Three filmmakers assessing the impact of 2023’s dual strikes took a less-than-upbeat tone, citing uncertainty about the state of SAG-AFTRA negotiations with the AMPTP and the ongoing threat posed by artificial intelligence.
While the WGA’s gains from its 146-day strike are noteworthy, producer Sam Bisbee acknowledged during a Hamptons International Film Festival panel, SAG-AFTRA “is an even bigger part of the equation.”
Bisbee, a producer of documentary Rule of Two Walls, was joined on the panel by Jennifer Esposito and Tonje Hessen Schei. Esposito, best known for her acting credits on The Affair, The Boys and many other series and movies, wrote, directed and stars in fest selection Fresh Kills. Hessen Schei directed current fest title Praying for Armageddon.
“The writers have been underpaid and really absent from the conversation for a very long time,” Esposito said. “The powers that be are making all of the money off the backs of these people.
While the WGA’s gains from its 146-day strike are noteworthy, producer Sam Bisbee acknowledged during a Hamptons International Film Festival panel, SAG-AFTRA “is an even bigger part of the equation.”
Bisbee, a producer of documentary Rule of Two Walls, was joined on the panel by Jennifer Esposito and Tonje Hessen Schei. Esposito, best known for her acting credits on The Affair, The Boys and many other series and movies, wrote, directed and stars in fest selection Fresh Kills. Hessen Schei directed current fest title Praying for Armageddon.
“The writers have been underpaid and really absent from the conversation for a very long time,” Esposito said. “The powers that be are making all of the money off the backs of these people.
- 10/11/2023
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Dr Sales has sold Canadian distribution rights for Norwegian director Tonje Hessen Schei’s “Praying for Armageddon” to LevelFilm. The deal was revealed follows the film’s North American premiere at Hot Docs Film Festival. The film made its world premiere in Cph:dox.
The film explores the power and influence of powerful U.S. fundamentalist evangelicals as they aim to fulfil the biblical prophecy of Armageddon. With close quarters journalism, the feature documentary embeds with American believers who prepare for the Holy War and exposes how powerful megachurch pastors call for the “final battle” that they believe will trigger the Second Coming of Christ. A deep dive into power and policy, the film unveils how politicians driven by faith embrace Israel as the key to their prophetic vision for the end of days. At any cost.
The film is directed by Tonje Hessen Schei, co-directed by Michael Rowley, and produced by Christian Aune Falch,...
The film explores the power and influence of powerful U.S. fundamentalist evangelicals as they aim to fulfil the biblical prophecy of Armageddon. With close quarters journalism, the feature documentary embeds with American believers who prepare for the Holy War and exposes how powerful megachurch pastors call for the “final battle” that they believe will trigger the Second Coming of Christ. A deep dive into power and policy, the film unveils how politicians driven by faith embrace Israel as the key to their prophetic vision for the end of days. At any cost.
The film is directed by Tonje Hessen Schei, co-directed by Michael Rowley, and produced by Christian Aune Falch,...
- 5/7/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
If for any reason you’ve recently been feeling complacent about global security, international relations and oh, you know, little things like the continued existence of the species, here to herald the end of all that comes Tonje Hessen Schei and Michael Rowley’s “Praying for Armageddon,” a glossy, persuasive and increasingly alarming documentary exposing the influence of the fundamentalist Christian lobby on US politics.
Loosely tracking the investigative sleuthing done by Lee Fang, a reporter at The Intercept, but also taking ample time with parachurch pastors, GOP politicians, Israeli and Palestinian observers and Mission: M25 — an evangelical biker gang who traverse the country on compact-car-sized motorcycles proselytizing and occasionally knighting one another with swords — Schei and co-director/cinematographer Rowley’s film can feel a little scattershot, as it lops off one of the Hydra heads of this malign movement, only for two or three more to sprout in its place.
Loosely tracking the investigative sleuthing done by Lee Fang, a reporter at The Intercept, but also taking ample time with parachurch pastors, GOP politicians, Israeli and Palestinian observers and Mission: M25 — an evangelical biker gang who traverse the country on compact-car-sized motorcycles proselytizing and occasionally knighting one another with swords — Schei and co-director/cinematographer Rowley’s film can feel a little scattershot, as it lops off one of the Hydra heads of this malign movement, only for two or three more to sprout in its place.
- 3/25/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Imagine not only believing the world is coming to an end, but wanting it to happen. Eagerly. Then, take it a step further and imagine people with such a mentality engineering American politics and foreign policy to bring about the very thing they seek — the apocalypse.
It may sound outlandish, but there are many well organized fundamentalist Christian leaders and their followers working hard to make this doomsday scenario a reality, an alarming movement explored in the documentary Praying for Armageddon. The film directed by Norwegian filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei and co-directed by Michael Rowley makes its world premiere Monday night at the prestigious Cph:dox festival in Copenhagen.
‘Praying for Armageddon’ director Tonje Hessen Schei
“What they are really pushing for is the destruction of our civilization. It’s quite outrageous and mind blowing, really,” Schei tells Deadline as we sit at a café in Copenhagen. “And I don’t...
It may sound outlandish, but there are many well organized fundamentalist Christian leaders and their followers working hard to make this doomsday scenario a reality, an alarming movement explored in the documentary Praying for Armageddon. The film directed by Norwegian filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei and co-directed by Michael Rowley makes its world premiere Monday night at the prestigious Cph:dox festival in Copenhagen.
