Category: Entertainment

Singaporean director Ang Geck Geck Priscilla’s “Ah Girl” will open the sixth Jakarta Film Week, set for Oct. 21–25, and Yosep Anggi Noen’s “The Sea Speaks His Name” (“Laut Bercerita”) will close the festival in its Indonesian premiere.

The program was unveiled Sept. 23 at a press conference at CGV Grand Indonesia, where Jakarta Deputy Governor Rano Karno and the Ministry of Culture’s Ahmad Mahendra joined the festival team. This year’s edition carries the theme Encounters, succeeding 2025’s Reignite.

“Six years of Jakarta Film Week have taught us that this festival is not just about screening films, but also about bringing together the people behind them, discovering new talent, and strengthening Indonesia’s film ecosystem. Encounters is a reflection of that meeting point,” said festival director Rina Damayanti.

The Global Feature Competition lines up Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” Markus Schleinzer’s “Rose,” Nagahisa Makoto’s “Burn,” Rafael Manuel’s “Filipiñana” and Abdallah Al-Khatib’s “Chronicles from the Siege.” The Currents strand includes Alice Winocour’s “Couture,” Karim Aïnouz’s “Rosebush Pruning” and Leyla Bouzid’s “In a Whisper,” and Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia” is also on the program.

On the Indonesian side, Yogi S. Calam’s “Togel” and Andrew Kose’s “Harga Teman” will premiere in the Direction Award section, which also features Luki Herwanayogi’s “Our Son” and Bernardus Raka’s “Nobody Loves Kay.”

Kamila Andini’s Indonesian Oscar hopeful “Four Seasons in Java,” a co-production spanning Indonesia, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, plays in the Global Feature Official Selection. That section also has Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s “9 Temples to Heaven,” Pete Ohs’ “Erupcja” and Sarah Arnold’s “Too Many Beasts.”

Four titles come out of Next Step Studio, a joint Indonesia–France initiative: “Holy Crowd,” from Reza Fahriyansyah and Ananth Subramaniam; “Annisa,” from Reza Rahadian and Sam Manacsa; “Original Wound,” from Shelby Kho and Sein Lyan Tun; and “Mothers Are Mothering,” from Khozy Rizal and Lam Li Shuen.

“For the first time, audiences will also be able to watch eight short films set in Jakarta through Jakarta Film Fund,” said program manager Novi Hanabi. “This is a new achievement for us in facilitating emerging talent among filmmakers in Jakarta.”

Three of those shorts were made under the fund’s student arm, a partnership with the J-Youth Film Festival 2026.

On the industry side, JFWNET returns with a Producers Lab, Pitching Forum, Talents Hub, Industry Talk and Festival Meeting. The Producers Lab has picked 10 up-and-coming local producers, drawn from Jakarta, West Sumatra, West Java, Central Java and Kalimantan. The Pitching Forum slate covers genres including horror and animation, with producers looking for local and overseas partners. Talents Hub participants were put forward by Minikino Film Week, Mollucas Film Festival, Craft Animfest and Layar Indonesiana locally, and by CinemaWorld Singapore, the Philippines’ QCinema International Film Festival and Vietnam’s Autumn Meeting internationally. The program is designed to feed participants into initiatives such as Goedam, BIFAN Fantastic School and Platform Busan, with support also available toward Cannes.

JFWNET is also working with Cerita Anak Nusantara, a Netflix-backed contest seeking story pitches for kids’ and family content, organized with the Indonesian Film Producers Association (APROFI) and the Indonesian Film Board (BPI). Ten projects from cities around the country will pitch during the festival.

“JFWNET–Industry Program seeks to open doors for young filmmakers, providing a space where they can grow, connect with international partners, and take their next steps, as demonstrated by our alumni. Each year, this ecosystem continues to expand and welcome new faces,” said Gayatri Nadya, the festival’s head of industry.

Industry partners include Netflix, ACFM Platform Busan, the Cannes Film Market’s Short Film Corner, the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum, HKIFF Industry, QCinema and the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.

For general audiences, the Emergency Broadcast and Herstory strands use cinema to open up discussion of current issues, Fantasea joins the international competitions in showcasing current trends in world cinema, and Family Time offers screenings aimed at all ages. Young Indonesian actor Ali Fikry has been named festival ambassador as part of a push toward younger viewers.

