After capturing the life of sasquatches with their latest feature, Sasquatch Sunset and Kumiko directors Nathan and David Zellner will be shifting to sci-fi for their next film, with Cate Blanchett attached to lead the project.
THR reports Blanchett will lead the sci-fi comedy Alpha Gang, playing Alpha One, “the leader of an alien gang sent on a mission to conquer Earth. She arrives disguised in human form together with her fellow extraterrestrials, posing as an armed and dangerous 1950s leather-clad biker gang. But their ruthless plan is disrupted when the gang catches the most toxic, contagious human disease of all: emotion.”
Ahead of production kicking off this fall Blanchett and “The Zellner brother’s work never fails to surprise and delight us,” said Blanchett and Coco Francini of Dirty Films. “In Alpha Gang, they have created a far-out world in order to lampoon something much closer to home: The hilarious,...
THR reports Blanchett will lead the sci-fi comedy Alpha Gang, playing Alpha One, “the leader of an alien gang sent on a mission to conquer Earth. She arrives disguised in human form together with her fellow extraterrestrials, posing as an armed and dangerous 1950s leather-clad biker gang. But their ruthless plan is disrupted when the gang catches the most toxic, contagious human disease of all: emotion.”
Ahead of production kicking off this fall Blanchett and “The Zellner brother’s work never fails to surprise and delight us,” said Blanchett and Coco Francini of Dirty Films. “In Alpha Gang, they have created a far-out world in order to lampoon something much closer to home: The hilarious,...
- 5/9/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Cate Blanchett is to receive San Sebastian’s highest honorary award, the Donostia Award, at the Spanish film festival’s 72nd edition which runs from September 20-28.
It will be Blanchett’s first visit to San Sebastian, but the festival has already screened a number of her films including Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Babel in 2007 and Joel Schumacher’s Veronica Guerin in 2003.
Blanchett is the second Australian actor to receive the Donostia award after Hugh Jackman in 2013.
Blanchett will also feature on San Sebastian’s official poster, created by graphic designer José Luis Lanzagorta based on a photograph by Gustavo Papaleo.
It will be Blanchett’s first visit to San Sebastian, but the festival has already screened a number of her films including Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Babel in 2007 and Joel Schumacher’s Veronica Guerin in 2003.
Blanchett is the second Australian actor to receive the Donostia award after Hugh Jackman in 2013.
Blanchett will also feature on San Sebastian’s official poster, created by graphic designer José Luis Lanzagorta based on a photograph by Gustavo Papaleo.
- 5/9/2024
- ScreenDaily
Cate Blanchett has signed up to star in the comedy 'Alpha Gang'.The 54-year-old actress will play the leader of an alien invasion in the new movie from sibling filmmakers David and Nathan Zellner.Cate's character Alpha One is the head of an alien gang on a mission to conquer Earth and arrives on the planet in human form with her fellow extraterrestrials as they pose as a leather-clad 1950s biker gang.However, their invasion plans are interrupted when the gang catches the "contagious human diseases" of emotion.The picture is due to begin shooting later this year with the Zellner brothers both directing and producing the flick.Blanchett and Coco Francini are also involved as producers for their Dirty Films banner.The pair said in a joint statement: "The Zellner brother's work never fails to surprise and delight us."In 'Alpha Gang', they have created a far-out world in...
- 5/9/2024
- by Joe Graber
- Bang Showbiz
Cate Blanchett has signed on to star in Alpha Gang, the new comedy from David and Nathan Zellner, the sibling duo behind wacky Sundance entry Sasquatch Sunset.
The two-time Oscar winner is set to star as Alpha One, the leader of an alien gang sent on a mission to conquer Earth. She arrives disguised in human form together with her fellow extraterrestrials, posing as an armed and dangerous 1950’s leather-clad biker gang. But their ruthless plan is disrupted when the gang catches “the most toxic, contagious human disease of all: emotion.”
David and Nathan Zellner will direct Alpha Gang as well as produce. Blanchett and Coco Francini are also on board as producers, through their Dirty Films outfit. Other producers include Ryan Zacarias for Fat City, and Gina Gammell for Felix Culpa. The film is set to being shooting this fall.
“The Zellner brother’s work never fails to surprise and delight us,...
The two-time Oscar winner is set to star as Alpha One, the leader of an alien gang sent on a mission to conquer Earth. She arrives disguised in human form together with her fellow extraterrestrials, posing as an armed and dangerous 1950’s leather-clad biker gang. But their ruthless plan is disrupted when the gang catches “the most toxic, contagious human disease of all: emotion.”
David and Nathan Zellner will direct Alpha Gang as well as produce. Blanchett and Coco Francini are also on board as producers, through their Dirty Films outfit. Other producers include Ryan Zacarias for Fat City, and Gina Gammell for Felix Culpa. The film is set to being shooting this fall.
“The Zellner brother’s work never fails to surprise and delight us,...
- 5/8/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cannes Film Festival (May 15-24) has unveiled the eight titles for its inaugural immersive competition, including projects featuring Cate Blanchett, Millie Bobby Brown, Patti Smith, Colin Farrell and Jessica Chastain.
The competition includes location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, as well as projection mapping and holographic works.
Evolver is voiced by Blanchett, and has previously played at Tribeca and Geneva International Film Festiva. It is helmed by Barnaby Steel, Ersin Han Ersin and Robin McNicholas of London-based art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast. Dirty Films is also a production company, and Coco Francini, Blanchett, and Andrew Upton are executive producers on the virtual reality project,...
The competition includes location-based virtual reality and mixed reality experiences, as well as projection mapping and holographic works.
Evolver is voiced by Blanchett, and has previously played at Tribeca and Geneva International Film Festiva. It is helmed by Barnaby Steel, Ersin Han Ersin and Robin McNicholas of London-based art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast. Dirty Films is also a production company, and Coco Francini, Blanchett, and Andrew Upton are executive producers on the virtual reality project,...
- 4/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films has acquired the film rights to one of the hottest theater shows around: the Sydney Theatre Company’s adaptation of Oscar Wilde classic The Picture Of Dorian Gray, which has recently been lighting up London’s West End.
Sarah Snook has garnered raves for her performance in the latest iteration of the show and last Sunday the Succession star scored an Olivier Award for Best Actress.
Dirty Films partner Andrew Upton is working with the show’s mastermind Kip Williams on a treatment based on the technically dazzling one woman show, which sees its protagonist play 26 roles. The part was first performed by Eryn Jean Norvill in multiple sell-out runs across Australia. Oscar winner Blanchett attended the most recent run’s opening night in London earlier this year.
Co-producers on the film will be Rachel Gardner and Jo Porter of Australian company Curio Pictures,...
Sarah Snook has garnered raves for her performance in the latest iteration of the show and last Sunday the Succession star scored an Olivier Award for Best Actress.
Dirty Films partner Andrew Upton is working with the show’s mastermind Kip Williams on a treatment based on the technically dazzling one woman show, which sees its protagonist play 26 roles. The part was first performed by Eryn Jean Norvill in multiple sell-out runs across Australia. Oscar winner Blanchett attended the most recent run’s opening night in London earlier this year.
Co-producers on the film will be Rachel Gardner and Jo Porter of Australian company Curio Pictures,...
- 4/18/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Cate Blanchett and her producing partner Coco Francini told IndieWire the tagline for their new diversity grant program should be “Intensely Practical.” Ok, so it was at least partially a joke based on an off-the-cuff remark by Blanchett, but it’s also not a bad differentiator between their incubator and others.
Blanchett through the Proof of Concept Accelerator is offering eight filmmakers $50,000 to make short films from their unique POVs. The real value however may be in her selection committee: Chloé Zhao, Emma Corrin, Eva Longoria, Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion, Janicza Bravo, Lily Gladstone, and Lilly Wachowski.
The money (and the mentorship) is definitely practical, sure, but “intensely”? No one is more intensely practical than USC’s Dr. Stacy Smith.
