Noted filmmakers from around the globe have contributed short films to anthology project “Interactions,” which is showcased at the ongoing International Film Festival of India, Goa.
The project, an Art For The World Production, was set up with the aim of 12 international filmmakers creating connections between humans and animals through biodiversity, climate change, environment and water risks. This resulted in original short films questioning biodiversity, conservation of nature, deforestation, ecosystem, environment, health, marine life, species extinction, water and more.
The participating filmmakers were selected from all over the world, including Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the U.S., not only on the basis of their filmography, awards and fame, but also for their sensitivity to themes regarding the planet and the consequences of climate change on humankind, nature and animal life.
“Domestication” by Isabella Rossellini looks at the origin of domestic animals, explains the lack of biodiversity...
The project, an Art For The World Production, was set up with the aim of 12 international filmmakers creating connections between humans and animals through biodiversity, climate change, environment and water risks. This resulted in original short films questioning biodiversity, conservation of nature, deforestation, ecosystem, environment, health, marine life, species extinction, water and more.
The participating filmmakers were selected from all over the world, including Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the U.S., not only on the basis of their filmography, awards and fame, but also for their sensitivity to themes regarding the planet and the consequences of climate change on humankind, nature and animal life.
“Domestication” by Isabella Rossellini looks at the origin of domestic animals, explains the lack of biodiversity...
- 11/26/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The project was presented at the Venice Film Festival’s Gap-Financing Market this year.
Prominent Chilean producer Giancarlo Nasi at Quijote Films has partnered with Mexico’s Varios Lobos, France’s Les Valseurs and Basque Country’s Irusoin to co-produce Diego Céspedes’ feature debut The Mysterious Gaze Of The Flamingo.
The project was presented at the Venice Film Festival’s Gap-Financing Market this year and at the 2021 Sundance Producers Summit.
Céspedes second short The Melting Creatures, produced by Quijote, world premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week and opened the San Sebastian (Ssiff) Zabaltegi strand. His first short El verano del león...
Prominent Chilean producer Giancarlo Nasi at Quijote Films has partnered with Mexico’s Varios Lobos, France’s Les Valseurs and Basque Country’s Irusoin to co-produce Diego Céspedes’ feature debut The Mysterious Gaze Of The Flamingo.
The project was presented at the Venice Film Festival’s Gap-Financing Market this year and at the 2021 Sundance Producers Summit.
Céspedes second short The Melting Creatures, produced by Quijote, world premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week and opened the San Sebastian (Ssiff) Zabaltegi strand. His first short El verano del león...
- 9/23/2022
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Tragic Jungle Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival When it comes to using a film's landscape as a metaphor, settings don't come more versatile than the jungle. Often used to suggest exoticism to early cinema audiences - and in ways that have not always aged well - the jungle can be a place of mystery, romance or danger and sometimes all three at once. So this week our Streaming Spotlight is taking a trek through some of the best.
Tragic Jungle, Netflix
The jungle has rarely looked more beguiling than it does in Mexican writer/director Yulene Olaizola's historical drama, set deep within the borderlands between Mexico and British Honduras (now Belize) in the 1920s. Olaizola lets the mythical bleed into the real as a woman on the run (Indira Andrewin) encounters a group of rubber harvesters who are attempting to steal their haul. While references to the...
Tragic Jungle, Netflix
The jungle has rarely looked more beguiling than it does in Mexican writer/director Yulene Olaizola's historical drama, set deep within the borderlands between Mexico and British Honduras (now Belize) in the 1920s. Olaizola lets the mythical bleed into the real as a woman on the run (Indira Andrewin) encounters a group of rubber harvesters who are attempting to steal their haul. While references to the...
- 6/18/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Photo: ‘Tragic Jungle’/Netflix Into The Jungle A recent arrival on Netflix is the Mexican drama-thriller from director Yulene Olaizola, ‘Tragic Jungle’. The film follows Indira Rubie Andrewin as Agnes, an arranged bride, flees her arranged wedding into the Mayan jungle while pursued by her cruel fiancee, portrayed by Dale Carley. In her escape, Agnes stumbles upon a group of men harvesting gum and soon the forces of nature, human beings, and the supernatural all come to a head. The film enjoyed a successful international film festival run in 2020 and looks to have the same reaction from audiences as it releases wide on the world’s largest streaming platform. Related article: A Tribute to Cannes Film Festival: A Celebration of Cinema, Glamour, and Humanity | Statement From Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase Related article: The Social Media Frenzy Surrounding ‘Knives Out 2’ and What to Expect From the Sequel ‘Tragic Jungle...
- 6/11/2021
- by Sean Aversa
- Hollywood Insider - Substance & Meaningful Entertainment
While Netflix has been skipping out on film festivals in the pandemic for their own productions, they’ve still been picking up acclaimed films that have premiered over the past year. On the heels of the stellar Indian drama The Disciple, their next notable release in this regard is Tragic Jungle, arriving on June 9.
The fifth feature from director Yulene Olaizola, which premiered at Venice Film Festival last fall followed by New York Film Festival, is set in 1920 on the border between Mexico and Belize, following a group of Mexican gum workers who cross paths with Agnes, a beautiful and mysterious Belizean woman.
Glenn Heath Jr. said in his NYFF review, “Fluid and far-reaching, the Rio Hondo snakes between Mexico and what was once British Honduras (now Belize). Terrain on both sides is dominated by the dense Mayan rainforest, rendering moot any notion of borders or nation-states. Yulene Olaizola’s...
The fifth feature from director Yulene Olaizola, which premiered at Venice Film Festival last fall followed by New York Film Festival, is set in 1920 on the border between Mexico and Belize, following a group of Mexican gum workers who cross paths with Agnes, a beautiful and mysterious Belizean woman.
Glenn Heath Jr. said in his NYFF review, “Fluid and far-reaching, the Rio Hondo snakes between Mexico and what was once British Honduras (now Belize). Terrain on both sides is dominated by the dense Mayan rainforest, rendering moot any notion of borders or nation-states. Yulene Olaizola’s...
- 5/17/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Mexican filmmaker Yulene Olaizola’s fifth feature, “Tragic Jungle” (“Selva Tragica”), which snagged two awards at the 77th Venice Festival, debuts June 9 on Netflix.
Loosely inspired by the novel “Caribal: El Infierno Verde” by Mexican novelist-diplomat Rafael Bernal, “Tragic Jungle” is set in 1920 on the border between Mexico and Belize. It is here where a ragtag band of Mexican gum workers come across a mysterious young Belizean woman on the run, played by local actor Indira Rubie Adrewin in her film debut. Her mute presence arouses both tensions and desire in equal measure. Unbeknownst to them, they face the mythical Mayan seductress Xtabay, who preys on unsuspecting men in the jungle.
Netflix bows its trailer exclusively in Variety.
“The jungle is a living being, harassed by those men trying to steal its treasures; but it takes revenge in different ways, with poisonous plants, swarms of mosquitoes, fierce animals and with the enchantment of mysterious creatures,...
Loosely inspired by the novel “Caribal: El Infierno Verde” by Mexican novelist-diplomat Rafael Bernal, “Tragic Jungle” is set in 1920 on the border between Mexico and Belize. It is here where a ragtag band of Mexican gum workers come across a mysterious young Belizean woman on the run, played by local actor Indira Rubie Adrewin in her film debut. Her mute presence arouses both tensions and desire in equal measure. Unbeknownst to them, they face the mythical Mayan seductress Xtabay, who preys on unsuspecting men in the jungle.
Netflix bows its trailer exclusively in Variety.
“The jungle is a living being, harassed by those men trying to steal its treasures; but it takes revenge in different ways, with poisonous plants, swarms of mosquitoes, fierce animals and with the enchantment of mysterious creatures,...
- 5/13/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Mexican virtual lab offers Usd 30,000 in cash prizes.
Spanish multiple Cannes award winner Olivier Laxe and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso are among participants in the expanded third Mexican project lab Catapulta set to run as an entirely virtual event from March 24-27.
Scroll to bottom to see all lab participants
Laxe, whose Fire Will Come won the Cannes Un Certain Regard jury prize in 2019 and followed a 2016 Critics’ Week grand prize for Mimosas and the 2010 Fipresci award for Directors’ Fortnight selection You Are All Captains, takes part in the new development programme.
His project After (France) follows a man and...
Spanish multiple Cannes award winner Olivier Laxe and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso are among participants in the expanded third Mexican project lab Catapulta set to run as an entirely virtual event from March 24-27.
Scroll to bottom to see all lab participants
Laxe, whose Fire Will Come won the Cannes Un Certain Regard jury prize in 2019 and followed a 2016 Critics’ Week grand prize for Mimosas and the 2010 Fipresci award for Directors’ Fortnight selection You Are All Captains, takes part in the new development programme.
His project After (France) follows a man and...
- 3/22/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Mexican virtual lab offers Usd 30,000 in cash prizes.
Spanish multiple Cannes award winner Olivier Laxe, US auteur Rick Alverson and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso are among participants in the expanded third Mexican project lab Catapulta set to run as an entirely virtual event from March 24-27.
Scroll to bottom to see all lab participants
Laxe, whose Fire Will Come won the Cannes Un Certain Regard jury prize in 2019 and followed a 2016 Critics’ Week grand prize for Mimosas and the 2010 Fipresci award for Directors’ Fortnight selection You Are All Captains, takes part in the new development programme.
His project After (France...
Spanish multiple Cannes award winner Olivier Laxe, US auteur Rick Alverson and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso are among participants in the expanded third Mexican project lab Catapulta set to run as an entirely virtual event from March 24-27.
Scroll to bottom to see all lab participants
Laxe, whose Fire Will Come won the Cannes Un Certain Regard jury prize in 2019 and followed a 2016 Critics’ Week grand prize for Mimosas and the 2010 Fipresci award for Directors’ Fortnight selection You Are All Captains, takes part in the new development programme.
