Mira Nair Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Naman Ramachandran Nitin Chandrakant Desai, the Indian production designer best known for his work on the Oscar-nominated “Lagaan” (2001) and BAFTA-nominated “Devdas” (2002), was found dead Aug. 2 at his studio in Karjat, near Bollywood capital Mumbai. He was 57.

Naman Ramachandran Prolific filmmaker Suman Ghosh has unveiled the first look for his new film “Puratawn” (“Ancient”), starring veteran Indian actor Sharmila Tagore. Tagore takes on the role of a matriarch grappling with the challenges of aging. As her 80th birthday is celebrated by her daughter (Rituparna Sengupta, “Datta”) and son-in-law (Indraneil Sengupta, “Aazam”) at the ancestral house, the unfolding events over the next week become the focal point of the narrative, delving into the complexities that shape their collective journey.

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony honoring the best of this year’s lineup in Park City is in progress right now at the Ray Theatre. Refresh frequently as the winners are announced.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Argentina’s newly elected president Javier Milei is bent on keeping his chainsaw-wielding campaign promise to cut state spending, including scrapping the country’s national film institute (INCAA) and its film schools (ENERC). His mega draft bill, aimed at reining in Argentina’s hyper-inflation, has prompted more than 300 directors, producers, actresses, critics and colleagues from across the world, led by Academy Award winners Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Cannes winners Aki Kaurismäki (“Autumn Leaves”) and the Dardenne Brothers (“Rosetta”), to sign a communiqué protesting the far-right libertarian’s proposal.

Nick Clement For four decades, Sundance has maintained a reputation as one of the most important film festivals in America for independent filmmakers from around the globe. To commemorate its 40th anniversary in 2024 and the enormity (and reciprocity) of that cultural footprint, festival leadership set a series of restoration screenings to highlight many of the most memorable films programmed throughout its history.

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival has set 16 alums from past editions to serve on its Competition Jury, also announcing the set of five set as jurors for the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize.

Naman Ramachandran Mira Nair has boarded Indian filmmaker Sarvnik Kaur’s Sundance-winning documentary “Against the Tide” as an executive producer. The film follows Mumbai-based fishermen Rakesh and Ganesh who are inheritors of the great Koli fishing knowledge system — a way to harvest the sea by following the moon and the tides. Rakesh has kept faith in the traditional fishing methods while Ganesh has strayed away from them, embracing technology.

Sarvnik Kaur’s documentary Against The Tide won the Golden Gateway Award at this year’s Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, while the Silver Gateway Award went to Bahadur – The Brave, directed by Diwa Shah. The Special Jury Award went to Kanu Behl’s Agra. 

Naman Ramachandran Sarvnik Kaur’s documentary “Against the Tide” has won the Golden Gateway Award at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. The film previously won awards at Sundance, Sydney and Seattle. Diwa Shah’s San Sebastian winner “Bahadur: The Brave” received Mumbai’s Silver Gateway Award.

Monsoon Wedding and A Suitable Boy filmmaker Mira Nair has been announced as the Head of Jury for the South Asia Competition at this year’s Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival (October 27-November 5). 

1497 has selected three Mentees for their Features Lab. 

1497 has revealed the finalists of its third annual Features Lab. See their bios below.

Oscar winning filmmakers Pedro Almodóvar and Spike Lee are getting feted at this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Riz Ahmed will be honoured by the Locarno Film Festival where the latest short in which the British actor appears – titled “Dammi” and directed by French auteur Yann Mounir Damage – will world premiere. Ahmed, who earned an Oscar nomination for best actor in 2021 for his performance as a drummer who suddenly goes deaf in Amazon’s “Sound of Metal,” will be feted by the Swiss fest dedicated to indie filmmaking cinema with with its 2021 Excellence Award Davide Campari, which pays tribute to film personalities who have left their personal stamp on contemporary cinema. “Dammi,” which was teased at Cannes, is an experimental work, broadly on the theme of immigration and identity, produced by French fashion brand  AMI, founded by Alexandre Mattiussi, and also starring Isabelle Adjani, Souheila Yacoub, Sandor Funtek and Suzy Bemba. The buzzed-about short will screen at Locarno’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande, on opening night, Aug. 2, during the ceremony at which Amed will receive the award.

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. 

The art of beauty! Lupita Nyong’o is using her head as a canvas. 

Naman Ramachandran Veteran Indian actor Anupam Kher (“New Amsterdam,” “Silver Linings Playbook”) will headline made-for-streaming film “Vijay 69” from leading Indian studio Yash Raj Films’ streaming production arm YRF Entertainment. “Vijay 69” will tell the story of a man, played by Kher, who decides to compete in a triathlon contest at the age of 69. It will be directed by Akshay Roy, who has previously directed “Meri Pyaari Bindu” for Yash Raj Films and who previously worked as an assistant director on Mira Nair’s “The Namesake,” Aamir Khan’s “Taare Zameen Par” and Deepa Mehta’s “Water.” It is being produced by Maneesh Sharma, who previously directed “Band Baaja Baaraat” and produced “Dum Laga Ke Haisha” and “Sui Dhaaga: Made In India,” all for Yash Raj Films. Sharma is currently directing “Tiger 3,” the next film in Yash Raj Films’ spy universe, starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif.

