Hollywood
Dharmashala International Filmfest to showcase features, shorts and documentaries
NEW DELHI: ‘The Lunch Box’ by Ritesh Batra and ‘Tasher Desh’ by Qaushiq Mukherjee are among the Indian films while The Act of Killing (Denmark) by Joshua Oppenheimer and With You Without You (Sri Lanka) by Prasanna Vithanage are among the films at the Second Dharmashala International Film festival later this week.
Organised by White Crane Arts and Media; the festival from 24 to 27 October in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, will showcase feature films, documentaries and short films.
A new section ‘Art and Film’ has been introduced at the festival in collaboration with Vienna-based Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Foundation this year to feature art films made by international artists Sean Snyder, Wael Shawky, Marine Hugonnier, Omer Fast, Walid Raad and Rabih Mroué.
The Best of recent Indian Shorts curated by filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni will also be showcased. Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky’s Watermark will make its world premiere at the festival.
The other Indian films are Filmistaan (Nitin Kakkar); Gulabi Gang ( Nishtha Jain), Fandry (Nagraj Manjule), Crossing Bridges (Sange Dorjee Thongdok), Jai Bhim Comrade (Anand Patwardhan), and To Let the World In (Avijit Mukul Kishore).
The international films are The Strange Little Cat (Germany) by Ramon Zürcher; Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (Germany) by Alison Klayman; Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (UK/Russia) by Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin; Lasting (Poland) by Jacek Borcuch;Lore (Australia) by Cate Shortland; The Rocket (Australia/Laos) by Kim Mordaunt; Thursday Till Sunday (Chile) by Dominga Sotomayor Castillo; Neighbouring Sounds (Brazil) by Kleber Mendonça Filho; Menstrual Man (Singapore) by Amit Virmani;Bushido Man (Japan) by Takanori Tsujimoto; Piercing Brightness (UK) by Shezad Dawood; Roots (Japan) by Kaoru Ikeya; and La Voz De Los Silenciados (USA) by Maximón Monihan.
A large number of the filmmakers or their representatives are expected to attend the Festival.
Hollywood
WBD sets April 23 vote on $110bn Paramount Skydance merger
Investor approval key step, but regulators loom over mega media deal
NEW YORK: Warner Bros. Discovery has set April 23 as the date for shareholders to vote on its proposed $110 billion merger with Paramount Skydance, marking a crucial step in one of the biggest media deals in recent years.
The all-cash transaction offers WBD shareholders $31 per share, a hefty 147 per cent premium to its unaffected stock price, signalling strong intent to push the deal across the finish line. The company’s board has unanimously backed the merger and is urging investors to vote in favour.
Even if shareholders give the green light, the deal is far from done. Regulators in the United States and Europe are expected to scrutinise the merger closely, weighing concerns around competition and potential price impacts for consumers.
To keep investors on side, WBD has built in a safety net. If the deal is not completed by September 30, shareholders will receive a quarterly “ticking fee” of $0.25 per share until closure.
The proposed merger would significantly reshape the media landscape, combining the assets of Warner Bros. Discovery with those linked to Paramount Global and Skydance Media. It would also cement the growing influence of David Ellison, who has been steering Skydance’s aggressive expansion strategy.
“The WBD Board has been guided by the singular principle of securing a transaction that maximises the value of our iconic assets and delivers as much certainty as possible to our shareholders,” said Warner Bros. Discovery board chair Samuel A. Di Piazza Jr.. “This historic transaction will expand consumer choice and create new opportunities for creative talent.”
Warner Bros. Discovery chief executive officer David Zaslav added that the company is working closely with its counterpart to close the deal and unlock value for stakeholders.
With investor backing likely but regulatory hurdles ahead, the proposed merger is shaping up to be a defining moment for the global entertainment industry, where scale, content and competition are increasingly intertwined.
