Tag: Entertainment – Variety

More than 170 Jewish figures from the entertainment industry and beyond have signed a letter in support of Mark Ruffalo over what it asserts is a “smear campaign” against the actor.

Among those supporting the letter — which claims that Ruffalo has been the subject of “spurious charges of antisemitism” — are Joel Coen, Todd Hayes, Ilana Glazer, Hannah Einbinder, James Schamus, Emma Seligman, Tony Kushner, Jane Schoenbrun and Wallace Shawn.

The letter comes following a heated week in which Ruffalo has been at the center of a growing confrontation regarding the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. In a social media post on Aug. 21, the Marvel star attacked the deal over its potential consequences for Hollywood, but also accused the Ellison family of being complicit in the “genocide” against Palestinians, which he said “was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle.” In the post, he highlighted Oracle’s ties to the Israeli military.

In response, a Paramount spokesperson accused Ruffalo of invoking “antisemitic tropes” in “purported service of a business dispute.” Others also joined the debate, with both The Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Creative Community for Peace condemning Ruffalo’s comments, while an industry group including Haim Saban, Teddy Schwarzman and Lawrence Bender wrote that it was “unacceptable to introduce Jews, antizionism, or antisemitism into conversations about business transactions, simply because those involved are Jewish.”

Ruffalo hit back, claiming that Paramount’s accusation that he was antisemitic was “appalling and fundamentally dishonest” adding: “Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people.” Others came to his defense too, with Einbinder — who is Jewish and has been outspoken in her support for Palestinian rights — thanking Ruffalo for drawing a “connection between the Ellisons providing military technology to Israel during a genocide and their unprecedented media takeover.” On Tuesday, Oscar-winning filmmaker and playwright Kenneth Lonergan shared a letter in support of Ruffalo in which he said the “notion that he is antisemitic is overtly preposterous, and the accusation itself a cynical and disgusting lie.”

The new letter signed by Jewish figures and published on Tuesday echoes the defense of Ruffalo, arguing against what it says are “false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism.” But it also highlights the same links made by Ruffalo about the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger and the Ellison family’s connections with Israel.

“Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism,” it claims. “It is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty.”

Alongside signing the letter, Glazer offered a further statement.

“Calling Mark Ruffalo antisemitic because he is questioning a massive corporate merger is not only absurd— it’s a dangerous way to shut down legitimate criticism,” she said. “Mark has consistently spoken out against antisemitism while also standing up for Palestinian rights and dignity for all people. It’s an American’s right to debate media consolidation and the dangers of monopolized corporate power without weaponizing antisemitism to bully people into silence.”

See the full letter (also posted online here with notes) and list of signatories below.

We are Jewish artists, writers, creative professionals, faith leaders and thinkers who have, in response to the outrageous smear campaign against our respected colleague Mark Ruffalo, a simple message to share with the world: Enough! Enough with the false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism against those who are brave enough to point out the obvious: that the assault on the Palestinian people and the assault on our liberties at home are deeply interconnected, and there is nothing antisemitic about recognizing that fact.

The proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery is no mere combination of two huge multinational companies. Yes, it will destroy thousands upon thousands of livelihoods. Yes, it will further consolidate the oligarchic control of our media (witness the gutting of CBS News). Yes, it will strangle competition and creativity in film and television production and distribution.

But it will do all this and more as part of a larger project of tech-driven domination, a project Larry Ellison and his partners have never been shy about trumpeting — and one they themselves have explicitly linked to their support for the ongoing depredations being visited on the people of Palestine and their silencing of critics of those horrors. We all saw this after their Trump-brokered takeover of TikTok — a takeover they openly proclaimed was in large part motivated by their desire to boost pro-Israel propaganda. Larry Ellison personally, with his astonishing purported $350 million in funding and pledges to the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, has been Blair’s major backer as Blair assumes an influential role in the Trump-concocted “Board of Peace” takeover of Gaza, a territory which has become an open-air laboratory for AI-driven killing and control technologies like the ones celebrated by former Oracle CEO (and current Oracle and Paramount board member) Safra Catz.

The AI road to WarnerMount runs through Gaza, and Ellison has often let us know the Orwellian world he has in store for us as he consolidates control over what we watch and how we watch it, knowing that as we watch he and his corrupt cohort will always be watching us: “Citizens will be on their best behavior because we’re constantly recording and reporting.”

Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism. It is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty. According to a recent Washington Post poll, 61% of American Jews now agree that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza; and four in ten even agree that these crimes amount to genocide. Do those attacking Mark Ruffalo as an antisemite seriously believe that all these American Jews are antisemites too? Or that we don’t see the connection between, on the one hand, the criminal impunities that have led the US and Israel into unending disaster and, on the other, the oligarchic powerplays of the Musks, Ellisons, Thiels and others who are working to dismantle our democracy?