Through her Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Smith has studied diversity in entertainment for more than 20 years. She’d like to say the industry has changed before her very eyes, but it hasn’t.
Blanchett through the Proof of Concept Accelerator is offering eight filmmakers $50,000 to make short films from their unique POVs. The real value however may be in her selection committee: Chloé Zhao, Emma Corrin, Eva Longoria, Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion, Janicza Bravo, Lily Gladstone, and Lilly Wachowski.
The money (and the mentorship) is definitely practical, sure, but “intensely”? No one is more intensely practical than USC’s Dr. Stacy Smith.
Through her Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Smith has studied diversity in entertainment for more than 20 years. She’d like to say the industry has changed before her very eyes, but it hasn’t.
- 3/25/2024
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
Lily Gladstone has always been a huge fan of Cate Blanchett and now, fresh off joining her acting idol in the elite realm of best actress Academy Award nominees, the two women are teaming up.
Not on screen (yet), but for a greater cause.
Gladstone is among the boldfaced names joining the selection committee for Proof of Concept, an accelerator program focused on supporting the perspectives of women, trans and non-binary people by financially backing their short “proof of concept” films.
The program was announced last December, with Blanchett and her Dirty Films partner Coco Francini teaming up with Dr. Stacy Smith, founder of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity to tackle the ongoing disparities facing these communities in the entertainment business.
Per the latest annual reports from Dr. Smith and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, only 6% of the directors of the 1,700 top-grossing...
Not on screen (yet), but for a greater cause.
Gladstone is among the boldfaced names joining the selection committee for Proof of Concept, an accelerator program focused on supporting the perspectives of women, trans and non-binary people by financially backing their short “proof of concept” films.
The program was announced last December, with Blanchett and her Dirty Films partner Coco Francini teaming up with Dr. Stacy Smith, founder of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity to tackle the ongoing disparities facing these communities in the entertainment business.
Per the latest annual reports from Dr. Smith and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, only 6% of the directors of the 1,700 top-grossing...
- 3/25/2024
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Eight top female, trans and nonbinary creatives are coming together to support the Proof of Concept Accelerator, which exists to bring to life projects about people from those backgrounds.
Chloé Zhao, Emma Corrin, Eva Longoria, Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion, Janicza Bravo, Lily Gladstone and Lilly Wachowski will form the eight-person selection committee for the fund, which was launched in December by Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s Stacy L. Smith, and Dirty Films’ Cate Blanchett and Coco Francini. The program is supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity.
“We are profoundly grateful for the partnership of these members of the Proof of Concept selection committee, made up of not only some of the most talented and prolific storytellers working toda,y but those who are also dedicated to creating change in our industry and our world,” Blanchett, Francini and Smith said in a joint statement. “By extending a hand to this next generation,...
Chloé Zhao, Emma Corrin, Eva Longoria, Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion, Janicza Bravo, Lily Gladstone and Lilly Wachowski will form the eight-person selection committee for the fund, which was launched in December by Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s Stacy L. Smith, and Dirty Films’ Cate Blanchett and Coco Francini. The program is supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity.
“We are profoundly grateful for the partnership of these members of the Proof of Concept selection committee, made up of not only some of the most talented and prolific storytellers working toda,y but those who are also dedicated to creating change in our industry and our world,” Blanchett, Francini and Smith said in a joint statement. “By extending a hand to this next generation,...
- 3/25/2024
- by Rebecca Sun
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscar winner Cate Blanchett is lending her voice to a Netflix nature docuseries highlighting species surviving amid the climate crisis.
Four-part Netflix series “Our Living World” hails from Freeborne Media and Wild Space productions, the Emmy-winning team behind “Our Great National Parks.” The series uses cinematic wildlife photography, macro close-ups, underwater tapestries, and digital effects to capture the tallest and oldest tree in the forest to the smallest egg in a salmon’s spawning pool and every organism in between. Cuttlefish, beavers, rhinos, crabs, dragonflies, flying foxes, and more are featured in nature action shots.
The official synopsis reads: “Spanning continents and oceans, fueled by wind and water and fire, this network allows the densest forests to impact the coldest glaciers, and the deepest oceans to feed the hottest deserts. But with Earth now changing at unprecedented speeds due to human activity, our living world’s network is malfunctioning – and it will take all creatures,...
Four-part Netflix series “Our Living World” hails from Freeborne Media and Wild Space productions, the Emmy-winning team behind “Our Great National Parks.” The series uses cinematic wildlife photography, macro close-ups, underwater tapestries, and digital effects to capture the tallest and oldest tree in the forest to the smallest egg in a salmon’s spawning pool and every organism in between. Cuttlefish, beavers, rhinos, crabs, dragonflies, flying foxes, and more are featured in nature action shots.
The official synopsis reads: “Spanning continents and oceans, fueled by wind and water and fire, this network allows the densest forests to impact the coldest glaciers, and the deepest oceans to feed the hottest deserts. But with Earth now changing at unprecedented speeds due to human activity, our living world’s network is malfunctioning – and it will take all creatures,...
- 3/18/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Two well-reviewed indies are taking a bow in limited release in the shadow of Dune, A24’s Problemista by Julio Torres, and Shayda from Sony Pictures Classics, the feature debut of Noora Niasari.
Torres, the comedian, actor and writer, in his directorial debut, stars with Tilda Swinton as Problemista gets its release at last after being bumped from August due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. He also penned the screenplay, and produced alongside Fruit Tree’s Dave McCary, Ali Herting and Emma Stone. Premiered at SXSW last year, see Deadline review, and sits at 91% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
This surreal comedy adventure amid the treacherous worlds of New York City and the U.S. Immigration system follows Torres’ Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador trying to land a spot at Hasbro’s incubator program. When he’s fired from the cryogenic center where he tends...
Torres, the comedian, actor and writer, in his directorial debut, stars with Tilda Swinton as Problemista gets its release at last after being bumped from August due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. He also penned the screenplay, and produced alongside Fruit Tree’s Dave McCary, Ali Herting and Emma Stone. Premiered at SXSW last year, see Deadline review, and sits at 91% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
This surreal comedy adventure amid the treacherous worlds of New York City and the U.S. Immigration system follows Torres’ Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador trying to land a spot at Hasbro’s incubator program. When he’s fired from the cryogenic center where he tends...
- 3/1/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
The director Noora Niasari deeply understands the personal struggles of people who often go unnoticed by the mainstream flow of life. Her last short film, the 2020 thriller Tâm, about a Vietnamese woman trapped in a cataclysmic sexual encounter, is a haunting gut punch.
Noora and I are from different generations and cultures. Yet she lived in the same suburb of Melbourne that I grew up in, and we were both raised by isolated single mothers in predominantly female environments. So the moment I read Shayda — Noora’s first feature script...
Noora and I are from different generations and cultures. Yet she lived in the same suburb of Melbourne that I grew up in, and we were both raised by isolated single mothers in predominantly female environments. So the moment I read Shayda — Noora’s first feature script...
- 2/26/2024
- by Cate Blanchett
- Rollingstone.com
The state of female filmmaking in Hollywood is still tenuous despite the historic success of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” according to two new university studies.
While “Barbie,” distributed by Warner Bros., made history as the highest-grossing film ever directed by a woman, the 26th annual Celluloid Ceiling report from San Diego State University and the 2023 Inclusion in the Director’s Chair study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that female filmmakers — especially female filmmakers of color — are rarely hired by major studios.
“While Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ reigned supreme as the number one box office film, women remained dramatically underrepresented as directors,” the Celluloid Ceiling study reads, “accounting for just 16 percent of those working on the 250 top grossing films and 14 percent on the 100 top grossing films. It’s the ultimate illusion, Gerwig’s well-deserved triumph belied the gender inequality that pervades the mainstream film industry.”
According to the Celluloid Ceiling report,...
