As Italian director Garrone steps onto the Academy Awards red carpet on March 10 with Best International Feature Film nominee Io Capitano, the real-life skipper who part inspired the drama will be watching and rooting for the film from afar.
West African born Fofana Amara was just 15 years old when he successfully skippered a rickety boat carrying 250 people across the Mediterranean from the Libyan coast in July 2014, to arrive off the Sicilian port of Augusta.
Proudly declaring “Io, capitano” (“I’m the captain”) when the coast guard boarded the ship, the youngster was immediately slammed in jail on charges of human trafficking.
It was just one stage of Amara’s perilous journey from the Republic of Guinea to Italy, passing by Libya, which had begun when he was 14 years old.
Eventually released from jail after the people he saved testified in his favor, Amara completed a nautical course in the Sicilian...
West African born Fofana Amara was just 15 years old when he successfully skippered a rickety boat carrying 250 people across the Mediterranean from the Libyan coast in July 2014, to arrive off the Sicilian port of Augusta.
Proudly declaring “Io, capitano” (“I’m the captain”) when the coast guard boarded the ship, the youngster was immediately slammed in jail on charges of human trafficking.
It was just one stage of Amara’s perilous journey from the Republic of Guinea to Italy, passing by Libya, which had begun when he was 14 years old.
Eventually released from jail after the people he saved testified in his favor, Amara completed a nautical course in the Sicilian...
- 2/24/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Protagonist Pictures has promoted senior execs Janina Vilsmaier and Mounia Wissinger to senior leadership roles as part of a wider move to strengthen its sales and marketing teams.
Vilsmaier has been upped to SVP Sales and Distribution and Wissinger becomes SVP Global Marketing and Publicity.
Protagonist made the announcement as it gears up for the Berlinale and the EFM, where its slate will include Nora Fingscheidt’s Panorama title The Outrun, starring Saoirse Ronan and Paapa Essiedu, and David and Nathan Zellner’s Berlinale Special selection Sasquatch Sunset with Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg, which makes its European premiere after a Sundance debut.
Under the promotions, Vilsmaier will lead the sales division, overseeing both the first run and library sales activities, and work in partnership with Wissinger to strategize the global roll out of Protagonist titles.
Wissinger will head up the marketing and publicity team, including overseeing the festival strategy for Protagonist’s film slate.
Vilsmaier has been upped to SVP Sales and Distribution and Wissinger becomes SVP Global Marketing and Publicity.
Protagonist made the announcement as it gears up for the Berlinale and the EFM, where its slate will include Nora Fingscheidt’s Panorama title The Outrun, starring Saoirse Ronan and Paapa Essiedu, and David and Nathan Zellner’s Berlinale Special selection Sasquatch Sunset with Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg, which makes its European premiere after a Sundance debut.
Under the promotions, Vilsmaier will lead the sales division, overseeing both the first run and library sales activities, and work in partnership with Wissinger to strategize the global roll out of Protagonist titles.
Wissinger will head up the marketing and publicity team, including overseeing the festival strategy for Protagonist’s film slate.
- 2/8/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Spring release planned on British-Palestinian filmmaker Basil Khalil’s culture-clash comedy-drama.
Cohen Media Group has acquired US rights to British-Palestinian filmmaker Basil Khalil’s TIFF Discovery premiere A Gaza Weekend.
‘A Gaza Weekend’: Toronto Review
Khalil’s made his feature directorial debut on the culture-clash comedy-drama about a couple stranded amid a deadly virus outbreak which has sealed off Israel and turned the Gaza Strip into the safest place in the region.
A British journalist and his Israeli girlfriend who want to flee Israel must place their faith in two Palestinian street merchants who promise a way out in exchange for cash.
Cohen Media Group has acquired US rights to British-Palestinian filmmaker Basil Khalil’s TIFF Discovery premiere A Gaza Weekend.
‘A Gaza Weekend’: Toronto Review
Khalil’s made his feature directorial debut on the culture-clash comedy-drama about a couple stranded amid a deadly virus outbreak which has sealed off Israel and turned the Gaza Strip into the safest place in the region.
A British journalist and his Israeli girlfriend who want to flee Israel must place their faith in two Palestinian street merchants who promise a way out in exchange for cash.
- 3/23/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Kelly Clarkson may be one of the most personable and welcoming hosts on TV, but that didn’t stop “Daisy Jones and the Six” stars Riley Keough, Suki Waterhouse and Camila Morrone from shyly clamming up and downplaying their musical skills when speaking with the Grammy-winning singer.
“We cannot talk about singing in front of Kelly Clarkson!” Marrone said when Keough tried complimenting her voice.
The segment began with Clarkson asking Keough and Waterhouse about going to “band camp” to prepare for the 1970s-set drama series charting the rise and fall of a fictional rock band.
“We really enjoyed it, but we worked really hard,” Keough said of the training ground. “A lot of us had never done the things we were doing on this show. I had never sang, I had never played guitar. Suki hadn’t played – you hadn’t played the keys. The other band members had...
“We cannot talk about singing in front of Kelly Clarkson!” Marrone said when Keough tried complimenting her voice.
The segment began with Clarkson asking Keough and Waterhouse about going to “band camp” to prepare for the 1970s-set drama series charting the rise and fall of a fictional rock band.
“We really enjoyed it, but we worked really hard,” Keough said of the training ground. “A lot of us had never done the things we were doing on this show. I had never sang, I had never played guitar. Suki hadn’t played – you hadn’t played the keys. The other band members had...
- 3/3/2023
- by Benjamin Lindsay
- The Wrap
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