News

“Honeytrap” will be like a skewed, tilted version of the more romantic films I’ve done before,” said the multi-awarded Danish writer-director Lone Scherfig to a packed audience of industry delegates Jan. 30, at the opening session of Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market Discovery program.

In an express on-stage interview, the triple Oscar-nominated helmer of “An Education,” said “Honeytrap” will be her first ever Swedish project, based on a script by Pelle Rådström, credited for Netflix’s “Black Crab” and the Swedish show “Pressure Point” which just picked up the Nordic Series Script Award in Göteborg.

“I felt the script (handed out to me by producer Rebecka Hamberger) had everything I love: a thriller element, love and humor. It’s set in the 60s, an era from my early childhood, that I’ve also portrayed in several works including in “An Education.” It’s super good and I’m very confident with it,...

London Has Fallen: McQueen Explores Life During Wartime

Following his extensively researched 2023 documentary Occupied City, which details WWII atrocities waged against the Dutch during Amsterdam’s Nazi occupation, it would seem Steve McQueen has been motivated to continue his exploration of the period with Blitz, reenacting the catastrophic blitzkrieg (aka ‘lightning war) of Britain during the 1940s. While an ensemble cast of characters intertwine in this saga, McQueen focuses on the separation of a mother and her child, each facing their own unique cultural intersections which were difficult even before the onset of the second world war. There are few contemporary examples of films about the London Blitzkrieg, more often than not a backdrop looming over more intimate human struggles, such as Atonement (2007), Their Finest (2016), or even the rehash of Graham Greene’s swooning The End of the Affair (1999).…...

Somewhat mysterious and fearless, Oscar-winning British actor Jeremy Irons has played a host of different characters during his decades-long career, from Adrian Veidt in Damon Lindelof’s TV series “Watchmen,” to Rodolfo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in “Munich: The Edge of War” and Alfred Pennyworth in the DC Extended Universe films, including the latest “Justice League.” Reteaming with Palme d’Or winning Bille August for the third time, Irons will next play Abbé Faria, a noble and wise character, in the prestige limited series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” starring opposite fellow British actor Sam Claflin as Edmond Dantès. The premum limited series is distributed worldwide by Mediawan Rights, in cooperation with CAA (for North America).

Currently on the sprawling set of “Monte Cristo” in sun-drenched Malta, a cheerful Irons spoke to Variety about the timeliness of “Monte Cristo’s” story,...

Movies about movies tend to be as sentimental as Cinema Paradiso, the all-time tearjerker in the genre, or as caustic as the recent Babylon. But Lone Scherfig finds a fine balance between love of movies and the harsh wider world in The Movie Teller, a beautifully made coming-of-age film about Maria Margarita, who acts out the Hollywood movies she has seen at the local cinema in her small mining town. Set in the Chilean desert in the late 1960s and early ’70s, the drama benefits greatly from the sure hand and clear eye Scherfig has brought to her best films, other period pieces including An Education (2009) and Their Finest (2016). All that can’t quite make up for the rocky screenplay, though.

The story is adapted from the Chilean writer Hernan Rivera Letelier’s 2009 novel. The first version of the screenplay was tackled years ago by the Brazilian director Walter Salles,...

The 2017 war drama Darkest Hour was heavily acclaimed, but historians and audiences also note that the film changed certain aspects of Winston Churchill’s life to evoke more drama. Helmed by Joe Wright, the movie recounts the early years of Churchill’s tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and his stringent measures during the onset of World War II. Gary Oldman has played many real people in his career, but it is his transformative turn as Churchill that earned him the Oscar for Best Actor. Oldman’s performance was universally acclaimed and contributed greatly to Darkest Hour’s success.

The period piece was penned by biopic genre veteran Anthony McCarten. Even though McCarten didn’t rely on a particular book to pen Darkest Hour, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter did his fair share of research. In a press interview for Darkest Hour, McCarten added, “you have to get the facts...

Best Actor Oscar nominee Bill Nighy (“Living”) recently chatted with Gold Derby’s Rob Licuria on how his involvement in the Lionsgate film was a “marvelous development” and “completely unexpected.” “Living” is an adaptation of “Ikiru,” the Japanese drama film from 1952. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Kazuo Ishiguro wanted to “reimagine the Kurosawa movie” with an English twist, and Nighy explains in detail how he was blown away by the “completely brilliant” script.

After working in the industry for decades, this marks Nighy’s first career Oscar nomination. He was also recognized at the BAFTAs, Critics Choice, Golden Globe and SAG Awards for his role as Rodney Williams, a bureaucrat who receives a terminal cancer diagnosis. “I don’t read anything about myself, and I don’t get out much, and I don’t watch the movies,” the actor tells us. “But I know that I am associated with a kind of Englishness.

