HBO recently landed a surprise smash in “Chernobyl,” which that used recent history to deliver a potent, tart message. The Israeli project “Our Boys,” another limited series from the cabler which premiered Monday night, is less immediately accessible, but has similar goals: To dig into a story in recent memory and to find within it both drama and a thesis statement.
This story centers on the 2014 disappearance of Mohammed, a young Palestinian (Ram Masarweh), who goes missing shortly after three Israeli Jewish boys are kidnapped and killed. The case smacks of vengeance and comes to be revealed as a story not just of kidnapping or murder but of horrific abuse. It brings the prejudices of all parties it touches into the light, too, as when an Israeli cop declares, “I know Israeli racism, but Jews don’t do something like this.” It seems impossible to the nation’s ruling class...
This story centers on the 2014 disappearance of Mohammed, a young Palestinian (Ram Masarweh), who goes missing shortly after three Israeli Jewish boys are kidnapped and killed. The case smacks of vengeance and comes to be revealed as a story not just of kidnapping or murder but of horrific abuse. It brings the prejudices of all parties it touches into the light, too, as when an Israeli cop declares, “I know Israeli racism, but Jews don’t do something like this.” It seems impossible to the nation’s ruling class...
- 8/13/2019
- by Daniel D'Addario
- Variety Film + TV
Nikohl Boosheri, Sam Abbas Star In ‘The Wedding’; Lance Lim, Elizabeth Sung Topline ‘Crossing’ Indie
Nikohl Boosheri, who currently appears in Freeform’s new series The Bold Type, will star in The Wedding, along with Sam Abbas, who wrote and is directing the film, in his feature debut. The indie follows Rami (Abbas), an individual who goes against the taboos within Muslim culture to explore his own sexuality. James Penfold (North of South, West of East), Harry Aspinwall (Turn: Washington’s Spies), and Ruba Blal (Elite Zexer’s Sand Storm) round out the cast. Casey…...
- 8/25/2017
- Deadline
Written and directed by Elite Zexner, “Sand Storm” is a revealing look at wedding festivities as they get underway in a Bedouin village in Southern Israel.
The Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winner follows Jalila (Ruba Blal), a woman who finds herself in the uncomfortable position of hosting her husband Suliman’s (Hitham Omari ) marriage to a second, much younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila finds out that her eldest daughter Layla (Lamis Ammar ) is involved with a boy from her university – a strictly forbidden liaison that would shame the family. Trying to separate them, Jalila tries to contain Layla’s situation by clamping down on her, though Layla has different plans for her life.
“About eight years ago, I escorted an 18-year-old to her arranged marriage ceremony to a man she had never met and she told me had a boyfriend in college,” Zexer told IndieWire back...
The Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winner follows Jalila (Ruba Blal), a woman who finds herself in the uncomfortable position of hosting her husband Suliman’s (Hitham Omari ) marriage to a second, much younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila finds out that her eldest daughter Layla (Lamis Ammar ) is involved with a boy from her university – a strictly forbidden liaison that would shame the family. Trying to separate them, Jalila tries to contain Layla’s situation by clamping down on her, though Layla has different plans for her life.
“About eight years ago, I escorted an 18-year-old to her arranged marriage ceremony to a man she had never met and she told me had a boyfriend in college,” Zexer told IndieWire back...
- 12/9/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
“Sand Storm” is the first feature film from Israeli director Elite Zexer. After an impressive performance in major film festivals this year, it was chosen as the Israeli submission for a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, and now it’s coming right into your living room.
Read More: Israeli Drama ‘Sand Storm’ Is An Insightful Directorial Debut for Elite Zexer [Tiff Review]
A family drama set in a Bedouin village in Southern Israel, the “Sand Storm” trailer opens by showing the marriage of Jalila’s (Ruba Blal) husband to a second wife.
Continue reading A Mother And Daughter Reject Tradition In New Trailer For ‘Sand Storm’ at The Playlist.
Read More: Israeli Drama ‘Sand Storm’ Is An Insightful Directorial Debut for Elite Zexer [Tiff Review]
A family drama set in a Bedouin village in Southern Israel, the “Sand Storm” trailer opens by showing the marriage of Jalila’s (Ruba Blal) husband to a second wife.
Continue reading A Mother And Daughter Reject Tradition In New Trailer For ‘Sand Storm’ at The Playlist.
- 12/9/2016
- by Stephanie Ashe
- The Playlist
Sand Storm (Sufat Chol) Kino Lorber Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya Grade: B Director: Elite Zexer Written by: Elite Zexer Cast: Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal, Hitham Omari, Khadija Al Akel Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 9/25/16 Opens: September 28, 2016 If you hate traffic jams, you might envy the Bedouin people who live in Israel’s Negev desert. But after you see Elite Zexer’s “Sand Storm,” you will realize that aside from never worrying about a parking space, your life will be otherwise not so good. In fact if you’re of the female persuasion, you’ll wonder why all the well-off women in the West continue pushing for their rights while the [ Read More ]
The post Sand Storm Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Sand Storm Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 10/2/2016
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
“Sand Storm” director Elite Zexer and actress Lamis Ammar spoke with me about the Lives of Bedouin Women in Israel this year in Sundance.Sand Storm’s Lamis Ammar
Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winner, “Sand Storm” was written and directed by Elite Zexer. She and Lamis Ammar, the actress playing the oldest daughter in a family of girls who is an independent college educated woman, and I spoke at Sundance about the experience of making their first film together.
Taking place in a Bedouin village in Israel, the film opens as Layla is driving a car with her father to their home in the desert. She reveals her grades are not as high as her father wants as he teaches her how to drive. They arrive home as wedding festivities are being prepared by Layla’s mother Jalila who must host her husband Suliman’s marriage to a second, much younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila discovers that her eldest daughter Layla has a boyfriend at her university — a strictly forbidden liaison that would shame the family.
Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winner, “Sand Storm” was written and directed by Elite Zexer. She and Lamis Ammar, the actress playing the oldest daughter in a family of girls who is an independent college educated woman, and I spoke at Sundance about the experience of making their first film together.
Taking place in a Bedouin village in Israel, the film opens as Layla is driving a car with her father to their home in the desert. She reveals her grades are not as high as her father wants as he teaches her how to drive. They arrive home as wedding festivities are being prepared by Layla’s mother Jalila who must host her husband Suliman’s marriage to a second, much younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila discovers that her eldest daughter Layla has a boyfriend at her university — a strictly forbidden liaison that would shame the family.
- 9/28/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
"Did you ever look at your daughter?" Kino Lorber has debuted the official Us trailer for the indie drama Sand Storm, and Israeli film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It's a drama set in Bedouin village in Southern Israel about a mother and daughter struggling to find their own way and break the rules of the society they live in. The film stars Ruba Blal-Asfour as Jalila, along with Lamis Ammar, Haitham Omari, and Khadija Al Akel. This won the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic competition at Sundance this year. Our friend Tomris Laffly said the film knocked her socks off, adding that it's "a slow-burning and suspenseful emotional drama." This trailer hints at an outstanding film. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Elite Zexer's Sand Storm, direct from YouTube: As Jalila (Ruba Blal), a 42-year-old Bedouin woman, finds...
- 8/24/2016
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Kino Lorber has snagged North American rights to Sand Storm, the Israeli drama that won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize – Dramatic prize at Sundance in January. First-time feature writer-director Elite Zexer’s film will open September 28 at New York's Film Forum and expand during the fall. The story centers on Jalila (Ruba Blal), a 42-year-old Bedouin woman pretending to be happy as she hosts her husband’s second marriage to a bride who is 20 years his junior…...
- 6/23/2016
- Deadline
The distributor has picked up North American rights from Beta Cinema to Israeli film-maker Elite Zexer’s directorial debut and Sundance selection.
Sand Storm tells of a fiercely independent Bedouin girl whose headstrong nature forces her to confront life-changing decisions within her intimate community. Lammis Ammar and Ruba Blal star.
The film earned top awards at the work-in-progress sections at the Jerusalem and Locarno film festivals and received its North American premiere earlier this year in Park City where it won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic award.
It also played in the Berlinale’s Panorama section and recently won the New Directors competition at the Seattle International Film Festival.
Sand Storm will play at New York’s Film Forum on September 28 prior to expanding into key markets this autumn.
Haim Mecklberg and Estee Yacov-Mecklberg produced, while Rami Yehoshua, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery and Yigal Mograbi served as executive producers.
Kino Lorber’s CEO Richard Lorber...
Sand Storm tells of a fiercely independent Bedouin girl whose headstrong nature forces her to confront life-changing decisions within her intimate community. Lammis Ammar and Ruba Blal star.
The film earned top awards at the work-in-progress sections at the Jerusalem and Locarno film festivals and received its North American premiere earlier this year in Park City where it won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic award.
It also played in the Berlinale’s Panorama section and recently won the New Directors competition at the Seattle International Film Festival.
Sand Storm will play at New York’s Film Forum on September 28 prior to expanding into key markets this autumn.
Haim Mecklberg and Estee Yacov-Mecklberg produced, while Rami Yehoshua, Moshe Edery, Leon Edery and Yigal Mograbi served as executive producers.
Kino Lorber’s CEO Richard Lorber...
- 6/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Winner, “Sand Storm” was written and directed by Elite Zexer. She and Lamis Ammar, the actress playing the oldest daughter in a family of girls who is an independent college educated woman, and I spoke at Sundance about the experience of making their first film together.
Taking place in a Bedouin village in Israel, the film opens as Layla is driving a car with her father to their home in the desert. She reveals her grades are not as high as her father wants as he teaches her how to drive. They arrive home as wedding festivities are being prepared by Layla’s mother Jalila who must host her husband Suliman’s marriage to a second, much younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila discovers that her eldest daughter Layla has a boyfriend at her university—a strictly forbidden liaison that would shame the family. As she tries to contain Layla’s situation by clamping down on her, her daughter, possessed of a boundless spirit, sees a different life for herself thereby causing chaos and strife within the family.
Sydney Levine: How did you come up with this story?
Elite Zexer: My mother is a photographer and shot Bedouin villages for several years and brought me along with her. We also became very good friends with some of the Bedouins, visiting each other at our homes. About eight years ago, I escorted an 18-year-old to her arranged marriage ceremony to a man she had never met and she told me had a boyfriend in college. She said, “For my daughter, it will be different.”
When I made a short about a different culture (Bedouin) I liked the process and the Bedouins asked me when I would make another film.
What film background do you have?
Elite Zexer: I have two degrees in film. I graduated from Tel Aviv University with a Bfa in film and an Mfa in film directing. I made a short “Take Note” which won the Best Fiction Film Award at the Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, and “Tasnin” which went to over 120 film festivals around the world and won several international awards. I also directed the documentary “Fire Department Bnei Brak” before I directed “Sand Storm”, my first feature.
How did you put this film together?
Elite Zexer: Four years ago I wrote a script trying to write from the Bedouin point of view as much as possible, of course knowing my own pov would also be there. I applied to the two public film funds in Israel and to two private funds. It happened so quickly that only one year ago, in January 2015 I was already in pre-production. The rough cut was done by August. We went to First Look at Locarno and we won the prize. John Nein from Sundance was a juror there, and so we have now come to Sundance.
It all felt like it was blessed from the sky. Everything fell into place all the time. It was always just right. Even when we ran out of time and had only 5 minutes to shoot the last scene, that turned out to be the best and strongest scene in the film.