“The Jakarta Provincial Government sees Jakarta Film Week as a strategic partner in realizing Jakarta as a cinema city. Through collaboration with the Jakarta Film Summit and Jakarta Film Commission, we hope to further open the capital’s film ecosystem to industry professionals and the wider public,” said Karno.

The Jakarta Provincial Government organizes the event with the Jakarta Film Commission, with backing from the Ministry of Culture’s Directorate General of Cultural Development, Utilization, and Promotion. International cultural partners include the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Cinecittà, the Japan Foundation, Erasmus Huis, Institut Français Indonesia and the Italian, Dutch, French and U.S. embassies. Country showcases include an Italian Screen strand featuring Pietro Marcello’s “Duse” and Silvio Soldini’s “The Tasters,” along with the Dutch-focused Bioscoop Belanda.

Ahead of the main event, the festival’s JFW360 outreach program has hosted quiz events, shorts programs at JITEX and a free streaming slate of 24 shorts on Vidio, available Sept. 20 through Oct. 20.

Screenings will be spread across CGV Grand Indonesia, Galeri Indonesia Kaya, Mercure Jakarta Cikini, Paviliun Raden Saleh Artotel, Taman Ismail Marzuki, CGV FX Sudirman and FX Sudirman.

The Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency set up Jakarta Film Week in 2021.

White House officials are defending U.S. President Donald Trump‘s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico, claiming that it does not violate the First Amendment.

A Tuesday court filing obtained by The New York Times alleges that the news outlets had breached standards of conduct, accusing them of “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information.”

“Access to the White House is a privilege — not a right,” the filing states, according to The New York Times. The documents also claim that the denial of access is a “preliminary matter” and the news organizations can contest the decision until Friday.

Trump announced the ban on Truth Social on Friday, writing that he was expelling the outlets from the White House “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS.” On Monday, CNN, MS Now and Politico released a joint statement saying that they planned to sue, alleging that the ban violated the First Amendment.

“This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” their statement said. “Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”

An emergency hearing will be held on Wednesday regarding the outlets’ request for a temporary court order reversing the ban. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, will preside. Kelly previously ruled against Trump in 2018 when he similarly expelled CNN reporter Jim Acosta, whose credentials were restored when Kelly determined that Trump had not given him sufficient notice.

Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico has sent shock waves through the media industry. In an unprecedented move, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and Fox News have all suspended pool coverage of the president in solidarity with CNN.

“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” the five networks said in a joint statement Monday. “No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”

Finnish director Miia Tervo didn’t have to look far for the inspiration for her third feature “You Crazy Thing,” about Aino, a mental health nurse who’s preparing a performance with her patients for a talent competition.

“My mother worked in a mental hospital for 37 years. We lived in a small village in Lapland, and there was only this hospital – and the forest. There was a joke that the only thing separating the nurses from the patients were the keys,” she told Variety.

“We live in a class-based society, and I could see that my mum wasn’t appreciated for her work. It felt like nobody could see her. But when people were in need, when they felt broken, she was there for them. That’s one of the main themes of the film. Do we actually see each other?”

Tervo added: “I wanted to give her this film because it’s crazy that they’re out there saving people while we walk red carpets. That’s why I give her all my awards, too.”

The upcoming film, which debuts its first-look stills, was produced by Marko Talli for Yellow Film & TV and co-produced by Paloma Production (Denmark) and Garagefilm International (Sweden).

Pihla Viitala, Adam Pålsson and Clara Dessau lead the cast that combines professional and amateur actors.

“I wanted to create a safe place where they could be themselves. The best thing about my work is that I can give them the space to shine,” she noted.

“[In the past] I didn’t have any dreams. I always thought I would die of alcoholism before turning 30 because that’s what happened to people in our village. But we weren’t victims, and my mother really enjoyed her work. She preferred being with the ‘crazy’ people because they didn’t play social games. They were free.”

While Tervo might be following her mother’s perspective – “She never believed in social hierarchies or norms” – hers is a fictional story. One that also sees Aino fall for one of her patients.

