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Of all the comedy subgenres, the political comedy is probably the hardest to nail down. What, exactly, constitutes a political comedy? Is it a movie set in the world of politics? It is just a movie that has political commentary? And what’s the difference between a political comedy and a political satire? Is one meaner in its humor than the other?

In order to make a list of the 20 best political comedies, I had to figure out answers to these questions. And that meant making some tough choices, like any good elected official. And what I decided was to be pretty strict in my definition of what counts. There are so many good films that are often called political comedies — Four Lions, Borat, numerous war movies — but for my purposes, a film had to feature politicians, world leaders or at the very least some folks who were running for something,...

CEO Ben Roberts admits Faisal Qureshi has been ‘let down’ after report finds his complaint was badly handled

The chief executive of the British Film Institute has apologised to a prominent film-maker of colour for mishandling his complaint about racial discrimination.

The apology from Ben Roberts comes after an independent report found that the BFI had “badly handled” a complaint by Faisal Qureshi, the producer behind hit UK film Four Lions, and that it was “understandable that [he] feels deeply dissatisfied”.

Exclusive: British Film Institute CEO Ben Roberts has apologized after an independent investigation concluded that the movie body “badly” mishandled a racial discrimination complaint.

In a report seen by Deadline, Verita, the complaints reviewer for National Lottery-funded organizations, concluded that the BFI’s response to concerns raised by producer and researcher Faisal A Qureshi fell “well short” of expected standards. The BFI has accepted the conclusions and said it “cares deeply” about being an anti-racist organization.

Deadline first revealed Qureshi’s complaint in an in-depth story in March last year. Verita launched its investigation after Qureshi decided to escalate his concerns and has now finalized its findings in a 46-page review (published in full below). The report coincides with the London Film Festival, with the BFI hosting an opening gala on Wednesday, premiering Steve McQueen’s Blitz.

Qureshi, a 30-year industry veteran with an associate producer credit on BAFTA-winning movie Four Lions,...

The Sound of Metal star plays a character based on writer and director Yann Demange, who travels to Paris to reconnect with his Arab roots

Sometimes the smallest projects are the most interesting. That may well be the case for Riz Ahmed’s newest film: a 16-minute short called Dammi, directed by Yann Demange, of Top Boy and ’71 renown, which is receiving an unusually high-profile release on the streaming platform Mubi.

Partly it is because Ahmed is now a bona fide Hollywood figure after films such as Sound of Metal, Nimona and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – having cut his teeth in indie British cinema, with credits including Shifty, Four Lions and Trishna. But Ahmed is also something of a overachiever with short films; along with director Aneil Karia, he won an Oscar for The Long Goodbye, a hard-hitting short about a British Asian family brutalised by neo-Nazi paramilitaries,...

The actor, 43, talks about irreverence, trying to look more awake, his love of music, and the pursuit of art

I have mixed feelings about being the first non-white actor to win a Bafta. I was very grateful, but it also raised questions. I remember watching The Buddha of Suburbia and Bhaji on the Beach as a kid. British-Asian culture didn’t start in 2017, when I won. It’s weird to think it wasn’t recognised until that point.

Working on Four Lions with Chris Morris was a great lesson in irreverence. Even if people insist you take things seriously, you don’t have to. Actually, it’s probably more important not to. Comedy can take the teeth out of even the most serious issues.

I only started acting because my mum wanted me to pronounce my “T”s properly. When I was seven, she took me to speech and drama lessons.

Warp Films co-chief executive Peter Carlton is stepping back to a senior executive producer position as the Sheffield and London-based production company prioritises expansion into the European market with a raft of series co-productions.

Carlton joined as head of Warp Films Europe in 2009 before moving up to jointly head the company with Mark Herbert from 2015.

In his role as senior executive producer, Carlton will focus on Warp’s slate of projects as it preps a number of European co-productions.

Among the projects he will be overseeing is Costa Armonia, a horror series that he co-created with Greek director Lefteris Charitos.

It’s here, the newest Netflix thriller adapted from one of Harlan Coben’s ludicrously twist-packed, secret-filled crime mystery novels. This one comes adapted by Danny Brocklehurst with the same UK team that made The Five, Safe, The Stranger and Stay Close, and once again stars Richard Armitage in a central role.

Fool Me Once is the story of military helicopter pilot Maya Stern, a captain who loses her career in a scandal and suffers two bereavements in short succession. It’s fast-paced, kind of ridiculous viewing that takes you down an extremely twisty path before tying everything up in a big not-exactly-watertight-but-it’ll-do-fine knot – which makes it pretty perfect viewing for a brain-fogged New Year’s Day after all of December’s indulgences.

