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National Geographic Documentary Films has announced the acquisition of worldwide rights to Bobi Wine: The People’s President, following its Venice Festival premiere.

The film, directed by Moses Bwayo and Christopher Sharp and produced by double Oscar winner John Battsek, follows Ugandan opposition leader, activist and musical star Bobi Wine as he uses his music to fight the regime led by Yoweri Museveni, who has led the country for 35 years and changed the constitution to enable another five-year term.

NatGeo Doc Films will roll out the film at global festivals throughout the rest of the year and release it in theaters in 2023.

Wine said: “My people, the Ugandan people, are familiar with my journey through music, politics, imprisonment and torture, but this film is a microcosm of my country’s larger struggles under an unrelenting dictatorship that has been operating with impunity for decades. I can’t wait for...

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National Geographic Documentary Films has snatched up the Venice 2022 festival documentary Bobi Wine: Ghetto President and will take the film out worldwide.

The documentary, from directors Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo, follows the career and life of Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Afrobeats pop star Bobi Wine, who is using his fame — and music — to shine a spotlight on corruption in his home country. Since his move into politics —Wine last year ran for president, challenging the authoritarian leadership of Ugandan leader Yoweri Kaguta Museveni — the singer has survived beatings and an assassination attempt. But he has not been bowed.

“My people, the Ugandan people, are familiar with my journey through music, politics, imprisonment and torture, but this film is a microcosm of my country’s larger struggles under an unrelenting dictatorship that has been operating with impunity for decades,” said Wine. “I...

As summer must eventually come to an end, so must these titles’ time on Netflix.

With Halloween right around the corner, the streaming service will remove all eight seasons of “The Vampire Diaries,” as well as several thriller and horror films including “Nightcrawler,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Seven” and “Insidious” so be sure to watch these spooky season classics before the end of the month.

The streaming service will no longer be the home for cherished TV series, including “Quantico,” “Saved by the Bell,” “Gotham” and “Dark Matter.” Netflix will also scrap classic titles, like “Catch Me If You Can,” “Mean Girls,” “Taxi Driver,” “Dirty Harry” and “Dumb and Dumber.”

Also Read:

Here’s What’s New on Netflix in September 2022

Here’s the complete list of what’s leaving Netflix this month:

Sept. 1

Quantico: Seasons 1-3

Sept. 2

Freaks

Sept. 3

The Vampire Diaries: Seasons 1-8

Sept. 9

Nightcrawler

Sept.

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Netflix has released the first trailer for its Thai original series Thai Cave Rescue, a docudrama of the incredible rescue of the Wild Boars boys soccer team that captivated the world in 2018.

Filmed entirely in Thailand, Thai Cave Rescue is told from the local perspective, and the trailer captures the fear faced by the boys as the cave filled with water and the scale of the rescue operation the international team faced as they raced against time and the elements.

The six-episode limited series will release on Netflix worldwide on Sept. 22.

Created by Michael Russell Gunn (Billions, Designated Survivor) and Dana Ledoux Miller (Designated Survivor, Narcos), Thai Cave Rescue is co-directed by Thai hitmaker Baz Poonpiriya (One for the Road, Bad Genius) and Thai-American director Kevin Tancharoen (The Brothers Sun, The Book of Boba Fett, Warrior). Gunn and Miller also serve as co-showrunners and writers of the project.

France’s Swift Prods. and Japan’s Yaman Films have come on board “Kiss of the Con Queen,” a new fact-based feature film directed by Thailand’s Tom Waller.

The script was written by Bangkok-based Irish actor Eoin O’Brien (“The Last Full Measure”), who was a victim of Indonesian con artist Hargobind Tahilramani’s elaborate film industry scam.

Nicknamed the “Con Queen of Hollywood,” Tahilramani, an Indonesian food blogger, had been impersonating Hollywood executives such as Kathleen Kennedy and Amy Pascal, and promised roles in movies that never existed. He was arrested in the U.K. in 2020, after an FBI investigation that uncovered the extent of the scam.

Tahilramani is currently awaiting an extradition trial, which was recently delayed and is now expected to take place in November.

Waller, who directs, produces and provides location services in Thailand through his De Warrenne Pictures, has made a specialization of feature films...

