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The 37th European Film Awards, which take place annually in the lakeside Swiss city of Lucerne, have unveiled their nominations for 2024. Unsurprisingly, the list is led by French director Jacques Audiard’s Spanish-language cartel musical “Emilia Pérez” with four nominations including European Film and Best Actress for Karla Sofia Gascón. Surprisingly, Audiard, previously a five-time Efa nominee, has never won a prize from the European Film Academy, which boasts more than 5,000 members across the continent. Getting a boost is Mohammad Rasoulof’s Iranian family thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” with three nominations including European Film. It’s Germany’s submission for the International Feature Oscar this year due to its dominantly European production despite filming in secret in banished director Rasoulof’s home country.

European Film Award staple Pedro Almodóvar’s Venice Golden Lion winner “The Room Next Door” notched four noms including European Film, Director, Actress for Tilda Swinton,...

Jacques Audiard‘s “Emilia Pérez” and Pedro Almodóvar‘s “The Room Next Door” topped Tuesday’s 37th European Film Awards nominations with four apiece.

Both are up for Best European Film, Best European Director, and Best European Screenwriter prizes, while their leads, Karla Sofía Gascón in “Emilia Pérez” and Tilda Swinton in “The Room Next Door,” will face off in Best European Actress.

Mohammad Rasoulof‘s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” nabbed three nominations for film, director, and screenwriter. Coralie Fargeat‘s word-of-mouth hit “The Substance” scored two bids for film and screenwriter honors.

For the first time, films nominated for Best European Documentary and Best Animated Feature Film are eligible in the Best European Film category, leading to an expanded list of 15 nominees. Also making the cut for the top prize are Italy’s Oscar entry “Vermiglio,” Senegal’s entry “Dahomey,” and Latvia’s entry and animated film “Flow.

The nominees for this year’s European Film Awards have been unveiled, with “Emilia Pérez,” “The Substance” and “The Room Next Door” all up for best European film.

Movies also in the running for the ceremony’s top award — which was expanded this year to documentaries and animated features — include Lina Soualem’s “Bye Bye Tiberias”; Mati Diop’s “Dahomey”; Gints Zilbalodis’ “Flow”; Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Basel Adra and Hamdan Balla’s “No Other Land”; Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”; and Maura Delpero’s “Vermiglio.”

“Emilia Pérez” and “The Substance” lead the nominees overall, with each film scoring four respective nominations. The winners will be revealed during an awards ceremony on Dec. 7 in Lucerne, Switzerland.

See all the nominees below.

European Film

“Bye Bye Tiberias” — documentary film, directed by Lina Soualem, produced by Jean-Marie Nizan, Guillaume Malandrin and Ossama Bawardi

“Dahomey” — documentary film, directed by Mati Diop,...

The Substance by Coralie Fargeat, Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard, The Room Next Door by Pedro Almodóvar, and The Seed of the Sacred Fig by Mohammad Rasoulof are among the nominees for the 2024 European Film Awards (EFAs), organizers unveiled on Tuesday.

Emilia Pérez and The Room Next Door earned four noms each, including for best European film and best director. Sacred Fig is up for the best film, best director, and best screenwriter prizes. The Substance is in the running for the best film and best screenwriter honors.

In the best actress race, Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón faces Renate Reinsve, Tilda Swinton for her role in The Room Next Door, and The Girl With the Needle actresses Trine Dyrholm and Vic Carmen Sonne. For The Girl With the Needle, Magnus von Horn and Line Langebek are also nominated in the best screenwriter category.

Queer star Daniel Craig and...

The European Film Academy has announced the nominees in key categories of the 37th European Film Awards ahead of the ceremony in the Swiss lakeside city of Lucerne on December 7.

French Oscar entry Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard and The Room Next Door by Pedro Almodovar lead the nominations making it into four categories each. Both films were nominated for best European film, director and screenplay as well as actress, for Karla Sofia Gascón in Emilia Pérez and Tilda Swinton in The Room Next Door.

Other frontrunners included Germany’s Oscar entry The Seed of the Sacred Fig by exiled Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, which was nominated for best film, director and screenplay.

A slew of films clinched two nominations including Maura Delpero’s Italian Oscar entry Vermiglio, Halfdan Ullmann Tondel’s Norwegian Oscar entry Armand as well as Andrea Arnold’s Bird and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance.

For the first time this year,...

Hulu has shared the official trailer and key art for the Spanish drama series Fleeting Lies, which will make its U.S. debut on the streaming service on Thursday, October 10. Pedro Almodóvar produces the show.

When Lucia, an executive at a high-tech beauty company, goes to work expecting a promotion and winds up accused of corporate espionage and unceremoniously fired, she goes to great lengths to hide her shame and clear her name.

