Croatian documentary Ship from Elvis Lenić won the Opus Bonum award, the festival’s top prize.
Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík’s Photophobia won the best Czech documentary award at the 27th edition of the Czech Republic’s documentary film festival Ji.hlava (October 24-29).
Slovakia’s entry for best international feature at the Oscars, Photophobia centres around a Ukrainian family hiding from the war in a metro station where one of the young sons meets another girl trapped there and they form a bond. Also winner of best European film at Venice’s Giornate degli Autori, the film is...
Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík’s Photophobia won the best Czech documentary award at the 27th edition of the Czech Republic’s documentary film festival Ji.hlava (October 24-29).
Slovakia’s entry for best international feature at the Oscars, Photophobia centres around a Ukrainian family hiding from the war in a metro station where one of the young sons meets another girl trapped there and they form a bond. Also winner of best European film at Venice’s Giornate degli Autori, the film is...
- 10/30/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
From hulks of collective ruins to immigrant family struggles, marginalized communities and climate crises, the 27th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival wrapped Saturday with honors for work from diverse perspectives on a myriad of pressing subjects.
The Opus Bonum main prize went to Elvis Lenic’s Croatian doc “Ship,” an exploration of an unintentional monument to socialist worker collectives in the form of the Uljanik shipyard, once the country’s largest. Now an industrial graveyard, the vast port facility is closing down after 160 years, a moment Lenic filmed with powerful imagery in a story that reminds viewers of the fates of those who built the now ghostly cargo vessels and their docks.
The Ji.hlava audience prize went to Czech doc “Is There Any Place for Me, Please?” Jarmila Stukova’s powerful portrait of a woman who survived an acid attack by an ex-boyfriend, which connected with viewers in...
The Opus Bonum main prize went to Elvis Lenic’s Croatian doc “Ship,” an exploration of an unintentional monument to socialist worker collectives in the form of the Uljanik shipyard, once the country’s largest. Now an industrial graveyard, the vast port facility is closing down after 160 years, a moment Lenic filmed with powerful imagery in a story that reminds viewers of the fates of those who built the now ghostly cargo vessels and their docks.
The Ji.hlava audience prize went to Czech doc “Is There Any Place for Me, Please?” Jarmila Stukova’s powerful portrait of a woman who survived an acid attack by an ex-boyfriend, which connected with viewers in...
- 10/28/2023
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
Slovak directors Ivan Ostrochovsky and Pavol Pekarčík’s Ukraine war drama “Photophobia,” which won the Europa Cinemas Label Award after its Venice Days premiere and is Slovakia’s entry in the best international feature film Oscar race, has been acquired by Prague-based sales agent Filmotor.
Set on a cold February morning in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “Photophobia” follows 12-year-old Niki and his family as they arrive at the Kharkiv metro station to take shelter from the terrifying war raging outside. For Niki’s family, daylight is synonymous with mortal danger, and the boy is not allowed to leave the station premises, living under the constant glow of their neon lights.
While aimlessly wandering around the abandoned cars and full platforms, Niki meets 11-year-old Vika, and a new world opens up to him. As their bond strengthens, the children find the courage once again to feel the sun on their faces.
Set on a cold February morning in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “Photophobia” follows 12-year-old Niki and his family as they arrive at the Kharkiv metro station to take shelter from the terrifying war raging outside. For Niki’s family, daylight is synonymous with mortal danger, and the boy is not allowed to leave the station premises, living under the constant glow of their neon lights.
While aimlessly wandering around the abandoned cars and full platforms, Niki meets 11-year-old Vika, and a new world opens up to him. As their bond strengthens, the children find the courage once again to feel the sun on their faces.
- 10/19/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Predicting the eventual five Oscar nominees for Best International Feature is made difficult by the three-step process that begins after the October 2, 2023 deadline for countries to submit entries. To be part of the selection process for this category, which was called Best Foreign Language Film before 2020, requires a great deal of dedication. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2024 Oscars Best International Feature predictions.)
In the days following the deadline for submissions, the academy determines each film’s eligibility. Then the several hundred academy members who serve on the International Feature screening committee are divided into groups and required to watch all their submissions over a six-week period that ends in early December. Their top 15 vote-getters will make it to the next round. That list of semi-finalists will be revealed on December 21, 2023.
These 15 films will be made available to the entire academy membership who can cast ballots for the final five...
In the days following the deadline for submissions, the academy determines each film’s eligibility. Then the several hundred academy members who serve on the International Feature screening committee are divided into groups and required to watch all their submissions over a six-week period that ends in early December. Their top 15 vote-getters will make it to the next round. That list of semi-finalists will be revealed on December 21, 2023.
These 15 films will be made available to the entire academy membership who can cast ballots for the final five...
- 9/25/2023
- by Paul Sheehan and Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/21/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/20/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/20/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Ariane Louis-Seize’s “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person” has picked up the director’s award at Venice Days.
“It bravely addresses crucial themes such as depression, mental health, euthanasia and neurodiversity. Nevertheless, it is able to do so with a light-hearted feel, which makes the film radical and courageous,” noted the jury, composed of European cinephiles from the 27 Times Cinema program and led by Portugal’s João Pedro Rodrigues, behind “The Ornithologist” and “Will-o’-the-Wisp.”
“While the film has unique tone and style, it joyfully reaches a wider audience thanks to its tenderness and emotional engagement,” they added, praising Louis-Seize’s “strong directorial vision.”
In the film, a young vampire has a problem: she is too sensitive to kill. When her parents cut off her blood supply, Sasha meets Paul, a teenager with suicidal tendencies who is willing to give his life to save hers.
It’s produced by...
