News

Óscar Casas (“Mi soledad tiene alas”) is the man on the lightning-fast bike in the MotoGP action film “Idols.” The up-and-coming Spanish actor will star in the film for Film Mode Entertainment, 4 Cats Pictures and Warner Bros. alongside multi-platinum pop star Ana Mena.

Mat Whitecross — whose credits include “The Road to Guantanamo,” for which he was awarded best director at the Berlinale in 2006, and “Oasis: Supersonic” — is on board as the film’s helmer.

Rounding out the cast of “Idols” is Claudio Santamaria (“Casino Royale”), Enrique Arce (“Knightfall”), Saul Nanni (“The Leopard”) and Mario Ermito (“Ask Me What You Want”).

Written by Inma Cánovas, Jordi Gasull and Ricky Roxburgh from an original idea by Gasull, “Idols” follows a fiery young motorcycle racer (Casas) who loses his chance at the junior championship after a reckless crash. But he finds a shot at redemption when he receives a surprise offer from a top Moto2 team.

UK actor-filmmaker Chiwetel Ejiofor and filmmaker Michael Winterbottom will receive honorary Raindance Icon awards at this year’s Raindance Film Festival (June 19-28).

Ejiofor will receive his award at the festival’s opening gala, the UK premiere of Tilman Singer’s Cuckoo on June 19.

Winterbottom will be presented with his award during the jury awards ceremony on June 27.

Ejiofor is known for his work as an actor in 12 Years A Slave – for which he won the best actor Bafta and was nominated for the Oscar – Dirty Pretty Things, Children Of Men and Marvel’s Doctor Strange franchise.

He has...

Tom Blyth is exchanging the Hunger Games for a hospital bed. The British actor, who plays a young Coriolanus Snow in Francis Lawrence’s Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, has signed on to play the lead role in Michael Winterbottom’s new adaptation of the Ernst Hemingway WWI classic A Farewell to Arms.

Blyth will play Frederic Henry, a volunteer ambulance driver who is injured in Italy during the first World War and falls in love with his nurse.

The Hemingway novel, first published in 1929 and closely based on the writer’s own experience as a volunteer ambulance driver with the Italian Army on the Isonzo Front, A Farewell to Arms has been adapted multiple times in the past, including in 1932 with Gary Cooper in the Frederic Henry role, in 1957 starring Rock Hudson, and as a 1966 mini-series with George Hamilton as Henry.

Winterbottom’s feature version...

Riz Ahmed will be honored by the Locarno Film Festival where the latest short in which the British actor appears – titled “Dammi” and directed by French auteur Yann Mounir Demange – will world premiere.

Ahmed, who earned an Oscar nomination for best actor in 2021 for his performance as a drummer who suddenly goes deaf in Amazon’s “Sound of Metal,” will be feted by the Swiss fest dedicated to indie filmmaking cinema with with its 2021 Excellence Award Davide Campari, which pays tribute to film personalities who have left their personal stamp on contemporary cinema.

“Dammi,” which was teased at Cannes, is an experimental work, broadly on the theme of immigration and identity, produced by French fashion brand Ami, founded by Alexandre Mattiussi, and also starring Isabelle Adjani, Souheila Yacoub, Sandor Funtek and Suzy Bemba. The buzzed-about short will screen at Locarno’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande, on opening night, Aug. 2, during the...

The Locarno International Film Festival unveiled the full program for 2023 on Wednesday, with dozens of world premieres set to screen in the 76th edition of the Swiss festival.

Locarno’s main Piazza Grande section will include several of this season’s festival favorites, among them Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall from French director Justine Triet starring Sandra Hüller; Ken Loach’s latest (and possibly last) feature, The Old Oak; Noora Niasari’s Sundance audience award winner Shayda, featuring Holy Spider star Zar Amir Ebrahimi; and Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s comedy Theater Camp, which won a special jury prize at Sundance. Other highlights include U.S. horror feature Falling Stars by directors Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki; Dammi from 71′ and White Boy Rick-helmer Yann Demange; and Magnetic Continent, the new nature documentary from March of the Penguins‘ filmmaker Luc Jacquet about the continent of Antarctica.

Director’s Revolution Films has partnered with Fremantle, Passenger and Anonymous Content on six-parter

Director Michael Winterbottom is making a six-part drama, Fall Of The God Of Cars, about former Nissan and Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn.

Winterbottom’s Revolution Films is collaborating with Fremantle, Passenger and Anonymous Content on the series, which tells the story of the Brazilian-Lebanese businessman who was arrested in Japan and one year later orchestrated his own escape to Beirut, hidden in a music case on a private jet.

