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There were a lot of insufferable characters in Game of Thrones, characters we wished would vanish from the screen because their presence and personality didn’t add joy to our viewing experience. If there’s one figure that everybody hates, it’s Shae.

Introduced as a s*x worker and lover of Tyrion, Shae had taken up a significant amount of time and part in the story, largely affecting the Lannister lord’s fate. She wasn’t supposed to be likable, anyway, but there was something about this character that always got on viewers’ nerves.

Who plays Shae in Game of Thrones—and why do fans still loathe her? Sibel Kekilli in Game of Thrones / Credits: HBO

Shae was portrayed on television by German actress Sibel Kekilli. She had been in the industry for quite some time, but this was her most high-profile work. In Game of Thrones, Shae is...

In writer-director Ameer Fakher Eldin’s slow but haunting meditation on exile, Yunan, displaced persons can return to their roots only to find they never left. Nothing in the past has changed except their place in it: “You will be gone, forgotten. As if your existence was nothing but an illusion.” The film is driven by a performance of few words but much gravitas from Lebanese actor Georges Khabbaz as Munir, a novelist of unspecified Middle Eastern origin, living in Hamburg. The somber drama has a cumulative spell, intensified by its hypnotic visual command and an atmospheric principal setting on Germany’s Hallig Islands.

Munir is introduced in a doctor’s office, plagued by frequent shortness of breath that becomes almost overwhelming. The medic tells him his respiratory tests came back normal, suggesting that stress might be his problem and that a break would do him good.

Calls to his...

Opening a film with a line of poetry is always a problematic way to start: the words are quickly forgotten once the visuals begin, making the verses far more meaningful were they before the final credits. In the case of Yunan, the words come from the Abbasid poet Al-Mutanabbi and they speak of craving a person’s presence, yet even when together, “the distance will still linger between us.”

It’s an apt line for the film, both in terms of the inability of the main character to bridge both metaphorical and physical distances, and in the way Ameer Fakher Eldin’s atmospheric sophomore feature keeps the audience at a certain remove, refusing clear-cut explanations or simple emotional catharses. Suffused with a melancholy as saturated as the damp air of the North Sea, Yunan follows on from Fakher Eldin’s ultimately more affecting debut The Stranger with its exploration of...

Tyrion Lannister had quite a disappointing arc in the season finale of Game of Thrones, but George R.R. Martin’s The Winds of Winter can still fix this and give the beloved character’s story a proper conclusion. He was already a fan-favorite character at the beginning of the series, but as the show progressed, he was inadvertently shoved to the sideline.

Charles Dance and Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones / Credits: HBO

The tragic backstory of his first wife was not fully fleshed out in the series, and there was only one scene dedicated to Tysha’s gruesome fate that many fans have already forgotten about. In the books, she was the reason why Tyrion killed his father, although this was changed in the show.

The Winds of Winter can fix Tyrion Lannister’s first marriage

Fans who are patiently waiting for George R.R. Martin to release The...

Timothée Chalamet and Robert Pattinson were among the latest high-profile names confirmed this afternoon as attendees for this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

The pair were included this afternoon in an updated guest list shared by the festival.

Chalamet will attend for the German premiere of his Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown while Pattinson will debut his Bong Joon-ho flick Micky 17. Both films play in the Berlinale Specials sidebar.

Other confirmed guests include Conclave filmmaker Edward Berger who will present Tilda Swinton her Honorary Golden Bear. Jessica Chastain will hit the German capital with Michel Franco’s Golden Bear Contender Dreams, and Jacob Elordi will make the trip to Berlin for the world premiere of his Justin Kurzel series The Narrow Road to the Deep South.

Other celebrity guests confirmed today by the festival include Naomi Ackie, Rose Byrne, Toni Collette, Denis Côté, Marion Cotillard, Lars Eidinger, Mala Emde,...

This article contains discussions of sexual assault.

It's an understatement to say that a lot of characters on "Game of Thrones" meet some very, very ugly ends ... and that certainly includes Shae, the character played by Sibel Kekilli who appears in 20 episodes of the hit HBO fantasy series. Shae — who also appears in "A Song of Ice and Fire," the book series by George R.R. Martin that serves as the source material for the series — first shows up in season 1 of the show and sticks around until the end of season 4, where she meets that aforementioned ugly end ... but before that, she spends pretty much all of her time in the orbit of "the Imp," Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), a man whose family despises him nearly as much as he hates them in return. At first, Shae and Tyrion's relationship is actually really sweet and even romantic, but true love...

