gshc2020.com

Principal photography is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Sakaguchi, known to action devotees for his cult roles in “Versus” and “Re:Born,” has built his reputation on an unrelenting physical approach to screen fighting. He is widely associated with one of the more extraordinary sequences in action cinema: a 77-minute single-take fight in “Crazy Samurai Musashi” in which he faces down some 400 opponents. His pairing with Uwais – internationally recognized for “The Raid,” “The Raid 2,” “Headshot,” “The Night Comes for Us,” “Mile 22” and “Expend4bles” – brings together two performers from rival martial-arts traditions who have not previously shared a screen.

“Iko and Tak share something incredibly rare: when they fight on screen, the audience feels that every movement has purpose and consequence,” director, filmmaker and cinematographer John Radel ACS said. “They come from different martial-arts traditions, but they have the same uncompromising commitment to truth in performance. Watching these two finally face one another will be visceral, emotional and unlike anything audiences have seen from either of them before.”

Set on the streets of Jakarta, “Pendekar: Warrior” centers on a former silat master who leaves prison intent on putting violence behind him, only to find a crime syndicate has taken hold of his old neighborhood. Forced to fight again to protect those closest to him, the character becomes the vehicle through which the film aims to bring Indonesian silat to a global audience. Both Uwais and Sakaguchi are in active physical preparation, working with the production’s action team to develop sequences that blend silat’s speed with Sakaguchi’s close-quarters style.

“This is more than a clash between two great action performers,” Radel added. “We are creating action that comes from character and emotion. When Iko and Tak finally collide, it has to feel like two unstoppable forces meeting, and like a moment action fans have been waiting years to witness.”

The film is produced by Asia Media Alliance Group alongside leading Indonesian producer Delon Tio of Nation Pictures, Erika North and Nick North of Yeti Entertainment, and veteran action producer Mike Leeder of Hong Kong-based Red Packet Media. Uwais and Ryan Santoso are attached as executive producers through Uwais Pictures, with K-Movie Entertainment serving as co-producer and international sales agent.

“Bringing Iko Uwais and Tak Sakaguchi together is a landmark moment for Asian action cinema,” Tio said. “They are two extraordinary performers who have each built a global following through authenticity, discipline and fearless physical storytelling. ‘Pendekar: Warrior’ represents exactly the kind of bold, internationally focused Indonesian film we want to bring to audiences around the world.”

“I’ve been a huge fan of Tak and his work since the early days, going right back to ‘Versus,'” Leeder said. “I’ve always wanted the chance to work with him, and now we get to pit his close-quarters combat against Iko’s silat in one hell of a movie.”

Uwais is represented by Brett Norensberg at Gersh and Vault Entertainment. %!s()

Alongside filmmaker Igor Bezinović and actress Sara Klimoska, they will judge the feature film competition at the Bosnian film festival, running for a week in mid-August.

Watson joins a rich constellation of auteurs who have previously presided over the Sarajevo jury in past editions, including Mike Leigh, Jeremy Irons, Asghar Farhadi, Ruben Östlund, and Mia Wasikowska.

The group will award the Heart of Sarajevo Awards in the feature film competition at the ceremony on Aug. 21.

Watson most recently starred as Mary Shakespeare in Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning historical novel Hamnet. Her notable film credits include Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves, A24’s God’s Creatures opposite Paul Mescal, Small Things Like These, Netflix drama Steve, and the Oscar-winning Gosford Park. On television, Watson currently leads the HBO/Max series Dune: Prophecy and has just finished shooting the second season.

Croatian director Bezinović is best known for his 2025 film Fiume o morte!, which won numerous awards, including the European Film Award for best documentary, as well as AFA Awards (Adriatic Film & TV Awards) for best film, best director, and best screenplay. His other works include the documentaries The Blockade (2012) and Veruda – A Film About Bojan (2015), both of which received the Oktavijan Award for best Croatian documentary film. His debut feature, A Brief Excursion (2017), premiered at Rotterdam and went on to win the Grand Golden Arena for best film at the Pula Film Festival.

Klimoska is an actress from North Macedonia whose latest leading role is in Sister Brother Manhole Cover, directed by Milcho Manchevski, which is set to premiere in 2026. This marks her third collaboration with the acclaimed director, following Willow and Kaymak. Her credits also include You Won’t Be Alone by Goran Stolevski, which premiered at Sundance, and Housekeeping for Beginners, which screened at the Venice Film Festival. Internationally, she has appeared in Nico by Eline Gehring, Family Secrets by Malik Vitthal, and Replay by Jason Lester. Klimoska has been part of the Talents Sarajevo program at Sarajevo Film Festival, and the corresponding scheme at the Berlinale. In 2022, she was nominated for the Heart of Sarajevo award for her role in the TV series Underneath.

