35 international documentary projects include 11 first-time feature directors.
New works from Mark Cousins and Cow producer Kat Mansoor are among 35 documentary projects selected for Sheffield DocFest’s MeetMarket pitching forum, which returns as an in-person event for 2022 from June 27-28.
The event will run in-person for the first time since 2019; and will continue online in the days following the festival. The selected titles are a mixture of theatrical features, and projects being made for television.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
Cousins is presenting UK title A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things, produced by Adam Dawtrey and Mary Bell.
New works from Mark Cousins and Cow producer Kat Mansoor are among 35 documentary projects selected for Sheffield DocFest’s MeetMarket pitching forum, which returns as an in-person event for 2022 from June 27-28.
The event will run in-person for the first time since 2019; and will continue online in the days following the festival. The selected titles are a mixture of theatrical features, and projects being made for television.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
Cousins is presenting UK title A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things, produced by Adam Dawtrey and Mary Bell.
- 4/28/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
35 international documentary projects include 11 first-time feature directors.
New works from Mark Cousins and Cow producer Kat Mansoor are among 35 documentary projects selected for Sheffield DocFest’s MeetMarket pitching forum, which returns as an in-person event for 2022 from June 27-28.
The event will run in-person for the first time since 2019; and will continue online in the days following the festival. The selected titles are a mixture of theatrical features, and projects being made for television.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
Northern Irish filmmaker Cousins is presenting UK title A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things, produced by Adam Dawtrey and Mary Bell.
New works from Mark Cousins and Cow producer Kat Mansoor are among 35 documentary projects selected for Sheffield DocFest’s MeetMarket pitching forum, which returns as an in-person event for 2022 from June 27-28.
The event will run in-person for the first time since 2019; and will continue online in the days following the festival. The selected titles are a mixture of theatrical features, and projects being made for television.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
Northern Irish filmmaker Cousins is presenting UK title A Sudden Glimpse To Deeper Things, produced by Adam Dawtrey and Mary Bell.
- 4/28/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
There are 30 projects in first physical event since 2019.
New works from One Child Nation director Jialing Zhang and Chuck Norris vs. Communism filmmaker Ilinca Calugareanu are among the 30 projects participating in Cph:forum, the financing and co-production market of Cph:dox film festival.
The Forum will run from March 28-31, and will be the first in-person edition since 2019.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
Massachusetts-based Chinese filmmaker Zhang is participating with German-Dutch co-production The Total Trust (working title), produced by Knut Jager through Germany’s Filmtank. The documentary will examine the growth of surveillance culture in China, from cameras to AI profiling.
New works from One Child Nation director Jialing Zhang and Chuck Norris vs. Communism filmmaker Ilinca Calugareanu are among the 30 projects participating in Cph:forum, the financing and co-production market of Cph:dox film festival.
The Forum will run from March 28-31, and will be the first in-person edition since 2019.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
Massachusetts-based Chinese filmmaker Zhang is participating with German-Dutch co-production The Total Trust (working title), produced by Knut Jager through Germany’s Filmtank. The documentary will examine the growth of surveillance culture in China, from cameras to AI profiling.
- 2/10/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
UK festival also announces best feature and emerging filmmaker winners.
Chilean director Gabriela Pena has scooped £10,000 in development funding for upcoming feature Here, The Silence Is Heard at the UK’s Open City Documentary Festival.
It marks the second time the grant has been awarded through the festival’s Assembly documentary development lab and was one of six projects that took part in the programme, which ran online from September 3-8.
The autobiographical documentary follows Pena’s return to her family home in Chile, which her parents had to abandon during the Pinochet dictatorship. Helping her grandparents write their memoirs...
Chilean director Gabriela Pena has scooped £10,000 in development funding for upcoming feature Here, The Silence Is Heard at the UK’s Open City Documentary Festival.
It marks the second time the grant has been awarded through the festival’s Assembly documentary development lab and was one of six projects that took part in the programme, which ran online from September 3-8.
The autobiographical documentary follows Pena’s return to her family home in Chile, which her parents had to abandon during the Pinochet dictatorship. Helping her grandparents write their memoirs...
- 9/15/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The non-fiction film festival’s tenth edition will take place online this year, running from 9 to 15 September. Open City Documentary Festival will host its tenth annual festival this year, bringing together filmmakers, industry professionals and film enthusiasts from the UK and globally to celebrate the art of documentary filmmaking. In response to the pandemic, this year’s edition will take place entirely online from 9 to 15 September, and will be the first available to access internationally. The programme features 48 new films and 10 cross-media projects, with 54% of the selected filmmakers being women or non-binary. Among the festival’s three world premieres, three international premieres, five European premieres and 29 UK premieres, highlights from the European productions include Valentina Pedicini’s Faith, Amel Alzakout and Khaled Abdulwahed's Purple Sea, and Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows, all of which featured at prominent festivals this year and the last. Special events this year...
Exclusive: Cinema Guild has acquired North American distribution rights to Matías Piñeiro’s Isabella which won a special jury mention in the Encounters section at the 70th Berlinale earlier this year. A 2021 theatrical release is being planned.
Isabella follows Mariel (María Villar) who wants to play the role of Isabella in a local theater troupe’s production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, but money problems prevent her from preparing for the audition. She thinks of asking her brother for financial help, but is worried about being too direct. Her solution is to ask her brother’s girlfriend, Luciana (Agustina Muñoz), also an actress and a more self-assured one, to convince her brother to give her the money. Luciana agrees on the condition that Mariel will not abandon her acting and continue to prepare for the part of Isabella.
“We can’t wait for audiences to be enchanted by Matías’ latest,...
Isabella follows Mariel (María Villar) who wants to play the role of Isabella in a local theater troupe’s production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, but money problems prevent her from preparing for the audition. She thinks of asking her brother for financial help, but is worried about being too direct. Her solution is to ask her brother’s girlfriend, Luciana (Agustina Muñoz), also an actress and a more self-assured one, to convince her brother to give her the money. Luciana agrees on the condition that Mariel will not abandon her acting and continue to prepare for the part of Isabella.
“We can’t wait for audiences to be enchanted by Matías’ latest,...
- 8/11/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
“Is it better inside prison or out?” the filmmaker Mehrdad Oskouei asks one of his subjects. She isn’t entirely sure how to answer. Life behind bars certainly has its restrictions. But then, so did her life on the other side of them. Eventually, she lands on an admission: “I’m more at ease here”—which is to say, on…...
- 8/7/2020
- by A.A. Dowd on Film, shared by A.A. Dowd to The A.V. Club
- avclub.com
We’re now entering the end of the summer movie season and it continues to be an unprecedented era in the world of film. Smaller-scale movies got a bigger spotlight than usual, with distributors finding success in drive-ins and on digital platforms while all tentpoles continued to get delayed. We’ll have to wait and see if Warner Bros. will go ahead with plans to release Christopher Nolan’s Tenet first in the international territories who have a handle on the pandemic, and then in the U.S. next month.
In the meantime, August brings a number of notable independent and foreign film highlights, including favorites from Sundance, TIFF, Venice, Karlovy Vary, and more. We should also note that our #1 pick from last month, Boys State, will be getting an Apple TV+ debut on August 14 following a limited theatrical release beginning this past weekend. As is the case these last few months,...
