Billy Zane is set to make the trek to Italy’s Torino Film Festival which has secured the world premiere of hotly anticipated indie film “Waltzing With Brando” directed by Bill Fishman  in which Zane plays Marlon Brando during the period when he was preparing to star in “The Godfather” and “Last Tango in Paris.” “Waltzing With Brando,” […]

Sean Penn, David Cronenberg and late great Moroccan actor Naïma Elmcherqui are set to be celebrated with career tributes by the Marrakech International Film Festival. Elmcherqui, who was one of Morocco’s best-loved personalities, died in Casablanca on Oct. 5. After becoming a household name during the 1960s and 70s working with Moroccan theatre director and […]

A group of prominent Swiss production companies has joined forces and founded a new outfit called Swiss Studios AG in Zurich. The groundbreaking move was prompted by the so-called “Lex Netflix,” the Swiss law that forces streamers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to re-invest 4% of their local revenues in Swiss film and […]

On Oct. 1, as Iran was firing a fusillade of missiles on his country, Israeli director Eran Riklis was in Tel Aviv “trying to cling on to the fact” that he would hopefully soon be premiering his new film “Reading Lolita in Tehran” — which he calls “an iconic Iranian story, featuring iconic Iranian actresses” — at […]

James Franco is tucked away in the corner of a five-star hotel lobby on Rome’s Via Veneto, sipping an Americano coffee. Wearing a chocolate brown hoodie he proudly says he co-designed, the actor and filmmaker looks relaxed and flashes his signature smile. He’s in the Eternal City for the Rome Film Festival launch of Italian […]

Over the past six decades Lucca Comics & Games, which is held annually within the medieval ramparts of the Tuscan town of Lucca, has expanded exponentially to become the largest geek meet in Europe.  This year they are pulling out all the stops with a lineup that comprises the first global event teasing the second […]

U.S. director Jeff Nichols – whose “The Bikeriders” recently made a splash at Cannes and Telluride – is set to be the official patron of the upcoming Marrakech International Film Festival’s Atlas Workshops that will see him mentoring selected projects in various stages from the Middle East and North Africa. Launched in 2018, the Atlas […]

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has unveiled a first batch of titles that will screen as part of its “Festival Favorites” lineup, showcasing the cream of the international fest crop for Arab audiences. Besides including recent Cannes standouts such as Sandhya Suri’s crime thriller “Santosh” (pictured) –which will represent the U.K. in the international Oscars race […]

Beirut-based production powerhouse Cedars Art Productions is not slowing down despite the ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon. Sadek Sabbah — who is CEO of the prominent Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region TV and film company that also has offices in Cairo, Casablanca and Dubai — is at Mipcom with a rich slate. Though […]

Paramount Global has signed a multi-year volume deal with Qatar-based powerhouse beIN Media Group, which will boost the content offering of beIN’s TOD premium streaming platform that is available across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. BeIN is a co-owner of U.S. indie studio Miramax. Its TOD streaming platform currently commands a 4% share […]

The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and Dubai Studios, which is a unit of Dubai Media Company, have forged a long-term partnership at the Mipcom TV market in Cannes.  The so called “Gala” partnership includes sponsorship of the International Emmy World Television Festival in New York, where over 600 television professionals from over […]

After becoming a prime Middle East hub for Hollywood and Bollywood productions Abu Dhabi is raising its rebate on film and TV productions and is at the Mipcom TV market looking to lure more business to the United Arab Emirates capital and the surrounding area. The Abu Dhabi Film Commission has announced they are upping […]

Turkish star Meryem Uzerli, who is known globally for her role as a former slave who becomes the powerful wife of Ottoman emperor Suleiman in Turkish megahit soap “Magnificent Century,” is headed to Mipcom with a new age-gap romance show titled “RU.” Uzerli will be making the trek to Cannes for the international launch of […]

Italy’s Groenlandia, the Banijay-owned and Rome-based company headed by directors and producers Matteo Rovere and Sydney Sibilia, is on a roll with three shows launching this month respectively on Disney+, Sky Italia and Netflix. They include crime drama “This Is Not Hollywood,” which bows Friday at the Rome Film Festival. The four-part crime series is based […]

Donald Trump biopic “The Apprentice,” starring Sebastian Stan as the businessman and former U.S. president, is skipping its planned release in cinemas in the United Arab Emirates — and also Kuwait — possibly for political reasons. Ali Abbasi’s film, which follows Trump’s rise to fame and his time learning from influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy […]

Ron Howard’s survival thriller “Eden,” starring Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby and Sydney Sweeney, has been set as the opening film of Italy’s Torino Film Festival with the director in tow. “Eden,” which follows a pair of high-minded Europeans, played by Law and Kirby, who are seeking a new life on a previously […]

Italy’s Rainbow Group – the company led by Iginio Straffi, creator of the hit “Winx Club” animation franchise – is set to launch into the high seas with a live-action series adaptation of Hugo Pratt’s “Corto Maltese” graphic novels. The comics follow the title character, a swashbuckling sea captain whose adventures take him around the world. […]

Nearly 10 years after its launch, Italian sales company True Colours is branching out from feature films into the TV content space under the new management of Elliot Gustin-Hollman, formerly with Paris-based distribution powerhouse Newen Connect. The move into TV sales is being made by True Colours – which is co-owned by Italy’s Indigo Film and […]

A new studio called WeirdBunch Entertainment, which aims to make Marvel-like content with a Middle-Eastern flavor, is being launched by a group of industry execs with offices in Saudi Arabia and Los Angeles.  WeirdBunch brings together prominent Saudi puppeteer, producer and podcaster Ammar Al-Sabban, who worked on the Arabic adaptation of “Sesame Street”; Marvel comics […]