We thought, “It just has to work!” and it did!
And how about you, Lamis?
Lamis Ammar: This was my first feature. I studied theater in Haifa and I like cinema. This is the most interesting and challenging role I have played. I met the woman and seeing the finished film on the screen confirmed in a real and truthful way what my heart told me when I met her.
What do you think about the film?
I just saw it yesterday for the first time and I must see it again to understand all the details.
I knew before about the Bedouin in the south, but I am a Palestinian from Haifa so while there are some similarities, there are also many differences. It was a big process just to learn the accent even though we share a language.
Every time I see the Bedouin and learn more about them, I feel I want to be a part of them and to help in any way I can. This strong young teenage university student is different from the others in her community. Her father treats her as a liberated Bedouin but, for a female, the situation is very complicated.
As the writer of this interview, I want to point out certain background issues which, though they seem to have no direct connection to the story, are key to how the politics and policies of the Israeli government have created a marginal society for the Bedouins in spite of all the past support the Bedouins have given to the state of Israel. It is easy to say “just look at the culture” as if it bore no relation to the larger societal and political realities.
In my experience speaking with people from Israel/ Palestine I find the Bedouin and Palestinian stories to be international. Even as far away as Cuba, Cubans refer to people from the east of their island as “Palestinians” because of their outsider status in Havana.
The fact that Layla is a student in the university is very unusual in the Palestinian Bedouin society. It’s not acceptable -- not because the men don’t allow it, but because the Bedouin themselves refuse to be part of the Israeli society. They often do not know Hebrew, the official language of Israel. This reminds me of U.S. Native Americans whose languages have never been recognized officially by our government. Many Navajo (I don’t know about other tribes) do not speak English and their marginalization is astounding to anyone who visits the “reservations”; it is truly visiting another nation as far removed from the U.S.A. as the Bedouin are from the U.S.A.
To attend an Israeli University, everyone must speak and study in Hebrew. The Israeli occupation of the Bedouin ancestral lands influences everyone’s social knowledge and lifestyle. The Bedouin used to live freely in their own land until they were forced to leave for other places or to the city. Some Bedouin stay put, but the act of staying makes them more conservative than previously.
Some of their villages are unrecognized by the Israeli authorities and are under permanent threat of being demolished in order to create new Israeli settlements. Bedouin teenagers have been shot by the Israel police forces and there have been no trials for the police action. This is a story that we in the U.S. have been hearing daily about our own citizens who happen to be African-American. We also hear about it in France with their North African-French youth. We call it police brutality but although the Palestinian Bedouins demonstrate daily, but no one hears them.
This film takes one by surprise. The mother’s controlled passion and impatience seethe through her. You can see it in the set of her mouth and in the way she moves. Her daughters share her passion for life and one feels the pain of their predicament. Their incredible strength sustains them and a glimmering light of hope shines through the storm.
The situation described above is the underlying and unspoken theme of the movie. It seeps through everything, one's clothing and household and in the very grittiness of one's teeth, like sand in a sand storm.
Director/Writer Elite Zexer
Cast member Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal-Asfour, Haitham Omari, Khadija Alakel, Jalal Masarwa
Producers Haim Mecklberg, Estee Yacov-Mecklberg
Director of Photography Shai Peleg
Editor Ronit Porat
Total Running Time: 87 Minutes
International Sales: Beta Cinema...
Taking place in a Bedouin village in Israel, the film opens as Layla is driving a car with her father to their home in the desert. She reveals her grades are not as high as her father wants as he teaches her how to drive. They arrive home as wedding festivities are being prepared by Layla’s mother Jalila who must host her husband Suliman’s marriage to a second, much younger wife. During the celebration, Jalila discovers that her eldest daughter Layla has a boyfriend at her university—a strictly forbidden liaison that would shame the family. As she tries to contain Layla’s situation by clamping down on her, her daughter, possessed of a boundless spirit, sees a different life for herself thereby causing chaos and strife within the family.
Sydney Levine: How did you come up with this story?
Elite Zexer: My mother is a photographer and shot Bedouin villages for several years and brought me along with her. We also became very good friends with some of the Bedouins, visiting each other at our homes. About eight years ago, I escorted an 18-year-old to her arranged marriage ceremony to a man she had never met and she told me had a boyfriend in college. She said, “For my daughter, it will be different.”
When I made a short about a different culture (Bedouin) I liked the process and the Bedouins asked me when I would make another film.
What film background do you have?
Elite Zexer: I have two degrees in film. I graduated from Tel Aviv University with a Bfa in film and an Mfa in film directing. I made a short “Take Note” which won the Best Fiction Film Award at the Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival, and “Tasnin” which went to over 120 film festivals around the world and won several international awards. I also directed the documentary “Fire Department Bnei Brak” before I directed “Sand Storm”, my first feature.
How did you put this film together?
Elite Zexer: Four years ago I wrote a script trying to write from the Bedouin point of view as much as possible, of course knowing my own pov would also be there. I applied to the two public film funds in Israel and to two private funds. It happened so quickly that only one year ago, in January 2015 I was already in pre-production. The rough cut was done by August. We went to First Look at Locarno and we won the prize. John Nein from Sundance was a juror there, and so we have now come to Sundance.
It all felt like it was blessed from the sky. Everything fell into place all the time. It was always just right. Even when we ran out of time and had only 5 minutes to shoot the last scene, that turned out to be the best and strongest scene in the film.
We thought, “It just has to work!” and it did!
And how about you, Lamis?
Lamis Ammar: This was my first feature. I studied theater in Haifa and I like cinema. This is the most interesting and challenging role I have played. I met the woman and seeing the finished film on the screen confirmed in a real and truthful way what my heart told me when I met her.