In the meantime, August brings a number of notable independent and foreign film highlights, including favorites from Sundance, TIFF, Venice, Karlovy Vary, and more. We should also note that our #1 pick from last month, Boys State, will be getting an Apple TV+ debut on August 14 following a limited theatrical release beginning this past weekend. As is the case these last few months,...
- 8/4/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In a society where women are shunned and any semblance of freedom or independence seems unattainable, some are pushed to a breaking point in their own families, leading to murders of husbands, brothers, and other male family members. Mehrdad Oskouei’s new acclaimed Iran-set documentary Sunless Shadows takes an intimate look at the women––specifically teenage girls––who are serving time in a juvenile detention center.
A direct follow-up to his 2016 film Starless Dreams, he takes a confessional approach as he allows his subjects to go into a room alone and push a red button on the camera and address their accomplices or their victims. As one can see in the first trailer––which we’re pleased to exclusively premiere courtesy of Cinema Guild ahead of an August 5 premiere in the Museum of Moving Image’s Virtual Cinema, followed by a national rollout––it presents an emotional, harrowing conceit to...
A direct follow-up to his 2016 film Starless Dreams, he takes a confessional approach as he allows his subjects to go into a room alone and push a red button on the camera and address their accomplices or their victims. As one can see in the first trailer––which we’re pleased to exclusively premiere courtesy of Cinema Guild ahead of an August 5 premiere in the Museum of Moving Image’s Virtual Cinema, followed by a national rollout––it presents an emotional, harrowing conceit to...
- 7/21/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Perhaps the greatest gift a documentary can give to its viewer is to broaden horizons through knowledge and stories. However, this concept works both ways, since sometimes the stories we hear and the people who tell them may just talk about them for the first time in their lives, due to various reasons, the most powerful being fear and repressions manifested in a system that has mastered the ways of keeping the unwanted voices silent. Iranian director and producer Mehrdad Oskouei has certainly achieved in getting those voices heard in his various documentaries.
“Sunless Shadows” is screening at Dok.Fest Munich
While he was working on his film “Starless Dreams”, a documentary about women in Iran imprisoned and trialed for murder, he heard even more stories about the subject matter, stories of women who had murdered (or assisted in the murder of) their husband, brother-in-laws or fathers. Kept in correctional facilities throughout the country,...
“Sunless Shadows” is screening at Dok.Fest Munich
While he was working on his film “Starless Dreams”, a documentary about women in Iran imprisoned and trialed for murder, he heard even more stories about the subject matter, stories of women who had murdered (or assisted in the murder of) their husband, brother-in-laws or fathers. Kept in correctional facilities throughout the country,...
- 5/4/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Gravitas Ventures has set a VOD/digital release for Sean McEwen’s debut feature Braking For Whales on April 24. The Narrator Entertainment and Charlie Baby Productions film stars Tammin Sursok (Pretty Little Liars), Tom Felton (Harry Potter franchise), Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs), David Koechner (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy), and Austin Swift (Live By Night). Written and directed by McEwen, the plot charts the unexpected journey of a dysfunctional brother and sister who are forced to come to terms with each other and themselves over their recently deceased mother’s final wish. Unique, clever and insightful, this is a story that many can relate to – none can push our buttons like family. McEwen, Sursok and Cassidy Lunnen produced the Boston Film Festival award-winning pic, while Takashi Cheng served as executive producer. Producer Cassidy Lunnen negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers with Brett Rogalsky, on behalf of Gravitas.
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- 4/15/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
By Stephen Tronicek
The feeling of the final day of a film festival is one of a unique purgatory. Everyone has been there long enough for the initial excitement of the opening few days and the encroaching end is coming up quickly. It didn’t help that this morning, Daylight Savings time applied. I was writing up yesterday’s piece at 1 am, only to realize that it was instead 2 am and in horror, I threw myself into bed to get up for an 8:30 am Q. Luckily, I got up on time.
That 8:30 Q lead to a 9:30 screening of Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows. Picking up where he left off with documentaries like Starless Dreams, Sunless Shadows shows us the lives of a few women on Death Row in Iran. What differs Sunless Shadows from other films of its kind is the lack of separation between ourselves and the subjects.
The feeling of the final day of a film festival is one of a unique purgatory. Everyone has been there long enough for the initial excitement of the opening few days and the encroaching end is coming up quickly. It didn’t help that this morning, Daylight Savings time applied. I was writing up yesterday’s piece at 1 am, only to realize that it was instead 2 am and in horror, I threw myself into bed to get up for an 8:30 am Q. Luckily, I got up on time.
That 8:30 Q lead to a 9:30 screening of Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows. Picking up where he left off with documentaries like Starless Dreams, Sunless Shadows shows us the lives of a few women on Death Row in Iran. What differs Sunless Shadows from other films of its kind is the lack of separation between ourselves and the subjects.
- 3/9/2020
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Acquisition marks seventh time company and director will have worked together.
Cinema Guild has picked up Us rights to Hong Sangsoo’s female-led drama The Woman Who Ran fresh off its best director Berlin Silver Bear win at the weekend.
The deal means Cinema Guild will have released seven films by the director, whose latest follows a woman who has three encounters with friends while her husband is on a business trip.
One is a divorcée who likes gardening, another harbours romantic thoughts about her neighbour while a young poet pursues her, and the third works for a cinema. Kim Minhee,...
Cinema Guild has picked up Us rights to Hong Sangsoo’s female-led drama The Woman Who Ran fresh off its best director Berlin Silver Bear win at the weekend.
The deal means Cinema Guild will have released seven films by the director, whose latest follows a woman who has three encounters with friends while her husband is on a business trip.
One is a divorcée who likes gardening, another harbours romantic thoughts about her neighbour while a young poet pursues her, and the third works for a cinema. Kim Minhee,...
- 3/2/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Cinema Guild has acquired all U.S. distribution rights for Mehrdad Oskouei’s documentary Sunless Shadows, which made its world premiere as the opening night film at Idfa where it won the festival’s Best Directing prize. The film is set to make its U.S. Premiere on February 6 in New York as part of MoMA’s Doc Fortnight.
Sunless Shadows is the follow up to Oskouei’s critically acclaimed 2016 pic Starless Dreams and gives another look at the lives of teenage girls in an Iranian juvenile detention center. But this time the focus is narrowed: each of the film’s principal subjects is serving time for the murder of a male family member. One by one, Oskouei invites them to go into a room alone, push the red button on the camera and address their accomplices or their victims. With this new confessional approach combined with the ever-deepening...
Sunless Shadows is the follow up to Oskouei’s critically acclaimed 2016 pic Starless Dreams and gives another look at the lives of teenage girls in an Iranian juvenile detention center. But this time the focus is narrowed: each of the film’s principal subjects is serving time for the murder of a male family member. One by one, Oskouei invites them to go into a room alone, push the red button on the camera and address their accomplices or their victims. With this new confessional approach combined with the ever-deepening...
