News

Exclusive: With one of Europe’s three flagship film festivals approaching half way stage, minds are already beginning to focus on the shape of the next two: Cannes and Venice. The former will be upon us before we know it.

As ever, there is no shortage of anticipated movies in contention. Indeed, one leading producer we spoke to remarked that 2025 is looking like “a particularly tough year, a much stronger year than 2024”. The surprise to us during our research for this piece is just how many big movies look like they will push to fall rather than launch on the Croisette. That’s not to say that Cannes won’t be box office. It remains the gold standard. The importance of both Cannes and Venice as launchpads is at an all-time high. Just look at how many Oscar nominees now start out at those two festivals — five of this year...

Memento Intl., the well-established Paris-based international sales company behind “Call Me by Your Name,” is rebranding as Paradise City Sales and is bringing “My Notes on Mars,” starring Greta Lee and Andrew Scott, to the EFM.

Emilie Georges, who founded Memento Intl. 20 years ago, launched the production vehicle Paradise City a few years ago with London-based Naima Abed. The pair have had great success with the pics they delivered, notably 2025 Sundance hit ”Atropia,” starring Alia Shawkat and Channing Tatum, and Anthony Chen’s 2023 drama ”Drift,” with Cynthia Erivo. “My Notes of Mars,” Hungarian director Lili Horvát’s English-language debut feature, is the latest co-production on Paradise City’s slate.

The rebranding comes at a pivotal time as Georges and Abed seek to build a closer bond between production and sales. As such, the sales outlet will now operate under the same Paradise City banner, which has offices in Paris and London,...

“The Ugly Stepsister” — the Cinderella-inspired horror that emerged from Sundance as one of the festival’s buzziest titles — has sold worldwide for Memento International.

From director Emilie Blichfeldt and a beauty-horror reimagining of the classic fairy tale — the film already sold to Shudder for North America, the U.K. and Australia-New Zealand before it’s world premiere in Park City, while Mer Film and Scanbox will release it in Scandinavia.

The film has also now sold to Esc FIlms (France), Capelight (Germany and Austria), Beta Films (Spain), Lev Cinema (Israel), Ads (Hungary), Cay Films (Romania), Cine Canibal (Latin America), New Select (Japan), House of M (Thailand), Pt Falcon (Indonesia), Estin Film (Baltics) and Vendetta Filmes (Portugal). Negotiations are reportedly ongoing in Italy, Greece and Ukraine, among others.

“The Ugly Stepsister” follows Elvira as she prepares to earn the prince’s affection at any cost. In a kingdom where beauty is a brutal business,...

HexClad is beaming Gordon Ramsay and Pete Davidson in for an adventure with their 2025 Super Bowl commercial!

The kitchenware brand unveiled “Unidentified Frying Object,” its first-ever Super Bowl commercial that will air during the big game on Sunday (February 9).

The :30-second spot stars HexClad partner Gordon Ramsay, who showcases the brand’s “out-of-this-world” technology along with a surprise cameo appearance by the SNL actor and comedian.

Keep reading to find out more…

Set in Area 51′s high-tech test kitchen, the spot follows a classified mission that reveals HexClad’s hybrid technology as an otherworldly discovery.

“Breaking barriers and pushing innovation is what HexClad does best,” said Daniel Winer, HexClad Co-Founder and CEO in a statement. “Being the first cookware brand in the Super Bowl is a watershed moment for us and I’m thrilled to share it with Gordon, Pete, Rosewood Creative and our talented global team as we continue reaching for the stars.

One of the hottest sales titles at TIFF 2024 is finally hitting theaters. Sony Pictures Classics will release “On Swift Horses,” the period war drama and romance from director Daniel Minahan this April, after it closes out the SXSW Film & TV Festival next month.

“On Swift Horses” features a cast that’s as buzzy as it gets with Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Will Poulter, and is based on a novel by Shannon Pufahl with a screenplay by Bryce Kass. The film also stars Sasha Calle and Diego Calva.

The film follows Muriel and her husband Lee as they are beginning a bright new life in California upon Lee’s return from the Korean War. But their newfound stability is upended by the arrival of Lee’s charismatic brother, Julius, a wayward gambler with a secret past. A dangerous love triangle quickly forms. When Julius takes off in search of the...

Berlin-based Arthood Entertainment has taken international sales rights to Yalla Parkour, a documentary filmed in Gaza before the recent war, which is set to play in Panorama at the Berlinale next week.

