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Note: This review was originally published as part of our 2024 Cannes coverage. Ghost Trail opens in theaters on May 30.

The wars in Gaza and Ukraine have dominated headlines for the past several years, yet receiving relatively little coverage today is the Syrian civil war, sparked in the wake of 2011’s Arab Spring. It is yet ongoing and stands now at an uneasy stalemate. Over a decade of fighting, horrifying humanitarian and war-time crimes were committed; all the while 13 million Syrians were displaced from their homes. These refugees, lost in foreign countries offering asylum, are still looking for answers and perhaps a reckoning and retribution. Director Jonathan Millet’s debut narrative feature Ghost Trail dives deep into one survivor’s psyche and lays bare the cost of a conflict from which the world seems to have moved on.

In Strasbourg, France, mild-mannered asylum-seeker Hamid (Adam Bessa) is doing odd jobs, moving in Syrian exile circles,...

Dark religious-themed films seem to be following Nicolas Cage in his career lately. His devilish performance in Oz Perkins' 2024 horror hitLonglegs certainly left an impression on religious and nonreligious audiences alike, but now Cage is turning to another side of religious storytelling. The National Treasure actor is diving back into a historical tale of epic proportions and this time a new, twisted layer is being added. The Carpenter's Sonis an upcoming retelling of a rarely mentioned dark version of Jesus' childhood, which will star Cage as the Carpenter, Joseph, FKA Twigs as the Mother, and Noah Jupe as the Boy. Now the movie has been given a heavenly release update.

Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to The Carpenter’s Son, which is currently in post-production. In other exciting news, the production company announced that a theatrical release is planned for later this year. The film, written and directed by Harka director Lotfy Nathan,...

The next movie to star Nicolas Cage has been revealed. This time, the veteran actor is heading to biblical times to help tell one of the lesser-known stories about the childhood of Jesus Christ.

Per Deadline, Cage is among the stars of the upcoming film The Carpenter's Son, which just had its U.S. rights picked up by Magnolia Pictures. Cage is playing The Carpenter, while FKA Twigs (The Crow) will co-star as Mother with Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place) playing the Boy. Lotfy Nathan (Harka) is the movie's writer and director. The plan is to give the film a theatrical release later in 2025, but a specific date has not yet been set.

The Carpenter's Son is inspired by the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. According to a description of the film, it "tells the dark story of a family hiding out in Roman Egypt. Known only as ‘the Boy’, the...

Magnolia Pictures has picked up the U.S. rights to the Nicolas Cage-led movie, The Carpenter’s Son, ahead of the Cannes Film Festival.

The horror pic, now in post-production, is directed by Lotfy Nathan and tells the childhood story of Jesus Christ, with Cage playing The Carpenter, Noah Jupe plays the Son and his Honey Boy co-star FKA Twigs is the Mother.

The Carpenter’s Son has a theatrical release planned for later this year. Inspired by the Gospel of Thomas, the film, also written by Nathan, centers on a family hiding out in Roman Egypt. Known only as ‘the Boy’, the son is driven to doubt by another mysterious child and rebels against his guardian, the Carpenter.

As the Boy exercises his own power, he and his family become the target of natural and divine horrors. Goodfellas, Anonymous Content and WME Independent are handling sales of The Carpenter’s Son in Cannes.

Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to “The Carpenter’s Son,” the company announced on Friday.

Directed by Lotfy Nathan (“Harka”), the film is a bold new take on the rarely told story of the childhood of Jesus, with Nicolas Cage starring as ‘The Carpenter,’ FKA Twigs as ‘The Mother’ and Noah Jupe as ‘The Boy.’

The film is currently in post-production, with a theatrical release planned for later this year.

Inspired by the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, “The Carpenter’s Son” tells the dark story of a family hiding out in Roman Egypt. Known only as The Boy, the son is driven to doubt by another mysterious child and rebels against his guardian, The Carpenter, revealing inherent powers and a fate beyond his comprehension. As he exercises his own power, The Boy and his family become the target of horrors both natural and divine.

“With ‘The Carpenter’s Son,’ Lotfy...

Exclusive: We understand that Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to The Carpenter’s Son, a rarely told story about Jesus’ childhood starring Nicolas Cage as The Carpenter, FKA Twigs as Mother and Noah Jupe as the Boy. The Lotfy Nathan (Harka) directed movie is currently in post-production, with a theatrical release planned for later this year.

Inspired by the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas, The Carpenter’s Son tells the dark story of a family hiding out in Roman Egypt. Known only as ‘the Boy’, the son is driven to doubt by another mysterious child and rebels against his guardian, the Carpenter, revealing inherent powers and a fate beyond his comprehension. As he exercises his own power, the Boy and his family become the target of horrors both natural and divine.

