The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos has started shooting in Greece on a new short that will star Emma Stone and Damien Bonnard. Plot details are under wraps. The project will combine visual arts and classical music and will be screened as part of an installation, accompanied by live orchestral ensembles, on May 22, 23 and 27, 2020, at the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera at SNFCC. The film is the second commission in the series The Artist on the Composer, a collaboration between the Greek National Opera and non-profit art organization NEON. The first was made by Greek artist Nikos Navridis. They are funded by grants from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), which is looking to enhance the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

This year’s Glasgow Film Festival has unveiled its lineup, featuring nine world premieres. Films making their debuts include Scotland-based director Anthony Baxter’s new pic Flint, which chronicles the situation in Flint, Michigan, and Julian Jarrold’s biopic Sulphur & White, starring Mark Stanley as mountaineer and charity campaigner David Tait. Also screening for the first time is Roy’s World: Barry Gifford’s Chicago, which brings to life beat poet and screenwriter Barry Gifford’s autobiographical story collection with archive footage, animation and narration by Willem Dafoe, Lili Taylor and Matt Dillon. This year’s festival runs February 26 to March 8 and closes on International Women’s Day; it will mark the date by having every film screened either directed or written by a woman, or starring a female lead.

Rusty Mutt / Black Magic

We can reveal that Rusty Mutt, the post-production company led by Cary Flaum, is partnering with producer Greg Lauritano of Black Magic to expand its post work and also offer financing for independent films. Lauritano will assume the title Head of Production at the New York-based company, which will manage post services on several of the producer’s upcoming films. The outfit has started accepting submissions for post-production/equity financing deals, and it will also be looking to harness the New York State Tax Incentive. Flaum and Lauritano met when working together on Brian Petsos’s Big Gold Brick – Rusty Mutt is supervising post-production on the film. “In an age where non-formulaic films are becoming more difficult to finance, we’re aiming to create relationships with visionary filmmakers who want to break boundaries and tell thought-provoking stories that keep audiences on the tips of their toes,” said Lauritano.