What do you think about the film?
I just saw it yesterday for the first time and I must see it again to understand all the details.
I knew before about the Bedouin in the south, but I am a Palestinian from Haifa so while there are some similarities, there are also many differences. It was a big process just to learn the accent even though we share a language.
Every time I see the Bedouin and learn more about them, I feel I want to be a part of them and to help in any way I can. This strong young teenage university student is different from the others in her community. Her father treats her as a liberated Bedouin but, for a female, the situation is very complicated.
As the writer of this interview, I want to point out certain background issues which, though they seem to have no direct connection to the story, are key to how the politics and policies of the Israeli government have created a marginal society for the Bedouins in spite of all the past support the Bedouins have given to the state of Israel. It is easy to say “just look at the culture” as if it bore no relation to the larger societal and political realities.
In my experience speaking with people from Israel/ Palestine I find the Bedouin and Palestinian stories to be international. Even as far away as Cuba, Cubans refer to people from the east of their island as “Palestinians” because of their outsider status in Havana.
The fact that Layla is a student in the university is very unusual in the Palestinian Bedouin society. It’s not acceptable -- not because the men don’t allow it, but because the Bedouin themselves refuse to be part of the Israeli society. They often do not know Hebrew, the official language of Israel. This reminds me of U.S. Native Americans whose languages have never been recognized officially by our government. Many Navajo (I don’t know about other tribes) do not speak English and their marginalization is astounding to anyone who visits the “reservations”; it is truly visiting another nation as far removed from the U.S.A. as the Bedouin are from the U.S.A.
To attend an Israeli University, everyone must speak and study in Hebrew. The Israeli occupation of the Bedouin ancestral lands influences everyone’s social knowledge and lifestyle. The Bedouin used to live freely in their own land until they were forced to leave for other places or to the city. Some Bedouin stay put, but the act of staying makes them more conservative than previously.
Some of their villages are unrecognized by the Israeli authorities and are under permanent threat of being demolished in order to create new Israeli settlements. Bedouin teenagers have been shot by the Israel police forces and there have been no trials for the police action. This is a story that we in the U.S. have been hearing daily about our own citizens who happen to be African-American. We also hear about it in France with their North African-French youth. We call it police brutality but although the Palestinian Bedouins demonstrate daily, but no one hears them.
This film takes one by surprise. The mother’s controlled passion and impatience seethe through her. You can see it in the set of her mouth and in the way she moves. Her daughters share her passion for life and one feels the pain of their predicament. Their incredible strength sustains them and a glimmering light of hope shines through the storm.
The situation described above is the underlying and unspoken theme of the movie. It seeps through everything, one's clothing and household and in the very grittiness of one's teeth, like sand in a sand storm.
Director/Writer Elite Zexer
Cast member Lamis Ammar, Ruba Blal-Asfour, Haitham Omari, Khadija Alakel, Jalal Masarwa
Producers Haim Mecklberg, Estee Yacov-Mecklberg
Director of Photography Shai Peleg
Editor Ronit Porat
Total Running Time: 87 Minutes
International Sales: Beta Cinema...
- 2/2/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Read More: The 2016 Indiewire Sundance Bible: All the Reviews, Interviews and News Posted During The Festival "Do you ever do anything because you want to?" That question, asked by the college-aged Bedouin woman Layla (Lamis Ammar) in Israeli director's Elite Zexer's quietly observant debut, speaks to the movie's underlying drama. The stripped-down drama, set almost entirely within the constraints of the traditionalist village where Layla grew up, pits her individualism against the rituals that keep her there. A resolutely small work focused on Layla's attempts to avoid a pre-arranged marriage, "Sand Storm" offers a unique window into an arena of limited possibilities. At the core of the movie is a unique conflict. Layla's father, Suliman (Hitham Omari), drifts in and out of her home, exchanging pleasantries and maintaining a relationship with Layla's mother, Jalila (Ruba Blal), even as he prepares to wed his second wife. At that celebration, Jalila discovers.
- 1/26/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The Member of the Wedding: Zexer’s Debut Churns Empathy from Obscene Custom
We’ve seen an increasing tide of feminist perspective narratives detailing the despicable social sleights faced by women in various (usually Middle Eastern) cultures, many of these focusing on a particularly awkward situation where tradition allows men to take a second wife while his first is still alive and well. Such is the starting point for Sand Storm, the impressive debut from Israeli filmmaker Elite Zexer. But audiences thinking they’re already familiar with how these pained scenarios tend to unfold will be pleasantly surprised when they realize Zexer has something a bit more complex and unpredictable in store. What begins as a tale concerning a powerless woman begrudgingly accepting her fate becomes a moving portrait of a mother commending better possibilities for the future of her daughter, creating a glimmer of hope in an endless denial of agency.
We’ve seen an increasing tide of feminist perspective narratives detailing the despicable social sleights faced by women in various (usually Middle Eastern) cultures, many of these focusing on a particularly awkward situation where tradition allows men to take a second wife while his first is still alive and well. Such is the starting point for Sand Storm, the impressive debut from Israeli filmmaker Elite Zexer. But audiences thinking they’re already familiar with how these pained scenarios tend to unfold will be pleasantly surprised when they realize Zexer has something a bit more complex and unpredictable in store. What begins as a tale concerning a powerless woman begrudgingly accepting her fate becomes a moving portrait of a mother commending better possibilities for the future of her daughter, creating a glimmer of hope in an endless denial of agency.
- 1/26/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Six series from Denmark, Britain, Israel, Australia and the Us populate the line-up.
The six titles that will be shown in the 2016 Berlinale Special Series, the television offshoot of the Berlin Film Festival’s (Feb 11-21) Specials programme, have been revealed.
