French actress Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”) will be the next president of the European Film Academy Board, succeeding Polish director Agnieszka Holland (“Europa”) in the honorary role. Holland was the first female president of the board.
Binoche was unanimously proposed by the board members after Holland decided to step down. Following a formal approval process, which historically has been a mere formality, Binoche’s appointment will officially begin on May 1, 2024. The presidential role is primarily symbolic.
Holland, who served as chairwoman of the board until 2019, became president in 2021, succeeding German director Wim Wenders. Holland plans to fully dedicate her time to making films.
Holland’s “Europa” won the Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Her 2023 film “Green Border” won the Special Jury Prize at Venice International Film Festival.
Mike Downey, the current chair of the board, and Academy CEO Matthijs Wouter Knol said...
Binoche was unanimously proposed by the board members after Holland decided to step down. Following a formal approval process, which historically has been a mere formality, Binoche’s appointment will officially begin on May 1, 2024. The presidential role is primarily symbolic.
Holland, who served as chairwoman of the board until 2019, became president in 2021, succeeding German director Wim Wenders. Holland plans to fully dedicate her time to making films.
Holland’s “Europa” won the Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Her 2023 film “Green Border” won the Special Jury Prize at Venice International Film Festival.
Mike Downey, the current chair of the board, and Academy CEO Matthijs Wouter Knol said...
- 3/14/2024
- by Tony Maglio
- Indiewire
The independent juries of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival early Saturday unveiled their picks of the best movies at the 2024 Berlinale.
Matthias Glasner’s German family epic Sterben (Dying), and the Iranian feature My Favourite Cake from directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, both of which are considered frontrunners for the top prize at the official festival ceremony on Saturday night, received multiple awards for the indie juries, as did Dag Johan Haugerud’s Norwegian drama Sex, a critical favorite from this year’s Panorama sidebar.
Sterben, which follows a classical conductor (played by Lars Eidinger) and his very dysfunctional family, won the best film honor from the guild of German arthouse cinemas and the top prize awarded by the jury of Berliner Morgenpost readers representing the Berlin newspaper.
My Favourite Cake, a quiet drama about a 70-year-old widow who takes a chance on new love, won the Fipresci...
Matthias Glasner’s German family epic Sterben (Dying), and the Iranian feature My Favourite Cake from directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, both of which are considered frontrunners for the top prize at the official festival ceremony on Saturday night, received multiple awards for the indie juries, as did Dag Johan Haugerud’s Norwegian drama Sex, a critical favorite from this year’s Panorama sidebar.
Sterben, which follows a classical conductor (played by Lars Eidinger) and his very dysfunctional family, won the best film honor from the guild of German arthouse cinemas and the top prize awarded by the jury of Berliner Morgenpost readers representing the Berlin newspaper.
My Favourite Cake, a quiet drama about a 70-year-old widow who takes a chance on new love, won the Fipresci...
- 2/24/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Don’t get too hot and bothered over the title of the new Norwegian film Sex. The act itself in this first entry in a new trilogy from writer-director Dag Johan Haugerud is really only just talked about in this intriguing movie mostly dependent on leaning into its main characters’ words and descriptions, not a whole lot of visual information. Winner of the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European Film in the Panorama section of the current Berlin Film Festival, where it had its world premiere this week, Haugerud has announced this as this first of three films — Sex, Dreams, and then Love — featuring the same cast and dealing overall with themes of desire, identity and freedom, not to mention sexuality and the place of gender in our lives and society. This first stand-alone film also leans heavily into masculinity in ways it is not normally discussed by guys, but...
- 2/24/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Sex, a provocative and candid look at constricting gender roles by Norwegian director Dag Johan Haugerud, has won the Europa Cinemas Label as best European film in the Panorama section of the 2024 Berlin Film Festival.
Jan Gunnar Roise and Thorbjorn Harr star in Sex as two married and ostensibly heterosexual chimney sweeps whose experiences lead them to question their supposedly fixed sexual and gender identities. The film was a critical hit in Berlin, with The Hollywood Reporter comparing its “gentle subversiveness” of the male character study to Joachim Trier’s twist on the traditional rom-com in the Oscar-nominated The Worst Person in the World. [Coincidentally, Worst Person in the World breakout Renate Reinsve was one of the big stars of the Berlinale this year, with two films in competition.]
The Europa Cinemas jury praised Sex as “fresh, original, and, above all, great fun,” adding: “Yes, it is a talky film, but we feel strongly that the open...
Jan Gunnar Roise and Thorbjorn Harr star in Sex as two married and ostensibly heterosexual chimney sweeps whose experiences lead them to question their supposedly fixed sexual and gender identities. The film was a critical hit in Berlin, with The Hollywood Reporter comparing its “gentle subversiveness” of the male character study to Joachim Trier’s twist on the traditional rom-com in the Oscar-nominated The Worst Person in the World. [Coincidentally, Worst Person in the World breakout Renate Reinsve was one of the big stars of the Berlinale this year, with two films in competition.]
The Europa Cinemas jury praised Sex as “fresh, original, and, above all, great fun,” adding: “Yes, it is a talky film, but we feel strongly that the open...
- 2/23/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Any day is a good day for “Feeling Good,” but today is especially the best since Raye covered Nina Simone’s iconic declaration of grace. Unlike the original, which came out in 1965, Raye’s version is sparse and features only piano, no swinging brass, allowing her to plumb the depths of her happiness to evoke the song’s joy — you know how she feels.
She performed the tune on the latest episode of Aussie radio station Triple J’s Like a Version series. “I think it comments so beautifully on...
She performed the tune on the latest episode of Aussie radio station Triple J’s Like a Version series. “I think it comments so beautifully on...
- 2/9/2024
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
The nominations for this year’s Brit Awards have been unveiled, with Raye making history as the most nominated artist in the same year. The singer, who released her acclaimed album My 21st Century Blues last year, scored nods for Best British Album, Song Of The Year (twice), British Artist of the Year, Best Pop Act, Best R&b Act, and Best New Artist.
It’s a huge achievement for the singer, who openly told Rolling Stone UK last year how she shook off the shackles of a record label...
It’s a huge achievement for the singer, who openly told Rolling Stone UK last year how she shook off the shackles of a record label...
- 1/24/2024
- by Nick Reilly
- Rollingstone.com
Over the last seven years, Catalonia has built a thriving film industry which has been the envy of other regions across Europe, boasting a thriving co-production scene, a burgeoning animation industry, a 2022 Berlin Golden Bear with Clara Simon’s “Alcarrás,” and a bevy of prizes at 2023’s Berlinale, thanks to “20,000 Species of Bees.”
Catalonia even brought down the flag with Simon’s “Summer 1993,” a 2017 Berlin Best First Feature Film winner, on what could be hailed as a first film movement in Spain in decades: Fiction films grounded in a large sense upon a specific place, but talking about big social or gender issues.
Now Catalonia is attempting to achieve the same impact with its TV industry. Its early results led by “This Is Not Sweden,” will play out at Content Americas and most especially Sweden Göteborg Festival’s TV strand, TV Drama Vision.
Bowing November in Spain on...
Catalonia even brought down the flag with Simon’s “Summer 1993,” a 2017 Berlin Best First Feature Film winner, on what could be hailed as a first film movement in Spain in decades: Fiction films grounded in a large sense upon a specific place, but talking about big social or gender issues.
Now Catalonia is attempting to achieve the same impact with its TV industry. Its early results led by “This Is Not Sweden,” will play out at Content Americas and most especially Sweden Göteborg Festival’s TV strand, TV Drama Vision.
Bowing November in Spain on...
- 1/24/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
It’s been a year since Bad Bunny has been on tour, but now, fans won’t have to wait much longer.
In February next year, Bad Bunny will kick off his Most Wanted Tour, where he will perform 47 shows across 31 North American cities. Major cities like Chicago, New York City and Miami will have the “Un Verano Sin Ti” singer performing for three nights each.
