The circus isn’t as romantic as it used to be. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey recently closed their tent for the final time after 146 years, the plight of animal performers is much too sad to ignore, and anyone with an affinity for peanuts can go to the ballpark instead. At the margins, though, there’s still a world of acrobats, bearded ladies, and lion tamers trekking from town to town as they eke out an existence at risk of fading away entirely — a world given beautiful expression in “Mister Universo.”
Not since “Big Fish” have we seen this world onscreen in such vivid detail, though Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s scope isn’t as grandiose or fantastical as Tim Burton’s. A docudrama that in its early scenes feels like a documentary — the co-directors have a nonfiction background, and the actors are actual carnival performers — the film plays...
Not since “Big Fish” have we seen this world onscreen in such vivid detail, though Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s scope isn’t as grandiose or fantastical as Tim Burton’s. A docudrama that in its early scenes feels like a documentary — the co-directors have a nonfiction background, and the actors are actual carnival performers — the film plays...
- 7/25/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Don’t call it a comeback (he’s been here for years), but Steven Soderbergh’s self-imposed exile from film directing is officially over, and his inevitable return to the big screen confirms what most of us have known all along: The guy is a lot better at making movies than he is at not making movies.
Hollywood’s most restless iconoclast, Soderbergh couldn’t take a vacation if his life depended on it; his “retirement” was shorter than the break that many major directors routinely take between projects, and during that time he directed two staggeringly great seasons of “The Knick,” executive produced both “Red Oaks” and “The Girlfriend Experience,” and shot one of the defining cinematic experiences of this or any other century, “Magic Mike Xxl” (just kidding, he also edited it). He really likes to work, and he’ll go wherever he can work in peace.
Read...
Hollywood’s most restless iconoclast, Soderbergh couldn’t take a vacation if his life depended on it; his “retirement” was shorter than the break that many major directors routinely take between projects, and during that time he directed two staggeringly great seasons of “The Knick,” executive produced both “Red Oaks” and “The Girlfriend Experience,” and shot one of the defining cinematic experiences of this or any other century, “Magic Mike Xxl” (just kidding, he also edited it). He really likes to work, and he’ll go wherever he can work in peace.
Read...
- 7/24/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
You wouldn’t typically catch me recommending a movie on the basis of its crowd-pleasingness or heart-warmingness, dead or alive. But we’re living in warped times, and it’s a travesty that Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s crowd-pleasing, heart-warming not-quite-documentary feature Mister Universo — which I caught by happenstance at last year’s Festival International du Film de Marrakech — didn’t have the good fortune of securing a Us distribution deal after playing festivals around the world last year. The movie stars Tairo Caroli, a 19-year-old lion tamer from a real-life traveling circus in Italy, as himself. Among his few prized possessions is an […]...
- 7/21/2017
- by Steve Macfarlane
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
10 directors will be presented at Sydney Film Festival.
European Film Promotion (Efp) has announced the line-up for its second year of Europe! Voices of Women in Film at the Sydney Film Festival.
The selection includes both new and established female European directors, with the aim being to introduce them to Australian audiences, industry and the press.
Among those selected this year are Shahrbanoo Sadat, whose 2011 film Vice Versa One earned her a residence at Cinéfondation in Cannes 2011. She presents her feature debut Wolf And Sheep, which is among five features in this cohort.
Hope Dickson Leach, one of Screen’s former Stars of Tomorrow, has also been selected with her feature debut The Levelling.
Amanda Kernell is also among the selection, her film Sami Blood having been shown at Berlin, Venice, Toronto, Sundance and Rotterdam.
The Sydney Film Festival takes place June 7-18, 2017.
Full Europe! Voices of Women 2017 selection:Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel, [link...
European Film Promotion (Efp) has announced the line-up for its second year of Europe! Voices of Women in Film at the Sydney Film Festival.
The selection includes both new and established female European directors, with the aim being to introduce them to Australian audiences, industry and the press.
Among those selected this year are Shahrbanoo Sadat, whose 2011 film Vice Versa One earned her a residence at Cinéfondation in Cannes 2011. She presents her feature debut Wolf And Sheep, which is among five features in this cohort.