The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for the 2025 edition, running February 13-23. It’s the first official lineup overseen by new artistic director and former BFI London Film Festival leader Tricia Tuttle, who succeeds Carlo Chatrian and brings her background as an American journalist and curator to the annual German showcase. She’s also working with co-directors of programming, Jacqueline Lyanga and Michael Stütz, to help reposition the Berlinale’s profile among the great global film festivals and lure bigger-name filmmakers in the process.

This year’s lineup, announced Tuesday, January 21, features new films from Richard Linklater, Michel Franco, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Hong Sangsoo (“What Does That Nature Say to You”), Radu Jude (“Kontinental ’25”), and Lucile Hadžihalilović (“The Ice Tower”). Already confirmed in the mix are “Mickey 17” from Bong Joon Ho and Ira Sachs’ Sundance premiere “Peter Hujar’s Day,” plus Tom Tykwer’s “The Light” opening the festival.

Following last week’s lineup announcement, the Berlinale 2025 has now fleshed out its slate with the Competition, Special, and Perspectives sections. Highlights include the world premieres of Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Andrew Scott; Radu Jude’s Kontinental ’25; Hong Sangsoo’s What Does that Nature Say to You; Michel Franco’s Dreams starring Jessica Chastain; Lucile Hadžihalilović’s The Ice Tower starring Marion Cotillard; and Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk with Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, and Vicky Krieps.

The festival will also include international premieres from Julia Loktev, Mary Bronstein, Kahlil Joseph, and more. In terms of omissions for films that potentially could have been a strong fit: there’s no Steven Soderberg’s Black Bag, Wes Anderson’s German production The Phoenician Scheme, nor Berlinale regular Christian Petzold, who wrapped Miroirs No. 3 only a few months ago.

Check out the lineup...

Whether these TV shows aired on a network or a streaming service, they made an impact on the cultural conversations of their time. When a massive number of people tune in for a series every time a new episode drops, it doesn't take long for the show to become part of the zeitgeist, even with audiences who aren't watching. Within this list, there's a lot of overlap with the best TV shows of all time since popularity plays into a series' longevity. There's a reason why these projects are well remembered today, even if they stopped airing decades ago.

Television has changed a lot over the years, and while the way that media is consumed might have changed, this doesn't mean people have stopped watching TV. There are many popular and underrated TV shows returning in 2025, and some might even have the staying power to be remembered as a highlight...

This article contains spoilers for many major fantasy TV shows!For every unforgettable moment in a fantasy TV show, there are just as many controversial moments that push viewers to their breaking point. Even the most popular fantastical TV series in history have included scenes that were so polarizing that audiences stop watching the show altogether. Typically, these plot points revolve around the introduction or exit of characters, as this can dramatically alter the series' dynamic and be devastating to witness. TV deaths often spark outrage when viewers feel that the character didn't deserve to be killed off and still had more to contribute.

There are many fantasy TV scenes that make no sense, but this is more excusable, as the complex magic systems and world-building in speculative fiction shows can become confusing. However, when a series makes a concrete and avoidable choice that alienates audience members, it's much more difficult to accept this.

Fantasy is a versatile genre since the creation of new worlds and magic systems allows writers and creators to establish new rules and logic that suit the storyline. However, this doesn't mean that fantasy TV shows are immune from adding plot points that make no sense and don't help further the overall narrative. Many of these choices have to do with the character's choices being inconsistent or the series breaking its own rules about how the fantastical elements work. Since speculative fiction fans are willing to suspend their disbelief, these shows sometimes push the boundaries of logic too far.

There are plenty of fantasy movie scenes that make no sense, and TV series are just as susceptible to these mistakes. Often, these confusing moments happen because there are so many contradicting storylines or there's an external element that's out of the writers' control. To compensate for actors suddenly leaving or...

It’s always exciting when a TV show takes a massive risk that really pays off, but it can be insanely frustrating when these surprising writing decisions fall flat on their face. While huge twists, impulsive character decisions, or unusual storytelling choices can keep things interesting, they also have the potential to alienate audiences and lead to storylines that the writers opt to quietly discard rather than continue telling an unpopular plot. This has been a problem across comedy, drama, and even fantasy series that have tried something new with their storyline, only to have viewers flat-out reject the risk.

Many of the best TV shows of all time have taken massive risks, only for them to not work out and have to backtrack on their storylines. This has seen previously deceased characters inexplicably return to life, established backstories being badly rewritten, or even final seasons that ruined the legacy...

Hardcore Game of Thrones fans, rejoice. If your favorite character from the juggernaut TV series/franchise is Jon Snow, then you'll be pleased to know the character is back in a big way. The new mobile video game, Game of Thrones: Kingsroad heavily features Snow, with original actor Kit Harington back to voice the character, Entertainment Weekly reports.