Bill Nighy in Living Image: Courtesy of Number 9 films / Sony Pictures Classics When acclaimed writer Kazuo Ishiguro set about adapting Akira Kurosawa’s famed 1952 drama Ikiru for the film that would become Living, he only had one actor in mind for the lead role: Bill Nighy. The match may not...

Exclusive: Jack Huston (House of Gucci) has signed on to star alongside Isabelle Fuhrman and Don Johnson in Andy Tennant’s thriller Unit 234, which is currently in production in the Cayman Islands.

In the film penned by Derek Steiner, a lone employee at a remote storage facility (Fuhrman) discovers an unconscious man locked inside Unit 234, chained to a gurney and missing a kidney. She must then fight to survive a ruthless gang, dead set on retrieving their precious cargo…at any cost.

Blythe Frank, Hadeel Reda, Lee Dreyfuss and Productivity Media’s William Santor and Doug Murray are producing, with Johnson, Colleen Camp and Radiant Films International founder Mimi Steinbauer serving as executive producers. Radiant is launching international sales of the film at the upcoming Cannes Marché du Film.

Huston recently starred alongside Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, Al Pacino, Jared Leto and more in Ridley Scott’s Oscar-nominated drama...

Bill Nighy has signed on to star in the upcoming Showtime series version of “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” Variety has learned.

Nighy joins previously announced cast members Chiwetel Ejiofor, Naomie Harris, Jimmi Simpson, Rob Delaney, Sonya Cassidy, Joana Ribeiro, Annelle Olaleye, Kate Mulgrew and Clarke Peters in the series.

Based on the Walter Tevis novel of the same name and the film that starred David Bowie, the series will follow a new alien character named Faraday (Ejiofor) who arrives on Earth at a turning point in human evolution and must confront his own past to determine our future.

Nighy will play Thomas Newton, the main character of the novel and the character played by Bowie in the film version. Newton was the first alien to arrive on earth over 40 years ago. Alone and desperate, Newton summons Faraday to complete his original mission. But Newton’s time marooned among...

Showrun by “An Education” director Lone Scherfig and anchored by the performance of “The Killing” star Sofie Gråbøl playing opposite “Kon-Tiki” lead Pål Sverre Hagen, “The Shift’s” key talent credentials mark it out immediately as one of potential standout Scandinavian series of 2022.

Selection for both Berlinale Series and the Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize, announced Feb. 2, merely confirms that promise.

Sales company Beta Film shared a trailer with Variety just before the series’ presentation at the Göteborg Festival’s TV Drama Vision on Feb. 2.

In “The Shift,” Gråbøl plays Ella, a head midwife at Denmark’s best maternity ward who secretly yearning for her own.

She’s also having an affair with Norwegian paediatrician Jerry (Sverre Hagen) whose marriage is falling apart, a fact his religious community is not supposed to know.

But work goes on, mercilessly for a short-staffed unit. Ella delivers nine children in one day in Ep.

“The Fear Index,” starring Josh Hartnett, and the third season of iconic Israeli series “False Flag” will both screen at the Berlinale Series Market Selects, whose lineup was unveiled Tuesday.

The latest from “The Crown” producers Left Bank Pictures, Sky Original “The Fear Index” is billed as a fast-paced, gripping Frankenstein-style parable on the dangers of AI. Based on the Robert Harris novel of the same title, its international sales will be handled by NBCUniversal Global Distribution.

Sold by Keshet International, “False Flag” is one of milestone titles that turned Israel’s series into a global brand, with Fox International taking the world on season one at 2015’s Mipcom in its first global acquisition of a foreign-language series.

Season three marks the return of both original series creators, Maria Feldman and Amit Cohen, in a tale which looks set to weave the same web of distrust, deception and sudden twists as the first two seasons.

New Regency is expanding in Asia-Pacific with the hire of Ben Bishop as VP of international sales for the region, based out of Sydney.

Prior to joining New Regency, Bishop served as president of international distribution at Vortex International, and international VP of TV sales for Asia-Pacific at “Narcos” producer Gaumont. Before Gaumont, he worked with eOne Television International for 13 years in various roles within the film and TV divisions, culminating in sales director for Australia, New Zealand and Asia. At eOne, Bishop sold projects including “La La Land,” the “Divergent” film series and “The Walking Dead.”

In January 2019, New Regency re-formed its international sales team to take back control of its international television licensing activities. With a long-standing partnership with 20th Century Fox for its global theatrical distribution, the Walt Disney Company also handles the company’s home entertainment and first pay rights. Meanwhile, New Regency’s London-based sales team,...

“Never waste your pain”

Experience the terrifying film that Esquire calls “a mesmerizing horror masterpiece” when Saint Maud arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD November 30 from Lionsgate.

xperience the terrifying film that Esquire calls “a mesmerizing horror masterpiece” when Saint Maud arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD November 30 from Lionsgate. Saint Maud stars Morfydd Clark and Jennifer Ehle. Saint Maud will be available on Blu-ray + Digital and DVD for the suggested retail price of $17.99 and $14.98, respectively.

