M-Appeal has closed distribution deals in key territories for “Sex,” which had its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama section.
The film, the first part of the “Sex Dreams Love” trilogy by Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud, has garnered attention for its thought-provoking exploration of sexuality and gender roles.
All rights for the film have been sold to Pyramide Distribution for France, JinJin Pictures for South Korea and Cinobo for Greece.
“Sex” follows two men in heterosexual marriages, who have an unexpected experience that challenges them to reconsider their understanding of sexuality, gender and identity. One has a sexual encounter with another man, without considering it either as an expression of homosexuality or infidelity and discusses it with his wife afterwards. The other finds himself in nocturnal dreams where he is seen as a woman, stirring confusion and leading him to question how much his personality is shaped by the gaze of others.
The film, the first part of the “Sex Dreams Love” trilogy by Norway’s Dag Johan Haugerud, has garnered attention for its thought-provoking exploration of sexuality and gender roles.
All rights for the film have been sold to Pyramide Distribution for France, JinJin Pictures for South Korea and Cinobo for Greece.
“Sex” follows two men in heterosexual marriages, who have an unexpected experience that challenges them to reconsider their understanding of sexuality, gender and identity. One has a sexual encounter with another man, without considering it either as an expression of homosexuality or infidelity and discusses it with his wife afterwards. The other finds himself in nocturnal dreams where he is seen as a woman, stirring confusion and leading him to question how much his personality is shaped by the gaze of others.
- 2/20/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
When you watch ‘Tori And Lokita,’ any faith that the Dardenne brothers and their heartrending grasp on grounded human tragedy might’ve lost in recent years floods back with the urgency of a breached dam. What Joely Mbundu and Pablo Schils bring to this traumatizing tale is almost a naive, impromptu authenticity that not only adds to the near-perfect screenplay but also makes ‘Tori And Lokita’ what it turns out to be—an experience that would be a challenge to shake off. Transcending the expectations of shared DNA, two African immigrants manifest a spiritual yet distressingly dire connection as they pose to be siblings in the apathetic cradle of a Belgian city. Here’s how their tragic existence plays out despite their best efforts:
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In ‘Tori And Lokita’ Film?
Lokita’s acute anxiety is palpable the second you lay eyes on her fumbling state...
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In ‘Tori And Lokita’ Film?
Lokita’s acute anxiety is palpable the second you lay eyes on her fumbling state...
- 7/22/2023
- by Lopamudra Mukherjee
- Film Fugitives
Israeli president Isaac Herzog was greeted by chants of “democracy” from the audience.
Pro-democracy chants marked the opening ceremony of the 40th Jerusalem Film Festival, as audience members made their voices heard in opposition to judicial changes from the right-wing coalition government.
Chants of “demokratiyah” (English translation: democracy) came throughout the event, and were loudest during the arrival, speech and departure of Israeli president Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal Herzog.
Demonstrations are expected on Saturday, July 15 at the festival, continuing the weekly Saturday protests that have been taking place since the start of the year.
The pro-democracy movement is...
Pro-democracy chants marked the opening ceremony of the 40th Jerusalem Film Festival, as audience members made their voices heard in opposition to judicial changes from the right-wing coalition government.
Chants of “demokratiyah” (English translation: democracy) came throughout the event, and were loudest during the arrival, speech and departure of Israeli president Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal Herzog.
Demonstrations are expected on Saturday, July 15 at the festival, continuing the weekly Saturday protests that have been taking place since the start of the year.
The pro-democracy movement is...
- 7/14/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Jurors include Whit Stillman, Florian Zeller, Maria Schrader, Joana Vicente.
French filmmaker Claire Denis will lead the international competition jury for the 40th Jerusalem Film Festival, which runs from July 13-23.
Denis will be joined by directors Whit Stillman, Florian Zeller and Maria Schrader on the jury, plus Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente.
Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo will preside over the Israeli competition jury. Directors make up the majority of the jurors across the competitive sections, including Jasmila Zbanic, Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Meise, Julian Rosefeldt, Joseph Cedar, Sebastien Lifshitz, Barbara Albert, Alexandru Belc and Manuela Martelli, plus Mathilde Henrot from Locarno Film Festival.
French filmmaker Claire Denis will lead the international competition jury for the 40th Jerusalem Film Festival, which runs from July 13-23.
Denis will be joined by directors Whit Stillman, Florian Zeller and Maria Schrader on the jury, plus Sundance Institute CEO Joana Vicente.
Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo will preside over the Israeli competition jury. Directors make up the majority of the jurors across the competitive sections, including Jasmila Zbanic, Ali Abbasi, Sebastian Meise, Julian Rosefeldt, Joseph Cedar, Sebastien Lifshitz, Barbara Albert, Alexandru Belc and Manuela Martelli, plus Mathilde Henrot from Locarno Film Festival.
- 7/7/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Martin Scorsese is executive producing “Escape,” the next film from Spanish writer-director Rodrigo Cortés, who burst onto the international scene directing Ryan Reynolds in the 2010 Sundance hit “Buried.”
Set to go into production at the end of May, Cortés’ first Spanish-language film since his debut feature, 2007 madcap dark comedy “The Contestant,” “Escape” stars Mario Casas, a Spanish Academy Award Goya winner for 2020’s “Cross the Line.”
One of Spain’s biggest film-tv stars, Casas leads a top-notch Spanish cast in “Escape” which takes in Anna Castillo, José Garcia (“Bastille Day”), Guillermo Toledo (“I’m So Excited”), Josep Maria Pou (“The Realm”), Blanca Portillo (“Maixabel”), and Jose Sacristán (“Velvet”).
Produced by Adrián Guerra and Núria Valls at Barcelona-based Nostromo Pictures, “Escape” is a free adaptation of the same-title novel penned by Spanish author Enrique Rubio.
“Escape” turns on N., a young man who wants to live in prison and will do whatever...
Set to go into production at the end of May, Cortés’ first Spanish-language film since his debut feature, 2007 madcap dark comedy “The Contestant,” “Escape” stars Mario Casas, a Spanish Academy Award Goya winner for 2020’s “Cross the Line.”
One of Spain’s biggest film-tv stars, Casas leads a top-notch Spanish cast in “Escape” which takes in Anna Castillo, José Garcia (“Bastille Day”), Guillermo Toledo (“I’m So Excited”), Josep Maria Pou (“The Realm”), Blanca Portillo (“Maixabel”), and Jose Sacristán (“Velvet”).
Produced by Adrián Guerra and Núria Valls at Barcelona-based Nostromo Pictures, “Escape” is a free adaptation of the same-title novel penned by Spanish author Enrique Rubio.
“Escape” turns on N., a young man who wants to live in prison and will do whatever...
- 5/24/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Further winners included Paul B. Preciado’s French documentary ‘Orlando, My Political Biography’.
There Is A Stone by Japanese filmmaker Tatsunari Ota and From You by Korea’s Shin Dongmin were awarded the top prizes at South Korea’s Jeonju International Film Festival on Wednesday (May 3).
There Is A Stone took the grand prize in the international competition, which included an award of KW20m. The meditative drama, which premiered at Tokyo Filmex before screening at the Berlinale in February, follows a woman and man who meet by a river and pass the time together before twilight.
Scroll down for...
