Naga Munchetty fears she’s ‘in trouble’ after hitting out at ‘meaningless twaddle' on show

JD Linville There are few places on Earth more visually striking than the Black Sands of Reynisfjara Beach in Iceland, where tourists flock to take pictures and stand a fool’s chance to be smashed against the rocks by sneaker waves, then drowned at sea. These dangerous and beautiful beaches serve as backdrop for Icelandic showrunner Baldvin Z’s crime thriller series “Black Sands,” which will play at Berlinale Series. Written by Baldvin Z, Ragnar Jónsson, Andri Óttarsson and Aldís Hamilton, the limited series follows disgraced detective Anita (played by Hamilton) as she investigates a series of deaths at the beach while balancing the familial shadows of her past.The series, produced by Baldvin Z’s own Glassriver, brings a warmth to Nordic Noir not often seen, with scenes of Anita reconnecting and rekindling her hometown connections after expulsion from Reykjavik.

Tim Dams Since its launch in 2015, the Berlinale Series section has emerged as a kind of a boutique scripted TV fest set within a major film festival.The Berlinale was famously the first A-list festival to embrace changing viewer habits and to officially incorporate television drama into its lineup — and this head-start is reflected in the growing stature of Berlinale Series.Taking place over a concentrated three-day period (Feb. 14-16), Berlinale Series offers up seven world and international premieres from around 200 entries, giving each of them the red-carpet treatment at the Zoo Palast cinema.Running parallel, the Berlinale Series Market — part of the European Film Market — offers up an online conference program, showcases and screenings.

European Film Market has felt lopsided.Sony’s $60 million deal for Tom Hanks’ “A Man Called Otto,” an adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s bestselling Swedish-language novel “A Man Called Ove” — which was made into an Oscar-nominated  Swedish feature — that grabbed headlines early on (Variety understands it boiled down to a bidding war between the studio and Apple), but hasn’t necessarily spawned the usual flurry of deals from Berlin halfway through the festival.One buyer from a major U.K. distributor says the EFM vibe has felt “muted” for a company of its size, with an absence of broad-appeal product available once “Otto” was snapped up by Sony.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentImage Nation Abu Dhabi and low-budget Australian genre label Spooky Pictures have announced “Late Night With the Devil,” the second title under their multi-picture deal following Chloe Okuno’s  “Watcher,” which made a splash at Sundance.“Late Night With the Devil” will be helmed by writing/directing duo Colin and Cameron Cairns (“100 Bloody Acres,” “Scare Campaign”) and is set to start shooting in Australia later this year.Cinetic is handling the U.S./North American rights to the film. Stuart Ford’s AGC Intl.

Tim Dams One of the highlights of the Berlinale Series Market is the pitch event Co-Pro Series, which looks to match projects with suitable co-producers and financiers.Ten international series projects from Europe, Canada and Latin America have been selected to pitch at this year’s Co-Pro Series, where they will also have the opportunity of meeting one-on-one with potential partners.Taking place over two days (Feb. 15-16), and held online once again due to the pandemic, Co-Pro Series has a track record of showcasing drama projects that have not only gone on to be produced, but that have also achieved success.International hit “Babylon Berlin,” Austrian-German crime series “Freud,” Norwegian-German domestic terrorism drama “Furia,” Icelandic thriller “Blackport” and 1920s-set German drama “Eldorado KaDeWe” have all participated in previous Co-Pro Series pitches.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAudrey Diwan, the BAFTA-nominated filmmaker of the Venice Golden Lion-winning “Happening,” is set to make her television debut with Haut et Court TV in France, Variety has learned.Haut et Court TV is one of France’s leading production companies with credits ranging from the supernatural drama series “The Returned,” to “Panthers” with Tahar Rahim and more recently “Possession.”Diwan is currently writing the series, which will be an original story about a mother and daughter running a plastic surgery clinic. The plot is under wraps but the series will be similar to “Happening” in that it will deal with women’s relationships to their bodies.

Christopher Vourlias Peter Nadermann’s Nadcon Film and South African genre specialists Gambit Films (“Indemnity”) are teaming up to adapt a trilogy of best-selling crime thrillers, Variety can reveal.The “Revenge Trilogy” is based on the Cape Town-set novels from South African author Mike Nicol. The books will be adapted for screen by Gambit’s Daryne Joshua and will be produced by Gambit Films and Nadcon Film in cooperation with ZDF Enterprises, which co-owns Nadcon.The story begins with ex-gun-runners Mace Bishop and Pylon Buso, who made an illicit fortune while part of the struggle against Apartheid but are now at the helm of a private security company, trying to settle into a comfortable life in Cape Town.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Battle at Lake Changjin II” passed $500 million in total sales and remained unchallenged atop the mainland Chinese box office over the latest weekend.Data from consultancy Artisan Gateway showed no positional change among the top five films on a weekend that came a week after the Chinese New Year holiday wound down. Bona’s “Lake Changjin II” earned $43.5 million over the Friday to Sunday weekend, ahead of comedy “Too Cool to Kill” with $37.3 million over the same three days. In third place over the weekend was drama “Nice View” with $21.6 million and animation “Boonie Bears: Back to Earth” with $14.0 million.

Christopher Vourlias Belgrade-based Firefly Productions, one of the leading producers of high-end drama in the former Yugoslavia, is launching two new series as part of its slate at this year’s European Film Market.“The V Effect” is an eight-episode drama series inspired by the real-life case of an actor who commits suicide on stage during a live theater production. After the renowned actor’s death, Inspector Sorga will try to find out whether it was an unfortunate accident, a suicide – or possibly murder.“Domestic (Violence)” is a six-part true-crime anthology series set in a small town in Serbia.

