Nepali filmmaker Min Bahadur Bham’s journey to make Berlin competition title “Shambhala” was arduous but an ultimately rewarding one.
Bham’s 2012 short “Bhansulli” debuted at Venice. His debut feature “Kalo Pothi” won the Fedeora best film award at Venice Critics’ Week and became Nepal’s official Oscar entry. It has been a nine-year process to bring “Shambhala” to fruition since then.
The filmmaker says that after “Kalo Pothi,” it took him a long time to write the script of “Shambhala,” which went through 45 drafts. He also wanted to experience the global labs, markets and residencies that he hadn’t on his first feature. These included Busan’s Asian Film Market, Cannes Cinefondation Residence and Locarno’s Open Doors. When those were done, finding the right cast and locations took a while and once those were finalized, Covid-19 struck.
“Shambhala” – a mystic, sacred realm in Tibetan Buddhism, also an area of significance in Hinduism,...
Bham’s 2012 short “Bhansulli” debuted at Venice. His debut feature “Kalo Pothi” won the Fedeora best film award at Venice Critics’ Week and became Nepal’s official Oscar entry. It has been a nine-year process to bring “Shambhala” to fruition since then.
The filmmaker says that after “Kalo Pothi,” it took him a long time to write the script of “Shambhala,” which went through 45 drafts. He also wanted to experience the global labs, markets and residencies that he hadn’t on his first feature. These included Busan’s Asian Film Market, Cannes Cinefondation Residence and Locarno’s Open Doors. When those were done, finding the right cast and locations took a while and once those were finalized, Covid-19 struck.
“Shambhala” – a mystic, sacred realm in Tibetan Buddhism, also an area of significance in Hinduism,...
- 2/22/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Visit Films has acquired international sales rights to Amos Gitai’s Berlinale Special selection Shikun and will kick off talks with buyers at the EFM next month.
The Israeli film is inspired by Eugène Ionesco’s allegorical play Rhinoceros, and dramatises the emergence of intolerance and totalitarianism through a series of theatrical episodes that take place in a single Israeli building, the Shikun.
Among this diverse group of people of different origins and languages, some turn into rhinoceroses, while others resist.
The ensemble cast includes Irène Jacob (The Double Life Of Véronique), Hanna Laslo (Free Zone), Yael Abecassis (Sacred), Bahira Ablassi...
The Israeli film is inspired by Eugène Ionesco’s allegorical play Rhinoceros, and dramatises the emergence of intolerance and totalitarianism through a series of theatrical episodes that take place in a single Israeli building, the Shikun.
Among this diverse group of people of different origins and languages, some turn into rhinoceroses, while others resist.
The ensemble cast includes Irène Jacob (The Double Life Of Véronique), Hanna Laslo (Free Zone), Yael Abecassis (Sacred), Bahira Ablassi...
- 1/25/2024
- ScreenDaily
Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever (“Banel & Adama”) has acquired international rights to “Shambhala,” the first Nepalese film to premiere in competition at the Berlinale or any other top film festival.
Directed by Min Bahadur Bham, “Shambhala” is also the first South Asian film to be selected in Berlinale’s competition lineup after three decades. Bham is best known for his feature debut, “Kalo Pothi,” which won a prize at Venice Critics’ Week in 2015. The helmer previously directed “Bansulli,” which was Nepal’s first selection at the Venice Film Festival in 2012.
“Shambhala” is set in a Himalayan polyandrous village in Nepal, where a newly married and pregnant woman, Pema, tries to make the best of her new life. But soon, her husband Tashi vanishes, prompting her to embark on a journey into the wilderness to find him, accompanied by her monk.
The film shot in the world’s highest settlement, located...
Directed by Min Bahadur Bham, “Shambhala” is also the first South Asian film to be selected in Berlinale’s competition lineup after three decades. Bham is best known for his feature debut, “Kalo Pothi,” which won a prize at Venice Critics’ Week in 2015. The helmer previously directed “Bansulli,” which was Nepal’s first selection at the Venice Film Festival in 2012.
“Shambhala” is set in a Himalayan polyandrous village in Nepal, where a newly married and pregnant woman, Pema, tries to make the best of her new life. But soon, her husband Tashi vanishes, prompting her to embark on a journey into the wilderness to find him, accompanied by her monk.
The film shot in the world’s highest settlement, located...
- 1/24/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
South Korean director Hong Sang-soo was awarded the El Gouna Gold Star for best narrative film for his meditation on art and relationships, “In Our Day,” as the delayed edition of the El Gouna Film Festival held its closing ceremony on Thursday. The Italian animated film “A Greyhound of a Girl,” directed by Enzo D’Alò, and the Brazilian director Guto Parente’s “A Strange Path” picked up the Silver and Bronze Stars respectively.
The jury comprised of Indian director Anup Singh, Jordanian actress Saba Mubarak, Palestinian actress Yasmine Al-Massri, French Lebanese actress Manal Issa and Egyptian filmmaker Omar El Zohairy.
In the non-fiction category, Ibrahim Nash’at’s acclaimed documentary “Hollywoodgate” took the top prize, with “Seven Winters in Tehran” and Mila Turajlić’s Serbian film “Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels” sharing the Silver Star, and “On the Adamant,” directed by French director Nicolas Philibert, taking the Bronze Star. The...
The jury comprised of Indian director Anup Singh, Jordanian actress Saba Mubarak, Palestinian actress Yasmine Al-Massri, French Lebanese actress Manal Issa and Egyptian filmmaker Omar El Zohairy.
In the non-fiction category, Ibrahim Nash’at’s acclaimed documentary “Hollywoodgate” took the top prize, with “Seven Winters in Tehran” and Mila Turajlić’s Serbian film “Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudović Reels” sharing the Silver Star, and “On the Adamant,” directed by French director Nicolas Philibert, taking the Bronze Star. The...
- 12/22/2023
- by John Bleasdale
- Variety Film + TV
Stuart Gatt’s “Catching Dust,” which premiered at Tribeca earlier this year, will open the 54th International Film Festival of India (Iffi), Goa.
Robert Kolodny’s “The Featherweight,” which bowed at Venice, will close the festival. Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “About Dry Grasses,” for which Merve Dizdar won best actress at Cannes, will be the mid-festival gala.
The fiction feature strand of the Indian panorama showcase will open with Anand Ekarshi’s “Aattam” and the documentary strand with Longjam Meena’s “Andro Dream.” The panorama will screen 25 fiction features, including five mainstream films, plus 20 documentaries.
Michael Douglas will deliver the key festival masterclass. The international competition jury will be led by eminent filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (“Elizabeth”) and also includes producers Catherine Dussart (“Silence in the Dust”) and Helen Leake (“Carnifex”), former Cannes market chief Jerome Paillard and Pedro Almodovar’s long-standing cinematographer José Luis Alcaine, P.K. Atre’s “Shyamchi Aai...
Robert Kolodny’s “The Featherweight,” which bowed at Venice, will close the festival. Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “About Dry Grasses,” for which Merve Dizdar won best actress at Cannes, will be the mid-festival gala.
The fiction feature strand of the Indian panorama showcase will open with Anand Ekarshi’s “Aattam” and the documentary strand with Longjam Meena’s “Andro Dream.” The panorama will screen 25 fiction features, including five mainstream films, plus 20 documentaries.
