World

Cannes Head Thierry Fremaux to Deliver Masterclass at Ventana Sur

Published

1 year ago

November 18, 2023

Cannes Head Thierry Fremaux to Deliver Masterclass at Ventana Sur

Co-organized by the Cannes Film Festival and Market and Argentina’s INCAA film-TV agency, late November’s Ventana Sur market looks set to have at least one star: Cannes head Thierry Fremaux himself.

Presenting the Cannes Film Week, a extraordinary showcase of 2023 winners led this year by Justine Triet’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall” and bowing on Nov. 27 with Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days,” Fremaux usually conducts or presents on-stage conversations with Cannes winners, which of course take in a significant part of the greatest filmmakers in the world. In Argentina, a country with a huge film tradition and one of the biggest market shares for national films until economic crisis and the pandemic decimated state funding, visiting auteurs have been treated like rock stars, even such unyielding social realist directors such as the Dardenne brothers.

This year round, however, the limelight will fall on Fremaux himself who will talk about “Cinema (of) Tomorrow.”

“After the pandemic, it was said that cinema had died. From then, we’ve shown that cinema didn’t die and, better still, there are sufficient motives to maintain hope,” ran a brief explanation accompanying the announcement of the masterclass, made Friday by Argentina’s INCAA.

Fremaux’s masterclass follows just a few weeks after underwhelming markets at Toronto and the American Film Market where only a small clutch of higher profile movies – such as AGC Studies Toronto duo “Hit Man” and “Woman of the Hour” – managed any significant sales traction at all.

That prompted senior sales agents to suggest that the traditional sales model, bulwarked on the strength of ancillary sales to TV in Europe, haS now broken. Streaming services, led by Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video, had become the effective gatekeepers of international film sales, and that gate is still very strait.

Whether Fremaux will come in at his subject in industry terms, however, is another matter. For motives for hope, he could point to his own experiences in event programming not just at Cannes but the Lumière Festival at Lyon where screenings of classic films, introduced by French stars or big name U.S. directors, can be packed to the rafters.

Or he could cite to the growing world cinema landscape, such as in the Persian Gulf, as he did to Variety in his first interview this year on the then upcoming Cannes Festival. Or underscore the growing place of women in cinema, though far as yet from parity, talking about Triet’s win at Cannes.

Or maybe none of these motives for hope: It is difficult to second-guess Thierry Fremaux’s focus in full flow on stage, apart from that it is likely to be entertaining.

The Cannes Film Week will run Nov. 27 to Dec. 3 at Buenos Aires Gaumont Cinema. Further screenings take in Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves,” a Jury Prize winner; Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” a best screenplay laureate for Yuji Sakamoto; “Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “About Dry Grasses,” which won best actress for Merve Dizdar, and Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar hopeful “Zone of Interest.”

Thierry Fremaux
AP

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World

Wednesday Briefing

Published

7 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Israel and Hamas on the ‘brink’ of a truce

Israel and Hamas are close to a deal on a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages there, Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said yesterday. “It’s closer than it’s ever been before,” he said. “But right now as we sit here we await final word from Hamas on its acceptance. And until we get that word, we’ll remain on the brink.”

Negotiators said Hamas seemed ready to accept the deal, including its details about the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for hostages and the specific movements of Israeli troops as they withdraw from positions in Gaza, a person familiar with the talks said last night.

The person said Israel was also locked in on the agreement, and that both sides seemed prepared to announce their acceptance of it in the very near future. Neither Israeli nor Hamas officials have publicly confirmed their positions. Here’s what we know about the proposal.

Gaza: An analysis in The Lancet found that Palestinian deaths from bombs and other traumatic injuries may have been undercounted by 40 percent during the first nine months of the war.

South Korea’s president was detained for questioning

Yoon Suk Yeol today became the first sitting South Korean president to be detained for questioning by criminal investigators, after striking a deal with law enforcement officials that ended a weekslong standoff. He has been accused of insurrection in connection with his short-lived declaration of martial law last month.

In a video message, Yoon said he had agreed to submit to questioning to prevent a “bloody” clash between his bodyguards and the police. But he called the investigation and the warrant to detain him illegal. Here’s what to know about South Korea’s leadership crisis.

Investigators have 48 hours to question Yoon, after which they could apply for a separate warrant to formally arrest him. Separately, the Constitutional Court is deliberating whether the National Assembly’s Dec. 14 impeachment of Yoon was legitimate and whether the president, currently suspended, should be permanently removed from office.

Republicans embraced Hegseth’s bid to lead the Pentagon

Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, emerged from a tense confirmation hearing yesterday with the Republican Party’s support intact. A Senate vote on whether he should lead the Pentagon — a department with three million employees and a budget of $849 billion — could come as soon as Monday.

Over hours of questioning, Democrats quizzed Hegseth about sexual misconduct allegations — Hegseth was accused of rape in 2017 — and his drinking habits. They called him unfit to lead the Pentagon and grilled Hegseth, a former Fox News host, on his long history of disparaging comments about women in the military.

What’s next: It was unclear whether Hegseth had left the hearing with the votes he needed. If all Senate Democrats oppose him, Hegseth will have to secure the backing of at least 50 of the 53 Republicans in the chamber.

Related: A report was released yesterday that detailed the special counsel’s investigation into Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Here are four takeaways.

MORE TOP NEWS

The Maha Kumbh Mela festival in India begins this week. It is expected to draw up to 400 million Hindu pilgrims to the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, in what would be the world’s largest gathering.