While “Barbie,” distributed by Warner Bros., made history as the highest-grossing film ever directed by a woman, the 26th annual Celluloid Ceiling report from San Diego State University and the 2023 Inclusion in the Director’s Chair study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that female filmmakers — especially female filmmakers of color — are rarely hired by major studios.
“While Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ reigned supreme as the number one box office film, women remained dramatically underrepresented as directors,” the Celluloid Ceiling study reads, “accounting for just 16 percent of those working on the 250 top grossing films and 14 percent on the 100 top grossing films. It’s the ultimate illusion, Gerwig’s well-deserved triumph belied the gender inequality that pervades the mainstream film industry.”
According to the Celluloid Ceiling report,...
- 1/2/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Sundance audience award winner received one-week awards-qualifying run earlier this month.
Sony Pictures Classics has set a March 1, 2024, release date for Noora Niasari’s Australian Oscar submission Shayda.
The film will open in New York and Los Angeles and expand nationwide in the following weeks. It received a one-week awards-qualifying run earlier this month.
Shayda premiered in Sundance where it won the audience award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
The Origma 45 production centres on the titular Iranian woman living in Australia, who finds refuge in a women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter, Mona, when she learns a court...
Sony Pictures Classics has set a March 1, 2024, release date for Noora Niasari’s Australian Oscar submission Shayda.
The film will open in New York and Los Angeles and expand nationwide in the following weeks. It received a one-week awards-qualifying run earlier this month.
Shayda premiered in Sundance where it won the audience award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
The Origma 45 production centres on the titular Iranian woman living in Australia, who finds refuge in a women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter, Mona, when she learns a court...
- 12/18/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Netflix supporting Proof Of Concept initiative to challenge barriers in funding, mentorship, exposure.
Cate Blanchett and her Dirty Films partner Coco Francini have teamed up with Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative to launch the Proof of Concept Accelerator Program to identify the next generation of filmmakers whose stories promote the perspectives of women, trans, and non-binary people.
The initiative is supported by Netflix and is designed to challenge what the founders call “the three most significant barriers these directors face as they navigate the industry”: funding, mentorship, and exposure.
Up to eight filmmakers will be selected for the inaugural group,...
Cate Blanchett and her Dirty Films partner Coco Francini have teamed up with Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative to launch the Proof of Concept Accelerator Program to identify the next generation of filmmakers whose stories promote the perspectives of women, trans, and non-binary people.
The initiative is supported by Netflix and is designed to challenge what the founders call “the three most significant barriers these directors face as they navigate the industry”: funding, mentorship, and exposure.
Up to eight filmmakers will be selected for the inaugural group,...
- 12/15/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
In the ever-evolving landscape of film and television, the representation of diverse voices has been a persistent challenge. A recent report from Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative paints a stark picture: of the directors across 1,600 top-grossing movies, a mere 6% were women, and less than a third of all speaking characters were girls, women, trans, or non-binary individuals. The glaring disparity not only limits on-screen representation but also curtails career opportunities for women, trans, and non-binary storytellers.
Enter Proof of Concept, the initiative launched today as the brainchild of Cate Blanchett, her Dirty Films producing partner Coco Francini and Smith in collaboration with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. This program is designed to address the trifecta of challenges facing these directors: funding, mentorship, and exposure.
Blanchett, Francini and Andrew Upton’s Dirty Films is an independent film, TV and podcast production company that most recently produced Christos...
Enter Proof of Concept, the initiative launched today as the brainchild of Cate Blanchett, her Dirty Films producing partner Coco Francini and Smith in collaboration with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. This program is designed to address the trifecta of challenges facing these directors: funding, mentorship, and exposure.
Blanchett, Francini and Andrew Upton’s Dirty Films is an independent film, TV and podcast production company that most recently produced Christos...
- 12/14/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Cate Blanchett and Coco Francini, who are partners in Dirty Films, along with Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative have launched the Proof of Concept Accelerator Program.
Supported by Netflix, the program’s goal is to identify the next generation of filmmaking talent whose stories promote the perspectives of women, trans, and nonbinary people.
According to the latest annual report from Smith and Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, 6% of directors across 1,600 top-grossing movies were women and less than one-third of all speaking characters on screen in those movies were girls, women, trans or non-binary people. This lack of inclusion behind the camera and on screen means there are limited career opportunities for women, trans, and non-binary storytellers and those who want to bring their stories to the screen.
Proof of Concept challenges the three most significant barriers these directors face as they navigate the industry: funding, mentorship, and exposure.
Supported by Netflix, the program’s goal is to identify the next generation of filmmaking talent whose stories promote the perspectives of women, trans, and nonbinary people.
According to the latest annual report from Smith and Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, 6% of directors across 1,600 top-grossing movies were women and less than one-third of all speaking characters on screen in those movies were girls, women, trans or non-binary people. This lack of inclusion behind the camera and on screen means there are limited career opportunities for women, trans, and non-binary storytellers and those who want to bring their stories to the screen.
Proof of Concept challenges the three most significant barriers these directors face as they navigate the industry: funding, mentorship, and exposure.
- 12/14/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Cate Blanchett and her Dirty Films partner Coco Francini have partnered with USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative to launch the Proof of Concept Accelerator Program to support storytellers with projects about women, trans or non-binary people.
Such folks currently represent less than a third of all speaking characters in the movies, according to AI2’s comprehensive report in August. To rectify that up to eight filmmakers will receive $50,000, one-on-one mentorship and guidance from industry leaders to create a short film that will serve as a “proof of concept” for a feature film or TV series.
“Providing tangible financial and career support for filmmakers who often get overlooked will not only give them a fantastic launchpad to success, it will also expand the future of film and television,” Blanchett said in a statement. Added Francini in a statement, “Proof of Concept was designed to solve a very simple problem: Audiences want...
Such folks currently represent less than a third of all speaking characters in the movies, according to AI2’s comprehensive report in August. To rectify that up to eight filmmakers will receive $50,000, one-on-one mentorship and guidance from industry leaders to create a short film that will serve as a “proof of concept” for a feature film or TV series.
“Providing tangible financial and career support for filmmakers who often get overlooked will not only give them a fantastic launchpad to success, it will also expand the future of film and television,” Blanchett said in a statement. Added Francini in a statement, “Proof of Concept was designed to solve a very simple problem: Audiences want...
- 12/14/2023
- by Rebecca Sun
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari, her debut feature Shayda has served as an authentic and honest exploration into her own personal childhood trauma. The film, which is being released by Sony Pictures Classics and won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition Audience Award in Sundance earlier this year, is Australia’s Oscar submission for the Best International Feature Oscar.
The film follows Shayda, a brave Iranian mother who finds refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her 6-year-old daughter. Over Persian New Year, they take solace in Nowruz rituals and new beginnings, but when her estranged husband re-enters their lives, Shayda’s path to freedom is jeopardized.
It’s anchored by a heart-rendering performance by Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who won the best actress award in Cannes last year for her role in Holy Spider. Niasari writes, directs and produces with Dirty Films’ Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Coco Francini.
Related:...
The film follows Shayda, a brave Iranian mother who finds refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her 6-year-old daughter. Over Persian New Year, they take solace in Nowruz rituals and new beginnings, but when her estranged husband re-enters their lives, Shayda’s path to freedom is jeopardized.
It’s anchored by a heart-rendering performance by Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who won the best actress award in Cannes last year for her role in Holy Spider. Niasari writes, directs and produces with Dirty Films’ Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Coco Francini.
Related:...
- 12/9/2023
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Deadline’s Contenders Film: International award-season event launches Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. Pt, the latest in our series of showcases that this time turns the focus toward global cinema via discussions with the casts and creatives of 12 movies submitted by their countries for the 2024 Academy Awards’ International Feature race.
Click to sign up for and watch today’s livestream.
The 2023 Oscar ceremony was a triumph for international film. Going into the ceremony, Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front was a winner already, having earned a spectacular seven nominations. If that wasn’t enough, it came away with four statuettes: one for International Feature, and three for Cinematography, Music and Production Design. Clearly this can’t happen every year, but, like Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite before it, Berger’s World War I epic proved that boundaries are being broken down, and international film, once synonymous with arthouse,...