Michael Douglas will deliver the key festival masterclass. The international competition jury will be led by eminent filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (“Elizabeth”) and also includes producers Catherine Dussart (“Silence in the Dust”) and Helen Leake (“Carnifex”), former Cannes market chief Jerome Paillard and Pedro Almodovar’s long-standing cinematographer José Luis Alcaine, P.K. Atre’s “Shyamchi Aai...
- 11/7/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The upcoming 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India, which is set to be held in Goa, has announced its International Jury panel. The jury will be headed by acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who is known for films like ‘Bandit Queen’, ‘Mr. India’ and ‘Masoom’.
The international jury members include Spanish cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine, who is known for his collaborations with Pedro Almodovar, producer Jerome Paillard, producer Catherine Dussart and producer Helen Leake.
They will judge the International Competition and Best Debut Feature Film of a Director Award at the Festival.
The ‘International Competition’ is a selection of 15 acclaimed feature films of important genres, representing the emerging trends in the aesthetics sense and politics of film as envisioned by masters and young voices alike.
The international jury will select the winner of the coveted Best Film Award which includes the Golden Peacock, Rs 40 lakh monetary component and...
The international jury members include Spanish cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine, who is known for his collaborations with Pedro Almodovar, producer Jerome Paillard, producer Catherine Dussart and producer Helen Leake.
They will judge the International Competition and Best Debut Feature Film of a Director Award at the Festival.
The ‘International Competition’ is a selection of 15 acclaimed feature films of important genres, representing the emerging trends in the aesthetics sense and politics of film as envisioned by masters and young voices alike.
The international jury will select the winner of the coveted Best Film Award which includes the Golden Peacock, Rs 40 lakh monetary component and...
- 10/31/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
The upcoming 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India, which is set to be held in Goa, has announced its International Jury panel. The jury will be headed by acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, who is known for films like ‘Bandit Queen’, ‘Mr. India’ and ‘Masoom’.
The international jury members include Spanish cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine, who is known for his collaborations with Pedro Almodovar, producer Jerome Paillard, producer Catherine Dussart and producer Helen Leake.
They will judge the International Competition and Best Debut Feature Film of a Director Award at the Festival.
The ‘International Competition’ is a selection of 15 acclaimed feature films of important genres, representing the emerging trends in the aesthetics sense and politics of film as envisioned by masters and young voices alike.
The international jury will select the winner of the coveted Best Film Award which includes the Golden Peacock, Rs 40 lakh monetary component and...
The international jury members include Spanish cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine, who is known for his collaborations with Pedro Almodovar, producer Jerome Paillard, producer Catherine Dussart and producer Helen Leake.
They will judge the International Competition and Best Debut Feature Film of a Director Award at the Festival.
The ‘International Competition’ is a selection of 15 acclaimed feature films of important genres, representing the emerging trends in the aesthetics sense and politics of film as envisioned by masters and young voices alike.
The international jury will select the winner of the coveted Best Film Award which includes the Golden Peacock, Rs 40 lakh monetary component and...
- 10/31/2023
- by Agency News Desk
Acclaimed French producer Catherine Dussart has a full production slate including new works from veterans Amos Gitai, Rithy Panh and Peter Greenaway.
Dussart is currently at the Venice Film Festival where Indian filmmaker Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s “Once Upon a Time in Calcutta,” co-produced by her Catherine Dussart Productions, is playing in the Horizons strand. Dussart is also on board Sengupta’s next, “Birthmark,” about two women who become part of a catastrophic plan hatched by a patriarchal family, which is at the Venice gap financing market.
Gitai started a Dussart-produced trilogy about Israelis and Palestinians engaging with each other harmoniously with “A Tramway in Jerusalem,” which won the Unimed Award at Venice in 2018. The second, “Laila in Haifa” was in the reckoning for a Venice Golden Lion in 2020. “Shikun,” which completes the trilogy, is set in a massive social housing project in Beersheba, in the Negev desert. The film,...
Dussart is currently at the Venice Film Festival where Indian filmmaker Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s “Once Upon a Time in Calcutta,” co-produced by her Catherine Dussart Productions, is playing in the Horizons strand. Dussart is also on board Sengupta’s next, “Birthmark,” about two women who become part of a catastrophic plan hatched by a patriarchal family, which is at the Venice gap financing market.
Gitai started a Dussart-produced trilogy about Israelis and Palestinians engaging with each other harmoniously with “A Tramway in Jerusalem,” which won the Unimed Award at Venice in 2018. The second, “Laila in Haifa” was in the reckoning for a Venice Golden Lion in 2020. “Shikun,” which completes the trilogy, is set in a massive social housing project in Beersheba, in the Negev desert. The film,...
- 9/7/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Strand Releasing has acquired all U.S. rights to Oscar-nominated Cambodian director Rithy Panh’s “Irradiated,” which world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and won best documentary. The film is represented in international markets by Playtime.
Through “Irradiated,” Panh sheds light on the human horrors perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge regime which he experienced during his childhood. Narrated by Rebecca Marder and André Wilms (“Le Havre”), the film brings together black-and-white archival war footage across a tryptic of panels juxtaposing images of war and suffering across the 20th century and around the world. The cinematic documentary is scored by Panh’s longtime collaborator Marc Marder.
“What it means to be a survivor cannot be put into words. To live on, to make contact with this irradiation, for which there may be no cause, no knowledge, but from which there is no protection,” said Panh about his film. “Evil radiates.
Through “Irradiated,” Panh sheds light on the human horrors perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge regime which he experienced during his childhood. Narrated by Rebecca Marder and André Wilms (“Le Havre”), the film brings together black-and-white archival war footage across a tryptic of panels juxtaposing images of war and suffering across the 20th century and around the world. The cinematic documentary is scored by Panh’s longtime collaborator Marc Marder.
“What it means to be a survivor cannot be put into words. To live on, to make contact with this irradiation, for which there may be no cause, no knowledge, but from which there is no protection,” said Panh about his film. “Evil radiates.
- 4/22/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
“People wanted to be productive and help the filmmaking community.”
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has released first data for the online edition of its sixth annual talent incubator meeting Qumra. It set up the digital iteration at top speed after the physical event had to be abandoned at the 11th hour due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over the course of the five-day virtual event, running March 20 to 25, the Dfi organised 220 online mentoring sessions and fostered a further 200 connections between projects and potential industry and festival partners.
All the original 46 projects from 20 countries participated in the initiative, working with 34 mentors from 18 countries,...
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has released first data for the online edition of its sixth annual talent incubator meeting Qumra. It set up the digital iteration at top speed after the physical event had to be abandoned at the 11th hour due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over the course of the five-day virtual event, running March 20 to 25, the Dfi organised 220 online mentoring sessions and fostered a further 200 connections between projects and potential industry and festival partners.
All the original 46 projects from 20 countries participated in the initiative, working with 34 mentors from 18 countries,...
- 4/20/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Rithy Panh, Karim Ainouz, Annemarie Jacir, Tala Hadid, Ghassan Salhab join efforts to continue key project development activities.
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has set up an online mentorship programme to replace its Qumra talent and project development event which was cancelled earlier this month due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A total of 46 projects were to have received support and advice from some 100 industry professionals at the sixth edition of the meeting, originally scheduled to run March 20-25 in Doha.
French director Claire Denis, Greek cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, Us director James Gray, Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner and Oscar-winning sound editor...
