Film

Malta Launches Open Call for Submissions to Finish the Country’s Ambitious Land-Sea Super Stage

• Malta seeks investors for a major new film superstudio.
• The facility could attract high-budget Hollywood productions.
• The project is expected to involve over €80 million.

Malta has opened a public call for proposals to finance, build and operate the Land Sea Super Stage at Malta Film Studios. The planned facility is intended to attract major Hollywood productions by combining a large soundstage with a water tank and infrastructure capable of suspending two Black…

Berlinale Title ‘Lali’ to Open Tasveer Film Festival’s 21st Edition (EXCLUSIVE)

• Tasveer’s 21st festival opens with Berlinale title “Lali”.
• The Seattle event features 136 films from 16 countries.
• Its market will award four filmmakers $35,000 grants.

Seattle’s Tasveer Film Festival will open its 21st edition with Sarmad Sultan Khoosat’s “Lali”, a Berlinale Panorama title, during its West Coast premiere. Running from 13–18 October, the festival’s “Bring Your Story Home” theme will showcase South Asian stories and diasporic experiences, with programming focused on women’s voices,…

Lucas retired from directing to build his Los Angeles narrative art museum

• Lucas abandoned three planned Star Wars films to build his museum.
• He retired from directing after Revenge of the Sith.
• Disney has continued expanding Star Wars since its $4bn purchase.

George Lucas has revealed that he planned to direct three more Star Wars films after 2005’s Revenge of the Sith, but chose to retire from filmmaking to focus on creating the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles. He said he felt he was running out of…

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Grohl and Vince Staples lead anniversary benefit

• Rock legends headline Silverlake Conservatory's 25th anniversary benefit concert, 17 October
• Event aims to raise $1.5 million to fund music programmes serving 900+ students weekly
• Founded 2001; scholarship programme supports 200+ students who cannot afford lessons

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Grohl and Vince Staples will headline Silverlake Conservatory of Music's 25th anniversary benefit concert on 17 October at the Hollywood Palladium. The event replaces the organisation's usual private benefit dinner and aims to raise $1.5 million to sustain its music programmes for the…

Russell Crowe Is Officially the King of Streaming

• Crowe is enjoying a major streaming and critical resurgence.
• The Weight has earned a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score.
• His films are performing strongly across cinemas and home viewing.

Russell Crowe is having an unusually strong week, with his new Western The Weight receiving his best reviews in nearly three decades and as many as three of his films appearing on streaming services at the same time. The article argues that, although Crowe has had fewer recent…

The reason Madonna wanted to become a movie star, and why she failed: “It’s not an easy business”

• Madonna’s film career produced both acclaimed and widely criticised performances.
• Her celebrity image made dramatic roles harder for audiences to accept.
• The article attributes her failure partly to poor judgement about her acting abilities.

Madonna pursued Hollywood because she viewed filmmaking as a natural extension of creating music videos and narrative stories, and because her fame gave her opportunities to take prominent roles. Although Desperately Seeking Susan, A League of Their Own and Evita received praise, several other films were criticised or…

Impact Fund for Global South Creators Launches at Toronto With Focus on Distribution and Audiences (EXCLUSIVE)

• Impact fund launches to connect Global South filmmakers with distribution and audiences
• Product of Culture has 10+ years' experience across 100+ films from 18+ countries
• Focus shifts from production funding alone to support entire filmmaker-to-audience journey

The Culture Fund, a new impact fund for creators from the Global South, launched at the Toronto Film Festival market, established by Product of Culture, a New York and Los Angeles-based media and distribution company. Rather than limiting support to production finance, the fund addresses a critical gap…

The 6 Best Film Noir Movies of the ’60s, Ranked

• Six films helped redefine noir as darker, brighter and more modern.
• *Mirage* explores amnesia, paranoia and corporate menace.
• *The Killers* and *Point Blank* modernise classic revenge and crime stories.

The article ranks six 1960s film noirs that helped transform the genre into modern neo-noir. It argues that these films retained noir’s cynicism, moral ambiguity and psychological tension while introducing brighter visual styles, harsher realism, experimental editing and more complex social anxieties. - *Mirage* follows an amnesiac accountant…

Hackers breach FBI recruitment site; Microsoft cuts 268 Xbox jobs

ShinyHunters claims responsibility for breaching the FBI's recruitment website and stealing employee data. Microsoft announces its largest Xbox restructuring, cutting 268 jobs and closing studios.

‘Outlander’ Star’s New Jane Austen Movie Officially Scores Major Win

• New *Sense and Sensibility* film scores 75% on Rotten Tomatoes following review embargo lift
• Critical reception mixed; some praise freshness, others criticise dark aesthetic
• UK release this weekend, US arrival 16 October

A new film adaptation of Jane Austen's *Sense and Sensibility*, directed by Georgia Oakley, has received its first critical reviews following the embargo lift. The film, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Esmé Creed-Miles as the Dashwood sisters alongside *Outlander* star Caitríona Balfe, currently holds a 75% score on Rotten…