- 2/3/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) has crowned its 2019 award winners. The respected doc event named Heidi Hassan and Patricia Pérez Fernández’s In A Whisper as best feature-length documentary. The pic, which centers on two emigrated Cuban filmmakers whose passion for film, friendship, and freedom reunites them after years apart, takes a $22,000 prize. This year, for the first time at Idfa, three new awards were presented in the competition for feature-length documentary: best directing went to Mehrdad Oskouei for his film Sunless Shadows; the best editing and cinematography prizes went to Sander Vos and Maasja Ooms respectively for their work on Punks. Elsewhere, Lucy Parker won the best first appearance award for her film Soldiarity, the Fipresci Award was given to Alyx Ayn Arumpac for Aswang, and the award for best mid-length doc went to Jalal Vafaei for Anticlockwise. Victoria Mapplebeck won the Idfa DocLab Award for Digital...
- 11/28/2019
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Directors Heidi Hassan and Patricia Pérez Fernández were the winners of the Idfa Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary with “In a Whisper,” a film that focuses on two emigrated Cuban filmmakers reunited by their passion for film, friendship and freedom.
The jury, which comprised Claire Simon, Mila Turajlić, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Gaston Kaboré, and Rima Mismar, described the film as “a magical, original, and risk-taking cinematic endeavor,” which embodied “a refreshing expression of womanhood; an ode to loss; a celebration of friendship, will, and vulnerability; a reclaiming of hope and passion; and a piercingly honest cinematic dialogue.”
Iranian docmaker Mehrdad Oskouei won the award for directing for his subtly devastating film “Sunless Shadows,” which focuses on young women serving time for the murder of a male relative. The jury was very impressed by the director’s “approach to a pressing subject which he skilfully turns into a metaphor for a whole country.
The jury, which comprised Claire Simon, Mila Turajlić, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Gaston Kaboré, and Rima Mismar, described the film as “a magical, original, and risk-taking cinematic endeavor,” which embodied “a refreshing expression of womanhood; an ode to loss; a celebration of friendship, will, and vulnerability; a reclaiming of hope and passion; and a piercingly honest cinematic dialogue.”
Iranian docmaker Mehrdad Oskouei won the award for directing for his subtly devastating film “Sunless Shadows,” which focuses on young women serving time for the murder of a male relative. The jury was very impressed by the director’s “approach to a pressing subject which he skilfully turns into a metaphor for a whole country.
- 11/27/2019
- by Damon Wise and Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
UK director Lucy Parker’s investigative work Solidarity wins best first appearance prize for debut features.
Cuban directors Heidi Hassan and Patricia Pérez Fernández’s joint autobiographical documentary In A Whisper has won the €20,000 Idfa award for best feature-length documentary.
In the film, the two filmmakers and childhood friends, who lost contact with one another after they emigrated to different countries in Europe, reconnect via video letters and share their experiences in their adoptive homes.
The feature-length competition jury consisted of filmmakers Claire Simon, Mila Turajlić, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Gaston Kaboré, and Rima Mismar.
They praised In A Whisper as a...
Cuban directors Heidi Hassan and Patricia Pérez Fernández’s joint autobiographical documentary In A Whisper has won the €20,000 Idfa award for best feature-length documentary.
In the film, the two filmmakers and childhood friends, who lost contact with one another after they emigrated to different countries in Europe, reconnect via video letters and share their experiences in their adoptive homes.
The feature-length competition jury consisted of filmmakers Claire Simon, Mila Turajlić, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Gaston Kaboré, and Rima Mismar.
They praised In A Whisper as a...
- 11/27/2019
- by 1100380¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
After being appointed director of Dox Box earlier this year, the acclaimed French-Egyptian documentary filmmaker Jihan El-Tahri had a vision for how she could foster the continued evolution of a Berlin-based organization already devoted to the development of a sustainable documentary industry in the Arab world.
From the start, that meant strengthening ties between the Arab region and sub-Saharan Africa, “having spent 30 years of my life trying to connect the north of the continent to the south of it,” said El-Tahri, whose credits include the Emmy-nominated “House of Saud.” “It’s the idea of being that bridge that for me was really important.”
El-Tahri points to the fundamental challenges facing both African and Arab documentary filmmakers, working without broad financial or institutional support in their own regions, while frequently being marginalized by funding bodies in the global north. “We’re trying to be more inclusive,” she said. “We’re trying...
From the start, that meant strengthening ties between the Arab region and sub-Saharan Africa, “having spent 30 years of my life trying to connect the north of the continent to the south of it,” said El-Tahri, whose credits include the Emmy-nominated “House of Saud.” “It’s the idea of being that bridge that for me was really important.”
El-Tahri points to the fundamental challenges facing both African and Arab documentary filmmakers, working without broad financial or institutional support in their own regions, while frequently being marginalized by funding bodies in the global north. “We’re trying to be more inclusive,” she said. “We’re trying...
- 11/23/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
“Listen to women” has become the mantra of the MeToo age, though films that entirely follow its simple directive remain relatively few. “Starless Dreams” was one: Mehrdad Oskouei’s superb 2016 documentary engaged in aching, revealing dialogue with multiple teenage girls in a Tehran juvenile correctional facility, lending an open, sympathetic ear to their stories of familial and institutional neglect, and how it fed them into a criminal justice system that doesn’t always account for the abuse visited upon them. “Sunless Shadows” is another: a direct follow-up in which Oskouei extends his investigation of the same subject, it narrows the study a little further, focusing specifically on girls serving time for the murder of a male relative. In the process, it quietly but pointedly interrogates the notion of victimhood, while tacitly letting a damning essay on Iranian gender politics and hierarchies emerge through the words of his subjects.
If anything,...
If anything,...
- 11/22/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Feature will follow reality show star Dalton Harris.
UK documentary director Kim Longinotto is self-financing and shooting a feature about singer and reality star Dalton Harris
The film has the working title Dalton’s Dream and follows the Jamaican-British singer who won the UK edition of The X Factor in 2018.
Longinotto revealed details of the new project to Screen ahead of Idfa, which will screen her latest documentary, Shooting The Mafia, which debuted at Sundance.
The director describes Dalton’s Dream as an “antidote” to films like Amy, Whitney and Kurt & Courtney, which “celebrate people after they’re dead.”
“We...
UK documentary director Kim Longinotto is self-financing and shooting a feature about singer and reality star Dalton Harris
The film has the working title Dalton’s Dream and follows the Jamaican-British singer who won the UK edition of The X Factor in 2018.
Longinotto revealed details of the new project to Screen ahead of Idfa, which will screen her latest documentary, Shooting The Mafia, which debuted at Sundance.
The director describes Dalton’s Dream as an “antidote” to films like Amy, Whitney and Kurt & Courtney, which “celebrate people after they’re dead.”
“We...
- 11/22/2019
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
Danish director Rødbro makes her feature directorial debut.
Toronto-based Syndicado has boarded international sales for Eva Marie Rødbro’s I Love You I Miss You I Hope I See You Before I Die.
The film has its world premiere tomorrow as part of Idfa’s Competition for First Appearance.
Danish director Rødbro makes her feature directorial debut after previously directing shorts such as Fuck You, Kiss Me, I Touched Her Leg and We Chose The Milky Way, and TV’s Simona Survives and Princesses From The Block.
The documentary is a portrait of life on the fringes of American society.
