The Criterion Channel has unveiled their lineup for next month and it’s another strong slate, featuring retrospectives of Carole Lombard, John Waters, Robert Downey Sr., Luis García Berlanga, Jane Russell, and Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman. Also in the lineup is new additions to their Queersighted series, notably Todd Haynes’ early film Poison (Safe is also premiering in a separate presentation), William Friedkin’s Cruising, and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Teorama.
The new restorations of Manoel de Oliveira’s stunning Francisca and Francesco Rosi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli will join the channel, alongside Agnieszka Holland’s Spoor, Bong Joon Ho’s early short film Incoherence, and Luc Dardenne & Jean-Pierre Dardenne’s Rosetta.
See the lineup below and explore more on criterionchannel.com.
#Blackmendream, Shikeith, 2014
12 Angry Men, Sidney Lumet, 1957
About Tap, George T. Nierenberg, 1985
The AIDS Show, Peter Adair and Rob Epstein, 1986
The Assignation, Curtis Harrington, 1953
Aya of Yop City,...
The new restorations of Manoel de Oliveira’s stunning Francisca and Francesco Rosi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli will join the channel, alongside Agnieszka Holland’s Spoor, Bong Joon Ho’s early short film Incoherence, and Luc Dardenne & Jean-Pierre Dardenne’s Rosetta.
See the lineup below and explore more on criterionchannel.com.
#Blackmendream, Shikeith, 2014
12 Angry Men, Sidney Lumet, 1957
About Tap, George T. Nierenberg, 1985
The AIDS Show, Peter Adair and Rob Epstein, 1986
The Assignation, Curtis Harrington, 1953
Aya of Yop City,...
- 5/24/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Arte France, a bastion of quality European TV, is looking to make its French series ever less French , as it consolidates its position as one of Europe’s most internationally-minded TV operators.
Early fruit of that drive, “No Man’s Land,” – “in microcosm, and in a thriller format, what we’re trying to do in general,” Olivier Wotling, Arte France’s head of drama, told Variety – was selected for main competition at Series Mania. Had the TV festival taken place in Lille, it would surely have been a strong contender for its best series prize.
“No Man’s Land’s” main stars are French: Félix Moati, who plays initially dapper Parisian construction engineer Antoine, and Melanie Thierry. A lead producer is most certainly French, Paris-based Haut et Court, the reputed producer of “Les Revenants,” “The Last Panthers” and “The New Pope.”
But Antoine’s journey is certainly not as, unable to...
Early fruit of that drive, “No Man’s Land,” – “in microcosm, and in a thriller format, what we’re trying to do in general,” Olivier Wotling, Arte France’s head of drama, told Variety – was selected for main competition at Series Mania. Had the TV festival taken place in Lille, it would surely have been a strong contender for its best series prize.
“No Man’s Land’s” main stars are French: Félix Moati, who plays initially dapper Parisian construction engineer Antoine, and Melanie Thierry. A lead producer is most certainly French, Paris-based Haut et Court, the reputed producer of “Les Revenants,” “The Last Panthers” and “The New Pope.”
But Antoine’s journey is certainly not as, unable to...
- 3/31/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Total of 37 feature film projects headed to Berlin.
The Berlin International Film Festival’s annual co-production market has unveiled the 37 feature film projects that will form this year’s selection.
There are 22 projects taking part in the Official Selection, including new films from Boo Junfeng, whose The Apprentice premiered at Cannes in 2016, and Uberto Pasolini, whose credits as a director include Still Life and Machan, and as a producer include The Full Monty.
Also attending with a new project is Carla Simón, the director of Summer 1993, which was a hit at the Berlinale in 2017, and brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser,...
The Berlin International Film Festival’s annual co-production market has unveiled the 37 feature film projects that will form this year’s selection.
There are 22 projects taking part in the Official Selection, including new films from Boo Junfeng, whose The Apprentice premiered at Cannes in 2016, and Uberto Pasolini, whose credits as a director include Still Life and Machan, and as a producer include The Full Monty.
Also attending with a new project is Carla Simón, the director of Summer 1993, which was a hit at the Berlinale in 2017, and brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser,...
- 1/10/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Films from Nsu German History X director Christian Schwochow, BeTipul star Shira Geffen, 7 Days in Havana director Santiago Mitre and The Full Monty producer Uberto Pasolini are among the titles set for this year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market.
The co-pro market, which will see 600 international producers and financiers to come together to explore new partnerships, will host 37 feature film projects. Notably, 20 female filmmaker, 49% of selected titles, are represented.
Schwochow is hosting Je Suis Karl, which is produced by Germany’s Pandora Film Produktion; Geffen has A Responsible Adult, a family drama set against the backdrop of Israel’s mythical Masada plateau with Israel’s Marker Films; Mitre is shopping Petite Fleur from France’s Maneki Films and Argentina’s La Uniòn de los Rìos, and Pasolini is directing Nowhere Special from UK’s Red Wave Films.
The 20 female filmmakers include Marcela Said from Chile, Elina Psykou from Greece, Júlia Murat from Brazil,...
The co-pro market, which will see 600 international producers and financiers to come together to explore new partnerships, will host 37 feature film projects. Notably, 20 female filmmaker, 49% of selected titles, are represented.
Schwochow is hosting Je Suis Karl, which is produced by Germany’s Pandora Film Produktion; Geffen has A Responsible Adult, a family drama set against the backdrop of Israel’s mythical Masada plateau with Israel’s Marker Films; Mitre is shopping Petite Fleur from France’s Maneki Films and Argentina’s La Uniòn de los Rìos, and Pasolini is directing Nowhere Special from UK’s Red Wave Films.
The 20 female filmmakers include Marcela Said from Chile, Elina Psykou from Greece, Júlia Murat from Brazil,...
- 1/10/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
At Eternity's Gate with Louise Kugelberg, Jean-Claude Carrière, Julian Schnabel, Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaac, and Rupert Friend at the 56th New York Film Festival Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate, shot by Benoît Delhomme, co-written with Louise Kugelberg and Jean-Claude Carrière (seen in Margarethe von Trotta's Searching For Ingmar Bergman) and starring Willem Dafoe as Vincent van Gogh, with Oscar Isaac as Gauguin, Rupert Friend as Theo, Mathieu Amalric as Dr. Gachet, Emmanuelle Seigner as Madame Ginoux, Anne Consigny as the Teacher, Mads Mikkelsen as the Priest, and Niels Arestrup as the Madman, is the Closing Night selection of the 56th New York Film Festival.
Willem Dafoe At Eternity's Gate press conference Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Mathieu Amalric emailed me from Belgium the morning after the première: "Impossible to leave Brussels. Shooting every single day in Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen mini-series for Arte". As Dr.
Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate, shot by Benoît Delhomme, co-written with Louise Kugelberg and Jean-Claude Carrière (seen in Margarethe von Trotta's Searching For Ingmar Bergman) and starring Willem Dafoe as Vincent van Gogh, with Oscar Isaac as Gauguin, Rupert Friend as Theo, Mathieu Amalric as Dr. Gachet, Emmanuelle Seigner as Madame Ginoux, Anne Consigny as the Teacher, Mads Mikkelsen as the Priest, and Niels Arestrup as the Madman, is the Closing Night selection of the 56th New York Film Festival.
Willem Dafoe At Eternity's Gate press conference Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Mathieu Amalric emailed me from Belgium the morning after the première: "Impossible to leave Brussels. Shooting every single day in Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen mini-series for Arte". As Dr.
- 10/14/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Geffen won the Camera d’Or in Cannes in 2007 with debut feature ‘Jellyfish’.
Cannes regular Shira Geffen, whose debut feature Jellyfish won the festival’s Camera d’Or for first films in 2007, has launched financing on her third feature A Responsible Adult, a coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of Israel’s mythical Masada plateau.
Geffen, accompanied by producer Elad Gavish and Itzik Kricheli at Tel Aviv-based Marker Films, made her first public pitch for the project at Jff’s Pitch Point event on Friday, aimed at connecting Israeli filmmakers with international partners.
The filmmaker had flown in from Belgium...
Cannes regular Shira Geffen, whose debut feature Jellyfish won the festival’s Camera d’Or for first films in 2007, has launched financing on her third feature A Responsible Adult, a coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of Israel’s mythical Masada plateau.
Geffen, accompanied by producer Elad Gavish and Itzik Kricheli at Tel Aviv-based Marker Films, made her first public pitch for the project at Jff’s Pitch Point event on Friday, aimed at connecting Israeli filmmakers with international partners.
The filmmaker had flown in from Belgium...
- 7/30/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Avishai Sivan’s Lot’s Wife scoops top award.
Avishai Sivan’s film project Lot’s Wife has clinched the new $23,200 Goralska Award prize at the 13th edition of Jerusalem Film Festival’s (Jff) Pitch Point event, which is aimed at connecting Israeli filmmakers with international partners.
Described by the director as a cross-genre horror, fantasy, freak-show work, the picture revolves around a Hasidic couple’s two-headed baby. Going by the names of Noah and Lot, the two heads have opposite good and evil natures. When the virtuous Noah dies and his head is detached, Lot tries to mend his ways.
Avishai Sivan’s film project Lot’s Wife has clinched the new $23,200 Goralska Award prize at the 13th edition of Jerusalem Film Festival’s (Jff) Pitch Point event, which is aimed at connecting Israeli filmmakers with international partners.
Described by the director as a cross-genre horror, fantasy, freak-show work, the picture revolves around a Hasidic couple’s two-headed baby. Going by the names of Noah and Lot, the two heads have opposite good and evil natures. When the virtuous Noah dies and his head is detached, Lot tries to mend his ways.
- 7/29/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Jerusalem Film Festival’s industry sidebar, Pitch Point, has unveiled its selection of projects, including new works from Avishai Sivan, Shira Geffen (“Jellyfish”), Keren Yedaya (“My Treasure”), and Tawfik Abu Wael (“Atash”).
Among the 10 projects selected for Pitch Point is “Lot’s Wife,” Sivan’s follow-up to “Tikkun,” which won the top prize at the Jerusalem fest in 2015. Set up at Ronen Ben Tal at Plan b Productions, “Lot’s Wife” centers on a religious couple who, after 10 years of childlessness, has a child born with two heads, named Noah and Lot. Lot is wicked, Noah good-hearted. After Noah dies and his head is detached, Lot sets on a challenge to overcome his nature.
Geffen will present “A Responsible Adult,” which is being produced by Elad Gavish at Marker Films.The project follows Maya, a 13-year-old girl who goes on a school trip and whose father joins the group as...
Among the 10 projects selected for Pitch Point is “Lot’s Wife,” Sivan’s follow-up to “Tikkun,” which won the top prize at the Jerusalem fest in 2015. Set up at Ronen Ben Tal at Plan b Productions, “Lot’s Wife” centers on a religious couple who, after 10 years of childlessness, has a child born with two heads, named Noah and Lot. Lot is wicked, Noah good-hearted. After Noah dies and his head is detached, Lot sets on a challenge to overcome his nature.
Geffen will present “A Responsible Adult,” which is being produced by Elad Gavish at Marker Films.The project follows Maya, a 13-year-old girl who goes on a school trip and whose father joins the group as...
- 7/2/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Tikkun director among Israeli filmmakers presenting at 13th edition of showcase.
Ahead of the 2018 Jerusalem Film Festival (July 26 – Aug 5), the projects for the annual Pitch Point competition have been unveiled.
Held on July 27 and 28, the initiative, now in its 13th year, is an opportunity for Israeli filmmakers to showcase in-progress projects to attending international film industry, with a view to forging co-production ties.
The 2018 showcase includes new works from Avishai Sivan, Shira Geffen, Keren Yedaya, That Lovely Girl), and Tawfik Abu Wael (Cannes 2004 Fipresci prize winner Atash).
The Pitch Point jury this year is comprised of Kirsten Niehuus (Medienboard Berlin...
Ahead of the 2018 Jerusalem Film Festival (July 26 – Aug 5), the projects for the annual Pitch Point competition have been unveiled.
Held on July 27 and 28, the initiative, now in its 13th year, is an opportunity for Israeli filmmakers to showcase in-progress projects to attending international film industry, with a view to forging co-production ties.
The 2018 showcase includes new works from Avishai Sivan, Shira Geffen, Keren Yedaya, That Lovely Girl), and Tawfik Abu Wael (Cannes 2004 Fipresci prize winner Atash).
The Pitch Point jury this year is comprised of Kirsten Niehuus (Medienboard Berlin...
- 6/29/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Company lines up Eran Kolirin [pictured], Yuval Adler and Itamar Alcalay.
The budding feature film arm of leading Israeli media and entertainment company Dori Media Paran (Dmp) unveils rough cut material from Amikam Kovner and Assaf Snir’s infidelity drama Echoes at the Jerusalem Pitch Point works-in-progress showcase today (July 17), part of this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival.
It is one of the first auteur productions to come out of the Israeli media company’s move into feature film production, which began some four years ago.
Co-starring Yoram Toledano and Yael Abecassis, it revolves around a husband who uncovers another side to his wife and family when he listens in on her conversations with her lover. When she dies in an accident, he becomes obsessed with uncovering the identity of the other man.
Keren Michael, who heads up Dmp’s feature film division, will present the project alongside Dmp CEO Yoni Paran.
Having previously...
The budding feature film arm of leading Israeli media and entertainment company Dori Media Paran (Dmp) unveils rough cut material from Amikam Kovner and Assaf Snir’s infidelity drama Echoes at the Jerusalem Pitch Point works-in-progress showcase today (July 17), part of this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival.
It is one of the first auteur productions to come out of the Israeli media company’s move into feature film production, which began some four years ago.
Co-starring Yoram Toledano and Yael Abecassis, it revolves around a husband who uncovers another side to his wife and family when he listens in on her conversations with her lover. When she dies in an accident, he becomes obsessed with uncovering the identity of the other man.
Keren Michael, who heads up Dmp’s feature film division, will present the project alongside Dmp CEO Yoni Paran.
Having previously...
- 7/17/2017
- ScreenDaily
Micro-budget Death Of A Poetess set for world premiere.
Female film collective Kinoclan makes its feature debut at Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) with Dana Goldberg and Efrat Mishori’s Death Of A Poetess, which premieres tonight (July 14) in the Israeli feature competition section.
The black-and-white, micro-budget film – made for less than $28,500 (Ils 100,000) – is the first feature-length production made under the Kinoclan banner since its creation 18 months ago.
In the film, Evgenia Dodina and Samira Saraya, best known internationally for her role in Shira Geffen’s Self Made, play 50-year-old Israeli researcher Lenny Sade, who is passing through the last day of her life, and Yasmin, a nurse hailing from the Arab community in Jaffa. Their paths become intertwined by a strange turn of events.
Directorial duo Goldberg and Mishori set up Kinoclan in 2016 with the aim of creating works of art across all media representing the female experience through women’s eyes.
“It was founded...
Female film collective Kinoclan makes its feature debut at Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) with Dana Goldberg and Efrat Mishori’s Death Of A Poetess, which premieres tonight (July 14) in the Israeli feature competition section.
The black-and-white, micro-budget film – made for less than $28,500 (Ils 100,000) – is the first feature-length production made under the Kinoclan banner since its creation 18 months ago.
In the film, Evgenia Dodina and Samira Saraya, best known internationally for her role in Shira Geffen’s Self Made, play 50-year-old Israeli researcher Lenny Sade, who is passing through the last day of her life, and Yasmin, a nurse hailing from the Arab community in Jaffa. Their paths become intertwined by a strange turn of events.
