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Indonesia’s Base Entertainment and Netherlands-based New Amsterdam have partnered on two projects, the companies revealed at the inaugural Jaff Market that takes place alongside the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (Jaff) in Yogyakarta (Jogja) from Dec. 3-5.

The collaboration includes “Hemelrijk,” a limited series from writer-director Jim Taihuttu, who previously worked with both companies on “De Oost” (“The East”). The second project is a feature adaptation of Indonesian author Leila Chudori’s novel “Pulang” (Home).

Production on “Hemelrijk” is set to begin in late 2025, while development on “Pulang” will start in early 2025.

The announcement came during a Jaff Market session focused on the recently signed co-production treaty between Indonesia and The Netherlands.

“We are thrilled to collaborate again with Jim Taihuttu on the series ‘Hemelrijk,’ which he has written and will direct, and with New Amsterdam on these two projects, including the adaptation of Leila Chudori’s novel ‘Pulang (Home...

The newly signed co-production treaty between the Netherlands and Indonesia aims to strengthen bilateral film collaboration, providing filmmakers from both countries access to national funding schemes and production incentives, industry leaders revealed at the inaugural Jaff Market in Jogja, Indonesia during a panel.

The inaugural Jaff Market takes place alongside the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival (Jaff) in Yogyakarta from Dec. 3-5. The panel was moderated by producer Lorna Tee of An Original Picture Nl, who also serves as Jaff Market advisor.

Sandra den Hamer, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, highlighted that the treaty emerged from grassroots interest rather than top-down policy. “It comes from the filmmakers and producers. There’s a lot of interest to make films together, or to make films in Indonesia, to retell our history,” she said.

The treaty follows successful agreements the Netherlands has established with Canada, China, France, Germany, Norway and South Africa. With South Africa,...

While she has only been acting since 2010, the best Danielle Macdonald movies and TV shows feature several fantastic performances from the Australian actress. Macdonald began acting as a teen, and after attending the Australian Institute for Performing Arts, she moved to Los Angeles and started her Hollywood acting career. She got her first role in The Thief, a short film directed by Rachel Weisz, and then earned her first feature film role in The East (2013), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Since that time, Macdonald has become a legitimate star, earning critical acclaim in television shows and movies, both theatrical and on streaming. She has worked with major directors like Greta Gerwig and top movie stars like Michelle Pfeiffer and Jennifer Aniston. Macdonald has also switched between lead roles, supporting roles, and even smaller guest roles, and often steals the show in any movie or TV show she appears in.

Submarine’s action thriller series “Safe Harbor,” whose showrunner and executive producer is Emmy-nominated “Ozark” co-creator Mark Williams, has added several cast members, including Colm Meaney, whose credits include “Layer Cake,” “Con Air” and “Star Trek.”

Also joining the cast are Pauline McLynn, Damien Molony, Charlotte Timmers and Daniel Lapaine.

The cast, as previously announced, also includes Emmy- and Tony-nominated actor Alfie Allen, Charlie Murphy, Jack Gleeson and Martijn Lakemeier.

Pauline McLynn, Damien Molony, Charlotte Timmers and Daniel Lapaine.

Filming commenced in the fall of 2023 and the series will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Inspired by true events, “Safe Harbor” follows gifted hacker Tobias (Allen) and his ambitious best friend Marco (Lakemeier), intent on cracking into the tech billionaires club. Marco and Tobias are plucked from quiet obscurity and plunged headfirst into the chaos of organized crime when they cross paths with the Irish mob. Leading the family...

What started off as a creative fantasy story unintentionally became hyperrealistic in Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij’s hit limited series A Murder at the End of the World.

The writing duo, who also served as co-creators, directors and EPs of the FX series, sat down at Deadline’s Contenders TV event Sunday to discuss the inspiration behind the mystery.

Marling explained that the idea of the tech retreat came to them back in 2019, after several of their own friends had gone through similar experiences, describing how interesting she found it that “Everyone’s so willing to surrender to the largess of the billionaire, but what are the billionaire’s intentions?”

At the time, artificial intelligence was nowhere near where it is today, with several of their own friends attempting to discourage them from making it so central to the plot saying “AI’s so far away, do Mars, do this,...

Exclusive: Beta Film’s Crown-esque high-end drama series Maxima has sold to networks in Lat Am, Israel and across Europe.

The series, which is one of the German major’s biggest being shopped at the London TV Screenings, will air on Hot in Israel and on Warner Bros. Discovery networks across Latin America following the deals. Other buyers include Croatia’s Hrt, Austria’s Orf and broadcasters in Latvia and Slovakia.

Millstreet Films’ Maxima tells the story of Dutch queen Máxima Zorreguieta and is one of the few shows about a living royal out there. Dropping on The Netherlands’ Videoland from April 20, it takes up the story the moment the Argentina-born queen appears at the Dutch crown prince’s side. Heated discussions subsequently erupt about her father’s political career in the Argentinian Videla regime – something she never faced in her own circles.

Máxima is portrayed by Argentinian rising star...