There Is A Stone by Japanese filmmaker Tatsunari Ota and From You by Korea’s Shin Dongmin were awarded the top prizes at South Korea’s Jeonju International Film Festival on Wednesday (May 3).
There Is A Stone took the grand prize in the international competition, which included an award of KW20m. The meditative drama, which premiered at Tokyo Filmex before screening at the Berlinale in February, follows a woman and man who meet by a river and pass the time together before twilight.
Scroll down for...
- 5/3/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
Stars of ‘Decision To Leave’ and ‘Squid Game’ were among those on the red carpet.
The 24th Jeonju International Film Festival opened tonight (April 27) with stars on the red carpet, a dramatic taekwondo performance onstage, and Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne greeting the audience at the Sori Arts Center of Jeollabuk-do before the screening of opening film Tori And Lokita.
“Thank you for welcoming us and for defending cinema in the world,” said the Belgian filmmaking duo on their much-anticipated first trip to the country. “Thank you also to the cinema of Korea, because we did not know South Korea except...
The 24th Jeonju International Film Festival opened tonight (April 27) with stars on the red carpet, a dramatic taekwondo performance onstage, and Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne greeting the audience at the Sori Arts Center of Jeollabuk-do before the screening of opening film Tori And Lokita.
“Thank you for welcoming us and for defending cinema in the world,” said the Belgian filmmaking duo on their much-anticipated first trip to the country. “Thank you also to the cinema of Korea, because we did not know South Korea except...
- 4/27/2023
- by Jean Noh
- ScreenDaily
If I were to count on one hand the most preeminent humanist filmmakers of our time, the first two fingers would have to be dedicated to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Bringing empathy and insight to stories of immigrants, outcasts and the working poor, the Belgian siblings have dedicated their career to observing characters Western society prefers to overlook.
In that time, the brothers have screened every one of their 12 features at Cannes, collecting two Palme d’Or trophies — in 1999 for “Rosetta” and 2002 for “L’Enfant.” The Dardennes keep the prizes in the office they share at their Liège-based production company, Les Films du Fleuve. “They are in an armoire so the sight of them doesn’t weigh too heavily on our shoulders when we start working on a new film,” they tell Variety.
Few directors have produced as thematically or aesthetically consistent an oeuvre as the Dardennes, whose direct, observational style...
In that time, the brothers have screened every one of their 12 features at Cannes, collecting two Palme d’Or trophies — in 1999 for “Rosetta” and 2002 for “L’Enfant.” The Dardennes keep the prizes in the office they share at their Liège-based production company, Les Films du Fleuve. “They are in an armoire so the sight of them doesn’t weigh too heavily on our shoulders when we start working on a new film,” they tell Variety.
Few directors have produced as thematically or aesthetically consistent an oeuvre as the Dardennes, whose direct, observational style...
- 4/13/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmakers had called for a boycott over the rule change.
The organisers behind Thailand’s Suphannahong National Film Awards have dropped a rule that would effectively disqualify independent features from nomination following a major backlash.
A recent rule change by the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations (Mpc) stated that theatrical releases in five regions of Thailand and a minimum of 50,000 cinema admissions were required for a film to be considered for nomination. These regions include Bangkok, Chiangmai (the north), Chonburi (the east), Nakhon Ratchasima (the northeast) and Nakhon Si Thammarat (the south).
It meant that, earlier this week,...
The organisers behind Thailand’s Suphannahong National Film Awards have dropped a rule that would effectively disqualify independent features from nomination following a major backlash.
A recent rule change by the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations (Mpc) stated that theatrical releases in five regions of Thailand and a minimum of 50,000 cinema admissions were required for a film to be considered for nomination. These regions include Bangkok, Chiangmai (the north), Chonburi (the east), Nakhon Ratchasima (the northeast) and Nakhon Si Thammarat (the south).
It meant that, earlier this week,...
- 3/31/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
No matter what Belgian filmmaking duo Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, aka the Dardenne brothers, ever do, they will always be known as members of a very elite super club: two-time Palme d’Or winners at Cannes.
While their latest film, “Tori and Lokita” did not win the Palme d’Or prize last year, it competed at Cannes, which is pretty much the case any time the Dardennes ever deign us with a new film—it’s an instant Cannes competition title which is nothing to sneeze at.
Continue reading ‘Tori And Lokita’ Clip: Martin Scorsese Calls The Dardenne’s Latest Drama The “Most Devastating Cinematic Experiences” at The Playlist.
While their latest film, “Tori and Lokita” did not win the Palme d’Or prize last year, it competed at Cannes, which is pretty much the case any time the Dardennes ever deign us with a new film—it’s an instant Cannes competition title which is nothing to sneeze at.
Continue reading ‘Tori And Lokita’ Clip: Martin Scorsese Calls The Dardenne’s Latest Drama The “Most Devastating Cinematic Experiences” at The Playlist.
- 3/31/2023
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Sideshow and Janus Films have dropped the clip for Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s “Tori & Lokita” which had a strong opening in New York and Los Angeles on March 24 and is expanding this weekend to additional markets.
The latest film by the two-time Palme d’Or winners, “Tori & Lokita” tells the timely story of two immigrants struggling to survive on the margins of society. The humanist drama won the 75th Anniversary Prize at Cannes in 2022.
“’Tori Lokita’ is one of the most devastating cinematic experiences I’ve had in a long time,” said Martin Scorsese in a statement sent to Variety. “I’ve always admired the way that Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne make movies—their mastery is inseparable from their spiritual and ethical commitment to their characters, trying to make their way through an unforgiving world,” Scorsese continued. He went on to describe the film as “one of the Dardennes’ most harrowing films,...
The latest film by the two-time Palme d’Or winners, “Tori & Lokita” tells the timely story of two immigrants struggling to survive on the margins of society. The humanist drama won the 75th Anniversary Prize at Cannes in 2022.
“’Tori Lokita’ is one of the most devastating cinematic experiences I’ve had in a long time,” said Martin Scorsese in a statement sent to Variety. “I’ve always admired the way that Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne make movies—their mastery is inseparable from their spiritual and ethical commitment to their characters, trying to make their way through an unforgiving world,” Scorsese continued. He went on to describe the film as “one of the Dardennes’ most harrowing films,...
- 3/31/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
More than 60 films to receive their world premieres at the festival.
South Korea’s Jeonju International Film Festival (April 27-May 6) has unveiled a line-up of 247 films from 42 countries for its 24th edition and will open with Tori And Lokita by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes.
The Belgian filmmaking duo will attend the Korean premiere of their feature, which played in Competition at Cannes last year and won the festival’s special 75th anniversary prize.
Jeonju will close with the world premiere of Kim Hee-Jung’s Where Would You Like To Go?, a Korea-Poland co-production about a woman who travels to Warsaw...
South Korea’s Jeonju International Film Festival (April 27-May 6) has unveiled a line-up of 247 films from 42 countries for its 24th edition and will open with Tori And Lokita by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes.
The Belgian filmmaking duo will attend the Korean premiere of their feature, which played in Competition at Cannes last year and won the festival’s special 75th anniversary prize.
Jeonju will close with the world premiere of Kim Hee-Jung’s Where Would You Like To Go?, a Korea-Poland co-production about a woman who travels to Warsaw...
