‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’ Film Review: Stirring Doc Intertwines the DNA of Nan Goldin’s Art and Activism

The Santa Fe International Film Festival (SFiFF) has announced its first 15 feature titles. These films are part of the Special Presentation section and will be followed by a full schedule of competition films, short films, panels and events. SFiFF starts October 19 and will run through October 23.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic There’s a genre I like so much I can never get enough of it — I call it the Biopic About Someone You Wouldn’t Make a Biopic About. The form came into existence, in a certain way, with “Sid and Nancy,” but it was all but patented by the screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who planted it on the map, in 1994, with “Ed Wood” (still the “Citizen Kane” of the genre), then went on to script “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “Man on the Moon” (about Andy Kaufman), “Big Eyes” (about the painter Walter Keane and his wife, Margaret, who turned out to be the painter behind the throne), and “Dolemite Is My Name” (about the fluky hustler-comedian Ray Moore). There have been films in the genre from other quarters, like Paul Schrader’s superb “Auto Focus” (about the TV star Bob Crane and his video-fetish sex life), going right up through the recent Toronto Film Festival sensation “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”

th ECAM Madrid Film School’s Incubator, a six-month producer mentorship initiative, “Macramé” explores the politics of sex in the story of a bourgeoise 70-year-old woman with a passion for macramé.  Her life shifts radically when her 64-year-old Ecuadorian housekeeper makes her feel the knots in her skin, sparking a mutual exploration of the Japanese art of erotic bondage. The Spanish romantic drama is written and directed by Barbara Magdalena and produced by Iván Luis and Andrea Jaurrieta of Lasai Producciones.

As the Toronto International Film Festival comes to its official Closing Night we say goodbye to the re-energized fest for another year, but not before we say ‘hello Dali’ or actually the final World Premiere of the festival, Daliland  which picks up the celebrated artists’ life in its later years focusing on the odd relationship between his and his controlling wife. If only this film stuck to that idea and didn’t take a detour into a misbegotten coming of age plotline about the young assistant both Dalis take a shine to in their own way.

Twenty-six years after making “I Shot Andy Warhol,” filmmaker Mary Harron returns to the late ’60s/early ’70s New York art world with “Dalíland,” this time with greater mastery and style. Ben Kingsley stars as Salvador Dalí, the eccentric Spanish surrealist artist who paraded around sporting a handlebar mustache and dressed like a 16th century conquistador in the glam-rock era. Harron dabbles in her own take on surrealism by converging Dalí’s romantic headspace and the ever-present decadent party scene.

Katie Reul editor As the pioneer of premium cable, HBO became popular for a programming lineup that offered plenty of adult-oriented choices alongside shows for children. But the cabler’s streaming service HBO Max continues to make tweaks in the wake of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, film enthusiasts are fearful the service is over-compensating in trying to protect viewers from the dangers of smoking — through removing images of cigarettes and cigars. “No Smoking! Twitter users report HBO Max removed Warren Beatty’s and Paul Newman’s cigars from movie poster art used on its home page: ‘McCabe & Mrs. Miller.’ ‘The Life and Times of [Judge] Roy Bean,'” Twitter user Pete Salisbury wrote.

The Oscar race came into sharper focus at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, with actors like Brendan Fraser and Michelle Yeoh cementing their lead contender status, and big-budget studio efforts like The Fablemans and Glass Onion premiering to raves.

Us Weekly has affiliate partnerships so we may receive compensation for some links to products and services.

Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer” has scored U.S. distribution with Neon’s boutique label Super after making its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it won two major competition awards.Super will release the film in theaters, following its U.S.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Super, the boutique distribution label from Neon, has acquired U.S. rights to Alice Diop’s “Saint Omer” after it won the Silver Lion Grand Jury prize in Venice along with the Luigi De Laurentiis Lion of the Future award. “Saint Omer” was recently shortlisted for France’s submission to the Academy Awards and will premiere at the New York Film Festival and play the BFI London Festival. Neon plans a theatrical release. “Saint Omer” is Diop’s debut fiction feature, which she co-wrote with Amrita David and Marie NDiaye, and it stars Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville and Aurélia Petit. Toufik Ayadi and Christophe Barral of Srab Films produced alongside Arte France Cinéma and Pictanovo Hauts-de-France.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Dennis Quaid is the latest addition to the cast of Steven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon’s HBO Max series “Full Circle,” Variety has learned. He joins previously announced cast members Claire Danes, Zazie Beetz, and Timothy Olyphant in the six-episode series. The official logline for the show reads, “An investigation into a botched kidnapping uncovers long-held secrets connecting multiple characters and cultures in present day New York City.” Character details are currently being kept under wraps. Quaid’s past TV credits include the shows “Merry Happy Whatever,” “Goliath,” “The Art of More,” and “Vegas.” He is best known for his many films roles, like “Midway,” “American Underdog,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “The Alamo,” and “Any Given Sunday.”