Hope Dickson Leach, one of Screen’s former Stars of Tomorrow, has also been selected with her feature debut The Levelling.
Amanda Kernell is also among the selection, her film Sami Blood having been shown at Berlin, Venice, Toronto, Sundance and Rotterdam.
The Sydney Film Festival takes place June 7-18, 2017.
Full Europe! Voices of Women 2017 selection:Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel, [link...
- 5/11/2017
- ScreenDaily
Event also featured Mister Universo, The Man, Home and A Wedding.
Iffr Live returned for a third year, with a larger offering of real-time, immersive film premieres made available in more theatres and international cities.
The event took place over the weekend, from Friday January 27 – Sunday January 29, and consisted of six features (compared to last year’s five):
Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s Mister Universo (Austria, Italy); Alice Lowe’s Prevenge (UK); Charlotte Seiling’s The Man (Denmark); Fien Troch’s Home (Belgium); Stephan Streker’s A Wedding (Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Pakistan) and Johannes Nyholm’s The Giant (Sweden, Denmark).
Audiences in over 45 European cities could watch the films and Q&As as a live ticketed event or via Iffr’s new VOD set-up Unleashed available for the duration of the festival.
Also new was Iffr Live’s expansion into more international regions including Singapore, Israel and Canada, as well as...
Iffr Live returned for a third year, with a larger offering of real-time, immersive film premieres made available in more theatres and international cities.
The event took place over the weekend, from Friday January 27 – Sunday January 29, and consisted of six features (compared to last year’s five):
Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s Mister Universo (Austria, Italy); Alice Lowe’s Prevenge (UK); Charlotte Seiling’s The Man (Denmark); Fien Troch’s Home (Belgium); Stephan Streker’s A Wedding (Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Pakistan) and Johannes Nyholm’s The Giant (Sweden, Denmark).
Audiences in over 45 European cities could watch the films and Q&As as a live ticketed event or via Iffr’s new VOD set-up Unleashed available for the duration of the festival.
Also new was Iffr Live’s expansion into more international regions including Singapore, Israel and Canada, as well as...
- 1/29/2017
- ScreenDaily
Keep up with the always-hopping film festival world with our weekly Film Festival Roundup column. Check out last week’s Roundup right here.
Lineup Announcements
– The 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff) has announced that the festival’s opening night will be the World Premiere screening of “The Sense of an Ending,” directed by Ritesh Batra on Thursday, January 5. The festival will close with “The Comedian,” directed by Taylor Hackford on Sunday, January 15. The Festival will screen 190 films from 72 countries, including 58 premieres (9 World, 5 International, 20 North American and 24 U.S.) from January 2 – 16, 2017.
The complete line-up including a focus on cinema from Poland, Premieres, New Voices/New Visions competition, Modern Masters, True Stories, After Dark and more were also announced, in addition to the Awards Buzz program released last week.
Highlights include “The Beautiful Fantastic,” “Julie and the Shoe Factory,” “Bad Influence,” “The Day Will Come,” “Tommy’s Honour,” “When We Rise,...
Lineup Announcements
– The 28th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff) has announced that the festival’s opening night will be the World Premiere screening of “The Sense of an Ending,” directed by Ritesh Batra on Thursday, January 5. The festival will close with “The Comedian,” directed by Taylor Hackford on Sunday, January 15. The Festival will screen 190 films from 72 countries, including 58 premieres (9 World, 5 International, 20 North American and 24 U.S.) from January 2 – 16, 2017.
The complete line-up including a focus on cinema from Poland, Premieres, New Voices/New Visions competition, Modern Masters, True Stories, After Dark and more were also announced, in addition to the Awards Buzz program released last week.
Highlights include “The Beautiful Fantastic,” “Julie and the Shoe Factory,” “Bad Influence,” “The Day Will Come,” “Tommy’s Honour,” “When We Rise,...
- 12/15/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The distribution landscape continues to evolve, with a healthy mixture of new players and stalwarts, and yet every year there are great movies that slip through the cracks. For the most part, movies that gain serious traction on the festival circuit find their way to various American buyers and usually wind up with some kind of home.
While ambitious newcomers like A24 and Amazon Studios continue to up their game while veterans such as Sony Pictures Classics keep rolling along, even they have limits to the kind of content they can gamble on.
