Haha…Arri learned from us and created a camera chart of the Arri cameras that were used to shoot Cannes 2024 films. According to the chart, the new Alexa 35 is booming. In the 2nd place is the Mini Lf, and the 3rd belongs to the good and old Alexa Mini.
Arri Alexa 35. The winner of Cannes 2024? Arri cameras at Cannes 2024
As the tradition continues, Arri cameras are preferred among Cannes filmmakers. For instance, the Alexa Mini and Mini Lf were the chosen cameras by the Cannes 2023 cinematographers. It appears that in Cannes 2024 there’s no difference besides the rise of the newest Alexa, which is the 35. Arri felt inspired by Y.M.Cinema charts and released its own Cannes 2024 camera chart focusing on Arri cameras. According to Arri’s chart, the Alexa 35 is in the first place as the weapon of choice of Cannes 2024 cinematographers. After that, there are the Mini Lf,...
Arri Alexa 35. The winner of Cannes 2024? Arri cameras at Cannes 2024
As the tradition continues, Arri cameras are preferred among Cannes filmmakers. For instance, the Alexa Mini and Mini Lf were the chosen cameras by the Cannes 2023 cinematographers. It appears that in Cannes 2024 there’s no difference besides the rise of the newest Alexa, which is the 35. Arri felt inspired by Y.M.Cinema charts and released its own Cannes 2024 camera chart focusing on Arri cameras. According to Arri’s chart, the Alexa 35 is in the first place as the weapon of choice of Cannes 2024 cinematographers. After that, there are the Mini Lf,...
- 5/20/2024
- by Yossy Mendelovich
- YMCinema
It is polite, we are told, not to speak ill of the dead, though it’s just as often prudent not to speak ill of the living. For victims with grievances against those older and more powerful than them, it’s hard to know when to speak up at all. But a quivering collective fury scalds through the silence in Rungano Nyoni’s tremendous new film “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” — as a group of young women, nursing the scars of sexual abuse, chafe against the quiet complicity of family elders when their shared perpetrator drops suddenly and none-too-sadly dead. Blending molasses-dark comedy with searing poetic realism to capture contemporary Zambian society at a generational impasse between staunch tradition and social progress, this is palpably new, future-minded filmmaking, at once intrepidly daring and rigorously poised.
Unspooling in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar — though more worthy of a spot in the main Competition,...
Unspooling in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar — though more worthy of a spot in the main Competition,...
- 5/16/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
In a different world, had she not been readying her long-awaited sophomore feature, “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl,” for its Cannes premiere, Rungano Nyoni might have spent the past few weeks preparing her family for its upcoming move to Zambia, the southern African nation where the director was born and spent part of her childhood. Instead, it was a mad dash to get the film across the finish line.
“It’s been long hours, non-stop for weeks,” Nyoni says on the eve of the French fest’s opening night. The frenzy isn’t likely to let up anytime soon: The director and her family plan to move house and fly to Zambia not long after the whirlwind of her Cannes premiere. Even those rare moments of calm on the Croisette between photo calls and press junkets aren’t likely to offer much relief. “I brought my toddler for good measure,...
“It’s been long hours, non-stop for weeks,” Nyoni says on the eve of the French fest’s opening night. The frenzy isn’t likely to let up anytime soon: The director and her family plan to move house and fly to Zambia not long after the whirlwind of her Cannes premiere. Even those rare moments of calm on the Croisette between photo calls and press junkets aren’t likely to offer much relief. “I brought my toddler for good measure,...
- 5/16/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The story of Riley Keough and Gina Gammell’s War Pony, which traces the lives of members of the Oglala Lakota tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, starts on the set of another film. As she awaited filming a scene in Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, Keough struck up a friendship with extras Bill Reddy and Franklin Sioux Bob from Pine Ridge. She would later visit them at the reservation with Gammell, her producing partner, and the quartet’s energy began funneling the energy of their friendship into a cinematic form.
“The spirit of that summer informed War Pony,” Keough admits. Just as American Honey’s egalitarian end credits don’t attribute hierarchical titles to the artists involved in the film, so, too, does War Pony embody a spirit of collaborative creativity. In conjunction with the wider Pine Ridge community, Bill and Franklin’s experiences and stories of growing up...
“The spirit of that summer informed War Pony,” Keough admits. Just as American Honey’s egalitarian end credits don’t attribute hierarchical titles to the artists involved in the film, so, too, does War Pony embody a spirit of collaborative creativity. In conjunction with the wider Pine Ridge community, Bill and Franklin’s experiences and stories of growing up...
- 7/29/2023
- by Marshall Shaffer
- Slant Magazine
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is Zambian-Welsh filmmaker Rungano Nyoni next project following her 2017 debut — I Am Not A Witch. Nyoni made a name for herself on her short film output and she had received support from the 2013 Cannes Cinefondation Residency. We only received snip-its of info last year, put crew folk would include David Gallego as the cinematographer on the project, Malin Lindholm is the Production Designer and producers include Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures. Did production begin? We believe it did in the month of October. Deets still need to come in.…...
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is Zambian-Welsh filmmaker Rungano Nyoni next project following her 2017 debut — I Am Not A Witch. Nyoni made a name for herself on her short film output and she had received support from the 2013 Cannes Cinefondation Residency. We only received snip-its of info last year, put crew folk would include David Gallego as the cinematographer on the project, Malin Lindholm is the Production Designer and producers include Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures. Did production begin? We believe it did in the month of October. Deets still need to come in.…...
- 1/11/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Before “The Kings of the World,” the latest feature from Colombian writer-director Laura Mora, inserts us in the bustling streets of Medellín, where teenagers wield machetes to protect themselves, a shot of a fairy-tale-appropriate white horse introduces the dreamlike atmosphere of this .
Homeless and with no blood family to guard them, the young souls at the forefront of this electrifying social drama fend for themselves in a gritty urban environment. Their only comfort comes from the brotherly affection they display for one another. That state, caught between tenderness and violence as they navigate an inhospitable reality, defines the visceral energy of “The Kings of the World,” Colombia’s most recent Oscar entry.
The leader of the group, 19-year-old Rá (Carlos Andrés Castañeda), has just learned that the land his grandmother was forcefully evicted from many years in the past has finally been returned to him, the sole heir, as part...
Homeless and with no blood family to guard them, the young souls at the forefront of this electrifying social drama fend for themselves in a gritty urban environment. Their only comfort comes from the brotherly affection they display for one another. That state, caught between tenderness and violence as they navigate an inhospitable reality, defines the visceral energy of “The Kings of the World,” Colombia’s most recent Oscar entry.
The leader of the group, 19-year-old Rá (Carlos Andrés Castañeda), has just learned that the land his grandmother was forcefully evicted from many years in the past has finally been returned to him, the sole heir, as part...
- 1/10/2023
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
In anticipation of the upcoming 95th Academy Awards, I chatted with Laura Mora, whose latest film The Kings of the World is Colombia’s official submission in consideration for the Best International Feature Category. The film won the Golden Seashell, the top prize at the 2022 San Sebastián Film Festival. Mora discusses development of her script, which eventually included screenwriter Maria Camila Arias, and as well as her collaboration with celebrated cinematographer David Gallego. The importance of showcasing empathy and intimacy between her characters pulls focus, and Mora speaks to the organic creative process which transpired among her first time actors during production.…...
- 12/11/2022
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Laura Mora’s “The Kings of the World” has no shortage of beautiful shots. The Colombia-set road trip follows a group of four teenagers as they set out to start a life anew away from the violence and poverty they’ve long grown up with. As the film moves away from the bustling streets of Medellin and into the foggy Andean landscapes, Mora captures a vision of this country in transition that is as stunning as it is eye-opening. Every frame begs to be dissected for the way it conjures the promise of futures and freedoms while also stressing the perils and dangers of such possibilities.
One early such shot is that of Rá (Carlos Andrés Castañeda), shirtless and fearless, atop a white horse in the middle of an empty urban street. It’s our first introduction to this young man. By himself atop this wild horse, he looks equally regal and boyish,...
One early such shot is that of Rá (Carlos Andrés Castañeda), shirtless and fearless, atop a white horse in the middle of an empty urban street. It’s our first introduction to this young man. By himself atop this wild horse, he looks equally regal and boyish,...
- 11/22/2022
- by Manuel Betancourt
- Variety Film + TV
Gabe Polsky’s new acid Western “Butcher’s Crossing,” premiering at the Toronto Film Festival, takes place on the vast fertile plains of hubris, where if you stare far enough into the horizon, you can probably see your own uppance come.
Based on a novel by John Williams takes place in Kansas in 1874, where a young wide-eyed student named Will Andrews has abandoned his Ivy League education in favor of seeing the country and palling around with buffalo hunters. It’s a decision that old man McDonald, a fur trader and distant friend of the family, thinks is intensely ill-advised, so he warns him — in a tone so condescending it was practically guaranteed to have the opposite of its intended effect — that following this path will lead Will to soul-obliterating ruin.
Undeterred, Will proceeds to ally himself with the first semi-friendly person he meets, a hunter named Miller (Nicolas Cage), who...
Based on a novel by John Williams takes place in Kansas in 1874, where a young wide-eyed student named Will Andrews has abandoned his Ivy League education in favor of seeing the country and palling around with buffalo hunters. It’s a decision that old man McDonald, a fur trader and distant friend of the family, thinks is intensely ill-advised, so he warns him — in a tone so condescending it was practically guaranteed to have the opposite of its intended effect — that following this path will lead Will to soul-obliterating ruin.
Undeterred, Will proceeds to ally himself with the first semi-friendly person he meets, a hunter named Miller (Nicolas Cage), who...