“With The Carpenter’s Son, Lotfy Nathan has delivered a genre-bending spectacle that defies expectations at every turn,...

Exclusive: In keeping with its start-of-the-year tradition, Goodfellas has rolled out the bulk of its French-language slate for 2025 ahead of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris next week, and it’s a hot one.

The line-up features fresh additions An Affair by Arnaud Desplechin and Prime Rush by Carlos Abascal Peiró as well as half a dozen pictures that we expect to see at Cannes or Venice later this year.

An Affair marks a new chapter for Desplechin after achieving closure in 2024 with his long-running character of Paul Dédalus through Cannes-selected drama Filmlovers!, which hits French cinemas for Les Films du Losange next week.

New movie An Affair sees Desplechin collaborate with rising French stars François Civil (Beating Hearts) and Nadia Tereszkiewicz (The Crime is Mine) for the first time, in a cast also featuring Charlotte Rampling and Hippolyte Girardot.

Civil plays a pianist who returns to France after a long...

Entérate de cómo esta película ofrecerá una nueva perspectiva sobre la historia de la infancia de Jesús.

Según informa Deadline, Nicolas Cage (“Cara a Cara”), FKA Twigs (“Honey boy”) y Noah Jupe (“Un Lugar Tranquilo”) protagonizarán “The Carpenter’s Son”, una película del director egipcio-estadounidense Lotfy Nathan (“Harka”), que explora la historia de la infancia de Jesús desde un punto de vista de terror.

Inspirada en el apócrifo Evangelio de la Infancia de Tomás para el guion, un texto que data del siglo II d.C., la película cuenta la oscura historia de una familia que se esconde en el Egipto romano. El hijo, conocido solo como ‘el Niño’, es llevado a la duda por otro niño misterioso y se rebela contra su tutor, el Carpintero, revelando poderes inherentes y un destino más allá de su comprensión. A medida que ejerce su propio poder, el Chico y su familia se...

French director Jonathan Millet riffs on manhunt tropes in “Ghost Trail,” the psychological thriller that will be the Cannes Critics’ Week opener.

Variety has been given an exclusive first-look clip from the film, which is inspired by real-life events.

“Ghost Trail” is the story of a Syrian man named Hamid who is part of a secret group pursuing fugitive leaders that perpetrated horrors in the name of the Syrian regime during the country’s civil war.

His mission takes him to France, on the trail of his former torturer. And he manages to tracks him down, as it appears from the clip.

“But with his judgment clouded by pressure, doubt and revenge, can he be certain of the righteousness of his own actions?” the synopsis reads.

Millet, who previously co-directed doc “Ceuta, Douce Prison” – about five migrants who leave their lands to try their luck in Europe and end up...

Nicolas Cage stars as Joseph in The Carpenter's Son, a new horror film exploring the life of a young Jesus Christ in Roman Egypt. FKA Twigs plays Mary in the film, inspired by the 'Infancy Gospel of Thomas,' with Noah Jupe as Jesus and Souheila Yacoub in an undisclosed role. Religious horror films are on the rise in 2024, with successful releases like Immaculate, The First Omen, and The Pope's Exorcist.

While there have been a plethora of horror films about demonic possession, exorcisms, and strange religious happenings, few if any have explored the life of Jesus Christ... until now. Its been announced that Nicolas Cage will star in the new horror film The Carpenters Son by director Lotfy Nathan (Harka). Cage will appear alongside FKA Twigs (The Crow), Souheila Yacoub (Dune: Part 2) and Noah Jupe (A Quiet Place Part II), with Cinenovo, and Pacemaker producing.

As per Deadline,...

Nicolas Cage has a knack for picking interesting films lately. Even if the final product isn’t so great, there’s no denying Cage likes to perform in films that are unique. And his latest, titled ‘The Carpenter’s Son” looks to be no different.

Read More: ‘Arcadian’ Review: Nic Cage-Led Monster Movie Manages Heart & Horror in Equal Measure

According to Deadline, Nicolas Cage is set to star opposite FKA Twigs, Noah Jupe, and Souheila Yacoub in the upcoming supernatural horror film, “The Carpenter’s Son.” The film, directed by Lotfy Nathan takes inspiration from the Bible and Jesus’ childhood to tell the story of a boy who discovers he has powers after rebelling against his guardian.

Continue reading ‘The Carpenter’s Son’: Nicolas Cage, FKA Twigs & More Star In Horror Film Inspired By Jesus’ Childhood at The Playlist.