Toronto-based Syndicado has boarded international sales for Eva Marie Rødbro’s I Love You I Miss You I Hope I See You Before I Die.
The film has its world premiere tomorrow as part of Idfa’s Competition for First Appearance.
Danish director Rødbro makes her feature directorial debut after previously directing shorts such as Fuck You, Kiss Me, I Touched Her Leg and We Chose The Milky Way, and TV’s Simona Survives and Princesses From The Block.
The documentary is a portrait of life on the fringes of American society.
- 11/22/2019
- by 1100142¦Wendy Mitchell¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
The multi-year deal will begin in 2020.
Leading South Korean entertainment media company Cj Enm and its production subsidiary Studio Dragon have partnered with Netflix on a multi-year content production and distribution agreement.
Cj Enm encompasses media, film, and music production and operates 17 TV channels including tvN, Mnet and Ocn, while Studio Dragon is known for its scripted TV content such as Guardian: The Lonely And Great God, The Legend of the Blue Sea, Signal, and Stranger.
Starting in 2020, the studio will produce original series that will be available on Netflix, which currently has more than 158 million subscribers in more than 190 countries.
Leading South Korean entertainment media company Cj Enm and its production subsidiary Studio Dragon have partnered with Netflix on a multi-year content production and distribution agreement.
Cj Enm encompasses media, film, and music production and operates 17 TV channels including tvN, Mnet and Ocn, while Studio Dragon is known for its scripted TV content such as Guardian: The Lonely And Great God, The Legend of the Blue Sea, Signal, and Stranger.
Starting in 2020, the studio will produce original series that will be available on Netflix, which currently has more than 158 million subscribers in more than 190 countries.
- 11/21/2019
- by 134¦Jean Noh¦516¦
- ScreenDaily
Artistic director Orwa Nyrabia talks female representation, Edward Snowden event, the future of the Edn and Saudi Arabia.
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) got off to a powerful start on Wednesday evening (November 20) with Iranian work Sunless Shadows about a group of teenage girls serving time in a juvenile detention centre for murdering either their father, brother or another male relative.
It is the sixth feature documentary from Iranian director Mehrdad Oskouei, whose previous work Starless Dreams premiered in the Berlinale in 2016, where it won the Amnesty International Film Prize.
In a conversation with Screen, Idfa artistic director Nyrabia...
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) got off to a powerful start on Wednesday evening (November 20) with Iranian work Sunless Shadows about a group of teenage girls serving time in a juvenile detention centre for murdering either their father, brother or another male relative.
It is the sixth feature documentary from Iranian director Mehrdad Oskouei, whose previous work Starless Dreams premiered in the Berlinale in 2016, where it won the Amnesty International Film Prize.
In a conversation with Screen, Idfa artistic director Nyrabia...
- 11/21/2019
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
Documentary film festival Idfa opened Wednesday with Mehrdad Oskouei’s “Sunless Shadows,” the latest in a loose quartet of films about incarcerated teens in the Iranian director’s homeland. Developed with help from the Idfa Bertha Fund, the film takes viewers inside an Iranian juvenile detention center, where a number of underage girls are serving time for their involvement in some very serious crimes—the murders of male relatives—in circumstances often exacerbated by Iran’s predominantly patriarchal culture.
Orwa Nyrabia, the festival’s artistic director, praised Oskouei’s film not only for its message of support for vulnerable women but also for its humanist approach. “It’s a film that does not exoticize its subject matter,” he enthused. “It’s a film that is very authentic and sincere in its approach to its characters and its story. And I think this is a film that will be very, very...
Orwa Nyrabia, the festival’s artistic director, praised Oskouei’s film not only for its message of support for vulnerable women but also for its humanist approach. “It’s a film that does not exoticize its subject matter,” he enthused. “It’s a film that is very authentic and sincere in its approach to its characters and its story. And I think this is a film that will be very, very...
- 11/20/2019
- by Damon Wise
- Variety Film + TV
The 32nd International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) opened Wednesday with gender parity, inclusion, and young talent front and center.
Twenty-one year-old Canadian-Vietnamese director Carol Nguyen — whose short “No Crying at the Dinner Table” screens at the festival — kicked off the evening, reflecting Idfa’s commitment to young talent and women filmmakers. Nguyen said that she was optimistic about the position of women in film.
“Within the last few years alone, we have seen a rise of diverse representation in mainstream media,” Nguyen said. “Society and our audiences are more conscious than ever about the lack of gender and racial parity in film. Film festivals have even set gender parity goals for themselves. We are all demanding it.” Nguyen added that there is still a lot more work to be done, and that everyone must act together to achieve parity.
In his opening speech, Orwa Nyrabia, Idfa’s artistic director,...
Twenty-one year-old Canadian-Vietnamese director Carol Nguyen — whose short “No Crying at the Dinner Table” screens at the festival — kicked off the evening, reflecting Idfa’s commitment to young talent and women filmmakers. Nguyen said that she was optimistic about the position of women in film.
“Within the last few years alone, we have seen a rise of diverse representation in mainstream media,” Nguyen said. “Society and our audiences are more conscious than ever about the lack of gender and racial parity in film. Film festivals have even set gender parity goals for themselves. We are all demanding it.” Nguyen added that there is still a lot more work to be done, and that everyone must act together to achieve parity.
In his opening speech, Orwa Nyrabia, Idfa’s artistic director,...
- 11/20/2019
- by Damon Wise and Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
“Where do you want to start,” Orwa Nyrabia says, with a smile. “I’m in full festival mode!”
Just a year into the job and Nyrabia, Idfa’s artistic director, can’t wait to get stuck into his second edition. The festival’s founder, Ally Derks, who bowed out in 2017 after 30 years at the helm, was a hard act to follow, but Nyrabia – an articulate and passionate advocate of documentary cinema – has proven himself more than up to the task. Indeed, before the festival has even started, Nyrabia has demonstrably delivered on some of the promises he made last year, noticeably with a record percentage of work by female filmmakers: 64% of competition titles and 47% of the total program.
The festival opens Wednesday evening with Mehrdad Oskouei’s “Sunless Shadows,” which takes viewers inside an Iranian juvenile detention center, where young women are being held on family murder charges. But before things get into full swing,...
Just a year into the job and Nyrabia, Idfa’s artistic director, can’t wait to get stuck into his second edition. The festival’s founder, Ally Derks, who bowed out in 2017 after 30 years at the helm, was a hard act to follow, but Nyrabia – an articulate and passionate advocate of documentary cinema – has proven himself more than up to the task. Indeed, before the festival has even started, Nyrabia has demonstrably delivered on some of the promises he made last year, noticeably with a record percentage of work by female filmmakers: 64% of competition titles and 47% of the total program.
The festival opens Wednesday evening with Mehrdad Oskouei’s “Sunless Shadows,” which takes viewers inside an Iranian juvenile detention center, where young women are being held on family murder charges. But before things get into full swing,...