- 9/10/2022
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
Will Andrews (Fred Hechinger) goes from Harvard dropout to cowboy in Gabe Polsky’s new film Butcher’s Crossing, with the script written by Polsky and Liam Satre-Meloy, based on a book by John Williams.
Andrews is looking for adventure on the open frontier. School wasn’t cutting it, and now he’s looking for people to travel with. He meets Miller (Nicolas Cage), a man in the Buffalo-killing business. Andrews asks to join Miller on his next journey, which is to hunt a mysterious herd of buffalo, and the young man can join them for a flat fee of 500. He promises this will be the biggest haul of his life. Will seems to lack social and life skills as he enters a cowboy ho-down and doesn’t know how to dance or talk to women. At least he’s aware and not trying to be someone he isn’t. That...
Andrews is looking for adventure on the open frontier. School wasn’t cutting it, and now he’s looking for people to travel with. He meets Miller (Nicolas Cage), a man in the Buffalo-killing business. Andrews asks to join Miller on his next journey, which is to hunt a mysterious herd of buffalo, and the young man can join them for a flat fee of 500. He promises this will be the biggest haul of his life. Will seems to lack social and life skills as he enters a cowboy ho-down and doesn’t know how to dance or talk to women. At least he’s aware and not trying to be someone he isn’t. That...
- 9/10/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
If Larry Clark had ever found his way onto the Pine Ridge Reservation, he probably would have come away with a film like “War Pony,” which observes its young Native American characters hustling, skating and stealing drugs from otherwise distracted adults. Presenting such behavior without judgment, first-time directors Gina Gammell and Riley Keough developed this unvarnished portrait in collaboration with their actors, capturing something at once tragic and true about these kids, who are torn between Oglala Lakota traditions and the consumer culture around them.
A few years older than the hero of Chloé Zhao’s recent “The Rider” — a movie this one can’t help but resemble, at least superficially — Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting) is like the slacker version of that American dreamer. He siphons gas from strangers’ tanks and goes around asking people if they want to buy a stolen PlayStation. He already has two kids by two different women.
A few years older than the hero of Chloé Zhao’s recent “The Rider” — a movie this one can’t help but resemble, at least superficially — Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting) is like the slacker version of that American dreamer. He siphons gas from strangers’ tanks and goes around asking people if they want to buy a stolen PlayStation. He already has two kids by two different women.
- 5/21/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Opposition to the Academy’s plan to award eight Oscars prior to the live telecast continues to grow, with more than 350 new names — including more than a dozen Oscar-winning editors, cinematographers and production designers — added to the petition sent last week to Academy president David Rubin urging a reversal of the plan.
Among the industry professionals signing are Oscar-winning cinematographers John Seale (“The English Patient”), John Toll (“Braveheart”) and Dean Semler (“Dances With Wolves”), and Oscar-winning editors Richard Chew and Paul Hirsch (“Star Wars”), Mikkel Neilsen (“The Sound of Metal”), Pietro Scalia (“JFK”) and Zach Staenberg (“The Matrix”).
Oscar-winning production designers Hannah Beachler (“Black Panther”), Barbara Ling (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), Adam Stockhausen (“Grand Budapest Hotel”) and David and Sandy Wasco (“La La Land”) also signed on.
Cinematography will be presented during the live show, but editing and production design are among the eight awards to be presented during the 4 p.
Among the industry professionals signing are Oscar-winning cinematographers John Seale (“The English Patient”), John Toll (“Braveheart”) and Dean Semler (“Dances With Wolves”), and Oscar-winning editors Richard Chew and Paul Hirsch (“Star Wars”), Mikkel Neilsen (“The Sound of Metal”), Pietro Scalia (“JFK”) and Zach Staenberg (“The Matrix”).
Oscar-winning production designers Hannah Beachler (“Black Panther”), Barbara Ling (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), Adam Stockhausen (“Grand Budapest Hotel”) and David and Sandy Wasco (“La La Land”) also signed on.
Cinematography will be presented during the live show, but editing and production design are among the eight awards to be presented during the 4 p.
- 3/17/2022
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Cristina Gallego, producer-director of 2018 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight hit “Birds of Passage,” is set to produce “Kings of the World,” the second feature by Colombia’s Laura Mora. Mora’s “Killing Jesus” marked one of the most notable of recent Latin American debuts.
Shooting this month in Medellin and Bajo Cauca, Colombia, “Kings” is set up at Gallego’s Bogota-based Ciudad Lunar, the shingle behind Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” and Mirlanda Torres’ La Selva Producciones.
It is backed by a powerful alliance of international production partners, often a sign these days of a major Latin American art film: Mer Films (Norway), Iris Prods. (Luxembourg), Talipot Studio (Mexico), Tu Vas Voir (France) and made in association with Caracol Televisión.
“Kings of the World” is being brought onto the Cannes market by Film Factory Entertainment, a sales agent on “The Weeping Woman,” “Wild Tales” and “The Clan.”
Written by Mora and María Camila Arias,...
Shooting this month in Medellin and Bajo Cauca, Colombia, “Kings” is set up at Gallego’s Bogota-based Ciudad Lunar, the shingle behind Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” and Mirlanda Torres’ La Selva Producciones.
It is backed by a powerful alliance of international production partners, often a sign these days of a major Latin American art film: Mer Films (Norway), Iris Prods. (Luxembourg), Talipot Studio (Mexico), Tu Vas Voir (France) and made in association with Caracol Televisión.
“Kings of the World” is being brought onto the Cannes market by Film Factory Entertainment, a sales agent on “The Weeping Woman,” “Wild Tales” and “The Clan.”
Written by Mora and María Camila Arias,...
- 7/6/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
After the sudden death of her mother, an introverted teenager is taken in by an estranged female relative, who turns out to be the matriarch of a dangerous criminal family. If the essential logline of Danish director Jeanette Nordahl’s quietly tense debut “Wildland” sounds more than a little familiar, perhaps the same thought occurred to those who titled it for the international market: Though it goes by “Kød & Blod (Flesh and Blood)” at home, its English-language moniker is all but a synonym for David Michôd’s similarly premised “Animal Kingdom.” That’s not a bad film to resemble in any capacity, though Nordahl’s study of a frail adolescent psyche plunged into a corrupt household has its own sense of ticking dread.
That’s thanks in large part to a key difference from the 2010 film: the protagonist is a girl, 17-year-old Ida, whose desires and vulnerabilities shift the stakes of this hothouse drama.
That’s thanks in large part to a key difference from the 2010 film: the protagonist is a girl, 17-year-old Ida, whose desires and vulnerabilities shift the stakes of this hothouse drama.
- 2/21/2020
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
A region bustling with the winds of change throughout the 2010s — both progressive and retrograde — Latin America enjoyed a banner decade that witnessed the rise of films grappling with economic inequality, indigenous discrimination, and Lgbtq+ issues.
Mexico’s production continued to skyrocket (from Amat Escalante to Eugenio Derbez), Chile emerged as a powerhouse in both the arthouse and mainstream markets (with the Larraín brothers’ Fabula production company and the unofficial movement known as Chilewood), and countries like Panama (“Invasion”), the Dominican Republic (“Woodpeckers”), and Paraguay (“The Heiresses”) made strides towards a more consistent output of noteworthy offers. Although far from a definitive list, these 11 features give the world the opportunity to take a peek at the varied perspectives of Latin American creators, veterans and up-and-comers:
“Aquarius” (2016)
Vigorous and sensual, Sonia Braga commands director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s vital character study in her career-best work playing Doña Clara. The timeless Brazilian...
Mexico’s production continued to skyrocket (from Amat Escalante to Eugenio Derbez), Chile emerged as a powerhouse in both the arthouse and mainstream markets (with the Larraín brothers’ Fabula production company and the unofficial movement known as Chilewood), and countries like Panama (“Invasion”), the Dominican Republic (“Woodpeckers”), and Paraguay (“The Heiresses”) made strides towards a more consistent output of noteworthy offers. Although far from a definitive list, these 11 features give the world the opportunity to take a peek at the varied perspectives of Latin American creators, veterans and up-and-comers:
“Aquarius” (2016)
Vigorous and sensual, Sonia Braga commands director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s vital character study in her career-best work playing Doña Clara. The timeless Brazilian...
- 12/28/2019
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
As was widely anticipated, Alfonso Cuaron’s triple Oscar-winning “Roma” dominated the 6th Premios Platino nominations, unveiled Thursday at Hollywood’s legendary Roosevelt Hotel, the site of the very first Oscars. It snagged a total of nine nominations, including best film, director, art direction, cinematography, and acting for its two Oscar-nominated actresses, Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira.
“Roma,” which won Mexico’s first best foreign-language film Oscar, is up against pics that were also submitted for their respective countries in the Academy Awards’ foreign-language category: Colombia’s “Pajaros de Verano,” Uruguay’s “La Noche de 12 Años,” and Spain’s “Campeones.” The first two titles nabbed six Premios Platino noms each while “Campeones” took five. Paraguay’s Oscar submission “Las Herederas” took five nominations.
The ceremony streamed live on Facebook with Premios Platino ambassador and CNN Español journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas hosting the event alongside actors Joaquin Cosio, Angie Cepeda,...
“Roma,” which won Mexico’s first best foreign-language film Oscar, is up against pics that were also submitted for their respective countries in the Academy Awards’ foreign-language category: Colombia’s “Pajaros de Verano,” Uruguay’s “La Noche de 12 Años,” and Spain’s “Campeones.” The first two titles nabbed six Premios Platino noms each while “Campeones” took five. Paraguay’s Oscar submission “Las Herederas” took five nominations.
The ceremony streamed live on Facebook with Premios Platino ambassador and CNN Español journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas hosting the event alongside actors Joaquin Cosio, Angie Cepeda,...
