Tag: Entertainment – Variety

“The Little Prince” is getting a new big-screen treatment with “The Imitation Game” director Morten Tyldum set to helm an ambitious live-action feature inspired by the life of French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of “Slumdog Millionaire,” is writing the script for the film which is being developed with Le Petit Prince Groupe, guardian of the Saint-Exupéry estate.

The big-scale family adventure project hails from Aton Soumache, the well-known French producer behind Mark Osborne’s 2015 animated feature “The Little Prince.” The latter world premiered at Cannes and grossed close to $100 million worldwide, as well as won the César for best animated film and the BAFTA Children’s Award for best feature film.

This new project will pull elements from French comic book artist and filmmaker Joann Sfar’s acclaimed graphic adaptation of “The Little Prince,” portraying the bond between the Little Prince and the Aviator.

The film will blend Saint-Exupéry’s real-life story as a pioneering aviator and writer with the fantastical world of “The Little Prince.” Saint-Exupéry’s story will unfold in live action, while the Little Prince will be created using visual effects.

“I see it as a very cinematic and epic story, one that gives us a wonderful opportunity to ask big questions,” Tyldum said. “This is a story about love, grief and loss. It’s about hope, following your heart’s desire and seeing life as a big adventure.”

First published in 1943, “The Little Prince” has sold more than 200 million copies worldwide and has been translated into some 600 languages and dialects.

Beaufoy, whose credits also include “The Full Monty” and “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” described adapting the book as both daunting and exhilarating.

“‘The Little Prince’ is the most extraordinary text because it never goes out of fashion. It talks to the child in every human being,” Beaufoy said. “Everybody relates to that small child, who is the voice of truth that you sometimes don’t even want to hear.” He added that turning such a revered work into a broader cinematic canvas was “a thrilling responsibility.”

Sfar, who worked with the Saint-Exupéry family on his graphic adaptation roughly 15 years ago, said the new film grew out of that longstanding relationship.

“I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the Saint Exupéry family, alongside whom I created ‘The Little Prince’ comic book 15 years ago, to develop the concept of this unique film,” Sfar said. “With Simon Beaufoy writing it and Morten Tyldum directing it, I couldn’t have dreamed of a better team to bring this wonderful universe to life.”

Soumache, who is producing the film with Paul Trijbits via their company Magical Society, said, “This film is not simply an adaptation, but a celebration of ‘The Little Prince,’ of its timeless story and its enduring spirit.” “Combining ‘The Little Prince,’ which has touched people young and old, with the adventurous, genius, passionate explorer and pilot Saint Exupéry is a magical mix,” he continued.

Trijbits, who runs Magical Society’s London office, previously executive produced Netflix family series “The Letter for the King” and Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks,” along with films including Paul Greengrass’ “Bloody Sunday,” Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank” and Cary Fukunaga’s “Jane Eyre.”

Sophie Kopaczynski, CEO of Le Petit Prince Groupe, said the aim was to honor Saint-Exupéry’s legacy while creating a film with broad international appeal.

“Through his extraordinary life and writings, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry gave us a deeply humanist vision of the world that continues to resonate across generations and cultures,” said Kopaczynski, who previously held a senior position at Studiocanal and worked on several family entertainment franchises. “Our ambition is to honor his remarkable legacy through a spectacular cinematic adventure infused with the poetry and magic of ‘The Little Prince.’”

Penn Badgley infamously swore off sex scenes before the production of “You” Season 4, revealing on a viral episode of his “Podcrushed” podcast in Feb. 2013 that he told showrunner Sera Gamble he was no longer interested in filming intimate scenes on camera. The actor then told Variety later that same month that “it’s important to me in my real life to not have” sex scenes, clarifying: “My fidelity in my relationship. It’s important to me.”

Cut to more than three years later and Badgley’s wife, Domino Kirke-Badgley, is speaking out after spending all this time being accused online of blocking her husband from doing sex scenes. When Badgley cited his marriage as a reason he did not want to act in sex scenes anymore, social media was quick to come for Kirke-Badgley, even though Penn had cited her as the reason he even accepted the lusty lead role in “You” in the first place.

“A few years ago, the internet decided I’d asked my husband to stop doing sex scenes. The truth is, my husband decided to do this for mental health reasons,” Kirke-Badgley wrote on Instagram. “After working in the industry since he was just 12 years old, believe me, it was time. In the entertainment world, they call actors ‘puppets’ behind their backs, and it’s even more disturbing when they start out as child actors… after years of trying, Penn decided to take a stand and let the world see him. And guess what, he hasn’t lost fans and he’s still getting hired!”