Germany’s Beta Film is introducing at the London TV Screenings the first episode of “Maxima,” a six-part drama about the love story between future Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and the then Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander. The series is produced by Millstreet Films “The Neighbors”), with Videoland (Rtl Netherlands) holding Dutch broadcasting rights.

“Maxima” is adapted from the biography written by Dutch journalist Marcia Luyten in celebration of the Queen’s 50th birthday and focuses mainly on how the political background of Maxima’s father interfered with her very public engagement to the Crown Prince. Speaking to Variety ahead of the London TV Screenings, Justus Riesenkampff, EVP Nordics & Benelux at Beta Film, said “Maxima” was “especially appealing because royal stories resonate well.”

“It’s the second TV series made about a living royal — we couldn’t think of any other than ‘The Crown.’ And we have a lot of...

A Murder at the End of the World Review(Photo Credit –IMDb)

A Murder at the End of the World Review: Star Rating:

Cast: Emma Corrin, Harris Dickinson, Brit Marling, Alice Braga, Joan Chen, and Clive Owen.

Creator: Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij

Director: Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij

Streaming On: Hulu

Language: English

Runtime: 7 Episodes, Around 1 hour each

A Murder at the End of the World Review(Photo Credit –IMDb) A Murder at the End of the World Review: What’s It About:

Brit Marling has become one of the most creative and unique creators on television. During the last ten years, we have delivered some of the most fascinating series and films in recent memory. So, it becomes quite a delight to see her coming back with A Murder at the End of the World, a limited series on Hulu, inspired by the works of Agatha Christie and...

Exclusive: Alfie Allen, Charlie Murphy and Jack Gleeson are to star in a Dutch-Belgian thriller series from Ozark co-creator Mark Williams, Night Train Media and Submarine.

They are starring alongside emerging Dutch star Martijn Lakemeier in the eight-part drama, which is for Dutch streamer Videoland and Belgium’s Streamz.

Production has begun in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, with Williams directing along with Arne Toonen, and we hear the ambition is for Safe Harbor to be a returner that aims to balance edge-of-the-seat thrills with character-based stories and a twisty plot line. Further shooting will take place in Belgium and Ireland, Deadline understands.

The series follows gifted hacker Tobias (Allen) and his ambitious best friend Marco (Lakemeier), who are intent on cracking into the tech billionaires club. They are plucked from quiet obscurity and plunged headfirst into...

A Murder at the End of the World creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij are a resilient duo. Instead of letting disappointment linger, the longtime creative partners quickly rebounded after the cancellation of their beloved genre-bender The Oa and channeled its many profound takeaways into their next story. The Netflix series struck a deep chord in viewers around the world, and seeing firsthand the community and energy that had formed around their work, Marling and Batmanglij further trusted their storytelling instincts until a new name rose to the top of their collective mind: Darby Hart.

Their FX on Hulu limited series chronicles past-and-present Darby (Emma Corrin), who’s an amateur sleuth turned true-crime author. She combines the hacking and investigative skills of Mr. Robot’s Elliot Alderson and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’s Lisbeth Salander, with the death-adjacent upbringing of Six Feet Under‘s Claire Fisher. Despite those familiar comps,...

"You're just another guest on a retreat. So as long as you play the part." FX Networks / Hulu have debuted a second trailer for the mystery thriller series A Murder at the End of the World, arriving for streaming soon. It's the latest creation of filmmakers Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij, creators of "The Oa" series and collaborators on Sound of My Voice & The East previously. Emma Corrin stars as Darby Hart, a Gen Z amateur sleuth, who attempts to solve a murder at a secluded retreat. In this Hulu series, which puts a new spin on the classic whodunit, Darby and 11 other guests are invited by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a retreat at a remote and dazzling location. When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must fight to prove it was murder against a tide of competing interests. This was shot in Iceland (and in...

When they’re breaking a story, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij — a creative team who’ve been together since their first short film in 2007 — tend to work in the bedrooms of their Los Angeles homes. “We live in small houses on the Eastside,” Marling says during a visit to New York, “so we don’t have room for offices or studies.”

In the first of many times one of the pair picks up the other’s ideas and runs, Batmanglij jumps in. “It feels like pantomime to have offices with assistants, and the assistant asks you if you want a bottle of water — the performance of it,” he says. “Take it back to when you were a kid, building a fort.”

In the months before the pandemic, Marling, now 41, and Batmanglij, now 42, were doing some fort-building — trying to pin down an idea they’d had the year before, and make...

Orphan Black: Echoes is a sci-fi thriller series created by Anna Fishko. The AMC series is a spin-off to the 2013 series titled Orphan Black, which was created by John Fawcett and Graeme Manson, the series is set in 2052 and it revolves around Lucy, a woman who doesn’t know anything about her past. Orphan Black: Echoes is set in the same universe as Orphan Black and it stars Krysten Ritter, Keeley Hawes, Amanda Fix, and Avan Jogia. So, if you loved Orphan Black: Echoes and will be waiting for Season 2, here are some similar shows you could watch until then.