Click to sign up for and watch today’s livestream.
The 2023 Oscar ceremony was a triumph for international film. Going into the ceremony, Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front was a winner already, having earned a spectacular seven nominations. If that wasn’t enough, it came away with four statuettes: one for International Feature, and three for Cinematography, Music and Production Design. Clearly this can’t happen every year, but, like Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite before it, Berger’s World War I epic proved that boundaries are being broken down, and international film, once synonymous with arthouse,...
- 12/9/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Fingernails, the Apple Original Films sci-fi love story of sorts that marks the English-language debut of Greek writer-director Christos Nikou. It came off the success of his debut pic Apples, which was Greece’s submission to last year’s Oscar race.
Fingernails, which features a cast including Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White, Luke Wilson and Annie Murphy, premiered at this year’s Telluride Film Festival and hit theaters and Apple TV+ earlier this month. It reunites the Apples executive producing team of Nikou and Dirty Films and partners Cate Blanchett, Coco Francini and Andrew Upton. FilmNation Entertainment’s Lucas Wiesendanger is also a producer.
The script was penned by Nikou and his Apples co-screenwriter and pal Stavros Raptis, joined by UK scribe Sam Steiner after Nikou read Steiner’s script for Morning (now...
Fingernails, which features a cast including Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White, Luke Wilson and Annie Murphy, premiered at this year’s Telluride Film Festival and hit theaters and Apple TV+ earlier this month. It reunites the Apples executive producing team of Nikou and Dirty Films and partners Cate Blanchett, Coco Francini and Andrew Upton. FilmNation Entertainment’s Lucas Wiesendanger is also a producer.
The script was penned by Nikou and his Apples co-screenwriter and pal Stavros Raptis, joined by UK scribe Sam Steiner after Nikou read Steiner’s script for Morning (now...
- 11/30/2023
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Golden Globe winner Emma Corrin (The Crown) and Cesar nominee Lucie Zhang are set to star in Jenny Suen’s English language feature debut Peaches, which Coco Francini (Fingernails) will produce and Oscar winner Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton will executive-produce for Dirty Films.
Set in contemporary Hong Kong, the movie will follow two spoiled best friends who scam sugar daddies for a living. When they discover a Hermes Birkin bag they were gifted is a fake, their “boyfriends” and crimes catch up with them.
The film is an adaptation of Vera Chitylova’s 1966 Czech New Wave comedy Daisies.
Paris-based MK2 Films, whose slate includes Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall and Cannes Un Certain Regard winner How to Have Sex, is handling international sales and discussed the project with buyers at last week’s AFM. The film will start production early next year in Hong Kong.
Set in contemporary Hong Kong, the movie will follow two spoiled best friends who scam sugar daddies for a living. When they discover a Hermes Birkin bag they were gifted is a fake, their “boyfriends” and crimes catch up with them.
The film is an adaptation of Vera Chitylova’s 1966 Czech New Wave comedy Daisies.
Paris-based MK2 Films, whose slate includes Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall and Cannes Un Certain Regard winner How to Have Sex, is handling international sales and discussed the project with buyers at last week’s AFM. The film will start production early next year in Hong Kong.
- 11/6/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman and Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
If the atmosphere seems spiced with something other than pumpkin extract this month, don’t worry. That’s just the creamy mouth-feel (sorry!) of awards season, which is once again upon us in full-force. Look no further than this month’s Don’t-Miss Indies, full of auteur-driven storytelling from tip to tail, including plenty of Film Independent Spirit Award alumni. Want to receive screeners and vote for this season’s Spirit Award winners? Go ahead!
Fingernails
When You Can Watch: Now
Where You Can Watch: Theaters (limited), Apple TV+
Director: Christos Nikou
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White
Why We’re Excited: Film Independent Spirit Award winners Buckley (Robert Altman Award co-recipient for last year’s Women Talking) and Ahmed (Best Male Lead for 2020’s Sound of Metal) stars as Anna and Amir—two colleagues who work at the “Love Institute”, which has supposedly developed a test to...
Fingernails
When You Can Watch: Now
Where You Can Watch: Theaters (limited), Apple TV+
Director: Christos Nikou
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White
Why We’re Excited: Film Independent Spirit Award winners Buckley (Robert Altman Award co-recipient for last year’s Women Talking) and Ahmed (Best Male Lead for 2020’s Sound of Metal) stars as Anna and Amir—two colleagues who work at the “Love Institute”, which has supposedly developed a test to...
- 11/6/2023
- by Su Fang Tham
- Film Independent News & More
Linda Marric sits down with director Christos Nikou to talk about his latest film, AppleTV+’s Fingernails starring Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White, Annie Murphy and Luke Wilson. The film is out today and very much worth your time.
The film was directed by Nikou, co-written by Nikou & Sam Steiner & Stavros Raptis, and produced by Coco Francini, Andrew Upton, Cate Blanchett, Lucas Wiesendanger and Nikou, with Glen Basner, Milan Popelka, Alison Cohen, Ashley Fox, Kevin Lafferty and Jerome Duboz serving as executive producers.
Fingernails Interview
Plot:
Anna and Ryan have found true love. It’s been proven by a controversial new technology. There’s just one problem: Anna still isn’t sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute, and meets Amir.
The post Fingernails Interview – Christos Nikou on analog love in a digital world, Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed & more appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The film was directed by Nikou, co-written by Nikou & Sam Steiner & Stavros Raptis, and produced by Coco Francini, Andrew Upton, Cate Blanchett, Lucas Wiesendanger and Nikou, with Glen Basner, Milan Popelka, Alison Cohen, Ashley Fox, Kevin Lafferty and Jerome Duboz serving as executive producers.
Fingernails Interview
Plot:
Anna and Ryan have found true love. It’s been proven by a controversial new technology. There’s just one problem: Anna still isn’t sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute, and meets Amir.
The post Fingernails Interview – Christos Nikou on analog love in a digital world, Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed & more appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 11/3/2023
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Cate Blanchett has joined the cast of 'Rumors'.The 'Tar' actress is set to start shooting Guy Maddin's upcoming movie on 9 October after the director signed an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA to allow the 54-year-old star to appear in the project without breaching Hollywood actor strike restrictions, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed.The independent movie has been written and will be directed by the 'Keyhole' filmmaker with his longtime collaborators Evan and Galen Johnson.Meanwhile, Cate recently joked she is always "trying to get out" of acting so enjoyed producing her film 'The New Boy', which was released earlier this year,She said at her Kering Women in Motion talk at the Cannes Film Festival: “I’m always trying to get out of acting. I’ve been trying to stop acting my entire professional life.”Cate was in conversation with her producing partner,...
- 10/6/2023
- by Viki Waters
- Bang Showbiz
Sometimes when you have a terrific film but it doesn’t quite have the hook for mainstream audiences, you sometimes need a catchy ace in the hole. And that’s exactly what the Australian film “Shayda” has in its executive producers, in this case, a little actor you may know named Cate Blanchett, plus her husband and producing partner Andrew Upton and Coco Francini. Blanchett has been lending her name to a lot of international cinema worthy of a boost of late (Greece’s “Apples”), and along with recent collaboration with Sparks and Guy Maddin (and an almost collaboration with Pedro Almodovar that came close), it appears as if Blanchett has really reaffirmed her commitment to global and left-of-field cinema this year, so good for her.
Continue reading ‘Shayda’ Trailer: Noora Niasari’s Acclaimed Australian Drama, Exec Produced By Cate Blanchett, Arrives In December at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Shayda’ Trailer: Noora Niasari’s Acclaimed Australian Drama, Exec Produced By Cate Blanchett, Arrives In December at The Playlist.
- 10/5/2023
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
Apple Original Films has unveiled the trailer for the highly anticipated feature, ‘Fingernails’ starring Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White and Luke Wilson.