Directorial duo Goldberg and Mishori set up Kinoclan in 2016 with the aim of creating works of art across all media representing the female experience through women’s eyes.
“It was founded...
- 7/14/2017
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Director of The Band’s Visit to explore dilemma of being a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship.
Eran Kolirin is gearing up to shoot an adaptation of Palestinian writer Sayed Kashua’s 2006 tragi-comic novel Let It Be Morning in early 2017.
The work explores the trademark themes of Kashua, who rose to fame in Israel and internationally for his Hebrew-language newspaper columns, novels and TV dramas about the complexity of being a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship.
Kolirin’s adaptation revolves around Sami, an urbane Palestinian accountant (rather than a journalist as per the novel) with Israeli citizenship who left his Arab home village years ago to take up a post in Jerusalem.
He is forced to re-assess his Palestinian roots and Israeli citizenship after he is trapped in his Arab home village when an Israeli army blockade is unexpectedly set up while he is attending a family wedding with his wife and young son.
Yoni Paran, CEO of...
Eran Kolirin is gearing up to shoot an adaptation of Palestinian writer Sayed Kashua’s 2006 tragi-comic novel Let It Be Morning in early 2017.
The work explores the trademark themes of Kashua, who rose to fame in Israel and internationally for his Hebrew-language newspaper columns, novels and TV dramas about the complexity of being a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship.
Kolirin’s adaptation revolves around Sami, an urbane Palestinian accountant (rather than a journalist as per the novel) with Israeli citizenship who left his Arab home village years ago to take up a post in Jerusalem.
He is forced to re-assess his Palestinian roots and Israeli citizenship after he is trapped in his Arab home village when an Israeli army blockade is unexpectedly set up while he is attending a family wedding with his wife and young son.
Yoni Paran, CEO of...
- 7/8/2016
- ScreenDaily
According to local filmmakers, the recent suppression of documentary Beyond The Fear is just one episode in a quickening erosion of artistic freedom in Israel.
As Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre began to roll on the opening night of the Jerusalem Film Festival in the picturesque Sultan’s Pool amphitheatre in early July, another screening was kicking off just metres above the spectators’ heads.
On a terrace overlooking the event, some 50 film-makers and producers had gathered for a protest screening of Maria Kravchenko and the late Herz Frank’s Beyond The Fear.
They included The Kindergarten Teacher director Nadav Lapid; Keren Yedaya, who won Cannes’ Camera d’Or for her debut work Or; Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, whose credits include the award-winning The Law In These Parts; and Shlomi Elkabetz, co-director of the Golden Globe-nominated Gett: The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem which premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May 2014 and went on to win best film at...
As Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre began to roll on the opening night of the Jerusalem Film Festival in the picturesque Sultan’s Pool amphitheatre in early July, another screening was kicking off just metres above the spectators’ heads.
On a terrace overlooking the event, some 50 film-makers and producers had gathered for a protest screening of Maria Kravchenko and the late Herz Frank’s Beyond The Fear.
They included The Kindergarten Teacher director Nadav Lapid; Keren Yedaya, who won Cannes’ Camera d’Or for her debut work Or; Ra’anan Alexandrowicz, whose credits include the award-winning The Law In These Parts; and Shlomi Elkabetz, co-director of the Golden Globe-nominated Gett: The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem which premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May 2014 and went on to win best film at...
- 7/24/2015
- ScreenDaily
Band of Girls: Lavie’s Acerbic, Confident Debut
Exacerbated ennui is explored to comedic effect in Tayla Lavie’s striking directorial debut, Zero Motivation, which explores life on an Israeli military base through the perspective of several female soldiers. Groups of humans not taken seriously and treated with demeaning abandon tend to disengage from rational behaviors, and Lavie explores the rampant pettiness born out of being kept in certain positions without any opportunity to grow. Some have criticized Lavie for abstaining from composing the film as a more complicated and transgressive portrait of the reductive nature of war, in general. Coming from an area where cinematic offerings are saturated and inflected with the constant, aggravated unrest transpiring there, Lavie’s film is already a subtly wicked statement, and her focus on the trivialities of one group of women on one military base serves as the subtle microcosm for the enduring...
Exacerbated ennui is explored to comedic effect in Tayla Lavie’s striking directorial debut, Zero Motivation, which explores life on an Israeli military base through the perspective of several female soldiers. Groups of humans not taken seriously and treated with demeaning abandon tend to disengage from rational behaviors, and Lavie explores the rampant pettiness born out of being kept in certain positions without any opportunity to grow. Some have criticized Lavie for abstaining from composing the film as a more complicated and transgressive portrait of the reductive nature of war, in general. Coming from an area where cinematic offerings are saturated and inflected with the constant, aggravated unrest transpiring there, Lavie’s film is already a subtly wicked statement, and her focus on the trivialities of one group of women on one military base serves as the subtle microcosm for the enduring...
- 12/4/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
With major studio premieres scattered throughout its programming, AFI Fest has become more of an Oscar-campaign launching pad than a sprawling movie smorgasbord. Luckily, that’s where the festival’s own awards come in handy, rewarding narrative and documentary films without the built-in anticipation factor that keeps eyes glued to the screening schedule. With a bump from AFI, this year’s winners are already among 2015’s most prestigious offerings. AFI Fest announced that its Grand Jury Awards were presented to "Self Made (Boreg)," which received the New Auteurs Critics' Award, and to "The Tribe (Plemya)," which received the Vizio Visionary Special Jury Award. "Self Made" is director Shira Geffen’s follow-up to her praised 2007 debut "Jellyfish." The story of two woman — one Israeli, the other Palestinian — living on opposite sides military checkpoint who find themselves entangled with each other’s existence, the film was up for the 2014 Critics Week Grand Prize at Cannes.
- 11/14/2014
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
AFI Fest 2014 presented by Audi today announced this year’s Jury and Audience Awards for features and short films included in the festivals New Auteur and Shorts programs. The New Auteurs section highlights first and second-time feature film directors and the Shorts selections represent diverse and varied international perspectives. Grand Jury Awards were presented to Self Made (Boreg), which received the New Auteurs Critics’ Award, and to The Tribe (Plemya), which received the Vizio Visionary Special Jury Award. Buffalo Juggalos by Scott Cummings received the Live Action Short Award, and Yearbook by Bernardo Britto received the Animated Short Award. Special Jury Award winners went to GÜEROS and Violet. Red Army, GÜEROS, 10,000 Km and The Midnight Swim received Audience Awards.
Select award-winning films will screen again today at the Chinese 6 Theatres. Admission is available to AFI Fest 2014 pass holders and the general public via the rush line, which begins forming one...
Select award-winning films will screen again today at the Chinese 6 Theatres. Admission is available to AFI Fest 2014 pass holders and the general public via the rush line, which begins forming one...
- 11/14/2014
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
AFI Fest 2014 presented by Audi today announced this year’s jury and audience awards for features and short films included in the New Auteur and Shorts programmes.
The New Auteurs section highlights first and second-time feature film directors and grand jury awards went to Shira Geffen’s Self Made (Boreg, Israel) for the New Auteurs Critics’ Award and Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s The Tribe (Plemya, Ukraine) for the Vizio Visionary Special Jury Award.
Buffalo Juggalos by Scott Cummings earned the Live Action Short Award while Bernardo Britto’s Yearbook received the Animated Short Award.
Special Jury Award honours went to Güeros (Mexico) and Violet (Belgium-Holland).
In the audience awards, Gabe Polsky’s Red Army skated off with the World Cinema Audience Award, while Alonso Ruizpalacios’s Güeros claimed the New Auteurs Audience Award.
The American Independents Audience Award went to 10.000 Km (Spain-usa, pictured) by Carlos Marques-Marcet and Sarah Adina Smith’s The Midnight Swim (USA) took the Breakthrough...
The New Auteurs section highlights first and second-time feature film directors and grand jury awards went to Shira Geffen’s Self Made (Boreg, Israel) for the New Auteurs Critics’ Award and Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s The Tribe (Plemya, Ukraine) for the Vizio Visionary Special Jury Award.
Buffalo Juggalos by Scott Cummings earned the Live Action Short Award while Bernardo Britto’s Yearbook received the Animated Short Award.
Special Jury Award honours went to Güeros (Mexico) and Violet (Belgium-Holland).
In the audience awards, Gabe Polsky’s Red Army skated off with the World Cinema Audience Award, while Alonso Ruizpalacios’s Güeros claimed the New Auteurs Audience Award.
The American Independents Audience Award went to 10.000 Km (Spain-usa, pictured) by Carlos Marques-Marcet and Sarah Adina Smith’s The Midnight Swim (USA) took the Breakthrough...
- 11/13/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Stockholm International Film Festival has unveiled the programme for its 25th edition, with more than 200 films from 60+ countries screening from Nov 5-16.
The festival opens with Mikael Marcimain’s hotly anticipated adaptation of Klas Östergren’s postwar Swedish classic Gentlemen [pictured].
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman will be the centerpiece film of the festival and Jean-Marc Vallee’s Wild will close.
“We are extra proud to present a record breaking program when celebrating our 25th anniversary,” said festival director Git Scheynius.
This year’s spotlight theme is hope, and films selected in that programme include Richard Raymond’s Desert Dancer, Hong Khaou’s Lilting, Shira Geffen’s Self Made and Stephen Daldry’s Trash.
Uma Thurman will be honoured with the Stockholm Achievement Award and give a public talk followed by a screening of Kill Bill 1 & 2.
Mike Leigh will also be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award and will give a talk and screen Mr. Turner.
Ai...
The festival opens with Mikael Marcimain’s hotly anticipated adaptation of Klas Östergren’s postwar Swedish classic Gentlemen [pictured].
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman will be the centerpiece film of the festival and Jean-Marc Vallee’s Wild will close.
“We are extra proud to present a record breaking program when celebrating our 25th anniversary,” said festival director Git Scheynius.
This year’s spotlight theme is hope, and films selected in that programme include Richard Raymond’s Desert Dancer, Hong Khaou’s Lilting, Shira Geffen’s Self Made and Stephen Daldry’s Trash.
Uma Thurman will be honoured with the Stockholm Achievement Award and give a public talk followed by a screening of Kill Bill 1 & 2.
Mike Leigh will also be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award and will give a talk and screen Mr. Turner.
Ai...
- 10/21/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
The festival’s 25th edition will feature a contribution from Ai Weiwei and competition titles including Whiplash, Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher.
The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 5-16) is to present its Achievement Award to Us actress Uma Thurman.
The Kill Bill star will will visit Stockholm to receive the prestigious Bronze Horse and meet the audience during an exclusive “Face2Face”.
Thurman will also take part in the inauguration ceremony, which will include the unveiling of an ice sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Weiwei was a Stockholm jury member last year but since he wasn’t allowed to leave China, he sent an empty chair named ”The Chair for Non-attendance” as symbol of his absence.
He is still not allowed to leave China so will send a design that will be portrayed in the form of a large ice sculpture symbolising this years’ Spotlight theme - Hope.
Brazil
The festival will focus this year on Brazil...
The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 5-16) is to present its Achievement Award to Us actress Uma Thurman.
The Kill Bill star will will visit Stockholm to receive the prestigious Bronze Horse and meet the audience during an exclusive “Face2Face”.
Thurman will also take part in the inauguration ceremony, which will include the unveiling of an ice sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.
Weiwei was a Stockholm jury member last year but since he wasn’t allowed to leave China, he sent an empty chair named ”The Chair for Non-attendance” as symbol of his absence.
He is still not allowed to leave China so will send a design that will be portrayed in the form of a large ice sculpture symbolising this years’ Spotlight theme - Hope.
Brazil
The festival will focus this year on Brazil...
- 10/16/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
International and documentary competitions include The Skeleton Twins, ‘71 and The Look of Silence. A total of 17 world premieres secured for the festival, which has received a budget boost.
The 10th Zurich Film Festival (Sept 25 – Oct 5) has revealed its full line-up, which comprises 145 features – up from 122 last year – from 29 countries.
Co-director Nadja Schildknecht revealed a rise in budget for the festival as well as growth in anticipated guest numbers.
“This year, we expect some 500 guests (previous year 450) from around the world to accompany their films,” she said.
“And the budget has increased accordingly to CHF6.9m ($7.4m) (previous year CHF6.1m/$6.5m).”
As previously announced, Tate Taylor’s James Brown biopic Get On Up will open the festival on Sept 25. The closing film has yet to be revealed.
International competition
The International Feature Film Competition includes 14 titles, some of which have received critical acclaim at previous festivals such as Yann Demange’s action thriller ‘71, which debuted at the...
The 10th Zurich Film Festival (Sept 25 – Oct 5) has revealed its full line-up, which comprises 145 features – up from 122 last year – from 29 countries.
Co-director Nadja Schildknecht revealed a rise in budget for the festival as well as growth in anticipated guest numbers.
“This year, we expect some 500 guests (previous year 450) from around the world to accompany their films,” she said.
“And the budget has increased accordingly to CHF6.9m ($7.4m) (previous year CHF6.1m/$6.5m).”
As previously announced, Tate Taylor’s James Brown biopic Get On Up will open the festival on Sept 25. The closing film has yet to be revealed.
International competition
The International Feature Film Competition includes 14 titles, some of which have received critical acclaim at previous festivals such as Yann Demange’s action thriller ‘71, which debuted at the...
- 9/11/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Fury (David Ayer)
[via the BFI]
The programme for the 58th BFI London Film Festival launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. The lineup includes highly anticipated fall titles including David Ayer’s Fury, Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher, the Sundance smash Whiplash, Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language 3D, The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Jason Reitman’s Men, Women and Children and Jean-Marc Vallee’s Wild.
As Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals, it introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience, offering a compelling combination of red carpet glamour, engaged audiences and vibrant exchange. The Festival provides an essential profiling opportunity for films seeking global success at the start of the Awards season, promotes the careers of British and...
[via the BFI]
The programme for the 58th BFI London Film Festival launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. The lineup includes highly anticipated fall titles including David Ayer’s Fury, Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher, the Sundance smash Whiplash, Jean-Luc Godard’s Goodbye to Language 3D, The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Jason Reitman’s Men, Women and Children and Jean-Marc Vallee’s Wild.
As Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals, it introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience, offering a compelling combination of red carpet glamour, engaged audiences and vibrant exchange. The Festival provides an essential profiling opportunity for films seeking global success at the start of the Awards season, promotes the careers of British and...
- 9/3/2014
- by John
- SoundOnSight
Other festival prize winners include Self Made, Red Leaves and The Decent One.
Gett, the Trial of Vivian Amsalem, by Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz [pictured], the third part of a trilogy about the painfully, never ending process of an Israeli-style divorce; and Princess, the debut picture of Tali Shalom-Ezer about a girl’s troubled rites of passage in a complicated household, shared the Haggiag Award for Best Israeli Feature at this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival.
Gett, which was first unveiled earlier in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, also won the festival’s new audience award.
Gett’s Menashe Noy collected the best actor award while young Shira Hass was crowned best actress for her performance in Princess. Princess was also recognized for best cinematography (Radek Ladzuk) and best music (Ishai Adar). Additional awards went to Self Made (best Script to Shira Geffen, best editing to Nilli Feller), with Bazi Gete’s Red Leaves picked as best first film.
Vanessa Lapa...
