Bulgarian helmer Stephan Komandarev, whose critically acclaimed feature “Directions” played in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar, has wrapped production on the documentary feature “Life From Life,” the director announced this week during the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
The film explores the hurdles facing organ transplant recipients in Bulgaria, once among Eastern Europe’s leaders in the medical procedure, but now ranking last on the continent for the number of transplants performed.
Komandarev said the inspiration for “Life From Life” came while he was developing the script for “Directions,” in which a heart transplant is central to the film’s interweaving storylines. During his research he met Georgi Peev, a recipient of heart and kidney transplants, as well as a competitive swimmer in Bulgaria. “He’s an amazing person,” said Komandarev. “He’s one of the main heroes of our documentary film.”
The director planned to follow Peev and his teammates as...
The film explores the hurdles facing organ transplant recipients in Bulgaria, once among Eastern Europe’s leaders in the medical procedure, but now ranking last on the continent for the number of transplants performed.
Komandarev said the inspiration for “Life From Life” came while he was developing the script for “Directions,” in which a heart transplant is central to the film’s interweaving storylines. During his research he met Georgi Peev, a recipient of heart and kidney transplants, as well as a competitive swimmer in Bulgaria. “He’s an amazing person,” said Komandarev. “He’s one of the main heroes of our documentary film.”
The director planned to follow Peev and his teammates as...
- 6/28/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Sundance Institute has announced its latest Documentary Fund Grantees. Forty-seven independent nonfiction film projects from 27 countries will receive over $1.5 million in grants. This granting cycle’s supported projects come from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mexico, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S.A.
“These grantees comprise a snapshot of the boldest visions in nonfiction storytelling today,” said Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, Director of the Documentary Film Program’s Film Fund. “From the intimate to the epic, their scopes and ambitions illuminate not only the world around us, but new ways of seeing, telling and showing.”
The grantees include the latest cohort of the Stories of Change Fund, a creative partnership with the Skoll Foundation designed to connect independent storytellers with renowned social entrepreneurs. The aim is to foster story...
“These grantees comprise a snapshot of the boldest visions in nonfiction storytelling today,” said Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, Director of the Documentary Film Program’s Film Fund. “From the intimate to the epic, their scopes and ambitions illuminate not only the world around us, but new ways of seeing, telling and showing.”
The grantees include the latest cohort of the Stories of Change Fund, a creative partnership with the Skoll Foundation designed to connect independent storytellers with renowned social entrepreneurs. The aim is to foster story...
- 11/26/2019
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Arri Media International has acquired international distribution rights to Andrei Konchalovsky’s Michelangelo biopic “Il Peccato” (“Sin”), which will have its world premiere as a Special Closing Event at the 14th Rome Film Festival (Oct. 17-27).
Written by Konchalovsky and Elena Kiseleva, the film is set in Florence in the 16th century and follows Michelangelo through “the agonies and ecstasy of his own creative genius, as two rival noble factions compete for his loyalty,” according to Arri.
Although widely considered a genius by his contemporaries, Michelangelo, played by Alberto Testone (“Suburra”), is reduced to poverty and depleted by his struggle to finish the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When his commissioner and head of the Della Rovere nobility Pope Julius II dies, Michelangelo becomes obsessed with sourcing the finest marble to complete his tomb.
The artist’s loyalty is tested when Leo X of the rival Medici family ascends to...
Written by Konchalovsky and Elena Kiseleva, the film is set in Florence in the 16th century and follows Michelangelo through “the agonies and ecstasy of his own creative genius, as two rival noble factions compete for his loyalty,” according to Arri.
Although widely considered a genius by his contemporaries, Michelangelo, played by Alberto Testone (“Suburra”), is reduced to poverty and depleted by his struggle to finish the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When his commissioner and head of the Della Rovere nobility Pope Julius II dies, Michelangelo becomes obsessed with sourcing the finest marble to complete his tomb.
The artist’s loyalty is tested when Leo X of the rival Medici family ascends to...
- 10/8/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Cluj, Romania — The off-beat, the avant garde and the boundary-defying take center stage at the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival, which kicked off Friday night with a soggy start to the 17th edition.
Unspooling over 10 days in the lively medieval city of Cluj, a festival known for bold and provocative programming will feature 12 films in competition for the Transilvania Trophy, starting with fest opener “Foxtrot,” Israeli director Samuel Maoz’s Oscar-shortlisted portrait of a grieving family who lose their soldier son in the line of duty.
Though evening showers threatened to turn the night into a washout, the skies cleared over the historic Piata Unirii (Union Square), where Maoz’s controversial film, which won the Silver Lion in Venice last year, played to a damp but upbeat crowd.
