Author: Deadline

Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar has announced he is pulling state funding for the country’s Ophir Awards after drama The Sea, which focuses on the struggles of a Palestinian boy living under occupation in the West Bank, won the top prize. Under Israel’s protocol, the winner of the Best Film Ophir is automatically put forward as Israel’s Oscar candidate. The production spearheaded by Israeli filmmaker Shai Carmeli-Pollak and Palestinian producer Bahaer Agbarian, follows Khaled, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy living in the landlocked West Bank on his way to visit the sea for the first time in his life, until at…

EXCLUSIVE: Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Renée Taylor (The Producers) is returning to the screen opposite Tony nominee Austin Pendleton (My Cousin Vinny) in short film When Robert Met Judith. The story follows Robert (Pendleton), an elderly man in a nursing home who drifts through a quiet routine until Judith (Taylor), a fellow resident, reaches out with warmth and persistence. Related Stories Directed by Yaniv Rokah, the film is produced by Jerry Silverhardt, Roi Vadai and Christine Sheaks, known for her casting work on Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Red Rock West. Cinematography is by Ari Rothschild and Tristan Cohen. “This…

Italian film body Anica has revealed the 24 films submitted as candidates to be Italy’s Best International Feature Film in the 98th Academy Awards. A selection committee overseen by Anica will meet on September 23 to decide which film will be put forward as the country’s candidate. Italy’s last submission was Maura Delpero’s World War Two drama Vermiglio, which was selected after winning the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize in Venice in 2024, and then made it as far as the shortlist. A number of Italy’s candidates for the 2026 Best International Feature Film Oscar made their debut in competition…

SWIPED Section: Gala Presentations Director: Rachel Lee Goldenberg Screenwriters: Bill Parker, Rachel Lee Goldenberg, Kim Caramel. Logline: Lily James stars in the real-life story of Whitney Wolfe Herd. Panelist: Lily James. Key Quote: “Swiped is inspired by the real life story of Whitney Wolfe Herd, who is a visionary founder. She created Bumble, the dating app, and our movie tracks her journey from leaving college. [After that] she breaks into the male-dominated tech space and launches not one but two huge dating apps that take off like rocket ships. And we track the kinds of challenges and adversity she faces along the way — the highs…

EXCLUSIVE: When the Eaton Fire tore through the Altadena neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 7 it reduced thousands of houses and buildings to ashes, including the homes of award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner and her brother, producer David Timoner. Ondi was in Europe with her wife, the composer Morgan Doctor, working on a film when the fire erupted. After reuniting with her brother and her mom Lisa – who was rescued from the wildfire by David Timoner – Ondi quickly regrouped and began to document the decimated community around her. Her new film All the Walls Came Down opens tonight…

& SONS Section: Special Presentations Director: Pablo Trapero Screenwriter: Sarah Polley, Pablo Trapero Logline: This dramatic adaptation of David Gilbert’s 2013 novel, co-written by Oscar-winner Sarah Polley and directed by Pablo Trapero (TIFF ’15’s The Clan), stars Bill Nighy as a reclusive literary superstar who calls his sons home for an unbelievable announcement. Panelists: Pablo Trapero, Noah Jupe Premiered: Sunday, September 7 Key Quote: There’re some twists and turns in this film but I think, ultimately, it’s not about that, it’s about having a conversation about family and forgiveness, and whether people can really change, and nature v nurture, and insanely…

SACRIFICE Section: Special Presentations Director: Romain Gavras Screenwriter: Will Arbery, Romain Gavras Logline: An environmental conference is disrupted — first by celebrities — and then by eco-terrorists. Chris Evans, Anya Taylor-Joy, Vincent Cassel, Salma Hayek Pinault, John Malkovich, Ambika Mod, Charli xcx, and Jonatan “Yung Lean” Leandoer star in Romain Gavras’ satirical thriller Sacrifice. Panelists: Romain Gavras, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Evans, Vincent Cassel, Sam Richardson, Jonatan “Yung Lean” Leandoer Premiered: Saturday, September 6 Key Quote: What I love about the two of them, and I said this to Chris from the beginning, is it reminds me of a kindergarten friendship……

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures International Productions has acquired worldwide rights to adapt Flor M. Salvador’s popular young adult Wattpad book series Boulevard with Webtoon Productions. A first film, Boulevard, is currently in production in Spain from a script by bestselling YA author Javier Ruescas (see below for the start of production announcement). The book series centers on the forbidden romance between high school students Halsey Weigel and Luke Howland. A troublemaker who also struggles from addiction, Halsey knows she should stay away from Luke, but she is inexplicably drawn to him, seeing beyond the damaged exterior everyone else is quick to…

Ovations at the Toronto Film Festival are rare, but Guillermo del Toro’s lifelong project Frankenstein certainly got one during the film’s North American premiere here Monday. Following a 15-minute ovation at its Venice Film Festival world premiere, the Netflix film’s screening today was attended by del Toro along with his stars Oscar Issac (Victor Frankenstein), Jacob Elordi (The Creature), Mia Goth (Elizabeth) and Christoph Waltz (Harlander). Producer and former Netflix film boss Scott Stuber was also in tow, along with fellow producer J. Miles Dale. The screening audience clapped for two minutes straight after the closing credits began, stopped only…

Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir’s historic drama Palestine 36 brought down the house at the Roy Thomson Hall on Friday evening as the film world premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The feature explores the 1936-39 Arab Revolt in which Palestinians rose up against Britain’s colonial rule, against a backdrop of rising Jewish immigration following the country’s support for the establishment of a national home for the Jews in Palestine with the 1917 Balfour Declaration. Jacir has delivered a sweeping historical epic bringing 1930s Palestine to life and tackling a key chapter in Palestinian history not seen on the big…