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Nir Bergman’s Pink Lady, which screened at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, examines lives influenced by faith and tradition. In Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, the film shows Bati (Nur Fibak), a young wife and mother. Her orderly life shifts when someone extorts her husband, Lazer (Uri Blufarb), using romantic photos with a male study partner. Though this situation points to Lazer’s inner conflict between sexuality and faith, the film centers on Bati’s personal growth.

Bati lives by ritual and implicit rules. She works at the mikveh—a ritual bath for purification—which shows two sides of her world: a space for renewal that also restricts. During her efforts to keep her marriage intact, Bati starts to question what others expect from her, including her duties as a wife and her community’s silence about physical love.

Suppression and custom run through the story. Lazer endures conversion therapy,...

The subject of married gay men struggling with their sexuality in ultra-religious settings is not a new one to cinema. Among others, Jayro Bustamente’s Tremors explored the fallout in an evangelical setting and Haim Tabakman showed it playing out against an ultra-Orthodox Jewish backdrop in Eyes Wide Open.

Screenwriter Mindi Ehrlich, who drew on her own experiences within the Hasidic Jewish community for the film, brings a freshness to the subject by focusing on the female perspective of events - meaning it is a close cousin to the Morrocan-set and similarly themed Blue Caftan. It means that this is not just a film tackling the difficulties faced by a gay man to live his own truth in an environment that strictly controls everything, including sex, but also a story of female self-discovery and emancipation.

Bati (Nur Fibak) and Lazer (Uri Blufarb) appear to have a strong marriage. Their conversations are.

The Yellowstone era of Kevin Costner’s career has come to an end, and viewers now know the fate of his character. The box office disappointment of his film Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 has left some wondering how he’s going to be able to complete his four-part Western epic, which brought up the scheduling conflicts that caused him to exit Yellowstone in the first place… but Costner isn’t just sitting around, waiting to get back to the world of Horizon. Last month, it was announced that Costner is set to star in a horror thriller called Headhunters – and now, The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that he’s being joined in the cast by Chloe East, who can currently be seen on the big screen in the horror movie Heretic, and Evan Mock (Gossip Girl).

Cinematographer Steven Holleran will be making his feature directorial debut with this film,...

“This film is important, but the most important [thing] for us right now is to bring the hostages back home and for the Israel-Middle East conflict to stop as fast as possible,” says Nir Bergman, one of Israel’s most esteemed filmmakers, in a conversation with Variety about his Tallinn competition entry “Pink Lady.”

Bergman, whose credits include the multi-awarded pics “Broken Wings,” Cannes selected “Here We Are” as well as the original Israeli series “BeTipul,” later turned into HBO’s “In Treatment,” has peaceful messages of tolerance and acceptance in many of his works.

His latest drama, “Pink Lady,” running in the official selection of Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival, tackles the topic of hidden sexual desires and homosexuality in an ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem.

The story turns on Bati, a young woman seemingly happy with her husband, Lazer, and their three children. However, cracks in their relationship start...

Evan Mock and Chloe East have been swept up by Headhunters.

The model and Gossip Girl star and Heretic breakout are set to join Kevin Costner and Daniel Zovatto on the film, due to start shooting January. Accomplished cinematographer Steven Holleran will make his feature directorial debut on the film based on an idea he originated. He and Costner then collaborated on the script, which is described as a mashup combining the “kinetic energy of surf culture with the suspense of horror.”

Headhunters casts Costner as Lazer, a washed-up American ex-pat with a mysterious past who finds himself living in Bali, Indonesia. Lazer recruits a group of surfers led by Bima, a local photographer, on a journey to an uncharted island to pioneer a “perfect wave.” To their surprise, the island is home to an ancient tribe of headhunters guarding the land at all costs. “What ensues is an adventure...

As Yellowstone is ready to roll out its Kevin Costner-less episodes in a few days, the former Dutton family patriarch is reportedly moving into ‘uncharted waters’. Costner may be done with Western drama for the time being after his passion project Horizon failed to impress the audience. The Dances with Wolves is allegedly trying to get close to the surfing world for his new project, Headhunters.

Kevin Costner in a still from Yellowstone | Credits: Paramount+

After recent reports of Costner’s new film, an insider source revealed that his new move is not at all welcome in the surfing community. There are also reports that Costner has hired a surf trainer and is currently in Hawaii “channeling his inner Baywatch”.

Kevin Costner’s New Movie Reportedly Irks The Surfing Community Kevin Costner in a still from Dances with Wolves | Credits: Orion Pictures

Earlier in October, THR reported that Kevin...

The Yellowstone era of Kevin Costner’s career has come to an end, and the box office disappointment of his film Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 has left some wondering how he’s going to be able to complete his four-part Western epic… but Costner isn’t just sitting around, waiting to get back to the world of Horizon. The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that Costner is set to star in a horror thriller called Headhunters – and not only will he have a lead role, but he’s also producing the film and co-writing the screenplay!

Cinematographer Steven Holleran will be making his feature directorial debut with this film, which is based on an idea he originated. Holleran took the idea to Costner, and they’ve crafted the script together. Costner will be playing a character called Lazer, a washed-up American ex-pat with a mysterious past who finds himself living in Bali,...

American DJ and music producer Diplo is one day away from the start of his summer tour, which kicked off on August 15 in Bali.

Diplo’s tour will take him across the United States, Canada, India and more.

In the last few years, Diplo has won three Grammy Awards, with Best Dance Recording for “Where Are Ü Now” and Best Dance/Electronic Album for Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack Ü in 2016, as well as Best Dance Recording for ‘Electricity’ in 2019.

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Born on November 10, 1978, as Thomas Wesley Pentz, Diplo is the co-creator and lead member of Major Lazer, an electronic dancehall music project. He is also a member of the supergroup LSD with Sia and Labrinth, a member of the electronic duo Jack Ü with producer and DJ Skrillex and a member of Silk City with Mark Ronson.

To craft the now iconic dance behind “World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak” from HBO’s “The Ido,l” choreographer Nina McNeely first needed to understand the root of pop star and musical sensation Jocelyn’s (played by Lily-Rose Depp).

“She’s a former child star. She was at the pinnacle of her fame, then went through a rough patch and had a mental breakdown. And in the rehearsal scene, that’s her big comeback; she’s rehearsing for her big comeback, so there’s an insane amount of pressure on her,” McNeely explained in Variety’s Artisans series, presented by HBO. “She had canceled tours; she needs to get that money back. She needs to top the charts, and she’s also having that rehearsal in the midst of a scandal.”

Visual artist and dance legend McNeely has worked with Major Lazer, Björk, the Foo Fighters, and (of course) The Weeknd.