Berlin-based sales agency Picture Tree Intl. has picked up “Woodland” (“Wald”), written and directed by Elisabeth Scharang, which has its world premiere in the Centrepiece section at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film’s trailer has also just been launched.
Picture Tree Intl. also handled world sales on Scharang’s sophomore feature film, “Jack,” which also played at Toronto.
“Woodland” is inspired by the novel “Wald” from bestselling author Doris Knecht, and the personal experience of Scharang, who witnessed the attack of a terrorist shooter in Vienna in 2020 in which four people were killed and 23 others were injured. The film marks Scharang’s second collaboration with Dop Jörg Widmer, who is a frequent collaborator with Terrence Malick.
Brigitte Hobmeier as Marian Malin in “Woodland”
In “Woodland,” Marian Malin (Brigitte Hobmeier) has everything she could wish for — a passion, a job and love — until she and her husband (Bogdan Dumitrache...
Picture Tree Intl. also handled world sales on Scharang’s sophomore feature film, “Jack,” which also played at Toronto.
“Woodland” is inspired by the novel “Wald” from bestselling author Doris Knecht, and the personal experience of Scharang, who witnessed the attack of a terrorist shooter in Vienna in 2020 in which four people were killed and 23 others were injured. The film marks Scharang’s second collaboration with Dop Jörg Widmer, who is a frequent collaborator with Terrence Malick.
Brigitte Hobmeier as Marian Malin in “Woodland”
In “Woodland,” Marian Malin (Brigitte Hobmeier) has everything she could wish for — a passion, a job and love — until she and her husband (Bogdan Dumitrache...
- 8/10/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Picture Tree Intl. has picked up global sales rights to “Gina” (working title), by Ulrike Kofler, which follows her Netflix debut “What We Wanted.”
“Gina” tells the story of a 9-year-old girl longing for a home and family while having to take care of her younger siblings and mother, who is too overwhelmed to take care of herself, let alone her children.
The film, produced by Film Ag, is the second feature by Kofler, who is a long-time editor for Austrian director Marie Kreutzer. Kofler’s editing work includes “Corsage,” which won best film at the London Film Festival and three nominations for the European Film Awards in 2022, “The Ground Beneath My Feet”, and Josef Hader’s “Wild Mouse”.
Kolfer’s directorial debut “What We Wanted,” starring Elyas M’Barek and Lavinia Wilson, was sold by Pti exclusively to Netflix, and was Austria’s official entry for the Academy Awards in...
“Gina” tells the story of a 9-year-old girl longing for a home and family while having to take care of her younger siblings and mother, who is too overwhelmed to take care of herself, let alone her children.
The film, produced by Film Ag, is the second feature by Kofler, who is a long-time editor for Austrian director Marie Kreutzer. Kofler’s editing work includes “Corsage,” which won best film at the London Film Festival and three nominations for the European Film Awards in 2022, “The Ground Beneath My Feet”, and Josef Hader’s “Wild Mouse”.
Kolfer’s directorial debut “What We Wanted,” starring Elyas M’Barek and Lavinia Wilson, was sold by Pti exclusively to Netflix, and was Austria’s official entry for the Academy Awards in...
- 5/10/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Austria’s Oscar© 2023 Entry for Best International Feature: ‘Corsage’ by Marie Kreutzer;Marie KreutzerA corsage is not a flower but a corset gripping the very guts of Sisi, the Empress of the Hapsburg Empire. Married at 16, by 40, hating aging and gaining weigh, Sisi pines away, never finding a pathway toward life.
Quite the opposite of my other favorite films of Cannes where it premiered along with Plus que jamais aka More Than Ever directed by Emily Atef and also starring a luminous Vicky Krieps, Revoir Paris aka ‘Paris Memorie by Alice Winocour and totally forgotten by now, and Un beau matin aka One Fine Morning by Mia Hansen-Love and starring Lea Seydoux in one of her best roles, where the female protagonists heed their inner voices to lead them on their unique pathways to peace. This film nevertheless features a top performance by Vicky Krieps (The Phantom Thread, Plus que jambs) for which she won the Cannes Award for Best Actress in a modern rendition of celebrity royalty.
