Latest news with #Hoard
Elle
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
'The Agency' Star Saura Lightfoot-Leon Is Ready to Show Danny 'In a Very Different Light'
Justin French Jacket, skirt, Mugler. Earrings, Shay Jewelry. Saura Lightfoot-Leon is not a professional dancer—she has, in fact, made a conscious effort not to become a professional dancer—but she knows she moves like one. She is the daughter of Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, both dancers and choreographers in the Netherlands, where she spent the bulk of her childhood in the theater. 'They're very outward, bravely performative people, and they express deeply,' Lightfoot-Leon says of the artists who raised her. 'That's something I've been told by fellow castmates: There's an openness to me.' By the time a teenage Lightfoot-Leon started considering her own aspirations, dance didn't factor into the equation. 'I saw so much of it, you have to understand,' she explains. 'It felt like I'd already lived that life, in a way.' Like most teenagers, she wanted 'to grow up and make myself independent,' and to operate in a circle 'that didn't feel part of my parents' world.' When she was 14, an English teacher recognized Lightfoot-Leon's emotional intelligence within her creative writing, and recommended she try acting. That suggestion spurred her to start researching where she might train, and when multiple people pointed her toward London, her father took her to West End performances on her birthday each year, until she was old enough to leave home. Justin French Turtleneck, culottes, belt, boots, Saint Laurent. Earrings, Van Cleef & Arpels. Soon enough, London became her stomping ground. After graduating with an acting degree from the capital's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2020, Lightfoot-Leon made her television debut in the BBC One series Life After Life , then scored a lead actress role in the 2023 film Hoard , for which she won a Special Jury Mention at the Venice International Film Festival and was later nominated for two British Independent Film Awards. Her breakthrough secured, she spent 2024 appearing in the Apple TV+ drama Masters of the Air , the Netflix western American Primeval , and the Paramount+ spy saga The Agency , which is now filming its second season. Lightfoot-Leon, now 27, doesn't spend as much time in hallowed dance studios as she once did. But neither is she as inclined to ignore dance's impact in her life. She admits her instinct has been to 'hide away something precious that actually influences everything I do,' in an attempt to forge her own distinct path. But 'the moment I really started finding myself in the characters I was playing, the more I struggled to push away that side of me,' she says. 'My past is me, and I don't try to separate that from my work anymore. It lives within me. It gives me a richer body language.' 'My past is me, and I don't try to separate that from my work anymore. It lives within me.' On the set of Hoard , Lightfoot-Leon realized that though she might not want to spend her career in pointe shoes, she did want to spend it in the presence of a company. Acting alongside Joseph Quinn of Stranger Things and Hayley Squires of I, Daniel Blake , and being led by director Luna Carmoon, Lightfoot-Leon recognized a similar feeling: 'an element of the 'company' feel that I continue to look for in my work.' Acting in film and television doesn't always allow her the time to develop the same type of intimate relationships often found in the theater, but Lightfoot-Leon says that The Agency has not only drawn her into a community, with talents like Michael Fassbender and Jeffrey Wright—it's also blessed her with insight into her own mind. As the CIA field officer Danny Morata in the spy thriller series, Lightfoot-Leon plays 'a professional chameleon, who's learning how to access different parts of herself and choosing what she shows and when to show it.' The actress has no trouble drawing parallels to her own experience. 'Where that line is drawn is not only part of a covert agent's life, but also an actor's life. It's like, 'Where does the me who's acting in these scenes stop and the character begin?' So that's fascinating.' (She teases that season 2 will depict Danny 'in a very different light. Season 1 was sowing the seeds. This season is a whole other beast, and it gets scary. She gets real. That's all I'm going to say.') Justin French Turtleneck, culottes, belt, boots, Saint Laurent. Earrings, Van Cleef & Arpels. Like any good artist with a background in movement, Lightfoot-Leon says she judges her potential projects based on the reactions a script evokes in her body. Does it make her laugh? Tense up? Daydream? If she's 'sucked in,' she's sold. 'Art is a language in itself,' she says. 'It's this feeling that's not in my head; it's somewhere in my heart, somewhere in my gut. It involves different parts of your brain and your body and your intuition, and it's been carried across centuries and through different generations of people. 'What I feel it brings us is hope,' she concludes. 'It reminds people of something that, maybe, they've forgotten.' Hair by Sami Knight for Rehab; makeup by Alexandra French at Forward Artists; manicure by Jolene Brodeur at The Wall Group; produced by Anthony Federici at Petty Cash Production; photographed at Malibu Creek Ranch. A version of this story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of ELLE. Related Stories
The Guardian
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Last Swim review – rising star Deba Hekmat is magnetic in exam results day drama
Some actors take a while to capture your attention; others grab you by the eyes the moment you first encounter them. Kurdish-British actor Deba Hekmat falls into the second category. Her debut, a supporting role in Luna Carmoon's Hoard (2024), was electrifying – there's a semi-feral, unfettered physicality to her performance that chimes perfectly with Carmoon's maverick vision. In Sasha Nathwani's Berlin film festival prize-winning Last Swim, Hekmat gets the starring role of Ziba, a high-achieving A-level student whose carefully planned day of celebration with her friends is clouded by an ominous diagnosis and a question mark over the future. Sunny, soulful, if a little montage-heavy at times, this is a more conventional film. Hekmat's magnetic star quality, though, is unmistakable: she's a free and fascinating presence. In UK and Irish cinemas