But the virulence and falseness of the slanders they direct towards their critics is evidence of the increasing weakness of their position, based as it is on innuendos. Today, more and more people of conscience are joining together, to loudly and univocally proclaim: The time is over for spurious charges of antisemitism to be trotted out, this time in the defense of war, oligarchy, and AI domination. That tired playbook has run its course.

We stand proudly with Mark Ruffalo, and with all decent people who are bravely rising and speaking truth to power.

Aaron Costa Ganis, Actor

Abbi Jacobson, Actor/Comedian

Alan Snitow, Filmmaker

Alex Winter, Actor/Filmmaker

Alison Klayman, Filmmaker

Alison Leiby, Writer/Comedian

Alissa Weiss, Rabbi

Allie Gross, Writer

Amos Goldberg, Holocaust Historian, Hebrew University

Amy Ziering, Filmmaker

Anat Matar, Snr. Lecturer (Ret.), Tel Aviv University

Andrea Weiss, Filmmaker

Andrue Kahn, Rabbi

Anjuli Kronheim Katz, Advocate

Anna Pollack, Director

Anthony Arnove, Writer/Producer

Ariel Friedlander, Artist

Ariel Wengroff, Artist

Atalia Omer, Professor, University of Notre Dame

Avi Shlaim, Professor (Em.), St Antony’s College

Ayelet Waldman, Author

Barry Trachtenberg, Professor, Wake Forest University

Bella Freud, Designer

Ben Korman, Producer

Ben Moser, Author

Ben Natan, Actor/Producer

Brian A. Kates, Editor

Bruce Cohen, Producer

Camille Lévy Sarfati, Author/Curator

Cat Davis, Rabbi

Chani Nicholas, Astrologer

Charlie Goldensohn, Strategist/Commentator

Charlotte Sheedy, Literary Agent

Collier Meyerson, Writer

Craig Aaron, Journalist

Dana Kornberg, Assoc. Professor, UC Santa Barabra

Daniel Levy, Political Analyst

David Borenstien, Filmmaker

David Mivasair, Rabbi

David Vine, Author

David Wilson, Filmmaker

Deborah Eisenberg, Writer

Deborah Kaufman. Filmmaker

Deborah Shaffer, Filmmaker

Debra Winger, Actor

Deidre Fishel, Filmmaker

Dr. Mark Perlmutter, Physician

Einat Weizman, Filmmaker

Emily Kunstler, Filmmaker

Emma Seligman, Filmmaker

Erin Axelman, Filmmaker

Estee Chandler, Radio Host/Producer

Estelle Tarica, Professor, UC Berkeley

Ethan Sacks, Writer

Frances Fisher, Actor

Gabor Maté, Physician/Author

Gili Getz, Photographer

Gina Gershon, Actor

Ginny Suss, Producer

Hana Morgenstern, Assoc. Professor, Newnham College

Hannah Einbinder, Actor

Henry Bean, Screenwriter

Howard Rodman, Screenwriter

Hunter Abrams, Photographer

Idith Korman, Musician/Composer

Ilana Glazer, Actor/Writer/Director

Ilise Cohen, Scholar

Itamar Ziegler, Composer/Musician

James Renton, Professor, Edge Hill University

James Schamus, Filmmaker

James Wilson, Producer

Jamie Zelermeyer, Producer

Jane Schoenbrun, Filmmaker

Jason Kliot, Filmmaker

Jason Rosenberg, Public Health Advocate

Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte, Producer

Jenna Weiss-Berman, Producer

Jennifer L. Pozner, Author

Jeremiah Zagar, Director

Jeremy Yaches, Producer

Jesse Mechanic, Writer

Jill Goldman, Artist

Jillian Neal, Manager

Jo Firestone, Comedian/Actor

Joel Beinin, Professor (Em.), Stanford University

Joel Coen, Filmmaker

Jon Reiss, Filmmaker

Jonathan Feingold, Professor, Boston University School of Law

Jonathan Lethem, Writer

Josette Maskin, Musician

Karin Loevy, Professor, NYU School of Law

Kate Berlant, Actor

Kathy Wazana, Filmmaker

Lance Kramer, Producer

Larry Charles, Screenwriter/Director

Laura Kraftowitz, Writer

Leora Barish, Screenwriter

Libby Lenkinski, Producer

Linda Holtzman, Rabbi

Lindsay Beyerstein, Journalist

Lior Sternfeld, Assoc. Professor, Penn State University

Lisa Cholodenko, Filmmaker

Lonnie Kleinman, Rabbi

Liz Flahive, Screenwriter

Mara Hoffman, Artist

Marc Weiss, Filmmaker

Marianne Hirsch, Professor, Columbia University

Maris Kreizman, Writer

Mark LeVine, Professor, UC Irvine

Mati Shemoelof, Author/Poet

Matt Bernstein, Content Creator

Max Zev Reynolds, Rabbi

Meryl Crean, Rabbi

Michael Greif, Director

Michael J. Drexler, Assoc. Professor, Bucknell University

Michael Skolnik, Organizer

Michael Rothberg, Professor, UCLA

Miranda July, Filmmaker/Writer

Mneesha Gellman, Professor, Emerson College

Molly Crabapple, Author/Artist

Mordechai Liebling, Rabbi

