The singular styles of filmmakers in the Woche der Kritik (aka Berlin Critics’ Week) often result in some of the year’s most under-appreciated and formally exciting cinema. I’ve covered this section of Berlinale for the past three years and each year, I find at least a few movies that I continue to think about long after watching them. The unfortunate reality remains that many of these films don’t find distribution or seem to get lost in the shuffle––especially the short films––because of their experimental nature. A few movies from the past few years I’d like to single out here as absolutely worth going out of your way to find and watch: Adam Khalil & Bailey Sweitzer’s Nosferasta: First Bite, Ekaterina Selenkina’s Detours, Manoj Leonel Jahson & Shyam Sunder’s Kuthiraivaal, and Kamal Aljafari’s An Unusual Summer.
Now for my favorites from this year...
Now for my favorites from this year...
- 3/3/2023
- by Soham Gadre
- The Film Stage
“In Her Hands,” a Netflix documentary produced by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, has won the 18th Camden Intl. Film Festival’s audience award. While the in-person component of the Maine-based festival ended on Sept. 18, tallying audience award votes concluded today. Online screenings of the fest’s lineup are available until Sept. 25 to audiences across North America.
Filmed over a two year period, “In Her Hands” tells the story of Zarifa Ghafari, who at 26 became one of Afghanistan’s first female mayors and the youngest to ever hold the position. The film documents her fight for survival against the backdrop of her country’s accelerated unraveling as Western forces announce their retreat and the Taliban returns to power.
Directed by Tamana Ayazi and Marcel Mettelsiefen (“Watani: My Homeland”), “In Her Hands” premiered at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival on Sept. 9. Ayazi, who is a native of Afghanistan, escaped in 2021 after the Taliban took over.
Filmed over a two year period, “In Her Hands” tells the story of Zarifa Ghafari, who at 26 became one of Afghanistan’s first female mayors and the youngest to ever hold the position. The film documents her fight for survival against the backdrop of her country’s accelerated unraveling as Western forces announce their retreat and the Taliban returns to power.
Directed by Tamana Ayazi and Marcel Mettelsiefen (“Watani: My Homeland”), “In Her Hands” premiered at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival on Sept. 9. Ayazi, who is a native of Afghanistan, escaped in 2021 after the Taliban took over.
- 9/20/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The 18th Camden International Film Festival on Maine’s mid-coast – an increasingly important destination for documentary filmmakers – wrapped its in-person portion Sunday after announcing a handful of awards.
Day After…, directed by Kamar Ahmad Simon, won the festival’s Harrell Award, chosen from a group of “some of the most significant documentaries of the year.” The film is described as “A philosophical ballad along the rivers of Bangladesh, transporting the rich and poor, young and old, East and West in a century-old paddle steamer.”
“The jury was unanimous in its admiration for this film, in which an old riverboat seems to contain an entire society’s worth of dreamers and hustlers, politicians and radicals,” juror Eric Hynes said, noting that the documentary employs “both hybrid techniques and dogged observational power. This is a dazzling work of nonfiction.”
The jury awarded a special mention to Polaris, another film with a nautical theme.
Day After…, directed by Kamar Ahmad Simon, won the festival’s Harrell Award, chosen from a group of “some of the most significant documentaries of the year.” The film is described as “A philosophical ballad along the rivers of Bangladesh, transporting the rich and poor, young and old, East and West in a century-old paddle steamer.”
“The jury was unanimous in its admiration for this film, in which an old riverboat seems to contain an entire society’s worth of dreamers and hustlers, politicians and radicals,” juror Eric Hynes said, noting that the documentary employs “both hybrid techniques and dogged observational power. This is a dazzling work of nonfiction.”
The jury awarded a special mention to Polaris, another film with a nautical theme.
- 9/19/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s hard to believe the fall festival season is right around the corner: Venice and Telluride kick off next week, followed swiftly by Toronto, NYFF, and more. The sidebar Venice International Film Critics’ Week returns and we’re pleased to exclusively premiere the trailer for an anticipated title in that lineup: Ekaterina Selenkina’s Detours.