- 11/20/2019
- by Damon Wise
- Variety Film + TV
The festival unveiled its complete selection and this year’s jury members during a press conference earlier this week. Earlier this week, the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) announced the full programme of its 32nd edition, set to run from 20 November-1 December. The event will be opened by Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows, an Iranian-Norwegian co-production that explores the secluded world of five young women living in a small juvenile detention centre. This year, the feature-length competition will host 12 world or international premieres, with a strong focus on humanist filmmaking taking centre stage. The European productions and co-productions selected include Jørgen Leth’s I Walk (Denmark), Heidi Hassan and Patricia Pérez Fernández’s In a Whisper (Spain/France/Switzerland/Cuba), Kivu Ruhorahoza’s Europa, “Based on a True Story” (Rwanda/UK/Switzerland), Valentina Pedicini’s Faith (Italy), Laura Herrero Garvín’s La Mami (Mexico/Spain) and Maasja Koms’s Punks...
- 10/25/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Shoring up artistic director Orwa Nyrabia’s commitment to showcasing more women’s stories and platforming more women’s voices, Idfa has announced that this year’s festival features the highest percentage of female filmmakers in the event’s 31-year history: 64% of competition titles and 47% of the total program.
“Reaching a fairer representation was much easier than it seemed to be,” noted Nyrabia. “We only had to keep our goal in mind. The outstanding films that found their way to us this year was a humble reminder that we are in the presence of exceptional female filmmakers.”
The festival opens with the world premiere of Mehrdad Oskouei’s “Sunless Shadows,” which depicts five young Iranian women complicit in the murders of abusive husbands, fathers, or brothers-in-law. Oskouei’s film competes in the Feature-Length Documentary Competition alongside Jørgen Leth’s “I Walk”; Heidi Hassan and Patricia Pérez Fernández’s “In a...
“Reaching a fairer representation was much easier than it seemed to be,” noted Nyrabia. “We only had to keep our goal in mind. The outstanding films that found their way to us this year was a humble reminder that we are in the presence of exceptional female filmmakers.”
The festival opens with the world premiere of Mehrdad Oskouei’s “Sunless Shadows,” which depicts five young Iranian women complicit in the murders of abusive husbands, fathers, or brothers-in-law. Oskouei’s film competes in the Feature-Length Documentary Competition alongside Jørgen Leth’s “I Walk”; Heidi Hassan and Patricia Pérez Fernández’s “In a...
- 10/24/2019
- by Damon Wise
- Variety Film + TV
Festival brass say 64% of competition titles directed by women, representing record 47% of total programme.
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) has unveiled the line-up for its 32nd edition, which is set to take place from Nov 20-Dec 1.
At present, 64% of the festival’s competition titles are directed by women, representing 47% of the total programme - the highest in the festival’s history.
Idfa will open with the world premiere of Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows, about five young Iranian women who are all accomplices in the murder of their abusive husbands, fathers, or brothers-in-law.
The flagship 12-strong Best Feature-Length Documentary competition line-up includes I Walk,...
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) has unveiled the line-up for its 32nd edition, which is set to take place from Nov 20-Dec 1.
At present, 64% of the festival’s competition titles are directed by women, representing 47% of the total programme - the highest in the festival’s history.
Idfa will open with the world premiere of Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows, about five young Iranian women who are all accomplices in the murder of their abusive husbands, fathers, or brothers-in-law.
The flagship 12-strong Best Feature-Length Documentary competition line-up includes I Walk,...
- 10/23/2019
- by 1101184¦Orlando Parfitt¦38¦
- ScreenDaily
Festival brass say 64% of competition titles directed by women, representing record 47% of total programme.
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) has unveiled the line-up for its 32nd edition, which is set to take place from Nov 20-Dec 1.
At present, 64% of the festival’s competition titles are directed by women, representing 47% of the total programme - the highest in the festival’s history.
Idfa will open with the world premiere of Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows, about five young Iranian women who are all accomplices in the murder of their abusive husbands, fathers, or brothers-in-law.
The flagship 12-strong Best Feature-Length Documentary competition line-up includes I Walk,...
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) has unveiled the line-up for its 32nd edition, which is set to take place from Nov 20-Dec 1.
At present, 64% of the festival’s competition titles are directed by women, representing 47% of the total programme - the highest in the festival’s history.
Idfa will open with the world premiere of Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows, about five young Iranian women who are all accomplices in the murder of their abusive husbands, fathers, or brothers-in-law.
The flagship 12-strong Best Feature-Length Documentary competition line-up includes I Walk,...
- 10/23/2019
- by 1101184¦Orlando Parfitt¦38¦
- ScreenDaily
Festival brass say 64% of competition titles directed by women, representing record 47% of total programme.
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) has unveiled the line-up for its 32nd edition, which is set to take place from Nov 20-Dec 1.
At present, 64% of the festival’s competition titles are directed by women, representing 47% of the total programme - the highest in the festival’s history.
Idfa will open with the world premiere of Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows, about five young Iranian women who are all accomplices in the murder of their abusive husbands, fathers, or brothers-in-law.
The flagship 12-strong Best Feature-Length Documentary competition line-up includes I Walk,...
The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) has unveiled the line-up for its 32nd edition, which is set to take place from Nov 20-Dec 1.
At present, 64% of the festival’s competition titles are directed by women, representing 47% of the total programme - the highest in the festival’s history.
Idfa will open with the world premiere of Mehrdad Oskouei’s Sunless Shadows, about five young Iranian women who are all accomplices in the murder of their abusive husbands, fathers, or brothers-in-law.
The flagship 12-strong Best Feature-Length Documentary competition line-up includes I Walk,...
- 10/23/2019
- by 1101184¦Orlando Parfitt¦38¦
- ScreenDaily
Navid Mahmoudi’s Afghanistan-Iran production “Seven and a Half” will have its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival’s ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ strand.
Mahmoud previously wrote and produced “A Few Meters of Love,” which was Aghanistan’s entry to the Oscars in 2014. “Parting,” which he wrote and directed, was the country’s entry in 2016.
Meanwhile, Iranian project “African Violet” from Mona Zandi Haghighi (“Friday Evening”) will also play in Busan’s Asian strand. It arrives in Korea after playing at home at Fajr, and winning a jury special mention at Tripoli.
The connection between the two films – and the regular supply of high quality Iranian and Afghan films to major film festivals – is Paris-based production, distribution, promotion and sales outfit DreamLab Films. Spearheaded by Nasrine Medard de Chardon, the company was set up in 2000 and since then has championed more than 60 features and shorts from the region.
Mahmoud previously wrote and produced “A Few Meters of Love,” which was Aghanistan’s entry to the Oscars in 2014. “Parting,” which he wrote and directed, was the country’s entry in 2016.
Meanwhile, Iranian project “African Violet” from Mona Zandi Haghighi (“Friday Evening”) will also play in Busan’s Asian strand. It arrives in Korea after playing at home at Fajr, and winning a jury special mention at Tripoli.
The connection between the two films – and the regular supply of high quality Iranian and Afghan films to major film festivals – is Paris-based production, distribution, promotion and sales outfit DreamLab Films. Spearheaded by Nasrine Medard de Chardon, the company was set up in 2000 and since then has championed more than 60 features and shorts from the region.
