Francis Lee will be keeping an eye on the weather this weekend. At the moment, he's snowed in at his home in Yorkshire, an event that is becoming all too regular lately. "This is, like, the eighth time we've been snowed in in two months," he notes, "and it just gets really dull." The snow almost caused him to miss the…

In retrospect, it seems surprising, to put it mildly, that, for 25 years, the BAFTAs seemed to turn their back on the “B”—for British—that this Academy for Film and Television Arts had so keenly wanted to celebrate at its inception in 1947. Yet that's exactly what happened in 1967; after two decades, the Best British…

UPDATE, WRITETHRU: The British Independent Film Awards were handed out tonight in London with Francis Lee's feature debut and festival breakout, God's Own Country, scooping the Best British Independent Film and three other prizes. A Sundance world premiere and laureate, it stars Josh O'Connor and Alec Secareanu in a…

Cannes Palme d'Or winner The Square by Ruben Ostlund from Magnolia Pictures sold out screenings in its initial four theaters over a crowded pack of Specialty newcomers this weekend, becoming one of the strongest foreign-language debuts of the year at $76,000. On the other end of the spectrum, The Weinstein Company’s…

Francis Lee's directorial debut God's Own Country has won the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature at the 71st Edinburgh International Film Festival. The Yorkshire-set tale of self-discovery and emotional-awakening debuted in Sundance, winning the Special Jury Award for Directing in the World Cinema…

Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award winning actress Helen Mirren will receive the Crystal Nymph at the 57th Monte-Carlo Television Festival next month. The honor goes to a major international television actor or actress in recognition of their body of work. Mirren’s TV work includes early series on the BBC as well as Prime Susp…

EXCLUSIVE: Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have acquired all U.S. rights to Francis Lee's festival breakout God’s Own Country. The feature debut world premiered in Sundance, winning the Special Jury Award for Directing in the World Cinema Competition. It then went on to screen in the Panorama section at Berlin…

EXCLUSIVE: Following its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month, Francis Lee's debut feature God's Own Country has notched up key territory sales in the UK, France, Australia/New Zealand, Benelux and Scandinavia. Protagonist Pictures, which is handling sales for the film, has sold the title to…

Luca Guadagnino's gay love story Call Me By Your Name, starring Armie Hammer, and Brit title God's Own Country are among the 24 feature films that have been added to the Berlin Film Festival's Panorama section. The festival announced its final lineup for the strand on Wednesday, which includes 36 world premieres, six…