Hollywood
French director Agnes Varda to receive the Pardo d’onore Swisscom at 67th Locarno Film Festival
NEW DELHI: Renowned French director Agnes Varda is set to receive the Pardo d’onore Swisscom during 67th Locarno Film Festival.
The Festival is being held from 6 to 16 August and Varda will be present at the Festival to interact with her fans at a public conversation. Varda is the second woman to be awarded the Pardo d’onore, following Kira Muratova in 1994.
The Festival del film Locarno’s tribute to her will be accompanied by screenings of a selection of her films: the features Cleo from 5 to 7 (Cléo de 5 ? 7, 1962), The Creatures (Les Créatures 1966), Lions Love (…and Lies) (1969), Documenteur (1981), Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi, 1985), The Gleaners and I (Les glaneurs et la glaneuse, 2000) and The Beaches of Agnes (Les Plages d’Agn?s, 2008), the short film Oncle Yanco (1967), as well as the five episodes of the TV series Agn?s de ci de l? Varda (2011).
After working as a theater photographer, Varda began directing in 1954 with the feature-length film La Pointe Courte, with Philippe Noiret. The film, which was edited by Alain Resnais, made an immediate impact as one of the most influential works from the French young generation whose tastes and characteristics soon became defined as the Nouvelle Vague. With a career spanning a range of techniques and styles, fiction and documentary, Varda established herself as one of the most important figures in French and world cinema.
Festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian said, “I am particularly delighted to welcome Agnes Varda to Locarno and be able to retrace her career in the program. Both narrator of, and witness to, so many of the events that marked the 20th century, Varda has made formal experimentation and freedom an invariable hallmark of her work. As much in her best-known films (Cléo de 5 ? 7, Sans toit ni loi) as in those that deserve rediscovery (Lions Love (…and Lies), Documenteur), in her fiction films featuring famous actors as in her documentaries (Les glaneurs et la glaneuse), Agn?s Varda reminds us that film is a creative act that implicates the subject behind the camera –or directing it – both emotionally and politically. At a Festival that aims to be the home of independent cinema, awarding the Pardo d’onore to Agn?s Varda is not only a well deserved recognition of a major figure in modern cinema but also a clear signal of a route to follow.”
The Pardo d’onore, supported by Swisscom for the sixth consecutive year, is the Festival del film Locarno’s acknowledgement of a major filmmaker in contemporary cinema. Previous recipients include masters of such distinction as Samuel Fuller, Jean-Luc Godard, Ken Loach, Sidney Pollack, Abbas Kiarostami, William Friedkin, JIA Zhang-ke, Alain Tanner and, in 2013, Werner Herzog.
Hollywood
Disney unifies streaming, film, TV and games under Dana Walden
Debra O’Connell to chair Disney Entertainment Television in new setup
LOS ANGELES: The Walt Disney Company is pressing play on a more tightly woven future. As audiences hop between cinema screens, streaming apps and game worlds, the media giant is stitching its storytelling arms into one coordinated machine under Dana Walden.
Set to take charge as president and chief creative officer on March 18, Walden will oversee a newly unified Disney Entertainment structure that brings together streaming, film, television and the company’s fast-expanding games and digital business. She will report directly to incoming chief executive officer Josh D’Amaro.
The thinking is simple. Whether viewers are watching on Disney+, heading to the cinema or diving into a game, Disney wants the experience to feel like chapters of the same story. Walden summed it up as strengthening the emotional thread between Disney’s characters and its audiences, wherever they choose to engage.
The leadership reshuffle reads like a carefully cast ensemble. Alan Bergman continues as chairman of Disney Entertainment, studios, steering film production, marketing and distribution while sharing oversight of direct to consumer.
Streaming gets a dual command. Joe Earley and Adam Smith step in as co-presidents of direct to consumer, jointly handling strategy and financial performance across Disney+ and Hulu. Earley will also guide content strategy, while Smith retains his role as chief product and technology officer across Disney Entertainment and ESPN.
A new chair enters the frame with Debra O’Connell taking on the role of chairman, Disney Entertainment Television. She will oversee an expansive slate that includes ABC Entertainment, National Geographic and Hulu Originals, while continuing to supervise ABC News and owned stations.
Gaming, once a side quest, is now a central storyline. Sean Shoptaw, executive vice president, games and digital entertainment, moves into the Disney Entertainment fold. His remit includes partnerships such as the collaboration with Epic Games, aimed at building a Disney universe linked to Fortnite.
Elsewhere, John Landgraf remains chairman of FX, reporting to Walden, while Asad Ayaz continues as chief marketing and brand officer, reporting to both D’Amaro and Walden.
The message behind the reshuffle is clear. Disney is no longer thinking in silos of screens but in stories that travel. And with Walden at the creative helm, the company is betting that a single, seamless narrative can keep audiences hooked, whether they are watching, scrolling or playing.