His project After (France...
- 3/22/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
France’s Manny Films has boarded Chilean feature “Maybe It Is True What They Are Saying About Us,” and will co-produce alongside leading Chilean independent label Storyboard Media and Argentina’s Murillo Cine, whose credits include Cannes sidebar entries “The Snatch Thief” and “Land of Ashes.”
“We are thrilled that Manny Films is joining as a co-producer on this exciting film,” Storyboard’s Carlos Nuñez told Variety. “Their involvement will go a long way in our continued efforts to promote this project internationally. Our idea is now to film later this year.”
Manny’s history of working with top Latin American talent is long and lauded. The company has co-produced award-winning fare such as Cannes players “Ardor” from Pablo Fendrik and “The Chosen Ones” from David Pablos, Venice competition player “Compañeros” from Alvaro Brechner and last year’s best film in a foreign language winner “Tragic Jungle” from Yulene Olaizola.
“We are thrilled that Manny Films is joining as a co-producer on this exciting film,” Storyboard’s Carlos Nuñez told Variety. “Their involvement will go a long way in our continued efforts to promote this project internationally. Our idea is now to film later this year.”
Manny’s history of working with top Latin American talent is long and lauded. The company has co-produced award-winning fare such as Cannes players “Ardor” from Pablo Fendrik and “The Chosen Ones” from David Pablos, Venice competition player “Compañeros” from Alvaro Brechner and last year’s best film in a foreign language winner “Tragic Jungle” from Yulene Olaizola.
- 3/5/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Lab open to global filmmakers. Prior projects include 2019 Cannes Critics’ Week entry Land Of Ashes.
Mexican project lab Catapulta, whose prior submissions include Yulene Olaizola’s 2020 Venice selection Tragic Jungle, has set March 24-27 for its online third edition during the 11th Ficunam film festival in Mexico City.
Whereas Catapulta only showcased films in post-production in its first two outings, the lab is expanding this year to encompass development projects with a $10,000 award on offer for the winner.
Catapulta First Cut will select up to six fiction, animation or documentary features in the editing or post-production stage.
The section will award a $5,000 prize,...
Mexican project lab Catapulta, whose prior submissions include Yulene Olaizola’s 2020 Venice selection Tragic Jungle, has set March 24-27 for its online third edition during the 11th Ficunam film festival in Mexico City.
Whereas Catapulta only showcased films in post-production in its first two outings, the lab is expanding this year to encompass development projects with a $10,000 award on offer for the winner.
Catapulta First Cut will select up to six fiction, animation or documentary features in the editing or post-production stage.
The section will award a $5,000 prize,...
- 1/29/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Ben Sharrock’s “Limbo” was named the best film at the closing event Tuesday of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao. Japanese auteur Koreeda Hirokazu was bestowed with the festival’s Spirit of Cinema honorary award.
The film follows a Syrian refugee in a remote Scottish island as he awaits his asylum application to be processed and his arm to heal allowing him to play his musical instrument. It was previously selected for the Cannes festival.
The IFFAM jury, headed by mainland Chinese director Ning Hao, made a unanimous decision before awarding the $60,000 prize to Sharrock, who also won the best screenplay award. “It was a thought-provoking piece of work, because of its in-depth exploration of society and also the relationship between culture and humanity. Combined with the director’s unique film language and a modern artistic style, it magically blends together and gives the audience unforgettable pleasure and enjoyment of all senses,...
The film follows a Syrian refugee in a remote Scottish island as he awaits his asylum application to be processed and his arm to heal allowing him to play his musical instrument. It was previously selected for the Cannes festival.
The IFFAM jury, headed by mainland Chinese director Ning Hao, made a unanimous decision before awarding the $60,000 prize to Sharrock, who also won the best screenplay award. “It was a thought-provoking piece of work, because of its in-depth exploration of society and also the relationship between culture and humanity. Combined with the director’s unique film language and a modern artistic style, it magically blends together and gives the audience unforgettable pleasure and enjoyment of all senses,...
- 12/8/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Under the rhythmic hacking of machetes, the zig-zag gashes in the trees look like wounds, exposing the bark’s red flesh and the raw, bone-white wood within. The men clinging to the trunks with rope slings and crude crampons are chicleros, collecting the bright white sap that oozes from the trees to boil into chicle, a rubbery substance that, back in 1920 when Yulene Olaizola’s bewitching “Tragic Jungle” is set, was used to make chewing gum. Gum is no longer manufactured that way, and British Honduras, where the stealthy, mysterious story takes place, became Belize in 1971, but as far in the past as those events may be, the strange, slow currents of this darkly lyrical drama seem older still — as ancient as the jungle itself, which acts, more than any of the human characters, as the film’s impervious, omniscient protagonist.
Agnes (Indira Rubie Andrewin), a beautiful young English-speaking Belizean woman,...
Agnes (Indira Rubie Andrewin), a beautiful young English-speaking Belizean woman,...
- 11/25/2020
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut “Falling” and the already acclaimed Chinese film “The Cloud in her Room” form part of the 11-title competition section announced by the International Film Festival & Awards Macao. The festival will take place entirely online this year, running Dec. 3-8.
The competition, which focuses on first and second films, also includes: Wang Xiaozhen’s “Love Poem,” which won the top prize at the First International Film Festival this year; Jeonju prize-winner “Black Light,” by Bae Jongdae; Cannes 2020 Label titles “Limbo,” by the U.K.’s Ben Sharrock, “Spring Blossom” by France’s Suzanne Lindon, and “Sweat” by Magnus von Horn; and “Back To The Wharf,” by China’s Li Xiaofeng.
Three other titles joining the competition are: “Servants,” by Ivan Ostrochovsky of the Czech Republic; “Shorta,” by Frederik Louis Hviid and Anders Olholm from Denmark; and “Tragic Jungle,” by Yulene Olaizola, from Mexico.
Prizes will be...
The competition, which focuses on first and second films, also includes: Wang Xiaozhen’s “Love Poem,” which won the top prize at the First International Film Festival this year; Jeonju prize-winner “Black Light,” by Bae Jongdae; Cannes 2020 Label titles “Limbo,” by the U.K.’s Ben Sharrock, “Spring Blossom” by France’s Suzanne Lindon, and “Sweat” by Magnus von Horn; and “Back To The Wharf,” by China’s Li Xiaofeng.
Three other titles joining the competition are: “Servants,” by Ivan Ostrochovsky of the Czech Republic; “Shorta,” by Frederik Louis Hviid and Anders Olholm from Denmark; and “Tragic Jungle,” by Yulene Olaizola, from Mexico.
Prizes will be...
- 11/10/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Programme includes competition section of 11 features from first and second-time directors.
The International Film Festival & Awards Macao (Iffam) has confirmed that it is moving online for its fifth edition (December 3-8) and announced its full programme, including an international competition for first and second-time filmmakers.
The competition line-up of 11 features including actor Viggo Mortensen’s directing debut Falling; Cannes 2020 Label titles Limbo, Spring Blossom and Sweat; Jeonju film festival winner Black Light; and Chinese titles Love Poem, which won the top prize at this year’s First International Film Festival, and The Cloud In Her Room, which took the Tiger...
The International Film Festival & Awards Macao (Iffam) has confirmed that it is moving online for its fifth edition (December 3-8) and announced its full programme, including an international competition for first and second-time filmmakers.
The competition line-up of 11 features including actor Viggo Mortensen’s directing debut Falling; Cannes 2020 Label titles Limbo, Spring Blossom and Sweat; Jeonju film festival winner Black Light; and Chinese titles Love Poem, which won the top prize at this year’s First International Film Festival, and The Cloud In Her Room, which took the Tiger...
- 11/10/2020
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Forced to revamp in the wake of Germany’s second coronavirus lockdown in November, the International Filmfest Mannheim-Heidelberg is taking place online this year as Iffmh Expanded with two-thirds of its original lineup accessible to virtual festgoers.
The 69th edition of the festival, which marks the debut of a new team headed by director Sascha Keilholz, includes new and revised sections, among them On the Rise, the international competition that showcases first to third works by outstanding directors.
Curated by head of program Frédéric Jaeger, this year’s On the Rise competition includes such pics as “Una Promessa,” Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio’s tale of nightmarish exploitation in southern Italy (pictured); Saskia Walker and Ralf Walker’s German free love drama “Come Closer,” in which the directing duo co-star with Devid Striesow (“I’m Off Then”); Igor Polevichko’s Russian thriller “Get it Right”; Sabrina Doyle’s U.S. relationship drama “Lorelei,...
The 69th edition of the festival, which marks the debut of a new team headed by director Sascha Keilholz, includes new and revised sections, among them On the Rise, the international competition that showcases first to third works by outstanding directors.
Curated by head of program Frédéric Jaeger, this year’s On the Rise competition includes such pics as “Una Promessa,” Gianluca and Massimiliano De Serio’s tale of nightmarish exploitation in southern Italy (pictured); Saskia Walker and Ralf Walker’s German free love drama “Come Closer,” in which the directing duo co-star with Devid Striesow (“I’m Off Then”); Igor Polevichko’s Russian thriller “Get it Right”; Sabrina Doyle’s U.S. relationship drama “Lorelei,...
- 11/9/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
‘Tragic Jungle’ Is An Alluring Mexican Adventure Centered On Black & Indigenous People [NYFF Review]
Lush foliage paves the frames of Mexican director Yulene Olaizola’s entrancing feature “Tragic Jungle.” Backdrop to violence and the supernatural, the eponymous ecosystem traps us in its mystifying maw for an alluring adventure centered on Black and Indigenous characters—an infrequent sight in the country’s filmic output.
Played by first-time Belizean actress Indira Rubie Andrewin, Agnes is a young woman crossing the Hondo River to escape a much older English cacique she’s expected to marry.