Gamers got their first look at the Kingsroad on December 12, 2024 at the Game Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. The two minute trailer features tons of bloody battle action and some other familiar faces, including Varys (Conleth Hill), Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), and Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) sitting on the franchise's iconic Iron Throne. The clip ends with a looming giant White Walker attack, and Snow in voice over saying, "Whether you like it or not, winter is coming."

There Might Be Even More Jon Snow in Future Projects

The official description reads...

To be a Game of Thrones fan is masochistic work. Because with every day that passes, the chances of ever seeing George R.R. Martin's written conclusion to his A Song of Ice and Fire series get smaller and smaller. Sure, the HBO iteration did, well, something with the author's road map and over-arching story plan. But whether or not it was a satisfying, nuanced ending to the story is another thing entirely, and up for contentious debate among fans.

The prolific-yet-meandering author has long brushed off worries about his completion of his Westerosi story as overblown. But in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the author admits that maybe those fans are right — maybe he won't finish the book. After all, as he admits: "Unfortunately, I am 13 years late."

"Every time I say that," the author admitted, "I'm [like], 'How could I be 13 years late?'" But for Martin,...

Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin opens up about the status of the hit series' final novel.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin was asked about the status of the final novel in the long-running A Song of Fire and Ice series, The Winds of Winter, which fans have been hotly-anticipating the release of for well over a decade. "Unfortunately, I am 13 years late," Martin responded. "Every time I say that, I'm [like], 'How could I be 13 years late?' I don’t know, it happens a day at a time... But that's still a priority. A lot of people are already writing obituaries for me. [They're saying] 'Oh, he'll never be finished.' Maybe they're right. I don't know. I'm alive right now! I seem pretty vital!"

Related Game of Thrones' Most Terrifying Villains Received a Huge Change From the Books

The White Walkers are painted as the ultimate villain in Westeros,...

Oscar-winner Marcia Gay Harden is set to join a new gothic horror movie that will reunite two of Game of Thrones' biggest stars.

Per Deadline, Harden will join Sophie Turner and Kit Harington in a new horror film titled The Dreadful. The film also stars Laurence OFuarain (The Gentlemen) and Jonathan Howard (Thor: The Dark World). The film will reportedly be set during the War of the Roses, a period in which several civil wars were waged for control of the English throne. The Dreadful follows "Anne (Turner) and her sinister mother-in-law Morwen (Harden), who live a solitary, harsh life on the outskirts of society. But when a man (Harington) from their past returns, he sets off a sequence of horrifying events that become a turning point for Anne."

Related George R.R. Martin Teases New Project With Game of Thrones Star Maisie Williams

George R.R. Martin teases a "fun...

Sibel Kekilli, best known for her portrayal of Shae in Game of Thrones, opened up about her audition for the show and how the writers ultimately changed her character compared to George R.R. Martin’s book. The actress, who is of Turkish descent, is also an advocate of women’s rights.

Credits: Sibel Kekilli in Game of Thrones / HBO

Many fans are now aware of her former work as an adult film actress, but this was a major controversy in the past after a tabloid published her history shortly after she starred as lead for the movie Head-On.

Sibel Kekilli’s Shae From Game of Thrones Was Different From The Novel

Born in Germany to Turkish parents, actress Sibel Kekilli rose to global fame thanks to her role as Tyrion Lannister’s mistress in Game of Thrones. In the book, Shae was designed by author George R.R.

Sometimes, a television series delivers a shocking moment by killing off what may seem like a main character. While some of these may be done for shock value, sometimes, the show also needs to do it to push things forward. A major character's death has a significant impact on the plot. Ned Stark's death in the first season of Game of Thrones is a great example.

Not only does it start a war between the North and the South, but it also sets Game of Thrones in motion. Similarly, Lost too has a significant death early in the show that holds significance. However, like Ned Stark in Game of Thrones, television shows often choose a great or beloved character to maximize the impact of their death.

Ned Stark Leaves Game of Thrones in Season 1, Episode 9

At the beginning of Game of Thrones, Ned Stark seemed like a major player.

The rumors are true: a Game of Thrones movie is now in the planning stages at HBO. Original author George R.R. Martin's criticism about the spinoff series, House of the Dragon, has also been addressed.

Recently, it was reported that a Game of Thrones film was in early development. Per Variety, this report has been confirmed by HBO and Max chief Casey Bloys during a press event on Tuesday. While it was stressed that the project is still in its infancy and not yet officially greenlit, Bloys teased that Martin is directly involved with the creative process. As long as there's a screenplay that everyone is happy with, then production on the movie will be able to move forward.

Related The Penguin Gives a Key Villain the Same Arc As a House of the Dragons Hero

Episode 4 of The Penguin gives a major character a journey that is very...