The Puerto Rican’s upcoming Most Wanted Tour was announced in October, shortly after the release of his fifth studio album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana.
The announcement on social media came in the form of a short video with Bad Bunny in a mask riding a horse and stopping in front of a building covered with “Most Wanted” posters all over the exterior wall. He then gets off the horse to take one of the posters down, looks at it,...
In February next year, Bad Bunny will kick off his Most Wanted Tour, where he will perform 47 shows across 31 North American cities. Major cities like Chicago, New York City and Miami will have the “Un Verano Sin Ti” singer performing for three nights each.
The Puerto Rican’s upcoming Most Wanted Tour was announced in October, shortly after the release of his fifth studio album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana.
The announcement on social media came in the form of a short video with Bad Bunny in a mask riding a horse and stopping in front of a building covered with “Most Wanted” posters all over the exterior wall. He then gets off the horse to take one of the posters down, looks at it,...
- 12/20/2023
- by Rose Anne Cox-Peralta
- Uinterview
The best in global television was honored in New York on Monday night at the 2023 International Emmy Awards. The 56 nominees for this year’s awards, handed out by the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, came from 20 countries across six continents.
In a sign of how important streaming companies have become to the international TV industry, Amazon and Netflix dominated the best drama category this year, with Netflix’s German-Austrian period drama The Empress, about the legendary love story between Austrian-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph and Elisabeth von Wittelsbach, aka “Sissi,” winning the award. The streamer’s South Korean legal drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo, featuring Park Eun-bin as an autistic rookie female lawyer with a genius Iq, was also nominated for best drama. And two nominees came from Amazon: the Argentine historical thriller Yosi, the Regretful Spy from director Daniel Burman, about the real-life intelligence scandal that led to two of...
In a sign of how important streaming companies have become to the international TV industry, Amazon and Netflix dominated the best drama category this year, with Netflix’s German-Austrian period drama The Empress, about the legendary love story between Austrian-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph and Elisabeth von Wittelsbach, aka “Sissi,” winning the award. The streamer’s South Korean legal drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo, featuring Park Eun-bin as an autistic rookie female lawyer with a genius Iq, was also nominated for best drama. And two nominees came from Amazon: the Argentine historical thriller Yosi, the Regretful Spy from director Daniel Burman, about the real-life intelligence scandal that led to two of...
- 11/21/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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It was only a few days ago that the Criterion Collection had a surprise flash sale. The home video company’s entire catalog was slashed down to 50% off list prices. While that sale only lasted for 24 hours, there are a number of titles that are still on sale for half-off at Amazon.
We rounded up the best deals on Criterion Collection releases, including Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing,” Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider,” Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” and much more. In fact, even a few boxed sets are half off, such as Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Dekalog” and Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology.
Ahead, check out the best Criterion Blu-ray discs currently on sale for 50% off at Amazon:
‘Do the Right Thing...
It was only a few days ago that the Criterion Collection had a surprise flash sale. The home video company’s entire catalog was slashed down to 50% off list prices. While that sale only lasted for 24 hours, there are a number of titles that are still on sale for half-off at Amazon.
We rounded up the best deals on Criterion Collection releases, including Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing,” Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider,” Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” and much more. In fact, even a few boxed sets are half off, such as Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Dekalog” and Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology.
Ahead, check out the best Criterion Blu-ray discs currently on sale for 50% off at Amazon:
‘Do the Right Thing...
- 10/20/2023
- by Anna Tingley and Rudie Obias
- Variety Film + TV
Not to be confused with Haider Rashid’s 2021 thriller of the same name, drama Europa (2023) from Iranian-Austrian writer-director Sudabeh Mortezai was nominated for Best Film in Official Competition at Lff 2023. A slow-burn thriller of corporate defiance and corruption set in rural Albania, it stars German actor Lilith Stangenberg in the lead role of Beate Winter, an ambitious executive of a mysterious corporation called ‘Europa’ that must persuade locals to part with land and livelihoods for unclear, nefarious reasons – all for the euro and not the environment.
The term ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ aptly fits here, as a compelling, stoic and quite ambiguous Stangenberg as Beate ‘hunts’ around stunning countryside, targeting her prey, befriending them and then spinning stories of woe or enlightenment to make the kill and get the contracts signed. With her male assistant Lasse (Tobias Winter) in tow, there is a sense that both are ‘stuck’ in...
The term ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ aptly fits here, as a compelling, stoic and quite ambiguous Stangenberg as Beate ‘hunts’ around stunning countryside, targeting her prey, befriending them and then spinning stories of woe or enlightenment to make the kill and get the contracts signed. With her male assistant Lasse (Tobias Winter) in tow, there is a sense that both are ‘stuck’ in...
- 10/20/2023
- by Lisa Giles-Keddie
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Bad Bunny has released his new album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana. Stream the album below.
The follow-up to last year’s Un Verano Sin Ti, the album arrives ahead of Bad Bunny’s October 21st appearance on Saturday Night Live, during which he will pull double duty as both host and musical guest. In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the global superstar teased that he had been experimenting with new sounds while recording it in Puerto Rico and Los Angeles.
“I am playing around and enjoying myself, letting go. I’m being inspired a lot by the music of the ’70s [across genres, in both Spanish and English],” Bad Bunny said, “but I’m not sure if this is going to shape my music, generally or just one song.” He also hinted at opening up about his personal life: “Now more than ever, I feel more confident in talking about what I think,...
The follow-up to last year’s Un Verano Sin Ti, the album arrives ahead of Bad Bunny’s October 21st appearance on Saturday Night Live, during which he will pull double duty as both host and musical guest. In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the global superstar teased that he had been experimenting with new sounds while recording it in Puerto Rico and Los Angeles.
“I am playing around and enjoying myself, letting go. I’m being inspired a lot by the music of the ’70s [across genres, in both Spanish and English],” Bad Bunny said, “but I’m not sure if this is going to shape my music, generally or just one song.” He also hinted at opening up about his personal life: “Now more than ever, I feel more confident in talking about what I think,...
- 10/13/2023
- by Eddie Fu and Jo Vito
- Consequence - Music
Bad Bunny stans, which song are you claiming? On Thursday, hours before he’s set to release his new album, Bad Bunny revealed the tracklist for his new album, Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana.
Among the 22 songs included on the album are “Monaco,” “Mr. October,” Cybertruck,” “Teléfono Nuevo,” “Acho PR,” and “Thunder y Lightning.” The LP opens with “Nadie Sabe” and ends with “Un Preview.” Also on the album is “No Me Quiero Casar,” which translates to “I don’t want to get married.”
It’s unclear...
Among the 22 songs included on the album are “Monaco,” “Mr. October,” Cybertruck,” “Teléfono Nuevo,” “Acho PR,” and “Thunder y Lightning.” The LP opens with “Nadie Sabe” and ends with “Un Preview.” Also on the album is “No Me Quiero Casar,” which translates to “I don’t want to get married.”
It’s unclear...
- 10/12/2023
- by Tomás Mier
- Rollingstone.com
The medium is the message in Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border, a piece of political cinema so freshly ripped from the headlines that you can still feel the jagged edges. Holland shot the film, which chronicles the wide ripple effects of a 2021 surge of asylum seekers along the Polish-Belarusian border, in just 23 days in March of this year and had it ready for fall festivals mere months later. In the end, her sense of propulsive, incandescent outrage is both the project’s reason for existence and its strongest attribute.
Holland, directing in collaboration with Kamila Tarabura and Katarzyna Warzecha, resists the impulse for urgency to trump all aesthetic considerations. Green Border moves beyond documentary-style realism as a shorthand for authenticity, and it’s at its most gut-wrenching when Tomek Naumiuk’s agile camerawork captures bodies in frequent, frightening motion, as well as the illusory sense of security that those bodies feel in moments of rest.
