News

Michel Franco’s timely drama “Dreams,” starring Oscar winner Jessica Chastain and celebrated ballet dancer Isaac Hernández, has been bought by Greenwich Entertainment for North American rights. The movie world premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival where it was warmly received.

Greenwich Entertainment will release “Dreams” during the awards season this fall. The film sees Hernandez play a ballet dancer from Mexico who dreams international fame and life in the United States. Believing that his lover (Chastain), a socialite and philanthropist, will support him, he leaves everything behind and narrowly escapes death crossing the border. However, his arrival disrupts her carefully curated world and she will do anything to protect their future together – and the life she has built for herself.

“I’m happy that ‘Dreams’ will be released by Greenwich in North America,” says Franco. “It was a joy to work with Jessica Chastain a second time,...

Greenwich Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Michel Franco’s topical Berlinale Competition entry Dreams starring Jessica Chastain and ballet dancer Isaac Hernández.

The drama follows Fernando, a Mexican dancer who attempts to migrate to the United States and live with his socialite lover, Jennifer. After narrowly escaping death during a border crossing, Fernandodiscovers that Jennifer will do whatever it takes to preserve her carefully curated life – and his specific place in it. The cast includes Rupert Friend.

Greenwich will distribute the Teorema production in association with Freckle Films, Ar Content, and Eastern Film in autumn and mount anawards push.

Exclusive: Lena Góra has joined the cast of the four-hour TNT miniseries Debriefing The President as the co-lead opposite Joel Kinnaman. She has taken on the role of Polly Stevens, the female lead on the project currently shooting in Cairo, sources tell Deadline.

Polly is a colleague of Kinnaman’s real-life CIA analyst John Nixon, whose book of the same name inspired the series. Rhona Mitra was originally attached to play Polly, but has since departed the series for unknown reasons.

Debriefing the President is a limited series that tells the story of CIA analyst John Nixon (Kinnaman), who became the first American to positively identify and interrogate Saddam Hussein following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The series delves into Nixon’s personal journey as he grapples with the complexities of his mission (2003-2006). Through his interactions with Saddam, Nixon gains a deeper understanding of the Iraqi dictator, the potential consequences of the invasion,...

Exclusive: Harry Melling (Wolf Hall) is set to star opposite Barry Keoghan and Riley Keough in Butterfly Jam, the new drama marking the English-language debut of Cannes prize-winner Kantemir Balagov (Beanpole), sources tell Deadline.

Character details are under wraps. Set against the backdrop of New Jersey’s Circassian community, the film revolves around a teenager whose father and aunt run a struggling diner specializing in Circassian cuisine. When he’s not helping out in the restaurant, the boy is training to become a professional wrestler. After one of his father’s misguided schemes goes wrong, he is forced to take on board his father’s failings as he finds himself confronted with a violence that will force him to grow up faster than he would like.

The project hails from Alexander Rodnyansky’s Ar Content, which is financing, as well as Emilia Pérez producer Pascal Caucheteux’s Why Not Productions,...

Coming soon from Arrow Video is the brutal post-apocalyptic revenge tale from Kazahkstan, Steppenwolf. Written and directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov, his film is relentless and nihilistic, an epic journey across a desolate landscape stained with blood.

In the film:

Tamara (Anna Starchenko), a young lady consumed by trauma, searches for her missing son, Timka, in a small town dominated by riots and violence. In a desperate attempt to get him back, she teams up with an amoral former police investigator (Berik Aitzhanov) whose methods prove to be frequently cruel and sadistic. Quietly determined, Tamara decides to complete the mission with the nihilistic detective, no matter the cost, as the pair embarks on a bloody and bullet-riddled road trip in their combined search for salvation.

Now, watch the official trailer!

Winner of the Golden Raven Grand Prix at the 2024 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival and the Outstanding Performance Award for both...

Exclusive: Weeks after signing on to lead Reminders of Him, Universal’s adaptation of the novel from It Ends with Us scribe Colleen Hoover, Maika Monroe has found another new project in Place to Be, the latest indie drama from Hungarian filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó (Pieces of a Woman).

Character details are under wraps. Ellen Burstyn and Taika Waititi lead the film examining the unlikely friendship of an elderly woman and middle-aged man as they travel from Chicago to New York to return a lost racing pigeon home. Others in the cast, as previously announced, include Murray Bartlett, Pamela Anderson, Edgar Ramírez, and Lena Waithe.

Written by Mundruczó and Kata Wéber, the filmmaker’s wife and frequent collaborator, Place to Be is shooting at Disney Studios Australia in Sydney. Producers on the project include Jomon Thomas, Megan Wynn, and Alexander Rodnyansky. The...

Cannes laureate Kornél Mundruczó is juggling high-profile projects across different continents.

There’s the Ellen Burstyn-starrer “Place to Be,” currently filming in Australia and “At the Sea” featuring Amy Adams and now in post-production.

