Sarajevo Film Festival has unveiled a new program in honor of the late Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr.
The selection, titled Béla Tarr in Sarajevo, is a long-term initiative dedicated to the legacy of Tarr, who died earlier this year at the age of 70. The films selected to take part are made by his former students at the Film Factory in Sarajevo. Tarr’s scheme was an international, experimental doctoral school for film studies that ran from 2013 to 2017 in the Bosnian capital.
… %!s()
More than a retrospective, the program celebrates Tarr’s contribution to world cinema, but also to generations of authors who, through their own films, “continue to carry the spirit of curiosity, rigour and cinematic freedom that found a home in Sarajevo.”
“The selection reflects careers that have since taken these filmmakers to many of the world’s leading festivals, including Cannes, San Sebastián, Locarno, Rotterdam and Clermont-Ferrand,” said Jovan Marjanović, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival. “Rather than revealing a single aesthetic or cinematic school, their films reflect an educational philosophy that encouraged every filmmaker to discover a distinctly personal artistic language.”
Tarr was a longstanding friend of the Sarajevo Film Festival. In 2006, the Tribute To Program featured a retrospective of his selected works. He received the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the fest in 2013, and the following year served as president of the jury for the narrative feature film selection.
Among the films selected as part of this year’s inaugural Béla Tarr in Sarajevo program are Lamb from Iceland’s Valdimar Jóhannsson, about a childless couple who make an alarming discovery in their sheep barn, and Naval Gays, from the U.K.’s Grant Gulczynski, a meta-project about a filmmaker with low self-esteem who crafts a movie about sex, the body and himself.
A New Mexico Court judge on Thursday ordered Meta to pay a fine of $567 million, on top of the $375 million levied in March, in a case regarding social media harms and addiction. This brings the total fines the company has to pay to $942 million.
… %!s()
The court also ordered Meta to make changes to how its platforms function in the state: It wants the company to remove Like counts, and only show such metrics to children under 18 with approval from a parent or a guardian. Push notifications to underaged users in the state are also to be paused between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and their usage should be limited to 90 hours a month, which amounts to roughly three hours per day.
“Significant numbers of people in New Mexico experience harm from Meta’s products due to risks of sexual exploitation, interference with education, and adverse mental health outcomes,” the order said.
The judge acknowledged that Meta is not the only platform causing a mental health crisis among youth in the state, but maintained that its platforms play a significant part. He said that the company has caused a significant “public nuisance” in New Mexico, and is required to abate that.
Meta said that it is going to appeal the judgment.
“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts,” company spokesperson Andy Stone said in an emailed statement.
“For years, Meta knew its platforms were harming New Mexico’s kids, from feeding a youth mental health crisis to connecting predators with children, and it chose engagement and profit over their safety,” state Attorney General Raúl Torrez said in a statement.
“Today, Meta is paying for that choice. This judgment holds the company accountable for the damage it caused to our children, our families, and our schools, and it forces real changes to how Meta operates in New Mexico,” he added.
The ruling comes in the wake of another loss in Los Angeles in March, where the court also ruled against the social media company for creating addictive patterns.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web.
You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing [email protected] or via encrypted message at ivan.42 on Signal.
Luca Guadagnino will receive the Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, where his new documentary Joie de vivre will premiere out of competition on Sept. 8. Guadagnino will receive the award at a ceremony before the documentary’s screening.
… %!s()
Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera said the award recognizes a filmmaker “who has managed to transform his curiosity into a form of creative freedom.”
Guadagnino’s latest narrative feature, Artificial, will not make the trip to the Lido. The film, starring Andrew Garfield as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, was originally set up at Amazon MGM Studios but was dropped shortly after Amazon announced a strategic partnership with OpenAI. Neon subsequently acquired worldwide rights.
As previously reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Artificial will skip the fall festival circuit as Neon has opted for a late December qualifying release before expanding the film in early 2027. Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera told THR the festival had hoped to premiere the movie, but Neon decided against a Venice launch because it wanted additional time to complete international sales.
Guadagnino will instead return to Venice with Joie de vivre, a 7-hour epic documentary on the legendary Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci.
“It might seem like a rhetorical gesture to say I am honored to receive the Glory to the Filmmaker award, but it is the plain truth for many reasons,” Guadagnino said. “To be honored for one’s craft or life as a filmmaker is an ambition that no one who makes films could ever presume to imagine achieving—especially by joining a group of filmmakers who have received this prestigious honor before me and to whom I owe so much of my development. So, I want to emphasize once again what an honor it is to receive this award, especially from Alberto Barbera and La Biennale di Venezia. Thank you, thank you!”
In a statement, Barbera said Guadagnino has established himself as a “global director, capable of working with leading international actors and producers,” while “defying alignment with any single school or movement… He has navigated diverse genres—from melodrama to horror, coming-of-age to psychological thriller—while maintaining a consistent and recognizable voice, without ever losing a deeply Italian identity in portraying bodies, settings, and history.”
The honor marks another Venice milestone for Guadagnino, whose films After the Hunt, Queer, Bones and All, Suspiria, A Bigger Splash, I Am Love and The Protagonists all premiered in Venice. He won the Silver Lion for best director in 2022 for Bones and All.
LEGO will celebrate a quarter century of its Harry Potter range with the launch of a new Ministry of Magic set, featuring the first-ever Minifigure of Arabella Figg.
… %!s()
The 3,491-piece model will become available to LEGO Insiders on August 29, and gain a wider release on September 1 for the franchise's annual Back to Hogwarts Day. You can see the listing here on the LEGO Store.
