CONCERT
A concert by Arcade Fire will headline the reopening of iconic London music venue KOKO on April 29. Arcade Fire last played London in 2018 and the KOKO show will celebrate the release of their sixth studio album “We,” out May 6. The historic live music venue, which first opened as the Camden Theatre in 1900, shut down in Jan. 2020 due to a fire and resulting water damage. Following three years of reconstruction and a $96 million redevelopment, KOKO will re-open as a 50,000 square foot live music venue, recording studio, broadcasting centre and members club.
The KOKO opening weekend also features Ibiza deep house techno icon Luciano for an extended set on April 30, while U.K. breakout rap star Central Cee plays two shows in one day on May 1. Confirmed for KOKO’s forthcoming season of live shows are: Chase & Status, Flume, Gabriels, King Promise, Patrice Rushen, PC Music, Lets Eat Grandma, Dylan, Moses Sumney, Jorja Smith, Lianne La Havas, Honey Dijon, Todd Terje and Mulatu Astatke.
FESTIVAL
Sophie Bourdon, the deputy director of Locarno Film Festival‘s industry section, Locarno Pro, is to join Visions du Réel film festival in Nyon, Switzerland, on July 1 as head of VdR-Industry, its program for film professionals. She succeeds Madeline Robert, who will remain with the festival in another role.
Emilie Bujès, artistic director, and Martine Chalverat, administrative and operational director of Visions du Réel, said: “Year after year, VdR-Industry sets the stage for the success of film projects, discusses the most pressing concerns of the film industry, and facilitates important contacts. Sophie Bourdon comes with the qualities and the network to lead VdR-Industry into the future.”
Bourdon, a French citizen living in Switzerland, heads Locarno’s Open Doors programs, which include a co-production platform, talent development initiatives, and online training and networking programs. Bourdon also works as a freelance consultant with the San Sebastian Film Festival, the Cannes Film Market, and FOCAL on training programs. In 2020, she was appointed deputy director of Locarno Pro.
Before joining Locarno in 2011, Bourdon ran the Ateliers du Cinéma Européen (ACE) for 10 years, and also worked as a salesperson for MK2. – Leo Barraclough
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Meanwhile, European Film Promotion (EFP) has revealed the fifth edition of The Changing Face of Europe event in collaboration with Hot Docs – Canadian International documentary Festival (April 28-May 8) in a hybrid format. This year’s selection includes nine feature films and one short that explore themes centered around environmental activism, the plight of refugees, the destructive powers of war and more. The 10 new European documentaries were selected by the festival from over 60 submissions made by the EFP member organizations, the national film institutes. In addition to festival screenings and access to a comprehensive industry program, the directors and producers of the films will be matched with key distributors, buyers and festival programmers via prior virtual one-to-one meetings arranged by EFP. The initiative is supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA Program of the European Union and the participating EFP member organizations.
MARKET
Gaia Tridente has been appointed as the director of MIA film and TV market, whose eighth edition will be held in Rome from Oct. 11-15. She succeeds Lucia Milazzotto, who left in October to head up a newly created sales and marketing unit of Italy’s Cinecittà Studios.
Tridente served as MIA’s head of the scripted division from 2017-2021. She spent 10 years as a member of the board of RomaFictionFest, serving as head of international programming until 2016. She was the director of European relations for the Fondazione Rossellini per l’Audiovisivo from 2010 to 2011, and collaborated in the programming of the Taormina Film Fest and Europa Cinema until 2007.
Tridente will be assisted by two deputy directors: Francesca Palleschi, as head of film content, and Marco Spagnoli, as head of doc/factual content.
Tridente said: “Over the years, MIA has established itself as the most important Italian marketplace in terms of number of attendees and activity results and has contributed to increasing and facilitating co-productions, distribution, and business relations at an international level. My ambition is to produce a high-quality new edition of MIA, representing a turning point that will meet the needs of the global industry’s ecosystem and bringing content in all its formats and genres at the center of the market.”
MIA is a joint venture between ANICA, the trade association representing the Italian film and TV industry, headed by Francesco Rutelli, and APA, the Italian producers’ association, led by Giancarlo Leone. It is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the Italian Trade Agency. – Leo Barraclough
SHORT FILM
“Aladdin” star Nina Wadia is set to appear in indie British Asian short “Kaur.”
Co-written by Juggy Sohal and actor, writer and producer Parvinder Shergill (“The MTC Show”), “Kaur” tells the story of a British South Asian woman embracing her identity and wearing a turban for the first time.
Shergill will also star in the short.
Wadia will next be seen in Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” and “The Stranger” alongside Samantha Bond.
GRANT
Netflix has partnered with the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture to provide a one-time grant of $250,000 to five women producers and directors in the Arab world through the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity. Selected participants include Asmae El Moudir, a director and producer from Morocco whose film, “The Mother of All Lies” has been shortlisted for the non-fiction category. Diala Kachmar (“From the Other Shore”), Jana Wehbe (“The Day Vladimir Died”) and Tania Khoury (“Manity”), female producers from Lebanon, are spearheading three fiction projects, while Sarra Abidi — a director and producer from Tunisia — is developing “My Name Is Clara.”
TRAILER
India’s Yash Raj Films has unveiled a trailer for women empowerment comedy-drama “Jayeshbhai Jordaar,” starring Ranveer Singh, Shalini Pandey and Boman Irani, directed by debutant Divyang Thakkar. The film releases theatrically worldwide on May 13.