The po*n industry is often filled with actors trying to make a living for themselves. However, several stars were also given better opportunities like the ex-p*rn star who appeared in George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones.

A still from Game of Thrones | Credits: HBO Entertainment

Sibel Kekilli, who found worldwide fame with her role as Shae in HBO’s Game of Thrones, once went by the name Dilara. She used to work in X-rated films before she found her breakthrough.

Sibel Kekilli Found a Second Chance With Game of Thrones

Starring in several X-rated films, Sibel Kekilli was a po*n star before her TV role. The German actress stated that there were some decisions in her life that she is not particularly proud of.

Sibel Kekilli as Shae in Game of Thrones | Credits: HBO

Portraying the role of Shae (Tyrion’s lover-turned-betrayer), Kekilli was a prominent character in Game of Thrones.

Major television deaths are almost always sad, but they're especially devastating when viewers barely get to spend time with the character in question. While the death of a longtime favorite dramatically impacts the show and its audience, the demise of smaller players can hit just as hard.

This is especially true when they've made a good impression, igniting hopes that they'll take on a more prominent role in the story. In some cases, they're met with an early end instead, leaving viewers to wonder what their character arc could have looked like if they'd lasted longer than a handful of episodes.

Syrio Forel (Miltos Yerolemou) Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

Game of Thrones' Syrio Forel is the perfect example of a fan-favorite character who makes an impression in just a few episodes. Syrio is introduced in season 1's "Lord Snow," when Ned tasks him with training Arya in the art of swordplay.

Jonathan Millet’s thriller about Syrian exiles in France “Ghost Trail” took the Golden Star for narrative film at this year’s El Gouna Film Festival, with Julien Colona’s “The Kingdom” and Shuchi Talati’s “Girls Will Be Girls” taking the Silver and Bronze Star awards respectively. The awards ceremony wrapped the seventh edition of the prestigious Egyptian festival, held at the resort town of El Gouna between Oct. 24-Nov. 1.

Adam Bessa also took the best actor award for “Ghost Trail,” with Laila Abbas’s comedy about the Islamic Sharia Law “Thanks for Banking With Us!” and Meryam Joobeur’s drama about a Tunisian family navigating their son’s strenuous return from war “Who Do I Belong To” received the El Gouna Star for the best Arab film. Documentary-wise, Farah Kassem’s “We Are Inside” received the Golden Star for documentary film, with Johan Grimonprez’s “Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat...

French filmmaker Jonathan Millet’s thriller Ghost Trail won El Gouna Film Festival’s $50,000 Golden Star award for best narrative film. The festival ran October 24-November 1.

Lead Adam Bessa also won best actor for his performance as a young man on a mission to track Syrian regime leaders in France, where he must confront his former torturer. The film world premiered at Cannes’ Critics’ Week sidebar.

The $25,000 Silver Star award went to Julien Colonna’s war drama The Kingdom, while Indian romantic drama Girls Will be Girls by Shuchi Talati won the $15,000 Bronze Star and the Fipresci award.

The latter...

The fantasy genre shines on television, as the episodic nature of TV shows allows for plenty of time to focus on world-building and magic systems while still providing character development. However, all the moving parts and expectations surrounding fantasy TV series make it difficult for a show to hit the mark in every aspect of the story. Common issues arise with fantasy TV shows that continue for too long, running out of ideas and growing repetitive before the finale. In a perfect show, there can't be any major problems or too many moments that make viewers quit the series.

Many of the best fantasy TV shows of the 2020s are almost perfect and could prove themselves to be the best of the 21st century before their stories end. More often than not, great fantasy shows are based on books, giving the seasons structure and providing a strong storyline for the script.

The seventh edition of Egypt’s prestigious El Gouna Film Festival (Gff) kicked off on Thursday with a star-studded opening ceremony. The event celebrated a return to form after smaller events in recent years. Fireworks lit up the night sky as international celebrities arrived on the red carpet in El Gouna, a resort town on the Red Sea.

A highlight of the evening was honoring veteran Egyptian actor and filmmaker Mahmoud Hemida. Festival director Inas ElDeghedy called Hemida “an artist with the soul of a child” who always took chances. In his acceptance speech, Hemida expressed joy that the festival founders fulfilled a dream of his by creating a cultural and cinema hub in Marsa Alam. Although Hemida couldn’t build the facility himself, Naguib and Samih Sawiris brought his vision to life through the festival.

Stars from around the world attended the opening, including “Game of Thrones” actress Sibel Kekilli,...

Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival (Gff) opened its 7th edition on Thursday (October 26) with a star-packed red carpet, calls to end ongoing conflict and an honorary award for veteran actor and producer Mahmoud Hemida.