“It bravely addresses crucial themes such as depression, mental health, euthanasia and neurodiversity. Nevertheless, it is able to do so with a light-hearted feel, which makes the film radical and courageous,” noted the jury, composed of European cinephiles from the 27 Times Cinema program and led by Portugal’s João Pedro Rodrigues, behind “The Ornithologist” and “Will-o’-the-Wisp.”
“While the film has unique tone and style, it joyfully reaches a wider audience thanks to its tenderness and emotional engagement,” they added, praising Louis-Seize’s “strong directorial vision.”
In the film, a young vampire has a problem: she is too sensitive to kill. When her parents cut off her blood supply, Sasha meets Paul, a teenager with suicidal tendencies who is willing to give his life to save hers.
It’s produced by...
- 9/8/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Canadian director Ariane Louis-Seize’s comedy-drama Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person has scooped the Director’s Award at the Venice Film Festival parallel section Giornate degli Autori.
The coming-of-age tale revolves around a teenage vampire Sasha, who is too sensitive to kill. When her concerned parents decide to cut off her blood supply, her life is in peril.
Fortunately, she crosses paths with Paul, a desolate teenager with suicidal tendencies who willingly offers his life to save hers. However, what begins as a mutual agreement soon evolves into a nocturnal journey to fulfil Paul’s final desires before the break of day.
It was among 10 titles playing in the GdA competition this year.
The jury was composed of young European cinephiles from the 27 Times Cinema program, a joint initiative between the GdA, the European Parliament’s Lux Audience Award and Europa Cinemas.
It was presided over by Portuguese director...
The coming-of-age tale revolves around a teenage vampire Sasha, who is too sensitive to kill. When her concerned parents decide to cut off her blood supply, her life is in peril.
Fortunately, she crosses paths with Paul, a desolate teenager with suicidal tendencies who willingly offers his life to save hers. However, what begins as a mutual agreement soon evolves into a nocturnal journey to fulfil Paul’s final desires before the break of day.
It was among 10 titles playing in the GdA competition this year.
The jury was composed of young European cinephiles from the 27 Times Cinema program, a joint initiative between the GdA, the European Parliament’s Lux Audience Award and Europa Cinemas.
It was presided over by Portuguese director...
- 9/8/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Photophobia, a drama from Slovakian documentary filmmakers Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík, has won the Europa Cinema Labels award for best European film in the Giornate degli Autori section of the 2023 Venice Film Festival.
The feature dramatizes the experiences of a Ukraine family that, like so many since the Russian invasion began, have lived much of their lives underground, seeking shelter from the shelling in the deep-dug metro stations of the country’s main cities. The film follows 12-year-old Niki and his family who live in the tunnels of the Kharkiv subway station. For Niki’s family, daylight is synonymous with mortal danger, and the only illumination the boy knows is the constant glow of the subway’s neon lights. While aimlessly wandering around the abandoned cars and full platforms, Niki meets 11-year-old Vika and the pair decide to risk a trip to the surface, to feel the sun on their faces.
The feature dramatizes the experiences of a Ukraine family that, like so many since the Russian invasion began, have lived much of their lives underground, seeking shelter from the shelling in the deep-dug metro stations of the country’s main cities. The film follows 12-year-old Niki and his family who live in the tunnels of the Kharkiv subway station. For Niki’s family, daylight is synonymous with mortal danger, and the only illumination the boy knows is the constant glow of the subway’s neon lights. While aimlessly wandering around the abandoned cars and full platforms, Niki meets 11-year-old Vika and the pair decide to risk a trip to the surface, to feel the sun on their faces.
- 9/8/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jury says: ”As exhibitors we are convinced that this film has a wide audience waiting for it.”
Slovakian directors Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík’s Ukraine war drama Photophobia has won the Europa Cinemas Label as best European film in the Giornate degli Autori section of the Venice Film Festival.
Set in the midst of the Ukraine war, Photophobia centres on a family sheltering in the Kharkiv metro station. When 12-year-old Niki meets Vika (11), a new world opens up to him and as their bond strengthens, the children find the courage once again to feel the sun on their faces.
Slovakian directors Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík’s Ukraine war drama Photophobia has won the Europa Cinemas Label as best European film in the Giornate degli Autori section of the Venice Film Festival.
Set in the midst of the Ukraine war, Photophobia centres on a family sheltering in the Kharkiv metro station. When 12-year-old Niki meets Vika (11), a new world opens up to him and as their bond strengthens, the children find the courage once again to feel the sun on their faces.
- 9/8/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
The lineup for Docu Talents From the East – a showcase of standout documentary films from Central and Eastern Europe that are in post-production – has been unveiled.
Eight documentary projects will be presented on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Film Festival. The event is part of CineLink Industry Day, the festival’s program for film and TV professionals.
The most promising project will receive the Docu Talent Award in cooperation with Current Time TV. The award is accompanied by a cash prize of $5,000. The DAFilms.com Distribution Award will cover services worth €3,000, including an international VOD release on DAFilms.com for two years. The awards ceremony will take place on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Producers’ Hub.
Marek Hovorka, director of the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, which organizes and curates Docu Talents, said: “The protagonists of the presented films are exploring their family roots and cultural background, striving for a fairer and more open world,...
Eight documentary projects will be presented on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Film Festival. The event is part of CineLink Industry Day, the festival’s program for film and TV professionals.
The most promising project will receive the Docu Talent Award in cooperation with Current Time TV. The award is accompanied by a cash prize of $5,000. The DAFilms.com Distribution Award will cover services worth €3,000, including an international VOD release on DAFilms.com for two years. The awards ceremony will take place on Aug. 13 at Sarajevo Producers’ Hub.
Marek Hovorka, director of the Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, which organizes and curates Docu Talents, said: “The protagonists of the presented films are exploring their family roots and cultural background, striving for a fairer and more open world,...