- 3/21/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Rapayet (Jose Acosta) and Zaida (Natalia Reyes) in Birds Of Passage. Photo by Mateo Contreras. © Ciudad Lunar / Blond Indian
From the makers of the Oscar-nominated Embrace Of The Serpent, comes Birds Of Passage (Pajaros De Verano), another powerful, innovative exploration of Colombian history told in an unexpected way. The 2016 Oscar-nominated Embrace Of The Serpent took us on a gorgeous but surreal trip up a Colombian river and through the history of European contact’s impact on indigenous peoples.
This time, that film’s director Ciro Guerra co-directs with producer (and then-wife) Cristina Gallego, while her brother David Gallego returns to provide this new film’s strikingly beautiful cinematography, as he did for Embrace Of The Serpent. The filmmakers again chose as their subject the impact of outsiders on indigenous peoples of Colombia, basing both films on actual historical sources. But this time it is not the devastating impact of European and American explorers,...
From the makers of the Oscar-nominated Embrace Of The Serpent, comes Birds Of Passage (Pajaros De Verano), another powerful, innovative exploration of Colombian history told in an unexpected way. The 2016 Oscar-nominated Embrace Of The Serpent took us on a gorgeous but surreal trip up a Colombian river and through the history of European contact’s impact on indigenous peoples.
This time, that film’s director Ciro Guerra co-directs with producer (and then-wife) Cristina Gallego, while her brother David Gallego returns to provide this new film’s strikingly beautiful cinematography, as he did for Embrace Of The Serpent. The filmmakers again chose as their subject the impact of outsiders on indigenous peoples of Colombia, basing both films on actual historical sources. But this time it is not the devastating impact of European and American explorers,...
- 3/15/2019
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Inspired by the travel diaries of Theodor Koch Grunberg (1879–1924) and Richard Evans Schultes (1915-2001), who provided two of the earliest accounts of Amazonian cultures, Ciro Guerra’s Embrace of the Serpent (2015) remains one of the most potent works of recent world cinema. A story told through the eyes of a warrior shaman of the search into the heart of the Colombian Amazon for the mythical Yakruna plant, the film bears witness how colonialism, religion and the exploitation of rubber affects indigenous traditions and the environment to which they are inextricably linked. So, the stakes were high for Guerra’s next project. Co-directing with Embrace of the Serpent producer Cristina Gallego, the film doesn’t disappoint.“Told in an intimate, personal way. Our own way,”1 Birds of Passage is another formidable meditation on the corrupting forces of wealth and power, set against the backdrop of the marijuana boom of the 1970s.
- 2/16/2019
- MUBI
The Guajira peninsula is a complicated landscape filled with deserts, forests, beaches and steppes. It sits in the northern part of Colombia and Venezuela, jutting out towards the Caribbean. The Wayúu people call it home, and in Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego’s new epic, “Birds of Passage,” the Guajira becomes the stage for a tragic story of one family’s rise to power and fall to ruin.
“Birds of Passage” weaves a tale that is both familiar yet unique, yet it is so culturally tied to the Wayúu, it would be impossible to move it outside the Guajira. The film fits very comfortably in the genres of a gangster movie and an epic, with supernatural forces forewarning what’s to happen in the earthly realm.
Rapayet (José Acosta) is the film’s tragic hero, a man trying to rejoin his people after years working in the world beyond the Wayúu’s region.
“Birds of Passage” weaves a tale that is both familiar yet unique, yet it is so culturally tied to the Wayúu, it would be impossible to move it outside the Guajira. The film fits very comfortably in the genres of a gangster movie and an epic, with supernatural forces forewarning what’s to happen in the earthly realm.
Rapayet (José Acosta) is the film’s tragic hero, a man trying to rejoin his people after years working in the world beyond the Wayúu’s region.
- 2/15/2019
- by Monica Castillo
- The Wrap
Directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, filmmakers of ‘Embrace of the Serpent’, the first Colombian film ever to be nominated for an Oscar®, comes ‘Birds of Passage’ / ‘Pajaros de Verano’.Interviews with Christina Gallego and Ciro Guerra
A sprawling epic about the erosion of tradition in pursuit of material wealth, a a native Wayúu family in the mountains of Colombia discovers that only as long as they adhere to the matriarch’s dictates according to their oral traditions, they will prosper.
Set in 1970s Colombia among the Wayúu indigenous people, this mystical epic centers on Rapayet, a man torn between the desire to be powerful and his duty to uphold his culture’s values. Ignoring ancient omens, his tribe enters the drug trafficking business getting caught up in a conflict where honor is the highest currency and debts are paid with blood.
In three generations the ancient wisdom rooted...
A sprawling epic about the erosion of tradition in pursuit of material wealth, a a native Wayúu family in the mountains of Colombia discovers that only as long as they adhere to the matriarch’s dictates according to their oral traditions, they will prosper.
Set in 1970s Colombia among the Wayúu indigenous people, this mystical epic centers on Rapayet, a man torn between the desire to be powerful and his duty to uphold his culture’s values. Ignoring ancient omens, his tribe enters the drug trafficking business getting caught up in a conflict where honor is the highest currency and debts are paid with blood.
In three generations the ancient wisdom rooted...
- 1/1/2019
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Macondos, Colombia’s Academy Awards, were held over the weekend, and Laura Mora’s “Killing Jesus” was the big winner, scooping five awards, including best picture for a Colombian feature.
The win caps off a whirlwind 14 months since the film’s 2017 Toronto world premiere and San Sebastian European premiere, where it won the Eroski Youth Award, Fedeora Award and two special mentions.
A semi-autobiographical film, “Killing Jesus” unspools in Medellin, the base of operations for Pablo Escobar’s cartel, which still suffers reverberations of the violence from his time as the world’s most notorious drug kingpin. Mora used non-professional actors to tell the revenge story of a young girl whose father is gunned down right before her eyes, and who, after a chance encounter with the killer at a nightclub, decides to embark on a mission of revenge.
Diego Ramirez’s Bogota and Cali-based 64A Films, the Colombian...
The win caps off a whirlwind 14 months since the film’s 2017 Toronto world premiere and San Sebastian European premiere, where it won the Eroski Youth Award, Fedeora Award and two special mentions.
A semi-autobiographical film, “Killing Jesus” unspools in Medellin, the base of operations for Pablo Escobar’s cartel, which still suffers reverberations of the violence from his time as the world’s most notorious drug kingpin. Mora used non-professional actors to tell the revenge story of a young girl whose father is gunned down right before her eyes, and who, after a chance encounter with the killer at a nightclub, decides to embark on a mission of revenge.
Diego Ramirez’s Bogota and Cali-based 64A Films, the Colombian...
- 11/19/2018
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Rungano Nyoni wasn’t exactly surprised when her casting director vanished during pre-production in Zambia. Born in the southern African nation, but raised in Wales, she had girded herself for the challenges of shooting in a country whose film industry holds itself to different professional standards than those prevailing in the U.K.
“Using European sensibilities in Africa just doesn’t work. You have to adjust to the local [way of doing] things,” she says. “We were behind from the beginning. It was really an uphill climb.”
Shooting in Zambia was a calculated risk that paid off for Nyoni, whose feature directorial debut, “I Am Not a Witch,” world-premiered at the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight in 2017, and is this year’s U.K.’s foreign-language Oscar submission. Film Movement is the pic’s U.S. distributor. Nyoni was also named one of Variety’s 10 Brits to Watch and won a BAFTA...
“Using European sensibilities in Africa just doesn’t work. You have to adjust to the local [way of doing] things,” she says. “We were behind from the beginning. It was really an uphill climb.”
Shooting in Zambia was a calculated risk that paid off for Nyoni, whose feature directorial debut, “I Am Not a Witch,” world-premiered at the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight in 2017, and is this year’s U.K.’s foreign-language Oscar submission. Film Movement is the pic’s U.S. distributor. Nyoni was also named one of Variety’s 10 Brits to Watch and won a BAFTA...
- 11/16/2018
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, filmmakers of ‘Embrace of the Serpent’, the first Colombian film ever to be nominated for an Oscar®, comes ‘Birds of Passage’ / ‘Pajaros de Verano’.Interviews with Christina Gallego and Ciro Guerra from press notes.
A sprawling epic about the erosion of tradition in pursuit of material wealth, a a native Wayúu family in the mountains of Colombia discovers that only as long as they adhere to the matriarch’s dictates according to their oral traditions, they will prosper.
Set in 1970s Colombia among the Wayúu indigenous people, this mystical epic centers on Rapayet, a man torn between the desire to be powerful and his duty to uphold his culture’s values. Ignoring ancient omens, his tribe enters the drug trafficking business getting caught up in a conflict where honor is the highest currency and debts are paid with blood.
In three generations the...
A sprawling epic about the erosion of tradition in pursuit of material wealth, a a native Wayúu family in the mountains of Colombia discovers that only as long as they adhere to the matriarch’s dictates according to their oral traditions, they will prosper.
Set in 1970s Colombia among the Wayúu indigenous people, this mystical epic centers on Rapayet, a man torn between the desire to be powerful and his duty to uphold his culture’s values. Ignoring ancient omens, his tribe enters the drug trafficking business getting caught up in a conflict where honor is the highest currency and debts are paid with blood.
In three generations the...
- 11/13/2018
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Chicago – The Chicago International Film Festival is competitive, and the 54th edition presented its awards on October 19th, 2018, at the AMC River East Theatre in Chicago. The winner of the Gold Hugo as Best Film was “Happy as Lazzaro” (Italy/Switzerland/Germany/France), directed by Alice Rohrwacher.