Also known as Mentiras pasajeras, the series stars Elena Anaya, Pilar Castro, Hugo Silva, Quim Gutiérrez, and Susi Sánchez. The guest stars include María Botto, Pedro Casablanc, Estefanía de los Santos, and María León.

One month before her wedding and the day of her supposed big promotion, Lucía is accused of corporate espionage and fired from her job. Suddenly, Lucía’s life and future take a drastic turn for the worst, as she ponders how to tell her fiancé,...

Fresh from winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for his English-language debut “The Room Next Door,” Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar moved closer to home to the San Sebastian Film Festival — a festival very close to his heart — to celebrate both the film and his receiving of the event’s highest honor, the Donostia Award for career achievement.

Speaking at the press conference on Thursday, Almodovar said that his very first feature “Pepi, Luci, Bon” first premiered at San Sebastián in 1980 and that since arriving at the festival on Wednesday — which also happened to be his 74th birthday — he’d been overwhelmed with an “just an enormous amount of emotion” as he reflected on 44 years of filmmaking since then and the impact the festival had had on his career.

“I couldn’t stop crying and had tears running down my cheeks,” he said. “It’s been much more...

Catalan Carlos Marqués-Marcet’s best film win at Toronto’s Platform for “They Will Be Dust” points to a larger trend.

Backed by generous government support, experienced producers and sales and distribution companies with impeccable track records domestically and abroad, there is a generation of Catalan filmmakers that is hitting its stride with some of the most exciting titles set to come out of Europe over the next year.

The directors who make up this group of contemporaries can no longer be called new, although many are still young and are arriving in the early middle of their careers. Most have prestigious award wins on their mantles already but still have an energy and urgency to their craft that makes their films must-watch fare.

Perhaps the most highly anticipated Catalan film on the horizon is Carla Simon’s “Romería,” the third part of a trilogy begun by 2017’s Berlin Best...

Will there be room for two Oscar winners from the same movie this awards season?

Pedro Almodóvar’s exciting melodrama “The Room Next Door” is riding high after winning the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and Sony Pictures Classics is preparing for an aggressive awards campaign for the film. Variety has learned exclusively that the movie’s two Oscar-winning stars, Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, will be positioned for lead actress consideration in the upcoming awards season. In addition, co-star John Turturro is set to campaign for his first Oscar bid in the best supporting actor category.

The film is adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s novel “What Are You Going Through” and tells the story of two women — war correspondent Martha, played by Swinton, and author Ingrid, portrayed by Moore — who reunite after many years under emotionally charged circumstances. The nuanced performances and intimate narrative have garnered critical acclaim.

Pedro Almodóvar won his first ever top A-list festival prize on Saturday evening as his English-language euthanasia drama The Room Next Door, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, scooped Venice’s Golden Lion.

The Spanish director has competed six times in Competition at Cannes and is also a regular guest at Venice, even receiving its career award in 2019, but he had never previously won the top prize at either festival.

The filmmaker’s brother and producer Agustín Almodóvar was the first to point out the significance of Saturday night’s victory with a post on X, showing his sibling holding up the Golden Lion with the caption: “It’s taken 44 years.”

Ha costado 44 años pic.twitter.com/5VAM4RfNS4

— Agustín Almodóvar (@AgustinAlmo) September 7, 2024 Augustín Almodóvar celebrates brother Pedro’s Venice Golden Lion

Quizzed about the victory and the time it has taken to win such an award, Almodóvar said he...

The Oscars will surely knock on Pedro Almodóvar’s door this awards season.

Pedro Almodóvar’s expansive filmography has shaped international cinema for over four decades. With his English-language directorial debut, “The Room Next Door,” fresh off winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the Spanish auteur and distributor Sony Pictures Classics are setting their sights on landing Almodóvar’s first best picture nomination.

Adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s novel “What Are You Going Through,” the film follows two women — war correspondent Martha (Tilda Swinton) and author Ingrid (Julianne Moore) — who reunite after years apart under challenging circumstances.

Read: You can see all Academy Award predictions in all 23 categories on one page on the Variety Awards Circuit: Oscars

Almodóvar’s body of work has garnered widespread acclaim within the Academy. “All About My Mother” (1999) won the Oscar for international feature, while “Talk to Her” (2002) earned him two noms for directing and original screenplay,...

The Match Factory is set to handle international sales on a new film by “Fire Will Come” director Oliver Laxe, headlined by Sergi López, star of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

Having begun production, shooting in Spain and then Morocco, the untitled Oliver Laxe project is a Movistar Plus+ original film produced with Pedro and Agustín Almodovar’s El Deseo, Laxe’s Galicia-based label Filmes da Ermida, Oriol Maymó’s Uri Films in Barcelona, and Paris’s 4 A 4 Productions.