Anna (Buckley) and Ryan (White) have found true love. It’s been proven by a controversial new technology. There’s just one problem: Anna still isn’t sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute and meets Amir (Ahmed).
The movie is the second feature and first English-language film from visionary director/writer/producer Christos Nikou, whose directorial debut was the critically acclaimed ‘Apples.’
Co-written by Nikou, Stavros Raptis and Sam Steiner. In addition to Nikou, The feature is produced by Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Coco Francini for Dirty Films and Lucas Wiesendanger for FilmNation Entertainment.
Also in trailers – “Let us make no mistake…” Teaser flies in for ‘The Lazarus Project’ season 2
The film will premiere in select cinemas and stream globally on Apple TV+ from 3 November,...
Anna (Buckley) and Ryan (White) have found true love. It’s been proven by a controversial new technology. There’s just one problem: Anna still isn’t sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute and meets Amir (Ahmed).
The movie is the second feature and first English-language film from visionary director/writer/producer Christos Nikou, whose directorial debut was the critically acclaimed ‘Apples.’
Co-written by Nikou, Stavros Raptis and Sam Steiner. In addition to Nikou, The feature is produced by Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton and Coco Francini for Dirty Films and Lucas Wiesendanger for FilmNation Entertainment.
Also in trailers – “Let us make no mistake…” Teaser flies in for ‘The Lazarus Project’ season 2
The film will premiere in select cinemas and stream globally on Apple TV+ from 3 November,...
- 9/28/2023
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Some people say love is a battlefield, but what if there was a scientific solution to determining your compatibility with your chosen partner? Would the results confirm your evolution from lust to emotional adoration? Could you discover if the person you’re with is better suited for someone else? Some people would prefer to remain in blissful ignorance, but in Apple TV+‘s Fingernails trailer, love gets tested, and the results could destroy even the strongest of bonds.
Christos Nikou directs Fingernails from a script he co-wrote with Stavros Raptis and Sam Steiner. The story focuses on Anna (Jessie Buckley) and Ryan (Jeremy Allen White), a couple who believe they’ve found true love, and a controversial new technology proves it. There’s just one problem. Anna is curious to know if the results are accurate. So, she takes a position at a love testing institute, where she meets Amir (Riz Ahmed), and sparks fly.
Christos Nikou directs Fingernails from a script he co-wrote with Stavros Raptis and Sam Steiner. The story focuses on Anna (Jessie Buckley) and Ryan (Jeremy Allen White), a couple who believe they’ve found true love, and a controversial new technology proves it. There’s just one problem. Anna is curious to know if the results are accurate. So, she takes a position at a love testing institute, where she meets Amir (Riz Ahmed), and sparks fly.
- 9/26/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Christos Nikou’s “Fingernails” challenges the role of technology in modern love stories, with Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed starring as co-workers at a company that specializes in determining people’s soulmates based on their (you’re hearing this right) fingernails. The film first premiered at Telluride.
Buckley plays Anna, a new employee at the Love Institute, where the machines are housed. She starts training with senior instructor Amir (Ahmed), yet Anna is already committed to Ryan (Jeremy Allen White), and the machine has already confirmed they are a perfect match. So why is she developing feelings for Amir?
“Fingernails” is co-written by director Nikou, Stavros Raptis, and Sam Steiner, with Luke Wilson and Annie Murphy also starring.
The film is Nikou’s second feature and first English-language film after making his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed “Apples.” Oscar winner Cate Blanchett is among the producers of “Fingernails,” along with Nikou,...
Buckley plays Anna, a new employee at the Love Institute, where the machines are housed. She starts training with senior instructor Amir (Ahmed), yet Anna is already committed to Ryan (Jeremy Allen White), and the machine has already confirmed they are a perfect match. So why is she developing feelings for Amir?
“Fingernails” is co-written by director Nikou, Stavros Raptis, and Sam Steiner, with Luke Wilson and Annie Murphy also starring.
The film is Nikou’s second feature and first English-language film after making his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed “Apples.” Oscar winner Cate Blanchett is among the producers of “Fingernails,” along with Nikou,...
- 9/26/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Jessie Buckley, Jeremy Allen White and Riz Ahmed find themselves caught in a love triangle in the new Apple film “Fingernails,” which debuted its first trailer Tuesday morning.
Directed by Christos Nikou and produced by Cate Blanchett, the sci-fi film is set in a not-so-distant future. The story follows Anna (Buckley) and Ryan (White) who use a mathematical, machine-determined proceudre to determine if they are truly in love.
Luke Wilson plays Duncan, who heads up the Love Insitute. Anna declares she wants to work at the Institute because “Ginger Spice” studied there. She finds herself mentored by Amir, played by Ahmed. And the more time she spends around Amir and at the lab, she finds herself asking him, and herself “Is it possible that one person could be in love with two people at the same time?”
In addition to Blanchett, the film’s producers are Coco Francini, Andrew Upton,...
Directed by Christos Nikou and produced by Cate Blanchett, the sci-fi film is set in a not-so-distant future. The story follows Anna (Buckley) and Ryan (White) who use a mathematical, machine-determined proceudre to determine if they are truly in love.
Luke Wilson plays Duncan, who heads up the Love Insitute. Anna declares she wants to work at the Institute because “Ginger Spice” studied there. She finds herself mentored by Amir, played by Ahmed. And the more time she spends around Amir and at the lab, she finds herself asking him, and herself “Is it possible that one person could be in love with two people at the same time?”
In addition to Blanchett, the film’s producers are Coco Francini, Andrew Upton,...
- 9/26/2023
- by Caroline Brew
- Variety Film + TV
Signature Entertainment has acquired U.K. and Ireland rights to writer-director Warwick Thornton’s Australian drama “The New Boy” from The Veterans.
The film follows a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy who arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun, disturbing the delicately balanced world.
Debutant Aswan Reid leads the film in the titular role, alongside Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman (“Sapphires”) and Wayne Blair (“Rams”).
“Inspired by Thornton’s own experience of growing up as an Aboriginal boy in a Christian boarding school, this is ambitious, tonally tricky filmmaking, bringing an unexpected dose of whimsy to social interests more austerely explored in Thornton’s excellent previous features “Samson and Delilah” and “Sweet Country,” Variety critic Guy Lodge said in his review of the film.
“The New Boy”
The film is produced by Kath Shelper (“Samson & Delilah”) for Scarlett Pictures, Blanchett and Andrew Upton (“Stateless...
The film follows a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy who arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun, disturbing the delicately balanced world.
Debutant Aswan Reid leads the film in the titular role, alongside Cate Blanchett, Deborah Mailman (“Sapphires”) and Wayne Blair (“Rams”).
“Inspired by Thornton’s own experience of growing up as an Aboriginal boy in a Christian boarding school, this is ambitious, tonally tricky filmmaking, bringing an unexpected dose of whimsy to social interests more austerely explored in Thornton’s excellent previous features “Samson and Delilah” and “Sweet Country,” Variety critic Guy Lodge said in his review of the film.
“The New Boy”
The film is produced by Kath Shelper (“Samson & Delilah”) for Scarlett Pictures, Blanchett and Andrew Upton (“Stateless...
- 9/26/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
It’s not every director who gets to turn Cate Blanchett down. Rarer still for a first-time filmmaker from Europe whose arty, offbeat debut — a poetic, surreal, soulful meditation on memory and grief — might have easily escaped the attention of Hollywood royalty.
But “Apples,” by Greek director Christos Nikou, charmed audiences after its 2020 premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where Blanchett presided over the main competition jury. After being wowed by a film that would go on to complete the fall-festival trifecta at Telluride and Toronto, Blanchett reached out to the filmmaker for a sit-down on the Lido.
When he read the text, Nikou couldn’t believe his eyes.
“‘No, that’s a joke,’” he recalls thinking at the time, adding with an embarrassed laugh that he considered skipping the meeting altogether. But Nikou’s better judgment got the best of him, and when Blanchett did indeed turn up for their breakfast tête-à-tête,...