Knol is an industry-renowned film producer, lecturer, editor and journalist from the Netherlands. Since 2021, he has been the CEO and director of the European Film Academy. He is responsible for the executive management, the vision and all related programming of current and future activities of the Academy, including brand and audience development, knowledge sharing and film heritage projects, and the annual European Film Awards. Knol has been part of the main jury at the festivals of Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, Istanbul, and Locarno.

Greek director-screenwriter-producer Tsangari is considered a principal instigator of the Greek New Wave. Her genre-bending films explore power and desire in gender, class and alterity. Her debut project,
The Slow Business of Going (2001), was a sci-fi road movie shot in hotel rooms across nine cities around the globe. It went on to garner several best film and best director awards worldwide, and now resides in MoMA’s permanent film collection.

Her sophomore feature Attenberg (2010) premiered at Venice in competition, where it won the Coppa Volpi and the Lina Mangiacapre Directing award. Chevalier (2015) won best film at the BFI London Film Festival and was nominated for best foreign film at the Independent Spirit Awards. Both movies were Greece’s official submissions for best international film at the Oscars. Under the banner of her Athens-based company Haos Film, she has produced a number of award-winning films such as Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinetta and Alps, Georgis Grigorakis’ Digger, and was co-producer on Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight.

Her latest feature, Harvest, a neo-western starring Caleb Landry Jones and Harry Melling, was shot in the Scottish Highlands and premiered at Venice in 2024. %!s()

Senior Correspondent covering technology and culture

Kylie Jenner is very much like Meta's glasses: You can't deny they're popular — but that doesn't mean they're not also controversial. (Just ask Club Chalamet. Actually, don't.)

It's undeniable that the camera-and-video smart glasses have sold — at least 7 million pairs last year. Now, a fresh wave of attention — and scrutiny — has followed the launch of a new style of the glasses: an oval-framed pair designed by Jenner.

When she debuted them late last month, there was an immediate backlash. One person commented, "Predator glasses" on her Instagram announcement. Another said. "Such a scary product for a WOMAN to be supporting." A British advocacy group bought a bus ad mocking the glasses with Jenner's image and the slogan "we're always watching you." I've reached out to Jenner's team for comment.

The anti-AI glasses sentiment might be getting louder simply because the glasses are getting more popular: They're a thing young people actually encounter out in the world. (I wrote about "Computah" back in June; he uses Meta's more traditional Ray-Bans to make funny videos pretending to "program" people.) They can also come with the potential creep factor. There's a whole genre of pick-up artists who post videos using them. I wrote about other people who do obnoxious pranks on service workers with the glasses and post on TikTok and Reels.

And at a Madrid music festival last week, the pop star Lorde went on an expletive-laden diatribe about them, saying "Don't get the glasses. Not sexy."

Interestingly, since the launch of her namesake frames, Jenner doesn't seem to be wearing them much in public. At the World Cup finals, she wore what appeared to be different tapered oval sunnies, and at a Knicks game, she used an old-school point-and-shoot camera to take photos of her boyfriend, rather than Meta glasses.

She did wear them in a recent Instagram post promoting her swimwear line.

The glasses, which can record video and take hands-free photos, have always been controversial — how could camera glasses not be? But it feels to me like we're at a new level of the discourse about them, where young people are both bemoaning their impact on society and also buying them.

What seems new here is the AI element, which is being beefed up in the glasses. In general, there's widespread anti-AI sentiment among young people, yet they continue to use AI. (Life is complicated; no judgment.)

Of course, the most controversial AI element in the glasses is one that doesn't exist on them (yet): facial recognition. Meta has been dancing around this feature for years. Whether it actually happens could depend on public reception — so it matters right now how Meta and its executives are messaging it.

That's where Meta's recent messaging around the glasses comes in.

NameTag would identify people you know

It's a relatable dilemma: You're talking to someone at a party, and you can't for the life of you remember their name. Or, even more brutal, you forget them completely, and they inform you that you've met before (oof).

This social agony is what Meta says it aims to solve with facial recognition in its AI-powered smart glasses. It hasn't launched facial recognition, but it seems to be very interested in doing so. Wired reported that a recent software update for the glasses included code (that wasn't actually working yet) for a feature called NameTag that could help you identify people you've met before.

But is the "cocktail party problem," as Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth called it in a recent interview on Nicholas Thompson's podcast, a big enough problem that we should be willing to make the privacy tradeoffs of a world where facial recognition glasses at parties are normalized?

A Meta spokesman told me facial recognition isn't yet a done deal.

"We haven't made a decision on the so-called NameTag feature, and it's not available in glasses people can buy today," Meta's Carl Woog said. "Should we decide to make something like this available, it will be our responsibility to do so with a thoughtful approach that protects people's privacy."

It feels hard to square the idea of facial recognition in glasses with personal privacy.

