Author: SD

UK-Ireland directors, actors, producers, funders and filming locations are well-represented through the full breadth of the Venice line-up – with the exception of the Competition, where there are no films by UK or Ireland directors.  London-based David Heyman’s Heyday Films produced Noah Baumbach’s Competition title Jay Kelly, which partly shot in the UK and features Jim Broadbent, Lenny Henry, Emily Mortimer, Thaddea Graham, Louis Partridge, Eve Hewson and Jamie Demetriou among the cast.   US filmmaker Jim Jarmusch’s anthology film Father Mother Sister Brother, also in Competition, shot across the US, France and Ireland. UK-based Mubi is a producer on the project to which it has US rights,…

Caitriona Balfe and George MacKay are among the new cast for Georgia Oakley’s Sense And Sensibility, which has started production in the UK for Focus Features and Working Title Films. Frank Dillane, Herbert Nordrum, Bodhi Rae Breathnach and Fiona Shaw have also joined the cast, alongside previously announced members Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esme Creed-Miles as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. UK filmmaker Oakley is directing from a script by Australian author Diana Reid, based on Jane Austen’s 1811 novel. Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner are producing for Working Title, with India Flint of November Pictures and Jo Wallett. The story follows the…

Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof and Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres are among the competition jurors for the 82nd Venice International Film Festival (August 27-September 6). Also alongside previously announced jury chair Alexander Payne are filmmakers Stephane Brize from France, Maura Delpero from Italy and Cristian Mungiu from Romania, as well as Chinese actress Zhao Tao. The seven-strong jury will award prizes including the Golden Lion for best film; the Silver Lion grand jury prize; and awards for best director, actress, actor and screenplay. French filmmaker Julia Ducournau will chair the Horizons jury, alongside Italian filmmaker Yuri Ancarani, Australian director Shannon Murphy,…

Paramount’s animated feature Smurfs leads this week’s releases in the UK and Ireland, opening in 596 sites today.   Smurfs reboots the blue creature universe after Sony’s final Smurfs film: 2017’s Smurfs: The Lost Village, which opened to £1.4m and ended on £6.1m. Paramount will be aiming to reverse the diminishing returns across the franchise: 2013’s The Smurfs 2 started with £3.2m and closed on £12.4m, while first title The Smurfs opened with £3.8m and closed on £17.4m in 2011. The new Smurfs voice cast includes Rihanna as Smurfette, John Goodman as Papa Smurf, James Corden as ’No Name’ Smurf, and Nick Offerman as Ken…

Black Bear, the US and UK-based production, finance and distribution company, is expanding into US theatrical distribution.  Benjamin Kramer, most recently co-head of CAA Media Finance, has been recruited to oversee the expansion as Black Bear’s president of US distribution.  The US operation will handle up to 12 theatrical releases a year, focusing on a curated slate of filmmaker-driven titles and wide-release action and genre films. Additional executives are set to be hired in the coming months.  The company described the expansion as a “natural evolution” from its increased production output and theatrical businesses in Canada and the UK.  Black Bear currently has a…

Disney’s Lilo & Stitch has become the first Hollywood studio film of 2025 to cross the $1bn mark at the global box office.  The live action/CG take on Disney’s 2002 animated original reached a US/Canada gross of $416.2m this week and an international take of $584.8m. It stands as the year’s highest grossing release from a Motion Picture Association member company both globally and internationally.  The film’s biggest international takes include $67m from Mexico, $49m from the UK, $42.5m from France and $37.4m from Brazil. China has delivered $25.2m.  Lilo & Stitch, for which a sequel is now in development,…

Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, Paul Greengrass’s wildfire drama The Lost Bus starring Matthew McConaughey, and Rian Johnson’s ensemble Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery led by Daniel Craig, are among 11 Galas and Special Presentations that will screen at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Apple Original Films’ The Lost Bus and the third Knives Out mystery at Netflix receive their world premieres at the festival’s 50th edition running September 4-14. The latter will go on to open the BFI London Film Festival in October.  Zhao’s period drama for Focus Features is about a tragedy…

The final edition of Sundance Film Festival in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2026 (January 22-February 1) will celebrate standout moments from the last 40 years and honour founder Robert Redford’s contribution to independent cinema before the event relocates to Colorado in 2027. The full programme will include more than 90 features, episodic projects, more than 50 shorts, and the annual Beyond Film series of talks and events. Director of Sundance Film Festival and public programming Eugene Hernandez said in a letter released to media outlets on Monday that Redford’s “immense impact and his unwavering commitment” to…

František Klišík, protagonist of Better Go Mad in the Wild, has died just hours after the documentary won the main Grand Prix prize at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Klišík was found dead in a pond in the town of Ohrobec near the Czech capital Prague on the morning of Sunday, July 13, according to several Czech media outlets. He was 62 years old. Czech radio station Radiozurnal announced the death on Sunday, July 13. Klišík had attended Karlovy Vary just three days previously for the film’s world premiere on Thursday, July 10. Last night it became the first Czech…

Czech-Slovak documentary Better Go Mad in the Wild won the Grand Prix Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, which closed its 59th edition on Saturday, July 12. The fifth feature from Czechoslovakian filmmaker Remo, Better Go Mad… is loosely based on Ales Palan and Jan Sibik’s book of the same name, and follows two twins who see whether it is possible to live their entire lives in the same place. Scroll down for the full list of winners Awarding the $25,000 prize shared between Remo and producer Tomas Hruby, the jury praised “a funny valentine to the fading…