A sprawling meditation on the choreography of bodies in Moscow’s urban landscape, Detours depicts a new way of dealing illicit drugs via the dark web, the layering of physical and virtual realities, and serves a reflection on the poetics and politics of space. Taking place in sleepy neighborhoods, among the concrete walls of high-rises, behind garages and amidst abandoned railroads, the film alternately follows and loses track of Denis, the “treasureman” who hides stashes of drugs all over the city.
Watch the trailer below.
The post Exclusive Trailer for the Venice Premiere Detours...
A sprawling meditation on the choreography of bodies in Moscow’s urban landscape, Detours depicts a new way of dealing illicit drugs via the dark web, the layering of physical and virtual realities, and serves a reflection on the poetics and politics of space. Taking place in sleepy neighborhoods, among the concrete walls of high-rises, behind garages and amidst abandoned railroads, the film alternately follows and loses track of Denis, the “treasureman” who hides stashes of drugs all over the city.
Watch the trailer below.
The post Exclusive Trailer for the Venice Premiere Detours...
- 8/24/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The programme for the 2021 Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Pedro Almodóvar, Jane Campion, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michelangelo Frammartino, Pablo Larraín, Paul Schrader, Ridley Scott, and more.Parallel MothersCOMPETITIONParallel Mothers (Pedro Almodóvar)Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (Ana Lily Amirpour)Un Autre Monde (Stephane Brize)The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)America LatinaL’Evenement (Audrey Diwan)Official CompetitionThe Hole (Michelangelo Frammartino)Sundown (Michel Franco)Lost Illusions (Xavier Giannoli)The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)Spencer (Pablo Larrain)Freaks Out (Gabriele Mainetti)Qui Rido Io (Mario Martone)On The Job: The Missing 8 (Erik Matti)Leave No Traces (Jan P. Matuszyński)Captain Volkonogov EscapedThe Card Counter (Paul Schrader)The Hand of God (Paolo Sorrentino)Reflection (Valentyn Vasyanovych)The Box (Lorenzo Vigas)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesDune (Denis Villeneuve)Il Bambino Nascosto (Roberto Andò)Les Choses Humaines (Yvan Attal)Ariaferma (Leonardo Di Costanzo)Halloween Kills (David Gordon Green...
- 8/3/2021
- MUBI
After unveiling the first footage of Levan Akin’s Directors Fortnight film “And Then We Dance” and Nora Fingscheidt’s Silver Berlin Bear winning “System Crasher” during last year’s edition, the 11th Work-in-Progress session of Les Arcs Film Festival reached new heights with a flurry of highlights, including “The Hill Where Lionesses Roar,” “The Gravedigger,” “Shorta” and “Dark Rider.”
Among the 18 films in post where presented during the event, these four titles have received the most offers from sales companies. Spearheaded by Les Arcs and Tribeca’s artistic director Frederic Boyer, the Work-in-Progress session has become one of the world’s most successful industry events dedicated to helping filmmakers and producers find sales agents and distributors and get under the radar of festival programmers. In spite of the massive strikes ongoing in France and the cancelations of trains and flights, more than 500 professionals turned up for the Industry Village of Les Arcs,...
Among the 18 films in post where presented during the event, these four titles have received the most offers from sales companies. Spearheaded by Les Arcs and Tribeca’s artistic director Frederic Boyer, the Work-in-Progress session has become one of the world’s most successful industry events dedicated to helping filmmakers and producers find sales agents and distributors and get under the radar of festival programmers. In spite of the massive strikes ongoing in France and the cancelations of trains and flights, more than 500 professionals turned up for the Industry Village of Les Arcs,...
- 12/18/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Gregoris Rentis' film wins the TitraFilm prize, while the Eurimages Lab Project Award goes to Ekaterina Selenkina. Luàna Bajrami, Mareike Engelhard, Dana Lerer and Thessa Meijer are also awarded. On Monday evening, as part of the Industry Village of the 11th Les Arcs Film Festival, the jury in charge of weighing up the 16 features duking it out in the Work in Progress section handed out two awards. Three other prizes were given.In the Work in Progress section, the TitraFilm prize went to To Sail Close to the Wind, from Greek director Gregoris Rentis. Produced by Greek companies Asterisk* and Byrd with French company Good Fortune Films, this feature debut seduced the members of the...