Find out more about the cast of this one below, and happy binge-watching!

Michelle Keegan as Captain Maya Stern

Brassic, Our Girl and former Coronation Street...

It’s been almost six months since the series finale of Succession, and Jesse Armstrong has been enjoying the rest.

“There was some sadness about the show ending,” says the British creator and showrunner of HBO’s multiple Emmy-winning drama, which followed the misadventures of the deliriously dysfunctional Roy family, owners of media and entertainment conglomerate Waystar Royco. “[But] doing the show was such a rush of pleasure and anxieties and hard work, of pondering the next season and worrying that you’re going to screw it up [that] is is very, very nice to have time to read again. And to travel.”

Since Succession finished, Armstrong has been on a bit of a victory lap, attending international television festivals and book tours (Faber and Faber published a series of authorized Succession script books) while pondering what to do next.

He’s had an incredible run so far.

Even before Succession, which has won 13 Emmys,...

To celebrate the release of Mrs Sidhu Investigates, available to own on DVD & Digital from 30th October, we are giving away DVDs to 2 lucky winners!

Two Of the UK’s most respected actors, Meera Syal and Craig Parkinson, team up for Mrs Sidhu Investigates – a fantastic, feel-good, wryly witty new crime drama that offers an exciting, unique take on the mystery format, spearheaded by a refreshingly diverse cast.

Based on the hugely popular, hit BBC Radio 4 series of the same name, this endearing four-part Acorn TV Original drama created by Suk Pannu (The Kumars at No. 42) is set to arrive on DVD and digital on 30 October 2023 courtesy of Acorn Media International, following its premiere on UKTV Drama tonight. The Mrs Sidhu Investigates Series One DVD also contains a mini featurette filmed during production, which includes a conversation with Meera Syal on set.

Meet Mrs Sidhu (Syal), a caterer from...

When best friends Mike and Stevie are deep in the trenches of an intense gaming marathon Mike’s older brother Tobz interrupts to throw some shade their way but when Stevie challenges Tobz to a battle, the cracks of fragile masculinity begin to show. Yuan Hu’s electric comedy short Sticks of Fury is packed with style and substance. The premise, as mentioned above, sets an almighty playing field for a rivalry that will know no end. Hu utilises plenty of visual flair as the short plays out, with exaggerated camera angles, bursts of animation, and quick cuts that all accentuate the intensity of the battle of egos. As lifelong Street Fighter fans (Guile and Blanka clearly being the best characters!), we just had to ask Hu to join us for an extensive dive into the making of his short film, talking through the practicalities of a shoot preparation that...

Mark Herbert and Emily Feller on how industry can up its game.

The UK film and TV industry has made progress in recent years representing working class and marginalised people on-and off-screen but a “huge push” is still needed to tell more of those stories, according to Warp Films executives Mark Herbert and Emily Feller.

Warp made its name with landmark films that centred working class stories across different genres, including Dead Man’s Shoes, Four Lions and This Is England, the latter of which was spun-off into three series for Channel 4.

Warp’s co-chief executive Herbert and recently-installed chief...

Mark Herbert and Emily Feller on how industry can up its game.

The TV industry has made progress in recent years representing working class and marginalised people on-and off-screen but a “huge push” is still needed to tell more of those stories, according to Warp Films execs Mark Herbert and Emily Feller.

Warp made its name with landmark films that centred working class stories across different genres, including Dead Man’s Shoes, Four Lions and This Is England, the latter of which was spun-off into three series for Channel 4.

Warp’s co-chief exec Herbert and recently-installed chief creative officer Feller...

Riz Ahmed will be honored by the Locarno Film Festival where the latest short in which the British actor appears – titled “Dammi” and directed by French auteur Yann Mounir Demange – will world premiere.

Ahmed, who earned an Oscar nomination for best actor in 2021 for his performance as a drummer who suddenly goes deaf in Amazon’s “Sound of Metal,” will be feted by the Swiss fest dedicated to indie filmmaking cinema with with its 2021 Excellence Award Davide Campari, which pays tribute to film personalities who have left their personal stamp on contemporary cinema.

“Dammi,” which was teased at Cannes, is an experimental work, broadly on the theme of immigration and identity, produced by French fashion brand Ami, founded by Alexandre Mattiussi, and also starring Isabelle Adjani, Souheila Yacoub, Sandor Funtek and Suzy Bemba. The buzzed-about short will screen at Locarno’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande, on opening night, Aug. 2, during the...