“I started thinking about how having or not having money, or having mental health problems in the family, affects identity. If identity is what we think about ourselves, then how does it affect love and loving? How does class affect how and who we love? Can you can suffer from feelings of worthlessness even if you are rich, and can you feel valuable even if you are poor?”

“At one point, I thought that just because I come from a poor family, I couldn’t love a rich person. That there’s a gap. It’s really about this triangle of class, identity and love,” said Tervo. And, again, about being seen.

“In this society, everyone wants to be seen. We think we need a special gift or talent, but with Aino, you can be seen in all your glory – whoever you are. You don’t need to be a magician or perform crazy stunts.”

Still, that doesn’t make Aino a saint.

“People who do this job have seen so much sorrow and life in all its forms. I thought: Aino actually wants to be crazy. It would liberate her, you know? When you help others, you can forget about yourself. You can escape your own issues and forget your own sadness.”

Tervo, also behind award-winning “Aurora” and “The Missile,” has always celebrated messiness in her work. Her characters misbehave and make mistakes, but she never punishes them for it.

“It’s always more interesting to see not the façade we put on but how we are in our secret lives,” she said.

“It’s not easy to talk about depression or mental health challenges, especially your own. But often, it’s precisely those vulnerable places that make people fall in love. It was always that part, the part where I’d forgotten to lock the door, that drew people in. For love to be real, you have to dare to be the mess that you actually are. Nobody wants to live with a perfect person. It’s boring.”

With “You Crazy Thing,” Tervo is no longer hiding – also when it comes to her personal struggles.

“I’m a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for many years now. I used to self-medicate my sadness and depression with alcohol. I drank because, for a while, it did what nothing else could. It put a wall between me and the reality I wanted to escape. That worked until it didn’t,” she recalled.

“Maybe this film is inviting me to dare to be seen, too. I don’t use social media, but I write about the themes of my life. One of biggest themes is wanting to live again. How do you find the will to live once you’ve lost it?”

Now, “with enough distance and therapy,” she can face all these things. Also in her films.

“Creating a dark yet warm dramedy out of painful incidents, emotions and experiences makes us wonder about the shame surrounding mental health challenges and the stigmas that come with them. Once you’ve come through something like that, you also want to feel this joie de vivre, as clichéd as it is,” she said.

“Depression can be a black sun. But, in a strange way, that black sun can also be an opportunity for change. Now, in the mornings, I sit and don’t ask for anything particular; I just give thanks.”

“For a girl who never learned how to dream, I’m now learning to appreciate this miraculous life that we have.”

Seattle’s Tasveer Film Festival & Market has unveiled its 21st edition lineup: 136 films from 16 countries screening Oct. 13-18, opening with Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’s “Lali,” a Berlinale Panorama title, in its West Coast premiere.

The films, spanning more than 25 languages, tell stories from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet and their diasporas. This year’s theme, “Bring Your Story Home,” runs through the selection. For the second year, the festival will take place at the Tasveer Film Center in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood.

The 2026 lineup leans into several trends, with women telling personal stories in their own voices, animation arriving with what Tasveer described as real force, and filmmakers increasingly favoring images over exposition. Four films follow athletes, teams and the families behind them, spanning cricket to gymnastics, and turn on class, gender and who gets to belong: the same questions Tasveer says it has put onscreen for more than two decades. The festival will also present 12 LGBTQ+ films from six countries, continuing a strand of programming Tasveer has run since 2002.

Highlighted titles include the centerpiece film “Mayilaa,” directed by Semmalar Annam, in its North American premiere; the documentary “Breaking the Code,” directed by Ben Rekhi, from Washington State; the animated feature “The Chair,” directed by Triparna Maiti, in its Washington State premiere; the closing night film, Nepal’s Oscar contender “Elephants in the Fog,” directed by Abinash Bikram Shah, in its North America premiere.

Aparna Purohit, CEO of Aamir Khan Productions, will serve as chief guest and jury head for the festival and market. The 21st edition includes 20 world premieres, four North American premieres and four U.S. premieres.

