International Insider: ‘Emilia’s Oscar March; Prince Harry Vs Rupert Murdoch; Berlin Lineup Impresses

Good afternoon Insiders, welcome back, Max Goldbart here with your weekly dose of news as the Oscars gets a step closer. Scroll on. And sign up here.

‘Emilia’ Marches On

Records tumbling: As was widely expected, French musical crime drama Emilia Pérez could be in for a record-breaking Oscar night in a few weeks after landing a whopping 13 Academy Award noms. Jacques Audiard’s movie is already smashing ceilings, garnering the most noms for a film not in English and seeing star Karla Sofia Gascón become the first openly trans person ever to be nominated in an acting category. If Emilia Pérez wins the international prize, it will be the first French pic to do so in more than 30 years. That category, which we of course keep a close eye on, is dominated by Europeans, featuring Germany’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Latvia’s Flow and Denmark’s The Girl With The Needle. Brazil’s I’m Still Here is the only representative from outside the continent. Whatever you think of the movie, it really has been quite the awards ride for Emilia Pérezwhich started building serious buzz at Cannes and simply rocketed from there. Away from Pérezfew surprises landed on Thursday noms day, with Wicked, The Brutalist and A Complete Unknown all represented numerously. Perhaps the omissions of Hollywood A-listers Denzel Washington and Nicole Kidman were the biggest surprises, while there was disappointment for this particular author over the omission of Kneecap, the British-Irish biopic about the rap trio that has dominated chatter at indie festivals for months. Shedding a tear? Check out Diana’s interview with Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt. And in the first week of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, as some hostages were finally returned to their families, it was noticeable to see No Other Land, the documentary that condemns Israeli rule over the occupied West Bank, cement its frontrunner status in the doc category. That one has garnered acclaim on the circuit. The Oscars take place on March 3.

Drama In The Courtroom

When Rupert Settled With Harry: There was drama in a London courtroom worthy of a Jesse Armstrong series Tuesday and Wednesday as what began as a showdown trial that had been brewing for years between Prince Harry and Rupert Murdoch‘s News Group Newspapers (NGN) ended with a shock apology and settlement. Rather than the trial starting in earnest, both legal teams immediately obfuscated and delayed as they hastily held private talks to put together a last-minute settlement deal, which has been estimated at around the eight-figure mark (along with NGN having to pay Harry’s £10M [$12.3M] legal fees). Harry’s team, led by Johnny Depp silk David Sherborne, declared a “momentous victory,” but that’s just one read of the situation. The Duke of Sussex got his apology and many millions, but Murdoch’s NGN avoided a messy weeks-long trial that many suggested could have led to the exposure of a wider privacy cover-up at The Sun owner. Appearing on the BBC’s Today program this morning, Hugh Grant, a victim of phone hacking and prominent NGN enemy, did just that. NGN was quick to get on the front foot by denying cover-up accusations immediately after its apology had been made, but one wonders what might have been for 93-year-old media tycoon Murdoch had this one played out properly in court.

Berlin Lineup Impresses

Tough job: There’s no job right now on the festival circuit more challenging than that of Berlin Film Festival chief Tricia Tuttle. With widespread reports of bitter internal political feuds, budget cuts and the ongoing absence of Hollywood glamor, the Berlinale has been in a tough spot. With her first lineup as fest head announced Tuesday, Tuttle may have kickstarted a turnaround. The former London Film Festival chief unveiled a series of anticipated flicks such as Richard Linklater’s Blue Moonthe Jessica Chastain-starring Dreams and the Vicky Krieps-led Hot Milk for debuts in the German capital. Those premiere titles sit alongside buzzy studio movies A Complete Unknown and Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17which will head to Berlin for regional premieres. It’s impressive work from Tuttle, who is best known for upping the star power at London and pushing the public-facing fest further into the mix of A-list-led awards flicks. It now remains to be seen how she will juggle the various ceremonial demands of her job when the festival kicks off next month. Berlin is a political city and the Berlinale crowd can be demanding. They require an engaged and expressive leader, and Tuttle wasn’t particularly receptive to questions about potential re-invites for AfD members during Mel’s interview with her after Tuesday’s announcement. Let’s wait and see.

Sundance Movie Pulled

‘Terms & Conditions’: Sundance kicked off yesterday yet it has strangely been the movies not playing there attracting as much attention as the actual line-up. Kahlil Joseph’s experimental work BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions was pulled after its financier Participant legally accused Joseph of making a second cut and submitting that one to film festivals, including Berlin. The German fest is now waiting to speak to both Joseph and Participant over Blknws‘s future, according to Zac’s report, and the whole scenario is quite the rarity. Anthony D’Alessandro caught up with Joseph Wednesday, who said he had been sent an “unexpectedly harsh letter” from Participant, which shut down last year, at which point it said it would still release upcoming movies such as Blknws. The saga doesn’t feel over and poses questions around editorial control of filmmakers versus financiers. Elsewhere at Sundance, our EIC Mike Fleming Junior’s piece about the filmmakers who lost their homes in the L.A. wildfires is well worth a read.

Newen Rebrands

Cinema goals: It’s coming up to a year since Pierre Branco took the reins at High Intellectual Potential studio Newen and one of his biggest moves so far has been this week’s rebrand. Newen Studios, as of several days ago, is no more. Instead, embracing the name of its broadcaster owner, the outfit has been re-dubbed Studio TF1. While it doesn’t take too much to change a name and actions speak louder than brand names, Branco paired the news with a double down in the cinema space. “Cinema creates long-term value and it’s a sector in which we have been present for a long time,” he told Le Figaronoting that the group owns a catalog spanning some 1,000 titles including classic titles such as The Name of The Rose, The Piano and La vie en rose. The ex-WBD exec said the long-term goal is to double French movie productions to around 12 to 15 titles a year by 2027.

The Essentials

🌶️ Hot One: Jason Isaacs, Charlotte Kirk and Stefanie Martini are leading the cast of romcom Mistletoe & Wine.

🌶️ More spice: The memoir of a choreography teacher who secretly taught Princess Di to dance is being given the doc treatment.

🥃 On the ‘Rocks’: Jonas Jonasson lifted the lid to Stewart on Disney+/SVT’s Cold War series.

📈 Deep dive: Jake examined the response to Sky/Peacock’s Lockerbie: A Search For Truth, dubbed “tragedy porn” by one campaigner.

🏪 Setting up shop: Patrick Wachsberger, who is tying with Legendary Entertainment on movie production and sales banner 193.

⚽ Soccerball: Joe Russo became the latest A-lister to take interest in ‘soccer’ by joining the board of Sheffield United.

🏕️ Festivals latest: Göteborg’s Pia Lundberg chatted to Zac about competition and the “financial crisis” in Swedish cinema.

🖊️ Agencies: WME signed The Diary of a CEO‘s Steven Bartlett.

🎤 The big interview: Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun told Sara about his favorite Season 2 scene.

👩 New job: For BBC natural history commissioning boss Sreya Biswas, who is off to the world-renowned NHU.

🍿 Box office: Sonic The Hedgehog 3 has been outrunning its predecessors with $420M global.

🎞️ New Trailer: For Shoah, Claude Lanzmann’s seminal Holocaust doc, which screens at Berlin 80 years after the liberation of Auschwitz.

This week’s International Insider was written by Max Goldbart and edited by Jesse Whittock. Zac Ntim contributed.