The debut film from writer-director Rose Glass, Saint Maud is a chilling and boldly original vision of faith, madness, and salvation in a fallen world. Maud, a newly devout hospice nurse, becomes obsessed with saving her dying patient’s soul — but sinister forces, and her own sinful past, threaten to put an end to her holy calling.

Blu-ray / DVD Special Features

Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Rose GlassA Higher Calling: The Rapture of...

The heart of Conecta Fiction is its pitching sessions where producers and creators bring onto the market, looking for partners and sales, projects which have often flown completely under the radar. Following, details of titles in the three main sections at Conecta Fiction:

Copro Series

“Antonio,” (Enrique Videla, Paula del Fierro, Zumbastico Studios, Pipeline Studios, Chile)

A sci-fi parable for the young teen crowd backed by Zumbastico (“Paper Port”), owned by Canada’s Pipeline Studios Group. Antonio (13) can repair most anything, except for his ailing mother. But by entering a strange mechanical world, he gets a chance to make that repair as well. From two of the writing stars of Chile’s fast burgeoning premium TV scene: Videla, whose credits take in Pablo Larrain’s “Prófugos,” Lucía Puenzo’s “La Jauria” and the upcoming “The Cliff,” from The Mediapro Studio and Vice Studios; and Del Fierro.

“Black Times,” (Alexandre Manneville,...

The 6th edition of MipDrama, launching Friday as part of virtual conference and market event MipTV, showcases new series – most in post-production, a few wrapped – from some of the biggest and most exciting drama series players in the world. Few events will command more attention from buyers. The following are brief profiles of what they’ll be watching:

“Agatha Christie’s Hjerson”

Concept Creator: Patrik Gyllström

Prod Cos: Br•F (Sweden), TV4/CMore(Sweden), Nadcon (Germany), Zdf, Government of Aland, Agatha Christie Ltd.

Distribution Co: Zdfe

Main Broadcasters: TV4/CMore, Zdf

Move over Poirot. The latest Christie sleuth will be a dapper Finnish gourmet who, living in a modern-day Stockholm and hardly concealing his bisexuality, ushers the author and the whodunnit into the 21st century. A light and playful reimagining of a figure who only receives glancing references in Christie’s oeuvre, the series packs a powerful producer punch: Sweden...

AMC Networks has acquired six-part revenge thriller “The Beast Must Die,” produced in partnership with BritBox UK, New Regency Television International and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free.

The series, based on the novel by Nicholas Blake, centers on a grieving mother who infiltrates the life of the man she thinks murdered her son. The program stars “Chernobyl” and “Mad Men” actor Jared Harris, “The Good Wife’s” Cush Jumbo, as well as Billy Howle, Nathaniel Parker, and Geraldine James.

“The Beast Must Die” will premiere on AMC and streaming platform AMC Plus later this year.

“This series will be something special for AMC and our AMC+ subscribers. It continues a legacy of very successful relationships with the brilliant Jared Harris and our friends at Scott Free, and forges new producing partnerships with BritBox and New Regency Television,” said Dan McDermott, president of original programming for AMC Networks. “The Beast Must Die...

Evidence the sector is well-positioned to thrive in a post-pandemic, SVoD-driven market.

Producers dependent on UK independent distributors to finance their work and get it into cinemas have had a particularly anxious year. The pandemic has acclimatised audiences to watching films at home rather than in a cinema, and there have been major changes at some of the companies renowned for their commitment to the local film sector.

Zygi Kamasa has left Lionsgate UK, the company he co-founded as Redbus in 1997. Under Kamasa, Lionsgate UK was a staunch supporter of UK film, backing titles such as Bend It Like Beckham,...

His departure follows the exits of Zygi Kamasa and Nicola Pearcey.

Nick Manzi, the highly-respected head of productions and acquisitions at Lionsgate UK, is set to leave the company.

Lionsgate declined to comment but sources have confirmed Manzi’s departure is imminent. His exit will follow that of former Lionsgate Europe CEO Zygi Kamasa, who joined UK outfit Marv Films as group CEO earlier this year. It was also recently confirmed Nicola Pearcey will be stepping down as president of Lionsgate UK and Europe by the end of the year.

Further redundancies are understood to be taking place in the company’s London office.

WarnerMedia has acquired the rights to new animated show “Master Moley,” starring Warwick Davis and Gemma Arterton, for its children’s platform Boomerang in more than 100 countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Master Moley” is based on original stories written by British entrepreneur James Reatchlous, who spoke to Variety about how it came to life.

