Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSOver the weekend we lost two greats: Filmmaker George A. Romero, best known for inventing the modern version of all things zombie, and actor Martin Landau. Patton Oswalt has pointed out that a 19-year-old Romero worked as a pageboy on North by Northwest, Landau's second movie.The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has again added more names to its membership, and this latest batch includes even more unexpected additions from the world of international art cinema, including directors Pedro Costa, Lav Diaz, Ann Hui, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Kira Muratova, Johnnie To and Athina Rachel Tsangari.Did you see that the lineup of the Locarno Film Festival has been announced? With a huge retrospective devoted to Cat People director Jacques Tourneur and a competition including new films by Wang Bing, F.J. Ossang, Ben Russell,...
- 7/19/2017
- MUBI
Syndromes and a Century: German Jr.’s Existentialist State of Things
Aleksey German Jr., son of famed Russian auteur Aleksey German, comes into his own prominence with his third feature Under Electric Clouds, which took home a cinematography award following its premiere at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival. Much like his father’s cinema, German announces similar interests in existentialist societal woes impervious to logical narrative format, and exchanges deliberations of the past (his previous title, Paper Soldier takes place in 1961) for the looming future of 2017 (a date that may dawn before the title premieres in certain international markets). With production delayed so German could put the finishing touches on his father’s posthumous masterpiece, Hard to Be a God, this indictment on the decaying cultural state of Russia tuned exactly one hundred years after the Russian Revolution is a critique as obscurely damning as it elusively oblique in tone. Some...
Aleksey German Jr., son of famed Russian auteur Aleksey German, comes into his own prominence with his third feature Under Electric Clouds, which took home a cinematography award following its premiere at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival. Much like his father’s cinema, German announces similar interests in existentialist societal woes impervious to logical narrative format, and exchanges deliberations of the past (his previous title, Paper Soldier takes place in 1961) for the looming future of 2017 (a date that may dawn before the title premieres in certain international markets). With production delayed so German could put the finishing touches on his father’s posthumous masterpiece, Hard to Be a God, this indictment on the decaying cultural state of Russia tuned exactly one hundred years after the Russian Revolution is a critique as obscurely damning as it elusively oblique in tone. Some...
- 10/14/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Talya Lavie’s Zero Motivation won the Grand Prix at this year’s Odessa International Film Festival (Oiff), overshadowed in its final days by the shooting down of a Malaysian Airways plane.
Lavie’s debut feature, handled internationally by The Match Factory, was voted by the festival-goers to receive the Golden Duke statuette and the $12,000 cash prize.
Director Lavie and actress Shani Klein were accompanied on stage by the Israel Film Fund Katriel Schory to accept the Grand Prix from the hands of the Oiff president Viktoriya Tigipko.
News of the Malaysian Airways plane tragedy broke early on Thursday evening during a reception in honour of Turkish films showing at the festival.
A minute’s silence was held in memory of the crash victims ahead of Gogol Wives’ documentary Pussy vs Putin that evening.
On Friday, another minute of silence was held at the beginning of the awards ceremony in memory of the aeroplane’s passengers as well...
Lavie’s debut feature, handled internationally by The Match Factory, was voted by the festival-goers to receive the Golden Duke statuette and the $12,000 cash prize.
Director Lavie and actress Shani Klein were accompanied on stage by the Israel Film Fund Katriel Schory to accept the Grand Prix from the hands of the Oiff president Viktoriya Tigipko.
News of the Malaysian Airways plane tragedy broke early on Thursday evening during a reception in honour of Turkish films showing at the festival.
A minute’s silence was held in memory of the crash victims ahead of Gogol Wives’ documentary Pussy vs Putin that evening.
On Friday, another minute of silence was held at the beginning of the awards ceremony in memory of the aeroplane’s passengers as well...
- 7/21/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Talya Lavie’s Zero Motivation won the Grand Prix at this year’s Odessa International Film Festival (Oiff), overshadowed in its final days by the shooting down of a Malaysian Airways plane.
Lavie’s debut feature, handled internationally by The Match Factory, was voted by the festival-goers to receive the Golden Duke statuette and the $12,000 cash prize.
Director Lavie and actress Shani Klein were accompanied on stage by the Israel Film Fund Katriel Schory to accept the Grand Prix from the hands of the Oiff president Viktoriya Tigipko.
