Author: CWB News Department

Afterimage marks the final film by late Polish film director Andrzej Wajda who died in early October at the age of90 from pulmonary failure. Four of his movies were nominated for best foreign language Oscars: 1975’s The Promised Land, 1979’s The Maids of Wilko, 1981’s Man of Iron (1981) 2007’s and Katyń (2007), and once again Poland is appropriately submitting the filmmaker’s latest Afterimage as its Oscar contender this year. Sixteen years ago, Wajda received an honorary Oscar for his canon. Wajda was part of the Polish Film School, a filmmaker collective, inspired by the Italian Neorealists like Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini, that spanned the mid…

A senior executive at Alibaba Pictures has been detained by Chinese police under alleged corruption charges. According to local Chinese media reports, Kong Qi, a VP of Alibaba Pictures and general manager of Tao Piaopiao, the company’s online ticketing service, was detained by police in July under the suspicion of taking bribes of $1.45M (RMB 10M). Alibaba Pictures told Deadline that the alleged offences occurred prior to Kong joining the company. “Alibaba Pictures would like to clarify that, the incidents being mentioned by the media did not take place during Kong Qi’s tenure at Alibaba Pictures and are not in any way related…

Fox Networks Group Europe and Africa has greenlit its first regional scripted commission The Nine (working title), from Rogue creator Matthew Parkhill and American Odyssey producer Simon Maxwell. The new 8×60 drama, described as an intense, character-driven espionage thriller, will air on Fox in more than 50 European and African countries. This first scripted project has been commissioned by Jeff Ford, SVP Content and Development and Sara Johnson, VP Scripted Drama for FNG, Europe & Africa and will go into pre-production in the new year. Set in the UK, U.S., Iran, Lebanon and France, the story centers on Max Easton, an ex-spy who is brought back into the game…

Sling TV will be rolling out a cloud base DVR beta program.Available starting in December, the cloud DVR beta program will roll out first on Roku streaming players and Roku TVs. Customers who subscribe to Sling Orange and/or Sling Blue using Roku devices may request an invitation for the beta program by visiting www.sling.com/dvr. At launch, customers selected for the beta program will receive 100 hours of cloud DVR storage at no charge.What will the cloud DVR beta program include?Here are some of the benefits you’ll see from our cloud DVR:• Entertainment on your time – Record movies, episodes, full…

Sling TV has added NBA TV, the National Basketball Association’s 24-hour digital television network, to Sports Extras. · More than 95 professional basketball games – NBA TV brings live professional basketball games to Sling TV subscribers at home and on the go with Sports Extra, still $5 per month for Sling Orange subscribers and $10 per month for Sling Blue subscribers.· Signature studio shows, original programming and special events coverage – In addition to live games, NBA TV brings original programming like “Game Time,” breaking news, and events like NBA Global Games, NBA Draft, NBA Summer League and more.· Access to…

Born in Tehran, in 1981, Zeynab Movahed is a female Iranian painter with a very unique style and voice. In 2007, she received her Bachelors of Arts degree in painting from Art & Architectural Azad University in Tehran. Then in 2011, received her Masters of Arts degree from Art & Architectural Azad University. Since then she has had many solo and group exhibitions stretching from the east coast to the west coast, including a very successful exhibition this year at the Dacia Gallery in New York City. Cinema Without Borders: I have a cliché question for you, what inspired you…

Nicolas Chartier’s Voltage Pictures is reportedly the latest Hollywood firm to come under Chinese control. Anhui Xinke New Materials, a company primarily involved in copper processing and manufacturing wires and cables, has acquired an 80% stake in Midnight Investments, the owner of finance, production and sales outfit Voltage. The sale price, according to Reuters, is 2.39B yuan ($350M). Voltage could not be reached at the time of writing. As Chinese companies increasingly diversify, Anhui Xinke earlier this month set up Wotaiji International Media, a wholly-owned subsidiary established to buy media assets. The deal follows such moves on Hollywood by the Middle Kingdom as Tang Media Partners’ acquisition…

Speaking out after the election of Donald Trump, the executive producer of Lone Survivor and A Walk Among the Tombstonessaid that “entertainment without meaning is now not only vapid, it is passively supporting the politics of oppression.” His fear for the industry, he said, is that come Trump’s inauguration in January, “everything will revert to business as usual,” and that minorities like himself will “become second class citizens as you move on to your next Transformers sequel.” Diversity on and behind the screen, he said, “is more important now that it has ever been.” “Artists are supposed to be the conscious of humanity – to…

For the election day you can use Sling TV for free to follow all the development and receive the latest results: · All of Sling Orange, FREE – The free preview will also include News Extra, and will run from 9 a.m. ET Tuesday, November 8 through 4 a.m. ET Wednesday, November 9, allowing viewers to watch pre- and post-coverage of the election.· No credit card or payment required – Only a valid email address and password is needed. New Sling TV customers can sign up for the free preview beginning Tuesday at 9 a.m. ET, by visiting www.sling.com/watchfree. Must…

Sling TV has added a few new channls to its line-up in October: · Cheddar–-Delivering live news about innovative products, technologies and services from New York City, Cheddar is a 24/7 live linear network, now exclusively available on Sling TV. Cheddar has been added to our core service for both Sling Orange and Sling Blue customers.· TheBlaze–-With election season in full swing, we’ve added TheBlaze, a 24/7 digital television network featuring news and opinion shows, topical comedies, family-friendly programming and more. TheBlaze is now available in the News Extra add-on pack, priced at $5 per month for Sling Orange and…