You've seen him slay cultists in Mandy, you've seen him battle animatronics in Willy's Wonderland, but now Nicolas Cage will be facing what could be his greatest challenge yet Jesus Christ. The beloved Oscar-winning actor is set to lead the solid cast of Harka director Lotfy Nathan's The Carpenter an audacious new horror film set to explore the childhood of Jesus in a way the biblical entity has never been seen before. Deadline reports that the movie has found North American distribution with Anonymous Content and WME, and production company Goodfellas is currently seeking distribution for international markets.

Can I interest you in a horror movie about Jesus? How about a horror movie about Jesus ... starring Nicolas Cage? The new movie "The Carpenter's Son" will be just that — a horror pic inspired by the unknown childhood years of Jesus H. Christ himself. For those of you not very schooled in a little book called The Bible, just know that after Jesus' birth is recounted, almost nothing is known about his childhood. The traditional story traditionally jump-cuts to his adult years when he's starting out his ministry. However, there are unofficial, uncanonical texts that recount Jesus' youth, including the apocryphal gospel the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. This apocryphal gospel will be the basis for "The Carpenter's Son," which hails from director Lotfy Nathan.

According to Deadline, Cage will play the Carpenter, aka Joseph, Jesus' adoptive father. Jesus' mother, Mary, will be played by FKA twigs, and Big J himself,...

The Nicolas Cage resurgence as of late has interestingly mostly found him in more abstract kinds of films as opposed to his more commercially appealing blockbusters of yesteryear. While many have pined for a National Treasure 3, Cage has been partaking in indie films like Pig, Mandy and Dream Scenario. However, he would also mix in a couple mass audience projects like The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Renfield. Deadline has now reported that Cage is set to star in The Carpenter’s Son, a horror tale that’s based on the rarely-told childhood of Jesus Christ.

The official synopsis for The Carpenter’s Son reads,

“The Carpenter’s Son tells the dark story of a family hiding out in Roman Egypt. The son, known only as ‘the Boy’, is driven to doubt by another mysterious child and rebels against his guardian, the Carpenter, revealing inherent powers and a fate beyond his comprehension.

Exclusive: Nicolas Cage, FKA twigs, Noah Jupe and Souheila Yacoub are set to star in Egyptian-American director Lotfy Nathan’s The Carpenter’s Son exploring the rarely told story of the childhood of Jesus with a horror take.

Paris-based Cinenovo and L.A.-based Spacemaker are producing. Goodfellas is overseeing international sales apart from in North America, which it will co-rep with Anonymous Content and WME.

Nathan has taken inspiration from the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas for the screenplay. Dating back to the 2nd Century Ad, the text recounts the childhood of Jesus.

Per the official synopsis, “The Carpenter’s Son tells the dark story of a family hiding out in Roman Egypt. The son, known only as ‘the Boy’, is driven to doubt by another mysterious child and rebels against his guardian, the Carpenter, revealing inherent powers and a fate beyond his comprehension. As he exercises his own power,...

Arab distributor Mad Solutions has taken distribution rights for Arab world territories on French director Jonathan Millet’s “Ghost Trail,” ahead of the psychological thriller’s upcoming world premiere as the opening film of Cannes Critics’ Week.

“Ghost Trail” is being sold by French arthouse production and distribution giant MK2.

Inspired by real-life events, “Ghost Trail” is the story of a Syrian man named Hamid who is part of a secret group pursuing fugitive leaders who perpetrated horrors in the name of the Syrian regime during the country’s civil war.

“His mission takes him to France, on the trail of his former torturer whom he must confront. But with his judgment clouded by pressure, doubt and revenge, can he be certain of the righteousness of his own actions?” the provided synopsis reads.

Cannes Critics’ Week artistic director Ava Cahen has described “Ghost Trail” as a “thrilling sensory film in...

The initiative celebrates Arab talent and highlights the hottest up-and-coming actors, writers and directors from the region.

Screen International has unveiled the five emerging Middle East and North Africa talents in the fields of acting and directing selected for the seventh edition of Arab Stars Of Tomorrow.

This year’s line-up comprises Adwa Bader, the actress and poet from Saudi Arabia; Jordan’s Cynthia Madanat Sharaiha, director; Egyptian writer and director Morad Mostafa; Palestinian actor Muhammad Abed El Rahman; and fellow Jordanian actress Noor Taher.

The initiative celebrates Arab talent and highlights the hottest up-and-coming actors, writers and directors who...

This year’s selection of five rising talents will be unveiled on Friday, December 1

The seventh edition of Screen International’s talent-spotting initiative Arab Stars of Tomorrow will once again launch at this year’s Red Sea International Film Festival (November 30-December 9).

This year’s selection of five rising talents will be unveiled on Friday, December 1 in Screen’s second Red Sea print daily and on Screendaily.com.

On Saturday, December 2 the stars will take part in a panel discussion at 2pm Ast at the festival hosted by Screen, following a breakfast reception

Arab Stars of Tomorrow celebrates Arab talent...