The 54th Chicago International Film Festival Awards Night was October 19th, 2018
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival
The awards event was hosted by entertainment reporter Bill Zwecker. Presenters included Artistic Director Mimi Plauché, programmers Anthony Kaufman and Sam Flancher, plus various jury members. Festival CEO Michael Kutza presented his “Founder’s Award.” The Festival’s highest honor is the Gold Hugo, named for the mythical God of Discovery.
International Feature Film Competition
’Happy as Lazzaro,’ Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival
The Gold Hugo for Best Film: “Happy as Lazzaro,” (Italy/Switzerland/Germany/France) Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
The...
The 54th Chicago International Film Festival Awards Night was October 19th, 2018
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival
The awards event was hosted by entertainment reporter Bill Zwecker. Presenters included Artistic Director Mimi Plauché, programmers Anthony Kaufman and Sam Flancher, plus various jury members. Festival CEO Michael Kutza presented his “Founder’s Award.” The Festival’s highest honor is the Gold Hugo, named for the mythical God of Discovery.
International Feature Film Competition
’Happy as Lazzaro,’ Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival
The Gold Hugo for Best Film: “Happy as Lazzaro,” (Italy/Switzerland/Germany/France) Directed by Alice Rohrwacher
The...
- 10/20/2018
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Other winners included Derek Doneen’s The Price Of Free and Samal Yeslyamova for her performance in Ayka.
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s drama 3 Faces scooped the top prize at the 55th edition of International Antalya Film Festival (Sept 29-Oct 5) last weekend.
The feature, which premiered in competition at Cannes where it won the prize for best screenplay, was feted with Antalya’s Golden Orange award and $53,000 cash prize for best film.
The director, who is currently under house arrest in Iran, participated in the awards ceremony via a video-link.
Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda won the $25,000 Golden Orange prize for...
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s drama 3 Faces scooped the top prize at the 55th edition of International Antalya Film Festival (Sept 29-Oct 5) last weekend.
The feature, which premiered in competition at Cannes where it won the prize for best screenplay, was feted with Antalya’s Golden Orange award and $53,000 cash prize for best film.
The director, who is currently under house arrest in Iran, participated in the awards ceremony via a video-link.
Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda won the $25,000 Golden Orange prize for...
- 10/11/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
It probably says more about Ciro Guerra’s last film than this inimitable new offering (which he co-directed with his long-serving producer Christina Gallego) to suggest that fans of Embrace of the Serpent might find Birds of Passage just a little on the linear side. However, to compare the two is surely akin to comparing the varying potency of two strains of class-a hallucinogens. Set in Colombia in the 1960s, this violent, operatic, and sparsely trippy film follows the early days of marijuana trafficking in the region. Don’t worry if that all sounds a touch familiar.
Granted, we’ve grown accustomed to the world of cartels, no more so perhaps than in recent years. The thing that sets Birds apart is that Guerra and Gallego tell their fable from the perspective of the indigenous Wayuu people. Jose Acosta plays Raphayet, a self-assured bachelor who will marry a young woman...
Granted, we’ve grown accustomed to the world of cartels, no more so perhaps than in recent years. The thing that sets Birds apart is that Guerra and Gallego tell their fable from the perspective of the indigenous Wayuu people. Jose Acosta plays Raphayet, a self-assured bachelor who will marry a young woman...
- 5/25/2018
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Recalling the polemics of Ousman Sembène, Rungano Nyoni’s Zambian film, I Am Nota Witch is an impressively crafted comedy of manners turned tragedy. The film centers around the accusation that an 8-year old girl, Shula (Maggie Mulubwa) is engaging in witchcraft solely because people in the town say so, and because the girl refuses to confirm or deny whether she’s a witch.
The police therefore are forced to conduct an investigation which includes a test involving dancing and the ritual slaughter of a chicken. The results conclude she’s a witch and she’s sent to a camp in the middle of the dessert where witches of all ages are tied with a ribbon, connected to a giant spool to track and control their movements. The effect allows for moments where they’re surreally recoiled back on to a rig while also the subject of the tourists’ gaze.
The police therefore are forced to conduct an investigation which includes a test involving dancing and the ritual slaughter of a chicken. The results conclude she’s a witch and she’s sent to a camp in the middle of the dessert where witches of all ages are tied with a ribbon, connected to a giant spool to track and control their movements. The effect allows for moments where they’re surreally recoiled back on to a rig while also the subject of the tourists’ gaze.
- 5/18/2018
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Bac Films is joining forces with up-and-coming Danish production banner Snowglobe on “Wildland,” a female-driven crime thriller toplining “Borgen” star Sidse Babett Knudsen as a mafia ringleader.
The movie will mark the feature debut of Jeanette Nordahl.
Bac Films has acquired international sales and French distribution rights on the film.
Set in a Danish countryside around an old industrialized farming town, “Wildland” follows a 17-year old girl, Ida, who moves in with her aunt and cousins after the tragic death of her mother in a car accident. The home is filled with love, but outside of the home, the family leads a violent and criminal life.
The film was written by Ingeborg Topsoe, whose recent credits include Milad Alami’s critically acclaimed “The Charmer.”
“‘Wildland’ is a story about the destructive power of family love. It is a female-driven film with mafia elements, where both the head of the family and the protagonist are women,...
The movie will mark the feature debut of Jeanette Nordahl.
Bac Films has acquired international sales and French distribution rights on the film.
Set in a Danish countryside around an old industrialized farming town, “Wildland” follows a 17-year old girl, Ida, who moves in with her aunt and cousins after the tragic death of her mother in a car accident. The home is filled with love, but outside of the home, the family leads a violent and criminal life.
The film was written by Ingeborg Topsoe, whose recent credits include Milad Alami’s critically acclaimed “The Charmer.”
“‘Wildland’ is a story about the destructive power of family love. It is a female-driven film with mafia elements, where both the head of the family and the protagonist are women,...
- 5/7/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The creative team behind 2015’s Oscar-nominated “Embrace of the Serpent” are returning, this time to tackle the origins of the Colombian drug trade. The latest film is called “Birds of Passage,” and it was directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, the producer and director of “Serpent.” No release date has been announced for the film, but IndieWire has the exclusive first trailer for what is sure to be another stunning tour de force.
While not much is known about the film, the creators did provide a short synopsis: “‘Birds of Passage’ charts the origins of the Colombian drug trade, through the epic story of an indigenous Wayuu family that becomes involved in the booming business of selling marijuana to American youth in the 1970s. When greed, passion and honor collide, a fratricidal war breaks out that will put their lives, their culture and their ancestral traditions at stake.”
The...
While not much is known about the film, the creators did provide a short synopsis: “‘Birds of Passage’ charts the origins of the Colombian drug trade, through the epic story of an indigenous Wayuu family that becomes involved in the booming business of selling marijuana to American youth in the 1970s. When greed, passion and honor collide, a fratricidal war breaks out that will put their lives, their culture and their ancestral traditions at stake.”
The...
- 4/11/2018
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes this year was enlivened by the fortuitous programming of a number of films about children channeling the bounding energy of their young protagonists, whether Sean Baker’s precocious “hidden homeless” scampering around cheap motels in Orlando in The Florida Project, Jonas Carpignano’s bracing faux-adults spitting slang and smoking cigs in a Romani community in Siciliy in A Ciambra, or the young Joan of Arc, singing and dancing in Bruno Dumont’s Jeannette.More passive than all these kids so willing to act out in difficult circumstances is Shula (Maggie Mulubwa), the young Zambian girl accused of witchcraft in Zambia-born, Wales-based director Rungano Nyoni’s bold debut feature, I Am Not a Witch. In fact, this young girl has no name and is nearly unable to speak up for herself. In the film’s opening scenes, she is accused of being a witch and, failing to deny it,...
- 5/31/2017
- MUBI
Exclusive: Production company works with Danish debut director but brings in international expertise.
Danish production company Snowglobe, whose co-production credits include festival hits Ralitza Petrova’s Godless and Amat Escalante’s The Untamed, has greenlit its first Danish production.
Martin Skovbjerg’s Sticks & Stones (Brakland) will shoot in July and August on the southern Danish island of Langeland and Funen.
Theatrical distributors already on board are Denmark’s Reel Pictures, Iceland’s Bio Paradis and Norway´s Mer Film.
The story is about a teenage boy from Copenhagen who moves to a provincial area, where he is an outsider until he meets the local 15-year-old alpha male. The pair challenge each other in transgressive actions but when one boy’s family is blamed for a local scandal, their friendship is threatened. Jonas Bjerril and Vilmer Trier Brøgger will star.
The script is based on an original story by writer Christian Gamst Miller-Harris (Follow The Money, Oscar-winning short Helium...
Danish production company Snowglobe, whose co-production credits include festival hits Ralitza Petrova’s Godless and Amat Escalante’s The Untamed, has greenlit its first Danish production.
Martin Skovbjerg’s Sticks & Stones (Brakland) will shoot in July and August on the southern Danish island of Langeland and Funen.
Theatrical distributors already on board are Denmark’s Reel Pictures, Iceland’s Bio Paradis and Norway´s Mer Film.
The story is about a teenage boy from Copenhagen who moves to a provincial area, where he is an outsider until he meets the local 15-year-old alpha male. The pair challenge each other in transgressive actions but when one boy’s family is blamed for a local scandal, their friendship is threatened. Jonas Bjerril and Vilmer Trier Brøgger will star.
The script is based on an original story by writer Christian Gamst Miller-Harris (Follow The Money, Oscar-winning short Helium...
- 5/20/2017
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
“A cinematographer is a visual psychiatrist — moving an audience through a movie […] making them think the way you want them to think, painting pictures in the dark,” said the late, great Gordon Willis. As we continue our year-end coverage, one aspect we must highlight is, indeed, cinematography, among the most vital to the medium. From talented newcomers to seasoned professionals, we’ve rounded up the examples that have most impressed us this year. Check out our rundown below and, in the comments, let us know your favorite work.