The ceremony happens every 12 years and centers on a series of holy baths. But it has also become an important political event. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is a chance to promote his right-wing party.

The 24-hour diner

All-night diners are a signature New York institution. But in a city that supposedly never sleeps, they’re disappearing as costs rise and habits change.

Priya Krishna, a reporter for The Times, spent a Friday night at Kellogg’s Diner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, dining nonstop from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. “Surprisingly, I drew no scrutiny from the staff for my hourslong stay,” she writes, “a heartening reminder that no other place will welcome you as unconditionally as an all-night diner.”

Read about Priya’s night of pecan pie, lost treasures and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

World

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol arrested: report

Published

8 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol arrested: report

Suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has reportedly been arrested over insurrection charges stemming from his ill-fated martial law declaration last month.

Yoon’s detention was reported Wednesday by Yonhap, one of the country’s largest news outlets. A warrant for his arrest, initially requested after he failed to show up for questioning, has been out since Dec. 31.

Police dispatched some 3,200 officers to the president’s sprawling hillside estate in Seoul, according to Reuters, where he has spent weeks in hiding whilst surrounded by a personal security detail.

Video shows officers closing in on Yoon’s residence, according to Reuters, where hundreds of his supporters had already gathered to protest on his behalf. Earlier, they were reportedly seen pushing through a group of them.

SOUTH KOREA’S IMPEACHED PRESIDENT AVOIDS ARREST ATTEMPT AFTER HOURSLONG STANDOFF

A previous attempt to detain Yoon was called off on Jan. 3 following a six-hour standoff between military guards and the president’s security staff.

“As I have repeatedly emphasized the need for prevention of physical conflict between state agencies,” Acting President Choi Sang-mok said in a statement Wednesday. “I will sternly hold those responsible if unfortunate events occur.”

Authorities are making a second attempt to detain suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol following last month’s martial law declaration. (South Korea Presidential Office via AP, File)

Executing a warrant for Yoon’s arrest has proven difficult for investigators, as the president’s legal counsel insists it is impossible to do so under a law barring non-consensual searches of locations potentially linked to military secrets.

Yoon’s lawyers have also decried such a warrant as an illegal means of publicly humiliating him.

ARREST WARRANT ISSUED FOR IMPEACHED SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT AS POLITICAL CRISIS DEEPENS

The arrest warrant is the first ever to be levied against a sitting South Korean president. Yoon’s warrant stems from his declaration of martial law on Dec. 3 out of apparent frustration with the opposition-dominated parliament’s refusal to pass key items on his political agenda.

The move was decried within South Korea and abroad, where analysts expressed shock at the sudden and unprecedented move in what is typically one of Asia’s most stable democracies.

Police officers are seen closing in on suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s residence in Seoul, South Korea, alongside investigators of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. (REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji)

Parliament unanimously rejected Yoon’s declaration, and subsequently suspended him on Dec. 14 in a 204-85 vote that included members of his own party.

Yoon will be formally impeached should the Constitutional Court uphold the motion with a three-fourths majority.

The court’s next hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Kyle Schmidbauer is a production assistant for Fox News Digital. A graduate of Montclair State University in New Jersey, he joined Fox in 2022.

World

Looking for a job in IT? These countries are desperate for new hires

Published

9 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Looking for a job in IT? These countries are desperate for new hires

Over two-thirds of large companies struggle to fill their IT roles. What are the highest-paid jobs? Which countries are most in need?

As the IT sector continues to grow, thousands of European companies are having trouble filling the many positions available.

According to 2024 Eurostat data, 57.5% of EU businesses can’t recruit all the necessary ICT specialists.

The gap between labour demand and actual employment has grown by 20% in the past ten years.

Large businesses are facing the biggest challenges.

Sixty-eight per cent of them are unable to fill all their ICT specialist positions, followed by medium (59.2%) and small-sized enterprises (53.4%).

Germany, the Czech Republic, Malta, Austria, and Luxembourg are the countries most in need of ICT specialists, with at least 65% of businesses facing shortages.

The percentages are even higher for large enterprises: 84% in Malta, 80% in Germany, 79% in the Czech Republic, 78% in Slovenia, 76% in Austria, 75% in Luxembourg, 73% in Latvia, 72% in Hungary and 71% in Croatia.

Spain, Poland, and Bulgaria have the least hiring problems, although at least 30% of companies in these countries still face ICT shortages.

What are the highest-paid IT positions?

The main difficulties in recruitment, according to Eurostat, are a lack of applications, insufficient qualifications and experience, and high salary expectations.

Salaries in the ICT sector have consistently outpaced average wages in Europe in the last decade, according to the 2024 OECD Digital Economy Outlook. In the EU, in particular, annual wages grew by 0.24% compared to 0.20% in the rest of the economy.

Recruitment specialists Robert Walters have listed the top-paid ICT jobs in countries including Germany, which seems to be struggling the most in the EU to recruit specialists.

The highest-paid role is Chief Information Technology Officer, with an annual base of €150k for employees with at least three years of experience, to €180k for those with at least eight years.

The consultancy role in the highest bracket is the SAP/ERP one, with a base of €100k. (SAP ERP is an enterprise resource planning software.)

Data engineer and data scientist positions are both in the €100-120k bracket.

Video editor • Mert Can Yilmaz