The Locarno International Film Festival unveiled the full program for 2023 on Wednesday, with dozens of world premieres set to screen in the 76th edition of the Swiss festival.

Locarno’s main Piazza Grande section will include several of this season’s festival favorites, among them Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall from French director Justine Triet starring Sandra Hüller; Ken Loach’s latest (and possibly last) feature, The Old Oak; Noora Niasari’s Sundance audience award winner Shayda, featuring Holy Spider star Zar Amir Ebrahimi; and Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s comedy Theater Camp, which won a special jury prize at Sundance. Other highlights include U.S. horror feature Falling Stars by directors Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki; Dammi from 71′ and White Boy Rick-helmer Yann Demange; and Magnetic Continent, the new nature documentary from March of the Penguins‘ filmmaker Luc Jacquet about the continent of Antarctica.

Exclusive: Jesse Armstrong will reveal the secrets of Succession in a talk at the Edinburgh TV Festival this year.

The HBO show’s creator will feature in an In Conversation session with journalist Marina Hyde. He’ll discuss all things Roy family, career highlights and what he’ll do next. Succession ends this Sunday on HBO after four seasons and numerous Emmy and BAFTA Awards.

Besides creating Succession, which tells the story of media mogul Logan Roy and his ambitious but incapable children, Armstrong is the co-creator of cult British comedies Peep Show, The Thick of It and Fresh Meat. He also received an Academy Award nomination for scripting satire In the Loop and was a co-writer on Chris Morris comedy Four Lions.

Succession has been dominating the news narrative this week ahead of the finale. Logan Roy actor Brian Cox yesterday told a BBC program his character was written...

Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters are reuniting with This is England maker Warp Films.

Matriarch Productions, which Graham and actress-producer wife Walters run together, has signed a development and production partnership with Warp.

A “number” of development projects are already underway and will be co-produced by the two companies if they are greenlit.

Graham’s breakout role came as Andrew ‘Combo’ Gascoigne in 2007 Shane Meadows film This is England, which Warp made with Film Four. Walters also acted in This is England and its proceeding TV series This is England ’86, This is England ’88 and This is England ’90.

Graham, Walters and Warp went on to collaborate several times,

Matriarch is currently working on the TV adaptation of 2021 feature Boiling Point, with Graham and Walters returning in theirs role as angsty London chef Andy Jones and Emily, respectively. Warp is backed by the Channel 4 Indie Growth Fund.

“I have...

Stephen Graham’s Matriarch Productions has set a development and production partnership with Warp Films.

Graham previously collaborated with Warp on his breakout role of Andrew “Combo” Gascoigne in award-winning film and series “This is England.”

Matriarch, co-founded by Graham and his actor-producer wife Hannah Walters, is working on several development projects with Warp, whose credits also include “Submarine,” “Four Lions” and “Tyrannosaur.” Hayley Squires is working on a development script, with more names to be announced imminently. Projects developed through the new partnership will be co-produced by the two companies.

Warp Films CEO, Mark Herbert, said: “I have known Stephen and Hannah for almost 20 years and have always known that our tastes and passion for good storytelling are aligned. I’m delighted that we can develop new shows with them both and we already have some amazing ideas to add to our slate. It also helps that we are all really nice too.

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart penning the newsletter this week in what has been a hugely busy week in the world of international TV and film. We really should stop qualifying that. Read on. And sign up for our weekly Insider here.

Regulation Nation

Bill the Media: It’s been a long time coming but the UK government finally unveiled its draft Media Bill to revamp public broadcasting for the digital age Wednesday, which should come into law later this year barring any more swift changes of government (you never know). Most of the Bill is comprised of policies contained in a landmark White Paper from last year but they are eye-catching: regulation of streamers that could see Netflix et al fined £250,000 if they break harmful material rules or fail to subtitle their shows, prominence for the pubcasters on modern TVs and relaxed quotas for the likes of the BBC,...

Film-makers Faisal Qureshi and Jonte Richardson question measures taken so far by British Film Institute

Two prominent film-makers of colour have accused the British Film Institute of failing to meaningfully address systemic racism.

Faisal Qureshi, who produced the hit film Four Lions, said although the BFI had admitted to racism, it had taken limited steps to address it, such as through an independent investigation into the organisation’s culture.

Exclusive: The British Film Institute, one of the UK’s most powerful movie funding bodies, admitted to a filmmaker of color last year that it is “systemically racist” after apologizing for how it handled his long-running complaint over alleged discrimination.