- 10/3/2019
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
When one mentions Iranian cinema, the names that most often come to mind are such directors as the late Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, and Asghar Farhadi. More knowlegedable aficionados may also be able to mention such filmmakers as Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Dariush Mehrjui, Mohammad Rasoulof, and Samira Makhmalbaf (daughter of Mohsen). However, there's another acclaimed filmmaker that well deserves to be in the illustrious company of the directors I've mentioned above, but is undeservedly far less known. His name is Mehrdad Oskouei, a documentarian who's been making films since the late 1980s, and has won numerous awards for his work at home and abroad. His films since the 2000s have incisively interrogated Iran's patriarchy, poverty, and stark class differences, with a fine visual style that matches...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 2/23/2018
- Screen Anarchy
(Aotn)-Smt Heads, you’ve never thought of yourself as a rat, we’re sure… But tonight, maybe it’s time to think about rats. Especially as you ponder the latest documentary offering from Cinema Guild Pictures, “Rat Film.”
Yes, “Rat Film” is what it sounds like. Yet you’ve never seen a film like it, either. Check out the trailer, right here:
Rat Film: Rats, Maps, and Extermination in an American City.
Across walls, fences, and alleys, rats not only expose our boundaries of separation but make homes in them. Rat Film is a feature-length documentary that uses the rat—as well as the humans that love them, live with them, and kill them–to explore the history of Baltimore. “There’s never been a rat problem in Baltimore, it’s always been a people problem.”
Rat Film director Theo Anthony is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker currently based in Baltimore,...
Yes, “Rat Film” is what it sounds like. Yet you’ve never seen a film like it, either. Check out the trailer, right here:
Rat Film: Rats, Maps, and Extermination in an American City.
Across walls, fences, and alleys, rats not only expose our boundaries of separation but make homes in them. Rat Film is a feature-length documentary that uses the rat—as well as the humans that love them, live with them, and kill them–to explore the history of Baltimore. “There’s never been a rat problem in Baltimore, it’s always been a people problem.”
Rat Film director Theo Anthony is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker currently based in Baltimore,...
- 9/22/2017
- by Jason Stewart
- Age of the Nerd
Five projects selected in €217,000 funding round from Sørfond+.
Mehrdad Oskouei, previously an award winner at London Film Festival (Lff) for his doc Starless Dreams, has received €33,500 in the latest funding round from Norway’s Sørfond+ co-production fund.
His new documentary Revisited is a sequel to Starless Dreams [pictured], which won the Grierson Award for best documentary at Lff in 2016. The film returns to Iran to revisit five inmates of an under-18 prison for women.
The project is one of five receiving funding from Sørfond+, with grants totalling €217,000.
Also on the list is Sueño Florianópolis, an Argentina-Brazil co-production from Ana Katz that follows families vacationing to Florianópolis in Brazil. The film receives €33,500.
Receiving €50,000 is You Will Die At Twenty, an Egypt-Sudan co-production from Amjad Abu Alala that focuses on a man who has to choose between life or death in a society where extremism rules.
The other two projects are Bangladeshi feature Made In Bangladesh by Rubaiyat Hossain (€50,000), and...
Mehrdad Oskouei, previously an award winner at London Film Festival (Lff) for his doc Starless Dreams, has received €33,500 in the latest funding round from Norway’s Sørfond+ co-production fund.
His new documentary Revisited is a sequel to Starless Dreams [pictured], which won the Grierson Award for best documentary at Lff in 2016. The film returns to Iran to revisit five inmates of an under-18 prison for women.
The project is one of five receiving funding from Sørfond+, with grants totalling €217,000.
Also on the list is Sueño Florianópolis, an Argentina-Brazil co-production from Ana Katz that follows families vacationing to Florianópolis in Brazil. The film receives €33,500.
Receiving €50,000 is You Will Die At Twenty, an Egypt-Sudan co-production from Amjad Abu Alala that focuses on a man who has to choose between life or death in a society where extremism rules.
The other two projects are Bangladeshi feature Made In Bangladesh by Rubaiyat Hossain (€50,000), and...
- 6/30/2017
- ScreenDaily
The subjects of Mehrdad Oskouei’s prison documentary Starless Dreams are hardened criminals, locked up for offenses ranging from theft to drug trafficking to murder. Oskouei watches as they go through their daily routines of chores and meals, and films them as they fight boredom with games and goofing around. He also sits with them in one-on-one interviews and coaxes them to open up about their lives with quiet, patient questioning. Many of these cons have similar stories, about feeling boxed in by poverty and addiction, and trapped by dysfunctional families and poisonous personal relationships.
There’s nothing especially new about jailhouse confessionals. What sets Starless Dreams apart are the particulars of who these crooks are. They’re Iranian teenage girls, living in a stark Tehran dormitory while awaiting word from the authorities about when they’re going to be sent home. They don’t seem to know much about...
There’s nothing especially new about jailhouse confessionals. What sets Starless Dreams apart are the particulars of who these crooks are. They’re Iranian teenage girls, living in a stark Tehran dormitory while awaiting word from the authorities about when they’re going to be sent home. They don’t seem to know much about...
- 1/17/2017
- by Noel Murray
- avclub.com
Friday night’s 32nd annual International Documentary Association Awards at the Paramount Theater in Hollywood became another step in certifying a new American classic in Espn Films’ epic “O.J.: Made in America.”
Ezra Edelman’s nearly eight-hour documentary was named as the Ida’s 2016 Best Feature Award. It’s the latest in a series of accolades for the landmark saga of the life and trial of O.J. Simpson.
On the Best Short side, the top prize went to Netflix’s Syrian first-responders profile “The White Helmets,” from “Virunga” director/producer team Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara.
Ida members voted on these two categories from a list of six nominees each.
In addition to “The White Helmets,” Netflix programming comprised a significant portion of the evening’s winners. “Making a Murderer,” the true-crime investigation of the decade-spanning conviction and imprisonment of Steven Avery, was named Best Limited Series. The Best...
Ezra Edelman’s nearly eight-hour documentary was named as the Ida’s 2016 Best Feature Award. It’s the latest in a series of accolades for the landmark saga of the life and trial of O.J. Simpson.
On the Best Short side, the top prize went to Netflix’s Syrian first-responders profile “The White Helmets,” from “Virunga” director/producer team Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara.
Ida members voted on these two categories from a list of six nominees each.
In addition to “The White Helmets,” Netflix programming comprised a significant portion of the evening’s winners. “Making a Murderer,” the true-crime investigation of the decade-spanning conviction and imprisonment of Steven Avery, was named Best Limited Series. The Best...
- 12/10/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
The International Documentary Association (Ida) hailed its own at Friday’s 32nd Annual Ida Documentary Awards and launched a $5m journalism project.
Espn’s episodic O.J.: Made In America won the best feature award in further recognition of Ezra Edelman’s work after wins at the National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle.
The best Short Award went to Netflix’s The White Helmets directed by Orlando von Einsiedel. Best Cinematography was presented to Gianfranco Rosi for his Fire At Sea, distributed in the Us by Kino Lorber, while Netflix’s Making a Murderer earned best limited series award.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has gifted the Ida the four-year, $5m grant to establish the Ida Documentary/Journalism Project to improve and combine work from both fields in a manner that promotes the safety of it practitioners.
This year the Ida honored five filmmakers and documentary luminaries. Lyn and [link...