Read More: The 25 Best Movie Moments of 2016, According to IndieWire Critic David Ehrlich
Usually, the movies that struggle to find homes aren’t ignored so much as they’re deemed non-commercial or risky. Distributors often shy away from the prospects of a “difficult” movie simply because they can’t imagine a trailer for it, or because it...
While ambitious newcomers like A24 and Amazon Studios continue to up their game while veterans such as Sony Pictures Classics keep rolling along, even they have limits to the kind of content they can gamble on.
Read More: The 25 Best Movie Moments of 2016, According to IndieWire Critic David Ehrlich
Usually, the movies that struggle to find homes aren’t ignored so much as they’re deemed non-commercial or risky. Distributors often shy away from the prospects of a “difficult” movie simply because they can’t imagine a trailer for it, or because it...
- 12/7/2016
- by David Ehrlich and Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Following yesterday’s announcement of more than 60 new titles, AFI Fest has named the 30-plus films in its World Cinema section. Cristian Mungiu’s “Graduation,” Betrand Bonello’s “Nocturama” and Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or–winning “I, Daniel Blake” are among the more notable selections, most of them culled from Cannes, Venice and other festivals.
The weeklong event, which begins in Hollywood with the world premiere of Warren Beatty’s “Rules Don’t Apply” on November 10, also announced that Raoul Peck and Lav Diaz will present their films “I Am Not Your Negro” and “The Woman Who Left,” respectively, as part of the Masters in Conversation program.
Read More: AFI Fest Announces New Auteurs, American Independents, Midnight and Shorts Sections
“After Love” (dir. Joachim Lafosse)
“Albüm” (dir. Mehmet Can Mertoğlu)
“Boris Without Beatrice” (dir. Denis Côté)
“The Commune” (dir. Thomas Vinterberg)
“Crosscurrent” (dir. Yang Chao)
“Death in Sarajevo” (dir.
The weeklong event, which begins in Hollywood with the world premiere of Warren Beatty’s “Rules Don’t Apply” on November 10, also announced that Raoul Peck and Lav Diaz will present their films “I Am Not Your Negro” and “The Woman Who Left,” respectively, as part of the Masters in Conversation program.
Read More: AFI Fest Announces New Auteurs, American Independents, Midnight and Shorts Sections
“After Love” (dir. Joachim Lafosse)
“Albüm” (dir. Mehmet Can Mertoğlu)
“Boris Without Beatrice” (dir. Denis Côté)
“The Commune” (dir. Thomas Vinterberg)
“Crosscurrent” (dir. Yang Chao)
“Death in Sarajevo” (dir.
- 10/19/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Below you will find our favorite films of the 41st Toronto International Film Festival, as well as an index of our coverage.Top Picksfernando F. Crocei.Toni Erdmann, A Quiet Passion, Elle, (re)Assignment, Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee KidsII.Voyage of Time, Moonlight, I, Daniel Blake; Austerrlitz, J: Beyond FlamencoIII.Salt and Fire, Hello Destroyer, Land of the GodsDANIEL Kasmani.As Without So Within, Certain Women, NocturamaII.Cilaos, Yourself and Yours, Incantati, Children of Lir, Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee KidsIII.Into the Inferno, Untitled, Daguerrotype, Venus Delta, Safari, The HedonistsIV.The Dreamed Path, Manchester by the Sea, 350 Mya, Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait, Kékszakállú, Foyer, The Dreamed OnesV.Ember, Salt and Fire, (re)AssignmentMICHAEL Sicinskii.SingularityII.Aquarius, AusterlitzIII.025 Red Sunset, Cilaos, Indefinite Pitch, Luna e Santur, Mimosas, Nocturama, SieranevadaBLAKE Williamsi.Nocturama, As Without So Withinii.The Dreamed Path, Yourself and Yours, Burning mountains that spew flame,...