The deal, struck by Jetpack Distribution, will see the animation’s 30-minute special, “Master Moley By Royal Invitation,” head to the channel in November. The acquisition of the new 52-part series, comprising 11-minute episodes, “The Misadventures of Master Moley,” will continue the adventures of Master Moley and friends on Boomerang next year.

The animation follows adventurous mole Master Moley, who lives deep in a burrow under Queen Elizabeth II’s Windsor Castle in the bustling city of MoleTown, where he is the keeper of a magical book, which has the power to bring peace between humans and moles.

Laurie previously spent more than a decade at Number 9 Films.

UK, Australian and Us production company See-Saw Films has hired UK producer Joanna Laurie.

Working in the London office, Laurie will produce or executive produce select film and TV projects, and will report to See-Saw Films’ joint managing directors Iain Canning and Emile Sherman.

Laurie previously spent more than a decade at Number 9 Films where she served as head of production before becoming an independent producer.

Her producing credits include Gerard Johnson’s Hyena and The Limehouse Golem, starring Bill Nighy. She was associate producer on Number 9 Films co-productions Youth,...

Film and TV production company See-Saw Films, whose slate includes Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” and Apple TV Plus’s series “Slow Horses,” has announced the appointment of producer Joanna Laurie to the company’s U.K. office.

Based in London and effective immediately, Laurie will act as producer or executive producer on select film and TV projects, reporting to See-Saw’s joint managing directors Iain Canning and Emile Sherman.

Laurie joins See-Saw after over a decade at Number 9 Films, where she served as head of production working alongside Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen, before becoming an independent producer. Her producing credits include critically acclaimed “Hyena” by writer-director Gerard Johnson, which opened the Edinburgh Intl. Film Festival, and won the coveted Fantàstic Òrbita prize at Sitges, and “The Limehouse Golem,” written by Jane Goldman, directed by Juan Carlos Medina, and starring Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke.

Can a war movie be reassuring in a time of crisis? Each of the films in this excellent collection stress people working together: to repel invaders, escape from or attack the enemy, and just to survive in sticky situations. All are inspirational in that they see cooperation, organization and leadership doing good work. See: the ‘other’ great escape picture, the original account of Dunkirk, and the aerial bombing movie that inspired the final battle in Star Wars. Plus a tense ‘what if?’ invasion tale, and a desert trek suspense ordeal that’s one of the best war films ever. The most relevant dialogue in the set? Seeing the total screw-up at Dunkirk, Bernard Lee determines that England will have to re-organize with new people in key leadership positions, people who know what they’re doing. I’m all for that Here and Now, fella.

Their Finest Hour 5 British WWII Classics

Went The Day Well,...

Despite its feel-good title, “The Kindness of Strangers” is a rather bleak movie, one so tied to the miseries of its characters that it’s difficult to see the point of it at all.

Perhaps there is no point other than to get a number of famous actors to occasionally cross paths in a dreary New York City in the winter. The movie functions like one of those star-studded Garry Marshall ensemble movies (“Valentine’s Day” or “New Year’s Eve”) but made terribly sad until the last few minutes, when a tacked-on happy ending arrives in time for the credits.

Written and directed by Lone Scherfig, “The Kindness of Strangers” begins with the story of Clara (Zoe Kazan) and her two young boys fleeing an abusive marriage. Most of her time on screen will be spent scavenging for supplies and figuring out how to keep living in the big city with...

"Are we homeless?" "We're no more homeless than anyone else here." Vertical Entertainment has debuted an official Us trailer for the indie drama The Kindness of Strangers, the latest film by Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig. This originally premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last year as the opening night film, and is getting a small Us release on Valentine's Day coming up. The ensemble drama is one of those films where various characters around a city eventually all come together. The main character is a young woman named Clara, played by Zoe Kazan, who takes her kids and runs away from an abusive husband who also happens to be a cop. She finds solace in "the kindness of strangers", staying at a shelter and at a church while she tries to figure out what to do. Also stars Andrea Riseborough, Tahar Rahim, Caleb Landry Jones, Jay Baruchel, Bill Nighy, and...

To begin with, a disclaimer: There are practically no 2019 titles on my Best of the Decade list, not because there weren’t a lot of great films this year, but because I haven’t had the opportunity to live with them for all that long. My Best of 2019 list was its own challenge to write, but this year’s movies are just too new for them to have knocked around in my central nervous system the way these earlier titles have. Film historians can debate the major movie-related events of the decade — the rise of streaming, the dominance of Disney — but these are the films took up residency with me and refuse to move out:

11-30 (alphabetically): “Anomalisa,” “Before Midnight,” “Bernie,” “Bridesmaids,” “Call Me By Your Name,” “Certain Women,” “Clouds of Sils Maria,” “Ex Machina,” “Force Majeure,” “The Great Beauty,” “The Handmaiden,” “Happy Hour,” “Holy Motors,” “Leave No Trace,...