The Hungarian filmmaker, who won the Fipresci prize at Cannes for “Delta,” and the festival’s Un Certain Regard prize for “White God” and gained further recognition with Venice winner and Oscar-nominated Netflix feature “Pieces of a Woman,” is clearly continuing to diversify his portfolio.

“Place to Be,” Mundruczó reveals, was inspired by his desire to work with Ellen Burstyn again after their brief but impactful collaboration on “Pieces of a Woman.”

“I’m so much of a fan of hers. I love what she did in her entire career, how brave she was,” Mundruczó tells Variety. “She told me, ‘I never really played a romance.’ It stayed with me, and I felt that would...

“The White Lotus” star Murray Bartlett has returned to his native Australia to film “Place to Be,” the latest project from Cannes and Venice winner Kornél Mundruczó, which is currently shooting.

In “Place to Be,” Bartlett plays Ron, Pamela Anderson’s hapless brother, with the siblings plotting to re-home their mother Brooke (Ellen Burstyn) and access their late artist father’s inheritance.

“We’re attempting to shuffle our mother into a high-end aged care facility,” Bartlett tells Variety. “He kind of presents as prickly… But there’s a lot going on. There’s a lot happened in this family dynamic, particularly with his father, who has passed away.”

The drama, written by award-winning screenwriter Kata Wéber (known for “Pieces of a Woman” and “White God”), follows the unlikely friendship between no-nonsense Brooke and discombobulated divorcee Nelson, played by Taika Waititi, as they travel from Chicago to New York to return a lost racing pigeon.

The Match Factory has closed multiple distribution deals for Michel Franco’s illegal migrant drama Dreams following its Berlinale premiere.

It has sold to France (Metropolitan Filmexport), Germany & Austria (Weltkino Filmverleih), Italy (Fandango), Spain (Sideral), Scandinavia (Lucky Dogs), Poland (Best Film), Benelux (Paradiso), the Baltics (Acme Film), Portugal (Films 4 You), Greece (Spentzos Film), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Czech Republic & Slovakia (Aerofilms), Romania (Transilvania Film), Hungary (Ads), Ex-Yugoslavia (McF MegaCom), Turkey (Bir Film), Mena (Front Row), South Korea (Nk Contents), and Taiwan (Andrews Film).

Isaac Hernández stars as a young ballet dancer from Mexico, with dreams of international recognition and a life in the US, who illegally enters the country believing his wealthy socialite and philanthropist lover (Jessica Chastain), will support him.

However, his arrival disrupts Jennifer’s carefully curated world, who juggles protecting both their future, while safeguarding the life she has built.

The feature is produced by Teorema, with Franco...

The Match Factory has closed multiple distribution deals for Michel Franco’s Berlinale competition title Dreams, starring Jessica Chastain and Isaac Hernández.

The film has secured distribution in France (Metropolitan Filmexport), Germany & Austria (Weltkino Filmverleih), Italy (Fandango), Spain (Sideral), Scandinavia (Lucky Dogs), Poland (Best Film), Benelux (Paradiso), the Baltics (Acme Film), Portugal (Films 4 You), Greece (Spentzos Film), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Czech Republic & Slovakia (Aerofilms), Romania (Transilvania Film), Hungary (Ads), Ex-Yugoslavia (McF MegaCom), Turkey (Bir Film), Mena (Front Row), South Korea (Nk Contents), and Taiwan (Andrews Film). Negotiations for additional territories are underway.

Dreams stars Hernández as a young ballet dancer from Mexico,...

Sales agency the Match Factory has closed multiple distribution deals for the Berlinale Competition title “Dreams,” directed by Michel Franco, and starring Jessica Chastain and Isaac Hernández.

The Match Factory has secured distribution in France (Metropolitan Filmexport), Germany and Austria (Weltkino Filmverleih), Italy (Fandango), Spain (Sideral), Scandinavia (Lucky Dogs), Poland (Best Film), Benelux (Paradiso), the Baltics (Acme Film), Portugal (Films 4 You), Greece (Spentzos Film), Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Aerofilms), Romania (Transilvania Film), Hungary (Ads), Ex-Yugoslavia (McF MegaCom), Turkey (Bir Film), Mena (Front Row), South Korea (Nk Contents), and Taiwan (Andrews Film). Negotiations for additional territories are underway.

The film follows Fernando (Hernández), a young ballet dancer from Mexico, who dreams of international recognition and a life in the U.S. Believing his lover, Jennifer (Chastain), a socialite and philanthropist, will support him, he leaves everything behind—narrowly escaping death in the process. However, his arrival disrupts Jennifer’s carefully curated world.

The Jessica Chastain/Isaac Hernández drama Dreams from Mexican director Michel Franco, has landed distribution deals across multiple territories, with The Match Factory closing for most of Europe as well as the Middle East and some Asian regions.