The series is written and directed by Winterbottom. Tony Shalhoub stars as Ghosn.

The series was originally developed by Winterbottom,...

Michael Winterbottom has devoted much of his filmmaking career to revisiting real-life events through works blurring the boundaries between documentary and drama to various degrees.

The filmmaker shed light on his approach in a recent Doha Film Institute (Dfi) masterclass, going behind the scenes of Welcome To Sarajevo, 24 Hour Party People, In This World, The Road To Guantanamo, A Might Heart and Eleven Days In May.

“It’s a continuum, even if you’re filming a fantasy film in a studio on a green screen there is an element of document to that. You’re recording that moment of the act of performance,” he said when quizzed on his attitude towards documentary versus fiction.

“Equally, even in a documentary like Eleven Days… you’re trying to shape that story, so it’s a continuum,” he added, referring to the 2022 documentary commemorating 68 children killed in Israeli bombing raids over Gaza...

“In the heyday of cinema, everyone was making a film a year.”

Prolific UK director Michael Winterbottom has railed against the pace of filmmaking in the UK, saying it has become the norm to make a film just once every three or four years.

“It’s worth remembering that in the heyday of cinema, everyone was making a film a year,” said the director who has made over 30 films in his career. “People were making 20 or 30 films – that, I think, is healthy. If you think about how things have changed since then, nothing has got more complicated; in fact it has got easier.

Playwright and screenwriter Christopher Hampton, producer David Parfitt, Dune costume designer Jacqueline West and directors Lynne Ramsay and Michael Winterbottom are to set attend the Qatari Doha Film Institute’s ninth talent incubator event Qumra in March.

The meeting, which returns as an in-person event for the first time in four years from March 10-15 after a Covid-19 pandemic hiatus, focuses on nurturing first and second-time filmmakers.

They attend with their projects that have received funding from the Doha Film Institute (Dfi), a major backer of indie cinema in the Middle East and North Africa.

Hampton, Parfitt, West, Ramsay and Winterbottom are participating in the role of the event’s so-called Qumra Masters.

They will give a masterclass and mentor some of the filmmakers in attendance. The full list of attendees and projects will be announced next week.

Oscar-winner Hampton’s participation follows in the wake of The Father, for...

Kenneth Branagh plays UK prime minister Boris Johnson.

Michael Winterbottom’s This England, starring Kenneth Branagh as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has closed sales across 88 territories through distributor Fremantle.

Commissioning broadcaster Sky will launch the series this Autumn across its territories in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.

This England has sold to Movistar+ in Spain, Viaplay for the Nordics and Baltics, Poland and the Netherlands, Cosmote (Greece), Osn TV and Osn+ (Mena), M-Net (South Africa) and BBC First (Australia) and Tvnz (New Zealand). Further deals are due to be announced in the coming weeks.

Produced...

Michael Winterbottom and Mohammed Sawwaf have co-directed the film.

UK production stalwart Revolution Films is making its distribution debut with Eleven Days In May, a documentary narrated by Kate Winslet about the bombing of Gaza in May 2021.

It filmed in 2021 and completed post-production in January this year. It is co-directed by Mohammed Sawwaf of Palestinian production company Alef Multimedia, and Revolution founder Michael Winterbottom.

At least 60 children were killed in the Palestinian territory of Gaza over the course of 11 days of bombing in May 2021.

Eleven Days In May is described by Revolution as “a simple memorial to the children who lost their lives.

Exclusive: A day before the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, Cinema Libre Studio announced the acquisition of a documentary about one of the most famous men to be held at the U.S.-operated prison.

Guantanamo Diary Revisited recounts the experience of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a citizen of Mauritania, who was imprisoned at the Guantánamo Bay facility from 2002 to 2016, accused by American authorities of aiding al Qaeda. He was never charged with a crime. Slahi told his story in Guantanamo Diary, a memoir that was adapted into the 2021 film The Mauritanian, starring Jodie Foster, Benedict Cumberbatch and Shailene Woodley.

Cinema Libre Studio intends to release Guantanamo Diary Revisited, directed by journalist John Goetz, in North America on March 29. But on Tuesday the studio will present a virtual sneak preview of the documentary two decades to the day after the Bush administration opened the Gitmo...

Video Version of this Article Photo/Video: Riz Ahmed at the 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'/Dfree/Shutterstock/Hollywood Insider YouTube Channel This individual has won a Primetime Emmy and has been nominated for Golden Globes, Screen Actor Guild Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, British Academy Film Awards - the BAFTAs, a Critics Choice Award, and an Academy Award. This super talented star is also a successful rapper, has been on top of the Billboard 200 chart, and had the highest-grossing movie at the box office within the same week, was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2017, and is an advocate for refugee children. This individual would be none other than Riz Ahmed. Related article: Oscars 2021 Winners: The 93rd Show With Record-Breaking Historic Successes, Shocks and Surprises Related article: A Tribute To The Academy Awards: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | From Rami Malek,...