Amongst the line-up is Susanne Bier’s adaptation of John Le Carre’s spy thriller The Night Manager [pictured], which stars Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Debicki and Tom Hollander and will be broadcast by the BBC in the UK and AMC in the USA.
Sj Clarkson’s Love, Nina, which has a script from Nick Hornby, is also on the list. The comedic miniseries stars Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Watkins, Joshua McGuire and 2015 Screen Star of Tomorrow Faye Marsay. The BBC will broadcast the series in the UK.
Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul will have the international premiere of its second series at the festival.
Berlinale Special Series 2016:
Better Call Saul – Season...
The six titles that will be shown in the 2016 Berlinale Special Series, the television offshoot of the Berlin Film Festival’s (Feb 11-21) Specials programme, have been revealed.
Amongst the line-up is Susanne Bier’s adaptation of John Le Carre’s spy thriller The Night Manager [pictured], which stars Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Debicki and Tom Hollander and will be broadcast by the BBC in the UK and AMC in the USA.
Sj Clarkson’s Love, Nina, which has a script from Nick Hornby, is also on the list. The comedic miniseries stars Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Watkins, Joshua McGuire and 2015 Screen Star of Tomorrow Faye Marsay. The BBC will broadcast the series in the UK.
Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul will have the international premiere of its second series at the festival.
Berlinale Special Series 2016:
Better Call Saul – Season...
- 1/22/2016
- ScreenDaily
Scattered across the Negev desert of southern Israel are dozens of small Bedouin settlements. Unrecognized by the state, these towns lack electrical, water, or sanitation services. It’s against this milieu that young Layla (Lamis Ammar) frequently stands, her sense of adolescent uncertainty acutely literalized by the endless rocky expanses and rickety contraptions made of discards. She sees a more invigorating life, one not shackled to tradition, in her secret boyfriend, Anwar (Jalal Masrwa). However, Layla’s mother, Jalila (Ruba Blal), uncovers this relationship and moves to tamp down on every smidgen of rebelliousness.
Despite that descriptor, Sand Storm does not follow the standard tropes of the “restless youth in a repressive culture” story. This movie explores both mother and daughter’s perspective fully, and it doesn’t box either into the role of unbending matriarch or plucky protagonist. Jalila tries to head off Layla’s romance not just out...
Despite that descriptor, Sand Storm does not follow the standard tropes of the “restless youth in a repressive culture” story. This movie explores both mother and daughter’s perspective fully, and it doesn’t box either into the role of unbending matriarch or plucky protagonist. Jalila tries to head off Layla’s romance not just out...
- 1/22/2016
- by Daniel Schindel
- The Film Stage
As if new films from the Coens and Jeff Nichols weren’t enough, the 2016 Berlin Film Festival has further expanded their line-up, adding some of our most-anticipated films of the year. Mia Hansen-Løve, following up her incredible, sadly overlooked drama Eden, will premiere the Isabelle Huppert-led Things to Come, while Thomas Vinterberg, Lav Diaz, André Téchiné, and many more will stop by with their new features. Check out the new additions below, followed by some previously announced films, notably John Michael McDonagh‘s War on Everyone.
Competition
Cartas da guerra (Letters from War)
Portugal
By Ivo M. Ferreira (Na Escama do Dragão)
With Miguel Nunes, Margarida Vila-Nova
World premiere
Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad! (A Dragon Arrives!)
Iran
By Mani Haghighi (Modest Reception, Men at Work)
With Amir Jadidi, Homayoun Ghanizadeh, Ehsan Goudarzi, Kiana Tajammol
International premiere
Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) – documentary
Italy / France
By Gianfranco Rosi (Sacro Gra, El Sicario...
Competition
Cartas da guerra (Letters from War)
Portugal
By Ivo M. Ferreira (Na Escama do Dragão)
With Miguel Nunes, Margarida Vila-Nova
World premiere
Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad! (A Dragon Arrives!)
Iran
By Mani Haghighi (Modest Reception, Men at Work)
With Amir Jadidi, Homayoun Ghanizadeh, Ehsan Goudarzi, Kiana Tajammol
International premiere
Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) – documentary
Italy / France
By Gianfranco Rosi (Sacro Gra, El Sicario...
- 1/11/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Kate Plays ChristineThe lineup for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, taking place between January 21 -31, has been announced.U.S. Dramatic COMPETITIONAs You Are (Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, USA): As You Are is the telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the course of their friendship through a construction of disparate memories prompted by a police investigation. Cast: Owen Campbell, Charlie Heaton, Amandla Stenberg, John Scurti, Scott Cohen, Mary Stuart Masterson. World Premiere The Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker, USA): Set against the antebellum South, this story follows Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner, accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. After witnessing countless atrocities against fellow slaves, Nat devises a plan to lead his people to freedom. Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Mark Boone Jr. World PremiereChristine (Antonio Campos,...
- 12/7/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
The Sundance Film institute has released the line-up of film for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Going to Sundance is one of my favorite events of the year. I love going because you never know what kind of movies you're going to see. Sometimes they are great films that amaze and entertain, other times they completely suck ass, but that's all part of the fun of going to the festival. It's an awesome experience for any hardcore movie geek, and if you ever get a chance to go, you need to.
The event takes place in Park City, Utah next year from January 21st to the 31st. It looks like there's a great line-up of movies at next year's event. My favorite portion of the event is the Midnight section because it deals more with geeky genre type movies, but I also enjoy the various sections of other line-ups.
Some of...
The event takes place in Park City, Utah next year from January 21st to the 31st. It looks like there's a great line-up of movies at next year's event. My favorite portion of the event is the Midnight section because it deals more with geeky genre type movies, but I also enjoy the various sections of other line-ups.
Some of...