- 9/28/2016
- MUBI
© (C) Fotopedrazzini.ch / Massimo PedrazziniBelow you will find our favorite films of the 69th Locarno Film Festival, as well as an index of our coverage.Jorge MOURINHAConnections in Invisible Ink: A Look Back at Locarno 69On the International CompetitionCELLULOID Liberation Frontcoveragea Circus, a Wedding, and an Anti-ImperialistOn Tizza Covi & Reiner Frimmel's Mister Universo, Yousry Nasrallah's Brooks, Meadows and Lovely Faces, and Nicolas Wadimoff's Jean Ziegler, the Optimism of WillpowerFilmmakers of the Present & Signs of LifeOn Kris Avedisian's Donald Cried, Júlio Bressane's Beduino, and Anka & Wilhelm Sasnal's The Sun, the Sun Blinded MeINTERVIEWSTalking to Roger Corman, the Pope of Pop CinemaGUSTAVO BECKINTERVIEWSInviting Chance: An Interview with Matías PiñeiroEmbracing Uncertainty: An Interview with Eduardo WilliamsLanguage As a Rehearsal Space: An Interview with Nele Wohlatz...
- 8/19/2016
- MUBI
The Toronto International Film Festival is mere weeks from kicking off, yet the annual fall fest is showing zero sign of slowing down when it comes to announcing the titles that will round out this year’s event. Today’s announcement brings with it a number of Cannes favorites, including Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or-winning “I, Daniel Blake,” Olivier Assayas’ divisive Kristen Stewart-starring “Personal Shopper” and Pedro Almodovar’s “Julieta.”
Read More: Tiff Reveals First Slate of 2016 Titles, Including ‘Magnificent Seven,’ ‘American Honey,’ ‘La La Land’ and ‘Birth of A Nation’
The slate will also play home to the Dardenne Brothers’ latest, “The Unknown Girl,” which has reportedly been through an edit since it debuted at Cannes earlier this year. Other standouts from Cannes include Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “Aquarius,” Boo Junfeng’s “Apprentice,” Cristian Mungiu’s “Graduation,” Brillante Ma Mendoza’s “Ma’ Rosa” and Cristi Puiu’s “Sieranevada.
Read More: Tiff Reveals First Slate of 2016 Titles, Including ‘Magnificent Seven,’ ‘American Honey,’ ‘La La Land’ and ‘Birth of A Nation’
The slate will also play home to the Dardenne Brothers’ latest, “The Unknown Girl,” which has reportedly been through an edit since it debuted at Cannes earlier this year. Other standouts from Cannes include Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “Aquarius,” Boo Junfeng’s “Apprentice,” Cristian Mungiu’s “Graduation,” Brillante Ma Mendoza’s “Ma’ Rosa” and Cristi Puiu’s “Sieranevada.
- 8/16/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The 69th annual Locarno Film Festival finally concluded after eleven days and screenings of 279 films, and awarded its Palmarès. The Golden Leopard went to “Godless,” a first feature from Bulgaria’s Ralitza Petrova. The film portrait of the criminal underbelly of Bulgaria also took home Best Actress for Irena Ivanova.
The fest jury awarded João Pedro Rodrigues Best Director for “O Ornitólogo.” Romanian director Radu Jude won the Special Jury Prize for his film “Inimi Cicatrizate” (Scarred Hearts), which was inspired by the 1937 Max Blecher novel.
Read More: João Pedro Rodrigues’ ‘The Ornithologist’ Will Blow Your Mind — Locarno Review
The public favorite, Ken Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake,” about a UK retiree struggling to obtain medical assistance from the state, won the Audience Award; at Cannes, Indiewire’s Eric Kohn dubbed the film “Loach’s best movie in years.”
Read More: Cannes Review: Why ‘I, Daniel Blake’ is Ken Loach...
The fest jury awarded João Pedro Rodrigues Best Director for “O Ornitólogo.” Romanian director Radu Jude won the Special Jury Prize for his film “Inimi Cicatrizate” (Scarred Hearts), which was inspired by the 1937 Max Blecher novel.
Read More: João Pedro Rodrigues’ ‘The Ornithologist’ Will Blow Your Mind — Locarno Review
The public favorite, Ken Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake,” about a UK retiree struggling to obtain medical assistance from the state, won the Audience Award; at Cannes, Indiewire’s Eric Kohn dubbed the film “Loach’s best movie in years.”
Read More: Cannes Review: Why ‘I, Daniel Blake’ is Ken Loach...