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Greg Hoard, longtime Cincinnati sports anchor and writer, dies at 73
Longtime Cincinnati TV sports anchor/reporter Greg Hoard, who also wrote for The Enquirer and Cincinnati Post and authored several books, died at age 73. Hoard, from Blocher, Indiana, attended Emory University. He wrote for the Post as a columnist and feature writer before becoming The Enquirer's Cincinnati Reds beat writer in the mid-1980s. In 1990, he became a sports anchor and later sports director at WLWT-TV. He became the first sports anchor and director at WXIX-TV in 1993, and worked at Fox 19 for 12 years. Later, Hoard wrote "Joe: Rounding Third and Heading for Home" about legendary Reds pitcher and broadcaster Joe Nuxhall; "Voices in my Head: The Gary Burbank Story," about the longtime 700 WLW-AM personality; and "Hannan's Way: An Unlikely Trek Through Life" about entrepreneur Richard Hannan, as well as a book he co-authored with Hannan. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Greg Hoard, former Cincinnati sports anchor, dies at 73
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Luna Carmoon's BAFTA Nominated ‘Hoard' Acquired by Piece of Magic in France and Benelux (EXCLUSIVE)
Belgian distributor Piece of Magic has acquired distribution rights for France and Benelux for Luna Carmoon's 'Hoard,' which is BAFTA nominated in the outstanding debut by a British filmmaker catagory. The deal was brokered by Alpha Violet, a sales company based in Paris. The film was also nominated at the European Film Awards in the European Discovery Prix Fipresci category, and competed at the BFI London Film Festival in the first feature competition section. More from Variety Denzel Washington Still Has Never Been Nominated for a BAFTA After Latest 'Gladiator 2' Snub BAFTA Nominations Predictions: 'Conclave' and 'Emilia Pérez' Expected to Lead; 'Challengers' and Mark Edelshteyn Could Surprise Does Irish Hit 'Kneecap' Have the Legs to Make It to the Oscars? At the British Independent Film Awards the film was nominated for supporting performance (Hayley Squires), joint lead performance (Joseph Quinn, Saura Lightfoot Leon), best debut director (Carmoon), breakthrough performance (Saura Lightfoot-Leon), casting (Heather Basten), and production design (Bobbie Cousins). Sunrise Films previously acquired the film for the U.S. and Canada. Vertigo Releasing holds the rights for the U.K. and Ireland. The film is set in London in 1984. Seven-year-old Maria and her mother live in their own loving world built on sorting through bins and collecting shiny rubbish. One night, their world falls apart, and we join Maria a decade later, living with her foster mother. An older stranger, Michael, then enters their home, opening the door to past trauma, magic and madness. The film is produced by Loran Dunn of Delaval, Helen Simmons of Erebus Production and Andrew Starke of Anti-Worlds, with the support of the BBC and the BFI. The cast is led by Saura Lightfoot Leon (Maria), Hayley Squires (Mother) and Joseph Quinn (Michael). The cinematographer is Nanu Segal, the editor is Rachel Durance, the production designer is Bobbie Cousins, the costume designer is Nat Turner and music is by Jim Williams. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025 What's Coming to Disney+ in February 2025
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Film Industry Prejudice Drama ‘In Camera' Lands North American Deal Following BAFTA Nod for Star Nabhaan Rizwan (EXCLUSIVE)
Sunrise Films has secured North American distribution rights to British film 'In Camera,' the feature debut from writer-director Naqqash Khalid, following lead actor Nabhaan Rizwan's nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award. The deal, inked with Together Films, sets the film for an April 15 release. The film stars Rizwan as Aden, a young thespian trapped in a series of nightmarish auditions who decides to forge his own path after facing multiple rejections. BAFTA winner Amir El-Masry ('2021') rounds out the cast of the formally inventive drama that takes aim at film industry prejudice and social hypocrisy through the lens of a struggling British Asian actor's experience. More from Variety 'Kaos' Star Nabhaan Rizwan and 'Doctor Foster's' Suranne Jones Join Aimee Lou Wood in BBC Rom-Com 'Film Club' Josh O'Connor's Queer Teen Romance 'Bonus Track' Finds U.S. Home With Sunrise Films (EXCLUSIVE) Luna Carmoon's Venice Winner 'Hoard' Acquired for U.S. and Canada by Sunrise Films (EXCLUSIVE) 'Self-reflexive satirical filmmaking of this nature is relatively rare on the British independent scene — perhaps, in part, because financing and producing features at all is such a strenuous endeavor that artists are loath to bite any of the various hands feeding them,' wrote Guy Lodge, reviewing the film for Variety. ''In Camera' is notable as a debut for the gutsy, darkly hilarious accuracy of its take on an industry where people of color are still patronized as interchangeable quota-fillers, and where notions of 'authenticity' are commodified to the extent that they become entirely imitative poses.' Public Dreams' BAFTA-winning producer Mary Burke and Prettybird U.K.'s Juliette Larthe produced the feature, marking the first title from Prettybird's British arm. BBC Film and the BFI backed the project with National Lottery funding, with additional support from Uncommon Creative Studio. The film had a stellar festival run including Karlovy Vary, Zurich, London, Thessaloniki, Stockholm and Goa. The distribution pact was hammered out between Sunrise Film's Andrew Nerger, who heads U.S. and international distribution, and Together Films' Jess Reilly, international sales and acquisitions manager. ''In Camera' is an extraordinary debut that speaks to the struggles and resilience of creatives everywhere,' Reilly said. 'Naqqash Khalid's distinctive voice and Nabhaan Rizwan's compelling performance make this a standout title.' Nerger added, 'Naqqash and Nabhaan are both extraordinary talents and are primed for big things ahead. We are delighted to bring this fantastic showcase of next gen British talent to audiences in North America.' The acquisition adds to Sunrise Films' growing slate of independent features, which includes Luna Carmoon's BIFA-nominated 'Hoard' and Julia Jackman's London Film Festival-premiered queer rom-com 'Bonus Track.' Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025 What's Coming to Disney+ in February 2025