- 12/6/2015
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
In last year’s section which included Ariel Kleiman’s Partisan and Anne Sewitsky’s Homesick, it was John Maclean’s debut Slow West claimed the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, Alanté Kavaïté’s The Summer of Sangailé landed the Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic, Umrika was the audience’s won the Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic. In this year’s dozen offerings we have names we normally associate with Cannes in The Misfortunates‘ Felix van Groeningen (Belgica), The Other Side of Sleep‘s Rebecca Daly (Mammal – see pic above) and A Stray Girlfriend‘s Ana Katz (Mi Amiga del Parque). Here are the selections.
Belgica / Belgium, France, Netherlands (Director: Felix van Groeningen, Screenwriters: Felix van Groeningen, Arne Sierens) — In the midst of Belgium’s nightlife scene, two brothers start a bar and get swept up in its success.Cast: Stef Aerts, Tom Vermeir, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Hélène De Vos. World Premiere.
Belgica / Belgium, France, Netherlands (Director: Felix van Groeningen, Screenwriters: Felix van Groeningen, Arne Sierens) — In the midst of Belgium’s nightlife scene, two brothers start a bar and get swept up in its success.Cast: Stef Aerts, Tom Vermeir, Charlotte Vandermeersch, Hélène De Vos. World Premiere.
- 12/2/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Titles include Tallulah starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney, and Chad Hartigan’s Morris From America (pictured); Next strand also announced.Scroll down for full list
Sundance Institute has announced the 65 films selected for the Us Competition, World Competition and out-of-competition Next categories set to screen at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival (Jan 21-31) in Park City.
Us Dramatic Competition selections include Sian Heder’s Tallulah with Ellen Page and Allison Janney; Antonio Campos’ Christine; Clea DuVall’s feature directorial debut The Intervention; and Richard Tanne’s Southside With You, about Barack Obama’s first date with the First Lady.
Among the Us Documentary Competition selections are: Holy Hell by undisclosed; Jeff Feuerzeig’s Author: The Jt LeRoy Story; and Sara Jordenö’s Kiki.
The World Cinema Dramatic Competition entries include: Belgica (Belgium-France-Netherlands), Felix van Groeningen’s follow-up to The Broken Circle Breakdown; Manolo Cruz and Carlos del Castillo’s Between Sea And Land (Colombia); and Nicolette Krebitz’s Wild...
Sundance Institute has announced the 65 films selected for the Us Competition, World Competition and out-of-competition Next categories set to screen at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival (Jan 21-31) in Park City.
Us Dramatic Competition selections include Sian Heder’s Tallulah with Ellen Page and Allison Janney; Antonio Campos’ Christine; Clea DuVall’s feature directorial debut The Intervention; and Richard Tanne’s Southside With You, about Barack Obama’s first date with the First Lady.
Among the Us Documentary Competition selections are: Holy Hell by undisclosed; Jeff Feuerzeig’s Author: The Jt LeRoy Story; and Sara Jordenö’s Kiki.
The World Cinema Dramatic Competition entries include: Belgica (Belgium-France-Netherlands), Felix van Groeningen’s follow-up to The Broken Circle Breakdown; Manolo Cruz and Carlos del Castillo’s Between Sea And Land (Colombia); and Nicolette Krebitz’s Wild...
- 12/2/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Annemarie Jacir has done something remarkable in her sophomore feature film. She’s managed to couch the tricky subject of the 1967 Palestinian-Israeli war into the romanticised tale of a mother’s love for her son. Having been separated from their father (presumed dead) as Israel began forcibly removing Palestinians from their homes in 1967, 11-year-old Tarek (Mahmous Asfa) and his mother Ghaydaa (an excellent Ruba Blal) have been forced to move into a refugee camp in Jordan. Jacir cleverly uses the curiosity of the child to pose impossible-to-answer questions, mainly, "When can we return home?" The mother in turn is desperate to protect her son from the horrors of war. When Tarek runs away to find his way back to Palestine, he becomes completely enthralled by a group of Arab fighters he comes across in a training camp. Jacir keeps the group nameless, even though the action takes place just three...
- 9/16/2012
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Indiewire
Seeing is Believing: Jacir Revisits Historical Period of Palestinian Refugees in Sophomore Feature
Director Annemarie Jacir’s much celebrated 2008 film, Salt of This Sea, was a hypothetical drama about a Brooklyn born Palestinian woman who travels back to the land of her origins to retrieve her recently deceased grandfather’s money. What she encounters is a ruthless history of repossession and she quickly discovers that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is alive and well, and, American or not, she falls on the side of a repressed minority. And for those who criticized Jacir’s film for her protagonist’s histrionic naïveté and markedly American reactions to her dramatic situation, her new follow-up film, When I See You provides us with a similarly constructed main character, albeit one whose immaturity is more forgivable as it’s a young male child. However, this period piece leaves behind much of the colorful flourishes of Jacir’s first feature,...
Director Annemarie Jacir’s much celebrated 2008 film, Salt of This Sea, was a hypothetical drama about a Brooklyn born Palestinian woman who travels back to the land of her origins to retrieve her recently deceased grandfather’s money. What she encounters is a ruthless history of repossession and she quickly discovers that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is alive and well, and, American or not, she falls on the side of a repressed minority. And for those who criticized Jacir’s film for her protagonist’s histrionic naïveté and markedly American reactions to her dramatic situation, her new follow-up film, When I See You provides us with a similarly constructed main character, albeit one whose immaturity is more forgivable as it’s a young male child. However, this period piece leaves behind much of the colorful flourishes of Jacir’s first feature,...