Vicky Krieps, Luxembourg’s top star
Recalling Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette with its touches of modernism like in the songs sung for royal entertainment, or recalling the real life Princess Diana’s own futile quest for inner peace, Corsage stands on the brilliant direction by Marie Kreutzer who also wrote the screenplay. Beautiful cinematophy by Judith Kaufmann, striking music by Camille, superb editing by Ulrike Kofler. The costumes by Monika Buttinger are extraordinary! The attractive production design may be by another woman but it is uncredited in IMDb. In all, the crew is comprised of a majority of women.
Elisabeth has gone down in history as an empress of eternal youthfulness and beauty. For more than three decades she was regarded as the most beautiful queen in Europe. When Sisi married at 16, she was carefree and frivolous, and imagined herself in love with Emperor Franz Joseph who was head over heals in love with her.
In this rendition of her story, Empress Elizabeth of Austria is idolized for her beauty and renowned for inspiring fashion trends. In 1877 Christmas Empress turns 40 and is officially deemed an old woman she starts trying to maintain her public image.
The glamour of her clothes and the portraits and sculptures of her are still intoxicating while in fact, and as shown in the film, to her, they were toxic reminders to her of lost youth.
Today her life is displayed as kitsch; just visit Vienna to see.
She spent hours each day in efforts to preserve her legendary beauty. Her most striking feature was her thick, ankle-length hair, the care of which required enormous expenditure of time. Franziska Feifalik, the empress’s personal hairdresser, skilfully contrived ingenious hairstyles, including the famous braided crown.
She expressed hardly any political opinions in the final decades of her life. Having put immense pressure on the emperor during the negotiations with Hungary for the Compromise by which the lands of the House of Habsburg were reorganized as a real union between the Austrian Empire and the Hungarian Kingdom, a unpopular event, Elisabeth was forbidden by her husband to interfere in politics ever again. The event is eluded to in the course of telling the story of her progressive retreat from public life.
Elisabeth withdrew from the court and began to lead her own life according to her inclinations. This is where the film begins.
Watch the trailer here.
She spent hours on horseback, riding and dressage; she composed verses in the style of the German poet Heinrich Heine and she travelled frequently. In her apartment she had a gymnastic apparatus set up and performed a strenuous daily program of exercises, which scandalized the court.
After the tragic suicide of her son Rudolf in 1889 the empress only appeared in mourning on official occasions in the lands of the Monarchy and retreated into her grief. Black veils and fans completed the image of the grieving, withdrawn woman. In the film, we do not know of Rudolf’s death but we see her dressed in black and may wonder what precipitated that.
A few other questions remain unanswered in the film, like what were her deepest feelings about her husband and what were his about her? He had numerous mistresses, but their love making, when it finally happens, is both seductive and tender, and she chooses a proper mistress for him as if to replace her in his affections.
Most disappointing is her never finding a way of life for herself. Krieps’ depiction of a life with all exits but one cut off is deeply moving until one realizes that given all she had going for her, she was not able to grow in any way.
After its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, it went on to play at the Munich International Film Festval, then going to the Jerusalem Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival and in September to the Toronto International Film Festival.
Isa MK2 has so far sold the film to Ifc for No. America, Ad Vitam for France, Alamode for Germany, Panda Lichtspiele for Austria, Angel for Denmark, Picturehouse for U.K. and Ireland, The Searchers for Benelux, Ascot Elite for Switzerland, Cirko for Hungary, European Film Forum Scanorama for the Baltics, Bim for Italy, Green Narae for So. Korea, Hooray for Taiwan.
From Screen:
The production company behind the film, Germany’s Komplizen Film has become the 10th member of The Creatives, an alliance of independent production companies that work together to co-produce, form strategic partnerships and share information and talent and buyer networks.They are looking at a three-year partnership for developing and funding select series with Fremantle.
Komplizen principals are Janine Jackowski, Maren Ade and Jonas Dornbach. It is one of the key players on the international arthouse film scene, working with directors including Radu Jude, Miguel Gomes, Nadav Lapid, Sonja Heiss and Valeska Griesbach as well as producing Ade’s own three features to date, including her 2016 international hit Toni Erdmann.
Their film was Nicolette Krebitz’s A E I O U — A Quick Alphabet Of Love in the Berlinale Competition in 2022. They have also co-produced Pablo Larrain’s Spencer, with the UK’s Shoebox Films.
In 2019, the company expanded into producing for television with the establishment of Komplizen Serien and went on to make the Frankfurt-based series Skylines for Netflix.