Orphan Black (AMC+ & Prime Video Add-On) Credit – BBC America

Synopsis: Orphan Black is a Sci-Fi thriller starring Tatiana Maslany in the lead role of Sarah, an outsider and orphan whose life changes dramatically after witnessing the suicide of a woman who looks just like her. Sarah hopes that cleaning out...

Bodies is a British sci-fi murder-mystery series created by Paul Tomalin. Based on the DC Vertigo comic and graphic novel of the same name written by Si Spencer, and illustrated by Dean Ormston, Tula Lotay, Meghan Hetrick, and Phil Winsdale. The Netflix series follows four different detectives in four different time periods trying to solve the same murder in London. Bodies stars Stephen Graham, Amaka Okafor, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Shira Haas, Kyle Soller, Tom Mothersdale, and Synnove Karlsen. So, if you loved the Netflix series here are some similar shows you could watch next.

Dark (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Netflix’s mind-bending German thriller series Dark is the best sci-fi and time-travel series of all time and that is a statement that millions of people will agree with. Dark begins with the disappearance of two children which later on evolves into a sinister conspiracy that involves time travel and connections that tie the whole town together.

Channel 4 Takes Another JFK Doc

The UK’s Channel 4 has acquired a doc on the late U.S. President John F Kennedy. The network has struck a deal with Espresso Media International for the hour-long doc on the first day of Mipcom. JFK: 24 Hours That Changed The World comes from Coleman Television and follows the final day of Kennedy’s life, before he was assassinated in November 1963. The doc also follows the aftermath, as gunman Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested and charged with the murder. Espresso says ten other deals have been struck with buyers in Europe and Asia. Channel 4 previously bought Espresso sold doc Ve Day in Colour: Britain’s Biggest Party and recently pre-bought Sinatra, Kennedy and the Mob from Abacus Media Rights.

Rtl Buys ‘Maxima’

Upcoming Dutch royal doc Maxima has found a home in Germany. Rtl has bought the six-part drama series, which follows the...

Germany’s Rtl has acquired royal drama “Maxima” from Beta Film. The show follows the life of Argentinian born Maxima Zorreguieta, who later became Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.

The first six-hour season of the show has just wrapped shooting. Several additional territories are in negotiations. A sneak preview of “Maxima” will be presented at Mipcom in Cannes. The series is produced by Millstreet Films and was commissioned by Rtl Netherlands’ Ott service Videoland.

Shot in New York, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium over the course of the summer, the series features a stellar cast: Maxima is portrayed by Argentinian actress Delfina Chaves (“The Secret of the Greco Family”), and Crown Prince Willem-Alexander by Martijn Lakemeier (“The East”). German star actor Sebastian Koch takes on the role of Claus von Amsberg, Willem-Alexander’s father, and Elsie de Brauw (“The Death of My Mother”) stars as Queen Beatrix. Valeria Alonso (“Tell Me Who I Am...

"I think there is something going on here... that we don't fully understand." You don't say? FX Networks / Hulu have revealed the main official trailer for a crime thriller mystery series called A Murder at the End of the World, arriving for streaming this November. It's the latest creation of filmmakers Brit Marling & Zal Batmanglij, creators of "The Oa" series and collaborators on Sound of My Voice & The East previously. They're sticking with TV once again for another twisty series. Emma Corrin stars as Darby Hart, a Gen Z amateur sleuth, who attempts to solve a murder at a secluded retreat. In this Hulu series, which puts a new spin on the classic whodunit, Darby and 11 other guests are invited by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a retreat at a remote and dazzling location. When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must fight to prove it...

Ragnarok is a Norwegian fantasy thriller series created by Adam Price. The Netflix original series is set in a small Norwegian town and it tells the story of a high school who slowly realizes that he is the reincarnation of the Norse god Thor himself. Ragnarok stars David Stakston, Theresa Frostad Eggesbø, Synnøve Macody Lund, Herman Tømmeraas, Jonas Strand Gravli, and Emma Bones. So, if you loved the first two seasons of Ragnarok here are some similar shows you could watch while waiting for Season 3.

The Protector (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Synopsis: The series follows the epic adventure of Hakan, a young shopkeeper whose modern world gets turned upside down when he learns he’s connected to a secret, ancient order, tasked with protecting Istanbul. At the story’s start, Hakan couldn’t be further from a hero — just an ordinary guy in this city of 15 million, where East meets West and past meets present.

FX has shifted the Hulu-exclusive premiere of “A Murder at the End of the World,” the murder mystery series created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, from Aug. 29 to November, the network announced Friday.

The seven-episode limited series stars Emma Corrin of “The Crown” as amateur sleuth Darby Hart, who is invited to a retreat at the home of a reclusive billionaire (Clive Owen). When one of the other guests is slain, Darby must find the killer before they strike again.

Longtime writing partners Marling and Batmanglij previously created the Netflix series “The Oa” and the feature films “The Sound of My Voice” and “The East.”