With lightning flashing over what the Israeli helmer described as “the biggest screen and the biggest screening my film has ever had,” Maoz...
Unspooling over 10 days in the lively medieval city of Cluj, a festival known for bold and provocative programming will feature 12 films in competition for the Transilvania Trophy, starting with fest opener “Foxtrot,” Israeli director Samuel Maoz’s Oscar-shortlisted portrait of a grieving family who lose their soldier son in the line of duty.
Though evening showers threatened to turn the night into a washout, the skies cleared over the historic Piata Unirii (Union Square), where Maoz’s controversial film, which won the Silver Lion in Venice last year, played to a damp but upbeat crowd.
With lightning flashing over what the Israeli helmer described as “the biggest screen and the biggest screening my film has ever had,” Maoz...
- 5/25/2018
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Stephan Komandarev’s film is playing in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.
French distributer Rezo Films has boarded Un Certain Regard selection Directions (Posoki), directed by Stephan Komandarev and being sold by Arri Media International.
Directions marks Komandarev’s return to Cannes after he co-produced Bogdan Mirica’s Dogs, which won the 2016 Fipresci Prize in Un Certain Regard.
“We are excited to take the French audience on this edgy Bulgarian Taxi Driver-like ride,” a Rezo spokesman commented on the pick-up, announced this week in Cannes.
Directions opens with an ambitious man taking his daughter to school in the taxi he drives as he sets up a new small business. After a short meeting with his crooked banker, he grasps the full extent of systemic corruption and injustice that will destroy his life. His way out is to shoot the banker and then himself. The incident becomes the subject of national debate held on call-in...
French distributer Rezo Films has boarded Un Certain Regard selection Directions (Posoki), directed by Stephan Komandarev and being sold by Arri Media International.
Directions marks Komandarev’s return to Cannes after he co-produced Bogdan Mirica’s Dogs, which won the 2016 Fipresci Prize in Un Certain Regard.
“We are excited to take the French audience on this edgy Bulgarian Taxi Driver-like ride,” a Rezo spokesman commented on the pick-up, announced this week in Cannes.
Directions opens with an ambitious man taking his daughter to school in the taxi he drives as he sets up a new small business. After a short meeting with his crooked banker, he grasps the full extent of systemic corruption and injustice that will destroy his life. His way out is to shoot the banker and then himself. The incident becomes the subject of national debate held on call-in...
- 5/19/2017
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
The 2017 Cannes official selection is a mix of brainy competition auteurs, red-carpet star power, and the rarest breed — a handful of players who could return to North America as Oscar contenders.
Nicole Kidman will be stuffing her trunks with evening gowns, as she will need to walk the Palais steps at least four times: twice with Colin Farrell, for Cannes favorite Sofia Coppola‘s Civil War potboiler “The Beguiled” (Focus Features) and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” (A24), both in Competition, and again for John Cameron Mitchell‘s midnighter “How to Talk with Girls at Parties” (A24) and a preview of Jane Campion‘s returning Sundance Channel series, “Top of the Lake: China Girl.”
Isabelle Huppert won the Cesar and was close — we think — to winning the Oscar for “Elle.” She’s back in two movies, “Happy End” (Sony Pictures Classics) by Michael Haneke, rejoining “Amour” co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant,...
Nicole Kidman will be stuffing her trunks with evening gowns, as she will need to walk the Palais steps at least four times: twice with Colin Farrell, for Cannes favorite Sofia Coppola‘s Civil War potboiler “The Beguiled” (Focus Features) and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” (A24), both in Competition, and again for John Cameron Mitchell‘s midnighter “How to Talk with Girls at Parties” (A24) and a preview of Jane Campion‘s returning Sundance Channel series, “Top of the Lake: China Girl.”
Isabelle Huppert won the Cesar and was close — we think — to winning the Oscar for “Elle.” She’s back in two movies, “Happy End” (Sony Pictures Classics) by Michael Haneke, rejoining “Amour” co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant,...
- 4/13/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The line-up for our most-anticipated cinema-related event of the year is here. With a jury headed up by Pedro Almodóvar, who came to the festival last year with Julieta, the slate for the 70th Cannes Film Festival has been unveiled live. Kicking off with Arnaud Desplechin‘s Marion Cotillard-led Ismael’s Ghosts, there’s new films from Lynne Ramsay, Yorgos Lanthimos, Todd Haynes, Michael Haneke, Sofia Coppola, Hong Sang-soo (x 2!), Bong Joon-ho, Noah Baumbach, the Safdies, the final work from Abbas Kiarostami, and much more. Check out the full line-up below.