Morgan Bassichis, Writer/Performer

Morgan Spector, Actor

Naomi Klein, Author/Professor

Nathan Thrall, Author

Nicole Morse, Educator

Nina Menkes, Filmmaker

Noa Avishag Schnall, Journalist

Orian Zakai, Assoc. Professor, George Washington University

Orli Matlow, Comedian

Peter Beinart, Journalist

Phyllis Bennis, Writer

Rachel Leah Jones, Filmmaker

Raphael Greenberg, Professor (Em.), Tel Aviv University

Raz Segal, Assoc. Professor, Stockton University

Rebecca Vilkomerson, Author/Analyst

Rick Pearlstein, Author

Rinat Abastado, Rabbinic Student

Roee Rosen, Artist

Romy Soleimani, Make-up Artist

Rosanna Arquette, Actor/Director

Sai Koros, Student Rabbi

Sandi DuBowski, Filmmaker

Sarah Kunstler, Filmmaker

Sarah Schulman, Writer

Sarah Sherman, Comedian/Actor

Sarah Sophie Flicker, Artist

Shira Klein, Assoc. Professor, Chapman University

Sigal Primor, Artist

Simone Zimmerman, Podcast Host

Spencer Ackerman, Author

Steve Quester, Anti-Racism Coach

Steven Katz, Screenwriter

Susan Margolin, Filmmaker

Susan S. Lanser, Professor (Em.), Brandeis University

Tamir Sorek, Professor, Penn State University

Tavi Gevinson, Actor/Writer

Ted Hope, Filmmaker

Terri Ginsberg, Asst. Teaching Professor, Rutgers University

Tia Lessen, Filmmaker

Todd Haynes, Filmmaker

Tony Gerber, Filmmaker

Tony Kushner, Screenwriter/Playwright

Udi Aloni, Filmmaker

Udi Raz, Writer

V (formerly Eve Ensler), Playwright/Author

Vanessa Hope, Filmmaker

Vanessa Nunes, Physician

Wallace Shawn, Actor/Playwright

Wendy Ettinger, Filmmaker

Yael Bridge, Filmmaker

Yael Ronen, Director

Yoni Golijov, Filmmaker

Zach Woods, Filmmaker

Zachary Foster, Historian

Zachary Lochman, Professor, NYU

A CBS News headline accompanying a story about Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has generated significant online scrutiny, and the Paramount Skydance news outlet, once known for its reserve, appears to feel the facts presented in the work outweigh the digital opprobrium.

On Monday morning, the CBS News feed on X posted a story with the accompanying headline: “As the nation prepares to mark 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001,” the post said, “Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, may be facing the risk of renewed scrutiny and fresh political attack.”

The story described the candidate as someone who “opposed American wars and capitalized on anger over anti-Arab sentiment in a state with a robust and active Muslim community.” As evidence, the story cited two deleted posts that had originally surfaced in 2020 and compared the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic with the death toll from terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.

The post drew rebukes from a host of digital personalities and critics, including Cenk Uygur, host of “The Young Turks” and Tim Miller of The Bulwark.

“Ma’am, hate to bother you, but I just wanted to let you know, your mask slipped off,” Uygur posted. Miller called the CBS News post “despicable anti-Muslim woke right garbage.

CBS News declined to make executives available for comment.

A person familiar with the story says CBS News saw nothing wrong in reporting on a politician’s deleted tweets. This person also says CBS News interviewed El-Sayed later in the day Monday and added his response to the matter. The story also included comments from a Michigan State political scientist about whether the tweets might affect the race in Michigan . 

The digital outrage bubbles as media critics and even journalists within CBS News scrutinize the decisions of Bari Weiss, installed by Paramount as editor in chief of CBS News in 2025, for bias or the insertion of opinion into the CBS News daily report. Weiss, founder of the online opinion site The Free Press, is known for railing against so-called “woke” extremes and for unwavering support of Israel. In the recent past, CBS News has been watched for the way it covers New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

The media newsletter Status on Monday night reported that Weiss praised the story during the network’s daily editorial meeting Monday, and directed that the headline mention El-Sayed had deleted tweets referencing the September 11 terrorist attacks.