Gett, the Trial of Vivian Amsalem, by Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz [pictured], the third part of a trilogy about the painfully, never ending process of an Israeli-style divorce; and Princess, the debut picture of Tali Shalom-Ezer about a girl’s troubled rites of passage in a complicated household, shared the Haggiag Award for Best Israeli Feature at this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival.
Gett, which was first unveiled earlier in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, also won the festival’s new audience award.
Gett’s Menashe Noy collected the best actor award while young Shira Hass was crowned best actress for her performance in Princess. Princess was also recognized for best cinematography (Radek Ladzuk) and best music (Ishai Adar). Additional awards went to Self Made (best Script to Shira Geffen, best editing to Nilli Feller), with Bazi Gete’s Red Leaves picked as best first film.
Vanessa Lapa...
- 7/20/2014
- by dfainaru@netvision.net.il (Edna Fainaru)
- ScreenDaily
Experimental filmmaker Nina Menkes is developing a new film examining the Israel-Palestinian conflict through the Greek legend of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Nina Menkes is developing a new film examining the Israel-Palestinian conflict through a loose re-telling of the Greek legend of Theseus and the Minotaur set against the backdrop of the Old City of Jerusalem in contemporary times.
Entitled simply Minotaur, the film revolves around a Christian Palestinian working with tourists in the Old City, who embodies both Theseus and the Minotaur, which manifests itself as a Hebrew-speaking beast that attacks visitors in the crypt of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He has a mother called Pasiphae and falls for the beautiful foreign waitress Ariadne.
“First and foremost it’s an emotional story about the process of confronting the self and not living in denial which I think is a big issue around here… but it’s also a political story about here the country...
Nina Menkes is developing a new film examining the Israel-Palestinian conflict through a loose re-telling of the Greek legend of Theseus and the Minotaur set against the backdrop of the Old City of Jerusalem in contemporary times.
Entitled simply Minotaur, the film revolves around a Christian Palestinian working with tourists in the Old City, who embodies both Theseus and the Minotaur, which manifests itself as a Hebrew-speaking beast that attacks visitors in the crypt of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He has a mother called Pasiphae and falls for the beautiful foreign waitress Ariadne.
“First and foremost it’s an emotional story about the process of confronting the self and not living in denial which I think is a big issue around here… but it’s also a political story about here the country...
- 7/17/2014
- ScreenDaily
Edited by Adam Cook
Above: Senses of Cinema has a new issue—and a new look! The Locarno Film Festival has announced their juries & lineup. We've a separate post with all the details here. The good folks at The Brooklyn Rail have assembled a very impressive Critics Page, with various contributors offering their takes on the state of film art. Well worth browsing every piece here. The Venice Film Festival has announced its selection of 21 restored Classics for this year's edition. Above: Criterion's slate for October is one of their best in a while. John Ford's My Darling Clementine, Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, a Complete Jacques Tati box set (!), and more. At the Jerusalem Film Festival, a group of Israeli filmmakers, including Keren Yedaya, Tali Shalom, Nadav Lapid, Efrat Corem, Shira Geffen, Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz, and Bozi Gete, have called for a ceasefire. For Interview Magazine, Matthew McConaughey...
Above: Senses of Cinema has a new issue—and a new look! The Locarno Film Festival has announced their juries & lineup. We've a separate post with all the details here. The good folks at The Brooklyn Rail have assembled a very impressive Critics Page, with various contributors offering their takes on the state of film art. Well worth browsing every piece here. The Venice Film Festival has announced its selection of 21 restored Classics for this year's edition. Above: Criterion's slate for October is one of their best in a while. John Ford's My Darling Clementine, Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, a Complete Jacques Tati box set (!), and more. At the Jerusalem Film Festival, a group of Israeli filmmakers, including Keren Yedaya, Tali Shalom, Nadav Lapid, Efrat Corem, Shira Geffen, Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz, and Bozi Gete, have called for a ceasefire. For Interview Magazine, Matthew McConaughey...
- 7/16/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Israeli Filmmakers Call for Cease Fire
I stand with the Israeli filmmakers who are calling for a cease fire. The Five Books of Moses (also known as the Old Testament) and the Prophets said that the Jews in Israel (and throughout the world) were called upon to be a light among the nations to bring peace to the world. All nations were to ascend upon the mount in Jerusalem (where the Temple once stood and now stands the Mosque with the Golden Dome), in Peace and Harmony. That vision has retreated so far away that it can barely be recalled in one’s imagination.
In a statement during the current Jerusalem Film Festival, directors Keren Yedaya, Tali Shalom, Nadav Lapid, Efrat Corem, Shira Geffen, Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz, and Bozi Gete — said “in these violent days, it is impossible to talk only about cinema while ignoring the killing and horrifying events around us.”
Yedaya and Shira Geffen read names of children who have been killed in Gaza in the past week — which they noted was “not an act of provocation, it’s natural to give them a name and remember.” One of the children killed was just 18 months old.
Shlomi Elkabetz, who teaches cinema at Sapir Film School near the Gaza border, said: “It’s important to say we try to use this stage and take a stand with the voice that is given to us as artists and creators…it’s important to us to bring to the surface what we feel and what many others feel. We hope it falls on ears that are not blocked.”
The death toll in Gaza stands at more than 150 people. Air raid sirens could be heard around the festival in Jerusalem this week, and many international guests cancelled their trips to the festival for safety or political reasons.
The full statement issued by the Israeli directors:
We, the undersigned, Israeli directors whose films participate in the Jerusalem Film Festival, believe that in these violent days, it is impossible to talk only about cinema while ignoring the killing and horrifying events around us.
We are scared too. Some of us are parents. Our children are terrified of the code red sirens and of the thundering sounds of warfare. We do not seek revenge and do not believe in a military solution; this has proven futile in the past.
Children in Gaza do not enjoy the protection of the Iron Dome systems. They have no residential secured spaces, and no sirens.
Children living in Gaza today are our partners in peace tomorrow. The killing and horror we inflict only push any diplomatic solution further away.
Cameras here, in Israel, film and tell about the suffering and pain of Israeli citizens subject to missile attacks. They do this on a daily basis. It is important for us to state that we deeply sympathize with Israelis living in Southern Israel, who have found themselves in the battlefront. They are innocent men, women and children that have lived through an unimaginable nightmare for years. They are entitled to full protection, but there is another way! A dialogue must be established, an acknowledgment of the suffering of the other. Today, we want to direct those cameras to the suffering of Gaza residents, men, women and children killed during the last few days. Those filming the suffering of Israelis should be courageous and honest enough to film the killing and destruction in Gaza as well, and tell that story as well. The pain of Israelis and Palestinians is intertwined, and the first cannot cease as long as the other continues.
The “life goes on” conception, by which surrounding events cannot and will not affect our everyday dealings, is morally impossible. In these terrible days, we as artists and creators expect from ourselves, the festival’s administration, the spectators and the media to use this event to issue a clear, loud cry for change.
We call the Israeli government to cease fire; we urge it not to send our troops to be killed again, in another pointless, cruel military campaign; we call it to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Palestinian people and its leaders, to achieve a viable peace for both sides.
Signed: Efrat Corem, Shira Geffen, Ronit Elkabetz, Keren Yedaya, Tali Shalom Ezer, Nadav Lapid. Shlomi Elkabetz, Bozi Gete.
I stand with the Israeli filmmakers who are calling for a cease fire. The Five Books of Moses (also known as the Old Testament) and the Prophets said that the Jews in Israel (and throughout the world) were called upon to be a light among the nations to bring peace to the world. All nations were to ascend upon the mount in Jerusalem (where the Temple once stood and now stands the Mosque with the Golden Dome), in Peace and Harmony. That vision has retreated so far away that it can barely be recalled in one’s imagination.
In a statement during the current Jerusalem Film Festival, directors Keren Yedaya, Tali Shalom, Nadav Lapid, Efrat Corem, Shira Geffen, Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz, and Bozi Gete — said “in these violent days, it is impossible to talk only about cinema while ignoring the killing and horrifying events around us.”
Yedaya and Shira Geffen read names of children who have been killed in Gaza in the past week — which they noted was “not an act of provocation, it’s natural to give them a name and remember.” One of the children killed was just 18 months old.
Shlomi Elkabetz, who teaches cinema at Sapir Film School near the Gaza border, said: “It’s important to say we try to use this stage and take a stand with the voice that is given to us as artists and creators…it’s important to us to bring to the surface what we feel and what many others feel. We hope it falls on ears that are not blocked.”
The death toll in Gaza stands at more than 150 people. Air raid sirens could be heard around the festival in Jerusalem this week, and many international guests cancelled their trips to the festival for safety or political reasons.
The full statement issued by the Israeli directors:
We, the undersigned, Israeli directors whose films participate in the Jerusalem Film Festival, believe that in these violent days, it is impossible to talk only about cinema while ignoring the killing and horrifying events around us.
We are scared too. Some of us are parents. Our children are terrified of the code red sirens and of the thundering sounds of warfare. We do not seek revenge and do not believe in a military solution; this has proven futile in the past.
Children in Gaza do not enjoy the protection of the Iron Dome systems. They have no residential secured spaces, and no sirens.
Children living in Gaza today are our partners in peace tomorrow. The killing and horror we inflict only push any diplomatic solution further away.
Cameras here, in Israel, film and tell about the suffering and pain of Israeli citizens subject to missile attacks. They do this on a daily basis. It is important for us to state that we deeply sympathize with Israelis living in Southern Israel, who have found themselves in the battlefront. They are innocent men, women and children that have lived through an unimaginable nightmare for years. They are entitled to full protection, but there is another way! A dialogue must be established, an acknowledgment of the suffering of the other. Today, we want to direct those cameras to the suffering of Gaza residents, men, women and children killed during the last few days. Those filming the suffering of Israelis should be courageous and honest enough to film the killing and destruction in Gaza as well, and tell that story as well. The pain of Israelis and Palestinians is intertwined, and the first cannot cease as long as the other continues.
The “life goes on” conception, by which surrounding events cannot and will not affect our everyday dealings, is morally impossible. In these terrible days, we as artists and creators expect from ourselves, the festival’s administration, the spectators and the media to use this event to issue a clear, loud cry for change.
We call the Israeli government to cease fire; we urge it not to send our troops to be killed again, in another pointless, cruel military campaign; we call it to engage in meaningful dialogue with the Palestinian people and its leaders, to achieve a viable peace for both sides.
Signed: Efrat Corem, Shira Geffen, Ronit Elkabetz, Keren Yedaya, Tali Shalom Ezer, Nadav Lapid. Shlomi Elkabetz, Bozi Gete.
- 7/15/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
A group of Israeli film-makers took a stand against the current political conflict today at an emotional press conference at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
Filmmaker Keren Yedaya admitted she had thought of pulling her film from the festival before she spoke to the other directors. A tearful Yedaya noted that she is “the mother of two kids who suffer from the fear and panic of the threat of the missiles.”
In a statement [full version below story], the directors — Yedaya, Tali Shalom, Nadav Lapid, Efrat Corem, Shira Geffen, Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz, and Bozi Gete — said “in these violent days, it is impossible to talk only about cinema while ignoring the killing and horrifying events around us.”
“We are scared too. Some of us are parents. Our children are terrified of the code red sirens and of the thundering sounds of warfare. We do not seek revenge and do not believe in a military solution; this has proven futile in the...
Filmmaker Keren Yedaya admitted she had thought of pulling her film from the festival before she spoke to the other directors. A tearful Yedaya noted that she is “the mother of two kids who suffer from the fear and panic of the threat of the missiles.”
In a statement [full version below story], the directors — Yedaya, Tali Shalom, Nadav Lapid, Efrat Corem, Shira Geffen, Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz, and Bozi Gete — said “in these violent days, it is impossible to talk only about cinema while ignoring the killing and horrifying events around us.”
“We are scared too. Some of us are parents. Our children are terrified of the code red sirens and of the thundering sounds of warfare. We do not seek revenge and do not believe in a military solution; this has proven futile in the...
- 7/14/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
A group of Israeli filmmakers took a stand against the current political conflict today at an emotional press conference at the Jerusalem Film Festival.
Filmmaker Keren Yedaya admitted she had thought of pulling her film from the festival before she spoke to the other directors. A tearful Yedaya noted that she is “the mother of 2 kids who suffer from the fear and panic of the threat of the missiles.”
In a statement [full version below story], the directors — Yedaya, Tali Shalom, Nadav Lapid, Efrat Corem, Shira Geffen, Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz, and Bozi Gete — said “in these violent days, it is impossible to talk only about cinema while ignoring the killing and horrifying events around us.”
“We are scared too. Some of us are parents. Our children are terrified of the code red sirens and of the thundering sounds of warfare. We do not seek revenge and do not believe in a military solution; this has proven futile in the past...
Filmmaker Keren Yedaya admitted she had thought of pulling her film from the festival before she spoke to the other directors. A tearful Yedaya noted that she is “the mother of 2 kids who suffer from the fear and panic of the threat of the missiles.”
In a statement [full version below story], the directors — Yedaya, Tali Shalom, Nadav Lapid, Efrat Corem, Shira Geffen, Shlomi and Ronit Elkabetz, and Bozi Gete — said “in these violent days, it is impossible to talk only about cinema while ignoring the killing and horrifying events around us.”
“We are scared too. Some of us are parents. Our children are terrified of the code red sirens and of the thundering sounds of warfare. We do not seek revenge and do not believe in a military solution; this has proven futile in the past...
- 7/14/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Other winners include Ivan Marinovic, Amikam Kovner and Assaf Snir.
Ethiopian-born, Israeli filmmaker Alamork Marsha’s Fig Tree, based on her experiences as a child in war-torn Addis Ababa in 1991, has won the $50,000 top prize at the pitching event of Sam Spiegel school’s Jerusalem International Film Lab.
It was an apt choice as fighting escalated between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, some 70 kilometres down the road, where more than 160 inhabitants have died in Israeli air strikes over the past six days, launched in response to a barrage of rocket attacks on Israel. (In fact air sirens were heard in Jerusalem just 15 minutes before the awards were announced.)
In her pitch, Marsha revealed how Fig Tree was inspired by her childhood, living with her grandmother on the outskirts of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa during the civil war and her Jewish family’s decision to move to Israel. She said one...
Ethiopian-born, Israeli filmmaker Alamork Marsha’s Fig Tree, based on her experiences as a child in war-torn Addis Ababa in 1991, has won the $50,000 top prize at the pitching event of Sam Spiegel school’s Jerusalem International Film Lab.
It was an apt choice as fighting escalated between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, some 70 kilometres down the road, where more than 160 inhabitants have died in Israeli air strikes over the past six days, launched in response to a barrage of rocket attacks on Israel. (In fact air sirens were heard in Jerusalem just 15 minutes before the awards were announced.)
In her pitch, Marsha revealed how Fig Tree was inspired by her childhood, living with her grandmother on the outskirts of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa during the civil war and her Jewish family’s decision to move to Israel. She said one...
- 7/13/2014
- ScreenDaily
The 31st Jerusalem Film Festival gets underway today with a new management team determined to present a world-class event despite the escalating troubles in the region.
Aside from postponing the opening-night open-air premiere of Dancing Arabs (see full story here), the team is hoping for business as usual as much as possible.
“No doubt about it, the festival takes place as planned,” said CEO Noa Regev yesterday. “We are continuing our lives in the best way possible with the situation around us.”
She added: “The escalation in the security situation over the past few days saddens us all, and we hope for days of calm. The Festival will proceed as planned, in accordance with the instructions of Homeland Command and the police. The staff of the Cinematheque hopes to see the Festival venues full with the thousands of film lovers who attend the Festival every year.”