Riz Ahmed, Dev Patel, Judd Apatow, Mira Nair, and Mark Duplass are among the many admirers of the Oscar-nominated documentary All That Breathes, directed by Shaunak Sen. Now you can add the people at Criterion to the movie’s legion of fans.

Naman Ramachandran Acclaimed actor Vijay Varma is one of the leads in “Dahaad” (“Roar”), the first Indian series to compete in the Berlinale Series Competition. Produced by Excel Entertainment and Tiger Baby and directed by Reema Kagti (Amazon Prime Video series “Made in Heaven”) and Ruchika Oberoi (Venice winner “Island City”), the other leads are Sonakshi Sinha, Gulshan Devaiah and Sohum Shah. “‘Dahaad’ is about the investigation of a series of crimes conducted by a small town, rookie police officer at a small police station in Rajasthan [western India] – there are these disappearing girls and somehow the young police officer finds a certain similarity between these these disappearances,” Varma told Variety. “It’s a slow burn, investigative drama and it’s also very atmospheric and moody and noir-ish.”

Karen Cooper, longtime director of New York City’s indie cinema gem Film Forum, says she’s stepping down at a good time, not just for her, but for the business. Despite all the naysayers and after slogging through Covid with the help of federal grants and weathering a slow recovery, Cooper said business is currently pretty lively at the lower Manhattan nonprofit cinema she’s run for the past 50 years.

EXCLUSIVE: Up-and-coming actress Lisette Olivera (National Treasure: Edge of History) has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

“This holds a treasure of utmost importance. I thought about destroying it a billion times to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.” So begins the official trailer for National Treasure: Edge of History, the upcoming Disney+ series based on the hit film franchise. The trailer was unveiled Saturday by series star Catherine Zeta-Jones and her fellow cast members during Disney Branded Television’s presentation at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA. The series premieres Wednesday, December 14 with the first two episodes.

Naman Ramachandran During his eclectic career so far British actor Shubham Saraf has played a variety of roles.Saraf, who studied at the U.K.’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama and France’s École Philippe Gaulier, played an aristocrat in newly independent India in Mira Nair’s BBC/Netflix series “A Suitable Boy”; a policeman in Netflix procedural “Criminal: U.K.” and a PR advisor in Jed Mercurio’s BBC series “Bodyguard.”The actor stars opposite Charlie Hunnam and Alexander Siddig in the upcoming Apple TV+ adaptation of Gregory David Roberts’ bestseller “Shantaram,” which tells the story of a heroin addict and convicted bank robber who, in the 1980s, flees Australia to India, where he reinvents himself as a doctor and a gangster in the slums of Bombay. Saraf’s role is under wraps at the moment but he describes the process as an “intense life-altering experience.” Once cast, in the middle of COVID-19, Saraf’s life was “upended at short notice” and he shot in Thailand and Australia for six months after spending two weeks in quarantine in each country.

Wilson Chapman editorBart Walker, former talent agent and partner for ICM Partners, has joined the Gersh Agency as a senior partner, Variety has confirmed. He will be based in the company’s New York office.Walker’s move comes shortly after fellow Hollywood talent agency CAA’s acquisition of ICM this June.

Veteran literary agent Bart Walker is joining the Gersh Agency as senior partner after having spent the last 10 years as a partner with ICM, TheWrap has confirmed. Walker brings with him top clients across film, television, and theater, including Oscar winner and nominees David Byrne, Lisa Cholodenko, Sofia Coppola, Tamara Jenkins, Spike Lee, Mira Nair, Oliver Stone and Thomas Vinterberg.

Bart Walker will join Gersh as Senior Partner in the New York office. The longtime ICM agent, who decided not to stay when CAA acquired that agency, will continue to represent his esteemed clients in film, television and theatre including Oscar nominees/winners such as David Byrne, Lisa Cholodenko, Sofia Coppola, Tamara Jenkins, Spike Lee, Mira Nair, Oliver Stone and Thomas Vinterberg; Cannes, Venice and Sundance prize winners such as Mati Diop, Michel Franco, Mia Hansen-Love, Jim Jarmusch, The Kloster Brothers, and Lorenzo Vigas: and multi-hyphenate artists such as Benoit Delhomme, Iram Haq, Sally Potter, Richard Press, and Olmo Schnabel.

Toronto announced the 10 world premieres in its Platform program, a section comprised of first-time feature filmmakers and vets whose voices are emerging in the cinematic landscape.

EXCLUSIVE: Jacob Vargas (Mr. Iglesias) is set for a heavily recurring role in National Treasure, Disney Branded Television’s TV series for Disney+ produced by ABC Signature.