Notizie

In her 2022 Toronto curtain raiser “The Swimmers,” telling the true story of two Syrian sisters and their emotional and gruelling journey to Europe to escape the civil war, director Sally El-Hossaini went to great lengths to ensure authenticity, using real-life refugees both in-front of and behind the camera.

For Counterpoints Arts, the U.K. charity that focusses on culture and migration, “The Swimmers” offered a great example of how projects involving refugees and migrants could — and should — be developed. As the organization’s co-founder and director Almir Koldzic explains to Variety, El-Hossaini made sure that “people with lived experiences were represented on every level of production and were respected in that process.”

Since it launched in 2012, Counterpoints has worked alongside the U.K. arts scene as part of its efforts to “inspire social change and enhance inclusion and cultural integration,” putting on numerous film screenings concerning the subject, many during the annual Refugee Week,...

Exclusive: Riz Ahmed and his Left Handed Films have come aboard the 2023 SXSW Audience Award winner Mustache, marking the feature directorial and screenwriting debut of Imran J. Khan, as executive producers.

In addition to Ahmed and Left-Handed’s Allie Moore, exec producers on the project include The Bear creator Christopher Storer, as well as Tyson Bidner and Josh Senior. Christina Won and Jessica Sittig produced, with Parker Mays co-producing alongside Cooper Wehde of American Light & Fixture. UTA Independent Film Group is handling worldwide sales.

Khan comes to the partnership with Ahmed and Left Handed a year after being named one of the inaugural participants of the Pillars Artist Fellowship, their filmmaker program created with Pillars, as a means of mentoring and championing rising Muslim talents.

An homage to coming-of-age films, ’90s nostalgia, and awkward teenage transitions, Mustache takes place in mid-’90s Northern California, where 13-year-old Pakistani American Ilyas...

Hillary Clinton is no stranger to film festivals. In 2020, the former Secretary of State traveled to Sundance and Berlin to promote the Hulu docuseries about her career. However, this year Clinton arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival with her daughter Chelsea in a very different capacity — as executive producers. The pair launched the new film and TV company HiddenLight Productions in 2021, but the fruits of those labors just emerged this week.

Friday saw the premiere of the documentary “In Her Hands,” a portrait of former Afghan female mayor Zarifa Ghafari, which the company produced with Netflix. The movie, co-directed by Afghan filmmaker Tamana Ayazi and Oscar nominee Marcel Mettelsiefen (“Watani: My Homeland”) screened the same day as the release of the unscripted AppleTV+ miniseries “Gutsy,” which features the two Clintons in conversation with other famous women. The connection between those two projects hints at the overall focus of BrightLights...

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After a lifetime spent between his birthplace of Lahore, Pakistan; the United States; and Great Britain, Mohsin Hamid is an expert at not only observing the world around him, but in using his surroundings to feed his art. In 1993, he was a relatively newly arrived transplant to the States and wrote his debut novel Moth Smoke about Pakistan. When he moved to London in 2000, he wrote about the New York City he’d recently left in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. And when he found himself back in his native Lahore, he began to conceive of the idea for The Last White Man, which he wouldn’t sit down to write for many years.

The book, which just hit shelves, imagines a world in which white people begin to turn dark-skinned — slowly at first, a few people waking up without their whiteness in disparate cities across the country,...

The animated film Nimona, scrapped following the shutdown of Blue Sky Studios amid Disney’s acquisition of Fox, has landed at Netflix, with Chloë Grace Moretz (Mother/Android), Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) and Eugene Lee Yang (Spring Bloom) set to star. The adaptation of Nd Stevenson’s New York Times bestselling graphic novel—originally to have been directed by Patrick Osborne, but now being helmed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (Spies in Disguise)—will debut on the streamer in 2023.

In the LGBTQ+-themed Nimona, Knight Ballister Boldheart (Ahmed) is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona (Moretz), a shape-shifting teen who might also be a monster he’s sworn to kill. Set in a techno-medieval world unlike anything animation has tackled before, this is an inclusive story about the labels we assign to people...