But the person familiar with the article indicated Weiss sought a mention of the politician’s deleted tweets in the headline, since their discovery was a central part of the story. This person says CBS News deems El-Sayed’s past comments on 9/11 newsworthy, along with his association with the provocateur Hasan Piker, and how they might affect voters’ perception of his candidacy.

The Venice Film Festival opens Wednesday with Danny Boyle’s “Ink,” a juicy exposé of how British tabloid The Sun propelled Rupert Murdoch’s rise to right-wing media baron, kicking off 11 days of buzzy movies, major stars and an unusually charged political debate on the Lido.

Venice director Alberto Barbera has described this year’s lineup as the event’s “most political” in recent years, with films tackling war, Palestine, immigration, climate change and shrinking political freedoms. And before the festival has even opened, several of those fault lines have already erupted into controversy.

At the same time, Venice remains one of the fall’s key launchpads for prestige movies, awards hopefuls and international titles looking to build momentum with distributors and buyers. Though U.S. studio and streamer presence this year is more muted than in past editions, the selection features a robust roster of hotly anticipated star-driven movies, some of which are making noise even before landing on the Lido.

“Ink” stars Jack O’Connell, Guy Pearce and Claire Foy are all expected on the Palazzo del Cinema red carpet for the Sept. 2 launch of the timely film, which has been acquired by Netflix for the U.S. and Latin America. 

Though U.S. studio and streamer presence this year is more muted than in past editions, the Venice selection features a robust roster of hotly anticipated star-driven titles, some of which are making noise even before landing on the Lido.

Robert Pattinson will be on hand to promote Lance Oppenheim’s “Primetime,” in which he plays “Dateline NBC” correspondent Chris Hansen. Hansen recently claimed that he walked away from a preview screening of “Primetime” in the offices of distributor A24 — which will release the film on Sept. 25 in the U.S. — after refusing to sign a legal agreement he described as unlike anything he has encountered in four decades on the beat. A source close to A24 told Variety that Hansen was asked to sign a standard NDA that all preview audiences must adhere to for an unreleased film. 

John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell and Steve Buscemi are all expected on the Venice red carpet for the Sept. 3 launch of Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine” that sees Rockwell reunite with the “Three Billboards” director in a dark comedy about CIA agents.

Also on Sept. 3, Kate Mara, Rooney Mara and Orlando Bloom will be on the Lido to launch Warner Herzog’s “Bucking Fastard,” in which Bloom plays Gareth Mulroney, the lover of inseparable, synchronized sisters Jean and Joan Holbrooke (played by real-life sisters Kate and Rooney Mara).

Liam and Noel Gallagher are confirmed to be on the Venice red carpet on Sept. 5 for the launch of Disney+ doc “Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger,” about the British band’s reunion world tour which captures the moment the two rocker brothers reconciled after 15 years without contact.

Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Stephen Graham, and Paul Dano will be disembarking on the lagoon Sept. 8 to promote marriage crisis drama “Bunker,” one of the most anticipated films of the fall festival circuit in which Cruz and Bardem appear on-screen as husband and wife. “Bunker” hails from playwright-turned-filmmaker Florian Zeller, who won two Oscars with his feature debut “The Father.” Sony Pictures Classics is handling the U.S. release, while FilmNation represents the film internationally.

Also on Sept. 8, Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney will be back in Venice with Elon Musk doc “Musk,” an incisive nearly four-hour piece probing the world’s richest man and influential “inventor-entrepreneur” that is expected to feature several explosive revelations. Musk has already called it “a hit piece” sight unseen.

The politics surrounding the festival, meanwhile, are unlikely to remain in the background.

In late August, Barbera came under fire from Ukrainian officials for the inclusion of dissident Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s competition entry “DAU,” which they claimed has Russian state links. Barbera took to social media to deny that allegation: “DAU is not a Russian film; it is not pro-Putin propaganda; it is a film of denunciation of totalitarian regimes and their intrusion into the lives of citizens to limit their freedom.”  

Last week, the fest added “NAZA,” a new hot-button documentary from Oscar-winning “No Other Land” directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, to the competition lineup. The doc, which was shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv, shows “in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” according to its official synopsis.

Also last week, Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux, Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters and filmmakers including Matteo Garrone and Isabel Coixet signed an open letter urging the festival to take “concrete action in support of Palestine.” The letter was an initiative of the Venice4Palestine collective, which similarly targeted the festival last year. There was no comment from the event’s organizers.

And over the weekend, a small storm erupted after it emerged that the festival was considering scrapping its jury press conference, allegedly due to a scheduling conflict. Barbera and his team then decided to go ahead and hold the presser after online observers blasted Venice’s hesitation to cancel it as a move to shield jury members from being quizzed about politics.