- 12/17/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
The 11th edition of the Les Arcs Film Festival’s Industry Village program, which highlights film projects in development and work-in-progress stage, has crowned its winners.
The event, held in a French ski resort near the Swiss and Italian borders, has grown in reputation in recent years. Among the graduates of its industry wing are the Oscar-winning Son Of Saul, the BAFTA-winning I Am Not A Witch, and the Cannes hit Girl.
This year, the €50,000 Eurimages Lab Project prize went to Ekaterina Selenkina’s Figures In The Urban Landscape, from Russian producer Vladimir Nadein and Netherlands outfit Dutch Mountain Film.
Elsewhere, the event’s €10,000 Titrafilm post-production award went to Gregoris Rentis’s To Sail Close To The Wind, from Greek companies Asterisk* and Byrd, with France’s Good Fortune Films. The Alphapanda Audience Engagement Award, worth €5,000, awarded for the first time this year, went to Luàna Bajrami’s The Hill...
The event, held in a French ski resort near the Swiss and Italian borders, has grown in reputation in recent years. Among the graduates of its industry wing are the Oscar-winning Son Of Saul, the BAFTA-winning I Am Not A Witch, and the Cannes hit Girl.
This year, the €50,000 Eurimages Lab Project prize went to Ekaterina Selenkina’s Figures In The Urban Landscape, from Russian producer Vladimir Nadein and Netherlands outfit Dutch Mountain Film.
Elsewhere, the event’s €10,000 Titrafilm post-production award went to Gregoris Rentis’s To Sail Close To The Wind, from Greek companies Asterisk* and Byrd, with France’s Good Fortune Films. The Alphapanda Audience Engagement Award, worth €5,000, awarded for the first time this year, went to Luàna Bajrami’s The Hill...
- 12/17/2019
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Buzzy non-prize winners included Lamb and Shorta.
Russian filmmaker Ekaterina Selenkina’s urban drama Figures In The Urban Landscape has won the $50,000 Eurimages Lab Project Award at the Les Arcs Film Festival in the French Alps.
The production, capturing day-to-day life on the outskirts of Moscow through the drug drops of a local dealer, was among 18 projects at the production stage in Les Arcs’ Work In Progress event.
It is Selenkina’s first feature after a handful of shorts including the well-travelled Storge. Moscow-based producer Vladimir Nadein presented the project.
Greek director Gregoris Rentis’s hybrid documentary To Sail Close...
Russian filmmaker Ekaterina Selenkina’s urban drama Figures In The Urban Landscape has won the $50,000 Eurimages Lab Project Award at the Les Arcs Film Festival in the French Alps.
The production, capturing day-to-day life on the outskirts of Moscow through the drug drops of a local dealer, was among 18 projects at the production stage in Les Arcs’ Work In Progress event.
It is Selenkina’s first feature after a handful of shorts including the well-travelled Storge. Moscow-based producer Vladimir Nadein presented the project.
Greek director Gregoris Rentis’s hybrid documentary To Sail Close...
- 12/17/2019
- by 1100380¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Selection includes the upcoming drama from Berlinale award-winner Radu Jude.
CineMart, the co-production market of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), has revealed the 17 feature projects to be showcased at next year’s edition.
Scroll down for full list
Held January 26-29 during the festival (which runs January 22 – February 2), CineMart invites filmmakers to pitch their projects to a host of international film professionals in tailored one-to-one meetings, as well as presentations that are open to all CineMart guests.
Notable directors in the selection include Romania’s Radu Jude, who won a Berlinale Silver Bear in 2015 with Aferim! and picked up...
CineMart, the co-production market of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), has revealed the 17 feature projects to be showcased at next year’s edition.
Scroll down for full list
Held January 26-29 during the festival (which runs January 22 – February 2), CineMart invites filmmakers to pitch their projects to a host of international film professionals in tailored one-to-one meetings, as well as presentations that are open to all CineMart guests.
Notable directors in the selection include Romania’s Radu Jude, who won a Berlinale Silver Bear in 2015 with Aferim! and picked up...