Returning in full after a more subdued edition last year and cancellation in 2022, the opening ceremony took place under clear skies and fireworks at the Plaza Theatre in the Egyptian resort town of El Gouna.

Those in attendance included Indian actress and director Nandita Das, Game Of Thrones star Sibel Kekilli, and former Cannes March du Film executive director Jerome Paillard, all of whom sit...

While it might come as a shock, sometimes, actors root for their own characters to be written off of a show. The reasons can be as simple as that they are bored or that they find the experience too demanding. Sometimes, they receive a better offer and have to give up their current post. However, not everyone who wants their character dead has their wish to come true.

Sophie Turner famously didn't want her Game of Thrones character to survive the show, but fans would later learn that Sansa becomes one of the few survivors who thrive in the game for power. Similarly, many actors have very specific ideas for their characters to be killed off. Sometimes, the show honors their idea. Other times, they get a different, shocking death.

Sophie Turner Wanted a Game of Thrones Death for Sansa

Sophie Turner made some good friends on the set of Game of Thrones.

Being an actor certainly isn't an easy career path to take. There are many pitfalls and lots of financial difficulties, and in the end, plenty of people just give up altogether. There are countless talented actors out there who the world will never know about, simply because they had bad luck.

But others have just the right amount of luck. They can get right to the brink of failure and then suddenly be pulled back due to a TV show casting. And then, every once in a blue moon, that TV show turns into a phenomenon and makes an actor into a massive name.

Richard Madden Needed Game of Thrones to Pay His Rent

When Game of Thrones came to the small screen, no one knew for certain that it would be a hit. It did have a built-in fandom from the George R. R. Martin books, but it was...

Fantasy TV shows can change quickly, and when big plot twists and narrative changes are written into the story, they have a major impact. The magic systems and rules of the realities that these fantastical worlds exist in allow the writers and creators to experiment with story and character dynamics, leading to episodes that change everything for the series. These episodes typically incorporate a tone shift and switch the show's focus to a new set of character dynamics. Altering a series so drastically can either save and prolong its run or be the beginning of the end for the show.

The fantasy TV shows that deserved more seasons rarely get the chance to reinvent themselves and adapt to significant change. However, a long-running series must quickly adjust when actors decide to leave the show or a detailed story arc has reached its end. While it can be daunting to take...

Game of Thrones was known for its utter disregard for fan-favorite characters and brutal on-screen deaths. The show’s first season finale proved to fans that the series was not messing around and would not hesitate to kill even its biggest stars. While the later seasons may have become fan-pleasing, the deaths in the initial seasons set it apart.

Actress Sibel Kekilli, who played Shae in the show, reportedly begged the creators to not kill her off in the show. The character who becomes close to Tyrion Lannister and eventually betrays him, is strangled to death by the Imp after he escapes from prison, which is one of the most harrowing moments of the show.

Sibel Kekilli Begged Game of Thrones Creators To Not Kill Shae Tyrion Lannister and Shae in Game of Thrones | Credits: HBO

Sibel Kekilli played the role of Shae, a young pr*stitute who takes a...

Actress Emilia Clarke went from relative obscurity to her character inspiring many parents to name their children Daenerys when she starred in the HBO series Game of Thrones. The actress became one of the leading stars of the ensemble fantasy drama and is arguably one of the most popular characters in modern pop culture.

However, the show is credited with not only having given a new level of stardom to actors like Clarke and Kit Harington but also giving a new lease of life to other supporting actors. One such example is Josephine Gillan. The actress reportedly featured in adult films before playing Marei in the show.

Many Actors Apart From Emilia Clarke Got A Life Because Of Game of Thrones Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones | Credits: HBO

The term Khaleesi has become almost as popular as any of the monumental pop culture characters in modern media.

When The Mandalorian premiered on Disney+ in 2019, most viewers quickly became enamored with the Yodi-like Grogu. The title character could have become an afterthought, but the man behind the mask helped infuse Din Djarin with quiet charisma and heroic stoicism. In fact, I remember asking my brother who the actor playing Mando was. “That’s Pedro Pascal! He’s from Narcos.” I looked up the Netflix crime series and it seemed right up my alley.

Fast forward to 2023 and Pascal is on my screen again with the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us. Once again playing a father figure and a hardened fighter, Pascal proved his ability to play a leading role was cemented in carbonite. He was cast as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps for 2025 and by the time he appears in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II at the end of this year,...

