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While there’s a few more fall film festivals popping up in the next month, the major ones are behind us, which means we have a strong sense of the films to have on your radar in the coming months and even through 2025. We’ve asked our writers from across the globe to weigh in on their favorite world premieres from Locarno Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and BFI London Film Festival.

Our coverage will continue with a few more reviews this week, and far beyond as we provide updates on the journey of these selections, so continue to explore all of our festival coverage here. In the meantime, check out top picks from our writers below and return soon for our extensive year-end coverage.

Soham Gadre (@SohamGadre)

1. April (Dea Kulumbegashvili)

2 and 3. Youth (Homecoming and Hard Times) (Wang Bing...

International auteurs Miguel Gomes, Wang Bing and Roberto Minervini will be part of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival’s Wavelengths program, TIFF organizers announced on Thursday.

The festival will present the North American premieres of “Grand Tour,” a period piece for which Gomes won the Best Director award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; Minervini’s “The Damned,” a Civil War-era drama that screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section; and two films by Chinese documentarian Wang Bing, “Youth (Hard Times)” and “Youth (Homecoming).”

The Wavelengths section, which is devoted to daring cinema and contemporary art, will also include “exergue – on documenta 14,” a 14-hour documentary by Greek director Dimitris Athiridis that will be presented over three separate screenings.

Wavelengths is divided into different sections – one consisting of 11 feature films, another with a special presentation of Egyptian director Wael Shawky’s “Drama 1882” and another showcasing 13 different short and medium-length films grouped into thematic programs.

Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced its Wavelengths programme highlighting visionary work including Dimitris Athiridis’s 14-hour documentary exergue - on documenta 14, and a Classics line-up featuring work from Atom Egoyan and Frederick Wiseman.

The Wavelengths programme comprises 11 features, three shorts programmes, and an in-cinema looped presentation of Egyptian artist Wael Shawky’s Drama 1882.

The features selections includes Cannes entries Viêt And Nam by Trương Minh Quý, Grand Tour by Miguel Gomes and The Damned by Roberto Minervini, and Berlin selection Pepe by Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias.

exergue - on documenta 14 receives its North American premiere after...

The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival continues to update its robust programming lineup. This year’s Wavelengths and Classics programs boast various hits, now including the North-American premiere of buzzy Cannes title “Viêt and Nam,” directed by Trương Minh Quý.

The Wavelengths lineup tallies 11 features, three shorts programs, and a special in-cinema looped presentation. Wavelengths alums Miguel Gomes (“Grand Tour”), Roberto Minervini (“The Damned”), and Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias (“Pepe”) return with their respective North-American premieres. Jessica Sarah Rinland is also back to the program with “Collective Monologue.”

There is also the 14-hour documentary “exergue – on documenta 14” from Greek filmmaker Dimitris Athiridi, which will be presented over the course of three screenings.

The program is curated by Senior Curator Andréa Picard and Associate Curator Jesse Cumming, with contributions by Giovanna Fulvi, Nataleah Hunter-Young, and June Kim.

For the shorts selections, the late auteur Jean-Luc Godard’s final film “Scénarios...

The 49th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival presented by Rogers has set their Wavelengths and Classics section. Wavelengths includes 11 movies, and 3 short programs and a special in-cinema looped presentation with diverse works from established auteurs and emerging talent.

Of note this year are the North American premieres of Roberto Minervini’s Civil War epic The Damned, Miguel Gomes’ Black and White period movie Grand Tour, and the completion of Wang Bing’s docu trilogy, Youth (Hard Times) and Youth (Homecoming) about Chinese sweatshop workers, the filmmaker’s chronicling which began in Youth (Spring) which played at Cannes and TIFF in 2023.

Jessica Sarah Rinland returns to the sidebar with Collective Monologue, alongside the North American Premiere of the queer Viêt and Nam, by first-time Wavelengths filmmaker Trương Minh Quý. The 14-hour, compulsively watchable exergue – on documenta 14 from Greek filmmaker Dimitris Athiridi will be presented in three screenings.

Short film...

U.K. TV giant ITV reported first-half 2024 revenue on Thursday, including a slight drop in total revenue and a 10 percent improvement in advertising revenue. The latter jumped 17 percent in the second quarter, driven by the UEFA Euro 2024 soccer tournament that took place in June and July.

ITV had previously forecast advertising revenue to be up around 12 percent in the second quarter and 8 percent for the first half.

ITV Studios saw revenue fall 13 percent in the first six months of 2024 though due to the phasing of deliveries and the expected impact of the U.S. writers’ and actors’ strike. But adjusted Ebita climbed 5 percent to £136 million ($175 million).

