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Sep 11, 2026

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The Festival Beat N°1179 VENICE in focus

THE FESTIVAL BEAT MAKER ! SHARING MOTION AND EMOTION SINCE 1995 - FINALIZING OUR NEW SITE - BEST OF LUCK ON THE CIRCUIT

We are working hard fine tuning the new version of our platform to better serve our community. Filmfestivals.com was established in 1995 before google even existed, turned into a social network in 2006 with a blog platform welcoming festivals and film professionals with over 120 000 articles and counting. We take our pride in helping filmmakers and Fest organizers offering unique visibility, legitimacy and promotion in our dailies so they can match and grow.

EMAIL US FOR PROMOTION AND FESTIVAL MARKETING HELP : Bruno Chatelin

We cover over 15 000 festivals worldwide and proudly share our knowledge of the Festival circuit with our community, we trust our audience will ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE even better on our new platform : stay tuned for new features coming out soon!. In case you missed any of these 1100+ newsletters ... you can find them all here.

> VENICE IN FOCUS

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VIDEO recap Biennale Cinema 2026 – Day 8

Venice4Palestine aggressive push on the cinema world scene

The Venice4Palestine (V4P) collective has heavily impacted the international film festival circuit, leveraging the high-profile stage of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival to demand explicit...

VIDEO recap Biennale Cinema 2026 – Day 7

The Walker from Tsai Ming-liang ’s series of films has arrived at the #VeniceBiennale, despite his famous slow pace. DUST, the eleventh in the series, was kind of a sensation yesterday at the Lido!...

VIDEO recap Biennale Cinema 2026 – Day 6

Memory seems to have been the “fil rouge” throughout the entire Day 6 of the #BiennaleCinema. In Maggie Gyllenhaal’s FLESH IMPACT, the short film creates a new memory of Marilyn Monroe, embodied by...

VIDEO recap Biennale Cinema 2026 – Day 5

From architecture itself to the fragile structures that hold relationships together: yesterday, Wim Wenders took us into the mind of Peter Zumthor with the documentary FROM INSIDE OUT – THE...

PRIMETIME Red Carpet

In 2006, To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen sets out to make television history. A film by Lance Oppenheim starring Robert Pattinson, Merritt Wever, Skyler Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers.Photos by...

Awards of Final Cut in Venice 2026

For the tenth year, La Biennale di Venezia gives La Biennale di Venezia Prize (€ 10,000) to support the Best Film in post-production.The jury, composed of Tareq Al-Ibrahim (MBC), Mariette Rissenbeek,...

Luca Guadagnino receives the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker 2026 Award

La Biennale di Venezia and Cartier are pleased to announce that the Italian director and producer Luca Guadagnino (After the Hunt, Challengers, Bones and All) is the recipient of the Cartier Glory to...

VIDEO: the Masterclass by George Clooney, Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement 2026.

The Masterclass by George Clooney, Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement 2026.George Clooney is recognized as much for his global humanitarian efforts as he is for his accomplishments in the...

Ellen Burstyn Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

With regard to the award to Ellen Burstyn, Festival’s Artistic Director Alberto Barbera stated: “An actress of rare intensity and truth, Ellen Burstyn has been a presence in American cinema for over...

VIDEO Follow our video coverage of the Venice Festival

VIDEO recap Day 4 in VenIce

The arrival of Liam and Noel Gallagher, a.k.a. – finally, it feels so good to say it again – the Oasis, for Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace’ s documentary OASIS: DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER; the great...

VIDEO recap day 3

Day 3 at #Venezia83 was all about films that make you wonder – and yes, you might have found yourself asking a lot of questions after watching them. The kind of questions that stay with you long...

VIDEO recap Day 2

Where were we yesterday, you asked? On the top of Mount Everest, among the enigmatic statues of Easter Island, deep beneath the Earth, or back in Italy for a story about responsibility and pain. It...

VIDEO recap day 1

There’s so much to tell about the opening day that a post can barely contain the gist of it. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement presented to one of the most beloved actors of all time, George...

