Television has no shortage of thrillers, but the sinister twists and turns of Apple TV’s latest entry into the genre, “Nocturne” — based on Lars Kepler’s novels “Lazarus” and “The Sandman” — make it well worth your time. Created by Rowan Joffé, the series follows Jonah Lynn (Liev Schreiber), a former homicide detective turned recluse […]
Russell Brand’s defense in his London rape trial was “a lot of half-truths” that were “spun into lies,” the prosecution said on Friday in its closing argument. Brand has been charged with with three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted indecent assault. He has pleaded not guilty to […]
Shopping for the women in your life is easy enough if you’re sticking to the usual suspects: a cashmere sweater, a luxury fragrance, a pair of designer sunglasses. But what about the friend who thinks Nathan Fielder is the hottest man alive? Or the one who’d rather spend Friday night watching “Gone With the Wind” […]
“Bára Basiková is a truly fascinating singer,” says Czech documentary filmmaker Helena Třeštíková, who was honored for her contribution to the genre at this week’s Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival. Her subject for the 50-year time lapse docu “Bára – Diary of a Rockstar,” Basiková sang in rock bands before the Velvet Revolution, including Precedens and […]
Barbara Kopple completes her trilogy on labor rights with “Union Town.” Following screenings at Venice and Toronto, it’s now heading to Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, where Variety spoke to her about the film. “Union Town” follows U.S. delivery and warehouse workers employed by UPS and Amazon, as well as app-based “deliveristas,” as they fight for […]
“Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,” Karan Johar’s first film as director, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji, will screen at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2028 to celebrate its 30th anniversary, with Johar set to attend. Johar received the invitation earlier this week at a meeting he hosted at the Mumbai offices of […]
Tony Kaye, the British director of “American History X” and “Detachment,” will direct “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?,” a short running five minutes that blends documentary with reality drama and plays out among the giant monster sculptures installed across Leicester, England. Hiu Man Chan, a film entrepreneur and academic in creative industries at De […]
Microdrama platform FlareFlow will launch in Thailand on Nov. 2 through AIS Play, the entertainment service of Thai telecom operator Advanced Info Service (AIS), in a deal brokered by Singapore-based distributor Rock Networks. FlareFlow, the vertical video service owned by COL Group, will cost subscribers THB39 ($1.15) a month. AIS Play users will find a […]
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof and Iranian-born Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat pushed back on the idea of a standalone Oscar category for exiled filmmakers, speaking at the Tokyo International Film Festival as Cate Blanchett’s Displacement Film Fund gave its first five short films their Japan premiere. The question followed the Academy’s recent rule change making exiled […]
A meeting at TIFFCOM in 2023 brought Italian co-producers to “The Violinist,” the animated feature that went on to win the top prize at France’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival this year, Singaporean filmmaker Ervin Han told a panel at the Tokyo market. Han, co-founder and CEO of Singapore’s Robot Playground Media, spoke at “Anime’s […]
Taiwanese project “Uncle,” directed by Yen Hao-hsuan, won the Tokyo Project Award on Friday at the seventh Tokyo Gap-Financing Market (TGFM) in Tokyo. “Uncle” had already picked up the Asian Gen-Z Award earlier in the ceremony. Prizes went to a handful of the 24 projects selected for this year’s market. Yen’s debut feature, set in […]
“We Had a Plan,” a documentary about a gay Filipino couple who head home after a decade as undocumented cleaners in the Netherlands, has been picked up for international sales by Paris-based Cat&Docs ahead of its world premiere at IDFA. Variety has the exclusive first look at the trailer. Directed by Suzanne Raes and co-directed […]