Continue reading ‘Tragic Jungle’ Is An Alluring Mexican Adventure Centered On Black & Indigenous People [NYFF Review] at The Playlist.
Played by first-time Belizean actress Indira Rubie Andrewin, Agnes is a young woman crossing the Hondo River to escape a much older English cacique she’s expected to marry.
Continue reading ‘Tragic Jungle’ Is An Alluring Mexican Adventure Centered On Black & Indigenous People [NYFF Review] at The Playlist.
- 10/13/2020
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Playlist
by Jason Adams
M. Night Shyamalan's name has become synonymous with cinematic puzzlery, but there can be a dulling obviousness to the way he approaches the concept of Mystery, at least in his weakest moments. He genuinely thinks he can explain the unexplainable. His "twists" mostly seem to mash the Unknown into tight little balls we can hold in our hand to exit the theater with. And so it's only the opening passages of his film The Happening, about Mother Nature seeking vengeance against the humans who've abused her so, that retain any sort of power -- Shyamalan spends the remainder of that film piling plot contrivances on top of his original interesting idea until it's the audience who can't breath from the sheer weight of nonsense pouring off the screen.
I'll admit I thought of The Happening while watching the breeze move gently through the rainforest trees of...
M. Night Shyamalan's name has become synonymous with cinematic puzzlery, but there can be a dulling obviousness to the way he approaches the concept of Mystery, at least in his weakest moments. He genuinely thinks he can explain the unexplainable. His "twists" mostly seem to mash the Unknown into tight little balls we can hold in our hand to exit the theater with. And so it's only the opening passages of his film The Happening, about Mother Nature seeking vengeance against the humans who've abused her so, that retain any sort of power -- Shyamalan spends the remainder of that film piling plot contrivances on top of his original interesting idea until it's the audience who can't breath from the sheer weight of nonsense pouring off the screen.
I'll admit I thought of The Happening while watching the breeze move gently through the rainforest trees of...
- 10/10/2020
- by JA
- FilmExperience
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
’70s Horror
A horror lineup perfectly timed for Halloween, The Criterion Channel is spotlighting ’70s classics and underseen gems, including Abel Ferrara’s The Driller Killer, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, early films by David Cronenberg, Wes Craven, and Brian De Palma, Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess, and more. It’s an epic collection of essentials and the ideal way to kick off an unprecedented Halloween that should be spent in isolation. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Downhill (Nat Faxon and Jim Rash)
Even though Faxon and Rash pay their respects to the original—sometimes mimicking specific scenes and capturing the claustrophobic...
’70s Horror
A horror lineup perfectly timed for Halloween, The Criterion Channel is spotlighting ’70s classics and underseen gems, including Abel Ferrara’s The Driller Killer, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, early films by David Cronenberg, Wes Craven, and Brian De Palma, Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess, and more. It’s an epic collection of essentials and the ideal way to kick off an unprecedented Halloween that should be spent in isolation. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Downhill (Nat Faxon and Jim Rash)
Even though Faxon and Rash pay their respects to the original—sometimes mimicking specific scenes and capturing the claustrophobic...
- 10/9/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSDisney has announced that Barry Jenkins will helm the live-action The Lion King sequel, which reportedly includes "Mufasa's origin story."Speaking of sequels, Chinese authorities have approved the production of a project written by Wong Kar-wai, curiously titled Chungking Express 2020. The synopsis states that at least a portion of the film will take place in 2036, where "young Xiao Qian and May are unwilling to be held back by genetic partnerings, and insist on finding their own ‘destiny’.”Festival season persists: The Cannes Film Festival will be hosting a three-day "Special Cannes" event in October that will feature the screening of four Official Selections, in-competition short films, and the Cinéfondation’s school films. This year's San Sebastian Film Festival concluded with the sweep of Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili’s debut feature Beginning, which received four of seven jury prizes.
- 9/30/2020
- MUBI
A teaser is meant to, well, tease. Though that definition has changed over the years, as modern teasers have been known to be bonafide trailers that spoil major plot points and leave little to the imagination. That is most definitely not the case for the new teaser for the upcoming festival film, “Tragic Jungle.”
Read More: NYFF 2020: 12 Most Anticipated Films You Need See
With “Tragic Jungle” arriving stateside for its North American premiere at this year’s New York Film Festival, we are thrilled to offer our readers an exclusive look at the first teaser for the beautiful film.
Continue reading ‘Tragic Jungle’ Exclusive Teaser: Yulene Olaizola’s Lush Thriller Is Coming To This Year’s NYFF at The Playlist.
Read More: NYFF 2020: 12 Most Anticipated Films You Need See
With “Tragic Jungle” arriving stateside for its North American premiere at this year’s New York Film Festival, we are thrilled to offer our readers an exclusive look at the first teaser for the beautiful film.
Continue reading ‘Tragic Jungle’ Exclusive Teaser: Yulene Olaizola’s Lush Thriller Is Coming To This Year’s NYFF at The Playlist.
- 9/29/2020
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Machetes, myths and murky storytelling all find their way into Tragic Jungle (Selva Trágica), a lushly made if highly enigmatic fifth feature from Mexican writer-director Yulene Olaizola (Fogo) that screened in the main slate of the New York Film Festival after premiering in the Horizons section in Venice.
Gorgeously shot by cinematographer Sofía Oggini, who lensed the award-winning 2018 Cannes film Los Silencios, this minimalist period piece follows several characters wandering the dense tropical forests between Mexico and Belize, a place where man, nature and Mayan folklore fuse together in unsettling ways.
Like the recent South American colonial tales Embrace of the ...
Gorgeously shot by cinematographer Sofía Oggini, who lensed the award-winning 2018 Cannes film Los Silencios, this minimalist period piece follows several characters wandering the dense tropical forests between Mexico and Belize, a place where man, nature and Mayan folklore fuse together in unsettling ways.
Like the recent South American colonial tales Embrace of the ...
- 9/25/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Machetes, myths and murky storytelling all find their way into Tragic Jungle (Selva Trágica), the lushly made, if highly enigmatic, fifth feature from Mexican writer-director Yulene Olaizola (Fogo), which screened in the main slate of the New York Film Festival after premiering in the Horizons section in Venice.
Gorgeously shot by cinematographer Sofía Oggioni, who lensed the award-winning 2018 Cannes film Los Silencios, this minimalist period piece follows several characters wandering the dense tropical forests between Mexico and Belize, a place where man, nature and Mayan folklore fuse together in unsettling ways.
Like the recent South American colonial tales Embrace of the ...
Gorgeously shot by cinematographer Sofía Oggioni, who lensed the award-winning 2018 Cannes film Los Silencios, this minimalist period piece follows several characters wandering the dense tropical forests between Mexico and Belize, a place where man, nature and Mayan folklore fuse together in unsettling ways.
Like the recent South American colonial tales Embrace of the ...
- 9/25/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Director Yulene Olaizola might have already worked on a number of films over the course of her still young career, but nothing could prepare the Mexican filmmaker for what she would encounter with her latest, “Tragic Jungle.”
A 1920’s-set, mythology-influenced chase film set on the verdant border between Mexico and Belize, this Mexican-French-Colombian co-production, which premiered in Venice earlier this month before heading to San Sebastian and New York, marked a serious scale-up for the rising director.
“I’ve shot films with crews of only two people, so it’s totally different to do so with sixty people from different countries that speak different languages,” Olaizola tells Variety. “It is exhausting!”
“I think the director has to transmit the right energy to everybody,” she continues. “If the director is tired the rest of the crew will be tired as well. So you always have to be the first one to transmit that energy.
A 1920’s-set, mythology-influenced chase film set on the verdant border between Mexico and Belize, this Mexican-French-Colombian co-production, which premiered in Venice earlier this month before heading to San Sebastian and New York, marked a serious scale-up for the rising director.
“I’ve shot films with crews of only two people, so it’s totally different to do so with sixty people from different countries that speak different languages,” Olaizola tells Variety. “It is exhausting!”
“I think the director has to transmit the right energy to everybody,” she continues. “If the director is tired the rest of the crew will be tired as well. So you always have to be the first one to transmit that energy.
- 9/23/2020
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Fluid and far-reaching, the Rio Hondo snakes between Mexico and what was once British Honduras (now Belize). Terrain on both sides is dominated by the dense Mayan rainforest, rendering moot any notion of borders or nation-states. Yulene Olaizola’s mysterious and confounding Tragic Jungle takes place in the year 1920 when this hostile region played host to a bustling gum trade spurred in equal parts by colonialism and capitalism.
In the film’s epic opening scene, a group of Mexican laborers ascend massive Zapote trees and carve out deep track marks allowing white resin to slowly flow down the trunks. One of the workers sends his cryptic thoughts out into the lush environment through voice-over, almost as if he were beginning to realize how these manmade scars could potentially provoke a vengeful mythical response from Mother Nature.
Moments later, a young Belizean woman named Agnes (Indira Rubie Adrewin) dressed entirely in...
In the film’s epic opening scene, a group of Mexican laborers ascend massive Zapote trees and carve out deep track marks allowing white resin to slowly flow down the trunks. One of the workers sends his cryptic thoughts out into the lush environment through voice-over, almost as if he were beginning to realize how these manmade scars could potentially provoke a vengeful mythical response from Mother Nature.
Moments later, a young Belizean woman named Agnes (Indira Rubie Adrewin) dressed entirely in...
- 9/11/2020
- by Glenn Heath Jr.
- The Film Stage
There is a beguiling quality to Yulene Olaizola's historical drama, which has certainly charmed festival programmers this autumn, with the film premiering in the Orizzonti section of Venice before going on to find berths at San Sebastian and New York.