The Blue Caftan by Moroccan director and Cannes 2023 Jury member Maryam Touzani has topped the nominations in the seventh edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films.

The portrait of marriage and stifled sexuality, starring Saleh Bakri and Lubna Azabal has been nominated in seven categories including best film, actor, actress, director, screenplay, cinematography and music.

The film world premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2022 and went on to be Morocco’s best international film submission for the 2023 Academy Awards making it as far as the first long list.

The Critics Awards for Arab Films are overseen by the Arab Cinema Centre and judged by 193 critics from 72 countries. The winners will be announced at a ceremony during Cannes.

To qualify for consideration, films need to have premiered at international film festivals outside of the Arab world in 2022; involve at least one Arab world production company, and be feature-length.

Other...

Adam Bessa's career continues to impress with his latest film Harka - which is released in the UK tomorrow (May 5). The French-Tunisian star received critical plaudits for Sofia Djama's Algeria-set drama The Blessed and his multilingual skills saw him go on to reach wider audiences with Matthew Michael Carnahan's Mosul and Netflix's Extraction - the sequel to which will air later this year. In the past year, he's been garnering awards heat for his intense central performance in Lotfy Nathan's Harka, winning the Best Actor award in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and at the Red Sea Film Festival.

He plays Ali, a Tunisian scraping by as part of the illegal gasoline trade whose dreams of escaping the country for a better life are scuppered after he finds himself trying to look after his...

Dramatising the tragedy of a Tunisian man inspired by street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, Lotfy Nathan’s film draws on deep sorrow and anger

Lotfy Nathan has drawn from a deep well of sorrow and rage for this anguished drama, leading the audience to its horrible dénouement like a trail of burning petrol: the title itself means “burning”. It is inspired by the story of Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian street vendor who in 2011 ignited the Arab Spring (all too literally) by setting himself on fire outside the governor’s office in the central Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid – making it the uprising’s Ground Zero – in protest against official corruption and the police who had beaten him when he could no longer pay their bribes.

Adam Bessa plays Ali, a young guy who sells black-market petrol on a street corner, paying off hatchet-faced cops as he does so while dreaming of...

Lotfy Nathan's Tunisian-set drama Harka arrives in cinemas this week after a strong festival run since last year's Cannes and with a raft of awards under its belt. Its star Adam Bessa was named best actor in the French festival's Un Certain Regard section for an intense central performance, that has gone on to win additional accolades elsewhere. He plays Ali - a character inspired by the real life tragedy of Mohamed Bouazizi - who sells illegal gasoline to make ends meet. Nathan's tale follows Ali as he finds himself trying to take care of his younger sisters Alyssa (Salima Maatoug) and Sarra (Ikbal Harbi) following the death of his father while facing an increasing amount of social injustice. We caught up with Nathan to talk about the inspiration for the film and the...

Studio Soho has debuted a new trailer for Lotfy Nathan’s feature directorial debut ‘Harka.’

A modern-day parable about resistance, the film centres on the story of Ali, a young Tunisian who dreams of a better life, making a precarious living selling contraband gas at the local black market. When his father suddenly dies, he’s forced to take charge of his two younger sisters and their impending eviction. What ensues is a fight for dignity. The voice of a generation still trying to be heard 10 years after the Arab Spring.

Directed by Lotfy Nathan, the film received critical acclaim following a wide festival run including Cannes. Adam Bessa stars.

Also in trailers – Teaser flies in for season 2 of AppleTV+ docu-series ‘Prehistoric Planet’

The film hits cinemas on May 5th.

The post Trailer lands for ‘Harka’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Exclusive: Anonymous Content is elevating longtime literary managers and producers Ryan Cunningham, David Kanter and Nicole Romano to partner.

Cunningham joined Anonymous Content in 2019 from Madhouse Entertainment where he had been a manager and producer for a decade. On the management side, his clients include filmmakers Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (65), Derek Tsang (The Three Body Problem), Daniel Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei (How to Blow Up a Pipeline); showrunners and writers Steven DeKnight (Spartacus), Jewel Coronel (The Chi), Seamus Fahey (Walker: Independence) and Sonya Winton & Jonathan Kidd (Lovecraft Country), Darnell Metayer and Josh Peters (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts), Neil Uliano and Bryan Schulz (The Peanuts Movie), and Ben Queen (The Addams Family 2). Cunningham most recently produced the Sky/Relativity feature The Independent, and executive-produced Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman, which will be released in June by 20th Century Studios and Disney.

Kanter is a producer and manager at Anonymous...