The drama, which premiered in competition at the Berlin film festival in February, sees Hernández play Fernando, a young ballet dancer from Mexico with ambitions of global success. Believing his lover Jennifer (Chastain), a wealthy philanthropist, will support his aspirations, he leaves his old life behind — barely escaping a fatal outcome. His arrival, however, unsettles Jennifer’s carefully controlled existence, setting off a chain of events that challenges both their futures. Dreams was a critical hit at the festival, with The Hollywood Reporter‘s chief reviewer David Rooney calling it a “conflicted love story that finds nerve-jangling ways to keep shifting the power balance.”

Among Match Factory’s confirmed deals for the...

Exclusive: The cast for Kornél Mundruczó’s next feature drama Place to Be, continues to grow, with Primetime Emmy winner Lena Waithe joining Ellen Burstyn, Taika Waititi, Pamela Anderson and Edgar Ramirez, all of whom we previously told you about.

The film, written by Kata Wéber (Mundruczó’s Pieces of a Woman, White God), is backed by S’YA Concept with further support from the Nsw government through Screen Nsw’s Made in Nsw fund. WME Independent is handling international sales.

The feature centers on the last passions of life and follows the unlikely friendship of kindly but no-nonsense Brooke (Burstyn) and discombobulated divorcee Nelson (Waititi) as they travel from Chicago to New York to return a lost racing pigeon.

Waithe plays the role of Shy, who helps Brooke on her journey to track down the owner of the lost pigeon.

Production is underway at Disney Studios in Sydney.

Hungarian-born Mundruczó...

Exclusive: Golden Globe and Emmy nominated actor Edgar Ramirez is joining Place To Be, the drama from Kornél Mundruczó, the filmmaker of the Oscar-nominated Pieces of a Woman. The film also stars Ellen Burstyn, Taika Waititi and Pamela Anderson. Cameras are rolling in Sydney.

Plot details are under wraps.

Ramirez was recently seen starring in the Academy Award winning film Emilia Perez from director Jacques Audiard for Netflix. He can be seen next in Arenas, director Camille Perton’s feature debut about professional soccer and writer-director Drake Doremus’ Next Life starring alongside Emilia Clarke.

He has appeared in numerous beloved features, including the Academy Award-nominated action thriller Zero Dark Thirty and Netflix’s global hit comedy film Yes Day. His starring turn in the 2010 biopic miniseries Carlos received widespread acclaim, and earned him a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination. Ramirez also starred in FX’s lauded miniseries The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story...

Pamela Anderson is joining the cast of Kornél Mundruczó’s upcoming drama movie, Place to Be. The film is currently shooting in Sydney, Australia.

Deadline reports that Anderson has joined the project, with other cast members including Ellen Burstyn and What We Do In The Shadows star Taika Waititi. Place to Be tells the story of "no-nonsense" Brooke (Burstyn) and "discombobulated divorcee" Nelson (Waititi) as they travel from Chicago to New York to bring a lost racing pigeon home. Anderon's role is Molly, Brooke's daughter, who is finding herself after the end of her second marriage. "Anxious about re-homing her elderly mother, she is resistant to any plan to move her to a retirement facility," the character description reads.

Mundruczó spoke about Anderson's talents, including her most recent role in the 2024 film The Last Showgirl, in the casting announcement. "I really love Pamela - she's such a versatile actress, and...

Pamela Anderson is set to star in new drama 'Place to Be'.'The Last Showgirl' actress, 57, will lead the film alongside Ellen Burstyn, 92, and Taika Waititi, 49, while Kornél Mundruczó directs.The 49-year-old filmmaker said he was "thrilled" to have such a talented cast, as he told Deadline: "I really love Pamela – she’s such a versatile actress, and her most recent performance in 'The Last Showgirl' was unbelievable."She showed such bravery, and I’m tremendously excited to work with her."'Place to Be' will follow no-nonsense Brooke (Burstyn) and divorcee Nelson (Waititi) as they embark on a journey from Chicago to New York in an effort to return a lost racing pigeon home.Anderson is set to portray Brooke's daughter Molly, who is trying to make her own way in life in the aftermath of her second marriage breaking down. Apprehensive about letting go of her elderly mother,...

Exclusive: Following her comeback role in the awards season sensation The Last Showgirl, Pamela Anderson has found her next feature project, and that’s Kornél Mundruczó’s poignant drama Place to Be.

The pic from the filmmaker of the Oscar nominated Pieces of a Woman also stars Ellen Burstyn and Taika Waititi, as we first told you. Cameras are rolling in Sydney, Australia.

Mundruczó says he’s “thrilled” to have drawn together such a diverse and talented cast.

“I really love Pamela – she’s such a versatile actress and her most recent performance in The Last Showgirl was unbelievable. She showed such bravery and I’m tremendously excited to work with her,” the filmmaker tells Deadline.

Anderson was nominated recently for SAG, Golden Globe and Gotham awards for Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl in which she plays a veteran Vegas dancer whose legendary show finally shuts down.

Place to Be,...

Ellen Burstyn and Taika Waititi have been cast in Place to Be, a feature drama directed by Kornél Mundruczó and written by his longtime collaborator Kata Wéber. The film follows an elderly woman and a middle-aged man as they travel from Chicago to New York to return a lost racing pigeon. Production is underway at Disney Studios Australia in Sydney.