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has set up an online mentorship programme to replace its Qumra talent and project development event which was cancelled earlier this month due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A total of 46 projects were to have received support and advice from some 100 industry professionals at the sixth edition of the meeting, originally scheduled to run March 20-25 in Doha.
French director Claire Denis, Greek cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, Us director James Gray, Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner and Oscar-winning sound editor...
- 3/19/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The French firm is selling Rithy Panh’s new film, a documentary produced by Catherine Dussart, which will enjoy its world premiere in competition in Berlin. One year after shining bright at the festival with François Ozon’s By the Grace of God, the French international sales firm Playtime is making a return to the Berlinale (whose 70th edition will run from 20 February to 1 March) with yet another of its titles - Irradiated, by Rithy Panh - selected to participate in the competition, a fact which it intends to use to its advantage at the European Film Market. As implied by the pitch, this documentary written by the French-Cambodian filmmaker in league with Agnès Sénémaud and Christophe Bataille follows the same lines as the director’s earlier works: "being a survivor isn’t something that can be expressed through words. You have to experience and move closer to this irradiation which might.
Line-up includes new titles from Yosep Anggi Noen, Hussein Hassan, Ash Mayfair and Hu Jia.
Busan International Film Festival (Biff)’s Asian Project Market has unveiled the 29 projects selected for this year’s edition of the financing and co-production event (October 6-8).
The line-up includes Silah And The Man With Two Names, the new project from Indonesian director Yosep Anggi Noen, whose latest film The Science Of Fictions will premiere in competition at this year’s Locarno.
Other projects of note include Black And White Photo, from Nepali filmmaker Rajesh Prasad Khatri, which received development funding from Biff’s Asian Cinema Fund...
Busan International Film Festival (Biff)’s Asian Project Market has unveiled the 29 projects selected for this year’s edition of the financing and co-production event (October 6-8).
The line-up includes Silah And The Man With Two Names, the new project from Indonesian director Yosep Anggi Noen, whose latest film The Science Of Fictions will premiere in competition at this year’s Locarno.
Other projects of note include Black And White Photo, from Nepali filmmaker Rajesh Prasad Khatri, which received development funding from Biff’s Asian Cinema Fund...
- 8/8/2019
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Seven of the selected projects are debut films this year, with four directed by women.
The TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) has revealed the 11 new projects selected for the 2019 FeatureLab training programme.
Seven of the projects are debut films this year, with four directed by women and nine women producing.
For the first time a documentary project is in the line-up: Cristina Picchi’s About The End.
Focusing on first and second feature films, the lab selects projects at an advanced stage of production and helps a team of directors, scriptwriters and producers get their ideas on screen.
This year’s line-up has...
The TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) has revealed the 11 new projects selected for the 2019 FeatureLab training programme.
Seven of the projects are debut films this year, with four directed by women and nine women producing.
For the first time a documentary project is in the line-up: Cristina Picchi’s About The End.
Focusing on first and second feature films, the lab selects projects at an advanced stage of production and helps a team of directors, scriptwriters and producers get their ideas on screen.
This year’s line-up has...
- 4/30/2019
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
‘The Women’ by Myanmar’s The Maw Naing wins the top prize of €30,300.
Filmmakers from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal were among the winners of this year’s edition of the Locarno Festival’s Open Doors project showcase.
Myanmar-based poet, artist and filmmaker The Maw Naing won the Open Doors production grant of €30,300 for his second narrative feature film project The Women.
The drama about four women from remote villages who travel to the city in search of work is being produced by the Berlin-based Yangon Film School and the director’s own production company One Point Zero. The...
Filmmakers from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal were among the winners of this year’s edition of the Locarno Festival’s Open Doors project showcase.
Myanmar-based poet, artist and filmmaker The Maw Naing won the Open Doors production grant of €30,300 for his second narrative feature film project The Women.
The drama about four women from remote villages who travel to the city in search of work is being produced by the Berlin-based Yangon Film School and the director’s own production company One Point Zero. The...
- 8/7/2018
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Selection includes films from Siddiq Barmak, Yoon Gaeun and Min Bahadur Bham.
In South Korea, the Busan International Film Festival (Biff)’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has announced 28 titles from 17 countries for this year.
The 20th Apm’s selection includes projects from Golden Globe best foreign language film award winner Siddiq Barmak (Osama) and Berlinale Generation director Yoon Gaeun (The World Of Us).
Afghan filmmaker Barmak’s Georgia-France co-production The Pass is a wartime drama about two soldiers from opposite sides who are forced to cooperate in order to cross a dangerous mountain pass alongside refugees.
Korean director Yoon’s Sora is a drama about a middle school girl who finds out a secret about the new kid in the neighborhood.
According to organizers, the number of projects submitted to Apm this year went up “almost 25%” from the previous year to reach 317. In the 19 previous years, “a total of 499 projects have been selected with more than 220 of...
In South Korea, the Busan International Film Festival (Biff)’s Asian Project Market (Apm) has announced 28 titles from 17 countries for this year.
The 20th Apm’s selection includes projects from Golden Globe best foreign language film award winner Siddiq Barmak (Osama) and Berlinale Generation director Yoon Gaeun (The World Of Us).
Afghan filmmaker Barmak’s Georgia-France co-production The Pass is a wartime drama about two soldiers from opposite sides who are forced to cooperate in order to cross a dangerous mountain pass alongside refugees.
Korean director Yoon’s Sora is a drama about a middle school girl who finds out a secret about the new kid in the neighborhood.
According to organizers, the number of projects submitted to Apm this year went up “almost 25%” from the previous year to reach 317. In the 19 previous years, “a total of 499 projects have been selected with more than 220 of...
- 8/14/2017
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive/Film Bazaar: Nepal’s Abinash Bikram Shah makes feature directorial debut with the project, which is selected for Film Bazaar’s Co-Production Market.
Catherine Dussart Productions (Cdp) from France and Michael Henrichs’ Die Gesellschaft Dgs from Germany have boarded Nepalese writer and director Abinash Bikram Shah’s Season of Dragonflies (Jhyalincha).
The film, selected for the Co-Production Market here, is about feisty fortysomething breast cancer survivor who has a tough decision to make after a devastating earthquake in Nepal.
Nepal’s Icefall Productions and Shooney Films are also producing. Icefall producer Ram Krishna Pokharel is also attending Film Bazaar alongside Henrichs.
Speaking to Screen at Film Bazaar, Henrichs said, “The story resonated with me and I felt he was referring to something which had great value to him. It’s a genuinely Nepali story on one hand and the emotionality of communication and overcoming crisis is a very universal theme. The advantage...
Catherine Dussart Productions (Cdp) from France and Michael Henrichs’ Die Gesellschaft Dgs from Germany have boarded Nepalese writer and director Abinash Bikram Shah’s Season of Dragonflies (Jhyalincha).
The film, selected for the Co-Production Market here, is about feisty fortysomething breast cancer survivor who has a tough decision to make after a devastating earthquake in Nepal.
Nepal’s Icefall Productions and Shooney Films are also producing. Icefall producer Ram Krishna Pokharel is also attending Film Bazaar alongside Henrichs.
Speaking to Screen at Film Bazaar, Henrichs said, “The story resonated with me and I felt he was referring to something which had great value to him. It’s a genuinely Nepali story on one hand and the emotionality of communication and overcoming crisis is a very universal theme. The advantage...