Riz Ahmed Honorary Award

Riz Ahmed will be the recipient of this year’s Richard Harris Award, which is presented annually by the British Independent Film Awards to recognize an actor or actress who has contributed significantly to British films. The Sound of Metal and The Night Of actor has been a stalwart at the BIFAs in the past, winning eight awards in total from the Brit indie ceremony. Last year, he picked up the Best Debut Screenwriter award for Mogul Mowgli, his first foray into feature film writing, and the Best British Short Film BIFA for The Long Goodbye. Upcoming he is an executive producer on Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee and is working on a film adaptation of Mosin Hamid’s book Exit West, to be directed by Yann Demange, via Ahmed’s production company Left Handed, which has a first-look TV deal with Amazon. “I am grateful...

The London-born actor will receive the Richard Harris award.

UK actor Riz Ahmed is to be honoured with the Richard Harris award by the British Independent Film Awards (Bifas).

The award honours actors who have contributed significantly to British films across their careers, with previous recipients including Glenda Jackson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Daniel Day-Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Ahmed was born in Wembley, London. His breakthrough role was in Michael Winterbottom’s 2006 film The Road To Guantánamo. In the same year, he was named a Screen Star of Tomorrow. He has starred in feature films Four Lions,...

Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman and Audra McDonald will star in “Rustin,” an upcoming biopic about gay, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. The film is the first narrative feature to be produced by Higher Ground, Michelle and Barack Obama’s production company.

George C. Wolfe, who previously oversaw “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with “Milk’s” Dustin Lance Black. Netflix will release the film under their deal with Higher Ground.

The film will look at the onslaught of obstacles that Rustin had to overcome to organize the 1963 March on Washington, which was where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech. Rock will play NAACP leader Roy Wilkins; Turman will portray activist and March on Washington co-organizer A. Philip Randolph; and McDonald, will play civil rights icon Ella Baker.

Academy Award winner Bruce Cohen (“American Beauty”) and Higher Ground...

We’ve confirmed that Candyman star Colman Domingo is set to play gay rights activist Bayard Rustin in Rustin, the first film production from Michelle and Barack Obama’s Higher Ground, which has their deal at Netflix.

Also starring opposite Domingo are Chris Rock, Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) and Audra McDonald (Respect). Rock and Turman recently starred on the fourth season of FX’s Fargo, while Turman, Domingo starred in Wolfe’s Oscar nominated Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

The George C. Wolfe directed and co-written feature with Milk‘s Dustin Lance Black tells the story of how Rustin overcame an onslaught of obstacles, and altered the course of American history by organizing the 1963 March on Washington.

Producers are Oscar winner Bruce Cohen (American Beauty) and Higher Ground’s Tonia Davis. EPs are Higher Ground’s Mark R. Wright and Alex G. Scott.

Priya Swaminathan is stepping down from her role as co-head of film and television at Higher Ground, the media company founded by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.

At the same time, the former president and First Lady announced several new additions to the company’s executive team, most notably hiring Joe Paulsen, an old Obama hand, as head of business and strategy.

Swaminathan, a former executive at Annapurna, was the first hire the Obamas made when they launched Higher Ground. She has helped grow the company since joining it in 2019, overseeing the rollout of the Oscar-winning documentary “American Factory” and the Oscar-nominated “Crip Camp.” The decision to leave the company was Swaminathan’s own and she remains a favorite of the Obamas, as evidenced by a glowing statement they released.

“We are so grateful to Priya for her tremendous impact at Higher Ground these past few years,” the Obamas said in a statement.

Six writers will provide love stories about Black teens for the crossover project.

Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground is reteaming with Temple Hill Entertainment to develop Blackout, a film and TV project for Netflix.

The project, being developed concurrently as both a series and a feature under Higher Ground’s overall deal with Netflix, will be based on Black love stories written by six different writers and all set during a power cut on a hot summer night in New York City.

The stories, from writers Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas (novelist behind Temple...

Netflix has ordered a six-part anthology “Blackout,” to be produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground banner and Temple Hill.

The project is designed to will tell six different stories of Black teenagers who find love during a power outage in New York City. Each installment will be penned by a different writer. The project is being developed concurrently as a TV and a film project through Higher Ground’s overall deal with Netflix.

“When the lights go out and people reveal hidden truths, love blossoms, friendships transform, and all possibilities take flight,” Netflix said.

