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For someone who’s about to release a cautionary tale about the current state of America, Civil War star Kirsten Dunst is remarkably unfazed.

Alex Garland’s critically acclaimed action-thriller explores a near future in which our own present-day sound bites involving civil war and secession actually came to pass, and now rebel forces are inching toward commandeering the White House from its dictatorial president (Nick Offerman). Dunst plays Lee Smith, a seasoned and tenacious war photographer who reluctantly becomes a mentor to Cailee Spaeny’s aspiring photographer, Jessie Cullen. The duo are joined by Reuters and The New York Times reporters, Joel (Wagner Moura) and Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), as the quartet journey from New York City to Washington, D.C., in order to document the armed factions’ descent on the Oval Office.

You often hear actors say that they know they should accept a role when it scares...

Fugitive, the production and financing company run by Anthony Kimble and Merrily Ross, has picked up international distribution rights to four new projects from Rogo Productions, including transgender Jewish drama “Abby” and a high-profile doc series about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Fugitive has also formed an exclusive partnership with the London-based production company, run by Alex Holder, producer of feature doc “Keep Quiet,” which has played on Netflix.

The deal will also see Fugitive take international distribution rights to “Empty Planet,” a new fast-turnaround Covid-19 series, as well as “Keep Quiet.”

Drama “Abby” is based on the true story of Abby Stein, a young woman from New York, who used to be an ultra-Orthodox rabbi. Seven years ago, she was Yisroel Stein, a Jewish rabbi in Brooklyn with a young wife, a small child and and rising star on the rabbinical circuit — until he shocked his community and came out as Abby,...

In today’s TV news roundup, the third season of “Sneaky Pete” sets a third season premiere date and Apple adds series regulars to Chris Evans’ “Defending Jacob.”

Dates

The ten-episode second season of “Pose” will debut on Sunday, June 9 at 9 p.m. Et/Pt on FX. Season 2 flashes forward in time to 1990. On the heels of the ballroom community establishing itself in pop culture and going mainstream, the House of Evangelista is forced to reevaluate their goals. Meanwhile, the AIDS crisis worsens and the reaction from a group of activists reaches a fever pitch. The series features the largest cast of transgender actors in series regular roles, as well as the largest recurring cast of Lgbtq actors ever for a scripted series. The cast includes: Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore, Hailie Sahar, and Angelica Ross, who co-star alongside Billy Porter, Charlayne Woodard, Ryan Jamaal Swain, Dyllón Burnside and Angel Bismark Curiel.

Starz has acquired feature drama-documentary Under The Wire based on Paul Conroy’s book of the same name, which chronicles Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin and photographer Conroy’s journey from inside Syria in 2012.

The documentary hails from London-based indie Arrow Media, History Films in association with A&E IndieFilms, BBC Storyville and the British Film Institute in association with Vice Films, and Arrow’s joint creative director Tom Brisley. Under the Wire will premiere Monday, April 22nd at 9 Pm Et/Pt on Starz.

Helmed by BAFTA-nominated director Chris Martin (The War On Democracy) and based on Conroy’s book, Under The Wire tells the incredible story of his and Marie Colvin’s fateful mission – and Conroy’s epic battle to escape the city.

On February 13, 2012, Sunday Times war correspondent Colvin and photographer Conroy entered war-ravaged Syria to cover the plight of Syrian civilians trapped in Homs, a city...

A federal judge has ruled that Syria is responsible for the 2012 death of A Private War subject Marie Colvin and ordered Bashar al-Assad’s regime to pay more than $300 million in a civil judgment today.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia unsealed a $302 million judgment against the Syrian government for killing the American war correspondent and a French photographer. The story is told in director Matthew Heineman’s film A Private War, which stars Rosamund Pike as Colvin in a Golden Globe-nominated role. Jamie Dornan also stars as photojournalist Paul Conroy, who was wounded in the artillery attack on a makeshift media center in the western city of Homs.

“In a resounding condemnation of the Assad’s regime’s tactics to systemically silence opposition voices, a federal judge issued a verdict on behalf of Marie Colvin’s family that the war...

A film memoir of former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev featuring exclusive interviews has had its North American rights acquired by distributor The Orchard from History Films.

Meeting Gorbachev is a documentary directed by Werner Herzog and André Singer for Spring Films and Werner Herzog Film. The behind-the-scenes look at the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union features interviews of Gorbachev by Herzog on three occasions across a six-month period, capturing a unique look at a politician who changed the world.

“Meeting Gorbachev is an enthralling look back at a fascinating leader and diplomat, all the more impactful based on what the world looks like today,” said Paul Davidson, The Orchard’s Evp film and television. “Werner and Andre’s own sensibilities make the film engaging and personal in a way no other filmmakers could.”

The documentary is produced by Lucki Stipetic and Svetlana Palmer. The executive producers...

“The Favourite” proved to be just that at the 2018 British Independent Film Awards, winning a whopping 10 categories including Best Picture. Coming into the evening with a lucky 13 nominations, it lost just two races: Best Film Editing to “American Animals” and Best Sound to “You Were Never Really Here,” which also took home the prize for Best Music. “The Favourite” had two nominees in Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz won over, among others, co-star Emma Stone. (Scroll down to see the complete list of winners and read the full report on the BIFAs)

To be eligible for consideration, films had to be intended for theatrical release, produced or co-produced by a British company and have budgets of under 10 million pounds. This year’s ceremony took place at the Old Billingsgate market.

