Welsh First Minister's wife passes away suddenly as Nicola Sturgeon pays tribute

Christopher Vourlias Since the launch of its cash rebate in 2018, which covers up to 40% of qualifying expenditures along with 30% in tax relief, Greece has become one of Europe’s hottest filming destinations. But domestic production is surging as well, and the industry reached new heights in 2022, with the rebate scheme supporting 132 international and domestic projects. Here’s a round-up of some of the top Greek feature films currently in the pipeline: Buzzheart (pictured, top)Director: Dennis IliadisProducers: Amanda Livanou, Dennis IliadisThe veteran director, who helmed the 2007 remake of Wes Craven’s “The Last House on the Left,” returns with a film that asks: If you had to make sure that someone could truly love without any moral limitations, how far would you go?Sales: N/A

Christopher Vourlias Latvian director Viesturs Kairiss, who won the international narrative competition at the Tribeca Film Festival last year with his coming-of-age drama “January,” is prepping his next feature film. “Ulya” is based on the real-life story of Ulyana Semjonova, a girl raised in the Latvian countryside who reaches a height of seven feet and would go on to become a famous professional basketball player. Set in the 1970s in Latvia, which was then part of the Soviet Union, the film follows its titular heroine from the time she leaves the countryside at the age of 14 and travels to Riga to play basketball. Kairiss described that as a “crucial stage” in Semjonova’s life, as her body was undergoing dramatic — and traumatic — changes for a teenage girl, while she also began to learn how to overcome adversity and, through basketball, find her place in life.

Christopher Vourlias For a country of 11 million that’s spent much of the past decade lurching from one economic crisis to the next, you’d be hard-pressed to suggest the Greek film industry isn’t punching above its weight. In the span of just a few weeks earlier this year, Rian Johnson’s Netflix blockbuster “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” became one of the streaming service’s most-watched films of all time, while Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness” was nominated for three Academy Awards: two splashy productions that were both shot in the Mediterranean nation. Since the launch of its cash rebate in 2018, which covers up to 40% of qualifying expenditures along with 30% in tax relief, Greece has become one of Europe’s hottest filming destinations. Last year the industry reached new heights, with the rebate supporting 132 international and domestic productions — including Nia Vardalos’ long-awaited “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” and the action thriller “Tin Soldier,” starring Jamie Foxx and Robert De Niro — while paying out a record €34 million ($36.2 million).

Christopher Vourlias Dubai-based sales agency Cercamon has acquired international sales rights for “Fancy Dance,” the feature debut of Indigenous director Erica Tremblay, following the film’s premiere in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at Sundance. Cercamon is selling the film this week at EFM before it continues its festival run at SXSW. “Fancy Dance” stars Lily Gladstone as a young woman, Jax, who’s cared for her niece Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson) since the girl’s mother disappeared. Scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma, she spends every spare minute trying to find her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow.

Christopher Vourlias Athens-based Heretic has acquired worlds sales rights for “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World,” the latest film from Berlinale Golden Bear winner Radu Jude (“Bad Luck Banging or Looney Porn”), who is serving on the international jury at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Divided into two parts, Jadu’s latest follows an overworked and underpaid production assistant who must drive around the city of Bucharest to film the casting for a workplace safety video commissioned by a multinational company. In the film’s second half, one of her interviewees makes a statement that ignites a scandal, forcing him to re-invent his story to suit the company’s narrative.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Ester Expósito, one of the stars of Netflix’s global hit “Elite,” is attached to star in “The Wailing” (“El Llanto”), co-written by Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s regular co-scribe Isabel Peña (“The Beasts”) and directed by talent-to-track Pedro Martín-Calero (“Secrets”). It’s one of the biggest Spanish-language packages being brought onto Berlin’s European Film Market. Catapulted into global stardom by “Elite,” an Instagram video of Espósito dancing to reggaeton track “El Efecto” snagged 93 million views.  The movie has gone into production, shooting in Madrid, Buenos Aires and La Plata. Film Factory Entertainment has acquired international rights. 

Scout Willis stepped out in Los Angeles on Thursday just hours after her family revealed her father Bruce Willis, 67, has dementia. The 31-year-old music artist put on a brave face as she ran errands while dressed in  green leggings, a faded leather moto jacket and a sweet fuzzy brown hat with ears.She kept a low profile as she shielded her eyes in square-shaped brown sunglasses with dark lenses.The actress, whose mom is entertainment icon Demi Moore, received an outpouring of support from her friends on social media after she posted 'painful' news about her dad in a joint statement released by her family. Liv Tyler was among her famous friends to lend their support, with the actress sending her 'so much love' in the comment section.  Out and about: Scout Willis was seen out in Los Angeles on Thursday wearing flared and cropped green yoga pantsScout, Bruce and Demi's middle child, joined her family in telling fans the actor has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) - less than one year after he retired from acting due to his battle with brain disorder, aphasia.The Hollywood icon withdrew from acting last year as he began his fight with the illness that caused his language abilities to deteriorate - and now his condition has 'progressed' according to a joint statement from his family on Thursday.FTD affects the lobes of the brain behind the forehead, which deal with behavior, problem-solving, planning and emotions -  with symptoms including personality changes, obsessive behavior and speaking difficulties.The statement, from his wife Emma Heming, ex-wife Demi and five daughters and posted on The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration's website, read: 'Our family wanted to start by expressing our deepest

