Film News

Iran asks award-winning film-maker to report to prosecutor

By AFP

Tehran - Iranian authorities have asked award-winning film director Mohammad Rasoulof to report to the prosecutor's office after confiscating his passport at Tehran airport, a co-producer of his latest film said Tuesday.

'Three Billboards' wins coveted Toronto film festival prize

By AFP

Toronto - Martin McDonagh's darkly hilarious drama "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" won the Toronto film festival's audience prize for best picture on Sunday, giving it a leg up in the race for the Oscars.

Russia's 'Orthodox Taliban' sows fear over racy tsar biopic

By AFP

Moscow - Few in Russia took it seriously when hardline conservatives began protesting an upcoming biopic about an affair between tsar Nicholas II and a ballerina.

French-Lebanese director faces military tribunal over film

By AFP

Birut - French-Lebanese director Ziad Doueiri, whose most recent film just won a prize at the Venice Film Festival, was briefly detained after arriving at Beirut airport and must appear at a military tribunal Monday, he told AFP.

Edison, Westinghouse row electrifies Toronto film fest

By AFP

Toronto - Oscar nominees Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon electrified audiences at the Toronto film festival Sunday with their portrayals of Thomas Edison and his rival in the race for marketable electricity, George Westinghouse.

'The Shape of Water' by Mexico's Guillermo Del Toro wins Venice Golden Lion

By AFP

Venice - "The Shape of Water," a dazzling sci-fi romance by Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro, won the coveted Golden Lion at the Venice film festival on Saturday.

Afghanistan's lost movies, hidden from the Taliban, go digital

By AFP

Kabul - When the Taliban charged in to Afghanistan's state-run film company in the mid-1990s intent on destroying all the movies, Habibullah Ali risked everything to save them.

A class act: how Britain has US to thank for movie legend

By AFP

Venice - At 84, Michael Caine is still going strong as one of the most successful actors Britain has ever produced.

Director's despair sends Lawrence in new direction

By AFP

Venice - Director Darren Aronofsky's says his latest film, "mother!", a dark, allegorical portrayal of an unravelling couple starring Jennifer Lawrence, was born of despair at the way the world is going."Most of my films take many many years to come to life.

New dimension to Jackson's 'Thriller' and story behind it

By AFP

Venice - Director John Landis says his new 3D version of "Thriller" gives Michael Jackson fans chance to see the groundbreaking video how the late king of pop would have wanted them to.

Love, wrinkles and all, conquers Venice

By AFP

Venice - Love conquers all, even when wrinkles become part of the equation.That's the message from Helen Mirren and from Venice, appropriately the world's oldest film festival.

Eddie Rocky Rivera discusses new film 'The Streetz' Special

By Markos Papadatos

Sayville - Award-winning director and screenwriter Eddie Rocky Rivera chatted with Digital Journal about the premiere of his new film "The Streetz."

Hollywood stars enter Confederate symbols row

By AFP

Venice - Hollywood stars George Clooney and Julianne Moore on Saturday weighed in on the debate raging in the United States over statues and other symbols of the pro-slavery side in the American Civil War.

Clooney puts poison in Anywhere USA's peanut butter

By AFP

Venice - New father George Clooney was back in the Venice limelight Saturday with his new film, "Suburbicon," a toxic depiction of 1950s America competing for the film festival's Golden Lion.

Redford and Fonda keep sexual spark alive, 50 years on

By AFP

Venice - Half a century after they simmered with youthful sexuality in "Barefoot in the Park", screen legends Jane Fonda and Robert Redford have teamed up again in a tale of love and sex in later life.

Bollywood's newest subject — erectile dysfunction

By AFP

Mumbai - Virile male heroes have long been a feature of Bollywood films, but a new movie that hit screens Friday tackles a rarely talked about issue in patriarchal India -- erectile dysfunction.

France's Deauville American film fest rolls out carpet

By AFP

Deauville - France's Deauville American Film Festival opens in the Normandy seaside resort on Friday, rolling out the red carpet to new forms of distribution and 60 movies.

Schrader gives Venice glimpse of Apocalypse soon

By AFP

Venice - Nobody is ever going to call Paul Schrader's "First Reformed" a feel-good movie, and the legendary screenwriter and director is fine with that.

Mini-Matt woos Venice film festival

By AFP

Venice - The 74th Venice film festival kicked off Wednesday with "Downsizing", a sci-fi drama starring a miniaturised Matt Damon, opening to enthusiastic early reviews.

Hollywood royalty and British monarchy to rub shoulders in Venice

By AFP

Venice - Hollywood royalty, in the shape of George Clooney, Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, will share the limelight with a 19th-century British monarch at this year's Venice film festival, which kicks off Wednesday.

Top Russian director accused of fraud put under house arrest

By AFP

Moscow - Acclaimed Russian theatre and film director Kirill Serebrennikov was put under house arrest Wednesday after being charged with fraud in a case that has sent shockwaves through the arts community.

Top Russian director to appear in court on fraud charge

By AFP

Moscow - Acclaimed Russian theatre and film director Kirill Serebrennikov was due to appear before a judge Wednesday after being charged with fraud in a case that has sent shockwaves through the arts community.

Online piracy sites blocked in Australia crackdown

By AFP

Sydney - An Australian court on Friday ordered internet providers to block more than 40 piracy websites after a successful case by leading film distributors, in a major ruling on online content sharing.

'Star Wars' Obi Wan spin-off in the works: US media

By AFP

Los Angeles - Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stephen Daldry is in early talks to direct a "Star Wars" spin-off about Jedi master Obi Wan Kenobi, US media reported on Thursday.

'The Streetz' to premiere at the Sayville Theater on Long Island

By Markos Papadatos

Sayville - The highly-anticipated film "The Streetz 1" will makes its premiere on August 28 at the Sayville Theater on Long Island.

China blockbuster joins top 100 grossing films worldwide

By AFP

Shanghai - Fresh from shattering China's box-office record, patriotic blockbuster "Wolf Warriors 2" has claimed another slice of history by becoming the first non-Hollywood film to break into the top 100 all-time grossing movies worldwide.

Polanski faces fresh accusation of sex attack on minor

By AFP

Los Angeles - A third woman came forward Tuesday to accuse Roman Polanski of sexual assault when she was a minor, four decades after he went on the run for raping another girl.

Japan actor who played original Godzilla dies at 88

By AFP

Toukyo - Haruo Nakajima, the actor who played Japan's iconic city-wrecking monster Godzilla in the original 1954 movie, has died, film studio Toho said Tuesday. He was 88.

Flag-waving Chinese blockbuster smashes box-office records

By AFP

Shanghai - A flag-waving Chinese action film depicting the country's soldiers saving war-ravaged Africans from Western baddies soared to become China's all-time top box-office earner Tuesday, headlining a summer of patriotic cinematic fare.

Two Pussy Riot members detained over protest in Siberian city

By AFP

Moscow - Russian police on Monday detained for several hours two members of Pussy Riot after they staged a protest in support of a jailed Ukrainian filmmaker in a Siberian city.