After a bumper 40th anniversary edition of IFFR Pro last year, there’s a sense that Rotterdam’s industry strand has fined tuned things rather than introduced major changes for 2024.
IFFR Pro centres around key initiatives including co-production market CineMart, talent development programme Rotterdam Lab, works in progress section Dark Room and financial support for filmmakers through the festival’s Hubert Bals Fund.
Head of IFFR Pro a.i. Alessia Acone, who is overseeing the industry strand while IFFR Pro head Inke Van Loocke is on maternity leave, says one of the main differences about CineMart this year is that...
IFFR Pro centres around key initiatives including co-production market CineMart, talent development programme Rotterdam Lab, works in progress section Dark Room and financial support for filmmakers through the festival’s Hubert Bals Fund.
Head of IFFR Pro a.i. Alessia Acone, who is overseeing the industry strand while IFFR Pro head Inke Van Loocke is on maternity leave, says one of the main differences about CineMart this year is that...
- 1/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
The 68th edition will screen a mix of new Spanish films and 2023 favourites and host an expanded industry programme.
The 68th edition of the Seminci, the Valladolid International Film Week opens this weekend (October 21) with a screening of The Movie Teller, directed by Lone Scherfig, starring Bérénice Béjo, Antonio de la Torre and Daniel Brühl and written by Walter Salles, Isabel Coixet and Rafa Russo.
For what is a vital launchpad into the Spanish market, new festival director José Luis Cienfuegos has programmed a series of international festival favourites from 2023 alongside new films by Spanish directors Antonio Méndez Esparza and...
The 68th edition of the Seminci, the Valladolid International Film Week opens this weekend (October 21) with a screening of The Movie Teller, directed by Lone Scherfig, starring Bérénice Béjo, Antonio de la Torre and Daniel Brühl and written by Walter Salles, Isabel Coixet and Rafa Russo.
For what is a vital launchpad into the Spanish market, new festival director José Luis Cienfuegos has programmed a series of international festival favourites from 2023 alongside new films by Spanish directors Antonio Méndez Esparza and...
- 10/20/2023
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
The festival runs October 21 - 29.
Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival will have world premieres of three new Ukrainian films as well as Portuguese director Andrés Marques’ The Drunk in its first complete edition with both competition and non-competition programmes since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian director-DoP-artist-exhibition curator Ivan Sautkin’s debut documentary feature A Poem For Little People about a group of volunteers at the front-line zone and two elderly female friends from a village in the Chernihiv region will premiere in the documentary competition which will also feature Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann’s...
Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival will have world premieres of three new Ukrainian films as well as Portuguese director Andrés Marques’ The Drunk in its first complete edition with both competition and non-competition programmes since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian director-DoP-artist-exhibition curator Ivan Sautkin’s debut documentary feature A Poem For Little People about a group of volunteers at the front-line zone and two elderly female friends from a village in the Chernihiv region will premiere in the documentary competition which will also feature Leandro Koch and Paloma Schachmann’s...
- 10/13/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The co-heads of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, which was rescheduled at the eleventh hour this week due to the Israel-Gaza crisis, have vowed that its sixth edition will go ahead in some shape or form.
The festival, unfolding in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of El Gouna, was on the cusp of opening its sixth edition this Friday when the management team announced Tuesday that it was postponing the event to new dates running from October 27 to November 2.
More than 120 cinema talents had been confirmed to attend including Bosnian Quo Vadis, Aida? director Jasmila Zbanic as the main jury president, French director and producer Luc Besson with Dogman, Italian animator Enzo d’Alo with A Greyhound Of A Girl; Indian director Anurag Kashyap with Kennedy, Ukrainian filmmaker Maryna Vroda with Stepne and Sudan’s Mohamed Kordofani with his Best International Feature Film submission Goodbye Julia.
“The situation, of course,...
The festival, unfolding in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of El Gouna, was on the cusp of opening its sixth edition this Friday when the management team announced Tuesday that it was postponing the event to new dates running from October 27 to November 2.
More than 120 cinema talents had been confirmed to attend including Bosnian Quo Vadis, Aida? director Jasmila Zbanic as the main jury president, French director and producer Luc Besson with Dogman, Italian animator Enzo d’Alo with A Greyhound Of A Girl; Indian director Anurag Kashyap with Kennedy, Ukrainian filmmaker Maryna Vroda with Stepne and Sudan’s Mohamed Kordofani with his Best International Feature Film submission Goodbye Julia.
“The situation, of course,...
- 10/11/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Ukrianian festival ran as a festival within a festival at Filmfest Hamburg.
Christina Tynkevych’s feature debut How Is Katia? was named the winner of the national competition of Ukraine’s Molodist Film Festival, held for the second year in a row as a festival within a festival at Filmfest Hamburg in Germany.
The Scythian Deer statuette and a cash prize of $2,500 was presented to the film’s producer Olha Matat on October 5, at the Abaton cinema by the jury of actress Alina Levshin, psychologist Svetlana Uvarova and film director David Wagner.
The drama about an ambulance doctor seeking...
