AWARD
British actor Vanessa Redgrave will receive the European Lifetime Achievement award for her outstanding body of work at the European Film Awards.
Hailing from an illustrious family of actors, Redgrave’s first lead in “Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment” (1966), by Karel Reisz, won her best actress at Cannes and scored BAFTA and Oscar nominations. She returned to Cannes in the following year as Jane, the mysterious woman in the park in “Blow Up” by Michelangelo Antonioni.
More Oscar nominations followed – in 1969 for her performance as Isadora Duncan in “Isadora” by Reisz, which again won her best actress at Cannes, and in 1972 for “Mary, Queen of Scots, by Charles Jarrott – which won her a special David at Italy’s David di Donatello Awards. Her performance in Fred Zinnemann’s “Julia” (1978) won her an Oscar, and she scored further nominations for James Ivory’s “The Bostonians” (1985) and “Howards End” (1993). In 1994, she received the Volpi Cup in Venice for “Little Odessa” by James Gray.
Over her career Redgrave has been bestowed the Career Golden Lion in Venice, a BAFTA Film Fellowship, the International Lifetime Achievement Award at the Portuguese Sophia Awards, an Honorary Award at the Hellenic Film Academy Awards, the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award in San Sebastian and a BFI Fellowship. In 2022, Redgrave was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
Redgrave will be an honorary guest at the 36th European Film Awards ceremony on Dec. 9 in Berlin.
MOVING CONCLUSION
“Moving,” the fantasy action series that is the most watched Korean original series for Disney+ and Hulu, reached its conclusion on Wednesday and will simultaneously release the three final episodes. First launched on Aug. 9, “Moving” is also enjoying critical success. It was recently nominated in six categories at the Busan International Film Festival’s Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards: for best creative, best writer (Kang Full), best lead actor (Ryu Seung-ryong), best newcomer actor (Lee Jungha), best newcomer actress (Go Younjung) and best visual effects.
SUGA SERVICE
BTS member Suga is scheduled on Friday to begin his mandatory military service in Korea. While he is the third member of the K-Pop sensation to commit to mandatory service, following Jin and J-Hope, his agency BigHit Music said that Suga has been ruled unfit for combat duty and that he would likely do a form of alternative service. Korean media report the likely reason as the after-effects of surgery in 2020 for torn shoulder cartilage.
BALLERINA’S POISE
Netflix has unveiled a trailer for upcoming Korean film “Ballerina” which will debut at the Busan International Film Festival next month and upload to the streaming service on Oct. 6. The revenge action thriller sets a female former bodyguard, portrayed by Jeon Jong-seo (known for her roles in “The Call” and” “Money Heist: Korea Joint Security Area”) consumed by her relentless quest to bring down the man (portrayed by Kim Ji-hoon), a charmer who caused the tragic demise of her beloved ballerina friend, (played by Park Yoo-rim). The film is written and directed by Lee Chung-hyun and produced for the streamer by Climax Studio.
CASTING
Vicky McClure (“Line of Duty”) leads the cast and serves as executive producer on Paramount+ U.K. original drama series “Insomnia,” an adaptation of the novel of the same name by bestselling author Sarah Pinborough. McClure stars as successful career woman Emma Averill, who fears she might be losing her mind, when her hard-won dream life starts to turn into a nightmare. A couple of weeks before her 40th birthday Emma stops sleeping — just as her mother had done right before she suffered a violent psychotic breakdown on the night of her own 40th birthday. Emma realizes that only by investigating the truth of her painful past, can she find the answers to her present and prevent tragedy from striking a second time.
Tom Cullen (“The Gold”) will play Emma’s husband Robert, while Smylie Bradwell (“Wisting”) and India Fowler (“The Nevers”) play Will and Chloe, Emma and Tom’s children. Leanne Best (“Bolan’s Shoes”) joins the cast as Emma’s estranged sister Phoebe and Corinna Marlowe (“Hysteria”) is Emma’s mother Patricia.
The six-part series, produced by Left Bank Pictures (“The Crown”) in association with Build Your Own Films, and distributed by Sony Pictures Television, is due in 2024.
APPOINTMENT
High-end factual producer Docsville Studios has appointed Sophie Daniel to the newly-created role of managing director, where she will work closely with founders Lawrence Elman and Nick Fraser. Daniel has worked with the outfit for two years and her remit is to help grow Docsville Studios’ slate of feature documentaries. Her recent producer credits include Kevin Macdonald’s “Last Song from Kabul,” launched at Telluride last month, and an upcoming feature documentary about the life of Reverend Jesse Jackson.
INDIAN RENEWALS
The new iteration of Warner Bros. Discovery‘s culinary format “Star vs Food,” “Star vs Food Survival,” will premiere Oct. 9 on Discovery Channel and Discovery+. Celebrity chef Ranveer Brar, will lead a star-studded cast, including Suniel Shetty, Sanjay Dutt, Aparshakti Khurana, Mouni Roy and Nakuul Mehta on a journey through the flavors of Indian locales Coorg and Spiti.
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The second season of hit ZEE5 Global series “Duranga,” adapted by “Aranyak” writer Charudutt Acharya from Korean show “Flower of Evil” is due imminently. The cast is led by Amit Sadh and returning cast includes Gulshan Devaiah, Drashti Dhami, Barkha Sen Gupta and Rajesh Khattar. Season 2 will see the real Sammit Patel (Sadh) wake up from a coma and go after Abhishek Banne (Devaiah) who has been living as Sammit Patel. The series is produced by Goldie Behl’s Rose Audio Visuals and directed by Rohan Sippy.
LOCARNO’S NEW ERA
Swiss arts patron Maja Hoffmann has been officially confirmed as president of the Locarno Film Festival, following a vote of the festival’s general assembly and board of directors.
Hoffmann, founder of the Luma Foundation, becomes the first female president of Locarno, which is Europe’s indie cinema temple, in the Swiss lakeside town event’s 70-plus years of existence.
“I look forward to working with the entire team, led by Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director, and Raphaël Brunschwig, managing director, to build on the festival’s reputation as one of the most innovative, adventurous and inclusive film festivals in the world,” she said in statement.