- 3/30/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
In a business that lives and dies by sequels, perhaps the best news about the terrific opening weekend for “John Wick: Chapter 4” (Lionsgate) is that for the third time in four weeks, a sequel opened to a gross better than the previous installment.
“Wick 4” opened to $73.5 million, substantially ahead of strong earlier starts for “Creed 3” (MGM) and “Scream 6” (Paramount). That is by far the best initial take in the “Wick” series. And it’s a welcome return to form for Lionsgate, which in past years thrived with huge franchises like “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games.”
This is their biggest film since the final “Hunger Games” in 2015. This company was a vital addition to theater revenues pre-Covid. But since “Knives Out” in 2019, their biggest gross before this was “The Jesus Revolution” with $49 million (and still in release).
Apart from its record-high debut, “Wick 4” also had its best Cinemascore...
“Wick 4” opened to $73.5 million, substantially ahead of strong earlier starts for “Creed 3” (MGM) and “Scream 6” (Paramount). That is by far the best initial take in the “Wick” series. And it’s a welcome return to form for Lionsgate, which in past years thrived with huge franchises like “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games.”
This is their biggest film since the final “Hunger Games” in 2015. This company was a vital addition to theater revenues pre-Covid. But since “Knives Out” in 2019, their biggest gross before this was “The Jesus Revolution” with $49 million (and still in release).
Apart from its record-high debut, “Wick 4” also had its best Cinemascore...
- 3/26/2023
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Box office: ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ sets new opening weekend record for Keanu Reeves action franchise
The month of March has already shown great success at the box office with two franchise sequel records. Keanu Reeves‘ “John Wick: Chapter 4” joined them this weekend, as the highest opening for the actor’s popular action franchise, which has done better with each new installment.
The action movie co-starring Bill Skarsgård, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, the late Lance Reddick, Shamier Anderson, Donnie Yen, and Scott Adkins, came into the weekend with solid reviews, having had a high-profile premiere at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this month. The Lionsgate release opened with $29.4 million on Friday, including $8.9 million from Thursday previews, and ended up with an estimated $73.5 million in 3,855 theaters for the weekend, averaging over $19,000 per site, by far the best opening for the month.
SEEBox office: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ passes ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ to become 7th highest-grossing movie domestically
That’s compared to the $56.8 million opening for...
The action movie co-starring Bill Skarsgård, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, the late Lance Reddick, Shamier Anderson, Donnie Yen, and Scott Adkins, came into the weekend with solid reviews, having had a high-profile premiere at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this month. The Lionsgate release opened with $29.4 million on Friday, including $8.9 million from Thursday previews, and ended up with an estimated $73.5 million in 3,855 theaters for the weekend, averaging over $19,000 per site, by far the best opening for the month.
SEEBox office: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ passes ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ to become 7th highest-grossing movie domestically
That’s compared to the $56.8 million opening for...
- 3/26/2023
- by Edward Douglas
- Gold Derby
For decades, Belgian duo Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have been directing movies that get inside the challenges of their protagonists. Their trademark handheld camerawork and naturalistic dramas often have a strong sociopolitical perspective, from working-class problems to immigration struggles. Their acclaimed work has yielded countless prizes, including two Palme d’Ors and other awards from Cannes, where they regularly premiere their work.
At last year’s festival, they won a special 75th anniversary prize for “Tori and Lokita,” and it’s easy to see why: The Dardennes embody the kind of the consistency of auteur filmmakers embraced by the festival and cinephiles worldwide.
“Tori and Lokita” follows a pair of young African migrants (Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu) posing as siblings in Belgian while dealing with the older of the pair’s challenge getting residency papers. In the process, they wind up with criminals on their trail searching for money related to a drug deal.
At last year’s festival, they won a special 75th anniversary prize for “Tori and Lokita,” and it’s easy to see why: The Dardennes embody the kind of the consistency of auteur filmmakers embraced by the festival and cinephiles worldwide.
“Tori and Lokita” follows a pair of young African migrants (Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu) posing as siblings in Belgian while dealing with the older of the pair’s challenge getting residency papers. In the process, they wind up with criminals on their trail searching for money related to a drug deal.
- 3/24/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
After one of the more disappointing weekends of the past month, we’re heading into what is likely to be one of the biggest, as Keanu Reeves returns to his unstoppable action franchise with “John Wick: Chapter 4.” Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.
The fourth installment of the franchise that began in 2014 continues Wick’s attempts to survive against the assassins sent by the “High Table” to kill him, led by the “Marquis” (Bill Skarsgård from last year’s “Barbarian”). It also adds the like of martial arts stars Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins, as well as Shamier Anderson (“Bruiser”), Hiroyuki Sanada (“Bullet Train”) and pop star Rina Sawayama, with existing characters played by Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and the late Lance Reddick returning from previous chapters.
When the original “John Wick” movie opened in October 2014, not a lot was thought about it since Reeves was on...
The fourth installment of the franchise that began in 2014 continues Wick’s attempts to survive against the assassins sent by the “High Table” to kill him, led by the “Marquis” (Bill Skarsgård from last year’s “Barbarian”). It also adds the like of martial arts stars Donnie Yen and Scott Adkins, as well as Shamier Anderson (“Bruiser”), Hiroyuki Sanada (“Bullet Train”) and pop star Rina Sawayama, with existing characters played by Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and the late Lance Reddick returning from previous chapters.
When the original “John Wick” movie opened in October 2014, not a lot was thought about it since Reeves was on...
- 3/22/2023
- by Edward Douglas
- Gold Derby
Despite their stock seemingly falling in the decade since the widely acclaimed Two Days, One Night, a new film by the Dardennes will always have our curiosity; even better that our critic was a major fan at Cannes. Winner of the 75th Anniversary Prize at the festival, Tori and Lokita, set to arrive from Sideshow and Janus Films starting March 24, follows the story of two immigrants struggling to survive on the margins of society. Ahead of the release, the first U.S. trailer has now arrived.
As David Katz said in his review, “Tori and Lokita, the latest from the eerily consistent Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, pulls you in opposite directions when assessing it. It is as consummately made and passionately intended as anything they’ve done, but the filmmakers, as is apparent in less-successful films, can really undermine themselves with choices in plotting. I’ll never forget viewing my first,...
As David Katz said in his review, “Tori and Lokita, the latest from the eerily consistent Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, pulls you in opposite directions when assessing it. It is as consummately made and passionately intended as anything they’ve done, but the filmmakers, as is apparent in less-successful films, can really undermine themselves with choices in plotting. I’ll never forget viewing my first,...
- 3/6/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"This is best for us and for you." Sideshow & Janus Films have unveiled another new US trailer for the indie drama from Belgium titled Tori and Lokita, the latest film from acclaimed Belgian filmmaking brothers Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (aka Dardenne Brothers). This premiered at last year's 2022 Cannes Film Festival to mixed & negative reviews, with only a few saying good things. Set in Belgium today, a young boy and an adolescent girl who have traveled alone from Africa pit their invincible friendship against the cruel conditions of their exile. They work for a drug dealer who also moonlights as an Italian chef, and things get bad when Lokita tries to earn more money working in the depths of a grow warehouse. The film stars Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu as Tori and Lokita, with Alban Ukaj, Tijmen Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. It's finally opening in the US this March,...