The latest from Laxe follows Cannes wins for all his first three features. 2010’s “You Are All Captains,” Laxe’s debut feature, walked off with a Directors’ Fortnight Fipresci Award; 2016’s “Mimosas” scooped the Critics’ Week top Grand Prize, “Fire Will Come” a 2019 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize.

Co-written with “Matadero” director Santiago Fillol, also a co-scribe on “Fire Will Come,” Laxe’s next turns on a man...

Update: Sony Pictures Classics has reached out to note there was a misprint in their CinemaCon statement and Anya Taylor-Joy is not attached to the film.

Following up a pair of English-language short films, Pedro Almodóvar has now embarked on shooting his English-language feature debut, The Room Next Door. Starring Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton, John Turturro, and Alessandro Nivola, a new cast member has been added to the ensemble.

The Queen’s Gambit fan Almodóvar has cast Anya Taylor-Joy in the film, as confirmed by a cast listing in the Sony Pictures Classics section of the CinemaCon program guide. While her role hasn’t been specified, early reports indicated she could play Swinton’s daughter.

“The Room Next Door is about a very imperfect mother and her resentful daughter, who live separate lives because of a profound misunderstanding. Ingrid (played by Julianne Moore), a friend of the mother, will become...

Telefonica’s Movistar Plus+, Spain’s biggest pay TV-svod operator, is set to co-produce new movies from Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Iciar Bollaín, Alberto Rodríguez, Óliver Laxe and Ana Rujas. It’s a move which sees the high-end Spanish TV powerhouse become one of Spain’s most significant movie players.

Titles in the slate are backed by top Spanish producers such as Agustín Almodóvar and Esther García at El Deseo – backing Laxe’s next – and Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo at their high-flying new production house Suma Content, producing what will be Rujas’ debut feature as a director.

The acclaimed “La Mesías,” the latest series from Los Javis – as Ambrossi and Calvo are known – will have its international premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it will the only European series at this year’s event.

In a fillip for Spain’s box office, still 26% down on pre-pandemic levels, Movistar Plus+ will...

Note: the following blog piece ran earlier this year. We’re re-posting today in honor of Trans Awareness Week, November 12-18. Special thanks to author Adam Vargas.

***

It’s no secret that the moving image can leave a lasting impact, both consciously and subconsciously. This is especially true regarding images of people engaged in struggle and/or enjoying wild success—a phenomenon that supports the necessity for thoughtful representation of people of all backgrounds and experiences in film.

Today, representation is too often conflated with diversity, but they’re not exactly the same thing. Representation goes beyond the surface inclusion of different types of people popular media—it’s about lived experience and authenticity. Of course there are all types of communities that haven’t received much authentic representations of themselves in traditional cinema. For example: the trans community, which is itself unique and disparate far beyond what has been rendered onscreen,...

In news that is sure to move waves in Spain, Portugal and beyond, former Netflix exec Juan Mayne, a name inextricably linked to the build of Spain as a global film-tv power, has been appointed as SkyShowtime regional content director for Iberia, encompassing Spain and Portugal.

The move creates an effective new streaming door to knock on for Spanish producers as some other – though not all – platforms are curbing commissions or orders in the two countries.

SkyShowtime in Spain and Portugal will be led, moreover, by one of Spain’s best known, connected and personable of TV execs, supercharging its operation in Spain from the get-go.

Mayne will report to the Amsterdam-based Kai Finke, himself appointed in September as chief content officer at the Comcast-Paramount joint venture SVOD platform , which focuses on European audiences. Mayne joins the now established European programming team of Edyta Pytlewska – regional content director for Central...

Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal’s queer cowboy love story will be coming to a theater near you soon.

The short film “Strange Way of Life,” written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, will be released by Sony Pictures Classics in New York City and Los Angeles on October 4, followed by a nationwide release October 6. The short film will play alongside Almodóvar’s past 2020 short “The Human Voice” starring Tilda Swinton.

Both “The Human Voice” and “Strange Way of Life” are Almodóvar’s only English-language projects to date. Sony Pictures Classics acquired “Strange Way” in pre-production. Mubi took rights in Italy and Latin America out of Cannes, where the film premiered this past May.

Produced by Almodóvar’s El Deseo and presented by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, the film co-stars Pedro Casablanc, Manu Ríos, George Steane, José Condessa, Jason Fernández, and Sara Sálamo. Four-time Oscar nominee and longtime Almodóvar collaborator Alberto Iglesias scored the film,...