The BFI is making changes to its complaints procedures and has committed to continued anti-racism soul-searching after Faisal A Qureshi, a scriptwriter, producer, and researcher, whose credits include Leaving Neverland and Four Lions, went on record for the first time to detail his experience.

Qureshi remains disturbed by his treatment. His case is unresolved after more than two years and, although the BFI has acknowledged his complaint could have been handled better, Qureshi told Deadline he is yet to receive the formal written apology he requested.

He is fearful that his pursuit of the BFI could be damaging to his career, despite assurances from the institute that complaints would never compromise access to funding.

“Do you have any pets?” When the FBI called at Reality Winner’s Georgia home in June 2017, the agency didn’t exactly start out playing hardball; in fact it, took the better part of hour even to start getting down to brass tacks with the 25-year-old. We know this because the whole event was recorded on a hidden wire and transcribed as evidence for Winner’s subsequent trial. New York director Tina Satter first fashioned this transcript, with zero embellishment, into a critically acclaimed stage play called Is This a Room in 2019, and in Reality, which premiered in the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand, she expands it into an astonishingly effective docu-drama hybrid.

Reality Winner’s misdemeanor didn’t quite put her in the league of Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning, and, in a way, Satter’s film leans into that. Many know the name, and perhaps also the...

The London and Sheffield-based production outfit has snapped up a BBC exec.

Siobhan Morgan has been hired as head of development at Sheffield and London-based Warp Films, to bolster the ouftit’s television output.

Morgan will work with joint CEOs Mark Herbert and Peter Carlton to grow the television drama slate. She will oversee all development projects, working with writers such as Sean Conway, Fran Poletti and Colette Kane.

Morgan joins from the BBC, where she was assistant drama commissioner for the north of England. She previously worked in the BBC Children’s drama commissioning team and as a script...

The London and Sheffield-based production outfit has snapped up a BBC exec.

Siobhan Morgan has been hired as head of development at Sheffield and London-based Warp Films, to bolster the ouftit’s television output.

Morgan will work with joint CEOs Mark Herbert and Peter Carlton to grow the television drama slate. She will oversee all development projects, working with writers such as Sean Conway, Fran Poletti and Colette Kane.

Morgan joins from the BBC, where she was assistant drama commissioner for the north of England. She previously worked in the BBC Children’s drama commissioning team and as a script...

Executive producer Mary Burke has launched production company Public Dreams Ltd, which aims to bring together the best of film and TV talent to produce distinctive, ambitious, commercial content for the British and global markets.

Burke launches the company after five years as senior executive at the BFI Film Fund and 13 years at Warp Films where she amassed more than 40 TV and film credits including “Submarine,” “Saint Maud,” “Phantom of the Open,” “Brian and Charles,” “God’s Own Country,” “Colette” and “Ammonite.” She has won a BAFTA Scotland best feature award for “For Those in Peril” and a BAFTA Cymru in the same category for “Submarine.”

In 2010, Burke was recognized by Variety as a producer to watch.

Public Dreams launches with a development slate including “Targets,” a returnable drama series blending comedy-horror and political drama from writer/director Amrou Al-Kadhi (“The Watch”) for BBC Drama; an option on Kate Davies’ award-winning,...

The Shortest Nights returns once more for its 2022 edition with a breadth of impressive and distinctly British shorts. The proceedings this year take place on September 3rd at Rich Mix in London with a programme of films that range from war-room thrillers to screwball comedies. Dn has covered the films at Tsn for a number of years now and we find ourselves continuously enamoured by the talent on display from the directors currently rising through the ranks of the British film industry. Listing our recommendations for this year’s festivities was a tricky task but we’ve managed to whittle the great work available across the board down to a selection of ten shorts that we think are must-see.

Pops – Lewis Rose

In the aftermath of their father’s death two siblings must come to terms with his odd final request, he would like to send his ashes into space via helium balloon.

At 30, Adeel Akhtar was all but homeless, now he’s been nominated for this year’s Baftas. Here, he talks about the beauty of ordinary lives

Adeel Akhtar was living in a van, wondering if he should move back in with his parents. It was 2010. He’d recently appeared in Four Lions, the Chris Morris satire, in which he plays a Muslim extremist who, in an uncanny set of events, blows himself up in a Yorkshire sheep field. The film had been successful. (The New York Times called it “stiletto sharp”.) But it did not immediately become the career tipping point Akhtar hoped it might. So there he was: 30 years old, not well off, suffering after the break-up of a “messy” relationship, recording audition tapes from his van. The work had dried up, but he wasn’t hustling. Even when he got a gig, he sometimes wouldn’t bother learning his lines.