- 3/6/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Few know how to win Palme d’Ors like Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (aka the ‘Dardenne brothers’). The directing duo have bagged themselves two so far, placing them in the esteemed company of Coppola, Imamura, Haneke, Kusturica, Sjöberg, August, and Loach. But even now, with both of them in or approaching their seventies, their output isn’t slowing down, and they’re still hungry for the Cannes competition.
Continue reading ‘Tori And Lokita’ Trailer: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne Return With A New Tale Of Empathy & Compassion at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Tori And Lokita’ Trailer: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne Return With A New Tale Of Empathy & Compassion at The Playlist.
- 3/6/2023
- by Oliver Weir
- The Playlist
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have spent their 50-year filmmaking career crafting politically charged works of realism that never shy away from the systemic injustices in the world. Their unflinching brand of filmmaking has earned them two Palme d’Or awards amid countless other honors, but their latest film might be their angriest work yet.
“Tori and Lokita” saw the Dardennes take on the immigration systems of first-world countries and the needless bureaucracy that often leaves people’s lives hanging in the balance. Telling the story of two children who are determined not to be separated as they try to immigrate from two separate countries, it was an instant hit when it premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Per the official synopsis, from two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne comes the story of 17-year-old Lokita and 12-year-old Tori (in remarkable debut performances from Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu...
“Tori and Lokita” saw the Dardennes take on the immigration systems of first-world countries and the needless bureaucracy that often leaves people’s lives hanging in the balance. Telling the story of two children who are determined not to be separated as they try to immigrate from two separate countries, it was an instant hit when it premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Per the official synopsis, from two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne comes the story of 17-year-old Lokita and 12-year-old Tori (in remarkable debut performances from Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu...
- 3/6/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Several top international directors, including Alice Diop, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, and Cristian Mungiu are demanding that their films be pulled from Iran’s Fajr Film Festival after learning that they had been sent to the fest by a regional distributor without their permission.
Middle East distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has confirmed they are trying to pull Diop’s “Saint Omer,” the Dardenne’s “Tori and Lokita,” and Mungiu’s “R.M.N.,” among other titles, from the Iranian fest which runs Feb. 1-11.
The government-run Fajr Film Festival, which is Iran’s top film event, has long had a section dedicated to international films that would otherwise not circulate in the country. This year, due to the wave of protests sparked in September by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while she was held in custody for allegedly wearing a loose hijab, fest organizers did not reveal the lineup in advance to avoid controversy.
Middle East distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment has confirmed they are trying to pull Diop’s “Saint Omer,” the Dardenne’s “Tori and Lokita,” and Mungiu’s “R.M.N.,” among other titles, from the Iranian fest which runs Feb. 1-11.
The government-run Fajr Film Festival, which is Iran’s top film event, has long had a section dedicated to international films that would otherwise not circulate in the country. This year, due to the wave of protests sparked in September by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while she was held in custody for allegedly wearing a loose hijab, fest organizers did not reveal the lineup in advance to avoid controversy.
- 2/3/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, French filmmaker Alice Diop and Romanian director Cristian Mungiu have demanded that Iran’s Fajr International Film Festival remove their films from the line-up of its current edition, running from February 1 to 11.
The filmmakers said in separate statements that they discovered by chance that their respective films Tori And Lokita, Saint Omer, Rebel and R.M.N. had been included in Fajr’s selection without their personal permission.
“We have just learned that our film Tori And Lokita is in the selection of the Fajr festival in Tehran,” the Dardennes said in a statement on Thursday.
“We demand that the film be withdrawn immediately from the program of this festival which is a showcase for a dictatorial and murderous religious regime that we condemn.”
Saint Omer director Alice Diop said she had been alerted to her film’s...
The filmmakers said in separate statements that they discovered by chance that their respective films Tori And Lokita, Saint Omer, Rebel and R.M.N. had been included in Fajr’s selection without their personal permission.
“We have just learned that our film Tori And Lokita is in the selection of the Fajr festival in Tehran,” the Dardennes said in a statement on Thursday.
“We demand that the film be withdrawn immediately from the program of this festival which is a showcase for a dictatorial and murderous religious regime that we condemn.”
Saint Omer director Alice Diop said she had been alerted to her film’s...
- 2/3/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Miami Film Festival will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year. The festival, which runs from March 3 to March 12, includes 12 world premieres. The event will open with Ray Romano’s “Somewhere in Queens” and close with Stephen Frears’ “The Lost King.” The festival will screen a total of 140 films from more than 30 countries.
Director of programming Lauren Cohen said, “In our fourth decade of programming, we’re proud to continue bringing a diversity of top-quality films to increasingly sophisticated audiences.”
Four centerpiece presentations will take place during the festival, spotlighting key films with directors in attendance for post-screening Q&As. Included in that slate are Stephen Williams’ “Chevalier,” starring Kelvin Harrison, Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton and Minnie Driver; Benjamin Millepied’s “Carmen,” starring Melissa Barrera, Paul Mescal and Rossy De Palma; Dani de la Orden and Àlex Murull’s “The Final Game (42 Segundo)”; and Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok’s “Judy Blume Forever.
Director of programming Lauren Cohen said, “In our fourth decade of programming, we’re proud to continue bringing a diversity of top-quality films to increasingly sophisticated audiences.”
Four centerpiece presentations will take place during the festival, spotlighting key films with directors in attendance for post-screening Q&As. Included in that slate are Stephen Williams’ “Chevalier,” starring Kelvin Harrison, Samara Weaving, Lucy Boynton and Minnie Driver; Benjamin Millepied’s “Carmen,” starring Melissa Barrera, Paul Mescal and Rossy De Palma; Dani de la Orden and Àlex Murull’s “The Final Game (42 Segundo)”; and Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok’s “Judy Blume Forever.
- 1/31/2023
- by Charna Flam
- Variety Film + TV
Eight years after delivering his Oscar-nominated film “Timbuktu,” Abderrahmane Sissako is set to make his anticipated directorial comeback with “The Perfumed Hill.” Gaumont is representing in international markets and will introduce it to buyers at at Toronto. The French studio will also distribute the film in France, while Cohen Media Group will release it in the U.S.
Re-teaming Sissako with his “Timbuktu” co-writer Kessen Tall, “The Perfumed Hill” is a romance drama set between China’s tea hills, the Ivory Coast and Cape Verde. It stars Nina Melo (“Girlhood”), Han Chang (“Little Big Women”) and Ke-Xi Wu (“Nina Wu”).
The movie follows the journey of Joice, who leaves the Ivory Coast to start a new life in Guangzhou, China, after saying “no” on her wedding day. She finds a job at a tea boutique owned by Cai, a Chinese man, in the vibrant region of Guangzhou, known as the “Chocolate City.
Re-teaming Sissako with his “Timbuktu” co-writer Kessen Tall, “The Perfumed Hill” is a romance drama set between China’s tea hills, the Ivory Coast and Cape Verde. It stars Nina Melo (“Girlhood”), Han Chang (“Little Big Women”) and Ke-Xi Wu (“Nina Wu”).
The movie follows the journey of Joice, who leaves the Ivory Coast to start a new life in Guangzhou, China, after saying “no” on her wedding day. She finds a job at a tea boutique owned by Cai, a Chinese man, in the vibrant region of Guangzhou, known as the “Chocolate City.