Marling costars in the series, along with Harris Dickinson, Alice Braga, Joan Chen, Raúl Esparza, Jermaine Fowler, Ryan J. Haddad, Pegah Ferydoni, Javed Khan, Louis Cancelmi, Edoardo Ballerini, Britian Seibert, Christopher Gurr, Kellan Tetlow, Daniel Olson and Neal Huff.

Marling and Batmangli directed...

Exclusive: The Lives of Others star Sebastian Koch and The Death of My Mother‘s Elsie de Brauw have joined Máxima, Rtl’s upcoming drama about the Argentine-born Queen of the Netherlands. Germany’s Beta Film has also joined the Millstreet Films production.

Principal photography on the six-part drama for Rtl’s streamer Videoland began last month in New York and Madrid in Spain, which subbed in for Buenos Aires, and is set to move to the Netherlands and Belgium with its cast rounded out.

German star Koch joins the cast in the role of Claus van Amsberg, the father of Crown Prince King Willem-Alexander, and Elsie de Brauw will play Queen Beatrix. Koch has appeared in 2007 Academy Award-winning feature The Lives of Others, Tom Hanks starrer Bridge of Spies and Showtime series Homeland.

Queen Máxima is portrayed by Argentinian star Delfina Chaves (The Secret of the Greco Family) and Prince Willem-Alexander,...

Emma Corrin and Harris Dickinson in ‘A Murder at the End of the World’ (Photo Credit: FX)

FX’s murder mystery Retreat starring Emma Corrin has a new official title. The limited series has been renamed A Murder at the End of the World and has released the first two photos.

The official photos feature Emma Corrin and Harris Dickinson. The cast also includes Clive Owen, Brit Marling, Alice Braga, Joan Chen, Raúl Esparza, Jermaine Fowler, and Ryan J. Haddad. Pegah Ferydoni, Javed Khan, Louis Cancelmi, Edoardo Ballerini, Britian Seibert, Christopher Gurr, Kellan Tetlow, Daniel Olson, and Neal Huff also star.

The seven-episode series was created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, with the frequent collaborators directing and executive producing. Andrea Sperling, Melanie Marnich, and Nicki Paluga also serve as executive producers.

Marling and Batmanglij co-wrote 2011’s Sound of My Voice, with Batmanglij directing and Marling starring. The duo handled...

Elliot Page (Oscar-nominee for “Juno” and star of Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy”) and Hillary Baack (“Sound of Metal) will star in “Close to You.” The new film from the BAFTA-winning writer/director Dominic Savage (“The Escape” and “I am Ruth”) will be co-financed by Kindred Spirit, with Anita Gou and Sam Intili executive producing alongside Rolling Dice’s Nai Vazirani.

Executive producers include Matt Jordan Smith of Page’s PageBoy Productions. Producers are Krishnendu Majumdar and Richard Yee who developed the project under their Me + You Productions banner in the UK and Daniel Bekerman and Chris Yurkovich of Good Question Media in Canada. Savage and Page are also producing after conceiving and co-authoring the story together.

Principal photography was recently completed in Canada. The picture stars Page as Sam, who has a fluke encounter with an old friend (Baack) on his way home to a family reunion which...

Academy Award nominee Elliot Page (The Umbrella Academy) is set to star opposite Hillary Baack (Sound of Metal) in Close to You, a new film from BAFTA-winning writer-director Dominic Savage (I Am…), which has wrapped production in Canada.

Pic follows Sam (Page), who has a chance encounter with an old friend (Baack) on his way home to a dreaded family reunion that forces him to confront long-buried memories.

Producers include Krishnendu Majumdar and Richard Yee, who developed the project under their UK banner, Me + You Productions; Daniel Bekerman and Chris Yurkovich of Good Question Media in Canada; and Savage and Page, who together conceived and co-authored the story. Kindred Spirit is co-financing with Anita Gou and Sam Intili (I Saw the TV Glow) exec producing alongside Rolling Dices Nia Vazirani (The Trial of Chicago 7), as well as Matt Jordan Smith of Page’s PageBoy Productions.

Argentinian actress Delfina Chaves (The Secret Of The Greco Family) and Martijn Lakemeier (The East) have signed on to star in the drama series Maxima.

The series tells the life story of the Argentinian-born Dutch Queen Máxima. Millstreet Films is the producer and will also handle international sales. Rtl commissioned the series for the Netherlands.

The series will shoot in Argentina, New York, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands from June. Rachel van Bommel of Millstreet Films is producing. Head writers are Marnie Blok and Ilse Ott. Episodes will be directed by Saskia Diesing, Joosje Duk, and Iván López Núñez.

The full synopsis reads: From the moment Máxima Zorreguieta appears at the Dutch crown prince’s side, she finds herself in the spotlight. When Willem-Alexander asks her to marry him, the past catches up with her. Heated discussion erupts about her father’s political career in the Videla regime – a discussion...

(Updated with more details) CNN went first, but other cable news outlets were cautious today in showing the horrific police body cam video footage of the fatal January 7 arrest of Tyre Nichols. “I’m just trying to get home,”a scared Nichols can be heard telling screaming police as they push him to the road and beat him.