- 11/21/2016
- by uditaj@gmail.com (Udita Jhunjhunwala)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive/Film Bazaar: Labour of Love writer-director Aditya Vikram Sengupta will begin shooting his new Bengali-language feature film Jonaki in December.
Sengupta says Jonaki, which literally translates as ‘firefly,’ is “an abstract film based on the story of my grandmother who was in a coma for four days. I wondered what she was thinking.”
Veteran actress Lolita Chatterjee plays the 80-year-old lead. “It’s a very brave step for her in a very difficult film,” said Sengupta..
Sengupta added, “A festival run and an online release might be the most viable options. A theatrical release plan is unlikely to work for this subject and treatment.”
Sengupta’s debut feature Labour of Love (Asha Jaoar Majhe), about a young married couple in Kolkata, won the Fedeora award for best debut film in Venice Days 2014 and a National Film Award in India.
Samir Sarkar of Mumbai-based Magic Hour Films is producing and financing. He said, “I...
Sengupta says Jonaki, which literally translates as ‘firefly,’ is “an abstract film based on the story of my grandmother who was in a coma for four days. I wondered what she was thinking.”
Veteran actress Lolita Chatterjee plays the 80-year-old lead. “It’s a very brave step for her in a very difficult film,” said Sengupta..
Sengupta added, “A festival run and an online release might be the most viable options. A theatrical release plan is unlikely to work for this subject and treatment.”
Sengupta’s debut feature Labour of Love (Asha Jaoar Majhe), about a young married couple in Kolkata, won the Fedeora award for best debut film in Venice Days 2014 and a National Film Award in India.
Samir Sarkar of Mumbai-based Magic Hour Films is producing and financing. He said, “I...
- 11/21/2016
- by uditaj@gmail.com (Udita Jhunjhunwala)
- ScreenDaily
Warsaw Next workshop for young Polish filmmakers with 70+ participants is organized in cooperation with Sundance TV who hosts a masterclass on 15 October.
The Warsaw Film Festival (October 7–16, 2016) promotes Eastern European cinema as well as world cinema. With over 100 titles, five competitive sections, Fipresci workshops and the ever-expanding industry event CentEast Market, the 32nd edition of the Warsaw Film Festival this year is its largest ever event.
CentEast Market focuses on Eastern European cinema and will present 13 new works-in-progress, new Polish films and workshops for both filmmakers and film critics.
The CentEast Market runs 14–16 October during the final days of the Warsaw Film Festival. Since 2005, the market has provided a meeting space for sales agents, distributors, festival programmers and producers interested in Eastern European cinema.
This year’s CentEast Market will be repeated in Moscow a few days after its October 14 presentation in Warsaw. Peter Bebjak (The Cleaner [+]), Inara Kolmane (Mona...
The Warsaw Film Festival (October 7–16, 2016) promotes Eastern European cinema as well as world cinema. With over 100 titles, five competitive sections, Fipresci workshops and the ever-expanding industry event CentEast Market, the 32nd edition of the Warsaw Film Festival this year is its largest ever event.
CentEast Market focuses on Eastern European cinema and will present 13 new works-in-progress, new Polish films and workshops for both filmmakers and film critics.
The CentEast Market runs 14–16 October during the final days of the Warsaw Film Festival. Since 2005, the market has provided a meeting space for sales agents, distributors, festival programmers and producers interested in Eastern European cinema.
This year’s CentEast Market will be repeated in Moscow a few days after its October 14 presentation in Warsaw. Peter Bebjak (The Cleaner [+]), Inara Kolmane (Mona...
- 10/10/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: French producer Catherine Dussart, who co-produced Gurvinder Singh’s The Fourth Direction, has boarded Aditya Vikram Sengupta’s Memories And My Mother, which is selected for the Co-Production Market at Film Bazaar this year.
Dussart’s Catherine Dussart Productions (Cdp) will co-produce the film with India’s For Films, founded by Sengupta and producers Jonaki Bhattacharya and Vikram Mohinta. She is also looking for German and other co-producers for the Bengali-language project, which has already secured backing from France’s Cinemas Du Monde.
Sengupta previously directed Labour Of Love, which won best debut at Venice in 2014 and played at around 50 other film festivals.
“He is one of India’s most interesting young directors,” said Dussart. “I was stunned by Labour Of Love and loved this project, which deals with the rapid transformation of Kolkata and has underlying socio-political themes.”
Sengupta said he plans to start shooting in Kolkata in July 2016 during the monsoon season and work...
Dussart’s Catherine Dussart Productions (Cdp) will co-produce the film with India’s For Films, founded by Sengupta and producers Jonaki Bhattacharya and Vikram Mohinta. She is also looking for German and other co-producers for the Bengali-language project, which has already secured backing from France’s Cinemas Du Monde.
Sengupta previously directed Labour Of Love, which won best debut at Venice in 2014 and played at around 50 other film festivals.
“He is one of India’s most interesting young directors,” said Dussart. “I was stunned by Labour Of Love and loved this project, which deals with the rapid transformation of Kolkata and has underlying socio-political themes.”
Sengupta said he plans to start shooting in Kolkata in July 2016 during the monsoon season and work...
- 11/22/2015
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Mexico’s Kings of Nowhere wins doc prize; Thank You For Bombing wins Switzerland, Germany, Austria award.Scroll down for full list of winners
Grimur Hakonarson’s Rams (Hrútar) has won the Golden Eye for Best International Feature Film at the 11Sth Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24-Oct 4).
The film, about two estranged brothers who have to reunite to save their sheep during an outbreak of disease, is Iceland’s submission for the Oscars for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Zff’s international jury, headed by Carol producer Elizabeth Carlson, awarded the title as well as a cash prize of more than $25,000 (CHF25,000).
It continues a strong festival run for Rams, which won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in May before going on to screen at Karlovy Vary, Telluride and Toronto among others.
International sales are handled by New Europe Film Sales, which has sold the film to around 40 countries. Cohen Media Group handle Us distribution.
It also marks...
Grimur Hakonarson’s Rams (Hrútar) has won the Golden Eye for Best International Feature Film at the 11Sth Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24-Oct 4).
The film, about two estranged brothers who have to reunite to save their sheep during an outbreak of disease, is Iceland’s submission for the Oscars for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Zff’s international jury, headed by Carol producer Elizabeth Carlson, awarded the title as well as a cash prize of more than $25,000 (CHF25,000).
It continues a strong festival run for Rams, which won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in May before going on to screen at Karlovy Vary, Telluride and Toronto among others.
International sales are handled by New Europe Film Sales, which has sold the film to around 40 countries. Cohen Media Group handle Us distribution.
It also marks...
- 10/4/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The Missing Picture producer Catherine Dussart to head documentary jury.Scroll down for titles in competition
The juries for the 11th Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24-Oct 4) have been unveiled.
Elizabeth Karlsen, producer of Todd Haynes’ Carol, will head the international feature film jury, which will comprise ‘71 director Yann Demange; French producer Rosa Attab; German actress Maria Furtwängler; and German director Katja von Garnier.
The international documentary film jury will be presided over by Catherine Dussart, the French producer of Rithy Panh’s Oscar-nominated The Missing Picture, which won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes 2013.
The doc jury includes French director Abbas Fahdel, Belgian editor Joelle Alexis, German director Alexander Nanau and UK director/producer Havana Marking.
