When “Batgirl” completed its seven-month production in Scotland, star Leslie Grace received a wrap gift from Brendan Fraser, who played her nemesis, Firefly, in the DC movie — a gold necklace that included two charms, a little bell and a pair of dice. “The card said a lot of really sweet things, but he basically…

Georgia Oakley, director of the BAFTA-nominated British film “Blue Jean,” says she “wrestles” with awards season and those it chooses to celebrate, when filmmaking is such a collaborative effort. “I wrestled with this idea in my head,” says Oakley while speaking to Variety about her feature debut “Blue Jean” scoring a BAFTA nomination for outstanding…

The European Film Market (EFM) is hosting a day-long event on diversity, equity and inclusion on Feb. 16, bringing together a host of industry stakeholders in an effort to set the agenda for better representation — both on and off screen — in Europe’s film and television industries. The Equity and Inclusion Pathways Seminar will…

Zia Mohyeddin, a British-Pakistani actor known for films “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Immaculate Conception” and the stage version of “A Passage to India,” died on Monday in Karachi. He was 91. Mohyeddin was ill and was on life support in a Karachi hospital, his family said. Mohyeddin was born in Lylallpur (now Faisalabad), British India,…

James Flynn, an experienced Irish producer and executive, who recently co-produced Oscar favorite “The Banshees of Inisherin,” has died age 57. He died on Feb 11 of an undisclosed illness, Irish media reported. Early in his career, Flynn was appointed as head of development at John Boorman’s Merlin Films International. Later he co-founded Metropolitan Film…

Powerhouse Banijay Iberia is joining forces with Spain’s top soccer federation LaLiga to launch new sports-related content production, LaLiga Studios. The strategic deal sees Banijay tapping into its production expertise and LaLiga, its soccer knowledge and reputation, in a drive to establish LaLiga Studios as a global benchmark in the creation of content related to…

Mohammad Rasoulof, winner of the 2020 Berlin Golden Bear for “There Is No Evil,” has been temporarily released from Tehran’s Evin prison after being arrested last July for criticizing the government on social media. Rasoulof, 50, was incarcerated on July 8 after posting an appeal urging Iranian security forces to stop using weapons during May…

The BBC has commissioned “Grenfell,” a three-part drama about the devastating 2017 fire at Grenfell Tower in West London that killed 72 people. The drama will draw on some five years of research, including public sources, the inquiry hearings, and extensive interviews conducted by BAFTA-winning writer-director Peter Kosminsky (“The Undeclared War”) and associate producer Ahmed Peerbux,…