- 8/7/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
La BêteCOMPETITIONComandante (Edoardo De Angelis)The Promised Land (Nikolaj Arcel)Dogman (Luc Besson) La Bête (Bertrand Bonello) Hors-Saison (Stéphane Brizé) Enea (Pietro Castellitto) Maestro (Bradley Cooper)Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)Finalmente L’Alba (Saverio Costanzo)Lubo (Giorgio Diritti) Origin (Ava DuVernay) The Killer (David Fincher)Memory (Michel Franco)Io capitano (Matteo Garrone)Evil Does Not Exist (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)The Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)The Theory of Everything (Timm Kröger)Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)El conde (Pablo Larrain)Ferrari (Michael Mann)Adagio (Stefano Sollima)Woman OfHolly (Fien Troch)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionSociety of the Snow (J.A. Bayona)Coup de Chance (Woody Allen)The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wes Anderson)The Penitent (Luca Barbareschi)L’Ordine Del Tempo (Liliana Cavani)Vivants (Alix Delaporte)Welcome to Paradise (Leonardo di Constanzo)Daaaaaali! (Quentin Dupieux)The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (William Friedkin)Making of (Cedric Kahn)Aggro Dr1ft (Harmony Korine)Hitman (Richard Linklater)The Palace (Roman Polanski...
- 7/29/2023
- MUBI
Isabelle Huppert Drama, Peter Sarsgaard Spanish Flu Satire, Celine Sciamma Short Set for Venice Days
The Giornate Degli Autori — the independently run event that takes place alongside the Venice Film Festival and is often referred to simply as Venice Days — has unveiled the lineup for its 2023 edition (also it’s 20th).
Among the 10 titles world premiering in competition is Elise Girard’s drama Sidonie in Japan, starring Isabelle Huppert as a French writer mourning her husband’s death while on a book tour. Out of competition, Coup! — a satire set during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic and starring Peter Sarsgaard and Billy Magnussen — will bow, while special events include the world premiere of This Is How a Child Becomes a Poet, a short from Portrait of a Lady on Fire director Céline Sciamma (who was previously president of the Venice Days jury). There will also be a special daylong event in honor of late Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée, including a screening of his 2005 drama C.R.A.Z.Y.
Venice...
Among the 10 titles world premiering in competition is Elise Girard’s drama Sidonie in Japan, starring Isabelle Huppert as a French writer mourning her husband’s death while on a book tour. Out of competition, Coup! — a satire set during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic and starring Peter Sarsgaard and Billy Magnussen — will bow, while special events include the world premiere of This Is How a Child Becomes a Poet, a short from Portrait of a Lady on Fire director Céline Sciamma (who was previously president of the Venice Days jury). There will also be a special daylong event in honor of late Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée, including a screening of his 2005 drama C.R.A.Z.Y.
Venice...
- 7/27/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Venice parallel section Giornate degli Autori (GdA) has unveiled the selection for its 20th edition running from August 30 to September 9, featuring a surprise short by Céline Sciamma, a new feature by Teona Strugar Mitevska as well as a tribute to late Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée.
The line-up spans 10 films in competition, seven special events, eight titles in Venetian Nights as well as a special day-long event devoted Vallée and the cinema of Québec, featuring a screening of his 2005 coming of age drama C.R.A.Z.Y.
Highlights of the competition include Canadian filmmaker Ariane Louis-Seize’s quirky vampire tale Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person; Atlas Mountains-set ensemble theatre group road movie Backstage by directorial debut Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane; Through The Night, in which Belgian director Delphine Girard expands her Oscar-nominated short A Sister, and Sidonie In Paris, starring Isabelle Huppert as a writer mourning the...
The line-up spans 10 films in competition, seven special events, eight titles in Venetian Nights as well as a special day-long event devoted Vallée and the cinema of Québec, featuring a screening of his 2005 coming of age drama C.R.A.Z.Y.
Highlights of the competition include Canadian filmmaker Ariane Louis-Seize’s quirky vampire tale Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person; Atlas Mountains-set ensemble theatre group road movie Backstage by directorial debut Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane; Through The Night, in which Belgian director Delphine Girard expands her Oscar-nominated short A Sister, and Sidonie In Paris, starring Isabelle Huppert as a writer mourning the...
- 7/27/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
French director Élise Girard’s “Sidonie in Japan,” starring Isabelle Huppert as a French writer mourning her husband’s death while on a book tour of Japan, is among titles set to launch from the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori.
The section, also known as Venice Days, has unveiled its lineup comprising 10 titles world premiering in competition – six of which are first works – and in other sections displaying a wide range of genres and visual styles, but tied together by “a common discourse,” said the section’s artistic director Gaia Furrer.
The selected films “with all their thematic or formal eclecticism, still dialogue with each other,” Furrer said in a statement.
Opening the section in competition is Italian director Tommaso Santambrogio’s black-and-white drama “Oceans Are the Real Continents,” set and shot in decadent contemporary Cuba (see image below). This is Santambrogio’s first feature, but...
The section, also known as Venice Days, has unveiled its lineup comprising 10 titles world premiering in competition – six of which are first works – and in other sections displaying a wide range of genres and visual styles, but tied together by “a common discourse,” said the section’s artistic director Gaia Furrer.
The selected films “with all their thematic or formal eclecticism, still dialogue with each other,” Furrer said in a statement.
Opening the section in competition is Italian director Tommaso Santambrogio’s black-and-white drama “Oceans Are the Real Continents,” set and shot in decadent contemporary Cuba (see image below). This is Santambrogio’s first feature, but...
- 7/27/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Sean Baker among executive producers. Comedy premieres on May 19.
On the eve of Cannes Paris-based Loco Films has acquired international sales rights to Joanna Arnow’s Directors’ Fortnight selection The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed.
Arnow stars in the comedy as Ann, a morose New Yorker in her 30s who feels the years have passed by quickly in her long-term casual Bdsm relationship, low-level corporate job, and quarrelsome Jewish family.