ITV, led by CEO Carolyn McCall, on Thursday also touted growth momentum at its streaming business Itvx, which is mostly advertising-supported but also has an ad-free subscription tier. Itvx’s strong performance has continued in the first half, with total streaming hours up 15 percent and monthly active users up 17 percent,...

U.K. TV giant ITV reported record results for its ITV Studios production unit and an 8 percent advertising revenue decline for 2023, compared with 2022, on Thursday, also unveiling a new efficiency program to boost profitability amid an economic environment that remains “uncertain.”

ITV, led by CEO Carolyn McCall, also saw total external revenue drop 2 percent in the latest full year to £4.26 billion ($5.43 billion). Adjusted profit before tax for the year fell 41 percent to £396 million ($504 million).

On an earnings conference call, McCall said 2023 featured “a tough advertising market,” but she was now seeing “more confidence in the ad market.” Compared to the same period in 2023, ITV is forecasting its first-quarter 2024 ad revenue to be up 3 percent, “with continued strong growth in

digital advertising revenues.”

The company made good on its previous forecast that ad revenue would be down around 8 percent for the full year 2023 after a 7 percent drop over the first nine months...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSThe Way of the Wind (Terrence Malick).According to Terrence Malick’s producer, Alex Boden, the filmmaker is in the editing room working on his biblical epic The Way of the Wind, formerly known as The Last Planet. “Terry is very happy with what he is working on so far is the word,” Boden told Variety. Over at The Film Stage, Nick Newman compiles all of the updates and rumors so far about the production. Mark Rylance, who plays Satan in the film, says of Malick’s process: “It’s like a fine wine or whiskey; it only gets better with time.”We’ve updated our TIFF lineup master post to reflect new additions—notably the excellent selections that make up Wavelengths, TIFF’s experimental program. Featuring films by Radu Jude, Eduardo Williams, Pedro Costa,...

The new TBS show Power Slap: Road to the Title is generating controversy on social media because its sole premise is to watch men and women slap each other – sometimes to the point of unconsciousness.

A video tweet by Dr. Chris Nowinski, a neuroscientist and founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, has garnered more than 15 million views after showing a particularly disturbing moment from show, hosted and created by UFC president Dana White. In the first few minutes of the program that debuted Wednesday, a contestant named Chris Kennedy is literally knocked to the ground after the first slap by opponent Chris Thomas. It takes a few beats before Kennedy, who shows the tell tale signs of a concussion by clenching his arms and fists, regains consciousness after hearing a doctor tell him what happened.

“Got knocked out doing what, was I fighting?” replies Kennedy.

“This is so sad,” Nowinski tweets.

In an exclusive clip from upcoming HBO Max documentary film “Santa Camp,” a Black Santa Claus, whose real name is Chris Kennedy, reads a hateful, racist letter he received in front of other Santa Clauses before burning it in a fire.

The documentary film follows the New England Santa Society during a year when its organizers aim to tackle the lack of diversity in the Santa industry. The society boasts a membership of more than 100 professional Christmas performers, and they invite a few new Santas to their annual summer training camp, which aims to help Christmas performers learn the tricks of the trade to perfectly embody the holiday season icon. Joining the camp in the documentary is a transgender Santa, a Santa with a disability and Kennedy, the first-ever Black Santa to attend Santa Camp.

“I decided to read the letter to let everyone know why I was truly there,...

Itvx, the upcoming streaming platform from U.K. broadcaster ITV, will launch in November.

ITV managing director for media and entertainment Kevin Lygo confirmed the launch date during a panel at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Wednesday afternoon.

It will replace ITV’s current streaming platform ITV Hub.

“The content that will be commissioned specifically for this, and [bought] in from America for this” will be “edgier” and viewed as an accompaniment to the traditional linear channel said Lygo.

He promised hundreds of thousands of hours of acquisitions including films thanks to “huge deals with movie studios” the network has done. He also said “there will be a new programming event dropped on to the service exclusively” regularly.

As well as news, entertainment, films and comedy there will be boxsets and other shows.

“I think this way we’ll be using the programming to better effect,” he said of the plan...

ITV has bought out BBC’s share of BritBox U.K. ahead of the launch of its new streaming service Itvx, Variety has confirmed.

Itvx will integrate BritBox U.K. although the latter best-of-British offering will remain a “separate entity” within the app and require a paid subscription.

BritBox International, which is available in the U.S., Canada, Australia and South Africa, will remain a 50/50 joint venture between ITV and BBC. BritBox International will also launch in the Nordics later this year.

In a call with journalists on Thursday afternoon local time, ITV CEO Carolyn McCall confirmed that the “Love Island” broadcaster had bought out the BBC’s 10% stake in BritBox U.K. for a “nominal” amount.

“We initiated [the buy-out] because Itvx is very much an ITV strategic ambition,” she said. “It’s a very important part of our over-all strategy so we initiated that. In the original shareholder agreement there...