Focused on projects, producers and pics from smaller territories in Latin America, Locarno’s 2023 Open Doors showcase suggested a revolution is working through Latin America filmmaking. This year’s titles explore other facets of this next generation makeover. Four takes on the 2024 line-up:

The Genre Revolution

Many younger Latin American filmmakers are embracing genre. But they’re not turning out standard shlockfests. Some are genre blending. At Open Doors Projects Lab, “Fiebre Caribe, for instance” is “a multi-genre travelog: a Latin-American vampire drama splashed with culture-shock comedic relief moments, a lost romance investigation, a body horror tale, and for a moment, an archive-historical reimagining,” says director Diego Andrés Murillo. Others are genre bending. “The project’s voice – a queer, gen-z, female auteur – has reimagined a somewhat familiar horror narrative with tropical heat and cool,” producer Rob Maylor, at Mental Telepathy Pictures, says of “The Periphery,” another Hub title.

The Rise...

House of the Dragon: Why Did Mysaria aka White Worm's Accent Change in Season 2? - Main Image

George Rr Martin's worlds introduced new accents and languages to learn, but fans cannot put their finger on White Worm's accent. They found it excruciating to listen to in the first season, and by House of the Dragon season 2, her accent has changed again. Why is that?

House of the Dragon Fans Couldn't Bear Mysaria's Accent in Season 1

Mysaria, also known as White Worm (played by Sonoya Mizuno), had ventured off from being Prince Daemon Targaryen's sex worker to becoming an unofficial mistress of whisperers to Rhaenyra for Team Black.

As her title suggests, this requires her to speak most of the time in her limited on-screen appearances since House of the Dragon season 1. However, upon her debut, fans found her accent quite strange.

Some were mortified that White Worm's accent was 'acceptable',...

George R. R. Martin has good reason to be proud of his A Song of Ice and Fire books after they inspired one of the most recognizable TV franchises. However, in the adaptation, many of the stories changed, and even Martin can admit that sometimes, it's for the better. Game of Thrones, though a more direct adaption than its successor, House of the Dragon, still diverges from Martin's novels on several occasions. There was no choice when the show passed the written plot, as The Winds of Winter is yet to be released, but before that, some things were adjusted to fit the new medium better, surprising even the author. And, retroactively, Martin admits that some of these changes were for the better. It was not foolproof, as many changes didn't work, but the way the show expanded characters made them more complete and enjoyable to watch, even when they...

Director, screenwriter and producer Fatih Akin passed through the Red Sea film festival Monday where he discussed his career and what he described as the unique experience of straddling Turkish and German culture in his films.

Akin, who has brought his latest film Rheingold to Red Sea, was born in Hamburg and has primarily worked in Germany, but is of Turkish descent.

Akin told the crowd in Jeddah that when his films began to find an audience in Germany and across Europe, he was often frustrated by commentators who described them as “issue films” because they dealt with characters who have dual nationalities and cultures.

“I don’t do problem films. I do films about people with two cultures,” he said. “It took me a while to get away from the word issue. There are no issues in living with two cultures. Other people want you to have an issue.

“Cinema is not pages and it’s not minutes: it’s the way you look at the minute that passes,” Syrian director Ameer Fakher Eldin is talking about the 55-page script of “Yunan,” his follow up to “The Stranger” (Al Garib), which played at Venice Days in 2021. Eldin knows from the experience of editing his first film that one page doesn’t equal one minute. “It’s a two hour film,” he says.

Eldin’s second feature is due to film in the first half of 2023 and is currently being presented at this week’s Red Sea Souk Project Market of the Red Sea Film Festival. Iconic figure of New German Cinema Hanna Schygulla and Syrian actor Bassem Yakhour have both been cast in the production. They join Lebanese actor Georges Khabbaz (“Capernaum”), and German actor Sibel Kekilli, from “Game of Thrones” and Fatih Akin’s “Head On.”

Filming will...

Exclusive: Leading Arab world distributor Mad Solutions has acquired pan-Arab rights to Ameer Fakher Eldin’s upcoming picture Yunan about a disillusioned, exiled writer who travels to a remote island in the North Sea.

Yunan is the second feature from Fakher Eldin, who was born in Kyiv to Syrian parents and now lives in Germany, after his critically acclaimed Golan Heights-set debut The Stranger (Al Garib) which premiered in Venice in 2021, and went on to represent Palestine at the Oscars.

Top Lebanese theater and film actor Georges Khabbaz will play the protagonist writer who travels from his exiled existence in Hamburg to a remote island in the North Sea with thoughts of suicide. There he meets an elderly woman whose quiet humanity incites a reawakening of his desires in life.

German actress Sibel Kekilli, best known for her role as Shae in Game Of Thrones,...