It marks the feature directorial debut of US-based Palestinian filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter and follows parkour athlete Ahmed Matar through Gaza’s devasted landscape.

The film premiered at Doc NYC in November, winning the international competition grand jury prize, before playing at Red Sea. It will receive its European premiere in Berlin on February 19.

Produced by Basel Mawlawi of Malmo-based Kinana Films, the feature is a Sweden-Qatar-Saudi Arabia-Palestine co-production...

Sundance prizewinning director Lemohang Mosese’s documentary feature “Ancestral Visions of the Future” has been boarded by Memento International ahead of its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival.

“Ancestral Visions of the Future” marks Mosese’s follow up to “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection” which won premiered at Venice in 2019 and went on to win the special jury award for visionary filmmaking at Sundance in 2020. The documentary reteams Mosese with Memento which had sold “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection” to more than 20 countries and presented it at more than 80 festivals despite the pandemic. It won more than 30 awards around the world and is part of the Criterion Collection.

In “Ancestral Visions of the Future,” Mosese, a Berlin-based filmmaker and visual artist, blurs the lines between reality and reconstruction and explores his own childhood in Lesotho, a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Mosese confronts...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired Unidentified, Haifaa Al Mansour’s latest, in North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and for worldwide airlines.

Directed by Al Mansour and written and produced by Al Mansour and Brad Niemann, the film is described as a “contemporary Saudi-language thriller” and is currently in post-production.

The synopsis reads: In Unidentified, the drama is sparked by the discovery of the lifeless body of a teenage girl in the desert. When no one claims the body, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced, true crime aficionado who recently lost a child of her own, gets obsessively involved. Despite a ticking clock that seemingly guarantees the girl’s senseless death will be discarded as a cold case, Noelle is determined to identify the body and uncover the truth. She slowly unravels a mystery entangled within a traditional society in transition, where women are learning to...

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired “Unidentified,” the latest feature from groundbreaking Saudi director Haifaa Al Mansour.

The film reunites Al Mansour with SPC 13 years after it came aboard her landmark 2012 debut “Wadjda,” which became the first feature to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, the first feature shot by a female Saudi director and the first Saudi Oscar submission.

Currently in post-production and described as a contemporary Arab-language thriller, “Unidentified” — written and produced by Al Mansour and Brad Niemann (“The Perfect Candidate”) — stars Mila Al Zahrani (“The Perfect Candidate”) and Shafi Al Harthi (“A Woman’s Life”). The story revolves around the discovery of the lifeless body of a teenage girl in the desert. When no one claims the body, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced, true crime aficionado who recently lost a child of her own, gets obsessively involved. Despite a ticking clock that seemingly guarantees the girl’s...

Sony Pictures Classics is reteaming with Wadjda director Haifaa Al Mansour on her upcoming contemporary Saudi thriller Unidentified, taking North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and worldwide airlines.

Al Mansour wrote, directs and is producing alongside Brad Niemann. This is her first feature since 2019 The Perfect Candidate after several years directing American TV and commercials.

Currently in post, Unidentified stars Mila Al Zahrani (The Perfect Candidate) and Shafi Al Harthi (A Woman’s Life) and centres on a true crime aficionado who tries to solve the case of a teenage girl’s corpse found in the desert.

Sony Pictures Classics have pre-bought Unidentified, the new feature from Saudi filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour (Wadjda, The Perfect Candidate), acquiring the contemporary Saudi-language thriller film for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and worldwide airlines. Writen, directed by Al Mansour, and produced together Brad Niemann (The Perfect Candidate), Unidentified is currently in post-production.

Mila Al Zahrani (The Perfect Candidate) and Shafi Al Harthi (A Woman’s Life) star in the thriller, in which the discovery of a teenage girl’s lifeless body in the desert sparks an investigation. When no one claims the body, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced true crime aficionado who recently lost a child of her own, becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth. Facing a ticking clock that threatens to turn the case cold, Noelle’s determination leads her into a mystery embedded within a society in transition, where women are fighting for greater autonomy.

HexClad is beaming Gordon Ramsay and Pete Davidson up into outer space for their 2025 Super Bowl commercial!

The kitchenware brand unveiled “Unidentified Frying Object,” its first-ever Super Bowl commercial that will air during the big game on Sunday (February 9).

The :30 second spot stars HexClad partner Gordon Ramsay, who showcases the brand’s “out-of-this-world” technology along with a surprise cameo appearance by the SNL actor and comedian.