Strife Itself: Scherfig Delivers Major Misfire with Manhattan Set Melodrama

Lest we forget, it was Blanche Dubois, the broken seductress of Tennessee Williams’ classic A Streetcar Name Desire, who famously uttered the timeless line “I always depend on the kindness of strangers” as she’s being carted off to an insane asylum. The line feels like the unintended albatross whose malingering shadow casts its pallor over Lone Scherfig’s maudlin soap opera, The Kindness of Strangers, an international co-production set in New York but lensed in Canada (which also lends an unmistakable inauthenticity to the proceedings). What’s most disappointing about Scherfig’s film, which she wrote herself (initially titled as Secrets of the Russian Tea Room) is it follows one of the Danish director’s (who has been steadily working abroad for some time) best titles, 2016’s Their Finest (which was an example of how the use of Bill Nighy...

To mark the release of Stardog and Turbocat on 6th December, we’ve been given a merchandise bundle to give away.

Launched into space by his scientist owner in 1969, loyal dog Buddy (Nick Frost) crash lands in the present-day in a small town where pets are ruthlessly rounded up by animal-hating cop Peck. Desperate to be reunited with his owner, Buddy recruits genius millionaire cat Felix (Luke Evans) to help him on a madcap adventure across town. But when they encounter rabbit Cassidy (Gemma Arterton) and her misfit organisation of animal rights activists G.U.A.R.D., Buddy and Felix are forced to confront Peck and become the

heroes they need to be…

StarDog And TurboCat stars Luke Evans (Beauty and the Beast), Nick Frost, Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy (Love Actually), and is directed by Ben Smith. StarDog and TurboCat will be released in both 2D and 3D formats.

"Are we homeless?" eOne Films has released the first official UK trailer for The Kindness of Strangers, the latest film by Danish filmmaker Lone Scherfig. This first premiered at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year as the opening night film, but unfortunately it was panned by pretty much everyone. The ensemble drama is one of those films where various characters around a city eventually all come together. The main character is a young woman named Clara, played by Zoe Kazan, who takes her kids and runs away from an abusive husband who also happens to be a cop. She finds solace in "the kindness of strangers", staying at a shelter and at a church while she tries to figure out what to do. Also stars Andrea Riseborough, Tahar Rahim, Caleb Landry Jones, Jay Baruchel, Bill Nighy, and David Dencik. This film has a good heart, and tries to be meaningful,...

Jetpack Distribution has snagged the rights to “Master Moley” and will sell the animated series internationally. There is both a one-off “Master Moley” special and an accompanying series.

The special has a standout voice cast including Warwick Davis (“Harry Potter”), who will also executive produce. Signature Entertainment is selling the special and handling U.K. distribution, while Jetpack is handling the 52-part 11-minute series.

Other stars lending their voices to the special include Julie Walters (“Mamma Mia!”), Gemma Arterton (“Their Finest”), Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”), Togo Igawa (“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again”) and Charles Dance (“Game of Thrones”).

Davis voices the titular mole character. The property was created by James Reatchlous and based upon an original idea conceived as a bedtime story. It follow the adventurous Master Moley, who uncovers a magical book that has the power to bring peace between humans and moles. Davis exec produces alongside Reatchlous,...

The Japanese company is looking for female-led prestige dramas.

Number 9 Films, the London-based producer behind Carol and Colette, has struck a first-look deal with Japanese studio Shochiku, which will have first option for distribution rights in Japan on its future titles.

The unusual pact follows Shochiku’s identification that prestige English-language, female-led titles perform well theatrically in Japan. Shochiku has had recent hits with Aisling Walsh’s Maudie, starring Sally Hawkins, and Bjorn Runge’s The Wife, with Glenn Close, both of which grossed around $1m in the territory.

It is the first deal of its kind for Shochiku outside Japan.

Total of 842 people from 59 countries invited by AMPAS.

This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has invited 842 people from 59 countries to join its membership.

The strong cohort of international film names includes two producers of Cold War, the directors of Dogman, Stan & Ollie, and I Am Not A Witch, and various executives from different facets of the industry.

International executives invited include Eric Lagesse of French sales and distribution outfit Pyramide Films, London-based Netflix development and acquisitions executive Funa Maduka, Michele Halberstadt of French distribution and sales outfit Arp Selection, Lebanese producer and distributor Georges Schoucair of Abbout Productions,...

This year, the motion picture academy made history by inviting an equal number of women and men to join. In all, 842 film professionals were invited to become part of the organization that hands out the Oscars. Compare this intake to the totals of the previous five years: a record 928 in 2018; 774 in 2017; 683 in 2016; 322 in 2015; and 271 in 2014.

While Academy Awards nominees are automatically eligible for consideration, the rest of the candidates must go through a fairly cumbersome process. A candidate must meet certain branch specific requirements before even being eligible.