The Focus: Switzerland, Germany, Austria jury will be headed by German producer Nico Hofmann (The Physician), also co-ceo of Ufa Group.
The jury comprises German writer/director Anika Decker, German actor Alexander Fehling, Austrian actress...
The juries for the 11th Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24-Oct 4) have been unveiled.
Elizabeth Karlsen, producer of Todd Haynes’ Carol, will head the international feature film jury, which will comprise ‘71 director Yann Demange; French producer Rosa Attab; German actress Maria Furtwängler; and German director Katja von Garnier.
The international documentary film jury will be presided over by Catherine Dussart, the French producer of Rithy Panh’s Oscar-nominated The Missing Picture, which won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes 2013.
The doc jury includes French director Abbas Fahdel, Belgian editor Joelle Alexis, German director Alexander Nanau and UK director/producer Havana Marking.
The Focus: Switzerland, Germany, Austria jury will be headed by German producer Nico Hofmann (The Physician), also co-ceo of Ufa Group.
The jury comprises German writer/director Anika Decker, German actor Alexander Fehling, Austrian actress...
- 9/22/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: India’s National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc) and France’s Catherine Dussart Productions have boarded Rajnesh Domalpalli’s rural fable Avani as co-producers.
Michael Henrichs of Die Gesellschaft Dgs is the lead producer on the Telugu-language project, which has also secured $37,000 (€30,000) from the EU’s Creative Europe Media Development Fund.
Set at a time when the monsoons have failed two years in a row, Avani tells the story of an eight-year-old girl who learns new respect for life on Earth while bringing her family together.
“Avani will build on the tone that the director developed in his first film, Vanaja. We expect to close the financing over the next nine months and begin shooting in mid-December 2015,” said Henrichs.
Dussart and Nfdc recently co-produced Gurvinder Singh’s The Fourth Direction, which is in production, with Kartikeya Narayan Singh’s The Film Café and Sunil Doshi’s Handmade Films. Dussart’s credits also include Rithy Panh’s The...
Michael Henrichs of Die Gesellschaft Dgs is the lead producer on the Telugu-language project, which has also secured $37,000 (€30,000) from the EU’s Creative Europe Media Development Fund.
Set at a time when the monsoons have failed two years in a row, Avani tells the story of an eight-year-old girl who learns new respect for life on Earth while bringing her family together.
“Avani will build on the tone that the director developed in his first film, Vanaja. We expect to close the financing over the next nine months and begin shooting in mid-December 2015,” said Henrichs.
Dussart and Nfdc recently co-produced Gurvinder Singh’s The Fourth Direction, which is in production, with Kartikeya Narayan Singh’s The Film Café and Sunil Doshi’s Handmade Films. Dussart’s credits also include Rithy Panh’s The...
- 11/23/2014
- ScreenDaily
Labour of Love, directed by Aditya Vikram Sengupta, won a Special Mention of the Jury in New Horizons Competition section at the 8th Abu Dhabi Film Festival that came to a close on Friday.
The Wonders directed by Alice Rohrwacher took the top award in this category while Stations of the Cross by Dietrich Brüggemann won the Special Jury award.
The New Horizons Jury was made up of Qissa director Anup Singh, Paris-based film producer Catherine Dussart, Syrian actor Bassel Al Khayat, Moroccan filmmaker Leila Kilani, and Charles Tesson, Artistic Director of Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the Narrative Competition section, Leviathan directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev won the Black Pearl award and Test directed by Alexander Kott won the Special Jury prize. Indian actor Irrfan Khan was on the Jury.
Labour of Love which recently screened at Mumbai Film Festival, was the only Indian film at Abu Dhabi this year.
The Wonders directed by Alice Rohrwacher took the top award in this category while Stations of the Cross by Dietrich Brüggemann won the Special Jury award.
The New Horizons Jury was made up of Qissa director Anup Singh, Paris-based film producer Catherine Dussart, Syrian actor Bassel Al Khayat, Moroccan filmmaker Leila Kilani, and Charles Tesson, Artistic Director of Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the Narrative Competition section, Leviathan directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev won the Black Pearl award and Test directed by Alexander Kott won the Special Jury prize. Indian actor Irrfan Khan was on the Jury.
Labour of Love which recently screened at Mumbai Film Festival, was the only Indian film at Abu Dhabi this year.
- 11/1/2014
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Rome’s European co-production market New Cinema Network has awarded the €30,000 Eurimages Co-production Development Award to drama 9 Fingers by writer-director F.J. Ossang, produced by Catherine Dussart.
The French-language apocalyptic-noir follows a man who falls in with a dangerous gang, which in turn becomes stranded on a container ship.
The project has an estimated budget of €1.9m and has backing from Cnc.
The jury, which comprised Marie-Pierre Duhamel, Sandra Hebron, and Elena Kotova, described the script as “a project that combines philosophical and narrative qualities in a decidedly original manner”.
A special mention was awarded to 1313 – Dante’s Emperor by Bady Minck, produced by Alexander Dumreicher-Ivancenau, and Menocchio by Alberto Fasulo produced by Nadia Trevisan.
Andrea Paris of Ascent Film was awarded the €5,000 Cubix Award for best emerging European producer, while the Unicef Italia Special Mention went to White Shadows by Fabio Mollo for “having addressed a story of abuse and violation of children’s rights effectively yet with...
The French-language apocalyptic-noir follows a man who falls in with a dangerous gang, which in turn becomes stranded on a container ship.
The project has an estimated budget of €1.9m and has backing from Cnc.
The jury, which comprised Marie-Pierre Duhamel, Sandra Hebron, and Elena Kotova, described the script as “a project that combines philosophical and narrative qualities in a decidedly original manner”.
A special mention was awarded to 1313 – Dante’s Emperor by Bady Minck, produced by Alexander Dumreicher-Ivancenau, and Menocchio by Alberto Fasulo produced by Nadia Trevisan.
Andrea Paris of Ascent Film was awarded the €5,000 Cubix Award for best emerging European producer, while the Unicef Italia Special Mention went to White Shadows by Fabio Mollo for “having addressed a story of abuse and violation of children’s rights effectively yet with...
- 10/22/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Irrfan Khan
Actor Irrfan Khan will preside over the Narrative Competition Jury at the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival 2014. His fellow jurors include Algerian novelist and academic Waciny Laredj, award-winning English writer-director Steven Shainberg, Australian film director Cate Shortland and the award-winning Palestinian actor Ali Suliman.
Qissa director Anup Singh will sit on the New Horizons Jury of the festival. Led by Paris-based film producer Catherine Dussart, the Jury includes Syrian actor Bassel Al Khayat, Moroccan filmmaker Leila Kilani, and Charles Tesson, Artistic Director of Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival.
Last year, Qissa directed by Anup Singh and starring Irrfan Khan, was screened in New Horizons section of the festival where it won the Best Actress award for Tillotama Shome.
The Abu Dhabi International Film Festival will be held from October 23-November 1, 2014.
Actor Irrfan Khan will preside over the Narrative Competition Jury at the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival 2014. His fellow jurors include Algerian novelist and academic Waciny Laredj, award-winning English writer-director Steven Shainberg, Australian film director Cate Shortland and the award-winning Palestinian actor Ali Suliman.