The other companies in The Creatives are Haut et Court (France), Good Chaos (UK), Lemming Film (Netherlands), Maipo Film (Norway), Masha (US), Razor Film (Germany) Spiro (Israel), Unité (France) and Versus Production (Belgium).
“We are happy and proud that our highly esteemed colleagues and also longtime friends from Komplizen Film are going to join the Creatives family,” said Roman Paul and Gerhard Meixner, co-CEOs of the other German member Razor Film.
Komplizen Film’s Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach added that they were very much looking forward to joining forces with “a network of exquisite international and independent producers who share our visions in a rapid and dynamic industry.”...
Quite the opposite of my other favorite films of Cannes where it premiered along with Plus que jamais aka More Than Ever directed by Emily Atef and also starring a luminous Vicky Krieps, Revoir Paris aka ‘Paris Memorie by Alice Winocour and totally forgotten by now, and Un beau matin aka One Fine Morning by Mia Hansen-Love and starring Lea Seydoux in one of her best roles, where the female protagonists heed their inner voices to lead them on their unique pathways to peace. This film nevertheless features a top performance by Vicky Krieps (The Phantom Thread, Plus que jambs) for which she won the Cannes Award for Best Actress in a modern rendition of celebrity royalty.
Vicky Krieps, Luxembourg’s top star
Recalling Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette with its touches of modernism like in the songs sung for royal entertainment, or recalling the real life Princess Diana’s own futile quest for inner peace, Corsage stands on the brilliant direction by Marie Kreutzer who also wrote the screenplay. Beautiful cinematophy by Judith Kaufmann, striking music by Camille, superb editing by Ulrike Kofler. The costumes by Monika Buttinger are extraordinary! The attractive production design may be by another woman but it is uncredited in IMDb. In all, the crew is comprised of a majority of women.
Elisabeth has gone down in history as an empress of eternal youthfulness and beauty. For more than three decades she was regarded as the most beautiful queen in Europe. When Sisi married at 16, she was carefree and frivolous, and imagined herself in love with Emperor Franz Joseph who was head over heals in love with her.
In this rendition of her story, Empress Elizabeth of Austria is idolized for her beauty and renowned for inspiring fashion trends. In 1877 Christmas Empress turns 40 and is officially deemed an old woman she starts trying to maintain her public image.
The glamour of her clothes and the portraits and sculptures of her are still intoxicating while in fact, and as shown in the film, to her, they were toxic reminders to her of lost youth.
Today her life is displayed as kitsch; just visit Vienna to see.
She spent hours each day in efforts to preserve her legendary beauty. Her most striking feature was her thick, ankle-length hair, the care of which required enormous expenditure of time. Franziska Feifalik, the empress’s personal hairdresser, skilfully contrived ingenious hairstyles, including the famous braided crown.
She expressed hardly any political opinions in the final decades of her life. Having put immense pressure on the emperor during the negotiations with Hungary for the Compromise by which the lands of the House of Habsburg were reorganized as a real union between the Austrian Empire and the Hungarian Kingdom, a unpopular event, Elisabeth was forbidden by her husband to interfere in politics ever again. The event is eluded to in the course of telling the story of her progressive retreat from public life.
Elisabeth withdrew from the court and began to lead her own life according to her inclinations. This is where the film begins.
Watch the trailer here.
She spent hours on horseback, riding and dressage; she composed verses in the style of the German poet Heinrich Heine and she travelled frequently. In her apartment she had a gymnastic apparatus set up and performed a strenuous daily program of exercises, which scandalized the court.
After the tragic suicide of her son Rudolf in 1889 the empress only appeared in mourning on official occasions in the lands of the Monarchy and retreated into her grief. Black veils and fans completed the image of the grieving, withdrawn woman. In the film, we do not know of Rudolf’s death but we see her dressed in black and may wonder what precipitated that.
A few other questions remain unanswered in the film, like what were her deepest feelings about her husband and what were his about her? He had numerous mistresses, but their love making, when it finally happens, is both seductive and tender, and she chooses a proper mistress for him as if to replace her in his affections.
Most disappointing is her never finding a way of life for herself. Krieps’ depiction of a life with all exits but one cut off is deeply moving until one realizes that given all she had going for her, she was not able to grow in any way.