For example, actors must “have a minimum of three theatrical feature film credits, in all of which the roles played were scripted roles, one of which was released in the past five years, and all of which are of a caliber that reflect the high standards of the Academy.” For writers, directors and producers they need have just two of these credits.

In its continuing push to swell the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences membership ranks, 842 artists and executives from 59 countries have been invited to join this year. The branches have increasingly actively sought eligible people to become Academy members, but the Board of Governors makes the final call.

People of color (29 percent) and women (50 percent) are among the many invites, as the Academy continues to address its long-term white-male dominance. As always, actors make up the largest branch of the Academy, but many new members also come from overseas.

In 2018, the Academy invited 928 new members.

Twenty-one Oscar winners are among the new invited members, including Guy Nattiv (“Skin”), filmmaker Jimmy Chin (“Free Solo”), Phil Lord, and Chris Miller (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), and 82 Oscar nominees (including newbies like Lady Gaga and “Roma” breakout Marina de Tavira). Ten of the 17 branches invited more women than men. The percentage of women...

In its continuing push to swell the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences membership ranks, 842 artists and executives from 59 countries have been invited to join this year. The branches have increasingly actively sought eligible people to become Academy members, but the Board of Governors makes the final call.

People of color (29 percent) and women (50 percent) are among the many invites, as the Academy continues to address its long-term white-male dominance. As always, actors make up the largest branch of the Academy, but many new members also come from overseas.

In 2018, the Academy invited 928 new members.

Twenty-one Oscar winners are among the new invited members, including Guy Nattiv (“Skin”), filmmaker Jimmy Chin (“Free Solo”), Phil Lord, and Chris Miller (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), and 82 Oscar nominees (including newbies like Lady Gaga and “Roma” breakout Marina de Tavira). Ten of the 17 branches invited more women than men. The percentage of women...

Half of the 842 new members invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are women, the group announced on Monday.

The organization behind the Oscars also disclosed that 29% of the new invitees are people of color. Should those people accept, and they almost universally do, the Academy will have doubled the percentage of nonwhite people in their ranks in four years.

In 2015, people of color accounted for only 8% of the Academy body. In 2019, it stands at 16%, the Academy reported. As it stands, the Academy counts 8,946 active members, with 8,733 eligible to vote on the Oscars. The total membership including retired members is 9,794. This year’s number falls short of 2018’s record of 928 invitations.

New members in this round include “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon Chu, actors Winston Duke and Gemma Chan, and screenwriters Ritesh Batra (“Photograph”), Chinonye Chukwu (“Clemency”), Park Young-soo (“Detective Dee”) and Ryo Sakaguchi (“Ant-Man and the Wasp...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 842 new members in their annual effort to bring in new blood to the organization that hands out the Oscars. This is down from the 928 members invited last year, but 50% of this year’s number are women, inching closer to the goal of creating an even playing field between female and male members. It marks an 7% increase in female members from 2015 to an overall 32% of the entire organization.

A total of 29% of the new class revealed Monday are people of color, marking an 8% increase in that statistic since 2015. Among the new invitees, 21 are already Oscar winners and 82 are past Oscar nominees.

New members among the acting branch include recent Best Song winner Lady Gaga, who is also being invited to the music branch; Sterling K. Brown; Claire Foy; and actors ranging in age from 23-year-old Spider-Man Tom Holland to the (shamefully) never-nominated legendary French star,...

“Only just connect” are the words that would most aptly end “The Kindness of Strangers” if it were an E.M. Forster novel — even if that prospect is about as hard to swallow as, well, just about anything that happens in Lone Scherfig’s strange, sticky mélange of social realism, Dickensian sentiment and straight-up romantic fairy tale. Awkwardly twirling parboiled spaghetti strands of narrative around Zoe Kazan’s modern-day Little Match Girl — a pure-hearted mother of two escaping her abusive husband to live rough in Manhattan — this über-earnest Berlinale opener is given some commercial lift by classy ensemble casting and the malted directorial polish we’ve come to expect from the helmer behind “An Education” and “Their Finest.” But even Kazan’s stalwart commitment to the material can’t resolve the clash of grit and whimsy in Scherfig’s schizo moral fable.

“Can’t you just be kind?” pleads one character...

New York can be an unforgiving city, even in the best of circumstances. Unfortunately for the awkward patchwork of characters who populate Lone Scherfig’s listless new melodrama, “The Kindness of Strangers” does not take place in the best of circumstances. Everyone in the film is lost and lonely in one way or another; everyone is either helpless or guilty; everyone is either about to hit bottom, or beginning to claw their way out of a hole that’s too deep to escape without some assistance. The young mother whose story provides the spine of this underdeveloped mosaic, is somehow all of those things at once.

Played by a tender and compellingly frayed Zoe Kazan, Clara opens the story in the pre-dawn hours by stealing her two young sons (Jack Fulton and Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) away from their Buffalo home, and from the abusive cop husband (Esben Smed as the demonic...