In the podcast interview, Bosworth also discusses the benefits of the glasses to the blind, as well as people who have trouble remembering faces or names because of a brain injury or other cognitive issue.

Facial recognition could have real benefits for the blind

That podcast interview wasn't the first time Meta executives or other company communications mentioned the glasses' disability benefits as a talking point.

I believe the people working on the glasses at Meta really care about the potential benefits for people with disabilities. The division at Meta that makes the glasses, Reality Labs, has its origins in Meta's acquisition of CTRL Labs, a company working on neural interface wearables meant to help people who couldn't type. In June, Meta pledged to provide free glasses to any of the 130,000 blind military veterans who request them.

"There are a lot of people working at Reality Labs who have dedicated their professional careers to building frontier technology that can help people who have real needs, be it limited sight, hearing, or mobility, and we are inspired by these efforts," Woog said.

Still, Meta glasses are not primarily sold as disability aids — they're fun toys for general consumers. And the discussion around disabilities also creates a kind of false tension: If you're worried about the privacy implications of facial recognition glasses, you might be against helping the blind. I have to believe there exists a middle ground; you can care about both things.

Meta knows that public sentiment is crucial to getting widespread acceptance of AI features like facial recognition. For now, it seems it will have to work on its messaging if the recent backlash to the Kylie glasses is any indication.

Read next

Katie Notopoulos

You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Katie Notopoulos is a senior correspondent at Business Insider who writes about technology, business, and culture. She covers topics such as internet culture, Big Tech, retail, AI, parenting in the digital age, and personal tech.Previously, Katie was a tech reporter at BuzzFeed News and has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, Fast Company, and MIT Technology Review. Based in New York, you can reach her by email [email protected] or find her on Twitter. Bluesky, and Threads @katienotopoulos.Some of her stories include:

• Google AI said to put glue in pizza — so I made a pizza with glue and ate it
• The Zuckermoon is over
• Gen Z doesn't want to say "hello" when answering the phone. I'm concerned. 
• Wait, is Walmart cool now?
• Mark Zuckerberg has created the saddest place on the internet with Meta AI's public feed
• How Instagram got its mojo back
• Am I the JD Vance of my group chat?
• We need to talk about whatever's happening with Starbucks' drinks
• This chart shows a key reason why millennial parents are miserable
• It's not just you. Eggshells really are chipping more.

• Meta
• Wearables
• Kylie Jenner
• More
• AI

The sidebar, and its accompanying Italian cinema section Venice Nights, includes 25 world premieres, more than half of which (14) are directed by women.

My Notes on Mars from Hungarian director Lili Horvát (Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time) will open Venice Days, screening in competition. Horvát’s English-language debut stars Mackenzie Davis and Rupert Friend in the story of a young scientist who mysteriously disappears only to show up weeks later at her own memorial service with no memory of what happened.

Kuba Dorabialski’s Agata the Writer, starring Mia Wasikowska as an Australian author in Sarajevo, will also premiere in competition, alongside Pauline Julier and Nicolas Chapoulier’s period drama The Indies; Boris Hadžija and Hoda Taheri’s hybrid fiction-documentary I Plant My Hand in the Garden; and Nicola Sorcinelli’s debut Balcanica, the only Italian title in competition, about an Afghan father and son who, after music is banned in their country, try to flee to Europe.

Other highlights include María Aparicio’s Sadness Sometimes, Other Times Revolt, a drama centered on two Argentines in Madrid; Mykyta Gibalenko’s debut Camouflage, about a young Ukrainian in Germany whose separation from home is transformed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; a Damilola Orimogunje’s family melodrama Dear Ajayi, which will be the first Nigerian movie to screen in Venice Days competition.

Léa Domenach’s Man’s Skin, a queer feminist musical comedy set in the Italian Renaissance and featuring Catherine Deneuve, will close Venice Days, screening out of competition.

An all-woman jury, headed by Spanish filmmaker Carla Simón (Alcarràs, Summer 1993) with Italian director Sara Fgaier (Weightless), and Hania Mroué, director of Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema, will pick the winner of the GdA Director’s Award, which carries a €20,000 ($23,000) cash prize to be split between the director and the film’s international distributor. The Lido audience will vote for the Audience Award, while the Europa Cinemas jury will choose the Europa Cinemas Label from the European films in the lineup.

Roberta Torre’s Scarpe rotte will open Venetian Nights, the sidebar’s Italian cinema program. The film, starring Barbara Ronchi, is freely inspired by the life of Natalia Ginzburg and is set in wartime Rome.

Miu Miu Women’s Tales, a short film anthology series created by fashion brand Miu Miu, returns to Venice Days with Discipline, a new short from Mona Fastvold (The Testament of Ann Lee) and Avec Kim, from French auteur Claire Denis (Beau Travail), the latter starring Suzanne Lindon and Kim Gordon.