- 9/6/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Telluride 2022 Begins with Buzz About ‘Women Talking,’ a Rare Robert Downey Jr. Appearance, and More
One week after the box office experienced decade lows, the fall film festivals have come to save the day, premiering dozens of new movies that hope to bring audiences back to theaters and maybe even win some awards.
At the opening day brunch, Telluride attendees were already chatting about what they have heard of the films that premiered out of Venice, which had kicked off two days ago. Naturally, the conversation turned to a couple of projects that also happen to be at Telluride as well.
While there is still much excitement for “TÁR,” which will close the Cate Blanchett tribute on Saturday night, the previous day’s wave of divisive reviews for “Bardo” had brunch goers wondering whether or not they can power through its ever-evolving runtime (there were whispers that even sure exceeds the 174 minutes listed on the program guide).
One person who is powering through the experience is director Alejandro González Iñárritu,...
At the opening day brunch, Telluride attendees were already chatting about what they have heard of the films that premiered out of Venice, which had kicked off two days ago. Naturally, the conversation turned to a couple of projects that also happen to be at Telluride as well.
While there is still much excitement for “TÁR,” which will close the Cate Blanchett tribute on Saturday night, the previous day’s wave of divisive reviews for “Bardo” had brunch goers wondering whether or not they can power through its ever-evolving runtime (there were whispers that even sure exceeds the 174 minutes listed on the program guide).
One person who is powering through the experience is director Alejandro González Iñárritu,...
- 9/3/2022
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
The US festival runs from September 2-5,
Telluride Film Festival (Tff) has unveiled the programme for its 49th edition, with the US festival running from tomorrow (September 2) to September 5.
Ahead of its play at Toronto and BFI London Film Festival, Sam Mendes’ Empire Of Light will world premiere. Set in an English seaside town during the 1980s, the film follows a love story and an old cinema. Olivia Colman and Colin Firth star, alongside Screen Star of Tomorrow 2020 Micheal Ward, Toby Jones, Tanya Moodie, Tom Brooke and Crystal Clarke. It is produced by Mendes and Pippa Harris’ Neal Street Productions in association with Searchlight.
Telluride Film Festival (Tff) has unveiled the programme for its 49th edition, with the US festival running from tomorrow (September 2) to September 5.
Ahead of its play at Toronto and BFI London Film Festival, Sam Mendes’ Empire Of Light will world premiere. Set in an English seaside town during the 1980s, the film follows a love story and an old cinema. Olivia Colman and Colin Firth star, alongside Screen Star of Tomorrow 2020 Micheal Ward, Toby Jones, Tanya Moodie, Tom Brooke and Crystal Clarke. It is produced by Mendes and Pippa Harris’ Neal Street Productions in association with Searchlight.
- 9/1/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Telluride Film Festival’s official 2022 lineup has been announced, revealing world premieres of Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light,” Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking,” Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and Sebastián Lelio’s “The Wonder.”
In its 49th year, the festival will pay tribute to two-time Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, whose new film “TÁR,” from director Todd Field, will debut stateside after premiering at the Venice Film Festival.
In addition, the festival will also tribute Academy Award nominee Polley (adapted screenplay for 2006’s “Away from Her”) and acclaimed documentarian Marc Cousins, who has two films dropping at the fest. One is “My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock,” which is based on a fictional monologue between Cousins and the master of suspense. The other is “The March on Rome,” depicting the ascent of fascism in Europe during the 1930s.
Other Venice bows heading over to the Colorado Mountains are Luca Guadagnino’s...
In its 49th year, the festival will pay tribute to two-time Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, whose new film “TÁR,” from director Todd Field, will debut stateside after premiering at the Venice Film Festival.
In addition, the festival will also tribute Academy Award nominee Polley (adapted screenplay for 2006’s “Away from Her”) and acclaimed documentarian Marc Cousins, who has two films dropping at the fest. One is “My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock,” which is based on a fictional monologue between Cousins and the master of suspense. The other is “The March on Rome,” depicting the ascent of fascism in Europe during the 1930s.
Other Venice bows heading over to the Colorado Mountains are Luca Guadagnino’s...
- 9/1/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Films from China, Chile, Palestine and India picked up prizes.
Qui Jiongjiong’s A New Old Play and Maha Haj’s Mediterranean Fever picked up the top prizes at the Firebird Awards at the Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff).
A New Old Play won the Firebird Award for best film in the Chinese-language Young Cinema Competition. The story follows a family of Sichuan Opera artists living through a tumultuous era and the prize rounds out a year-long tour of festivals that began with Locarno last August and took in Busan, Tallinn Black Night, Rotterdam and Goteborg among others. The...
Qui Jiongjiong’s A New Old Play and Maha Haj’s Mediterranean Fever picked up the top prizes at the Firebird Awards at the Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff).
A New Old Play won the Firebird Award for best film in the Chinese-language Young Cinema Competition. The story follows a family of Sichuan Opera artists living through a tumultuous era and the prize rounds out a year-long tour of festivals that began with Locarno last August and took in Busan, Tallinn Black Night, Rotterdam and Goteborg among others. The...
- 8/31/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The first 30 titles in the running for the EFAs have been announced.
The first 30 titles in the running for the 2022 European Film Awards have been revealed with a second wave of titles due to be announced in September.
Scroll down for first selection of films
The titles include Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness, Carla Simón’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner Alcarras and Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar-winner Belfast. Also selected is Colm Bairéad’s The Quiet Girl, which is Ireland’s submission for the best international feature Oscar.
Further Cannes award winners to make the first...
The first 30 titles in the running for the 2022 European Film Awards have been revealed with a second wave of titles due to be announced in September.
Scroll down for first selection of films
The titles include Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness, Carla Simón’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner Alcarras and Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar-winner Belfast. Also selected is Colm Bairéad’s The Quiet Girl, which is Ireland’s submission for the best international feature Oscar.
Further Cannes award winners to make the first...
- 8/18/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The festival runs July 21-31.
Alexandru Belc’s Metronom has picked up the award for best international film at the 39th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) this week.
The Romanian film was selected from 11 international titles, which included Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave and Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning. It centres around a teenage couple spending their last few days together in 1972. Belc also won the best director award when the film played in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard selection earlier this year.
Berlinale managing director Mariette Rissenbeek, Hungarian filmmaker László Nemes and Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson comprised the jury.
Alexandru Belc’s Metronom has picked up the award for best international film at the 39th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) this week.
The Romanian film was selected from 11 international titles, which included Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave and Mia Hansen-Løve’s One Fine Morning. It centres around a teenage couple spending their last few days together in 1972. Belc also won the best director award when the film played in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard selection earlier this year.
Berlinale managing director Mariette Rissenbeek, Hungarian filmmaker László Nemes and Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson comprised the jury.
- 7/29/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Tori and Lokita, the latest from the eerily consistent Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, pulls you in opposite directions when assessing it. It is as consummately made and passionately intended as anything they’ve done, but the filmmakers, as is apparent in less-successful films, can really undermine themselves with choices in plotting. I’ll never forget viewing my first, The Son, as a student in undergrad, both marveling and being almost perturbed at what a simple, elemental conflict—a man forgiving the murderer of his child—drove the entire film and generated all its tension. As in Lorna’s Silence and The Unknown Girl, this story can’t move without plot streaming out of every corner, contrivances piling upon contrivances, the way the tape could peel out of an old analog cassette or VHS.