But “Apples,” by Greek director Christos Nikou, charmed audiences after its 2020 premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where Blanchett presided over the main competition jury. After being wowed by a film that would go on to complete the fall-festival trifecta at Telluride and Toronto, Blanchett reached out to the filmmaker for a sit-down on the Lido.
When he read the text, Nikou couldn’t believe his eyes.
“‘No, that’s a joke,’” he recalls thinking at the time, adding with an embarrassed laugh that he considered skipping the meeting altogether. But Nikou’s better judgment got the best of him, and when Blanchett did indeed turn up for their breakfast tête-à-tête,...
- 9/9/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Australia has selected Shayda, from Iranian-Australian debut writer and director Noora Niasari, as its submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar race.
The drama, which counts Cate Blanchett among its executive producers and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for North America among other markets, world premiered at Sundance in January where it won the World Cinema Audience Award.
It went on to open the Melbourne International Film Festival and was the closing-night screening at Locarno. It is next set for TIFF and will be released in Oz on October 5 via Madman.
The story follows a young Iranian mother and her 6-year-old daughter who find refuge in an Australian women’s shelter during the two weeks of Iranian New Year (Nowruz), which is celebrated as a time of renewal and rebirth. Aided by the strong community of women at the shelter, they seek their freedom in this new world of possibilities,...
The drama, which counts Cate Blanchett among its executive producers and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for North America among other markets, world premiered at Sundance in January where it won the World Cinema Audience Award.
It went on to open the Melbourne International Film Festival and was the closing-night screening at Locarno. It is next set for TIFF and will be released in Oz on October 5 via Madman.
The story follows a young Iranian mother and her 6-year-old daughter who find refuge in an Australian women’s shelter during the two weeks of Iranian New Year (Nowruz), which is celebrated as a time of renewal and rebirth. Aided by the strong community of women at the shelter, they seek their freedom in this new world of possibilities,...
- 8/30/2023
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Apple Original Films announced the release date and unveiled a set of new images for its romantic drama and Toronto International Film Festival selection, ‘Fingernails.’
The feature follows Anna and Ryan, who have found true love. It’s been proven by a controversial new technology. There’s just one problem: Anna still isn’t sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute and meets Amir.
Jessie Buckley and Jeremy Allen White in “Fingernails,” premiering globally on November 3, 2023 on Apple TV+. Courtesy of Apple
Starring Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White and Luke Wilson, ‘Fingernails’ is the second feature and first English-language film from visionary director/writer/producer Christos Nikou, whose directorial debut was the critically acclaimed ‘Apples.’
Also in news – Kiernan Shipka stars in first-look images from ‘Totally Killer’
Jessie Buckley in “Fingernails,” premiering globally on November 3, 2023 on Apple TV+. Courtesy of Apple
Co-written by Nikou,...
The feature follows Anna and Ryan, who have found true love. It’s been proven by a controversial new technology. There’s just one problem: Anna still isn’t sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute and meets Amir.
Jessie Buckley and Jeremy Allen White in “Fingernails,” premiering globally on November 3, 2023 on Apple TV+. Courtesy of Apple
Starring Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White and Luke Wilson, ‘Fingernails’ is the second feature and first English-language film from visionary director/writer/producer Christos Nikou, whose directorial debut was the critically acclaimed ‘Apples.’
Also in news – Kiernan Shipka stars in first-look images from ‘Totally Killer’
Jessie Buckley in “Fingernails,” premiering globally on November 3, 2023 on Apple TV+. Courtesy of Apple
Co-written by Nikou,...
- 8/17/2023
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley, Oscar winner Riz Ahmed, and Emmy nominee Jeremy Allen White form a complicated love triangle in the new Apple Original Films drama “Fingernails,” which the studio is set to debut this fall after a run through festival season.
On Wednesday, Apple debuted the first images from the project as well as its release date: October 27 in limited release in New York and Los Angeles before a bow on the Apple TV+ streaming service (and other theaters) starting on November 3.
Co-written and directed by Christos Nikou (“Apples”), in what is his English-language debut, “Fingernails” is about “Anna and Ryan (Buckley and White), who have found true love. It’s been proven by a controversial new technology. There’s just one problem: Anna still isn’t sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute, and meets Amir (Ahmed).”
The vague premise of the logline was...
On Wednesday, Apple debuted the first images from the project as well as its release date: October 27 in limited release in New York and Los Angeles before a bow on the Apple TV+ streaming service (and other theaters) starting on November 3.
Co-written and directed by Christos Nikou (“Apples”), in what is his English-language debut, “Fingernails” is about “Anna and Ryan (Buckley and White), who have found true love. It’s been proven by a controversial new technology. There’s just one problem: Anna still isn’t sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute, and meets Amir (Ahmed).”
The vague premise of the logline was...
- 8/16/2023
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed in ‘Fingernails’ (Photo Credit: Apple Original Films)
Apple Original Films has announced that Fingernails, which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, will open in Los Angeles and New York on October 27, 2023. Riz Ahmed and Jessie Buckley lead the cast of the romantic drama that marks the first English language feature film from director, writer, and producer Christos Nikou (Apples).
The drama will expand to additional theaters and will be available on Apple TV+ on November 3, 2023.
In addition to Oscar winner Riz Ahmed (The Long Goodbye short) and Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter), The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White and Luke Wilson (Stargirl) star.
Christos Nikou co-wrote the screenplay with Stavros Raptis and Sam Steiner. Nikou, FilmNation Entertainment’s Lucas Wiesendanger, and Dirty Films’ Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton, and Coco Francini produce. Kevin Lafferty, Jerome Duboz, and FilmNation Entertainment’s Glen Basner,...
Apple Original Films has announced that Fingernails, which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, will open in Los Angeles and New York on October 27, 2023. Riz Ahmed and Jessie Buckley lead the cast of the romantic drama that marks the first English language feature film from director, writer, and producer Christos Nikou (Apples).
The drama will expand to additional theaters and will be available on Apple TV+ on November 3, 2023.
In addition to Oscar winner Riz Ahmed (The Long Goodbye short) and Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter), The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White and Luke Wilson (Stargirl) star.
Christos Nikou co-wrote the screenplay with Stavros Raptis and Sam Steiner. Nikou, FilmNation Entertainment’s Lucas Wiesendanger, and Dirty Films’ Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton, and Coco Francini produce. Kevin Lafferty, Jerome Duboz, and FilmNation Entertainment’s Glen Basner,...
- 8/16/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Forget reading palms: What if the key to finding your soulmate was at the tip of your fingernail?
Director Christos Nikou’s (“Apples”) feature “Fingernails” offers a sci-fi love triangle rooted in nature over nurture. The film is co-written by Nikou, Stavros Raptis, and Sam Steiner, and is set in an alternate reality where a machine can determine whether a couple is in love or not by studying the makeup of their discarded fingernails.
Jessie Buckley stars as Anna, a new employee at the institute where the machines are housed. She starts training with senior instructor Amir (Riz Ahmed). Yet Anna is already dating Ryan (Jeremy Allen White) and the machine has confirmed they are a perfect match. So why is she developing feelings for Amir?
“Fingernails” is the second feature and first English-language film from visionary director/writer/producer Christos Nikou, whose directorial debut was the critically acclaimed “Apples.
Director Christos Nikou’s (“Apples”) feature “Fingernails” offers a sci-fi love triangle rooted in nature over nurture. The film is co-written by Nikou, Stavros Raptis, and Sam Steiner, and is set in an alternate reality where a machine can determine whether a couple is in love or not by studying the makeup of their discarded fingernails.
Jessie Buckley stars as Anna, a new employee at the institute where the machines are housed. She starts training with senior instructor Amir (Riz Ahmed). Yet Anna is already dating Ryan (Jeremy Allen White) and the machine has confirmed they are a perfect match. So why is she developing feelings for Amir?