More than 200 films from around 50 countries will screen at the enlarged...
Aside from postponing the opening-night open-air premiere of Dancing Arabs (see full story here), the team is hoping for business as usual as much as possible.
“No doubt about it, the festival takes place as planned,” said CEO Noa Regev yesterday. “We are continuing our lives in the best way possible with the situation around us.”
She added: “The escalation in the security situation over the past few days saddens us all, and we hope for days of calm. The Festival will proceed as planned, in accordance with the instructions of Homeland Command and the police. The staff of the Cinematheque hopes to see the Festival venues full with the thousands of film lovers who attend the Festival every year.”
More than 200 films from around 50 countries will screen at the enlarged...
- 7/10/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
One of the great things about the broad-based programming of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is that it gives us an opportunity to pick up a lot of films that slipped through our Cannes net, and one such title was “Self Made.” The sophomore feature from Israeli director Shira Geffen, who won the Camera d’Or in Cannes 2007 for her debut “Jellyfish," which she co-directed with her husband Etgar Keret, “Self Made” is a small but distinctive, beguiling film, which takes a central unexplained mystical event and spins the outcome in surprising real-world directions, while always maintaining an eye for the gently absurd. It’s a clever approach that allows Geffen, here also the sole credited writer, to comment directly on the intractable problems of Israeli/Palestinian and Jewish/Arab conflict, while maintaining enough allegorical distance to help the film also feel universal in its humanist character portraits. With performances strong across the board,...
- 7/7/2014
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
Shira Geffen made a splash in 2007 with her debut Jellyfish, a film she co-directed with her husband, writer Etgar Keret. This time Geffen is going solo, and though she may not have many credits on her resume, her confidence behind the camera is already remarkably assured. Self Made is darkly funny, stylishly provocative work.That style is used here to tell the story of two women, one Israeli, one Palestinian, divided by class, privilege and a military checkpoint, and brought together by a single screw (the Hebrew title is just that, The Screw). The Israeli is Michal, a thirtyish performance artist of international fame. The Palestinian is Nadine, a woman ten years her junior working at an Ikea-like warehouse. Both are women on the move....
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 5/22/2014
- Screen Anarchy
The Cannes Film Festival's lineup of films include the Competition titles of several legendary auteurs such as Jean-Luc Godard, David Cronenberg, The Dardenne Brothers, Atom Egoyan, Mike Leigh, and Ken Loach. In the Un Certain Regard section, the highly anticipated film by actor-turned-director Ryan Gosling. Those in the business will be happy to find Alison Thompson in her new company, Sunray Films, selling Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner. Two films out of 18 in Competition are by women, but across all sections there are 15 women directors. Further in Competition, three films are from Canada; two are from U.S. one film is from Latin America (Argentina); one is from Japan; one from Turkey; one from Russia and the rest are European.
Opening Night Film :
Grace of Monaco (Producer: Stone Angels/ U.S. The Weinstein Company) from France by Olivier Dahan
In Competition
Clouds of Sils Maria (Isa: MK2/ U.S. Distribution: IFC Films) from France/ Gremany/ Switzerland by Olivier Assayas
Saint Laurent (Isa: EuropaCorp) from France by Bertrand Bonello
Winter's Sleep aka Kis uykusu (Producer: Zeynofilm ) from Turkey by Nuri Bilge Ceylan who has a great website.
Maps to the Stars (Isa: Entertainment One) from Canada by David Cronenberg
Two Days, One Night (Isa: Wild Bunch/ U.S. Distribution: IFC Films) from Belgium and France by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Mommy (Isa: Seville International) from Canada by Xavier Dolan
The Captive (Isa: Entertainment One) from Canada by Atom Egoyan. You can watch the trailer here.
Goodbye to Language aka Adieu au Langage (Isa: Wild Bunch) from France by Jean-Luc Godard
The Search (Isa: Wild Bunch/ U.S. Distribution: Worldview Entertainment) from France by Michel Hazanavivius
The Homesman (Isa: Europacorp) from U.S. by Tommy Lee Jones
Still the Water (Isa: MK2) from Japan and France by Naomi Kawase ♀
Mr. Turner (Isa: Sunray Films/ U.S. Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics) from U.K. by Mike Leigh. Sunray Films is Alison Thompson's new company and she brought the film over from her former employer Focus Features International when they left the international sales business.
Jimmy's Hall (Isa: Wild Bunch) from Ireland and U.K. by Ken Loach
Foxcatcher (Isa: Panorama Media/ U.S. Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics) from U.S. by Bennett Miller
Le Meraviglie (Isa: The Match Factory) from Italy, Switzerland and Germany by Alice Rohrwacher ♀
Timbuktu (Isa: Le Pacte) from France by Abderrahmane Sissako
Wild Tales (Isa: Film Factory Entertainment/ U.S. Distribution: Palmera International) from Argentina by Damian Szifron
Leviathan (Isa: Pyramide International) from Russia by Andrey Zvyagintsev
Un Certain Regard
Party Girl (Isa: Pyramide International) from France by Marie Amachoukeli ♀ , Claire Burger ♀ , Samuel Theis
Jauja (Isa: Ndm) from Argentina by Lisandro Alonso
The Blue Room (Isa: Alfama Films) from France by Mathieu Amalric
Misunderstood aka Incompresa aka L'Incomprise (Production: Paradis Films) from Italy by Asia Argento ♀
Titli (Isa: Westend Films) from India by Kanu Behl
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Isa: Myriad Pictures/ U.S. Distribution: The Weinstein Company) from U.S. by Ned Benson
Bird People (Isa: Films Distribution) from France by Pascale Ferran ♀
Lost River (Isa: Sierra/Affinity) from U.S. by Ryan Gosling
Amour Fou (Isa: Coproduction Office Paris) from Austria by Jessica Hausner ♀
Charlie's Country (Isa: Visit Films) from Australia by Rolf de Heer
Snow in Paradise (Isa: The Match Factory) from U.K. by Andrew Hulme
A Girl at My Door (Isa: Cj Entertainment) from So. Korea by July Jung ♀
Xenia (Isa: Pyramide International) from Greece by Panos Koutras
Run (Isa: Bac) from France by Philippe Lacote
Turist from Sweden and Norway by Ruben Ostlund
Beautiful Youth aka Hermosa Juventud (Producer: Fresdeval Films) by Jaime Rosales
Fantasia by Wang Chao
The Salt of the Earth (Isa: Le Pacte) from Germany and Brazil by Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Away From His Absence (Isa: Bizibi) from Israel by Karen Yedaya ♀
Out of Competition
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Dreamworks Animation) from the U.S. by Dean Deblois
Coming Home aka Gui Lai (Isa: Wild Bunch) from China by Zhang Yimou
Special Screenings
Bridges of Sarajevo (Les Ponts de Sarajevo) from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Portugal, Germany, and France
Red Army from the U.S. and Russia by Gabe Polsky
Maidan (Isa: Atoms & Void Bv) from Belarus by Segei Loznitsa
Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait from Syria by Ossama Mohammed
Cartoonists - Foot Soldiers Of Democracy from France by Stephanie Valloatto
Directors' Fortnight
Opening Film: Girlhood aka Bande De Files (Isa: Films Distribution) from France by Céline Sciamma
Closing Film: Pride (Isa:Pathe International) from the U.K. by Matthew Warchus
Features
Alleluia (Isa:snd- Groupe M6) from Belgium and France by Fabrice Du Welz
Catch Me Daddy (Isa: Altitude Film Sales) from the U.K. by Daniel Wolfe
Next To Her aka At Li La Yla (Isa: Films Boutique) from Israel by Asaf Korman
Cold In July (Isa: Memento Films International) from the U.S. by Jim Mickle
Fighters aka Les Combattants (ISa: Bac Films) from France by Thomas Cailley
Gett — The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem (Isa: Films Distribution) from France, Germany, Israel by Ronit & Shlomi Elkabetz
The Tale of Princess Kaguya aka Kaguya-Hime No Monogatari (Isa: Wild Bunch) from Japan by Isao Takahata
Eat Your Bones aka Mange Tes Morts (Isa:Capricci Films) from France by Jean-Charles Hue
A Hard Day aka Kkeut-Kka-Ji-Kan-Da (Isa: Showbox/Mediaples, Inc.) from South Korea by Seong-Hun Kim
National Gallery (Isa: Doc & Film International) from France by Frederick Wiseman
Queen And Country (Isa: Le Pacte) from the U.K. and Ireland by John Boorman
Sheltered aka Refugiado (Isa: Backup Media Films) from Argentina, France, Poland, and Colombia by Diego Lerman
These Final Hours (Isa: Celluloid Dreams/Nightmares) from Australia by Zach Hilditch
Tu Dors Nicole (Isa: Seville International) from Canada by Stéphane Lafleur
Whiplash (Isa:Sierra /Affinity) from the U.S. by Damien Chazelle
Special Screening
P'tit Quinquin by Bruno Dumont
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre by Tobe Hooper (4K restoration)
Acid Program
Brooklyn (Produced by Les Enfants de la Dalle) from France by Pascal Tessaud
The Way Out aka Cesta Ven (Produced by Cinema de Facto) from France and the Czech Republic by Petr Vaclav
Challat of Tunis aka Le Challat the Tunis (Produced by Cinetelefilms ) from Tunisia and France by Kaouther Ben Hania
The Girls and the River aka La Fille et le Fleuve (Produced by 31 Juin Films) from France by Aurélia Georges
Mercuriales (Produced by Kazak Productions) from France by Virgil Vernier
New Territories (Produced by Paraiso Production Difussion) from France by Fabianny Deschamps
Insecure aka Qui Vive (Isa: Udi- Urban Distribution International ) from France by Marianne Tardieu
The Rules of the Game aka Les Regles du Jeu (Isa: Doc & Film International) from France by Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard
Spartacus & Cassandra (Produced by Morgane Productions) from France by Ioanis Nuguet
Critics' Week
Opening Night: Faire: L'Amour (Fla) from France by Djinn Carrénard
Closing Nigh: Hippocrates aka Hippocrate (Isa: Le Pacte) from France by Thomas Lilti
Features
Darker Than Midnight aka Piu' Buio di Mezzanotte (Isa: Rai Trade) from Italy by Sebastiano Riso
Gente de Bien (Isa: Versatile) from Colombia and France by Franco Lolli
Hope (Isa: Pyramide International) from France by Boris Lojkine
It Follows (Isa: Visit Films) from the U.S. by David Robert Mitchell
Self Made aka Boreg (Isa: Westend Films) from Israel by Shira Geffen
The Tribe aka Plemya (Isa: Alpha Violet) from Ukraine by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
When Animals Dream aka Nar Dyrene Drommer (Produced by Gaumont) from Denmark by Jonas Alexander Arnby
Critics' Week: Special Screenings
Breathe aka Respire (Produced by Gaumont) from France by Mélanie Laurent
The Kindergarten Teacher aka Haganenet Teacher aka (Isa: Le Pacte) from Israel by Nadav Lapid...
Opening Night Film :
Grace of Monaco (Producer: Stone Angels/ U.S. The Weinstein Company) from France by Olivier Dahan
In Competition
Clouds of Sils Maria (Isa: MK2/ U.S. Distribution: IFC Films) from France/ Gremany/ Switzerland by Olivier Assayas
Saint Laurent (Isa: EuropaCorp) from France by Bertrand Bonello
Winter's Sleep aka Kis uykusu (Producer: Zeynofilm ) from Turkey by Nuri Bilge Ceylan who has a great website.
Maps to the Stars (Isa: Entertainment One) from Canada by David Cronenberg
Two Days, One Night (Isa: Wild Bunch/ U.S. Distribution: IFC Films) from Belgium and France by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Mommy (Isa: Seville International) from Canada by Xavier Dolan
The Captive (Isa: Entertainment One) from Canada by Atom Egoyan. You can watch the trailer here.
Goodbye to Language aka Adieu au Langage (Isa: Wild Bunch) from France by Jean-Luc Godard
The Search (Isa: Wild Bunch/ U.S. Distribution: Worldview Entertainment) from France by Michel Hazanavivius
The Homesman (Isa: Europacorp) from U.S. by Tommy Lee Jones
Still the Water (Isa: MK2) from Japan and France by Naomi Kawase ♀
Mr. Turner (Isa: Sunray Films/ U.S. Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics) from U.K. by Mike Leigh. Sunray Films is Alison Thompson's new company and she brought the film over from her former employer Focus Features International when they left the international sales business.