Screen Rant is proud to present an exclusive clip from The Accidental Wolf season 3, which arrives on Topic's streaming service on November 10. Written and directed by Succession's Arian Moayed, the thriller series began in 2018 with perennial Broadway star Kelli O'Hara portraying Katie Bonner. Once a bored New York housewife, Katie's entire life is turned upside down when she receives a terrifying call from a man pleading with her to save his wife Tala with his dying breath.

The first two seasons of The Accidental Wolf have been comprised on ten episodes total, with the first season finding Kate unable to convince her family and friends that the call was anything more than a scam and the 6-episode second season leading to her fateful encounter with the woman who might finally answer all her questions. Aside from O'Hara and Moayed himself, the show also boasts a strong ensemble cast of stage...

Screen Rant is happy to exclusively premiere the first American trailer for Bullets, a new Finnish crime drama coming to the Topic streaming service. The series comes from the minds of Antti Pesonen and Minna Virtanen, and is directed by Pete Riski. It stars Sibel Kekilli (Game of Thrones), Krista Kosonen (Blade Runner), Tommi Korpela (The Eternal Road), Jani Volanen (Hatching), and Dragomir Mrsic (Edge of Tomorrow).

Bullets received critical acclaim in its home country of Finland, receiving nominations for Best Program and Best Actress for Krista Kosonen at the Finnish Television Academy Golden Venla. The series premieres exclusively in the US and Canada on Topic beginning on Thursday, October 27th. Bullets is a female-led espionage and political thriller, focusing on young Finnish undercover cop Mari Saari (Kosonen). She is tasked with the mission to infiltrate the inner circle of Madina Taburova (Kekilli), a terrorist suspect who has traveled to Finland on her final mission.

HBO’s upcoming “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon” is still months away from premiering, but it will almost certainly be one of the most scrutinized TV shows of the year. Any follow-up to the fantasy blockbuster would have sky high expectations to contend with, and the original show’s polarizing ending left many fans particularly wary about future Westeros projects.

One person who is not concerned about the series? “Game of Thrones” author George R.R. Martin, who once again took to his blog this week to praise the spinoff.

“I’ve now watched rough cuts of nine of the ten episodes, and I continue to be impressed,” Martin wrote. “I cannot speak to the SFX, many of which are not in yet, but the look of it is great, and the acting, the directing, and writing are first rate. And yes, for all you book fans, it Is my story.

German director Uli Edel (“The Baader Meinhof Complex”) is set to direct “Heisenberg,” an adaptation of Richard von Schirach’s historical book “The Night of the Physicists: Operation Epsilon: Heisenberg, Hahn, Weizsäcker and the German Bomb,” about the team of German physicists who tried to develop the atom bomb for Germany during World War II.

Munich-based companies Kj Entertainment and Fireworks Entertainment are teaming up with Film Manufacturers Inc. (Fmi) in New York to co-produce “Heisenberg” from a script by Marco Wiersch (“Der Fall Barschel”).

Published in Germany in 2012, von Schirach’s book traces the efforts of Germany’s top physicists to develop an atomic bomb for the Nazi government during the war. Arrested by the Allies in the spring of 1945, the scientists first hear of the U.S. attack on Hiroshima while detained in a country house near Cambridge.

“The Night of the Physicists” is described as “the story...

1930: Clara, Lu & Em premiered.

1989: Another World's Rachel said goodbye to Mac.

1992: One Life to Live's Asa married Blair.

2006: Days of our Lives' Ej and Sami danced the tango."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1930: Clara, Lu and Em, radio's first network daytime soap opera, premiered on Wgn-am in Chicago. It continued through the 1930s and early 1940s on the NBC Blue Network and CBS, finally airing as a syndicated series in 1945.

1972: On Another World, Gerald (Walter Mathews) dialed Steve's number, handed Rachel (Robin Strasser) the phone,...

An impressive ensemble cast shines against an unlikely backdrop in the romantic comedy, Berlin, I Love You, arriving on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital April 9 from Lionsgate.

An impressive ensemble cast shines against an unlikely backdrop in the romantic comedy, Berlin, I Love You, arriving on Blu-ray (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital April 9 from Lionsgate. This film is currently available On Demand. This heartwarming anthology contains 10 romantic stories set against the backdrop of the German capital and stars two-time Oscar® nominee Keira Knightley, Oscar® winner Helen Mirren, Luke Wilson, and Jenna Dewan. The Berlin, I Love You Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.

Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Jim Sturgess, and Diego Luna head an all-star cast in this sparkling film from the producers ofParis, Je T’Aime. Set against the vivid backdrop of Berlin, Berlin, I Love You weaves ten stories of compassion,...

“Bullets,” a Finnish, German and Belgian co-production from creator-producer Minna Virtanen and Antti Pesonen, held its market premiere screening on Monday at Berlin’s Drama Series Days, the TV component of the European Film Market.