“Fingernails” is the second feature and first English-language film from visionary director/writer/producer Christos Nikou, whose directorial debut was the critically acclaimed “Apples.
- 8/16/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Shayda, the Sundance audience winner from Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari, will close this year’s Locarno International Film Festival.
Executive produced by Cate Blanchett, Shayda stars Holy Spider actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi. Shayda will screen on the final night of Locarno festival on Saturday, Aug. 12 in what will be its European premiere. Locarno will also screen a second, surprise title that touches on the history of cinema personally selected by Locarno festival president Marco Solari.
Niasari’s powerful debut, drawn from the director’s own life, tells the inspiring story of an Iranian woman’s journey to freedom as she finds refuge in a women’s shelter after immigrating to Australia.
Blanchett is an executive producer of the movie through Dirty Films, the production company she runs alongside Andrew Upton and Coco Francini. She and Ebrahimi will attend Locarno together with Niasari.
On Aug. 12, Blanchett will also moderate a conversation...
Executive produced by Cate Blanchett, Shayda stars Holy Spider actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi. Shayda will screen on the final night of Locarno festival on Saturday, Aug. 12 in what will be its European premiere. Locarno will also screen a second, surprise title that touches on the history of cinema personally selected by Locarno festival president Marco Solari.
Niasari’s powerful debut, drawn from the director’s own life, tells the inspiring story of an Iranian woman’s journey to freedom as she finds refuge in a women’s shelter after immigrating to Australia.
Blanchett is an executive producer of the movie through Dirty Films, the production company she runs alongside Andrew Upton and Coco Francini. She and Ebrahimi will attend Locarno together with Niasari.
On Aug. 12, Blanchett will also moderate a conversation...
- 6/23/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The 76th edition of the Locarno Film Festival will close with a screening of the Sundance Competiton pic Shayda attended by the film’s star Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Holy Spider) and Exec Producer Cate Blanchett.
Directed by Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari, Shayda, which won the Audience Award at Sundance 2023, will close out the final evening of the Festival alongside a free second screening of a surprise title that touches on the history of cinema and the Locarno Film Festival, chosen by Marco Solari, President of the Locarno Film Festival. This year will be Solari’s final year at the helm.
Blanchett is an exec producer on the pic through Dirty Films, the production company she runs with her husband, Andrew Upton, and Coco Francini. On August 12, the two-time Oscar winner will moderate a discussion between Niasari and Ebrahimi at the festival on the theme of Iranian women and Iranian cinema...
Directed by Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari, Shayda, which won the Audience Award at Sundance 2023, will close out the final evening of the Festival alongside a free second screening of a surprise title that touches on the history of cinema and the Locarno Film Festival, chosen by Marco Solari, President of the Locarno Film Festival. This year will be Solari’s final year at the helm.
Blanchett is an exec producer on the pic through Dirty Films, the production company she runs with her husband, Andrew Upton, and Coco Francini. On August 12, the two-time Oscar winner will moderate a discussion between Niasari and Ebrahimi at the festival on the theme of Iranian women and Iranian cinema...
- 6/23/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Film won the Audience Award at Sundance this year.
The Locarno Film Festival is to close with the European premiere of Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari’s debut film Shayda. Locarno runs from August 2-12.
The film, which won the Audience Award at Sundance 2023, is executive produced by Cate Blanchett through Dirty Films, the production company she runs alongside Andrew Upton and Coco Francini. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who stars in the film, is the 2022 Cannes Best Actress Winner for Holy Spider. Both will also attend the screening together with director Noora Niasari.
Shayda tells the story of an Iranian woman’s...
The Locarno Film Festival is to close with the European premiere of Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari’s debut film Shayda. Locarno runs from August 2-12.
The film, which won the Audience Award at Sundance 2023, is executive produced by Cate Blanchett through Dirty Films, the production company she runs alongside Andrew Upton and Coco Francini. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who stars in the film, is the 2022 Cannes Best Actress Winner for Holy Spider. Both will also attend the screening together with director Noora Niasari.
Shayda tells the story of an Iranian woman’s...
- 6/23/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Cate Blanchett is “always trying to get out of acting”.The double Oscar-winner, 54, who was nominated for at the 2022 Academy Awards for playing an obsessive conductor in ‘Tár’, is back on the big screen in ‘The New Boy’, but said she also loved producing the film.She said at her Kering Women in Motion talk at the Cannes Film Festival: “I’m always trying to get out of acting. I’ve been trying to stop acting my entire professional life.”Cate was in conversation with her producing partner, Coco Francini, and added their recent producing work behind the lens felt like “an extension, for me, of my work as an actor”.Cate plays temperamental alcoholic nun Sister Eileen in director Warwick Thornton’s drama set in a remote outback Catholic orphanage in 1940s wartime Australia.She added at Cannes about how she was once advised to stop taking small roles...
- 5/21/2023
- by BANG Showbiz Reporter
- Bang Showbiz
Cate Blanchett debuted her latest acting role in “The New Boy” at the Cannes Film Festival this week, but the Oscar-winner wouldn’t mind staying behind the camera a bit more.
“I’m always trying to get out of acting,” Blanchett said. “I’ve been trying to stop acting my entire professional life.”
Speaking at her Kering Women in Motion talk at Cannes, in conversation with her producing partner, Coco Francini, Blanchett said that her recent producing work behind the camera “feels an extension, for me, of my work as an actor.”
“I remember an Australian film director saying to me really early on in my career that I had to stop taking small roles,” Blanchett recalled. “And I said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘That was the most interesting role.’ I didn’t want to play the lead. I want that one.”
“It’s about the conversation,” she continued. “And sometimes...
“I’m always trying to get out of acting,” Blanchett said. “I’ve been trying to stop acting my entire professional life.”
Speaking at her Kering Women in Motion talk at Cannes, in conversation with her producing partner, Coco Francini, Blanchett said that her recent producing work behind the camera “feels an extension, for me, of my work as an actor.”
“I remember an Australian film director saying to me really early on in my career that I had to stop taking small roles,” Blanchett recalled. “And I said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘That was the most interesting role.’ I didn’t want to play the lead. I want that one.”
“It’s about the conversation,” she continued. “And sometimes...
- 5/20/2023
- by Elizabeth Wagmeister
- Variety Film + TV
Aussie filmmaker Warwick Thornton joked that Cate Blanchett “elbowed” her way into his crafty sixth feature, The New Boy, as he introduced the pic at Deadline’s Cannes Studio shortly before its festival premiere.
In the pic, which debuted this week at Cannes, Blanchett plays Sister Eileen, a mysterious nun who runs an orphanage for lost boys; however, the role was originally written as a priest, to be played by a male actor, until the two-time Oscar winner came along.
“The character of sister Eileen wasn’t in the script at that time, but Cate coming along actually made it beautiful,” Thornton said.
Blanchett told Deadline that she initially reached out to Thornton during the pandemic and the pair began a virtual workshop to discuss opportunities they could create to work together.
“Like a lot of people during the pandemic, I thought well look, who do I really want to be a dialogue with?...
In the pic, which debuted this week at Cannes, Blanchett plays Sister Eileen, a mysterious nun who runs an orphanage for lost boys; however, the role was originally written as a priest, to be played by a male actor, until the two-time Oscar winner came along.
“The character of sister Eileen wasn’t in the script at that time, but Cate coming along actually made it beautiful,” Thornton said.
Blanchett told Deadline that she initially reached out to Thornton during the pandemic and the pair began a virtual workshop to discuss opportunities they could create to work together.
“Like a lot of people during the pandemic, I thought well look, who do I really want to be a dialogue with?...
- 5/20/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Variety has announced the initial lineup for the Kering Women in Motion talks at the Cannes Film Festival. Moderated by Variety’s Chief Correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister, this year’s talks include some of the most important women working in cinema and offers a mix between up-and-coming talent and iconic figures such as Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh.