Riz Ahmed is a contemporary Renaissance man. He acts, he raps, and he uses his platform for advocacy and activism. American audiences may know the British Pakistani performer best for his role in the Star Wars Anthology film Rogue One, but Ahmed's filmography spans far and wide. Ahmed is also leading the charge to push for better Muslim representation across all media platforms.

Related: Star Wars: Rogue One - 5 Characters With The Most (& 5 With The Least) Screen Time

After making his feature film debut in Michael Winterbottom's 2006 docudrama The Road to Guantanamo, Ahmed dove headfirst into a career including both TV series like Girls and films like Venom. These days, he's receiving a lot of Oscar buzz for his stunning portrayal of a rock drummer who loses his hearing in Sound of Metal.

Kenneth Branagh will play U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a new Sky TV series detailing Britain’s muddled response to the Covid-19 crisis. The five-part drama will be directed and written by “The Trip” helmer Michael Winterbottom.

Entitled “This Sceptred Isle,” the show will be produced by Fremantle, Richard Brown’s Passenger and Winterbottom’s Revolution Films. The project — which was announced in June but had yet to secure a broadcast partner and announce casting — will chart the events surrounding Johnson and his government in the face of the first wave of the global pandemic. The U.K. leader in late March was hospitalized with Covid-19 for over a week, with a number of days spent in intensive care.

The series will launch on Sky in fall 2022.

“The first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic will be remembered forever,” said Winterbottom. “A time when the country came together to battle an invisible enemy.

“The Trip” helmer Michael Winterbottom is set to direct a series depicting the U.K.’s muddled response to the coronavirus crisis under Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Producer-distributor Fremantle is partnering with “True Detective” executive producer Richard Brown’s nascent production outfit Passenger and Winterbottom’s Revolution Films on the project, which will have a keen focus on Johnson, who was admitted to intensive care with Covid-19 in late March and spent more than a week in hospital.

The Sunday Times political editor Tim Shipman will serve as a consultant on the series, which will tell the true story of one of the most grave national and personal crises to befall a government leader since World War II. It will detail Johnson’s appointment as Prime Minister, to the discovery of the first cases of Covid-19 in the U.K., through to Johnson’s hospitalization and recovery, which also coincided...

Riz Ahmed stars as a rapper on the cusp of fame forced to return home to his family after he is struck down by a crippling illness.

Paris-based sales company Charades has boarded sales on New York-based Pakistani director Bassam Tariq’s music drama Mogul Mowgli, starring actor and rapper Riz Ahmed, ahead of its premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama section.

Endeavor Content will represent North American rights.

Ahmed plays a young British rapper, who is about to start his first world tour, when a crippling illness strikes him down, and he is forced to move back in with his family.

"Do you know who sent me?" IFC Films has debuted the first official trailer for The Wedding Guest, the latest film from director Michael Winterbottom. This adventure thriller follows a mysterious British Muslim man, played by Dev Patel, on his journey across Pakistan and India. He's heading to Pakistan to attend a wedding – armed with duct tape, a shotgun, and a plan to kidnap the bride-to-be. This looks like a dark, suspenseful film with some intriguing twists – maybe – once it gets going. The film's cast includes Radhika Apte, Jim Sarbh, Harish Khannaa, Nish Nathwani, Meherbaan Singh, and Sidhu Manpreet. This all seems a bit odd from the description and setup, but obviously there's more to this than it seems at first glance. Check it out. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Michael Winterbottom's The Wedding Guest, from YouTube: Jay (Dev Patel) is a ...

Turbine is run by Andrew Eaton, Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner and Justin Thomson.

UK directors Sharon Maguire and Mat Whitecross are set to direct new projects with London-based Turbine Studios, the nascent film and TV production company run by Andrew Eaton, Tracey Scoffield, David Tanner and Justin Thomson.

Maguire is directing The Breakaway, an adaptation of the autobiography of Nicole Cooke, the first British cyclist to be ranked number one in the world. The project is in development with Ffilm Cymru Wales and Turbine hopes to shoot the film in Wales next year. Maguire’s credits include two of the...

Festival to open with Berlin Golden Bear winner.

Korea’s second largest film festival, the 18th Jeonju International Film Festival (Jiff), which focuses on independent and arthouse cinema, is set to open April 27 with Berlinale Golden Bear winner On Body And Soul, directed by Ildiko Enyedi.