Holland, directing in collaboration with Kamila Tarabura and Katarzyna Warzecha, resists the impulse for urgency to trump all aesthetic considerations. Green Border moves beyond documentary-style realism as a shorthand for authenticity, and it’s at its most gut-wrenching when Tomek Naumiuk’s agile camerawork captures bodies in frequent, frightening motion, as well as the illusory sense of security that those bodies feel in moments of rest.
- 10/9/2023
- by Marshall Shaffer
- Slant Magazine
Poland’s right-wing government has upped its attacks on The Green Border, the new film from acclaimed, Oscar-nominated Polish director Agnieszka Holland, requiring theaters in Poland to run a government-approved warning video ahead of the movie.
The move, unprecedented in democratic Poland, comes ahead of The Green Border‘s national release on Friday, where it will go out wide on 250 screens across the country via distributor Kino Swiat.
The Green Border premiered to critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month where it won a special jury prize. Critics lauded the movie, with The Hollywood Reporter review calling it a “devastating dramatic triumph” and naming The Green Border one of the top 15 movies of the fall festival season.
The film is a dramatization of the plight of refugees stranded on the natural border between Poland and Belarus. The migrants, most of them from North Africa and the Middle East,...
The move, unprecedented in democratic Poland, comes ahead of The Green Border‘s national release on Friday, where it will go out wide on 250 screens across the country via distributor Kino Swiat.
The Green Border premiered to critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month where it won a special jury prize. Critics lauded the movie, with The Hollywood Reporter review calling it a “devastating dramatic triumph” and naming The Green Border one of the top 15 movies of the fall festival season.
The film is a dramatization of the plight of refugees stranded on the natural border between Poland and Belarus. The migrants, most of them from North Africa and the Middle East,...
- 9/21/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With the 67th BFI London Film Festival gearing up to start on Oct. 4, the juries for the various competitions have been named.
Leading the official competition jury is acclaimed Mexican director, producer and screenwriter Amat Escalante, who won the best director honor at the 2013 edition of the Cannes Film Festival for Heli and the Silver Lion for the best director in Venice in 2016 for The Untamed. Escalante’s latest feature, Lost in the Night, is playing in the London Film Festival’s Thrill Strand.
Joining Escalante on the main jury are Kate Taylor, program director of the 2023 Edinburgh International Film Festival, and Niven Govinden, the English novelist and author of Diary of a Film.
The films in the official competition that the trio will be judging include:
Baltimore, Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor
Dear Jassi, Tarsem Singh Dhandwar)
Europa, Sudabeh Mortezai
Evil Does Not Exist, Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Fingernails, Christos Nikou
Gasoline Rainbow,...
Leading the official competition jury is acclaimed Mexican director, producer and screenwriter Amat Escalante, who won the best director honor at the 2013 edition of the Cannes Film Festival for Heli and the Silver Lion for the best director in Venice in 2016 for The Untamed. Escalante’s latest feature, Lost in the Night, is playing in the London Film Festival’s Thrill Strand.
Joining Escalante on the main jury are Kate Taylor, program director of the 2023 Edinburgh International Film Festival, and Niven Govinden, the English novelist and author of Diary of a Film.
The films in the official competition that the trio will be judging include:
Baltimore, Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor
Dear Jassi, Tarsem Singh Dhandwar)
Europa, Sudabeh Mortezai
Evil Does Not Exist, Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Fingernails, Christos Nikou
Gasoline Rainbow,...
- 9/19/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Director Agnieszka Holland has demanded Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro apologize for comments he made online comparing Holland’s new film, The Green Border, to “Nazi propaganda.”
Ziobro, a leading member of Poland’s right-wing conservative government, has sharply criticized the film, which explores the humanitarian disaster affecting migrants along the Poland-Belarus border.
“In the Third Reich, the Germans produced propaganda films showing Poles as bandits and murderers. Today they have Agnieszka Holland for that,” Ziobro wrote Monday on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter.
Holland said Wednesday, via AP, that she planned to bring defamation charges against Ziobro unless she receives an apology within seven days. She also demanded that he make a charitable donation of 50,000 Polish zlotys ($11,600) to an association that helps Holocaust survivors.
Polish directors and the European Film Association have defended Holland following the political attack.
In an open letter, seen by The Hollywood Reporter,...
Ziobro, a leading member of Poland’s right-wing conservative government, has sharply criticized the film, which explores the humanitarian disaster affecting migrants along the Poland-Belarus border.
“In the Third Reich, the Germans produced propaganda films showing Poles as bandits and murderers. Today they have Agnieszka Holland for that,” Ziobro wrote Monday on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter.
Holland said Wednesday, via AP, that she planned to bring defamation charges against Ziobro unless she receives an apology within seven days. She also demanded that he make a charitable donation of 50,000 Polish zlotys ($11,600) to an association that helps Holocaust survivors.
Polish directors and the European Film Association have defended Holland following the political attack.
In an open letter, seen by The Hollywood Reporter,...
- 9/7/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Have you heard of a movie about a brilliant quantum physicist who travels to a remote location so he can test a groundbreaking theory that could change the world forever? It’s shot in breathtaking black-and-white, and features Nazis and a doomed romance.
If you’re thinking of Oppenheimer, you’re wrong by a good two decades (in terms of the time setting), as well as a good hundred million dollars (in terms of budget). And yet, like a smaller, distant cousin to the Christopher Nolan blockbuster, German director Timm Kröger’s The Theory of Everything (Die Theorie Von Allem) is also an artfully made, ambitious period piece where reality sometimes bends to the laws of modern physics.
However, the similarities end there. Nolan’s movie was science-fact, remaining as close to historic events as technically possible. Kröger’s second feature is more of a genre-jumping experiment, combining Hollywood sci-fi...
If you’re thinking of Oppenheimer, you’re wrong by a good two decades (in terms of the time setting), as well as a good hundred million dollars (in terms of budget). And yet, like a smaller, distant cousin to the Christopher Nolan blockbuster, German director Timm Kröger’s The Theory of Everything (Die Theorie Von Allem) is also an artfully made, ambitious period piece where reality sometimes bends to the laws of modern physics.
However, the similarities end there. Nolan’s movie was science-fact, remaining as close to historic events as technically possible. Kröger’s second feature is more of a genre-jumping experiment, combining Hollywood sci-fi...
- 9/3/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The film is about a woman accused of the brutal murder of her mother.
Memento International has boarded Edoardo Gabbriellini’s third feature Holiday, a suspense thriller set on the Italian Riviera that is premiering in Toronto in September.
Produced by Olivia Musini for Cinemaundici in association with Lorenzo Mieli’s The Apartment and Luca Guadagnino’s Frenesy Film Company, Holiday is about a woman who returns to her family-owned hotel after being released from prison. But even after being acquitted of the brutal murder of her mother and her mother’s lover and maintaining her innocence, she finds herself...
Memento International has boarded Edoardo Gabbriellini’s third feature Holiday, a suspense thriller set on the Italian Riviera that is premiering in Toronto in September.
Produced by Olivia Musini for Cinemaundici in association with Lorenzo Mieli’s The Apartment and Luca Guadagnino’s Frenesy Film Company, Holiday is about a woman who returns to her family-owned hotel after being released from prison. But even after being acquitted of the brutal murder of her mother and her mother’s lover and maintaining her innocence, she finds herself...
- 8/30/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
The 67th BFI London Film Festival has unveiled the titles that will compete in its official, first feature, documentary and short film competitions.
Festival director Kristy Matheson said: “The films represented in each of these competitive strands offer audiences an exciting array of U.K. and global filmmaking voices and cinematic forms. We’re so proud to be showcasing each of these films and thank all the filmmaking teams in competition for sharing their films with us.”
