The 74th Berlin International Film Festival has revealed the 20 titles selected for its official Competition as well as its competitive Encounters strand. All Competition titles are world premieres with the exception of Aaron Shimberg's A Different Man, starring Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson, which recently debuted at Sundance and will receive its international premiere in Berlin.

Six of the films are directed or co-directed by women – the same figure as last year – and two are debut features.

South Korea's Hong returns to Berlin, having had six films in Competition at the festival since 2008. His latest, A Traveler's Needs, was described as a comedy and a "light but piercing take on human relationships" by Chatrian at the press conference. It stars French actress Huppert, who will also receive honorary Golden Bear that should could not accept in-person when it was first bestowed in 2022. Huppert previously starred in Hong's In Another Country (2012) and Claire's Camera (2017), both of which premiered at Cannes.

Competition

Another End, dir. Piero Messina
Architecton, dir. Victor Kossakovsky
Black Tea, dir. Abderrahmane Sissako
La Cocina, dir. Alonso Ruizpalacios
Dahomey, dir. Mati Diop
A Different Man, dir. Aaron Schimberg
The Empire, dir. Bruno Dumont
Gloria!, dir. Margherita Vicario
Suspended Time, dir. Olivier Assayas
From Hilde, With Love, dir. Andreas Dresen
My Favourite Cake, dir. Behtash Saneeha, Maryam Moghaddam
Langue Etrangère, dir. Claire Burger
Who Do I Belong To, dir. Meryam Joobeur
Pepe, dir. Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias
Shambhala, dir. Min Bahadur Bham
Sterben, dir. Matthias Glasner
The Devil's Bath, dir. Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
Small Things Like These, dir. Tim Mielants (previously announced)
A Traveler's Needs, dir. Hong Sangsoo
Sons, dir. Gustav Möller

Encounters

Arcadia, dir. Yorgos Zois
Cidade; Campo, dir. Juliana Rojas
Demba, dir. Mamadou Dia
Direct Action, dir. Guillaume Cailleau, Ben Russell
Sleep With Your Eyes Open, dir. Nele Wohlatz
The Fable, dir. Raam Reddy
A Family, dir. Christine Angot
Favoriten, dir. Ruth Beckermann
Ivo, dir. Eva Trobisch
The Great Yawn, dir. Aliyar Rasti
Some Rain Must Fall, dir. Qiu Yang
Hands In The Fire, dir. Margarida Gil
Matt And Mara, dir. Kazik Radwanski
Through The Graves The Wind Is Blowing, dir. Travis Wilkerson
You Burn Me, dir. Matias Pineiro

Please visit the Official Website for more information

Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has made a further apology and is introducing practical changes in response to an investigation into the sexual harassment case involving former festival director Huh Moonyung, which resulted in the resignation of three top executives and one dismissal last year.

Full statement from the Busan International Film Festival on the result of the Sexual Harassment in the Workplace investigation

On May 31, 2023, the Busan International Film Festival was made aware of the [sexual harassment and assault in the workplace incident] through the media report and received the official report from Deun Deun, The Center for Gender Equality in Korean Cinema, on June 5.

The Busan International Film Festival recognised this case as a 'sexual harassment in the workplace' incident that occurred while the Accused was working at the film festival, and entrusted an external specialised organisation, the Busan Counseling Center Against Sexual Violence – Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault in the Busan Culture and Art Industry (hereinafter referred to as 'Counseling Center'), for an objective and professional investigation.

Following the case investigation and processing procedure, the Counseling Center formed an investigation committee and deliberation committee to conduct the appropriate investigation and deliberation. The investigation committee members included law firm attorneys and labour attorneys from labour corporations. However, the Accused requested the investigation agency be changed to a law firm or labour corporation for guaranteed expertise and objectivity, and did not respond to several recommendations for investigation. Due to such circumstances, the investigation was conducted on the Accuser and the witness[es].

The Accuser expressed their willingness to change the investigation agency and cooperate with the subsequent reinvestigation in response to the Accused's continued refusal to be investigated, but that also did not come to pass due to the Accused's refusal.

The investigation committee of this case concluded that it [constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace] on the basis of the Accuser's specific and consistent statements, and in December 2023, the Busan International Film Festival was notified of the investigation committee's result, a [serious incident of sexual harassment in the workplace].

After the incident, the Busan International Film Festival conducted a thorough investigation on all employees and took preventative measures through gender equality campaigns and in-depth education for gender sensitivity; and will continue to improve the internal organisational culture to ensure that similar cases do not occur in the future.

In order to achieve this:

First, the Busan International Film Festival will revise the Articles of Incorporation and strengthen the responsibilities and qualifications of the executives to ensure that there are no blind spots in the prevention of sexual harassment, and revised the Regulations on Prevention of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace to advance the reporting and counselling process for sexual harassment in the workplace.