In the series, ex-terrorist Madina Taburova, presumed to be dead, emerges in Helsinki looking for political asylum. Intelligence agent Mari Saari adapts a false identity and attempts to befriend Madina, as a means of keeping tabs on the once-dangerous woman. Krista Kosonen (“Blade Runner 2049”) and Sibel Kekilli (“Game of Thrones”) play the two main characters.

Virtanen and Pesonen spent five years co-writing and developing “Bullets.” The series is produced by Finland’s Vertigo Production, and co-produced by Germany’s Nadcon Film and Belgium’s Lunanime/ Lumière, and thanks to support from the Finnish tax incentive system, the show’s entire €5 million ($5.65 million) was in place before shooting began. TV show newcomer Pete Riski directed the series’ 10 episodes.

Variety’s “10 Europeans to Watch” were feted at a party held by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg at Berlin’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel Saturday. Kirsten Niehuus and Helge Jürgens, managing directors of Medienboard, the regional film, TV and digital-media funding body, were the co-hosts for the evening, which attracted 2,000 party-goers.

Pictured above are Henry Chu, Variety‘s international editor (left), with six of the Europeans to Watch – (from left) Belgian director Bas Devos (“Hellhole”), German actress Maria Dragus (“Mary Queen of Scots”), German director Aron Lehmann (“The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”), Austrian actress Valerie Pachner (“The Ground Beneath My Feet”), Dutch director Steven Wouterlood (“My Extraordinary Summer With Tess”), and German actor Fahri Yardim (“Dogs of Berlin”), with Niehuus (right).

Among the guests at the event were producers Martin Moszkowicz (“Resident Evil”) and Stefan Arndt (“Babylon Berlin”), and Tom Schilling, the lead actor in the Oscar nominated German film “Never Look Away,...

German actress Sibel Kekilli is best-known to American audiences for her role as Shae, the prostitute-turned-mistress of Tyrion Lannister in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” An outspoken feminist of Turkish descent, Kekiilli spoke to Variety at Italy’s Lucca Comics about the culture clash she’s been contending with since the start of her career, and why she likes to play women who, like Shae, are survivors.

You are publicizing “Game of Thrones” at this Tuscan meet dedicated to fandom and cosplay, which clearly indicates how much fans love Shae, who died in Season 4. What do you think makes this conflicted woman, who betrays her lover and is killed by him, such a powerful character?

She’s a complex character and a strong one. After my first audition, the writers changed Shae from how she is in the book, where she was more of a gold digger. But of course,...

Finland has a reputation as a curious country filled with lakes, saunas and forests as well as the home of Santa Claus. Now it is hoping to be known for its ambitious television series with a swathe of big-budget dramas interesting international buyers and will be front and center at Mipcom in Cannes to demonstrate this.

Scandinavia has long been known for producing cutting edge scripted series such as Danish hits The Killing and The Bridge, Norway’s Lilyhammer and Skam and Sweden’s Wallander and Humans. However, despite many considering Finland a member of this gang, it is not actually part of Scandinavia, but rather part of the Nordic bloc with more in common with Iceland.

Finnish local producers are hoping that high-profile projects including a local Sherlock Holmes original, Sky-backed crime drama Bullets, sci-fi epic The White Wall and climate change thriller Sands of Sarasvati can replicate...

1930: Clara, Lu & Em premiered.

1989: Another World's Rachel said goodbye to Mac.

1992: One Life to Live's Asa married Blair.

2006: Days of our Lives' Ej and Sami danced the tango."All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."

― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1930: Clara, Lu and Em, radio's first network daytime soap opera, premiered on Wgn-am in Chicago. It continued through the 1930s and early 1940s on the NBC Blue Network and CBS,...

Cannes — “Bullets,” a women-driven political thriller which adds a new cutting edge to Nordic crime suspense, won the first Buyers’ Coup de Coeur, facing off with tough competition from other often high-end dramas from ambitious producers across Europe.

Created by “Border Town’s” co-screenwriter Antii Pesonen and Vertigo Production’s Minna Virtanen, and written by Pesonen Matti Laine (“Bordertown”) and Kirsi Vikman (“Mother of Mine”), “Bullets” drew heat when it hit October’s Mipcom with Nadcon, headed by Peter Nadermann (“The Bridge,” “The Killing”) and Belgium’s Lunanime/Lumière on board as co-producers, plus Sky Vision handling international sales.

A 15-minute sneak peek of select scenes at the MipDrama Buyers Summit did not disappoint. What the excerpts did more than anything else was to establish the shifting perspectives of “Bullets,” its two arresting main characters, the context, Helsinki, and a welling sense of tragedy.

The 15-minute excepts began with a...