Official Competition
“Baltimore”
“Dear Jassi”
“Europa”
“Evil Does Not Exist”
“Fingernails”
“Gasoline Rainbow”
“I Am Sirat”
“The Royal Hotel”
“Self Portrait: 47 Km 2020”
“Starve Acre”
“Together 99”
First Feature Competition
“Black Dog”
“Earth Mama” (U.S. Dir-scr. Savanah Leaf)
“Hoard”
“In Camera”
“Mambar Pierrette”
“Paradise is Burning”
“Penal Cordillera”
“The Queen of My Dreams”
“Sky Peals”
“Tiger Stripes”
“Tuesday”
Documentary Competition
“Bye Bye Tiberias”
“Celluloid Underground”
“Chasing Chasing Amy”
“A Common Sequence”
“Dancing On...
Festival director Kristy Matheson said: “The films represented in each of these competitive strands offer audiences an exciting array of U.K. and global filmmaking voices and cinematic forms. We’re so proud to be showcasing each of these films and thank all the filmmaking teams in competition for sharing their films with us.”
Official Competition
“Baltimore”
“Dear Jassi”
“Europa”
“Evil Does Not Exist”
“Fingernails”
“Gasoline Rainbow”
“I Am Sirat”
“The Royal Hotel”
“Self Portrait: 47 Km 2020”
“Starve Acre”
“Together 99”
First Feature Competition
“Black Dog”
“Earth Mama” (U.S. Dir-scr. Savanah Leaf)
“Hoard”
“In Camera”
“Mambar Pierrette”
“Paradise is Burning”
“Penal Cordillera”
“The Queen of My Dreams”
“Sky Peals”
“Tiger Stripes”
“Tuesday”
Documentary Competition
“Bye Bye Tiberias”
“Celluloid Underground”
“Chasing Chasing Amy”
“A Common Sequence”
“Dancing On...
- 8/29/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
"Albanian tradition. She should show respect." Memento Films has revealed a festival promo trailer for a film titled Europa, the latest from an Austrian-Iranian filmmaker named Sudabeh Mortezai. This recently premiered at the 2023 Sarajevo Film Festival, with extra stops at more European fests in the fall. Not to be confused with the harrowing refugees in Europe thriller also titled Europa from just last year. This Austrian production is about a woman named Beate, played by Lilith Stangenberg, an ambitious executive working at "Europa", a mysterious multi-national corporation looking to expand into the Balkans region. Seemingly promoting philanthropy, Europa actually needs to buy off lands from locals in a remote valley in Albania. She encounters pushback from a local farmer who refuses to leave the land of his ancestors and refuses any deal. The cast includes Jetnor Gorezi, Steljona Kadillari, Mirando Sylari, and Tobias Winter. This reminds me of Toni Erdmann,...
- 8/28/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Memento International and Anonymous Content have boarded “Woman Of,” a bold Venice competition entry written and directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert. The film is a pioneering trans drama set in against the landscape of the Polish transformation from communism to capitalism.
“Woman Of” stars Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik as Aniela Wesoły, who lived more than half of her adult life in a provincial Polish town as a man. “Woman Of…” spans 45 years of the life of Aniela as she aspires to find personal liberty as a trans woman and faces hardships in marriage and parenthood, strained family relations and complicated attitudes in her environment.
“‘Woman Of’ is the result of many years of work, a film that tells a story of a mature trans woman living in Poland, who does not fit the social norms of a traditional family,” said Szumowska and Englert, who have been working on movies together for over 20 years.
“Woman Of” stars Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik as Aniela Wesoły, who lived more than half of her adult life in a provincial Polish town as a man. “Woman Of…” spans 45 years of the life of Aniela as she aspires to find personal liberty as a trans woman and faces hardships in marriage and parenthood, strained family relations and complicated attitudes in her environment.
“‘Woman Of’ is the result of many years of work, a film that tells a story of a mature trans woman living in Poland, who does not fit the social norms of a traditional family,” said Szumowska and Englert, who have been working on movies together for over 20 years.
- 8/25/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Memento International has acquired international sales rights to Nora El Hourch’s debut feature “Sisterhood” (“Hlm Pussy”) ahead of its world premiere at Toronto. The timely film will play in the competitive Platform section.
“Sisterhood” follows three inseparable teenagers who face a public outcry after posting a video that exposes someone who attacked them. Faced with threats, they must choose between deleting the video or continuing to fight.
“Sisterhood” boasts a cast of newcomers, including Léah Aubert, Médina Diarra and Salma Takaline, as well as Bérénice Bejo, the Cannes and Cesar award-winning of “The Past” and “The Artist.” Philippe Gompel is producing for Manny Films and La Prod in Morocco is co-producing. Paname Distribution will be handling French distribution.
“Nora El Hourch’s energetic debut feature boldly puts the spotlight on the way sexual harassment is dealt with in the French projects,” said Memento Intl. The company said “Sisterhood” deftly addresses social discrepancies.
“Sisterhood” follows three inseparable teenagers who face a public outcry after posting a video that exposes someone who attacked them. Faced with threats, they must choose between deleting the video or continuing to fight.
“Sisterhood” boasts a cast of newcomers, including Léah Aubert, Médina Diarra and Salma Takaline, as well as Bérénice Bejo, the Cannes and Cesar award-winning of “The Past” and “The Artist.” Philippe Gompel is producing for Manny Films and La Prod in Morocco is co-producing. Paname Distribution will be handling French distribution.
“Nora El Hourch’s energetic debut feature boldly puts the spotlight on the way sexual harassment is dealt with in the French projects,” said Memento Intl. The company said “Sisterhood” deftly addresses social discrepancies.
- 8/22/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The selection includes world premieres from Michael Noer, Kilian Riedhof and Hans Steinbichler.
The Zurich Film Festival has unveiled the first Gala titles for its 19th edition including three world premieres.
They are Danish director Michael Noer’s Birthday Girl about a mother and daughter on a cruise which takes a dark turn; Stella. A Life. by German director Kilian Riedhof that stars Paula Beer as a young Jewish woman who joins the Gestapo in order to save herself and her boyfriends; and Hans Steinbichler’s Swiss feature A Whole Life about a man experiencing love for the first time after a difficult childhood.
The Zurich Film Festival has unveiled the first Gala titles for its 19th edition including three world premieres.
They are Danish director Michael Noer’s Birthday Girl about a mother and daughter on a cruise which takes a dark turn; Stella. A Life. by German director Kilian Riedhof that stars Paula Beer as a young Jewish woman who joins the Gestapo in order to save herself and her boyfriends; and Hans Steinbichler’s Swiss feature A Whole Life about a man experiencing love for the first time after a difficult childhood.
- 8/17/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
In Sudabeh Mortezai’s provocative fifth feature, “Europa,” the Vienna-based director follows ambitious executive Beate from Europa, a mysterious corporation looking to expand into the Balkans by seemingly promoting philanthropy and investment in underdeveloped areas. What Europa actually needs is to buy land from the locals in a remote Albanian valley. The film plays in Competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Mortezai can’t exactly pinpoint the genesis of “Europa” to a specific idea or moment, but says it’s rather an amalgamation of observations she’s made over time and her own interest in the general state of our world. “I’ve been observing or experiencing a disconnect between the ideals we have. And Europe is not just a continent. It’s a promise of human rights, of specific values,” she says. “And when you see a disconnect between that and many aspects like income, social inequality, economic inequality,...
Mortezai can’t exactly pinpoint the genesis of “Europa” to a specific idea or moment, but says it’s rather an amalgamation of observations she’s made over time and her own interest in the general state of our world. “I’ve been observing or experiencing a disconnect between the ideals we have. And Europe is not just a continent. It’s a promise of human rights, of specific values,” she says. “And when you see a disconnect between that and many aspects like income, social inequality, economic inequality,...
