Labaki rising. Last year she won the Jury Prize at […]

Narendra Modi now has his own biopic. It will come out early next month. Modi is played by actor Vivek Oberoi, with Rajendra Gupta, Prashant Narayanan, Zarina Wahab, Barkha Bisht Sengupta, Boman Irani, Darshan Kumar and Yatin Karyekar, among others, in the supporting roles. This biopic was directed by Omung Kumar, who has earlier helmed films such "Mary Kom," "Sarbjit and Bhoomi," two of which were based on

It’s 1920 and Ireland is at war with the British during the War of Independence. Gypo (Victor McLaglen) snitches on a sinn fein militant, eventually getting fingered, and attacked. He stumbles into a church and dies. Directed by John Ford, "The Informer" was made in spite of the producers (RKO Pictures) having major doubts about its commercial prospects. And yet, the film was hailed, at the time of its release

(TV/Netflix) "Twin," a much-anticipated drama series that includes the dramatic and picturesque settings of Lofoten in Norway, will be shown at Series Mania, a festival that's launching in Lille France, tomorrow. The lead actor is Kristofer Hivju, best-known outside of Norway for his role as Tormund Giantsbane in "Game of Thrones." Besides starring in the series Hivju, also co-created it. Series Mania is a festival

Filmmaker Ondi Timoner felt the best way to tell the story of Robert Mapplethorpe was in a narrative-versus-documentary format. Mapplethorpe, the vaunted New York photograper who died of AIDS in 1989, was well-known for his photographs of controversial material, including of New York’s gay scene, and for his early marriage to rocker Patti Smith. “I don’t tend to make documentaries about people who aren’t alive

Melbar Entertainment Group announced that production has begun on the feature documentary about the infamous Knoedler Gallery art scandal, one that involved one of the largest art forgeries in history. Over sixty forged abstract expressionists works of art sold to high society collectors and prestigious art institutions for over $80 million in total. The film will be completed in late 2019. The fully-financed

So I got curious about Cinéfondation, an incubator created within the Cannes Festival's ecosystem to lend certain filmmakers a helping hand, whether that's advice, a network, or funds. It's been two decades since its inception and I needed to situate this program within the festival's many other endeavors. Gilles Jacob, former president of the Cannes Festival, created Cinéfondation in 1998, over twenty years ago. The foundation lends assistance in several

The Cannes Festival selection is augmented, each year, with a spate of student movies by young filmmakers sending their unfinished projects from around the world in the hope of finding a sensitive ear and a receptive heart. With deep pockets, preferably. L’Atelier (“workshop” in the French original) is a way for students in search of finishing funds to come to Cannes, pitch their project, meet with prospective partners

Seeing “The Favourite” a few days ago, I was so stunned by Olivia Colman’s turn as Queen Anne that I had to go back the next day and see it all over again, checking whether I was right the first time in thinking that this was an extraordinary performance by an extraordinary actress. It was and more. She plays the overweight monarch (fattened by some thirty pounds for the part) stuffing herself with cake and subservient in both

Ishtar Yasin Gutiérrez is a filmmaker who’s already got several documentaries and feature films under her belt. In 1998 she launched Astarte Films from San Jose, Costa Rica, a city where she's been working as screenwriter and filmmaker. She was born in Moscow, Russia to an Iraqi father and a Chilean-Costa Rican mother. Her first film, “El Camino,” premiered at the 2008 Berlinale. It would later go on to be shown at