See what else is happening in film & TV industries around the world.
The jury for this year’s Cannes festival has been announced The nine members of the Cannes competition jury that will decide this year’s winners are a mixture of Hollywood stars and international auteurs. The majority of the members are established directors, and they will be led by influential Hollywood director Steven Spielberg. The group includes veteran director Ang Lee (the man who beat Spielberg to this year’s Best Director Oscar for ‘Life of Pi’); former Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu (who won in 2007 for ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days); Scottish director Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk about Kevin); and Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase. The remaining four members are actors: Oscar winners Christoph Waltz and Nicole Kidman, French star Daniel Auteil (Caché), and Bollywood actress Vidya Balan. This year’s jury line-up follows a long standing tradition at the Cannes film festival, which is to appoint big-name stars and internationally renowned figures to the group that will eventually decide the Palme d’Or. This year’s jury line-up undoubtedly strikes the right balance between mainstream Hollywood cinema and international art-house cinema, and with a star-studded line-up in competition this year, which include the Coen Brothers, Steven Soderbergh, and Roman Polanski, this year’s festival should be one of the most memorable in recent years.
Matthew McConaughey’s AIDS drama acquired by Focus Features The eagerly awaited Matthew McConaughey film, ‘Dallas Buyers Club’, was recently acquired by Focus Features, with an aim to release the film in the second half of this year. The film, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, is also likely to be positioned as an Oscar contender for next year’s Academy Awards. Inspired by real events, the story centres on Ron Woodroof (McConaughey), a drug-taking, woman-loving, homophobic man who in 1986, was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and was given only six months to live. He then began smuggling alternative drugs into the U.S. to help himself and other AIDS patients. Even though the drugs added years to his life, he ran into trouble with the U.S. Food and Administration Authority, who were determined to keep the drugs out of the country. McConaughey reportedly lost a substantial amount of weight for the film in order to portray the dying Ron Woodroof. The film also stars Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto. McConaughey’s next film, ‘Mud’, will be released in Ireland on May 10th.
Watch the trailer for Emma Watson’s ‘The Bling Ring’ A new trailer for Emma Watson’s latest film, ‘The Bling Ring’ has been released online. The film is based on the true story of a group of fame-obsessed teenagers who robbed the homes of the rich and famous between October 2008 and August 2009. The group managed to steal an estimated $3 million in loot. Written and directed by Sofia Coppola, the film stars Taissa Farmiga, Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Claire Julien, Gavin Rossdale, and Leslie Mann. The film will be released in Ireland later this year.