Set in the jungle that separates Mexico and British Honduras (now Belize) of the 1920s, things get off to a promising start. Firstly, there's the lush cinematography from Sofia Oggioni that highlights the natural and the wild. Then there's the sporadically used voice-over, which gives proceedings a poetic sweep and offers portentous observations, such as, "The jungle gives you plenty but takes from you also". The set-up also generates tension as a young British Honduran woman, Agnes (Indira Andrewin) and her sister Florence (Shantai Obispo), flee the much older white man Agnes is due to marry, prompting a deadly hunt for her.
Elsewhere in the jungle, a group of men are.
Set in the jungle that separates Mexico and British Honduras (now Belize) of the 1920s, things get off to a promising start. Firstly, there's the lush cinematography from Sofia Oggioni that highlights the natural and the wild. Then there's the sporadically used voice-over, which gives proceedings a poetic sweep and offers portentous observations, such as, "The jungle gives you plenty but takes from you also". The set-up also generates tension as a young British Honduran woman, Agnes (Indira Andrewin) and her sister Florence (Shantai Obispo), flee the much older white man Agnes is due to marry, prompting a deadly hunt for her.
Elsewhere in the jungle, a group of men are.
- 9/9/2020
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
One intriguing title that has caught our eye on the fall festival slate this year is Tragic Jungle (Selva trágica), the fifth feature from director Yulene Olaizola. Set to premiere this week at Venice Film Festival in the Orizzonti competition, it’ll soon head to the 58th New York Film Festival where it is part of the Main Slate selection. Set in 1920 in the border between Mexico and Belize, the film follows a group of Mexican gum workers who cross paths with Agnes, a beautiful and mysterious Belizean woman. Ahead of the premiere, the first trailer and poster have now arrived.
“The film is set in the early 1920s on the Mexico-Belize border during the years of gum extraction in the region; gum workers penetrated deep into the jungle for as long as eight months at a time,” said the director. “Tragic Jungle takes viewers into this hostile environment, absorbing...
“The film is set in the early 1920s on the Mexico-Belize border during the years of gum extraction in the region; gum workers penetrated deep into the jungle for as long as eight months at a time,” said the director. “Tragic Jungle takes viewers into this hostile environment, absorbing...
- 9/8/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
First posted on August 13, updated on August 27 with new additions. This year’s New York Film Festival has announced its main slate, as well as plans to begin a week earlier than originally announced to accommodate its plans for drive-in screenings. The festival will run September 17 through October 11, and will include a robust main slate of 25 feature films. That selection, announced today, includes a variety of new films from a number of established masters and rising stars.
The slate boasts a deep selection of documentaries, including Garrett Bradley’s black-and-white social justice effort “Time” and Victor Kossakovsky’s Berlin entry “Gunda” (which follows a particularly special pig), Sam Pollard’s “MLK/FBI” (also set for a TIFF premiere and part of the Telluride lineup), and nonagenarian documentary maverick Frederick Wiseman’s latest deep dive, “City Hall.” And non-fiction veteran Heidi Ewing offers up a hybrid approach with her Sundance-acclaimed immigration...
The slate boasts a deep selection of documentaries, including Garrett Bradley’s black-and-white social justice effort “Time” and Victor Kossakovsky’s Berlin entry “Gunda” (which follows a particularly special pig), Sam Pollard’s “MLK/FBI” (also set for a TIFF premiere and part of the Telluride lineup), and nonagenarian documentary maverick Frederick Wiseman’s latest deep dive, “City Hall.” And non-fiction veteran Heidi Ewing offers up a hybrid approach with her Sundance-acclaimed immigration...
- 8/27/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Nineteen French feature films, including minority coproductions, will screen at the 77th edition of the Venice Film Festival, which runs Sept. 2-12. There are also four short films produced by France, and six French VR productions.
Nicole Garcia will represent France in the Official Competition with “Lovers,” her ninth feature film. She will be joined in the section by Amos Gitaï, whose film “Laila in Haifa” is a majority-French coproduction.
In addition to those movies, six films majority produced or coproduced by France will be showcased at the festival. They include Quentin Dupieux’s “Mandibules,” presented out of competition, and “Princesse Europe” by Camille Lotteau, to be shown in a special screening. The competitive Orizzonti section features four majority-French films.
“Honey Cigar” plays in Giornate degli Autori, a sidebar event.
Majority-French Feature Films in Venice
“Lovers”
Section: In Competition
Director: Nicole Garcia
Cast: Stacy Martin, Pierre Niney, Benoît Magimel
Sales:...
Nicole Garcia will represent France in the Official Competition with “Lovers,” her ninth feature film. She will be joined in the section by Amos Gitaï, whose film “Laila in Haifa” is a majority-French coproduction.
In addition to those movies, six films majority produced or coproduced by France will be showcased at the festival. They include Quentin Dupieux’s “Mandibules,” presented out of competition, and “Princesse Europe” by Camille Lotteau, to be shown in a special screening. The competitive Orizzonti section features four majority-French films.
“Honey Cigar” plays in Giornate degli Autori, a sidebar event.
Majority-French Feature Films in Venice
“Lovers”
Section: In Competition
Director: Nicole Garcia
Cast: Stacy Martin, Pierre Niney, Benoît Magimel
Sales:...
- 8/27/2020
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Yulene Olaizola’s “Tragic Jungle,” Natalia Meta’s “The Intruder” and Clarisa Navas’ “One in a Thousand” will compete in the San Sebastian Film Festival’s Latinos Horizontes, a showcase of standout recent movies from Latin America that this year underscores the emergence or consolidation of a new generation of female filmmakers in Latin America.
In all, women direct or co-direct seven of the nine features in Horizontes Latinos, a section which also features two world premieres: “La Verónica,” from Chile’s Leonardo Medel; and “Unlimited Edition,” co-directed by Virginia Cosín, Edgardo Cozarinsky, Santiago Loza and Romina Paula.
Certainly, this year’s San Sebastian makes no claim via its selection to women having suddenly taken over the Latin American industry: Four of the five titles from the region in other sections, including main competition (Argentine Eduardo Crespo’s “Nosotros Nunca Moriremos”) and New Directors (Brazilian João Paulo Miranda’s “Memory House”) are made by men.
In all, women direct or co-direct seven of the nine features in Horizontes Latinos, a section which also features two world premieres: “La Verónica,” from Chile’s Leonardo Medel; and “Unlimited Edition,” co-directed by Virginia Cosín, Edgardo Cozarinsky, Santiago Loza and Romina Paula.
Certainly, this year’s San Sebastian makes no claim via its selection to women having suddenly taken over the Latin American industry: Four of the five titles from the region in other sections, including main competition (Argentine Eduardo Crespo’s “Nosotros Nunca Moriremos”) and New Directors (Brazilian João Paulo Miranda’s “Memory House”) are made by men.
- 8/21/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Notturno (Nocturne) director Gianfranco Rosi Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Film at Lincoln Center has announced that Christian Petzold’s Undine, starring Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski, Hong Sangsoo’s The Woman Who Ran with Kim Minhee, Eugène Green’s Atarrabi & Mikelats with brothers Saia Hiriart and Lukas Hiriart, and Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno (Nocturne) will be among the Main Slate selections of the 58th New York Film Festival.
Undine director Christian Petzold Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
These highlights join the Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing selections Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock, Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, and Azazel Jacobs’s French Exit. Dea Kulumbegashvili’s Beginning, Song Fang’s The Calming, Frederick Wiseman’s City Hall, Matías Piñeiro’s Isabella, Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog, Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI, Tsai Ming-liang’s Days, Chaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple, Victor Kossakovsky’s Gunda, Philippe Lacôte’s Night Of The Kings, Philippe Garrel’s The Salt Of Tears,...
Film at Lincoln Center has announced that Christian Petzold’s Undine, starring Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski, Hong Sangsoo’s The Woman Who Ran with Kim Minhee, Eugène Green’s Atarrabi & Mikelats with brothers Saia Hiriart and Lukas Hiriart, and Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno (Nocturne) will be among the Main Slate selections of the 58th New York Film Festival.
Undine director Christian Petzold Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
These highlights join the Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing selections Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock, Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, and Azazel Jacobs’s French Exit. Dea Kulumbegashvili’s Beginning, Song Fang’s The Calming, Frederick Wiseman’s City Hall, Matías Piñeiro’s Isabella, Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog, Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI, Tsai Ming-liang’s Days, Chaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple, Victor Kossakovsky’s Gunda, Philippe Lacôte’s Night Of The Kings, Philippe Garrel’s The Salt Of Tears,...
- 8/13/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Dates moved forward to September 17–October 11 to expand access via drive-in screenings.
Three films from Steve McQueen’s BBC/Amazon Small Axe anthology examining London’s West Indian community over several decades will screen at the 58th New York Film Festival (NYFF) as organisers announced the Main Slate on Thursday (August 13).
Festival brass have moved the festival forward by one week to September 17–October 11 to expand access to the festival via drive-in screenings.
McQueen’s Lovers Rock (pictured) was previously unveiled as the opening night selection and is joined by Mangrove and Red, White And Blue, the latter of which...
Three films from Steve McQueen’s BBC/Amazon Small Axe anthology examining London’s West Indian community over several decades will screen at the 58th New York Film Festival (NYFF) as organisers announced the Main Slate on Thursday (August 13).
Festival brass have moved the festival forward by one week to September 17–October 11 to expand access to the festival via drive-in screenings.
McQueen’s Lovers Rock (pictured) was previously unveiled as the opening night selection and is joined by Mangrove and Red, White And Blue, the latter of which...
- 8/13/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
The New York Film Festival has finalized its main slate of 25 films and expanded the dates of this year’s event in order to accommodate drive-in screenings.
The 58th edition of the festival will start a week earlier than it had planned, on September 17, and run through October 11. Drawing from 19 countries, the slate includes Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno, Frederick Wiseman’s City Hall; Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI, Garrett Bradley’s Time, Victor Kossakovsky’s Gunda, Jia Zhangke’s Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, and Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s The Truffle Hunters.