- 8/11/2023
- by Tara Karajica
- Variety Film + TV
When the Sarajevo Film Festival returned to full strength last year after successive, slimmed-down pandemic editions, a robust turn-out was to be expected. For nearly three decades, the audience-facing event has been the cultural lifeblood of the lively, cosmopolitan city it calls home.
The 2022 edition broke attendance records set in 2019, and just days after its online ticketing system launched this month, the fest appears on pace to surpass that mark again. It is a testament to the enduring love affair between a city and a festival that was founded in impossible circumstances in 1995, at the tail end of a brutal, four-year siege — proof that even in times of war and scarcity, cinema could endure.
The festival returns Aug. 11 – 18, with organizers insisting the event’s 29th edition will stay true to its roots. “We wanted to keep the festival focused on its main goals: presenting the best of cinema today to...
The 2022 edition broke attendance records set in 2019, and just days after its online ticketing system launched this month, the fest appears on pace to surpass that mark again. It is a testament to the enduring love affair between a city and a festival that was founded in impossible circumstances in 1995, at the tail end of a brutal, four-year siege — proof that even in times of war and scarcity, cinema could endure.
The festival returns Aug. 11 – 18, with organizers insisting the event’s 29th edition will stay true to its roots. “We wanted to keep the festival focused on its main goals: presenting the best of cinema today to...
- 8/11/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Recipients also include ‘Made In EU’ the new film by Bulgaria’s Stephan Komanderev.
Made In EU, the new film by award-winning Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komanderev, has received €220,000 from the Leipzig-based regional German fund Mdm in its latest round of awards.
Produced by Halle-based 42Film, which also produced Karlovy Vary winner Blaga’s Lessons, the film is based on real events that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic in Bulgaria. A seamstress working in a clothing factory in a small town is at the centre of an online drama when she is labelled “patient zero” and accused of infecting her...
Made In EU, the new film by award-winning Bulgarian filmmaker Stephan Komanderev, has received €220,000 from the Leipzig-based regional German fund Mdm in its latest round of awards.
Produced by Halle-based 42Film, which also produced Karlovy Vary winner Blaga’s Lessons, the film is based on real events that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic in Bulgaria. A seamstress working in a clothing factory in a small town is at the centre of an online drama when she is labelled “patient zero” and accused of infecting her...
- 7/20/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The film’s backers include Film4 and Mike Goodridge’s Good Chaos.
Paris-based Memento International has snapped up international rights for Sudabeh Mortezai’s third fiction feature Europa that is set to world premiere in competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival in August.
The film, shot mostly in English, follows an ambitious executive working at the titular Europa, a mysterious corporation looking to expand into the Balkan region, ostensibly with philanthropic development ambitions. Things don’t go as planned when the executive is challenged by a stubborn and spiritual farmer who refuses to budge from his ancestors’ land.
Europa is...
Paris-based Memento International has snapped up international rights for Sudabeh Mortezai’s third fiction feature Europa that is set to world premiere in competition at the Sarajevo Film Festival in August.
The film, shot mostly in English, follows an ambitious executive working at the titular Europa, a mysterious corporation looking to expand into the Balkan region, ostensibly with philanthropic development ambitions. Things don’t go as planned when the executive is challenged by a stubborn and spiritual farmer who refuses to budge from his ancestors’ land.
Europa is...
- 7/20/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Forty-nine films will compete for the Heart of Sarajevo awards at the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival, which runs in Bosnia and Herzegovina from Aug. 11 to 18.
The Feature Film Competition will present 11 titles, with two world premieres, one international and five regional premieres.
World premieres include “Europa” from Austrian-Iranian filmmaker Sudabeh Mortezai, whose credits include 2018 Venice Days entry “Joy,” the Best Film winner at London Film Festival, and “Macondo,” which competed for the Golden Bear at Berlin Film Festival in 2014.
The other world premiere is “Medium,” from Greek director Christina Ioakeimidi, whose debut feature was “Harisma” in 2010.
The international premiere is Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu’s “Freedom,” which world premiered at Transilvania Film Festival, and won the Public’s Choice award. Last year, “Freedom” won the jury prize in the Work in Progress section of CineLink Industry Days, Sarajevo’s industry program.
The festival’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary,...
The Feature Film Competition will present 11 titles, with two world premieres, one international and five regional premieres.
World premieres include “Europa” from Austrian-Iranian filmmaker Sudabeh Mortezai, whose credits include 2018 Venice Days entry “Joy,” the Best Film winner at London Film Festival, and “Macondo,” which competed for the Golden Bear at Berlin Film Festival in 2014.
The other world premiere is “Medium,” from Greek director Christina Ioakeimidi, whose debut feature was “Harisma” in 2010.
The international premiere is Romanian filmmaker Tudor Giurgiu’s “Freedom,” which world premiered at Transilvania Film Festival, and won the Public’s Choice award. Last year, “Freedom” won the jury prize in the Work in Progress section of CineLink Industry Days, Sarajevo’s industry program.
The festival’s four competition sections – for feature, documentary,...
- 7/20/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Bulgarian crime story “Blaga’s Lessons” by Stephan Komandarev scored the top prize and $25,000 at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival on Saturday, capping a week of celebrating art film, stars and bold global work.
Calling his film a tribute to his parents’ generation, many of whom have become victims of the rough transition to capitalism, Komandarev accepted his Crystal Globe from actor Robin Wright and fest president Jiri Bartoska.
Wright, on winning the fest president’s prize moments earlier, said festgoers in the Czech spa town have shown a love for experiencing cinemas onscreen, urging them to keep up that passion as streaming platforms erode cinema audiences that have still not fully rebounded from pandemic days. “I thank all of you for supporting cinema. Let’s bring it back – Covid put a bit of downer on that.”
With sold out screenings ranging from Russell Crowe introducing “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World...
Calling his film a tribute to his parents’ generation, many of whom have become victims of the rough transition to capitalism, Komandarev accepted his Crystal Globe from actor Robin Wright and fest president Jiri Bartoska.
Wright, on winning the fest president’s prize moments earlier, said festgoers in the Czech spa town have shown a love for experiencing cinemas onscreen, urging them to keep up that passion as streaming platforms erode cinema audiences that have still not fully rebounded from pandemic days. “I thank all of you for supporting cinema. Let’s bring it back – Covid put a bit of downer on that.”
With sold out screenings ranging from Russell Crowe introducing “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World...
- 7/8/2023
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
White Friar stars Bafta winning-actress Anamaria Marinca who starred in Palme d’Or-winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days.
WWII-set romantic thriller White Friar will be the first offspring of the inaugural Franco-Irish co-production pact signed in December in Paris and was officialised in Cannes by the film’s producers France’s Valentina Films and Ireland’s Max Films on Friday (May 19).
White Friar stars Bafta winning-actress Anamaria Marinca who starred in Palme d’Or-winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days alongside veteran French actor Jean-Marc Barr, known for Luc Besson’s Big Blue and Cannes Jury Prize-winning film Europa.
The film was written and directed...
WWII-set romantic thriller White Friar will be the first offspring of the inaugural Franco-Irish co-production pact signed in December in Paris and was officialised in Cannes by the film’s producers France’s Valentina Films and Ireland’s Max Films on Friday (May 19).
White Friar stars Bafta winning-actress Anamaria Marinca who starred in Palme d’Or-winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days alongside veteran French actor Jean-Marc Barr, known for Luc Besson’s Big Blue and Cannes Jury Prize-winning film Europa.
The film was written and directed...
- 5/21/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
A pair of actors who hail from Cannes Film Festival award-winning projects — Anamaria Marinca (Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) and Jean-Marc Barr (Lars Von Trier’s Europa) — are teaming to star in a new film that marks an official collaboration between France and Ireland.
The project is White Friar and will mark the feature directorial debut of actor-turned-filmmaker Ivan Murphy. Described as a romantic thriller, White Friar is inspired by the life of Father Tom Murphy, an Irish Catholic priest who also served as a wing commander in the Royal Air Force during WWII and his relationship with Eva Hofer, a Hungarian Jew living in Vienna. Per the official synopsis, the film “examines morality, sexuality and identity.”