Arrival (Bradford Young)
At this point, it would be unfair to call Bradford Young an up-and-coming cinematographer. While it’s an accurate description in terms of his relative years behind the camera, the caliber of his work already feels like one of the most accomplished in the genre. Ahead of a Han Solo prequel, he got his first taste with sci-fi thanks to Denis Villeneuve‘s Arrival.
Arrival (Bradford Young)
At this point, it would be unfair to call Bradford Young an up-and-coming cinematographer. While it’s an accurate description in terms of his relative years behind the camera, the caliber of his work already feels like one of the most accomplished in the genre. Ahead of a Han Solo prequel, he got his first taste with sci-fi thanks to Denis Villeneuve‘s Arrival.
- 12/28/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Les Arcs unveils 16 projects due to be presented in the work-in-progress selection.
Upcoming films by the UK’s Rungano Nyoni, the Czech Republic’s Olmo Omerzu and Sweden’s Johannes Nyholm are among 16 works-in-progress projects due to be presented at the eighth edition of the Les Arcs Coproduction village (Dec 10-13).
Footage from the films, which are all in post-production, will be shown on Dec 11. The festival’s artistic director Frédéric Boyer made the selection.
British-Zambian director Rungano Nyoni will show first footage from her debut satire I Am Not A Witch [pictured top] about a nine-year-old girl who is a victim of a witch-hunt, which is shot by Embrace Of The Serpent’s DoP David Gallego.
Nyholm will present his second feature Koko-di Koko-da - after The Giant which premiered at Tiff this year - revolving around a couple whose camping trip takes a strange turn when a circus troupe turns up.
Two awards...
Upcoming films by the UK’s Rungano Nyoni, the Czech Republic’s Olmo Omerzu and Sweden’s Johannes Nyholm are among 16 works-in-progress projects due to be presented at the eighth edition of the Les Arcs Coproduction village (Dec 10-13).
Footage from the films, which are all in post-production, will be shown on Dec 11. The festival’s artistic director Frédéric Boyer made the selection.
British-Zambian director Rungano Nyoni will show first footage from her debut satire I Am Not A Witch [pictured top] about a nine-year-old girl who is a victim of a witch-hunt, which is shot by Embrace Of The Serpent’s DoP David Gallego.
Nyholm will present his second feature Koko-di Koko-da - after The Giant which premiered at Tiff this year - revolving around a couple whose camping trip takes a strange turn when a circus troupe turns up.
Two awards...
- 11/25/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Rungano Nyoni wraps Zambia-set satire; Embrace Of The Serpent’s David Gallego is DoP.
Principal photography has wrapped on satire I Am Not A Witch, the debut feature from Welsh-Zambian filmmaker Rungano Nyoni, who was previously BAFTA-nominated for short Mwansa The Great.
The present day African satire about beliefs in witchcraft, revolves around a nine year old girl, Shula, who is accused of being a witch. Shula is the first child to be taken to a travelling witch camp, where she is tethered to a spool with a ribbon. She is told that should she cut the ribbon and attempt to escape, she will be cursed and transformed into a goat.
Forced to decide whether to accept her fate as a witch, Shula ignites a rebellion within the camp.
The film shot for six weeks in Zambia’s capital Lusaka and the rural areas around it, and features a cast of non-professional actors, led by nine...
Principal photography has wrapped on satire I Am Not A Witch, the debut feature from Welsh-Zambian filmmaker Rungano Nyoni, who was previously BAFTA-nominated for short Mwansa The Great.
The present day African satire about beliefs in witchcraft, revolves around a nine year old girl, Shula, who is accused of being a witch. Shula is the first child to be taken to a travelling witch camp, where she is tethered to a spool with a ribbon. She is told that should she cut the ribbon and attempt to escape, she will be cursed and transformed into a goat.
Forced to decide whether to accept her fate as a witch, Shula ignites a rebellion within the camp.
The film shot for six weeks in Zambia’s capital Lusaka and the rural areas around it, and features a cast of non-professional actors, led by nine...
- 11/14/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Rungano Nyoni wraps Zambia-set satire; Embrace Of The Serpent’s David Gallego is DoP.
Principal photography has wrapped on satire I Am Not A Witch, the debut feature from Welsh-Zambian filmmaker Rungano Nyoni, who was previously BAFTA-nominated for short Mwansa The Great.
The present day African satire about beliefs in witchcraft, revolves around a nine year old girl, Shula, who is accused of being a witch. Shula is the first child to be taken to a travelling witch camp, where she is tethered to a spool with a ribbon. She is told that should she cut the ribbon and attempt to escape, she will be cursed and transformed into a goat.
Forced to decide whether to accept her fate as a witch, Shula ignites a rebellion within the camp.
The film shot for six weeks in Zambia’s capital Lusaka and the rural areas around it, and features a cast of non-professional actors, led by nine...
Principal photography has wrapped on satire I Am Not A Witch, the debut feature from Welsh-Zambian filmmaker Rungano Nyoni, who was previously BAFTA-nominated for short Mwansa The Great.
The present day African satire about beliefs in witchcraft, revolves around a nine year old girl, Shula, who is accused of being a witch. Shula is the first child to be taken to a travelling witch camp, where she is tethered to a spool with a ribbon. She is told that should she cut the ribbon and attempt to escape, she will be cursed and transformed into a goat.
Forced to decide whether to accept her fate as a witch, Shula ignites a rebellion within the camp.
The film shot for six weeks in Zambia’s capital Lusaka and the rural areas around it, and features a cast of non-professional actors, led by nine...
- 11/14/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Mainstream and auteur Colombian companies join efforts for the comeback of El Páramo director.
Bam (Bogotá Audiovisual Market) runs from July 11-15 and is abuzz with positive energy this year.
Colombia’s growing economy, the country’s historic ceasefire deal and, on the film front, an effective film policy to support the local industry and attract foreign investors have given the local industry a visible confidence boost.
At the two ends of the spectrum are the international critical successes of arthouse films such as Oscar nominated Embrace Of The Serpent and Cannes Camera d’Or winner Land And Shade and more mainstream hits such as Netfflix-backed TV series Narcos.
But they are not necessarily fighting in different corners as evidenced by an intriguing new collaboration.
Diana Bustamante, from Burning Blue, the production company behind Land And Shade, has revealed to Screen that her company and Dynamo, the Colombian production powerhouse behind Narcos and The 33, with...
Bam (Bogotá Audiovisual Market) runs from July 11-15 and is abuzz with positive energy this year.
Colombia’s growing economy, the country’s historic ceasefire deal and, on the film front, an effective film policy to support the local industry and attract foreign investors have given the local industry a visible confidence boost.
At the two ends of the spectrum are the international critical successes of arthouse films such as Oscar nominated Embrace Of The Serpent and Cannes Camera d’Or winner Land And Shade and more mainstream hits such as Netfflix-backed TV series Narcos.
But they are not necessarily fighting in different corners as evidenced by an intriguing new collaboration.
Diana Bustamante, from Burning Blue, the production company behind Land And Shade, has revealed to Screen that her company and Dynamo, the Colombian production powerhouse behind Narcos and The 33, with...
- 7/15/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Mainstream and auteur Colombian companies join efforts for the comeback of El Páramo director.
The Bogotá Audiovisual Market (July 11-15) is abuzz with positive energy this year.
Colombia’s growing economy, the country’s historic ceasefire deal and, on the film front, an effective film policy to support the local industry and attract foreign investors have given the local industry a visible confidence boost.
At the two ends of the spectrum are the international critical successes of arthouse films such as Oscar nominated Embrace Of The Serpent and Cannes Camera d’Or winner Land And Shade and more mainstream hits such as Netfflix-backed TV series Narcos.
But they are not necessarily fighting in different corners as evidenced by an intriguing new collaboration.
Diana Bustamante, from Burning Blue, the production company behind Land And Shade, has revealed to Screen that her company and Dynamo, the Colombian production powerhouse behind Narcos and The 33, with [link=nm...
The Bogotá Audiovisual Market (July 11-15) is abuzz with positive energy this year.
Colombia’s growing economy, the country’s historic ceasefire deal and, on the film front, an effective film policy to support the local industry and attract foreign investors have given the local industry a visible confidence boost.
At the two ends of the spectrum are the international critical successes of arthouse films such as Oscar nominated Embrace Of The Serpent and Cannes Camera d’Or winner Land And Shade and more mainstream hits such as Netfflix-backed TV series Narcos.
But they are not necessarily fighting in different corners as evidenced by an intriguing new collaboration.
Diana Bustamante, from Burning Blue, the production company behind Land And Shade, has revealed to Screen that her company and Dynamo, the Colombian production powerhouse behind Narcos and The 33, with [link=nm...
- 7/15/2016
- ScreenDaily
We've celebrated the male performances and the heroes and villains of the year's first half. But before we get to the actresses -- what? foreplay makes it hotter -- let's revel in the beauty of Cinematography & Production Design. These five choices in each category are what yours truly, Nathaniel, would nominate if the year ended on June 30th. Please share your list of praiseworthy achievements in the comments. Movies are communal and loving them should be, too.
Halfway Mark Beauty Break
Cinematography & Production Design
(January to June theatrical releases only. Disclaimer: I have not yet seen The Mermaid which I hear is an eyeful)
Best Cinematography
If I had a ballot right now (January to June releases only...)
A Bigger Splash, Yorick Le Saux
From gold dust sunshine to postcard istas, from the ambient light of off white seaside architecture to intimate dinners by candlelight, Le Saux is always caressing...