Algerian filmmakers have stepped up a campaign calling for their government to unlock promised state funds for cinema, warning that Algeria’s film industry is on its last legs following a near-year-long funding freeze.

EXCLUSIVE: Tanner Stine (Impulse) and Kaylee Bryant (Legacies) will lead the supernatural horror Spin the Bottle from director Gavin Wiesen (The Art of Getting By), with Justin Long (Barbarian) and Ali Larter (The Rookie) to play supporting roles.

David S. Cohen Senior Editor, Features Turning a piece of filmed entertainment into a cultural phenomenon is both an art and a science, say marketers.  But in the 2020s, the science has turbocharged the art.  Variety spoke to two marketing gurus who promoted such blockbusters: Pia Chaozon Barlow, executive VP of HBO and HBO Max originals marketing, who aims to recapture the magic of “Game of Thrones” with spinoff “House of the Dragon”; and Marc Weinstock, Paramount’s president of global distribution and marketing. Paramount has opened five features at #1 in 2022, culminating with “Top Gun: Maverick,” which has grossed more than $1.4 billion.

EXCLUSIVE: This morning in Toronto, writer-director Allen Hughes and FX unveil the first of a five-part docuseries Dear Mama. This is an epic exploration of the life of hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur and his late mom, Afeni Shakur, the former Black Panthers member. It is Hughes’ first trip back to TIFF since he and brother Albert came to unveil their Johnny Depp pic From Hell, only to see that title become all too apt when, on their media day 21 years ago, everything got canceled when two hijacked planes crashed into and took down the Twin Towers. At the behest of the estate of the Shakur family, Hughes, who aside from films like The Book of Eli directed the acclaimed docuseries The Defiant Ones on Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, spent years diving deep into the mythology of Tupac to answer why his art endures so long after he was shot dead at age 25. Much as he would have preferred to avoid it, Hughes had to confront his own provocative history with Tupac. After the Hughes Brothers hired Tupac for a supporting role in Menace II Society, they fired Shakur over disagreements about the part he wanted to play. Later, the hip-hop artist and his pals crossed paths with Hughes and his co-director Albert, and beat them badly enough that it led to a criminal conviction on Shakur for assault and battery., Here, Hughes discusses all, including the spiritual connection between Tupac and Marvin Gaye, whose life Allen Hughes takes on next in a narrative film for Warner Bros and Motown Records.

Carson Burton The 2022 edition of InFocus: Latinx & Hispanic Cinema Film Festival from NewFilmmakers LA (NFMLA) will be held from Sept. 23-24 in association with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For the first time since 2019, the festival will be held in-person at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. The lineup consists of three short film programs showcasing a variety of genres. The festival, which is co-presented by The MBS Group, includes screenings, filmmaker Q&A sessions, industry development programs and educational panels. The festival features independent films from emerging talent hailing from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, Colombia, Venezuela and the United States. Two world premieres will be held at the festival, and one film will see its North American premiere.

HBO Max To Build ‘The Bridge’ In Hungary

George Clooney is adamant about creating more opportunities for teens in film and television. ET's Cassie DiLaura spoke with Clooney Wednesday at the Roybal School of Film and Television Production Magnet, downtown Los Angeles' newest magnet high school, about why it was so important for him to spearhead the school's opening.Housed within the Edward R.

Thania Garcia Maluma and Megan Thee Stallion are set to headline Penske Media Corp.’s first-ever culture and creativity festival, LA3C. The two-day event is set to take place on Dec. 10 and 11 at the Los Angeles State Historic Park. Megan will headline the show on the 10th, while Maluma will headline on the 11th. The festival will welcome Seventeen and Snoop Dogg as guest performers. Both are part of LA3C’s full talent lineup, which is set to showcase musicians, chefs and visual artists. Full programming details will be unveiled in the coming weeks. The event, staged by the parent company of Variety, aims to connect people and communities by showcasing LA’s range of multicultural food and art from some of the world’s most talented artists. The festival’s moniker, LA3C, stands for Los Angeles, the Capital of Culture and Creativity.

Emily Longeretta Rodrigo Santoro will star opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in Paramount+’s upcoming original series “Wolf Pack,” Variety can exclusively announce. The series is currently in production in Atlanta, Georgia, and is set to premiere later this year. Previously announced cast members include Armani Jackson, Bella Shepard, Chloe Rose Robertson and Tyler Lawrence Gray. Joe Genier, Mike Elliott and Karen Gorodetzky serve as executive producers for Capital Arts, while Gellar, Jason Ensler and Christian Taylor serve also executive produce. Based on Edo Van Belkom’s book series and created by Jeff Davis, the show follows two teens whose lives are changed when a California wildfire awakens a supernatural creature.