‘Praying for Armageddon’ director Tonje Hessen Schei
“What they are really pushing for is the destruction of our civilization. It’s quite outrageous and mind blowing, really,” Schei tells Deadline as we sit at a café in Copenhagen. “And I don’t...
- 3/20/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Don’t expect to see Roger Stone at the Cph:dox premiere of “A Storm Foretold.”
In the documentary, directed by Danish filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen, Stone’s efforts to aid former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election are captured.
“(Roger) has threatened us with a $25 million lawsuit, and he’s called me fat,” says Guldbrandsen. “Right now, we are communicating through our lawyers.”
“A Storm Foretold” along with “Praying for Armageddon” and “Victim/Suspect” are three films screening at Cph:dox that explore America’s political, legal and cultural underbelly.
Guldbrandsen and cinematographer Frederik Marbell began filming Stone, Trump’s former advisor, in 2018. They followed the Republican kingmaker in the final months of the Trump administration, which culminated in the storming of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
(In 2022, the House committee investigation into the assault on the Capitol subpoenaed footage from Guldbrandsen and Marbell. Ultimately, the committee received approximately 10 minutes out...
In the documentary, directed by Danish filmmaker Christoffer Guldbrandsen, Stone’s efforts to aid former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election are captured.
“(Roger) has threatened us with a $25 million lawsuit, and he’s called me fat,” says Guldbrandsen. “Right now, we are communicating through our lawyers.”
“A Storm Foretold” along with “Praying for Armageddon” and “Victim/Suspect” are three films screening at Cph:dox that explore America’s political, legal and cultural underbelly.
Guldbrandsen and cinematographer Frederik Marbell began filming Stone, Trump’s former advisor, in 2018. They followed the Republican kingmaker in the final months of the Trump administration, which culminated in the storming of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.
(In 2022, the House committee investigation into the assault on the Capitol subpoenaed footage from Guldbrandsen and Marbell. Ultimately, the committee received approximately 10 minutes out...
- 3/17/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The documentary explores the power and influence of fundamentalist evangelicals in the US
Screen can reveal the first trailer for Tonje Hessen Schei and Michael Rowley’s documentary Praying For Armageddon which world premieres at Cph:dox in the F:act Award strand.
The Norwegian film explores the power and influence of fundamentalist evangelicals in the US who look to fulfill the Armageddon prophecy. It is produced by UpNorth Film.
Schei’s previous credits include Drone and iHuman. Rowley previously directed Hurdle.
Cph:dox 2023 runs March 15-26.
Cph:dox full 2023 programme includes over 100 world premieres for 20th anniversary...
Screen can reveal the first trailer for Tonje Hessen Schei and Michael Rowley’s documentary Praying For Armageddon which world premieres at Cph:dox in the F:act Award strand.
The Norwegian film explores the power and influence of fundamentalist evangelicals in the US who look to fulfill the Armageddon prophecy. It is produced by UpNorth Film.
Schei’s previous credits include Drone and iHuman. Rowley previously directed Hurdle.
Cph:dox 2023 runs March 15-26.
Cph:dox full 2023 programme includes over 100 world premieres for 20th anniversary...
- 3/14/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Guests will include Wim Wenders, Joan Baez, Nathan Fielder.
The 20th anniversary edition of Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:Dox) includes more than 200 films, of which over 100 are world premieres – the most ever at a single edition of the festival.
The festival will screen 61 titles across five international competition sections: New:Vision, F:Act, Nordic:Dox, Next:Wave and the previously announced Dox:Award titles.
Scroll down for the full list of competition titles
46 of the 61 competition titles are world premieres, with 10 international premieres and five European debuts.
Films directed by women make up 47% of the lineup, with men represented on 38%. Ten percent...
The 20th anniversary edition of Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:Dox) includes more than 200 films, of which over 100 are world premieres – the most ever at a single edition of the festival.
The festival will screen 61 titles across five international competition sections: New:Vision, F:Act, Nordic:Dox, Next:Wave and the previously announced Dox:Award titles.
Scroll down for the full list of competition titles
46 of the 61 competition titles are world premieres, with 10 international premieres and five European debuts.
Films directed by women make up 47% of the lineup, with men represented on 38%. Ten percent...
- 2/21/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Trier and Eskil Vogt will develop future projects at their company Don’t Look Now.
Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt are leaving Norway’s Oslo Pictures to develop future projects at their company Don’t Look Now. They are currently in talks with potential new production partners on future films.
The pair, who have been screenwriting collaborators since the early 1990s, joined forces with Oslo Pictures in 2018, most recently on their Oscar-nominated hit The Worst Person In The World, directed by Trier.
Don’t Look Now Productions is owned by Trier and Vogt and the company has been a producing partner...
Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt are leaving Norway’s Oslo Pictures to develop future projects at their company Don’t Look Now. They are currently in talks with potential new production partners on future films.
The pair, who have been screenwriting collaborators since the early 1990s, joined forces with Oslo Pictures in 2018, most recently on their Oscar-nominated hit The Worst Person In The World, directed by Trier.
Don’t Look Now Productions is owned by Trier and Vogt and the company has been a producing partner...