News of the Malaysian Airways plane tragedy broke early on Thursday evening during a reception in honour of Turkish films showing at the festival.
A minute’s silence was held in memory of the crash victims ahead of Gogol Wives’ documentary Pussy vs Putin that evening.
On Friday, another minute of silence was held at the beginning of the awards ceremony in memory of the aeroplane’s passengers as well...
Lavie’s debut feature, handled internationally by The Match Factory, was voted by the festival-goers to receive the Golden Duke statuette and the $12,000 cash prize.
Director Lavie and actress Shani Klein were accompanied on stage by the Israel Film Fund Katriel Schory to accept the Grand Prix from the hands of the Oiff president Viktoriya Tigipko.
News of the Malaysian Airways plane tragedy broke early on Thursday evening during a reception in honour of Turkish films showing at the festival.
A minute’s silence was held in memory of the crash victims ahead of Gogol Wives’ documentary Pussy vs Putin that evening.
On Friday, another minute of silence was held at the beginning of the awards ceremony in memory of the aeroplane’s passengers as well...
- 7/21/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Mark Cousins is a man who knows his cinema. His impressive encyclopaedic knowledge of cinema makes his films a must see for any cinephile. HeyUGuys spoke to Mark ahead of the release of A Story of Children and Film, a study of the relationship between children and cinema.
A Story of Children and Film is very similar to The Story of Film in style. What made you decide to choose children as a subject matter?
Well I didn’t intend to choose children to be honest, I was determined not to make another film about cinema, because A Story of Film had taken 6 years and I was tired. But even to relax, I have a little camera and I shoot stuff, and I was shooting stuff with my niece and nephew in my flat, and you know sometimes when you switch off, that’s when you’re brain starts to go,...
A Story of Children and Film is very similar to The Story of Film in style. What made you decide to choose children as a subject matter?
Well I didn’t intend to choose children to be honest, I was determined not to make another film about cinema, because A Story of Film had taken 6 years and I was tired. But even to relax, I have a little camera and I shoot stuff, and I was shooting stuff with my niece and nephew in my flat, and you know sometimes when you switch off, that’s when you’re brain starts to go,...
- 4/4/2014
- by Nia Childs
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Elena Naumova praises Russian president Putin’s agreement to annex Crimea and Sevastopol.
“Hurrah. A historical moment! We’re finally back Home! Crimea to Russia!” declared Elena Naumova, founder and CEO of the Sevastopol International Film Festival, with the ink on President Putin’s agreement to annex Crimea and Sevastopol still drying.
“Be happy for us, friends!”, Naumova wrote on her Facebook page. “I am very proud of my country! Thank you, my dear Sevastopol people and citizens of Crimea! Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich! You are the best! Of course, not everything is perfect here, but thank you for Sevastopol, of course! I am so happy that it brings me to tears of joy!!!!!!”
Following Putin’s action on Tuesday, Sevastopol’s website now has the festival - scheduled to take place from September 19-24, 2014 - is located in “Russia”.
Ironically, the Odessa International Film Festival is one of the “favourites” in the film category of Naumova...
“Hurrah. A historical moment! We’re finally back Home! Crimea to Russia!” declared Elena Naumova, founder and CEO of the Sevastopol International Film Festival, with the ink on President Putin’s agreement to annex Crimea and Sevastopol still drying.
“Be happy for us, friends!”, Naumova wrote on her Facebook page. “I am very proud of my country! Thank you, my dear Sevastopol people and citizens of Crimea! Thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich! You are the best! Of course, not everything is perfect here, but thank you for Sevastopol, of course! I am so happy that it brings me to tears of joy!!!!!!”
Following Putin’s action on Tuesday, Sevastopol’s website now has the festival - scheduled to take place from September 19-24, 2014 - is located in “Russia”.
Ironically, the Odessa International Film Festival is one of the “favourites” in the film category of Naumova...
- 3/19/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Call for directors, producers and sales agents to give their films for free to festivals in troubled Ukraine.
Cannes’ Thierry Fremaux, the Berlinale’s Christoph Terhechte and Venice chief Alberto Barbera are among 92 people working at 60 festivals in 38 countries to have answered a call to show solidarity with their Ukrainian festival colleagues.
