Venice Film Festival Watchers Hope Event Marks a "Restart for Everybody"

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentStephane Celerier, a veteran French film executive whose former banner Mars Films co-produced “La Famille Belier,” is joining forces with PGS Entertainment to create a new production company.Celerier is launching Gemma Pictures with Philippe and Guillaume Souter, the founders of PGS Entertainment, a thriving family-owned business specialized in financing and licensing worldwide youth entertainment.The new Paris-based company will look to produce French and English-language films, TV series and TV movies and is already developing a slate of 10 projects with well-known French and international talent. A resourceful and deep-pocketed company, PGS Entertainment will fully finance the development of Gemma Pictures’ roster over the next three years and will handle the back office, while giving Celerier the full reins of the company.

It’s time to check in with the Crawleys again as “Downton Abbey: A New Era” comes to theaters. This sequel to 2019’s hit film is set to give the family — along with the characters who populate their staff — a surprising change of scenery.

Chelsea star Ricardo Quaresma showed exactly what he thinks of time-wasters after carrying an opponent he suspected of faking an injury off the pitch as Vitoria de Guimaraes took on Belenenses. Quaresma, who also played for Barcelona earlier on in his career, now plays for Portuguese side Guimaraes and couldn't contain his frustration as his side trailed Belenenses on Sunday.

Julia Fox has broken her silence after she and Kanye West recently called it quits following a short term whirlwind romance. The former flames had chins wagging after putting on a loved-up display at Paris Fashion Week, but just weeks later their relationship has ended. Fans speculated that Julia, 32, and Kanye, 44, had ended things after the Uncut Gems actress deleted all signs of the rapper from her Instagram.

Premier League and pockets a larger annual salary than Prime Minister Boris Johnson. A study by Sportekz into the salaries of the Premier League officials during the 2020/21 season found that Dean was the highest earner.He and fellow officials Michael Oliver and Martin Atkinson had the highest total salary as well as being eligible for the largest possible match fee.Referees receive an additional £1,500 match per game, while assistant referees and video assistant referees are paid a £850 match fee on top of their basic annual salary of £30,000.The study found that Dean, who has been officiating in the top flight for over 20 years, has a reported annual salary of £200,000-per-year.This is the highest amount referees are able to earn as their basic salary, available to those selected to officiate Champions League, Europa League and international matches.Dean's salary is almost £50,000 more than that of the Prime Minister.According to the BBC, Johnson is entitled to a salary of £79,936 and is claiming £75,440 of it.

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Kerry Katona opened up about her troubled childhood during an emotional segment for Steph's Packed Lunch.The former Atomic Kitten star was seen breaking down in tears as she discussed how her foster parents changed her life while chatting to student Destiny who was in care from when she was a baby.Kerry, 41, also paid her foster dad Fred a visit in the thought-provoking segment as she raised awareness of what it's like to be a foster child in the exclusive video.She explained: “As a child, I moved around a lot. At the age of 13, I was put into foster care… I stayed in several foster homes and refuges but eventually, I was taken in by an amazing couple, Mag and Fred.

Martine McCutcheon is looking and feeling better than ever and even recently signed a modelling contact with Elite Models. Speaking exclusively to OK!, the Love Actually and ex-EastEnders actress has opened up about her outlook on food and fitness, explaining that she works towards a 80/20 rule when it comes to staying healthy vs enjoying threats. Martine, who shares a son, Rafferty, with her husband Jack McManus, told us: "For 80% of my week, I will have mainly just healthy proteins, vegetables and fruit, organic and veggie juices, and Flora ProActiv spread.

Gogglebox star Amy Tapper has described how she feels “better and better every day” following her three and a half stone weight loss. In an exclusive chat with new magazine, Amy, 22, opened up about how she’s focusing on herself and her ongoing health and fitness journey, and reaping the rewards.

homeless man has been arrested after he allegedly slashed the throat of a woman who had invited him in to use her shower.The horrendous incident took place in Salt Lake City, Utah.Eric Jones, 30, allegedly attacked the unnamed woman, who told police that she let him in so that he should shower as she thought he was “homeless”.She is now in intensive care after being found bleeding heavily from her neck on Sunday.Local police said: “During the investigation, the victim told SLCPD she let the suspect inside her residence so he could shower.‘The woman described the suspect as being homeless.”Detective Michelle Mechling added: “Know who you’re letting into your house and don’t let people you don’t know into your house.”Just 24 hours before, Salt Lake City Police were dealing with another incident, this time involving a University of Utah student who died during an apparent suicide pact.China-native Zhifan Dong, 19, was found in a local hotel by police.She was unresponsive after injecting a drug into herself, which was purchased by her boyfriend off the dark web.It later emerged that the drug was heroin and fentanyl.Boyfriend Haoyu Wang, 26, was arrested by police yesterday, although formal criminal charges have not yet been filed.University president Taylor Randall said: “I want to express my deepest sympathy to Zhifan's family, friends and loved ones."Zhifan's family will travel to Salt Lake City in the coming days and at that time we will consult with them as to the most appropriate way to remember and honour Zhifan.“We extend our support during this difficult time to all of our international students, particularly her peers in the Utah Global program.”For more of the latest news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up for