As Ann begins to feel increasingly alienated, she wrestles with herself and her relationships. Scott Cohen (Gilmore Girls), Babak Tafti, and Alysia Reiner round out the key cast.
On the eve of Cannes Paris-based Loco Films has acquired international sales rights to Joanna Arnow’s Directors’ Fortnight selection The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed.
Arnow stars in the comedy as Ann, a morose New Yorker in her 30s who feels the years have passed by quickly in her long-term casual Bdsm relationship, low-level corporate job, and quarrelsome Jewish family.
As Ann begins to feel increasingly alienated, she wrestles with herself and her relationships. Scott Cohen (Gilmore Girls), Babak Tafti, and Alysia Reiner round out the key cast.
- 5/14/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month, including David Easteal’s The Plains (one of the best films we saw on the festival circuit last year), Christophe Honoré’s Winter Boy, Koji Fukada’s 10-part series The Real Thing, Bruce Labruce’s Saint-Narcisse, and more.
Additional highlights include three films by Joan Micklin Silver, additions to their Lars von Trier series, Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets of Belleville, Sally Potter’s Orlando, Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms, and more.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
April 1 – Henry Fool, directed by Hal Hartley
April 2 – Waltz with Bashir, directed by Ari Folman
April 3 – The All-Round Reduced Personality – Redupers, directed by Helke Sander | What Sets Us Free? German Feminist Cinema
April 4 – Saint-Narcisse, directed by Bruce Labruce
April 5 – Jaime Francisco, directed by Javier Rodríguez | Brief Encounters
April 6 – Hester Street, directed by Joan Micklin...
Additional highlights include three films by Joan Micklin Silver, additions to their Lars von Trier series, Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets of Belleville, Sally Potter’s Orlando, Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms, and more.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
April 1 – Henry Fool, directed by Hal Hartley
April 2 – Waltz with Bashir, directed by Ari Folman
April 3 – The All-Round Reduced Personality – Redupers, directed by Helke Sander | What Sets Us Free? German Feminist Cinema
April 4 – Saint-Narcisse, directed by Bruce Labruce
April 5 – Jaime Francisco, directed by Javier Rodríguez | Brief Encounters
April 6 – Hester Street, directed by Joan Micklin...
- 3/23/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Upcoming animation from ’My Life As A Courgette’ director Claude Barras also among recipients.
Berlin Golden Bear winner Radu Jude’s upcoming feature A Case History is one of 24 features to receive a share of €6.5m (6.87m) in the latest round of Eurimages co-production support funding.
The film, a co-production between Romania and Croatia, has received €150,000 and marks the Romanian filmmaker’s next feature after winning the Golden Bear in 2021 with Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn.
Produced by Ada Solomon and Adrian Sitaru of Bucharest-based 4Proof Film, the story will be told in two parts. The first follows a...
Berlin Golden Bear winner Radu Jude’s upcoming feature A Case History is one of 24 features to receive a share of €6.5m (6.87m) in the latest round of Eurimages co-production support funding.
The film, a co-production between Romania and Croatia, has received €150,000 and marks the Romanian filmmaker’s next feature after winning the Golden Bear in 2021 with Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn.
Produced by Ada Solomon and Adrian Sitaru of Bucharest-based 4Proof Film, the story will be told in two parts. The first follows a...
- 6/27/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
A Separate Peace: Ostrochovský Crafts a Church Noir for Sophomore Feature
For his sophomore narrative feature, Slovak director Ivan Ostrochovský recuperates a uniquely chilling scenario from a troubled chapter from the Czech Republic’s past, particularly with the intertwined political manifestations of Communism and Catholicism in the wryly titled Servants. A stark, austere reenactment of seminary students caught in a catch-22 in 1980 Czechoslovakia, Ostrochovský mines a familiar sounding scenario of corrupted authorities vying for control in a period piece which often takes on shades of a film noir. Poetically photographed and tinged by dueling metaphors of the sacred and profane, the narrative eschews explication on its finer historical points and instead proves to be an introduction to the thrashing tail end of a troubled historical era which can be utilized as a conversation piece for its historical recuperation as well as its relationship to continually shifting unrest and unease.…
Continue reading.
For his sophomore narrative feature, Slovak director Ivan Ostrochovský recuperates a uniquely chilling scenario from a troubled chapter from the Czech Republic’s past, particularly with the intertwined political manifestations of Communism and Catholicism in the wryly titled Servants. A stark, austere reenactment of seminary students caught in a catch-22 in 1980 Czechoslovakia, Ostrochovský mines a familiar sounding scenario of corrupted authorities vying for control in a period piece which often takes on shades of a film noir. Poetically photographed and tinged by dueling metaphors of the sacred and profane, the narrative eschews explication on its finer historical points and instead proves to be an introduction to the thrashing tail end of a troubled historical era which can be utilized as a conversation piece for its historical recuperation as well as its relationship to continually shifting unrest and unease.…
Continue reading.
- 2/21/2022
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The shortened in-person Berlin Film Festival (Feb. 10-16) has revealed a raft of high profile shows that will participate in keenly anticipated annual fixture Berlinale Series.
The strand opens with Amazon Prime Video Argentinian spy series “Yosi, the Regretful Spy” and also includes HBO Max Swedish friendship comedy series “Lust”; Lone Scherfig’s TV2 Danish maternity ward-set “The Shift”; Czech Television, Arte drama “Suspicion” from Czech Republic and France; British Sky supernatural thriller “The Rising”; Channel 2 Iceland police drama “Black Sand”; and from France’s Club illico, comedy-drama “Last Summers of the Raspberries.”
Films selected for the youth-focused Generation Kplus strand include “The Hill of Secrets” (South Korea); “Waters of Pastaza” (Portugal); “Moja Vesna” (Slovenia/Australia); “My Small Land” (Japan); “The Realm of God” (Mexico); “The Apple Day” (Iran); “Shabu” (Netherlands) and “Boney Piles” (Ukraine).