It was approximately 11:30am on the 17th of Decmber, 2010, when Mohamed Bouazizi – better known to his friends as Basbousa – set himself on fire. He would die two weeks later in hospital. By then his desperate action would have inspired thousands to join the Tunisian revolution and contributed to the broader movemnent which became known as the Arab Spring. Major political changes have occurred in his country since – for good or ill – but the poverty which appears to have motivated him is still widespread. The world at large continues to turn a blind eye to such suffering.

One man who took notice of Basbousa’s act was US filmmaker Lotfy Nathan, who was inspired to explore that kind of poverty and the despair it causes in this film. Here we follow Ali (Adam Bessa), who makes his living, as many people do, by selling gasoline without a permit....

Robert Pattinson’s production company Icki Eneo Arlo and LA-based independent production company Spacemaker Productions have joined the filmmaking team for Sebastian Silva’s outrageous black comedy Rotting In The Sun, starring Silva and comedian Jordan Firstman.

Rotting In The Sun, produced by Hidden Content, The Lift, and in association with Caffeine Post, will have its world premiere at Sundance 2023 in the Premieres section. This is Silva’s fifth time back at Sundance, where he’s previously won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize and Directing Award. Range Select is handling domestic sales.

In the film, frustrated Ketamine-addled artist Sebastian Silva crosses paths with ingratiating comedian-influencer Jordan Firstman on a nude beach in Mexico. When Firstman goes to visit him in Mexico City, he finds his new collaborator has mysteriously disappeared, and his put-upon housekeeper Vero is acting suspicious.

“We’re beyond...

Dominik Moll’s The Night of The 12th has won best film at the 28th edition of France’s Lumière Awards in Paris on Monday evening.

The investigative drama, which was nominated in six categories, also won Best Screenplay.

The film, which debuted in the Cannes Film Festival’s non-competitive Cannes Première section, stars Bastien Bouillon as a police detective who becomes obsessed with a case involving a complex female murder victim.

Best director went to Albert Serra for French Polynesia-set drama Pacification. The feature also clinched two other prizes: Best Actor for Benoît Magimal and Best Cinematography for Artur Tort.

Virginie Efira won Best Actress for her performance in Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children about the challenge of navigating the stepmother role.

Nadia Tereszkiewicz won Best Female Revelation for her performance in Forever Young and Dimitri Doré, Best Male Revelation for Bruno Reidal.

Alice Diop clinched best documentary category for We,...

Dominik Moll’s The Night of The 12th, which world premiered in Cannes in May, has topped the nominations for the 28th edition of France’s Lumière Awards.

The awards are voted on by members of the international press corp hailing from 36 countries based in France.

The Night Of The 12th was nominated in six categories including best film, director and screenplay. The film debuted in the Cannes Film Festival’s non competitive Cannes Première section.

The investigative drama is Moll’s seventh feature. It stars Bastien Bouillon, with support from Bouli Lanners, as a police detective who becomes obsessed with a case involving a complex female murder victim.

Other multi-nominated titles include Albert Serra’s French Polynesia-set drama Pacification five nominations.

Four films received four nominations each: Alice Diop’s Saint-Omer; Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children; Louis Garrel’s The Innocent and Gaspar Noé’s Vortex.

Diop,...

The compelling contemporary drama “Harka” takes place more than a decade after the start of Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution, yet its frustrated outsider protagonist must try to make his way in circumstances resembling those of Mohamed Bouazizi, the 27-year-old street vendor whose self-immolation sparked that revolution and brought a fresh focus on the country’s corrupt officials and lack of opportunity. Following the well-received documentary “12 O’Clock Boys,” U.K.-born, U.S.-based helmer-writer Lotfy Nathan makes a blistering feature debut that highlights the daily indignities apt to drive a human to an act of desperation. The film world premiered in Cannes, where Adam Bessa’s superlative, all-in lead performance collected the actor prize in Un Certain Regard; six months later, it nabbed the directing nod at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea fest.

Quiet, lanky twentysomething Ali left his family home in Sidi Bouzid as a teenager and is...

Lotfy Nathan receives best director award for ‘Harka’.

Iraqi director Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji’s Baghdad-set feature Hanging Gardens took home the best film award at the 2022 Red Sea International Film Festival, which announced its Yusr award winners on Thursday, December 8.

Hanging Gardens follows a young boy living as a rubbish picker in the dumps of Baghdad, nicknamed the ‘hanging gardens’, who hits the jackpot when he finds discarded US sex doll.

Scroll down for the full list of winners

The Arabic-language film is a Iraq-Palestine-Egypt-uk-Saudi Arabia co-production. The UK producer is Margaret Glover, who also wrote the script with...