- 8/13/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Bulgarian drama won the Golden Leopard as well as Best Actress for star Irena Ivanova.
Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova’s debut feature Godless has won the top prize, the Golden Leopard, at the 69th Locarno Film Festival.
The drama also took the Best Actress award for Irena Ivanova’s performance as a nurse looking after elderly patients with dementia in a remote Bulgarian town.
In addition, the production by Klas Film’s Rossitsa Valkanova with Denmark’s Snowglobe and France’s Alcatraz Films and Film Factory, received the Ecumenical Jury’s Prize, which comes with a cash award of $20,500 (CHF20,000).
The screenplay for Godless - which is being handled internationally by Greek-based Heretic Outreach - had been supported by Torino FilmLab’s FrameWork, Sarajevo’s CineLink and the Women in Film Finishing Fund in Los Angeles.
“This prize was unusual among juries because it was a unanimous decision between all the members of our team,” the International...
Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova’s debut feature Godless has won the top prize, the Golden Leopard, at the 69th Locarno Film Festival.
The drama also took the Best Actress award for Irena Ivanova’s performance as a nurse looking after elderly patients with dementia in a remote Bulgarian town.
In addition, the production by Klas Film’s Rossitsa Valkanova with Denmark’s Snowglobe and France’s Alcatraz Films and Film Factory, received the Ecumenical Jury’s Prize, which comes with a cash award of $20,500 (CHF20,000).
The screenplay for Godless - which is being handled internationally by Greek-based Heretic Outreach - had been supported by Torino FilmLab’s FrameWork, Sarajevo’s CineLink and the Women in Film Finishing Fund in Los Angeles.
“This prize was unusual among juries because it was a unanimous decision between all the members of our team,” the International...
- 8/13/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Ralitza Petrova's Godless has won the Golden Leopard at this year's Locarno Film Festival. Further prizes awarded by the International Competition jury (President Arturo Ripstein, plus Kate Moran, Rafi Pitts, Rodrigo Teixeira and Wang Bing): Special Jury Prize: Radu Jude's Scarred Hearts. Best Direction: João Pedro Rodrigues for The Ornithologist. Best Actress: Irena Ivanova for Godless. Best Actor: Andrzej Seweryn for The Last Family. And a Special Mention goes to Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel's Mister Universo. We've got the full list of all the awards. » - David Hudson...
- 8/13/2016
- Keyframe
Ralitza Petrova's Godless has won the Golden Leopard at this year's Locarno Film Festival. Further prizes awarded by the International Competition jury (President Arturo Ripstein, plus Kate Moran, Rafi Pitts, Rodrigo Teixeira and Wang Bing): Special Jury Prize: Radu Jude's Scarred Hearts. Best Direction: João Pedro Rodrigues for The Ornithologist. Best Actress: Irena Ivanova for Godless. Best Actor: Andrzej Seweryn for The Last Family. And a Special Mention goes to Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel's Mister Universo. We've got the full list of all the awards. » - David Hudson...
- 8/13/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s Mister Universo, competing in Locarno, is "a social realist docufiction-cum-road movie," writes Giovanni Marchini Camia in a dispatch to Filmmaker. It "follows the lion tamer Tairo, who played the friendly neighbor in the exquisite La Pivellina, in his attempt to locate the strongman and one-time Mr. Universe Arthur Robin." The circus is "a constitutive element of early (Soviet) cinema," adds Celluloid Liberation Front in the Notebook. Charles Chaplin "made a film in its honor and Federico Fellini elevated it to existential metaphor." We're collecting reviews as they come in. » - David Hudson...
- 8/10/2016
- Keyframe
Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s Mister Universo, competing in Locarno, is "a social realist docufiction-cum-road movie," writes Giovanni Marchini Camia in a dispatch to Filmmaker. It "follows the lion tamer Tairo, who played the friendly neighbor in the exquisite La Pivellina, in his attempt to locate the strongman and one-time Mr. Universe Arthur Robin." The circus is "a constitutive element of early (Soviet) cinema," adds Celluloid Liberation Front in the Notebook. Charles Chaplin "made a film in its honor and Federico Fellini elevated it to existential metaphor." We're collecting reviews as they come in. » - David Hudson...
- 8/10/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.