Films selected for the Generation 14plus strand include “Alis” (Colombia/Chile/Romania); “Bubble” (Japan...
The strand opens with Amazon Prime Video Argentinian spy series “Yosi, the Regretful Spy” and also includes HBO Max Swedish friendship comedy series “Lust”; Lone Scherfig’s TV2 Danish maternity ward-set “The Shift”; Czech Television, Arte drama “Suspicion” from Czech Republic and France; British Sky supernatural thriller “The Rising”; Channel 2 Iceland police drama “Black Sand”; and from France’s Club illico, comedy-drama “Last Summers of the Raspberries.”
Films selected for the youth-focused Generation Kplus strand include “The Hill of Secrets” (South Korea); “Waters of Pastaza” (Portugal); “Moja Vesna” (Slovenia/Australia); “My Small Land” (Japan); “The Realm of God” (Mexico); “The Apple Day” (Iran); “Shabu” (Netherlands) and “Boney Piles” (Ukraine).
Films selected for the Generation 14plus strand include “Alis” (Colombia/Chile/Romania); “Bubble” (Japan...
- 1/14/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
New parents are always advised to treasure every moment of their child’s infancy, even through the sleepless nights and bawling meltdowns for it all passes in the blink of an eye. Most parents, of course, have other stages of child-rearing to look forward to. For the incarcerated young mothers at Ukraine’s Odessa women’s correctional facility, however, those early years of bonding might be all they get: Their newborns may remain in their care until their third birthday, upon which they must be transferred to another guardian or, in many cases, an orphanage. It is on this wrenching deadline that Slovakian docmaker Péter Kerekes balances the drama of “107 Mothers,” an unusual and rewarding docufiction feature woven from the firsthand stories of multiple Odessa prisoners, executed with a blend of close-to-the-bone realism and heightened formal refinement.
A worthy and distinctive pick as Slovakia’s international Oscar submission, “107 Mothers...
A worthy and distinctive pick as Slovakia’s international Oscar submission, “107 Mothers...
- 12/13/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
HappeningIn Competition(Jury: Bong Joon-ho, Saverio Costanzo, Virginie Efira, Cynthia Erivo, Sarah Gadon, Alexander Nanau, Chloé Zhao)Golden Lion – Happening (Audrey Diwan) | Read our reviewSilver Lion (Grand Jury Prize) – The Hand of God (Paolo Sorrentino) | Read our reviewSilver Lion (Best Director) – Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) | Read our reviewCoppa Volpi for Best Actress – Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) | Read our reviewCoppa Volpi for Best Actor – John Arcilla (On The Job: The Missing 8)Best Screenplay – Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter)Special Jury Prize – The Hole (Michelangelo Frammartino) | Read our reviewMarcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress – Filippo Scotti (The Hand of God)Orizzonti(Jury: Jasmila Žbanić, Mona Fastvold, Shahram Mokri, Josh Siegel, Nadia Terranova)Orizzonti Award for Best Film – Pilgrims (Laurynas Bareisa)Orizzonti Award for Best Director – Éric Gravel (A Plein Temps)Special Orizzonti Jury Prize – El Gran Movimiento (Kiro Russo) | Read our reviewOrizzonti Award for Best Actress...
- 9/13/2021
- MUBI
107 MothersVenice Airport, departure hall, some ungodly hour in the early morning. The Lido feels a whole world away from where I’m sitting, so distant it’s turned into a mirage already; knackered and shaky, I’m guzzling coffee while trying to process the other night’s unexpected, delightful Golden Lion winner: Audrey Diwan’s Happening. It was a historic award for another historic edition. For the first time ever, the festival circuit’s two most coveted statuettes of the year were handed out to women directors: on the heels of Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or-winning Titane, Diwan’s triumph marks the second time in a row the Venice Film Festival’s top prize has been given to a woman. Markedly different in scope and style, both Titane and Happening follow women fighting for control of their bodies; though it’d be premature to call this a watershed moment,...
- 9/13/2021
- MUBI
Variety has been given exclusive access to the first footage to be released from Slovak director Peter Kerekes’ “107 Mothers,” which world premieres in the Horizons section of the Venice Film Festival. Films Boutique is handling world sales on the film.
“107 Mothers” features mostly real-life female prisoners and prison guards in an Odessa women’s jail acting out their true stories. Two characters are focused on in particular, both played by actors: Lesya, a prisoner with a young boy forced to make a difficult decision, and Irina, a guard, whose life often resembles that of her prisoners. Iryna is “a guardian, confidant, and friend, but also a public official charged with administering punishment,” the director comments.
Lesya has committed a crime of passion, which lands her with a seven-year jail term. She has just given birth to her first child, and now she is entering a world populated only by women: inmates,...
“107 Mothers” features mostly real-life female prisoners and prison guards in an Odessa women’s jail acting out their true stories. Two characters are focused on in particular, both played by actors: Lesya, a prisoner with a young boy forced to make a difficult decision, and Irina, a guard, whose life often resembles that of her prisoners. Iryna is “a guardian, confidant, and friend, but also a public official charged with administering punishment,” the director comments.
Lesya has committed a crime of passion, which lands her with a seven-year jail term. She has just given birth to her first child, and now she is entering a world populated only by women: inmates,...
- 8/30/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
This number will increase as Cannes, Venice and other summer festival titles are added to the mix alongside studio releases.
French cinemas reopen this Wednesday (May 19) after lying dark for six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the country’s 100-plus distributors rushing to set theatrical dates for an estimated backlog of 400 stalled films.
As a result, French cinemagoers will have access to the richest and most diverse offering of films in the world over the coming months, spanning festival titles, local mainstream comedies and dramas, world cinema and studio blockbuster fare, as the summer advances.
