“Twinless,” a comedic drama starring Dylan O’Brien, has been pulled from Sundance’s streaming site after sex scenes and other content from the film leaked online. The leaks came as “Twinless” won the festival’s coveted Audience Award on Friday. It’s the second movie to be pulled from Sundance’s site this year. “Selena y Los Dinos,” a […]

“Train Dreams,” a lyrical drama about a logger whose work developing America’s railroad keeps him laboring in isolation, has sold to Netflix. The film earned rave reviews after debuting at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, with Variety’s Peter Debruge calling it a “modest monument” and praising it for “creating a record that history somehow missed.” […]

Unlike other showcases with a strong market component, the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival does not require selected films to arrive as world premieres. That choice stems as much from allegiance to a devoted local audience that expects the best as from an understanding of wider industry dynamics.  “Our market also needs high standards,” says programmer […]

Midway between Paris and the Mediterranean coast, France’s Clermont-Ferrand has become the world’s preeminent hub for short-form cinema, hosting both a festival and a market with unparalleled international reach. Now celebrating its 46th edition – which runs Jan. 31 – Feb. 8 – the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival has long been a springboard for emerging […]

French-U.K. outfit Alief has acquired international sales rights to Indian filmmaker Bhargav Saikia’s supernatural folk horror “Bokshi,” ahead of its world premiere in International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Harbour section. The film follows Anahita, a troubled teen who finds solace in Shalini, a mysterious history teacher leading a trek to an ancient site called ‘The Navel.’ […]

The Variety & Adobe The Future of AI Filmmaking panel at the Sundance Film Festival featured a conversation by film executives about how AI is currently being used in entertainment as well as how it will shape the industry going forward. The panel, moderated by Variety’s executive editor Brent Lang, featured Meagan Keane, director of […]

“Together,” a horror film with Dave Franco and Alison Brie, has sold to Neon after premiering at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The feature, from first-time writer-director Michael Shanks, was one of the rare to spark a bidding war. Yet the sale still took several days to close. A24 was also in the running at […]

“It makes me feel old, wise, weirdly empowered,” Isaac Mizrahi says about commemorating the 30th anniversary of “Unzipped.” The cult-favorite doc, directed by Mizrahi’s then-boyfriend Douglas Keeve, follows the beloved fashion designer as he prepares for his 1994 fall collection in New York City. After premiering at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival — where it […]

Magnify has landed worldwide sales rights (excluding mainland China, China Taiwan, Hong Kong SAR & Macao SAR) to helmer Yi Jing’s directorial debut “The Botanist,” ahead of its world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s Generation Kplus competition. The coming-of-age tale, set in a remote village in China’s Xinjiang region, follows a young Kazakh boy […]

Andrew Ahn’s “The Wedding Banquet,” a remake of Ang Lee’s 1993 rom-com starring Bowen Yang and Lily Gladstone, will open this year’s BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. The film, which is world premiering Monday night at Sundance Film Festival, will have its international debut on March 19 at London’s BFI Southbank with Ahn in […]

U.S. filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer, now based in Denmark, worries his “home country is perhaps becoming a dictatorship.”   “It remains to be seen. The question we all face, each and every one of us, is this: ‘Is it too late for us?’ I encourage you to look up and see that above you, there’s still a […]

The snow-covered Park City feels a world away from Tunis, where Amel Guellaty shot her feature debut “Where the Wind Comes From,” playing Sundance as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition strand. This real-life journey somewhat echoes that of the film’s main characters, Alyssa (Eya Bellagha) and Mehdi (Slim Baccar), who embark on an […]

Variety & Audible’s Cocktails and Conversations panel at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival brought together journalist Ronan Farrow, Audible’s chief content officer Rachel Ghiazza and actors Juliette Lewis, André Holland and Mamoudou Athie to discuss storytelling for modern audiences. The panel discussion was moderated by Variety Executive Editor Brent Lang. Farrow, who signed a deal […]

The story around Isaiah Saxon’s feature debut, “The Legend of Ochi,” took a drastic turn, as so many Hollywood stories did, with this month’s Los Angeles fires. Saxon lost his home in the blaze, and the film’s theatrical release was pushed back. However, having spent years developing and working on the fantasy feature, Saxon is […]

The Göteborg Film Festival is set to push the boundaries of art and activism with a groundbreaking live-streamed civil disobedience event, inviting visitors to become part of the action from their cinema seats. This year’s festival, themed “Focus: Disobedience,” promises to be a thought-provoking exploration of the intersection between art and rebellion. In collaboration with […]

Premiering out Sundance’s world dramatic competition ahead of subsequent play in Rotterdam, “The Things You Kill” marks Iranian auteur Alireza Khatami’s most personal and outré work to date. Led by Turkish stars Ekin Koç (“Burning Days”), Erkan Kolçakköstendil (“Familya,” “Magnificent Century: Kosem”), Hazar Ergüçlü (“The Protector”) and Ercan Kesal (“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” […]

“The School of Housewives,” a popular Icelandic drama that debuted last year on public broadcaster RÚV, is a major contender for this year’s Göteborg Nordic Series Script Award, the biggest prize for TV screenwriting in Scandinavia. The series turns Hekla, who, after being in and out of rehab since she was a teenager, enrolls in […]

Long before – like centuries before — “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” there were Molly Houses, queer underground clubs that operated in London in the 1700s. Yes, the 1700s. By day, these houses were regular coffeehouses, but at night, they turned into secret same-sex watering holes that included drag performances, sexual activity and more. There were up […]

Tom Blyth may have starred in Francis Lawrence’s box office hit “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” but that doesn’t mean the British actor is moving on from independent film. Case in point: “Plainclothes.” In writer-director Carmen Emmi’s feature debut, Blyth stars as Lucas, an undercover cop in 1990s Syracuse, N.Y., who […]