Now it will be interesting to see how the jury, headed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, will navigate this thorny situation on Wednesday. The festival’s main jury also comprises Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, whose acclaimed “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” about the killing of a five-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza, premiered at Venice last year and won the Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize. The other jurors are Daniel Blumberg, Francesco Casetti, Xavier Giannoli, Shahrbanoo Sadat and Johnnie To.

For all the political noise surrounding this year’s edition, Venice remains one of the industry’s most closely watched fall launchpads, where a strong reception can set the tone for a film’s awards campaign, international sales or wider rollout.

For the event’s organizers, though, what ultimately matters in Venice is what’s on the screen.

“The festival is an open space that is not conditioned by politics; it’s a place of dialogue and discussion between artists and creators,” Barbera recently told Variety.

The 83rd edition of Venice will run Sept. 2-12.

“Together in Love and Anarchy.” This year’s motto for the 39th Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy stated by Outi Rehn, program director, and Pauliina Ståhlberg, executive director, says it all.

Speaking with Variety ahead of the full program’s disclosure Sept. 1, the festival’s co-honchos were happy to reiterate its key values. “Love and Anarchy proudly takes a stand, and we don’t pretend that we’re not political. Every film selected is a political statement and even not showing a film is a political statement,” said Ståhlberg, distancing herself from Wim Wenders who sparked controversy at the last Berlinale when stating at the jury presser that “festivals and artists should stay out of politics.”

With freedom of speech and democracy at its core, the festival’s own selection process was carefully shaped this year to reflect this stand. A five-person team headed by Rehn replaced fest co-founder and artistic director Pekka Lanerva, who officially retired last year. “But he’s still part of our programming team; we’re just more voices in the mix to make it truly democratic,” said Rehr who joined the festival as full-time staffer in 2012.

“We’re all running the show!,” insisted seasoned industry exec Ståhlberg, only the second year in her job.

So how was this year’s curating job for the Love & Anarchy team whose mission was to gather “the most dazzling cinematic diamonds and rarest little film gems” from the world’s biggest festivals, in full dialogue with Finnish distributors, while prioritizing gender parity?

“It’s been challenging as there were too many good films around, and Cannes in particular had an exceptional year,” said Rehn, who proudly noted that four Cannes competition entries will bow in the festival’s most prestigious Gala Screenings.

Kickstarting the festivities Sept. 17 as opening Gala film will be the Spanish drama “The Black Ball” for which Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo shared a Cannes best director prize. Then Palme d’Or winner “Fjord” will bow as Nordic Gala pick. Na Hong-jin’s rollercoaster monster film “Hope” will screen as Love & Anarchy Gala and Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Minotaur” – Cannes Grand Prix winner – as closing Gala film on Sept. 23.

Rounding out the Gala strand is local prodigy Hanna Bergholm with her chiller “Nightborn,” which world premiered in Berlin’s main competition.

For Ståhlberg, “Nightborn” epitomizes “the recognition that Finnish talent (working across film and series) are achieving at festivals worldwide, as well as with the local audience.” “With nearly 32% of the market, we’re at the top of the European league. Finns love watching local films,” she underscored.

“Considering the record number and superb selection of Finnish short films submitted for our national competition, I can say that the future looks bright for Finnish cinema,” added Rehn.

A total of 121 shorts and 136 films from more than 80 countries will screen across the festival’s 20 plus sections, many of which are renewed each year. “It’s only when we start picking films that some sections take shape. By waiting until the last minute to lock the sections and name them, it gives us a lot of freedom, as well as a clear overview of filmmaking trends,” Rehn explained.

Film highlights include Paolo Sorrentino’s “La Grazia,” James Gray’s “Paper Tiger,” Quentin Dupieux’s “Full Phil” and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “The Samurai and the Prisoner,” all showcased in the Spotlight Selection.

The new section More than Human exploring “the world of animals, plants and merfolk,” will “reminds us of all beings right to live and to be treated equally, across the boundaries of species,” said the co-honchos.

Politics, Sex and More
Other film spotlights in the popular Fight for Power strands take in CPH:DOX winner “The Secret Reading Club of Kabul,” this year’s Palestinian Oscar submission “Palestine 36,” and Cannes selected doc “Rehearsals for a Revolution.” “By flagging Iran, Palestine, but also Ukraine in other sections, we really take a stand,” insisted Ståhlberg.

Animation will also stand solid with titles ranging from “Jim Queen,” about a virus in Paris turning gay men straight, “Bouchra,” a queer animated from Morocco, to the black metal Finnish comedy “Belzebubs,” based on JP Ahonen’s webcomic.