All of the grisly footage made public Friday by the city of Memphis can be seen here. Warning this is very graphic and upsetting.

Just before the video went public today at 7 Pm Et, Erin Burnett told viewers that “CNN will air it in its entirety” and the footage is “graphic and excruciating.”

CNN began airing the police footage before MSNBC and Fox News. The Memphis Police released four videos of the assault on Friday, some with audio, some without. In the somewhat redacted footage, the five now fired officers can be...

Berlin-based One Two Films, in Cannes this week with Ali Abbasi’s competition title “Holy Spider,” is prepping a new feature from writer-director Ido Fluk, the filmmaker behind 2016 Tribeca selection “The Ticket.”

“Köln 75” tells the true story of Vera Brandes, who, in 1975 and at the age of 17, staged the famous Köln Concert by jazz musician Keith Jarrett, which became the top-selling jazz solo album of all time. It stars Mala Emde (“And Tomorrow the Entire World”) in the lead role, alongside John Magaro (“First Cow”) as Jarrett. Magaro is also in Cannes with Kelly Reichardt’s competition title “Showing Up.”

Oscar-winning Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska of Extreme Emotions will co-produce, with Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Oren Moverman serving as executive producer. Moverman also produced Fluk’s previous feature, “The Ticket.”

Other cast attached include Alexander Scheer (“Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush”), Ulrich Tukur (“The Life of Others”), Susanne Wolff...

When Tom Cruise landed his first starring role in 1981’s “Taps” opposite George C. Scott, he told the crowd at Cannes on Wednesday that he remembers thinking, “Please, if I could just do this for the rest of my life, I will never take it for granted.”

Over 40 years later, Cruise hasn’t stopped running, on screen or head-first into every public appearance to celebrate how much he loves the movies. And he found a good audience when he was given a career retrospective on Wednesday ahead of the Cannes premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick,” taking the moment to champion the theatrical experience and explain what makes a movie that can only be seen on the big screen.

When Cruise was asked if he ever considered moving “Maverick” to streaming after it was delayed for nearly two years during the pandemic, he replied, “Never gonna happen.” And he further boasted...

IFC Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights from HanWay Films on Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s “Hot Milk,” starring Academy Award nominee Jessie Buckley, Fiona Shaw and Vicky Krieps.

Streaming service Mubi has also agreed a multi-territory deal for the film in the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Latin America and Turkey. Meanwhile, HanWay has also sold the pic into Metropolitan Films (France), The Searchers (Benelux), Scanbox (Scandinavia), M2 (Eastern Europe), A-One (Baltics), Front Row (Middle East) and Shaw (Singapore).

The film marks the directorial debut for acclaimed screenwriter Lenkiewicz, whose writing credits include Pawel Pawlikowski’s Oscar-winning “Ida,” Keira Knightley-led biopic “Colette” and the forthcoming Harvey Weinstein drama “She Said.”

“Hot Milk” is based on the bestselling novel by Deborah Levy and centers on the relationship between single mother Rose (Shaw) and her daughter Sofia (Buckley), who travel to southern Spain in order to see a medical consultant that might...

Exclusive: James McArdle (Mare Of Easttown) and Fionnula Flanagan (The Others) have been set to lead the ensemble cast of Four Mothers, an Irish-set adaptation of Gianni di Gregorio’s 2008 festival and box office hit Mid-August Lunch (Pranzo Di Ferragosto).

Filming is underway in Dublin on the comedy feature which heralds from Ida producer Eric Abraham and former Working Title exec Jack Sidey’s Portobello Films and Television (Moffie) and Martina Niland for Port Pictures (Sing Street).

Dearbhla Molloy (Wild Mountain Thyme), Paddy Glynn (Cinderella) and Stella McCusker (Nowhere Special) also star.

Darren Thornton directs and co-wrote the script with his brother, Colin Thornton. They previously collaborated on their IFTA-winning debut A Date For Mad Mary.

Olivier-award nominee McArdle plays a self-sabotaging novelist, saddled with caring for his mother (Flanagan) after a stroke. After his book becomes an overnight hit, his plans for a U.S. promotional tour are thrown...

Exclusive: Paradigm has signed Dutch actor Joes Brauers, whose credits include Netflix series Dirty Lines and Oscar-nominated drama Quo Vadis, Aida?

Six-episode Dutch Netflix series Dirty Lines, which premiered April 8, charts the story of the first phone sex lines in The Netherlands in the 1980s.

Brauers recently starred in the feature Do Not Hesitate, which world-premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, and was the Dutch entry for the international Oscar this year. He previously co-starred in Quo Vadis, Aïda?, which was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Academy Awards, won Best International Film at the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards, and won Best European Film at the 2021 European Film Awards.

Brauers will next be seen starring in Undergrowth, a short film premiering at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Previous credits also include HBO’s The Little Gangster, Netflix’s Kappen!, and Amazon’s acclaimed WWII thriller The East.