The 2026 Venice Days will also include talks, industry events and public programs at the Casa degli Autori and Sala Laguna. Among them are the return of #confronti, the fourth edition of the Declaration of Filmmakers, a soundtracks event organized with ACMF, the second edition of Africa Chiama, and a new collaboration with Venezia CULT that will bring cartoonists Leo Ortolani and Dave McKean to the Lido.

The Venice Film Festival will announce its competition lineup on Thursday, July 23.

The full 2026 Venice Days lineup:

IN COMPETITION

Sadness Sometimes, Other Times Revolt, dir: María Aparicio (Argentina, Spain)

Agata the Writer, dir: Kuba Dorabialski (Australia)

Balcanica, dir: Nicola Sorcinelli (Italy, Serbia, Croatia)

Camouflage, dir: Mykyta Gibalenko (Germany)

Dear Ajayi, dir: Damilola Orimogunje (Nigeria, Germany)

I Plant My Hand in the Garden, dirs.: Boris Hadžija, Hoda Taheri (Germany, Serbia, USA)

The Indies, dirs.: Pauline Julier, Nicolas Chapoulier (Switzerland, Spain)

My Notes on Mars, dir: Lili Horvát (Hungary, Austria)

Salón de Belleza, dir: Nathalia Acevedo (Mexico, France)

A Woman Today, dir: Robert Guédiguian (France, Italy)

OUT OF COMPETITION

Man’s Skin, dir: Léa Domenach (France) Closing Film

SPECIAL EVENTS

Al Baraneya, dir: Ashgan El-Hamus (Netherlands, Egypt, Belgium, Saudi Arabia)

Carla Lonzi, A Feminist Story, dir: Francesca Archibugi (Italy)

The Phantom, dirs.: Ignacio Masllorens, David Lamelas (Argentina)

The Massacre, dir: Cosimo Messeri (Italy)

Even If Hell Came, dir: Samuele Rossi (Italy)

VENICE NIGHTS

Anatomia di un ritratto, dirs.: Francesco Clerici, Mattia Colombo (Italy, Switzerland)

Auber 89, dir: Giuseppe Schillaci (France, Italy)

Domenica capitale – Genere domenicale, dir: Giovanna Giuliani (Italy)

La leggenda del deserto, dir: Elisabetta Giannini (Italy)

Memoria del lampo, dir: Riccardo Giacconi (Italy)

Il mestiere, dir: Beppe Tufarulo (Italy, Belgium, France)

Scarpe rotte, dir: Roberta Torre (Italy) Opening Film

Si sveglia e sbadiglia, il gatto; poi l’amore, dirs.: Federico Francioni, Samuele Sestieri (Italy)

Uno si distrae al bivio, dir: Alessandra Lancellotti (Italy) %!s()

So the pair put on a concert at Berlin’s Columbia theater, and live-streamed it on YouTube.

Instead of talking about being canceled by ZDF, and the fierce debate it has sparked in the German media about freedom of speech, the band focused on raising the alarm about the rise of Germany‘s far-right.

“How should we deal with the fascists who are entering parliaments and taking to the streets?” Danger Dan asked the Berlin audience. “How do we deal with right-wing violence that is exploding and becoming increasingly brutal?”

“How do we help people [who] fear leaving their homes because Nazis are patrolling?” added Levit. “How can one alleviate their fear and show them they are not alone?”

ZDF director General Norbert Himmler defended the decision to pull the band. Their new song is “a manual for violent left-wing resistance,” Himmler told German newspaper Süddeutschen Zeitung. The lyrics to “Keine Angst” include lines suggesting activists out “nazi pigs” by doxxing far-right extremists. The song ends with a what appears to be a friendly greeting to left-wing activists who have been either convicted of, or are on trial for, violent attacks against members of the far-right.

But not everyone agrees with ZDF’s decision. The hosts of Die Anstalt called the network’s decision “cowardly,” and used their show to argue that ZDF should have let Levit and Danger Dan perform. The comedians attended Tuesday’s concert, sitting in the front row.

In an open letter on Monday, eight members of ZDF’s television council called out Himmler for pulling the song.

“ZDF missed an opportunity to spark a debate about right-wing extremism in Germany and the various ways to combat it,” the letter reads. “The cancellation of the performance by Danger Dan and Igor Levit thus demonstrates not only a lack of courage but also a lack of trust in the program’s editorial team…We fear this could have a chilling effect.”

The debate is coming against the backdrop of rising support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a xenophobic and anti-migrant party that is currently leading national opinion polls. Many consider the AfD a threat to German democracy and have called for the party to be banned. The party is not currently in power anywhere in the country but that could change this year. The AfD is within striking distance of achieving an absolute majority in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt in September. %!s()