The Red Sea Film Festival awarded Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji’s “Hanging Gardens” the Golden Yusr for Best Feature Film, the top prize of the festival’s main competition. The film, which was also awarded the Silver Yusr for Best Cinematic Achievement for Duraid Munajim, was selected by a jury led by director Oliver Stone, who was not present at the ceremony but recorded a video introduction where he thanked the festival for the opportunity, calling the movies in competition “eye-opening.”

Other winners include Silver Yusr for Best Actor for Adam Bessa in “Harka,” Silver Yusr for Best Actress for Adila Bendimerad in “The Last Queen,” and Silver Yusr for Best Screenplay to Reza Jamali for “The Childless Village.”

“So many new and good friends! This year it’s my 60th in the film business and I want to share this award with all my fans,” said Academy Award-winning actor Jackie Chan,...

Iraqi filmmaker Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji picked up the Golden Yusr for Best Feature Film and the Yusr Award for Best Cinematic Achievement at the Red International Sea Film Festival with his debut feature Hanging Gardens on Thursday evening.

Co-written by Al Daradji with Margaret Glover, the film follows As’ad, a 12-year-old rubbish picker, who adopts an American sex doll from the Baghdad dumps, and crosses into a perilous red zone, finding himself caught in the crossfire.

The film won Venice’s 2021 edition of Final Cut for the best film in post-production and debuted in the festival’s Horizons Extra sidebar this year.

The award was handed out at a ceremony on Thursday evening by Red Sea Festival Execs Mohammed Al Turki, Jomana Al-Rashid, and Egyptian actress Yousra.

In other top prizes, American filmmaker Lotfy Nathan won the Yusr Award for Best Director for his Tunisia-set debut feature Harka,...

The Red Sea Souk, the four-day industry market of the Red Sea Film Festival, is positioning itself as the principal film market for the Middle East and North Africa.

This year’s second edition includes two development competitions, a work-in-progress competition, and the Red Sea 360º event, held in association with Winston Baker, with 13 industry panels.

The projects selected for the development and pic-in-post competitions are competing for 400,000 in Red Sea Fund awards, plus sponsor awards worth 430,000 in cash and 126,000 in kind.

Last year’s first edition had over 3,500 accredited industry professionals and organizers expect an even larger turnout this year, with execs from 46 countries.

Attendees include international sales agents, distributors, festival programmers and a 30-person team from Netflix, with the streamer participating in two industry panels.

The Red Sea Souk is integrated within the Red Sea Film Festival Foundation’s wide strategy to create an eco-system for the development,...

The main competition of the 2nd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival – the Red Sea: Features Competition – underlines the fest’s ambition to celebrate pioneering works from filmmakers in the Arab region, Asia and Africa.

Oliver Stone presides the jury, whose other members include Palestinian actor Ali Suleiman (“Paradise Now”), Egyptian star Nelly Karim (“The Blue Elephant”), Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania (Oscar nominee “The Man Who Sold His Skin”), and Georgian director Levan Koguashvili (“Blind Dates”).

The 15 titles include nine films from the Middle East and North Africa region (of which six are from Middle East and three from North Africa), two films from Sub-Saharan Africa, and four films from Asia. They are directed by four women and 11 men. The competition includes two world premieres, four Mena premieres and one Arab premiere.

“Before Now and Then” – Indonesian helmer Kamila Andini’s third feature set in 1960s Indonesia, where the influential Mr.

The festival runs December 1-10

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled its International and Arab Spectacular programmes.

Scroll down for full line-ups

Among the nine-strong international selection is Luca Guadagnino’s Bones And All and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.

Guadagnino’s cannibal romance starring Timothee Chalamet and Taylor Russell had its world premiere at Venice where it won best director and best young actor for Russell.

Pinocchio, co-directed by Mark Gustafson, world premiered at BFI London Film Festival last month and will be released globally by Netflix in December.

Other International Spectacular titles include Martin McDonagh...

Oliver Stone will preside over the main competition jury for the second edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, honoring a promise to attend in that role dating back to 2020.

The Oscar-winning Born on the Fourth of July and Natural Born Killers director was previously announced as jury president for the festival’s inaugural 2020 edition, which was postponed to 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.

The festival, running December 1-10 in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, unveiled most of the lineup for its sophomore edition Monday. As of now, the event will showcase 131 feature-length and short films from 61 countries in total, 34 of them world premieres, 17 regional premieres, and 47 Mena premieres.

The main competition focuses on works by Arab, African and Asian directors and will showcase 15 films, with potential additions to come. They include the world premiere of Moroccan and French director Omar Mouldouira’s A Summer in Boujad,...

Oliver Stone to head features competition jury.

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has unveiled the programme for its second edition (December 1-10), with Studiocanal and Working Title’s romantic comedy What’s Love Got To Do With It? playing as the opening night gala.