Pedro Almodóvar’s short film, Strange Way of Life, which had its world premiere at Cannes back in the spring, is hitting theaters in NYC and LA on Oct. 4 thanks to Sony Pictures Classics.

There will be an expansion nationwide on Oct. 6.

Pic stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal and will play in theaters alongside Almodóvar’s 2020 short film, The Human Voice, starring Tilda Swinton, which was also distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. Together, the two shorts represent Almodóvar’s only English-language projects to date.

Strange Way of Life follows two gunmen who reunite after many years. In the film, a man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake. Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva, the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen. Silva visits him with the excuse of reuniting with his friend from his youth,...

The great Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is a rabid fan of the Western genre but until now he had never made one. He had also only dabbled in directing an English-language film with the exception of the 2020 short The Human Voice, which starred Tilda Swinton.

His latest movie is also a short, just 31 minutes, but he finally got to do his Western in English. It’s a nice homage to the form and those great directors who created it, but it is safe to say this homage could only have come from this master of cinema.

Almodóvar brought the finished product to its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday and, if flattered by the attention, the ghosts of John Ford, Howard Hawks, John Sturges, Anthony Mann, Raoul Walsh and Sam Peckinpah may be surprised at the twist that this 73-year-old fanboy has given Strange Way of Life.

Sony Pictures Classics announced that they have acquired worldwide rights to Pedro Almodóvar’s short film, Strange Way Of Life, starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal.

The film will be screened in the Official Selection and in world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, along with the director and the two main actors. Shot in the south of Spain, this short film is the second experience of the filmmaker in English, after La Voix Humaine made in 2020. Sony Pictures Classics picked up the short in pre-production and will release it this fall.

Strange Way Of Life follows two gunmen who reunite after 25 years. Almodóvar describes the film in his director’s statement: “A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake. Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva, the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to Pedro Almodóvar’s short Western “Strange Way of Life,” excluding the territories of the U.K., France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Latin America.

Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal star in the short that will premiere in official selection at the Cannes Film Festival. The short is now in pre-production and Sony Pictures Classics will release this fall. It’s Almodóvar’s second English-language project after “The Human Voice,” which was also distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

“Strange Way of Life” is produced by Almodóvar’s El Deseo and presented by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. It also stars Pedro Casablanc, Manu Ríos, George Steane, José Condessa, Jason Fernández and Sara Sálamo. It’s produced by Agustín Almodóvar, with Esther García as executive producer and Bárbara Peiró, Diego Pajuelo, and Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello as associate producers.

Alberto Iglesias, a frequent...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to Pedro Almodóvar’s short film, “Strange Way of Life,” starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, the company said Thursday.

This follows the news that the short will premiere as an official selection at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Here is the trailer for the short:

It is Almodóvar’s second English-language project after “The Human Voice,” which was also distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. Sony Pictures Classics picked up the short in pre-production and will release it this fall.

Produced by Almodóvar’s El Deseo and presented by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, “Strange Way of Life” also stars Pedro Casablanc, Manu Ríos, George Steane, José Condessa, Jason Fernández and Sara Sálamo. It is produced by Agustín Almodóvar, with Esther García as executive producer and Bárbara Peiró, Diego Pajuelo, and Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello as associate producers.

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Saint Laurent Launches...

Sony Pictures Classics on Thursday announced their pickup of worldwide rights to Strange Way of Life, the buzzy Pedro Almodóvar short, starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, which will premiere as an official selection of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

The film, acquired at the pre-production phase, is slated for release this fall and will almost certainly be positioned for awards consideration, given the caliber of talent behind it.

Related: The Black List, Gm Incubator Fund Unveil New Writer-Driven Shorts Program Spotlighting Diverse Filmmakers

Following two gunmen who reunite after 25 years, Strange Way of Life marks the latest in a long line of collaborations between Almodóvar and SPC, coming on the heels of the filmmaker’s first English-language project The Human Voice — a short also distributed by SPC, which starred Tilda Swinton. Almodóvar describes the plot as follows: “A...

SPC picked up the short in pre-production and will release in the autumn.

Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) has picked up Pedro Almodóvar’s short film Strange Way Of Life starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, which will world premiere at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

SPC has acquired worldwide rights, excluding the UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, and Latin America. The distributor picked up the short in pre-production and will release in the autumn. SPC has not confirmed whether it will be released in theatres.

Strange Way Of Life sees Hawke and Pascal play two gunmen who reunite after 25 years.

Sony Pictures Classics has picked Pedro Almodóvar’s Strange Way of Life, an LGBTQ-themed Western starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, before its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

The speciality distributor acquired the worldwide rights, excluding the U.K., France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Italy and Latin America. The short — which sees The Northman star Hawke and The Last of Us‘ actor Pascal appear as two middle-aged gunslingers with a deep connection and who meet up again after a 25-year separation — is Almodóvar’s second English-language short, after Tilda Swinton-starrer The Human Voice, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020 and was also distributed by Sony Pictures Classics.