For those of us who spent the last two weeks of January in Sundance mode — my final count came just shy of 40 features, thank you very much — there’s no doubt that its program will resonate in the year ahead. The lineup launched exciting new genre filmmakers, gave jailed Russian dissident Alexei Navalny a voice with his own thrilling documentary, and led to some serious marketplace activity.

Even as the Sundance 2022 news cycle moves on, a sore spot remains with “Jihad Rehab.” Among the many problems with director Meg Smaker’s look at a Saudi Arabian institution designed to help former Guantanamo Bay prisoners reintegrate into society: There’s the title, which reinforces the most negative connotations of the term “jihad”; the positioning of the subjects as ominous Muslim stereotypes; and an ethically dubious approach to labeling men as “terrorists” who haven’t been accused of actual crimes.

As Documentary magazine reported earlier this week,...

The London-born actor will receive the Richard Harris award.

UK actor Riz Ahmed is to be honoured with the Richard Harris award by the British Independent Film Awards (Bifas).

The award honours actors who have contributed significantly to British films across their careers, with previous recipients including Glenda Jackson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Judi Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Daniel Day-Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Ahmed was born in Wembley, London. His breakthrough role was in Michael Winterbottom’s 2006 film The Road To Guantánamo. In the same year, he was named a Screen Star of Tomorrow. He has starred in feature films Four Lions,...

ITV Secures Adele Special

Having last month unveiled a CBS special, UK megastar Adele will now perform live in her native London for an ITV show at the Palladium. An Audience With Adele will see the icon performing her current single Easy On Me from fourth album 30 as she sings in front of a special audience of friends, family and famous fans. Fulwell 73, which is also producing the Oprah Winfrey-hosted CBS version, is behind the special alongside Onward Productions. “As one of the world’s most in-demand stars, we are beyond thrilled to bring this one-off night to ITV,” said Head of Entertainment Commissioning Katie Rawcliffe.

StudioCanal Partners With Apple TV On Streaming Channel

StudioCanal has joined forces with Apple TV for streaming channel, StudioCanal Presents. Exclusively available on the AppleTV app at £4.99 ($6.80) per month, the channel offers content from world and independent cinema, with crowd pleasers such as Legend,...

Maybe she was kidding, but director Clio Barnard recently described “Ali & Ava” as her shot at making a “social-realist musical.” The phrase, which slipped out during an interview from the BFI London Film Festival, struck me as some kind of oxymoron at first: How could a rugged, true-to-life depiction of a struggling working-class English couple possibly coexist with that most surreal of cinematic genres? But in light of the end result, Barnard’s ambition makes perfect sense. The film’s two title characters don’t burst into song out of the blue but rather, listen to music as an escape from their everyday stresses. It’s the force that brings them together.

Embodied with equal parts weariness and good cheer by British Bengali actor Kamal Kaan (“Four Lions”), Ali is a Yorkshire-based ex-radio DJ who gravitates to dance and electronic music. An Irish transplant to the region, Ava (Claire Rushbrook...

Ever since first impressing in Four Lions over a decade ago, Riz Ahmed has gone on to have quite a career, from Nightcrawler to Rogue One to The Night Of, but he reached new heights with Sound of Metal, earning much acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his performance. Now, this fall, a new drama starring the actor and featuring similar themes of an artist’s health-related struggle will arrive.

Mogul Mowgli, coming from Bassam Tariq (who recently signed on for Marvel’s Blade), finds Ahmed playing a rapper who is in NY preparing for his first world tour when he finds out he has an illness that forces him to return home to his Pakistani family in London. First premiering back in pre-pandemic times at Berlinale 2020, following a festival tour, it’ll arrive in theaters next month from Strand Releasing and the new trailer has arrived.

Watch below.

Mogul...

Celebrated British filmmaker Clio Barnard, a previous Cannes winner for “The Selfish Giant” (2013), is back on the Croisette with Directors’ Fortnight selection “Ali & Ava.”

The film is a love story based on people Barnard got to know through making her previous films. While making “The Arbor,” Barnard met and worked with Bradford actor, DJ and landlord Moey Hassan and later, when making “The Selfish Giant,” she met Rio, a mother and teaching assistant at a Bradford school.

Collaborating with Bradford-based writer Kamal Kaan as script consultant, Barnard started to shape a story influenced by Hassan, Kaan and Rio.