- 5/11/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Oslo has five non-fiction features in production and development.
Award-winning documentary filmmakers Bjarte Morner Tveit and Tonje Hessen Schei have joined Norway’s Oslo Pictures as the company ramps up its investment in non-fiction.
Producer Morner Tveit joins from Stavanger-based Piraya Film, where his credits included Cold Case Hammarskjold, Inside Fur, The Secret Life of Pigs and The Mole. The latter went undercover in North Korea and won best documentary at the Danish Film Academy’s Robert Awards in 2021.
Director Hessen Schei joins from UpNorth Film, which she co-founded in 2017, and is known for documentaries such as iHuman, Drone and Play Again.
Award-winning documentary filmmakers Bjarte Morner Tveit and Tonje Hessen Schei have joined Norway’s Oslo Pictures as the company ramps up its investment in non-fiction.
Producer Morner Tveit joins from Stavanger-based Piraya Film, where his credits included Cold Case Hammarskjold, Inside Fur, The Secret Life of Pigs and The Mole. The latter went undercover in North Korea and won best documentary at the Danish Film Academy’s Robert Awards in 2021.
Director Hessen Schei joins from UpNorth Film, which she co-founded in 2017, and is known for documentaries such as iHuman, Drone and Play Again.
- 3/22/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Copenhagen Intl. Documentary Film Festival, which runs March 21-April 3, has revealed the lineup for its international financing and co-production event Cph:forum.
Women are taking central stage in the lineup both as characters and storytellers, and the Forum will feature new projects by Jialing Zhang (“One Child Nation”), Ilinca Calugareanu (“Chuck Norris vs. Communism”), Tova Mozard (“Psychic”), Elizabeth Lo (“Stray”) and Lana Wilson (“Miss Americana”) among others.
The selection of 30 projects in this year’s Cph:forum represents a variety of topics, genres and artistic approaches from a diverse group of filmmakers. According to the festival, “Seeking to demonstrate the richness and heterogeneity of the documentary genre, Cph:forum presents a curated slate of films that speak to the major issues of the world we live in.”
Topics of race, equity and colonial legacy connect a personal film of Barbadian filmmaker Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (“Papa Machete”), and the newest project of the Dutch...
Women are taking central stage in the lineup both as characters and storytellers, and the Forum will feature new projects by Jialing Zhang (“One Child Nation”), Ilinca Calugareanu (“Chuck Norris vs. Communism”), Tova Mozard (“Psychic”), Elizabeth Lo (“Stray”) and Lana Wilson (“Miss Americana”) among others.
The selection of 30 projects in this year’s Cph:forum represents a variety of topics, genres and artistic approaches from a diverse group of filmmakers. According to the festival, “Seeking to demonstrate the richness and heterogeneity of the documentary genre, Cph:forum presents a curated slate of films that speak to the major issues of the world we live in.”
Topics of race, equity and colonial legacy connect a personal film of Barbadian filmmaker Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (“Papa Machete”), and the newest project of the Dutch...
- 2/10/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
There are 30 projects in first physical event since 2019.
New works from One Child Nation director Jialing Zhang and Chuck Norris vs. Communism filmmaker Ilinca Calugareanu are among the 30 projects participating in Cph:forum, the financing and co-production market of Cph:dox film festival.
The Forum will run from March 28-31, and will be the first in-person edition since 2019.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
Massachusetts-based Chinese filmmaker Zhang is participating with German-Dutch co-production The Total Trust (working title), produced by Knut Jager through Germany’s Filmtank. The documentary will examine the growth of surveillance culture in China, from cameras to AI profiling.
New works from One Child Nation director Jialing Zhang and Chuck Norris vs. Communism filmmaker Ilinca Calugareanu are among the 30 projects participating in Cph:forum, the financing and co-production market of Cph:dox film festival.
The Forum will run from March 28-31, and will be the first in-person edition since 2019.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
Massachusetts-based Chinese filmmaker Zhang is participating with German-Dutch co-production The Total Trust (working title), produced by Knut Jager through Germany’s Filmtank. The documentary will examine the growth of surveillance culture in China, from cameras to AI profiling.
- 2/10/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: London-based sales agent Dogwoof has picked up world rights to Tommy Gulliksen’s Sound Of Ice, a documentary about musician Terje Isungset’s project to produce and play musical instruments crafted from each of the world’s most endangered glaciers.
Even though making music from ice is close to impossible, it is Isungset’s obsession. His instruments are only used once before they melt and disappear. Climate change has made ice music difficult and Terje’s artistic project even more urgent. When he receives an unexpected invitation to play in China’s greatest opera house, Terje decides to build an instrument from each of the world’s most endangered glaciers to bring to Beijing.
Here’s a first teaser for the project:
An Oslo Pictures production, Sound of Ice is directed by Tommy Gulliksen, produced by Thomas Robsahm and Tonje Hessen Schei, written by Bjørn Olaf Johannessen, and co-produced with Road Movies.
Even though making music from ice is close to impossible, it is Isungset’s obsession. His instruments are only used once before they melt and disappear. Climate change has made ice music difficult and Terje’s artistic project even more urgent. When he receives an unexpected invitation to play in China’s greatest opera house, Terje decides to build an instrument from each of the world’s most endangered glaciers to bring to Beijing.