Keep reading to find out more…

Set in Area 51′s high-tech test kitchen, the spot follows a classified mission that reveals HexClad’s hybrid technology as an otherworldly discovery.

“Breaking barriers and pushing innovation is what HexClad does best,” said Daniel Winer, HexClad Co-Founder and CEO in a statement. “Being the first cookware brand in the Super Bowl is a watershed moment for us and I’m thrilled to share it with Gordon, Pete, Rosewood Creative and our talented global team as we continue reaching for the stars.

Memento International has boarded Belgian filmmaker Laurent Micheli’s French-language thriller Nino In Paradise (Nino Dans La Nuit) for international sales.

The adaptation of Capucine Azaviele and Simon Johannin’s best-selling novel follows a 20-year-old whose failed attempt to join the Foreign Legion sets him on a path of odd jobs and wild nights as he and his friends try to find their place in a world that seems to have given up on them.

It is Belgian filmmaker Micheli’s third feature after his 2016 debut Even Lovers Get The Blues and 2019’sLola starring Benoit Magimel. Newcomer Oscar Högström stars with Mara Taquin,...

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has announced its selection of 20 film projects and four immersive projects for the 42nd edition of CineMart, Rotterdam’s co-production market. The 2025 CineMart runs from Feb. 2 to Feb. 5, 2025. Rotterdam’s industry section, the IFFR Pro Days, is scheduled from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5.

Among the highlights of the projects set for CineMart are Ukrainian auteur Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk’s Something Strange Happened to Me, the director’s follow-up to his acclaimed debut Pamfir; Kenyan filmmaker Angela Wanjiku Wamai’s neo-Western Enkop; and The Uganda Project, the new film from Daniel Mann, whose Under a Blue Sun screened in Rotterdam’s Tiger Competition in 2024.

As is to be expected from a Rotterdam lineup, the 2025 CineMart selection is thematically and geographically diverse. Cheryl Dunye’s Black Is Blue, which explores anxiety over AI, stands alongside Jazmín López’s Faust, an exploration into the origins of authoritarianism. Marcelo Gomes...

On Thursday December 5 2024, Nickelodeon broadcasts SpongeBob SquarePants!

Unidentified Flailing Octopus Season 14 Episode 15 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “SpongeBob SquarePants” titled “Unidentified Flailing Octopus” promises to be an exciting adventure for fans of the show. In this episode, Squidward takes center stage as he embarks on a mission to prove that aliens do not exist. Known for his skeptical nature, Squidward is determined to debunk the idea of extraterrestrial life once and for all.

As the story unfolds, Squidward’s quest leads him to some unexpected situations. His strong disbelief in aliens is put to the test when he experiences a close encounter that shakes his views. The episode’s title hints at a humorous twist, as viewers can expect Squidward’s typical grumpiness to clash with the bizarre and whimsical events surrounding him.

SpongeBob and Patrick are likely to add their own brand of silliness to the mix. Their...

Antonio Vivaldi, the Italian Baroque composer and violinist who penned “The Four Seasons,” will be portrayed in “Primavera,” the feature debut of Damiano Michieletto, a leading opera director. Memento International has boarded the film which begins shooting this month in Rome and Venice.

“Primavera” was penned by Ludovica Rampoldi, the award-winning screenwriter of movies such as “The Traitor” and “Gomorrah – the series,” among others. The script is loosely adapted from Tiziano Scarpa’s critically acclaimed novel “Stabat Mater.”

Set in 18th century Venice, “Primavera” follows Cecilia, a 20-year-old violin virtuoso who lives at the Pièta orphanage. Despite her talent, Cecilia remains confined within the orphanage, knowing that marriage is the only way out. Yet, her life takes a turn after she meets Antonio Vivaldi, a brilliant and ambitious composer who becomes the new violin teacher. Guided by Vivaldi and his music, Cecilia “finds the strength to challenge the destiny that once seemed inevitable,...

Will Seefried’s romance drama “Lilies Not for Me,” led by Fionn O’Shea (“Normal People”) and Robert Aramayo (“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”), has been boarded by Memento International in the run up to its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

The cast of rising actors also includes Erin Kellyman (“Willow”), Jodi Balfour and Louis Hofmann (“Dark”).