A fall 2023 release is planned for Strange Way of Life, which is produced by Almodóvar’s El Deseo and is a collaboration with French fashion house Saint Laurent and its creative director Anthony Vaccarello. The short also stars Pedro Casablanc,...

“Strange Way of Life,” the new short film from Oscar-winning director Pedro Almodovar, received its first trailer on Wednesday, weeks before its set to premiere as an out-of-competition title at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

The film, a queer Western that Almodovar previously said “could be my answer to ‘Brokeback Mountain,” stars Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke as a pair of gunslingers who reunite after years apart. Here’s the official synopsis Almodovar provided Cannes: “A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake. Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva, the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen. Silva visits him with the excuse of reuniting with his friend from his youth, and they do indeed celebrate their meeting, but the next morning Sheriff Jake tells him that the reason for his trip...

Pedro Almodóvar’s Strange Way of Life, an LGBTQ-themed Western starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, will have its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the festival confirmed Tuesday.

The short, which sees The Northman star Ethan Hawke and The Last of Us‘ Pascal as two middle-aged gunslingers with a deep connection who meet up again after a 25-year separation, was widely tipped to bow on the Croisette. The film is Almodóvar’s second English-language short, after Tilda Swinton-starrer The Human Voice, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020.

In a statement following the Cannes announcement, Almodóvar gave a cryptic description of the film’s plot:

“A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake [Hawke]. Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva [Pascal], the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen.

Pedro Almodóvar’s “Strange Way of Life” will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Official Selection, the festival announced on Tuesday.

Almodovar will attend the world premiere with his two leading men, Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal.

Described as a Western filmed in the south of Spain, this short film is the filmmaker’s second experience in English, after “The Human Voice” made in 2020.

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Johnny Depp French Film ‘Jeanne Du Barry’ to Open Cannes Film Festival

The screening will be followed by a conversation with Pedro Almodóvar and the filmmaking team.

The synopsis is as follows: A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake. Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva, the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen. Silva visits him with the excuse...

Lead actors Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal to attend festival.

Pedro Almodóvar’s short film Strange Way Of Life is to world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

The Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker and lead actors Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal will attend the festival, which runs May 16-27. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Almodóvar and the filmmaking team.

The Western, shot in the south of Spain, marks the filmmaker’s second English-language project after short The Human Voice, which premiered at Venice in 2020.

Strange Way Of Life centres on Silva (Pascal), who rides a...

The Cannes Film Festival has announced that Pedro Almodóvar’s short film Strange Way Of Life will world premiere at its upcoming 76th edition, running May 16 to 27.

The Western shot in southern Spain stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal and is the filmmaker’s second English-language experience, after The Human Voice in 2020.

The film had been widely expected to play at Cannes after the director told singer-songwriter Dua Lipa that he expected it to premiere the festival in an interview for her At Your Service podcast in January.

The confirmation of the film’s selection comes as Cannes delegate general Thierry Frémaux and his team tie up the 2023 Official Selection ahead of the traditional line-up announcement in Paris on Thursday morning (April 13).

Other titles already confirmed by the festival include the Johnny Depp-starring opening film Jeanne du Barry by Maïwenn, Martin Scorsese’s The Killers Of The Flower Moon...

Pedro Almodóvar’s “Strange Way of Life” will world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Official Selection. The festival confirmed the news and said Almodovar will attend the premiere with his two lead actors, Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, in attendance. The short marks Almodovar’s second English-language experience, after “The Human Voice” in 2020.

The screening will be followed by a conversation with Pedro Almodóvar and the filmmaking team. “Strange Way of Life” was produced by Agustín Almodóvar at El Deseo.

Almodovar revealed in a statement that the film’s title “alludes to the famous fado by Amalia Rodrigues, whose lyrics suggest that there is no stranger existence than the one that is lived by turning your back on your own desires.”

Scored by Alberto Iglesias, the western drama revolves around the bond between two men who met when they were young while working together as hired gunmen...

With an International Panorama spangled by gems – think Spain’s “Apagón,” Sweden’s “Blackwater,” and Canada’s “Disobey” and “Little Bird” – Series Mania also weighs in this year with one, if not the, strongest and most mouthwatering of international competitions in its history.

