“Hey Joe,” a drama in which James Franco plays a U.S. Navy sailor stationed in post-World War II Naples, will world premiere at the Rome Film Festival next month. The gritty film, directed by Claudio Giovannesi (“Gomorrah” TV series, “Piranhas”), is produced by Italy’s Palomar in tandem with RAI Cinema and Vision Distribution, which will […]

Johnny Depp will be honored with a career award at the Rome Film Festival, where “Modi – Three Days on the Wing of Madness” – his film about the final days of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani — will launch in Italy following its bow at San Sebastian. “Modi,” which stars Italy’s Riccardo Scamarcio as the […]

Mel Gibson is in Europe scouting locations for a sequel to his 2004 biblical blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ” — which could mean that the film’s long-gestating followup is actually going to get made. Earlier this week Gibson reportedly toured Malta with a production team and subsequently arrived in the Southern Italian region of Puglia […]

UPDATED: Australian arts and culture executive Michael Lynch has been named acting sector head for media at Neom, Saudi Arabia’s futuristic megacity in-the-making. Lynch is taking on the role after a Wall Street Journal report leveled accusations of racism and misogyny at Wayne Borg who was running the media hub at Neom. According to the report published […]

Former Locarno and Berlin Film Festival chief Carlo Chatrian has been appointed director of Italy’s National Film Museum in Turin. The cinematic shrine housed in the iconic Mole Antonelliana domed tower, which is the Northern city’s main landmark, has long been known as a treasure trove of movie memorabilia, including pre-cinema magic lanterns and Federico Fellini’s red scarf […]

Iranian directorial duo Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who in February were banned by Iranian authorities from traveling to the Berlin Film Festival to launch their film “My Favourite Cake,” have now been subjected to repeated travel bans after their passports were returned. Last week, Moghaddam — who is Swedish-Iranian — was ready to fly […]

Carolyn Bracken, who plays the blind protagonist of Damian McCarthy’s recent chiller “Oddity,” and veteran character actress Caroline Goodall (“Schindler’s List,” “The Fabelmans”) are set to star in Italian director Andrea Corsini’s psychological horror film “Beasts of Prey.” Cameras recently started rolling in Italy’s northern regions of Lombardy and Piedmont on the English-language “Beasts of Prey,” […]

One year after its debut, Blinx – the Dubai-based digital startup that produces news and short form storytelling targeting Gen Z and Millennials across the Middle East and North Africa – is boasting big numbers. In the past 12 months, the pioneering content hub — which was launched from a high-tech Dubai Media City studio […]

Former Cinecittà Studios CEO Nicola Maccanico has been appointed to the newly created role of CEO of Fremantle Italy Group. Maccanico, who is a former Warner Bros. and Sky Italia senior exec, had been spearheading the radical overhaul of Cinecittà for three years, but stepped down last June after Italy’s right-wing government decided to change […]

Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights to Maura Delpero’s intimate epic “Vermiglio,” which recently won the Venice Film Festival’s Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize.  The drama, which is set at the end of World War II in an Alpine village where the arrival of a soldier causes disruption in the dynamics between […]

Prime Video has released a high-octane trailer for its spy series “Citadel: Diana,” starring Italy’s Matilda De Angelis (“The Undoing”) as Diana Cavalieri, an undercover Citadel agent fighting against an enemy syndicate set in a near-future Milan. The six-episode show – which marks the streamer’s most ambitious Italian original to date – is the country’s […]

“Emily in Paris” took a “Roman Holiday” on Tuesday when its full cast came to the Eternal City to launch part-two of the Netflix show’s fourth season. Lily Collins, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Ashley Park, Lucas Bravo, Camille Razat, Samuel Arnold, Bruno Gouery and William Abadie were photographed sipping spritzes on a terrace in front of the […]

The resignation of Italy’s culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano on Friday, after he admitted to having an extramarital affair with a ministry consultant, is prompting hope across the Italian industry that his departure could help remove legislative impediments that many claim are causing a production slowdown. Sangiuliano stepped down Friday in the wake of a scandal […]

For “Vermiglio” director Maura Delpero, winning Venice Film Festival’s Silver Lion grand jury prize is a dream born from a dream. The drama is set at the end of World War II in an Alpine village, where the arrival of a soldier causes disruption in the dynamics between three sisters. “Vermiglio” marks Delpero’s follow-up to […]

Vietnamese Director Duong Dieu Linh’s horror-comedy “Don’t Cry, Butterfly” is the big winner of the Venice Critics’ Week where it scooped the grand prize and the award for most innovative feature. Written and directed by Duong Dieu Linh, the Hanoi-set film follows a housewife who uses voodoo to try and get her cheating husband to fall […]

Saudi Arabian film industry pioneer Faisal Baltyuor is opening the first arthouse cinema in Riyadh in what amounts to a milestone in the kingdom’s moviegoing trajectory ever since Saudi lifted its 35-year ban on cinema in late 2017. The plush state-of-the-art 80-seat venue, called Cinehouse, is set to open in the Saudi capital later this month. […]

Brazilian director Marianna Brennand’s drama “Manas,” about a 13-year-old girl suffering abuse in the depth of the Amazon rainforest, has scored the Venice Days director’s award. Backed by Walter Salles and the Dardenne Brothers, “Manas” is set on the island of Marajó in the Amazon rainforest. Marcielle lives near the riverbank with her father, mother […]

Isabella Torre is at Venice with her first feature “Basileia.” The film follows an archaeologist who, while exploring a tomb containing an ancient treasure in Southern Italy’s rugged Aspromonte mountains, unleashes mythical nymphs. The dark fairytale – which is closing the fest’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori, also known as Venice Days – was developed […]

British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour,” is at the Venice Film Festival with another historical piece, high-end TV drama “M. Son of the Century.” The series chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power and is particularly timely as populist leaders are sprouting up all over the world. Based on Italian author […]