The Hungarian director is also set to be on the International Competition jury and hold masterclasses at the fest.

Jiff today announced its line-up of 229 films from 58 countries with 50 world premieres and three international premieres, putting an emphasis on its slogan “Outlet for Cinematic Expression.”

“We have always had the identity of a festival for independent and alternative films, but as you all know, the past year has revealed problems such as the [government] blacklist and various forms of censorship that have not been solved, which is why we have put forth this slogan,” said festival director Lee Choong-jik.

Supporting Korean independents

Executive programmer Kim Young-jin noted a recent slump in Korean...

Riz Ahmed first made waves in Michael Winterbottom’s “The Road to Guantanamo,” but his Hollywood claim to fame was in last year’s HBO crime drama “The Night Of,” which earned him a Golden Globe and SAG nomination.

Now, after starring in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” Ahmed is returning to theaters in “City of Tiny Lights,” directed by “Dredd” helmer Pete Travis. Set in West London, the story is co-written by Patrick Neate and is based on his novel of the same name. Described as a “unique portrait of contemporary London as a teeming multicultural metropolis where nothing is as it seems,” it follows the actor as Tommy Akhtar, a London detective who goes searching for a missing girl after a high-class prostitute seeks his help.

The modern noir also co-stars “Penny Dreadful” actress Billie Piper as Shelley, Tommy’s long-lost love, as well as Cush Jumbo and Roshan Seth.

Riz Ahmed’s role in Nightcrawler was a breakthrough for the talented actor, who had, up until then, proved himself mostly at home in the UK, with the likes of Four Lions, Shifty and The Road to Guantanamo. With Hollywood unable to deny Ahmed's versatility and fastidiousness, 2016 has been a banner year. Kicking off with Jason Bourne in the summer, Ahmed set the small screen alight in the brilliant HBO series The Night Of (for which he was recently Golden Globe and SAG…...

From a British Pakistani background, when Riz Ahmed first burst onto the scene in 2006, he was typecast and consigned to roles as Muslims, Arabs and Middle Easterners (“The Road To Guantanamo” was one of his first roles). But things quickly changed for the actor after he earned a nomination for Best Actor at the 2008 British Independent Film Awards for the film “Shifty,” and got recognition across the pond for his turn in the satirical “Four Lions.”

Continually showing he can break out of any preconceived box, the actor has made the most of opportunities that have become eclectic.

Continue reading Riz Ahmed Talks Sci-Fi Reflecting The World Around Us, Diversity On Screen & ‘Rogue One’ at The Playlist.

He’s the outspoken British Star Wars actor who still gets interrogated at airports. Carole Cadwalladr steps inside the confusing world of Riz Ahmed

One thing about Riz Ahmed: he is not boring. We’re in a central London hotel room as part of the massive media blitz for Rogue One, the latest multimillion dollar incarnation of the Star Wars franchise. And maybe one day he’ll become boring, or learn how to be boring, but even though we’re at the very heart of the Hollywood publicity machine, surrounded by soft furnishings in all shades of beige, Ahmed is not boring. In the decade since Michael Winterbottom cast him in his first film, The Road to Guantanamo, he’s built up a critically acclaimed body of work, including his breakout performance in Chris Morris’s jihadist satire Four Lions. In addition, he has a sideline as a musician,...

Twenty years after Oasis became the most popular British band since The Beatles, founding members Liam and Noel Gallagher agreed it was time for a documentary to tell their story. Getting the brothers to agree on literally anything else seems damn near impossible.

Indeed, one of the key takeaways from “Oasis: Supersonic” is that the Gallaghers, while complementing each other nearly perfectly as musicians, have as dysfunctional a relationship as any two people in the history of rock n’ roll. Not even “Supersonic’s” London premiere on October 4 could bring them together, as Noel was a no-show. To this day, director Mat Whitecross (“The Road to Guantanamo”) has never been in the same room with both brothers at the same time.

Read More: Ron Howard’s Hulu Documentary ‘The Beatles: Eight Days a Week’ Is Drawing Crowds at Theaters Around the World

Produced by “Amy” director Asif Kapadia, “Oasis: Supersonic...

For those who clutch their first-issue copies of “Definitely Maybe” and proudly sing “Don’t Look Back In Anger” during karaoke, there’s a new film just for you. The documentary “Supersonic” presents the story of Oasis, the beloved but famously erratic British pop duo, helmed by brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, as they ascend to Rock and Roll royalty and culminate their collaboration in a hostile, much publicized break-up in 2009, when the duo split in the middle of a tour. Watch it below.

