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Mia Wasikowska, Catherine Deneuve, Rupert Friend in 2026 Venice Days

Published

1 day ago

July 22, 2026

Venice Days, the independent sidebar of the Venice International Film Festival, has unveiled the lineup for its 23rd edition, the first since the death in March of section founder and longtime head Giorgio Gosetti. This year’s Venice Days, running Sept. 2-12 alongside the 83rd Venice Festival, is dedicated to his memory.

The sidebar, and its accompanying Italian cinema section Venice Nights, includes 25 world premieres, more than half of which (14) are directed by women.

My Notes on Mars from Hungarian director Lili Horvát (Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time) will open Venice Days, screening in competition. Horvát’s English-language debut stars Mackenzie Davis and Rupert Friend in the story of a young scientist who mysteriously disappears only to show up weeks later at her own memorial service with no memory of what happened.

Kuba Dorabialski’s Agata the Writer, starring Mia Wasikowska as an Australian author in Sarajevo, will also premiere in competition, alongside Pauline Julier and Nicolas Chapoulier’s period drama The Indies; Boris Hadžija and Hoda Taheri’s hybrid fiction-documentary I Plant My Hand in the Garden; and Nicola Sorcinelli’s debut Balcanica, the only Italian title in competition, about an Afghan father and son who, after music is banned in their country, try to flee to Europe.

Other highlights include María Aparicio’s Sadness Sometimes, Other Times Revolt, a drama centered on two Argentines in Madrid; Mykyta Gibalenko’s debut Camouflage, about a young Ukrainian in Germany whose separation from home is transformed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; a Damilola Orimogunje’s family melodrama Dear Ajayi, which will be the first Nigerian movie to screen in Venice Days competition.

Léa Domenach’s Man’s Skin, a queer feminist musical comedy set in the Italian Renaissance and featuring Catherine Deneuve, will close Venice Days, screening out of competition.

An all-woman jury, headed by Spanish filmmaker Carla Simón (Alcarràs, Summer 1993) with Italian director Sara Fgaier (Weightless), and Hania Mroué, director of Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema, will pick the winner of the GdA Director’s Award, which carries a €20,000 ($23,000) cash prize to be split between the director and the film’s international distributor. The Lido audience will vote for the Audience Award, while the Europa Cinemas jury will choose the Europa Cinemas Label from the European films in the lineup.

Roberta Torre’s Scarpe rotte will open Venetian Nights, the sidebar’s Italian cinema program. The film, starring Barbara Ronchi, is freely inspired by the life of Natalia Ginzburg and is set in wartime Rome.

Miu Miu Women’s Tales, a short film anthology series created by fashion brand Miu Miu, returns to Venice Days with Discipline, a new short from Mona Fastvold (The Testament of Ann Lee) and Avec Kim, from French auteur Claire Denis (Beau Travail), the latter starring Suzanne Lindon and Kim Gordon.

Mona Fastvold’s short film ‘Discipline’

Courtesy of Venice Days

The 2026 Venice Days will also include talks, industry events and public programs at the Casa degli Autori and Sala Laguna. Among them are the return of #confronti, the fourth edition of the Declaration of Filmmakers, a soundtracks event organized with ACMF, the second edition of Africa Chiama, and a new collaboration with Venezia CULT that will bring cartoonists Leo Ortolani and Dave McKean to the Lido.

The Venice Film Festival will announce its competition lineup on Thursday, July 23.

The full 2026 Venice Days lineup:

IN COMPETITION

Sadness Sometimes, Other Times Revolt, dir: María Aparicio (Argentina, Spain)

Agata the Writer, dir: Kuba Dorabialski (Australia)

Balcanica, dir: Nicola Sorcinelli (Italy, Serbia, Croatia)

Camouflage, dir: Mykyta Gibalenko (Germany)

Dear Ajayi, dir: Damilola Orimogunje (Nigeria, Germany)

I Plant My Hand in the Garden, dirs.: Boris Hadžija, Hoda Taheri (Germany, Serbia, USA)

The Indies, dirs.: Pauline Julier, Nicolas Chapoulier (Switzerland, Spain)

My Notes on Mars, dir: Lili Horvát (Hungary, Austria)

Salón de Belleza, dir: Nathalia Acevedo (Mexico, France)

A Woman Today, dir: Robert Guédiguian (France, Italy)

OUT OF COMPETITION

Man’s Skin, dir: Léa Domenach (France) Closing Film

SPECIAL EVENTS

Al Baraneya, dir: Ashgan El-Hamus (Netherlands, Egypt, Belgium, Saudi Arabia)