LEGO Harry Potter: The Ministry of Magic – Collector's Edition
The Ministry of Magic is a three-tiered set measuring 51cm (20 inches) tall, with a surface level that includes the Leaky Cauldron pub and the red telephone box used to access the Ministry's lower levels. The center portion of the build show the building's multi-story offices and a miniature version of its golden fountain. From the rear, features such as Umbridge's office and a Floo toilet can be seen. Finally, beneath all of this, the Hall of Prophecy lies in wait — including what looks to be the Ministry's magical Veil.
14 Minifigures are included in the set, including the aforementioned all-new Arabella Figg. Also on offer are: Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Sirius Black, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, Arthur Weasley, Mad Eye Moody, Albus Dumbledore, Lucius Malfoy, Antonin Dolohov and Professor Umbridge. Shacklebolt's Lynx Patronus is also included.
LEGO first launched its Harry Potter range in 2021, the same year that the franchise's first film arrived in theaters. Over the past 25 years, more than 200 LEGO Harry Potter sets have been launched, with the largest being the 6,020-piece microscale Hogwarts Castle set launched in 2018.
The first LEGO Harry Potter set was the small Sorting Hat build, which featured a now rather dated minifigure of Harry Potter (featuring a yellow LEGO skin tone and full length legs). Fun fact: the Harry Potter range was the first to feature mini Minifigure legs (the non-bendable bottoms that are now used commonly for shorter or child minifigs).
Price-wise, The Ministry of Magic will set you back $449.99 / £389.99 / €429.99. As of yet, no Gift With Purchase has been announced. So, what do you think?
While PUBG MOBILE is best known for being a game where up to 100 players parachute onto a map to battle in a winner-takes-all, battle royale showdown, there are whole other ways to play the game, including World of Wonder (WOW). WOW is PUBG MOBILE’s creator platform, which gives players the tools to create and publish their own maps, game modes and experiences, whether that's a competitive shooter, a puzzle challenge, a racing map or something completely original. Basically, if you can imagine it, you can create it. And you don’t need a coding background to be able to do it, thanks to accessible drag-and-drop systems that mean anyone can get creative.
… %!s()
Since WOW launched in PUBG MOBILE in March 2023, users have generated more than 5.4 million maps, with over 8.5 million peak daily players, and is now attracting collaborations with professional studios alongside players looking to utilise the tools to provide new experiences for the game’s global community: That very WOW platform is launching a new exclusive experience, introducing Brainrot Royale. Yes, we’re talking about those viral memes of eccentric creatures with pseudo-Italian rhyming names. Thanks to a collaboration with games studio Do Big Studio, which has delivered official licensing support, everyone’s favourite Steal a Brainrot characters are making their way to PUBG MOBILE. Tons of familiar faces, from Ballerina Cappuccina and Brr Brr Patapim to Boneka Ambalabu and Lirilì Larilà are coming to shake things up.
Brainrot Royale, launching today, drops players into a brand new PUBG MOBILE experience centering on a frantic race to build the biggest Brainrot collection each match. Fan favourite Brainrot pals are scattered across the map, rewarding those who can track them down and escort them safely back to base. Every successful collection upgrades weapons, unlocks even stronger Brainrot and gives access to even rarer Brainrot characters.
However, every Brainrot character brought back to base becomes another target for rival players. Players can steal rare Brainrot directly from rival players’ bases while defending their own collection from incoming raids, creating an ongoing balance between attacking, protecting and deciding when to risk everything for an even bigger reward. Every Brainrot taken down earns coins that can be reinvested into stronger weapons, creating a progression loop as players deal more damage, unlock tougher challenges and continue expanding their collection.
Beach party eggs add another layer of fun, hiding surprise rewards for players to uncover, while larger-than-life Boss encounters can send players flying in hilarious fashion before dropping valuable loot. Whether holding off a last-minute raid or pulling off the perfect steal, every match is packed with the kind of fast-paced, strategic moments that make Brainrot Royale feel unmistakably PUBG MOBILE whilst providing something authentically new.
Rick Li, Producer of PUBG MOBILE and Deputy General Manager of Quantum Studio, LightSpeed Studios, Tencent Games, noted: “Every gameplay mechanic had to feel true to the fast-moving, unpredictable nature of the original IP, while creating the kind of moments that players would want to jump back in and experience again."
"World of Wonder has become one of the most exciting ways for us to evolve PUBG MOBILE beyond traditional battle royale. Every collaboration in World of Wonder is an opportunity to give players fresh experiences while empowering creators to push the platform in entirely new directions," says Vincent Wang, Head of PUBG MOBILE Publishing at Tencent Games."Brainrot Royale reflects that vision, bringing together a globally recognised IP and our creator ecosystem to deliver something totally new for the community. Using PUBG MOBILE’s creative tools, Brainrot Royale will provide a new challenge built around tactical Brainrot collection moments, stealthy stealing and solid defence to emerge victorious. Looking ahead, WOW welcomes more top studios and talented creators to join the ecosystem and build more exciting gameplay experiences together.”
"Brainrot has always been about creating something people want to share, and turning that into a playable experience in PUBG MOBILE opened up a whole new level of creativity for us," says Justin Peress, CFO of Do Big Studios. "We're especially excited to see players shoot, steal, defend and create their own crazy Brainrot moments. Watching the community embrace the unexpected and put their own spin on the experience is what this collaboration is all about."
WOW continues to evolve, and PUBG MOBILE is committed to investing in its creator ecosystem. This collaboration with Do Big Studio is the next step in its evolution, with plenty more creator-focused adventures to come.
Brainrot Royale arrives in PUBG MOBILE World of Wonder today, bringing the original Brainrot IP into PUBG MOBILE for the first time. Download PUBG MOBILE for free on the App Store and Google Play Store, and follow the official World of Wonder social channels on Instagram and YouTube for the latest updates and creator content. You can also visit the official PUBG MOBILE social channels on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube. %!s()