Biennale College – Blend 2025-26: The 3 Bitcoin Opera by Claudix Vanesix and Cristina Soto Arias wins the pilot edition

The winner is The 3 Bitcoin Opera by Claudix Vanesix and Cristina Soto Arias.The 3 Bitcoin Opera by Claudix Vanesix and Cristina Soto Arias (Peru/France) is the winning project of the pilot edition...

NO to Palestinian flag on the Lido • Sep 07, 2026 at 12:23 PM

VENICE4PALESTINE RENEWS ITS CALL TO THE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL: “FLY THE PALESTINIAN FLAG AT THE LIDO”Following Venice Film Festival Director Alberto Barbera’s refusal, Venice4Palestine is once again...

VIDEO Venice glam opening with emotional Georges Cloney accepting his Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

The Opening Ceremony of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival and the delivery of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to George Clooney by Laura Dern!SURPRISE!!!! Photos Laurent Hou

> FESTIVALS IN FOCUS

Announcing Opening Night & Centerpiece Films at the 62nd Chicago Film Festival!

We’re thrilled to announce the Opening Night and Centerpiece films at the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival! We’re kicking off Opening Night on October 14 with A24’s Club Kid,...

Film Submissions are open for FEST 2027!

EARLY BIRD PERIOD ENDS ON 12TH OF OCTOBERWe are excited to announce that the 23rd edition of FEST — New Directors | New Films Festival will take place between the 19th and 27th of June 2027, and...

LeCourt2027 unveils its official poster

This year’s Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival poster was created by French illustrator Manon Diemer. It reconnects Clermont-Ferrand with an image of Nature that is wilder, yet also...

The call for non-fiction films and projects for the 58th edition of Visions du Réel is now open.

Submit your film or project for the 58th edition! The call for non-fiction films and projects for the 2027 edition of Visions du Réel is now open. Our selection committees are eager to discover the...

2026 MV International Film Festival highlights

Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival Celebrates Six Days of World CinemaVineyard Haven, MA – What can happen when we look at the world through someone else’s eyes? At the 21st Annual...

San Sebastián Film Festival to welcome a host of International stars

A wide-ranging representation of filmmakers, actors, producers and screenwriters from all over the world will come to the San Sebastián Festival’s 74th edition, to show a total of 263 titles from 47...

24 films compete for the Sebastiane Award at San Sebastian Fest

As usual, the San Sebastián Festival will also host presentation of the 27th Sebastiane Award, whose jury is made up of the director and producer Leire Apellaniz and the...

Innsbruck nature film festival announces 2026 nominees

F𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, innsbruck nature film festival - inff.eu has celebrated films that open our eyes to the diversity of life, our relationship with nature, and our place on this planet. For our 𝟮𝟱𝘁𝗵...

Fantasporto 2027 / 47th Porto International Film Festival opens the call for entry

PORTO CITY OF CINEMA, CULTURE, ARCHITECTURE, LEISURE…THE CITY OF FANTASPORTOSUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN TILL NOVEMBER 15th The Fantasporto 2027/47th Porto International Film Festival informs that the...

Julien Dubuque International Film Festival April 17 - 24, 2027 Call for entry opening now!

The JDIFF Video Channel: ambiance and interviewsEmail I 467 Bluff Street Dubuque, IA 52001 United States I Website I Profile on filmfestivals.com I Facebook I Twitter I SUBMITPhotos by Bruno...

Another big win for our script Lala My Redhead

The Accolade Global Film CompetitionSeason: August 2026 Nellie K (Switzerland), Lala, My Redhead Award of Excellence: Script / Writer

In the Company of Wolves wins top awards : "Best of Show" ... at Accolade film competition

The Accolade Global Film CompetitionSeason: August 2026 Best of Show SusanKucera (USA), IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES: AN AMERICAN JOURNEYDocumentary Feature In addition to Best of Show, you have also...

LeCourt2027 unveils its official poster

First 9/11 Hit America: How Hollywood Hit Back

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent On one of America's darkest days as a nation, a flight attendant named Betty Ann Ong made a phone call from her plane that changed the course of...

Ji.hlava New Visions Forum 2026 reveals its Project Selection!

The Ji.hlava New Visions Forum, a key industry event of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, will showcase a new selection of bold and exciting documentary projects from emerging...