Hong Sangsoo will have his 15th film screen at NYFF, The Woman Who Ran. Other returning filmmakers include Rosi, Jia and Pollard as well as Christian Petzold, Song Fang, Eugène Green, Cristi Puiu, Matías Piñeiro, Tsai Ming-liang, Philippe Garrel and Chloé Zhao.
The festival previously announced Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock as the Opening...
The 58th edition of the festival will start a week earlier than it had planned, on September 17, and run through October 11. Drawing from 19 countries, the slate includes Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno, Frederick Wiseman’s City Hall; Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI, Garrett Bradley’s Time, Victor Kossakovsky’s Gunda, Jia Zhangke’s Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, and Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s The Truffle Hunters.
Hong Sangsoo will have his 15th film screen at NYFF, The Woman Who Ran. Other returning filmmakers include Rosi, Jia and Pollard as well as Christian Petzold, Song Fang, Eugène Green, Cristi Puiu, Matías Piñeiro, Tsai Ming-liang, Philippe Garrel and Chloé Zhao.
The festival previously announced Steve McQueen’s Lovers Rock as the Opening...
- 8/13/2020
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Kicking off a week earlier than usual, the 58th New York Film Festival will take place September 17 through October 11 with a mix of drive-in and virtual screenings. We now have our first glimpse at the expanded lineup with the arrival of its Main Slate, comprising 25 films from 19 countries.
A best-of-the-best for festival favorites of this strange year, it also includes some new selections landing at Venice and TIFF, as well as a handful of world premieres. Representing a wide range of world cinema, there’s work by Garrett Bradley, Philippe Garrel, Eugène Green, Hong Sangsoo, Jia Zhangke, Victor Kossakovsky, Steve McQueen, Christian Petzold, Matías Piñeiro, Cristi Puiu, Gianfranco Rosi, Chaitanya Tamhane, Tsai Ming-liang, Frederick Wiseman, Chloé Zhao, and more.
“The disorientation and uncertainty of this tough year had the effect of returning us to core principles,” said Dennis Lim, NYFF’s Director of Programming. “To put it simply, the Main...
A best-of-the-best for festival favorites of this strange year, it also includes some new selections landing at Venice and TIFF, as well as a handful of world premieres. Representing a wide range of world cinema, there’s work by Garrett Bradley, Philippe Garrel, Eugène Green, Hong Sangsoo, Jia Zhangke, Victor Kossakovsky, Steve McQueen, Christian Petzold, Matías Piñeiro, Cristi Puiu, Gianfranco Rosi, Chaitanya Tamhane, Tsai Ming-liang, Frederick Wiseman, Chloé Zhao, and more.
“The disorientation and uncertainty of this tough year had the effect of returning us to core principles,” said Dennis Lim, NYFF’s Director of Programming. “To put it simply, the Main...
- 8/13/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The New York Film Festival unveiled the main slate for its 58th edition on Thursday.
This year’s selections showcases titles from 19 different countries and spotlights both emerging and veteran talent. A number of documentaries will debut at the festival, including Gianfranco Rosi’s “Notturno,” an immersive look at war-torn countries Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon; Frederick Wiseman’s “City Hall,” exploring the scenes of Boston’s local government; and Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” an intimate portrait of mass incarceration in America.
The festival is lacking participation from many major studios, such as Warner Bros. and Netflix, partly due to the fact that coronavirus has upended awards season. Last year’s edition included screenings of such major Oscar contenders as “Marriage Story” and “The Irishman,” and nothing on this year’s slate seems to be equally buzzy.
As previously announced, Steve McQueen’s “Lovers Rock” is the opening night film,...
This year’s selections showcases titles from 19 different countries and spotlights both emerging and veteran talent. A number of documentaries will debut at the festival, including Gianfranco Rosi’s “Notturno,” an immersive look at war-torn countries Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon; Frederick Wiseman’s “City Hall,” exploring the scenes of Boston’s local government; and Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” an intimate portrait of mass incarceration in America.
The festival is lacking participation from many major studios, such as Warner Bros. and Netflix, partly due to the fact that coronavirus has upended awards season. Last year’s edition included screenings of such major Oscar contenders as “Marriage Story” and “The Irishman,” and nothing on this year’s slate seems to be equally buzzy.
As previously announced, Steve McQueen’s “Lovers Rock” is the opening night film,...
- 8/13/2020
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Wife of a SpyThe programme for the 2020 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Gia Coppola, Lav Diaz, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Alice Rohrwacher, Gianfranco Rosi, Frederick Wiseman, Chloé Zhao, and more.COMPETITIONIn Between Dying (Hilal Baydarov)Le sorelle Macluso (Emma Dante)The World to Come (Mona Fastvold)Nuevo Orden (Michel Franco)Lovers (Nicole Garcia)Laila in Haifa (Amos Gitai)Dear Comrades (Andrei Konchalovsky)Wife of a Spy (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)Sun Children (Majid Majidi)Pieces of a Woman (Kornél Mundruczó)Miss Marx (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Padrenostro (Claudio Noce)Notturno (Gianfranco Rosi)Never Gonna Snow AgainThe Disciple (Chaitanya Tamhane)And Tomorrow The Entire World (Julia Von Heinz)Quo Vadis, Aida? (Jasmila Zbanic)Nomadland (Chloé Zhao)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesThe Ties (Daniele Luchetti)Lasciami Andare (Stefano Mordini)Mandibules (Quentin Dupieux)Love After Love (Ann Hui)Assandria (Salvatore Mereu)The Duke (Roger Michell)Night in Paradise (Park Hoon-jung)Mosquito...
- 8/3/2020
- MUBI
‘The Furnace.’
Writer-director Roderick MacKay’s debut feature The Furnace, an 1890s drama set during the gold rush in Western Australia, will have its world premiere in the Horizons section of the 77th Venice Film Festival.
Produced by Timothy White (I Am Mother) and Tenille Kennedy (H is for Happiness), the film follows Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek as a young Afghan cameleer who partners with Mal, a mysterious bushman (David Wenham) on the run with two Crown-marked gold bars.
Together the unlikely pair must outwit a zealous police sergeant and his troopers in a race to reach a secret furnace – the one place where they can safely reset the bars to remove the mark of the Crown.
The cast includes Jay Ryan, Erik Thomson (The Luminaries), Baykali Ganambarr (The Nightingale), Trevor Jamieson (Storm Boy), Mahesh Jadu (The Witcher) and Samson Coulter (Breath).
“I’m thrilled at this opportunity for the...
Writer-director Roderick MacKay’s debut feature The Furnace, an 1890s drama set during the gold rush in Western Australia, will have its world premiere in the Horizons section of the 77th Venice Film Festival.
Produced by Timothy White (I Am Mother) and Tenille Kennedy (H is for Happiness), the film follows Egyptian actor Ahmed Malek as a young Afghan cameleer who partners with Mal, a mysterious bushman (David Wenham) on the run with two Crown-marked gold bars.
Together the unlikely pair must outwit a zealous police sergeant and his troopers in a race to reach a secret furnace – the one place where they can safely reset the bars to remove the mark of the Crown.
The cast includes Jay Ryan, Erik Thomson (The Luminaries), Baykali Ganambarr (The Nightingale), Trevor Jamieson (Storm Boy), Mahesh Jadu (The Witcher) and Samson Coulter (Breath).
“I’m thrilled at this opportunity for the...
- 7/28/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Hot on the heels of the 2020 New York Film Festival releasing its first selection in Nomadland (taking the Centerpiece slot at the fest), Venice is chiming in as well. Not only are they also going to be showing Chloe Zhao’s movie, but the festival has in fact unveiled its entire lineup for this year. It’s a crop of titles that’s low on flashy name recognition, at least for now, but it’s an international group that should hopefully be cause for some celebration in the cinematic world. These days, that’s hard to come by, to say the least. Read on for the entire list… If there’s something else of note besides Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland at Venice right now, it’s either The Duke from Roger Michell, starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, or The World to Come. The former is a crime comedy, while...
- 7/28/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
This year’s pandemic-altered Venice Film Festival will include a record number of competition films directed by women, festival organizers announced on Tuesday. And two of those are also the only Hollywood studio films to make the competition lineup — Mona Fastvold’s “The World to Come” and Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland.”
In all, eight of the 18 competition features have a female director — an improvement from last year, when just two made the cut.
“Nomadland,” a drama starring Frances McDormand released by Searchlight Pictures, will simultaneously premiere through the Toronto Film Festival as well as through the New York Film Festival and the now-canceled Telluride fest (at a special drive-in screening in Southern California). Sony’s “The World to Come” stars Casey Affleck, Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston.
Also Read: Frances McDormand's 'Nomadland' to Get Joint World Premiere From Venice and Toronto Film Festivals
Other top titles screening out...
In all, eight of the 18 competition features have a female director — an improvement from last year, when just two made the cut.
“Nomadland,” a drama starring Frances McDormand released by Searchlight Pictures, will simultaneously premiere through the Toronto Film Festival as well as through the New York Film Festival and the now-canceled Telluride fest (at a special drive-in screening in Southern California). Sony’s “The World to Come” stars Casey Affleck, Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston.
Also Read: Frances McDormand's 'Nomadland' to Get Joint World Premiere From Venice and Toronto Film Festivals
Other top titles screening out...
- 7/28/2020
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
With Telluride Film Festival forced to cancel their yearly event, what is now the first of the major fall festivals, Venice, has announced their complete lineup. Along with Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, which was revealed yesterday, the lineup includes more of our most-anticipated films of the year, including Frederick Wiseman’s City Hall, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Wife of a Spy, Gia Coppola’s Mainstream, Abel Ferrara’s Sportin’ Life, Lav Diaz’s Genus Pan, Mona Fastvold’s The World to Come, Kornél Mundruczó’s Pieces of a Woman, Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno, and more.