“The characters that my husband has played over the years, people have come to expect that he will continue to play that guy,” she added in the video post. “I was super happy for him and very proud of him because I understood how major it was, and yeah … it’s just relational hygiene.”

Badgley has been married since 2017 to Kirke-Badgley, who “encouraged” him to play Joe on “You” even though the part required him to film various sex scenes.

“There’s almost nothing I could say with more consecration. That aspect of Hollywood has always been very disturbing to me — and that aspect of the job, that mercurial boundary — has always been something that I actually don’t want to play with at all,” Badgely told Variety in 2023. “I told [Sara Gamble before Season 4] kind of my desire, and she immediately was accepting and responsive. I’m always very practical. I said I know it can’t be none, because there’s something coded into the DNA of the show, and I signed the contract, and so it is what it is but as little as possible would be my preference.”

There were fewer sex scenes in “You” Season 4, and all of them were performed fully clothed as a result of Badgley speaking up. The actor’s initial comments earned a polarizing response online, with his detractors criticizing him for equating sex scenes with real sex. Many of Badgley’s critics pointed out that intimacy coordinators are now a staple in Hollywood so that sex scenes remain safe during filming. He later told GQ magazine that his comments got “blown out of proportion.”

“What I was speaking about wasn’t actually the final product,” Badgley said. “It was sort of like the culture inherent to the production of all movies, but particularly those scenes. It’s like, look, we know that Hollywood has had a history of flagrant exploitation and abuse.”

Badgley said he was “nervous to even have that conversation” with “You” showrunner Sera Gamble, adding, “It was not easy. It was easy because of Sera’s response, and I felt relieved. But technically speaking, if I thought I’d had the ability to set that boundary earlier, I would have. We shall see if setting that boundary, of course, has any ramifications. Just simply, it does limit the number of projects you can be a part of.”

Next up for Badgley is the romantic comedy “You Deserve Each Other,” co-starring Meghann Fahy.

Variety and Outfront today announced the first-ever Variety Experience and Culture Summit: The IRL Advantage presented by Outfront, taking place Oct. 7 in New York at The Penn District by Skylight. The invite-only event will bring together artists, brand CMOs, sports leaders and media executives for candid conversations on how live, real-world experiences build fandom, fuel creativity and move audiences to act, with appearances by Questlove, Charlamagne tha God and Ice-T.

As attention fragments across endless feeds and screens, the moments people choose to show up for in person have become some of the most valuable in media. Brands, sports organizations and entertainment companies are looking beyond the screen to reach audiences where they gather — at games, concerts, festivals and premieres, and on the streets of the cities they live in. The summit will explore what that shift means for marketers and how to put it to work.

“Partnering with Outfront on this first-ever summit reflects exactly the conversation the industry needs to be having right now,” said Michelle Fine-Smith, SVP, Global B2B Partnerships, Variety. “The leaders joining us, from CMOs rethinking brand experience to entertainers and sports icons building lifelong fandom, will explore why the IRL advantage, real-world connection, has become something that can’t be automated. There’s no better place to have that conversation than New York, a city that just celebrated a historic Knicks championship.”

“There’s a lot of talk about what in real-life (IRL) media means, but there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for breaking through to the audiences that matter most,” said Julie Massoni, Head of Enterprise Sales, West Coast, Outfront. “For an entertainment industry changing this quickly, IRL media is how you meet that disruption head-on — whether you’re driving attention to a series, a theatrical release, a concert, a festival or a sporting event, or you’re a brand trying to reach fans through them. This summit is about real examples of real-world campaigns that delivered real results.”

Programming highlights include:

The Variety Experience and Culture Summit: The IRL Advantage presented by Outfront is invite-only. To request an invitation, visit variety.com/outfrontexperience.

With Comcast-owned Sky’s $2.1 billion acquisition of ITV currently winding its way through the regulatory process in the U.K., both parties are limited in how much they can say. Yet Sky’s content chief Cecile Frot-Coutaz and ITV CEO Carolyn McCall, both speaking in separate keynote speeches at the Royal Television Society convention in London, managed to say quite a lot about what the deal means for the U.K.