Including the opening and closing series, Amazon’s “Greek Salad” and Netflix’s “Transatlantic,” nearly all the global streamers have titles in the lineup, from Apple TV+’s “Drops of God” and Paramount+’s “Fleeting Lies.” The lineup also features some A-List international writing talents, such as the U.K.’s Jack Thorne and Israel’s Ron Leshem and Amit Cohen, whose “The Virtues” and “No Man’s Land” rank among the most memorable of recent Series Mania competition titles, and closing the festival, out of competition, “Unorthodox’s” Anna Wenger.”Fleeting Lies” also represents one of the first series from Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar’s El Deseo label in Madrid,...

Based in the northern French town of Lille since 2018, Series Mania has emerged as a key showcase for premium series and a spotlight for international creators — though, given the wider forces shaping the TV business, that spotlight has often shone on talent from the same three or four territories. And so, when programming the latest edition, the Series Mania brass looked to widen the field.

“This year, we will introduce our attendees to new narrative modes and visual possibilities,” says general director Laurence Herszberg. “Because we’ve discovered so many series from countries that haven’t often attended the major festivals, with creative outputs that are much lesser-known. We want to celebrate them as well.”

Running March 17–24, this edition boasts 55 series culled from 396 submissions encompassing more than 60 countries, with titles from Uruguay (“The Universe Conspires”), Benin (“Black Santiago Club”) and an Indo-Pakistani production (“Limboland”) all appearing at Series Mania for the very first time.

Replacement directed yet to be announced.

A Manual For Cleaning Women will no longer be Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language feature directorial debut after the Spanish directorr withdrew, citing “a very painful decision”.

Cate Blanchett will star and produce through Dirty Films, however Almodóvar said he was not ready to tackle a project of such magnitude. No replacement director has been announced yet.

A Manual For Cleaning Women is an adaptation of Lucia Berlin’s short story collection of the same name comprising 43 tales of women in challenging jobs. Almodóvar and Berlín co-wrote the screenplay adaptation.

The feature is also being...

Replacement directed yet to be announced.

A Manual For Cleaning Women will no longer be Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language feature directorial debut after the Spanish master withdrew, citing “a very painful decision”.

Cate Blanchett will star and produce through Dirty Films, however Almodóvar said he was not ready to tackle a project of such magnitude. No replacement director has been announced yet.

A Manual For Cleaning Women is an adaptation of Lucia Berlin’s short story collection of the same name comprising 43 tales of women in challenging jobs. Almodóvar and Berlín co-wrote the screenplay adaptation.

The feature is also being...

’The Forgiven’ and ‘Fall’ are also out this weekend.

After last weekend’s UK-Ireland box office results proved rather muted – no film reached the £1m mark for the first time since December 2020 – exhibitors and distributors will be anticipating a boost from this Saturday’s National Cinema Day (September 3), in which 560 venues across the UK will be offering tickets at just £3, for all screenings.

This weekend’s widest release comes from Entertainment Film Distributors’ Three Thousand Years Of Longing, playing in 545 cinemas. The Cannes 2022 premiere unites Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba and is George Miller’s first feature since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road.

Mexican Immigrant Tale ‘Sansón And Me’ Wins Best Film At Sheffield Doc/Fest

U.S.-based Mexican director Rodrigo Reyes’s Sansón And Me has won Best Film at the UK’s Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 23-28). Set between Mexico and the United States, it explores the journey of a Mexican man who was orphaned as a child and ends up serving two life sentences for first-degree murder in California’s Bay State Prison. Special mentions went to Ukrainian director Volodymyr Tykhyy’s One Day in Ukraine and Lebanese filmmaker Nadim Mishlawi’s After the End of the World. In other awards, Dutch filmmaker Rosa Ruth Boesten’s won Best First Feature for Master of Light, a biopic about classical painter George Anthony Morton, who spent a decade in federal prison in the U.S. for dealing drugs before finding his calling.

Pedro Almodóvar Signs Ethan Hawke, Pedro Pascal For Western...

’Strange Way of Life (Extraña Forma De Vida)’ will be a short.

Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal are set to lead Pedro Almodóvar’s Western short Strange Way Of Life (Extraña forma de vida).

The film, which takes its title from a song by Portuguese fado singer Amalia Rodrigues, will also feature a cast that includes Jason Fernández, José Condessa, George Steane and Manu Ríos.

It will be shot in English and produced by Madrid-based El Deseo, run by Almodóvar and his producer brother Agustín Almodóvar.

In a statement released today, signed by director Almodóvar, little is revealed about the...

Ethan Hawke has signed on to star in Pedro Almodóvar’s next film, “Strange Way of Life,” (“Extraña forma de vida”), a half-hour Western.

The Spanish director will shoot the short before making his English-language feature debut, “A Manual for Cleaning Women,” with Cate Blanchett.