Burstyn, at 92, has arrived in Sydney for filming, marking a return to Australia after her stage debut in 33 Variations in 2019. She described the opportunity to work with Mundruczó again as a significant factor in taking on the role. The two previously collaborated on Pieces of a Woman, for which Mundruczó earned an Academy Award nomination. “I had every desire to direct the legendary Ellen Burstyn in a leading role, not only because I admire her amazing talent, but also because the time has finally come to celebrate older women on screen,...

Exclusive: Oscar winners Ellen Burstyn and Taika Waititi are set to star in Kornél Mundruczó’s feature drama Place to Be.

Written by Mundruczó’s frequent collaborator Kata Wéber, Place to Be follows the unlikely friendship of an elderly woman (Burstyn) and middle-aged man (Waititi) as they travel from Chicago to New York to return a lost racing pigeon home. The feature will shoot this month at Disney Studios Australia in Sydney.

Hungarian-born Mundruczó is known for his auteurial breakthrough film White God and Venice winner and Oscar-nominated Netflix feature Pieces of a Woman, both penned by Wéber.

The new pic is produced by Jomon Thomas, Megan Wynn, and Alexander Rodnyansky. EPs are Natalya Pavchinskaya (S’YA Concept), Stuart Manashil, Pankaj Mamtora (Lonestar Films), Kanesh Mohana Sundaram (Gvkm Elephant Pictures), Ashley

Levinson, Sam Levinson, Viktoria Petranyi, David Edelstein and the late Kevin Turen.

Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco has arrived in the German capital to debut his latest feature, Dreams, in competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

The film is led by Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, who joined the prolific filmmaker this afternoon at a presser for the flick. The session was politically-orientated, with most questions directed at Chastain. Early on, the Oscar winner was quizzed on political affairs in her native U.S., and her answer was resolute.

“I make my home in the U.S. because I’m a hopeful person,” Chastain said. “I believe you have to participate to create the environment, culture, and society you want. I’m not going to give up on my country. So yes, I would like to say there’s a lot of us there that are still quite hopeful, and we’re fighting the good fight.”

In Dreams, Chastain stars as wealthy San Francisco socialist and philanthropist Jennifer.

László Nemes’ post-World War II Hungarian family drama Orphan has sold to Portugal’s Midas Filmes, Italy’s Movies Inspired, Greece’s Spentzos Film Sa, Baltic’s Kino Pavasaris and ex-Yugoslavia’s McF MegaCom Film for Charades and New Europe Film Sales.

The film has already sold to Mubi for a multi-territory deal in the UK and Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Latin America and Turkey. Le Pacte will release the film in France.

Set in 1957 Budapest after the uprising against the Communistregime, Orphanis about a young boy’s journey when a man appears from his mother’s past and...

As the European Film Market kicks off Feb. 13 in Berlin with a new market head, Tanja Meissner, at the helm, this year’s buzziest titles suggest the industry will be looking toward tried-and-true genre fare and splashy, star-driven packages to thaw the winter chill.

Bankable stars are expected to heat things up in Berlin, with Ari Aster and A24’s “Eddington”, Guy Ritchie’s “Wife & Dog”, Ernest Dickerson’s untitled hitman thriller and Kantemir Balagov’s “Butterfly Jam” showcasing how marquee names remain a safe bet as uncertainty continues to reign in the theatrical market.

On the genre side of things, horror is still expected to scare up sales, with buyers looking to sink their fangs into Isabelle Huppert’s 16th-century vampire mystery “The Blood Countess” and Jacob Chase’s killer canine genre-bender “Bad Boy,” starring Ke Huy Quan and Lili Reinhart. Meanwhile, comedy could be making a comeback,...

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Riley Keough (Mad Max: Fury Road) are in talks to co-star in Russian director Kantemir Balagov’s Butterfly Jam, his first English-language feature after 2019 Cannes breakout Beanpole.

Set against the backdrop of New Jersey’s Circassian community, the drama revolves around a teenager whose father and aunt run a struggling diner specializing in Circassian cuisine. When he’s not helping out in the restaurant, the boy is training to become a professional wrestler.

After one of his father’s misguided schemes goes wrong, the boy is forced to take on board his father’s failings as he finds himself confronted with a violence that will force him to grow up faster than he would like.

As revealed by Deadline last year, the production brings together Alexander Rodnyansky’s Ar Content, Emilia Pérez producer Pascal Caucheteux’s Why Not Productions and Goodfellas, which is also handling sales.

Barry Keoghan and Riley Keough have entered into negotiations to star in the English language drama ‘Butterfly Jam’ from Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov.

The drama centres on a tight-knit U.S. community of Circassian immigrants and a complicated relationship between a father and son, in which the son imbues his father with qualities he doesn’t actually possess.

Also in news – John Malkovich, Mark Ruffalo & Parker Posey set for Martin McDonagh’s ‘Wild Horse Nine’

The movie, which is based on a story penned by Balagov, is his first English-language feature.