Several selections have ties to Washington state, including “Gaa Ghar” (“Home”), about two people tracing their relationship back to the day they met as a visa runs out; “The Turning Point,” which imagines civil war reaching Seattle in the near future, following a man and his niece as they try to escape a violent militia; “Three Sisters,” centered on a family meal; “Eka,” about a video-game artist starting his own studio; and “Riding Time,” shot across three summers in Bradford, following a rider in Britain’s Pakistani tent-pegging circuit.

“I have been programming this festival for 21 years, and I am still not over this lineup,” said festival director Rita Meher, co-founder and executive director of Tasveer. “136 films, 35 world and North America premieres, filmmakers coming in from 16 countries. The sports films, the queer stories, the animation, all of it arrived with a boldness that tells me something has shifted in South Asian cinema.”

The Tasveer Film Market runs Oct. 13-15 and is now in its third year, billed as North America’s first global market dedicated to South Asian film. This year’s edition folds in the Co-Production Market Selects program, pitch sessions through the Tasveer Film Fund, industry panels, fireside conversations and networking events. Four filmmakers selected for the Film Fund will each walk away with a $35,000 grant to develop their next project.

“We are welcoming filmmakers, industry leaders, and audiences from all over the world, whether they’re flying in from Mumbai or coming from just down Rainier Avenue,” Meher said. “Then the market sends four of these filmmakers home with funding to make the next one. The public is welcome to join us–come be part of it.”

Public funders backing the 21st edition include King County, the City of Seattle and the Port of Seattle, joined by AARP, 4 Culture, the Conru Foundation, the ACLU of Washington, Visit Seattle and Tampa Bay Wave. The festival’s awards are sponsored separately by the RAGS Foundation, founded by Sridhar Tayur and Gunjan Kedia.

For more than 20 years, the nonprofit Tasveer has worked to give South Asian storytellers a platform in film, art and other media. Its mission since 2002 has centered on stories about gender, sexuality, caste, class, religion and race that don’t always find space elsewhere. In 2025, the organization moved into exhibition, taking over Columbia City’s former Ark Lodge Cinemas and reopening it as the Tasveer Film Center, where films now run daily.

Dolly Parton‘s longtime manager has filed for a restraining order against her nephew, who until being fired a week ago was her head of security, alleging that the family member is engaged in a campaign of coercion, extortion and violent threats that has terrified employees and associates of her management company and trust to the point that they require their own personal security.

The manager, Danny Nozell, representing She’s Alive, LLC (SAL), dismissed Bryan Seaver, who runs Squadron Augmented Protection Services, LLC (SAPS), on Sept. 15, about three weeks after the country superstar’s Aug. 25 death. It was Seaver who announced his aunt’s death to the world in an Instagram video. But an extensive fiiing made by the trust to a Tennessee court late Tuesday afternoon paint a different portrait of Seaver than the reverent one seen in the death announcement video. The legal paperwork alleges that in colorful and sometimes disturbing language, Seaver referred to himself as a mercenary and “killer” and threatened to interfere with Parton’s businesses, including Dollywood, if he did not receive proper payment, in texts sent both before and after her death.

The filing refers to Seaver’s claims of a paramilitary background and says he has dozens of employees who possess military-grade weaponry, and that some employees no longer come to work as a result of the alleged intimidation, while a lawyer who ran some of Parton’s music affairs stopped working for her as a result of the nephew’s ominous language.

The filing from the attorneys for She’s Alive states: “Mr. Seaver began his campaign of threats, intimidation, and coercion a few weeks prior to Ms. Parton’s passing. Those threats continued after her passing, and he aimed them directly at SAL’s personnel, counsel, and business partners. In writing, he vowed to ‘destroy the entire brand,’ threatened to ‘ratfuck every [business party] entity’ that helps operate Dollywood and called himself ‘literally an international arms dealer and mercenary.’ He threatened that ‘[e]veryone needs to be worried about what I might do,”and told Ms. Parton’s entertainment attorney: ‘I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer.’ He also threatened to launch a podcast ‘dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships’ unless he was paid.”

Variety has reviewed all four parts of the request for a restraining order and subsequent jury trial, which are filled with lurid quotes and screenshots of angry text messages said to have been sent to Nozell by Seaver.