Read More: Review: Asif Kapadia’s Amy Winehouse Documentary is Heartbreaking and Extraordinary

The film’s narration was compiled from separate interviews with each Gallagher on their experience going from two unknown “head-cases” with guitars to the music giants we know and love. Their journey includes plenty of debauchery, fan mania, and most of all, a peek into their epic, lasting impact on Britpop, the British...

If you didn’t see his break-out role in one of the century’s best comedies, Four Lions, then we imagine Riz Ahmed first landed on your radar as the doomed assistant to Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler. Along with his high-profile performances in The Night Of, Rogue One, and Jason Bourne this year, one of the two Tiff films he has is the starring vehicle City of Tiny Lights, as noted in our fall festival preview.

Directed by Dredd‘s Pete Travis, it follows Ahmed as a London detective who gets entangled in a missing-girl case as a complex web of lies bubble up. We now have the first clip thanks to THR, which shows Ahmed on the case as he visits his ex-girlfriend at a local bar. Check out the clip below for the film also starring Cush Jumbo, James Floyd, Billie Piper, and Roshan Seth.

Tiff Synopsis:

Later this year,...

For the past several years, Riz Ahmed has made a name for himself as one of the most talented actors on the British indie movie scene. Now, in 2016, he has gained international acclaim for his work in HBO’s “The Night Of,” and will soon be seen worldwide in the upcoming “Star Wars” movie “Rogue One.” If you’re looking for more of Ahmed’s work, here’s what you should check out. Ahmed’s first big role came in 2006 in the film “The Road To Guantanamo,” in which he played one of three British-born Pakistanis who end up in Gitmo after taking.

A bookish, 22-year-old Pakistani-American named Nasir Khan from working-class Queens steals his father's cab to go joyriding in Manhattan and hit up a party. While en route to meet his friend, he unwittingly picks up a mysterious female passenger and ends up at her place. They drink. They snort drugs. They have sex. When Khan wakes up, he finds the woman has been brutally murdered and is arrested for the crime. But what actually happened?

After only two episodes, HBO's new crime drama The Night Of has garnered the type...

The Amy producer discussed his upcoming Oasis documentary at an event in London.

Producer James Gay-Rees, who recently picked up an Oscar for Asif Kapadia-directed Amy, has spoken about his upcoming documentary on iconic band Oasis.

“[Liam and Noel Gallagher are] brilliant to work with, both completely insane and hysterically funny,” said Gay-Rees, speaking today at the Base [formerly Bva] Insight Forum in London.

“It’s a really interesting anatomy of how two complete chancers - in their own words - became the biggest band in the world from a standing start in just two years, despite themselves.”

The producer revealed that brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher - whom he admitted “can’t be in the same room as each other” - approached him and Asif Kapadia (who is exec producing) with the idea for the film, which Mat Whitecross (The Road To Guantanamo) will direct.

“Noel got in touch. He asked: ‘Where have all the rock and roll heroes gone? Where’s all the...

Exclusive: The sales company will introduce the Ibiza-set crime thriller alongside four other films on its slate.

London-based sales outfit Independent has finalised its slate for the forthcoming Efm (Feb 11-19), including Ben Turner’s White Island [pictured], a comic crime thriller set in the Ibiza dance music scene.

The film, which is in post-production, was previously titled A Bus Could Run You Over and is based on the novel of the same name by British author Colin Butts.

Leo Pearlman (The Class Of 92) is producing the project for Fulwell 73 alongside Danny Potts and Heather Greenwood. The cast includes Lyndon Ogbourne (Emmerdale), Joel Dommett (The Edge Of Love) and Billy Zane (Titanic).

The story follows an ex-dj who is dragged back to Ibiza by his best friend and faces getting entrapped by the seductive danger of the island.

Also on Independent’s Efm slate are two documentaries: I Am Bolt, Ben and [link...

Independent finalises Afm deals in key markets for music documentary, executive produced by Amy director Asif Kapadia.

London-based sales outfit Independent Film Sales has finalised a number of deals on its untitled Oasis documentary.

Deals have closed in Germany and Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Italy (Lucky Red), Australia/Nz (Madman), Canada (D Films), Hong Kong (Edko), South Korea (Cine Lux), Thailand (Move Matters, Documentary Club) and Taiwan (MovieCloud).

A deal in Japan, a popular market for the iconic UK band, is understood to be in the works.

As revealed by Screen on Monday, Lorton Distribution will partner with eOne on the film’s release in the UK.

Lorton, founded by city financier Julian Bird, is set to release the film theatrically with eOne handling all other rights in the UK and Ireland.

Director Mat Whitecross (The Road to Guantanamo) has begun working on the film which is due to feature “unprecedented” access and unseen archive footage.