There were also a few surprises in the lineup. Luca Guadagnino has directed a new documentary titled Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams, while Alice Rohrwacher and Jr have teamed for the new short film, Omelia Contadina. Quentin Dupieux’s Mandibules will also premiere out of competition.
In perhaps the best surprise of all, a new, recently uncovered film by Orson Welles,...
There were also a few surprises in the lineup. Luca Guadagnino has directed a new documentary titled Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams, while Alice Rohrwacher and Jr have teamed for the new short film, Omelia Contadina. Quentin Dupieux’s Mandibules will also premiere out of competition.
In perhaps the best surprise of all, a new, recently uncovered film by Orson Welles,...
- 7/28/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
While the coronavirus pandemic has canceled major festivals such as Cannes and Telluride, the 2020 Venice Film Festival is moving ahead as planned and will be the world’s first major film festival since Sundance and Berlin at the start of the year. Venice 2020’s main selection will be split into three sections: Venezia 77 (aka the main competition), Out of Competition, and Horizons. The titles selected for the main competition will compete for the Golden Lion, which was awarded last year to Todd Phillips’ “Joker.”
As previously announced, Daniele Luchetti’s drama “Lacci” will open the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 2. The movie is the first Italian title to open Venice in 11 years. The last Italian opener was Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baarìa” at the 2009 festival. “Lacci” is included in this year’s Out of Competition section. Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” follow-up “Nomadland” was also confirmed for a world premiere...
As previously announced, Daniele Luchetti’s drama “Lacci” will open the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 2. The movie is the first Italian title to open Venice in 11 years. The last Italian opener was Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baarìa” at the 2009 festival. “Lacci” is included in this year’s Out of Competition section. Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” follow-up “Nomadland” was also confirmed for a world premiere...
- 7/28/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The Venice Film Festival is unveiling the lineup of its 77th edition, which, barring complications, will be the first major international film event to hold a physical edition following the coronavirus crisis.
Previously announced titles include Chloé Zhao’s road drama “Nomadland,” starring Frances McDormand, which will screen at Venice and Toronto simultaneously on Sept. 11, in both cases preceded by virtual introductions.
The out-of-competition opener will be Italian director Daniele Luchetti’s anatomy of a marriage drama “Lacci” (“The Ties”) (pictured) starring Alba Rohrwacher (“Happy as Lazzaro”) and Luigi Lo Cascio (“The Traitor”) as the couple at the film’s center.
The virtual press conference is scheduled to begin at 11am Cet. This post will be updated live as films are revealed.
Venice Film Festival Lineup
In Competition
“In Between Dying,” Hilal Baydarov
“Le Sorelle Macaluso,” Emma Dante (Italy)
“The World to Come,” Mona Fastvold (U.S.)
“Nuevo Orden,” Michel Franco
“Lovers,...
Previously announced titles include Chloé Zhao’s road drama “Nomadland,” starring Frances McDormand, which will screen at Venice and Toronto simultaneously on Sept. 11, in both cases preceded by virtual introductions.
The out-of-competition opener will be Italian director Daniele Luchetti’s anatomy of a marriage drama “Lacci” (“The Ties”) (pictured) starring Alba Rohrwacher (“Happy as Lazzaro”) and Luigi Lo Cascio (“The Traitor”) as the couple at the film’s center.
The virtual press conference is scheduled to begin at 11am Cet. This post will be updated live as films are revealed.
Venice Film Festival Lineup
In Competition
“In Between Dying,” Hilal Baydarov
“Le Sorelle Macaluso,” Emma Dante (Italy)
“The World to Come,” Mona Fastvold (U.S.)
“Nuevo Orden,” Michel Franco
“Lovers,...
- 7/28/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Competition line-up includes films by Chloe Zhao, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Kornel Mandruczo and Andrei Konchalovsky.
The line-up of the 77th Venice Film Festival (September 2-12) has been announced.
Scroll down for the full line-up
The big talking points from this year’s selection include an improved gender split, with eight women selected for the competition section (compared to two last year), and a lack of major US projects. Venice will be one of the first major film festivals to take place as a physical event following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Among the big-name auteurs selected are Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), Michel Franco (Nuevo...
The line-up of the 77th Venice Film Festival (September 2-12) has been announced.
Scroll down for the full line-up
The big talking points from this year’s selection include an improved gender split, with eight women selected for the competition section (compared to two last year), and a lack of major US projects. Venice will be one of the first major film festivals to take place as a physical event following the Covid-19 outbreak.
Among the big-name auteurs selected are Chloe Zhao (Nomadland), Michel Franco (Nuevo...
- 7/28/2020
- by 1101184¦Orlando Parfitt¦38¦
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Im Global’s Latino sales subsidiary ramps up before Texas festival.
Mexican Rubén Imaz’s feature will receive its North American debut after the recent world premiere in Cartagena.
Tormentero centres on a retired fisherman who discovered an oil field in his village many years ago that caused his friends and neighbours to lose sight of their values and reject him.
Now alcoholic, schizophrenic and haunted by his past, the man sets out to reclaim the love and honour he lost decades ago after his fateful discovery.
Gabino Rodríguez stars with José Carlos Ruiz and Mónica Jiménez. Julio Bárcenas Sánchez served as producer alongside Imaz, Gerylee Polanco Uribe, Oscar Ruiz Navia, Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas.
“Ruben is a filmmaker I have admired since my time at Canana Distribution, when we released his first film Familia Tortuga,” Mundial general manager Cristina Garza, who made the announcement on Monday, said.
“When...
Mexican Rubén Imaz’s feature will receive its North American debut after the recent world premiere in Cartagena.
Tormentero centres on a retired fisherman who discovered an oil field in his village many years ago that caused his friends and neighbours to lose sight of their values and reject him.
Now alcoholic, schizophrenic and haunted by his past, the man sets out to reclaim the love and honour he lost decades ago after his fateful discovery.
Gabino Rodríguez stars with José Carlos Ruiz and Mónica Jiménez. Julio Bárcenas Sánchez served as producer alongside Imaz, Gerylee Polanco Uribe, Oscar Ruiz Navia, Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas.
“Ruben is a filmmaker I have admired since my time at Canana Distribution, when we released his first film Familia Tortuga,” Mundial general manager Cristina Garza, who made the announcement on Monday, said.
“When...
- 3/6/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
In 1519, Spanish conquistador Diego de Ordaz was tasked by Hernán Cortés – then in the midst of conquering Mexico – with ascending to the top of the Popocatepetl, the second highest volcano in the country, at over 17,000 feet above sea level, to collect sulphur in order to make gunpowder. It was a massive undertaking that was rightfully immortalized in history books. Now it is recreated in Epitafio (Epitaph), from directors Yulene Olaizola and Rubén Imaz. The directors’ approach to this adventure movie material is minimalist: set in a single location with only three actors and very little dialogue, pretty much the only thing that suggests this is a period piece are the costumes. Stripping the film down to the essentials allows Olaizola and...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 8/10/2016
- Screen Anarchy
World premiere of Intimate Lighting restoration, a focus on Mexican female directors, a tribute to Otto Preminger and the first Eurimages Lab Project Award set for 2016 edition.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has unveiled the first wave of titles and industry initiatives set for its 51st edition (July 1-9).
The festival, hosted in the picturesque Czech spa town, will world premiere a digital restoration of Ivan Passer’s Intimate Lighting. The bittersweet comedy about an encounter between two former classmates and musicians is described one of the most striking films of the Czechoslovak New Wave of the 1960s.
The 82-year-old director, who was honoured with Kviff’s Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema in 2008, will be present at the premiere on July 2.
Mexican female directors
Semana Santa
Kviff will also spotlight Mexican female directors, screening nine features and one short from the past five years. The filmmakers include Elisa Miller, who won a Palme...
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has unveiled the first wave of titles and industry initiatives set for its 51st edition (July 1-9).
The festival, hosted in the picturesque Czech spa town, will world premiere a digital restoration of Ivan Passer’s Intimate Lighting. The bittersweet comedy about an encounter between two former classmates and musicians is described one of the most striking films of the Czechoslovak New Wave of the 1960s.
The 82-year-old director, who was honoured with Kviff’s Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema in 2008, will be present at the premiere on July 2.
Mexican female directors
Semana Santa
Kviff will also spotlight Mexican female directors, screening nine features and one short from the past five years. The filmmakers include Elisa Miller, who won a Palme...
- 4/26/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
1519. A trio of Spanish conquistadors, with the help of a handful of locals, march 5,400 meters to the top of Popocatepetl, one of Mexico's great volcanoes. They're on an important mission for Hernán Cortés (the conquistadore who led the expedition which ultimately led to the fall of the Aztec empire) but it seems like a doomed mission which is likely to cost them their minds. Or even their lives.
Rubén Imaz Castro and Yulene Olaizola's Epitaph has played a couple of festivals but remained largely under the radar though I can't quite figure out why since it looks like outstanding arthouse fodder. The trailer suggests existential struggles must be overcome by the conquistadors, there's the social issues embedded in the story and more than that, this looks go [Continued ...]...
Rubén Imaz Castro and Yulene Olaizola's Epitaph has played a couple of festivals but remained largely under the radar though I can't quite figure out why since it looks like outstanding arthouse fodder. The trailer suggests existential struggles must be overcome by the conquistadors, there's the social issues embedded in the story and more than that, this looks go [Continued ...]...
- 3/17/2016
- QuietEarth.us
Line-up includes seven world premieres and Oscar submissions from the Netherlands, South Korea and Kazakhstan.Scroll down for full list
Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Nov 13-29) has revealed the international competition line-up for its 19th edition.
The festival will screen 18 titles in competition, comprising seven world premieres, three international premieres and eight European premieres.
Among them is Vitaliy Manskiy’s North Korea documentary Under The Sun, which reveals a simultaneously absurd and sinister portrayal of life under the nation’s regime.
The line-up also includes three submissions for this year’s Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar.