Pascal Caucheteux’s Why Not Productions is joining Alexander Rodnyansky’s Ar Content to produce the film. Executive producers are Michael Kupisk for Ar Content, Pauline Lamy for Why Not Productions and Livia Van der Staay from Goodfellas.

The post Barry Keoghan & Riley Keough eyed for drama ‘Butterfly Jam’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Barry Keoghan (“Saltburn”) and Riley Keough (“Mad Max: Fury Road”) are in talks to star in “Butterfly Jam,” the first English-language feature from Kantemir Balagov, the Russian director behind the acclaimed 2019 drama “Beanpole.”

The film, which launched in Cannes last year with Goodfellas selling, is based on Balagov’s script about a tight-knit U.S. community of Circassian immigrants and a complicated relationship between a father and son, in which the son imbues his father with qualities he doesn’t actually possess. The script has already circulated among select distributors and has sparked some anticipation. Variety understands UTA Independent Film Group is co-repping the title with CAA Media Finance for North America.

Pascal Caucheteux’s Why Not Productions — which produced “Emilia Perez” — is joining Alexander Rodnyansky’s Ar Content to produce the film, which will be financed by Ar Content.

Rodnyansky — who also produced “Beanpole” and whose lengthy list of...

Exclusive: Rhona Mitra has landed the female lead opposite Joel Kinnaman in Debriefing the President (wt), the four-hour miniseries recently greenlighted at TNT, which comes as part of the network’s renewed focus on premium event programming.

Mitra plays Polly Stevens, a colleague of Kinnaman’s real-life CIA analyst John Nixon (Kinnaman), whose book of the same name inspired the series. The show marks a return to TNT for the actress following two seasons as Dr. Rachel Scott in its action drama The Last Ship.

Delving into the 2003 interrogation of deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Debriefing the President explores a CIA analyst’s relentless search for truth, the complexities of justice on the global stage, and the deeply personal father-son connections woven into a turbulent period of history. Kinnaman’s Nixon is the first American official to positively identify and interrogate Saddam Hussein following his capture. The miniseries follows his...

Exclusive: Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), Maria Schrader (She Said), and Ramin Bahrani (White Tiger) are among the filmmakers set to attend this year’s Floodlight Summit in Cartagena, Colombia.

This year’s event — the second annual Floodlight Summit gathering — will run December 6-8 in Cartagena. The summit gathers investigative journalists from across the globe who present their work to filmmakers and producers for potential screen adaptations.

Other headline guests set to attend include William Horberg (The Queen’s Gambit), Ziad Doueiri (West Beirut), Sarah Timberman (Justified), Alexander Rodnyansky (Leviathan), and Rodrigo García (News of a Kidnapping). Ryan Murphy Productions Senior Executive and Attorney Craig Emanuel will also be in attendance to offer legal guidance.

The 2024 cohort of Floodlight journalists includes reporters from more than 25 countries across five continents, including a Pulitzer Prize winner, independent journalists, and war reporters. Speakers from the profession set for Colombia include Jodi Kantor...

The Match Factory has officially launched sales on Michel Franco’s upcoming movie Dreams at the AFM in Las Vegas, having been attached to the film for the past year.

The second collaboration between Franco and Jessica Chastain, the film is in post-production and Tmf is sharing a first promo with buyers.

Chastain plays socialite and philanthropist Jennifer, whose young ballet dancer lover Fernando leaves everything behind in Mexico to join her in the U.S., narrowly escaping death in the process.

He believes she will support him in his dreams of being internationally recognized and living in the U.S. His arrival disrupts Jennifer’s world, and she will do anything to protect both their futures—and the carefully curated life she’s built.

Isaac Hernández co-stars as the young dancer. He is currently a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre,...

The Match Factory has launched sales for the new feature by acclaimed Mexican director Michel Franco, “Dreams,” at the American Film Market, and made a promo available for buyers. The film marks the second collaboration between the director and Jessica Chastain.

Variety revealed in July that the Match Factory would be the sales agent on the project (here).

Franco’s “Memory,” starring Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard, premiered last year in competition at the Venice Film Festival, where Sarsgaard was awarded the Coppa Volpi for best actor.

“Dreams” features Chastain in the leading role, alongside dancer Isaac Hernández. Currently a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, Hernández has worked with the English National Ballet in London, the San Francisco Ballet, and most of the major ballet companies. He made his acting debut in the film “The King of All the World” (2021). The cast also includes Marshall Bell (“Stand by Me”), and Rupert Friend.

Exclusive: The European Producers Club (Epc) has voiced its support for Ukrainian producer Alexander Rodnyansky, after a Russian court sentenced him in absentia last week to eight-and-a-half years in prison.

The sentence was related to charges of spreading fake news about Russia’s war in Ukraine, after the producer posted on social media against Russian missile attacks on a maternity hospital in Mariupol and andother civilian targets in Kyiv, Dnieper and Zaporozhye in the early days of the 2022 invasion.