True to the festival’s anarchic and edgy spirit, the taboo-breaking Let’s Talk About Sex strand will make a come-back with five titles including the controversial U.S. indie “Blue Film,” which world premiered in Edinburgh in 2025, “My Friend the Porn Star” and the BDSM-driven “Pillion,” starring Alexander Skarsgård.

Among top talent expected are Cristian Miungiu for “Fjord,” screening as well as opener of the festival’s industry sidebar Finnish Film Affair, “Nightborn” helmer Bergholm, actor Seidi Haarla and composer Eicca Toppinen, Danish actor Trine Dyrholm, Swedish/Icelandic actor Sverrir Gudnason and Faroese filmmaker Búi Dam, set to present their respective Nordic Council Film Prize nominated pics “Beginnings,” “The Love That Remains” and “Birita.”

Other guest confirmed include U.S. filmmaking duo John Adams and Toby Poser for “Mother of Flies,” Greek writer-director Thanasis Neofotistos and screenwriter Grigoris Skarakis for “The Boy With the Light-Blue Eyes,” Sámi artist Elle Sofie Sara for “Árru” and Estonian filmmaker Meel Paliale and production designer Jasmin Kulagina for “Rolling Papers.”

Meanwhile seasoned Finnish filmmaker Zaida Bergroth (“Tove,” “The Good Son”), named lead mentor for the Nordic training scheme Söderlångvik Masterclass (Sept. 17-20), backed by the festival and the Amos Anderson Fund, will take the stage in Helsinki to discuss her 2017 Toronto selected “Miami” with star actor Krista Kosonen (“Blade Runner 2029,” “Beforeigners”).

The Helsinki International Film Festival – Love & Anarchy runs Sept. 17-27 and its industry confab Finnish Film Affair Sept. 23-25.

Chile’s Santiago Film Festival (Sanfic), which runs Nov. 2 – 6 this year, is toasting the seventh edition of its genre-focused Sanfic-Morbido Lab with the launch of a WomanInFan Southern Cone partnership with the Sitges Film Festival and a new pix-in-post section, Fantastic WIP.

Hailed as a bold experiment seven years ago, the Sanfic-Morbido Lab, part of Sanfic’s industry section Sanfic Industria, has evolved into one of the region’s most consistent conduits for fantastic/genre filmmaking.

The lab will again select six genre film projects from across Latin America for intensive development, personalized mentoring from Pablo Guisa Koestinger — CEO of Grupo Mórbido and executive director of the Fantastic Pavilion at the Marché du Film, Cannes Film Festival.

At stake are a number of awards that include the Premio Mórbido, offering co-financing of up to 20% of the final budget, and the Premio Fantastic Pavilion, which guarantees participation in the Fantastic Pavilion at Cannes.

“Seven years of the Sanfic-Mórbido Lab is not just a number — it’s a proof of concept. The talent was always there. What didn’t exist was the pipeline. We built it, and now it works,” said Guisa.

“WomanInFan Latam recognizes what we already know: the women making genre cinema in our region are some of its most powerful voices. And the Fantastic WIP closes the loop — because making a great film is only half the job. Getting it finished, getting it out, getting it to the world — that’s the other half. Everything we build here has one destination: The Fantastic Pavilion, and from there, the world.”

Fantastic WIP responds to the need for these projects that have been developed and went into production but lacked the support to complete their trajectory. Filmmakers behind these films in post will present their work to international sales agents, distributors, festival programmers and industry professionals for valuable feedback and potential distribution.

WomanInFan Southern Cone — the Latin American extension of WomanInFan, the pioneering program for women in fantastic cinema created by the Sitges Fantastic Film Festival led by Mónica García Massagué — opens its first call for projects directed by women from Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

An extension of the WomanInFan LatAm pan-regional initiative unveiled at the Costa Rica Media Market in July, WomanInFan Southern Cone brings the program to the Southern cone region with a structured set of activities that includes mentoring sessions that culminates in final pitches before industry pros during Sanfic.

Gabriela Sandoval, director of Sanfic Industria noted: “With WomanInFan Southern Cone and Fantastic WIP, we are expanding our commitment to genre cinema, which we have been advancing for seven editions through the Sanfic-Mórbido Lab. “

“We are delighted to strengthen this partnership with Sitges and Grupo Mórbido—two leading forces in genre cinema worldwide—and to establish WomanInFan Southern Cone as a platform that connects the extraordinary women’s voices emerging from our region with the partners and markets that can amplify their stories and help bring them to international audiences.”

Xolo Maridueña wasn’t sure what would become of Blue Beetle after he debuted as the DC crime fighter in a 2023 blockbuster. That was, until DC boss James Gunn called him about coming back for the “Superman” sequel, “Man of Tomorrow.”