Halfway Mark Beauty Break
Cinematography & Production Design
(January to June theatrical releases only. Disclaimer: I have not yet seen The Mermaid which I hear is an eyeful)
Best Cinematography
If I had a ballot right now (January to June releases only...)
A Bigger Splash, Yorick Le Saux
From gold dust sunshine to postcard istas, from the ambient light of off white seaside architecture to intimate dinners by candlelight, Le Saux is always caressing...
- 7/2/2016
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
It's a well-known fact that Iberoamerican cinema, which includes Latin American, Spanish, and Portuguese productions, has had a prominent presence at the most important international film festivals for several years now and several films have been recognized at some of the most important film awards around the world. Colombia's "Embrace of the Serpent" earning the country's first-ever Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category and Argentina's "Wild Tales" taking home the 2016 BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in English Language are juts two examples of recent victories.
Acknowledging the need for a unified industry in the region and a platform for the Iberoamerican industry to honor and support its own productions, the Premios Platino of Iberoamerican Cinema were born three years ago. Each year the organizing committee selects a diverse group of nominees and invites members of the industry across the American continent and the Iberian peninsula to vote in order to select the winners. The ceremony takes place in a different country every year as a way to include all of the varied industries in the process and execution of the event.
This morning, after considering more than 150 films from a pool of over 800 theatrically releases productions, the final nominees were announced by a group of talented actors, including legendary Mexican-American thespian Edward James Olmos, and filmmakers led by CNN en Español's journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas. Guatemala's Berlin-winning gem "Ixcanul" received 8 nominations, just as Colombia's Oscar-nominated "Embrace of the Serpent" did. These two gorgeously executed works center on indigenous stories and highlight the rich cultural heritage of Latin America. It's a pleasant surprise to see these two fantastic films get the most love.
Chile's "The Club" and Argentina's "The Clan," films by the two most prolific Pablos working in South America, Pablo Larrain and Pablo Trapero, received 6 nominations each. Larrain's dark tale about Catholic priests with questionable pasts was also nominated this year for a Golden Globe in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Perhaps one of the most surprising, yet well-deserved nominations, was the inclusion of Alonso Ruizpalacios among the Best Director nominees for his brilliant debut "Güeros."
Two films distributed by Pantelion received nomations: "600 Miles" and "Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos." Oscilloscope earned 10 mentions with properties "Ma Ma" and "Embrace of the Serpent." Kino Lorber's "Ixcanul, ""Güeros," and "The Pearl Button" also earned the art house distributor 10 nominations.
Regarding the quality of the films being produced in Iberoamerica Egeda's Elvi Cano said, “This has been an exceptional year for Iberoamerican Cinema, with 826 qualifying releases. Iberoamerican Cinema is alive, growing and stronger then ever.” Renowned journalist and host Juan Carlos Arciniegas added," These awards are starting a revolution and it's my dream, as an ambassador for Premios Platino, that these magnificent films that got nominated today to be seen by all our Iberoamerican audiences. I can't be more proud of what our filmmakers are doing today and if the public don't get to enjoy them, we won't be doing our job"
The 3rd Annual Premios Platino of Iberoamerican Cinema will take place on July 24th in Punta del Este, Uruguay
Here is the full list of nominees:
Premio Platino for Best Iberoamerican Picture
-"Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente), by Ciro Guerra (Ciudad Lunar Producciones, Caracol Cine, Dago García Producciones, Nortesur Producciones S.A., Mc Producciones, Buffalo Films) (Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina).
-"The Clan" (El clan), by Pablo Trapero (Kramer & Sigman Films, Matanza Cine S.R.L., El Deseo, P.C., S.A.) (Argentina, Spain).
-"The Club" (El club), by Pablo Larraín (Fabula Producciones) (Chile).
-"Ixcanul," by Jayro Bustamante (La Casa de Producción, Tu vas voir Productions) (Guatemala).
-"Truman," by Cesc Gay (Imposible Films S.L., Truman Film A.I.E., Bd Cine S.R.L) (Spain, Argentina).
Premio Platino for Best Director
-Alonso Ruizpalacios, for "Güeros."
-Cesc Gay, for "Truman."
-Ciro Guerra, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
Pablo Larraín, for "The Club" (El club).
Pablo Trapero, for "The Clan" (El clan).
Premio Platino for Best Actor
-Alfredo Castro, for "The Club" (El club).
-Damián Alcázar, for "Magallanes."
-Guillermo Francella, for "The Clan" (El clan).
-Javier Cámara, for "Truman."
-Ricardo Darín, for "Truman."
Premio Platino for Best Actress
-Antonia Zegers, for "The Club" (El club).
-Dolores Fonzi, for "Paulina."
-Elena Anaya, for "The Memory of Water" (La memoria del agua).
-Inma Cuesta, for "The Bride" (La novia).
-Penélope Cruz, for "Ma Ma."
Premio Platino for Best Original Score
-Alberto Iglesias, for "Ma Ma."
-Federico Jusid, for "Magallanes."
-Lucas Vidal, for "Nobody Wants the Night" (Nadie quiere la noche).
-Nascuy Linares, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-Pascual Reyes, for "Ixcanul."
Premio Platino for Best Animated Feature Film
-"Capture the Flag" (Atrapa la bandera), by Enrique Gato (Telecinco Cinema S.A., Los Rockets La Película A.I.E., Telefónica Studios S.L.U., 4 Cats Pictures S.L., Ikiru Films S.L., Lightbox Animation Studios S.L.) (Spain).
-"Top Cat Begins" (Don Gato 2: El inicio de la pandilla), by Andrés Couturier (Anima Estudios) (Mexico).
-"El Americano", by Ricardo Arnaiz, Mike Kunkel (Olmos Productions, Phil Roman Entertainment, Animex) (Mexico).
-"Amila's Secret" (El secreto de Amila), by Gorka Vázquez (Baleuko, S.L., Talape Animazioa, Draftoon Animation) (Spain, Argentina).
-"Huevos: Little Rooster's Egg-Cellent Adventure" (Un gallo con muchos huevos), by Gabriel Riva Palacio Alatriste, Rodolfo Riva Palacio Alatriste (Huevocartoon Producciones) (Mexico).
Premio Platino for Best Documentary Feature Film
-"Beyond My Grandfather Allende" (Allende mi abuelo Allende), by Marcia Tambutti Allende (Errante Producciones Ltda, Martfilms) (Chile, Mexico).
-"New Girls 24 Hours" (Chicas nuevas 24 horas), by Mabel Lozano (Mafalda Entertainment, S.L., Aleph Media S.A., Puatarará Films, Hangar Films, Arte Vital) (Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Peru).
-"The Pearl Button" (El botón de nácar), by Patricio Guzmán (Atacama Productions, Valdivia Film, France 3 Cinema, Mediaproduccion, S.L.) (Chile, Spain).
-"Tea Time" (La once), by Maite Alberdi (Micromundo Producciones) (Chile).
-"The Propaganda Game," by Álvaro Longoria (Morena Films S. L.) (Spain).
Premio Platino for Best Screenplay
-Cesc Gay, Tomás Aragay, for "Truman."
-Ciro Guerra, Jacques Toulemonde, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-Jayro Bustamante, for "Ixcanul."
-Pablo Larraín, Guillermo Calderón, Daniel Villalobos; for "The Club" (El club).
-Salvador del Solar, for "Magallanes."
Premio Platino for Best Iberoamerican Debut Feature Film
-"600 Miles" (600 Millas), by Gabriel Ripstein (Lucia Films) (Mexico).
- "Retribution" (El desconocido), by Dani de la Torre (Atresmedia Cine S. L., Vaca Films Studio, S.L.) (Spain).
-"The Boss, Anatomy of a Crime" (El patrón: radiografía de un crimen), by Sebastián Schindel (Magoya Films S.A., Estrella Films) (Argentina, Venezuela).
-"Ixcanul," by Jayro Bustamante (La Casa de Producción, Tu vas voir Productions) (Guatemala).
-"Magallanes," by Salvador del Solar (Péndulo Films, Tondero Producciones, Cepa Audiovisual S.R.L., Proyectil, Cinemara, Nephilim Producciones, S.L.) (Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Spain).
Premio Platino for Best Film Editing
-César Díaz, for "Ixcanul."
-Eric Williams, for "Magallanes."
-Etienne Boussac, Cristina Gallego, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-Jorge Coira, for "Retribution" (El desconocido).
-Pablo Trapero, Alejandro Carrillo Penovi, for "The Clan" (El clan).
Premio Platino for Best Art Direction
-Angélica Perea, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-Bruno Duarte, Artur Pinheiro, for "Arabian Nights: Vol.2 - The Desolate One" (As mil e uma noites: Volume 2, O desolado).
-Jesús Bosqued Maté, Pilar Quintana, for "The Bride" (La novia).
-Pilar Peredo, for "Ixcanul."
-Sebastián Orgambide, for "The Clan" (El clan).
Premio Platino for Best Cinematography
-Arnaldo Rodríguez, for "The Memory of Water" (La memoria del agua).
-David Gallego, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-Luis Armando Arteaga, for "Ixcanul."
-Miguel Ángel Amoedo, for "The Bride" (La novia).
-Sergio Armstrong, for "The Club" (El club).
Premio Platino for Best Sound Direction
-Carlos García, Marco Salavarría, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-David Machado, Jaime Fernández, Nacho Arenas, for "Retribution" (El desconocido).
-Eduardo Cáceres, Julien Cloquet, for "Ixcanul."
-Federico Esquerro, Santiago Fumagalli, Edson Secco, for "Paulina."
-Vicente D’Elía, Leandro de Loredo, for "The Clan" (El clan).