Qissa director Anup Singh will sit on the New Horizons Jury of the festival. Led by Paris-based film producer Catherine Dussart, the Jury includes Syrian actor Bassel Al Khayat, Moroccan filmmaker Leila Kilani, and Charles Tesson, Artistic Director of Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival.
Last year, Qissa directed by Anup Singh and starring Irrfan Khan, was screened in New Horizons section of the festival where it won the Best Actress award for Tillotama Shome.
The Abu Dhabi International Film Festival will be held from October 23-November 1, 2014.
- 10/22/2014
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Irrfan Khan, Christina Voros and Catherine Dussart to preside over feature competition juries; seven world premieres of Arab films in feature competitions.
Abu Dhabi Film Festival (Oct 23-Nov 1) has released the names of its jury members, who will select the award winners of this year’s Adff competitions.
This year’s Narrative Features jury led by Mumbai-based actor Irrfan Khan (The Lunchbox, Life of Pi) will be rounded out by Algerian novelist and academic Waciny Laredj, award-winning English writer-director Steven Shainberg, Australian film director Cate Shortland and Palestinian actor Ali Suliman.
The panel evaluating the New Horizons section led by Paris-based film producer Catherine Dussart (The Missing Picture) includes Syrian actor Bassel Al Khayat, Moroccan filmmaker Leila Kilani, Geneva-based Indian filmmaker Anup Singh and film critic Charles Tesson, artistic director of Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival.
Heading the Documentary Features jury is Brooklyn-based director and cinematographer Christina Voros. The other jury...
Abu Dhabi Film Festival (Oct 23-Nov 1) has released the names of its jury members, who will select the award winners of this year’s Adff competitions.
This year’s Narrative Features jury led by Mumbai-based actor Irrfan Khan (The Lunchbox, Life of Pi) will be rounded out by Algerian novelist and academic Waciny Laredj, award-winning English writer-director Steven Shainberg, Australian film director Cate Shortland and Palestinian actor Ali Suliman.
The panel evaluating the New Horizons section led by Paris-based film producer Catherine Dussart (The Missing Picture) includes Syrian actor Bassel Al Khayat, Moroccan filmmaker Leila Kilani, Geneva-based Indian filmmaker Anup Singh and film critic Charles Tesson, artistic director of Critics’ Week at the Cannes Film Festival.
Heading the Documentary Features jury is Brooklyn-based director and cinematographer Christina Voros. The other jury...
- 10/20/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Industry events include co-pro forum, China Day, Argentina-Brazil focus.
The Rome Film Festival’s (Oct 16-25) boutique market Business Street (Oct 17-21) has reported a record 25% increase year-on-year in international buyers, sales agents and producers, according to organisers. This should see a rise on the average number of industry accreditations of 750.
The market will welcome approximately 90 sellers and 283 buyers from more than 50 countries.
Attending sellers will include The Match Factory, Beta Cinema, Wild Bunch, Gaumont, Le Pacte, EuropaCorp, HanWay, WestEnd and Bankside.
Buyers include TWC, Magnolia, Film Movement, Memento, Senator, Soda, A Contracorriente, Metropole and Cineart as well as Asian buyers from Hong Kong, South Korea, China, Japan and Australia.
“This year we are looking at 20-25% year-on-year growth,” confirmed Business Street head Massimo Saidel. “By the end of July we were having to turn people away.”
Industry events
The market will feature around 80 market screenings as well as the return of sidebar Re-make It!, a selection...
The Rome Film Festival’s (Oct 16-25) boutique market Business Street (Oct 17-21) has reported a record 25% increase year-on-year in international buyers, sales agents and producers, according to organisers. This should see a rise on the average number of industry accreditations of 750.
The market will welcome approximately 90 sellers and 283 buyers from more than 50 countries.
Attending sellers will include The Match Factory, Beta Cinema, Wild Bunch, Gaumont, Le Pacte, EuropaCorp, HanWay, WestEnd and Bankside.
Buyers include TWC, Magnolia, Film Movement, Memento, Senator, Soda, A Contracorriente, Metropole and Cineart as well as Asian buyers from Hong Kong, South Korea, China, Japan and Australia.
“This year we are looking at 20-25% year-on-year growth,” confirmed Business Street head Massimo Saidel. “By the end of July we were having to turn people away.”
Industry events
The market will feature around 80 market screenings as well as the return of sidebar Re-make It!, a selection...
- 10/6/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Dutch producer to resume his long-standing relationship with Peter Greenaway.
Dutch producer Kees Kasander is to resume his long-standing relationship with British director Peter Greenaway – and they already have several new projects together in the pipeline.
Greenaway’s current production - Eisenstein in Guanajuato (sold by Rezo) - is the first film he has made without Kasander for many years. With Kasander unavailable, it was produced instead by fellow Dutch producers Femke Wolting and Bruno Felix of Submarine alongside Cristina Velasco.
Now, Kasander and Greenaway are back in business together and already looking a long way ahead with 15 projects together.
The next film they are making together is Walking To Paris, a biopic about artist Constantin Brancusi. When he was a young man, Brancusi walked all the way from Romania to Paris. Stealth are in talks to handle international sales. The aim is to start shooting in the autumn.
Kasander is producing...
Dutch producer Kees Kasander is to resume his long-standing relationship with British director Peter Greenaway – and they already have several new projects together in the pipeline.
Greenaway’s current production - Eisenstein in Guanajuato (sold by Rezo) - is the first film he has made without Kasander for many years. With Kasander unavailable, it was produced instead by fellow Dutch producers Femke Wolting and Bruno Felix of Submarine alongside Cristina Velasco.
Now, Kasander and Greenaway are back in business together and already looking a long way ahead with 15 projects together.
The next film they are making together is Walking To Paris, a biopic about artist Constantin Brancusi. When he was a young man, Brancusi walked all the way from Romania to Paris. Stealth are in talks to handle international sales. The aim is to start shooting in the autumn.
Kasander is producing...
- 5/15/2014
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Dutch producer to resume his long-standing relationship with Peter Greenaway.
Dutch producer Kees Kasander is to resume his long-standing relationship with British director Peter Greenaway – and they already have several new projects together in the pipeline.
Greenaway’s current production - Eisenstein in Guanajuato (sold by Rezo) - is the first film he has made without Kasander for many years. With Kasander unavailable, it was produced instead by fellow Dutch producers Femke Wolting and Bruno Felix of Submarine alongside Cristina Velasco.
Now, Kasander and Greenaway are back in business together and already looking a long way ahead with 15 projects together.
The next film they are making together is Walking To Paris, a biopic about artist Constantin Brancusi. When he was a young man, Brancusi walked all the way from Romania to Paris. Stealth are in talks to handle international sales. The aim is to start shooting in the autumn.
Kasander is producing...
Dutch producer Kees Kasander is to resume his long-standing relationship with British director Peter Greenaway – and they already have several new projects together in the pipeline.
Greenaway’s current production - Eisenstein in Guanajuato (sold by Rezo) - is the first film he has made without Kasander for many years. With Kasander unavailable, it was produced instead by fellow Dutch producers Femke Wolting and Bruno Felix of Submarine alongside Cristina Velasco.
Now, Kasander and Greenaway are back in business together and already looking a long way ahead with 15 projects together.
The next film they are making together is Walking To Paris, a biopic about artist Constantin Brancusi. When he was a young man, Brancusi walked all the way from Romania to Paris. Stealth are in talks to handle international sales. The aim is to start shooting in the autumn.
