With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’re highlighting the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Combat Obscura (Miles Lagoze)
One of the very best documentaries we saw on the festival circuit last year was Combat Obscura, which premiered at last year’s True/False Film Festival. The film comes from Miles Lagoze, who took footage he shot as a Marine combat camera operator in Afghanistan, as well as videos taken by his comrades, and edited it all into a brisk, intense hour of war vignettes. Dan Schindel said in his review, “Combat Obscura sinks deeper into darkness as it progresses, as the utter pointlessness and futility of America’s presence in Afghanistan overwhelms the troops. While we are initially invited to empathize with the Marines,...
Combat Obscura (Miles Lagoze)
One of the very best documentaries we saw on the festival circuit last year was Combat Obscura, which premiered at last year’s True/False Film Festival. The film comes from Miles Lagoze, who took footage he shot as a Marine combat camera operator in Afghanistan, as well as videos taken by his comrades, and edited it all into a brisk, intense hour of war vignettes. Dan Schindel said in his review, “Combat Obscura sinks deeper into darkness as it progresses, as the utter pointlessness and futility of America’s presence in Afghanistan overwhelms the troops. While we are initially invited to empathize with the Marines,...
- 3/15/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Miss Mom: Bispuri Challenges Family Symmetry in Captivating Sophomore Pic
With her sensory filled coming-of-age sophomore feature, Laura Bispuri navigates the sweet and sour voyage of self-discovery via her diminutive protagonist with a film text that is full of warmth. As found in her debut transgender-themed film The Sworn Virgin, the Italian filmmaker’s concerns lie in exploring all the subtle implications of the identitarian twist. By emphasizing conciliation and acceptance over division and exception, Daughter of Mine challenges established family roles and clichéd perceptions of emotional immaturity found in pre-adolescents.
Skinny, freckle-faced pre-teen Vittoria (Sara Casu) feels alienated from her family and mates because of her eccentric physical appearance, namely her redheadedness.…...
With her sensory filled coming-of-age sophomore feature, Laura Bispuri navigates the sweet and sour voyage of self-discovery via her diminutive protagonist with a film text that is full of warmth. As found in her debut transgender-themed film The Sworn Virgin, the Italian filmmaker’s concerns lie in exploring all the subtle implications of the identitarian twist. By emphasizing conciliation and acceptance over division and exception, Daughter of Mine challenges established family roles and clichéd perceptions of emotional immaturity found in pre-adolescents.
Skinny, freckle-faced pre-teen Vittoria (Sara Casu) feels alienated from her family and mates because of her eccentric physical appearance, namely her redheadedness.…...
- 2/1/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Day 4 at the Berlinale provided a gem of a film in provenance of the Mediterranean Sea’s second largest island. The focal point of Laura Bispuri‘s second feature film (and second oeuvre presented at the fest) is the role of the matriarch, and how we can interpret the significance of motherhood within contemporary society. Vittoria, played by Sara Casu, is the centerpiece in a three-way relationship with a natural birthmother (Valeria Golino) and a sort of adoptive one (Alba Rohrwacher). Dealing with issues of identity, and perhaps ownership, Daughter of Mine embraces and magnifies the faults, flaws, the nurture factor found in its complex character set.…...
- 2/1/2019
- by Amir Ganjavie
- IONCINEMA.com
Strand Releasing has unveiled the trailer for “Daughter of Mine,” Laura Bispuri’s follow-up to her debut feature “Sworn Virgin.” The filmmaker’s sophomore effort finds her reteaming with Alba Rohrwacher, sister of director Alice, for another story about a young woman in a difficult situation. Watch the trailer below.
Here’s the premise: “10-year-old Vittoria’s summer will be one of two mothers to challenge, to hate, to love and to forgive. Shy Vittoria has a close relationship with her loving good mother Tina. But their quiet Sardinian life will be upset when the young girl discovers that local party girl Angelica is her birth mother. When Angelica is forced to move away because of financial troubles, she asks to become acquainted with Vittoria. Tina agrees, comforted by the idea that the woman will soon be leaving town. Searching for something deep and inexplicable, Vittoria and Angelica spend more...
