Madonna Feature Doc Set At Sky; Andrew Garfield & Eva Longoria Join Red Sea Lineup; Channel 4 Salisbury Poisonings Series – Global Briefs

By Max Goldbart, Zac Ntim

November 26, 2024 4:34am

Madonna Feature Doc Set At Sky

Madonna is the latest pop icon to be spotlighted for a documentary. Sky has greenlit a feature on the American singer from At Home with the Furys producer Optomen, which will “chart Madonna’s rise to become the biggest female pop icon in history,” it said. With rare footage, unseen photos and intimate interviews with family, friends and collaborators – some of whom have never spoken in a documentary before – Becoming Madonna will show a new side to the singer, starting with her as a professional dancer in the late 70s and ending in 1992 as she transformed through the decades. Hayley Reynolds, Sky’s Acting Director of Documentaries and Factual, said: “Since her debut in the 80s, Madonna has been a powerhouse in pop music and carved the way for many of today’s most popular artists. This film brings a fresh perspective on an enduring icon and we’re thrilled to be working alongside Optomen to bring her story to Sky audiences.” A wealth of other singers and bands have been charted by premium doc crews of late including Robbie Williams, Take That and Boyzone.

Andrew Garfield & Eva Longoria Set For Red Sea Talks

Andrew Garfield and Eva Longoria are among the names set for onstage Q&As at this year’s Red Sea Film Festival. The full list of speakers includes Egyptian actor Mona Zaki, Viola Davis, Michael Mann, Egyptian writer and director Mohamed Samy, Turkish stars Engin Altan Düzyatan and Nurgül Yeşilçay as well as Indian cinema megastars Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan veteran New York filmmaker Spike Lee. Lee will also serve as the competition jury head at Red Sea. This year’s Red Sea Film Festival runs from December 5 to 14.

Channel 4 To Tell Story Of Salisbury Poisonings

Channel 4 has commissioned a landmark series on the 2018 Salisbury poisonings that shocked the world. The Novichok poisonings took place in the picturesque British cathedral city, killing Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter Yulia Skripal. In response, Western nations expelled more than 100 Russian spies, the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history. Shockingly, four months after the attempted assassination, Dawn Sturgess – an innocent British mother of three – died from Novichok poisoning after her partner found a perfume bottle and gifted it to her, not knowing that it contained the deadly nerve agent. Channel 4’s doc from Evacuation producer Wonderhood Studios will gain unprecedented access to those on the frontline, with footage, personal stories and new testimonies from people who suddenly became embroiled in the event. It follows The Salisbury Poisonings, a 2020 BBC factual drama about the tragedy starring Anne-Marie Duff and Rafe Spall. The Channel 4 series was developed by Tom Garton, Louise Kentleton, Henry Longden and Kate Quine.