On Thursday, May 18, playwright, actor and philanthropist Jeremy O. Harris, who stars in Directors’ Fortnight premiere “The Sweet East,” will kick off the Women in Motion series to discuss female representation in his work.
Following Harris’ talk, actress and director Katie Holmes will speak about her work as a director and how the industry has changed in its approach to female directors since she first began working in television.
On Saturday, May 20, actress and producer Blanchett will be joined by Dirty Films producer Coco Francini to discuss their film company and their role...
On Thursday, May 18, playwright, actor and philanthropist Jeremy O. Harris, who stars in Directors’ Fortnight premiere “The Sweet East,” will kick off the Women in Motion series to discuss female representation in his work.
Following Harris’ talk, actress and director Katie Holmes will speak about her work as a director and how the industry has changed in its approach to female directors since she first began working in television.
On Saturday, May 20, actress and producer Blanchett will be joined by Dirty Films producer Coco Francini to discuss their film company and their role...
- 5/17/2023
- by William Earl
- Variety Film + TV
Here’s your first look at Cate Blanchett in The New Boy, the latest film from Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton.
The pic will debut in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, which will be Thornton’s second appearance at the fest, following 2009’s Samson & Delilah, for which he won the Caméra d’Or Award for first-time directors.
Set in 1940s Australia, The New Boy is the story of a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy (Reid) who arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery, run by a renegade nun (Blanchett), where his presence disturbs the delicately balanced world in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.
Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films and Scarlett Pictures partnered to co-produce, with Roadshow Films distributing for Australia and New Zealand, CAA Media Finance and UTA handling sales for North America, and The Veterans on board to manage sales...
The pic will debut in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, which will be Thornton’s second appearance at the fest, following 2009’s Samson & Delilah, for which he won the Caméra d’Or Award for first-time directors.
Set in 1940s Australia, The New Boy is the story of a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan boy (Reid) who arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery, run by a renegade nun (Blanchett), where his presence disturbs the delicately balanced world in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.
Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films and Scarlett Pictures partnered to co-produce, with Roadshow Films distributing for Australia and New Zealand, CAA Media Finance and UTA handling sales for North America, and The Veterans on board to manage sales...
- 4/14/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Advisors and guests include ’Succession’ writer Susan Soon He Stanton and ’Call My Agent!’ star Camille Cottin.
The Writers Lab, the development and marketplace programme devoted to script development for women and nonbinary screenwriters over 40, is opening its first combined UK and European edition.
Julia Berg of UK production outfit Untamed Stories will again partner with the co-founders of The Writers Lab US, Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon, to launch a combined UK and European Lab this year. The US programme, produced with New York Women in Film and Television (Nywift), is supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman. Last...
The Writers Lab, the development and marketplace programme devoted to script development for women and nonbinary screenwriters over 40, is opening its first combined UK and European edition.
Julia Berg of UK production outfit Untamed Stories will again partner with the co-founders of The Writers Lab US, Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon, to launch a combined UK and European Lab this year. The US programme, produced with New York Women in Film and Television (Nywift), is supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman. Last...
- 4/6/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the Sundance audience award winner Shayda for North America and other international territories.
Cate Blanchett executive produced Noora Niasari’s debut feature that stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who won best actress at Cannes last year for her performance in Holy Spider, and the drama earned the audience award in the world cinema dramatic competition at Sundance.
“I have held the deepest admiration for Sony Pictures Classics since childhood. For my debut feature to be distributed by them is a dream. I know they will set the stage for a wonderful release, so that audiences worldwide can experience the emotional depth and power of Shayda,” said Niasari in a statement on Tuesday.
Sony Pictures Classics also took all media rights for Latin America, Benelux, Eastern Europe, Portugal, the Middle East and Turkey. Unfolding in 1995 Australia, Niasari’s film draws from her experiences as a child living...
Cate Blanchett executive produced Noora Niasari’s debut feature that stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who won best actress at Cannes last year for her performance in Holy Spider, and the drama earned the audience award in the world cinema dramatic competition at Sundance.
“I have held the deepest admiration for Sony Pictures Classics since childhood. For my debut feature to be distributed by them is a dream. I know they will set the stage for a wonderful release, so that audiences worldwide can experience the emotional depth and power of Shayda,” said Niasari in a statement on Tuesday.
Sony Pictures Classics also took all media rights for Latin America, Benelux, Eastern Europe, Portugal, the Middle East and Turkey. Unfolding in 1995 Australia, Niasari’s film draws from her experiences as a child living...
- 2/14/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sony Pictures Classics has secured distribution rights to “Shayda,” which won the Audience Award at Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition last month.
The distributor holds all media rights in North America, Latin America, Benelux, Eastern Europe, Portugal, the Middle East, and Turkey.
Executive produced by Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films, the first feature by writer-director Noora Niasari follows Shayda and her six-year-old daughter Mona, two Iranians living in Australia. After divorcing her husband Hossein, Shayda moves them into a women’s shelter, where she struggles to adjust to her new life while trying to create one for Mona. Encouraged by the start of the Persian New Year, Nowruz, to embrace her newfound freedom, Shayda is thrown off when Hossein wins visitation rights, raising the possibility that he’ll attempt to take his daughter back to Iran.
Also Read:
Zach Cregger and New Line Biggest Deal Not Made at Sundance...
The distributor holds all media rights in North America, Latin America, Benelux, Eastern Europe, Portugal, the Middle East, and Turkey.
Executive produced by Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films, the first feature by writer-director Noora Niasari follows Shayda and her six-year-old daughter Mona, two Iranians living in Australia. After divorcing her husband Hossein, Shayda moves them into a women’s shelter, where she struggles to adjust to her new life while trying to create one for Mona. Encouraged by the start of the Persian New Year, Nowruz, to embrace her newfound freedom, Shayda is thrown off when Hossein wins visitation rights, raising the possibility that he’ll attempt to take his daughter back to Iran.
Also Read:
Zach Cregger and New Line Biggest Deal Not Made at Sundance...
- 2/14/2023
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
The Audience Award goes to SPC for North America and bundle of international markets.
Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) has acquired all media rights to Sundance Audience Award winner Shayda for North America, Latin America, Benelux, Eastern Europe, Portugal, the Middle East and Turkey.
Written and directed by Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari as her feature debut, the film had its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance and is currently being offered for remaining territories by HanWay Films at Berlin’s European Film Market.
Shayda stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Osamah Sami and Leah Purcell in the story of...
Sony Pictures Classics (SPC) has acquired all media rights to Sundance Audience Award winner Shayda for North America, Latin America, Benelux, Eastern Europe, Portugal, the Middle East and Turkey.
Written and directed by Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari as her feature debut, the film had its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance and is currently being offered for remaining territories by HanWay Films at Berlin’s European Film Market.
Shayda stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Osamah Sami and Leah Purcell in the story of...
- 2/14/2023
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Fingernails
Apples filmmaker Christos Nikou moves into some hearty, heady and hefty terrain with his hyped-up sophomore feature (plus debut English language debut) which is a Apple Studios backed project. It gained the interest of plenty of A-list actors and Fingernails will feature the likes of Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White, Luke Wilson and Annie Murphy. Production took place in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario in October of last year. This is a sci-fi romance with some possible zany ideas – worth noting: Nikou’s first professional cred was on the set of Dogtooth. Dirty Films’ Coco Francini and Andrew Upton produced the film.…...
Apples filmmaker Christos Nikou moves into some hearty, heady and hefty terrain with his hyped-up sophomore feature (plus debut English language debut) which is a Apple Studios backed project. It gained the interest of plenty of A-list actors and Fingernails will feature the likes of Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White, Luke Wilson and Annie Murphy. Production took place in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario in October of last year. This is a sci-fi romance with some possible zany ideas – worth noting: Nikou’s first professional cred was on the set of Dogtooth. Dirty Films’ Coco Francini and Andrew Upton produced the film.…...
- 1/17/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.