Second, in the event of such an incident, we will do our best to protect the victims by supplementing regulations that provide a protection network and prevent secondary damage.

Third, in order to ensure an equal organisational culture for all genders and responsible processing of a case, we will designate a specialised organisation and mandate grievance counsellors to receive specialised training.

Fourth, we will strengthen practical education for the prevention of sexual harassment and assault for the secretariat according to executive and rank.

We sincerely apologise to the victim that such an incident has occurred in the workplace, a place that should be safe and where gender equality should be upheld. We would also like to apologise once again for the shortcomings in protecting the victim and conducting the initial investigation procedures.

And we apologise to the employees of the Busan International Film Festival and everybody who has supported the Busan International Film Festival for causing disappointment and concern.

The 48th Hong Kong International Film Festival is going to place in Hong Kong from 28 March through 8 April 2024.

As of this time no other information available but we'll bring new updates as we know more.

 Please also visit the Official Website for more information

Italy was one of the countries most hit in Europe by the COVID pandemic. The strict lockdowns crippled the economy in many ways, countless businesses closed their stores and naturally their movie theaters were not immune to this. While most survived but were not able to show any films.

2023 started to show a great recovery and box office has surged again. Below are some figures from 2023:

Box office takings rose 62% compared to 2022 to hit €495m, according to figures from Italian box office company Cinetel published by audiovisual body Anica. Admissions grew by 59% to reach 70.5m. However, the Italian theatrical market is still down by approximately 16% in takings and 23% in attendance compared to the pre-pandemic average for the 2017-2019 period. The top grossing film of the year was There's Still Tomorrow, the directorial debut of Italian star Paola Cortellesi, which was released in October through Vision Distribution after world premiering at the Rome Film Festival. The black and white comedy drama, set in Rome in 1946, grossed nearly €33m at the box office – ahead of second placed Barbie (€32.1m) and then Oppenheimer (€27.9m).

Anica highlighted the performance of Italian films in 2023, noting that Italian productions, including co-productions, recorded revenues of over €120m and 18m admissions for a roughly 26% share of total attendance.

Not only was there a higher share for Italian productions than the average for the pre-pandemic years of 2017-2019 (21%) but it was also close to the average for the entire decade 2010-2019 (26.9%).

The top three Italian-produced films, in addition to Paola Cortellesi's There's Still Tomorrow, included comedy adventure Me Contro Te Il Film – Missione Giungla (€4.8m) and Fabio de Luigi's comedy Tre Di Troppo (€4.7m). Anica also underlined the recovery of the summer season in Italy, traditionally considered the weakest period at the local box office.

The May to August period saw higher takings than the three-year period 2017-2019. Overall, the year recorded five months out of 12 with values higher than pre-pandemic data.

Italy mirrors most other European countries whose 2023 box office remains below the pre-pandemic era. France's box office is 13.1% below the pre-Covid 2017-2019 average, while the UK and Ireland is 22.1% down on the three-year pre-pandemic period average. For Germany the figure is 16.9% below and for Spain it is 23.9% below.

Hong Kong CineFan reveals its 2024 winter program featuring female Hungarian film director Márta Mészáros.

'A woman wanting to make films was a joke.' Márta Mészáros can now blithely laugh at the sarcasm and censorship she faced during her trailblazing, six decade career. Being the first woman to direct a feature in Hungary, and the first female filmmaker to win the Golden Bear at Berlinale, she broke barriers in cinema hierarchies and secured herself in the pantheon of auteurs, with an achievement as remarkable as her ex-husband – the legendary filmmaker Miklós Jancsó – yet standing tall in her own distinctive voice in the history of cinema.

Spending a decade making documentaries, Mészáros honed her dynamic visual style, investing delicate nuances and subtle realism into her exploration of women's lives – in her own words, 'to tell their stories honestly.' Skillfully turning ordinary workplace and domestic chores into private, churning dramas, she places her characters under conflicts and dilemmas where they must make a decision on their own. From bearing a child out-of-wedlock to hiring a surrogate mother, and even giving birth on camera, the Hungarian director is fearless in obfuscating the boundaries between fiction and reality, addressing head-on sensitive and controversial subjects that few dare to challenge.

Mészáros looks at her characters through a minimalist yet discerning lens, almost like an innocent child – the visceral emotions across their faces are captured with exquisite close-ups and freeze frames, and their intense struggles are gently laid bare without value judgment but with a sympathetic caress. Yet she never forgets to quietly admire women's stamina and fiercely independent spirit, while piercing through the patriarchal manipulation and moral conservatism that her heroines are striving to resist. Despite being lauded as a pioneering feminist, Mészáros never recognises herself as such: 'I wasn't making films about feminism. I was making films about people.'