Here’s the premise: “10-year-old Vittoria’s summer will be one of two mothers to challenge, to hate, to love and to forgive. Shy Vittoria has a close relationship with her loving good mother Tina. But their quiet Sardinian life will be upset when the young girl discovers that local party girl Angelica is her birth mother. When Angelica is forced to move away because of financial troubles, she asks to become acquainted with Vittoria. Tina agrees, comforted by the idea that the woman will soon be leaving town. Searching for something deep and inexplicable, Vittoria and Angelica spend more...
- 1/13/2019
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
After her acclaimed debut Sworn Virgin, director Laura Bispuri returned last year with Daughter of Mine, which stars a trio of actresses: Valeria Golino, Alba Rorwacher, and impressive newcomer Sara Casu in an exploration of nature of motherhood in a variety of forms. One of the best 2019 films we’ve already seen, the U.S. trailer has now arrived via Strand Releasing ahead of a February release.
Ed Frankl said in his review, “While Daughter of Mine, unlike Bispuri’s previous work, isn’t what haughty critics would call an Lgbt text, it does consider a how a family of two mothers operates –with largely absent male figures–and comes to nuanced and unexpected conclusions.’
See the trailer and poster below.
10-year-old Vittoria’s summer will be one of two mothers to challenge, to hate, to love and to forgive. Shy Vittoria has a close relationship with her loving good mother Tina.
Ed Frankl said in his review, “While Daughter of Mine, unlike Bispuri’s previous work, isn’t what haughty critics would call an Lgbt text, it does consider a how a family of two mothers operates –with largely absent male figures–and comes to nuanced and unexpected conclusions.’
See the trailer and poster below.
10-year-old Vittoria’s summer will be one of two mothers to challenge, to hate, to love and to forgive. Shy Vittoria has a close relationship with her loving good mother Tina.
- 1/7/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
We don’t want to overwhelm you, but while you’re catching up with our top 50 films of 2018, more cinematic greatness awaits in 2019. Ahead of our 100 most-anticipated films (all of which have yet to premiere), we’re highlighting 50 titles we’ve enjoyed on the festival circuit this last year (and beyond) that either have confirmed 2018 release dates or are awaiting a debut date from its distributor. There’s also a handful seeking distribution that we hope will arrive in the next 12 months. U.S. distributors: take note!
The Image Book (Jean-Luc Godard; Jan. 25)
Another miraculous, meticulously feat of cinematic collage, The Image Book finds the French New Wave icon continuing his boundary-pushing editing techniques, both in video and sound (to see this at Alice Tully Hall during New York Film Festival was something truly special). Rory O’Connor said in his Cannes review, “Split into five sections of various lengths titled Remakes,...
The Image Book (Jean-Luc Godard; Jan. 25)
Another miraculous, meticulously feat of cinematic collage, The Image Book finds the French New Wave icon continuing his boundary-pushing editing techniques, both in video and sound (to see this at Alice Tully Hall during New York Film Festival was something truly special). Rory O’Connor said in his Cannes review, “Split into five sections of various lengths titled Remakes,...
- 1/7/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
"Were you there when I was born, Daddy?" Strand Releasing has debuted a new official Us trailer for the Italian indie drama Daughter of Mine, which first premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year, and stopped by a number of other festivals around the world. The coming-of-age film tells the story of a young girl torn between two mothers, one who raised her with love and her careless biological mother, who tries to claim her back. A story of imperfect motherhood and inextricable bonds, struggling with overwhelming feelings and dealing with wounds. Valeria Golino stars as Tina, with a cast including Alba Rohrwacher, Sara Casu, Udo Kier, and Michele Carboni. It's a very moving film about a young girl growinf up fast by deciding what's best for her, with rave reviews from a few critics. Check it out below. Here's the official Us trailer (+ poster) for...
- 12/14/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Now that the Los Angeles Film Festival is no more, AFI Fest is more important than ever. It was the premier event of its kind even before its crosstown rival announced its permanent closure late last month, but now that it’s the only game in town, it’s unmissable. This year’s edition of the last major festival of the calendar year comes with a handful world premieres — “On the Basis of Sex,” “Mary Queen of Scots,” and “Bird Box” — and a robust slate of offerings from the likes of Berlin, Cannes, and Venice.
AFI Fest’s strength has always been the way it eschews world premieres in favor of high-quality films that premiered elsewhere on the festival circuit; Jacqueline Lyanga, whose eight-year tenure as Festival Director came to an end this summer, likened it to an “almanac of the year in cinema.” With that in mind, seek out...