Competition
Loveless – Andrey Zvyagintsev
Good Time – Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie
You Were Never Really Here – Lynne Ramsay
A Gentle Creature – Sergei Loznitsa
Jupiter’s Moon – Kornél Mundruczó
L’Amant Double – François Ozon
The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Yorgos Lanthimos
Radiance – Naomi Kawase
The Day After – Hong Sang-soo
Le Redoutable – Michel Hazanavicius
Wonderstruck – Todd Haynes
Rodin – Jacques Doillon...
Competition
Loveless – Andrey Zvyagintsev
Good Time – Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie
You Were Never Really Here – Lynne Ramsay
A Gentle Creature – Sergei Loznitsa
Jupiter’s Moon – Kornél Mundruczó
L’Amant Double – François Ozon
The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Yorgos Lanthimos
Radiance – Naomi Kawase
The Day After – Hong Sang-soo
Le Redoutable – Michel Hazanavicius
Wonderstruck – Todd Haynes
Rodin – Jacques Doillon...
- 4/13/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Cannes Film Festival has announced its lineup for the 70th edition, following its tradition of unveiling every competition film (along with Un Certain Regard titles and other assorted offerings) in a morning press conference taking place at 5 a.m. Est.
“Since every day we have another move from Donald Trump, I hope North Korea and Syria won’t cast a shadow on the 70th edition,” said journalist Pierre Lescure before the announcement.
See More17 Shocks and Surprises from the 2017 Cannes Lineup, From ‘Twin Peaks’ to Netflix and Vr
This year’s festival features 49 films from 29 countries, including nine feature debuts and 12 women directors.
Check out the full lineup below (refresh for latest updates):
Opening Night Film
“Ismael’s Ghost” directed by Arnaud Desplechin
Competition
“The Day After” directed by Hong Sangsoo
“Loveless” directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
“Good Time” directed by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie
“You Were Never Really Here...
“Since every day we have another move from Donald Trump, I hope North Korea and Syria won’t cast a shadow on the 70th edition,” said journalist Pierre Lescure before the announcement.
See More17 Shocks and Surprises from the 2017 Cannes Lineup, From ‘Twin Peaks’ to Netflix and Vr
This year’s festival features 49 films from 29 countries, including nine feature debuts and 12 women directors.
Check out the full lineup below (refresh for latest updates):
Opening Night Film
“Ismael’s Ghost” directed by Arnaud Desplechin
Competition
“The Day After” directed by Hong Sangsoo
“Loveless” directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
“Good Time” directed by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie
“You Were Never Really Here...
- 4/13/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
All you need to know about Cannes 2017 line-up announcement.Scroll down for the line-up
The films chosen for the Cannes Official Selection will be announced on April 13 at 11am Cet (10am GMT).
Festival President Pierre Lescure and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux will reveal the line-up at a press conference, which you can watch below (or on mobile Here).
The 70th Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to run from May 17-28. The films as they are announced are below:
Competition
Wonderstruck, Todd Haynes
Le Redoutable, Michel Hazanavicius
Geu-Hu (The Day After), Hong Sangsoo
Hikari (Radiance), Naomi Kawase
The Killing Of The Sacred Deer, Yorgos Lanthimos
A Gentle Creature, Sergei Loznitsa
Jupiter’s Moon, Kornél Mundruczó
L’amant Double, François Ozon
You Were Never Really Here, Lynne Ramsay
Good Time, Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie
Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev
The Meyerowitz Stories, Noah Baumbach
Ismael’s Ghosts, Arnaud Desplechin (opening film)
In The Fade, Fatih Akin
[link...
The films chosen for the Cannes Official Selection will be announced on April 13 at 11am Cet (10am GMT).
Festival President Pierre Lescure and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux will reveal the line-up at a press conference, which you can watch below (or on mobile Here).
The 70th Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to run from May 17-28. The films as they are announced are below:
Competition
Wonderstruck, Todd Haynes
Le Redoutable, Michel Hazanavicius
Geu-Hu (The Day After), Hong Sangsoo
Hikari (Radiance), Naomi Kawase
The Killing Of The Sacred Deer, Yorgos Lanthimos
A Gentle Creature, Sergei Loznitsa
Jupiter’s Moon, Kornél Mundruczó
L’amant Double, François Ozon
You Were Never Really Here, Lynne Ramsay
Good Time, Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie
Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev
The Meyerowitz Stories, Noah Baumbach
Ismael’s Ghosts, Arnaud Desplechin (opening film)
In The Fade, Fatih Akin
[link...
- 4/12/2017
- ScreenDaily
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