With “The Kindness of Strangers,” a modern-day fairy-tale set in an age of political and social turmoil, Danish writer-director Lone Scherfig is delivering a love letter to the city that never sleeps.

The film, which opens the Berlin Film Festival on Thursday, centers on several characters who cross paths in a New York restaurant. There’s Clara (Zoe Kazan), a mother looking to avoid her abusive cop husband; Alice (Andrea Riseborough), a shy ER nurse who has found her calling running an eclectic therapy group; Marc (Tahar Rahim), an ex-con-turned-manager of the restaurant; Jeff (Landry Jones), a young man in desperate need of a job; John Peter (Jay Baruchel), a lawyer with high ethics but low self-esteem; and Timofey (Bill Nighy), the owner of the restaurant and the grandson of Russian immigrants.

Scherfig, who received an Oscar nomination for “An Education,” said the genesis of the project was her desire...

The Kindness of Strangers

Dogme 95 alum Lone Scherfig continues in English for her tenth film, The Kindness of Strangers, a Danish-Canadian co-production, which takes place in a Russian restaurant in New York. Produced by Malene Blenkov and Sandra Cunningham through Denmark’s Creative Alliance, Canada’s Strada Films with co-producers through Germany’s Nadcon, Sweden’s Unlimited Stories and France’s D’Artagnan, Scherfig’s international cast consists of Andrea Riseborough, Tahar Rahim, Zoe Kazan, Jay Baruchel, Bill Nighy, David Dencik and Caleb Landry Jones. Sebastian Blenkov, who lensed Scherfig’s The Riot Club (2014) and 2016’s Their Finest (review), returns as cinematographer. Scherfig’s first big break was with 2000’s Italian for Beginners (review), which took home the Ecumenical Jury Prize and the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival.…...

New movies from Sally Potter, Sarah Gavron and Hong Khaou were among the BFI’s top ten Film Fund recipients in 2018. Potter’s untitled drama, starring Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock and Laura Linney, received the year’s biggest production grant of £1.1M. Scroll down for the top ten.

In 2017, the BFI — the UK’s lead organization for film — awarded seven movies £1M or more from its Film Fund. This year, Potter’s feature was the only one to cross the £1M mark. Other leading recipients in 2018 included Liam Neeson starrer Normal People and Keira Knightley pic Misbehaviour.

There is a healthy gender balance to the top ten awards this year with five male and five female directors in the mix. Two are feature debuts. Of course, different films will receive different amounts of money from different BFI funding strands, but this list gives a snapshot of...

Aleksandra Terpinska’s “Other People” and Peter Dourountzis’s “Rascal” won the inaugural Arte Kino International Prize at the 10th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival’s Co-Production Village.

The award was given by Remi Burah, who runs Arte France Cinéma and launched in 2016 ArteKino Festival, a European online festival in partnership with the digital service Festival Scope. Each “Other People” and “Rascal” will receive 2000 Euros.

Mixing comedy, drama and musical, “Other People” tells the story of a man who lives with his mum and teenage sister who starts a romance with Iwona, a woman in her early 40’s who cannot cope with her marriage. “Other People” was selected as part of this year’s focus on Poland. Terpinska’s last short “The Best Fireworks Ever” premiered at Cannes’s Critics’ Week and won two awards.

Meanwhile, “Rascal” in a French-language thriller following a charming young man who arrives in...

Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley, the producers of such films as “Carol,” “Their Finest” and the recent “Colette” starring Keira Knightley, will receive the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award at the BAFTA Film Awards.

The prolific pair run Number 9 Films and have a long list of credits. They will pick up their accolade at the awards ceremony on Feb. 10, joining a roster of previous winners who include Mike Leigh, Kenneth Branagh, and Ridley and Tony Scott.

“Elizabeth and Stephen are two of the U.K.’s leading producers, whose contribution to the British film industry over the last four decades is outstanding,” Marc Samuelson, chair of BAFTA’s Film Committee, said. “Their commitment to producing independent films in the U.K. which breaks down barriers and connects with audiences internationally is an inspiration to us all.”

Woolley’s film career stretches back to the 1970s. He ran the legendary...

The producers of Carol and Colette will receive the honour at the 2019 Bafta film awards.

Producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley, co-founders of Number 9 Films, will receive the outstanding British contribution to cinema award at the 2019 Bafta film awards (February 10).

The husband-and-wife producing duo founded independent powerhouse Number 9 in 2002. Known as makers of taste-driven, quality UK cinema, Karlsen and Woolley’s films include Todd Haynes’ Carol, which was nominated for six Oscars in 2016, On Chesil Beach, Their Finest, Made In Dagenham and Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth (as co-producers).

Upcoming Number 9 projects include So Much Love starring Gemma Arterton as Dusty Springfield,...