As of May...
French cinemas reopen this Wednesday (May 19) after lying dark for six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the country’s 100-plus distributors rushing to set theatrical dates for an estimated backlog of 400 stalled films.
As a result, French cinemagoers will have access to the richest and most diverse offering of films in the world over the coming months, spanning festival titles, local mainstream comedies and dramas, world cinema and studio blockbuster fare, as the summer advances.
As of May...
- 5/17/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Shame, self-reproach and secret communications fill this deeply disturbing story of two students in 80s Czechoslovakia
As if in a succession of scenes from a starkly remembered bad dream, this deeply disturbing film in haunting monochrome, from director Ivan Ostrochovský and co-writers Rebecca Lenkiewicz and Marek Lescák, tells the story of two students in a Catholic seminary in early-80s Czechoslovakia, part of the (real life) Pacem in Terris organisation, a collaborationist body through which the church submitted to state control in return for the right to (notional) existence.
Juraj (Samuel Skyva) and Michal (Samuel Polakovič) are fresh-faced boys who arrive at the seminary to find themselves in an austere haunted house of shame, reeking of paranoia, exhaustion and self-reproach. Dissident young priests are secretly communicating with the Vatican and with Radio Free Europe and the priestly authorities have neither the courage to endorse this defiance nor the ruthlessness to suppress it,...
As if in a succession of scenes from a starkly remembered bad dream, this deeply disturbing film in haunting monochrome, from director Ivan Ostrochovský and co-writers Rebecca Lenkiewicz and Marek Lescák, tells the story of two students in a Catholic seminary in early-80s Czechoslovakia, part of the (real life) Pacem in Terris organisation, a collaborationist body through which the church submitted to state control in return for the right to (notional) existence.
Juraj (Samuel Skyva) and Michal (Samuel Polakovič) are fresh-faced boys who arrive at the seminary to find themselves in an austere haunted house of shame, reeking of paranoia, exhaustion and self-reproach. Dissident young priests are secretly communicating with the Vatican and with Radio Free Europe and the priestly authorities have neither the courage to endorse this defiance nor the ruthlessness to suppress it,...
- 5/10/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Programme includes competition section of 11 features from first and second-time directors.
The International Film Festival & Awards Macao (Iffam) has confirmed that it is moving online for its fifth edition (December 3-8) and announced its full programme, including an international competition for first and second-time filmmakers.
The competition line-up of 11 features including actor Viggo Mortensen’s directing debut Falling; Cannes 2020 Label titles Limbo, Spring Blossom and Sweat; Jeonju film festival winner Black Light; and Chinese titles Love Poem, which won the top prize at this year’s First International Film Festival, and The Cloud In Her Room, which took the Tiger...
The International Film Festival & Awards Macao (Iffam) has confirmed that it is moving online for its fifth edition (December 3-8) and announced its full programme, including an international competition for first and second-time filmmakers.
The competition line-up of 11 features including actor Viggo Mortensen’s directing debut Falling; Cannes 2020 Label titles Limbo, Spring Blossom and Sweat; Jeonju film festival winner Black Light; and Chinese titles Love Poem, which won the top prize at this year’s First International Film Festival, and The Cloud In Her Room, which took the Tiger...
- 11/10/2020
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Ivan Ostrochovský’s film took home the Grand Prize at this year’s hybrid edition of the Central and Eastern European Film Festival in Luxembourg. The physical side of this year’s hybrid edition of CinÉast concluded on Sunday 25 October with a screening of Servants by Slovakian director Ivan Ostrochovský, which had just won the festival’s Grand Prix the day before, during the awards ceremony held at the Kinepolis Kirchberg in Luxembourg. Belgian director Zoé Wittock, of the International Jury, explained that she and her colleagues, Polish director and scriptwriter Tomasz Wasilewski (president of the jury), director of the GoEast film festival Heleen Gerritsen, Luxembourgish producer Jani Thiltges (CEO of Samsa Film), and film critic and head of the selection committee of the Film Fund Luxembourg Boyd van Hoeij, had decided to give the film this distinction “for its suspenseful and nightmarish vision of a system that tries to control and regulate.
- 10/26/2020
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Sebastian Lifshitz’s transgender-themed documentary won the best film award.
Sébastien Lifshitz’s Little Girl has been awarded the Grand Prix for best film in the 47th Film Fest Ghent’s official competition, which also featured Nomadland, Vitalina Varela and First Cow.
The 2020 Georges Delerue Award for best music and sound design goes to Ivan Ostrochovský’s Servants. Both awards were picked by the international jury, while Gagarine – a Cannes 2020 Label title and the feature debut of Fanny Liatard and Jeremy Trouilh – won the main prize of the youth jury.
Little Girl is the first documentary to win the festival’s top prize in 35 years.
Sébastien Lifshitz’s Little Girl has been awarded the Grand Prix for best film in the 47th Film Fest Ghent’s official competition, which also featured Nomadland, Vitalina Varela and First Cow.
The 2020 Georges Delerue Award for best music and sound design goes to Ivan Ostrochovský’s Servants. Both awards were picked by the international jury, while Gagarine – a Cannes 2020 Label title and the feature debut of Fanny Liatard and Jeremy Trouilh – won the main prize of the youth jury.
Little Girl is the first documentary to win the festival’s top prize in 35 years.
- 10/23/2020
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Projects in development include new films by Roman Bondarchuk and Robert Budina.
New films by Russia’s Roman Bondarchuk and Robert Budina, whose credits include Waterdrop, are among 13 projects in development to be presented at this year’s east-west co-production market connecting cottbus (coco).
The event is normally held as part of FilmFestival Cottbus in Germany (November 3-8), but will run online this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Bondarchuk’s previous feature was Karlovy Vary 2018 East of the West title Volcano, whilst Budina’s last film A Shelter Among The Clouds premiered in competition at Tallinn, also in...