AFI Fest’s strength has always been the way it eschews world premieres in favor of high-quality films that premiered elsewhere on the festival circuit; Jacqueline Lyanga, whose eight-year tenure as Festival Director came to an end this summer, likened it to an “almanac of the year in cinema.” With that in mind, seek out...
- 11/8/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
AFI Fest’s World Cinema section unveiled Tuesday includes seven films that have been officially submitted for the Foreign Language Film Oscar, from Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum and Matteo Garrone’s Dogman to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Never Look Away and the Cannes Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Directors in the slate include Jafar Panahi, Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Sang-soo, Olivier Assayas, Carlos Reygadas, László Nemes and Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
The lineup includes 28 titles from 27 countries. The fest runs November 8-15 and opens with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex and closes with Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots. In the mix too are a host of gala presentations featuring Bird Box, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Widows, Green Book and Destroyer. The latter pic will be screened as part of a tribute to its star Nicole Kidman.
Here’s the full World...
The lineup includes 28 titles from 27 countries. The fest runs November 8-15 and opens with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex and closes with Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots. In the mix too are a host of gala presentations featuring Bird Box, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Widows, Green Book and Destroyer. The latter pic will be screened as part of a tribute to its star Nicole Kidman.
Here’s the full World...
- 10/16/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
As a female director in Italy, Laura Bispuri has confronted her share of challenges seeking to uproot all the prejudices and stereotypes about women: in the film industry as well as in everyday life.
Bispuri recently completed her new movie “Daughter of Mine,” which screened at the Berlin Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival.
An advisory board member of We Do It Together — a nonprofit organization that produces movies and media content by women, about women but for everyone — recently shared some of her experiences.
Also Read: 17 Highest-Grossing Movies Directed by Women, From 'Mamma Mia!' to 'Wonder Woman' (Photos)
Your films “Sworn Virgin” and “Daughter of Mine” both center on female partnerships — both on screen, with the two leading protagonists, and off, with your collaboration with actress Alba Rohrwacher. How important is it, for you, to collaborate with women?
It’s a milestone of my belief. I believe it in life, and the way I decide to live it, and it’s a political belief too. I truly believe in the cohesion between women. It’s one of the things that scare people the most. We can really change everything with it. This collaboration is the thread in both my films: the women I portray are not related by blood, but they are somehow still deeply connected one to the other.
You made maternity a macroscopic concept that often, especially in Italy, is still only interpreted in a very micro way — a mother is the one who gives birth and raises her children.
One of the hardest things was to have three different points of view, but this was exactly what I wanted: not to define maternity in one standard way, but to create an emotional magma, where every woman can become mother and daughter of the other two.
There are several scenes where we understand that there is a past where Tina [Valeria Golino] has always taken care of Angelica [Alba Rohrwacher]. I like a lot a scene where Tina pays a visit to Angelica at the pier — here it’s Angelica who takes care of Tina for the first time. Even Vittoria [Sara Casu], who is a kid, at the end becomes mother to the two others herself.
Also Read: Power Lunch With Dakota Fanning: 'You're Not Telling a Women's Story, You're Telling a Human Story' (Exclusive Video)
You are in the board of We Do It Together. Why did you become part of it, and what do you think of all these current movements like Me Too and Time’s Up?
Even before the marvelous explosion of these movements, I have been working on these subjects for a long time. In Italy, every three days a woman dies. But violence is not just physical, it hides in the details.
I personally think that it’s because these injustices start inside, in the house, in the intimacy of our lives where women are expected to cook the pasta and be criticized if it’s sciapa (unsalted). There is still a very hard time to define the problem and make people see it as such.
Have you personally ever struggled, as a female director?
There is this spread idea that even if a woman director and a man director are at the same level, a man is seen as a genius and the woman is a good director. This happens all the time. I have always found myself, even in official situations, where people would rather comment on women as objects, rather than on what we do. Sometimes you feel like it’s you against the world, and it’s daily, in the small things — in the critique that men throw at you, for example.
Also Read: 9 Women Who Have Directed Movies With $100 Million Budgets (Photos)
Did this happen with “Daughter of Mine”?
In Italy, “Daughter of Mine” was criticized because women are the protagonists and men are just in the background. It’s a struggle, it’s a big struggle. But I feel like supporting this historical phase with all my might. It started from the United States, but it’s spreading all around the world, and this is what I hope: that we can come together all of us, from around the world, towards a common goal.
