 57,456 admissions, according to Film New Europe. The pic is the initial instalment in a trilogy – the first time a movie trilogy has been produced in Estonia.

Marta Balaga The Ukrainian Institute has issued an official letter to the Cannes Film Festival and French director Michel Hazanavicius asking them to rename his opening night movie “Z,” which the org claims is a pro-war symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.In Russia, “Z” is considered a pro-war symbol that has also been used in pro-Russian demonstrations across Europe. The symbol has recently been adopted by some Russian figures taking part in world events, such as gymnast Ivan Kuliak who, while in Qatar for a World Cup event, sported a “Z” on his chest while standing on a podium next to Ukrainian athlete Illia Kovtun.

Emilio Mayorga “Journey to Yourland,” “Lumières!” and “Sex Symbols” proved standouts  at Cartoon Next, a new event launched by European association Cartoon Media to explore the ever more hybrid reality of the animation industry as well as other current cutting edge trends.VR, Extended Reality (XR), cross-media and IP extensions were the event’s buzzwords.In a format similar to Cartoon Springboard, which focuses on a new generation of animators, at Next, creators and producers also pitch projects to a bevy of high-profile experts who offer suggestions on how to improve development or the titles’ completion.Among such experts at Cartoon Next’s inaugural edition were Japhet Asher­, founder of U.K. consultancy and IP creation company Polarity Reversal; Orion Ross, VP of original programming and animation at Disney EMEA; Aymeric Castaing, founder of French XR company  Umanimation; Luce Grosjean, who launched France’s Miyu Distribution, devoted to young talents and student films; producer Sébastien Onomo at France’s Special Touch Studios; and producer Anna Schur, head of content at Spanish gaming animation company ZeptoLab.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentReims Polar, a new international festival set in Northern France and dedicated to police thrillers, has awarded Wen Shipei’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?,” Adikhan Yerzhanov’s “Assault” and Lado Kvataniya’s “The Execution.” The selection of Reims Polar is curated by Bruno Barde, who is also the artistic director of the Deauville American Film Festival. “Assault,” a dead-pan thriller set fictional village in rural Kazakhstan and revolving around a school hostage situation, won the festival’s Grand Prize Award.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorSwiss documentary film festival Visions du Réel has opened in Nyon with a homage to Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravicius, who was killed while filming in Ukraine last week. The 45 year old, best known for his conflict-zone documentary “Mariupolis,” which was screened at the 2016 edition of the fest and has been added to this year’s lineup, was a festival regular.

Eugene Daniels, White House correspondent for Politico and Playbook co-author, has been promoted to senior contributor to Morning Joe.

A woman has shed almost half her body weight after trying 'every diet under the sun' and fearing she would get stuck in an airplane seat. Haleigh Walsh, 25, who weighed in at 32st 6lb and has lost 19st 4lb, once bought two seats for a flight to Portugal out of fear she would get trapped.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentLithuanian film director and academic Mantas Kvedaravicius, who captured the escalating conflict in Ukraine in several powerful works, has been reported dead in Mariupol, the Ukrainian city that was the subject of his doc “Mariupolis” that premiered in Berlin.“While (he was) trying to leave Mariupol, Russian occupiers killed Lithuanian director Mantas Kvedaravicius,” the Ukrainian Defence Ministry tweeted on Saturday. Kvedaravicius was 45.  A Lithuanian news agency called 15min reported that Kvedaravicius was rushed to a hospital but could not be saved.News that Kvedaravicius has been killed by the Russian military — which could not be verified with family members — has prompted an outpour of statements and social media posts mourning the director’s death.

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry is reporting that Lithuanian film director Mantas Kvedaravicius was killed Saturday in Mariupol, the under seige Ukrainian city and subject of his documentary films.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentTrustNordisk, which is at the Canneseries Festival (Apr. 1-6) with “The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen,” has scored a raft of deals on Christian Tafdrup’s psychological horror film “Speak No Evil.”The Sundance film follows a Danish family who befriends a Dutch family while vacationing in Tuscany.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentSF Studios has boarded “Evil,” an original series adapted from Jan Guillou’s classic bestseller by the same name, which will be directed by “The Last Kingdom” helmer Erik Leijonborg and Daniel Di Grado (“Alena”).Penned by Fredrik T Olsson, the six-episode series is being produced by Tobias Åström at SF Studios and will launch on the Scandinavian streamer C More and Swedish broadcaster TV4, which are also co-producing. The series starts shooting this week in Vilnius, Lithuania.The novel was previously adapted into a 2003 film directed by Mikael Håfström.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDisney Plus confirmed launch dates — and pricing — for the 42 countries and 11 new territories across Europe, West Asia and Africa.Disney’s flagship streaming service will bow in South Africa on May 18, followed by all other countries listed in June (see below for dates and pricing). The media conglomerate earlier this year announced plans for summer 2022 expansion to countries including Turkey, Poland and the United Arab Emirates.The countries set to get Disney Plus are: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine Territories, Poland, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vatican City and Yemen.

Vladimir Putin once warned that he could have Russian troops in six capital cities in just 48 hours, it is claimed.

The head of an international film festival in Lithuania has expressed support for the proposed boycott of Russian cinema, despite the majority of major fests declining to join the movement.

Portsmouth boss Danny Cowley has lauded Gavin Bazunu as the on-loan Manchester City goalkeeper once again stood out for the League One side.

Naman Ramachandran Heavily localized content complementing a wealth of new and library offerings out of the U.S. is very much the modus operandi for HBO Max in Europe.The WarnerMedia-backed streamer, which will soon be combined with Discovery Plus, rolled out recently to 13 countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), as well as Portugal and the Netherlands, with Turkey, Greece, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to follow later this year.

Bolton Wanderers' upcoming home clash against Portsmouth has been postponed owing to international call-ups for both sides and rescheduled.