Read on for their comments on key aspects of the deal including content and news…

How the deal happened…

Frot-Cotaz and McCall both acknowledged the television landscape has shifted immeasurably over the past decade. McCall said the Sky/ITV acquisition “wouldn’t have gone through” even six years ago, with the Competition and Markets Authority taking a much more bullish approach to consolidation in the past.

“The transaction is very much a response to what’s happened in the marketplace,” Frot-Cotaz said. But she added, Sky are not just acquiring ITV to create a “robust” media company: “we think there’s a lot of opportunity in it as well.”

Five years ago there was 200,000 hours of streaming content available to audiences – that has now more than doubled to 900,000, a figure that doesn’t include YouTube, said the ITV boss. “That’s what we’re up against.”

Content is still king…

Both Frot-Coutaz and McCall said Sky was committed to ITV content, not least because the deal terms include a content supply agreement with ITV Studios.

“One of the most important things to Sky was our content,” McCall said in an attempt to allay fears amongst indie produces that cost savings will result in less money going into content. “There’ll be more content because the sum of the two.”

In her keynote Frot-Coutaz agreed: “The goal ultimately is to maintain the scale of the content offering.”

Investment in tech…

“The competition is ferocious,” McCall said. “It’s not just [being] bigger; it’s also the investment. So you have to invest in technology. You’ve got to continue to invest in AI. You’ve got to continue to invest in efficiency, and most importantly, you’ve got to have to enough money to constantly invest in content, because content is where it’s at. That’s what makes you all your money.”

Frot-Coutaz echoed that. “Content is super important, but you also need the technology that goes with it.”

But technology costs money and for money you need scale. Hence the deal.

Commitment to news…

A key concern around the acquisition is whether Sky will seek to consolidate its newsroom with ITV’s. While ITV’s public service broadcasting commitments — which includes nations, regional and national news — are protected until 2034, there is a large question mark over what will happen after that day.

McCall said that ITN, which makes ITV’s news (it operates under a shared-ownership scheme comprised of four stakeholders, one of which is ITV) is a “strong news organization” so asked “why would you duplicate?”

Frot-Coutaz maintained that Sky has made a “very public commitment to maintain Sky News and to maintain ITN news” but refused to say whether that commitment would extend past 2034, when ITV’s public service broadcast license expires.

Whether that will allay fears remains to be seen. Watch this space.

Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen are set to star as father and son in the comedy series “Happy Jack” at AMC and AMC+, Variety has learned.

The multi-cam comedy will start production on a six-episode first season in Los Angeles early next year for a 2027 launch on AMC. It will be shot in front of a live studio audience at Warner Bros. Studios in the same studio where “Friends” was filmed. AMC Global Media will be showcasing the series for international buyers at MIPCOM in October.

The logline for the show states:

“Charlie Sheen plays Jack, a bit of a lifelong ne’er-do-well. He’s got two great daughters (though his Dad, played by Martin Sheen, deserves more credit for how they turned out). Kate runs Jack’s company and keeps him on the rails while Sam is a wild child who is more like her Dad. When Sam comes home to introduce everyone to her new boyfriend, Jack’s shocked to learn Paul, a former investment banker turned van life guru, is the same age as he is. Shocked at first (hypocrisy be damned), Jack soon realizes he’s got a choice to make. Will he keep looking out for number one, or embrace this last chance to be a real part of his daughters’ lives?”

Jim Patterson and Matt Ross serve as writers, executive producers, and co-showrunners. Charlie is an executive producer in addition to starring. Todd Christopher, Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum and Jason Wang of The Tannenbaum Company, and 20th Television also executive produce. AMC Studios produces.

“What a thrill to welcome Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen to AMC and AMC+, playing a father and son in this original family comedy, ‘Happy Jack,’” said Dan McDermott, chief content officer of AMC Global Media and president of AMC Studios. “I worked with Charlie years ago on ‘Spin City’ and he is a singular talent who has owned the screen in some of the most unforgettable films and television series ever made. We love this show from a great creative team, led by Jim Patterson and Matt Ross, and the Tannenbaums. This is definitely something new for AMC, and we can’t wait to bring it to viewers next year.”

“Happy Jack” is the latest collaboration between Charlie and Martin. Martin earned one of his Emmy nominations for guest starring on “Two and a Half Men,” while he played the father to Charlie’s character in “Anger Management.” The two also played father and son in “Wall Street” and “No Code of Coduct,” and have appeared together in films like “Cadence” (which Martin also directed), “Free Money,” and “Hot Shots Part Deux” in perhaps the greatest cameo appearance of all time by Martin.

