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October 13, 2026
South Africa’s Cash Rebate Bounces Back, African Verticals Lift Off and AI at a Crossroads: 10 Takeaways From the Durban FilmMart
The Durban FilmMart wrapped its 17th edition on Oct. 12 with a boisterous awards ceremony that offered a fitting exclamation point to a four-day event whose rousing turn-out — with more than 1,100 ...
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October 13, 2026
‘The Ones With the Tempered Flowers,’ ‘On the Sea Road,’ ‘Where Do I Belong?’ Win Big at Durban FilmMart
Tanzanian filmmaker Neema Ngelime’s “The Ones With the Tempered Flowers,” Palestinian director Fitnat Waked’s “On the Sea Road” and “Where Do I Belong?,” from Sudanese director Ibrahim “Snoopy” Ahm...
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October 12, 2026
How South Africa Rescued Its Rebate and Pulled the Industry Back From the Brink: We’re ‘Back in Business’
The long nightmare might be over for South African producers, whose industry has been crippled for more than two years by the paralysis of a rebate program that for all intents and purposes had cea...
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October 7, 2026
‘Mami Wata’ Director C.J. Obasi, ‘Khartoum’ Filmmaker Ibrahim Ahmad and More Take New Projects to Durban FilmMart’s Co-Production Forum
The 17th Durban FilmMart kicks off Oct. 9 with a stacked, four-day program of talks, panels, think tanks and conversations that will spotlight some of the challenges and opportunities for the Afric...
variety.com
September 29, 2026
Durban FilmMart Head on Why This Year’s Event Is ‘Looking Inward’ as African Screen Industries Strive to ‘Create Solutions’ on Their Own Terms
The Durban FilmMart returns for its 17th edition with a full slate of conversations and events looking to build on the legacy of innovation, disruption and industry-defining discussions at what is ...
variety.com
September 28, 2026
African Finance Rising, Distribution Doldrums and Other Hot-Button Topics on the Agenda at This Year’s Durban FilmMart
As the fall festival season winds down, the temperature will be heating up next month in Durban, South Africa, where the 17th Durban FilmMart takes place from Oct. 9 – 12. This year’s event arrives...
variety.com
September 24, 2026
Serbia’s Screen Industries in Crisis Amid Claims That Blacklists, ‘State-Sponsored Censorship’ Are Designed to ‘Starve Independent Production’
The Serbian film and television industries are in a state of crisis, with independent production in the Balkan powerhouse crippled by what leading industry groups describe as “a coordinated campaig...
variety.com
September 14, 2026
EbonyLife’s Mo Abudu on TIFF Premiere ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’ and ‘the Consequences of the Decisions We Take as Women’
Nigerian super-producer Mo Abudu returns to the red carpet at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival this week, where “The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives,” premiering in the TIFF Centrepiece strand, ma...
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September 11, 2026
Global Africa Hub at TIFF Market Seeks to Boost Visibility — and Deals — for African Filmmakers in Toronto: ‘It’s Our Moment’
The first-ever Toronto film market, running as part of the Toronto Film Festival, will have a robust contingent of African filmmakers, executives and industry professionals on the ground. Producers...
variety.com
September 10, 2026
Telekom Srbija’s Content Head on Blueprint for Turning Serbian Production Powerhouse Into Global Player
Telecommunications giant Telekom Srbija is looking to position itself as not only the leading production hub in Serbia but a regional juggernaut for the countries of the former Yugoslavia, exportin...
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September 10, 2026
Serbian Sci-Fi Epic ‘Sanctuary,’ Starring ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’s’ Nina Kiri, Acquired for U.S. Distribution (EXCLUSIVE)
Vertical has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Sanctuary,” an English-language, post-apocalyptic thriller starring “The Handmaid’s Tale’s” Nina Kiri. According to the synopsis, “Sanctuary” is s...
variety.com
September 7, 2026
Lav Diaz on the Hunt for Truth in ‘An Entry Into the Sadness of a Portuguese Woman,’ Third Chapter of His Acclaimed Hermes Trilogy (EXCLUSIVE)
Venice Golden Lion winner Lav Diaz (“The Woman Who Left”), who returns to the Lido this week with the Venice Open selection “Let Us Through, Dear Ancestors” (Makikiraan Po), is in post-production o...
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September 6, 2026
Are Russian Filmmakers Finally Coming in From the Cold?
The Venice Film Festival found itself under fire in the weeks leading up to opening night over the inclusion of “DAU,” by Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky, in the main competition of its 83rd ed...
variety.com
September 6, 2026
Groundbreaking Roma Director Alina Șerban on ‘Pain,’ ‘Joy,’ of Historic, Venice-Bound ‘I Matter’: ‘I Managed to Do Something Impossible’
Roma filmmaker Alina Șerban broke barriers long before she set foot on the red carpet this week at the Venice Film Festival, where her feature-length directorial debut, “I Matter,” world premieres ...
variety.com
September 5, 2026
Venice: ‘My Undesirable Friends’ Director on Epic Documentary About Death of Press Freedom in Russia, How Putin’s Crackdown Is Warning for U.S.
