Latest news with #Film4
Arab News
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Kaouther Ben Hania and Oscar-winning producers on board to direct film on killing of Palestinian girl
LONDON: Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania will direct a new feature dramatizing the death of Hind Rajab, the five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza earlier this year, a Variety report said on Wednesday. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @ The project, which is currently untitled, is set to be shot in Tunisia and produced by Nadim Cheikhrouha ('Four Daughters'), alongside Oscar-winning producers Odessa Rae ('Navalny') and James Wilson ('The Zone of Interest'), with backing from Film4. Hind Rajab's death became a global symbol of the humanitarian toll of Israel's military campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks. She was one of thousands of children killed in the conflict, but her story sparked particular international outrage. In one notable protest, student demonstrators at Columbia University renamed occupied buildings in her honor. Rajab was fleeing Gaza City with members of her family on Jan. 29, 2024, when their car came under Israeli fire, killing her uncle, aunt and three cousins. Hind was left trapped in the vehicle for hours, speaking with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society by phone as paramedics attempted to reach her. On Feb. 10, after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, rescuers found the bodies of Hind, the paramedics and the family still inside the vehicle. Israel initially denied responsibility, but investigations by The Washington Post, Sky News and the research agency, Forensic Architecture, later concluded that Israeli tanks were in the vicinity and had likely fired at the car. The same investigations indicated an Israeli tank had also targeted the ambulance sent to rescue her. Ben Hania, one of the Arab world's most acclaimed filmmakers, has received multiple Academy Award nominations. Her 2017 feature, 'Beauty and the Dogs,' was Tunisia's Oscar submission, while 'The Man Who Sold His Skin' (2020) was nominated for best international feature. Her latest film, 'Four Daughters,' was nominated for best documentary feature at the 2024 Oscars.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Vue Lumière Acquires Benedict Cumberbatch Flick ‘The Thing With Feathers'
Vue Lumière has picked up The Thing with Feathers starring Benedict Cumberbatch for the UK and Ireland. Vue Lumière, the distribution arm of exhibition company Vue, acquired the film from mk2. The company has said it plans to release the film in cinemas across the UK and Ireland later this year. More from Deadline Briarcliff Acquires U.S. On Benedict Cumberbatch Sundance Premiere 'The Thing With Feathers' Searchlight To Bloom Jay Roach's 'The Roses' With Benedict Cumberbatch & Olivia Colman Over Labor Day Weekend Benedict Cumberbatch Talks Portraying A Father's Grief In 'The Thing With Feathers' & Why He Loves Producing - Berlin Film Festival The Thing with Feathers had its world premiere at Sundance earlier this year, then went on to play as a Special Gala at the 75th Berlinale. It is based on the bestselling book by Max Porter, published by Faber, and stars Cumberbatch as a grieving father of two young boys who loses his wife very suddenly. Written and directed by Dylan Southern, best known for his music documentaries Meet Me in the Bathroom, Shut Up and Play the Hits and the upcoming untitled Oasis project, it is produced by Adam Ackland and Leah Clarke for SunnyMarch (We Live in Time, The Mauritanian and the upcoming Roses) and Andrea Cornwell's Lobo Films (Love Lies Bleeding, Saint Maud). The film was developed with Film4, who co-financed alongside the BFI and Align, in association with Uncommon Creative Studio, mk2 Films, and Rank and File, in co-production with Film i Väst and Filmgate Film. mk2 Films is handling international sales. 'We feel that The Thing with Feathers fully embodies what we are doing with Vue Lumière and what we want to say to audiences around cinema, storytelling, performance, creativity, and impact,' Eve Gabereau, Director of Distribution at Vue Lumière, said in a statement. 'Also, we are committed to and energised by working with the filmmaking teams and UK partners Film4 and BFI in a joined-up way for the widest possible release.' Fionnuala Jamison, Managing Director of mk2 Films, added: 'We're very pleased to be partnering with Vue Lumière on their first major dramatic feature. It's a moving and distinctive film that we're proud to see embraced by such an ambitious new player in the UK market.' Best of Deadline Streamer Subscription Prices And Tiers – Everything To Know As Prices Increase And Ads Abound 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon to Step Down