E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin seem to have the market cornered on documentaries about people who do wildly dangerous, potentially deadly things. They helmed the nail-biting documentary "Free Solo," about rock climbing without any ropes or safety device. And now they're back with "The Rescue," a film that's primarily about the Tham Luang cave rescue, but is really about a group the cave divers who came in from around the world to help. Cave diving isn't a casual activity; it's incredibly difficult, and only a handful of individuals in the world are good at it....

The post The Rescue Review: Free Solo Directors Return With a Nail-Biting Doc About the Thai Cave Rescue [TIFF 2021] appeared first on /Film.

Filmmaker Todd Phillips' "Joker", an origin story about superhero Batman's biggest enemy Joker, led the Oscar nominations with 11 nods, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.

Sam Mendes' World War drama "1917", Quentin Tarantino's ode to Los Angeles "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood", and Martin Scorsese's mob epic "The Irishman" followed close behind with 10 nods each.

Also Read:?Joaquin Phoenix's 'Joker' leads BAFTA 2020 nominations

Those films, along with "Ford v Ferrari", "Jojo Rabbit", "Little Women", "Marriage Story" and "Parasite" will compete for Best Picture, reports variety.com.

Female filmmakers were entirely shut out of the Best Director race. Along with Phillips, the nominees in the category include Scorsese for "The Irishman," Mendes for "1917", Tarantino for "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" and Bong Joon Ho for "Parasite".

Here is the complete list of Oscar nominations 2020:

Best Film:

* "Ford v Ferrari"

* "The Irishman...

Netflix's American Factory, National Geographic's The Cave, Netflix's The Edge of Democracy, PBS' For Sama and Neon's Honeyland on Monday earned nominations for best documentary feature for the 2020 Academy Awards.

American Factory director Julia Reichert earned her fourth career nomination for her film, while The Cave helmer Feras Fayyad scored his second career nom after a previous mention for Last Men in Aleppo.

Watch the trailers for all five best documentary feature nominees below.

Writer/Director/Producer Tom Waller (Thomas de Warrenne Waller) was born in Bangkok to a Thai Buddhist mother and Irish Catholic father. He graduated from the Northern Film School in Leeds, England in 1995 and his first film project as producer and director was “Monk Dawson” (1998) aka “Passion for the Priest”.

He was nominated in 2012 for two Thai National Film Association Awards: Best Director and Best Screenplay for his murder mystery Mindfulness and Murder (2011), and won the Best Director award at Dhaka International Film Festival for his biopic, “The Last Executioner” (2014), also Best Picture “Tukkata Tong” Golden Doll award (Thailand’s equivalent of a Golden Globe) in 2015. He founded in 1996 his production company De Warrenne Pictures, one of Thailand’s leading full service production companies serving foreign productions.

On the occasion of his latest film “The Cave” being screened at the BFI London Film Festival we speak with him about the emotional drive of the project,...

If you haven’t been living in a (different) cave for the last year and a half, chances are you were on the edge of your chair for more than 2 weeks last summer, following the misadventures and the rescue of 13 children trapped in the flooded underground cave complex of Tham Luang, in Chiang Rai, Thailand. The news reports about the boys, a junior football team called “Wild Boars” and their coach, were followed by the whole world with trepidation while support and assistance were arriving from everywhere. Thai-Irish director Tom Waller has now turned these 18 days into a film, “The Cave”, that had its World premiere at the Busan International Film Festival, European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and North American premiere at the Vancouver Film Festival. The rescue was successful in the end, and the boys were all brought back to safety, however the mission costed the...

"We're going to dive 'em out." Screen Daily has debuted the first official trailer for The Cave, the very first (of many in the works) narrative feature based on the daring cave rescue in Thailand that captured the world's attention in June/July of 2018. Directed by filmmaker Tom Waller, who was born in Thailand, the film features a few of the real divers playing themselves, however they cast Thai actors to play the kids and their soccer team coach. It took 18 days, with teams from around the world, to rescue all 12 of the children from deep inside the Tham Luang cave. Tom Waller's The Cave film stars Ekawat Niratvorapanya as the coach, plus Jim Warny and James Edward Holley. This looks exactly as expected without any surprises - a very powerful, heroic recreation of this harrowing cave rescue in northern Thailand. Check it out below. Here's the first official trailer...

The film received its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival.

Screen can reveal the first trailer for Tom Waller’s The Cave, which received its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival.

The Cave tells the true-life story of the dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their football coach from Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand in 2018. Four of the volunteer cave divers play themselves in the film, as does Thai engineer Nopadol Niyomka, who helped pump rainwater out of the cave. The boys and their coach are played by actors.