Mint Pictures...

Exclusive: Fledgling UK film outfit Lorton teams with eOne for release, executive produced by Amy director Asif Kapadia.

Fledgling UK distribution outfit Lorton Entertainment is to partner with Entertainment One (eOne) on the release of the as-yet-untitled Oasis documentary announced earlier this month.

Lorton, founded by city financier Julian Bird, is set to release the film theatrically with eOne handling all other rights in the UK and Ireland.

The deal was negotiated by Lorton Entertainment and eOne’s Joel Kennedy.

“We are thrilled to be working with Lorton Entertainment on what will undoubtedly be a ‘must see’ movie,” said Kennedy.

“It’s an iconic rock and roll story and we can’t wait to see it brought to the big screen by such an incredibly talented team”.

The buzzed-about film, which is due to feature “unprecedented” access to the band and unseen archive footage, will be directed by Mat Whitecross (The Road to Guantanamo).

Mint Pictures’ [link...

Independent to launch sales at Afm on film about iconic UK band.

Iconic UK band Oasis are to be the subject of a new documentary produced by Amy and Senna producer James Gay Rees of On The Corner and executive-produced by Amy and Senna director Asif Kapadia.

The Road To Guantanamo director Mat Whitecross will direct the feature, which Independent will launch at Afm.

Also producing are Fiona Neilson for Mint Pictures (Spike Island) and Simon Halfon for Nemperor (Sleuth).

Financing will come from Lorton Entertainment Limited, founded by Julian Bird, while newly launched Lorton Distribution will handledistribution in the UK.

According to the production, the filmmakers have been given “unprecendented” access to the band and unseen archive footage and the film will include candid insight from the famously stormy brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher.

The film is understood to chart the journey from the moment in 1991 when Noel joined his brother Liam’s Manchester-based band. Three...

Dominic Cooper plays Fleming -- Ian Fleming -- in BBC America's new miniseries about the James Bond creator "Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond." Directed by Mat Whitecross ("The Road to Guantanamo," "The Shock Doctrine") and written by John Brownlow ("Sylvia") and Don MacPherson ("The Avengers"), "Fleming" tells the tale of its title character's own path from playboy to Naval Intelligence officer during World War II to the author of "a spy story to end all spy stories." The miniseries premieres on BBC American on Wednesday, January 29th at 10pm and in addition to Cooper ("The Devil's Double") also stars Rupert Evans, Samuel West, Anna Chancellor and Lara Pulver. Take a look at the trailer below:...

Fleming is a televised mini-series biography based on Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. Dominic Cooper plays the title character, and as you'll see in the teaser, the series is going to link Fleming's life with his super spy creation. Fleming was not only an author, but he was also a Navy intelligence man who had some spy experiences of his own. This looks like it could be a great series!

The series was directed by Mat Whitecross (The Road to Guantanamo) from a script written by John Brownlow (Sylvia) and Don MacPherson (Entrapment). Here's a description of the series:

"Fleming takes a no holds barred look at Ian Fleming, the man behind the James Bond legend whose real life was as exciting, eventful and sexually charged as his famous creation. Dominic Cooper (The Devil’s Double, An Education, The History Boys, Mamma Mia) will play Ian Fleming,...

Dominic Cooper ("Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "The Devil’s Double") stars as a suave real life spy (and author) in BBC America's new miniseries about Ian Fleming, the man who created the James Bond novel series loosely inspired by his own life. "Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond" offers a no-holds-barred look at Fleming's thrilling and titilating life as a wealthy, pleasure-seeking charmer turned Word War II Naval Intelligence officer who took part in an outrageous counter-intellgance mission against the Nazis that would later inform the Bond franchise. The four-part coproduction, which will be set in the war-torn yet wild and permissive society of 1940s London, is directed by Mat Whitecross ("The Road to Guantanamo") and written by John Brownlow ("Sylvia") and Don MacPherson ("Entrapment"). The cast includes Lara Pulver ("Sherlock"), Annabelle Wallis ("The Tudors"), Lesley Manville ("Another Year"), Anna Chancellor ("The Hour") and Samuel West ("Hyde Park on.

Prolific jack-of-all-genres Michael Winterbottom is consistently inconsistent. For my money, he does best with real world verite ("In this World," "A Mighty Heart," "The Road to Guantanamo") but he also has a flair for British comedy, often starring his go-to man Steve Coogan ("Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story," "The Trip"). The movie that "The Look of Love," which Winterbottom debuted at Sundance Saturday, most resembles is "24 Hour Party People," also starring Coogan, but it isn't nearly as entertaining, despite the surfeit of swinging sex and drugs that a biopic of Brit billionaire pornographer, strip club impresario and real estate mogul Paul Raymond demands. Coogan wanted to play Raymond, who was declared by the Sunday Times as Britain's richest man in 1992--the same year that his 36-year-old daughter (Imogen Poots) died of a heroin overdose. But Coogan does not pull us inside this crass...

