Featuristic Films has unveiled an exclusive first look at the feature documentary 'Afghanistan.' It follows filmmaker James Glancy, a former British Royal Marine Commando who was decorated in 2012 for his actions in combat, as he returns to Afghanistan with a small, handpicked team to help him answer the question that has haunted him over the past decade: Was it worth it? Dramatically, mid-way through the shoot, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would be pulling troops out by 9/11, starting a Taliban offensive that has led to the dramatic fall this week of the Afghan government, amidst chaotic evacuation scenes in Kabul as American forces withdraw.

https://variety.com/2021/film/global/afghanistan-james-glancy-featuristic-films-1235042807/

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Lotus Entertainment and ROAR have boarded French Touch, a music-filled coming-of-age movie set in New York, starring French singer-songwriter David Hallyday and his real-life daughter Emma Smet. The film will be directed by Shirley Monsarrat, who most recently helmed season 7 of the ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/global/french-touch-david-halliday-lotus-entertainment-1234968713/

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YouTube, locked in a fight with Roku, is doing an end-around to let customers access the YouTube TV from its main app on connected TV platforms. YouTube is launching a new feature that lets users access to YouTube TV from within the YouTube app, starting with Roku. The move comes after Roku last ...

https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/roku-youtube-tv-access-youtube-app-1234968887/

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A group of more than 100 Hollywood publicity firms say they are concerned about the Hollywood Foreign Press Associations recently released plans to overhaul the ogranization. We will continue to refrain from any HFPA sanctioned events, including press conferences, unless and until ...

https://variety.com/2021/awards/news/golden-globes-reform-plans-hfpa-hollywood-foreign-press-association-1234968927/

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Baz Halpin, the music touring creative director who founded Silent House 11 years ago, announced an ambitious expansion Tuesday, with his brainchild to now be known as Silent House Group and expanded into three separate companies Silent House Studiios, Silent House Events and Silent House ...

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/baz-halpin-silent-house-group-expands-1234966128/

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Kym Whitley and Danny Garcia have been cast in recurring roles in the Amazon YA pilot Hot Pink,Variety has learned exclusively. The pair joins previously announced stars Sarah Michelle Gellar,Nina Bloomgarden, David Iacono, Mimi Davila, Dana Donnelly, and Myra Molloy, as well as fellow...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/kym-whitley-danny-garcia-amazon-hot-pink-1234966331/

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NBCUniversal has instituted a production assistant training program in New Mexico aimed at residents who are interested in pursuing a career in film and television production. The two-day training program, scheduled for May 22 and 23, will be free to accepted applicants and will cover everything ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/nbcuniversal-production-assistant-new-mexico-1234966570/

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Oscars producer Steven Soderbergh has opened up about the decisions made to change the show order of the 2021 ceremony and whether he regrets not allowing Zoom acceptance speeches. In an interview published today by the Los Angeles Times, Soderbergh, who served as producer alongside Stacey Sher and ...

https://variety.com/2021/awards/news/steven-soderbergh-oscars-show-order-1234966659/

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Global streaming sports platform DAZN and Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo have closed a multi-project development deal kicking off with El Presidente, a docu-series chronicling the former strikers tenure as part owner of Spanish club Valladolid FC, which will launch globally on May 20. Best known ...

https://variety.com/2021/streaming/news/ronaldo-dazn-el-presidente-la-guerra-1234966481/

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Casey Wilson may be best known as an actor, with roles in Gone Girl, Atypical, Happy Endings and Black Monday as well as a stint as a Saturday Night Live cast member, and as a podcaster (Bitch Sesh). However, she ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/features/casey-wilson-wreckage-of-my-presence-essays-interview-1234944676/

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Caritas Migrant House sits where the semi-arid Sahel region gives way to the Sahara Desert, on the edge of the urban sprawl of Gao, a town of more than 85,000 inhabitants in the landlocked West African nation of Mali. But as the location of Ousmane Samasskous unobtrusively observant ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/the-last-shelter-review-1234962677/

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Behind the Headlines, Daniel Andreas Sagers thrilling look at how German investigative journalists triggered a political earthquake in Austria that toppled the countrys government, is having its world premiere at Danish doc fest CPH:DOX, where its competing for the Fact Award, ...

https://variety.com/2021/global/global/daniel-andreas-sager-cph-dox-hot-docs-behind-the-headlines-1234962936/

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Zhang Yimous Cliff Walkers is kicking off a multi-territory release this weekend, with day and date outings in North America, New Zealand, and Singapore coordinating with the espionage thrillers official launch in mainland Chinese theaters on Friday. That makes it one of the first major Chinese ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/asia/zhang-yimou-cliff-walkers-impasse-covid-1234963797/

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J.R.R. Tolkien fans across the globe encountered the seemingly impossible last month: a film version of The Lord of the Rings theyd never heard of. There was Gollum gargling in his cave. Except that in this version, hes speaking Russian, sports orange eye-shadow and has what appears to be ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/actors/russian-lord-of-the-rings-khraniteli-1234968603/