Acknowledging the need for a unified industry in the region and a platform for the Iberoamerican industry to honor and support its own productions, the Premios Platino of Iberoamerican Cinema were born three years ago. Each year the organizing committee selects a diverse group of nominees and invites members of the industry across the American continent and the Iberian peninsula to vote in order to select the winners. The ceremony takes place in a different country every year as a way to include all of the varied industries in the process and execution of the event.
This morning, after considering more than 150 films from a pool of over 800 theatrically releases productions, the final nominees were announced by a group of talented actors, including legendary Mexican-American thespian Edward James Olmos, and filmmakers led by CNN en Español's journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas. Guatemala's Berlin-winning gem "Ixcanul" received 8 nominations, just as Colombia's Oscar-nominated "Embrace of the Serpent" did. These two gorgeously executed works center on indigenous stories and highlight the rich cultural heritage of Latin America. It's a pleasant surprise to see these two fantastic films get the most love.
Chile's "The Club" and Argentina's "The Clan," films by the two most prolific Pablos working in South America, Pablo Larrain and Pablo Trapero, received 6 nominations each. Larrain's dark tale about Catholic priests with questionable pasts was also nominated this year for a Golden Globe in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Perhaps one of the most surprising, yet well-deserved nominations, was the inclusion of Alonso Ruizpalacios among the Best Director nominees for his brilliant debut "Güeros."
Two films distributed by Pantelion received nomations: "600 Miles" and "Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos." Oscilloscope earned 10 mentions with properties "Ma Ma" and "Embrace of the Serpent." Kino Lorber's "Ixcanul, ""Güeros," and "The Pearl Button" also earned the art house distributor 10 nominations.
Regarding the quality of the films being produced in Iberoamerica Egeda's Elvi Cano said, “This has been an exceptional year for Iberoamerican Cinema, with 826 qualifying releases. Iberoamerican Cinema is alive, growing and stronger then ever.” Renowned journalist and host Juan Carlos Arciniegas added," These awards are starting a revolution and it's my dream, as an ambassador for Premios Platino, that these magnificent films that got nominated today to be seen by all our Iberoamerican audiences. I can't be more proud of what our filmmakers are doing today and if the public don't get to enjoy them, we won't be doing our job"
The 3rd Annual Premios Platino of Iberoamerican Cinema will take place on July 24th in Punta del Este, Uruguay
Here is the full list of nominees:
Premio Platino for Best Iberoamerican Picture
-"Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente), by Ciro Guerra (Ciudad Lunar Producciones, Caracol Cine, Dago García Producciones, Nortesur Producciones S.A., Mc Producciones, Buffalo Films) (Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina).
-"The Clan" (El clan), by Pablo Trapero (Kramer & Sigman Films, Matanza Cine S.R.L., El Deseo, P.C., S.A.) (Argentina, Spain).
-"The Club" (El club), by Pablo Larraín (Fabula Producciones) (Chile).
-"Ixcanul," by Jayro Bustamante (La Casa de Producción, Tu vas voir Productions) (Guatemala).
-"Truman," by Cesc Gay (Imposible Films S.L., Truman Film A.I.E., Bd Cine S.R.L) (Spain, Argentina).
Premio Platino for Best Director
-Alonso Ruizpalacios, for "Güeros."
-Cesc Gay, for "Truman."
-Ciro Guerra, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
Pablo Larraín, for "The Club" (El club).
Pablo Trapero, for "The Clan" (El clan).
Premio Platino for Best Actor
-Alfredo Castro, for "The Club" (El club).
-Damián Alcázar, for "Magallanes."
-Guillermo Francella, for "The Clan" (El clan).
-Javier Cámara, for "Truman."
-Ricardo Darín, for "Truman."
Premio Platino for Best Actress
-Antonia Zegers, for "The Club" (El club).
-Dolores Fonzi, for "Paulina."
-Elena Anaya, for "The Memory of Water" (La memoria del agua).
-Inma Cuesta, for "The Bride" (La novia).
-Penélope Cruz, for "Ma Ma."
Premio Platino for Best Original Score
-Alberto Iglesias, for "Ma Ma."
-Federico Jusid, for "Magallanes."
-Lucas Vidal, for "Nobody Wants the Night" (Nadie quiere la noche).
-Nascuy Linares, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-Pascual Reyes, for "Ixcanul."
Premio Platino for Best Animated Feature Film
-"Capture the Flag" (Atrapa la bandera), by Enrique Gato (Telecinco Cinema S.A., Los Rockets La Película A.I.E., Telefónica Studios S.L.U., 4 Cats Pictures S.L., Ikiru Films S.L., Lightbox Animation Studios S.L.) (Spain).
-"Top Cat Begins" (Don Gato 2: El inicio de la pandilla), by Andrés Couturier (Anima Estudios) (Mexico).
-"El Americano", by Ricardo Arnaiz, Mike Kunkel (Olmos Productions, Phil Roman Entertainment, Animex) (Mexico).
-"Amila's Secret" (El secreto de Amila), by Gorka Vázquez (Baleuko, S.L., Talape Animazioa, Draftoon Animation) (Spain, Argentina).
-"Huevos: Little Rooster's Egg-Cellent Adventure" (Un gallo con muchos huevos), by Gabriel Riva Palacio Alatriste, Rodolfo Riva Palacio Alatriste (Huevocartoon Producciones) (Mexico).
Premio Platino for Best Documentary Feature Film
-"Beyond My Grandfather Allende" (Allende mi abuelo Allende), by Marcia Tambutti Allende (Errante Producciones Ltda, Martfilms) (Chile, Mexico).
-"New Girls 24 Hours" (Chicas nuevas 24 horas), by Mabel Lozano (Mafalda Entertainment, S.L., Aleph Media S.A., Puatarará Films, Hangar Films, Arte Vital) (Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Peru).
-"The Pearl Button" (El botón de nácar), by Patricio Guzmán (Atacama Productions, Valdivia Film, France 3 Cinema, Mediaproduccion, S.L.) (Chile, Spain).
-"Tea Time" (La once), by Maite Alberdi (Micromundo Producciones) (Chile).
-"The Propaganda Game," by Álvaro Longoria (Morena Films S. L.) (Spain).
Premio Platino for Best Screenplay
-Cesc Gay, Tomás Aragay, for "Truman."
-Ciro Guerra, Jacques Toulemonde, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-Jayro Bustamante, for "Ixcanul."
-Pablo Larraín, Guillermo Calderón, Daniel Villalobos; for "The Club" (El club).
-Salvador del Solar, for "Magallanes."
Premio Platino for Best Iberoamerican Debut Feature Film
-"600 Miles" (600 Millas), by Gabriel Ripstein (Lucia Films) (Mexico).
- "Retribution" (El desconocido), by Dani de la Torre (Atresmedia Cine S. L., Vaca Films Studio, S.L.) (Spain).
-"The Boss, Anatomy of a Crime" (El patrón: radiografía de un crimen), by Sebastián Schindel (Magoya Films S.A., Estrella Films) (Argentina, Venezuela).
-"Ixcanul," by Jayro Bustamante (La Casa de Producción, Tu vas voir Productions) (Guatemala).
-"Magallanes," by Salvador del Solar (Péndulo Films, Tondero Producciones, Cepa Audiovisual S.R.L., Proyectil, Cinemara, Nephilim Producciones, S.L.) (Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Spain).
Premio Platino for Best Film Editing
-César Díaz, for "Ixcanul."
-Eric Williams, for "Magallanes."
-Etienne Boussac, Cristina Gallego, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-Jorge Coira, for "Retribution" (El desconocido).
-Pablo Trapero, Alejandro Carrillo Penovi, for "The Clan" (El clan).
Premio Platino for Best Art Direction
-Angélica Perea, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-Bruno Duarte, Artur Pinheiro, for "Arabian Nights: Vol.2 - The Desolate One" (As mil e uma noites: Volume 2, O desolado).
-Jesús Bosqued Maté, Pilar Quintana, for "The Bride" (La novia).
-Pilar Peredo, for "Ixcanul."
-Sebastián Orgambide, for "The Clan" (El clan).
Premio Platino for Best Cinematography
-Arnaldo Rodríguez, for "The Memory of Water" (La memoria del agua).
-David Gallego, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-Luis Armando Arteaga, for "Ixcanul."
-Miguel Ángel Amoedo, for "The Bride" (La novia).
-Sergio Armstrong, for "The Club" (El club).
Premio Platino for Best Sound Direction
-Carlos García, Marco Salavarría, for "Embrace of the Serpent" (El abrazo de la serpiente).
-David Machado, Jaime Fernández, Nacho Arenas, for "Retribution" (El desconocido).
-Eduardo Cáceres, Julien Cloquet, for "Ixcanul."
-Federico Esquerro, Santiago Fumagalli, Edson Secco, for "Paulina."
-Vicente D’Elía, Leandro de Loredo, for "The Clan" (El clan).
- 5/27/2016
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
More intriguing in its ambitions than in it successes, which are limited, and oddly keeps its distance from the very people it wants to enlighten us about. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Decades apart, two white scientists delve into the Amazonian rainforest in search of a rare plant with medicinal and hallucinatory qualities, with the assistance of a local shaman on opposite ends of his own life journey. Embrace of the Serpent attempts to frame the destruction of the rainforest’s ecology and peoples as a slow-motion tragedy on scales both personal and cultural, but it is more intriguing in its ambitions, which frustrate it, than in it successes, which are limited.
Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra and his cinematographer, David Gallego, shoot in black-and-white, which is at once visually distinctive but also rather flattening,...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Decades apart, two white scientists delve into the Amazonian rainforest in search of a rare plant with medicinal and hallucinatory qualities, with the assistance of a local shaman on opposite ends of his own life journey. Embrace of the Serpent attempts to frame the destruction of the rainforest’s ecology and peoples as a slow-motion tragedy on scales both personal and cultural, but it is more intriguing in its ambitions, which frustrate it, than in it successes, which are limited.
Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra and his cinematographer, David Gallego, shoot in black-and-white, which is at once visually distinctive but also rather flattening,...
- 2/28/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Movies can educate, stimulate and provoke us; they can also take us places we have never been. That is the marvel of Embrace of the Serpent, which transports us to the Columbian Amazon to share two separate but related experiences forty years apart. Filmmaker Ciro Guerra based his script on the diaries of two white explorers who venture into unknown territory and attempt to befriend—and in some ways exploit—a shaman warrior while searching for a rare plant that is said to have great healing powers. By shooting in widescreen black & white, Guerra and cinematographer David Gallego move their story one step away from...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]...
- 2/20/2016
- by Leonard Maltin
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
Hearts of Darkness: Guerra’s Exceptional Exploration of Ruinous Colonialization
Colombian director Ciro Guerra charts an enigmatic narrative of parallel odysseys through the Amazon with his third feature, Embrace of the Serpent is no less intimate in its rendering of human interaction than previous films The Wandering Shadows (2004) and The Wind Journeys (2009), Guerra’s stark allegory of the extinction of indigenous cultures at the hands of well-meaning but ignorant white Europeans is powerfully resonant in this gorgeously shot film, touted as the first feature to be shot in the Colombian jungle in over three decades.
In 1909, ailing German explorer Theodor Koch–Grunberg (Jan Bijvoet) scours the Colombian jungle for isolated shaman Karamakate (Nilbio Torres), a guide he believes will lead him to an exotic plant known as yakruna, and thus restore his health. Karamakate, the last surviving member of his tribe, is incredibly wary of white men, and seems only...
Colombian director Ciro Guerra charts an enigmatic narrative of parallel odysseys through the Amazon with his third feature, Embrace of the Serpent is no less intimate in its rendering of human interaction than previous films The Wandering Shadows (2004) and The Wind Journeys (2009), Guerra’s stark allegory of the extinction of indigenous cultures at the hands of well-meaning but ignorant white Europeans is powerfully resonant in this gorgeously shot film, touted as the first feature to be shot in the Colombian jungle in over three decades.
In 1909, ailing German explorer Theodor Koch–Grunberg (Jan Bijvoet) scours the Colombian jungle for isolated shaman Karamakate (Nilbio Torres), a guide he believes will lead him to an exotic plant known as yakruna, and thus restore his health. Karamakate, the last surviving member of his tribe, is incredibly wary of white men, and seems only...
- 2/17/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
From Latin America “Embrace of The Serpent” (“El Abrazo De La Serpiente”) is a coproduction of Colombia, Venezuela and Argentina.
This is a favorite film of mine and is the Colombian contender for Best Foreign Language Oscar nomination by Colombia’s Ciro Guerra whose past film “The Wind Journeys” also captured an existence far from our own reality. This film and the Venezuelan contender “Gone with the River” by Mario Crespo are the first shot in the Amazonian rainforest in over 30 years.
“Embrace of the Serpent” premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the top prize, the Ciace Art Cinema Award. It also screened at the Tiff this September.
It signals a new trend in world cinema, the stories of indigenous people from their particular points of view. While Sundance has been supporting Native Cinema for many years, now world festivals are also featuring them in greater numbers.
Both blistering and poetic, the ravages of colonialism cast a dark shadow over the South American landscape. “Embrace Of The Serpent” is the third feature by Ciro Guerra.
Filmed in stunning black-and-white, the film centers on Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and the last survivor of his people, and the two scientists who, over the course of 40 years, build a friendship with him.
The film was inspired by the real-life journals of two explorers (Theodor Kock-Grünberg and Richard Evan Schultes) who traveled through the Colombian Amazon during the last century in search of the sacred and difficult-to-find psychedelic Yakruna plant.
The film screens at AFI on November 6 at 6:30 Pm and on November 9 at 1:00 Pm
AFI programmer Landon Zakheim describes the film here:
The shaman Karamakate waits warily by the edge of the river as a German explorer approaches. The stranger seeks the Yakuna, a legendary rare flower that can cure the man of his mysterious sickness. Only the shaman knows its location, hidden deep within the recesses of the Colombian Amazon, but he is distrustful. It is white men who made him the last of his tribe. But the explorer knows of others of his kind, and so a perilous bargain is struck. Shifting between these events in 1909 and 40 years later, when an older Karamakate brings another foreigner on the same journey through a ravaged jungle… Ciro Guerra’s masterful use of monochromatic black-and-white, symbolic landscapes, overwhelming soundscapes and haunting, elliptical editing blend together to elevate ethnographic odyssey into a hypnotic and methodical work of pure cinema.
It will be released stateside by Oscilloscope in New York on Wednesday, February 17 and in Los Angeles on Friday, February 19, with a national rollout to follow.
International Sales Agent Films Boutique has sold to Natyls for Denmark, Diaphana for France, Magyarhangya for Hungary, trigon-film for Switzerland.
Director: Ciro Guerra
Screenwriter: Ciro Guerra, Jacques Toulemonde Vidal
Producer: Cristina Gallego
Executive Producer: Cristina Gallego, Raúl Bravo, Marcelo Céspedes, Horacio Mentasti, Esteban Mentasti
Director of Photography: David Gallego
Editor: Cristina Gallego, Etienne Boussac
Production Designer: Angélica Perea
Music: Nascuy Linares
Cast: Jan Bijvoet, Brionne Davis, Nilbio Torres, Antonio Bolívar, Yauenkü Miguee
Colombia | Venezuela | Argentina, 2015
122 min.
Feature
World Cinema Section
A program of the American Film Institute, AFI Fest presented by Audi is a celebration of global cinema and today’s Hollywood. It is an opportunity for master filmmakers and emerging artists to come together with audiences in the movie capital of the world. AFI Fest is the only festival of its stature that is free to the public. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFI Fest as a qualifying festival for both Short Film categories for the annual Academy Awards®.
Connect with AFI Fest at facebook.com/Afifest, twitter.com/Afifest and youtube.com/Afifest.
Free tickets: http://afi.com/afifest/freetickets.aspx...
This is a favorite film of mine and is the Colombian contender for Best Foreign Language Oscar nomination by Colombia’s Ciro Guerra whose past film “The Wind Journeys” also captured an existence far from our own reality. This film and the Venezuelan contender “Gone with the River” by Mario Crespo are the first shot in the Amazonian rainforest in over 30 years.
“Embrace of the Serpent” premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the top prize, the Ciace Art Cinema Award. It also screened at the Tiff this September.
It signals a new trend in world cinema, the stories of indigenous people from their particular points of view. While Sundance has been supporting Native Cinema for many years, now world festivals are also featuring them in greater numbers.
Both blistering and poetic, the ravages of colonialism cast a dark shadow over the South American landscape. “Embrace Of The Serpent” is the third feature by Ciro Guerra.
Filmed in stunning black-and-white, the film centers on Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and the last survivor of his people, and the two scientists who, over the course of 40 years, build a friendship with him.
The film was inspired by the real-life journals of two explorers (Theodor Kock-Grünberg and Richard Evan Schultes) who traveled through the Colombian Amazon during the last century in search of the sacred and difficult-to-find psychedelic Yakruna plant.
The film screens at AFI on November 6 at 6:30 Pm and on November 9 at 1:00 Pm
AFI programmer Landon Zakheim describes the film here:
The shaman Karamakate waits warily by the edge of the river as a German explorer approaches. The stranger seeks the Yakuna, a legendary rare flower that can cure the man of his mysterious sickness. Only the shaman knows its location, hidden deep within the recesses of the Colombian Amazon, but he is distrustful. It is white men who made him the last of his tribe. But the explorer knows of others of his kind, and so a perilous bargain is struck. Shifting between these events in 1909 and 40 years later, when an older Karamakate brings another foreigner on the same journey through a ravaged jungle… Ciro Guerra’s masterful use of monochromatic black-and-white, symbolic landscapes, overwhelming soundscapes and haunting, elliptical editing blend together to elevate ethnographic odyssey into a hypnotic and methodical work of pure cinema.
It will be released stateside by Oscilloscope in New York on Wednesday, February 17 and in Los Angeles on Friday, February 19, with a national rollout to follow.
International Sales Agent Films Boutique has sold to Natyls for Denmark, Diaphana for France, Magyarhangya for Hungary, trigon-film for Switzerland.
Director: Ciro Guerra
Screenwriter: Ciro Guerra, Jacques Toulemonde Vidal
Producer: Cristina Gallego
Executive Producer: Cristina Gallego, Raúl Bravo, Marcelo Céspedes, Horacio Mentasti, Esteban Mentasti
Director of Photography: David Gallego
Editor: Cristina Gallego, Etienne Boussac
Production Designer: Angélica Perea
Music: Nascuy Linares
Cast: Jan Bijvoet, Brionne Davis, Nilbio Torres, Antonio Bolívar, Yauenkü Miguee
Colombia | Venezuela | Argentina, 2015
122 min.
Feature
World Cinema Section
A program of the American Film Institute, AFI Fest presented by Audi is a celebration of global cinema and today’s Hollywood. It is an opportunity for master filmmakers and emerging artists to come together with audiences in the movie capital of the world. AFI Fest is the only festival of its stature that is free to the public. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFI Fest as a qualifying festival for both Short Film categories for the annual Academy Awards®.
Connect with AFI Fest at facebook.com/Afifest, twitter.com/Afifest and youtube.com/Afifest.
Free tickets: http://afi.com/afifest/freetickets.aspx...
- 10/30/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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