Hollywood
Marco Bellocchio to receive the Pardo d’onore at Locarno 2015
NEW DELHI: Renowned Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio will receive the Pardo d’onore Swisscom during the 68th Festival del film Locarno.
The occasion will be marked by a Piazza Grande screening of Marco’s debut film I pugni in tasca (Fists in the Pocket), some 50 years after its first screening at Locarno.
With this award, the Festival pays tribute to an extraordinarily rich career, and affirms the strong links between Locarno and Bellocchio, first forged in 1965 with the screening in the Grand Hotel of his debut feature film. The stunning anarchy of his film overwhelmed the audience, the critics and the jury, who awarded him the Vela d’argento.
Over the years Bellocchio has been featured at Locarno on many occasions: in competition in 1976 with Marcia trionfale (Victory March), in 1997 when he was president of the jury and part of the collective project Locarno demi-si?cle; réflexions sur l’avenir, and in 1998, the year the Festival mounted a major retrospective of his work.
Locarno Festival’s Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian said, “I pugni in tasca remains one of those films that demonstrate Locarno’s history as a festival, which discovers and launches films that could be described, with no fear of contradiction, as challenging. We are showing the film in a restored print as both an appropriate tribute to the start of his trajectory as a major filmmaker, and an indication of a programming policy that has remained faithful to its principles. The choice of Marco Bellocchio for the Pardo d’onore is also prompted by an awareness that the way he makes films – above all, in recent years – has a great deal to say to anyone living in Italy but also to those making films in the rest of the world.”
The Locarno Festival’s tribute to Bellocchio will be accompanied by screenings of a selection of his films. I pugni in tasca will be shown in the Piazza Grande on 14 August. The restored print was produced by Kavac Film, via the Cineteca di Bologna at the laboratories of “L’immagine ritrovata,” with support from Giorgio Armani, and will be distributed internationally by The Match Factory.
The Festival audience will also have an opportunity to talk to the director and discover the secrets of his art at a masterclass in the Spazio Cinema.
The Pardo d’onore, supported by Swisscom for the seventh consecutive year, is the Festival del film Locarno’s award in recognition of major contemporary filmmakers. Previous recipients include those of the caliber of Samuel Fuller, Jean-Luc Godard, Ken Loach, Sidney Pollack, William Friedkin, JIA Zhang-ke, Alain Tanner, Werner Herzog and, in 2014, Agn?s Varda.
Hollywood
David Zaslav could net up to $887m as Warner Bros Discovery sells up
Media mogul strikes gold as Paramount Skydance deal triggers massive windfall
NEW YORK: While the average office worker might hope for a nice clock and a round of applause upon leaving, David Zaslav is looking at a slightly more substantial parting gift. The chief executive officer of Warner Bros Discovery is positioned to receive a windfall of up to $887 million following the company’s blockbuster $110 billion sale to Paramount Skydance.
In a twist of corporate fate that feels scripted for the big screen, the deal marks the finale of a high-stakes bidding war. It comes after Netflix, once the frontrunner, decided to exit stage left and abandon its pursuit of the HBO Max parent company.
While most people receive a standard final paycheck, the filing released on Monday suggests Zaslav’s exit package is built a little differently. If the deal closes as expected in the third quarter of 2026, the numbers break down like this:
The cash out: A severance package of $34.2 million, covering his salary and bonuses.
The equity: $115.8 million in vested shares he already owns.
The future fortune: A massive $517.2 million in unvested share awards, essentially “future stock” that turns into real money the moment the ink dries on the merger.
Perhaps the most eye-catching figure is the $335 million earmarked for tax reimbursements. However, this particular pot of gold has an expiration date.
The company noted that these reimbursements are tied to specific tax-code rules that significantly decline as time passes. If the deal hits a snag and drags into 2027, that tax payout drops to zero. With hundreds of millions on the line, the chief executive officer likely has every incentive to ensure the closing process moves at double-speed.
