Chile’s much-lauded documentarian Maite Alberdi, after making her first fiction feature “In Her Place,” has returned to her roots with her latest opus, “A Child of My Own” (“Un hijo propio”). Not unlike her Oscar-nominated “The Mole Agent,” Alberdi toys with the docu-fiction hybrid format, but in “Child,” she also breaks the fourth wall in…
Úrsula Corberó, the breakout star of Netflix’s “Money Heist,” is set to topline Spanish horror maestro Jaume Balagueró’s next feature, “There’s Someone in the Garden” (“Hay alguien en el jardín”), produced by Kowalski Films, one of the Spanish companies pitching at the Spanish Producers Showcase at Berlin’s European Film Market on Saturday. A second key…
The breakout success of LGBTQ+ dating series “The Boyfriend” has turbocharged Netflix’s Japanese unscripted slate, with Ota Dai, who oversees the streamer’s Japan unscripted division, crediting a deliberate rejection of conventional reality television formulas for its unexpected international resonance. The expanded slate now includes renewed series “Badly In Love,” which hit No. 8 on Netflix’s…
India’s Sippy Films is rolling out its legacy IPs including “Sholay” and “Shaan” across animation, microdramas, gaming and merchandising in a multi-format strategy backed by investor Kuberans Tech Ventures, custodian Shehzad Sippy and Kuberans director Jeet Wagh tell Variety. The approach draws from Western character IP models and Japanese anime’s cross-platform playbook, targeting younger audiences…
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has dismissed Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych’s appeal against his disqualification from the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, upholding a ruling that barred him from competing over a helmet honoring victims of Russia’s invasion. CAS said Olympic neutrality rules “reasonably balance” athletes’ freedom of expression with the need to maintain…
New works from name auteurs including “Tropical Malady” helmer Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Romania’s Corneliu Porumboiu, and Mexico’s Tatiana Huezo are among the 14-title first batch of features selected to benefit from the newly launched Fondazione Prada Film Fund. The Prada Foundation film fund, whose top executives are attending the Berlinale, was officially launched last year at…
There aren’t many movies merrily described by their writer/director as the “most naughty, feral, fucking crazy ensemble film about a group of kids in remission who go to a summer camp and all they want to do is takes loads of drugs and have a fun time.” But then there aren’t many filmmakers like 25-year-old…
İlker Çatak, who was born in Berlin to Turkish parents, is back at the Berlinale with “Yellow Letters,” which unlike his last film — the Oscar-nominated Germany-set “The Teachers’ Lounge” — takes place entirely amid political repression in Turkey, even though it was shot in Germany. The timely political drama stars Turkish actors Özgü Namal…
Black Mandala Films and Red Owl Films are loading up for Berlin’s European Film Market with eight genre titles spanning Lovecraftian horror, queer mockumentary and an award-winning Ecuadorian fantasy. The slate includes several market premieres alongside recent acquisitions and festival selections. Black Mandala’s lineup includes “The Behemoth,” a supernatural horror film from director Kai E….
Grace Passô is a creative fueled by exploring the malleability of form. The actor, director and playwright adapted her own play into her feature debut “Our Secret,” premiering in Berlin seven years after her medium-length film “Dazed Flesh” — also adapted from the stage — played at the same festival. “Our Secret” is set in…