Both in “Sworn Virgin” and “Daughter of Mine,” the location becomes a character itself matching the desolation of the spirits of these characters. Does the story suggest your locations, or does it happen the other way around?
I always spend a lot of time on the locations and it becomes part of the writing phase. For “Daughter of Mine” I instinctively decided that it should have been set in Sardinia. I found several connections between the land and the story and Sardinia started influencing the script. The feeling, in Sardinia, is very strange. It’s an island that questions its relationship with what doesn’t belong there. The fact that in Sardinia there is such a strong identity, but at the same time an equally strong need to look for it and define it, felt exactly like the characters I wanted to portray.
This is part of a blog series by We Do It Together, a nonprofit film production entity created to produce films, documentaries, TV and other forms of media uniquely dedicated to the empowerment of women.
Read original story ‘Daughter of Mine’ Director Laura Bispuri on Challenging Male Bias in the Industry (Guest Blog) At TheWrap...
Bispuri recently completed her new movie “Daughter of Mine,” which screened at the Berlin Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival.
An advisory board member of We Do It Together — a nonprofit organization that produces movies and media content by women, about women but for everyone — recently shared some of her experiences.
Also Read: 17 Highest-Grossing Movies Directed by Women, From 'Mamma Mia!' to 'Wonder Woman' (Photos)
Your films “Sworn Virgin” and “Daughter of Mine” both center on female partnerships — both on screen, with the two leading protagonists, and off, with your collaboration with actress Alba Rohrwacher. How important is it, for you, to collaborate with women?
It’s a milestone of my belief. I believe it in life, and the way I decide to live it, and it’s a political belief too. I truly believe in the cohesion between women. It’s one of the things that scare people the most. We can really change everything with it. This collaboration is the thread in both my films: the women I portray are not related by blood, but they are somehow still deeply connected one to the other.
You made maternity a macroscopic concept that often, especially in Italy, is still only interpreted in a very micro way — a mother is the one who gives birth and raises her children.
One of the hardest things was to have three different points of view, but this was exactly what I wanted: not to define maternity in one standard way, but to create an emotional magma, where every woman can become mother and daughter of the other two.
There are several scenes where we understand that there is a past where Tina [Valeria Golino] has always taken care of Angelica [Alba Rohrwacher]. I like a lot a scene where Tina pays a visit to Angelica at the pier — here it’s Angelica who takes care of Tina for the first time. Even Vittoria [Sara Casu], who is a kid, at the end becomes mother to the two others herself.
Also Read: Power Lunch With Dakota Fanning: 'You're Not Telling a Women's Story, You're Telling a Human Story' (Exclusive Video)
You are in the board of We Do It Together. Why did you become part of it, and what do you think of all these current movements like Me Too and Time’s Up?
Even before the marvelous explosion of these movements, I have been working on these subjects for a long time. In Italy, every three days a woman dies. But violence is not just physical, it hides in the details.
I personally think that it’s because these injustices start inside, in the house, in the intimacy of our lives where women are expected to cook the pasta and be criticized if it’s sciapa (unsalted). There is still a very hard time to define the problem and make people see it as such.
Have you personally ever struggled, as a female director?
There is this spread idea that even if a woman director and a man director are at the same level, a man is seen as a genius and the woman is a good director. This happens all the time. I have always found myself, even in official situations, where people would rather comment on women as objects, rather than on what we do. Sometimes you feel like it’s you against the world, and it’s daily, in the small things — in the critique that men throw at you, for example.
Also Read: 9 Women Who Have Directed Movies With $100 Million Budgets (Photos)
Did this happen with “Daughter of Mine”?
In Italy, “Daughter of Mine” was criticized because women are the protagonists and men are just in the background. It’s a struggle, it’s a big struggle. But I feel like supporting this historical phase with all my might. It started from the United States, but it’s spreading all around the world, and this is what I hope: that we can come together all of us, from around the world, towards a common goal.
Both in “Sworn Virgin” and “Daughter of Mine,” the location becomes a character itself matching the desolation of the spirits of these characters. Does the story suggest your locations, or does it happen the other way around?