- 12/13/2019
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Les Arcs Work In Progress Line-Up; Eurimages Co-Pro Award; Apc Buys Movistar+ Series – Global Briefs
The Les Arcs Film Festival has unveiled its selection of work in progress projects for 2019. The event, held at a French ski resort, is a film fest with an industry wing that has become well regarded in its 11 years’ of existence. A total of 18 features will take part this year, seven of which are directed by women (39%) – there were 34% female applicants. None of the selected films have sales agents attached. They are: Anna Nemes’ Beauty Of The Beast (Hungary); Eva Küpper’s Dark Rider; Ekaterina Selenkina’s Figures In The Urban Landscape (Russia), Slávek Horák’s Havel (Czech Republic), Khadar Ahmed’s The Gravedigger; Luàna Bajrami’s The Hill Where Lionesses Roar; Alex Camilleri’s Luzzu (Malta); Alessandro De Toni’s Myjing (Italy); Nabil Ben Yadir’s Praey; Fredrik Louis Hviid and Anders Ølholm’s Shorta (Denmark); Roman Vasyanov’s...
- 11/26/2019
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
The 18 projects are looking for sales agents and distributors.
Upcoming films by Belgian filmmakers Eva Küpper and Nabil Ben Yadir, and Hungary’s Anna Nemes are among the 18 feature projects from 34 territories to be presented at the Work in Progress event of Les Arcs Film Festival from December 14 to 21.
Nemes will show extracts from her documentary Beauty Of The Beast about female body builders. She is also working on fictional spin-off work Gentle Monster, with compatriot Laszlo Csuja, which won the top prize at the Sam Spiegel Film Lab in Jerusalem over the summer.
Ben Yadir’s upcoming film Præy...
Upcoming films by Belgian filmmakers Eva Küpper and Nabil Ben Yadir, and Hungary’s Anna Nemes are among the 18 feature projects from 34 territories to be presented at the Work in Progress event of Les Arcs Film Festival from December 14 to 21.
Nemes will show extracts from her documentary Beauty Of The Beast about female body builders. She is also working on fictional spin-off work Gentle Monster, with compatriot Laszlo Csuja, which won the top prize at the Sam Spiegel Film Lab in Jerusalem over the summer.
Ben Yadir’s upcoming film Præy...
- 11/26/2019
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The 18 projects are looking for sales agents and distributors.
Upcoming films by Belgian filmmakers Eva Küpper and Nabil Ben Yadir, and Hungary’s Anna Nemes are among the 18 feature projects from 34 territories to be presented at the Work in Progress event of Les Arcs Film Festival from ecember 14 to 21.
Nemes will show extracts from her documentary Beauty Of The Beast about female body builders. She is also working on fictional spin-off work Gentle Monster, with compatriot Laszlo Csuja, which won the top prize at the Sam Spiegel Film Lab in Jerusalem over the summer.
Ben Yadir’s upcoming film Præy...
Upcoming films by Belgian filmmakers Eva Küpper and Nabil Ben Yadir, and Hungary’s Anna Nemes are among the 18 feature projects from 34 territories to be presented at the Work in Progress event of Les Arcs Film Festival from ecember 14 to 21.
Nemes will show extracts from her documentary Beauty Of The Beast about female body builders. She is also working on fictional spin-off work Gentle Monster, with compatriot Laszlo Csuja, which won the top prize at the Sam Spiegel Film Lab in Jerusalem over the summer.
Ben Yadir’s upcoming film Præy...
- 11/26/2019
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
12 titles for script and development; two titles on the co-production scheme.
International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr)’s Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) has selected 14 projects for its 2019 spring funding round, which will receive a total of €208,000 between them for various measures of advancement.
12 of the projects will get €9,000 each from the Hbf for script and project development, with two co-productions chosen to receive €50,000 each from the Netherlands Film Fund (Nff) and Hbf co-production scheme, with the Nff providing that money.
Scroll down for the full selection
The script and development selection is split into two strands: Bright Future, for feature films...
International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr)’s Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) has selected 14 projects for its 2019 spring funding round, which will receive a total of €208,000 between them for various measures of advancement.
12 of the projects will get €9,000 each from the Hbf for script and project development, with two co-productions chosen to receive €50,000 each from the Netherlands Film Fund (Nff) and Hbf co-production scheme, with the Nff providing that money.
Scroll down for the full selection
The script and development selection is split into two strands: Bright Future, for feature films...
- 5/20/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
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