In the film, both lonely for different reasons, Ali and Ava meet through their shared affection for six-year-old Sofia, the child of Ali’s Slovakian tenants, whom Ava teaches. Ali finds comfort in Ava’s warmth and kindness and Ava finds Ali’s complexity and humor irresistible. Over time, sparks fly and...

After canceling its last edition due to the pandemic, Directors’ Fortnight, a section running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, will be back with a stylish and eclectic international lineup, including Joanna Hogg’s highly anticipated “The Souvenir Part II,” Clio Barnard’s “Ali & Ava,” Jonas Carpignano’s “A Chiara,” Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman’s Rwanda-set sci-fi film “Neptune Frost,” and Alice Rohrwacher, Pietro Marcello and Francesco Munzi’s “Futura.”

The highlight of this edition will likely be the world premiere of “The Souvenir Part II,” which will mark the first presence of Hogg, an acclaimed British writer-director, at Cannes. The romance-drama is headlined by Tilda Swinton — who will also be in Cannes for “The French Dispatch” and “Memoria” competing in the festival’s Official Selection — as well as Richard Ayoade, Charlie Heaton and Harris Dickinson. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the film revolves around a student who begins to...

The actor and rapper on social media, home-cooked curry and letting go

Born in London, Riz Ahmed, 38, studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University. His films include Four Lions, Rogue One and Venom; he won an Emmy for his role in the miniseries The Night Of. He has been nominated for a best actor Oscar for his role in the film Sound Of Metal, available on Amazon Prime from 12 April. Last year he released a rap album, The Long Goodbye. He recently married the American novelist Fatima Farheen Mirza.

When were you happiest?

Preparing for Sound Of Metal. Feeling challenged and overwhelmed and lost in something is very fulfilling.

Riz Ahmed, a Brit of Pakistani descent, is a fast-rising actor, rapper and activist. In 2017, for his performance on the HBO limited series The Night Of, he became the first Muslim man and South Asian person to win an acting Emmy, and also appeared on the cover of Time magazine as one of its 100 most influential people in the world. His film credits include 2010’s Four Lions; 2014’s Nightcrawler; installments of the Star Wars, Bourne and Marvel franchises; and, most recently, Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal, in which he plays a heavy-metal drummer in his prime who loses his hearing, and for which ...

Riz Ahmed, a Brit of Pakistani descent, is a fast-rising actor, rapper and activist. In 2017, for his performance on the HBO limited series The Night Of, he became the first Muslim man and South Asian person to win an acting Emmy, and also appeared on the cover of Time magazine as one of its 100 most influential people in the world. His film credits include 2010’s Four Lions; 2014’s Nightcrawler; installments of the Star Wars, Bourne and Marvel franchises; and, most recently, Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal, in which he plays a heavy-metal drummer in his prime who loses his hearing, and for which ...

Riz Ahmed is alone in the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco’s legendary concert venue. He knows we’re watching him, however: It’s part of a livestream of The Long Goodbye, a half-hour performance piece adapted from his acclaimed live show, which was itself inspired by his 2020 album of the same name. (You can catch the performance piece on Bam’s website through March 1st.) For those who know the 38-year-old only as an actor — an Emmy winner for The Night Of, and currently building Oscar buzz for...

Riz Ahmed, star of Amazon-backed feature film Sound of Metal, is staying in business with the streamer after striking a first-look deal with the company.

His production company Left Handed Films has inked the deal covering television with Amazon Studios and has hired former AMC exec Allie Moore to oversee production and development.

Moore, who was previously Vice President of Scripted Programming at AMC Studios, joins as Senior Vice President, Head of Television.

It comes as Left Handed Films gears up for the launch of feature film Mogul Mowgli, which The Night Of star co-wrote, starred in and produced. He is also working on an adaptation of Exit West for Netflix in partnership with the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions and Joe and Anthony Russo’s Agbo, and a modern take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in which Ahmed will star.

Ahmed’s other acting credits include Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,...

“Sound of Metal” star Riz Ahmed has jumped in our Oscar predictions for Best Actor in recent weeks. Based on the combined predictions of Gold Derby users on December 1, he ranked seventh with 25/1 odds. But then the film began streaming on Amazon Prime Video on December 4, which vaulted him into our top five. As of this writing on December 18, he’s in fifth place with 17/2 odds. Can he continue to rise?

Ahmed stars in the film as Ruben, a heavy-metal drummer who finds himself at a personal and career crossroads when he suddenly loses his hearing. It would be the first Oscar nomination for Ahmed, but not his first awards recognition. He’s a seven-time British Independent Film Award nominee for films including “Shifty” (2008) “Four Lions” (2010) and another 2020 film, “Mogul Mowgli.” He also earned an Independent Spirit nom for his supporting role in “Nightcrawler” (2014).