Mirzapur-The Movie, Review: Gang Bang, Bang Gang, Bang Bang

Mirzapur-The Movie, Review: Gang Bang, Bang Gang, Bang BangIf you are looking for novelty, in terms of story and screenplay, this is not your film. If you are turned on by Mafia Dons running parallel...

Jeevan Ya Bheema Yojana con???, Review: fART for fART’s Sake

Jeevan Ya Bheema Yojana con???, Review: fART for fART’s SakeEver since art became a public exercise, were artistes create a piece of art, audio or visual or audio-visual, the debate has been raging...

Joseph Morgan and Katie Cassidy Enter Lovecraft’s World in ‘Herbert West: Reanimator’

Principal photography has wrapped on HERBERT WEST: REANIMATOR, a contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s classic horror story, starring Joseph Morgan (The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, Brave...

Vibe, Trailer launch: Preity Zinta hits the nail on the head

Vibe, Trailer launch: Preity Zinta hits the nail on the headDrongo! How is that for the name of banner? Actor-writer-director, and now co-producer, Kunal Kemmu (it seems he has dropped the h from...

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ONES TO WATCH FOR FESTIVAL CONSIDERATION carefully curated by Bruno Chatelin

Coming Home from ShadowLand to SpiritWorld

USA April 2026 85 minutes documentary film by J.Mitchell Johnson & Daniel Golding (Quechan Indian tribe)

Coming Home: From Shadowland to Spiritworld is the story of a California native tribe’s surprisingly successful recovery of sacred land and their unique quest for reunification with descendants of tribal women taken to Russia at the end of that country’s brief colonial enterprise on the California coast.

Shot over a period of 14 years beginning in 2012 in a cinéma vérité style, Coming Home: From
Shadowland to Spiritworld follows the story of the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians as they undertake an extraordinary effort to reclaim their ancestral lands on the Sonoma Coast after 170 years of displacement. Interweaving the little-known history of Russian colonization in California with a modern story of negotiation, diplomacy, and ceremony, the film shows how land repatriation becomes a powerful act of cultural renewal. The Kashia tell their own story without a third-party narrator as they confront the legacy of historical trauma—including generational loss and the ongoing impacts of colonialism—the return to their sacred places like Metini and Danaka reveals how restoring land can help restore identity, resilience, and community.

After sacred land goes up for sale following 170 years of dispossession brought-on by

the California genocide of native peoples, Kashia Pomo tribal-elder (OTIS PARRISH) mentors a pair of young tribal members (MARTINA MORGAN and JERRY PINOLA) on a journey seeking coastal land return and self-recovery that inspires healing, spiritual revival, and a search for the truth about those tribal members gone missing and murdered.

Watch the trailer

Profile on filmfestivals.com I Trailer I Synopsis I About the filmmakers I Website I IMDB

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STAKEOUT by Riker Lynch USA 90 minutes April 26

Suspicious of his new girlfriend, Jon enlists his wannabe-detective best friend for a DIY stakeout - only to stumble on a dangerous secret that puts them in way over their heads.

Action, comedy romantic thriller by Riker Lynch Writer, Director, Producer

Produced by Billy Gould, Ross Lynch, Gordy De St. Jeor and Riker Lynch

Casting: Riker Lynch, Titus Makin, Bella Martinez, Samuel Del Real, Curt Mega, Sammy Ferrenbach,Bobby UKey, Kayden Muller-Janssen

Riker’s band is ready to perform in sync with festival screenings.

Profile on filmfestivals.com I Trailer I Synopsis I Director's statement I Crew I IMDB

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IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES: AN AMERICAN JOURNEY Documentary by Susan Kucera

1 hour 21 minutes
USA, December 2025

The American West is a mythos known around the world — a landscape of freedom, rugged individualism, boundless possibility, and the collision of human ambition with ecological reality. This film explores the truth beneath it, revealing how wolves — and the domesticated animals traveling in their wake — shaped our ideas, our folklore, and our sense of nationhood, altering the course of American history as profoundly as any human hand.