Christina Tynkevych’s feature debut How Is Katia? was named the winner of the national competition of Ukraine’s Molodist Film Festival, held for the second year in a row as a festival within a festival at Filmfest Hamburg in Germany.
The Scythian Deer statuette and a cash prize of $2,500 was presented to the film’s producer Olha Matat on October 5, at the Abaton cinema by the jury of actress Alina Levshin, psychologist Svetlana Uvarova and film director David Wagner.
The drama about an ambulance doctor seeking...
- 10/6/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The Ukrianian festival ran as a festival within a festival at Filmfest Hamburg.
Christina Tynkevych’s feature debut How Is Katia? was named the winner of the national competition of Ukraine’s Molodist Film Festival, held for the second year in a row as a festival within a festival at Filmfest Hamburg in Germany.
The Scythian Deer statuette and a cash prize of $2,500 was presented to the film’s producer Olha Matat on October 5, at the Abaton cinema by the jury of actress Alina Levshin, psychologist Svetlana Uvarova and film director David Wagner.
The drama about an ambulance doctor seeking...
Christina Tynkevych’s feature debut How Is Katia? was named the winner of the national competition of Ukraine’s Molodist Film Festival, held for the second year in a row as a festival within a festival at Filmfest Hamburg in Germany.
The Scythian Deer statuette and a cash prize of $2,500 was presented to the film’s producer Olha Matat on October 5, at the Abaton cinema by the jury of actress Alina Levshin, psychologist Svetlana Uvarova and film director David Wagner.
The drama about an ambulance doctor seeking...
- 10/6/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
A pair of noteworthy Cannes titles in Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest and Tran Anh Hung’s The Pot-au-Feu, some Locarno items such as Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World but with a major slew of Venice-preemed films are part of the 21 newly added titles to be considered for a whole bunch of prizes for the upcoming European Film Awards. The European Film Academy have now set their 4600 members with a batch of 40 films competing for various prizes at the ceremony that will be set for December 9th in Berlin. Here are the added films:
Animal – Sofia Exarchou (Greece/Austria/Bulgaria/Romania/Cyprus)
Blaga’s Lessons – Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria/Germany)
Club Zero – Jessica Hausner (Austria/UK/Germany/France/Denmark/Qatar)
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World – Radu Jude (Romania/Luxembourg/France/Croatia)
Excursion – Una Gunjak (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Croatia...
Animal – Sofia Exarchou (Greece/Austria/Bulgaria/Romania/Cyprus)
Blaga’s Lessons – Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria/Germany)
Club Zero – Jessica Hausner (Austria/UK/Germany/France/Denmark/Qatar)
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World – Radu Jude (Romania/Luxembourg/France/Croatia)
Excursion – Una Gunjak (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Croatia...
- 9/27/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
40 feature films now selected for Academy’s 2023 shortlist.
The European Film Academy has added a further 21 features to its shortlist for the 2023 European Film Awards, including Cannes premieres The Zone of Interest and Club Zero and Venice competition titles The Green Border and Io Capitano.
The shortlist for the European Film Awards now comprises 40 features. The first 19 titles titles in the running for the 2023 European Film Awards were unveiled in August and included Anatomy Of A Fall, How To Have Sex, The Old Oak and Firebrand.
The European Film Academy said that more than 40% of all selected films are directed by women.
The European Film Academy has added a further 21 features to its shortlist for the 2023 European Film Awards, including Cannes premieres The Zone of Interest and Club Zero and Venice competition titles The Green Border and Io Capitano.
The shortlist for the European Film Awards now comprises 40 features. The first 19 titles titles in the running for the 2023 European Film Awards were unveiled in August and included Anatomy Of A Fall, How To Have Sex, The Old Oak and Firebrand.
The European Film Academy said that more than 40% of all selected films are directed by women.
- 9/27/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
After a one-year hiatus, the much-missed El Gouna Film Festival (Oct. 13 – 20) is back and poised to make an increased impact. Joining beloved festival director Intishal Al-Timimi this time around is esteemed Egyptian producer-director Marianne Khoury in the artistic director position.
Khoury’s long-time championship of female filmmakers and themes finds an echo in the impressive first wave of programming just announced. Of the 19 features, 10 boast a distaff helmer or co-director.
The kudo-laden titles include “Anatomy of a Fall” from Justine Triet, “On the Adamant” from Nicolas Philibert, “Scrapper” by Charlotte Regan, “Stepne” from Maryna Vroda and “The Strange Path” from Guto Parente, which claimed every prize in Tribeca’s international competition.
Among the other buzzed-about auteur titles are Todd Haynes’ “May December” and Wang Bing’s epic documentary “Youth.” Emerging talents Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó offer dystopian hybrid-animation “White Plastic Sky,” while a robust documentary selection includes Tatiana Huezo...
Khoury’s long-time championship of female filmmakers and themes finds an echo in the impressive first wave of programming just announced. Of the 19 features, 10 boast a distaff helmer or co-director.