Channel 4 has announced that Alex Mahon has decided to step down as CEO and will leave the business in summer this year. Mahon joined the U.K. network in 2017 as the channel's first female CEO. Under her tenure, Channel 4 has battled privatization attempts and seismic shifts in viewing habits. It has produced hugely impactful, landmark programmes such as 'It's a Sin' and 'Russell Brand: Dispatches' and, through Film4, backed film ssuch as 'The Zone of Interest,' 'The Banshees of Inisherin,' 'All of Us Strangers' and 'Poor Things.' More from Variety Channel 4 Buys Nordic Noir Thriller 'The Darkness' From Paramount Global Content Distribution U.K.'s Channel 4 Orders First Digital Original Drama, Sci-Fi Series 'Beth' Starring Nicholas Pinnock and Abbey Lee (EXCLUSIVE) 'Leaving Neverland' Sequel 'Surviving Michael Jackson' Set for March 'Working at Channel 4 has been a lifetime privilege because Channel 4 is the most extraordinary organisation. What we get to do here is much more than television because we reflect our country with humour, creativity, grit, and care. We try our best to challenge convention and to change conversations. And we do it with a kind of irreverent brilliance that simply doesn't exist anywhere else,' said Mahon. 'I feel lucky beyond belief to have had the chance to lead Channel 4 for nearly eight years – through calm seas (very few) and stormy waters (more than our fair share). From navigating the threat of privatisation (twice), to shifting out of London, to digital transformation, lockdowns, political upheaval, advertising chaos – there has never been a dull moment. But through every twist and turn, there's been one constant: the astonishing calibre, resilience, and creativity of all my colleagues at Channel 4.' Channel 4's Chief Operating Officer, Jonathan Allan, will serve as interim CEO while the board looks for a successor. 'Alex is a great figure in British television. She has been one of the most impactful CEOs since Jeremy Isaacs' founding of Channel 4 more than 42 years ago. She is business minded and has also been transformational both culturally and creatively, proving time and again her extraordinary ability to inspire and drive positive and meaningful change. Under her leadership, Channel 4 has moved with the times and driven the times,' said Dawn Airey, Channel 4 Interim Chair. 'Her commitment to Channel 4's public service mission has been unwavering. She has backed entertaining, shocking, interesting telly, never playing it safe and her grit and resilience more than met the rough-tough challenges of recent times.' Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in May 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in May 2025
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Alexandra Billings & Devin Way Set For Julia Eringer's Directorial Debut ‘Paring'
EXCLUSIVE: Julia Eringer's feature directorial debut Paring has found its cast. Written by Eringer and Heather McCallum, the pair stars in their psychedelic romantic-comedy alongside Alexandra Billings (Transparent, Never Have I Ever, The Conners), Devin Way (Queer as Folk, Grey's Anatomy, Sistas) and Scott Turner Schofield (The Idol, The Blacklist). More from Deadline 'Halloween Store': Lindy Booth, Sydney Park, Grace Van Dien, Jorge Lendeborg Jr. & Drew Ray Tanner Round Out Cast Sadie Soverall & Havana Rose Liu To Star In Fantasy Thriller 'I Am A Monster' For Iconoclast, Film4, Madants & Mid March; AGC & CAA Media Finance Launch For Cannes 'Transparent' Actress Alexandra Billings To Star And Executive Produce Trans Revolutionary Indie Feature 'Queen Tut' Paring stars Eringer and McCallum as a married couple who visits an old friend for the weekend to meet her fiancé, who feels uncannily familiar. The four drink a little—or a lot—of psilocybin tea in a ceremony intended to unite them, but as secrets unravel, the foursome spirals, tumbling into wounds of the past until everyone is laid bare. 'I wanted to make a film about the wild, tender chaos of love,' said Eringer in a statement. 'About marriage, partnership and loving people through transitions. Paring is a personal narrative I've been working on with co-writer Heather McCallum for over a decade — the script evolved along with us through marriages, the births of four children and many sessions of couples therapy, some of them 'alternative.' 'With my roots in indie film acting, stepping behind the camera for this intimate story felt inevitable. Paring isn't just my feature debut, it's a love letter to the complexity of partnership and the strange, beautiful alchemy of staying when everything inside tells you to run,' she added. McCallum called the film 'our passion project and my North Star for over 10 years,' adding: 'The script has been a living, breathing thing, growing and expanding as Julia and I have grown as women, become mothers and navigated the complexities of relationships and friendships. 'At the core, it is a story about loving each other through the beautiful and heartbreaking realities of being human, the patterns we fall into, the battles within ourselves and the societal expectations of gender roles,' added McCallum. 'To have it become a reality with this incredible cast and crew along with my dear friend Mary Rohlich is beyond a dream come true. And to tell this story at this moment in time feels more important than ever.' Eringer, McCallum, Rohlich and Schofield serve as producers on the film, with co-producers Brienne Rose and Cookie Walukas, as well as executive producers Way, Susan Moulton, Mary Pat Bentel and Jett Garrison. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far Everything We Know About 'Emily In Paris' Season 5 So Far Everything We Know About The 'We Were Liars' Show So Far