The IDA has announced the hiring of two senior staff members and a consultant, in what the embattled organization calls “a major step forward.”

Arts administrator and film festival programmer Keisha Knight has been appointed director of IDA Funds and Enterprise Program, a critical role that involves interfacing with grant-making entities that fund IDA initiatives.

“In this capacity [Knight] will oversee a portfolio of IDA’s granting programs,” the IDA said in a release, “including IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund, Logan elevate and Equity grants, and the Pare Lorentz Documentary Fund, Xrm Media Incubator, and Netflix Global Emerging Filmmaker Award.”

Abby Sun, a filmmaker, researcher, and artist at the MIT Open Documentary Lab, has been hired as the IDA’s director of artist programs. One of her major responsibilities will be to develop thematic content for the IDA’s Getting Real 2022 conference, which is scheduled for September.

Louise Rosen, a veteran producer,...

The Sundance Institute has selected Minhal Baig, Marion Hill, Ciara Lacy, Billy Luther, Chanelle Aponte Pearson, Mariem Pérez Riera, Jamila Wignot and Iman Zawahry for its fourth Momentum Fellowship, supporting professional development for mid-career artists from historically marginalized communities as they explore and develop their creative practice.

The eight fellows selected will participate in a full-year program tailored for each by Sundance Institute staffers, receiving access to unrestricted grant funding, as well as industry mentorship and meetings, a writing intensive, and professional coaching offered by Renee Freedman & Company, with support from The Harnisch Foundation. Additionally, as part of the Sundance Institute’s ongoing partnership with NBCUniversal, the studio will provide an opportunity for select Momentum fellows working on fiction projects to participate in the Universal Directors Initiative. The two-year, at-will initiative, led by Universal’s Global Talent Development & Inclusion team, provides access to NBCUniversal’s creative executives and producers to...

The 37th Annual International Documentary Association Awards, streamed online Friday night, capped a big week for nonfiction awards that also included the 15th Annual Cinema Eye Honors, presented live in New York on Wednesday.

Both awards groups honored Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated immigration saga “Flee” (Neon) with their top honors, while the Danish International Feature Oscar contender’s fellow Oscar nominee “Summer of Soul” (Searchlight/Hulu) notched three IDA awards: Rookie filmmaker Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson won for Best Director, Best Music Documentary, and Best Editing. Oscar nominee Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension,” an observational look at the class structure in China, won three Cinema Eye Honors awards, the most of the evening, for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography, Original Score and Debut Feature.

Oscar nominee “Writing with Fire” nabbed the IDA’s Courage Under Fire Award for the India-based directing team Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh.

The IDA online ceremony, which was pre-recorded,...

Updated with quotes from winners and IDA executive director Rick Pérez: Flee and Summer of Soul divided honors at the 37th annual IDA Awards tonight, with Flee claiming Best Feature Documentary, and Summer of Soul capturing three awards, including best director for Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson [full winners list below].

Flee, the animated story of a gay Afghan youth who fled his homeland for life in the West, bested nine other contenders for Best Feature, including rivals Summer of Soul, and fellow Oscar nominee Writing With Fire (the latter title earned the Courage Under Fire Award for directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh).

Flee director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, who first met the subject of his film, Amin Nawabi, when they were teenagers in Denmark, accepted the night’s top award.

“First of all, I want to thank Amin, the subject of the film, for your generosity and...

The Danish animated documentary “Flee” has been named the best nonfiction film of 2021 at the International Documentary Association’s IDA Documentary Awards, which were streamed in a virtual ceremony on Friday night.

The film, in which director Jonas Poher Rasmussen uses animation to disguise the identity of an Afghan refugee who fled to Russian and then Denmark, scored an unprecedented trifecta when it was nominated for Academy Awards in the Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature Film categories.

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson won the IDA award in the Best Director category for “Summer of Soul,” his directorial debut. The film also won in the Best Music Documentary and Best Editing categories, making it the only film to win more than one award at the ceremony.

Other winners included Jimmy Goldblum’s “A Broken House” in the Best Short category, the series “Independent Lens” for Best Curated Series,...

Tonight is the biggest event of the year for the International Documentary Association. It will honor the best in nonfiction film at the IDA Documentary Awards in Los Angeles, where “Summer of Soul” leads with four nominations and winners are closely watched as Oscar precursors. On Monday, the organization’s leaders will return to business as usual: Managing a 40-year-old nonprofit that’s been hamstrung by crisis.

Eight months after the IDA board tapped Rick Pérez as its new executive director, four senior staffers resigned en masse. A fifth left in February; two junior staffers followed suit. All are women or non-binary. This leaves the IDA with five vacant director-level positions on a six-person leadership team.

The four former senior staffers — deputy director Amy Halpin, senior director of development and partnerships Jina Chung, interim director of programming and advocacy Maggie Bowman, and funds and enterprise program director Poh Si Teng...