The kudo-laden titles include “Anatomy of a Fall” from Justine Triet, “On the Adamant” from Nicolas Philibert, “Scrapper” by Charlotte Regan, “Stepne” from Maryna Vroda and “The Strange Path” from Guto Parente, which claimed every prize in Tribeca’s international competition.
Among the other buzzed-about auteur titles are Todd Haynes’ “May December” and Wang Bing’s epic documentary “Youth.” Emerging talents Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó offer dystopian hybrid-animation “White Plastic Sky,” while a robust documentary selection includes Tatiana Huezo...
- 8/24/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival (Gff) has unveiled a first wave of international titles due to play at its upcoming comeback sixth edition, unfolding from October 13 to 20 after a one-year hiatus.
The selection features a number of high-profile festival titles including Justine Triet’s Cannes 2023 Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall, Berlinale 2023 Golden Bear winning documentary On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert and Guto Parente’s Tribeca Film Festival break-out The Strange Path.
The line-up also showcases a host of buzzy first and second films including UK director Charlotte Regan’s Sundance 2023 Grand Jury Prize winner Scrapper and French filmmaker Delphine Deloget’s Cannes Un Certain Regard social drama All To Play For, starring Virginie Efira.
Respected Egyptian distributor and producer Marianne Khoury is overseeing the selection for the first time, following her appointment as artistic director earlier this year, working alongside long-time festival director Intishal Al Timimi.
The selection features a number of high-profile festival titles including Justine Triet’s Cannes 2023 Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall, Berlinale 2023 Golden Bear winning documentary On the Adamant by Nicolas Philibert and Guto Parente’s Tribeca Film Festival break-out The Strange Path.
The line-up also showcases a host of buzzy first and second films including UK director Charlotte Regan’s Sundance 2023 Grand Jury Prize winner Scrapper and French filmmaker Delphine Deloget’s Cannes Un Certain Regard social drama All To Play For, starring Virginie Efira.
Respected Egyptian distributor and producer Marianne Khoury is overseeing the selection for the first time, following her appointment as artistic director earlier this year, working alongside long-time festival director Intishal Al Timimi.
- 8/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Critical Zone, an Iranian drama shot in secret by dissident director Ali Ahmadzadeh, has won the Golden Leopard honor for best film at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival.
Ahmadzadeh, who has been banned from leaving Iran, was unable to attend the awards ceremony, held at the Swiss city Saturday night. The Iranian government pressured the director to pull the film from competition. Through its story of a man and his dog, who navigate Tehran’s underworld, selling drugs and talking to troubled souls, Critical Zone depicts a nation rebelling against an oppressive regime in any way it can. Produced by Germany’s Counter Intuitive Film, Critical Zone is being sold worldwide by Luxbox.
Another proudly political filmmaker, British legend Ken Loach, won the audience award, the Ubs Prix du Public, at Locarno’s 76th annual festival for his latest (and perhaps last) feature film: The Old Oak. The drama, which premiered in Cannes,...
Ahmadzadeh, who has been banned from leaving Iran, was unable to attend the awards ceremony, held at the Swiss city Saturday night. The Iranian government pressured the director to pull the film from competition. Through its story of a man and his dog, who navigate Tehran’s underworld, selling drugs and talking to troubled souls, Critical Zone depicts a nation rebelling against an oppressive regime in any way it can. Produced by Germany’s Counter Intuitive Film, Critical Zone is being sold worldwide by Luxbox.
Another proudly political filmmaker, British legend Ken Loach, won the audience award, the Ubs Prix du Public, at Locarno’s 76th annual festival for his latest (and perhaps last) feature film: The Old Oak. The drama, which premiered in Cannes,...
- 8/13/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Critical Zone took Golden Leopard Photo: Courtesy of Locarno Film Festival Ali Ahmadzadeh's Critical Zone has taken the top prize Golden Leopard at Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland.
The film, which was secretly shot on the streets of Tehran without government permission, is described as “a hymn to freedom and resistance in Iran”. The director was summoned last month to Iran's Ministry of Security where he came under pressure to withdraw the film from the competition. He is currently banned from leaving the country.
In a statement the director said: "Making this film was a big rebellion. Showing it means an even bigger victory for us."
A special jury prize was awarded to Radu Jude for Do Not Expect To Much From The End Of The World while this year’s newly introduced gender-neutral acting awards went to Dimitra Vlagopoulou for Animal, directed by Sofia Exarchou and Renée Soutendijk...
The film, which was secretly shot on the streets of Tehran without government permission, is described as “a hymn to freedom and resistance in Iran”. The director was summoned last month to Iran's Ministry of Security where he came under pressure to withdraw the film from the competition. He is currently banned from leaving the country.
In a statement the director said: "Making this film was a big rebellion. Showing it means an even bigger victory for us."
A special jury prize was awarded to Radu Jude for Do Not Expect To Much From The End Of The World while this year’s newly introduced gender-neutral acting awards went to Dimitra Vlagopoulou for Animal, directed by Sofia Exarchou and Renée Soutendijk...
