Comment on Philippine festival expands screenings for Asian films

Based on true events, Göteborg opening film “Safe House” – about a group of people trying to survive in a hospital in conflict-torn Bangui in 2013 – could be a harrowing watch. But lead actor Kristine Kujath Thorp found hope in the story.  “What really stuck with me was that even though the world is […]

Mad World, the global sales arm of pan-Arab indie outfit Mad Solutions, has acquired international rights to Egyptian director Mohamed Rashad’s “The Settlement” ahead of its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. Inspired by a true story, “The Settlement” – which will launch from Berlin’s new Perspectives section – follows two brothers, the 23-year-old […]

CNN will cut 6% of its current workforce as part of CEO Mark Thompson’s continuing efforts to build up the Warner Bros. Discovery outlet’s digital and broadband acumen as the audience flocking to its flagship cable network continues to wane. Many of his plans, telegraphed in a series of memos over recent months, have been […]

“Emilia Pérez,” a musical about a drug kingpin who undergoes gender affirming surgery, topped the 2025 Oscar nominations with 13 nods. It was followed closely behind by “The Brutalist,” a historical epic the examines the immigrant experience, and “Wicked,” the hit screen version of a long-running Broadway sensation, which both nabbed 10 nominations.

“The Virgin of Quarry Lake,” the latest feature from “The Returned” helmer Laura Casabé, sets Argentina’s 2001 economic collapse against a mix of adolescent angst, unbridled desire and supernatural forces. Written by top Argentinean filmmaker Benjamín Naishtat (“Rojo,” “Puan”) and drawn from Booker Prize-shortlisted author Mariana Enríquez’s short stories, the film is set to premiere […]

Agora, the industry section of the Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival, has selected 14 projects for its Pitching Forum. All the projects are from Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region, although the filmmakers can be from elsewhere. Agora, which runs March 7-15, has also revealed the projects that will feature in its new initiative Agora XR […]