- 9/9/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Leave it to writer/director Annemarie Jacir to make an American more or less indoctrinated to side with the Israelis in the war for the Holy Land see her people’s freedom fighters (fadayee) in a sympathetic light. The first ever female Palestinian director—her debut feature Salt of the Sea was the region’s 2008 Oscar submission for Best Foreign Language Film—Jacir introduces us to the Harir Refugee Camp of 1967 Jordan through the eyes of an innocent. Young Tarek (Mahmoud Asfa) knows nothing about the fight raging or the deaths mounting, to him his displacement was a choice he’d like to overturn. Wanting to simply return home, find his father, and go on living with his own bathroom and kinder teacher, he will do whatever it takes to put his family back together.
لما شفتك [When I Saw You] isn’t solely about his journey home, however, as both his mother Ghaydaa...
لما شفتك [When I Saw You] isn’t solely about his journey home, however, as both his mother Ghaydaa...
- 9/7/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
The 37th Toronto International Film Festival® will roll out the red carpet for hundreds of guests from the four corners of the globe in September. Filmmakers expected to present their world premieres in Toronto include: Rian Johnson, Noah Baumbach, Deepa Mehta, Derek Cianfrance, Sion Sono, Joss Whedon, Neil Jordan, Lu Chuan, Shola Lynch, Barry Levinson, Yvan Attal, Ben Affleck, Marina Zenovich, Costa-Gavras, Laurent Cantet, Sally Potter, Dustin Hoffman, Francois Ozon, David O. Russell, David Ayer, Pelin Esmer, Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Andrew Adamson, Michael McGowan, Bahman Ghobadi, Ziad Doueiri, Alex Gibney, Stephen Chbosky, Eran Riklis, Edward Burns, Bernard Émond, Zhang Yuan, Michael Winterbottom, Mike Newell, Miwa Nishikawa, Margarethe Von Trotta, David Siegel, Scott McGehee, Gauri Shinde, Goran Paskaljevic, Baltasar Kormákur, J.A. Bayona, Rob Zombie, Peaches and Paul Andrew Williams.
Actors expected to attend include: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jackie Chan, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Bill Murray, Robert Redford,...
Actors expected to attend include: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jackie Chan, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Bill Murray, Robert Redford,...
- 8/21/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Chicago – No matter how many films he makes, Julian Schnabel may always consider himself a painter first. Watching one of his cinematic efforts is akin to being pulled headfirst into the vivid and visceral canvas of a true neo-expressionist. His work aims to engulf the viewer. It shatters the barriers between a contrived character’s existence and that of the flesh-and-blood audience.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
A clue to his approach can be found in the subtitle of his upcoming Venice exhibition, the “Architecture of Seeing.” One of the greatest achievements in cinematography over the past decade was Janusz Kaminski’s brilliant imitation of paralyzed journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby’s perception in Schnabel’s 2007 masterpiece, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” For lengthy stretches in the film, the camera peered through Bauby’s eyes, allowing the viewer to experience the disorientation, isolation and frustration of his locked-in syndrome first-hand. It may sound depressing, but the film is utterly exhilarating.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
A clue to his approach can be found in the subtitle of his upcoming Venice exhibition, the “Architecture of Seeing.” One of the greatest achievements in cinematography over the past decade was Janusz Kaminski’s brilliant imitation of paralyzed journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby’s perception in Schnabel’s 2007 masterpiece, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” For lengthy stretches in the film, the camera peered through Bauby’s eyes, allowing the viewer to experience the disorientation, isolation and frustration of his locked-in syndrome first-hand. It may sound depressing, but the film is utterly exhilarating.
- 4/15/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – Julian Schnabel’s controversial new drama, “Miral,” tells a tale both sprawling and intimate. On one level, the film is about the titular Palestinian girl (Freida Pinto), and her coming of age during the Arab-Israeli war. On another level, the film is about a movement for peace, and the several generations of women whose acts of independence eventually set it into motion.
Acclaimed journalist and first-time screenwriter Rula Jebreal adapted her semi-autobiographical book for the big screen, while Schnabel utilized his immersive stylistic techniques to visualize the psyche of his protagonist. Each character in the film is viewed through Miral’s perspective: Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass), founder of the Dar Al-Tifel Institute, an orphanage and school for Palestinian children that Miral joins in 1978; Nadia (Yasmine Al Massri), Miral’s abused and self-destructive mother; Fatima (Ruba Blal), the woman Nadia befriends in prison; Jamal (Alexander Siddig), Miral’s devoted father...
Acclaimed journalist and first-time screenwriter Rula Jebreal adapted her semi-autobiographical book for the big screen, while Schnabel utilized his immersive stylistic techniques to visualize the psyche of his protagonist. Each character in the film is viewed through Miral’s perspective: Hind Husseini (Hiam Abbass), founder of the Dar Al-Tifel Institute, an orphanage and school for Palestinian children that Miral joins in 1978; Nadia (Yasmine Al Massri), Miral’s abused and self-destructive mother; Fatima (Ruba Blal), the woman Nadia befriends in prison; Jamal (Alexander Siddig), Miral’s devoted father...
- 4/14/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Reviewed by Jay Antani
(March 2011)
Directed by: Julian Schnabel
Written by: Rula Jebreal
Starring: Hiam Abbass, Freida Pinto, Yasmine Al Massri, Ruba Blal, Alexander Siddig, Omar Metwally, Stella Schnabel, Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave
Misinterpretations of “Miral” as a haphazard biography or didactic political plea are bound to keep Julian Schnabel’s latest film from reaching full and fair appreciation. This gentle, heartfelt story is not so much about Israel’s turbulent political history since its birth in 1948, and it’s not about the subsequent Palestinian struggle for freedom, though both of these form the film’s basis. And, though it follows the interconnected lives of four Palestinian women over four decades, it’s not really a nuanced portrait of any of them either. Rather, Schnabel has made a poem on film — and here is an artist adept at them — dedicated to simple, pure ideas. For ultimately “Miral” is about love,...