Scotland's islands offer an escape for thousands of tourists every year, but how would you like to own your own? Well, one stunning and remote Scottish isle has just gone up for sale.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras sharply criticized the Toronto and Venice film festivals today for programming documentaries connected with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, suggesting the decision bordered on a “whitewashing” of history.

tweet on Monday. “I only ever wish to share some stories and hopefully entertain some people. I personally have friends within my close circle who are gay, and I would never wish to offend anyone.

Adam Benzine Guest Contributor Oscar-winning documentarian Laura Poitras slammed the heads of the Venice and Toronto film festivals for “engaging in a kind of whitewashing” by programming glossy documentaries from the Clinton family. Her comments come as TIFF this week hosted the Canadian premiere of Poitras’s “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” a documentary about the artist and activist Nan Goldin, and just days after the film won Venice’s top prize, the Golden Lion. It is the rare doc to land slots at the superfecta of Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York, and Poitras said she thought “long and hard” about whether or not to voice criticism at the same venues feting her latest work. Nevertheless, she said, “journalists need to ask hard questions.”

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Rachel Bloom has joined the cast of “Julia” Season 2 at HBO Max, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is inspired by the life of Julia Child and her long-running cooking show “The French Chef.” The first season debuted in March 2022 and the show was renewed in May. Bloom will appear in a recurring role as Elaine Levitch. The character is described as “a dynamo who comes to WGBH by way of CBS to work with Julia on ‘The French Chef.'” Bloom will next be seen in the Steve Levitan Hulu comedy series “Reboot,” which premieres Sept. 20. She is best known for her work on the CW musical dramedy series “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” which she co-created and executive produced in addition to starring. She received five Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for her work on the series, winning one of each. Her recent credits include the Disney+ film “Chip ‘N’ Dalel: Rescue Rangers” and the upcoming Netflix film “The School for Good and Evil.” She published the book “I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are” in 2020.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Prague-based sales agent Filmotor has boarded Adela Komrzy’s and Tomas Bojar’s feature documentary “Art Talent Show,” which won two awards at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in July.  After its premiere at Karlovy Vary, where it won the Grand Prix in the Proxima competition section and the FIPRESCI international critics’ award, the film’s North American rights were acquired by Film Movement.  Aero Films will release the film theatrically in the Czech Republic in October, and Film Expanded will release the film theatrically in Slovakia in the spring.

Naman Ramachandran Most of the major U.K. cinema chains will remain closed on Monday, Sept. 19, as a mark of respect to Queen Elizabeth II, whose funeral it is on that day, while others have chosen to remain open to screen the funeral to the public for free. Most cinemas, including the larger operators such as Odeon, Cineworld, Picturehouse, Showcase and The Light will be closing their sites for all of Monday. The BFI cinema sites, including BFI Southbank and BFI Imax, will also remain closed. However there are others such as Vue, Curzon as well as the smaller chains Reel, Savoy, Arc and Picturedrome and a significant number of smaller venues, that plan to screen the funeral for free to people who wish to come along.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Franco-Swiss director and New Wave linchpin Jean-Luc Godard, who revolutionized world cinema with his ground-breaking debut, “Breathless,” and never stopped pushing the envelope of his creativity, has died. He was 91. The news was first reported in Liberation.

Naman Ramachandran After world premiering at Tribeca and travelling the world since, Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show” (“Chhello Show”) is coming home to India, with Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films set to distribute it across the country. The partly autobiographical drama takes Nalin back to his roots in Saurashtra, Gujarat, western India, where “Last Film Show” was filmed. The story is set against the backdrop of Indian cinemas witnessing a massive transition from celluloid to digital where hundreds of single-screen cinemas are either in ruins or have disappeared altogether. The film follows nine-year-old boy Samay, whose life turns upside down after watching his first movie. He passionately falls in love with films against his father’s wish. Samay strikes a deal with Fazal, the projectionist, who will let him watch movies for free in exchange for eating the contents of his lunchbox. Their food-for-films deal turns into an endearing friendship, but heartbreaking choices lie ahead.

Jennie Punter Tucked in a corner of the Catskills, Casa Susanna was a modest private resort where cross-dressing heterosexual men and transgender women gathered on summer weekends through the 1950s and ‘60s to live as their true selves, dressed in the ladies’ fashion of the day and engaging in bourgeois social activities such as taking snapshots.   Over the past 15 years, a handful of articles, academic research, and photography exhibitions (and let’s not forget the 2014 Tony-nominated play by Harvey Fierstein) have gradually opened the door to this secret subculture of Cold War America. Now “Casa Susanna,” a new documentary by French filmmaker Sébastien Lifshitz (“Wild Side,” “Little Girl”), flings it open.