After its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, it went on to play at the Munich International Film Festval, then going to the Jerusalem Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival and in September to the Toronto International Film Festival.
Isa MK2 has so far sold the film to Ifc for No. America, Ad Vitam for France, Alamode for Germany, Panda Lichtspiele for Austria, Angel for Denmark, Picturehouse for U.K. and Ireland, The Searchers for Benelux, Ascot Elite for Switzerland, Cirko for Hungary, European Film Forum Scanorama for the Baltics, Bim for Italy, Green Narae for So. Korea, Hooray for Taiwan.
From Screen:
The production company behind the film, Germany’s Komplizen Film has become the 10th member of The Creatives, an alliance of independent production companies that work together to co-produce, form strategic partnerships and share information and talent and buyer networks.They are looking at a three-year partnership for developing and funding select series with Fremantle.
Komplizen principals are Janine Jackowski, Maren Ade and Jonas Dornbach. It is one of the key players on the international arthouse film scene, working with directors including Radu Jude, Miguel Gomes, Nadav Lapid, Sonja Heiss and Valeska Griesbach as well as producing Ade’s own three features to date, including her 2016 international hit Toni Erdmann.
Their film was Nicolette Krebitz’s A E I O U — A Quick Alphabet Of Love in the Berlinale Competition in 2022. They have also co-produced Pablo Larrain’s Spencer, with the UK’s Shoebox Films.
In 2019, the company expanded into producing for television with the establishment of Komplizen Serien and went on to make the Frankfurt-based series Skylines for Netflix.
The other companies in The Creatives are Haut et Court (France), Good Chaos (UK), Lemming Film (Netherlands), Maipo Film (Norway), Masha (US), Razor Film (Germany) Spiro (Israel), Unité (France) and Versus Production (Belgium).
“We are happy and proud that our highly esteemed colleagues and also longtime friends from Komplizen Film are going to join the Creatives family,” said Roman Paul and Gerhard Meixner, co-CEOs of the other German member Razor Film.
Komplizen Film’s Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach added that they were very much looking forward to joining forces with “a network of exquisite international and independent producers who share our visions in a rapid and dynamic industry.”...
- 12/18/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Disney’s live action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid,” starring R&b singer Halle Bailey as Ariel, is set to shoot on the Italian island of Sardinia, known for its crystal clear emerald waters.
Production crew of the hotly anticipated Disney pic, directed by Rob Marshall, is expected to start disembarking in Sardinia in coming weeks. The shoot will be moving from London’s Pinewood Studios to the small seaside village of Santa Teresa di Gallura, on the island’s northern coast, according to a local press report, which sources have confirmed. The area is known for its stunning, super clean seafront, rocky shore and Bronze Age artifacts.
Cameras are expected to start rolling in early summer on the Sardinia portion of the “Little Mermaid” shoot, according to local tourism official Fabrizio Scolafurru, who was speaking with Sardinian newspaper La Nuova Sardegna.
The proud Sardinian official said “Little Mermaid” will...
Production crew of the hotly anticipated Disney pic, directed by Rob Marshall, is expected to start disembarking in Sardinia in coming weeks. The shoot will be moving from London’s Pinewood Studios to the small seaside village of Santa Teresa di Gallura, on the island’s northern coast, according to a local press report, which sources have confirmed. The area is known for its stunning, super clean seafront, rocky shore and Bronze Age artifacts.
Cameras are expected to start rolling in early summer on the Sardinia portion of the “Little Mermaid” shoot, according to local tourism official Fabrizio Scolafurru, who was speaking with Sardinian newspaper La Nuova Sardegna.
The proud Sardinian official said “Little Mermaid” will...
- 4/6/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Do married couples in the movies ever go on vacation just for the hell and fun of it? Or is it always to get away from something, to cover over an absence, to shorten a yawning distance between them? Alice and Niklas, the Viennese pair at the center of “What We Wanted,” aren’t about to break with tradition. Coolly attractive and comfortably off, they nonetheless arrive at a Sardinian beachside resort under a low cloud of depression and discontent: They’re in their early forties, their latest attempt at in vitro fertilization has just failed, and they’re staring down the future of a marriage they don’t know how to complete, if not with an elusive and long-desired child. Austrian writer-director Ulrike Kofler’s debut feature follows in a long tradition of marital dramas negotiating this particular impasse or turning point, and it’s a handsome, sensitive entry...