(March 2011)
Directed by: Julian Schnabel
Written by: Rula Jebreal
Starring: Hiam Abbass, Freida Pinto, Yasmine Al Massri, Ruba Blal, Alexander Siddig, Omar Metwally, Stella Schnabel, Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave
Misinterpretations of “Miral” as a haphazard biography or didactic political plea are bound to keep Julian Schnabel’s latest film from reaching full and fair appreciation. This gentle, heartfelt story is not so much about Israel’s turbulent political history since its birth in 1948, and it’s not about the subsequent Palestinian struggle for freedom, though both of these form the film’s basis. And, though it follows the interconnected lives of four Palestinian women over four decades, it’s not really a nuanced portrait of any of them either. Rather, Schnabel has made a poem on film — and here is an artist adept at them — dedicated to simple, pure ideas. For ultimately “Miral” is about love,...
- 3/25/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Jay Antani
(March 2011)
Directed by: Julian Schnabel
Written by: Rula Jebreal
Starring: Hiam Abbass, Freida Pinto, Yasmine Al Massri, Ruba Blal, Alexander Siddig, Omar Metwally, Stella Schnabel, Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave
Misinterpretations of “Miral” as a haphazard biography or didactic political plea are bound to keep Julian Schnabel’s latest film from reaching full and fair appreciation. This gentle, heartfelt story is not so much about Israel’s turbulent political history since its birth in 1948, and it’s not about the subsequent Palestinian struggle for freedom, though both of these form the film’s basis. And, though it follows the interconnected lives of four Palestinian women over four decades, it’s not really a nuanced portrait of any of them either. Rather, Schnabel has made a poem on film — and here is an artist adept at them — dedicated to simple, pure ideas. For ultimately “Miral” is about love,...
(March 2011)
Directed by: Julian Schnabel
Written by: Rula Jebreal
Starring: Hiam Abbass, Freida Pinto, Yasmine Al Massri, Ruba Blal, Alexander Siddig, Omar Metwally, Stella Schnabel, Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave
Misinterpretations of “Miral” as a haphazard biography or didactic political plea are bound to keep Julian Schnabel’s latest film from reaching full and fair appreciation. This gentle, heartfelt story is not so much about Israel’s turbulent political history since its birth in 1948, and it’s not about the subsequent Palestinian struggle for freedom, though both of these form the film’s basis. And, though it follows the interconnected lives of four Palestinian women over four decades, it’s not really a nuanced portrait of any of them either. Rather, Schnabel has made a poem on film — and here is an artist adept at them — dedicated to simple, pure ideas. For ultimately “Miral” is about love,...
- 3/25/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Machine Gun Preacher
Opens: 2011
Cast: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon, Madeline Carroll, Kathy Baker
Director: Marc Forster
Summary: After finding God, drug-dealing biker Sam Childers renounces his outlaw ways and embarks on a spiritual path, becoming a crusader for hundreds of desperate and helpless children who were being forced to become soldiers in war-torn southern Sudan.
Analysis: Despite taking the freshly rejuvenated James Bond franchise and nearly destroying it with the very disappointing "Quantum of Solace", German-Swiss filmmaker Marc Forster still has a decent amount of good will left thanks to strong earlier efforts like "Monster's Ball," "Finding Neverland," "Stranger Than Fiction" and "The Kite Runner".
Now, in his first film since that Bond outing, Forster returns to serious drama with this true story tale of a biker who became a humanitarian crusader for children in the Sudan. The story itself is fascinating, the born again Sam Childers and...
Opens: 2011
Cast: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Michael Shannon, Madeline Carroll, Kathy Baker
Director: Marc Forster
Summary: After finding God, drug-dealing biker Sam Childers renounces his outlaw ways and embarks on a spiritual path, becoming a crusader for hundreds of desperate and helpless children who were being forced to become soldiers in war-torn southern Sudan.
Analysis: Despite taking the freshly rejuvenated James Bond franchise and nearly destroying it with the very disappointing "Quantum of Solace", German-Swiss filmmaker Marc Forster still has a decent amount of good will left thanks to strong earlier efforts like "Monster's Ball," "Finding Neverland," "Stranger Than Fiction" and "The Kite Runner".
Now, in his first film since that Bond outing, Forster returns to serious drama with this true story tale of a biker who became a humanitarian crusader for children in the Sudan. The story itself is fascinating, the born again Sam Childers and...
- 1/17/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Another movie selected In Competition at 67th Venice Film Festival is movie titled Miral, directed by Julian Schnabel.
Freida Pinto as Miral
The movie is based on Rita Jebreal novel, and is already being described as one “dedicated to all those, on both sides, who believe peace is possible, is noble and sincere, a real ode to tolerance, which shows us that you can teach pacifism while all around is falling apart….”
Miral is “a chronicle of Hind Husseini’s effort to establish an orphanage in Jerusalem after the 1948 partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel.
On her way to work, Hind Husseini comes across 55 orphaned children in the street. She takes them home to give them food and shelter. Within six months, 55 had grown to almost 2,000, and the Dar Al-Tifel Institute was born.
In 1978, at the age of 7, Miral was sent to the Institute by...
Freida Pinto as Miral
The movie is based on Rita Jebreal novel, and is already being described as one “dedicated to all those, on both sides, who believe peace is possible, is noble and sincere, a real ode to tolerance, which shows us that you can teach pacifism while all around is falling apart….”
Miral is “a chronicle of Hind Husseini’s effort to establish an orphanage in Jerusalem after the 1948 partition of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel.
On her way to work, Hind Husseini comes across 55 orphaned children in the street. She takes them home to give them food and shelter. Within six months, 55 had grown to almost 2,000, and the Dar Al-Tifel Institute was born.
In 1978, at the age of 7, Miral was sent to the Institute by...
- 9/7/2010
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
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