Thai-Irish independent film­maker Waller’s previous...

“The Cave,” Tom Waller’s reconstruction of the dramatic rescue of a schoolboy soccer team from waterlogged caverns in northern Thailand begins its festival career this week at the Busan International Film Festival.

Interest in the story has been running strongly since the dramatic events of June and July 2018, with at least half a dozen films versions announced and a Netflix-backed series in the works.

Several of those projects appear to have faltered, though a National Geographic documentary is believed to be still moving forward.

But Waller, who holds Thai and British passports and is an experienced local production manager for foreign films shooting in Thailand, used his unique set of connections to get his film rolling quickly. Shooting took place in Thailand, the U.K. and Ireland from November last year.

“Us being shown at Busan first, it’s playing the film on a world stage,” Waller told media.

Further releases include For Sama and Hustlers.

This week sees the release of Universal Pictures’ period drama Downton Abbey, adapted from the enormously popular ITV series that ran from 2010 to 2015.

Michael Engler directed the feature, having helmed several episodes of the series, from a screenplay by its original creator Julian Fellowes. Returning cast members include Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael and Jim Carter. The film sees the Crawley film await a visit from King George V and Queen Mary.

The project is tailor-made for a UK cinema-going audience thanks to the popularity of the series combined with the typical success of...

Tom Waller’s “The Cave,” the first feature film about the miraculous rescue of a soccer team from waterlogged caves in Thailand, will have its world premiere next month at the Busan International Film festival.

The film has confirmed other festival dates, including a North American premiere at the Vancouver festival and a European debut in the Thrill section of the London festival. These will be followed by a commercial release in Thailand from Nov. 28 through Sf Cinemas and Major Cineplex.

Netflix and Ivanhoe Pictures are also preparing a series on the summer 2018 events when the Wild Boars soccer team, consisting of 12 schoolboys and their coach, became trapped in the Tham Luang underground complex. The Thai government is co-operating and has bought out certain rights attached to the children.

Waller, a Bangkok-based Thai-Irish producer and director, tells his version from the point of view of the unsung heroes, notably the foreign rescue divers,...

Real-life divers and other rescue volunteers that last year led a successful multi-national mission to save 12 boys and their soccer coach from a cave in northern Thailand will play themselves in the upcoming Thai movie The Cave.

Those set to reprise their roles in Thai-Irish director Tom Waller's indie include Belgian cave rescue diver Jim Warny and dive instructors Erik Brown from Canada, Mikko Paasi from Finland and China's Tan Xiaolong. The real rescue effort at the Tham Luang cave involved over 10,000 people, including more than 100 divers, dozens of aid workers, some 100 government ...

Several of the real-life heroes whose actions in rescuing a soccer team from a flooded cave in Thailand made world headlines a year ago this month will play themselves in upcoming movie “The Cave.”

They include rescue diver Jim Warny from Belgium, dive instructors Erik Brown from Canada and Mikko Paasi from Finland, and Chinese cave-diving instructor Tan Xiaolong. American journalist Todd Ruiz, who covered the events in the Tham Luang caves for the Khao Sod English-language newspaper, reprises his role as a reporter.

The film, in Thai, Chinese and English, is directed by Thai-Irish director Tom Waller. He wrote the story with writers Don Linder and Katrina Grose, who previously collaborated with him on “The Last Executioner.”

Thai teen heartthrob Ekawat Niratworapanya heads the acting cast. He plays the football coach who led 12 schoolboys into the caves near Chiang Mai. When the Wild Boars team became trapped by suddenly rising floodwaters,...

Salty Pictures, the production and finance company headed by Jonah Greenberg, CAA’s former head in China, has unveiled a five-picture production slate in tandem with Thailand’s The Studio Park Prods. (Tspp), including a Chinese-language film together with Johnny Depp and his Infinitum Nihil partner Sam Sarkar.

Studio Park is a leading facilities provider and property developer in Thailand, backed by the Bbtv conglomerate. Its portfolio includes a recently built studio complex with five soundstages on the east side of Bangkok and equipment hire company Gearhead.

The group is now launching Tspp as a production services company that will assist inbound international productions. The agreement with Salty does not call for Tspp to invest, but sees the company provide services at preferential rates.

Since leaving CAA, Beijing-based Greenberg has begun development of 15 film projects. He is also an executive producer on Tom Waller’s “The Cave,” a Thai cave rescue film,...