- 8/12/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Critical Zone.International Competition(Jury: Lambert Wilson, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Lesli Klainberg, Charlotte Wells, Matthijs Wouter Knol)Golden Leopard: Critical Zone (Ali Ahmadzadeh)Special Jury Prize: Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (Radu Jude)Best Direction: Stepne (Maryna Vroda)Best Performance: Dimitra Vlagopoulou (Animal)Best Performance: Renée Soutendijk (Sweet Dreams)Special Mention: Nuit Obscure - Au Revoir Ici, N'importe Où (Sylvain George)Filmmakers Of The PresentGolden Leopard: Dreaming & Dying (Nelson Yeo)Best Emerging Director: Katharina Huber (A Good Place)Special Jury Prize: Camping Du Lac (Éléonore Saintagnan)Best Performance: Clara Schwinning (A Good Place)Best Performance: Isold Halldórudóttir and Stavros Zafeiris (Touched)Special Mentions: Excursions (Una Gunjak), Negu Hurbilak (Colective Negu)First Feature(Jury: Omar El Zohairy, Devika Girish, Isabel Sandoval)First Feature Award: Dreaming & Dying (Nelson Yeo)Pardi Di Domani(Jury: Ewa Puszczyńska, Matthew Rankin, Amos Sussigan)Best...
- 8/12/2023
- MUBI
Director was prevented from travelling to the festival in person by Iranian authorities.
Iranian director Ali Ahmadzadeh‘s Critical Zone has won the Locarno Film Festival top prize, the Golden Leopard.
The Iranian-German co-production, secretly shot on the streets of Tehran without official permission, follows a man driving through Tehran’s underworld with his dog, dealing drugs, healing troubled souls and discovering seeds of resistance.
Director Ahmadezadeh, who was prevented from travelling to Locarno to present his film in person, had faced pressure from the Iranian authorities ahead of the festival to withdraw his film from the competition and was...
Iranian director Ali Ahmadzadeh‘s Critical Zone has won the Locarno Film Festival top prize, the Golden Leopard.
The Iranian-German co-production, secretly shot on the streets of Tehran without official permission, follows a man driving through Tehran’s underworld with his dog, dealing drugs, healing troubled souls and discovering seeds of resistance.
Director Ahmadezadeh, who was prevented from travelling to Locarno to present his film in person, had faced pressure from the Iranian authorities ahead of the festival to withdraw his film from the competition and was...
- 8/12/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The hype is real: Ali Ahmadzadeh’s “Critical Zone” (“Mantagheye bohrani”) has picked up the top Golden Leopard at Locarno.
It has been a bumpy ride for the film, set in Tehran over the course of one lonely night and described by the fest as “a hymn to freedom and resistance.”
As reported by Variety, Iranian authorities have been pressuring Ahmadzadeh to pull it from the Swiss festival – arguing it was shot without permission – and with the director himself banned from leaving the country.
“Instead of actors, I worked with real people. In most situations, we had to hide the camera or find complicated tricks to work around the limitations. Making this film was a big rebellion. Showing it means an even bigger victory for us,” said Ahmadzadeh in a statement, with Locarno’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro calling for his release.
“It means a lot. Not only for Ali,...
It has been a bumpy ride for the film, set in Tehran over the course of one lonely night and described by the fest as “a hymn to freedom and resistance.”
As reported by Variety, Iranian authorities have been pressuring Ahmadzadeh to pull it from the Swiss festival – arguing it was shot without permission – and with the director himself banned from leaving the country.
“Instead of actors, I worked with real people. In most situations, we had to hide the camera or find complicated tricks to work around the limitations. Making this film was a big rebellion. Showing it means an even bigger victory for us,” said Ahmadzadeh in a statement, with Locarno’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro calling for his release.
“It means a lot. Not only for Ali,...
- 8/12/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Iranian filmmaker Ali Ahmadzadeh clinched the Golden Leopard in the main international competition of the 76th Locarno Film Festival with his latest feature Critical Zone (Mantagheye Bohrani).
Ahmadzadeh was not in attendance to receive the award as he is currently banned from leaving his native Iran. Last month, the country’s authorities summoned Ahmadzadeh to the Ministry of Security, where he was pressured to pull Critical Zone from Locarno’s official competition. The film’s international sales agent Luxbox Paris and the producer, Sina Ataeian Dena, also said they had received threatening emails and messages demanding the film be pulled from the fest.
The pic, described as “a hymn to freedom and resistance in Iran,” was shot without permission from authorities before recent protests started. The plot follows a man who drives through Tehran’s underworld with his dog, dealing drugs and healing troubled souls. Born in Tehran in 1986, Critical Zone...
Ahmadzadeh was not in attendance to receive the award as he is currently banned from leaving his native Iran. Last month, the country’s authorities summoned Ahmadzadeh to the Ministry of Security, where he was pressured to pull Critical Zone from Locarno’s official competition. The film’s international sales agent Luxbox Paris and the producer, Sina Ataeian Dena, also said they had received threatening emails and messages demanding the film be pulled from the fest.