Jean-Marc Barr
Ivan Murphy, who happens to be the grand nephew of Father Tom Murphy, penned the screenplay. He turned up in Cannes on Friday to sign the co-production agreement...
The project is White Friar and will mark the feature directorial debut of actor-turned-filmmaker Ivan Murphy. Described as a romantic thriller, White Friar is inspired by the life of Father Tom Murphy, an Irish Catholic priest who also served as a wing commander in the Royal Air Force during WWII and his relationship with Eva Hofer, a Hungarian Jew living in Vienna. Per the official synopsis, the film “examines morality, sexuality and identity.”
Jean-Marc Barr
Ivan Murphy, who happens to be the grand nephew of Father Tom Murphy, penned the screenplay. He turned up in Cannes on Friday to sign the co-production agreement...
- 5/21/2023
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mubi has acquired 11 films by Lars von Trier for North America, including the director’s Dogme 95 entry The Idiots. It will release a new uncut 4K restoration of the film June 16 theatrically timed to its 25th anniversary, followed by an exclusive streaming release.
Other titles, most newly restored, include Dogville (2003), The Five Obstructions (2003), Manderlay (2005), The Boss of it All (2006), Breaking the Waves (1996), the Europa Trilogy, Antichrist (2009) and Dancer in the Dark (2000). Some are streaming on Mubi now, others will roll out on through September 2025.
Mubi acquired new restorations of von Trier series, The Kingdom Seasons 1 and 2, along with its latest season, The Kingdom Exodus in 2022.
TrustNordisk brokered the deal with Mubi.
The Idiots, which premiered at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, was made under the Dogme 95 school started by von Trier and other Danish filmmakers. It centers on a commune, whose members aim to disrupt...
Other titles, most newly restored, include Dogville (2003), The Five Obstructions (2003), Manderlay (2005), The Boss of it All (2006), Breaking the Waves (1996), the Europa Trilogy, Antichrist (2009) and Dancer in the Dark (2000). Some are streaming on Mubi now, others will roll out on through September 2025.
Mubi acquired new restorations of von Trier series, The Kingdom Seasons 1 and 2, along with its latest season, The Kingdom Exodus in 2022.
TrustNordisk brokered the deal with Mubi.
The Idiots, which premiered at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, was made under the Dogme 95 school started by von Trier and other Danish filmmakers. It centers on a commune, whose members aim to disrupt...
- 5/12/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
The Romanian film festival runs June 9-18.
Transilvania International Film Festival has announced the line-up for its 22nd edition which takes place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
The official competition is made up of 12 features while the documentary strand, entitled What’s Up Doc?, will screen 10 titles. All of the films are from first and second-time directors.
Among the competition selection is Ion Bors’ Carbon which premiered in San Sebastian’s New Directors strand last year, having won the festival’s Wip Europa Industry and Wip Europa awards the previous year. The dark comedy, surrounding the Transnistrian conflict of the 1990s, is...
Transilvania International Film Festival has announced the line-up for its 22nd edition which takes place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
The official competition is made up of 12 features while the documentary strand, entitled What’s Up Doc?, will screen 10 titles. All of the films are from first and second-time directors.
Among the competition selection is Ion Bors’ Carbon which premiered in San Sebastian’s New Directors strand last year, having won the festival’s Wip Europa Industry and Wip Europa awards the previous year. The dark comedy, surrounding the Transnistrian conflict of the 1990s, is...
- 5/9/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
For almost a decade, producers Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy helped make some of the biggest film festival sensations, from “The Witch” to “American Honey.” In 2016, though, their production company Parts and Labor hit a wall. “I’m very proud of everything we did,” Knudsen said over Zoom this week, “but we couldn’t really get out of the gate. You get a film into Sundance or Cannes and it just doesn’t do anything. It wasn’t sustainable. There had to be a way to not only make a movie create a career path.”
Knudsen and Van Hoy parted ways in 2016 and began producing independently. When Knudsen was introduced to director Ari Aster and produced his 2018 debut “Hereditary,” it led to a new partnership. “It felt effortless to work together, which is all you want as a producer,’ Knudsen said. The pair created a new production company, Square Peg,...
Knudsen and Van Hoy parted ways in 2016 and began producing independently. When Knudsen was introduced to director Ari Aster and produced his 2018 debut “Hereditary,” it led to a new partnership. “It felt effortless to work together, which is all you want as a producer,’ Knudsen said. The pair created a new production company, Square Peg,...
- 4/21/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art have set Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama and Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s Sundance Special Jury Award winner Mutt, both debut features, as opening and closing film at the 52st edition of their collaboration, New Directors/New Films, running March 29–April 9 in NYC.
The festival will introduce will showcase 27 features and 11 shorts from 41 directors at theaters in both venues.
Mutt star Lio Mehial was awarded a U.S. Special Jury Award for acting at Sundance Film festival for their portrayal of Feña, a twentysomething trans man contending with an onslaught of aggravation, surprise encounters and emotional choices over the course of a single hectic day in New York City. “We were charmed, seduced, and compelled by this fresh new performer as we watched them navigating the intimate complexities of their everyday life and relationships in his search for acceptance,” the jury citation said.
The festival will introduce will showcase 27 features and 11 shorts from 41 directors at theaters in both venues.
Mutt star Lio Mehial was awarded a U.S. Special Jury Award for acting at Sundance Film festival for their portrayal of Feña, a twentysomething trans man contending with an onslaught of aggravation, surprise encounters and emotional choices over the course of a single hectic day in New York City. “We were charmed, seduced, and compelled by this fresh new performer as we watched them navigating the intimate complexities of their everyday life and relationships in his search for acceptance,” the jury citation said.
- 2/28/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
İlker Çatak’s The Teachers‘ Lounge, a German drama set in a primary school, has won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European film in the Panorama section of the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival.
Leonie Benesch (Babylon Berlin, Around the World in 80 Days) stars in The Teacher’s Lounge as an idealistic and ambitious young teacher who finds herself at odds with fellow teachers, parents and an inflexible and frustrating bureaucracy. Leonard Stettnisch, Eva Löbau, Michael Klammer, Anne-Kathrin Gummich, Kathrin Wehlisch, Uygar Tamer, and Özgür Karadeniz co-star.
“The film explores key subjects like the prevalence of bureaucracy in schools and issues of race and class, but above all it is a compelling rollercoaster of a drama,” the Europa Cinemas jury said in a statement.
The Europa Cinemas prize is backed the Europa Cinemas theatre network, an association of independent theater owners, representing more than 3,000 screens in over 700 cities across Europe,...
Leonie Benesch (Babylon Berlin, Around the World in 80 Days) stars in The Teacher’s Lounge as an idealistic and ambitious young teacher who finds herself at odds with fellow teachers, parents and an inflexible and frustrating bureaucracy. Leonard Stettnisch, Eva Löbau, Michael Klammer, Anne-Kathrin Gummich, Kathrin Wehlisch, Uygar Tamer, and Özgür Karadeniz co-star.
“The film explores key subjects like the prevalence of bureaucracy in schools and issues of race and class, but above all it is a compelling rollercoaster of a drama,” the Europa Cinemas jury said in a statement.
The Europa Cinemas prize is backed the Europa Cinemas theatre network, an association of independent theater owners, representing more than 3,000 screens in over 700 cities across Europe,...
- 2/25/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It is my experience that one gets a far richer, stranger cinema education in pursuing the careers of actors, that group defined first by (assuming luck shines upon them) two or three era-defining films and then so much that dictates their industry—pet projects, contractual obligations, called-in favors alimony payments, auteur one-offs, and on and on. Few embody that deluge of circumstance better than Michelle Yeoh and Isabelle Huppert, both of whom are receiving spotlights in March. The former’s is a who’s-who of Hong Kong talent, new favorites (The Heroic Trio), items we can at least say are of interest (Trio‘s not-great sequel Executioners), etc.