The stories will be adapted from works penned by authors Dhonielle Clayton (“Tiny Pretty Things”), Tiffany D. Jackson (“Allegedly”), Nic Stone (“Dear Martin”), Angie Thomas (“The Hate U Give”), Ashley Woodfolk (“The Beauty that Remains”) and Nicola Yoon. Among the storylines for the installments that Netflix revealed were “two boys trapped on the subway come face-to-face...

Exclusive: WME has hired former Columbia Pictures creative executive Eric Darnell as an agent in the motion picture literary department.

At Columbia Pictures, Darnell supervised production on Scott Beck & Bryan Woods’ Adam Driver-starring sci-fi thriller, 65, in addition to shepherding development across a multitude of projects.

Previously, Darnell worked at the Russo Brother’s Agbo where he helped shepherd development and production across both film with Apple’s Cherry, A24’s Everything Everywhere All At Once, Netflix’s Exit West and Universal’s The Electric State, as well as television with Amazon’s Citadel.

Prior to that, Darnell was a contributing member of the Lucasfilm story group where he supported executives during the production of Star Wars Ep 9: The Rise of Skywalker which grossed over $1.07 billion at the global box office.

Darnell joins WME on the heels of several agent promotions across the department, including Connor Armstrong, McCall​ Koenig and Brett​ Rosen.

The Barack and Michelle Obama-led shingle Higher Ground has acquired the Michael Keaton film “Worth,” in partnership with their distributor Netflix.

Directed by Sara Colangelo (“The Kindergarten Teacher”), the film is adapted from the Kenneth Feinberg memoir “What Is Life Worth?” and follows the lawyer’s process in awarding the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund.

Netflix will stream the film in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Australia, the UK, France, Turkey and select other countries. The project played in competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, prior to the global spread of coronavirus. It’s set for release this September, marking the 20th anniversary of the attack on New York City.

Feinberg was appointed special master of the compensation fund, tasked by Congress to allocate financial rewards to the victims of the tragedy. The film follows his search to calculate incalculable loss in the face of cynicism, bureaucracy, and the politics of division.

Following the critical acclaim of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, George C. Wolfe and Netflix are reteaming as Wolfe has come on to direct Rustin for Netflix and President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. Milk scribe Dustin Lance Black will pen the script. The story follows tells the story of charismatic, gay, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who overcame an onslaughts of obstacles, and altered the course of American history by organizing the 1963 march on Washington.

Higher Ground Productions’ Priya Swaminathan and Tonia Davis will produce along with Academy Award winner Bruce Cohen and Black. Higher Ground Productions recently released their upcoming slate of films and series in partnership with Netflix which include Exit West, Satellite, Tenzing and The Young Wife. Current documentary films on Netflix include Academy Award Winner American Factory, Emmy Award nominee Becoming, and Crip Camp, which was just named to the Oscars Documentary Shortlist.

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” director George C. Wolfe has set his return engagement with Netflix, directing “Rustin” for the streamer, and President Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.

The film tells the story of gay, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who organized the 1963 March on Washington. President Obama posthumously awarded Rustin, an advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr. and participant in the first “Freedom Rides,” with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.

Dustin Lance Black, who won the Academy Award for best original screenplay for 2008’s “Milk,” will write the film and serve as a producer.

Priya Swaminathan and Tonia Davis will produce for Higher Ground Productions, alongside Academy Award winner Bruce Cohen (“American Beauty”).

The Obamas’ production company, founded in 2018, recently released their upcoming slate of fiction, non-fiction, and kids & family films and series in partnership with Netflix, which include “Exit West,” “Satellite,” “Tenzing” and “The Young Wife.

Netflix is at work on a biopic of Bayard Rustin, a gay civil rights icon who helped organize the 1963 March on Washington. The film will be directed by “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” director George C. Wolfe.

Dustin Lance Black, an Oscar winner for another biopic about a gay rights legend, “Milk,” is writing the screenplay for “Rustin.” Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions will produce the film.

Rustin, because of his sexuality, often worked behind the scenes during the Civil Rights Movement, working closely with A. Philip Randolph, organizing Freedom Rides and fighting to integrate workers unions. Later in his life, he would emerge as a vocal advocate for gay rights and testify on behalf of the state of New York’s Gay Rights bill. The film “Rustin” will show his onslaught of obstacles and how he worked to alter the course of history before his death...