The pic, described as “a hymn to freedom and resistance in Iran,” was shot without permission from authorities before recent protests started. The plot follows a man who drives through Tehran’s underworld with his dog, dealing drugs and healing troubled souls. Born in Tehran in 1986, Critical Zone...
- 8/12/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The Land That Time Forgot: Vroda Mines Eroding Memories in Speculative Debut
Thomas Wolfe meant You Can’t Go Home Again metaphorically, but such might literally be the case for the denizens of a depleted Ukrainian countryside community in Maryna Vroda’s feature debut, Stepne. The project is a long-gestating one, as Vroda has been painstakingly working on the film for over a decade, announced shortly after she won the Palme d’Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for her short film Cross. Navigating a template which taps into neorealism as much as it does a docudrama, Vroda’s narrative saunters into more of a chronicling exercise of a disappearing culture than linear storytelling.…...
Thomas Wolfe meant You Can’t Go Home Again metaphorically, but such might literally be the case for the denizens of a depleted Ukrainian countryside community in Maryna Vroda’s feature debut, Stepne. The project is a long-gestating one, as Vroda has been painstakingly working on the film for over a decade, announced shortly after she won the Palme d’Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival for her short film Cross. Navigating a template which taps into neorealism as much as it does a docudrama, Vroda’s narrative saunters into more of a chronicling exercise of a disappearing culture than linear storytelling.…...
- 8/11/2023
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World (Radu Jude).The lineup for the 76th edition of the festival has been announced, including new films by Eduardo Williams, Leonor Teles, Lav Diaz, Radu Jude, and others.Concorso INTERNAZIONALEAnimal (Sofia Exarchou)Critical Zone (Ali Ahmadzadeh)Essential Truths of the Lake (Lav Diaz)Home (Leonor Teles)The Human Surge 3 (Eduardo Williams)The Invisible Fight (Rainer Sarnet)Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World (Radu Jude)Lousy Carter (Bob Byington)Manga D’Terra (Basil Da Cunha)Nuit Obscure – Au Revoir Ici, N’Importe Où (Sylvain George)Patagonia (Simone Bozzelli)The Permanent Picture (Laura Ferrés)Rossosperanza (Annarita Zambrano)Stepne (Maryna Vroda)Sweet Dreams (Ena Sendijarević)The Vanishing Soldier (Dani Rosenberg)Yannick (Quentin Dupieux)Excursion (Una Gunjak).Concorso Cineasti Del PRESENTECamping du Lac (Eléonore Saintagnan)Ein Schöner Ort (Katharina Huber)Excursion (Una Gunjak)Family Portrait (Lucy Kerr)Dreaming...
- 7/6/2023
- MUBI
For his third edition at the helm, Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro has assembled a wide spectrum of films that “do not resemble each other in terms of tone or form” while reflecting “the world in all its expressions and manifestations,” he tells Variety.
This boundless range is best exemplified by the fact that starkly surrealist Filipino arthouse star Lav Díaz’s latest work, “Essential Truths of the Lake,” will be vying for the fest’s Golden Leopard alongside fare that, at least on paper, appears much lighter. This includes U.S. director Bob Byington’s indie comedy “Lousy Carter” and Estonian helmer Rainer Sarnet’s “The Invisible Flight,” which Nazzaro says “mixes Kung Fu, hard rock and the Orthodox Church.”
There are also lots of titles at Locarno that can broadly be described as “political,” like Ukrainian director Maryna Vroda’s “Stepne” — which marks a rare...
This boundless range is best exemplified by the fact that starkly surrealist Filipino arthouse star Lav Díaz’s latest work, “Essential Truths of the Lake,” will be vying for the fest’s Golden Leopard alongside fare that, at least on paper, appears much lighter. This includes U.S. director Bob Byington’s indie comedy “Lousy Carter” and Estonian helmer Rainer Sarnet’s “The Invisible Flight,” which Nazzaro says “mixes Kung Fu, hard rock and the Orthodox Church.”
There are also lots of titles at Locarno that can broadly be described as “political,” like Ukrainian director Maryna Vroda’s “Stepne” — which marks a rare...
- 7/6/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
A stellar precursor to the busy fall film festival season, Locarno Film Festival annually premieres some of the year’s most exciting cinema and 2023 looks to be no different. Taking place from August 2-12 in the Swiss town, the festival has now unveiled its lineup for the 76th edition. Highlights include Eduardo Williams’ The Human Surge 3 (brilliantly forgoing a second film), Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World, Lav Diaz’s Essential Truths of the Lake, Sylvain George’s Nuit Obscure – Au Revoir Ici, N’Importe Où, and Quentin Dupieux’s Yannick.
Speaking to its main section, Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival, said, “From Quentin Dupieux and his edgy surrealism to Lav Diaz. From the sarcastic humor of Radu Jude to the night poetry of Sylvain Georges. From the mad inventions of Rainer Sarnet to the abstract psychedelia of Eduardo Williams.
Speaking to its main section, Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival, said, “From Quentin Dupieux and his edgy surrealism to Lav Diaz. From the sarcastic humor of Radu Jude to the night poetry of Sylvain Georges. From the mad inventions of Rainer Sarnet to the abstract psychedelia of Eduardo Williams.