After a year of pandemic delays, the upcoming Oscar season is coming into focus as a return to normal. The Oscars are on March 27, 2022, one month earlier than this year’s delayed Oscars and six weeks later than last year’s. The Academy is staying away from both Super Bowl Lvi on February 13 as well as the Winter Olympics in Beijing (February 4 through February 20), while leaving plenty of time for Oscar-show planning after the nominations announcement on February 8. And as theaters reopen, with many movies postponed from last year, including rival New York musicals from Jon M. Chu (“In the Heights”) and Steven Spielberg (“West Side Story”), the Academy is staying flexible about eligibility requirements.

One thing missing from the upcoming awards lineup: January’s Golden Globes, which has been canceled as the Hollywood Foreign Press institutes long overdue reforms. Looking to fill that gap are beefed-up iterations of the Gotham,...

One of the most visually striking dramas I’ve recently seen out of New Directors/New Films is Ivan Ostrochovsky’s Servants, which initially made its debut at the Berlinale back in 2020. Now set for a release this month on February 25 via Film Movement, we’re pleased to debut the exclusive trailer for the black-and-white drama set in Czechoslovakia, 1980, a under totalitarian Communist regime. Following two novitiates in a seminary who must make difficult choices, Ostrochovsky creates a strong atmosphere of activism amidst paranoia.

Mark Asch said his New Directors/New Films review, “The success of Paweł Pawlikowski’s Ida and Cold War has revealed, among arthouse audiences, a heretofore unimagined ravenous hunger for Eastern Bloc period dramas of Catholic conviction and political compulsion, shot in academy ratio and shimmery digital grayscale. Thus Servants, a hushed drama about underground activism, secret police, fear and trembling at a seminary in the former Czechoslovakia.

Cast has been set for Hot Milk, the feature directing debut of Rebecca Lenkiewicz, whose credits as a screenwriter include Ida, Disobedience, and Colette.

Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter), Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve) and Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) will lead the movie, which is an adaptation of Deborah Levy’s novel. The Spain-set story chronicles the complexities of a relationship between a singular mother and daughter.

Rose (Shaw) and her daughter Sofia (Buckley) travel to the Spanish seaside town of Almería to consult with the shamanic Dr Gomez, a physician who could possibly hold the cure to Rose’s mystery illness, which has left her bound to a wheelchair. But in the sultry atmosphere of this sun-bleached town Sofia, who has been trapped by her mother’s illness all her life, finally starts to shed her inhibitions, enticed by the persuasive charms of enigmatic traveller Ingrid

Hot Milk was developed...

ICM Partners has signed Nicholas Bruckman, director of the SXSW award-winning and IDA-nominated documentary “Not Going Quietly,” for representation.

ICM will also represent People’s Television, Bruckman’s production company, which produces independent films and branded storytelling focused on national social impact. Their clients for advertising work have included Airbnb, Ted, Greenpeace and Black Lives Matter. Along with “Not Going Quietly,” People’s Television produced the 2012 Sundance award-winning narrative feature “Valley of Saints.”

“ICM took a chance on my work and career, in a shared belief that storytelling has the power to create social change,” Bruckman said of the new partnership. “I couldn’t ask for a better partner to do that with.”

“Not Going Quietly” tells the story of Ady Barkan, the 37-year-old lawyer known for his activism for universal healthcare while living with the terminal neurodegenerative disease Als. The film debuted to critical acclaim, winning an audience award...

“Community” and “Love” star Gillian Jacobs and “Aladdin” break-out Marwan Kenzari are set to lead Berlin-set romantic comedy “Any Other Night.”

Written by Patrick Whistler and directed by Michiel Ten Horn, the comedy follows two strangers thrown together as their lives are falling apart. Freshly dumped Maggie (Jacobs) and flailing cab driver Max (Kenzari) meet the night of a crippling transit strike, with the latter loading all of Maggie’s worldly possessions into the back of his decrepit van-cab. What should have been a simple fare becomes a wild, late-night odyssey.

“Any Other Night” is produced by Mike MacMillan of Lithium Studios, the outfit behind Cannes Director’s Fortnight selection “Mobile Homes,” alongside Sol Bondy of One Two Films (“The Tale”). Todd Brown of XYZ Films executive produces the film with XYZ handling sales.

The film marks the first English-language effort from acclaimed Dutch helmer Michiel Ten Horn (one of...

As The Netherlands, under lockdown, celebrated the first half of 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam’s online, the physical half – set to take place in June with real audiences, panels and talks without Zoom links attached – still feels like a long way off.

Meanwhile, the industry is hopeful that the swift and pragmatic measures taken by its national funding agency, The Netherlands Film Fund, will be enough to see it through until the end of this year.

In January, the fund, headed by former IFFR director Bero Beyer, confirmed €30 million ($36.1 million) in new government support – double the amount that was available last year – to help the industry ride through its third national lockdown and beyond.

According to Beyer, most of last year’s efforts went into maintaining a certain level of production once restrictions were lifted in June: a national protocol for safety on film sets was devised along with...

Producers are busy but there are questions over how films will be released.