Directed by Shekhar Kapur and written by Jemima Khan, What’s Love Got To Do With It? stars Lily James and Shazad Latif in the story of two people from different cultures who fall in love. It launched at the Toronto International FIlm Festival in September.

Rsiff will close with the world...

Marrakech has the indispensable Atlas Ateliers market as part of their festivities and the new kid on the block in the Red Sea Intl. Film Festival (second edition is held from December 1st to the 10th) has its own three-pronged Red Souk platform. Comprised of the Project Market, the Red Sea Lodge, and the Work-In-Progress, this 2022 showcase will promote 23 feature projects and 6 in-progress films including some titles that we’ve been tracking as major film fest offerings for a 2023 splash and newer items from established auteurs. Some names that jump out of the batch include Meryem Benm’Barek who saw her 2018 film Sofia win Best Screenplay award in the Un Certain Regard section and also a recent Ucr participant we find Lotfy Nathan of just preemed Harka in Cannes.…...

The second edition of the industry platform also includes a Work-In-Progress showcase.

Projects from US filmmaker Lotfy Nathan and Italian-Iraqi director Haider Rashid are among the 23 titles selected for the project market of the Red Sea Souk, the industry platform of the Red Sea International Film Festival.

The project market is split into two sections: 12 projects in the market alone, with a further 11 market projects that have been developed in the Red Sea Lodge throughout the year, in workshops in partnership with the TorinoFilmLab.

Scroll down for the full list of projects

All market projects will compete for three cash prizes,...

Festival runs November 9-20.

The Stockholm International Film Festival will present 130 films from 50 countries, opening on November 9 with Sweden’s international Oscar submission, Boy From Heaven by Tarik Saleh.

Political thriller Boy From Heaven premiered in competition at Cannes where it was awarded best screenplay.

Actor Fares Fares will receive the Stockholm Achievement Award on opening night. His credits include Easy Money, Safe House, Westworld and Chernobyl.

The Stockholm Visionary Award will go to Sam Mendes who will present the Nordic premiere of Empire Of Light.

Other notable selections include Luca Guadagnino’s Bones And All; Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King...

Production, finance and sales company Film Constellation has boarded sales on the upcoming romantic thriller “Haunted Heart” by Academy Award winning director Fernando Trueba.

The film stars Academy Award nominee Matt Dillon (“The House That Jack Built”), Goya-nominated Aida Folch (“The Artist and the Model”), and Juan Pablo Urrego (“Memoria”). The English-language film is set to start shooting in Greece in September.

The film is set on a beautiful remote island in Greece, where young and spirited Alex joins the team of a boutique seaside restaurant as their new waitress. Despite her femme-fatale charm quickly winning the heart of the charismatic Enrico, she instead falls for the enigmatic restaurant manager Max, a reclusive American, who settled on the island decades ago.

As the seasons pass, sexual tensions rise, and tourists come and go, Enrico begins to unearth disturbing clues about Max’s dark and mysterious past. Blinded by her feelings,...

Film Constellation is handling world sales on the Sky Original title.

Principal photography has wrapped on James Marsh’s UK film Dance First which stars Irish actor Gabriel Byrne as Samuel Beckett.

The Sky Original film charts the Irish writer’s life, from his time as a fighter for the French Resistance during the Second World War to his literary rise to winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1969.

The film will premiere in cinemas and on Sky Cinema in 2023.

Byrne, whose credits include The Usual Suspects and Miller’s Crossing, is joined in the cast by Aidan Gillen, Sandrine Bonnaire,...

Exclusive: Fresh off multiple rave reviews last night, we can reveal that Altitude has secured UK and Ireland distribution rights to writer-director Georgia Oakley’s buzzy Venice, Toronto and London Film Festival-bound drama Blue Jean from London and Paris-based Film Constellation.

Starring rising Brit actress Rosy McEwen (Vesper), the debut film will premiere tomorrow [Saturday September 3] in the Venice Days competition, before playing at Toronto and then getting its UK premiere at the London Film Festival where it will compete for the Sutherland Award for Directorial Debut.

The feature is set against the backdrop of late 1980s England with Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government about to pass a law stigmatizing gays and lesbians. The climate forces Jean, a Pe teacher, to live a double life. As pressure mounts from all sides, the arrival of a new girl at school catalyses a crisis that will challenge Jean to her core. Earlier this week we debuted first footage.

Th 47th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival has selected its Industry Selects, a section of ten audience friendly films up for global acquisition. In addition it was announced that Jason Reitman’s Live Read is returning to the Festival for an all-star event featuring a surprise cast; the filmmaker presenting a surprise screenplay in honor of his late father, Ivan Reitman.

“We’ve worked to build a selection that will appeal to buyers as well as audiences,’’ said Norm Wilner, Programmer, Digital Releasing and Industry Selects. “We aim to celebrate new voices and showcase international talent, in line with the Festival’s global spirit.”