The Paradise Suite, The Netherlands’ submission, intertwines multiple storylines to highlight the trials and tribulations of modern day immigrants trying to survive in Amsterdam.
The Throne, South Korea’s entry, is an 18th-century historical drama about internal struggles within Korea’s royal family.
Stranger, Kazakhstan’s submission to the Academy, follows a nomad living out a meagre existence in the...
Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Nov 13-29) has revealed the international competition line-up for its 19th edition.
The festival will screen 18 titles in competition, comprising seven world premieres, three international premieres and eight European premieres.
Among them is Vitaliy Manskiy’s North Korea documentary Under The Sun, which reveals a simultaneously absurd and sinister portrayal of life under the nation’s regime.
The line-up also includes three submissions for this year’s Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar.
The Paradise Suite, The Netherlands’ submission, intertwines multiple storylines to highlight the trials and tribulations of modern day immigrants trying to survive in Amsterdam.
The Throne, South Korea’s entry, is an 18th-century historical drama about internal struggles within Korea’s royal family.
Stranger, Kazakhstan’s submission to the Academy, follows a nomad living out a meagre existence in the...
- 10/26/2015
- ScreenDaily
As part of its commitment to support the national film production, the Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund offers on its second year in a row a grand total of Usd $138,240 to Mexican projects.
7 grants of Usd $5,000 to each Mexican project in development stage. 2 grants of Usd $51,620 to each Mexican project in post-production stage granted by Labodigital S.A. de C.V. in post-production services. Call for entries closes on July 31st
Some Gfff 2013 participants' project achievements:
Inzomnia of Luis Téllez, was selected by Los Cabos International Film Festival to participate at the Moscow Business Square 2014. "La Raya" by Yolanda Cruz, received the Heineken Voces award from Tribeca Film Institute. "Edén" by Elise DuRant premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and participated in the Göteborg International Film Festival. Projects that finished shooting and are about to finish their post-production stage: "Epitafio" by Yulene Olaizola and Rubén Imaz. "Semana Santa" by Director Alejandra Marquez.
7 grants of Usd $5,000 to each Mexican project in development stage. 2 grants of Usd $51,620 to each Mexican project in post-production stage granted by Labodigital S.A. de C.V. in post-production services. Call for entries closes on July 31st
Some Gfff 2013 participants' project achievements:
Inzomnia of Luis Téllez, was selected by Los Cabos International Film Festival to participate at the Moscow Business Square 2014. "La Raya" by Yolanda Cruz, received the Heineken Voces award from Tribeca Film Institute. "Edén" by Elise DuRant premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and participated in the Göteborg International Film Festival. Projects that finished shooting and are about to finish their post-production stage: "Epitafio" by Yulene Olaizola and Rubén Imaz. "Semana Santa" by Director Alejandra Marquez.
- 7/23/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Since 2003, the Morelia Film Festival has been nurturing filmmakers and audiences, and has rooted its niche as a discovery festival of up and coming Mexican filmmakers. At the same time it’s earned a prestigious reputation for its expertly curated sidebars that would make the most hard core cinephile drool, and for the Festival’s unparalleled attention and hospitality towards their guests, Invitados. The Festival invites renowned international cineastes to participate in showing their films for the first time in Mexico, in turn enticing them to experience the vibrant scene of Mexican Cinema in the most charming historic city of Morelia, Michoacán.
To celebrate its 10th year anniversary the powerhouse boutique festival has put together an epic program consisting of over 200 hand picked films as part of special screenings, tributes and homages to compliment its more solid than ever Mexican Competition made up of 25 documentaries, 45 shorts, 9 narrative features, along with 12 films from the hosting state of Michoacán. Among the special guests this year, English filmmaker Sally Potter, Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, and Chicano filmmaker Gregory Nava.
I thank the tirelessly dynamic Director of the Festival, Daniela Michel for talking with me about the Festival’s programming then and now. {redacted and translated}
C: From the return of Regyadas with his highly anticipated Post-Tenebras Lux, who was one of three Mexican directors awarded a prize at Cannes (along with Fogo by documentary and fiction director, Yulene Olaizola, and Después de Lucía by Michel Franco which is Mexico’s foreign language Oscar entry), to Locarno Film Festival’s Carte Blanche spotlight of Mexican works in progress, 2012 has been a stellar year for Mexican films. The Festival is showing nine narrative features in competition, seven of them world premieres by first time filmmakers, reflecting this building breakthrough momentum…
D: Yes, we’re thrilled that Cannes was a big year for Mexican film. We were honored to have Artistic director, Thierry Frémaux as a guest at the Festival last year. He’s truly been supportive of Mexican films and we are profoundly thankful. When we first started the festival there just weren’t enough features films to warrant a solid competition program. Our mission was to build a program made up of the next generation of filmmakers and support them. We weren’t interested in showing already established Mexican filmmakers. In 2007 we had our first narrative feature length competition and we were grateful for having such a prominent jury comprised of Trevor Groth, Director of Programming at Sundance Film Festival, Peter Scarlet, at that time Artistic Director of Tribeca Film Festival and Cecilia Suarez, a talented Mexican actress. They bestowed the Best Film award to Nicolás Pereda’s first film, Where are their Stories. Pereda has gone on to be a prolific and singular talent. We are screening his 7th film out of competition, The Greatest Hits.
C: Documentaries are an integral part of the festival, this year the festival is showing a record breaking 25 documentaries in competition. Typically the Mexican documentary genre has generally fit into the ethnographic study type. How has this changed over the years?
D: We are seeing more intimate and personal journey type of stories that are breaking with that notion that there is only that kind of Mexican documentary. There are looks of forgotten history like Flor en Otomi by Luisa Riley about a young female guerilla fighter who disappeared following a violent raid, or Convict Patient by Alejandro Solar Luna about a man who attempted to assassinate the president in 1970 and is now homeless and mentally unstable. There are more experimental films, more personal portraits like Carriere, 250 Meters by Juan Carlos Rulfo and Natalia Gil about the inspiring writer and Bunuel collaborator Jean-Claude Carriere, Diario a Tres Voces by Otilia Portillo Padua, a compelling multigenerational look of three women in relationship to their age, Miradas Multiples (La Maquina Loca) by Emilio Maille which is about the great cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. Definitely, Mexican documentary is expanding its horizons.
C: Last year you had Luis Valdez and as an honored guest and screened his seminal Chicano film, Zoot Suit. This year you are honoring Gregory Nava with a screening of El Norte and Mi Familia. What prompted this recognition of Chicano filmmakers at the festival?
D: We’ve always had a section called Cine Sin Fronteras (Cinema without Borders) curated by Jesse Lerner an academic expert on border films. While we had not, up until last year, recognized such well known chicano figures like Luis Valdez we’ve shown the work of lesser known, independent filmmakers. We felt it was overdue and important to introduce chicano films to mexico. Not necessarily a border crossing story but the perspective of Mexicans living in the United States. Certainly Luis Valdez deserved a homage here in Mexico. Unfortunately chicano cinema is not well known in Mexico. We are very happy that Gregory Nava who we highly respect, will be joining us this year.
C: The Michoacán section. The festival recognizes the talent of filmmakers from the hosting state with its separate competition section. How do you make sure this section does not fly under the radar or get lost in the shuffle since it competes with high profile national and international films.
D: Well, first of all the caliber has to be there and I think that since the festival’s inception, the filmmaking scene in Michoacán has been greatly stimulated as there’s been more production, filmmaking has become more accessible and over the past ten years we’ve seen the production value and quality getting better and better. Not only indigenous filmmakers which was very important to us like Dante Cerano and Pavel Rodriguez but filmmakers who were born and raised there and may live elsewhere. We make an effort to give these films the highest visibility by giving them the best time slots so that the public can easily find and discover.
C: Given the Festival’s success, there must be a desire and pressure to continue to expand and grow. How do you navigate the appeal of complimenting the festival with an increasing number of programs yet work to keep the mission’s integrity?
D: Interest in participating in the festival has certainly grown but we can’t lose focus that our main goal is to support the young mexican filmmakers so we select only the best work out there, always. Its important not to have any kind of institutional or political ties that might compromise that mission. One of the sections I most love which we created in 2008, based on the invaluable recommendation of Bertrand Tavernier who has an impressive knowledge of film, is called Imaginary Mexico. This section showcases work connected to Mexico imagined by foreign filmmakers abroad, revealing their perception of Mexico. It’s a rich, eye opening trove. For instance Mexico as seen by Hollywood. This year we are showing a number of Sam Peckinpah’s films (The Wild Bunch, among others). Two years ago we had the extraordinary gift of having Quentin Tarantino present Sergio Corbucci’s spaghetti westerns about the Mexican Revolution. These films had been previously banned in Mexico for its scathing portrayal of the revolution….
It’s a rich diaspora. The Festival supports the future of Mexican Cinema with the best work by the next generation of filmmakers just starting out. It celebrates Mexico of the past, through classics and retrospectives like this year’s homage to cinematographer Jose Ortiz Ramos born in the state of Michoacan, and the other, films about Mexico from outside of Mexico. We attack it on all fronts. This intersection of borders, indigenous films made by indigenous filmmakers who have a permanent space in our festival, film students and history.
C: About the Morelia audience
D: There is a big population of university students which combined with the city’s strong tradition of historical culture, we felt there was potential there. It wasn’t easy at first. I remember programming a Woody Allen film against a block of unknown shorts. We realized that once the tickets for the Woody Allen movie sold out, people who weren’t able to get in, naturally found their way into the shorts program. We are indeed grateful for that audience. Obviously showing Bela Tarr’s epic eight hour Satantango last year would not have worked had we programmed it the first year. We owe a lot of this audience development to our extraordinary colleague and dear friend Joaquin Rodriguez (founding programmer who passed away earlier this year). He worked year round developing that audience. His film appreciation classes there would have space for twenty, and five times the amount of people would show up. This edition is dedicated to him for his consummate professionalism, passion and brilliance.