“I was in Japan with my friends; nobody knew anything,” Maridueña recalled on the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of “Practical Magic 2. “And I just see, like the Bat-phone, my phone rings [and it’s] James Gunn. All my friends look at me, and I had to leave the room. I came back, and I was like, ‘Off the record, don’t tell anyone, but we’re coming back,’ and I’m so excited for people to see where Blue Beetle ends up.”

Maridueña explained that he was unsure he’d suit up as Blue Beetle again after his standalone feature. He added that he feels “humbled” by the opportunity to come back to the DCU.

“There’s never a guarantee with anything, bro,” he said. “I mean, you know this, stuff flips on a dime, and I know that it’s not always like a merit-based system. So there’s so much that’s out of my control, but I am just the most humbled of James and the greater DC team for folding us in, Indiana Jones style.”

“Man of Tomorrow,” the follow-up to 2025’s “Superman,” sees the titular DC icon team up with his arch-nemesis Lex Luthor to defeat an intergalactic super genius known as Brainiac. David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult are set to return as Superman and Lex, respectively. Other cast members include Lars Eidinger, Aaron Pierre, Nathan Fillion, Milly Alcock, Isabela Merced and Skyler Gisondo.

Earlier in the interview, Maridueña said it was “surreal” to act alongside Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman for “Practical Magic 2.” He shared that after his first day on set, he was so excited that he wrote down every detail he could remember in his journal.

“The first day on set with the two of them, you’re having this third-person moment where they’re not only actors that you’ve witnessed your whole life, but also characters that are so electric,” Maridueña explained. “To be in the middle of this Venn diagram, my journal was full that night of all of the stuff, all of the little gems, all of the happy accidents, all of the morsels of knowledge that they give. They are outstanding class acts.”

“Practical Magic 2,” which hits theaters on Sept. 11, follows Sally, Gillian and their family of witches as they try to break a generational curse that stops them from falling in love. Other cast members include Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, Cassie Bradley, Joey King, Maisie Williams and Lee Pace. Susanne Bier directs, with a script by Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel.

The Owen sisters may be back in “Practical Magic 2” 28 years after Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock first played the sibling witches, but that doesn’t mean the first movie’s outing doesn’t still sting a little.

The original “Practical Magic” was a critical and box office failure before earning cult classic status over the last almost three decades.

“We thought, ‘This is going to be such an amazing film. People are going to love it,’” Bullock recalled. “And then it got quiet. It got quiet. [They] were like, ‘How many women in a film do you need? How many tones do you need? What kind of film is this?’”

“And here’s the thing that I really wanna bring up and I bring it up ad nauseam: Griffin Dunne created this world with us,” Bullock said, referring to the first film’s director.

Kidman added, “And he loved us and he let us shine.”

Bullock continued, “It’s because of him, this film exists, and he never got to smell the flowers when we made it. So tonight we’re honoring him.”

Why did they decide to make the sequel now?

“It just happened,” Kidman said. It was more like serendipity, and it came, and we were ready, and everything fell into place. It’s like in life — you try to force things; it doesn’t work. You have to wait, be patient, and we both kind of open to it.”

“Practical Magic 2” is based on Alice Hoffman’s novel “The Book of Magic.” Directed by Susanne Bier, the film sees the return of original stars Kidman, Bullock, Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest. Newcomers include Joey King, Maisie Williams, Lee Pace, Xolo Maridueña and Solly McLeod.

Joey King calls her relationship with Nicole Kidman a “pinch me moment” at the #PracticalMagic2 premiere

“When you have someone who has been through so much, who is open and loving with their knowledge, I couldn’t be more grateful. I feel so lucky to be able to go to her.” pic.twitter.com/s18jILGzDy

— Variety (@Variety) September 1, 2026

This is the second time King worked with Kidman following the 2024 rom-com “Family Affair” with Zac Efron. “When you have someone who has been through so much, who is open and loving with their knowledge, I couldn’t be more grateful,” King told me about her relationship with Kidman. “I feel so lucky to be able to go to her.”

Mexico’s Martfilms has boarded “Looking for Sam,” Mariana Rondón’s follow-up to her acclaimed coming -of-age drama “Bad Hair.”

A docu-fiction hybrid bound for San Sebastian’s Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, the drama follows two lead actors from Mariana Rondón’s 2013 San Sebastian Golden Shell winner “Bad Hair” (“Pelo Malo”): Sam Lange who played the child Junior and the actress who played his mother, Samantha Castillo. Both of them were forced to leave Venezuela.

“’Looking for Sam’ wanders between fiction and documentary, where memory and identity blur and transform one another. It forces us to ask ourselves who we are when we leave behind who we once were,” Rondón told Variety.

“The film is about crossing borders: geographical, temporal, bodily and borders of identity. We are not simply looking for Sam. We are searching for the place where the person we once were ends and the person we are begins,” said her producing partner Marite Ugás of Sudaca Films, who added that they found Lange walking the fashion runways of Paris while Castillo emigrated to Mexico.