Seaver did not immediately respond to Variety‘s request for comment after the request for the restraining order went public. Seaver did issue a statement Tuesday to TMZ, which first reported on the restraining order, telling the outlet, “I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer. However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by… I was talking frankly in a private way with Danny who I thought was my friend and he fancies himself a gangster. A lot of these messages are two guys having rage talk and crying on the phone together while we were grieving.”

Seaver says in the alleged texts that he has been turning down media requests, even though “now I’m the biggest social media post in human history,” apparently referring to the death announcement video. Among the alleged text statements Seaver is said to have written to Nozell that are included in the legal paperwork:

“I’m going to destroy the entire brand if you don’t get these [Dollywood business partners] out of our bit. . . . I’m going to go to Billboard Magazine with my shit. Just like you. I’m going to ratfuck every [Dollywood business partner] entity I can possibly conjure.” (The parenthetical additions represent the lawyers’ explanations.)

And: “I’m not an entertainment person. I’m a killer. I sold 27 million $ worth of ammunition and arms to the Haitian Police on day Dolly died. Entertainment is not my game. I have spent my career breaking things and spying on African and Arab leaders. And protecting Dolly.”

In another text, Seaver is seen as allegedly saying: “All I do is warfare . . . Everyone needs to be worried about what I might do . . . “

“I am vengeance for my people for the next 50 years. I have no debt. I only own swords and guns. My children have 3 houses to live in forever. My wife owns everything. All I have is animosity and memory. But I’m going to spend the next times I have on earth ratfucking anyone that has ever betrayed my family.”

“I’m going to set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us. It’s going to be great. Or fucking pay me.”

“Her money better be bigger than I can make elsewhere or I’m going to fuck everyone,”

SAL’s request for the restraining order says Seaver’s alleged threats “have already produced the harm they were designed to cause. Ms. Parton’s trusts and estates attorney withdrew after Mr. Seaver targeted her. SAL personnel have resigned; others no longer report to the office because they fear Mr. Seaver and his armed associates. SAL and its related vendors have been forced to retain private security for its personnel —including at their homes. Ordinary operations have given way to an atmosphere of fear.”

“SAL therefore seeks immediate, narrowly tailored relief pending a full hearing on a temporary injunction,” it continues. “Every day without relief gives Mr. Seaver another opportunity to frighten away a trusted employee, counsel, licensee, brand partner, or other essential counterparty. The campaign is ongoing, its consequences are mounting, and SAL should not be required to wait for the next resignation— or the next threat — to obtain protection.”

The documents note that Seaver had worked for his aunt in running her security for about 20 years.

“Mr. Seaver leveraged his family connection and two decades of funding through Ms. Parton as her security provider to increase the size of his personal militia,” the filing says. “Through his security role, Mr. Seaver had virtually unfettered access to the people, routines, vulnerabilities, and commercial affairs surrounding Ms. Parton’s enterprise. He has used his family connections, his access, and that knowledge to target the particular people and institutions SAL most needs… The written record shows a deliberate progression — from threats against a cornerstone brand relationship, to boasts about arms dealing and warfare, to direct intimidation of counsel, and finally to an express pay-me-or-else threat against Ms. Parton’s brand partnerships.”

Specifically, the action alleges, “SAL has lost specialized legal counsel. Ms. Parton’s trusts and estates lawyer withdrew because of Seaver’s threats.” it asks the judge to provide quick action because “the ongoing safety crisis is inherently irreparable. SAL has retained private security not only for the workplace, but for personnel at their homes.” Furthermore, the estate’s lawyers contend, “the threats are escalating rather than abating. In less than three weeks, Seaver progressed from threatening the Dollywood business partner and the brand, to invoking arms dealing and warfare, to announcing long-term vengeance, to driving away counsel, to telling another attorney he was ‘a killer.’”

Seaver is the son of Parton’s sister, Cassie Parton.

The hundreds of millions of dollars Parton left behind were bound to be the source of family disputes, although few could have predicted an escalation this fast and fiery.

There is positive news ahead for Parton’s millions of fans, as her years-in-the-planning museum is set to open in Nashville in early October, and an adjacent hotel bearing her name has already had a soft launch. Later in the year, the stage musical she oversaw dramatizing her life story will open on Broadway.