Kasander is producing...
- 5/15/2014
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Gurvinder Singh’s The Fourth Direction is scheduled to start shooting in mid-January, 2014 after securing support from French funding body Cnc.
The film has secured funding of $135,000 (Euros100,000) from Cnc’s World Cinema Support fund. Satya Nagpaul, who won best cinematography at India’s National Film Awards in 2011 for Singh’s Alms For The Blind Horse, has also boarded the film.
Selected for Film Bazaar’s Co-production Market in 2012, The Fourth Direction is a co-production between France’s Catherine Dussart Productions, India’s National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc), Kartikeya Narayan Singh’s The Film Cafe and Sunil Doshi’s Handmade Films.
Based on two short stories by Punjabi writer Waryam Singh Sandhu, the film will be shot in Punjab with a host of local actors and non-actors.
The Fourth Direction is the second Indian film after The Lunchbox to receive funding from Cnc’s World Cinema Support fund, established in 2012 to support international co-productions.
For full production...
The film has secured funding of $135,000 (Euros100,000) from Cnc’s World Cinema Support fund. Satya Nagpaul, who won best cinematography at India’s National Film Awards in 2011 for Singh’s Alms For The Blind Horse, has also boarded the film.
Selected for Film Bazaar’s Co-production Market in 2012, The Fourth Direction is a co-production between France’s Catherine Dussart Productions, India’s National Film Development Corporation (Nfdc), Kartikeya Narayan Singh’s The Film Cafe and Sunil Doshi’s Handmade Films.
Based on two short stories by Punjabi writer Waryam Singh Sandhu, the film will be shot in Punjab with a host of local actors and non-actors.
The Fourth Direction is the second Indian film after The Lunchbox to receive funding from Cnc’s World Cinema Support fund, established in 2012 to support international co-productions.
For full production...
- 11/22/2013
- ScreenDaily
Festival kicks off Thursday with gala screening of Daniel Schechter’s Life of Crime.
Forest Whitaker will be among the guests when the Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicks off Thursday evening. Whitaker will receive the festival’s Black Pearl Career Achievement award.
The festival will open with a gala screening of the Middle East premiere of Life of Crime with director Daniel Schechter and actor Mark Boone Junior both in attendance and participating in an audience Q&A.
Another career achievement award winner will be actress and director Hiam Abbass, who stars in festival world premiere Peace After Marriage.
International guests will include Danis Tanovic, Amma Asante, Jia Zhangke, Beeban Kidron, Emir Baigazin, Agnes B, Cedomir Kolar, Uberto Pasolini, Tao Zhao, Eugene Domingo, Louis Garrel, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Catherine Dussart.
Arab stars set to attend Adff include Mervat Amin, Hend Sabri, Ahmad Ezz, Basel Khayat, Eyad Nassar, Kinda Aloush, Abed Fahad, Manal Khader, Nesrine...
Forest Whitaker will be among the guests when the Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicks off Thursday evening. Whitaker will receive the festival’s Black Pearl Career Achievement award.
The festival will open with a gala screening of the Middle East premiere of Life of Crime with director Daniel Schechter and actor Mark Boone Junior both in attendance and participating in an audience Q&A.
Another career achievement award winner will be actress and director Hiam Abbass, who stars in festival world premiere Peace After Marriage.
International guests will include Danis Tanovic, Amma Asante, Jia Zhangke, Beeban Kidron, Emir Baigazin, Agnes B, Cedomir Kolar, Uberto Pasolini, Tao Zhao, Eugene Domingo, Louis Garrel, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Catherine Dussart.
Arab stars set to attend Adff include Mervat Amin, Hend Sabri, Ahmad Ezz, Basel Khayat, Eyad Nassar, Kinda Aloush, Abed Fahad, Manal Khader, Nesrine...
- 10/23/2013
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Festival kicks off Thursday with gala screening of Daniel Schechter’s Life of Crime.
Forest Whitaker will be among the guests when the Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicks off Thursday evening. Whitaker will receive the festival’s Black Pearl Career Achievement award.
The festival will open with a gala screening of the Middle East premiere of Life of Crime with director Daniel Schechter and actor Mark Boone Junior both in attendance and participating in an audience Q&A.
Another career achievement award winner will be actress and director Hiam Abbass, who stars in festival world premiere Peace After Marriage.
International guests will include Danis Tanovic, Amma Asante, Jia Zhangke, Beeban Kidron, Emir Baigazin, Agnes B, Cedomir Kolar, Uberto Pasolini, Tao Zhao, Eugene Domingo, Louis Garrel, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Catherine Dussart.
Arab stars set to attend Adff include Mervat Amin, Hend Sabri, Ahmad Ezz, Basel Khayat, Eyad Nassar, Kinda Aloush, Abed Fahad, Manal Khader, Nesrine...
Forest Whitaker will be among the guests when the Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicks off Thursday evening. Whitaker will receive the festival’s Black Pearl Career Achievement award.
The festival will open with a gala screening of the Middle East premiere of Life of Crime with director Daniel Schechter and actor Mark Boone Junior both in attendance and participating in an audience Q&A.
Another career achievement award winner will be actress and director Hiam Abbass, who stars in festival world premiere Peace After Marriage.
International guests will include Danis Tanovic, Amma Asante, Jia Zhangke, Beeban Kidron, Emir Baigazin, Agnes B, Cedomir Kolar, Uberto Pasolini, Tao Zhao, Eugene Domingo, Louis Garrel, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Catherine Dussart.
Arab stars set to attend Adff include Mervat Amin, Hend Sabri, Ahmad Ezz, Basel Khayat, Eyad Nassar, Kinda Aloush, Abed Fahad, Manal Khader, Nesrine...
- 10/23/2013
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Short Term 12 director Destin Daniel Cretton and The Missing Picture producer Catherine Dussart among those to host masterclasses.
The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (Oct 24-Nov 2) has unveiled its programme of masterclasses covering topics from breaking into Hollywood to the revival of Iraqi cinema.
Adff Talks Film will give filmmakers and students a chance to meet and learn from international industry professionals but are also open to the general public.
On Oct 25, in “Show me the money!”, a panel of representatives from film funds from around the world will discuss financing opportunities available to Arab filmmakers, while “In Conversation with Daniel Schechter” offers an opportunity to learn from the director of the Opening Night film Life of Crime who will discuss what it is like to work with actors like Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins and Mos Def.
On Oct 26, the panel discussion “Location, Location, Location” looks at the trend for Mena countries to open film commissions to attract...
The Abu Dhabi Film Festival (Oct 24-Nov 2) has unveiled its programme of masterclasses covering topics from breaking into Hollywood to the revival of Iraqi cinema.
Adff Talks Film will give filmmakers and students a chance to meet and learn from international industry professionals but are also open to the general public.
On Oct 25, in “Show me the money!”, a panel of representatives from film funds from around the world will discuss financing opportunities available to Arab filmmakers, while “In Conversation with Daniel Schechter” offers an opportunity to learn from the director of the Opening Night film Life of Crime who will discuss what it is like to work with actors like Jennifer Aniston, Tim Robbins and Mos Def.
On Oct 26, the panel discussion “Location, Location, Location” looks at the trend for Mena countries to open film commissions to attract...
- 10/17/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Tiffcom 2013, which runs during the Tokyo International Film Festival, has revealed its CoPro Connection line-up including projects from Sabu and Nicolas Winding Refn.
