News

Maria Martinez Bayona’s The End Of It and Jim O’Hanlon’s Rabbit Hayes are among 11 projects to receive funding through the UK Global Screen Fund, via the fund’s international co-production strand.

It is financed through the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms). This round, the awards allocate over £1.65m to support UK producers to work as partners on international co-productions. To date the strand has now awarded nearly £9m to 57 co-productions.

In this round, funding supports partnerships with Canada, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland.

Bayona’s The End Of It stars Rebecca Hall,...

‘MasterChef Sri Lanka’ Baking At Free TV Network

Calling Sri Lanka’s best amateur cooks: Time to get you recipe books out. A local version of MasterChef is in the works at Sri Lankan free-to-air network ITN, and will debut in September as a 25-episode season. Reality TV Production will make the show in association with Nilenda Deshapriya Productions. The Banijay Entertainment format as been remade 70 times before, ranking MasterChef among the most globally-popular formats. It sees amateur cooks have their food judged by a team of professional chefs and critics, with one eventually crowned the MasterChef. “This globally celebrated culinary format will see aspiring chefs showcase their talent, passion, and creativity, marking a new chapter in Sri Lankan television history. We look forward to delivering the MasterChef experience with the quality and excellence our viewers expect.” In related Banijay news, the company’s branded entertainment division, Bbe, has formed...

Production spend in the UK in the first quarter of 2025 was nearly three times the spend of the equivalent period in 2024, according to figures published today (May 1) by the BFI.

The number of films starting principal photography during the first quarter of 2025 was 37, 15 more than was first reported for the first quarter of 2024, with a production spend of £632m.

This is the third highest first quarter since records began in 2003, and nearly three times the £211m that was reported for Q1 2024 productions.

There were 15 inward investment films in production in Q1 2025, with a UK spend of £592m (94% of the total...

The British Film Institute (BFI) has issued a further 11 awards through the UK Global Screen Fund (Ukgsf), including Karim Aïnouz’s Rosebushpruning, Irish football story Saipan, starring Steve Coogan, and The Bureau-produced Moroccan co-production Behind The Palm Trees.

Rosebushpruning is the next feature from Brazilian director Aïnouz. It is a contemporary adaptation of Marco Bellocchio’s Fists In The Pocket, with Elle Fanning attached to star.

Producers are Kavac Film, The Match Factory and Surfilm, with CryBaby the minority UK producer on the project. Fremantle’s Italy-based The Apartment is on board as a co-producer, and Mubi is one of the backers.

Sophie Heldman will direct the real-life Lgbtqi+ drama.

Charlie Murphy and Flora Nicholson will lead the cast of Miss Pirie And Miss Woods, a true story Lgbtqi+ drama from director Sophie Heldman and Winners producer Paul Welsh.

Based on historian Lilian Faderman’s book Scotch Verdict, it tells the 1810 story of a scandal when a Scottish student accused two of her teachers of having an affair. The producers expect to close finance this week in Cannes, ahead of a shoot in Scotland and Germany in autumn 2023.

Having co-written the film with Nicholson, it will be a second feature for German director Heldman,...

Madrid -- Mexican director Felipe Cazals' historical "Chicogrande" will premiere internationally when it opens the 58th San Sebastian International Film Festival, festival organizers announced Friday as they added three other films to the official competition lineup.

"Chicogrande" uses the Mexican revolution as the backdrop for his frontier western/adventure movie that centers on the U.S.'s "Punitive Expedition" to punish Pancho Villa in what was to be the last major campaign of the U.S. Calvary.

Two love stories -- China's "Addicted to Love," directed by Liu Hao, and Germany-Swiss "Colors in the Dark," directed by Sophie Heldman, will also vie for the Golden Shell at Spain's top film festival next month, along with South Korean Kim Je-Woon's thriller "I Saw the Devil."

The festival, which has already announced 11 films to compete for the top prize, said it would add more titles before the festival runs Sept. 17-25 in Spain's northern Basque region.