Patrick Quinn, who is best known for co-founding the Ice Bucket Challenge, had died after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Als). The aforementioned Ice Bucket Challenge was viral campaign that brought awareness to ALS, which is commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 37.

The Quinn for the Win Facebook page posted the news of Quinn’s death: “It is with great sadness that we must share the passing of Patrick early this morning. He was a blessing to us all in so many ways. We will always remember him for his inspiration and courage in his tireless fight against ALS.”

Quinn, a New York native, was diagnosed with ALSon March 8, 2013. In the summer of 2014, Quinn co-founded the Ice Bucket Challenge with Pete Frates after they saw professional golfer Chris Kennedy posted a video of himself on social media that featured his wife’s cousin Jeanette Senerchia,...

Tom Long.

Boston-born, Australian-raised actor Tom Long, whose credits include the series East of Everything, SeaChange and Young Lions and the movies The Dish and Two Hands, died from encephalitis on Saturday, aged 51.

Long was forced to quit acting after he collapsed on stage during a performance of the play Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country at the Sydney Opera House in July 2012.

Diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, he underwent chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants and natural therapies to treat the disease.

He was in remission after going to the Us last April for a medical trial in which his T cells were harvested and genetically modified to attack his cancer cells.

Screenwise CEO Denise Roberts said: “He fought the hard fight and was given the all clear. The happiness and relief pulled out from under him. So unfair.”

Actor Peter James Finlay, who worked with Long on Coranderrk,...

‘Lambs of God’.

Lingo Pictures’ Lambs of God was the big winner at yesterday’s Aacta Industry Luncheon, taking home seven of a potential nine awards, while Rodd Rathjen’s debut feature Buoyancy was named Best Indie Film.

Sweeping the afternoon, Lambs of God’s various accolades included Best Direction in a Television Drama or Comedy for Jeffery Walker; Best Cinematography in Television for Don McAlpine; Best Original Score in Television for Bryony Marks (one of two awards for the composer during the event); Best Production Design in Television for Chris Kennedy; Best Costume Design in Television for Xanthe Heubel; Best Sound Sound in Television for Nick Emond, Stephen Smith, Paul Devescovi and Mia Stewart; and Best Hair and Makeup for Zeljka Stanin, Paul Pattison, Cheryl Williams and Anita Howell-Lowe.

The Foxtel mini-series was beaten only out for Best Screenplay in Television, which went to Niki Aken and Matthew Cormack for The Hunting,...

Ann Dowd and Jeffrey Walker on the set of ‘Lambs of God’ (Photo credit: Mark Rogers).

When director Jeffrey Walker was sent Sarah Lambert’s scripts for the first two episodes of Lambs of God, he replied he’d have to take the job so he could read episode three.

That was in jest – but he could not resist the challenge to direct Lingo Pictures’ comedic drama commissioned by Foxtel, which is unlike any show he had ever directed in the past 15 years.

The four hour miniseries adapted from Marele Day’s novel “treads a fine line between dark comedy, fantasy, fairytale and thriller,” he tells If.

“It definitely pushes the boundaries of expectations and lives in its own space. The scripts were completely unpredictable, from page to page.”

Walker, Lambert and Lingo Pictures’ Jason Stephens attended the world premiere of the first two episodes at the Series Mania festival...

ITV has named Chris Kennedy its new CFO and he will join the U.K. broadcaster in Feb. 2019. The company was left searching for a new finance chief after Ian Griffiths said he was leaving. He exits in March 2019.

His replacement joins from U.K.-based software business Microfocus. His previous experience includes Easyjet, the budget airline that ITV CEO Carolyn McCall ran before joining the TV business.

“I am really pleased to be working with Chris again as CFO,” McCall said. “He will play a huge role in helping us deliver our new More Than TV strategy and I know he will work really well with the senior leadership team of ITV.”

Kennedy was also CFO at technology business Arm Holdings during its £24 billion ($32 billion) sale to Softbank. In media and entertainment he served a long stint at music business Emi.

“Chris was the standout candidate in a very...

ITV has found its new money man: the British commercial broadcaster has hired former Emi and Easyjet exec Chris Kennedy as Chief Finance Officer. This comes after Ian Griffiths, who has been with the company for ten years, revealed earlier this summer that he would be stepping down.

Kennedy is set to join ITV on February 1 2019; he joins from Microfocus International, the software business that merged with Hewlett Packard. However, more pertinently, he worked with current ITV CEO Carolyn McCall during a five year stint at airline Easyjet between 2010 and 2015.

He previously spent 17 years at record label Emi in a variety of roles, mainly in the financial sector, but also including supply chain, sales, business development and general management. His last role was Chief Investment Officer reporting to the CEO and Terra Firma, which controversially took over the company, and included investment and content licensing deals including those with new digital players.