Here’s a first teaser for the project:
An Oslo Pictures production, Sound of Ice is directed by Tommy Gulliksen, produced by Thomas Robsahm and Tonje Hessen Schei, written by Bjørn Olaf Johannessen, and co-produced with Road Movies.
- 2/9/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Climate protection, the growing threats to ocean life, the FBI’s smear campaign against Martin Luther King Jr. and the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a Saudi death squad are just some of the wide-ranging topics examined at this year’s Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:Dox), which kicks off Wednesday.
Since its establishment in 2003, the fest has straddled the sectors of film, politics, art and science like few others.
Among this year’s highlights are Phie Ambo’s opening film “70/30,” an up-close look at the combined efforts to pass Denmark’s landmark climate law, and fellow Danish filmmaker Robin Petré’s “From the Wild Sea,” which follows a team of volunteers in northern Europe struggling to save animals suffering from human-made catastrophes, from oil-covered swans and stranded whales to starving seals with stomachs full of plastic.
Also screening is Bryan Fogel’s acclaimed work on Khashoggi’s barbaric assassination,...
Since its establishment in 2003, the fest has straddled the sectors of film, politics, art and science like few others.
Among this year’s highlights are Phie Ambo’s opening film “70/30,” an up-close look at the combined efforts to pass Denmark’s landmark climate law, and fellow Danish filmmaker Robin Petré’s “From the Wild Sea,” which follows a team of volunteers in northern Europe struggling to save animals suffering from human-made catastrophes, from oil-covered swans and stranded whales to starving seals with stomachs full of plastic.
Also screening is Bryan Fogel’s acclaimed work on Khashoggi’s barbaric assassination,...
- 4/20/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Are the robots going to kills us? Film-maker Tonje Hessen Schei speaks to a range of interviewees including Elon Musk’s computer scientist in an eye-opening, anxiety-inducing film
What will happen when robots become smarter than humans – will they want to kill us? No, according to the computer scientist in charge of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence research company OpenAI. His name is Ilya Sutskever and he believes that super intelligent machines won’t hate us, but they will prioritise their own survival. Think about the way we treat animals. We’re fond of them but we don’t ask their permission to build a road; it’ll be like that. His analogy is an extraordinary moment in this doom-laden documentary about the future of AI from Norwegian film-maker Tonje Hessen Schei – an eye-opening film if your anxiety levels are up to it.
Another interviewee jokes that AI is being...
What will happen when robots become smarter than humans – will they want to kill us? No, according to the computer scientist in charge of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence research company OpenAI. His name is Ilya Sutskever and he believes that super intelligent machines won’t hate us, but they will prioritise their own survival. Think about the way we treat animals. We’re fond of them but we don’t ask their permission to build a road; it’ll be like that. His analogy is an extraordinary moment in this doom-laden documentary about the future of AI from Norwegian film-maker Tonje Hessen Schei – an eye-opening film if your anxiety levels are up to it.
Another interviewee jokes that AI is being...
- 12/8/2020
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Artificial intelligence features in countless films but in Tonje Hessen Schei’s documentary, ‘iHuman’, we get a true insight into the industry.
The award-winning documentary analyses the rapid development of A.I, with access to experts in the field and raises important questions.
‘iHuman’ will be released in cinemas and digitally on December 10th, courtesy of Cosmic Cat.
Cinema listings can be found here.
The post Trailer drops for Tonje Hessen Schei’s A.I documentary, ‘iHuman’. appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The award-winning documentary analyses the rapid development of A.I, with access to experts in the field and raises important questions.
‘iHuman’ will be released in cinemas and digitally on December 10th, courtesy of Cosmic Cat.
Cinema listings can be found here.
The post Trailer drops for Tonje Hessen Schei’s A.I documentary, ‘iHuman’. appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 11/30/2020
- by Thomas Alexander
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Documentary funding executives discussed issues facing filmmakers.
A leading figure from the International Documentary Association (Ida) has warned that the “fragile ecosystem” that funds non-fiction films has been spotlighted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking during the virtual Cph:Conference, Ida executive director Simon Kilmurry discussed the crucial funds provided to documentaries at the early stages of production by philanthropic and non-profit cultural institutions.
“We’re seeing what a fragile ecosystem that [non-profit funding] really is for filmmakers,” he said. “We’re in conversation with a lot of organisations to see how they’re dealing with this… and we’re trying to share information...
A leading figure from the International Documentary Association (Ida) has warned that the “fragile ecosystem” that funds non-fiction films has been spotlighted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking during the virtual Cph:Conference, Ida executive director Simon Kilmurry discussed the crucial funds provided to documentaries at the early stages of production by philanthropic and non-profit cultural institutions.
“We’re seeing what a fragile ecosystem that [non-profit funding] really is for filmmakers,” he said. “We’re in conversation with a lot of organisations to see how they’re dealing with this… and we’re trying to share information...
- 3/30/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
In the wake of the novel coronavirus, Cph:dox has moved much of their program online, with a series of “debates” streaming live and available for viewing. Today’s is especially timely: Edward Snowden answering the question, “What is the effect of AI on the present and future of surveillance?” Kicking off the conversation is a discussion of privacy and surveillance issues related to government and private industry actions in the wake of the pandemic. It’s loosely tied to the festival’s screening of iHuman, Tonje Hessen Schei’s doc on the future of AI. The talk is moderated by Dr’s science and technology […]...