- 7/5/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
New Europe Film Sales is set to launch international sales on “Stepne,”the debut feature of Ukraine’s Maryna Vroda, a best short Cannes Palme d’Or winner, which was announced this July 5 morning as part of Locarno’s main International Competition.
Born in Kyiv, Vroda won a Palme d’Or in 2011 for her short “Cross Country” (“Kross”), a seemingly allegorical psychological drama about a boy who is forced to run, then does so willingly, ending up watching his classmates running a senseless cross-country race as a boy rolls in a transparent ball in a river. “Kross” was inspired by Vroda’s memories of physical education lessons. “Stepne” is equally personal, coming to Vroda when her grandparents died. In it, a middle-aged man travels to his family home to care for his dying mother. He meets his brother and a woman he loves and thinks back to his life choices...
Born in Kyiv, Vroda won a Palme d’Or in 2011 for her short “Cross Country” (“Kross”), a seemingly allegorical psychological drama about a boy who is forced to run, then does so willingly, ending up watching his classmates running a senseless cross-country race as a boy rolls in a transparent ball in a river. “Kross” was inspired by Vroda’s memories of physical education lessons. “Stepne” is equally personal, coming to Vroda when her grandparents died. In it, a middle-aged man travels to his family home to care for his dying mother. He meets his brother and a woman he loves and thinks back to his life choices...
- 7/5/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival, Europe’s biggest mid-Summer movie event, has announced its lineup, welcoming recognizable names to its main competition, from Filipino auteur Lav Diaz (“Essential Truths of the Lake”) to Romanian powerhouse Radu Jude, who will show “Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World.”
As already announced, Cate Blanchett and Zar Amir Ebrahimi are set to attend the Locarno Film Festival’s closing night to promote the European launch of Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari’s debut film “Shayda.”
Among the titles selected for Locarno’s more broad-audience-friendly Piazza Grande lineup, Justine Triet will attend with her Cannes Palme’ d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall,” along with Ken Loach and his “The Old Oak.”
The festival will also celebrate the careers of Harmony Korine, producer Marianne Slot, editor Pietro Scalia, Tsai Ming-liang and present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Italian producer Renzo Rossellini.
As already announced, Cate Blanchett and Zar Amir Ebrahimi are set to attend the Locarno Film Festival’s closing night to promote the European launch of Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari’s debut film “Shayda.”
Among the titles selected for Locarno’s more broad-audience-friendly Piazza Grande lineup, Justine Triet will attend with her Cannes Palme’ d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall,” along with Ken Loach and his “The Old Oak.”
The festival will also celebrate the careers of Harmony Korine, producer Marianne Slot, editor Pietro Scalia, Tsai Ming-liang and present a Lifetime Achievement Award to Italian producer Renzo Rossellini.
- 7/5/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
International competition features 16 world premieres.
The Locarno Film Festival (August 2-12) has revealed the line-up for its 76th edition, which includes the world premiere of Romanian director Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World.
Locarno’s international competition will comprise 17 films, including 16 world premieres, which will vie for the coveted Golden Leopard awards.
Scroll down for full list of titles
These titles include Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World, his first feature since winning the Berlinale Golden Bear for Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn in...
The Locarno Film Festival (August 2-12) has revealed the line-up for its 76th edition, which includes the world premiere of Romanian director Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World.
Locarno’s international competition will comprise 17 films, including 16 world premieres, which will vie for the coveted Golden Leopard awards.
Scroll down for full list of titles
These titles include Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much Of The End Of The World, his first feature since winning the Berlinale Golden Bear for Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn in...
- 7/5/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
The Locarno International Film Festival unveiled the full program for 2023 on Wednesday, with dozens of world premieres set to screen in the 76th edition of the Swiss festival.
Locarno’s main Piazza Grande section will include several of this season’s festival favorites, among them Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall from French director Justine Triet starring Sandra Hüller; Ken Loach’s latest (and possibly last) feature, The Old Oak; Noora Niasari’s Sundance audience award winner Shayda, featuring Holy Spider star Zar Amir Ebrahimi; and Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s comedy Theater Camp, which won a special jury prize at Sundance. Other highlights include U.S. horror feature Falling Stars by directors Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki; Dammi from 71′ and White Boy Rick-helmer Yann Demange; and Magnetic Continent, the new nature documentary from March of the Penguins‘ filmmaker Luc Jacquet about the continent of Antarctica.
Locarno’s main Piazza Grande section will include several of this season’s festival favorites, among them Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anatomy of a Fall from French director Justine Triet starring Sandra Hüller; Ken Loach’s latest (and possibly last) feature, The Old Oak; Noora Niasari’s Sundance audience award winner Shayda, featuring Holy Spider star Zar Amir Ebrahimi; and Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s comedy Theater Camp, which won a special jury prize at Sundance. Other highlights include U.S. horror feature Falling Stars by directors Richard Karpala and Gabriel Bienczycki; Dammi from 71′ and White Boy Rick-helmer Yann Demange; and Magnetic Continent, the new nature documentary from March of the Penguins‘ filmmaker Luc Jacquet about the continent of Antarctica.