Comprising 20 projects from 12 countries, the co-production event will run Oct 22-24 in Tiffcom’s Odaiba venue.
In cooperation with the Korean Film Council (Kofic), CoPro Connection has invited five Korean filmmakers with Korea-Japan co-production projects. These include Shobu, to be directed by Ki-hwan Oh, whose Korea-China co-produced romantic comedy A Wedding Invitation was a recent hit in China.
Tiffcom’s CoPro and Atelier du Cinema Europeen (Ace) will jointly hold the Ace Co-production Lab in Japan for the five Japanese and six European projects in the selection. These include Japanese writer/director/actor Sabu’s cross-media project Ten No Chasuke (working title) and Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn’s Japan-set project, The Avenging Silence.
Project and event details will be available later this month on the Tiffcom website.
Full CoPro Connection...
Comprising 20 projects from 12 countries, the co-production event will run Oct 22-24 in Tiffcom’s Odaiba venue.
In cooperation with the Korean Film Council (Kofic), CoPro Connection has invited five Korean filmmakers with Korea-Japan co-production projects. These include Shobu, to be directed by Ki-hwan Oh, whose Korea-China co-produced romantic comedy A Wedding Invitation was a recent hit in China.
Tiffcom’s CoPro and Atelier du Cinema Europeen (Ace) will jointly hold the Ace Co-production Lab in Japan for the five Japanese and six European projects in the selection. These include Japanese writer/director/actor Sabu’s cross-media project Ten No Chasuke (working title) and Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn’s Japan-set project, The Avenging Silence.
Project and event details will be available later this month on the Tiffcom website.
Full CoPro Connection...
- 9/10/2013
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
French producer Catherine Dussart has come on board for Gurvinder Singh’s second project The Fourth Direction at the ongoing Paris Project at the Paris International Film Festival.
Catherine Dussart Productions is known for films like September 11 (2002), A Matter of Taste (2000), Tycoon: A new Russian (2002) and The Wedding (2000).
The project recently won the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam for Script Development. The Fourth Direction combines two short stories by well-known Punjabi writer Waryam Singh Sandhu, in the backdrop of the movement for a Sikh separatist state in the 1980s.
Gurvinder Singh won the National Award for Best Director for his first film Anhey Ghore Da Daan.
Catherine Dussart Productions is known for films like September 11 (2002), A Matter of Taste (2000), Tycoon: A new Russian (2002) and The Wedding (2000).
The project recently won the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam for Script Development. The Fourth Direction combines two short stories by well-known Punjabi writer Waryam Singh Sandhu, in the backdrop of the movement for a Sikh separatist state in the 1980s.
Gurvinder Singh won the National Award for Best Director for his first film Anhey Ghore Da Daan.
- 7/5/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Leave it to the French to create a dark psychological drama that mainly revolves around the intricacies of dining on gourmet cuisine. Bernard Rapp's "A Matter of Taste", about a waiter recruited as a food taster for an upper-class businessman, might not succeed in fully developing the myriad themes of class differences, sexuality, etc., that it wishes to explore, but there's no denying that it is as elegant as the sharp clothes and extravagant meals enjoyed by its central characters. "Taste" is a critical and popular hit in France, where it received five Cesar Award nominations.
Told in distracting flashback style, the story revolves around the bizarre relationship that develops between Nicolas (Jean-Pierre Lorit), a handsome, carefree waiter, and Frederic (Bernard Giraudeau), an imperious and wealthy business mogul. They meet when Frederic, being waited on by Nicolas, suddenly asks him to taste his food for him. When Nicolas is able to name every ingredient in the dish, the impressed Frederic offers him a job as his official food taster, with one of his chief responsibilities being to determine if any dish contains seafood or cheese, two items to which Frederic is deathly allergic.
Despite the objections of his bourgeois-hating girlfriend Beatrice (Florence Thomassin), Nicolas quickly takes to his new position, especially since he soon gets to enjoy the same high-flying lifestyle as his employer. Unfortunately, his role quickly takes on disturbing ramifications, as Frederic seems intent on making his food taster a personal clone, even to the extent of first starving and then poisoning him in order that Nicolas share his own food preferences. The two eventually become embroiled in a sinister, psychologically interdependent relationship that, needless to say, doesn't end well.
While the film seems initially promising in its audacious explorations of obsession and identity, the screenplay doesn't sufficiently develop its ideas into a coherent whole. Torn between its comedic, dramatic and satirical elements, it doesn't truly succeed on any level, though there are more than a few quietly chilling and perversely funny moments along the way. Adding greatly to the film's overall impact are the two lead performances, with Giraudeau particularly memorable as the supremely officious Frederic.
A MATTER OF TASTE
Attitude Films
Director: Bernard Rapp
Screenwriters: Gilles Taurand, Bernard Rapp
Producers: Catherine Dussart, Chantal Perrin
Director of photography: Gerard de Battista
Editor: Juliettte Wilfling
Original music: Jean-Philippe Goude
Production designer: Francoise Comtet
Color/stereo
Cast:
Frederic Delamont: Bernard Giraudeau
Nicolas Riviere: Jean-Pierre Lorit
Beatrice: Florence Thomassin
Rene Rousset: Charles Berling
Magistrate: Jean-Pierre Leaud
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Told in distracting flashback style, the story revolves around the bizarre relationship that develops between Nicolas (Jean-Pierre Lorit), a handsome, carefree waiter, and Frederic (Bernard Giraudeau), an imperious and wealthy business mogul. They meet when Frederic, being waited on by Nicolas, suddenly asks him to taste his food for him. When Nicolas is able to name every ingredient in the dish, the impressed Frederic offers him a job as his official food taster, with one of his chief responsibilities being to determine if any dish contains seafood or cheese, two items to which Frederic is deathly allergic.
Despite the objections of his bourgeois-hating girlfriend Beatrice (Florence Thomassin), Nicolas quickly takes to his new position, especially since he soon gets to enjoy the same high-flying lifestyle as his employer. Unfortunately, his role quickly takes on disturbing ramifications, as Frederic seems intent on making his food taster a personal clone, even to the extent of first starving and then poisoning him in order that Nicolas share his own food preferences. The two eventually become embroiled in a sinister, psychologically interdependent relationship that, needless to say, doesn't end well.
While the film seems initially promising in its audacious explorations of obsession and identity, the screenplay doesn't sufficiently develop its ideas into a coherent whole. Torn between its comedic, dramatic and satirical elements, it doesn't truly succeed on any level, though there are more than a few quietly chilling and perversely funny moments along the way. Adding greatly to the film's overall impact are the two lead performances, with Giraudeau particularly memorable as the supremely officious Frederic.
A MATTER OF TASTE
Attitude Films
Director: Bernard Rapp
Screenwriters: Gilles Taurand, Bernard Rapp
Producers: Catherine Dussart, Chantal Perrin
Director of photography: Gerard de Battista
Editor: Juliettte Wilfling
Original music: Jean-Philippe Goude
Production designer: Francoise Comtet
Color/stereo
Cast:
Frederic Delamont: Bernard Giraudeau
Nicolas Riviere: Jean-Pierre Lorit
Beatrice: Florence Thomassin
Rene Rousset: Charles Berling
Magistrate: Jean-Pierre Leaud
Running time -- 90 minutes
No MPAA rating...
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