Speaking exclusively to ScreenDaily, the initiative’s coordinator, Warsaw Film Festival director Stefan Laudyn, explained: “When we heard the news from Ukraine, after a quick email and SMS exchange with Sara [Norberg of Helsinki Iff ¨Love & Anarchy¨], Tiina [Lokk of Black Nights F], Tudor [Giurgiu of Tiff/Cluj] and the Stefans [Uhrik and Kitanov of Febiofest and Sofia Iff], we decided to prepare a letter of support and sent it to our friends at film festivals worldwide.”
In the letter, the six festival chiefs called on directors, producers and sales agents to give their films “willingly and for free to all film festivals in Ukraine” and also not to charge any screening fees from Ukrainian festivals this year.
In addition, they asked national...
Cannes’ Thierry Fremaux, the Berlinale’s Christoph Terhechte and Venice chief Alberto Barbera are among 92 people working at 60 festivals in 38 countries to have answered a call to show solidarity with their Ukrainian festival colleagues.
Speaking exclusively to ScreenDaily, the initiative’s coordinator, Warsaw Film Festival director Stefan Laudyn, explained: “When we heard the news from Ukraine, after a quick email and SMS exchange with Sara [Norberg of Helsinki Iff ¨Love & Anarchy¨], Tiina [Lokk of Black Nights F], Tudor [Giurgiu of Tiff/Cluj] and the Stefans [Uhrik and Kitanov of Febiofest and Sofia Iff], we decided to prepare a letter of support and sent it to our friends at film festivals worldwide.”
In the letter, the six festival chiefs called on directors, producers and sales agents to give their films “willingly and for free to all film festivals in Ukraine” and also not to charge any screening fees from Ukrainian festivals this year.
In addition, they asked national...
- 3/14/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Ukrainian films will come under the spotlight at the 4th edition of the Odessa Film Festival, which runs July 12-20.
A total of 19 new Ukrainian projects, at various stages of production, will be presented during the festival in partnership with the Ukrainian State Film Agency including Kira Muratova’s Eternal Homecoming and the first Ukranian 3D horror movie Synevir.
10 Ukrainian projects will compete for a cash prize of $3,250 (€2,500) as part of the Oiff pitching session. These will include Stepne, the debut feature of Marina Vroda who won the Short Film Palme d’Or in Cannes, and crime comedy Pawnshop directed by Lubomyr Levitskiy.
Meanwhile as part of the Work-in-Progress section, clips from nine Ukrainian films or co-productions at the post production stage will be presented.
Pitching Session Projects
The Porcupine
UK, Serbia, Bulgaria, Roumania, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine
Director: Srdjan Dragojevic
Battle For Sevastopol
Ukraine, Russia
Director: Sergey Mokritskiy
Volcano
Germany, France, Ukraine...
A total of 19 new Ukrainian projects, at various stages of production, will be presented during the festival in partnership with the Ukrainian State Film Agency including Kira Muratova’s Eternal Homecoming and the first Ukranian 3D horror movie Synevir.
10 Ukrainian projects will compete for a cash prize of $3,250 (€2,500) as part of the Oiff pitching session. These will include Stepne, the debut feature of Marina Vroda who won the Short Film Palme d’Or in Cannes, and crime comedy Pawnshop directed by Lubomyr Levitskiy.
Meanwhile as part of the Work-in-Progress section, clips from nine Ukrainian films or co-productions at the post production stage will be presented.
Pitching Session Projects
The Porcupine
UK, Serbia, Bulgaria, Roumania, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine
Director: Srdjan Dragojevic
Battle For Sevastopol
Ukraine, Russia
Director: Sergey Mokritskiy
Volcano
Germany, France, Ukraine...
- 6/26/2013
- by sarah.cooper@screendaily.com (Sarah Cooper)
- ScreenDaily
Above and below: Khrustalyov, My Car!.
The joke about Aleksei German was always that he was great but only Russians liked him. Several years ago, I invited a non-Russian-speaker to a screening of Khrustalyov, My Car! (1998) at Brooklyn's Bam cinema. Ten minutes into the screening, an odd thing happened. I felt the urge to tell my companion to stop reading the subtitles.