Astonishingly prolific, Mészáros' themes range from personal independence, female solidarity to reflection on history. In the electrifying characters played by Marina Vlady, Isabelle Huppert, Lili Monori and Zsuzsa Czinkóczi, some parts of her alter-ego can always be seen, referencing her childhood as an orphan, her formative years as an adopted daughter and her rise to become an acclaimed filmmaker. Her own life embodies women's gender and artistic emancipation, while intricately entwined with Eastern Europe's sociocultural transformation. In its masterful blends of the personal and the political interwoven with dreamlike memories, real and fictionalised newsreels, Mészáros' autobiographical 'Diary Trilogy', her most acclaimed work, displays a refined, sophisticated film language that merges her own suffering with her country's tragic history as it unfolded within her own lifetime, evoking agony and catharsis in equal measure.

Two of a Kind — Auto-Remakes by Master Filmmakers

Remakes have a history nearly as long as Western film culture itself. While some may consider it as proof of filmmakers running out of creative ideas, the master filmmakers do have distinct, strong reasons to revisit their story a second time, and all share one ultimate goal – elevating their own work to absolute perfection.

From silent to talkies, from sheer black and white to vibrant colour, from academy ratio to CinemaScope are among the justified reasons for reprising a film. The reincarnation not only represents technological advances in filmmaking, but also reflects the evolution of time – Ozu Yasujiro's Tokyo, where his rowdy children lived in his films, shifted from pre-war depression to post-war economic recovery; as Europe was sliding to warfare again, Abel Gance reiterated his indictment, taking the anti-war theme to new horizons through two highly stylised films. Julien Duvivier transposed his dance programme from French sensibility to American sensuality, mirroring the cultural difference and his own transformation after fleeing to Hollywood.

As censorship was relaxed alongside the progression of societies, films that were previously banned or forced to be excised can now return to the director's ideal version. Inagaki Hiroshi restored in The Rickshaw Man the heart-wrenching scene of his retrained confession of love; William Wyler created an unflinching adaption that stays true to its original theatrical version in The Children's Hour, without compromise on the homosexual innuendo onscreen. Yet, allusions and subtexts conceived to evade censorship still evoke an enchanting aura and pleasure that is unparalleled.

  Visit the Official Program page on the CineFan website

Just hours after Jonathan Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment, IGN has learned that Marvel will not be moving forward with the Kang actor. Majors faces up to a year in prison after a jury on Monday found him guilty on one count of assault and one count of harassment, both misdemeanors.

It's currently unclear if Marvel will recast Kang, or scrap the character altogether. Variety previously reported that the studio was considering a pivot to Doctor Doom instead. In the meantime, the approach to the upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, in which Majors would've obviously played a crucial role, remains in flux. Loki creator Michael Waldron was recently tapped to take over writing duties from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania scribe Jeff Loveness.

Things changed, however, after Majors was arrested on March 25 on charges of strangulation, assault, and harassment. After several delays, a trial began on December 4, during which his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari testified that he was abusive throughout their relationship, but focused on that March 25 incident. Jabbari said she took his phone after seeing a text from another woman, and Majors twisted her hands and arm in trying to pry it from her in the backseat of an SUV, and struck a blow to her head.

Video evidence revealed to the six-person jury also showed Majors and Jabbari leaving the vehicle, with Majors shoving her back into it.

While the jury found Majors guilty of the two counts of assault and harassment, they also acquitted him on two other counts: intentional assault in the third degree and aggravated assault in the second degree. Majors pleaded not guilty to all counts, and his legal team has long argued that Jabbari was the aggressor. In a statement obtained by IGN on Monday, his defense attorney Priya Chaudhry said that he "still has faith in the process and looks forward to fully clearing his name."

While Marvel cutting ties with Majors following the verdict isn't a huge shock (Disney had already removed the Majors-starring Magazine Dreams from its release schedule), it is confirmation of what will inevitably be a big shift for the studio's future plans. Marvel does, however, have some time to figure things out; the only MCU film set to release next year is Deadpool 3, followed by Captain America: Brave New World on February 14, 2025.

Is this the end of the career of a successful actor in Hollywood?

(Part 3 of 3)

Live Action Short Film

The After
The Anne Frank Gift Shop
An Avocado Pit
Bienvenidos A Los Angeles
Dead Cat
Good Boy
Invincible
Invisible Border
Knight Of Fortune
The One Note Man
Red, White And Blue
The Shepherd
Strange Way Of Life
The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar
Yellow

Sound

Barbie
The Creator
Ferrari
The Killer
Killers Of The Flower Moon
Maestro
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
The Zone Of Interest

Visual Effects

The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
Poor Things
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child Of Fire
Society Of The Snow
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.