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Gillian Jacobs and Wood Harris have both joined HBOs upcoming drama series about the Los Angeles Lakers,Variety has learned. The untitled series was ordered at HBO in December 2019. It is described as chronicling the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/gillian-jacobs-wood-harris-hbo-los-angeles-lakers-series-1234971461/

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From the NewFronts to the upfronts, brands are jockeying for position to claim the infusion of advertising dollars coming back into the marketplace in 2021. The rebound is being fueled by Americans shaking off the pandemic, according to Brian Wieser, global president of business intelligence at ...

https://variety.com/2021/biz/news/upfronts-newfronts-post-covid-future-1234969567/

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Playing the main character in a biopic is a tall order for any actor, but taking on the role of influential musician Boy George in the forthcoming film Karma Chameleon seems even more of a challenge considering his multi-faceted life as a cultural icon, fashion trailblazer and the sound of the 1980s...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/boy-george-karma-chameleon-adam-lambert-olly-alexander-1234970881/

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The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder at Disney Plus expanded its cast with the addition of Billy Porter, Zachary Quinto and EJ Johnson. The role will be a pivot for Johnson, who has cemented himself in the world of reality and unscripted television on shows like Rich Kids of ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/proud-family-disney-plus-billy-porter-zachary-quinto-ej-johnson-1234971592/

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SPOILER ALERT: Do not read ahead if you have not watched Season 5 Episode 11 of The Masked Singer, which aired May 12 on Fox. Hanson has been mmm-boped off The Masked Singer. The pop star brothers were unmasked on Wednesdays episode as the Russian Dolls. The trio became the first group to compete on...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/the-masked-singer-reveal-season-5-episode-11-recap-russian-dolls-1234971853/

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Woe betide the grade-school-age lad who finds himself in a movie by writing-directing duo David Charbonier and Justin Powell: He may survive their plotlines, but it wont be pretty. Their official first feature, The Boy Behind the Door (which will debut on streaming platform Shudder July 29) found ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/the-djinn-review-1234971919/

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Chernobyl producer Sister is adapting the hit Audible original podcast West Cork for TV. Created by Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde, West Cork is an investigation into the 1996 murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. Du Plantier, a French film producer, was found...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/global/sister-sophie-du-plantier-west-cork-1234972102/

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James McAvoy (Split, His Dark Materials) and Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe, Military Wives) are set to front Dennis Kellys romantic drama Together. Directed by Emmy and BAFTA award-winning director Stephen Daldry (The Crown), the film is set in the U.K. from the first days of the COVID-19 lockdown in ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/global/james-mcavoy-sharon-horgan-together-1234972250/

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Gemma Arterton (Black Narcissus) and Shazad Latif (Star Trek: Discovery) will join James Norton (McMafia) in the thriller Chasing Agent Freegard. Chasing Agent Freegard is based on the story of British conman Robert Hendy-Freegard...

https://variety.com/2021/film/global/chasing-agent-freegard-shazad-latif-gemma-arterton-james-norton-1234972173/

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All eyes will be on the Canadian TV industry over the next month as major players such as public broadcaster CBC, Bell Media, Rogers and Corus unveil their 2021-22 upfront plans. But this year, in the wake of heavy hitters like Schitts Creek and Kims Convenience coming to an end, the pressure for ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/global/schitts-creek-kims-convenience-canada-tv-1234971786/

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DR Sales, the commercial arm of the Danish broadcaster, is set to start handling more children programming, kicking off with the animated series Team Nuggets. Currently in development, the comedy show was commissioned by DRs streaming platform Ramasjang which targets children aged 4 to...

https://variety.com/2021/global/global/dr-sales-team-nuggets-kids-content-1234964785/

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In todays Global Bulletin, Line of Duty finale dashes decades-old TV records in the U.K.; Netflix embarks on production of 1899 from the creators of Dark; and Purin Pictures announces 2021 funding recipients in Southeast Asia. RATINGS BBCs Line of ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/global/line-of-duty-bbc-netflix-1899-1234964851/

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The Law Order franchise is expanding again at NBC, with the network giving out a straight-to-series order for Law Order: For the Defense,Variety has learned. For the Defense will take a look inside a criminal defense firm. The series will put the...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/law-and-order-for-the-defense-nbc-1234965176/

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Lucinda Williams is recovering from a stroke she suffered last November, she revealed in a new interview with Rolling Stone. The 68-year-old singer-songwriter spent five weeks in the hospital after doctors found a blood clot on the right side of her brain, which affected the left side of her body. ...

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/lucinda-williams-stroke-1234965289/

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The Television Academy has unveiled recipients of its 14th Television Academy Honors, including HBOs I May Destroy You and Comedy Centrals The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. The seven honorees also include For Life, I Am Greta, ...

https://variety.com/2021/tv/awards/television-academy-honors-2021-i-may-destroy-you-daily-show-1234965369/

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Paramount Pictures has become the latest studio to adopt the Ruderman Family Foundations guidelines for auditioning actors with disabilitiesfor studio productions. Inclusion of individuals with disabilities is central to an authentic commitment to diversity in our industry and in our ...

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/paramount-pictures-audition-disabilities-ruderman-family-foundation-1234965517/

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