- 3/24/2020
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In the wake of the novel coronavirus, Cph:dox has moved much of their program online, with a series of “debates” streaming live and available for viewing. Today’s is especially timely: Edward Snowden answering the question, “What is the effect of AI on the present and future of surveillance?” Kicking off the conversation is a discussion of privacy and surveillance issues related to government and private industry actions in the wake of the pandemic. It’s loosely tied to the festival’s screening of iHuman, Tonje Hessen Schei’s doc on the future of AI. The talk is moderated by Dr’s science and technology […]...
- 3/24/2020
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Humans need to keep control of storytelling, according to experts at Tallinn’s European Film Forum.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) might revolutionise the film industry and other forms of media consumption, but humans need to keep control of storytelling, said Norwegian filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei at Tallinn’s European Film Forum.
“It’s really important that we remain human storytellers, that we don’t just throw our stories through machine learning,” she said. “The best art in the world is created by error and human madness, and beautiful fantasy that we have.
”Soon we can programme our emotions into AI, AI can sense how we feel,...
Artificial Intelligence (AI) might revolutionise the film industry and other forms of media consumption, but humans need to keep control of storytelling, said Norwegian filmmaker Tonje Hessen Schei at Tallinn’s European Film Forum.
“It’s really important that we remain human storytellers, that we don’t just throw our stories through machine learning,” she said. “The best art in the world is created by error and human madness, and beautiful fantasy that we have.
”Soon we can programme our emotions into AI, AI can sense how we feel,...
- 11/28/2019
- by 1100142¦Wendy Mitchell¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Getting its world premiere in Frontlight, Tonje Hessen Schei’s gripping AI doc “iHuman” drew an audience of more than 700 to a 10 a.m. Sunday screening at the incongruously old-school Pathé Tuschinski cinema. Many had their curiosity piqued by the film’s timely subject matter—the erosion of privacy in the age of new media, and the terrifying leaps being made in the field of machine intelligence—but it’s fair to say that quite a few were drawn by the promise of a Skype Q&a with National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, who made headlines in 2013 by leaking confidential U.S. intelligence to the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper.
Snowden doesn’t feature in the film, but it couldn’t exist without him: “iHuman” is an almost exhausting journey through all the issues that Snowden was trying to warn us about, starting with our civil liberties. Speaking after the film...
Snowden doesn’t feature in the film, but it couldn’t exist without him: “iHuman” is an almost exhausting journey through all the issues that Snowden was trying to warn us about, starting with our civil liberties. Speaking after the film...
- 11/26/2019
- by Damon Wise
- Variety Film + TV
Artistic director Orwa Nyrabia talks female representation, Edward Snowden event, the future of the Edn and Saudi Arabia.
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) got off to a powerful start on Wednesday evening (November 20) with Iranian work Sunless Shadows about a group of teenage girls serving time in a juvenile detention centre for murdering either their father, brother or another male relative.
It is the sixth feature documentary from Iranian director Mehrdad Oskouei, whose previous work Starless Dreams premiered in the Berlinale in 2016, where it won the Amnesty International Film Prize.
In a conversation with Screen, Idfa artistic director Nyrabia...
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) got off to a powerful start on Wednesday evening (November 20) with Iranian work Sunless Shadows about a group of teenage girls serving time in a juvenile detention centre for murdering either their father, brother or another male relative.
It is the sixth feature documentary from Iranian director Mehrdad Oskouei, whose previous work Starless Dreams premiered in the Berlinale in 2016, where it won the Amnesty International Film Prize.
In a conversation with Screen, Idfa artistic director Nyrabia...
- 11/21/2019
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
Tel Aviv-based Cinephil has acquired worldwide rights to Tonje Hessen Schei’s (“Drone”) “iHuman,” a political thriller documentary about artificial intelligence, power and social control.
U.S.-based sales agent ro*co films is representing North America on the film, which will have its world premiere in the Frontlight section of Amsterdam’s International Documentary Film Festival.
“iHuman” follows the pioneers on the front lines of the invisible AI revolution: Google whistleblower Jack Poulson, computational psychologist Michal Kosinski, techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufecki and deep fake pioneer Hao Li, among others. The film explores the booming AI industry, how this technology is being developed and implemented, and investigates the dilemmas experts face as they drive this technology forward. The documentary explores the impact that AI is having and will have on the world and our humanity.
“Our day-to-day world is about AI, whether we acknowledge it or not…Most of us vote every four years,...
U.S.-based sales agent ro*co films is representing North America on the film, which will have its world premiere in the Frontlight section of Amsterdam’s International Documentary Film Festival.
“iHuman” follows the pioneers on the front lines of the invisible AI revolution: Google whistleblower Jack Poulson, computational psychologist Michal Kosinski, techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufecki and deep fake pioneer Hao Li, among others. The film explores the booming AI industry, how this technology is being developed and implemented, and investigates the dilemmas experts face as they drive this technology forward. The documentary explores the impact that AI is having and will have on the world and our humanity.
“Our day-to-day world is about AI, whether we acknowledge it or not…Most of us vote every four years,...
- 11/15/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Eurimages Award goes to ’Four Brothers’ directed by Belgium’s Pieter-Jan de Pue.