Paris-based body Epc – which gathers 160 top independent producers in Europe including Rodnyansky – said its members were “deeply troubled” by the sentence.

“Alexander embodies the very essence of what it means to be an independent producer: a champion of creative diversity and an advocate for art as a platform to explore differing perspectives on society. The harshness of the sentence imposed upon him underscores the importance of his role in this capacity,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSLeviathan.A Russian court has sentenced the Ukrainian-born film producer Alexander Rodnyansky to eight and a half years in prison in absentia for anti-war statements, which the state characterizes as “fakes” motivated by “political hatred.”The documentary Undercover: Exposing the Far Right was pulled on short notice from the BFI London Film Festival due to safety concerns for staff and audience members, though it is not clear if a credible threat was made.Thousands of artists from across the cultural industry have signed a statement to artificial-intelligence companies, which reads in its entirety: “The unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI is a major, unjust threat to the livelihoods of the people behind those works, and must not be permitted.

The Ukrainian film producer behind Leviathan and Loveless was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison after speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

A Moscow court has sentenced Oscar-nominated film producer Alexander Rodnyansky to eight-and-a-half years jail in absentia on Monday for spreading “fake” information about the Russian army.

Rodnyansky, 63, was born in Kyiv but spent most of his career in Russia, producing dozens of TV series and movies there including the Oscar-nominated crime drama Leviathan. He has been an outspoken critic of the Kremlin’s offensive since it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, repeatedly denouncing the invasion on social media.

Oscar-nominated producer Alexander Rodnyansky has been sentenced in absentia to eight-and-a-half years in jail by a Russian court on charges of spreading fake news about Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The trial was related to social media posts by Rodnyansky, firstly in March 2022, in which he criticized a Russian missile attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, and in October 10, 2022, about attacks by the Russian army on civilian targets in Kyiv, Dnieper and Zaporozhye.

Rodnyansky, who was born in Kyiv but spent much of his career working in Russia, fled the country shortly after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Commenting on the legal action in a talk at NATPE Budapest over the summer, Rodnyansky said he was expecting an eight- to 10-year jail sentence, but that it was “too late to be scared.”

He noted that other writers, journalists and filmmakers in his entourage had already received similar sentences, and...

A Russian court has sentenced Ukrainian film producer Alexander Rodnyansky to 8.5 years in prison for speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The sentence was delivered on Monday by the Basmanny District Court in Moscow. Rodnyansky, who lives outside of Russia, was tried and convicted in absentia.

Rodnyansky has worked in the film industry for decades, producing movies that received Academy Award nominations and critical acclaim. However, since the start of the war he has openly condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The court claimed Rodnyansky spread “fakes” about the military and that his comments were motivated by “political hatred.”

The producer denies the charges, saying the case is political and that he was punished for discussing war crimes committed by Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. In a statement to Variety magazine, Rodnyansky said the long prison sentence and internet ban are meant to “instill more...

Two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky was sentenced in absentia to 8.5 years in prison by a Moscow court on Monday, with the producer accusing Russian authorities of attempting to “instill more fear” among critics of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

“Dozens of Russia’s best writers and musicians have been sentenced for that purpose before me: to silence the anti-war voices,” Rodnyansky said in a statement shared with Variety.

The ruling, which was handed down in Moscow’s Basmanny District Court on Monday afternoon, sentenced Rodnyansky to 8.5 years in prison for his anti-war comments and also banned him from posting on the Internet for four years.

The court found him guilty of disseminating military “fakes,” as Russian officials characterize any statements that contradict the official narrative around the war in Ukraine, and determined his actions were motivated by “political hatred,” according to the Russian news site Mediazona.

In his statement,...

Oscar-winning Hungarian director László Nemes has wrapped filming on his long-awaited feature Orphan after a 10-week shoot in Budapest.

The production has released a first look image of 12 year-old newcomer Bojtorján Barabas in the lead role of Andor, the 12-year-old protagonist who learns about his own genesis in the ruins of the 1956 Hungarian uprising against the communist dictatorship.

The film follows the boy’s painful journey when a man appears from his mother’s past and he discovers the true story of her survival during World War II. Andor has to come to terms with this man as a usurping father he only has hatred for.

Orphan is Nemes’ third film after Sunset, which world premiered in Venice in 2018, and his Oscar-winning breakthrough Son of Saul, which won Cannes Grand Prize of the Jury in 2015, before clinching Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards the following year.

Balagasz is...

Grindstone and Roadside Attractions have picked up US rights to Dito Montiel’s crime comedy Riff Raff featuring an ensemble led by Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris and Bill Murray ahead of its world premiere at Toronto International Film festival (TIFF).

The film from Signature Films and Canopy Media Partners premieres in Special Presentations on Monday and follows a former criminal whose life is thrown upside down when his family shows up for a long-awaited reckoning.

The cast includes Gabrielle Union, Lewis Pullman, Emanuela Postacchini, Miles J. Harvey, and Pete Davidson. John Pollono wrote the screenplay.

