California authorities ‘remain hopeful’ of finding British actor who was reported missing on Mount Baldy last month
Authorities in southern California have said they are still “hopeful” of finding Julian Sands, but that the outcome of searches for the British actor “may not be what we would like”.
San Bernardino county sheriff’s department said conditions in the area remained dangerous, but that ground searches were planned for the future.
Continue reading...Oscar-nominated film-maker died on Friday at a London hospital after a short illness, his family said
Film director Hugh Hudson, who directed best picture Oscar winner Chariots of Fire, has died aged 86 following a short illness.
A statement released on behalf of his family said: “Hugh Hudson, 86, beloved husband and father, died at Charing Cross hospital on 10 February after a short illness.”
Continue reading...One of Spain’s most prolific auteurs continued to work until the end – his last film, Walls Can Talk, was released last week
Veteran Spanish film-maker Carlos Saura, director of award-winning films such as Peppermint Frappé, ¡Ay Carmela! and Tango, has died aged 91, the day before he was due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Goyas, Spain’s version of the Oscars.
Spain’s Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, the body that hands out the Goya awards, confirmed his death on social media, saying: “Saura, one of the essential film-makers in the history of Spanish cinema, has died at home today at the age of 91, surrounded by his loved ones. His final film, Walls Can Talk, came out last week and demonstrated his tireless activity and his love for his work until the very last moment.”
Continue reading...Lawsuit, filed by parents and sister of cinematographer, accuses actor and others of battery and negligence
The family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer killed on the set of Rust, have filed a lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and others involved with the film.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Hutchins’ parents, Anatolii Androsovych and Olga Solovey, and sister, Svetlana Zemko, accuses Baldwin and others, including the film’s armorer, of battery, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and loss of consortium.
Continue reading...Cuts represent an estimated 3.6% of Disney’s global workforce in effort to save $5.5bn in costs and follow major job losses at other top US companies
Disney has announced a sweeping corporate restructuring that will result in 7,000 people losing their jobs as part of an effort to achieve US$5.5bn (£4.5bn, A$7.9bn) in cost savings, at the same time as revealing plans for sequels to Toy Story and Frozen.
The layoffs represent an estimated 3.6% of Disney’s global workforce and come after major job cuts at other US giants including Alphabet, Amazon, Ford and Meta.
Continue reading...Wilson to enact single, seven-minute scene on loop with 100 men to explore gender roles
Ruth Wilson has called a new stage role in which she will perform the same scene repeatedly for 24 hours straight an “extraordinary, once in a lifetime experience”.
The Golden Globe and Olivier award winner will star in the UK premiere of the internationally acclaimed epic The Second Woman at the Young Vic this spring. Playing Virginia, Wilson will enact a single, seven-minute scene on loop, with 100 different men performing opposite her as her lover Marty, one after the other. Most of the men are non-actors who have volunteered for the role.
The Second Woman, a Young Vic & Lift co-production, produced in association with Ruth Wilson, is at the Young Vic, London, 19-20 May.
Continue reading...Exclusive: head of Aardman studio blames Brexit as UK falls behind on skills and tax relief
The head of Aardman, the Oscar-winning British studio behind Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, has warned that the nation’s animation productions for children’s television will have to be made overseas because acute challenges are taking their toll on the UK sector.
Sean Clarke, Aardman’s managing director, said the company is struggling with everything from serious competition from other countries on tax relief to a dire skills shortage.
Continue reading...Millions flock to see return of actor Shah Rukh Khan, despite rightwing calls for a boycott
For Ganesh Lokhande, an usher at the Regal Cinema in Mumbai’s southern tip of Colaba, it’s been a quiet few years in the job. That was, until last week.
Pathaan, a new Bollywood action thriller starring Shah Rukh Khan – an actor whose superstardom has elevated him to be known in India as “the king” – has been released in cinemas, triggering excitement across the country. Long queues formed outside theatres as millions flocked to catch a glimpse of Khan’s return to the screen after four years away, now aged 57 but still playing the ravishing muscular hero.
Continue reading...Award-winning director, who was arrested in July, is released from Evin prison in Tehran
The acclaimed Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi has been released on bail after starting a hunger strike to protest against his almost seven-month detention, a rights group and supporters said on Friday.
Panahi has been released from Evin prison in Tehran “two days after starting his hunger strike for freedom”, the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said on Twitter. Iran’s Shargh newspaper posted an image of Panahi jubilantly embracing a supporter.
Continue reading...Panahi says he will not eat until he is released, after lawyer successfully challenged his detention
One of Iran’s most illustrious film-makers, Jafar Panahi, is on hunger strike in protest at his continued detention in Tehran’s Evin prison, his wife has said.