Carla Lonzi, A Feminist Story, dir: Francesca Archibugi (Italy)

The Phantom, dirs.: Ignacio Masllorens, David Lamelas (Argentina)

The Massacre, dir: Cosimo Messeri (Italy)

Even If Hell Came, dir: Samuele Rossi (Italy)

VENICE NIGHTS

Anatomia di un ritratto, dirs.: Francesco Clerici, Mattia Colombo (Italy, Switzerland)

Auber 89, dir: Giuseppe Schillaci (France, Italy)

Domenica capitale – Genere domenicale, dir: Giovanna Giuliani (Italy)

La leggenda del deserto, dir: Elisabetta Giannini (Italy)

Memoria del lampo, dir: Riccardo Giacconi (Italy)

Il mestiere, dir: Beppe Tufarulo (Italy, Belgium, France)

Scarpe rotte, dir: Roberta Torre (Italy) Opening Film

Si sveglia e sbadiglia, il gatto; poi l’amore, dirs.: Federico Francioni, Samuele Sestieri (Italy)

Uno si distrae al bivio, dir: Alessandra Lancellotti (Italy)

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Comcast Q2 2026 Earnings: Streamer Peacock Adds 2 Million Subscribers

Published

15 minutes ago

July 23, 2026

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NBCUniversal streamer Peacock swung to a $189 million profit for the three months ended in June, its first quarter in the black, and added 2 million paid subscribers to reach 48 million.

Streaming, along with wireless and the studio umbers all contributed to parent Comcast‘s quarterly earnings report Thursday, its first since announcing it plans to split into two companies.

The FIFA World Cup, the NBA Playoffs, and Love Island USA were all key drivers for Peacock.

The Studios division had a standout quarter, with left-field horror hit Obsession taking in more than $400 million at the box office.

Total revenue dipped 1.2% from the prior-year period to hit $29.9 billion. That beat Wall Street forecasts, as did adjusted earnings per share. Net income plunged 68% with the year-earlier quarter was inflated by a one-time $9.4 billion gain – $7.1 billion net of tax – reflecting a check from Disney to acquire Comcast’s stake in Hulu.

Comcast is reporting some proforma numbers to account for the spinoff of Versant early this year as well as the sale of Sky Germany.

The World Cup ran from June 11 to July 19 on Telemundo and Peacock (and Fox of course) with the juggernaut final between Spain and Argentina generating record viewership that will boost the current third quarter. The final was the most-watched World Cup in Spanish-language history with 23.9 million tuning in to Telemundo and Peacock. Overall, it was the most-watched World Cup in Spanish-language history with an average of 6.3M viewers on Telemundo across the 104 games.

Curry Barker’s low-budget indie Obsession released May 15 quickly became a massive hit, becoming the top grossing film ever from ever Universal’s specialty label Focus Features. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie grossed more than $1 billion after its April bow. International distribution of Michael also buoyed studio profits, which rose to $141 million.

Fresh off the Versant spin, which took effect last January, Comcast is now busy working on another, spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky into a standalone company. The NBCUniversal business will be run by Comcast co-CEO Mike Cavanagh. Comcast’s former CFO Michael Angelakis will become CEO of Comcast after the separation is complete, anticipated in about a year, and will join as a strategic advisor until then.

Shortly after that news hit in late June, Sky inked a £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) deal to acquire ITV‘s television network operations, a major shakeup in the UK media landscape.

Wall Street is enthusiastic about the separation. It’s designed to unlock the value of assets that can likely perform better apart than together and is likely to generate M&A interest.

Investors will be looking for updates on Comcast’s plans at a post-earnings call set for 8:30 ET.

More to come …

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Sarajevo Film Festival Unveils 51 Films in Competition

Published

22 minutes ago

July 23, 2026

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A total of 51 films are in contention for the Heart of Sarajevo Awards at the Bosnian Film Festival.

The lineup, released on Thursday, spans across four competition selections: narrative feature film, feature and short documentary film, narrative short film and student short film. From these, 21 are to have their world premiere at the August event. One will screen out of competition.

“At a time when films are more accessible than ever, the value of a film festival lies not in making films available, but in returning them to public life,” said Izeta Građević, creative director of the Sarajevo Film Festival, whose selection team saw 1,215 films ahead of the fest.