Jimmy's Hall (Isa: Wild Bunch) from Ireland and U.K. by Ken Loach
Foxcatcher (Isa: Panorama Media/ U.S. Distribution: Sony Pictures Classics) from U.S. by Bennett Miller
Le Meraviglie (Isa: The Match Factory) from Italy, Switzerland and Germany by Alice Rohrwacher ♀
Timbuktu (Isa: Le Pacte) from France by Abderrahmane Sissako
Wild Tales (Isa: Film Factory Entertainment/ U.S. Distribution: Palmera International) from Argentina by Damian Szifron
Leviathan (Isa: Pyramide International) from Russia by Andrey Zvyagintsev
Un Certain Regard
Party Girl (Isa: Pyramide International) from France by Marie Amachoukeli ♀ , Claire Burger ♀ , Samuel Theis
Jauja (Isa: Ndm) from Argentina by Lisandro Alonso
The Blue Room (Isa: Alfama Films) from France by Mathieu Amalric
Misunderstood aka Incompresa aka L'Incomprise (Production: Paradis Films) from Italy by Asia Argento ♀
Titli (Isa: Westend Films) from India by Kanu Behl
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Isa: Myriad Pictures/ U.S. Distribution: The Weinstein Company) from U.S. by Ned Benson
Bird People (Isa: Films Distribution) from France by Pascale Ferran ♀
Lost River (Isa: Sierra/Affinity) from U.S. by Ryan Gosling
Amour Fou (Isa: Coproduction Office Paris) from Austria by Jessica Hausner ♀
Charlie's Country (Isa: Visit Films) from Australia by Rolf de Heer
Snow in Paradise (Isa: The Match Factory) from U.K. by Andrew Hulme
A Girl at My Door (Isa: Cj Entertainment) from So. Korea by July Jung ♀
Xenia (Isa: Pyramide International) from Greece by Panos Koutras
Run (Isa: Bac) from France by Philippe Lacote
Turist from Sweden and Norway by Ruben Ostlund
Beautiful Youth aka Hermosa Juventud (Producer: Fresdeval Films) by Jaime Rosales
Fantasia by Wang Chao
The Salt of the Earth (Isa: Le Pacte) from Germany and Brazil by Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Away From His Absence (Isa: Bizibi) from Israel by Karen Yedaya ♀
Out of Competition
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Dreamworks Animation) from the U.S. by Dean Deblois
Coming Home aka Gui Lai (Isa: Wild Bunch) from China by Zhang Yimou
Special Screenings
Bridges of Sarajevo (Les Ponts de Sarajevo) from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Portugal, Germany, and France
Red Army from the U.S. and Russia by Gabe Polsky
Maidan (Isa: Atoms & Void Bv) from Belarus by Segei Loznitsa
Silvered Water, Syria Self-Portrait from Syria by Ossama Mohammed
Cartoonists - Foot Soldiers Of Democracy from France by Stephanie Valloatto
Directors' Fortnight
Opening Film: Girlhood aka Bande De Files (Isa: Films Distribution) from France by Céline Sciamma
Closing Film: Pride (Isa:Pathe International) from the U.K. by Matthew Warchus
Features
Alleluia (Isa:snd- Groupe M6) from Belgium and France by Fabrice Du Welz
Catch Me Daddy (Isa: Altitude Film Sales) from the U.K. by Daniel Wolfe
Next To Her aka At Li La Yla (Isa: Films Boutique) from Israel by Asaf Korman
Cold In July (Isa: Memento Films International) from the U.S. by Jim Mickle
Fighters aka Les Combattants (ISa: Bac Films) from France by Thomas Cailley
Gett — The Trial Of Viviane Amsalem (Isa: Films Distribution) from France, Germany, Israel by Ronit & Shlomi Elkabetz
The Tale of Princess Kaguya aka Kaguya-Hime No Monogatari (Isa: Wild Bunch) from Japan by Isao Takahata
Eat Your Bones aka Mange Tes Morts (Isa:Capricci Films) from France by Jean-Charles Hue
A Hard Day aka Kkeut-Kka-Ji-Kan-Da (Isa: Showbox/Mediaples, Inc.) from South Korea by Seong-Hun Kim
National Gallery (Isa: Doc & Film International) from France by Frederick Wiseman
Queen And Country (Isa: Le Pacte) from the U.K. and Ireland by John Boorman
Sheltered aka Refugiado (Isa: Backup Media Films) from Argentina, France, Poland, and Colombia by Diego Lerman
These Final Hours (Isa: Celluloid Dreams/Nightmares) from Australia by Zach Hilditch
Tu Dors Nicole (Isa: Seville International) from Canada by Stéphane Lafleur
Whiplash (Isa:Sierra /Affinity) from the U.S. by Damien Chazelle
Special Screening
P'tit Quinquin by Bruno Dumont
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre by Tobe Hooper (4K restoration)
Acid Program
Brooklyn (Produced by Les Enfants de la Dalle) from France by Pascal Tessaud
The Way Out aka Cesta Ven (Produced by Cinema de Facto) from France and the Czech Republic by Petr Vaclav
Challat of Tunis aka Le Challat the Tunis (Produced by Cinetelefilms ) from Tunisia and France by Kaouther Ben Hania
The Girls and the River aka La Fille et le Fleuve (Produced by 31 Juin Films) from France by Aurélia Georges
Mercuriales (Produced by Kazak Productions) from France by Virgil Vernier
New Territories (Produced by Paraiso Production Difussion) from France by Fabianny Deschamps
Insecure aka Qui Vive (Isa: Udi- Urban Distribution International ) from France by Marianne Tardieu
The Rules of the Game aka Les Regles du Jeu (Isa: Doc & Film International) from France by Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard
Spartacus & Cassandra (Produced by Morgane Productions) from France by Ioanis Nuguet
Critics' Week
Opening Night: Faire: L'Amour (Fla) from France by Djinn Carrénard
Closing Nigh: Hippocrates aka Hippocrate (Isa: Le Pacte) from France by Thomas Lilti
Features
Darker Than Midnight aka Piu' Buio di Mezzanotte (Isa: Rai Trade) from Italy by Sebastiano Riso
Gente de Bien (Isa: Versatile) from Colombia and France by Franco Lolli
Hope (Isa: Pyramide International) from France by Boris Lojkine
It Follows (Isa: Visit Films) from the U.S. by David Robert Mitchell
Self Made aka Boreg (Isa: Westend Films) from Israel by Shira Geffen
The Tribe aka Plemya (Isa: Alpha Violet) from Ukraine by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
When Animals Dream aka Nar Dyrene Drommer (Produced by Gaumont) from Denmark by Jonas Alexander Arnby
Critics' Week: Special Screenings
Breathe aka Respire (Produced by Gaumont) from France by Mélanie Laurent
The Kindergarten Teacher aka Haganenet Teacher aka (Isa: Le Pacte) from Israel by Nadav Lapid...
- 4/29/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
It’s almost astonishing that we’ve managed to guess two (we also had Nadav Lapid pegged for the Main Comp) of the eleven titles unveiled by the Cannes Critics’ Week sidebar earlier today. On our radar we had Djinn Carrénard’s sophomore film (Faire L’Amour has been selected as the opening film) and Jonas Alexander Arnby’s debut (When Animals Dream is one among the seven comp titles) as strong possibilities and we’re excited that an American indie personality we’ve featured on this site before in David Robert Mitchell will be showcasing his sophomore film, It Follows (starring Maika Monroe and Keir Gilchrist) in a section that showcased The Myth Of The American Sleepover back in 2010. Mélanie Laurent’s Respire (which could catapult the careers of thesps Lou de Laâge and Joséphine Japy) receives the Special Screening status alongside Lapid’s The Kindergarten Teacher. Also on...
- 4/21/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The lineup for the 53rd Semaine de la Critique (or "Critics' Week") has been announced and feature seven films in competition, four special screenings, and ten short and medium-length films in competition.
Opening Film
Faire: L'amour (Djinn Carrénard)
Competition
Darker Than Midnight (Sebastiano Riso)
The Tribe (Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy)
It Follows (David Robert Mitchell)
Gente de bien (Franco Lolli)
When Animals Dream (Jonas Alexander Arnby)
Hope (Boris Lojkine)
Self Made (Shira Geffen)
Closing Film
Hippocrates (Thomas Lilti)
Special Screenings
Breathe (Mélanie Laurent)
The Kindergarten Teacher (Nadav Lapid)
Short And Medium-length Films In Competition
Young Lions of Gypsy (Jonas Carpignan)
Goodnight Cinderella (Carlos Conceição)
The Chicken (Una Gunja)
Back Alley (Cécile Ducrocq)
Crocodile (Gaëlle Denis)
Les fleuves m'ont laissée descendre où je voulais (Laurie Lassalle)
Little Brother (Rémi St-Michel)
Safari (Gerardo Herrero)
TrueLoveStory (Gitanjali Rao)
A Blue Room (Tomasz Siwiński)...
Opening Film
Faire: L'amour (Djinn Carrénard)
Competition
Darker Than Midnight (Sebastiano Riso)
The Tribe (Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy)
It Follows (David Robert Mitchell)
Gente de bien (Franco Lolli)
When Animals Dream (Jonas Alexander Arnby)
Hope (Boris Lojkine)
Self Made (Shira Geffen)
Closing Film
Hippocrates (Thomas Lilti)
Special Screenings
Breathe (Mélanie Laurent)
The Kindergarten Teacher (Nadav Lapid)
Short And Medium-length Films In Competition
Young Lions of Gypsy (Jonas Carpignan)
Goodnight Cinderella (Carlos Conceição)
The Chicken (Una Gunja)
Back Alley (Cécile Ducrocq)
Crocodile (Gaëlle Denis)
Les fleuves m'ont laissée descendre où je voulais (Laurie Lassalle)
Little Brother (Rémi St-Michel)
Safari (Gerardo Herrero)
TrueLoveStory (Gitanjali Rao)
A Blue Room (Tomasz Siwiński)...
- 4/21/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Critics' Week at the Cannes Film Festival is one of those institutions that generally looks impressive only in retrospect. In advance, it's hard to tell which of the films selected for the sidebar will really land, but look back at the archives, and it's remarkable how many significant films -- from Ken Loach's "Kes" to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarittu's "Amores Perros" -- have quietly premiered there. In other words, while I don't have much to say right now about this year's Critics' Week selection, announced earlier today, it could yet give us plenty to talk about. As it stands, the most famous name in the lineup isn't one best known for her work behind the camera: French actress Mélanie Laurent, whose second directorial effort, "Respire," will play as a Special Screening in the section. Laurent starred in her 2011 debut, "The Adopted," a middling family melodrama that received a quiet release in France and the UK,...
- 4/21/2014
- by Guy Lodge
- Hitfix
Melanie Laurent - behind the camera for Breathe in Cannes Critics' Week
The Cannes film festival’s strand Critics’ Week (La semaine de la critique) which has been responsible for encouraging the likes of Ken Loach, François Ozon and Wong Kar-Wai among many, will open with Djinn Carrenard’s Making Love (Faire l’amour), it was announced today (21 April).
Also worth noting in the selection is French actress Melanie Laurent’s second feature as a director Breathe (screening out of competition), while the closing title, also out of competition, will be Thomas Lilti’s second feature Hippocrate.
There are seven films vying for the grand prix with a jury presided over by British director Andrea Arnold (who made Fish Tank).
The section is organised independently by the French film critics association and has been an official parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival since 1962.
Competition
Darker Than Midnight (dir: Sebastiano Riso...
The Cannes film festival’s strand Critics’ Week (La semaine de la critique) which has been responsible for encouraging the likes of Ken Loach, François Ozon and Wong Kar-Wai among many, will open with Djinn Carrenard’s Making Love (Faire l’amour), it was announced today (21 April).
Also worth noting in the selection is French actress Melanie Laurent’s second feature as a director Breathe (screening out of competition), while the closing title, also out of competition, will be Thomas Lilti’s second feature Hippocrate.
There are seven films vying for the grand prix with a jury presided over by British director Andrea Arnold (who made Fish Tank).
The section is organised independently by the French film critics association and has been an official parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival since 1962.
Competition
Darker Than Midnight (dir: Sebastiano Riso...
- 4/21/2014
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Djinn Carrenard’s second feature to open selection; genre pictures When Animals Dream [pictured] and It Follows to compete in Cannes Critics’ Week.
Djinn Carrénard’s Faire L’Amour (Fla)], revolving around the relationship between a musician and woman on parole, will open the 53rd edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, running May 15-23
The respected parallel selection, focusing on first and second works, unveiled its 2014 line-up on Monday (April 20). In total, the selection committee screened 1,200 feature-length films and 1,770 shorts.
Haitian, France-based Carrénard won France’s prestigious Louis Delluc prize for best first film in 2011 for his buzzy, micro-budget Donoma, which premiered in Cannes in 2010 in the indie-focused Acid selection.
“The director of Donoma instils in his second feature all the energy of the previous one with a sense of drama and character development that really packs a punch,” commented Critics’ Week artistic director Charles Tesson, adding it revolved around, “how to construct love and how to really make love...
Djinn Carrénard’s Faire L’Amour (Fla)], revolving around the relationship between a musician and woman on parole, will open the 53rd edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, running May 15-23
The respected parallel selection, focusing on first and second works, unveiled its 2014 line-up on Monday (April 20). In total, the selection committee screened 1,200 feature-length films and 1,770 shorts.
Haitian, France-based Carrénard won France’s prestigious Louis Delluc prize for best first film in 2011 for his buzzy, micro-budget Donoma, which premiered in Cannes in 2010 in the indie-focused Acid selection.
“The director of Donoma instils in his second feature all the energy of the previous one with a sense of drama and character development that really packs a punch,” commented Critics’ Week artistic director Charles Tesson, adding it revolved around, “how to construct love and how to really make love...
- 4/21/2014
- ScreenDaily
Djinn Carrenard’s second feature to open selection; genre pictures When Animals Dream [pictured] and It Follows to compete in Cannes Critics’ Week.
Djinn Carrénard’s Faire L’Amour (Fla)], revolving around the relationship between a musician and woman on parole, will open the 53rd edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, running May 15-23
The respected parallel selection, focusing on first and second works, unveiled its 2014 line-up on Monday (April 20). In total, the selection committee screened 1,200 feature-length films and 1,770 shorts.
Haitian, France-based Carrénard won France’s prestigious Louis Delluc prize for best first film in 2011 for his buzzy, micro-budget Donoma, which premiered in Cannes in 2010 in the indie-focused Acid selection.
“The director of Donoma instils in his second feature all the energy of the previous one with a sense of drama and character development that really packs a punch,” commented Critics’ Week artistic director Charles Tesson, adding it revolved around, “how to construct love and how to really make love...
Djinn Carrénard’s Faire L’Amour (Fla)], revolving around the relationship between a musician and woman on parole, will open the 53rd edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, running May 15-23
The respected parallel selection, focusing on first and second works, unveiled its 2014 line-up on Monday (April 20). In total, the selection committee screened 1,200 feature-length films and 1,770 shorts.
Haitian, France-based Carrénard won France’s prestigious Louis Delluc prize for best first film in 2011 for his buzzy, micro-budget Donoma, which premiered in Cannes in 2010 in the indie-focused Acid selection.
“The director of Donoma instils in his second feature all the energy of the previous one with a sense of drama and character development that really packs a punch,” commented Critics’ Week artistic director Charles Tesson, adding it revolved around, “how to construct love and how to really make love...
- 4/21/2014
- ScreenDaily
Nine feature films, 10 short and mid-length films and 2 special screenings are heading to Cannes Film Festival sidebar Critics' Week, which announced its lineup today. Coming off last week's announcement of the Official Competition, Critics Week brought along two films from filmmakers returning to the festival: Sole American David Robert Mitchell and his "It Follows" (Mitchell was in Critics' Week for "The Myth of the American Sleepover"), and Israeli filmmaker Shira Geffen with "Self Made," a film that comes seven years after she won the Camera d'Or for "Les Méduses." Other notable films include French filmmaker Djinn Carrenard's "F.L.A Faire l’Amour," which will open the festival, and actress-turned-director Melanie Laurent with her "Reprise." Andrea Arnold is head of the jury for the sidebar -- its 53rd edition -- which runs May 15-23, 2014. Full lineup below. Feature films: “Darker Than Midnight,” Sebastiano Riso, Italy “Gente de bien,” Franco Lolli,...
- 4/21/2014
- by Peter Knegt
- Indiewire
This morning the 2014 Cannes Film Festival lineup was announced and while at least one Out of Competition title is still to be announced, along with the Critics' Week and Directors' Fortnight lineups, we have a look at what films make up the competition and it's largely a lot of the titles that were rumored heading into today's announcement. Among the competition titles you have Atom Egoyan's Captives, which we'll have to hope is better than Devil's Knot, Bennett Miller's highly anticipated Foxcatcher, Jean-Luc Godard's 3D feature Goodbye To Language, The Homesman from Tommy Lee Jones, Ken Loach's Jimmy's Hall and David Cronengberg's Maps to the Stars. I'm jealous I won't be there to see Xavier Dolan's first time in competition with Mommy, Mike Leigh is again at Cannes with Mr. Turner and Michel Hazanavicius returns to Cannes after The Artist took the fest by storm with The Search.
- 4/17/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
You hear it all the time: Quality a bit soft. Not a lot of Big Titles. Not a lot of Big News. But Americans were buying all the same, and to quote Screen International: “The current market is focused on smart money and smart deals, not volume of product”. Business at Afm was also solid though unspectacular. Moreover, the pre-buying of projects may be below the radar of this $3 billion business of international film buying and selling. TrustNordisk’s CEO Rikke Ennis says that 70% of their films are pre-sold. As you look at the upcoming Winter Rights Roundup due out in two weeks from SydneysBuzz.com/Reports, you will notice many of the films have been pre-buys this market and many films screening were already pre-sold during Afm in November.
And for all the complaints about Berlin, many sales agents set up private screenings before the market kicked off. What is that about?
Beki Probst, who has run the Efm since 1988, responded to the many media reports of a quieter market in an interview with ScreenDaily which sounds almost the same as the one she gave in 2009.
Quoting her current statement which I take the liberty of quoting here as it appears in Screen:
“I think that there was a good movement of business this year,” she said. In the opinion of Probst, there had been a muddying of the distinction between the Efm and the more general term of the ‘market’.