The Cannes film festival award-winner and director of The White Balloon, The Circle and No Bears took the step after plans for his release were dashed, even though his lawyer had successfully challenged his detention.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Film-maker Miriam Segal says article made her feel compelled to tell story of anti-Putin journalist murdered in 2006
The Guardian’s obituary on Anna Politkovskaya, the anti-Putin journalist whose murder in 2006 shocked the world, has inspired a British film-maker to make a movie about her.
As Miriam Segal reached the end of the article, she felt compelled to make a film about a seemingly “normal woman who literally couldn’t turn away”, who “braved the Chechen killing fields and put her own life in jeopardy to expose Russian state corruption”.
Continue reading...Film academy is implementing review after questions raised over last-minute celebrity-backed campaign in best actress category
The film academy has announced a review of “campaign procedures” in the wake of a backlash to this year’s Oscar nominations.
The British actor Andrea Riseborough gained a surprise best actress nod for her role in indie To Leslie after a grassroots campaign backed by A-listers including Kate Winslet, Jane Fonda, Charlize Theron, Gwyneth Paltrow and Amy Adams.
Continue reading...Actor was attempting to stop six-tonne vehicle from hitting his relative after getting out without applying the emergency brake
Jeremy Renner’s snowplough accident happened as he was attempting to save his nephew and was hit by the vehicle after failing to apply the emergency brake.
According to an incident report from the Nevada sheriff’s office, obtained by Variety, Renner had used the snowplough to tow his nephew’s truck out of the snow, and after getting out without setting the brake, he attempted to stop the six-tonne plough sliding towards his nephew.
Continue reading...The group behind the awards faced widespread criticism after nominating the young star of Firestarter
The organisers of the Razzie awards have removed the 12-year-old actor Ryan Kiera Armstrong from the worst actress category after backlash.
The young actor, also known from Black Widow and The Tomorrow War, was included in the annual list of worst of the year nominees for her performance in the thriller Firestarter, a remake of the Stephen King adaptation starring Drew Barrymore. Armstrong was 11 at the time of filming.
Continue reading...Actor thanks people for messages of support since he was run over by six-tonne machine earlier this month
The actor Jeremy Renner has revealed he broke more than 30 bones during his serious snowplough accident.
Renner, known for playing the bow and arrow-wielding Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries on 1 January after he was accidentally run over by his six-tonne ploughing machine while trying to help a family member.
Continue reading...Lawyer for award-winning director says court of appeal expected to decide on case by end of week
Iran’s judiciary is to rule on whether to release the film-maker Jafar Panahi on bail after his conviction was overturned by the supreme court, his lawyer said.
Panahi, 62, who has won a number of awards at European film festivals, was arrested on 11 July last year and sent to jail to serve a six-year sentence which had been handed down in 2010 for “propaganda against the system”. He served two months at the time before being granted a conditional release. He was also barred from leaving Iran and making films, and was largely confined to his home until his arrest in July.
Continue reading...The brief encounters between an actor and an interviewer have been compared to Austen’s novels and Hollywood’s golden age
He’s a Hollywood A-lister, recently named a man of the year and routinely included among the sexiest alive. She is an awkward art-school graduate who has his shirtless photo as the wallpaper on her phone. And they just can’t seem to stop running into each other.
The television personality Amelia Dimoldenberg and the actor Andrew Garfield have been hailed as a real-life romcom in the making for their brief but memorable – and, now, heavily hyped – encounters at awards shows.
Continue reading...Culture minister’s attack on two documentaries set in Palestinian territories part of campaign to silence dissent, film-makers say
Israel’s culture minister is attempting to revoke state funding from two documentary films dealing with the occupation of the Palestinian territories, increasing concerns that the country’s new hard-right government will follow through on promises to crack down on dissenting voices.
The minister, Miki Zohar, of Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, has pledged to “revoke funding that promotes our enemy’s narrative” and withhold grants from films that “present Israeli soldiers as murderers”. He has also said he will require film-makers to sign a declaration they will not use state funds to create content that “harms the state of Israel or IDF soldiers”.
Continue reading...Coffin is accompanied into church by estranged son, grandson and ex-husband who are embroiled in inheritance feud
Fans of the Italian screen legend Gina Lollobrigida shouted “goodbye, Queen of Rome” as they gathered for her funeral in the city while defending her against relatives embroiled in a bitter inheritance feud.
Lollobrigida, one of the most glamorous actors of Hollywood’s golden age, died on Monday at the age of 95.
Continue reading...Film’s armorer overseeing weapons, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, will also be charged with involuntary manslaughter in 2021 shooting
The actor Alec Baldwin is facing criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal film-set shooting of a cinematographer during a rehearsal of the western film Rust, according to prosecutors.
The film’s armorer overseeing weapons, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, is also set to be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2021.
The Associated Press contributed
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