Set in 1920s England, “Lilies Not for Me” revolves around a gay novelist and his psychiatric nurse who form an unlikely friendship over a series of doctor-prescribed dates. “Through their conversations, he tells her the story of his relationship with an old friend which spiraled out of control when they turned to a risky procedure to cure themselves of their forbidden feelings for one another,” the synopsis reads.

The film hails from “Call Me by Your Name” producers Emilie Georges and Naima Abed at Paradise City, as well as Hannes Otto,...

Welcome back to Dead Time. Even if you’ve only dabbled in the paranormal, chances are you’re familiar with John E.L. Tenney. Tenney is one of the most sought-after and well-known experts in the world and has more than 30 years of experience with UFOs, paranormal research, occult phenomena, and conspiracy theories. He has authored over a dozen books and worked as a consultant and appeared on TV shows like Unsolved Mysteries, Sightings, Hellier, and Kindred Spirits.

In a previous installment of Dead Time, Bloody Disgusting talked with Tenney and his best friend and co-host of the What’s Up Weirdo Podcast, Jessica Knapik, about their favorite haunted locations and Tenney shared the terrifying true story of an exorcism he attended.

This month, Bloody Disgusting was excited to have the opportunity to talk with John E.L. Tenney about conspiracy theories surrounding UFOs and UAPs, hoaxes, possible origins of the phenomena,...

Exclusive: Director Haifaa Al Mansour is returning to her native Saudi Arabia for the shoot of crime feature Unidentified, exploring the reality of women amid the current period of immense social change in the country.

“I am so excited to return home to Saudi Arabia for my third film exploring the hidden lives of Saudi women, and to use the criminal mystery genre to explore a gripping story rooted in the deeper issues that affect women in the Kingdom,” said Al Mansour.

The movie is in pre-production and due to begin shooting soon. UTA Independent Film Group and Memento International are teaming up to co-sell and will launch the project in Cannes.

The drama is sparked by the discovery of the lifeless body of a teenage girl in the desert outside a small town. When no one claims the body, Noelle Al Saffan, a newly divorced, true crime aficionado who...

The Pentagon said they abandoned UFO investigations, but whistleblowers discovered they continued all along… under the new name, Uap (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena)!

A startling new documentary from BayView Entertainment reveals the truth in Uap: Death Of The UFO.

BayView Entertainment LLC is launching viewers on an intergalactic journey to dimensions unknown. But just how unknown are they, really? Uap: Death of the UFO explores just how much the US Pentagon has known all along.

This revealing exposé charts the path of the government’s UFO investigations. When whistleblowers expose the truth, the world is presented with an answer: not only have UFOs been investigated all along, but the explorations have expanded well beyond space vehicles to include all UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena).

Witness once-classified footage of aerial sights, sounds, and aircraft that cannot be explained. Will natural explanations be uncovered, or could these indeed be signs of life from beyond?...

Demi Lovato is no longer working with four-year manager Scooter Braun, Rolling Stone can confirm. The news was first reported by Billboard.

Lovato left Braun’s Sb Projects about a month ago and she’s yet to partner with new management. Reps for Lovato and Braun did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

News of Lovato’s split from Braun notably comes just a few days after reports emerged that one of Braun’s other major high-profile clients, Justin Bieber, was looking to leave Sb Projects. However, both...

"Do you know why the UFOs are here?" Buffalo 8 has revealed an official US trailer for an indie Korean sci-fi film titled Unidentified, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Jude Chun. This little indie premiered at the 2022 BendFilm Festival last year, and it also played at the 2023 Rotterdam Film Festival earlier this year. It's now set to open in September. In 1993, planet-like spheres descended from space, hovering above every major city on earth. 29 years later, the UFOs remain, having become a part of the landscape of modern life. In the hustle and bustle of Seoul, people go to coffee shops, they work dull and repetitive office jobs, riding public transportation and visiting psychics. A man walks the streets wearing a sandwich board that reads "UFO's are not real". But paranoia is growing: some of these people may, in fact, be aliens. Described as a mockumentary / extra dry comedy, the film is a "hilarious,...

Warwick Thornton’s “The New Boy” has been set as the opening title of next month’s Sydney Film Festival, which will celebrate its 70th edition, June 7-18. The film, a tale of sprituality and survival in 1940s Australia, starring Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and Aswan Reid, will also play in the festival’s competition section.