Comparing the Dardennes to Ken Loach, one of their most profound influences, is significant too. Film critics can...
Comparing the Dardennes to Ken Loach, one of their most profound influences, is significant too. Film critics can...
- 6/2/2022
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
Perry Blackshear’s third film follows siblings who seek revenge against a stalker.
In a deal hatched in Cannes 1091 Pictures has acquired all English-speaking rights from Yellow Veil to Perry Blackshear’s horror drama When I Consume You.
Blackshear’s third film after psychological horror They Look Like People and creature feature The Siren premiered at 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival entry and once again stars MacLeod Andrews, Evan Dumouchel, and Margaret Ying Drake. It tells of a woman and her brother who seek revenge against a stalker. Libby Ewing also stars.
1091 Pictures, which is owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment,...
In a deal hatched in Cannes 1091 Pictures has acquired all English-speaking rights from Yellow Veil to Perry Blackshear’s horror drama When I Consume You.
Blackshear’s third film after psychological horror They Look Like People and creature feature The Siren premiered at 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival entry and once again stars MacLeod Andrews, Evan Dumouchel, and Margaret Ying Drake. It tells of a woman and her brother who seek revenge against a stalker. Libby Ewing also stars.
1091 Pictures, which is owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment,...
- 6/2/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sideshow and Janus Films have picked up the North American distribution rights to “Tori and Lokita,” the refugee drama from two-time Palme D’Or winning directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
The film stars Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu as a young boy and adolescent girl who have traveled alone from Africa to Belgium and face a serious test of their friendship as they grapple with the difficult conditions of their exile. The film received a special award at Cannes in honor of the festival’s 75th anniversary.
“’Tori and Lokita’ is an immediate classic and shows these master filmmakers working at their highest level, focused with a newfound intensity on the issues plaguing our time,” Sideshow and Janus said in a statement. “The Dardenne brothers have had a profound influence on an entire generation of filmmakers, and we cannot wait to bring this film to the public, including both fans...
The film stars Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu as a young boy and adolescent girl who have traveled alone from Africa to Belgium and face a serious test of their friendship as they grapple with the difficult conditions of their exile. The film received a special award at Cannes in honor of the festival’s 75th anniversary.
“’Tori and Lokita’ is an immediate classic and shows these master filmmakers working at their highest level, focused with a newfound intensity on the issues plaguing our time,” Sideshow and Janus said in a statement. “The Dardenne brothers have had a profound influence on an entire generation of filmmakers, and we cannot wait to bring this film to the public, including both fans...
- 6/2/2022
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights for “Tori and Lokita,” the latest film by two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, which world premiered in competition at Cannes. The movie was one of the best reviewed films of the competition and earned the Dardenne brothers the festival’s special 75th Anniversary Prize.
A story of human perseverance, the film is set in contemporary Belgium and follows a young boy Tori (Pablo Schils) and an adolescent girl Lokita (Joely Mbundu) who have traveled alone from Africa and pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.
“Tori and Lokita” stars Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. “Tori and Lokita” was produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, and Denis Freyd.
Sideshow and Janus Films are planning to release the film theatrically across the country.
A story of human perseverance, the film is set in contemporary Belgium and follows a young boy Tori (Pablo Schils) and an adolescent girl Lokita (Joely Mbundu) who have traveled alone from Africa and pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.
“Tori and Lokita” stars Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. “Tori and Lokita” was produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, and Denis Freyd.
Sideshow and Janus Films are planning to release the film theatrically across the country.
- 6/2/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights for Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Tori and Lokita which premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and was lauded with the Festival’s Special 75th Anniversary Prize. A theatrical release from Sideshow and Janus is being planned.
Tori and Lokita stars Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. The film is produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, and Denis Freyd.
In Belgium today, a young boy Tori (Pablo Schils) and an adolescent girl Lokita (Joely Mbundu) who have traveled alone from Africa pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.
Sideshow and Janus Films said: “Tori and Lokita is an immediate classic and shows these master filmmakers working at their highest level, focused with a newfound intensity on the issues plaguing our time. The Dardenne...
Tori and Lokita stars Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. The film is produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, and Denis Freyd.
In Belgium today, a young boy Tori (Pablo Schils) and an adolescent girl Lokita (Joely Mbundu) who have traveled alone from Africa pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.
Sideshow and Janus Films said: “Tori and Lokita is an immediate classic and shows these master filmmakers working at their highest level, focused with a newfound intensity on the issues plaguing our time. The Dardenne...
- 6/2/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Drama is co-directed by Riley Keough and Gina Gammell.
Picturehouse Entertainment has secured all UK and Ireland rights to Riley Keough and Gina Gammell’s War Pony, which won the Camera d’Or at Cannes on Saturday (May 28).
The deal was closed with UK outfit Protagonist Pictures, which is handling international sales.
Inspired by true events, the US drama follows two boys living in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, as they face the difficult realities of growing into adulthood. The two central roles are played by Jojo Bapteise Whiting and Ladainian Crazy Thunder.
It marks the directorial debut of Keough,...
Picturehouse Entertainment has secured all UK and Ireland rights to Riley Keough and Gina Gammell’s War Pony, which won the Camera d’Or at Cannes on Saturday (May 28).
The deal was closed with UK outfit Protagonist Pictures, which is handling international sales.
Inspired by true events, the US drama follows two boys living in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, as they face the difficult realities of growing into adulthood. The two central roles are played by Jojo Bapteise Whiting and Ladainian Crazy Thunder.
It marks the directorial debut of Keough,...
- 6/1/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Ruben Ostlund’s raucous film wins top prize, with Grand Prix shared by Lukas Dhont’s “Close” and Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon”
The film, an uproarious three-part comedy about fashion models, social-media influencers, class divides and projectile vomiting, is the second Palme win in five years for Swedish director Ostlund, who won for “The Square” in 2017. It is also the third consecutive win for U.S. distributor Neon, which took the top prize for “Titane” last year and “Parasite” in 2019. (There was no festival in 2020.)
The runner-up prize, the Grand Prix, was a tie between young Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s “Close” and veteran French filmmaker Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon.”
Also Read:
‘Triangle of Sadness’ Film Review: Gross-Out Comedy Is Overlong and Understuffed
Park Chan-Wook was named the festival’s best director for “Decision to Leave,” his elegant cross between a murder mystery and a romance.
The best...
The film, an uproarious three-part comedy about fashion models, social-media influencers, class divides and projectile vomiting, is the second Palme win in five years for Swedish director Ostlund, who won for “The Square” in 2017. It is also the third consecutive win for U.S. distributor Neon, which took the top prize for “Titane” last year and “Parasite” in 2019. (There was no festival in 2020.)
The runner-up prize, the Grand Prix, was a tie between young Belgian director Lukas Dhont’s “Close” and veteran French filmmaker Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon.”
Also Read:
‘Triangle of Sadness’ Film Review: Gross-Out Comedy Is Overlong and Understuffed
Park Chan-Wook was named the festival’s best director for “Decision to Leave,” his elegant cross between a murder mystery and a romance.