Greta Vs Climate, a film about teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg, was one of the hottest projects pitched at Danish documentary festival Cph:dox’s Forum event this week.
The Forum team had invited Swedish director Nathan Grossman and producer Fredrik Heining of B-Reel to pitch the film several months ago, and it became even more topical on March 14 when Thunberg, 15, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Greta Vs Climate is already backed by the Swedish Film Institute and Svt.
Other projects stirring a lot of...
Greta Vs Climate, a film about teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg, was one of the hottest projects pitched at Danish documentary festival Cph:dox’s Forum event this week.
The Forum team had invited Swedish director Nathan Grossman and producer Fredrik Heining of B-Reel to pitch the film several months ago, and it became even more topical on March 14 when Thunberg, 15, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Greta Vs Climate is already backed by the Swedish Film Institute and Svt.
Other projects stirring a lot of...
- 3/30/2019
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
The Self Portait is about Norwegian photographer Lene Marie Fossen.
Six Nordic documentaries in post-production were presented at Cph:Wip, the work-in-progress strand of Chp:Dox, in Copenhagen today (March 26).
Footage from Katja Norregaard Hogseth’s The Self Portrait particularly impressed the industry audience of funders, festivals, broadcasters, sales companies and distributors who said all of the projects were of a high calibre this year.The Self Portrait is an intimate portrait of Norwegian photographer Lene Marie Fossen, who has been near death with anorexia at the same time her international art career is on the rise.
The...
Six Nordic documentaries in post-production were presented at Cph:Wip, the work-in-progress strand of Chp:Dox, in Copenhagen today (March 26).
Footage from Katja Norregaard Hogseth’s The Self Portrait particularly impressed the industry audience of funders, festivals, broadcasters, sales companies and distributors who said all of the projects were of a high calibre this year.The Self Portrait is an intimate portrait of Norwegian photographer Lene Marie Fossen, who has been near death with anorexia at the same time her international art career is on the rise.
The...
- 3/26/2019
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
New titles from Petra Costa, Guido Hendrikx and Mila Turajlic.
Cph:forum, the co-production and financing strand of Denmark’s Cph: Dox, has unveiled the 33 projects it will showcase in Copenhagen from March 26-28.
The projects include Brazilian director Petra Costa’s new work Fatherland, about a daughter’s investigation into her father’s memories as he attempts to change the system in a country shaped by slavery. Costa’s most recent film, The Edge Of Democracy, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month.
Also selected is Guido Hendrikx’s A Wonderful Horrible Story, which blends archive footage,...
Cph:forum, the co-production and financing strand of Denmark’s Cph: Dox, has unveiled the 33 projects it will showcase in Copenhagen from March 26-28.
The projects include Brazilian director Petra Costa’s new work Fatherland, about a daughter’s investigation into her father’s memories as he attempts to change the system in a country shaped by slavery. Costa’s most recent film, The Edge Of Democracy, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month.
Also selected is Guido Hendrikx’s A Wonderful Horrible Story, which blends archive footage,...
- 2/6/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
New titles from Petra Costa, Guido Hendrikx and Mila Turajlic.
Cph:forum, the co-production and financing strand of Denmark’s Cph: Dox, has unveiled the 32 projects it will showcase in Copenhagen from March 26-28.
The projects include Brazilian director Petra Costa’s new work Fatherland, about a daughter’s investigation into her father’s memories as he attempts to change the system in a country shaped by slavery. Costa’s most recent film, The Edge Of Democracy, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month.
Also selected is Guido Hendrikx’s A Wonderful Horrible Story, which blends archive footage,...
Cph:forum, the co-production and financing strand of Denmark’s Cph: Dox, has unveiled the 32 projects it will showcase in Copenhagen from March 26-28.
The projects include Brazilian director Petra Costa’s new work Fatherland, about a daughter’s investigation into her father’s memories as he attempts to change the system in a country shaped by slavery. Costa’s most recent film, The Edge Of Democracy, made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month.
Also selected is Guido Hendrikx’s A Wonderful Horrible Story, which blends archive footage,...
- 2/6/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Norwegian director Hallvard Bræin’s action comedy Børning received both the jury and the audiences’ film prize at the ceremony in Haugesund’s Maritim HallScroll down for full list of winners
Norwegian director Hallvard Bræin’s feature debut, Børning – a local twist of Cannonball Run (1981), which became last year’s most popular Norwegian film, taking 381,648 admissions – was also the big winner at the Amanda awards ceremony in Haugesund on Saturday (Aug 15).
At the TV2 Norge televised presentation in Haugesund’s Maritim Hall, preceding today’s opening of the 43rd Norwegian International Film Festival, Børning received Amandas – Norway’s national film prizes - including Best Norwegian Feature, the People’s Amanda, Best Supporting Actor (Henrik Mestad) and Best Sound Design (Fredric Vogel, Petter Fladeby).
The frontrunner for the awards - Norwegian director Bent Hamer 1001 Grams (1001 gram), which has so far toured 25 international film festivals – was nominated in six categories, but won only Best Original Screenplay.
For the first...
Norwegian director Hallvard Bræin’s feature debut, Børning – a local twist of Cannonball Run (1981), which became last year’s most popular Norwegian film, taking 381,648 admissions – was also the big winner at the Amanda awards ceremony in Haugesund on Saturday (Aug 15).