- 7/5/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tom Sommerlatte’s debut Summers Downstairs (Im Sommer wohnt er unten) was picked by the audience at this year’s Oldenburg International Film Festival (Sep 16-20) for the German Independence Award.
The French-German co-production, handled internationally by Arri Worldsales, premiered in the Berlinale’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino sidebar in February, won Best Feature Film at the Achtung Berlin! festival in April, and was the opening film of Filmfest Schwerin in May.
There were double honours for Sommerlatte at the closing night gala on Sunday (Sep 20) when the nomination jury for the European Film Awards’ European Discovery - Prix Fipresci announced that Summers Downstairs had been chosen as one of five finalists.
The Seymour Cassel Award - in honour of one of Oldenburg’s aficianados - was shared this year for the first time between two actors: actress Sarah Silverman for her performance in I Smile Back and former European Shooting Star Nikola Rakočević for his role in...
The French-German co-production, handled internationally by Arri Worldsales, premiered in the Berlinale’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino sidebar in February, won Best Feature Film at the Achtung Berlin! festival in April, and was the opening film of Filmfest Schwerin in May.
There were double honours for Sommerlatte at the closing night gala on Sunday (Sep 20) when the nomination jury for the European Film Awards’ European Discovery - Prix Fipresci announced that Summers Downstairs had been chosen as one of five finalists.
The Seymour Cassel Award - in honour of one of Oldenburg’s aficianados - was shared this year for the first time between two actors: actress Sarah Silverman for her performance in I Smile Back and former European Shooting Star Nikola Rakočević for his role in...
- 9/21/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Talya Lavie’s Zero Motivation won the Grand Prix at this year’s Odessa International Film Festival (Oiff), overshadowed in its final days by the shooting down of a Malaysian Airways plane.
Lavie’s debut feature, handled internationally by The Match Factory, was voted by the festival-goers to receive the Golden Duke statuette and the $12,000 cash prize.
Director Lavie and actress Shani Klein were accompanied on stage by the Israel Film Fund Katriel Schory to accept the Grand Prix from the hands of the Oiff president Viktoriya Tigipko.
News of the Malaysian Airways plane tragedy broke early on Thursday evening during a reception in honour of Turkish films showing at the festival.
A minute’s silence was held in memory of the crash victims ahead of Gogol Wives’ documentary Pussy vs Putin that evening.
On Friday, another minute of silence was held at the beginning of the awards ceremony in memory of the aeroplane’s passengers as well...
Lavie’s debut feature, handled internationally by The Match Factory, was voted by the festival-goers to receive the Golden Duke statuette and the $12,000 cash prize.
Director Lavie and actress Shani Klein were accompanied on stage by the Israel Film Fund Katriel Schory to accept the Grand Prix from the hands of the Oiff president Viktoriya Tigipko.
News of the Malaysian Airways plane tragedy broke early on Thursday evening during a reception in honour of Turkish films showing at the festival.
A minute’s silence was held in memory of the crash victims ahead of Gogol Wives’ documentary Pussy vs Putin that evening.
On Friday, another minute of silence was held at the beginning of the awards ceremony in memory of the aeroplane’s passengers as well...
- 7/21/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Talya Lavie’s Zero Motivation won the Grand Prix at this year’s Odessa International Film Festival (Oiff), overshadowed in its final days by the shooting down of a Malaysian Airways plane.
Lavie’s debut feature, handled internationally by The Match Factory, was voted by the festival-goers to receive the Golden Duke statuette and the $12,000 cash prize.
Director Lavie and actress Shani Klein were accompanied on stage by the Israel Film Fund Katriel Schory to accept the Grand Prix from the hands of the Oiff president Viktoriya Tigipko.
News of the Malaysian Airways plane tragedy broke early on Thursday evening during a reception in honour of Turkish films showing at the festival.
A minute’s silence was held in memory of the crash victims ahead of Gogol Wives’ documentary Pussy vs Putin that evening.
On Friday, another minute of silence was held at the beginning of the awards ceremony in memory of the aeroplane’s passengers as well...
Lavie’s debut feature, handled internationally by The Match Factory, was voted by the festival-goers to receive the Golden Duke statuette and the $12,000 cash prize.
Director Lavie and actress Shani Klein were accompanied on stage by the Israel Film Fund Katriel Schory to accept the Grand Prix from the hands of the Oiff president Viktoriya Tigipko.
News of the Malaysian Airways plane tragedy broke early on Thursday evening during a reception in honour of Turkish films showing at the festival.
A minute’s silence was held in memory of the crash victims ahead of Gogol Wives’ documentary Pussy vs Putin that evening.
On Friday, another minute of silence was held at the beginning of the awards ceremony in memory of the aeroplane’s passengers as well...
- 7/21/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Russian director Alexander Velidinsky’s The Geographer Drank His Globe Away was the big winner at the 4th Odessa International Film Festival (Oiff).