The best...
- 5/28/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Ruben Östlund won his second Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, for “Triangle of Sadness,” a satire of influencer culture and beauty’s ability to open doors that inspired uproarious laughter — and disgust. The Swedish director, who previously won the Palme for art-world sendup “The Square,” urged the audience to let out “a primal scream of happiness” following his acceptance of the award, which officially closed out the nearly two-week long event in Cannes, the 75th edition of the festival.
See the full winners list below.
Among the more eye-catching winners for cinephiles, Claire Denis won her first award from Cannes, with only the second film she’d ever had in Competition: “Stars at Noon” starring Margaret Qualley, who she said during her speech she’d discovered at Cannes when watching Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” three years ago. She shared the Grand Prix with “Close” by Lukas Dhont.
See the full winners list below.
Among the more eye-catching winners for cinephiles, Claire Denis won her first award from Cannes, with only the second film she’d ever had in Competition: “Stars at Noon” starring Margaret Qualley, who she said during her speech she’d discovered at Cannes when watching Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” three years ago. She shared the Grand Prix with “Close” by Lukas Dhont.
- 5/28/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
, a distinction that shouldn’t be taken lightly in the context of filmmakers who’ve spent the last three decades carving diamond-sharp moral dramas from the plights of Belgium’s most dispossessed people.
Like most of the duo’s work, “Tori and Lokita” leverages the irreducible nature of human dignity against the ever-worsening apathy of human civilization. Like much of their work — including the Palme d’Or winner “Rosetta” and the 2002 masterpiece, “The Son” — the film’s threadbare story hinges on effectively parentless children whose need for support leads them towards danger. And like the best of their work, which this sobering return to form represents from its curious first shot to its furious last beat, its premise pulls tighter until even the simplest actions are endowed with breathless intensity.
But it’s the anger that sets “Tori and Lokita” apart from the rest of the Dardennes’ films — the anger...
Like most of the duo’s work, “Tori and Lokita” leverages the irreducible nature of human dignity against the ever-worsening apathy of human civilization. Like much of their work — including the Palme d’Or winner “Rosetta” and the 2002 masterpiece, “The Son” — the film’s threadbare story hinges on effectively parentless children whose need for support leads them towards danger. And like the best of their work, which this sobering return to form represents from its curious first shot to its furious last beat, its premise pulls tighter until even the simplest actions are endowed with breathless intensity.
But it’s the anger that sets “Tori and Lokita” apart from the rest of the Dardennes’ films — the anger...
- 5/28/2022
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Quentin Dupieux’s film debuted out of Competition.
Picturehouse Entertainment has made Quentin Dupieux’s Smoking Causes Coughing its latest Cannes 2022 acquisition, buying UK-Ireland rights for the out of Competition title.
Smoking Causes Coughing debuted as a Midnight screening on the Croisette; it is sold by France’s Gaumont.
The film follows a team of five avengers known as the Tobacco Force. After a devastating battle against a diabolical turtle, they are sent on a retreat to strengthen their cohesion, which goes well until Lezardin, Emperor of Evil, decides to annihilate planet Earth.
Gilles Lelouche, Vincent Lacoste, Anais Demoustier, Jean-Pascal Zadi and Oulaya Amamra star.
Picturehouse Entertainment has made Quentin Dupieux’s Smoking Causes Coughing its latest Cannes 2022 acquisition, buying UK-Ireland rights for the out of Competition title.
Smoking Causes Coughing debuted as a Midnight screening on the Croisette; it is sold by France’s Gaumont.
The film follows a team of five avengers known as the Tobacco Force. After a devastating battle against a diabolical turtle, they are sent on a retreat to strengthen their cohesion, which goes well until Lezardin, Emperor of Evil, decides to annihilate planet Earth.
Gilles Lelouche, Vincent Lacoste, Anais Demoustier, Jean-Pascal Zadi and Oulaya Amamra star.
- 5/28/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The 2022 Cannes Film Festival is nearing its conclusion, and soon the jury will be selecting awards for this year’s impressive, albeit quieter, slate of films. After last year’s “Titane” from Julia Ducournau made history as the first female-directed film to fully win the Palme d’Or (Jane Campion’s “The Piano” tied with “Farewell My Concubine” in 1993), at this point in the festival, it doesn’t seem likely that a woman-directed project will walk away with it this year.
“Forever Young” by French-Italian director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi seems to be the only film directed by a woman that has so far invoked any passion for bringing it to the finish line. Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” Leonor Serraille’s “Mother and Son” and Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen’s “Eight Mountains” are the other titles directed by women among the 21 contending features.
“Forever Young” by French-Italian director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi seems to be the only film directed by a woman that has so far invoked any passion for bringing it to the finish line. Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” Leonor Serraille’s “Mother and Son” and Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen’s “Eight Mountains” are the other titles directed by women among the 21 contending features.
- 5/26/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
UK director Charlotte Well’s buzzed-about debut Aftersun also features among the prize-winners.
Colombian director Andrés Ramírez Pulido’s jungle-set, coming-of-age drama The Pack (La Jauria) has scooped the top €10,000 grand prix of the 61st edition of Cannes Critics’ Week.
The film revolves around a boy who is sent to an experimental juvenile correction centre in the heart of the Colombian jungle after he commits a crime.
The Colombia-France co-production is Pulido’s first feature after a number of well-travelled shorts including Damiana which premiered in Competition in Cannes in 2017 and El Edén which played in the Berlinale in 2018.
Tunisian...
Colombian director Andrés Ramírez Pulido’s jungle-set, coming-of-age drama The Pack (La Jauria) has scooped the top €10,000 grand prix of the 61st edition of Cannes Critics’ Week.
The film revolves around a boy who is sent to an experimental juvenile correction centre in the heart of the Colombian jungle after he commits a crime.
The Colombia-France co-production is Pulido’s first feature after a number of well-travelled shorts including Damiana which premiered in Competition in Cannes in 2017 and El Edén which played in the Berlinale in 2018.
Tunisian...
- 5/25/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
UK director Charlotte Well’s buzzed-about debut Aftersun also features among the prize-winners.
Columbian director Andrés Ramírez Pulido’s jungle-set, coming-of-age drama The Pack (La Jauria) has scooped the top €10,000 grand prix of the 61st edition of Cannes Critics’ Week.
The film revolves around a boy who is sent to an experimental juvenile correction centre in the heart of the Colombian jungle after he commits a crime.
The Colombia-France co-production is Pulido’s first feature after a number of well-travelled shorts including Damiana which premiered in Competition in Cannes in 2017 and El Edén which played in the Berlinale in 2018.
Tunisian...
Columbian director Andrés Ramírez Pulido’s jungle-set, coming-of-age drama The Pack (La Jauria) has scooped the top €10,000 grand prix of the 61st edition of Cannes Critics’ Week.
The film revolves around a boy who is sent to an experimental juvenile correction centre in the heart of the Colombian jungle after he commits a crime.
The Colombia-France co-production is Pulido’s first feature after a number of well-travelled shorts including Damiana which premiered in Competition in Cannes in 2017 and El Edén which played in the Berlinale in 2018.
Tunisian...
