Filmmakers Anna Fitch and Banker White spent 16 years working on their documentary Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird), a portrait of Fitch's unforgettable friend Yolando Shea – the "Yo" of the title. The directors' patience, not to mention their skill and creativity, has been rewarded with a…

EXCLUSIVE: Saban Films has acquired North American rights from Highland Film Group to Atlas King, written and directed by Nika Agiashvili (Tbilisi, I Love You) and starring UFC Hall of Fame fighter Michael Bisping. In addition to Bisping (xXx: Return of Xander Cage), Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Magui…

Former film sales and acquisitions exec Sata Cissokho made her debut as the new head of the Berlinale's World Cinema Fund (WCF) this year, replacing Vincenzo Bugno who stepped down at the end of 2025 after 21 years in the job. Launched in 2004 as a joint initiative between the festival and the…

Welcome Insiders to another weekly mailer with all the industry news that needs digesting. I’m Max Goldbart. Scroll down for your weekly dose, and sign up here for more. Berlin Gets Political Wim Wenders Arturo Holmes/Getty…

About 235 people live on Tristan da Cunha, a volcanic island in the South Atlantic that is considered the remotest inhabited place on Earth. The question in the new film Tristan Forever is whether the population should be allowed to rise by one. The feature, directed by Tobias Nölle and…

The Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFMA) was back at the Berlinale this year with a stand, flashmob and a panel discussion on why it believes the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should stop accepting Oscar submissions from Iran's state Farabi cinema body. It was the…

EXCLUSIVE: Salaud Morisset has locked a series of international distribution deals on Teodora Ana Mihai's latest feature, Heysel 85, which debuted last week at the Berlinale. The completed deals include Plaion, which has acquired rights for Italy. Smile Entertainment picked up the Nordics…

In 2010 the United Nations passed a resolution calling access to clean water a fundamental human right. It wasn't an idle declaration. "More than 2 billion people don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water," notes filmmaker Michael Zelniker. "Almost 4 billion don’t have access to reliable…

EXCLUSIVE: In the biggest worldwide deal to emerge from this year’s European Film Market so far, Sony Pictures is on the verge of closing rights to hot genre package Skeletons, starring Oscar winner and Captain Marvel star Brie Larson. We understand the WW deal is landing in the $25M range and…

European Film Market Head Tanja Meissner has hailed this year's edition as the busiest since the Covid pandemic with accreditations expected to come in at least three percent higher than last year although final figures have yet to confirmed. "Everything’s running super smoothly, and…

Neon has acquired North American rights to Ryusuke Hamaguchi's All Of A Sudden, the new film from the director of the Oscar winner Drive My Car. It is the studio's first major deal out of EFM in Berlin. The film stars Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto and is currently in post-production following…

EXCLUSIVE: Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård fantasy film Wicker is the latest Sundance 2026 movie to secure a domestic theatrical release after Black Bear clinched a deal out of the European Film Market following a competitive situation. Elizabeth Debicki, Peter Dinklage Marli Siu, and…