Hawke stars opposite Chile’s Pedro Pascal, who portrayed Oberyn Martell in “Game of Thrones,” in a film which will be “another exercise of freedom in the line of ‘The Human Voice,’” said producer Agustín Almodóvar.

The short will be shot in English. Set up at El Deseo, the Almodóvar brothers’ Madrid-based production company, “Strange Way of Life” begins with a man, Silva, riding on a horse across a desert to Bitter Creek. He has come to visit Sheriff Jake. 25 years earlier, the two men worked together as hired gunmen.

Silva comes with the pretext of re-encountering his friend from youth. They celebrate their re-encounter.

The 75th Ee British Academy Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Film Awards took place Sunday March 13. Over 7,000 voting members submitted their ballots, voting from nominees that looked a bit more like those for the Oscars than in some years past. The entire winners list has now been revealed.

The awards ceremony is airing as of 3:00pm Et Sunday on a one-hour delay for U.S. viewers on Britbox, can you still tune in. And a note on the streamer says it will replay in full there at 7:00pm Et.

“Dune” scored the most BAFTA nominations with 11, followed by “The Power of the Dog” with eight, and “Belfast” with six. “West Side Story,” “No Time to Die,” and “Licorice Pizza” followed with five each.

Once the awards were presented Sunday, “The Power of the Dog” emerged winner of Best Film and Best Director for Jane Campion.

“Dune” scored the...

‘The Power Of The Dog’ wins best film and best director.

Jane Campion’s The Power Of The Dog won best film and best director at the 2022 Bafta Film Awards, whilst Dune picked up the most awards overall.

Scroll down for full list of winners

The Power Of The Dog, which was backed by Netflix and developed with and backed by BBC Film, earned two awards from eight nominations and saw Campion win her first Bafta, following a nomination for The Piano back in 1994.

Dune won five Baftas: for Hans Zimmer’s original score; Greig Fraser’s cinematography; plus production design,...

Dune leads the way with 11 nominations, followed by The Power Of The Dog on eight and Belfast on six.

The 2022 Bafta Film Awards show is taking place today (March 13) from London’s Royal Albert Hall.

The show started at 17:00 UK time, finishing at approximately 19:30, and will be broadcast with a time delay on BBC One starting at 19:00, finishing at 21:00. Rebel Wilson is hosting for the first time.

The ceremony returns as a full physical event, following last year’s edition which was mostly virtual.

Screen will be posting all the winners on this page as they...

The Ee British Academy Film (BAFTA) Awards today announced the nominations for the 2022 awards.

Unsurprisingly, Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi thriller ‘Dune,’ earned 11 nominations, most of which fall under the technical sections. Jane Campion’s Netflix western ‘The Power of the Dog’ racked up eight nominations, while Kenneth Branagh’s personal coming-of-age drama ‘Belfast’received six. ‘No Time to Die,’ picked up five nods, alongside Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1970s-set ‘Licorice Pizza’ and Steven Spielberg’s musical reboot ‘West Side Story.’

The nominations in full are;

2022 BAFTA Film Award nominees are below:

Best Film

“Belfast”

“Don’t Look Up”

“Dune”

“Licorice Pizza”

“The Power of the Dog”

Outstanding British Film

“After Love”

“Ali & Ava”

“Belfast”

“Boiling Point”

“Cyrano”

“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”

“House of Gucci”

“Last Night in Soho”

“No Time to Die”

“Passing”

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

“After Love” – Aleem Khan (Writer/Director...

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced its official 2022 nominees, marking the event’s 75th anniversary. This year’s nominations were broadcast live from BAFTA 195 Piccadilly in central London on Thursday, February 3. Film Awards red carpet hosts Aj Odudu and Tom Allen listed all the noms.

This year, the most nominated films are “Dune” with 11 nods; “The Power of the Dog” with eight; “Belfast” with six; and “Licorice Pizza,” “West Side Story,” and “No Time to Die” all with five nominations each.

There are also the highest number of women nominated, ever.

The BAFTAs are set to take place on Sunday, March 13 at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall. Sponsored by Ee, the Awards will be broadcast exclusively on BBC One, BBC One HD and BBC iPlayer that evening, and will be preceded by live red carpet coverage on BAFTA’s social channels.

Over 7,000 members voted for this year’s nominations.

Nominations for the 2022 BAFTA Film Awards have been unveiled. Scroll down for the full list.

Leading the way this year is Dune with 11 nominations, followed by The Power Of The Dog on eight and Belfast on six.

Licorice Pizza, No Time to Die and West Side Story all have five, while four nominations apiece went to After Love, Boiling Point, Cyrano, Don’t Look Up, Passing and King Richard.

In total, 48 feature films are up for prizes this year.