Canopy Media Partners’ Noah Rothman,...

Exclusive: After last year’s October 7 attacks in Israel, local director Dani Rosenberg struggled to make sense of the horrors of the massacre and the ensuing war that would unleash what he describes as “unimaginable suffering, defying comprehension.” Feeling helpless, he decided to throw himself into what he knew best — filmmaking — and began asking himself the daunting question of whether or not these events could be represented or depicted on screen.

At the end of October 2023, Rosenberg, who had previously directed Locarno title The Vanishing Solider, began putting together what would be the beginnings of his next title Of Dogs and Men (Al Klavim Veanashim). The film, which premieres in the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section on September 5, went into production just weeks after October 7, when he and a small crew entered the Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community of hardworking, intellectual and peace-driven people founded by a group of left-wing activists.

After taking a $9.1 billion write-down on its linear networks business, in part due to the company’s loss of NBA rights, Warner Bros. Discovery is ramping up its investment in programming for TNT.

The cable network has greenlit “Debriefing the President” (working title), a four-hour miniseries about CIA analyst John Nixon’s 2003 interrogation of Saddam Hussein, in which he learned about the potential consequences of the invasion, the humanitarian horrors and geopolitical turbulences that would follow Saddam’s deposing.

The series is produced by Ar Content and Big Dreams Entertainment for TNT. Alexander Rodnyansky, Joel Kinnaman, Stuart Manashil, Michael Kupisk, Peter Gerwe, Shelley Browning, and Leslie Greif serve as EPs, while Cristi Bostanescu and Eric Tomosunas serve as producers and Krzysztof Skonieczny directs.

TNT has also acquired “The Librarians: The Next Chapter,” a sequel to supernatural adventure series “The Librarians.” The project was initially set to lead The CW’s 2024-25 fall season.

Exclusive: TNT has greenlighted four-hour miniseries Debriefing the President (working title), about the 2003 interrogation of deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, to air in 2025. This marks the cable network’s first original scripted order since the 2022 Warner Bros.-Discovery merger. The news comes two weeks after Wbd took a $9.1 billion write-down on its cable assets and a week after the company announced that Kathleen Finch will be retiring as chairman and CEO of U.S. Networks, with Channing Dungey, Warner Bros. Television Group Chairman and CEO, adding the linear networks to her purview.

TNT has no current original scripted shows after all remaining ones at the time of the merger have been canceled. The plan to bring back original scripted programming to the network had been put in motion by Finch, including the greenlight for Debriefing the President, which comes from independent production companies Ar Content and Big Dreams Entertainment.

Arrow Films has acquired Kazakh thriller Steppenwolf for the US, UK and Canada from UK-based Blue Finch Films, ahead of its North American premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival.

The feature was written and directed by Kazakhstan’s Adilkhan Yerzhanov, whose credits include The Owners and The Gentle Indifference Of The World, which played at Cannes in 2014 and 2018 respectively.

His latest follows a mother, played by Anna Starchenko, who is searching for her missing son in a small town consumed by riots and violence. In an act of desperation, she hires a dubious ex-detective, played by Berik Aitzhanov, who employs...

In what promises to be a vintage 2025 year for auteur cinema, Kantemir Balagov‘s next might also join the fray. Originally titled “Monica” and developed well before the invasion, this English-language debut will be shot in New Jersey and now learned that a portion will also be shot in France. During Cannes, it was revealed that the production team had changed, with Pascal Caucheteux and Grégoire Sorlat of Why Not Productions mounting the project, and now Arte France Cinéma is also on board. Backed by Alexander Rodnyansky (who is already in France for Zvyagintsev’s next), we also learn that Butterfly Jam is being set for mid-September shoot — making this might be a long-shot for a Cannes premiere, but a potential shop-in for a Venice ’25 edition premiere.…...

Exclusive: Pieces of a Woman‘s Kornel Mundruczó has five new additions to his new drama At the Sea, co-written with longtime collaborator Kata Wéber. They are Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso), Chloe East (The Fabelmans), Daniel Levy (Good Grief), Jenny Slate (Marcel the Shell with Shoes On), and Rainn Wilson (The Office).

As previously announced, Amy Adams and Murray Bartlett will also star. Production is now underway outside of Boston.

At the Sea follows the life of Laura (Adams) as she returns to her family at their holiday beach home following a long rehabilitation. There, she must readjust to the complicated life she left behind and face the next chapter without the career that gave her fame, fortune and, most importantly, identity.

Producers on the project include Alexander Rodnyansky of Ar Content, Stuart Manashil of Novo Entertainment, Alex Lebovici and Jon Oakes of Hammerstone Studios, Viktória Petrányi and Mundruczó, and...

Alexander Rodnyansky expects Russian authorities to sentence him to up to ten years in prison in his absence over his anti-war stance, but the Ar Content founder says it’s “too late to be scared” as he focuses on bolstering his slate of film and TV series.

Rodnyansky was born in Kyiv but a Moscow resident when, as a vocal critic of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, he was forced to flee in 2022.