“I’ve always heard the moments that truly matter happen when they’re supposed to,” Charie said. “The good folks at AMC have played a huge hand in deciding that moment is now. It’s no secret that it’s been a minute, and I’m thrilled to be going back on television in such a meaningful way in an equally wonderful show. The crew has reassembled – suffice it to say, it’s time to give the people what they want.”

Charlie starred in “Two and a Half Men” for eight seasons, earning four Emmy nominations for his work on the show. Following his very public departure from that series, he went on to star in the multi-cam “Anger Management.” Sheen previously starred in “Spin City,” taking over the lead role in the show from Michael J. Fox. Most recently, he appeared in the HBO Max series “Bookie,” which reunited him with “Two and a Half Men” co-creator Chuck Lorre. In film, Charlie is known for his roles in “Wall Street,” “Platoon,” the “Hot Shots” films, and “Major League.”

Martin Sheen is one of the most celebrated actors of modern times. He is a ten-time Emmy nominee, including six nods for his starring role in Aaron Sorkin’s “The West Wing.” He won an Emmy for guest starring in “Murphy Brown” in 1994. He is primarily known for his roles in films, which include critically-acclaimed features like “Apocalypse Now,” “Gandhi,” “Gettysburg,” “The American President,” and “The Departed.”

Patterson previously worked with Sheen on “Two and a Half Men,” with Patterson rising to the rank of showrunner on the popular CBS series after Charlie’s departure. Ross was also a writer and producer on the show in the post-Charlie years. The duo also previously collaborated on the Netflix multi-cam comedy “The Ranch.”

Charlie is repped by WME and Goodman Genow. Martin is repped by Paradigm. Patterson is repped by UTA and Hansen Jacobson. Ross is repped by UTA and TFC.

Jia Zhangke‘s Unknown Pleasures Pictures has acquired China rights to Apichatpong Weerasethakul‘s “Jenjira’s Magnificent Dream,” co-founder Tian Qi has confirmed to Variety.

The Chinese art-house distributor is also negotiating to acquire two titles from this year’s Cannes Film Festival. In June, it added Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur” and Marine Atlan’s “La Gradiva,” and in January it took Greater China rights to Rafael Manuel’s Sundance title “Filipiñana,” which Jia executive produced and which had its Asian premiere at Pingyao this week.

Named after Jia’s 2002 feature, Unknown Pleasures is run by Jia and distributor Tian, who also founded Hero Films, the distributor of Gu You’s Busan title “The First Taste of Loneliness.” The label focuses on niche international art films, and alongside festival titles, it looks for hidden gems that lack strong international sales backing.

Before the label launched, Tian’s previous company released Weerasethakul’s “Memoria” in China, where it grossed $360,000, a third of the film’s total box office. Jia and Tian say that early success gave them confidence.

Unknown Pleasures launched in 2025, with Italian director Paola Cortellesi’s “There’s Still Tomorrow,” one of Italy’s biggest box office hits of 2023. Acquired in 2024, the film screened at the Pingyao International Film Festival and opened in Chinese cinemas on March 8 for International Women’s Day. It grossed $6 million on the back of strong reviews.

Later that year, the company picked up four Cannes titles: Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent,” Fukada Koji’s “Love on Trial” and the restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s “The Gold Rush.”

“The founding ethos was that the world is full of wondrous movies, and among the 1.4 billion Chinese population, these films are bound to find their audience,” Tian says. He adds that not every acquisition has to turn a profit. “Once we acquire a title, we definitely aim to release it with the fastest speed.”

Jia says he and Tian agree on keeping the company’s finances stable, but the main mission remains “to distribute films we truly like. If we stand purely from a business point, we wouldn’t start this business anyways.”

He wants the company to help grow China’s art-film market.

“We operate with a long-term library strategy: these titles should remain evergreen in the coming years. By building our own catalog and taking a long-term financial view, we keep the revenue sustainable,” Jia says.

For Jia, movies “that are genuinely interesting, deserve to be shared, and people might easily pass over – those are the ones that really need to be seen in a cinema.”

“We can’t help but sigh over some films that were released online – they actually belong to cinema,” he says.

Ken Jeong, Randall Park and Daniel Dae Kim lead the star-studded cast of Audible’s new comedy series “The Moons of LA” — featuring a meta twist involving a kid who’s obsessed with true-crime podcasts and uses her investigative skills to save her parents’ marriage.