New York Times
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Film at Lincoln Center Chooses Daniel Battsek as Next President
Film at Lincoln Center, the nonprofit organization that programs the New York Film Festival, has named the British movie executive Daniel Battsek its next president. From 2016 until early 2024, Battsek, 66, was chairman of the British production company Film4, overseeing the financing of 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' (2017) and 'The Banshees of Inisherin' (2022), among other releases. Battsek will succeed Lesli Klainberg, who had led Film at Lincoln Center since 2014 before stepping down last year. In an interview, Battsek, who will take over in May, said the centrality of film in the New York City cultural landscape had always appealed to him. 'In many other cities, including London, film is much further down the culture ladder than it is here,' said Battsek, who was based in New York as president of Miramax Films before joining Film4. 'I love that cinema is seen as being on a level with opera and ballet and theater.' Battsek's appointment comes amid an industrywide downturn as movie theaters struggle to attract an audience that has yet to return to prepandemic numbers and are increasingly contending with competition from streaming services. While he acknowledged those pressures, he also sounded a note of optimism: There's been rising interest in independent films, Battsek said. 'If you look at the independent releases like 'Anora' that have really, really done well both theatrically and on streaming, all of that builds toward the potential to capture a growing audience, as opposed to trying desperately to hold onto a shrinking audience,' he said, referring to this year's best picture winner at the Oscars. Founded in 1969, Film at Lincoln Center operates on an annual budget of $15.5 million with 85 employees, and has more than 5,300 members. Formerly known as the Film Society of Lincoln Center, it dropped the 'society' part of its name in 2019 in an effort to broaden its appeal and reach a wider audience. It is perhaps best known for the New York Film Festival, where 'Anora,' the Sean Baker sex worker dramedy, played last fall along with 'The Brutalist' and 'Nickel Boys.' And the organization jointly programs the New Directors/New Films series with the Museum of Modern Art. But Film at Lincoln Center is also a year-round home for first-run indie releases; smaller events like Rendez-Vous With French Cinema; and the magazine Film Comment. Last year, Film at Lincoln Center recorded the highest ticket sales in its history for the New York Film Festival and its highest grosses in a decade at its year-round screens. 'I think it's in a really good place,' Battsek said. 'The pandemic, like with many other forms of entertainment that involve people going out, was really, really hard, and it's taken time to recover from that. But the New York Film Festival has gone from strength to strength.' Battsek has a track record of championing new work. At Film4, which he joined as director in 2016 before being promoted to chairman in 2022, he oversaw the production of the Holocaust drama 'The Zone of Interest,' the Emma Stone-led black comedy 'Poor Things' and the metaphysical melodrama 'All of Us Strangers.' Before joining Film4, he served as the president of National Geographic films, where he acquired and developed projects that included the Oscar-nominated 2010 documentary 'Restrepo,' which followed a company of American soldiers in Afghanistan. He also led Miramax for five years after Harvey Weinstein left in 2005, signing off on or acquiring Oscar-winning films like the docudrama 'The Queen' (2006), the neo-western crime thriller 'No Country for Old Men' (2007) and the Paul Thomas Anderson epic 'There Will Be Blood' (2007). What does he hope to accomplish at Film at Lincoln Center? 'Sean Baker captured it very well when he accepted his Oscar and made such a point of talking about why seeing movies in a theater is a communal experience that you don't get at home,' Battsek said. 'And I think that's something that we can be the vanguard for. 'There is a growing appreciation, understanding and connection of younger audiences with cinema,' he continued, 'and not just the 'Minecraft' movie.'