Discuss All the Oscar contenders with Hollywood insiders in our notorious forums

Best Picture

“American Animals”

“Beast”

“Disobedience”

X – “The...

When does sacrifice become sanctimonious? That’s the question that nags in “Under the Wire,” Christopher Martin’s documentary about fallen Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin and her partner, photojournalist Paul Conroy.

Over and over we’re told what a singular person Colvin was, adamant to tell stories about civilian victims in war-ravaged Syria regardless of personal, and arguably foolish, risk. She’d refuse orders to evacuate particularly dangerous areas and would return if she had briefly given in.

And Colvin paid the ultimate price, having been killed in February 2012 in a bombing in the hotbed of Homs that’s rumored to have been a specified attack on the media center in which she worked, a day after delivering an impromptu broadcast on CNN about a child whom she and Conroy watched die. She believed that such a personalized report would move people to act, but her voice was silenced.

Under The Wire Abramorama Reviewed for Shockya.com by: Harvey Karten Director: Chris Martin Screenwriter: Chris Martin based on Paul Conroy’s book “Under the Wire:Marie Colvin’s Final Assignment. Cast: Paul Conroy, Marie Colvin, Wa’el, Ziad Abaza, Janine Birkett, Julian Lewis Jones, Karine Myriam Lapouble, Nathan Dean Williams, Anne Wittman Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 11/12/18 Opens: […]

The post Under The Wire Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Nominations for the 21st British Independent Film Awards were announced on Oct. 31 in London. To be eligible for consideration, a film must be intended for theatrical release, produced or co-produced by a British company and have a budget of under 10 million pounds. This year’s contenders are led by “The Favourite” with a lucky 13 nominations followed by “American Animals” with 11, “Beast” with 10 and ““You Were Never Really Here” with eight. All four of these compete for Best British Independent Film as does “Disobedience.” (Scroll down to see the complete list of nominations)

Because “The Favourite” counts both British and American companies among its producers, it was also eligible for the Gotham Awards where it reaped three bids. While those kudos are honoring the cast as a whole, the BIFAs singled out leading lady Olivia Colman and supporting players Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz for nominations. Weisz also earned a Best...

"She was clearly impassioned by what she'd seen." Abramorama has released an intense official trailer for a documentary titled Under the Wire, a tribute to two great war correspondents: journalist Marie Colvin and photographer Paul Conroy. The two worked closely together for years, and the two went together to Syria in 2012. Colvin is the subject of two major films this year: Girls of the Sun and A Private War. This is a documentary about the real person, the vigilant, determined, tenacious woman who went out of her way to tell the truth and report from incredibly dangerous war zones. Colvin was sadly killed in the Siege of Homs in 2012, and this film is a tribute to her and Conroy - they went in when no one else would. This contains the first-hand account of what happened, and features all manner of jaw-dropping, shocking footage. See below. Here's the official Us...

Exclusive: Abramorama has sealed a U.S. distribution deal for Under the Wire, the feature documentary by Chris Martin that tells war photographer Paul Conroy’s story of he and Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin’s fateful 2012 mission in Syria, where Colvin was killed while they were covering the siege of Homs. The pic, based on Conroy’s memoir, will hit theaters beginning November 16 in Los Angeles and New York.

That date comes just after Aviron opens A Private War, directed by Matthew Heineman and starring Rosamund Pike as Colvin; the feature is based on Arash Amel’s Vanity Fair article.

The Abramorama pact, made with Arrow Media, comes as the docu readies for a screening Friday at the Hamptons Film Festival.

“We are honored to be entrusted to introduce the American public to Marie Colvin and Paul Conroy’s harrowing true story of their dedication to truth so...

Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite and Marielle Heller’s Melissa McCarthy-starrer Can You Ever Forgive Me? will get Centerpiece slots at next month’s Hamptons Film Festival.

The fest released its full line-up today, adding Steve McQueen’s Widows and the East Coast premiere of Felix Van Groeningen’s Beautiful Boy to the previously announced slate.

Lanthimos’ The Favourite stars Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman in the tale of two cousins fighting to be the court favorite of Queen Anne. The film will be the fest’s Friday Centerpiece, while Heller’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? takes the Sunday Centerpiece slot.

The Hamptons fest runs Oct. 4-8.

In addition to the previously announced films, the Narrative Competition films will include the New York Premiere of Yen Tan’s 1985, the U.S. Premiere of Eva Trobisch’s All Good, Ali Abbasi’s Border, the U.S. Premiere of Zsófia Szilágyi’s One Day,...

Sundance pair join Warner Bros horror ‘The Nun’ in this week’s new releases.

This week’s new releases in the UK sees two hot titles from January’s Sundance Film Festival go on general release.

Bart Layton’s Us heist drama American Animals rolls out on 162 sites this weekend via STXinternational.

The film stars Barry Keoghan, Evan Peters, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, Ann Dowd and Udo Kier and charts the real-life story of four young university students who attempt to steal some rare books. American Animals was co-financed and developed by Film4 and AI Film.

Vertigo Releasing is releasing...

Around 150-160 buyers and festivals programmers attended the dedicated UK event.

International buyers gave a mixed response to this year’s London Screenings, which closed with a 15th anniversary reception at BFI Southbank on Wednesday night (June 20).

Organised by Film London, the three-day event brings some 150-160 international buyers and festival programmers to London to watch a selection of films screened by UK sales agents.

Erik Engelen, the head of the Benelux arm of Splendid Films, said the event provided buyers with the opportunity “to screen five or six movies that otherwise, be it in Cannes or Toronto, you would...