SEEPaul Raci (‘Sound of Metal’) is...

What’s a bigger offense than a movie wasting away a committed Drew Barrymore performance? That would be a movie wasting away two committed Drew Barrymore performances. Alas, here comes “The Stand In,” doing exactly that as a well-intentioned but broad and ill-realized showbiz satire, in which the talented performer plays a pair of characters with polar-opposite existences that intertwine in a painfully unfunny fashion.

Conceived by a promising team — director Jamie Babbit, who made a wholehearted contribution to the LGBTQ canon with her 1999 debut “But I’m A Cheerleader” and “Four Lions” scribe Sam Bain —

On paper, it’s a decent, even hilarious-sounding premise: a “Trading Places”-meets-“All About Eve” comedy of sorts that switches around the lives of a megastar and her stand-in, to dissect fan entitlement, class divergence, the supposed shallowness of the film industry and all the female-specific struggles they culminate in. Sadly, “The Stand In...

When it comes to good decisions, the brass behind “The Stand In” made quite a few, from casting a bonafide mega-star like Drew Barrymore to play a fictional one, Candy Black, to snapping up a talented director like Jamie Babbit to helm it. The screenplay, a tongue-in-cheek Hollywood send-up from “Four Lions” breakout Sam Bain, likely sounded like a safe bet, too. And who wouldn’t want to see a film that includes talents like Holland Taylor, Ellie Kemper, and Michelle Buteau in amusing supporting roles?

The ingredients, oh boy, are they there. The results? Perhaps it would be hyperbolic to call a film like “The Stand In” one of the biggest disappointments of 2020 — that’s a low bar — but given the windfall of prime material and talent that went into the creation of such a messy, mirthless, and just plain mean final product, there’s no other way to put it.

The Bafta-winning actor on Four Lions, Enola Holmes and why he spent lockdown retracing his family history – and trampolining

I don’t know if it’s the heat – it’s 35C on the late summer day we meet for lunch at an outside table at the Canton Arms on south London’s busy Lambeth Road – but there’s an enjoyable sort of maziness to conversation with Adeel Akhtar. He prefaces nearly every response to a direct question by saying, “I don’t know if this is a connected thought at all”, or “I’m going to answer that by talking about something else entirely”. The lightly evasive manner fits with Akhtar’s beguiling screen presence, you can never quite pin him down; his resting face is a mournful tragic mask, which means he is capable of generous comedy as well as convincing pathos and despair. He’s stolen tons of scenes on film and TV,...

Smart pacing, sharp editing and classy cameos elevate this Yorkshire-set tale above many recent crime capers

The team behind 2016’s eye-catching indie Chubby Funny – producer Helen Simmons and director Harry Michell – return with another agreeably off-beam comedy, this time with a starrier cast and a goofy, Four Lions-ish premise. It’s the tale of sibling Christian hitmen who, envious of the column inches logged by rival fundamentalists, set out to kill a Dawkins-like author at a literary festival in Ilkley.

Tim (Harry Melling) is the childlike younger brother, ill-suited to grisly murder; the uptight Vic (Tom Brooke) an unrepentant sociopath. Their target need not worry unduly: an astutely timed prologue shows our would-be ruthless killers stalking a rambler who looks just enough like Allam for the first of several terrible mistakes to be made.

It may have been the crack of dawn in New Zealand as Adeel Akhtar spoke to us from the other side of the word, but the British actor was in good spirits as he discussed his latest project, taking a starring role in new Netflix original movie, Enola Holmes.

He talks about colourblind casting in period dramas, and what it was like to collaborate with young superstar Millie Bobby Brown. We also looked back on Four Lions, as we spoke about the pertinence of the project, and just how much of a genius Chris Morris truly is. And of course we looked forward, and onto another genius the actor is working alongside, as he tells us about his experiences shooting with Clio Barnard in her movie Ali & Ava.

Watch the full interview with Adeel below:

Synopsis

When Enola Holmes-Sherlock’s teen sister-discovers her mother missing, she sets off to find her,...

While we thought we’d be seeing one of our TIFF favorites, Sound of Metal, get a release this August, it looks like Amazon has decided to hold out for an awards season debut later this year, which bodes well for star Riz Ahmed. In the meantime, the actor’s next role has been announced.

