Film directors

While James Cameron's ecological sci-fi fable "Avatar: The Way of Water" is vying for best picture at the Oscars, his fellow nominees in the documentary categories have been busy chronicling very real threats to our own planet.

The Premiere Nights Athens International Film Festival is paying tribute to the celebrated German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus with the screening of two landmark films at the Goethe Institute in Athens (Goethe.de) from his years-long association with two great filmmakers: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, with whom he did 15 films, and Martin Scorsese, with whom he did seven.

Movie stars and other film industry workers convicted of or facing possible prison time for sexual or sexist violence are being banned from France's top movie award ceremony "out of respect for the victims."

A French animation about the deadly police crackdown on protests by Algerians in 1960s Paris was among the winners on Oct. 20 of the Student Academy Awards, held for the first time at Los Angeles' recently opened film museum.

The Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe) will delight film lovers for the 33rd time between 9 and 20 November, this time with 90 feature-length and some 30 short films.

Veteran Franco-Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski has been ordered to stand trial in France over his alleged defamation of a British actress who accused him of sexual abuse, a source close to the case said onn Sept. 1

The Paris court order did not specify a trial date for Polanski, 89, who was charged in October last year.

An appeals court on July 13 ordered the unsealing of some documents in the criminal case against renowned director Roman Polanski, who has been a fugitive since pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl decades ago, a California prosecutor announced.

Maria Bakalova becomes part of the Marvel universe. The Bulgarian will take part in "Guardians of the Galaxy 3".

The actress confirmed the news and wrote:

"I am the happiest and most excited person in the world! It was one of the most difficult secrets to keep and I can't believe it's a reality."

Photographer Renate Graf's exhibition "Going Back in Time and the Silk Road" is welcoming visitors at Ankara CerModern, in a joint program organized by the Institut Français Ankara, the embassies of France and Austria, and CerModern.

Sci-fi epic "Dune," coming-of-age drama "Licorice Pizza" and musical remake "West Side Story" received major boosts in Hollywood's awards season race on Jan. 27 as several of the film industry's top guilds unveiled their nominees.