New films by Russia’s Roman Bondarchuk and Robert Budina, whose credits include Waterdrop, are among 13 projects in development to be presented at this year’s east-west co-production market connecting cottbus (coco).
The event is normally held as part of FilmFestival Cottbus in Germany (November 3-8), but will run online this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Bondarchuk’s previous feature was Karlovy Vary 2018 East of the West title Volcano, whilst Budina’s last film A Shelter Among The Clouds premiered in competition at Tallinn, also in...
- 10/19/2020
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Projects in development include new films by Roman Bondarchuk and Robert Budina.
New films by Roman Bondarchuk (The Editorial Office) and Robert Budina (Waterdrop) are among 13 projects in development to be presented at this year’s east-west co-production market connecting cottbus.
The event is normally held as part of FilmFestival Cottbus in Germany (November 3-8), but will run online this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Bondarchuk’s previous feature was Karlovy Vary 2018 East of the West title Volcano, whilst Budina’s last film A Shelter Among The Clouds premiered in competition at Tallinn, also in 2018.
Among the other...
New films by Roman Bondarchuk (The Editorial Office) and Robert Budina (Waterdrop) are among 13 projects in development to be presented at this year’s east-west co-production market connecting cottbus.
The event is normally held as part of FilmFestival Cottbus in Germany (November 3-8), but will run online this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Bondarchuk’s previous feature was Karlovy Vary 2018 East of the West title Volcano, whilst Budina’s last film A Shelter Among The Clouds premiered in competition at Tallinn, also in 2018.
Among the other...
- 10/19/2020
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The Swedish comedy Call Mom! by Lisa Aschan has come out on top in the Comedy Competition. The postponed Febiofest Prague 2020 (see the news) has announced the winners of its 27th edition. The Main Competition jury, comprising Czech filmmakers Beata Parkanová and Slávek Horák, and Czech actress Anna Polívková, stated: “Each of the films made an impact on us, affecting different parts of our personalities. That’s why we also decided to hand out a Special Mention. And it was precisely that award that represented the toughest choice, as it was hard to decide between these well-matched films. In the end, it went to Maria Sødahl’s Hope, which won us over with its sensitive telling of a story, with excellent acting performances.” The top prize went to the Slovak-Czech-Romanian-Irish drama Servants by Slovakian director-producer Ivan Ostrochovský, which premiered at this year’s Berlinale. “An extremely powerful story told by purely cinematic.
This year’s selection will be announced over two waves to account for pandemic conditions.
The first 32 features up for the 2020 European Films Awards has been announced with a second wave of “pandemic year” titles due to be revealed in September.
Scroll down for first selection of films
The titles include Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History Of David Copperfield and Viggo Mortensen’s Falling as well as Berlinale award-winners Undine, by Christian Petzold; Hidden Away, by Giorgio Diritti; Bad Tales, by the D’Innocenzo Brothers; Dau. Natasha, by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy and Jekaterina Oertel; and Delete History, by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern.
The first 32 features up for the 2020 European Films Awards has been announced with a second wave of “pandemic year” titles due to be revealed in September.
Scroll down for first selection of films
The titles include Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History Of David Copperfield and Viggo Mortensen’s Falling as well as Berlinale award-winners Undine, by Christian Petzold; Hidden Away, by Giorgio Diritti; Bad Tales, by the D’Innocenzo Brothers; Dau. Natasha, by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy and Jekaterina Oertel; and Delete History, by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern.
- 8/18/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Igor Luther worked on the fragmentary essay titled Self-Portrait where he looks back on his own fruitful professional career and turbulent private life. Slovak producer and director Ivan Ostrochovský, who revealed his latest fiction feature Servants at this year's Berlinale, is continuing in his producing efforts. After co-producing the experimental docu-pic Frem and Petr Zelenka’s dramedy Droneman (read the news), one of the projects he is currently working on as a producer is a documentary with the working title Self-Portrait, centred on the most acclaimed Slovak cinematographer, Igor Luther, who passed away at the beginning of June 2020. Luther commands a glowing filmography, having lensed Juraj Jakubisko’s The Years of Christ and Birdies, Orphans and Fools, Alain Robbe-Grillet’s The Man Who Lies and Eden and Afterwards and serving as DoP on films by Michael Haneke, Wolfgang Staudte, Andrzej Wajda, Aleksandar Petrović and a fruitful collaboration with Volker Schlöndorff with whom.
The films will run one a day from May 15-29.
Turkey’s Istanbul Film Festival is to play 15 features from the past year of the festival circuit, including Berlin 2020 Competition title Berlin Alexanderplatz; and Venice 2019 Competition feature Martin Eden.
The 15 selected films will play one per day from May 15 to May 29 via streaming platform filmonline.iksv.org, available via ticket purchase to Turkish audiences only.
Six of the 15 films had their world premieres at this year’s Berlinale, including Stéphanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond’s My Little Sister. Four were Venice 2019 premieres (including three from the Venice Days sidebar), with two from Cannes,...
Turkey’s Istanbul Film Festival is to play 15 features from the past year of the festival circuit, including Berlin 2020 Competition title Berlin Alexanderplatz; and Venice 2019 Competition feature Martin Eden.
The 15 selected films will play one per day from May 15 to May 29 via streaming platform filmonline.iksv.org, available via ticket purchase to Turkish audiences only.
Six of the 15 films had their world premieres at this year’s Berlinale, including Stéphanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond’s My Little Sister. Four were Venice 2019 premieres (including three from the Venice Days sidebar), with two from Cannes,...