Speaking at NATPE Budapest, the producer and former TV exec talked about his anti-war position and his large social media following. “That’s why I am arrested in absentia,” he said. “I’m on trial right now and I am about to get a sentence of from eight-to-ten years of imprisonment. Many of my friends already received these sentences; writers, journalists, some filmmakers.”

Rodnyansky said charges against him and others are designed to shut down anti-war voices inside Russia.

Exclusive: Emmy-winner Murray Bartlett is set to join Amy Adams in At the Sea, a new drama from Kornel Mundruczó and Kata Wéber — the director and writer of such acclaimed films as Pieces of a Woman and White God — as well as Hammerstone Studios, Ryder Picture Company and Ar Content.

Set to enter production in Boston in June, the film follows the life of Laura (Adams) after a long rehabilitation, as she returns to her family at their beach holiday home where she has to readjust to the complicated life she left behind. Now she is forced to face the following next chapter of her life without the career that gave her fame, fortune and, most importantly, identity. Bartlett will play Adams’ husband.

Pic will be produced by Alexander Rodnyansky of Ar Content, Stuart Manashil, Aaron Ryder and Andrew Swett for Ryder Picture Company, Hammerstone Studios’ Alex Lebovici and Jon Oakes,...

Rai Cinema International Distribution (Rcid) has taken international sales rights for “Of Dogs and Men,” an upcoming drama directed by Dani Rosenberg and produced by Ar Content. Rcid is introducing the film to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival’s market, where Variety has been given exclusive access to a first-look image.

Written by Rosenberg, Ori Avinoam and Itai Tamir, “Of Dogs and Men” is produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Alexander Rodnyansky of Ar Content and Itai Tamir (“Under a Blue Sun”) of Laila Films.

Set and filmed in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the film follows 16-year-old Dar, who is returning to her kibbutz to look for her dog which was lost during the terror spree. She navigates the horrors inflicted upon the place and on the faces of people she meets while encountering the stark reality of the unfolding disaster beyond the fence. Between those...

Ever since he was forced to flee his Moscow home in 2022 after rousing suspicion within Russia’s government for speaking out about his opposition to the war in Ukraine, Kyiv-born producer Alexander Rodnyansky feels more compelled than ever to help bring to screen stories that are “rooted in truth.”

Now living in between Los Angeles, Italy and Ukraine, the Oscar-nominated producer has been concentrating his efforts on “building a hub” of European and international talent and uniting them with Hollywood through his banner Ar Content.

“European cinema, particularly Eastern European cinema, has always been my area of expertise and I have worked with most of the important directors of the region, so this seemed like a growth opportunity for the company,” says Rodnyansky, who was forced to shutter his other company, Non-Stop Productions when he left Russia. “I don’t pretend to be a Hollywood producer, but I have experience...

Exclusive: Israeli director Dani Rosenberg has set his next film with Alexander Rodnyansky’s Ar content. The film, which Rosenberg wrote with Ori Avinoam and Itai Tamir, is called Of Dogs and Men and Ar Content will produce with Tamier (Under a Blue Sun) of Laila Films.

The story follows 16-year-old Dar, who returns to her kibbutz to look for her dog who was lost during the terror attack of October 7. She navigates through the horrors etched upon the place and on the faces of people she meets while encountering the stark reality of the unfolding disaster beyond the fence. Between those who seek revenge and those whose faith in mankind remains unwavering, Dar will try to find her own voice.

Financed by Ar Content, Of Dogs and Men was shot in October and November 2023 in the kibbutzim lining the border with Gaza.

Mubi has taken László Nemes’ Orphan on board in a multi-territory deal on the post- World War II Hungarian family drama; Le Pacte will release the film in France.

Charades and New Europe Film Sales are handling sales on the film.

Mubi has acquired all rights in the UK and Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Latin America and Turkey.

The Hungarian-language film is the third film by Nemes following Son Of Saul and Sunset. Set in Budapest in 1957 after the uprising against the Communist regime, Orphan follows a young Jewish boy raised by his mother whose world turns upside down...

Exclusive: Pascal Caucheteux’s Why Not Productions is joining Alexander Rodnyansky’s Ar Content to produce Beanpole helmer Kantemir Balagov’s first English-language film Butterfly Jam. Goodfellas is set to launch sales on the project in Cannes next week.

The project, which is financed by Ar Content, is set to go into production later this year with casting still underway. Based on Balagov’s script and set in a tight-knit U.S. community of Circassian immigrants, Butterfly Jam portrays a complicated relationship between a father and son, in which the son imbues his father with qualities he doesn’t actually possess.

Rodnyansky produces with Caucheteux while exec producers are Michael Kupisk for Ar Content, Pauline Lamy for Why Not Productions and Livia Van der Staay from Goodfellas.

Rodnyansky is a two-time Oscar-nominee who has produced projects such as Loveless, Leviathan and Beanpole and his Ar Content banner has a long history with Balagov and Goodfellas,...