“The Moons of LA” premieres Oct. 8 exclusively at Audible. The comedy audio series is co-produced by Kim’s 3AD production company, marking the latest collaboration under his first-look deal with Audible. It comes after 2024’s “Yellow Face,” Kim’s Audible Original adaptation of David Henry Hwang’s play of the same name that transferred to Broadway with Kim in the lead role.

“The Moons of LA” also stars Jae Suh Park and Alyssa Abiera, alongside a predominantly AAPI cast including Jimmy O. Yang, John Cho, Sherry Cola, Vivian Bang, Sydney Park and Liza Soberano.

The coming-of-age comedy follows Chloe Moon (played by Abiera), a precocious middle schooler obsessed with true-crime podcasts who dreams of becoming an investigative journalist. When she discovers her parents’ marriage is on the rocks, Chloe does what any aspiring detective would do: She launches an investigation. Armed with a microphone and relentless curiosity, she interviews family and friends — from gregarious halmeonis over plates of banchan to her father’s boisterous golf buddies — determined to solve the mystery of her parents’ relationship and save her family.

Written by Paul Bae (“The Black Tapes”) and directed by James Kim (“Moonface”), “The Moons of LA” is executive produced by Kim, Jeong, John Cheng, Will Malnati and Ashley Taylor. The series is co-produced by Audible, 3AD and At Will Media.

“I’m excited to continue our partnership with Audible on Paul Bae’s wonderful ‘The Moons of LA,’” Kim said in a statement provided to Variety. “We’ve been lucky enough to bring together a stellar cast to tell a story that is both unique to Korean American identity and universal in its exploration of the definition of personal success. I’m grateful to 3AD, our entire creative team and Audible for bringing it to life.”

Jeong commented: “I’m so grateful to be part of ‘The Moons of LA.’ I’m very thankful to my friend Daniel, our amazing writer Paul Bae and the incredible cast and team who brought this project to life. I’m honored to be involved, and I’m excited for people to hear it.”

Watch interviews with Jeong, Park and Yang about “The Moons of LA” and behind-the-scenes clips of them recording a scene from the show:

Chile’s 22nd Santiago Film Festival (Sanfic) features nine pics in its Chile Film Competition this year vying for cash prizes in the best film, director and actor categories. Among them, four are debut features, including “Erratics” by Thomas Woodroffe, which competed at the San Sebastian Festival’s New Directors sidebar.

The lineup also features ‘Monguen,’ the swan song of docu filmmaker Antonio Caro, who died unexpectedly a few weeks ago. “We present his film with special affection, as a way of honoring his work and keeping his perspective present within this selection,” said Sanfic artistic director, Carlos Núñez.

“This competition reflects a particularly diverse moment in Chilean cinema, with films that engage with our present through very different languages, territories and generations. There are works that cross between fiction and documentary, new voices alongside filmmakers with established careers, and a strong presence of perspectives emerging outside traditional centers of production,” he pointed out.

“We want Sanfic to be precisely that kind of space: a place where Chilean cinema can connect with its audiences while, at the same time, reaching an international stage.”

Chile’s film industry has never been more robust, with the 2026-2027 industry catalog reporting a 20.5% surge compared to the last season. The catalog was unveiled at the San Sebastián Festival where eight Chilean titles screened across seven sections.

However, the industry is bracing for some belt tightening – and will most likely resort to even more co-productions starting next year – given the upcoming cuts announced by the administration of new President Jose Antonio Kast, who took office in March. Cuts to the Ministry of Culture and various competitive funds for the Arts are forthcoming although the ministry downplayed the cutback, stressing that it would be an overall decrease of 9% next year. However, the Audiovisual Investment Support Fund drops from approximately $586,000 (540 million pesos) in 2026 to $208,000 (192 million pesos) in 2027—a 64% reduction.

Speaking to Variety when the news first broke, Alejandra Garcia of Ronda Cine, producer of “The Meltdown,” Chile’s Oscars submission, said: “The recent budget cuts to culture in Chile are deeply frustrating. It’s difficult to understand why a country’s support for culture is still seen as an expense to be reduced, rather than an investment that should be strengthened.”

The other nine sections of the festival will be announced on Oct. 20.

Sanfic runs Nov. 2 – 6 in Santiago de Chile.