“We’re delighted to present these director-driven and audience-engaging sales titles from around the world to international buyers who rely on our festival to strengthen their upcoming film slate,” added Geoff Macnaughton, Senior Director, Industry and Theatrical. “Fostering sales at the Festival is a key part of our mandate,...

The 10 “audience friendly” films will be screened in-person to accredited buyers and industry professionals

Neil Maskell’s comedy Klokkenluider and Bill Pohlad’s musical biopic Dreamin’ Wild are among the line-up for the Toronto International Film Festival Industry Selects programme.

The 10 ”audience friendly” films will be screened in-person to accredited buyers and industry professionals during the festival and are available for worldwide acquisition.

Klokkenluider is the feature directing debut of UK filmmaker and actor Neil Maskell, best known for roles in Kill List and TV series Utopia. Tom Burke and Jenna Coleman star as a whistleblower and his wife who...

Exclusive: London and Paris-based production and sales company Film Constellation has inked pre-sales on family adventure animation The Last Dinosaur following its Cannes market launch.

Pic has sold in Australia New Zealand (Icon), Latin America (Bf Distribution), Poland (Forum Film), Former Yugoslavia (McF Megacom), Greece & Cyprus (Filmtrade), Israel (Red Cape) and Middle East (Italia Film).

Developed and produced by animation studio Red Star, the UK animation team behind The Amazing Maurice, the film is written and directed by Ben Smith (StarDog & TurboCat).

Here’s the official synopsis: When Rex, son of the King of Dinosaurs is suddenly snatched up and transported to the future in a time machine, he finds himself stranded in the 21st Century. Desperate to return to his own era to help save his kin, Rex must team up with a gang of freaks, nerds and geeks to go back 65 million years in time. But when he...

All the People I’ll Never Be – Davy Chou [Review]

The Blue Caftan – Maryam Touzani

Burning Days – Emin Alper

Butterfly Vision – Maksym Nakonechnyi

Corsage – Marie Kreutzer [Review]

Domingo and the Mist – Ariel Escalante Meza

Father & Soldier – Mathieu Vadepied

Godland – Hlynur Pálmason [Review]

Harka – Lotfy Nathan [Review]

Joyland – Saim Sadiq

Les Pires – Lise Akoka, Romane Gueret [Review] [Interview]

Mediterranean Fever – Maha Haj

Metronom – Alexandru Belc [Review]

Plus que jamais – Emily Atef [Review]

Plan 75 – Chie Hayakawa [Review]

Rodéo – Lola Quivoron [Review]

Sick of Myself – Kristoffer Borgli [Review]

The Silent Twins – Agnieszka Smoczyńska [Review]

The Stranger – Thomas M.…...

Exclusive: Big Beach has announced that it will produce the upcoming feature Tropical Gothic from Lingua Franca‘s Isabel Sandoval.

Set in the 16th-century Philippines, Tropical Gothic is an allegory on Western colonialism about a Native Priestess who convinces her Spanish master that she is possessed by the spirit of his dead bride, in order to manipulate him into returning the farmland that the Spaniards seized from the native community.

Sandoval and producer Carlo Velayo launched the project in 2020 at the Locarno Open Doors Hub—an international platform for feature projects within Latin America and the Caribbean looking for international collaborations. The pair received the Vff Talent Highlight Award at the Berlinale Talent Project Market in March, with the associated prize money going toward the film’s development. Sandoval will direct from her script and star, with Michael B. Clark and Alex Turtletaub producing for Big Beach, alongside Velayo. Production kicks off later this year.

Qatar-based funder is adapting to needs of filmmakers, says CEO

The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) is open to funding a wider range of filmmakers beyond its initial focus on first and second-time directors, according to CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi.

The Dfi pioneered financial support for emerging filmmakers in North Africa and the Middle East when it first launched in 2010. To date, more than 650 film projects from 74 countries have benefited from its funding.

The Dfi supports filmmakers through a bi-annual grants system as well as its Qumra incubator program.

It is the Middle East’s longest-serving film funding programme and aims...

Qatari organisation backs projects from 33 countries

The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has announced the beneficiaries of its Spring 2022 Grants Programme, backing 44 projects from 33 countries as part of its latest funding cycle.

Three of the beneficiaries – Lotfy Nathan’s Harka, Chie Hayakawa’s Plan 75 and Davy Chou’s All The People I’ll Never Be – are playing in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

Another grant recipient – Suzannah Mirghani’s Cotton Queen – is participating in Cannes’ L’Atelier programme.

The Dfi grants programme is awarded in two annual cycles – spring and the autumn. It is the Middle East’s longest-running film funding...