He’ll star alongside Octavia Spencer in the new sci-fi thriller Invasion, which is also an Amazon Studios project and will be directed by Michael Pearce. The UK filmmaker broke out a few years ago with Beast, which also served as an introduction to the talents of Jessie Buckley, who leads Charlie Kaufman’s new film I’m Thinking of Ending Things. As for Invasion, Pearce scripted the project with Joe Barton (The Ritual), and Deadline has the first details:

It follows two young brothers who go on the run with their father, a decorated...

You’ve asked questions. Prepare for the answers.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

The Beguiled (1971)

Tenet (2021? Maybe?)

Smokey Is The Bandit (1983)

Robin Hood (2010)

Hollywood Boulevard (1976)

The Devils (1971)

Song of the South (1946)

Gremlins (1984)

Dillinger (1973)

Marcello I’m So Bored (1966)

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

Big Wednesday (1978)

Swamp Thing (1982)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Payback (1999)

Bell, Book And Candle (1958)

Blowup (1966)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Medium Cool (1969)

25th Hour (2002)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Palm Springs (2020)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Mandy (2018)

The Sadist (1963)

Spider Baby (1968)

Night Tide (1960)

Stark Fear

Carnival of Souls (1962)

The Devil’s Messenger (1961)

Ms. 45 (1981)

Léolo (1992)

The Howling (1981)

Showgirls (1995)

Green Book (2018)

The Last Hurrah (1958)

The Best Man (1964)

Advise and Consent (1962)

The Candidate (1972)

The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

Seven Days In May (1964)

The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979)

The Man (1972)

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)

Four Lions (2010)

Pump Up The Volume (1990)

Nightmare In The Sun (1965)

The Wild Angels (1966)

The Omega Man (1971)

The Nanny (1965)

Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man...

Jamie Babbit directed from screenplay by Sam Bain (Four Lions).

Saban Films has acquired North American rights to Drew Barrymore dual role comedy and official Tribeca Film Festival selection The Stand-In.

The Exchange handles international sales on the story about a disaffected comedy actress who uses her adoring stand-in to play her in life as she tries to escape from the demands of fame.

Eventually, the stand-in takes over the actress’s identity, career and boyfriend, and kicks her out of her own house.

Jamie Babbit directed The Stand-In from a screenplay by Sam Bain (Four Lions), and the cast includes Michael Zegen,...

Alamo Drafthouse has partnered with ScreenPlus and Vista Cinema to serve another helping of cinematic goodness with their own VOD platform Alamo On Demand. The new “video store” is curated by Drafthouse programmers, with studio partners that include Lionsgate, Magnolia Pictures, Neon, among others.

Launching today, Alamo On Demand will include a library of entertainment for rental or purchase that is suitable for the discerning Drafthouse audience.

“I’ll describe the scenario that sold me on the ScreenPlus platform,” said Tim League, Alamo Drafthouse founder and Executive Chairman. “Alamo Drafthouse had been promoting Portrait of a Lady on Fire to our guests for months. We love people to see films in the cinema first and foremost, but the reality is not everyone can always make the time for every movie they want to see. This platform allows us to give folks who missed Portrait of a Lady on Fire in...

Farce is not a genre we commonly associate with the Germans, but then, as “Curveball” reminds us at the outset, this wildly atypical Teutonic satire — which plays like a cross between “Wag the Dog” and “Dr. Strangelove” in its portrayal of incompetence at the highest levels — is “A true story. Unfortunately.” More mea culpa than comedy, assuming/assigning responsibility for the role Germany played in helping George W. Bush settle a score with Saddam Hussein, director Johannes Naber’s nutso sendup of the unreliable intelligence source whose testimony served as the justification for the U.S. to invade Iraq in 2003 has no trouble being outrageous. The challenge comes down to being funny in the process.

A few years back, Matthias Bittner made a very good documentary about Rafid Alwan, code name “Curveball,” called “War of Lies,” and that film takes a grim, serious-minded look at what motivated this former Iraqi...

In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks with film and TV director Stuart Urban as he discusses his picks of 5 Great Black Comedies, including:

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

A distant poor relative of the Duke of D’Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.

Dr Strangelove (1964)

An insane general triggers a path to nuclear holocaust that a War Room full of politicians and generals frantically tries to stop.

The King Of Comedy (1982)

Rupert Pupkin is obsessed with becoming a comedy great. However, when he confronts his idol, talk show host Jerry Langford, with a plea to perform on the Jerry’s show, he is only given the run-around. He does not give up, however, but persists in stalking Jerry until he gets what he wants. Eventually he must team up with...