Espn’s episodic O.J.: Made In America won the best feature award in further recognition of Ezra Edelman’s work after wins at the National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle.
The best Short Award went to Netflix’s The White Helmets directed by Orlando von Einsiedel. Best Cinematography was presented to Gianfranco Rosi for his Fire At Sea, distributed in the Us by Kino Lorber, while Netflix’s Making a Murderer earned best limited series award.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has gifted the Ida the four-year, $5m grant to establish the Ida Documentary/Journalism Project to improve and combine work from both fields in a manner that promotes the safety of it practitioners.
This year the Ida honored five filmmakers and documentary luminaries. Lyn and [link...
- 12/9/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Mehrdad Oskouei’s unflinching documentary looks at young inmates locked up for murder and theft – but whose lives were often worse outside
This brilliant documentary focuses on the lives of girls in a juvenile delinquency centre in Iran. Most of the girls have drug addicts in their family, and almost all have been physically or mentally abused. Although they are being punished for murder, drug dealing and car theft, their biggest crime was to be born in the wrong place. “The pain drips from the walls,” as one inmate says, but despite this the girls find some moments of joy in snowball fights and games of truth or dare, even bursting into impromptu song at one point. The subjects are remarkably open when answering Mehrdad Oskouei’s unflinchingly direct questions and talk about their crimes in matter-of-fact fashion, but when asked what they’ll do when they’re released, many...
This brilliant documentary focuses on the lives of girls in a juvenile delinquency centre in Iran. Most of the girls have drug addicts in their family, and almost all have been physically or mentally abused. Although they are being punished for murder, drug dealing and car theft, their biggest crime was to be born in the wrong place. “The pain drips from the walls,” as one inmate says, but despite this the girls find some moments of joy in snowball fights and games of truth or dare, even bursting into impromptu song at one point. The subjects are remarkably open when answering Mehrdad Oskouei’s unflinchingly direct questions and talk about their crimes in matter-of-fact fashion, but when asked what they’ll do when they’re released, many...
- 11/24/2016
- by Alan Evans
- The Guardian - Film News
I Am Not Madame Bovary’s Feng Xiaogang took the best director prize.Scroll down for full list of winners
The jury of the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) has awarded the best film prize to Mustafa Kara’s Turkish drama Cold Of Kalandar. The film won a total of three prizes at the regional film awards, which took place tonight (Nov 24) in Brisbane, Australia.
The best director prize went to Chinese director Feng Xiaogang for his satirical critique of bureaucratic indifference to the populace of mainland China, I Am Not Madame Bovary.
Cold of Kalandar’s Apsa best film win comes after similar honours at the Tokyo Film Festival, and Turkey’s Istanbul and Antalya film festivals.
In September it was selected as Turkey’s candidate for the foreign language Oscar.
The film depicts an impoverished family’s attempt to make a living through farming in Turkey’s mountainous northern region. Tensions between...
The jury of the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) has awarded the best film prize to Mustafa Kara’s Turkish drama Cold Of Kalandar. The film won a total of three prizes at the regional film awards, which took place tonight (Nov 24) in Brisbane, Australia.
The best director prize went to Chinese director Feng Xiaogang for his satirical critique of bureaucratic indifference to the populace of mainland China, I Am Not Madame Bovary.
Cold of Kalandar’s Apsa best film win comes after similar honours at the Tokyo Film Festival, and Turkey’s Istanbul and Antalya film festivals.
In September it was selected as Turkey’s candidate for the foreign language Oscar.
The film depicts an impoverished family’s attempt to make a living through farming in Turkey’s mountainous northern region. Tensions between...
- 11/24/2016
- ScreenDaily
★★★★★ "Here the pain drips from the walls," says Somayeh, an inmate of a juvenile female detention centre on the outskirts of Tehran. Somayeh is one of the subjects of Mehrdad Oskouei's remarkable documentary Starless Dreams. She's one of the more mature inmates, guilty of a terrible crime, but provoked by an impossible situation. Following a seven-year struggle, Oskouei finally received access to the detention centre and was allowed to film for twenty days. What he has achieved is something close to a masterpiece of compassion.
- 11/24/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Lff Awards winners include Kelly Reichardt; audience attendance increases 18% from 2015 to record-breaking 184,700.
The BFI London Film Festival announced this year’s festival awards’ winners at its annual awards dinner at Banqueting House over the weekend, and revealed record-breaking attendances as the festival drew to a close on Sunday (Oct 16).
Audience attendance reached a record-breaking 184,700, an 18% increase from 157,000 last year. New temporary venue Embankment Garden Cinema, which hosted the festival’s strand galas and official competition films, played a significant role in the rise.
Best film in official competition went to Certain Women, Kelly Reichardt’s portrait of the lives of three very different women in Montana. The award was announced by jury president Athina Rachel Tsangari, whose film Chevalier won the best film prize last year.
The jury commented: “In a vibrant year for cinema it was the masterful mise en scène and quiet modesty of this film that determined our choice for best film. A humane...
The BFI London Film Festival announced this year’s festival awards’ winners at its annual awards dinner at Banqueting House over the weekend, and revealed record-breaking attendances as the festival drew to a close on Sunday (Oct 16).
Audience attendance reached a record-breaking 184,700, an 18% increase from 157,000 last year. New temporary venue Embankment Garden Cinema, which hosted the festival’s strand galas and official competition films, played a significant role in the rise.
Best film in official competition went to Certain Women, Kelly Reichardt’s portrait of the lives of three very different women in Montana. The award was announced by jury president Athina Rachel Tsangari, whose film Chevalier won the best film prize last year.
The jury commented: “In a vibrant year for cinema it was the masterful mise en scène and quiet modesty of this film that determined our choice for best film. A humane...
- 10/15/2016
- by matt.mueller@screendaily.com (Matt Mueller)
- ScreenDaily
Lff Awards winners include Kelly Reichardt; audience attendance increases 18% from 2015 to record-breaking 184,700.
The BFI London Film Festival announced this year’s festival awards’ winners at its annual awards dinner at Banqueting House over the weekend, and revealed record-breaking attendances as the festival drew to a close on Sunday (Oct 16).
Audience attendance reached a record-breaking 184,700, an 18% increase from 157,000 last year. New temporary venue Embankment Garden Cinema, which hosted the festival’s strand galas and official competition films, played a significant role in the rise.
Best film in official competition went to Certain Women, Kelly Reichardt’s portrait of the lives of three very different women in Montana. The award was announced by jury president Athina Rachel Tsangari, whose film Chevalier won the best film prize last year.
The jury commented: “In a vibrant year for cinema it was the masterful mise en scène and quiet modesty of this film that determined our choice for best film. A humane...
The BFI London Film Festival announced this year’s festival awards’ winners at its annual awards dinner at Banqueting House over the weekend, and revealed record-breaking attendances as the festival drew to a close on Sunday (Oct 16).
Audience attendance reached a record-breaking 184,700, an 18% increase from 157,000 last year. New temporary venue Embankment Garden Cinema, which hosted the festival’s strand galas and official competition films, played a significant role in the rise.
Best film in official competition went to Certain Women, Kelly Reichardt’s portrait of the lives of three very different women in Montana. The award was announced by jury president Athina Rachel Tsangari, whose film Chevalier won the best film prize last year.