Marylise Dumont’s “Black Dog,” Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen’s “Ashes and Snow” and “Each of Us” are among the 20 projects which will be pitched at the 10th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival’s Co-Production Village.

The Co-Production Village will run alongside the festival which will be presided by Ruben Ostlund, the Swedish helmer of Palme d’Or-winning and Oscar-nominated “The Square,” and will open on Dec. 15 with Louis Garrel’s “A Faithful Man.” The movie will compete along with nine films selected by Frederic Boyer, the artistic director of both Les Arcs and Tribeca festivals.

Besides Ostlund, a flurry of high-profile European filmmakers, industry figures and talent are expected to attend the festival, notably Laetitia Casta (“A Faitful Man”), Alex Lutz (“Guy”), Lukas Dhont (“Girl”), Charlotte Le Bon (“The Promise”), Jeremie Renier (“Double Lover”), Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (“Les estivants”), Romain Duris (“Heartbreaker”), Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!), and Thomas Vinterberg...

The Berlin Film Festival has announced Juliette Binoche will serve as the jury president for the main competition at the 2019 event. Berlinale will celebrate its 69th year in 2019. Binoche has a long history with the Berlin Film Festival, with films such as “The Night Is Young” screening in competition, and others like “The Lovers on the Bridge” playing such sidebars as the Forum section. The actress won the Berlinale Silver Bear for Best Actress, as well as an Oscar, for her role in Anthony Minghella’s “The English Patient” in 1997.

“It means the world to me!” Binoche said in a statement, calling the role of jury president a “tremendous honor.” “I’m looking forward to this special rendezvous with the entire jury and will embrace my task with joy and care.”

“I’m very pleased that Juliette is president of the 2019 international jury,” added Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick. “The festival...

Lone Scherfig’s “The Kindness of Strangers” will open the 2019 Berlin Film Festival. It’s a familiar venue for the veteran filmmaker, who brought her eventual Oscar-nominated “An Education” to the Berlinale back in 2009.

Her most recent work stars Zoe Kazan and Tahar Rahim as two New Yorkers who help each other through a trying time against the backdrop of a Russian restaurant. The film’s ensemble also includes Andrea Riseborough, Bill Nighy, Jay Baruchel, and Caleb Landry Jones.

The film is Scherfig’s first in three years, after the Gemma Arterton-led WWII movie “Their Finest.” That film did not end up making a Berlin stop, but Scherfig had other titles play the festival, even before “An Education.” Her first feature “The Birthday Club” played as part of the 1990 festival, while her Maeve Binchy adaptation “Italian for Beginners” took home a Silver Bear jury prize a decade later.

It...

Titles include Dark Matter directed by Francis Lee (God’s Own Country).

Three UK companies have received Single Project grants for their fiction projects from Creative Europe Media’s programme for independent European production companies.

The projects are:

Dark Matter from Wildgaze Films, an Arctic-set ghost story adapted by Gaby Chiappe (Their Finest) and to be directed by Francis Lee (God’s Own Country) - €50,000.

Polarized from Enlightenment Productions, a love story between two women from very different sides of contemporary small town America - €50,000

Le Diable Au Corps from Poorhouse International - €50,000

The UK submitted 18 applications for fiction projects,...

Greg Kinnear (“Little Miss Sunshine”), Lesley Manville (“Phantom Thread”), Keeley Hawes (“Bodyguard”), Rhys Ifans (“Notting Hill”) and Phyllis Logan (“Downton Abbey”) have joined the cast of “Misbehaviour,” alongside the previously announced Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha Raw and Jessie Buckley.

Principal photography began Monday on the dramedy, based on the true story of the 1970 Miss World contest and its disruption by the newly founded Women’s Liberation Movement. The film, which will shoot in and around London over the next nine weeks, is directed by Philippa Lowthorpe (“Three Girls”) from an original script written by Rebecca Frayn (“The Lady”) with revisions by Gaby Chiappe (“Their Finest”).

The action takes place in 1970, as the Miss World competition takes place in London, hosted by Bob Hope, to be played by Kinnear. (Manville plays Dolores Hope.) At the time, Miss World was the most-watched TV show in the world, with more than 100 million viewers.

must The Miss World comedy drama also stars Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha Raw and Jessie Buckley.

Lesley Manville, Keeley Hawes, Greg Kinnear, Rhys Ifans and Phyllis Logan have joined the cast of Philippa Lowthorpe’s UK comedy drama Misbehaviour.

The film, which starts shooting around London over the next nine weeks, co-stars the previously announced Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha Raw and Jessie Buckley, It tells the story of the 1970 Miss World contest which was disrupted by the newly founded Women’s Liberation Movement.

Lowthorpe is an award-winning UK feature and TV director whose credits include the BAFTA TV-winning Three Girls and Call The Midwife.