Huppert’s series runs longer, and notwithstanding certain standards that have long sat on the channel it adds some heavy hitters: Hong’s In Another Country, Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, Breillat’s Abuse of Weakness, Hansen-Løve’s Things to Come. And, of course,...
Huppert’s series runs longer, and notwithstanding certain standards that have long sat on the channel it adds some heavy hitters: Hong’s In Another Country, Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, Breillat’s Abuse of Weakness, Hansen-Løve’s Things to Come. And, of course,...
- 2/22/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Hard-hitting documentaries centering on some of the world’s most critical geopolitical flashpoints have proved hot sellers for Java Films.
The Paris and London-based distributor closed a number of deals this week at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV market in Biarritz for provocative works that examine life in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian city of Gaza, the causes of the Ukraine war, and rising tensions between the U.S. and China over the vital supply of semiconductors.
Chiara Avesani and Matteo Delbò’s “Erasmus in Gaza” follows Riccardo, an Italian final-year medical student who wants to be a trauma surgeon and travels to war-torn Gaza on an Erasmus exchange program in order to receive battlefield training and write his thesis on explosive bullet wounds. The young medic is not prepared for the brutality of war, however.
The film, produced by Barcelona-based Arpa Films, sold this week to Japan’s Nhk and Portuguese broadcaster Sic.
The Paris and London-based distributor closed a number of deals this week at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV market in Biarritz for provocative works that examine life in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian city of Gaza, the causes of the Ukraine war, and rising tensions between the U.S. and China over the vital supply of semiconductors.
Chiara Avesani and Matteo Delbò’s “Erasmus in Gaza” follows Riccardo, an Italian final-year medical student who wants to be a trauma surgeon and travels to war-torn Gaza on an Erasmus exchange program in order to receive battlefield training and write his thesis on explosive bullet wounds. The young medic is not prepared for the brutality of war, however.
The film, produced by Barcelona-based Arpa Films, sold this week to Japan’s Nhk and Portuguese broadcaster Sic.
- 9/9/2022
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Wissam Charaf’s Dirty Difficult Dangerous also won the Europa Cinemas Label.
Graham Foy’s The Maiden has won Venice’s Giornate degli Autori (GdA) Cinema of the Future award.
The Canadian-us film was among seven titles from the GdA sidebar, all first or second features, competing for the €3,000 prize.
Foy’s debut follows three suburban teenagers whose lives are intertwined when one of them disappears and strange occurrences begin cropping up.
The jury was made up of five students from an Italian film school who said: “The film impressed us with its emotional density and the immediacy of its unrestrained,...
Graham Foy’s The Maiden has won Venice’s Giornate degli Autori (GdA) Cinema of the Future award.
The Canadian-us film was among seven titles from the GdA sidebar, all first or second features, competing for the €3,000 prize.
Foy’s debut follows three suburban teenagers whose lives are intertwined when one of them disappears and strange occurrences begin cropping up.
The jury was made up of five students from an Italian film school who said: “The film impressed us with its emotional density and the immediacy of its unrestrained,...
- 9/9/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Léa Seydoux who played Dr. Madeleine Swann in the two most recent 007 films, Spectre and No Time to Die, posed a mischievous question about whether audiences will see the mother of James Bond’s daughter in the next instalment of the long-running film franchise.
”After all I’m not dead,” she teased to us during a Telluride encounter. “It was James who died, not Madeleine. So, who knows? Maybe I’ll be back.”
“This is like fake news, right? But if we’re serious for a moment, Madeleine drives away with her daughter right at the end because James has saved them. There’ll be a new Bond because Daniel’s Bond died but who’s to say that Madeleine won’t be back?”
Such a supposition would give Bond fans, and there are legions of them in every corner of the world, much to ponder.
But the...
”After all I’m not dead,” she teased to us during a Telluride encounter. “It was James who died, not Madeleine. So, who knows? Maybe I’ll be back.”
“This is like fake news, right? But if we’re serious for a moment, Madeleine drives away with her daughter right at the end because James has saved them. There’ll be a new Bond because Daniel’s Bond died but who’s to say that Madeleine won’t be back?”
Such a supposition would give Bond fans, and there are legions of them in every corner of the world, much to ponder.
But the...
- 9/4/2022
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
Lars von Trier has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 66, per a statement from his representatives. The filmmaker is receiving treatment and will be able to finish his next project, the highly anticipated third season of “The Kingdom,” but will be keeping a lower public profile in the future.
“Lars is in good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms — and given treatment so he can complete ‘Riget Exodus,’” the statement said. “The illness means that Lars will only take part in interviews to a limited extent until the premiere later in the year.”
Von Trier has been a force to be reckoned with in the arthouse community since he burst onto the scene with “The Element of Crime” in 1984. His debut feature earned him a Palme d’Or nomination at the Cannes Film Festival that year and established him as a purveyor of dark,...
“Lars is in good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms — and given treatment so he can complete ‘Riget Exodus,’” the statement said. “The illness means that Lars will only take part in interviews to a limited extent until the premiere later in the year.”
Von Trier has been a force to be reckoned with in the arthouse community since he burst onto the scene with “The Element of Crime” in 1984. His debut feature earned him a Palme d’Or nomination at the Cannes Film Festival that year and established him as a purveyor of dark,...
- 8/8/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Oscar-nominated, Cannes Palme d’Or winning Danish director Lars von Trier has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Trier’s long-time producer Louise Vesth at Zentropa Entertainment put out a statement on Monday announcing the diagnosis with the director’s blessing.
“In agreement with Lars von Trier, we want to inform you that Lars was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease just before the summer holidays,” read the statement.
She said Trier would continue to work on his upcoming series The Kingdom Exodus, the third and final instalment of his rebooted 1990s cult supernatural TV show The Kingdom which is due to world premiere at Venice at the end of August.
“In order to avoid any speculation about his health leading up to the premiere, Zentropa has sent out this short statement to the Danish press,” continued her statement.
“Lars is in good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms...
Trier’s long-time producer Louise Vesth at Zentropa Entertainment put out a statement on Monday announcing the diagnosis with the director’s blessing.
“In agreement with Lars von Trier, we want to inform you that Lars was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease just before the summer holidays,” read the statement.
She said Trier would continue to work on his upcoming series The Kingdom Exodus, the third and final instalment of his rebooted 1990s cult supernatural TV show The Kingdom which is due to world premiere at Venice at the end of August.
“In order to avoid any speculation about his health leading up to the premiere, Zentropa has sent out this short statement to the Danish press,” continued her statement.
“Lars is in good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms...
- 8/8/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Projects from Bulgaria, Republic of Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine will participate
Projects from Bulgaria, Republic of Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine will participate in San Sebastian’s Wip Europa, an initiative for films with majority European productions.
The four projects are all in post-production and will screen to producers, distributors, sales agents and programmers between September 19-21 to compete for the Wip Europa industry award, which assists with post-production, and the Wip Europa award of €10,000.
The second feature from Turkey’s Selman Necar, Hesitation Wound, won a CineLink industry prize at Sarajevo last year and follows an attorney grappling with her...
Projects from Bulgaria, Republic of Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine will participate in San Sebastian’s Wip Europa, an initiative for films with majority European productions.
The four projects are all in post-production and will screen to producers, distributors, sales agents and programmers between September 19-21 to compete for the Wip Europa industry award, which assists with post-production, and the Wip Europa award of €10,000.
The second feature from Turkey’s Selman Necar, Hesitation Wound, won a CineLink industry prize at Sarajevo last year and follows an attorney grappling with her...
- 8/5/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Zentropa produces the Danish-language dramedy about a talent agent in the entertainment industry.
TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for the new series Agent from actor-turned-writer/director Nikolaj Lie Kaas.
Zentropa produces the Danish-language dramedy about a talent agent in the entertainment industry. The series has now started shooting, with Esben Smed (Follow The Money) in the lead role as Joe, an agent with a chaotic life.
The cast also includes Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen), Dar Salim (Darkland), Ulrich Thomsen (The Commune), and Another Round actors Lars Ranthe and Magnus Millang, all playing caricatured versions of themselves.
Louise Vesth produces the 8x40’ series,...
TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for the new series Agent from actor-turned-writer/director Nikolaj Lie Kaas.
Zentropa produces the Danish-language dramedy about a talent agent in the entertainment industry. The series has now started shooting, with Esben Smed (Follow The Money) in the lead role as Joe, an agent with a chaotic life.
The cast also includes Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen), Dar Salim (Darkland), Ulrich Thomsen (The Commune), and Another Round actors Lars Ranthe and Magnus Millang, all playing caricatured versions of themselves.
Louise Vesth produces the 8x40’ series,...
- 4/27/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Happy Friday International Insiders, Tom Grater here with your weekly round-up of our top international headlines.
Ukraine Crisis Intensifies
Covering conflict: It has been another week of tough news from the embattled nation of Ukraine, with Russia’s military assault on the country intensifying and no sign of a peace accord being reached. Here’s a rundown of our coverage of the conflict over the past five days:
Foreign Affairs Correspondent Hollie McKay was back with another special report for Deadline from on-the-ground. Her interviews with people sheltering from the war in Kyiv, including Ukrainian actor-musician Roman Matsyuta, are powerful.
Bekmambetov speaks: It has been difficult for Russians to speak out against the invasion, particularly since a new censorship law was passed, but some have been able to lodge protests. Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov spoke to Deadline from Israel this week, condemning the “tragedy” in Ukraine and announcing he is...
Ukraine Crisis Intensifies
Covering conflict: It has been another week of tough news from the embattled nation of Ukraine, with Russia’s military assault on the country intensifying and no sign of a peace accord being reached. Here’s a rundown of our coverage of the conflict over the past five days:
Foreign Affairs Correspondent Hollie McKay was back with another special report for Deadline from on-the-ground. Her interviews with people sheltering from the war in Kyiv, including Ukrainian actor-musician Roman Matsyuta, are powerful.
Bekmambetov speaks: It has been difficult for Russians to speak out against the invasion, particularly since a new censorship law was passed, but some have been able to lodge protests. Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov spoke to Deadline from Israel this week, condemning the “tragedy” in Ukraine and announcing he is...
- 3/11/2022
- by Tom Grater and Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Canneseries 2022 has unveiled its Long Form Competition finalists, with Academy Award winners Oliver Hirschbiegel’s Punishment and Jean-Xavier De Lestrade’s The Inside Game, Seeds of Wrath featuring alongside the likes of Zentropa’s The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen.
Germany is the only nation to have more than one show on the prestigious list (the other being Alex Eslam’s Souls), which also features Canada’s Audrey’s Back, Spain’s El Inmortal, Belgium’s 1985, Norway’s Afterglow, Israel’s The Lesson and Italy’s Bang Bang Baby. The latter, for Amazon Prime Video, is the only one from a global streaming service.
All will be given international premieres and the majority world premieres, with the jury set to be announced in due course.
Unveiling the list to Deadline, Canneseries Artistic Director Albin Lewi described the crop of 10 as showcasing “creativity at its best, reflecting the true diversity of content.
Germany is the only nation to have more than one show on the prestigious list (the other being Alex Eslam’s Souls), which also features Canada’s Audrey’s Back, Spain’s El Inmortal, Belgium’s 1985, Norway’s Afterglow, Israel’s The Lesson and Italy’s Bang Bang Baby. The latter, for Amazon Prime Video, is the only one from a global streaming service.
All will be given international premieres and the majority world premieres, with the jury set to be announced in due course.
Unveiling the list to Deadline, Canneseries Artistic Director Albin Lewi described the crop of 10 as showcasing “creativity at its best, reflecting the true diversity of content.
- 3/8/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The cast also includes Josephine Park and David Dencik.
TrustNordisk has boarded sales for Gabriel Bier Gislason’s English and Danish-language Attachment (working title), his debut feature film which will shoot this spring in both Copenhagen and London.
The Killing’s Sofie Gråbøl has signed to star with Josephine Park, Ellie Kendrick, and David Dencik.
The up-and-coming writer/director is the son of director Susanne Bier and editor Tómas Gislason. The film mixes romance, horror and comedy in a love story that is also inspired by Jewish folklore. Maja, a Danish has-been actress, falls in love with Leah, a young,...
TrustNordisk has boarded sales for Gabriel Bier Gislason’s English and Danish-language Attachment (working title), his debut feature film which will shoot this spring in both Copenhagen and London.
The Killing’s Sofie Gråbøl has signed to star with Josephine Park, Ellie Kendrick, and David Dencik.
The up-and-coming writer/director is the son of director Susanne Bier and editor Tómas Gislason. The film mixes romance, horror and comedy in a love story that is also inspired by Jewish folklore. Maja, a Danish has-been actress, falls in love with Leah, a young,...
- 4/23/2021
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Lars von Trier is finally bringing the story of “The Kingdom” to a close with a third and final season for his cult ’90s series.
Titled “The Kingdom Exodus,” the Zentropa-produced final installment will begin shooting next year, TrustNordisk told TheWrap Thursday. The season will consist of five episodes, around 60 minutes apiece, and is expected to premiere in 2022.
The cast for the final season of the Danish series has yet to be announced, but TrustNordisk says “it will be a mixture of well-known characters from earlier seasons as well as new characters.”
Here’s the official description for “The Kingdom Exodus,” which von Trier is writing with Niels Vørsel: “What exactly will transpire in the final showdown between good and evil is still a well-kept secret, but one thing is for sure: The old feud between the Swedes and the Danes at the hospital is still fiery, and...
Titled “The Kingdom Exodus,” the Zentropa-produced final installment will begin shooting next year, TrustNordisk told TheWrap Thursday. The season will consist of five episodes, around 60 minutes apiece, and is expected to premiere in 2022.
The cast for the final season of the Danish series has yet to be announced, but TrustNordisk says “it will be a mixture of well-known characters from earlier seasons as well as new characters.”
Here’s the official description for “The Kingdom Exodus,” which von Trier is writing with Niels Vørsel: “What exactly will transpire in the final showdown between good and evil is still a well-kept secret, but one thing is for sure: The old feud between the Swedes and the Danes at the hospital is still fiery, and...
- 12/17/2020
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
Udo Kier was sad he didn’t get the call from Lars von Trier to play Satan in the gloomy Dane’s 2018 “The House That Jack Built.” “I’ve been to hell many times, you know,” the cult character actor told IndieWire in a recent interview. But he managed to triumph over that disappointment to play yet another deranged freak in “The Painted Bird,” the Czech Republic’s black-and-white, punishing but unforgettable, trudge through Holocaust hell, a drama now vying for the 2020 Best International Feature Academy Award.
In “The Painted Bird,” the German actor with the steely blue eyes plays a jealous husband, who’s taken in a young orphan adrift in the WWII-ravaged Eastern Europe countryside. Kier’s Miller is convinced his wife is sleeping with their sexy young farmhand, so as vengeance, he plucks out the peasant’s eyeballs and feeds them to the family housecats.
Business as usual for Kier,...
In “The Painted Bird,” the German actor with the steely blue eyes plays a jealous husband, who’s taken in a young orphan adrift in the WWII-ravaged Eastern Europe countryside. Kier’s Miller is convinced his wife is sleeping with their sexy young farmhand, so as vengeance, he plucks out the peasant’s eyeballs and feeds them to the family housecats.
Business as usual for Kier,...
- 12/12/2019
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
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