I always spend a lot of time on the locations and it becomes part of the writing phase. For “Daughter of Mine” I instinctively decided that it should have been set in Sardinia. I found several connections between the land and the story and Sardinia started influencing the script. The feeling, in Sardinia, is very strange. It’s an island that questions its relationship with what doesn’t belong there. The fact that in Sardinia there is such a strong identity, but at the same time an equally strong need to look for it and define it, felt exactly like the characters I wanted to portray.
This is part of a blog series by We Do It Together, a nonprofit film production entity created to produce films, documentaries, TV and other forms of media uniquely dedicated to the empowerment of women.
Read original story ‘Daughter of Mine’ Director Laura Bispuri on Challenging Male Bias in the Industry (Guest Blog) At TheWrap...
- 4/26/2018
- by Giulia Cardamone
- The Wrap
"Bring everything back as it was before." The Match Factory has debuted an international trailer for an Italian film titled Daughter of Mine, or Figlia mia, which just premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February. This drama set in summer on the island of Sardinia follows a 10-year-old girl named Vittoria who roams around freely and gets in trouble hanging out with various people, some of whom are not the best role models. The film stars Sara Casu as Vittoria, along with Valeria Golino, Alba Rohrwacher, Michele Carboni, and Udo Kier. This premiered to mostly positive reviews at Berlinale (see Indiewire or The Film Stage), one of the better discoveries in the competition line-up this year. It's an engaging, thoughtful film about a young girl trying to figure out who she is in a relentlessly rough world. It's definitely worth a watch. Here's the first international trailer for Laura Bispuri's Daughter of Mine,...
- 3/6/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Title: Figlia Mia (Daughter of Mine) Director: Laura Bispuri Cast: Valeria Golino, Alba Rohrwacher, Sara Casu, Michele Carboni, Uno Kier. ‘Daughter of Mine’ (Figlia Mia) is the second feature film by Laura Bispuri, presented at the 68th Berlin Film Festival. A story of maternity, set in Sardina’s scrubland, explores the intricacy of human relationships, but […]
The post Berlin 2018 Berlin Film Festival Movie Review: Figlia Mia (Daughter of Mine) appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Berlin 2018 Berlin Film Festival Movie Review: Figlia Mia (Daughter of Mine) appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 2/20/2018
- by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
- ShockYa
Laura Bispuri’s follow-up to her captivating transgender-themed debut Sworn Virgin is a wrenching, heartfelt drama with an unfussy social commentary that again seeks a new definition of womanhood. Daughter of Mine, led by a trio of female actors–Valeria Golino and Alba Rorwacher, and an equally headstrong first-timer, Sara Casu–contemplates the nature of motherhood in a variety of forms: adoption and the absence of a birth mother, the lack of father figures, and even the effect of an exclusively female family unit. Why is society obsessed with balance in nuclear families about gender–mother and father–rather than in more complex sensibilities?
In a sizzling summer on the Italian island of Sardinia, nine-year-old Vittoria (Casu) is starting to question her place in the world. Her flame-red hair marks her out, she’s bullied at school, and can’t seem to articulate herself to her mother Tina (Golino), who,...
In a sizzling summer on the Italian island of Sardinia, nine-year-old Vittoria (Casu) is starting to question her place in the world. Her flame-red hair marks her out, she’s bullied at school, and can’t seem to articulate herself to her mother Tina (Golino), who,...
- 2/19/2018
- by Ed Frankl
- The Film Stage
There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment towards the end of Laura Bispuri’s raw and arresting “Daughter of Mine” when a distraught Sardinian mother named Tina (“Hot Shots! Part Deux” star Valeria Golino) desperately tries to flag down a sunbathing teenager. “Have you seen a little girl with red hair?” she asks in a panic, but the stranger doesn’t speak a word of Italian — she’s just a tourist in a bikini. Tina drives off, frustrated and frantic, her tires kicking up the ancient Mediterranean dirt.
It’s the first and only time in this tempestuous drama that the world outside of the island is anything more than an abstract idea, a cloud that might not come your way, a mild itch that doesn’t asked to be scratched. Bispuri presents Sardinia as a rugged and primordial place where the houses are built out of cinder blocks and the...
It’s the first and only time in this tempestuous drama that the world outside of the island is anything more than an abstract idea, a cloud that might not come your way, a mild itch that doesn’t asked to be scratched. Bispuri presents Sardinia as a rugged and primordial place where the houses are built out of cinder blocks and the...
- 2/19/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.