Actress Paige Sandhu has continued to show her skills as Emmerdale's resident serial killer Meena Jutla and co-star Jay Kontzle (who plays Billy Fletcher in the ITV soap) has confirmed that the star is "a fantastic actress." So much so, that Jay admitted feeling "threatened" and "scared" of Paige when the cameras start rolling and she goes into 'Meena mode.' When asked during a press conference what Paige is like to work with, he explained: "She smashes the role and it's really interesting to watch her do it. You do feel threatened by her. You do actually feel scared of her.

Marta Balaga “At least for the main competition, we have achieved almost complete parity without having to modify our selection criteria and these [female-directed] films have been positively welcomed. This goes to show that Venice doesn’t have any kind of bias,” said the Venice Film Festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera at a seminar on gender equality and inclusivity earlier this week at the festival.Competition films by women directors at the festival include “Nomadland,” directed by Chloe Zhao (pictured); her film premieres Friday. Barbera also mentioned Biennale College, where only two out of four selected projects were made this year due to the pandemic – both of them by women.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorAt the Venice Film Festival’s annual press lunch today, Artistic Director Alberto Barbera offered further insight into down-to-the-wire preparations for what has so far been a very successful mounting of the pandemic era’s first major industry event. He also talked about some of the titles that were still under discussion until near the September 2 launch, as well as talent travel issues.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorThis has been a Venice like no other. The world’s first COVID-era festival is taking place amid a slew of health and safety protocols and has had to adjust expectations accordingly.

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorAfter a day of early press screenings and conferences, the Venice Film Festival officially was declared open this evening by the directors of several major European fests including Venice’s own Alberto Barbera and Cannes’ Thierry Frémaux.But before they got to the stage of the Sala Grande, there was plenty to remark upon during the first evening of the first major film industry gathering of the COVID pandemic era. With deference to Verdi’s opera, this could be coined as the Lido’s Un Ballo In Maschera.

If you’re a fan of films (and you’re reading this website, so that probably means you are), then you are likely someone that supports the theatrical experience and wants to see cinemas thrive. Unfortunately, no matter how many of us really support theaters and the big screen experience, there is no denying that streaming platforms have become more and more ubiquitous and powerful.

The 77th Venice International Film Festival opened Wednesday with few stars and fewer fans but with a determination that, coronavirus pandemic or not, the show must go on. By kicking off the first major festival to start since the pandemic, Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera has said he hopes to prove "a restart for cinema" and a sign that the global film industry could bounce back after months of enforced shutdown.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe 77th Venice Film Festival kicked off today amid a surreal sense of empty spaces, countered by the morale-boosting presence of Cate Blanchett, who during the opening press conference zeroed in on the milestone event’s crucial importance for the global film industry.Blanchett, in fine fettle, praised organizers for their “inventiveness and resilience” in assembling the first major coronavirus-era physical fest, which she said seems “a miracolo” (Italian for miracle).

Nancy Tartaglione International Box Office Editor/Senior ContributorIn a sign of unity, Artistic Directors of several major European Film Festivals gathered for a press conference here in Venice this afternoon. Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera and the others will appear on stage at this evening’s opening ceremony to reassert the importance of cinema and in solidarity towards the global film industry which has been hit hard by the COVID pandemic.

By Hanna RantalaVENICE, Italy (Reuters) - Fewer Hollywood stars will grace the red carpet and there will be no fans clamouring for autographs.But for all the COVID-19 restrictions, director Alberto Barbera says the very fact that the Venice film festival is going ahead in front of live audiences this week sends a positive message."We think that it's time to restart for cinema," Barbera told Reuters on the eve of the festival, which runs from Sept. 2-12 and is now in its 77th year."We need to reopen the theatres.

Fall Film Festival Season is upon us! Though the size and scope of the events being presented this season are a bit smaller due to the pandemic. However, beginning with Venice, the film festival industry, which has largely been canceled due to COVID-19 is expected to restart with in-person screenings and fanfare that we normally expect this time of year.