At the TV2 Norge televised presentation in Haugesund’s Maritim Hall, preceding today’s opening of the 43rd Norwegian International Film Festival, Børning received Amandas – Norway’s national film prizes - including Best Norwegian Feature, the People’s Amanda, Best Supporting Actor (Henrik Mestad) and Best Sound Design (Fredric Vogel, Petter Fladeby).
The frontrunner for the awards - Norwegian director Bent Hamer 1001 Grams (1001 gram), which has so far toured 25 international film festivals – was nominated in six categories, but won only Best Original Screenplay.
For the first...
- 8/17/2015
- by jornrossing@aol.com (Jorn Rossing Jensen)
- ScreenDaily
It was a beautiful sunny day on a quiet, out of the way cafe patio in Toronto that I had a chance to sit down with director Tonje Hessen Schei and speak at length about the politics, psychology, and current perception of drone warfare. Tonje is passionate and directly to the point in terms of her views and beliefs, and was able to elaborate on a number of threads and facets in her current documentary on the subject, Drone. Most alarmingly is how far things have come in the past few years, and that remain still in the early days in terms of what the rules and ethics will look like while the technology proliferates at an ever increasing rate.Kurt Halfyard: The simple coincidence that...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 4/29/2015
- Screen Anarchy
Recently, the news has been filled with stories about the Islamic State, the group of Sunni extremists who control territory in Iraq and Syria and are threatening to expand into other areas of the Middle East. The ferocity and the theocracy of Isil has brought attention back to the conflict in the region thanks to their repeated acts of barbarism, and there’s concern that further military adventures in Iraq and neighboring countries might be necessary to stop them. Here’s the thing, though: the War on Terror never really took a break. The troops came home, yes, but in 21st century warfare, the troops need not necessarily be in the theater of war to do damage.
The simply named Norwegian documentary Drone takes a serious and unflinching look at one of the things that truly changed the face of warfare: unmanned aerial devices, or, as they’re more commonly known,...
The simply named Norwegian documentary Drone takes a serious and unflinching look at one of the things that truly changed the face of warfare: unmanned aerial devices, or, as they’re more commonly known,...
- 4/27/2015
- by Adam A. Donaldson
- We Got This Covered
Here in the 21st century, we find ourselves sliding down the slipperiest of slopes. As the paradigm of warfare undergoes yet another significant metamorphosis, one of remote assassinations, or as one drone pilot succinctly puts it, "just point and click."Tonje Hessen Schei documents the many facets of Unmanned Combat Arial Vehicles, UCAVs more popularly known as drones, used in the War on Terror. In fact, it is the defining weapon in the War on Terror: From Ptsd suffering pilots flying 12 hour shifts, a half a world away with the power to kill, to the families in Waziristan -- the region with the highest number of drone strikes -- whose population have grown to fear sunny days, because only on the cloudy days, is there...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 4/24/2015
- Screen Anarchy
★★★☆☆ Drone warfare is a uniquely contemporary issue that is still plaguing many countries, especially those in the Middle East who find themselves consistently in the crosshairs of drone pilots. There is a coldness, a brutishness that seems to icily infect anyone this form of warfare touches. In Drone (2014), Tonje Hessen Schei crafts one of the most effective, in depth and well-rounded documentaries on the state of the war on terrorism today. Clinically-minded, touching on all the landmines of technicality embedded within its subject, this is a film that seeks to punch above its weight. The urgency in its voice throughout is enough to spur on any human rights activist in the middle of a viewing.
- 4/9/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Unmanned drones have entered the Hollywood zeitgeist in a big way. In the next month alone, you’ll find them popping up in Ethan Hawke drama Good Kill and at the business end of Fast And Furious 7. Before then Drone, a documentary by Norwegian director Tonje Hessen Schei, offers a handy primer on a subject that will only get more and more prominent on the news agenda in the years ahead until we’ve all got one. Here’s a new clip from the film to give a taster. brightcove.createExperiences();Armed with Hellfire missiles and remote-controlled from bases in America, CIA drones are a none-more-controversial arm of Us foreign policy (and, in Fast 7, a massive nuisance to The Rock). The doc tackles the subject from the recruitment of pilots at gaming conventions to use of drones to target terrorists around the world. "In the midst of fast advancement...
- 3/24/2015
- EmpireOnline
Directed by award-winning female director Tonje Hessen Schei, Spectrum is pleased to announce the UK cinema release of Drone on 10th April 2015. This will be preceded by a special Q&A screening of the film with the director at Curzon Bloomsbury on 9th April 2015. A profound and at times terrifying insight in to the world of drone warfare, Drone offers unprecedented access to those with first-hand experience in one of the most controversial practices of modern day conflict. Drone covers diverse and integral ground: from the recruitment of young pilots at gaming conventions and the re-definition of “going to war”, to the moral stance of engineers behind the technology, the world leaders giving the secret “green light” to engage in the biggest targeted killing program in history, and the people willing to stand up against the violations of civil liberties and fight for transparency, accountability and justice. This is just the beginning.
- 3/11/2015
- by noreply@blogger.com (Tom White)
- www.themoviebit.com
Award season as come to a close, and we’ve all been witness to what is a historic unprecedented run for one urgent film. The ripple became a wave when we were on hand to witness Laura Poitras collect multiple awards at the Cinema Eye Honors, and as predicted, the Academy Awards capped off a historic awards season run with an Oscar win. Here is our roundup and recap of the previous month’s film festival and award season headlines related to the docu film world.