Other titles in competition include: the world premiere of Australian documentary feature “The Dark Emu Story,” directed by Allan Clarke; Christian Petzold’s previously announced “Afire”; Charlotte Regan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “Scrapper”; Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Monster”; Aki Kaurismäki’s compassionate comedy “Fallen Leaves”; Kim Jee-woon’s “Cobweb”; Asmae El Moudir’s “The Mother of All Lies”; Alice Englert’s directorial debut “Bad Behaviour”; Celine Song’s Sundance and Berlinale 2023 selected romance “Past Lives”; Liu Jian’s 2023 Berlinale-selected animation “Art College 1994”; Devashish Makhija’s “Joram,” a thriller about an...

‘Bad Kids’ Are As Good As ‘Gold’

“The Bad Kids,” a hit series from Chinese streamer iQiyi, is to be remade as a Japanese feature film “Gold Boy.” The 12-episode gritty crime thriller depicts the troubles that arise after three children accidentally film a murder. The series was previously licensed to Japanese pay-tv group Wowow.

The film is to be directed by Kaneko Shusuke, director of two of the hit “Death Note” franchise films, with screenwriter Minato Takehiko, producer Yoshida Takio (Venice Silver Lion winner with “Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman”), and lead actor Okada Masaki (“Drive My Car”) on board.

Variety previously shortlisted the original series as being among the 15 best international TV series of 2020. The series was adapted from the novel of the same name by Chinese suspense writer Chen Zijin and presented by iQIYI and co-produced by Eternity Pictures, with Han Sanping, former head of China Film Group,...

If they really came to our planet one day, what would they do? Attack? Mingle? Body-snatch? Do a sight-seeing tour, or apply for their residence permits and settle down? To put in other words: what would we do, if they were already here but largely ignoring us? In Jude Chun’s offbeat sci-fi comedy/ drama with musical elements “Unidentified”, the aliens are seemingly doing just that. They have been parked in the skies since 1993, with no intention to descend. No one knows what they are up to, and if they are up to anything at all.

Unidentified is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam

People are coming up with their theories and ‘experiences’ – some claiming of having met the visitors. Confessions in German, Hungarian, Turkish, Khmer, French, Yoruba, Polish, Japanese and Korean are heard, the eccentrics talking about their encounters of the third kind. A cellist performs his composition from another world,...

Unidentified (Neidentificar) Film Movement Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net, linked from Rotten Tomatoes by Harvey Karten Director: Bogdan George Apetri Screenwriter: Bogdan George Apetri, Iulian Postelnicu Cast: Bogdan Farcas, Dragos Dumitru, Vasile Muraru, Emanuel Parvu, Olimpia Malai Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 9/7/22 Opens: September 16, 2022 Film buffs have come to accept that movies […]

The post Unidentified Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Imagine making two movies at exactly the same time.

That’s exactly what Romanian-born, New York-based director Bogdan George Apetri did while making “Miracle,” which played last week in the feature film competition at the Zurich Film Festival shortly after world premiering at Venice.

Filmed in Romania, “Miracle” is the second part of a trilogy of films written and directed by Apetri, and was recently picked up by Memento International. The first part, “Unidentified,” won the Special Jury Prize at the Warsaw Film Festival in 2020.

Both are self-contained stories, but feature many of the same characters and are filmed in and around the same Romanian town. “We literally shot three days on one movie, two days on the other,” says Apetri. “Some days we shot ‘Unidentified’ up to lunch, and then we shot ‘Miracle’ – or vice versa.”

It was a crazy and intense, 40-day experience, says Apetri, who also teaches...

A journey of discovery rooted in questions about faith, fate, and mortality, “Miracle” offers up revelations like slow drips from a faucet, building to a staggering conclusion that synthesizes all of the film’s narrative ingredients. Part two of director Bogdan George Apetri’s Romanian trilogy, the film is self-contained as a piece, yet features characters from 2020’s “Unidentified” along the edges, expanding the tapestry of this world while germinating an entirely new story.

Continue reading ‘Miracle’ Lives Up To Its Name, Seamlessly Blending Narrative, Style, & Technique With Devastating Results [Venice Review] at The Playlist.

For those who still view Lou Reed primarily as Rock's Transgressor-in-Chief, it would be easy to pooh-pooh the idea of a Reed tribute at Lincoln Center, that bastion of New York City high-culture propriety. But the setting for "The Bells: A Daylong Celebration of Lou Reed," which took place Saturday, couldn't have been more fitting. As a stalwart New York arts lover, Reed frequented the place, and it hosted a remarkable public memorial for him after his passing in 2013. Reed shared a stage there with Ornette Coleman, one of his great musical heroes,...