“Daphné Kapfer of Europa International representing 35 sales agents said that it was a very good Berlin, and Glen Basner of FilmNation commented that it was ‘the best Berlin’.
“Even Harvey Weinstein came just for 24 hours to sign a $7m check, and Aloft was bought by Sony Pictures Classics.
“It’s the players, and not the market, that is important. The players come here if they have the right line-up. All we can do is provide the best infrastructure, but what happens after that is up to them.”
"Sales agents were not sitting idle at their stands if one takes the example of one company in the Martin Gropius Bau: the CEO met with 90 buyers and the members of staff responsible for marketing had no less than 180 meetings in addition to ad-hoc discussions at events in the evenings."
Coproductions are the engine driving the business these days.
This year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market ended after two-and-a-half days with awards handed out to projects from Kazakhstan and Belgium.
The €6,000 Arte International Prize went to Kazakh film-maker Emir Baigazin’s planned second feature The Wounded Angel, the second part of a trilogy after his Silver Bear-winning Harmony Lessons. The €1.2m Almaty-based Kazakhfilm Jsc production has already attracted France’s Capricci Production as a co-producer and has backing in place from the Doha Film Institute and the Hubert Bals Fund.
The €10,000 Vff Talent Highlight Pitch Award was presented to Belgian director Bavo Defurne for his romantic dramedy Souvenir. The €2m co-production by Oostende-based Indeed Films with Belgium’s Frakas Productions and Germany’s Karibufilm already has backing from Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Cinefinance and public broadcaster Vrt/ Een.
India-Norway’s $55 million film to be directed by Hans Petter Moland (In Order of Disappearance)’s The Indian Bride is an exciting example of an unusual pairing of countries.
Bavaria and Senator’s joint venture Bavaria Pictures’ The Postcard Killers to be directed by Mexican director Everardo Gout shows the international expansion of talent.
The Hungary-Austria-Germany co-production of Stefan Zweig’s Beware of Pity, or U.K.-Lithuania action comedy Redirected being sold by Content brings unusual European partners together.
U.S. born Damian John Harper’s coproduction with the German producers, brothers Jakob and Jonas Weydemann, on Los Angeles will be followed by In the Middle of the River now being developed with Zdf’s Das Kleine Fernsehspiel unit.
Shoreline’s The Infinite Man produced with Australia’s Hedone Productions in association with Bonsai Films with investment from South Australia Film Corporation through its Filmlab funding initiative, development assistance from Screen Australia is also a new sort of pairing.
Film and Music Entertainment (F&Me), Bac Films, 20 Steps Productions and Bruemmer & Herzog’s The President is shooting in Tbilisi, Georgia and is being directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
Italian-Canadian producer Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s Sights of Death starring Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Baldwin and Michael Madsen is directed by Allessandro Capone in Rome.
The Spain-u.K. co-production Second Origin is based on the best selling Catalan novel Mecanoscrit Del Segon Orgen.
The Golden Bear Winner Black Coal, Thin Ice is a Boneyard Entertainment (New York & Hong Kong) co-production with Boneyard Entertainment China (Bec), Omnijoi Media (Jiangsu, China), China Film co-production.
A sign of the times is the Swedish Film in Berlin advertisement which lists all Swedish co-productions:
In Competition: In Order of DisappearanceOut of Competition: NymphomaniacBerlinale Special: Someone You Love Generation Kplus: A Christmoose StoryPerspektive Deutsches Kino: Lamento
All are with European co-producers as is Antboy a Danish-German co-production.
One of my favorites is Gallows Hill, being sold by Im Global and already picked up by IFC for U.S. Starring Twilight actor Peter Facinelli, U.K. actress Sophia Myles, Nathalia Ramos and Colombian model and actress Carolina Guerra, it was entirely financed from within Colombia by television network Rcn’s affiliate Five 7 Media which produced with Peter Block's A Bigger Boat, David Higgins and Angelique Higgins' Launchpad Productions and Andrea Chung. The screenplay was written by Rich D’Ovidio ( The Call, Thir13en Ghosts) about a widower who takes his children on a trip to their mother’s Colombian hometown.
Another interesting combo is the Australian-Singapore co-production Canopy being sold by Odin’s Eye which was acquired by Kaleidoscope for U.K., by Kinosmith for Canada and Odin’s Eye itself for Australia. After its Tiff 2013 premiere, Monterrey acquired U.S. rights.
Cathedrals of Culture, was produced by Wim Wenders’ production company: Neue Road Movies in Germany and co-produced by Final Cut For Real (Denmark), Lotus Film (Austria), Mer Film (Norway), Les Films d'Ici 2 (France), Sundance Productions / RadicalMedia (U.S.), Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg In collaboration with Arte (Germany and France) and Wowow (Japan).
Grand Budapest Hotel is a co-production of Scott Rudin in U.S. and Studio Babelsburg in Germany.
Wouldn't you say there had to be an awful lot of business going on? If only the media knew where to look for it. Instead, they moan the same old tired tune, "Quality a bit soft. Not a lot of Big Titles. Not a lot of Big News". Oh well...
Efm Coproduction Market
Asian producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who was pitching the Hong Kong comedy Grooms by writer-director Arvin Chen at the Berlin Coproduction Market, announced that Germany’s augenschein filmproduktion will be a coproducer on Singaporean director Boo Junfeng’s second feature Apprentice. The film has already received backing from France’s World Cinema Support, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw of Germany and Germany's second network, Zdf’s Das kleine fernsehspiel unit. It also has Cinema Defacto as its French co-producer. Junfeng’s first film, Sandcastle, was screened at the Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2010.
Cologne-based augenschein, who produced Maximilian Leo’s My Brother’s Keeper, the opening film of this year’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino and is handled internationally by Media Luna, is currently in post-production on Romanian filmmaker Florin Serban’s Box, his second feature after the 2010 Berlinale Competition film If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle.
Argentinian filmmaker Santiago Mitre whose debut The Student established him as one of the brightest and most courted young directors in Latin America was in the Co-production Market with his untitled second feature which France’s Full House connected to along with Argentina’s Union de los Rio, Argentine broadcast network Telefe, Ignacio Viale and the ubiquitous Lita Stantic.
Full House was also at the Coproduction Market with Peter Webber’s Fresh about a young thief learning the art of pickpocketing in Bogota, Colombia. It will be co-produced with Rcn affiliate Five 7 Media and 4Direcciones in Colombia and by Webber himself.
Raymond van der Kaaij, the producer of Tamar van den Dop’s Panorama title Supernova, is now financing Sundance winner Ernesto Contreras’ next feature I Dream In Another Language. The Spanish-English language project will be produced with Mexico-based Agencia Sha, and it is now casting the American lead according to producer van der Kaaij of Revolver Amsterdam. Developed at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the winner of the Sundance-Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, I Dream has already received support from Imcine in Mexico. Shooting is scheduled in Mexico for the end of 2014.
Revolver is now editing Bodkin Ras, the debut film of Iranian-Dutch director Kaweh Modiri, an English-language documentary-thriller set in North Scotland. The Dutch-Belgian-u.K. coproduction is set for release at the end of 2014.
Finnish film-maker Jukka-Pekka Valkeapaa’s is editing his latest feature They Have Escaped, which Revolver coproduced with Helsinki Film.
Trend of smart art genres
Another continuing trend, which began with Xyz and Celluloid Nightmares and continued with Memento, is the character-driven art genre films with tight budgets, like the Danish coming-of-age-werewolf-romance, When Animals Dream, directed by first timer Jonas Arnby, sold by Gaumont to Radius-twc for No. Americ. The Scandinavians, formerly making a mark with "Nordic Noir" are now making what they call "Nordic Twilight".
Trend of remake rights
Another trend is that of remake rights. Film Sharks reports it makes more from selling remake rights than from licensing distribution rights.
The Intouchables is selling remake rights to more countries than only India as is the sale of Other Angle’s Babysitting remake rights. Negotiations are underway with Russia, Italy and Germany.
Fruit Chan is considering an English language remake of his 2004 cult horror film Dumplings.
The market is bit too calm?…Then let us look at Cannes…
Usually by Afm you can begin the Tipped for Cannes List (which Gilles Jacob detested), but even that is a little on the quiet side. I begin to question whether all media fueled news is accurate: the slow sales being reported, the lack of pre-Cannes buzz… Is the media really investigating deeply?
Of all the trades, while Screen has the most international news and deepest analyses, Variety reports things no other trade is covering. But…still the non-news of a quiet market persists as if it were headline news. We always hear this and we are still in an economic slump, so what we wish for is not apparent, but this is not news.
Tipped for Cannes
Tipped for Cannes are Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home staring Gong Li and to be sold by Wild Bunch, Stealth’s First Law starring Mads Mikkelsen (Cannes 2012 Best Actor Award for The Hunt); Self Made (Boreg) by Shira Geffen and to be sold by Westend, shot in Hebrew and Arabic by the production and sales team behind Oscar nominated 2011 drama Footnote, the second film after Geffen’s 2007 debut Jellyfish which won the Cannes Camera d’Or. MK2’s Clouds of Sils Maria by Olivier Assayas and starring Juliette Binoche, Chloe Grace Moretz and Kristen Stewart, and Naomi Kawase’s Still the Water will be delivered in time for Cannes. Pyramide International is plannng for Leviathan, a modern retelling of the biblical story which deals with some of Russia’s most important social issues to be ready for Cannes. It is directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev and produced by Alexander Rodnyansky (Stalingrad) as their followup to Elena. Gaumont-cj co-production, The Target, the Korean remake of Fred Cavaye’s action thriller Point Blank will be ready in time for Cannes.
Rumors and truths about people changing positions
Rumors about Dieter Kosslick replacing Berlin’s Culture Secretary who resigned after a tax evasion scandal in which he admitted to stashing $575,000 in a Swiss bank account…Charlotte Mickie has left eOne and knowing her, she is bound to find something good elsewhere as she's too good to lose...StudioCanals Harold van Lier now leads eOne’s newly ramped international sales team and Montreal based Anick Poirier leads its subsidiary label, Seville International. Jeff Nuyts is leaving Intramovies. Nigel Sinclair and Guy East seem to be leaving Exclusive Media the company they founded as discussions with partners from Dasym Investment Strategies Bv move forward. Kevin Hoiseth from Voltage Pictures has joined International Film Trust as their director of international sales...and of course, Nadine de Barros has founded her own company, Fortitude, and was holding court at the Ritz Carlton the buzziest spot outside of the Martin Gropius Bau.
What I Saw and What I Thought
For what it's worth, here is my limited list of screenings of films seen only in the last 3 days of the festival when I was no longer "working". I am including some I actually saw at Sundance.
First and foremost -- and to be written about further in a "thought piece" as I term the articles I think long about before writing and to include my interview with the director Goran Hugo Olsson's (The Black Power Mixtapes winner of Sundance 2011 World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award) -- Concerning Violence (Isa: Films Boutique, U.S.: Cinetic), based on Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth and seen at Sundance this year next to Stanley Nelson's outstanding Freedom Summer (PBS) and Greg Barker's We Are The Giant (Submarine), is a call to action for new societal models ringing out loud and clear.
Golden Bear Winner, Black Coal, Thin Ice by Diao Yinan, a Chinese noir, lacked the momentum and substance I would have expected in a winning film, though it was a fascinating way to see today's urban China. Had I been on the jury, I would have chosen the Best Director Award winning Boyhood (Isa: IFC) by Richard Linklater. But perhaps because James Schamus, an American who loves Chinese films, was President of the Jury, there might have arisen a question of disinterested objectivity. I would have to hear what jurists Barbara Broccoli, Trine Dyrhom, Chistoph Waltz, Tony Leung, Greta Gerwig, Mitra Farahani and Michel Gondry would have to say about the deliberations.
Speaking of jury prizes, it was a surprise the much acclaimed '71 (Isa: Protagonist, now headed by our dear Mike Goodridge) won nothing, and good Alain Renais' Life of Riley (Isa: Le Pacte) received recognition. I found Christophe Gans' La belle et la bete (Beauty and the Beast) (Isa: Pathe) an overproduced unwieldy special effects-ridden mess, even though it was exec-produced by Jérôme Seydoux who also produced the masterpiece La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), and starred his granddaughter Lea Seydoux. I'll stand by Cocteau's versoin. I heard Claudia Llosa (Milk of Sorrow)'s Aloft was also not widely admired.
About the best actress winning film The Little House (Isa: Shochiku could have marketed it more widely), I heard nothing at all, though it sounds really good. Kreuzweg (Stations of the Cross) (Isa: Beta) by brother and sister team Anna and Dietrich Brueggemann (any relation to our own Tom Brueggeman?) had a satisfying denouement and was quite engrossing with moments of humor lightening the heavy weight of the cross carried by 14 year old Maria played by Lea van Acken, a picture face out of a George de la Tour painting (Magdeline with a Smoking Flame or A Piece of Art). Macondo (Isa: Films Boutique - again! ) by Sudabeh Mortezai of Austria was a window on a world never seen before and very engrossing although the coming of age story was one we have seen before.
Not sorry to say I missed The Monuments Men and Nymphomaniac Volume I, but sorry that I missed Beloved Sisters (Isa: Global Screen) of Dominik Graf, The Grand Budapest Hotel (will see it in U.S.), Argentinian Benjamin Naishat's History of Fear (Isa: Visit) -- I'll catch it in Carthegena, Guadalajara or San Sebastian I'm sure, Jack, In Order of Disappearance which sounds like the sleeper hit of the festival, Argentinan (again!) La tercera orilla (The Third Side of the River), Lou Ye's Tui Na (Blind Massage) and Rachid Bouchareb's Two Men in Town (Isa: Pathe - again!), which I heard was rather flat which is not surprising, for when non-Americans try to make an American genre, it usually misses a certain verve, but still is such an interesting subject for him to tackle, Zwischen Welten (Inbetween Worlds) (Isa: The Match Factory) from Germany, another "American" subject, but here about a German soldier in Afghanistan, not an American one.
Among the Berlinale Specials, I wish I had seen Nancy Buirski's Afternoon of a Faun which everyone said was good (Isa: Cactus Three the doc production company of Krysanne Katsoolis and Caroline Stevens) and Volker Schloendorff's 1969 Brecht piece Baal starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Margarethe von Trotta. I did see his Diplomacy (Isa: Gaumont) which was a great treat, erudite, intimate and reminiscent of the novels of Sandor Marai (Embers and Casanova in Bolzano). Wish I could have seen Wim Wenders' Cathedrals of Culture (Isa: Cinephil), Diego Luna's Cesar Chavez (Isa: Mundial) and In the Courtyard aka Dans la cours (Isa: Wild Bunch) starring Catherine Deneuve and The Kidnapping of Michel Houllebecq (Isa: Le Pacte - again!!). I will see The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (Isa: The Film Sales Company) by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, produced by Jonathan Dana, Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller and Celeste Schaefer Snyder (Ballets Russes), back home. The Turning (Isa: Level K), an experimental omnibus produced by my favorite Australian producer, Robert Connelly who also directed in part and Maggie Myles, is also a must-see as is Errol Morris' companion piece to The Fog of War, The Unknown Known (Isa: HanWay) and Houssein Amini's Two Faces of January (Isa: StudioCanal) starring my favorites Viggo Mortenson and Kirsten Dunst. We Come as Friends (Isa: Le Pacte), by Hubert Sauper whose earlier film Darwin's Destiny astounded me, was worth watching although so often his films plunge one into a hopeless helplessness. Fresh from Sundance, it was raising controversy and the story of the Sudan is worth knowing. His particular and peculiar Pov is valuable. Watermark (Isa: Entertainment One), another social issue worth knowing about will have to wait for a more propitious time. Personally I'm hoping Israel's current venture into desalination of water will lead the world into peace and that I will rejoice watching the doc about that.