- 5/25/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
“Tori and Lokita” opens on a tight close-up on the teenage Lokita (Joely Mbundu) as she struggles with the questions delivered by an immigration officer. She has fabricated a story about how she found her brother, Tori (Pablo Schils) in an orphanage, but no one believes her. As the line of questioning becomes more intense, more interrogative, Lokita’s muscles tense and her eyes grow sadder with despair, giving way to a panic attack — one of many that afflict her throughout the film.
Continue reading ‘Tori And Lokita’ Review: The Dardennes’ Trademark Sense Of Urgency & Empathy Missteps Into Exploitation [Cannes] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Tori And Lokita’ Review: The Dardennes’ Trademark Sense Of Urgency & Empathy Missteps Into Exploitation [Cannes] at The Playlist.
- 5/25/2022
- by Iana Murray
- The Playlist
‘Tori And Lokita’ arrives fifth on Screen’s Cannes jury grid and divides the critics.
Mario Martone’s Nostalgia lands third on the jury grid while Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne’s Tori And Lokita splits our jurors.
The Palme d’Or winners secure a 2.5 average for Tori And Lokita which follows the friendship between a young boy and a girl as they make the perilous journey from Africa to Belgium. It gathered four threes (good) and three twos (average) from our jurors.
Click here to expand
Meduza’s Anton Dolin awarded the film a four (excellent), but a one...
Mario Martone’s Nostalgia lands third on the jury grid while Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne’s Tori And Lokita splits our jurors.
The Palme d’Or winners secure a 2.5 average for Tori And Lokita which follows the friendship between a young boy and a girl as they make the perilous journey from Africa to Belgium. It gathered four threes (good) and three twos (average) from our jurors.
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Meduza’s Anton Dolin awarded the film a four (excellent), but a one...
- 5/25/2022
- by Melissa Kasule
- ScreenDaily
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, the Belgian brothers who have directed a series of films notable for quiet naturalism, are a prime example of how at the Cannes Film Festival, familiarity breeds not contempt but contentment.
Year after year, Cannes puts the Dardennes’ films in the Main Competition; they’ve made nine features since “Rosetta” in 1999, and every one of them has vied for Cannes’ top honor, the Palme d’Or, with “Rosetta” and 2005’s “L’Enfant” winning and four others taking additional awards. The Dardennes now have a chance to make significant Cannes history by becoming the first directors to ever win the Palme for a third time.
If they win for “Tori and Lokita,” which premiered in Cannes on Tuesday, they’ll also set a new record for the longest time elapsed between Cannes wins, with the 17-year gap since “L’Enfant” breaking the record of 14 years between Shohei Imamura’s...
Year after year, Cannes puts the Dardennes’ films in the Main Competition; they’ve made nine features since “Rosetta” in 1999, and every one of them has vied for Cannes’ top honor, the Palme d’Or, with “Rosetta” and 2005’s “L’Enfant” winning and four others taking additional awards. The Dardennes now have a chance to make significant Cannes history by becoming the first directors to ever win the Palme for a third time.
If they win for “Tori and Lokita,” which premiered in Cannes on Tuesday, they’ll also set a new record for the longest time elapsed between Cannes wins, with the 17-year gap since “L’Enfant” breaking the record of 14 years between Shohei Imamura’s...
- 5/24/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Director Guillermo del Toro showed up at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday to lead a wide-ranging conversation with directors including Paolo Sorrentino, Claude Lelouch, Costa-Gavras, Michel Hazanavicius and Gaspar Noe, and he sounded the alarm from his opening comments that the film business was dramatically changing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of streaming services over movie theaters.
“What we have right now is unsustainable,” del Toro said at the beginning of the “Filmmaking: What Now?” symposium, a two-day event to mark the 75th Cannes. “In so many ways, what we have belongs to an older structure. Whether we want it to or not, the future will show up.”
But, he added, the change in the movie business is only part of a wider change across society. “When we look at the entire structure of how we are as a race, a community, it is shifting,...
“What we have right now is unsustainable,” del Toro said at the beginning of the “Filmmaking: What Now?” symposium, a two-day event to mark the 75th Cannes. “In so many ways, what we have belongs to an older structure. Whether we want it to or not, the future will show up.”
But, he added, the change in the movie business is only part of a wider change across society. “When we look at the entire structure of how we are as a race, a community, it is shifting,...
- 5/24/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
When it comes to churning out acidic commentary on the new aspirational money culture, the movies have not been shy. They’ve been up-front in showcasing, and satirizing, how the rich aren’t just getting richer but making themselves role models in the process. (It’s Kardashian Nation; we just live in it.) Ruben Östland’s Cannes sensation “Triangle of Sadness” may be the most spectacular movie statement yet about the decadence of the 21st-century playpen elite. Yet that’s the fun, sexy part of our society’s increasingly from-the-top-down distribution equation. The tragic, essential part is where the concentration of wealth leaves just about everyone else: strapped, quietly desperate, trying to claw their way through a system that feels, more and more, like it wasn’t built for them.
“Tori and Lokita,” the new movie written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, is just as spectacular a statement as “Triangle of Sadness.
“Tori and Lokita,” the new movie written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, is just as spectacular a statement as “Triangle of Sadness.
- 5/24/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Park Chan-wook takes a 3.2 and David Cronenberg a 2.5 on the jury grid.
Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave takes the top spot on Screen’s Cannes jury grid whilst David Cronenberg’s Crimes Of The Future lands in the middle of the pack.
The Korean and Chinese language drama , took an average score of 3.2 (with one more score incoming), the highest recorded score yet on this year’s grid, overtaking James Gray’s Armageddon Time.
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The film follows a detective who suspects a mysterious woman he is also attracted to while investigating her husband’s death.
Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave takes the top spot on Screen’s Cannes jury grid whilst David Cronenberg’s Crimes Of The Future lands in the middle of the pack.
The Korean and Chinese language drama , took an average score of 3.2 (with one more score incoming), the highest recorded score yet on this year’s grid, overtaking James Gray’s Armageddon Time.
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The film follows a detective who suspects a mysterious woman he is also attracted to while investigating her husband’s death.
- 5/24/2022
- by Melissa Kasule
- ScreenDaily
It has picked up Cristian Mungiu’s ’R.M.N.’ and Dominik Moll’s ’The Night Of The 12th’.
UK-Ireland distributor Picturehouse Entertainment has added two further Official Selection selections to its ever-growing swag bag of Cannes titles.
It has picked up Cristian Mungiu’s Competition drama R.M.N. from Wild Bunch International and Dominik Moll’s The Night Of The 12th, which is screening in Cannes Premiere, from Memento International.
R.M.N. follows a man who quits his job in Germany to return to his multi-ethnic Transylvanian village and becomes involved in an ongoing drama. It is...
UK-Ireland distributor Picturehouse Entertainment has added two further Official Selection selections to its ever-growing swag bag of Cannes titles.
It has picked up Cristian Mungiu’s Competition drama R.M.N. from Wild Bunch International and Dominik Moll’s The Night Of The 12th, which is screening in Cannes Premiere, from Memento International.
R.M.N. follows a man who quits his job in Germany to return to his multi-ethnic Transylvanian village and becomes involved in an ongoing drama. It is...
- 5/23/2022
- by Louise Tutt
- ScreenDaily
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