Chilean Pics in Competition:

“Animals” (Andrés Waissbluth Weinstein, Retaguardia Films, Avispa Cine, Frutacina, Chile, Argentina)

In a near future where animals have civil rights, three privileged couples see their lives disrupted by an eerily human quadruped: a sheep running for office, a dog that can sniff out lies and a jealous cat. Produced by Felipe Azúa and Iván Eibuszyc, the Chilean-Argentine Sanfic world premiere was developed through Santiago Lab, BrLab and Guadalajara’s Co-production Meeting, with support from CORFO, Ibermedia and Buenos Aires’ Mecenazgo program.

“Beat” (“Latir,” Patricio Loutit Azócar, Suroeste Films, Reinos Cine, Chile)

Loutit Azócar’s feature debut follows Manuel, a retired university professor who joins a body-percussion workshop during Chile’s 2022 constitutional plebiscite. The experience transforms his life as he confronts his wife’s terminal illness. World premiering at Sanfic, it was produced by Manuel González Llanos and Daniel Rebolledo. The Chilean production received support from the Audiovisual Development Fund in 2024 and participated in Industria FIC Viña’s 2024 business meetings.

“Black Corp,” (“Cuadro Negro,”Carolina Adriazola and José Luis Sepúlveda, Iglo Cine Chile)

Adriazola and Sepúlveda’s film follows Sofía, a young journalist documenting the Chilean army who returns to live with her grandmother after a breakup. She meets María, whose view of the military legacy contrasts with her grandmother’s. Produced by Sofía Paloma Gómez, José Luis Sepúlveda and Carolina Adriazola, the film premiered at Punto de Vista, winning the Grand Prize for Best Film and Youth Jury Award for Best Film. It marks its Latin American premiere.

“Death Brought You Back” (“La muerte te vio volver,” Sebastián Cuevas Barria, Praxia Producciones, Mala Films, Chile; Vert & Bleu Productions, France)

Cuevas Barria’s debut follows Silvia, returning to Chiloé after 30 years to claim her dying mother’s inheritance and confront a disturbing family past. Produced by Catalina Alarcón Reyes, it received support from Chile’s Audiovisual Fund and was developed through Sanfic Lab, CCC and the Lebu Film Festival Lab. Selected for Sanfic’s 2024 Ibero-American WIP, it won the Films en Cours Award at Entrevues Belfort and FECILS’ Sound Award. Participated in Ventana Sur in Montevideo.

“Erratics” (“Bloques Erráticos,” Thomas Woodroffe, La Belle Affaire Productions, Un Puma, Chile, France, Argentina)

Woodroffe’s debut follows filmmaker Lucien Castelnau’s ghost, played by France’s Denis Lavant (“Holy Motors”), released from a glacier after a century into a futuristic Patagonia where technological progress collides with forgotten histories. A Rotterdam CineMart winner produced by Rodrigo Díaz, Pascual Mena and Jérôme Blesson, the Chilean-French-Argentine co-production was developed through La Fabrique Cinéma, TorinoFilmLab, CineMart Darkroom and Sanfic Lab. Selected for San Sebastián’s New Directors, it received Eurimages’ New Lab Outreach Award and support from Chile’s Audiovisual Fund and TorinoFilmLab’s Co-production Fund.

“Floating Population” (“Población Flotante,” Carlos Araya Díaz, Maria una vez, Chile)

Araya Díaz’s docu-fiction hybrid follows a filmmaker reconnecting with a childhood friend through an actor’s voice, revisiting his final days as a bus worker. World premiered at Czech Republic’s Ji.hlava Fest and marking its Latin American premiere at Sanfic, the film was produced by María Paz González and developed through Encuentros Australes at FIC Valdivia, where it won Best Chilean Film of the Future (First Cut) in 2023, plus WIP selections at FIC Viña del Mar.

“Inner Rebellion” (“Rebelión Interior,” Sofía Paloma Gómez Vergara, La Jauría Comunicaciones, Chile)

Gómez Vergara’s documentary revisits Chile’s social uprising through a health brigade treating protesters injured by police repression, connecting present violence with dictatorship-era wounds. World premiering at Sanfic, it was produced by Catalina Alarcón Reyes and developed through FIC Valdivia’s Cine Chileno del Futuro, where it won Best Chilean Film of the Future (Post-production) and the Sonamos Award. It also participated in WIP FicViña, DocsMX and Fidba’s LINK-WIP and received national post-production funding in 2025.