James Bond is headed to the small screen…kind of. Variety reports that Dominic Cooper (Captain America) is in talks to play James Bond creator/author Ian Fleming in a four-part biopic miniseries for Sky Atlantic directed by Mat Whitecross (The Road to Guantanamo). Written by John Brownlow and Don Macpherson, the project is tentatively titled Fleming and will take place during WWII, when Fleming worked for British Naval intelligence against the Nazis. This was an influential time for Fleming, as it was his experiences during the war that led to the creation of James Bond and influenced the storylines of a number of books. This isn’t the only Fleming biopic in the works, as Moon helmer Duncan Jones is also developing a film based on Fleming’s time with British Intelligence. Jones’ project is currently the only film to be given the full support of The Ian Fleming Estate.

A response to what's probably the best piece on Zero Dark Thirty, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky’s “The Monitor Mentality”.

And to a movie I'd like no one to see.

***

“Everybody likes cake,” says peppy girl-agent Jennifer Ehle, the kind of personality who likes to dish sex over cocktails at hotel bars Thank You For Not Smoking-style, as she dollops the last of the frosting on her little home-baked house-warming gift for an informant about to penetrate their chummy compound. A riposte: “Not everyone likes cake,” Jessica Chastain's wan CIA agent, Maya, warns a moment before, her note of caution sounded off with judicious regularity throughout the movie to more colorful personalities—all to make her ultimate confidence in the final operation ring with resounding pluck after two hours of trepidation. Not everyone likes cake? Any reference to Ministry of Fear aside, these are fighting words, a salvo for the sweet-toothed:...

Based on the classic Thomas Hardy novel Tess of the D’Ubervilles, acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom has re-imagined this tragic story as Trishna and setting it in modern day India.

Synopsis: Trishna lives with her family in a village in Rajasthan, India’s largest state. As the eldest daughter, she works in a nearby resort to help pay the bills. Jay is the wealthy son of a property developer. When he takes up managing a resort at his father’s request, he meets Trishna at a dance and their fates cross. Jay finds every opportunity to win Trishna’s affection and she accepts his efforts with shy curiosity. But when the two move to Mumbai and become a couple, Jay’s deep family bond threatens the young lovers’ bliss. Trishna is a powerful look at the tension between ancient privilege and modern equality, between codes of urban and rural life...

It's impossible to predict filmmaker Michael Winterbottom's next move, other than to assume it will be nothing like his last. The English director went from the graphic music-driven romance 9 Songs to the cheeky esoteric comedy Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story to the harrowing documentary The Road to Guantanamo. More recently, he made the controversial and sickeningly violent The Killer Inside Me, then followed it up with the jaunty buddy comedy/travel doc The Trip, now with Trishna he has translated Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles, which was set in 1870s England, into a sensual drama set in contemporary India. Freida Pinto stars as the title character, the lowly daughter of an auto rickshaw owner who enters into a doomed romance with the son of a wealth real estate developer. Riz Ahmed of Four Lions co-stars as her lover. While the first trailer reveled in...

2012 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Film Selections

For Spotlight And Cinemania Sections And Special Screenings

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Tribeca/Espn Sports Film Festival Lineup Also Revealed

The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by American Express, today announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Cinemania sections, as well as Special Screenings and the Tribeca/Espn Sports Film Festival lineup. The 11th edition of the Festival will take place from April 18 to April 29 in New York City.

The Spotlight section screens 34 films, 22 narratives and 12 documentaries that demonstrate the breadth of films at the Tribeca Film Festival. Nineteen films in the selection will have their world premieres at the Festival. The Cinemania section offers a largely international assortment of seven thrilling narrative films.

.The Spotlight program is a wonderful encapsulation of the originality and diversity of filmmaking that Tribeca seeks to highlight. We have films from emerging filmmakers as well as seasoned veterans, narratives that...

A new big batch of films have been added to the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival line-up, and while there aren't a lot of big premieres in the bunch, there's a lot to catch up with for those of you (and us) who didn't attend Tiff 2011, Sundance 2012, etc. etc.