- 11/12/2020
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
"We deserve a nice life, too." Netflix has revealed an official trailer for an Austrian indie drama titled What We Wanted, the feature directorial debut of Austrian filmmaker Ulrike Kofler. This intimate, emotional story is about a couple that is struggling to conceive despite trying multiple times. Alice, played by Lavinia Wilson, and Niklas, played by Elyas M'Barek, are a couple who's biggest wish is to have a child of their own. After several failed attempts they decide to go on a holiday to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia to clear their minds. There they meet a family from Austria that seems to have everything they ever wished for. But appearances can be deceiving... Which usually means they'll discover they have plenty of problems as well, since we like to look at others who have what we want as perfect, but that's not true. It also stars Anna Unterberger, Lukas Spisser,...
- 10/19/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Laos-set drama, which is Australia’s submission for the Foreign Language Oscar, beat Gravity to the top prize.
The Rocket, from Australian director Kim Mordaunt, picked up the Audience Award at the 27th Leeds International Film Festival, which ended yesterday.
The film is about a boy who is believed to bring bad luck to everyone around him and leads his family and two new friends through Laos to find a new home. Distributed by Eureka! Entertainment, it debuted at Berlin in February, where it picked up a hat-trick of awards including Best Debut Film, and also won three prizes at Tribeca, including the Audience Award.
The Rocket was voted by Leeds audiences as overall favourite from 139 feature films. The two that were closest in the voting to The Rocket are both music documentaries, Filmage: The Story of Descendents / All and Revenge of the Mekons.
The top ten winners in the LIFF27 Audience Award for Best Film are:...
The Rocket, from Australian director Kim Mordaunt, picked up the Audience Award at the 27th Leeds International Film Festival, which ended yesterday.
The film is about a boy who is believed to bring bad luck to everyone around him and leads his family and two new friends through Laos to find a new home. Distributed by Eureka! Entertainment, it debuted at Berlin in February, where it picked up a hat-trick of awards including Best Debut Film, and also won three prizes at Tribeca, including the Audience Award.
The Rocket was voted by Leeds audiences as overall favourite from 139 feature films. The two that were closest in the voting to The Rocket are both music documentaries, Filmage: The Story of Descendents / All and Revenge of the Mekons.
The top ten winners in the LIFF27 Audience Award for Best Film are:...
- 11/22/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Feature film competition five world premieres and four regional premieres, including multi award-winner In Bloom.
The Sarajevo Film Festival (Sff), running August 16-24, has announced the Feature, Short and Documentary Competition titles comprising 50 films.
Selectors and the Sff team viewed 750 films from the region, including 200 feature films, 150 documentaries and 400 short and animated films.
Across the three Competition sections are 15 world, seven international and 18 regional premieres.
The main competition will feature five world premieres including Carmen, the first feature by Romanian director Doru Nitescu.
It is a family drama co-written by Tudor Voican, known for Periferic and Medal of Honour. The Filmex Romania production stars Doru Ana from Principles of Life, Adrian Titieni from Child’s Pose and Maia Morgenstern.
Greek director Dimitris Bavellas’ debut feature Runaway Day is a black-and-white film exploring how young Greeks feel lost in modern day Athens, a city under financial occupation. It starts Maria Skoula from Wasted Youth.
Austrian [link=nm...
The Sarajevo Film Festival (Sff), running August 16-24, has announced the Feature, Short and Documentary Competition titles comprising 50 films.
Selectors and the Sff team viewed 750 films from the region, including 200 feature films, 150 documentaries and 400 short and animated films.
Across the three Competition sections are 15 world, seven international and 18 regional premieres.
The main competition will feature five world premieres including Carmen, the first feature by Romanian director Doru Nitescu.
It is a family drama co-written by Tudor Voican, known for Periferic and Medal of Honour. The Filmex Romania production stars Doru Ana from Principles of Life, Adrian Titieni from Child’s Pose and Maia Morgenstern.
Greek director Dimitris Bavellas’ debut feature Runaway Day is a black-and-white film exploring how young Greeks feel lost in modern day Athens, a city under financial occupation. It starts Maria Skoula from Wasted Youth.
Austrian [link=nm...
- 7/18/2013
- by vladan.petkovic@gmail.com (Vladan Petkovic)
- ScreenDaily
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