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Fledgling Saudi production company Alamiya Filmed Entertainment (Afe) has partnered with Dubai-based Front Row Productions to make female-led road trip comedy feature My Treat (Mahmool Makfool).

Directed by Egypt’s Karim Abu Zeid, filming is set to begin this September in Riyadh and Istanbul, and is billed as the first time a major Saudi feature has shot in Turkey. A theatrical release across the Middle East is being scheduled for 2025.

The story follows three superfans of Turkish soap operas who travel from Saudi to Istanbul in a bid to meet their favourite actor. But the trip takes an unexpected turn...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2024 Oscars Predictions:

Best International Feature Wim Wenders’ ‘Perfect Days’

Weekly Commentary: The United Kingdom is poised to win its first Academy Award with Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” and what a deserved win it will be.

But while I have the floor: it’s time for the...

Picture: Top Gun: Maverick is now available to stream on Netflix Canada

There are 29 new movies and TV shows for Netflix Canada subscribers to enjoy this Christmas. In particular, this week sees the addition of Top Gun: Maverick, Universal Pictures animated sequel Sing 2, Zack Synder’s Rebel Moon, and Bradley Cooper’s Maestro.

First of all, here are some of the past week’s top highlights:

Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama | Runtime: 130 Minutes

Cast: Tom Cruise, Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell

A sequel decades in the making, Top Gun: Maverick soared to the top of the box office in 2022, grossing almost $1.5 billion worldwide.

Over thirty years into his career as a top naval aviator, Cpt. Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell is still pushing the limits. He is confronted by the ghosts of his past when he must lead a team of elite graduates on a life-threatening mission.

Thirty-four new movies and TV shows were added to Netflix UK this week. Zack Snyder’s latest sci-fi epic, Rebel Moon, is now available to stream, along with Bradley Cooper’s potential Oscar winner Maestro.

First of all, here are some of the past week’s top highlights:

Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) N

Director: Zack Snyder

Genre: Sci-Fi | Runtime: 135 Minutes

Cast: Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou, Ed Skrein, Charlie Hunnam, Anthony Hopkins,

Rebel Moon is based on a pitch Zack Snyder once had for Disney when the company first took over the beloved sci-fi franchise. As Netflix’s new sci-fi epic, there’s always one thing you can look forward to watching from a Zack Snyder movie, which is stunning visuals and superb action.

When an oppressive force threatens the lives of a peaceful farming colony on a far distant moon, a mysterious outsider living amongst them...

Bank of Dave, Rebel Moon, Maestro – Pictures: WME Entertainment / Netflix

We’re just over a week away from Christmas. If you’re already off work or beginning to wind down, Netflix has a few surprises in store over the next seven days with its new releases lineup. Here’s a rundown of everything set to arrive between December 18th and Christmas Eve 2024.

For everything still to come to Netflix throughout the remainder of December 2023, keep it locked here on What’s on Netflix. We’ve also got a relatively complete picture of what’s coming to Netflix in January 2024!

If you want to watch one of the titles set to be removed from Netflix over the next seven days, we recommend checking out Guest House, which leaves on Tuesday. The French Netflix Original series Twice Upon a Time will depart on Wednesday.

Most Anticipated New Arrivals on Netflix This Week...

Director Abdulelah Alqurashi sat down with Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay at Variety’s Artisans Screening Series to break down his film “Alhamour H.A.,” Saudi Arabia’s official Oscars submission.

The film is based on the true story of one of Saudi Arabia’s biggest con artists, a former security guard named Hamed who grows rich by convincing people to make dubious investments. Alqurashi lived in Jedda as a banker while the scam was happening. He was inspired to make the film after one of his friends fell for one of the investments.

“I wasn’t a filmmaker, but the way he told me the story, it was that scene, and how greed affects people and to trust no one… I think the whole story comes from that,” he said.

When asked about comparisons between his film and “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Alqurashi welcomes them. “To have...

The development of Saudi Arabia’s film industry has been attracting film productions, highlighting emerging talent and creating opportunities for homegrown stars. Among those who have shined are director Abdulelah Alqurashi and his comedy drama “Alhamour H.A.” This year, the first R-rated Saudi Arabian film is the country’s official entry in the international feature race.

“Alhamour H.A.” follows a security-guard-turned-swindler named Hamed, who quickly rises to the top and makes billions after he and his partners convince people into suspicious investments with the promise of doubling their money in no time.

Director Abdulelah Alqurashi

“I was inspired to create this film after hearing a true story from the early 2000s about a simple security guard who quickly amassed a vast fortune,” says the director. Described by Alqurashi as a story that “runs very deep in modern Saudi culture, but also speaks to the world at large,” “Alhamour H.A” is...

Every year since its creation in 1956, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) invites the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. The category was previously called the Best Foreign Language Film, but this was changed in April 2019 to Best International Feature Film, after the Academy deemed the word “Foreign” to be outdated.

The award is presented annually by the Academy to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. For the 96th Academy Awards, the submitted motion pictures must be first released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline for submissions to the Academy was October 2, 2023, and 92 countries submitted a film. The 15-film shortlist will be announced on December 21, 2023, followed by the official nominations on January 23, 2024.

Here are this edition's Asian Submissions for Best International Feature Film.

Greed may not be good, but it is universal. And while America would appear to have a monopoly on movies about the pursuit of wealth for wealth’s sake, plenty of other nations have exported their version of the rags-to-riches tale — of which Saudi Arabia’s Oscar submission, “Alhamour H.A.,” is just the latest. Like its security-guard-turned-swindler protagonist, director Abdulelah Alqurashi’s film doesn’t lack for ambition. Unlike him, it never reaches great heights before falling back to earth.

Hamed’s (Fahad Alqahtani) Icarus-like flight takes him from Mecca to Jeddah, where he gets a taste of the good life from afar as a security guard at an oceanfront residential building; after resigning to avoid being fired over his habit of making too much conversation, he calls in a favor from his brother-in-law and begins working at a cell center. Hamed insists he can sell anything, and does...

Shortlist of 15 films to be announced December 21, nominations out on January 23, 2024.

The Academy has announced eligible features in the categories of international feature film, animation, and documentary for the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, 2024.

The shortlist of 15 films will be announced on December 21, and the nominations announcement is January 23, 2024.

International

Eighty-eight countries or regions have submitted films eligible for consideration in the international feature film category. An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes long) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track. Namibia is a first-time entrant.

Academy members...

The drama marks the feature directorial debut of Saudi actress and filmmaker Fatima AlBanawi.

Netflix has boarded upcoming Saudi drama Basma, the feature directorial debut of Saudi actress and filmmaker Fatima AlBanawi, and will exclusively premiere the film on the streaming platform in 2024.

AlBanawi also wrote the script and stars as the title character, a young Saudi woman who returns back to her hometown after studying in the US, only to discover that her family have been hiding her father’s mental illness and broken relationships. A first look at the film can be seen above.

Filmed in Jeddah, it...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...