Difret (Isa: Films Boutique - again!), fresh from Sundance where I saw it was really good and it sold well. I got to hang out with the team at the Panorama party. Gueros (Isa: Mundial - again!), was a disappointment -- too like The Year of the Nail (though different) in tone. But what a great company Canana is!
Panorama's Finding Vivian Maier (Isa: HanWay - again!) is brilliantly interesting. It is about to be released in U.S. by IFC. I highly recommend seeing this documentary about an eccentric, unknown photographer. It premiered at Tiff 2013. Fresh from Sundance where it won a Special Jury Prize, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (Isa: Submarine) was a treasure; Velvet Terrorists was about the oddest piece I have ever seen. About three former opponents of the Czechoslovakian Soviet Regime, each has continued to enjoy blowing up things. One is still training the next generation in urban guerilla warfare. They are otherwise unremarkable, sweet even, but twisted. What an odd documentary.
A quick look at the Market Films I have seen: of the 400+ premieres: Zero -- no I did see German Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, Two Lives (Isa: Beta), and I will soon be home to celebrate its nomination at the famous Villa Aurora, the former home of German expatriate writer Leon Feuchtwanger. So many more films look sooooo attractive! A pity I may never get to see them. I would need all the time in the world, and I have so little. I have so much and yet I want more!
And for all the complaints about Berlin, many sales agents set up private screenings before the market kicked off. What is that about?
Beki Probst, who has run the Efm since 1988, responded to the many media reports of a quieter market in an interview with ScreenDaily which sounds almost the same as the one she gave in 2009.
Quoting her current statement which I take the liberty of quoting here as it appears in Screen:
“I think that there was a good movement of business this year,” she said. In the opinion of Probst, there had been a muddying of the distinction between the Efm and the more general term of the ‘market’.
“Daphné Kapfer of Europa International representing 35 sales agents said that it was a very good Berlin, and Glen Basner of FilmNation commented that it was ‘the best Berlin’.
“Even Harvey Weinstein came just for 24 hours to sign a $7m check, and Aloft was bought by Sony Pictures Classics.
“It’s the players, and not the market, that is important. The players come here if they have the right line-up. All we can do is provide the best infrastructure, but what happens after that is up to them.”
"Sales agents were not sitting idle at their stands if one takes the example of one company in the Martin Gropius Bau: the CEO met with 90 buyers and the members of staff responsible for marketing had no less than 180 meetings in addition to ad-hoc discussions at events in the evenings."
Coproductions are the engine driving the business these days.
This year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market ended after two-and-a-half days with awards handed out to projects from Kazakhstan and Belgium.
The €6,000 Arte International Prize went to Kazakh film-maker Emir Baigazin’s planned second feature The Wounded Angel, the second part of a trilogy after his Silver Bear-winning Harmony Lessons. The €1.2m Almaty-based Kazakhfilm Jsc production has already attracted France’s Capricci Production as a co-producer and has backing in place from the Doha Film Institute and the Hubert Bals Fund.
The €10,000 Vff Talent Highlight Pitch Award was presented to Belgian director Bavo Defurne for his romantic dramedy Souvenir. The €2m co-production by Oostende-based Indeed Films with Belgium’s Frakas Productions and Germany’s Karibufilm already has backing from Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Cinefinance and public broadcaster Vrt/ Een.
India-Norway’s $55 million film to be directed by Hans Petter Moland (In Order of Disappearance)’s The Indian Bride is an exciting example of an unusual pairing of countries.
Bavaria and Senator’s joint venture Bavaria Pictures’ The Postcard Killers to be directed by Mexican director Everardo Gout shows the international expansion of talent.
The Hungary-Austria-Germany co-production of Stefan Zweig’s Beware of Pity, or U.K.-Lithuania action comedy Redirected being sold by Content brings unusual European partners together.
U.S. born Damian John Harper’s coproduction with the German producers, brothers Jakob and Jonas Weydemann, on Los Angeles will be followed by In the Middle of the River now being developed with Zdf’s Das Kleine Fernsehspiel unit.
Shoreline’s The Infinite Man produced with Australia’s Hedone Productions in association with Bonsai Films with investment from South Australia Film Corporation through its Filmlab funding initiative, development assistance from Screen Australia is also a new sort of pairing.
Film and Music Entertainment (F&Me), Bac Films, 20 Steps Productions and Bruemmer & Herzog’s The President is shooting in Tbilisi, Georgia and is being directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
Italian-Canadian producer Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s Sights of Death starring Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Baldwin and Michael Madsen is directed by Allessandro Capone in Rome.
The Spain-u.K. co-production Second Origin is based on the best selling Catalan novel Mecanoscrit Del Segon Orgen.
The Golden Bear Winner Black Coal, Thin Ice is a Boneyard Entertainment (New York & Hong Kong) co-production with Boneyard Entertainment China (Bec), Omnijoi Media (Jiangsu, China), China Film co-production.
A sign of the times is the Swedish Film in Berlin advertisement which lists all Swedish co-productions:
In Competition: In Order of DisappearanceOut of Competition: NymphomaniacBerlinale Special: Someone You Love Generation Kplus: A Christmoose StoryPerspektive Deutsches Kino: Lamento
All are with European co-producers as is Antboy a Danish-German co-production.
One of my favorites is Gallows Hill, being sold by Im Global and already picked up by IFC for U.S. Starring Twilight actor Peter Facinelli, U.K. actress Sophia Myles, Nathalia Ramos and Colombian model and actress Carolina Guerra, it was entirely financed from within Colombia by television network Rcn’s affiliate Five 7 Media which produced with Peter Block's A Bigger Boat, David Higgins and Angelique Higgins' Launchpad Productions and Andrea Chung. The screenplay was written by Rich D’Ovidio ( The Call, Thir13en Ghosts) about a widower who takes his children on a trip to their mother’s Colombian hometown.
Another interesting combo is the Australian-Singapore co-production Canopy being sold by Odin’s Eye which was acquired by Kaleidoscope for U.K., by Kinosmith for Canada and Odin’s Eye itself for Australia. After its Tiff 2013 premiere, Monterrey acquired U.S. rights.
Cathedrals of Culture, was produced by Wim Wenders’ production company: Neue Road Movies in Germany and co-produced by Final Cut For Real (Denmark), Lotus Film (Austria), Mer Film (Norway), Les Films d'Ici 2 (France), Sundance Productions / RadicalMedia (U.S.), Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg In collaboration with Arte (Germany and France) and Wowow (Japan).
Grand Budapest Hotel is a co-production of Scott Rudin in U.S. and Studio Babelsburg in Germany.
Wouldn't you say there had to be an awful lot of business going on? If only the media knew where to look for it. Instead, they moan the same old tired tune, "Quality a bit soft. Not a lot of Big Titles. Not a lot of Big News". Oh well...
Efm Coproduction Market
Asian producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who was pitching the Hong Kong comedy Grooms by writer-director Arvin Chen at the Berlin Coproduction Market, announced that Germany’s augenschein filmproduktion will be a coproducer on Singaporean director Boo Junfeng’s second feature Apprentice. The film has already received backing from France’s World Cinema Support, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw of Germany and Germany's second network, Zdf’s Das kleine fernsehspiel unit. It also has Cinema Defacto as its French co-producer. Junfeng’s first film, Sandcastle, was screened at the Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2010.
Cologne-based augenschein, who produced Maximilian Leo’s My Brother’s Keeper, the opening film of this year’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino and is handled internationally by Media Luna, is currently in post-production on Romanian filmmaker Florin Serban’s Box, his second feature after the 2010 Berlinale Competition film If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle.
Argentinian filmmaker Santiago Mitre whose debut The Student established him as one of the brightest and most courted young directors in Latin America was in the Co-production Market with his untitled second feature which France’s Full House connected to along with Argentina’s Union de los Rio, Argentine broadcast network Telefe, Ignacio Viale and the ubiquitous Lita Stantic.
Full House was also at the Coproduction Market with Peter Webber’s Fresh about a young thief learning the art of pickpocketing in Bogota, Colombia. It will be co-produced with Rcn affiliate Five 7 Media and 4Direcciones in Colombia and by Webber himself.
Raymond van der Kaaij, the producer of Tamar van den Dop’s Panorama title Supernova, is now financing Sundance winner Ernesto Contreras’ next feature I Dream In Another Language. The Spanish-English language project will be produced with Mexico-based Agencia Sha, and it is now casting the American lead according to producer van der Kaaij of Revolver Amsterdam. Developed at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the winner of the Sundance-Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, I Dream has already received support from Imcine in Mexico. Shooting is scheduled in Mexico for the end of 2014.
Revolver is now editing Bodkin Ras, the debut film of Iranian-Dutch director Kaweh Modiri, an English-language documentary-thriller set in North Scotland. The Dutch-Belgian-u.K. coproduction is set for release at the end of 2014.
Finnish film-maker Jukka-Pekka Valkeapaa’s is editing his latest feature They Have Escaped, which Revolver coproduced with Helsinki Film.
Trend of smart art genres
Another continuing trend, which began with Xyz and Celluloid Nightmares and continued with Memento, is the character-driven art genre films with tight budgets, like the Danish coming-of-age-werewolf-romance, When Animals Dream, directed by first timer Jonas Arnby, sold by Gaumont to Radius-twc for No. Americ. The Scandinavians, formerly making a mark with "Nordic Noir" are now making what they call "Nordic Twilight".
Trend of remake rights
Another trend is that of remake rights. Film Sharks reports it makes more from selling remake rights than from licensing distribution rights.
The Intouchables is selling remake rights to more countries than only India as is the sale of Other Angle’s Babysitting remake rights. Negotiations are underway with Russia, Italy and Germany.
Fruit Chan is considering an English language remake of his 2004 cult horror film Dumplings.
The market is bit too calm?…Then let us look at Cannes…
Usually by Afm you can begin the Tipped for Cannes List (which Gilles Jacob detested), but even that is a little on the quiet side. I begin to question whether all media fueled news is accurate: the slow sales being reported, the lack of pre-Cannes buzz… Is the media really investigating deeply?
Of all the trades, while Screen has the most international news and deepest analyses, Variety reports things no other trade is covering. But…still the non-news of a quiet market persists as if it were headline news. We always hear this and we are still in an economic slump, so what we wish for is not apparent, but this is not news.
Tipped for Cannes
Tipped for Cannes are Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home staring Gong Li and to be sold by Wild Bunch, Stealth’s First Law starring Mads Mikkelsen (Cannes 2012 Best Actor Award for The Hunt); Self Made (Boreg) by Shira Geffen and to be sold by Westend, shot in Hebrew and Arabic by the production and sales team behind Oscar nominated 2011 drama Footnote, the second film after Geffen’s 2007 debut Jellyfish which won the Cannes Camera d’Or. MK2’s Clouds of Sils Maria by Olivier Assayas and starring Juliette Binoche, Chloe Grace Moretz and Kristen Stewart, and Naomi Kawase’s Still the Water will be delivered in time for Cannes. Pyramide International is plannng for Leviathan, a modern retelling of the biblical story which deals with some of Russia’s most important social issues to be ready for Cannes. It is directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev and produced by Alexander Rodnyansky (Stalingrad) as their followup to Elena. Gaumont-cj co-production, The Target, the Korean remake of Fred Cavaye’s action thriller Point Blank will be ready in time for Cannes.
Rumors and truths about people changing positions
Rumors about Dieter Kosslick replacing Berlin’s Culture Secretary who resigned after a tax evasion scandal in which he admitted to stashing $575,000 in a Swiss bank account…Charlotte Mickie has left eOne and knowing her, she is bound to find something good elsewhere as she's too good to lose...StudioCanals Harold van Lier now leads eOne’s newly ramped international sales team and Montreal based Anick Poirier leads its subsidiary label, Seville International. Jeff Nuyts is leaving Intramovies. Nigel Sinclair and Guy East seem to be leaving Exclusive Media the company they founded as discussions with partners from Dasym Investment Strategies Bv move forward. Kevin Hoiseth from Voltage Pictures has joined International Film Trust as their director of international sales...and of course, Nadine de Barros has founded her own company, Fortitude, and was holding court at the Ritz Carlton the buzziest spot outside of the Martin Gropius Bau.
What I Saw and What I Thought
For what it's worth, here is my limited list of screenings of films seen only in the last 3 days of the festival when I was no longer "working". I am including some I actually saw at Sundance.
First and foremost -- and to be written about further in a "thought piece" as I term the articles I think long about before writing and to include my interview with the director Goran Hugo Olsson's (The Black Power Mixtapes winner of Sundance 2011 World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award) -- Concerning Violence (Isa: Films Boutique, U.S.: Cinetic), based on Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth and seen at Sundance this year next to Stanley Nelson's outstanding Freedom Summer (PBS) and Greg Barker's We Are The Giant (Submarine), is a call to action for new societal models ringing out loud and clear.
Golden Bear Winner, Black Coal, Thin Ice by Diao Yinan, a Chinese noir, lacked the momentum and substance I would have expected in a winning film, though it was a fascinating way to see today's urban China. Had I been on the jury, I would have chosen the Best Director Award winning Boyhood (Isa: IFC) by Richard Linklater. But perhaps because James Schamus, an American who loves Chinese films, was President of the Jury, there might have arisen a question of disinterested objectivity. I would have to hear what jurists Barbara Broccoli, Trine Dyrhom, Chistoph Waltz, Tony Leung, Greta Gerwig, Mitra Farahani and Michel Gondry would have to say about the deliberations.
Speaking of jury prizes, it was a surprise the much acclaimed '71 (Isa: Protagonist, now headed by our dear Mike Goodridge) won nothing, and good Alain Renais' Life of Riley (Isa: Le Pacte) received recognition. I found Christophe Gans' La belle et la bete (Beauty and the Beast) (Isa: Pathe) an overproduced unwieldy special effects-ridden mess, even though it was exec-produced by Jérôme Seydoux who also produced the masterpiece La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), and starred his granddaughter Lea Seydoux. I'll stand by Cocteau's versoin. I heard Claudia Llosa (Milk of Sorrow)'s Aloft was also not widely admired.
About the best actress winning film The Little House (Isa: Shochiku could have marketed it more widely), I heard nothing at all, though it sounds really good. Kreuzweg (Stations of the Cross) (Isa: Beta) by brother and sister team Anna and Dietrich Brueggemann (any relation to our own Tom Brueggeman?) had a satisfying denouement and was quite engrossing with moments of humor lightening the heavy weight of the cross carried by 14 year old Maria played by Lea van Acken, a picture face out of a George de la Tour painting (Magdeline with a Smoking Flame or A Piece of Art). Macondo (Isa: Films Boutique - again! ) by Sudabeh Mortezai of Austria was a window on a world never seen before and very engrossing although the coming of age story was one we have seen before.
