The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts will have its inaugural festival which is a four-day screen and entertainment festival. Among the participants are filmmakers from THE NEW BOY, the film leads AACTA Film Awards with 12 nominations including Best Film and Best Lead Actress in Film for Cate Blanchett.

The AACTA Industry Awards Ceremony will kick things off on Thursday February 8, followed by a day of industry events, masterclasses, and creator discussions on Friday. Saturday February 10 the AACTA Awards Ceremony will welcome all the stars on the red carpet.

AACTA Festival will provide an opportunity to go behind the scenes of your favourite films, immerse yourself in the industry’s latest trends, meet your favourite stars, network with screen practitioners, and learn more about the exciting world of Australian film, TV, gaming, music and more. Most events predominantly free to attend.

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There is also an event to Meet the Nominees: Actors of Film on the same day at 2pm AEST.

Cate Blanchett is already a confirmed presenter at the AACTA Awards Ceremony that will be held on 10 February. The ceremony will air on  Channel 10 at 7pm AEDT. A special director’s cut including all awards from the ceremony will be available at 7:30pm on Sunday 11 February on demand via Binge, Foxtel, and AACTA TV.

Focus Features Lands Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Black Bag’ With Cate Blanchett & Michael Fassbender

Focus Features has won a bidding battle for Black Bag, a package for a spy thriller film that Steven Soderbergh will direct this summer in Europe from a David Koepp script, with Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender attached to star. Casey Silver and Greg Jacobs are producing.

This is a negative pickup and the filmmakers will deliver the film in the $60 million range, all in, I’m hearing. It marks the second deal this week for Soderbergh and a Koepp-scripted project.

Source: HOTA, Deadline