Even with Bennifer flaunting their love left and right these days, Alex Rodriguez isn’t afraid to get out there. In fact, he came uncomfortably close to a run-in with his ex Jennifer Lopez at the Super Bowl on Sunday, where both were in attendance. While J. Lo and current beau Ben Affleck were seen dancing sweetly in the stands to the iconic halftime show, Alex shared a smiling selfie from the big game.

North Korea are reportedly being sent to labour camps after thousands of special flowers failed to bloom. The 'Kimjongilia' begonias - named after Kim Jong-un's father and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il - are meant to be in bloom to mark the dead dictator's birthday on February 16. The event is known as the 'Day of Shining Star', and typically sees streets in the hermit country lined with red flowers honouring Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011 aged 69.

Super Bowl half-time show, where he was seen hanging upside down.The hotly anticipated concert also featured performances from Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige, Kendrick Lamar in a jaw-dropping spectacle.The musicians provided entertainment at SoFi Stadium in California during the Super Bowl match-up between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals.Surprise guest 50 appeared upside down for a specially produced mix of his hit song "In da Club", which mirrored a key scene from the song's original music video.50 was welcomed on stage after both Snoop and Dre, who opened the show and sang their hit classic "The Next Episode" from the early 2000s.With screams and cheers darting around the stadium during 50's surprise medley, he was surrounded by beautiful women while he flaunted his buff physique.After his shock reveal, social media went absolutely wild, with many flocking to tweet their excitement about 50 joining the widely anticipated concert.One person tweeted: "5O Cent is in 'DA' house! This is the best Super Bowl ever. #SuperBowl."Another avid fan penned: "Could this line-up get any better? Legend after Legend and now 50 Cent! This is a 90s dream #SuperBowl." A third said: "50 Cent!!!!! This is sick! This performance is legendary.

Naga Munchetty, 46, after a viewer took a swipe at her on the social media platform today.

Naga Munchetty got back to running after celebrating her 46th birthday at home with her husband James Haggar on Thursday.The following day, the BBC Breakfast host took to her Instagram page to share a short clip moments after her weekly run. "Yep my selfie filming is still dodgy! #gettingthereslowly.

Naga Munchetty, 45, he didn’t understand why lockdown couldn't end for good sooner than the provisional date of June 21, as he highlighted the effect closures have had on businesses.The business owner said he had a friend “in tears” recently after realising he couldn’t pay staff, which prompted him to step in to help.He said the likes of MPs and academics were not considering the “devastation and harm to all sorts of society”.Naga went on to point out that the Government had been under pressure to follow the science.Luke added he’d have more confidence in them and Sage if the UK didn’t have the highest coronavirus-related death rate in Europe.He went on to say other countries had been more successful with handling coronavirus with less

Naga Munchetty, 45, has aimed a mischievous jibe at her BBC Breakfast co-star Charlie Stayt, 58, while the duo tried raw oysters together on today’s episode of Saturday Kitchen.

Naga Munchetty, 45, was left speechless after her BBC Radio 5 Live colleague Nihal Arthanayake brought up something she seemed to want to keep very much a secret on-air.The pair were discussing Kiss rock legend Gene Simmons, also known by his stage persona the Demon, but after she playfully insulted Nihal about a comment that was said during a previous interview with the musician, he hit back in a surprising way.After revealing that Simmons would be appearing on his 1pm show, Nihal seemed over the moon and played a soundbite from a past chat with the bassist and co-lead singer, which was very complimentary on the radio presenter's part."Gene Simmons thinks I'm a powerful and attractive man!" he laughed, after playing the clip of the legend

BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty, 45, will be back on the show next Saturday, following a break from hosting at weekends. Rachel Burden, 46, took to Twitter this evening to tell fans this Saturday would be her last for a while. She wrote: “My last Saturday for the time being on the @BBCBreakfast sofa filling the shoes of @TVNaga01.“Although let’s face it my size 8s into her elegant Cinderella shoes is a tight squeeze.“But always a joy to spend some time with Charlie S.”In response, Naga wrote: “Hey you.

During Tuesday's edition, Naga addressed her own experiences of receiving negative comments and abuse online.The candid revelation came as she spoke to Labour MP Luke Pollard, who received online abuse over the weekend after sharing a picture of him and his partner Sydney on Twitter in celebration of Valentine's Day.Some users on the platform were quick to reply to Luke's post with remarks, highlighting the age gap between him and his partner.The presenter continued: "There is this element, that overt racism or homophobia or bigotry people will call out."So if it happened in the street I would like to think that if someone shouted something abusive, someone would say, 'Oi that's not on - pack it in.'"But when it is on social media, and it

Naga Munchetty has surprised her BBC Radio 5 Live listeners after revealing she "doesn't do Valentine's Day".The BBC Breakfast host, who is married to TV consultant James Haggar, admitted to co-host Nihal Arthanayake that the couple don't celebrate the romantic day - despite being married for 13 years.MORE: Naga Munchetty shares rare insight into marriage with James HaggarWATCH: Naga Munchetty reveals incredible connection to Prince"I do really want to know whether you celebrated Valentine’s Day yesterday," she said on the radio waves on Monday. "I didn't, I never do! I sound quite forceful when I say that, don't I? I have quite strong opinions! If you did though, there’s no judgement here, of course.

BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty, 45, took to Instagram this morning to share details about her BBC Radio 5 Live show, but the top of her head noticeably remained out of shot.