The American Film Market (AFM®) has announced its list of films screening, including 71 world and 250-plus market premieres, for the upcoming edition running November 2-9 in Santa Monica. Over 300 films are scheduled to be screened with more titles to be confirmed as the market approaches.
World Premieres will include: sci-fi thriller What Happened to Monday (SND M6 Group) with Noomi Rapace, Glenn Close, and Willem Dafoe; the animated musical Charming 3D (SC Films International) with voices by Demi Lovato, Ashley Tisdale, and Avril Lavigne; Oren Uziel’s directorial debut, Shimmer Lake (The Exchange) starring Benjamin Walker, Stephanie Sigman, Wyatt Russell and Rainn Wilson; animated feature Ballerina (Gaumont) with voices by Elle Fanning and Dane DeHaan; and Swing State (VMI Worldwide) starring Taryn Manning, Billy Zane, Sean Astin, Angela Kinsey.
Films making their market debut at the AFM include: coming-of-age drama Coming Through The Rye (Bleiberg Entertainment), starring Alex Wolff and Chris Cooper; Lady MacBeth (Protagonist Pictures) starring Florence Pugh; Rod Smith’s Eat Local (GFM Films) starring Charlie Cox, Mackenzie Crook, and Dexter Fletcher; James Franco’s In Dubious Battle (AMBI Distribution); And Punching The Clown (Octane Entertainment) starring Henry Phillips, J.K. Simmons, Tig Notaro and Sarah Silverman; Lone Scherfig’s Their Finest (HanWay Films) starring Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, and Bill Nighy; fall-festival favorite, Brimstone (Embankment Films) starring Dakota Fanning, Guy Pearce, and Kit Harrington; Anne Hathaway-starrer Colossal (Voltage Pictures); The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One (XYZ Films) starring Kellan Lutz; Academy Award-nominated Fernando Trueba’s The Queen of Spain (Myriad Pictures) starring Penelope Cruz; and hand-drawn animation feature Ethel & Ernest (Little Film Company), with voices by Jim Broadbent, Brenda Blethyn and Luke Treadaway.
“Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo named Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year
Cynthia Erivo, who is starring in the hit musical "Wicked," was named Tuesday as the 2025 Woman of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
The theater group, which dates to 1844 and claims to be the world's third-oldest still operating, said Erivo will receive her Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast Feb. 5. Afterward, she will attend a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals' 176th production, "101 Damnations." Actor Jon Hamm, who came to fame starring as ad executive Don Draper on the AMC series "Mad Men," is the 2025 Man of the Year. He will receive his Pudding Pot Jan. 31.
"We are holding space for Cynthia Erivo's arrival," Man and Woman of the Year Events Coordinator Hannah Frazer said in a statement. "We're sweeping out our broomstick closets and prepping some wicked smart humor as we eagerly await her in February. Before she flies off with her Pudding Pot, she'll have to work a little magic to earn it."
Along with starirng in the smash hit musical, the British entertainer is a two-time Oscar nominee and an Emmy Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award winner.
Erivo burst onto the scene with her brilliant performance in the Broadway revival of "The Color Purple." winning her the 2016 Tony for best actress in a musical. She performed songs from the play on the "Today" show, earning the Daytime Emmy for outstanding music performance in a daytime program. And the show's soundtrack won best musical theater album at the 2017 Grammys.
Last year, Erivo starred in and produced "Drift," which follows a young Liberian refugee who has escaped her war-torn country to a Greek island. In 2021, Erivo was nominated for an Emmy for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in the National Geographic series "Genius:... Read More