As Dutch filmmakers prepare new projects to whet the appetite of the international film industy, the Netherlands Film Fund is keeping an eye on the future with the launch of a range of initiatives to support diverse and emerging talent.

Bero Beyer, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund (and former artistic director of International Film Festival Rotterdam), believes new talent can be overlooked by crisis support schemes.

“We should not forget the next generation of filmmakers and those who have not gone through the route of film academies,...

European Film Promotion has revealed the 10 actors who will take part in the 24th edition of European Shooting Stars. The program, which launches emerging European thespians onto the world stage, has boosted the careers of actors like Carey Mulligan, Alicia Vikander, Riz Ahmed and George MacKay.

For the first time, Efp will present the neophyte actors to the film industry, public and international press as part of a three-day online program. Efp’s oldest and most prestigious initiative will take place digitally from Feb. 23-25, one week before the industry events of this year’s 71st Berlinale (March 1-5). The Shooting Stars award ceremony will take place within the framework of the Berlinale screenings in the summer.

“Although this year we sadly cannot meet in person, we invite you to join, discover and celebrate the best in rising European acting talent, while staying safe at home,” Efp’s managing director Sonja Heinen said.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Corpus Christi (Jan Komasa)

This is exactly what director Jan Komasa and writer Mateusz Pacewicz do with their lead character Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) in Corpus Christi. Based in part on real events, this twenty-year-old is about to be released from his detention center on parole. He’ll go to a reclusive town to work at a sawmill and maybe even build a decent life if he stays clean, but the potential he holds removed from the mark of “ex-con” is rendered moot. Despite finding God during his imprisonment and showing a desire to pursue the vocation, Polish law forbid former criminals from wearing the cloth. The one thing that...

The coronavirus pandemic is still going on, and shutdowns are being lifted oh so gently. That generally means two things: go outside with a mask on while strafing away from passersby on the sidewalk, or stay in and watch stuff. Luckily, The Criterion Channel has announced its June 2020 lineup, which is full of things old and new.

June sees the streaming premiere of Bertrand Bonello’s fantasy-horror, Zombi Child, which originally premiered in the Director’s Fortnight section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The month also brings us the Channel’s addition of Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, which comes with deleted scenes, a making-of documentary, and more. Meanwhile, they will also flesh out the service’s Chantal Akerman selection, adding features such as One Day Pina Asked…, Golden Eighties, and her penultimate feature, Almayer’s Folly. On the other side of the coin comes Jamie Babbit...

“The strategy is bandwidth expansion.”

Faced with industry-wide disruption amid the coronavirus pandemic, Los Angeles-based producer-financier-sales agent Xyz Films has quickly shifted its focus to building an expanded sales roster for buyers whose pipelines have taken a hit and are urgently in need of product.

Partners Nate Bolotin, Nick Spicer and Aram Tertzakian, head of international acquisitions Todd Brown, and president of international sales and distribution Tatyana Joffe are supplementing sales on the existing slate by sourcing completed films or projects in post from their extensive network of global content creators.

It is an evolving ecosystem that has helped cement...

Iffam Project Market also handed awards to projects from South Africa, Australia-Japan and Portugal.

Dodo Dayao’s Filipino project Dear Wormwood picked up the Best Project Award, which comes with a cash prize of $15,000, at the International Film Festival & Awards Macao (Iffam) Project Market last night (December 8).

The jury comprised Singaporean director-producer Eric Khoo, Berlinale Efm director Matthijs Wouter Knol and Shozo Ichiyama, head of Tokyo Filmex and producer/CEO of Kino International.

Produced by Bianca Balbuena, Bradley Liew and Patti Lapus, Dear Wormwood explores how the lives of five women in the remote Philippine mountains are endangered when a...

Philippines director Dodo Dayao’s supernatural horror project “Dear Wormwood” claimed the top prize on Sunday at the Iffam Project Market, part of the ongoing International Film Festival & Awards Macao.

“Wormwood” is a tale of five women living together in a remote house in the forest, where a mystery illness strikes one of the quintet, followed by a series of cataclysmic events in the surrounding forest. Dayao says he originally conceived the film as a chamber piece about the end of the world, but has expanded it into something larger and more political. He calls it a: “Lovecraftian cosmic horror that seems like a tonal fit for our times.”

It boasts Malaysian director Bradley Liew as producer, alongside Patti Lupus and Bianca Balbuena. Prior to the Macao event it had secured roughly 15% of its estimated $525,000 budget. The winners shared a cash prize of $40,000.

“The Day and Night of Brahma,” to...

Work in Progress strand will also return for a second year.

The Iffam Project Market (Ipm) has unveiled 14 films that will be presented during the three-day event in Macao, which runs December 6-8.

They include supernatural revenge thriller Nocebo from Irish director Lorcan Finnegan, who’s Vivarium was in Cannes Critic’s Week this year, and The Day And Night Of Brahma, a family drama by South African director Sheetal Magan, whose short Paraya was presented in Cannes Directors Fortnight.

Other titles include coming-of-age feature Uk Kei from Portuguese director Leonor Teles, the youngest director to have ever won the...