C: We are a few days away from the 10th edition. How are you feeling now and do you remember how you felt ten years ago at this point?
D: It was one of the most stressful moments in my life because I had no idea how it was going to work. It was terrifying. Today I feel very blessed to have this incredible team because the work is put in by all of us and it would be impossible without the dedicated group assembled who I admire and respect very much. …Every year there is stress. But like they say “If you stop feeling the nerves then quit”. I’m a huge cinephile so I love sharing this gift of film with new audiences. Its endless, there is an endless vault of films to be re-discovered and that’s what I love best that these films return to life. You learn a lot about life seeing film.
Follow the Festival @Ficm. To see the competition lineup click here, and to download this year’s catalogue click here.
To celebrate its 10th year anniversary the powerhouse boutique festival has put together an epic program consisting of over 200 hand picked films as part of special screenings, tributes and homages to compliment its more solid than ever Mexican Competition made up of 25 documentaries, 45 shorts, 9 narrative features, along with 12 films from the hosting state of Michoacán. Among the special guests this year, English filmmaker Sally Potter, Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, and Chicano filmmaker Gregory Nava.
I thank the tirelessly dynamic Director of the Festival, Daniela Michel for talking with me about the Festival’s programming then and now. {redacted and translated}
C: From the return of Regyadas with his highly anticipated Post-Tenebras Lux, who was one of three Mexican directors awarded a prize at Cannes (along with Fogo by documentary and fiction director, Yulene Olaizola, and Después de Lucía by Michel Franco which is Mexico’s foreign language Oscar entry), to Locarno Film Festival’s Carte Blanche spotlight of Mexican works in progress, 2012 has been a stellar year for Mexican films. The Festival is showing nine narrative features in competition, seven of them world premieres by first time filmmakers, reflecting this building breakthrough momentum…
D: Yes, we’re thrilled that Cannes was a big year for Mexican film. We were honored to have Artistic director, Thierry Frémaux as a guest at the Festival last year. He’s truly been supportive of Mexican films and we are profoundly thankful. When we first started the festival there just weren’t enough features films to warrant a solid competition program. Our mission was to build a program made up of the next generation of filmmakers and support them. We weren’t interested in showing already established Mexican filmmakers. In 2007 we had our first narrative feature length competition and we were grateful for having such a prominent jury comprised of Trevor Groth, Director of Programming at Sundance Film Festival, Peter Scarlet, at that time Artistic Director of Tribeca Film Festival and Cecilia Suarez, a talented Mexican actress. They bestowed the Best Film award to Nicolás Pereda’s first film, Where are their Stories. Pereda has gone on to be a prolific and singular talent. We are screening his 7th film out of competition, The Greatest Hits.
C: Documentaries are an integral part of the festival, this year the festival is showing a record breaking 25 documentaries in competition. Typically the Mexican documentary genre has generally fit into the ethnographic study type. How has this changed over the years?
D: We are seeing more intimate and personal journey type of stories that are breaking with that notion that there is only that kind of Mexican documentary. There are looks of forgotten history like Flor en Otomi by Luisa Riley about a young female guerilla fighter who disappeared following a violent raid, or Convict Patient by Alejandro Solar Luna about a man who attempted to assassinate the president in 1970 and is now homeless and mentally unstable. There are more experimental films, more personal portraits like Carriere, 250 Meters by Juan Carlos Rulfo and Natalia Gil about the inspiring writer and Bunuel collaborator Jean-Claude Carriere, Diario a Tres Voces by Otilia Portillo Padua, a compelling multigenerational look of three women in relationship to their age, Miradas Multiples (La Maquina Loca) by Emilio Maille which is about the great cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. Definitely, Mexican documentary is expanding its horizons.
C: Last year you had Luis Valdez and as an honored guest and screened his seminal Chicano film, Zoot Suit. This year you are honoring Gregory Nava with a screening of El Norte and Mi Familia. What prompted this recognition of Chicano filmmakers at the festival?
D: We’ve always had a section called Cine Sin Fronteras (Cinema without Borders) curated by Jesse Lerner an academic expert on border films. While we had not, up until last year, recognized such well known chicano figures like Luis Valdez we’ve shown the work of lesser known, independent filmmakers. We felt it was overdue and important to introduce chicano films to mexico. Not necessarily a border crossing story but the perspective of Mexicans living in the United States. Certainly Luis Valdez deserved a homage here in Mexico. Unfortunately chicano cinema is not well known in Mexico. We are very happy that Gregory Nava who we highly respect, will be joining us this year.
C: The Michoacán section. The festival recognizes the talent of filmmakers from the hosting state with its separate competition section. How do you make sure this section does not fly under the radar or get lost in the shuffle since it competes with high profile national and international films.
D: Well, first of all the caliber has to be there and I think that since the festival’s inception, the filmmaking scene in Michoacán has been greatly stimulated as there’s been more production, filmmaking has become more accessible and over the past ten years we’ve seen the production value and quality getting better and better. Not only indigenous filmmakers which was very important to us like Dante Cerano and Pavel Rodriguez but filmmakers who were born and raised there and may live elsewhere. We make an effort to give these films the highest visibility by giving them the best time slots so that the public can easily find and discover.
C: Given the Festival’s success, there must be a desire and pressure to continue to expand and grow. How do you navigate the appeal of complimenting the festival with an increasing number of programs yet work to keep the mission’s integrity?
D: Interest in participating in the festival has certainly grown but we can’t lose focus that our main goal is to support the young mexican filmmakers so we select only the best work out there, always. Its important not to have any kind of institutional or political ties that might compromise that mission. One of the sections I most love which we created in 2008, based on the invaluable recommendation of Bertrand Tavernier who has an impressive knowledge of film, is called Imaginary Mexico. This section showcases work connected to Mexico imagined by foreign filmmakers abroad, revealing their perception of Mexico. It’s a rich, eye opening trove. For instance Mexico as seen by Hollywood. This year we are showing a number of Sam Peckinpah’s films (The Wild Bunch, among others). Two years ago we had the extraordinary gift of having Quentin Tarantino present Sergio Corbucci’s spaghetti westerns about the Mexican Revolution. These films had been previously banned in Mexico for its scathing portrayal of the revolution….
It’s a rich diaspora. The Festival supports the future of Mexican Cinema with the best work by the next generation of filmmakers just starting out. It celebrates Mexico of the past, through classics and retrospectives like this year’s homage to cinematographer Jose Ortiz Ramos born in the state of Michoacan, and the other, films about Mexico from outside of Mexico. We attack it on all fronts. This intersection of borders, indigenous films made by indigenous filmmakers who have a permanent space in our festival, film students and history.
C: About the Morelia audience
D: There is a big population of university students which combined with the city’s strong tradition of historical culture, we felt there was potential there. It wasn’t easy at first. I remember programming a Woody Allen film against a block of unknown shorts. We realized that once the tickets for the Woody Allen movie sold out, people who weren’t able to get in, naturally found their way into the shorts program. We are indeed grateful for that audience. Obviously showing Bela Tarr’s epic eight hour Satantango last year would not have worked had we programmed it the first year. We owe a lot of this audience development to our extraordinary colleague and dear friend Joaquin Rodriguez (founding programmer who passed away earlier this year). He worked year round developing that audience. His film appreciation classes there would have space for twenty, and five times the amount of people would show up. This edition is dedicated to him for his consummate professionalism, passion and brilliance.
C: We are a few days away from the 10th edition. How are you feeling now and do you remember how you felt ten years ago at this point?
D: It was one of the most stressful moments in my life because I had no idea how it was going to work. It was terrifying. Today I feel very blessed to have this incredible team because the work is put in by all of us and it would be impossible without the dedicated group assembled who I admire and respect very much. …Every year there is stress. But like they say “If you stop feeling the nerves then quit”. I’m a huge cinephile so I love sharing this gift of film with new audiences. Its endless, there is an endless vault of films to be re-discovered and that’s what I love best that these films return to life. You learn a lot about life seeing film.
Follow the Festival @Ficm. To see the competition lineup click here, and to download this year’s catalogue click here.
- 10/31/2012
- by Christine Davila
- Sydney's Buzz
14th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff) announced its complete lineup today in a press conference. Mff will be held from October 18th to 25th at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Ncpa) and Inox, Nariman Point, Liberty Cinemas, Marine Lines as the main festival venues and Cinemax, Andheri and Cinemax Sion as the satellite venues. Click here to watch trailers and highlights from the festival.
Here is the complete list of films to be screened during the festival (October 18-25)
International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors
1. From Tuesday To Tuesday (De Martes A Martes)
Dir.: Gustavo Fernandez Triviño (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 111′)
2. The Last Elvis (El Último Elvis)
Dir.: Armando Bo (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 91′)
3. The Sapphires
Dir.: Wayne Blair (Australia / 2012 / Col. / 103′)
4. The Wall (Die Wand)
Dir.: Julian Pölsler (Austria-Germany / 2012 / Col. / 108′)
5. Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis)
Dir.: Mads Matthiesen (Denmark / 2012 / Col. / 93′)
6. Augustine
Dir.: Alice Winccour (France / 2012 / Col.
Here is the complete list of films to be screened during the festival (October 18-25)
International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors
1. From Tuesday To Tuesday (De Martes A Martes)
Dir.: Gustavo Fernandez Triviño (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 111′)
2. The Last Elvis (El Último Elvis)
Dir.: Armando Bo (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 91′)
3. The Sapphires
Dir.: Wayne Blair (Australia / 2012 / Col. / 103′)
4. The Wall (Die Wand)
Dir.: Julian Pölsler (Austria-Germany / 2012 / Col. / 108′)
5. Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis)
Dir.: Mads Matthiesen (Denmark / 2012 / Col. / 93′)
6. Augustine
Dir.: Alice Winccour (France / 2012 / Col.
- 9/24/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
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