Gay activist Bayard Rustin organised 1963 march on Washington.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom director George C. Wolfe is reuniting with Netflix on a feature about Civil Rights activist Bayard Rustin for the Obamas’ Higher Ground label.

Priya Swaminathan and Tonia Davis from former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions will produce with Bruce Cohen and Dustin Lance Black (Milk).

Rustin tells the story of charismatic, gay, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who battled discrimination in his life and organised Freedom Rides as well as the 1963 march on Washington for labour leader A. Philip Randolph.

While in office,...

Given the subject matter of Jen Peedom’s first narrative feature, it is somewhat fitting the project has been included in Higher Ground’s production slate.

The production company, owned by Barack and Michelle Obama, will partner with the filmmaker and Netflix on Tenzing – a feature film based on the true story of Tenzing Norgay, the man who first reached the summit of Everest along with Sir Edmund Hillary.

Luke Davies (Lion) wrote the script based on the book Tenzing: Hero of Everest by Ed Douglas.

Peedom, who operates Stranger Than Fiction Films alongside Jo-anne McGowan, will produce with Davies alongside Higher Ground Productions. David Michôd (The King) and Norbu Tenzing Norgay, who is Tenzing Norgay’s eldest son, will executive produce.

The director, whose previous credits include documentaries Sherpa and Mountain, has known Tenzing’s family since 2003, and has been working on working on the feature about his life since 2016.

Jen Peedom.

No one can accuse the Obamas of being underachievers: Netflix has unveiled an extensive slate of upcoming projects from President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.

The announcement includes two new series: Firekeeper’s Daughter, based on Angeline Boulley’s forthcoming debut YA novel about an 18-year-old Native girl who reluctantly goes undercover in a police investigation on her Ojibwe reservation; and the docuseries Great National Parks, which explores some of the most wondrous national parks and wild spaces on Earth.

More from TVLineTVLine Items: Kardashians' Final E! Promo, Good Trouble Trailer and More2020 Democratic National Convention: Watch Kamala Harris,...

Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions has unveiled its next round of projects in development at Netflix.

Among the new film and series projects in the works are an adaptation of the Mohsin Hamid novel “Exit West” starring Riz Ahmed, a science fiction film written by Ola Shokunbi, a docuseries about National Parks and a series adaptation of the forthcoming novel “Firekeeper’s Daughter.”

“We created Higher Ground to tell great stories,” the former president and first lady said in a statement. “This group of projects builds upon that goal and the incredible path forged by films like Crip Camp, Becoming, and the Oscar-winning American Factory. From science fiction to the beauty of our natural world to the relationships that define us, Higher Ground continues to strive for fresh perspectives, compelling characters, and a healthy dose of inspiration. We couldn’t be more proud to team up with...

President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s production company, Higher Ground Productions, has set a slate of new projects under their deal with Netflix.

The new slate encompasses both TV and film projects, including a film adaptation of Mohsin Hamid’s critically-acclaimed novel “Exit West” and a biopic on Tenzing Norgay, who was the first person to reach the peak of Mount Everest alongside Sir Edmund Hillary. The company is also prepping a U.S. National Parks docuseries and a series adaptation of the Angeline Boulley book “Firekeeper’s Daughter.”

The full description of all the projects can be found below. They are currently in different stages of development, to be released over the next several years.

“We created Higher Ground to tell great stories,” the Obamas said. “This group of projects builds upon that goal and the incredible path forged by films like ‘Crip Camp,’ ‘Becoming,’ and the Oscar-winning ‘American Factory.

Pipeline includes Satellite, The Young Wife.

Australian high-altitude director Jennifer Peedom’s Everest feature Tenzing has landed at Netflix under the streamer’s deal with former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions (Hgp).

The feature is one of several film and TV projects announced on the Higher Ground slate on Friday (February 5) that includes Oscar contender Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal) in the thriller Exit West, and a sci-fi from Rian Johnson (Knives Out) and his producer Ram Bergman.

Tenzing is based on the true story of Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa who accompanied Edmund Hillary on...

Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions has unveiled a new slate of projects at Netflix, with subjects ranging from one of the first men to reach the summit of Mt. Everest to a YA thriller centered on a Native American girl.

The company also formally announced it’s developing Exit West, a feature starring Riz Ahmed and based on Mohsin Hamid’s acclaimed novel. News of the movie, directed by Yann Demange (White Boy Rick), first broke in March 2020.