If her epic, Oscar-shortlisted documentary “My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 — Last Air In Moscow” pulled off an astonishing feat, chronicling the last gasps of press freedom in Vladimir Putin’s Russ...
variety.com
September 4, 2026
AR Content, Vertigo, Blumhouse Atomic Monster Set Remake of Genre-Bending, Satirical French Horror ‘Vincent Must Die’ (EXCLUSIVE)
AR Content, Vertigo and Blumhouse Atomic Monster are teaming up to remake “Vincent Must Die,” the acclaimed French Belgian thriller directed by Stéphan Castang that premiered in the Cannes Film Fes...
variety.com
September 4, 2026
Berlin Golden Bear Winner Lila Avilés Wraps Production on ‘Cábula,’ Releases First Look Ahead of Venice Gap-Financing Market (EXCLUSIVE)
Berlin Golden Bear winner Lila Avilés (“Totém”) has wrapped production on her next feature film, “Cábula,” and shared an exclusive first-look image with Variety. The director will present the film ...
variety.com
September 3, 2026
Ursula Meier on English-Language Debut ‘Quiet Land,’ and How Gillian Anderson Inspired Her to Tell an ‘American Story’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Swiss French filmmaker Ursula Meier (“The Line”) is prepping her long-gestating English-language debut, “Quiet Land,” a detective story-cum-romantic drama set in Big Sky country that she’ll be taki...
variety.com
September 3, 2026
‘I Am Frankelda’ Filmmakers Roy and Arturo Ambriz Take ‘Ballad of the Phoenix’ to Venice, Share Guillermo del Toro’s Advice to ‘Go Bigger’
Mexican animators Roy and Arturo Ambriz, the groundbreaking duo behind their country’s first-ever stop-motion animated feature, are hoping to hit a high note with “Ballad of the Phoenix,” which the...
variety.com
September 3, 2026
Elina Psykou’s ‘Patrimonial Fears and Other Illusions’ Casts Veteran Trio Ahead of Venice Gap-Financing Market (EXCLUSIVE)
Greek filmmaker Elina Psykou (“Stray Bodies”) has attached a trio of Hellenic heavyweights to the cast of “Patrimonial Fears and Other Illusions,” which will head to the Venice Gap-Financing Market...
variety.com
September 2, 2026
‘Black Book 2,’ ‘I’m Coming for You’ Headline Buzzy Slate of African Works in Progress at Inaugural TIFF Market (EXCLUSIVE)
CANEX Creations Inc., the pan-African investment platform behind films such as the buzzy Cannes premiere “Clarissa,” has unveiled a slate of works in progress that it will be screening for prospect...
variety.com
September 2, 2026
Ruben Östlund’s Plattform Produktion Boards Jessica Hausner’s Satirical Drama ‘Toxic’ Ahead of Venice Gap-Financing Market (EXCLUSIVE)
Ruben Östlund’s Plattform Produktion has joined “Toxic,” the forthcoming satirical workplace drama from “Club Zero” director Jessica Hausner, which is among the projects being pitched during the Ve...
variety.com
August 22, 2026
Austrian Director Sandra Wollner’s ‘Everytime’ Wins Best Film at Sarajevo Film Festival
Sandra Wollner’s “Everytime” continued its winning streak at the Sarajevo Film Festival, where the Cannes Un Certain Regard winner took home the Heart of Sarajevo for best narrative feature film. T...
variety.com
August 21, 2026
‘Supporting Role’ Director Ana Urushadze Preps ‘Fear of Butterflies,’ a Detective Story With ‘Mysticism and a Touch of Body Horror’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Georgian director Ana Urushadze (“Scary Mother”), whose Rotterdam prizewinner “Supporting Role” plays in competition this week at the Sarajevo Film Festival, is prepping her third feature film. “Fe...
variety.com
August 21, 2026
Folk Horror ‘Wolf Days,’ Family Drama ‘The First Week of August’ Win at Sarajevo Industry Awards
Emilija Gašić’s folk horror “Wolf Days” and Filip Mojzeš’ family drama “The First Week of August” won the top prizes in the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Industry Days, the industry section foc...
variety.com
August 20, 2026
‘You Don’t Belong Here’ Director Florin Şerban Sets Next Feature After Winning Locarno’s Golden Leopard (EXCLUSIVE)
Romanian filmmaker Florin Şerban, whose bleak study of systemic racism and toxic masculinity “You Don’t Belong Here” won the Golden Leopard at the recently wrapped Locarno Film Festival, is preppin...
variety.com
August 18, 2026
‘Mother’ Director Teona Mitevska Preps Sequel to Feminist Satirical Drama ‘God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya’ (EXCLUSIVE)
North Macedonian filmmaker Teona Mitevska (“Mother”) is prepping a sequel to her satirical drama “God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya,” which premiered in competition at the Berlinale in 2019, the dir...
variety.com
August 16, 2026
‘Shame and Money’ Director on Sundance-Winning Drama About a Kosovo Family in Free Fall: ‘It’s a Look Into the Past and a Warning to the Future’
Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Visar Morina returns to the Sarajevo Film Festival — the scene of a previous triumph — with the biting social drama “Shame and Money,” which won the top prize in Pa...
variety.com
August 12, 2026
Teona Mitevska, Célina Sciamma and More to Launch Female-Empowerment Initiative Sister Sister at Sarajevo Film Festival (EXCLUSIVE)
North Macedonia’s Teona Mitevska (“Mother”) and French director Céline Sciamma (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”) are among the filmmakers who will launch an initiative at the Sarajevo Film Festival th...
variety.com