For Martfilm’s Martha Orozco, the partnership was a long time coming. “I’ve been following the career of this talented duo and our filmographies have often brought us together on our cinematic journeys. We’ve wanted to collaborate for a long time, and this project allows us to experiment creatively.”

“’Pelo Malo,” beyond being a successful film, was a bold film for its time – one that dared to address racism, homophobia and polarization, leaving its mark on Latin American cinema. On a personal level, this inspired me to believe in resilient cinema, and through MartFilms, it’s a pleasure to be part of this new phase and share new experiences,” Orozco said, adding: “’Looking for Sam’ will be a nostalgic reunion – the country has changed, the protagonists have grown up and Mariana and Marité’s filmmaking has matured – so we expect nothing but good things from this journey.”

Martfilms has participated in past industry forums at San Sebastián, winning the pix-in-post WIP award with the Argentine-Mexican co-production “Pornomelancholia” by Manuel Abramovich and snagging the Forum prize with Laura Baumeister’s feature debut “Daughter of Rage” (Nicaragua/Mexico).

According to Ugás, Sudaca Films was invited to the “Écritures” Residency at the Cité internationale des arts in Paris for 2026–2027, starting this December.

The six-month residency will allow them to continue working on the screenplay, but also to spend time with Lange, who currently lives in Paris.

“That’s why it is particularly important for us to meet a French partner at the Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum,” said Ugás who is co-writing the screenplay with Rondón.

Founded by Rondón and Ugás, Sudaca Films turned 30 this year and is also known for such acclaimed pics as Tribeca 2021 title “Contactado” and “Zafari,” which won the French Film Critics Award in 2024.

Martfilms, which is dedicated to the creation and distribution of films committed to diversity, inclusion and social transformation has produced such films as “Beyond My Grandfather Allende” (“Allende mi abuelo Allende”) a Chile-Mexico co-production that won the best documentary L’Œil d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and “Niñxs” (Mexico), among others.

The 74th San Sebastian Film Festival runs over Sept. 18-26.

Strand Releasing has acquired North American rights to Ulrike Ottinger’s “The Blood Countess,” the baroque black comedy starring Isabelle Huppert as the legendary Countess Elizabeth Báthory.

The film, which world premiered in the Berlinale Special Gala section earlier this year, will make its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest on Sept. 17. Strand is planning a theatrical release in spring 2027.

The deal was negotiated by Jon Gerrans on behalf of Strand Releasing and Magnify Film Sales.

“We’re thrilled to be handling this unique film from Ms. Ottinger and look forward to working with Isabelle again on another film,” said Marcus Hu of Strand Releasing.

Strand has previously released several films starring Huppert, including Catherine Breillat’s “Abuse of Weakness,” Michael Haneke’s “Time of the Wolf” and Guillaume Nicloux’s “Valley of Love.”

Inspired by the life and mythology surrounding Báthory, the 16th-century Hungarian aristocrat who became notorious in folklore as a serial killer, “The Blood Countess” sees Huppert’s character awaken from a centuries-long slumber and set out across Vienna with her devoted maid Hermine in search of a mysterious book capable of destroying her.

The film was written by Ottinger with Elfriede Jelinek, the Nobel Prize-winning Austrian author of “The Piano Teacher,” and marks the culmination of a project the German filmmaker first conceived more than 25 years ago.

“I wrote the screenplay in 1998, in the last century, which sounds crazy now,” Ottinger told Variety ahead of the film’s Berlinale premiere, adding that she had wanted to make the project “for a very long time.”

Ottinger, a leading figure of German avant-garde cinema whose films include “Madame X — An Absolute Ruler,” “Ticket of No Return” and “Freak Orlando,” said Huppert had been attached in spirit almost from the outset. Rather than approaching Báthory through conventional psychological realism, Ottinger conceived Huppert’s vampire as an imperious, almost mythic presence.

“Here, the countess is iconic,” Ottinger said. “She is despotic and completely in control of her surroundings,” adding that Huppert “brought glamour and elegance to that authority.”

Ottinger, who received the Berlinale’s Honorary Golden Bear in 2020, also used elaborate costumes, production design and a highly stylized vision of Vienna to playfully subvert vampire-movie conventions.

The cast is completed by Birgit Minichmayr, Lars Eidinger, Thomas Schubert, André Jung and Tom Neuwirth, better known as Conchita Wurst.

Strand Releasing currently has Brydie O’Connor’s “Barbara Forever” and Gregg Araki’s 4K restoration of “Mysterious Skin” in release. Its upcoming slate also includes Mexico’s Oscar entry “On the Road,” directed by David Pablos.