Academy Awards
While Citizenfour took home the award for best documentary of the year, Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry’s Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 was given the Oscar for best short doc.
Berlin International Film Festival - Germany – February 5th – February 15th
When Darren Aronofsky and his presiding jury members announced the Berlinale winners, Patricio Guzmán’s long awaited follow-up to Nostalgia For The Light,...
Academy Awards
While Citizenfour took home the award for best documentary of the year, Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry’s Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 was given the Oscar for best short doc.
Berlin International Film Festival - Germany – February 5th – February 15th
When Darren Aronofsky and his presiding jury members announced the Berlinale winners, Patricio Guzmán’s long awaited follow-up to Nostalgia For The Light,...
- 3/3/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Exclusive: UK, France, Australia deals on documentary.
Copenhagen-based sales outfit LevelK has inked a number of deals in major territories on Tonje Hessen Schei’s drone warfare documentary Drone.
The film has sold to Australia & New Zealand (Vandetta Films), UK (Kaleidoscope Film), France (Zylo), Spain (Indigenius), Finland (Yle), former Yugoslavia (Tricontinental Ltd Co.) and Estonia (Eesti).
Norwegian director Schei’s documentary charts the covert CIA drone war in Pakistan.
Earlier this week the film was named The Most Valuable Film of the Year at the Cinema for Peace Awards in Berlin.
The film previously won Best Norwegian Documentary and the Checkpoint Human Rights Award in Bergen and the Norwegian Peace Film Award in Tromsø.
Copenhagen-based sales outfit LevelK has inked a number of deals in major territories on Tonje Hessen Schei’s drone warfare documentary Drone.
The film has sold to Australia & New Zealand (Vandetta Films), UK (Kaleidoscope Film), France (Zylo), Spain (Indigenius), Finland (Yle), former Yugoslavia (Tricontinental Ltd Co.) and Estonia (Eesti).
Norwegian director Schei’s documentary charts the covert CIA drone war in Pakistan.
Earlier this week the film was named The Most Valuable Film of the Year at the Cinema for Peace Awards in Berlin.
The film previously won Best Norwegian Documentary and the Checkpoint Human Rights Award in Bergen and the Norwegian Peace Film Award in Tromsø.
- 2/12/2015
- ScreenDaily
Sales outfit LevelK is to debut Scandinavian horror-sci fi Encounters at the Afm.
Also on the slate are Anders Thomas Jensen’s Men and Chicken starring Mads Mikkelsen; Sucker, which stars Timothy Spall as a con-man; and documentary Drone.
Encounters, directed by Anders Johannes Bukh, follows a group of young filmmakers who travel into the Swedish woods to shoot a low-budget horror film. After they become lost one of the actors disappears only to return hours later, naked and in a catatonic state.
The film is set for a VOD release in conjunction with Danish horror festival Bloody Weekend.
Pre-sales will continue on Anders Thomas Jensen’s black comedy Men and Chicken, with Mikkelsen and David Dencik in the lead roles.
There will be a promo for Sucker, director Ben Chessell’s debut feature in which Timonthy Spall plays an ageing conman who takes a young novice under his wing.
Warfare doc [link...
Also on the slate are Anders Thomas Jensen’s Men and Chicken starring Mads Mikkelsen; Sucker, which stars Timothy Spall as a con-man; and documentary Drone.
Encounters, directed by Anders Johannes Bukh, follows a group of young filmmakers who travel into the Swedish woods to shoot a low-budget horror film. After they become lost one of the actors disappears only to return hours later, naked and in a catatonic state.
The film is set for a VOD release in conjunction with Danish horror festival Bloody Weekend.
Pre-sales will continue on Anders Thomas Jensen’s black comedy Men and Chicken, with Mikkelsen and David Dencik in the lead roles.
There will be a promo for Sucker, director Ben Chessell’s debut feature in which Timonthy Spall plays an ageing conman who takes a young novice under his wing.
Warfare doc [link...
- 10/23/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
The 8th annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is all set to run for ten days this Feb. 11-20 in Missoula, Montana. This year, the fest will have a whopping 140 film programs, a growth that necessitates an expansion from its regular home at the Historic Wilma Theatre — where it will occupy two screens — to also feature screenings at the former Pipestone Mountaineering store.
Special events at the fest include a free opening night screening of How to Die in Oregon sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. The film, directed by Peter D. Richardson, examines the impact the legalization of physician-assisted suicide has had on the state. (In 1994, Oregon was the first state to legalize the practice.)
Also, indie rock band Yo La Tengo will perform their acclaimed live score of the films of pioneering French underwater documentary film director Jean Painlevé, something they have done for other film festivals all over the world.
Special events at the fest include a free opening night screening of How to Die in Oregon sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. The film, directed by Peter D. Richardson, examines the impact the legalization of physician-assisted suicide has had on the state. (In 1994, Oregon was the first state to legalize the practice.)
Also, indie rock band Yo La Tengo will perform their acclaimed live score of the films of pioneering French underwater documentary film director Jean Painlevé, something they have done for other film festivals all over the world.
- 1/15/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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