Diversity remains in the spotlight for the Brit Awards org. Following a 2020 when BAFTA drew criticism for having an all-male directing field and no non-white acting nominees, sweeping changes to the voting procedures put in place since have again produced a more diverse field. More on that in our analysis piece, which you can read here.

Winners will be announced at the 2022 BAFTA Film Awards ceremony, hosted by Rebel Wilson, on...

Netflix has acquired exclusive rights for Latin America to Pedro Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers,” which won Penélope Cruz the best actress award at September’s 78th Venice Film Festival.

Struck by Netflix and El Deseo, Pedro and brother Agustín Almodóvar’s Madrid-based production company, the deal marks the first time that Netflix has taken all and exclusive rights to a territory on a first-run Almodóvar film.

Hailed by Variety as Almodóvar’s best movie since “All About My Mother,” “Parallel Mothers” will be released in Latin America at the beginning of the 2022, Netflix announced Tuesday.

Almodóvar’s films have traditionally been released by a stable network of theatrical distributors. Announced this April, for instance, Sony Pictures Classics acquisition of rights to North America, Australia and New Zealand on “Parallel Mothers” represented the 13th collaboration between the distributor and El Deseo.

Latin America’s distinct distribution challenge, however, is that it is grossly under-screened.

Closing out the New York Film Festival, Pedro Almodóvar’s newest venture, “Parallel Mothers,” debuted with an endearing and scintillating turn from Penélope Cruz and newcomer Milena Smit, both of whom will be angling for much-deserved awards attention. But can it go any further than that?

Fresh off winning the prestigious Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival, it’s easy to see why Cruz was a jury favorite. While it’s not the best work of her career, Cruz makes all of her acting interpretations and choices look effortless. The ability to drop tears, invoke an undeniable sex appeal, and command the camera lens is not something many actresses of her caliber can do. Her Oscar journey began in the hands of the Spanish auteur. She received her first nom for “Volver” (2006), though the film wasn’t nominated in the foreign-language category. This catapulted her into an awards magnet:...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: The Souvenir Part II. (Courtesy of A24)NYFF has announced its full main slate, which includes Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta, Joanna Hogg's The Souvenir Part II, Julia Ducournau's Titane, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Memoria, and more. A long-gestating epistolary documentary that consists of a dialogue between Jean-Luc Godard and Iranian filmmaker and intellectual Ebrahim Golestan is set to premiere on the international festival circuit. The project consisted of Golestan sending emails with text and no visuals to Godard, who would respond with visuals and aphorisms. Mel Brooks' memoir, My Remarkable Life in Show Business, will be released November 30. The book is said to follow the "peaks and valleys" of Brooks' storied life beginning with his childhood, retold with his signature irreverent humor. Recommended VIEWINGThe official trailer for Andreas Fontana's riveting political thriller Azor,...

Pedro Almodóvar has dropped the first official trailer for “Madres paralelas,” which is set to open this year’s Venice Film Festival.

“Madres paralelas” is led by long-time Almodóvar favorite Penélope Cruz who is joined by key cast members Aitana Sánchez-Gijón (“Boca a Boca”) and Milena Smit (“Cross the Line”), “Veneno” duo Israel Elejalde and Daniela Santiago, and two more Almodóvar regulars in Julieta Serrano and Rossy de Palma, co-stars of the Oscar-nominated “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”

“Madres paralelas” — “Parallel Mothers” in English — turns on a trio of mothers, played by Cruz, Gijón and Smit, and expands Almodóvar’s previous depictions of womanhood by turning the film’s focus on imperfect mothers.

In the dialogue-free trailer, we’re treated to a palette that marks the film as an Almodóvar with almost no other details needed. The film’s trio of mothers are seen in varying stages...

Pedro Almodóvar’s new film “Parallel Mothers,” starring Penelope Cruz, will open the upcoming Venice Film Festival in September.

Almodóvar’s hotly anticipated pic, which was shot during the pandemic, will world premiere on the Venice Lido in competition on September 1.

The film sees the Spanish auteur reuniting with Cruz, a frequent collaborator, most recently in Almodóvar’s 2019 “Pain and Glory” opposite Antonio Banderas. “Mothers” also stars former San Sebastián fest best actress winner Aitana Sánchez Gijón (“Volaverunt”) and newcomer Milena Smit (“No matarás”).

Almodóvar’ latest work centers on three mothers — portrayed by Cruz, Gijón and Smit — and expands his previous depictions of womanhood, by turning his focus on imperfect mothers, in a departure from his prior works exploring mothers and motherhood which include “All About My Mother” and “Pain and Glory.”

Sony Pictures Classics has rights for North America, Australia and New Zealand on the film which is produced...