“Over more than three decades, the Sarajevo Film Festival has earned the trust of an audience willing to embrace films it might never have chosen on its own. This is an audience that does not come to the cinema seeking confirmation of its own taste, but for the excitement of discovering a different perspective on the world,” she continued. “It is for this audience that we selected this year’s programs. They reflect the vitality and diversity of contemporary Southeast European cinema. Each film speaks in its own distinct cinematic voice, yet they all share a search for a different perspective on reality.”

Director of the European Film Academy Matthijs Wouter Knol and Yorgos Lanthimos’ producer Athina Rachel Tsangari are among the industry professionals tapped to join British star Emily Watson on the Sarajevo Film Festival jury.

Watson will also receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo, alongside Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi.

Check out the full lineup below ahead of the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, running Aug. 14-21.

Competition Program — Narrative Feature Film

Everything That’s Wrong With You, Urša Menart

Small Things, Zvonimir Jurić

Skateboarding Is Not For Girls, Dina Duma

17, Kosara Mitić

Dua, Blerta Basholli

Everytime, Sandra Wollner

Shame and Money, Visar Morina

Supporting Role, Ana Urushadze

You Don’t Belong Here, Florin Șerban

Competition Programme — Documentary Feature

Bear With Me, Martin Genovski

Good People, Milcho Manchevski

The Balkan Boy, Dragana Jurišić

The Forbidden Aunt, Bojana Novaković

We Shall Live Together, Damir Markovina

Don’t Ask Me If I Killed, Helena Maksyom

Fragments of Belonging, Tatjana Božić

When I Get Out, Metod Pevec

32 Meters, Morteza Atabaki

Bugboy, Lucas Paleocrassas

Electing Ms Santa, Raisa Răzmeriță

For Life, Ahmet Seven

To Hold a Mountain, Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić

Competition Programme — Documentary Shorts:

Bro Ram, Branko Schmidt

Fahrudin, Alen Drljević

Of Light Ghosts, Isabella Fellinger

The Captain and the Caspian Sea, Turkan Huseyin

Dear Orchid, Hana Selena Sokolović

Asparagus Bear, Ivan Grgur

Holy Defiance, Karla Jelić

The Ferry Flows, Zhora Papoian

Out of Competition

Yugo Goes to America, Filip Grujić, Aleksa Borković

Competition Programme — Narrative Short Film

Ditch, Marianna Vas

Hidden In Frame, Anna Sarukhanova

Mamama, Danica Dakić

Patch, Luka Galešić

Porkatal, Sis Gürdal

Adgwa-Ata, Zsuzsanna Krief

Cosmonauts, Leo Černic

Go Outside and Hug a Tree, Irina Alexiu

Motherhood, Anca Damian

Nobody Said Anything, Tamara Todorović

Competition Programme — Student Short Film

Hyena, Fanny Rösch

Neighbour, Dan Grabnar

Sisters, Sara Ećimović

The Go-Between, Emir Solaković

Unwellness, Réka Pinczés

Water Falls, Bianka Szelestey

The Future Is In Your Hands, But Why Not Lend It to the Specialists?, Alexandra Schinteie

A. Wants Out (On Neutrality), Zorah Berghammer

Bonefuzz, Márk László

Over the Threshold, Tara Gajović

Rabbit Don’t Run, Maximilian Conway, Elisabeth Jakob

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Michelle Zhou’s Venice Horizons Title ‘Big Little Things’ Boarded By Moebius Entertainment For Sales

Published

38 minutes ago

July 23, 2026

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Hong Kong-based Moebius Entertainment has boarded international sales for Michelle Zhou’s Big Little Things, which has been selected to premiere in the Horizons section of this year’s Venice Film Festival.

The film follows a woman who returns to her hometown of Harbin after years living in the United States and finds herself caught between two realities: the life she has built with her girlfriend, and the expectations of her family and community.

Produced as a Hong Kong-US collaboration, the film explores identity, family, cultural displacement, and the difficult choices faced by those navigating between tradition and self-determination.

“Big Little Things represents the arrival of a distinctive new filmmaking voice,” said Fred Tsui, founder and CEO of Moebius Entertainment. “Michelle Zhou captures the quiet but profound conflicts that define many lives today – the tension between personal truth and the roles we inherit. Her film is deeply intimate yet universally resonant, and we believe audiences around the world will connect with the heroine’s journey.”

The film was previously presented with the Activator Market Potential Award at the 2025 Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (FPP) in Taipei, where it was selected among the year’s most promising projects from emerging Asian filmmakers.

Moebius Entertainment is handling festival representation and worldwide sales rights. The company also recently picked up Taiwanese filmmaker Fiona Roan Feng-I’s Happily Ever After, which will make its world premiere in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).