Not sorry to say I missed The Monuments Men and Nymphomaniac Volume I, but sorry that I missed Beloved Sisters (Isa: Global Screen) of Dominik Graf, The Grand Budapest Hotel (will see it in U.S.), Argentinian Benjamin Naishat's History of Fear (Isa: Visit) -- I'll catch it in Carthegena, Guadalajara or San Sebastian I'm sure, Jack, In Order of Disappearance which sounds like the sleeper hit of the festival, Argentinan (again!) La tercera orilla (The Third Side of the River), Lou Ye's Tui Na (Blind Massage) and Rachid Bouchareb's Two Men in Town (Isa: Pathe - again!), which I heard was rather flat which is not surprising, for when non-Americans try to make an American genre, it usually misses a certain verve, but still is such an interesting subject for him to tackle, Zwischen Welten (Inbetween Worlds) (Isa: The Match Factory) from Germany, another "American" subject, but here about a German soldier in Afghanistan, not an American one.
Among the Berlinale Specials, I wish I had seen Nancy Buirski's Afternoon of a Faun which everyone said was good (Isa: Cactus Three the doc production company of Krysanne Katsoolis and Caroline Stevens) and Volker Schloendorff's 1969 Brecht piece Baal starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Margarethe von Trotta. I did see his Diplomacy (Isa: Gaumont) which was a great treat, erudite, intimate and reminiscent of the novels of Sandor Marai (Embers and Casanova in Bolzano). Wish I could have seen Wim Wenders' Cathedrals of Culture (Isa: Cinephil), Diego Luna's Cesar Chavez (Isa: Mundial) and In the Courtyard aka Dans la cours (Isa: Wild Bunch) starring Catherine Deneuve and The Kidnapping of Michel Houllebecq (Isa: Le Pacte - again!!). I will see The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (Isa: The Film Sales Company) by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, produced by Jonathan Dana, Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller and Celeste Schaefer Snyder (Ballets Russes), back home. The Turning (Isa: Level K), an experimental omnibus produced by my favorite Australian producer, Robert Connelly who also directed in part and Maggie Myles, is also a must-see as is Errol Morris' companion piece to The Fog of War, The Unknown Known (Isa: HanWay) and Houssein Amini's Two Faces of January (Isa: StudioCanal) starring my favorites Viggo Mortenson and Kirsten Dunst. We Come as Friends (Isa: Le Pacte), by Hubert Sauper whose earlier film Darwin's Destiny astounded me, was worth watching although so often his films plunge one into a hopeless helplessness. Fresh from Sundance, it was raising controversy and the story of the Sudan is worth knowing. His particular and peculiar Pov is valuable. Watermark (Isa: Entertainment One), another social issue worth knowing about will have to wait for a more propitious time. Personally I'm hoping Israel's current venture into desalination of water will lead the world into peace and that I will rejoice watching the doc about that.
Difret (Isa: Films Boutique - again!), fresh from Sundance where I saw it was really good and it sold well. I got to hang out with the team at the Panorama party. Gueros (Isa: Mundial - again!), was a disappointment -- too like The Year of the Nail (though different) in tone. But what a great company Canana is!
Panorama's Finding Vivian Maier (Isa: HanWay - again!) is brilliantly interesting. It is about to be released in U.S. by IFC. I highly recommend seeing this documentary about an eccentric, unknown photographer. It premiered at Tiff 2013. Fresh from Sundance where it won a Special Jury Prize, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (Isa: Submarine) was a treasure; Velvet Terrorists was about the oddest piece I have ever seen. About three former opponents of the Czechoslovakian Soviet Regime, each has continued to enjoy blowing up things. One is still training the next generation in urban guerilla warfare. They are otherwise unremarkable, sweet even, but twisted. What an odd documentary.
A quick look at the Market Films I have seen: of the 400+ premieres: Zero -- no I did see German Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, Two Lives (Isa: Beta), and I will soon be home to celebrate its nomination at the famous Villa Aurora, the former home of German expatriate writer Leon Feuchtwanger. So many more films look sooooo attractive! A pity I may never get to see them. I would need all the time in the world, and I have so little. I have so much and yet I want more!
- 2/27/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Camera d’Or winner’s second film produced by Movie Plus, United King.
UK outfit WestEnd Films has boarded sales on Camera d’Or winner Shira Geffen’s (Jellyfish) sophomore feature Self Made, which is due to be completed in time for Cannes.
The under-the-radar drama, produced by David Mandil’s Movie Plus (Beaufort) and Moshe Edery and Leon Edery of United King (Lemon Tree), shot in Israel last summer and stars Jellyfish lead Sarah Adler alongside newcomer Samira Saraya. Waltz With Bashir editor Nili Feller is also on board.
Shot in Hebrew and Arabic, writer-director Geffen’s film follows two women - one Palestinian and one Israeli - who after a mix up at a checkpoint find themselves living the life of the other on the opposite side of the Israel-Palestine border.
Self Made reunites the production and sales team behind Oscar-nominated 2011 drama Footnote, which was picked up by Spc for the Us.
WestEnd will be...
UK outfit WestEnd Films has boarded sales on Camera d’Or winner Shira Geffen’s (Jellyfish) sophomore feature Self Made, which is due to be completed in time for Cannes.
The under-the-radar drama, produced by David Mandil’s Movie Plus (Beaufort) and Moshe Edery and Leon Edery of United King (Lemon Tree), shot in Israel last summer and stars Jellyfish lead Sarah Adler alongside newcomer Samira Saraya. Waltz With Bashir editor Nili Feller is also on board.
Shot in Hebrew and Arabic, writer-director Geffen’s film follows two women - one Palestinian and one Israeli - who after a mix up at a checkpoint find themselves living the life of the other on the opposite side of the Israel-Palestine border.
Self Made reunites the production and sales team behind Oscar-nominated 2011 drama Footnote, which was picked up by Spc for the Us.
WestEnd will be...
- 2/8/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
This year Korean writer and director Bong Joon-Ho will preside over the jury that hands out the Camera d'Or (Golden Camera) award - the only cross-section award on the Croisette that is given to the best first feature. This year's winner will join the ranks of Michael Rowe (Leap Year, 2010), Warwick Thornton (Samson & Delilah, 2009), Steve McQueen (Hunger, 2008), Etgar Keret & Shira Geffen (Jellyfish, 2007), Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East of Bucharest, 2006) who all won the prestigious prize in the last five years. There are 19 first features contenders are spread out in all the competition sections including a pair in the official Main Comp, Un Certain Regard, Critics' Week and Directors' Fortnight. It's anybody's guess at this point what Joon-Ho and jury will pick but the winner will join the ranks of auteurs (Jim Jarmusch, Tran Anh Hung and Naomi Kawase) that were discovered and crowned at the world's greatest festival. Here are the...
- 4/20/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Pyramide International is part of Pyramide group which is a French distribution company (Pyramide Distribution) and a French production company (Pyramide Productions) as well as an international sales agent. The company was founded in 1989. As a world sales agent, Pyramide International (former Fpi) has deliberately focused on the “film d’auteur”, and promotes international sales of young directors like Sandrine Veysset (Will It Snow For Xmas ?), Diego Lerman (Tan De Repente), Wang Xiao-Shuai (Beijing Bicycle), Eleonore Faucher (Brodeuses) and more recently Etgar Keret & Shira Geffen (Jellyfish – Camera d’Or Cannes 2007) and Lucia Puenzo (Xxy – Grand Prize…...
- 2/3/2011
- Sydney's Buzz
Pyramide International breaks the record for the 6 films that they will be presenting in the festival and sidebars: 3 in the Official Selection, 2 in Directors’ Fortnight and 1 in Critics’ Week! As a world sales agent, Pyramide International (formerly Fpi) has deliberately focussed on the “film d’auteur” with the mission of spreading abroad films by young directors like Sandrine Veysset (Will It Snow For Xmas ?), Diego Lerman (Tan De Repente), Wang Xiao-Shuai (Beijing Bicycle), Eleonore Faucher (Brodeuses) and more recently Etgar Keret & Shira Geffen (Jellyfish – Camera d’Or Cannes 2007) and Lucia Puenzo (Xxy – Grand…...
- 5/13/2010
- Sydney's Buzz
By Michael Atkinson
The new Israeli film "Jellyfish" (2007) -- co-directed by lifemates Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, and a Camera d'Or winner at Cannes -- is both familiar and otherworldly. Israeli filmmakers, doubtlessly because of their particularly tense position in the world, of their society's fervent militarization and of the question of the Palestinians, love the everyone's-connected social-weave film, à la "Crash" (Amos Gitai has made several), bouncing amongst a variety of intersecting characters as a way to paint a portrait of the whole culture. As a sub-subgenre, it has its pitfalls, but as all of our cultures become more and more deracinative and immigrant-scrambled, it's easy to see the idea's allure. "Jellyfish," fortunately, adopts the mode but maintains modesty: a mere 78 minutes long (hallelujah), the movie is sharp and poetic on particulars (somewhat like Keret's short fiction, though Geffen is credited as the screenwriter), and is rescued from undue...
The new Israeli film "Jellyfish" (2007) -- co-directed by lifemates Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, and a Camera d'Or winner at Cannes -- is both familiar and otherworldly. Israeli filmmakers, doubtlessly because of their particularly tense position in the world, of their society's fervent militarization and of the question of the Palestinians, love the everyone's-connected social-weave film, à la "Crash" (Amos Gitai has made several), bouncing amongst a variety of intersecting characters as a way to paint a portrait of the whole culture. As a sub-subgenre, it has its pitfalls, but as all of our cultures become more and more deracinative and immigrant-scrambled, it's easy to see the idea's allure. "Jellyfish," fortunately, adopts the mode but maintains modesty: a mere 78 minutes long (hallelujah), the movie is sharp and poetic on particulars (somewhat like Keret's short fiction, though Geffen is credited as the screenwriter), and is rescued from undue...
- 9/30/2008
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
- Critic’s Week is a smaller-in-scope, parallel event that might come across as Cannes' least desirable, but the fact is: this is a sidebar that manages to offer some solid debut and second time efforts. Last year, the Espace Miramar (a serious walk from the traffic jams of the festival core) was overwhelmed by salivating fans awaiting the solo screening for Gael Garcia Bernal debut film Déficit, but the section also offered international festival favorites in Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen’s Jellyfish (Meduzot) and Lucia Puenzo Xxy and special screenings for Juan Antonio Bayona’s horror mystery The Orphanage and French filmmaker pairing Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo’s bone chilling horror film Inside (À l'intérieur). Now in their 47th edition, this year’s slate of ten films (5 out of 7 in competition titles are first time efforts and have the added chance at grabbing the camera d’or
- 4/24/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
By Neil Pedley
This week is something of a nostalgia trip with a period comedy, Freddie Prinze Jr. and a concert documentary about a group of men who, by all the laws of man and nature, should not still be alive and walking around.
"The Flight of the Red Balloon"
After being nominated for the Palme d'Or an incredible five times at Cannes, it's no wonder that director Hou Hsiao-hsien has become a Francophile. In his first film outside of Asia, the "Three Times" auteur directs the country's first lady of cinema, Juliette Binoche, in a story about an overburdened mother who receives a much-needed lift from her son's Chinese nanny (Song Fang) as they turn the City of Lights into a magical playground for the 7-year-old Simon . a tribute to Albert Lamorisse's 1956 short. In French with subtitles.
Opens in limited release.
"Jack and Jill vs. the World...
This week is something of a nostalgia trip with a period comedy, Freddie Prinze Jr. and a concert documentary about a group of men who, by all the laws of man and nature, should not still be alive and walking around.
"The Flight of the Red Balloon"
After being nominated for the Palme d'Or an incredible five times at Cannes, it's no wonder that director Hou Hsiao-hsien has become a Francophile. In his first film outside of Asia, the "Three Times" auteur directs the country's first lady of cinema, Juliette Binoche, in a story about an overburdened mother who receives a much-needed lift from her son's Chinese nanny (Song Fang) as they turn the City of Lights into a magical playground for the 7-year-old Simon . a tribute to Albert Lamorisse's 1956 short. In French with subtitles.
Opens in limited release.
"Jack and Jill vs. the World...
- 3/31/2008
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
BUENOS AIRES -- The winners of the inaugural Festival Internacional San Luis Cine were announced during the weekend in the provincial Argentine capital.
The Israeli film Jellyfish (Meduzot) won the top prize in the features category Saturday, taking home the Golden Puntano and $50,000. The film, directed by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, focuses on the lives of three women in modern-day Tel-Aviv. It also won the Camera d'Or this year at the Festival de Cannes, the top award for first-time directors.
David Cronenberg was awarded best director for his crime thriller Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. Steven Knight also was lauded with top screenwriting honors for his script about Russian mobsters in London.
Top acting props went to Cesar Troncoso for the Uruguayan film The Pope's Toilet (El Bano del Papa) and Germany's Maren Kroymann for Hounded (Verfolgt).
The jury created a new category, best opera prima, and awarded it to Nadine Labaki for Caramel (Sukar Banat), Lebanon's official submission for the best foreign-language film Oscar.
The Israeli film Jellyfish (Meduzot) won the top prize in the features category Saturday, taking home the Golden Puntano and $50,000. The film, directed by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen, focuses on the lives of three women in modern-day Tel-Aviv. It also won the Camera d'Or this year at the Festival de Cannes, the top award for first-time directors.
David Cronenberg was awarded best director for his crime thriller Eastern Promises, starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. Steven Knight also was lauded with top screenwriting honors for his script about Russian mobsters in London.
Top acting props went to Cesar Troncoso for the Uruguayan film The Pope's Toilet (El Bano del Papa) and Germany's Maren Kroymann for Hounded (Verfolgt).
The jury created a new category, best opera prima, and awarded it to Nadine Labaki for Caramel (Sukar Banat), Lebanon's official submission for the best foreign-language film Oscar.
- 11/27/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
BUENOS AIRES - The winners of the inaugural Festival Internacional San Luis Cine were announced Saturday in the provincial Argentine capital in the foothills of the Andes Mountains.
Israeli film "Meduzot" (Jellyfish) won top prize in the features category, taking home the Golden Puntano and US$50,000. The film, directed by Edgar Keret and Shira Geffen, focuses on the lives of three women in modern-day Tel-Aviv. "Mezudot" also won the Camera d'or prize in Cannes this year, the top award for first-time directors.
David Cronenberg was awarded best director for his latest crime thriller "Eastern Promises" starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. Steven Knight was also lauded
with top screenwriting honors for his script for the film about Russian mobsters in London.
Top acting props went to Cesar Troncoso for the Uruguayan film "El Bano del Papa" (The Pope's Toilet) and Germany's Maren Kroymann for "Verfolgt" (Hounded).
The jury created a new category "Best Opera Prima" and awarded it to Nadine Labaki for "Sukar Banat" (Caramel), which is Lebanon's official submission for the best foreign language film category for next year's Academy Awards.
Israeli film "Meduzot" (Jellyfish) won top prize in the features category, taking home the Golden Puntano and US$50,000. The film, directed by Edgar Keret and Shira Geffen, focuses on the lives of three women in modern-day Tel-Aviv. "Mezudot" also won the Camera d'or prize in Cannes this year, the top award for first-time directors.
David Cronenberg was awarded best director for his latest crime thriller "Eastern Promises" starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. Steven Knight was also lauded
with top screenwriting honors for his script for the film about Russian mobsters in London.
Top acting props went to Cesar Troncoso for the Uruguayan film "El Bano del Papa" (The Pope's Toilet) and Germany's Maren Kroymann for "Verfolgt" (Hounded).
The jury created a new category "Best Opera Prima" and awarded it to Nadine Labaki for "Sukar Banat" (Caramel), which is Lebanon's official submission for the best foreign language film category for next year's Academy Awards.
- 11/25/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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