Wilson Chapman editor Starting soon, Marvel fans will be able to take a ride through the Multiverse. A new Avengers Campus attraction is heading to Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., allowing parkgoers to journey through the MCU’s many, many universes. The news was announced on Sunday at the D23 Expo’s Parks panel, which featured parks chairman Josh D’Amaro and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige. According to D’Amaro, the ride — which does not have an official opening date — will see parkgoers team up with the Avengers from multiple universes to defeat “King Thanos,” a version of the character that won at the end of the 2019 film “Avengers: Endgame.” D’Amaro also unveiled new concept art of the ride showcasing the King Thanos design and several of the heroes that will be featured in the ride, which can be viewed below.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic No director has done more to deconstruct the myth of the suburban American family than Steven Spielberg. Dissertations have been written and documentaries made on the subject. And now, at the spry young age of 75, Spielberg himself weighs in on where his preoccupations come from in “The Fabelmans,” a personal account of his upbringing that feels like listening to two and a half hours’ worth of well-polished cocktail-party anecdotes, only better, since he’s gone to the trouble of staging them all for our benefit. Spielberg’s a born storyteller, and these are arguably his most precious stories. From the first movie he saw (“The Greatest Show on Earth”) to memories of meeting filmmaker John Ford on the Paramount lot, this endearing, broadly appealing account of how Spielberg was smitten by the medium — and why the prodigy nearly abandoned picture-making before his career even started — holds the keys to so much of the master’s filmography. More similar to Woody Allen’s autobiographical “Radio Days” than it is to European art films such as “The 400 Blows” and “Amistad” (the more highbrow models other directors typically point to when re-creating their childhoods), “The Fabelmans” invites audiences into the home and headspace of the world’s most beloved living director, an oddly sanitized zone where even the trauma — which includes anti-Semitism, financial disadvantage and divorce — seems to go better with fresh-buttered popcorn.

There is definitely a trend of late for film directors to take a look in thinly disguised cinematic memoirs of their early influences that shaped the artist and person they have become. Kenneth Branagh with Belfast and Paolo Sorrentino with The Hand Of God did it last year. Of course there is Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, others over the years. Sam Mendes, while not drawing a portrait of his younger self revisits the movie palaces of his youth in another 2022 offering, Empire Of Light, which premiered last weekend at Telluride and will also hit the Toronto International Film Festival. TIFF is also where the man I recently described as the GOAT, Steven Spielberg, has chosen to debut his own story where the names have been changed but the story is  clearly his. The Fabelmans basically chronicling his early Jewish family life and infatuation with making movies  had its World Premiere Saturday night, the first of Spielberg’s directed movies ever to premiere at a film festival. This one seems entirely appropriate, and it has been gestating in the director’s head ever since he and his co-writer Tony Kushner started kicking it around during the making of Lincoln over a decade ago. He says he finally made it primarily as a way to bring his late parents Leah and Arnold (to whom the film is dedicated) somehow back to his life. Movies can do that, and no one knows it better than Steven Spielberg.

“No Bears” makes its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival.

“The Summer I Turned Pretty”, actor Christopher Briney will also appear in TIFF’s closing night film “Dalíland” alongside Sir Ben Kingsley, Barbara Sukowa, Ezra Miller, Suki Waterhouse and more. Directed by Mary Harron, from a screenplay by John C.

Trinidad Barleycorn The setting: a small resort, Les Cimes, in the Swiss Alps, a stone’s throw from the French border. The moment: the end of ski season, tourists have left, time seems to be suspended. The plot: a corpse is found, tied up, with an edelweiss in its mouth. The protagonist: Captain Sterenn Peiry (Marina Hands) leads the investigation. She still mourns her 15-year-old daughter, killed three years before in an avalanche. So much for the beginning of “Off Season” (Hors saison), a Franco-Swiss police series, produced by Akka Films, Gaumont Television with RTS and France Télévisions, and beautifully filmed in CinémaScope by Pierre Monnard. This thrilling six-part series, presented to buyers at the French TV market Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Biarritz, is best in class in the art of constantly misleading the viewer. From the very first minutes, the plot thickens: a second corpse, found in the same gloomy setting, but on the French side, makes the shadow of a serial killer lurk on Les Cimes and brings into the game French policeman Lyes Bouaouni (the excellent Sofiane Zermani, a.k.a. the rapper Fianso). When a third layer is added: Sterenn’s son kills his girlfriend and flees the scene. We are left wondering: how far can a mother go to save her only child?