Outer Banks stars Madelyn Cline and Madison Bailey dazzled as they arrived at the premiere for season three of the hit Netflix series in Los Angeles on Thursday night.Cline, 25 - who plays the show's female lead, Sarah Cameron - wowed shutterbugs in a baby blue dress covered in sparkly blue crystals.Meanwhile, Bailey - who plays Kiara - stunned onlookers in a green metallic dress with sheer black mesh that teased her toned figure. Cline reunited on the red carpet with her co-star and ex-boyfriend Chase Stokes, who she split from in late 2021 after more than a year together.Outer Banks follows adventurous teen John B (Stokes) who rallies his three best friends to help him hunt for a 'legendary treasure linked to his father's disappearance,' as per Netflix.

Netflix's hit romantic drama, Virgin River is returning with its fifth season later this year, after the show gained global popularity since it debuted in 2019. But it's not all good news for Virgin River star Martin Henderson, as the star has apologised to fans after postponing his live autograph signing with co-star Alexandra Breckenridge, due to being stuck in New Zealand after severe weather brought the country to a halt. Henderson's plans were interrupted when Cyclone Gabrielle struck New Zealand on Monday.

Niall Horan just released his new song “Heaven” and it seems like he’s singing about his girlfriend Amelia Woolley!

Christopher Vourlias When a rock festival held in Tallinn in the summer of 1988 was shut down by Soviet authorities, thousands of Estonians took to the streets, waving Estonian flags and singing patriotic songs in a bold show of defiance of Soviet rule. By the festival’s final night, some 200,000 people had joined what would later be dubbed the Singing Revolution, a catalyst for the non-violent movement that swept across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the early-‘90s and paved the way for independence. Even under Moscow’s thumb the Baltics demanded to be heard. For decades the three small nations have drawn on their historical, cultural and economic ties to create a sum that’s bigger than its parts, a collaborative spirit that’s also energized the countries’ growing screen industries, which will share the stage as joint Countries in Focus at this year’s European Film Market.

Christopher Vourlias When the European Film Market kicks off in Berlin on Feb. 16, the three Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will share the stage as the EFM’s joint Countries in Focus. The showcase, which is supported by the Estonian Film Institute, the National Film Center of Latvia and the Lithuanian Film Center, will offer a range of events within the framework of the EFM, along with a selection of market premieres and screenings of Baltic films already making waves on the festival circuit. Twelve up-and-coming Baltic producers will also be presented to the international industry during a happy hour on Feb. 17 in the Gropius Bas. Here’s a selection of Baltic buzz titles that the region’s top producers will be taking to Berlin:

Christopher Vourlias This year, Latvia is sharing a spotlight with neighboring Lithuania and Estonia at the European Film Market, which has dedicated its 2023 Country in Focus Spotlight to the Baltic nations. It’s a sign of the tremendous strides the country has taken to put itself on the world cinema map, with the screen industries both producing more films and TV series than ever before and luring increasingly ambitious international projects to Northeastern Europe. Here’s a rundown of some of the top Latvian projects in the pipeline that their producers will be pitching in Berlin: Blue BloodDirector: Juris KursietisProducers: White Picture, Stellar Film, Asterisk*The follow-up to Kursietis’ Cannes Directors’ Fortnight player “Oleg” is the story of a successful couple whose comfortable life is turned upside-down when the husband is implicated in a massive corruption scandal.Sales: N/A

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International Dogwoof has boarded MTV Documentary Films’ Sundance winner “The Eternal Memory” for international sales excluding the U.S. The latest feature from Oscar-nominated “Mole Agent” director Maite Alberdi had its world premiere as part of the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance last month, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize before MTV Documentary Films acquired worldwide rights. Dogwoof will work in partnership with MTV Documentary Films to represent the film for international sales. The project marks the second collaboration between Dogwoof and Alberdi, having represented “The Mole Agent” for international sales before it was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary feature in 2021.

Nicola Sturgeon was drinking in the sweet taste of victory after Scotland’s dramatic comeback at Twickenham.

Nicola Sturgeon has said she believes a transgender double rapist is "almost certainly" claiming to be transgender as an "easy way out".

Nicola Sturgeon faces another trans storm after a decision was made to house one of Scotland’s most violent prisoners in a women’s jail. The Record can reveal that volatile Tiffany Scott - who stalked a 13-year-old girl while known as Andrew Burns - has been rubber-stamped for transfer to a jail that aligns with her chosen gender.

A double rapist who now identifies as a woman won’t serve her sentence at Stirling’s Cornton Vale women’s prison despite being sent there this week.

Nicola Sturgeon has said Gordon Brown was warned ahead of the 2014 independence referendum that the NHS could be threatened by creeping privatisation.