The jury commented: “In a vibrant year for cinema it was the masterful mise en scène and quiet modesty of this film that determined our choice for best film. A humane...
- 10/15/2016
- by matt.mueller@screendaily.com (Matt Mueller)
- ScreenDaily
Winners include Kelly Reichardt, Julia Ducournau and Mehrdad Oskouei.
The BFI London Film Festival announced this year’s festival awards’ winners at its annual awards dinner at Banqueting House in Whitehall this evening.
Best film in official competition went to Certain Women, Kelly Reichardt’s portrait of the lives of three very different women in Montana. The award was announced by jury president Athina Rachel Tsangari, whose film Chevalier won the best film prize last year.
The jury commented: “In a vibrant year for cinema it was the masterful mise en scène and quiet modesty of this film that determined our choice for best film. A humane and poignant story that calibrates with startling vulnerability and delicate understatement the isolation, frustrations and loneliness of lives unlived in a quiet corner of rural America.”
Tsangari’s fellow jurors were screenwriter Abi Morgan, Singaporean writer/director/producer Anthony Chen, actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Romanian film-maker Radu Jude.
The Sutherland...
The BFI London Film Festival announced this year’s festival awards’ winners at its annual awards dinner at Banqueting House in Whitehall this evening.
Best film in official competition went to Certain Women, Kelly Reichardt’s portrait of the lives of three very different women in Montana. The award was announced by jury president Athina Rachel Tsangari, whose film Chevalier won the best film prize last year.
The jury commented: “In a vibrant year for cinema it was the masterful mise en scène and quiet modesty of this film that determined our choice for best film. A humane and poignant story that calibrates with startling vulnerability and delicate understatement the isolation, frustrations and loneliness of lives unlived in a quiet corner of rural America.”
Tsangari’s fellow jurors were screenwriter Abi Morgan, Singaporean writer/director/producer Anthony Chen, actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Romanian film-maker Radu Jude.
The Sutherland...
- 10/15/2016
- by matt.mueller@screendaily.com (Matt Mueller)
- ScreenDaily
Cinema Guild has acquired Us rights from Capricci Films to Albert Serra’s recent Cannes selection and plans an early 2017 theatrical debut.
Jean-Pierre Léaud stars in The Death Of Louis Xiv, set in the French court of Versailles in August 1715 as the onset of fever heralds the beginning of the end of the Sun King.
Léaud received an honourary Palme d’Or last month, 57 years after his first appearance in Cannes aged 14 in Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows.
Cinema Guild’s upcoming releases include Mehrdad Oskouei’s Starless Dreams.
Jean-Pierre Léaud stars in The Death Of Louis Xiv, set in the French court of Versailles in August 1715 as the onset of fever heralds the beginning of the end of the Sun King.
Léaud received an honourary Palme d’Or last month, 57 years after his first appearance in Cannes aged 14 in Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows.
Cinema Guild’s upcoming releases include Mehrdad Oskouei’s Starless Dreams.
- 6/10/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
It might be missing the industry saturated Park City fervor, but the smaller, shorter, and more intimate Columbia, Missouri based True/False Film Festival is the Rolls-Royce (by way of John Deere) of doc focused cinema. Filmmaker Laura Poitras is not alone in stating that her “love for True/False runs deep – from the smart programming, passionate audiences, inspired buskers, and fabulous venues.” Time and time again, selected filmmakers throughout this year’s edition expressed their love of the fest, while plenty of filmmaker personalities from prior editions could be spotted milling around town as casual filmgoers happy to pay to relive the experience.
With a highly curated program just shy of 50 films shown on 9 different screens (each of which are walkable in just 5-10 minutes of one another) over just 4 days, True/False centers its attention on quality and community, both locally and cinematically. For a city with a...
With a highly curated program just shy of 50 films shown on 9 different screens (each of which are walkable in just 5-10 minutes of one another) over just 4 days, True/False centers its attention on quality and community, both locally and cinematically. For a city with a...
- 3/15/2016
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Berlinale receives record number of submissions.
A total of 63 feature-length and short films produced or co-produced in 35 countries have been invited to participate in the two Berlinale (Feb 11-21) competitions Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus.
The programme, aimed at children and youths, was selected from around 2,000 feature-length and short films submitted to Generation this year, which is more than in any year previously.
The selected films shed light on and challenge the nature of contradictions such as being child-like and being an adult, what is forbidden and what is permitted or the difference between subjective and objective reality.
“Young people world-wide are constantly confronted by dystopic realities not of their own making,” said Maryanne Redpath, head of Generation. “In the diverse films of this year’s programme we see them taking matters into their own hands.”
Generation 14plus
Synopses provided by festival
Wp = World Premiere / IP = International Premiere / Ep = European Premiere
6A (Sweden) Wp
By Peter Modestij
Bullying...
A total of 63 feature-length and short films produced or co-produced in 35 countries have been invited to participate in the two Berlinale (Feb 11-21) competitions Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus.
The programme, aimed at children and youths, was selected from around 2,000 feature-length and short films submitted to Generation this year, which is more than in any year previously.
The selected films shed light on and challenge the nature of contradictions such as being child-like and being an adult, what is forbidden and what is permitted or the difference between subjective and objective reality.
“Young people world-wide are constantly confronted by dystopic realities not of their own making,” said Maryanne Redpath, head of Generation. “In the diverse films of this year’s programme we see them taking matters into their own hands.”
Generation 14plus
Synopses provided by festival
Wp = World Premiere / IP = International Premiere / Ep = European Premiere
6A (Sweden) Wp
By Peter Modestij
Bullying...
- 1/13/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The lineups for Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus, the Berlinale's two competition programs aimed at younger viewers, are now complete. 63 features and shorts will screen between February 11 and 21, including new work by Peter Modestij, Chloé Leriche, Adrián Saba, Renars Vimba, Ramzi Ben Sliman, Mehrdad Oskouei, Abbas Amini, Eliza Petkova, Emilie Deleuze, Ira Sachs, Ümet Köreken, Jayaraj Rajashekaran Nair, Pepa San Martín, Rasmus Sivertsen and Yoon Ga-eun. Says section head Maryanne Redpath: "Young people worldwide are constantly confronted by dystopic realities not of their own making. In the diverse films of this year’s program we see them taking matters into their own hands in a variety of ways." » - David Hudson...
- 1/13/2016
- Keyframe
The lineups for Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus, the Berlinale's two competition programs aimed at younger viewers, are now complete. 63 features and shorts will screen between February 11 and 21, including new work by Peter Modestij, Chloé Leriche, Adrián Saba, Renars Vimba, Ramzi Ben Sliman, Mehrdad Oskouei, Abbas Amini, Eliza Petkova, Emilie Deleuze, Ira Sachs, Ümet Köreken, Jayaraj Rajashekaran Nair, Pepa San Martín, Rasmus Sivertsen and Yoon Ga-eun. Says section head Maryanne Redpath: "Young people worldwide are constantly confronted by dystopic realities not of their own making. In the diverse films of this year’s program we see them taking matters into their own hands in a variety of ways." » - David Hudson...
- 1/13/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
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