“We created Higher Ground to tell great stories. This group of projects builds upon that goal and the ...

Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions has unveiled a new slate of projects at Netflix, with subjects ranging from one of the first men to reach the summit of Mt. Everest to a YA thriller centered on a Native American girl.

The company also formally announced it’s developing Exit West, a feature starring Riz Ahmed and based on Mohsin Hamid’s acclaimed novel. News of the movie, directed by Yann Demange (White Boy Rick), first broke in March 2020.

“We created Higher Ground to tell great stories. This group of projects builds upon that goal and the ...

Riz Ahmed, star of Amazon-backed feature film Sound of Metal, is staying in business with the streamer after striking a first-look deal with the company.

His production company Left Handed Films has inked the deal covering television with Amazon Studios and has hired former AMC exec Allie Moore to oversee production and development.

Moore, who was previously Vice President of Scripted Programming at AMC Studios, joins as Senior Vice President, Head of Television.

It comes as Left Handed Films gears up for the launch of feature film Mogul Mowgli, which The Night Of star co-wrote, starred in and produced. He is also working on an adaptation of Exit West for Netflix in partnership with the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions and Joe and Anthony Russo’s Agbo, and a modern take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in which Ahmed will star.

Ahmed’s other acting credits include Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,...

Riz Ahmed has signed a first-look TV deal with Amazon Studios.

Additionally, former AMC executive Allie Moore is joining Ahmed’s Left Handed Films as executive vice president and head of television. Allie Moore served as the Vice President of Scripted Programming for AMC Studios

Ahmed is the star of Amazon feature film “The Sound of Metal.”

Left Handed Films’ projects include “Mogul Mowgli,” a film co-written, starring and produced by Ahmed that premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and will be released later this year. Left Handed is also co-producing “Exit West” with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions and the Russo brothers’ Agbo, as well as a modern take on “Hamlet” that will star Ahmed.

“‘The Sound of Metal’ campaign has been a brilliant first experience of working with Amazon Studios. Their emphasis on creating community between bold creatives, their global reach, and their desire to...

Exclusive: Fresh from an earnings report that saw it add 10 million subscribers during the pandemic, Netflix has just set its most financially ambitious feature film so far. Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans are set to star in The Gray Man, with Agbo’s Joe & Anthony Russo directing their first blockbuster since setting the all-time global box office record with Avengers: Endgame two years ago. The intention here is to create a new franchise with a James Bond-level of scale and a budget upwards of $200 million.

The Russo’s Agbo is producing, and the script was written by Joe Russo, with a polish by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who scripted the Russo-directed Captain America and Avengers films and who are Co-Presidents of Story at Agbo. It is based on the 2009 Mark Greaney novel that introduced the Gray Man, a freelance assassin and former CIA operative named Court Gentry.

The film...

As Michelle Obama says in the new trailer for the documentary “Becoming,” so much of the former First Lady’s life happened before the eight-year run of her husband, Barack Obama, as President of the United States. And that’s exactly what the new Netflix film is about.

Read More: The Russos Join Forces With The Obamas For A Netflix Film, ‘Exit West,’ Starring Riz Ahmed

In “Becoming,” the camera follows Michelle Obama on a 34-city speaking tour where she shares stories about her past, growing up in Chicago, as well as how that history helps shape her view of the world today.

Continue reading ‘Becoming’ Trailer: Michelle Obama Takes Centerstage In Netflix Doc at The Playlist.

With the Covid-19 pandemic creating chaos all around the world, in almost every business industry, there’s a lot of uncertainty with what the future might look like. And in the case of the entertainment industry, that’s definitely the case, with cinemas shut down and productions halted all around the world. Needless to say, it’s a weird time to be working on a film, which is echoed by filmmaker Joe Russo in a new interview about his upcoming film, “Cherry.”

Read More: The Russos Join Forces With The Obamas For A Netflix Film, ‘Exit West,’ Starring Riz Ahmed

Speaking to Comicbook.com, Russo, who co-directs “Cherry” with his brother Anthony, explained where the filmmakers are in the process of finishing the upcoming crime thriller.

Continue reading Joe Russo Says Tom Holland’s ‘Cherry’ Performance Is “Oscar-Worthy” at The Playlist.