The tragi-comedy picked up the Grand Prix Golden Duke, voted for by the festival audience, and the International Jury’s Golden Duke for Best Film
The $4m production, which had screened to an enthusiastic capacity audience of over 1,200 in Odessa’s Festival Palace on Thursday evening, is being handled internationally by fledgling Russian sales outfit Antipode Film Sales & Distribution and will be released theatrically in Russia on 400 prints on November 7.
Last month, Velidinsky’s film won the Grand Prix and three other awards at the Kinotavr Open Russian Film Festival in Sochi.
The prize for Best Acting went to the female leads Lika Babluani and Mariam Bokeria of Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross’s In Bloom, which won the main prize at Voices in Vologda two weeks ago. The Odessa...
The tragi-comedy picked up the Grand Prix Golden Duke, voted for by the festival audience, and the International Jury’s Golden Duke for Best Film
The $4m production, which had screened to an enthusiastic capacity audience of over 1,200 in Odessa’s Festival Palace on Thursday evening, is being handled internationally by fledgling Russian sales outfit Antipode Film Sales & Distribution and will be released theatrically in Russia on 400 prints on November 7.
Last month, Velidinsky’s film won the Grand Prix and three other awards at the Kinotavr Open Russian Film Festival in Sochi.
The prize for Best Acting went to the female leads Lika Babluani and Mariam Bokeria of Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross’s In Bloom, which won the main prize at Voices in Vologda two weeks ago. The Odessa...
- 7/22/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Ukrainian films will come under the spotlight at the 4th edition of the Odessa Film Festival, which runs July 12-20.
A total of 19 new Ukrainian projects, at various stages of production, will be presented during the festival in partnership with the Ukrainian State Film Agency including Kira Muratova’s Eternal Homecoming and the first Ukranian 3D horror movie Synevir.
10 Ukrainian projects will compete for a cash prize of $3,250 (€2,500) as part of the Oiff pitching session. These will include Stepne, the debut feature of Marina Vroda who won the Short Film Palme d’Or in Cannes, and crime comedy Pawnshop directed by Lubomyr Levitskiy.
Meanwhile as part of the Work-in-Progress section, clips from nine Ukrainian films or co-productions at the post production stage will be presented.
Pitching Session Projects
The Porcupine
UK, Serbia, Bulgaria, Roumania, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine
Director: Srdjan Dragojevic
Battle For Sevastopol
Ukraine, Russia
Director: Sergey Mokritskiy
Volcano
Germany, France, Ukraine...
A total of 19 new Ukrainian projects, at various stages of production, will be presented during the festival in partnership with the Ukrainian State Film Agency including Kira Muratova’s Eternal Homecoming and the first Ukranian 3D horror movie Synevir.
10 Ukrainian projects will compete for a cash prize of $3,250 (€2,500) as part of the Oiff pitching session. These will include Stepne, the debut feature of Marina Vroda who won the Short Film Palme d’Or in Cannes, and crime comedy Pawnshop directed by Lubomyr Levitskiy.
Meanwhile as part of the Work-in-Progress section, clips from nine Ukrainian films or co-productions at the post production stage will be presented.
Pitching Session Projects
The Porcupine
UK, Serbia, Bulgaria, Roumania, Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Ukraine
Director: Srdjan Dragojevic
Battle For Sevastopol
Ukraine, Russia
Director: Sergey Mokritskiy
Volcano
Germany, France, Ukraine...
- 6/26/2013
- by sarah.cooper@screendaily.com (Sarah Cooper)
- ScreenDaily
New projects by Peter Greenaway, Pavel Lungin and Valeria Gai Germanika are among 18 feature films selected to be pitched at the fifth edition of Moscow Business Square’s Co-Production Forum.
This will be the second time that Greenaway is at the Forum after presenting his project Food Of Love, based on Thomas Mann’s novella Death In Venice, there last year. His pitch then won him the $40,000 (€30,000) Best Pitch award sponsored by the new Moscow production complex Glavkino.
This time the Welsh-born director will be introducing Eisenstein In Guanajuato, which recounts the time the 33-year-old Russian director fell briefly, but intensely in love in a small Mexican town while researching for the never completed picture Que viva México! in Mexico between 1929-1931.
At last year’s Odessa International Film Festival, Greenaway told ScreenDaily that “99% of the financing” was in place for this project and he hoped at the time to shoot in Mexico at the end of...
This will be the second time that Greenaway is at the Forum after presenting his project Food Of Love, based on Thomas Mann’s novella Death In Venice, there last year. His pitch then won him the $40,000 (€30,000) Best Pitch award sponsored by the new Moscow production complex Glavkino.
This time the Welsh-born director will be introducing Eisenstein In Guanajuato, which recounts the time the 33-year-old Russian director fell briefly, but intensely in love in a small Mexican town while researching for the never completed picture Que viva México! in Mexico between 1929-1931.
At last year’s Odessa International Film Festival, Greenaway told ScreenDaily that “99% of the financing” was in place for this project and he hoped at the time to shoot in Mexico at the end of...
- 6/12/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
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