The following scene prompted me: A middle-aged housekeeper opens the curtains and spikes her morning tea with cognac; someone polishes a shoe and talks about a veterinarian prone to lethargic sleep; a woman with a yoghurt facial scolds a senile lady for using a walker and, moments later, for taking a large kielbasa into bed with her. The old woman claims to be defenseless against sexual fantasies. Some words are misheard; a grocery receipt is scrutinized; a winter coat is sniffed in search of mothballs, two doll-like Jewish...
The joke about Aleksei German was always that he was great but only Russians liked him. Several years ago, I invited a non-Russian-speaker to a screening of Khrustalyov, My Car! (1998) at Brooklyn's Bam cinema. Ten minutes into the screening, an odd thing happened. I felt the urge to tell my companion to stop reading the subtitles.
The following scene prompted me: A middle-aged housekeeper opens the curtains and spikes her morning tea with cognac; someone polishes a shoe and talks about a veterinarian prone to lethargic sleep; a woman with a yoghurt facial scolds a senile lady for using a walker and, moments later, for taking a large kielbasa into bed with her. The old woman claims to be defenseless against sexual fantasies. Some words are misheard; a grocery receipt is scrutinized; a winter coat is sniffed in search of mothballs, two doll-like Jewish...
- 3/17/2012
- MUBI
242 feature length pics which 95 world premiers.. Wow, I wish I was going, but our lucky Toronto correspondent Rick McGrath will be there instead. (Very lucky Toronto correspondent) Among the standouts are:
Some serious Greek weirdness I'm dying to see in Dogtooth.
Lars Von Triers insanity leaks out in Antichrist. (review)
The long awaited scifi awesomeness starring Jared Leto, Mr. Nobody.
And Locarno winner from the hip UK firm Warp X, She, A Chinese.
List of remaining flicks after the break.
Special Presentations
Mr. Nobody Jaco Van Dormael, France/Germany/Canada/Belgium
North American Premiere
Mr. Nobody tells the story of Nemo (Jared Leto), the world's oldest man. In 2092, Mars has become a trendy vacation destination and humans have achieved immortality, thanks to advances in genetics. At the age of 120 years, Nemo is the last mortal left on Earth. His death is drawing near, and media from all over the world...
Some serious Greek weirdness I'm dying to see in Dogtooth.
Lars Von Triers insanity leaks out in Antichrist. (review)
The long awaited scifi awesomeness starring Jared Leto, Mr. Nobody.
And Locarno winner from the hip UK firm Warp X, She, A Chinese.
List of remaining flicks after the break.
Special Presentations
Mr. Nobody Jaco Van Dormael, France/Germany/Canada/Belgium
North American Premiere
Mr. Nobody tells the story of Nemo (Jared Leto), the world's oldest man. In 2092, Mars has become a trendy vacation destination and humans have achieved immortality, thanks to advances in genetics. At the age of 120 years, Nemo is the last mortal left on Earth. His death is drawing near, and media from all over the world...
- 8/20/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Moscow -- The 31st Moscow International Film Festival will open Friday with the film "Tsar" by jury chairman Pavel Lungin, which premiered at the Festival de Cannes last month in Un Certain Regard.
Sixteen movies from Bulgaria, Hungary, Iran, Japan, the U.S., Poland, Russia, Ukraine and other countries will compete for the main prize, the Golden St. George.
Among the competition's front runners are "Melodiya dlya sharmanki" (Melody for a Barrel Organ), a story about stepbrother and stepsisters trying to find their fathers in the big city following the death of their mother, by Ukrainian director Kira Muratova, who once won a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, and "Palata Nomer 6" (Ward No. 6), an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's mysterious paradoxical and disturbing story by Russian veteran director Karen Shakhnazarov.
Hollywood will be represented in the main competition by Noah Buschel's "Missing Person," a modern-day film...
Sixteen movies from Bulgaria, Hungary, Iran, Japan, the U.S., Poland, Russia, Ukraine and other countries will compete for the main prize, the Golden St. George.
Among the competition's front runners are "Melodiya dlya sharmanki" (Melody for a Barrel Organ), a story about stepbrother and stepsisters trying to find their fathers in the big city following the death of their mother, by Ukrainian director Kira Muratova, who once won a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, and "Palata Nomer 6" (Ward No. 6), an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's mysterious paradoxical and disturbing story by Russian veteran director Karen Shakhnazarov.
Hollywood will be represented in the main competition by Noah Buschel's "Missing Person," a modern-day film...
- 6/18/2009
- by By Vladimir Kozlov
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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