(Part 2 of 3)

Makeup And Hairstyling

Beau Is Afraid
Ferrari
Golda
Killers Of The Flower Moon
The Last Voyage Of The Demeter
Maestro
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society Of The Snow

Music (original score)

American Fiction
American Symphony
Barbie
The Boy And The Heron
The Color Purple
Elemental
The Holdovers
Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
Killers Of The Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Saltburn
Society Of The Snow
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
The Zone Of Interest

Music (original song)

"It Never Went Away" from American Symphony
"Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)" from Asteroid City
"Dance The Night" from Barbie
"I'm Just Ken" from Barbie
"What Was I Made For?" from Barbie
"Keep It Movin'" from The Color Purple
"Superpower (I)" from The Color Purple
"The Fire Inside" from Flamin' Hot
"High Life" from Flora And Son
"Meet In The Middle" from Flora And Son
"Can't Catch Me Now" from The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes
"Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" from Killers Of The Flower Moon
"Quiet Eyes" from Past Lives
"Road To Freedom" from Rustin
"Am I Dreaming" from Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

Animated Short Film

Boom
Eeva
Humo (Smoke)
I'm Hip
A Kind Of Testament
Koerkorter (Dog Apartment)
Letter To A Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Once Upon A Studio
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
Pete
27
War Is Over! Inspired By The Music Of John & Yoko
Wild Summon

(Part 3 below)

The Motion Picture Academy of Awards (Oscars) has revealed its new short list for the 2024 nominees. The Academy has announced it list in 10 categories for the 96th awards in March 2024.

(Part 1 of 3)

Documentary Feature Film

American Symphony
Apolonia, Apolonia
Beyond Utopia
Bobi Wine: The People's President
Desperate Souls, Dark City And The Legend Of Midnight Cowboy
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
In The Rearview
Stamped From The Beginning
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
A Still Small Voice
32 Sounds
To Kill A Tiger
20 Days In Mariupol

Documentary Short Film

The ABCs Of Book Banning
The Barber Of Little Rock
Bear
Between Earth & Sky
Black Girls Play: The Story Of Hand Games
Camp Courage
Deciding Vote
How We Get Free
If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis
Island In Between
The Last Repair Shop
Last Song From Kabul
Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó
Oasis
Wings Of Dust

International Feature Film

Armenia, Amerikatsi
Bhutan, The Monk And The Gun
Denmark, The Promised Land
Finland, Fallen Leaves
France, The Taste Of Things
Germany, The Teachers' Lounge
Iceland, Godland
Italy, Io Capitano
Japan, Perfect Days
Mexico, Totem
Morocco, The Mother Of All Lies
Spain, Society Of The Snow
Tunisia, Four Daughters
Ukraine, 20 Days In Mariupol
United Kingdom, The Zone Of Interest

(Part 2 below)

South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, best known for his role in the Oscar-winning film Parasite, has been found dead in an apparent suicide in central Seoul.

Police found the body of the actor, who was 48, in a car near a city park on Wednesday. They believe Lee took his own life, Yonhap news agency reports.

Police said earlier they had received a report that he had left his home after writing a note.
He had been under investigation for alleged illegal drug use since October. Lee's body was taken to Seoul National University Hospital after police located his car near Waryong Park. Reports say his family have refused an autopsy and he will be buried on Friday.

Police have begun an investigation to establish the details around his death, including when he arrived at the scene where his body was found, and the time of his death.

In Parasite, Lee played the patriarch of the wealthy Park family which is infiltrated by members of a poor family posing as unrelated individuals. The vicious social satire won four Oscars, including best picture.

Yonhap reported that he was suspected of taking drugs such as marijuana and ketamine with a hostess at a bar in Seoul. He had said that though he took what she gave him, he had not known that they were illicit drugs. The hostess had reportedly told the police that he used drugs at her home multiple times - something he denied. He had earlier requested through his lawyer to take a lie detector test.
His drug tests had returned negative or inconclusive results, the report added. Police said they regretted that Lee had died in the midst of investigations, but that the inquiry had been "conducted with [his] consent", News1 Korea reported. Lee underwent three rounds of questioning, with one session last Saturday lasting 19 hours, according to Yonhap. Lee's agency, HODU&U Entertainment, said in a statement: "There is no way to contain the sorrow and despair. We respectfully ask that you refrain from spreading false facts based on speculation... so that [Lee's] final journey will not be unfair."
News of his death sparked strong reactions online.

Lee is not the only South Korean celebrity who had been investigated for drug use recently. Earlier this month, K-pop star G-Dragon was cleared of drug allegations after weeks of investigations.
Actor Yoo Ah-in is currently standing trial for drug use.