FESTIVAL

Japanese director Kawase Naomi will lead the international competition jury of the 44th Cairo International Film Festival (Nov. 13-22).

Kawase won the Caméra d’Or for best debut feature film at Cannes for “Moe no Suzaku” (1997) and also won awards there for “Mogari no Mori” (2007) and “Hikari” (2017). In 2000, her film “Hotaru” won the FIPRESCI award at Locarno.

Cairo festival president Hussein Fahmy said that Kawase has had a distinguished career and possesses great experience that qualified her to obtain prestigious awards from various international festivals.

Festival director Amir Ramses added that the presence of an award-winning female director with such a successful career and rich filmography is a great inspiration to female filmmakers in Egypt.

SOLIDARITY

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) has declared solidarity with all those in Iran who stand up for their basic human rights and the freedom of expression.

“This is a revolution which was sparked off by women and which unites all the ethnic, religious, and social parts of the population; a revolution for a free and worthy life, liberated from the ruling of hateful autocrats who have used every tool for suppression, oppression and atrocity; from terror to prison and execution to suppress the people of Iran and to bury them and their dreams of a decent life,” the ICFR said in a statement.

“We call on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally stop the use of any force and violence, to release all those arrested during the protests, and to allow the people of Iran to design the society they wish to live in. We encourage all film and culture institutions around the world to do the same,” the statement added.

“In the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death at the hands of morality police, artists and filmmakers across the world are voicing their support for protesters in Iran,” said Mike Downey, chair of the European Film Academy and founding board member of the ICFR. “The ICFR and European Film Academy along with other institutions would like to add their voices and platforms to voice their solidarity and denounce Amini’s death, and also in support of the jailed film makers incarcerated in this latest wave of repression. We support the demands filmmakers and visual artists who have requested direct and public support for Iranians in an open letter signed by Kaveh Farnam, Abdolreza Kahani, and Shirin Neshat, among others.”

PERKINS’ PARTING

Rachel Perkins is to leave Blackfella Films, one of Australia’s first Indigenously-led film and TV production companies. She jointly led the company with Darren Dale for some 20 years. The company’s most recent project, the landmark documentary series “The Australian Wars,” was produced, directed and presented by Perkins, and is currently screening on SBS Television. The company has produced films and series including “First Australians,” “Redfern Now” and “Total Control.” Perkins has decided that it is time to pursue other life goals. She has not announced what these might be.

DRAMA COMPANY

All3Media Deutschland is launching a new drama business that aims build on the company’s current slate and broaden production across new platforms and genres. All3Media Deutschland Fiction, based in Berlin, with offices in Cologne and Munich, will be headed by MD Irina Ignatiew-Lemke.

Production company Filmpool Fiction (“Polizeiruf 110″) will form part of the new German drama business, with award-winning producer Iris Kiefer continuing as the label’s managing director.

DEATH

Rahul Koli, one of the young stars of India’s Oscar entry “Last Film Show” died on Oct. 2 of leukaemia, from which he had been suffering from for some time. He was 15. The film releases on Oct. 14 in India and Koli’s family will watch it after performing his final funeral rituals.

“We have been with the family looking after Rahul for weeks , but in the end he could not be saved,” “Last Film Show” director Pan Nalin told the Times of India.

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

WildBrain and King Bert Productions’ family drama “Malory Towers” will return to CBBC and BBC iPlayer for a two-part Christmas special in December, with new and returning cast. Adapted from the novels by Enid Blyton, the series charts the adventures of a group of friends attending a boarding school in Cornwall.

As international distributor outside the U.K., WildBrain has also sold the new season and special to ABC Kids (Australia) and will be bringing the full “Malory Towers” catalog to Mipcom this month.

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