Netflix and Sk Global officially announced Tuesday that they have acquired the rights to produce a film about the rescue of a Thai youth soccer team from a flooded cave in 2018, with “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu directing alongside Thai filmmaker Nattawut “Baz” Poonpiriya.

The two companies were granted the rights by 13 Thumluang Company Limited, a company set up by the soccer team and their coach to handle life rights and related intellectual property rights related to the team and their rescue.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to thank the people and organizations from Thailand and around the world who came together to perform a true miracle, by retelling our story. We look forward to working with all involved parties to ensure our story is told accurately, so that the world can recognize, once again, the heroes that made the rescue operation a success,” said Assistant Coach Ekkapol “Coach Ake” Chantapong,...

Netflix has boarded Sk Global Entertainment’s project to bring to screen the dramatic Thai cave rescue of 2018. It is now envisaged as a Netflix Original series, rather than a movie.

The news was announced Thursday by Lt. Gen. Werachon Sukondhapatipak, a representative of Thailand’s ruling junta. He said that authorities had granted exclusive and lifetime rights to direct contact with the 12 boys and their soccer coach, who were trapped for two weeks in June and July last year in flooded caves near Chiang Mai. He said the 13 would each be paid about $94,000 (THB3 million) with additional sums paid to other organizations involved in the rescue.

“We can confirm that we are working on an original scripted miniseries with Ske Global and 13 Tham Luang Company Limited to bring the incredible story of the Thai cave rescue to audiences worldwide on Netflix,” a Netflix spokesman told Variety. Thai media reported...

Exclusive: Universal Pictures has acquired the life rights of the divers and survivors of summer’s Tham Luang cave rescue in Thailand when 12 boys aged 11-16 and their coach of the Wild Boar soccer team were trapped 1,000 meters below the surface.

Michael De Luca will produce for his eponymous production company, alongside Dana Brunetti for his newly launched Cavalry Media banner. The duo are reteaming following their successful collaboration on the billion-dollar grossing Fifty Shades of Grey series, as well as their six-Oscar nominee Somali Pirate hijack feature Captain Phillips and three-time Oscar winner The Social Network.

CAA agent Matt DelPiano was instrumental and led a team effort, traveling to Thailand and Australia to secure the life rights for those involved including Wild Boar team Coach Aekkaphol Chantawong, divers Dr. Richard Harris and Dr. Craig Challen, and the players on the Wild Boar soccer team.

On June 23, the Wild Boar...

The Cave, the first of at least six Thai cave rescue movies, is heading to production with half-Thai filmmaker Tom Waller set to direct. The package was a hot property at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was unveiled for buyers looking to distribute the film based on the inspirational real-life story of 12 young soccer […]

The post Thai Cave Rescue Movie ‘The Cave’ to be Directed by Tom Waller appeared first on /Film.

Thailand’s recent cave rescue has sparked a showdown between six production companies that have expressed interest in developing a film, according to multiple reports.

“Five international film production companies have proposed to the commerce and foreign ministries that they make a movie and a documentary about the rescue operation,” Thailand’s culture minister Vira Rojpojchanarat said Thursday, as reported by Thai PBS. Three of the companies have approached the Foreign Ministry for the rights, while two have contacted private agencies in Thailand, he said.

Aside from the five international production companies, Thai-Irish producer and director Tom Waller and his Thai production company De Warrenne Productions said it was working on a script based on the rescue operation, according to Variety.

Also Read: 'Crazy Rich Asians' Director Jon Chu to Develop Second Thai Cave Rescue Movie

Rojpojchanarat declined to share the names of the companies seeking to make a film about the rescue,...

The number of films being prepared about the recent cave rescue in northern Thailand has risen to six, according to Thai government sources.

Thailand’s Ministry of Culture says it expects the military government’s Cabinet next week to approve the establishment of a special committee to oversee all film projects relating to the dramatic mission.

“Five international film production companies have proposed to the commerce and foreign ministries that they make a movie and a documentary about the rescue operation,” Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanarat said Thursday. At least one Thai company is also developing a film.

Rojpojchanarat did not identify any of the production firms, although two were quick to pounce on the story, with one scouting locations near Chiang Rai even before all 13 boys and their soccer coach had been extracted.

“Now You See Me 2” director Jon M. Chu and Ivanhoe Pictures last week said they were...