“Monguen” (“Life,” Antonio Caro, Lemuntu Producciones, Totem Producciones, Chile)

The late Caro’s documentary feature follows Fresia, a young Mapuche woman from Alto Biobío who must leave her community to give birth in the city, navigating motherhood between two worlds. World premiering at Sanfic, the film is produced by Michel Toledo and was developed through Conecta CCDoc, Residencia Arca, Nuevas Miradas EICTV, Hot Docs Forum, Cannes Docs at Marché du Film and Encuentros Australes Fic Valdivia.

“The Tiger of the East” (“El Tigre del Este,” Jorge Acevedo, Yareta Films, Queltehue Films, Chile; Estudio Churubusco, Mexico)

Acevedo’s debut pic follows Andrés, a young Chilean muleteer and self-taught musician who leaves his hometown to pursue his dream of becoming a professional musician in Mexico. His wish to gift an original song to Los Tigres del Norte inspires the journey. Produced by Mixie Araya Soler, the Chilean-Mexican co-production premiered at Shanghai Film Festival. Developed since 2018, the project has participated in international labs and markets including Cannes Docs, DocsMX and FiDocs.

Ever since its premiere at Sundance, “Wicker” has been generating headlines. Mostly thanks to its erotic scenes featuring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård as her custom-woven lover, with both characters putting an enthusiastic spin on Taylor Swift’s “Wood.”

The film’s raunchiness might have surprised some unsuspecting viewers at Zurich Film Festival. But Colman adored the script.

“I’ve never read anything like it before. It’s in my top three scripts that I’ve loved and I’ve done,” she said at the fest, where it celebrated its European premiere.

“It’s beautiful, funny and original. And yes, the only way you can sell it is by having a picture of Alex as a very sexy basket.”

In “Wicker,” Colman plays a medieval fisherwoman who’s constantly ostracized – until she marries a wicker husband (Skarsgård), created by the basket weaver (Peter Dinklage).

It’s directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, and adapted from “The Wicker Husband” by Ursula Wills-Jones.

While no stranger to risqué films thanks to “Pillion,” Skarsgård – better known for darker roles – had to embrace his softer side for a change.

“To be honest, I found it terrifying. I feel way more comfortable playing dark, twisted, demented characters,” he said.

“This was a departure and yeah, I was confused in the beginning about how to approach this. He’s so sweet, so tender and caring, and all those things that I can’t relate to personally.”

The famed Wētā Workshop created his woven body.

“It was extraordinary. It really was,” he said, recalling seeing it for the first time.

“Wētā is behind ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and that whole universe. They wanted practical [effects], which was really exciting. This was not going to be a CGI version.”

He added: “I’ll never forget the first time I saw the wicker husband at the workshop in Budapest, and looked at that version of myself. We’d done a bunch of tests and scans, but I was shooting something else and they were obviously in New Zealand. Then they built it. Stepping into it was also a way of finding the character because it defined his physicality and who he was.”

Learning how to move was tricky, though.

“It was glued to my face! It was crucial that [the mask] would move with my facial movements so that it wouldn’t be completely flattened, but that meant I had to exaggerate them. Al and Elle, our directors, kept saying that normal movements wouldn’t really register. At first, that felt a little strange, like you really had to overact. Luckily, we had a few days to perfect that.”

Obviously, Colman has never acted alongside a similar costar.

“I’ve never done it before, but we’re in that magical world where we’re just talking to each other. We got on very well, and giggled a lot. It was lovely to play those two people. Well, one person and a basket.”

Despite its twisted premise, “Wicker” – whose humor echoes the madness of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” – also takes a look at the institution of marriage and gender roles.

“None of the women [in the film] have their own names, except for the fisherwoman, and she’s shunned and ostracized for being sort of ugly and smelly, and unmarriable. But she shows them,” noted Colman.

“I like the fact that they are the only equals here. They support each other, listen to each other, take care of each other. It was really about these two humans – or, again, a basket – and two souls being kind to each other. We have no same sex marriages in this story, which I just realized and that’s a shame, but they’re kind to each other and that was the important relationship in the film.”

Skarsgård added: “It commented on the patriarchy of our time and on the construct of marriage, but it was done with so much humor. And in a way that didn’t feel preachy or too on the nose.”

“It was so tender, sweet, funny and irreverent, and with a subtlety to it. That’s what really spoke to me.”

After all, it’s all about a girl, standing in front of a boy – or a basket – asking him to love her.