Highlights for us include Sarah Polley's sophomore directorial effort "Take This Waltz," starring Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams, Julie Delpy's "2 Days In New York," starring herself and Chris Rock in a sequel to "2 Days in Paris," Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's "Chicken With Plums," their directorial follow-up to the very excellent 2007 animated film "Persepolis," Lynn Shelton's "Your Sister's Sister" starring Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt and Mark Duplass, and "Lola Versus," Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister Jones' follow-up to the celebrated 2009 micro-budgeted indie "Breaking Upwards" starring Lister Jones herself alongside Greta Gerwig, Joel Kinnaman (AMC's "The Killing," the new "RoboCop"), Bill Pullman,...

After an initial unveiling earlier this week, Tribeca Film Festival 2012 have announced the rest of their feature film line-up and it is a surprisingly strong one. We’ve got lots of great films that have premiered at previous fests.

There is July Delpy‘s 2 Days In New York (our Sundance review here), Sarah Polley‘s Take This Waltz (our Vancouver review here), the awesome action thriller Sleepless Night (our Tiff review here), as well as one of my favorites from Toronto, Chicken with Plums (our Tiff review here), from the Persepolis directors. We’ve also got premieres of Jenna Fischer‘s Mechanical Man and Chris Colfer‘s Struck by Lightning, as well as docs by Billy Corben, Morgan Spurlock and Keanu Reeves‘ filmmaking doc Side by Side. Check them all out below.

Spotlight Section

2 Days in New York, directed and written by Julie Delpy. (France) – New York Premiere, Narrative. This...

HollywoodNews.com: The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by American Express, today announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Cinemania sections, as well as Special Screenings and the Tribeca/Espn Sports Film Festival lineup. The 11th edition of the Festival will take place from April 18 to April 29 in New York City.

The Spotlight section screens 34 films, 22 narratives and 12 documentaries that demonstrate the breadth of films at the Tribeca Film Festival. Nineteen films in the selection will have their world premieres at the Festival. The Cinemania section offers a largely international assortment of seven thrilling narrative films.

‘The Spotlight program is a wonderful encapsulation of the originality and diversity of filmmaking that Tribeca seeks to highlight. We have films from emerging filmmakers as well as seasoned veterans, narratives that showcase stellar performances and insightful writing, and documentaries that challenge and inform their audiences,’ said Frédéric Boyer, newly appointed Artistic...

The Tribeca Film Festival announced its Spotlight and Cinemania programs today, including Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary, Mansome, period drama Cheerful Weather for the Wedding with Like Crazy’s Felicity Jones (right), and Struck By Lightning, written by Glee’s Chris Colfer. “It was important that we head into Tribeca’s second decade highlighting projects that were attuned to the pulse of our cultural climate,” said director of programming Genna Terranova, in a release. “That said, both consciousness and levity play a prominent role in this year’s selection. We are also eager to introduce audiences to a group of...

Revolution Films Freida Pinto stars as Trishna in Mr. Winterbottom’s latest movie.

“Trishna,” the latest film of British director Michael Winterbottom, is a modern-day adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the d’Urbervilles” set between rural Rajasthan and urban Mumbai.

Mr. Winterbottom, a versatile and prolific filmmaker, is known for movies that address difficult topics and which straddle the boundaries of the fictional and the real. Recent films include “The Road to Guantanamo,” a harrowing part-documentary on Guantanamo prisoners,...

Ilan Eshkeri is scoring the upcoming thriller Ashes. The movie stars Jim Sturgess, Ray Winstone, Lesley Manville (Another Year), Luke Evans (Robin Hood) and Jodie Whittaker (Attack the Block). The film is directed by Mat Whitecross (The Road to Guantanamo) who also co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Viragh (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll). Esther Douglas and Fiona Neilson are producing. Coldplay’s Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin are executive producers on the project. No plot details have been revealed yet, but the movie has been described as a contemporary film noir. The British thriller is currently in post-production and no release date has been set yet.

As previously reported, Eshkeri also has the Ralph Fiennes-directed drama Coriolanus coming up, which will be released on December 2, 2011 by the Weinstein Company. The composer also recently finished work on the action spoof sequel Johnny English Reborn directed by Oliver Parker and starring Rowan Atkinson,...

Harry Escott has recently recorded his score for the upcoming drama Shame. The movie is directed by Steve McQueen who previously directed the 2008 BAFTA-nominated drama Hunger. Shame stars Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie and Hannah Ware. The drama centers on a thirtysomething man living in New York who is battling his sex addiction and has to deal with the arrival of his troubled sister. McQueen co-wrote the screenplay with Abi Morgan (Brick Lane, the upcoming The Iron Lady). Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (The King’s Speech) are producing. Shame is set for a world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month. Momentum Pictures has recently announced a release date on January 13, 2012 in the UK. The movie has also distribution set in place in many international territories. A domestic distribution deal has yet to be announced.

Escott is best known for scoring the critically acclaimed...