Prague-based sales outlet Filmotor has secured international rights for Lebanese director Raed Rafei’s documentary “Tripoli / A Tale of Three Cities,” which has its world premiere in the Frontlight section of IDFA film festival. In the film, queer director Rafei returns to Tripoli in Lebanon to confront a hometown that once rejected him. He interviews […]

Munich-based Studio 100 Intl. has teamed up with Mexican animation studio Lunch Films to develop animated family feature “Halloween vs Day of the Dead.” The film, which will blend 2D and 3D animation, will be directed by Celso Garcia, founder of Lunch Films and repped by the Gotham Group. Garcia’s credits include “The Thin Yellow […]

Hungary’s 30% tax incentive for film and TV, which has helped attract recent Hollywood shoots like “Dune: Part Two,” “Maria” and “The Brutalist” to the country, has been extended by six years. Hungary, continental Europe’s biggest production hub, has attracted direct annual production spend totalling $910 million, a fourfold increase in the last five years. […]

Matt Dillon will be feted at the 65th edition of Greece’s Thessaloniki Film Festival, where he will present his recent film “Being Maria,” in which he plays Marlon Brando. Dillon will receive the festival’s honorary Golden Alexander award on Nov. 4, before a screening of his 2002 film “City of Ghosts,” which was his debut […]

Visit Films has acquired international sales rights excluding Canada for “Can I Get a Witness?,” a poetic and satirical sci-fi fable written and directed by Canadian auteur Ann Marie Fleming. The film had its world premiere at Toronto and has been selected to play in competition at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Mongrel Media […]

Minimalist documentarian Roberto Minervini says he long ago fell in love with “the physicality of the camera” – a passion so strong, he now demands that his camera operators learn controlled breathing and work out extensively before a shoot can begin. There’s nothing that bothers him more, he told fans at the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary […]

In a major coup for the Italian geek meet, “Squid Game” creator, writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk and the show’s protagonists Lee Jung-jae and Wi Ha-Jun will be attending Lucca Comics and Games festival on Oct. 31 to tease the hit Netflix series’ second season. “We are really proud that we’ve created an event that […]

Europe’s largest cosplay get together, Italy’s Lucca Comics and Games returns for its 58th edition over the Halloween weekend, with thousands of fans descending on the medival Tuscan town to celebrate all things geek. From TV shows launched by the top streamers to video, tabletop and role-playing games, comic books and horror movies, Lucca showcases […]

Picture Tree Intl. has come on board as the international sales agent for Sebastian McKinnon’s fantasy epic “The Stolen Child.” In the film, war ravages the Human Kingdom. A daring poet must lead three mystical heroes deep into the Faerie State to find a lost prince, return him to the throne and restore the peace. […]

From its showcase of the most probing Czech and Eastern European nonfiction work to its tributes to underappreciated auteurs and platforms for indie collaborations, the Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival is in its stride these days. With a newly expanded 28th edition, a 10-day gala held in the historic Czech town of Jihlava, the fest […]

Zuzana Caputova rose to the Slovak president’s office on a wave of outrage over corruption and her historic win signaled hope for millions of her country-folk. Five years after the 2019 win, Caputova chose to walk away from the highest office in the land rather than continue fighting the good fight. As Marek Sulik, director […]

Nada Riyadh and Ayman El Amir, whose latest documentary “The Brink of Dreams” became the first Egyptian film to win the Golden Eye Award for best documentary at Cannes earlier this year, have received the Variety Middle East and North Africa Talent of the Year Award. The ceremony was held at the El Gouna Film […]

The streaming platforms of European broadcasters are outgunning the global streamers when it comes to depth of content, research agency Glance reported in Cannes during TV market Mipcom this week. “Everyone is a streamer, even the broadcasters,” Frédéric Vaulpré, senior VP at Glance, told Variety in a café in the Riviera resort, referring to a […]

International Film Festival Rotterdam has unveiled the first tranche of films selected for its 54th edition, which runs Jan. 30 – Feb. 9. These 13 titles, which will play in the Bright Future or Harbour sections, will each have their world premiere at IFFR. Bright Future is dedicated to feature-length debuts, while Harbour offers a […]

Beta Cinema has taken international sales rights for “Let It Rain,” the new film by Oscar-nominated director Hannes Holm (“A Man Called Ove”), starring Robert Gustafsson, star of the box office hit “The 100-Year-Old Man.” Shooting wrapped at the end of September and Beta Cinema will present first materials at next month’s American Film Market. […]

NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution has sold thriller “The Day of the Jackal,” starring Eddie Redmayne, to nearly 200 territories around the world. The show’s U.K. premiere was on Tuesday in London. The series, a standout title during the L.A. Screenings in May, has subsequently been snapped up by buyers worldwide. These sales exclude the U.S., […]

At TV market Mipcom, Ramin Setoodeh, Variety‘s co-editor-in-chief, spoke on Wednesday about how Donald Trump’s public persona was forged by reality TV series “The Apprentice,” and how it is that “character” who is running for the U.S. presidency today. Speaking in a session inspired by his New York Times bestseller “Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald […]

Talpa Studios, founded by “The Voice” and “Big Brother” creator John de Mol, has launched “Trivial Pursuit,” a quiz show format based on the Hasbro trivia game, at TV market Mipcom in Cannes. Talpa is working in partnership with Hasbro Entertainment, the entertainment company that leverages Hasbro’s collection of brands to develop and produce premium […]

“Nessie Junior,” the first development project from recently formed sales agency Epsilon Film, is set to make waves as an animated movie project highlight at the AFM with pre-sales kicking off in November in Las Vegas. “Nessie Junior” is a high-end CGI-animated movie based on the tale of the Loch Ness Monster, the mythical creature […]