Academy-Award winner, JEFF BRIDGES narrates this stunning journey, following wolves as co-travelers through American history — from the shores of England to the birth of the New Republic and ultimately the colonization of the vast, contested landscapes of the modern American West. A place where the ensemble doesn’t merely walk through history; they trot, lope, stampede, and migrate across it reminding us that the connection between the wild and the domesticated have always reflected a deeper story of who we are as a nation — and who we might yet become.

Susan Kucera and Academy Award winner, Jeff Bridges, team up for their 3rd Documentary Film together, In the Company of Wolves; An American Journey. This is Susan's 8th documentary film following award winning films such as, Living in the Future's Past, Hot Money, 12th Hour, For the Love of Tango, Wild Genius, Breath of Life and Trading on Thin Air. She spent her youth filming on the ice fields of the Athabasca Glacier and has a deep love of nature, cinematography, animals and the great outdoors.

Watch the Trailer

Profile on filmfestivals.com I Trailer I Synopsis I Director's statement I Stills I Website I IMDB
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"Lala my readhead" script by Nellie K. and Deniz Nala

'LALA, MY REDHEAD'

Feature film by Nellie K. and Deniz Nala

in development stage, with a finalised script

Looking for support: partners and financiers.

Love and poverty, betrayal and wealth - centuries of traditions put to the test! A compelling story intricately woven into a comprehensive exploration of women’s status against the backdrop of the Roma culture. From the director of an award-winning film in Cannes 2023.

Profile on filmfestivals.com I Synopsis I Awards

Biennale College – Blend 2025-26: The 3 Bitcoin Opera by Claudix Vanesix and Cristina Soto Arias wins the pilot edition

Spain Shortlists The Beloved, The Black Ball and Sundays for the 2027 Oscars

The Beloved, directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen; The Black Ball, directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo; and Sundays, directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, have been shortlisted by members of the...

San Sebastián Festival to honour Naomi Watts with a Donostia Award

Naomi Watts, one of her generation's most talented and award-winning actresses, will receive the Donostia Award on Saturday 19 September at a gala in the Kursaal, where the acclaimed actress and...

Entertainment Finance Forum Toronto at TIFF: The Market: Highlights of the upcoming sessions

Since 2008, Winston Baker has excelled in bringing together seasoned and visionary entertainment professionals from around the world. They have successfully organized sold out conferences across the...

Do not miss Winston Baker’s signature session : State of the Industry; State of Finance conference

Thursday, September 10th | 3:00pm - 5:00pm

Enjoy the conference "State of the Industry; State of Finance conference" held at TIIF organised by Winston BakerA Winston Baker signature session taking the pulse of the entertainment business and...

2026 most bankable actors

Following this week's historic news that Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day has officially crossed the $2.22 billion mark globally, effectively knocking James Cameron's Titanic out of the all-time top...

Brendan Fraser, Deauville Talent Award at the 52nd Deauville American Film Festival

Brendan Fraser © Chad Griffith In thirty years of career, few actors will have embodied such a diversity of faces and figures with as much authenticity, slipping just as easily into the...

TIFF 2026 Tribute Award recipients announced: Fan Bingbing, Helen Mirren, Adam Pietkiewicz, Seth Rogen, and Bassam Tariq

(L-R) Fan Bingbing, Helen Mirren, Adam Pietkiewicz, Seth Rogen, and Bassam TariqTORONTO — TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey is delighted to share the final honourees of this year’s TIFF Tribute Awards,...

Corncob Doll to Superstar, That's How Dolly Parton Left Us

By Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent Yes, Dolly Parton died at her home today in Nashville, TN, at age 80. Left us to bask in all her glory; but little Dolly wasn’t always a sex-symbol...

TIFF announces its 2026 awards and juries

TIFF today revealed the remaining 2026 award categories, jury members, and prizes that will honour the year’s most exceptional cinematic works. In addition to juried prizes across Canadian feature...

TIFF’s In Conversation With… spotlights the stories, artists, and ideas shaping cinema today
Featuring Lee Min-ho, Rachel Morrison, Chris Rock, Andrew Scott, and Hudson Williams

(L-R) Lee Min-ho, Rachel Morrison, Chris Rock, Andrew Scott, and Hudson WilliamsTIFF is announcing this year’s iconic In Conversation With… series, expanding the Festival experience beyond the...