- 5/14/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
The established Slovakian documentary filmmaker and producer is working on his eagerly awaited feature-length fiction debut. Renowned Slovakian documentarian and producer Peter Kerekes is joining the ranks of his colleagues who have traded the documentary format for fiction filmmaking – like, for example, Zuzana Piussi, who is working on her feature-length fiction debut, Unbalanced (see the news), or Marek Kuboš, who is readying Secret (see the news). Originally, the docu-drama Censor (formerly known as Censors) was conceived as a triptych co-written by the filmmaker and producer Ivan Ostrochovský, who most recently unveiled his sophomore fiction feature, Servants, much like their award-winning anthology documentary Velvet Terrorists. However, over the course of pre-production, the first chapter, following a female censor in Odessa prison, became the central and sole focus of the film. Image censorship in Saudi Arabia and cinema censorship based on practices in Nollywood were initially intended to follow this, as...
“You have to understand, we’re not here to be happy,” a so-called spiritual adviser counsels one of his wards in a Catholic seminary — a rare moment of truth in the shadowy morass of governmental and theological manipulation that consumes Ivan Ostrochovský’s impressively icy Iron Curtain noir “Servants.” Though happiness has never seemed the objective of priesthood so much as a kind of affectless peace, both are in short supply in a film that jitters and shivers with anti-authoritarian sentiment beneath its serene monochrome aesthetic. Form and feeling are at odds throughout this steadily transfixing tale of young seminarians standing up to the Communist Party’s infiltration of their school in the former Czechoslovakia.
All hard, clipped lines and spectral quietude, from performances to production design, this is a period piece with a dystopian bent. It may be set in 1980, though as its opaquely fragmented storytelling and hyper-meticulous mise-en-scène combine to disorienting effect,...
All hard, clipped lines and spectral quietude, from performances to production design, this is a period piece with a dystopian bent. It may be set in 1980, though as its opaquely fragmented storytelling and hyper-meticulous mise-en-scène combine to disorienting effect,...
- 3/12/2020
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Woody Harrelson, Agnieszka Holland and Hirokazu Kore-eda are among the industry figures headlining the 27th edition of the Prague International Film Festival, which is set to go ahead despite fears around the coronavirus.
Harrelson will appear alongside Oren Moverman, who is receiving a Kristián award for his contributions to global cinema, to present the L.A. cop drama “Rampart” in Prague. The duo were both nominated for Academy Awards for Moverman’s Iraqi war pic “The Messenger.”
Kore-eda, Slovak actor Milan Lasica and Czech actress Iva Janžurová will also be receiving lifetime achievement awards.
The festival unspools March 19-27 in the Czech capital, against a backdrop of growing uncertainty as the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival and Greece’s Thessaloniki Documentary Festival announced they were postponing this year’s editions, while the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event in Qatar was canceled.
Harrelson will appear alongside Oren Moverman, who is receiving a Kristián award for his contributions to global cinema, to present the L.A. cop drama “Rampart” in Prague. The duo were both nominated for Academy Awards for Moverman’s Iraqi war pic “The Messenger.”
Kore-eda, Slovak actor Milan Lasica and Czech actress Iva Janžurová will also be receiving lifetime achievement awards.
The festival unspools March 19-27 in the Czech capital, against a backdrop of growing uncertainty as the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe.
Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival and Greece’s Thessaloniki Documentary Festival announced they were postponing this year’s editions, while the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event in Qatar was canceled.
- 3/4/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The French sales agent will pull out all the stops to promote Ivan Ostrochovský’s film, screening in Encounters; its slate also includes movies in post-production by Luàna Bajrami and Veiko Õunpuu. After making a splash with his feature-length fiction debut, Koza, erstwhile Slovakian documentarian Ivan Ostrochovský (who also participated in the Berlinale Forum in 2014 with Velvet Terrorists) is pressing on with his exploration of the fiction world with Servants, which will be world-premiered in Encounters, the new competitive section of the Berlinale (the 70th edition of which will unspool from 20 February-1 March). The movie will be spearheading the slate of Paris-based international sales agent Loco Films at the impending European Film Market. The Loco Films team headed up by Laurent Danielou and Arnaud Godart will thus be negotiating deals for the...
The 70th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 20 – March 1) unveiled its Encounters program today, featuring the premieres of new works by Tim Sutton and Romanian director Cristi Puiu.
Also screening is Josephine Decker’s Shirley with Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg, marking the film’s international premiere after its upcoming Sundance bow, and Gunda by Victor Kossakovsky, whose last pic was the 2018 Venice doc Aquarela.
Encounters is a newly-created competitive section at the Berlin festival that looks to highlight “new voices in cinema and to give more room to diverse narrative and documentary forms.” A three-member jury will choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award.
“As a result of passionate research, the 15 titles chosen for Encounters present the vitality of cinema in all of its forms. Each film presents a different way of interpreting the cinematic story: autobiographical, intimate, political,...
Also screening is Josephine Decker’s Shirley with Elisabeth Moss and Michael Stuhlbarg, marking the film’s international premiere after its upcoming Sundance bow, and Gunda by Victor Kossakovsky, whose last pic was the 2018 Venice doc Aquarela.
Encounters is a newly-created competitive section at the Berlin festival that looks to highlight “new voices in cinema and to give more room to diverse narrative and documentary forms.” A three-member jury will choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award.
“As a result of passionate research, the 15 titles chosen for Encounters present the vitality of cinema in all of its forms. Each film presents a different way of interpreting the cinematic story: autobiographical, intimate, political,...
- 1/17/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Shirley’, starring Elisabeth Moss, among films in the new competitive strand.
The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 20-Mar 1) has unveiled the 15 features that will comprise its first ever Encounters competitive strand.
The new section has been introduced to support new voices in cinema, running alongside the long-established competition and Berlinale Shorts, which award the Golden and Silver Bears.
A three-member jury, which has yet to be announced, will choose the winners of best film, best director and a special jury award.
The section will open with Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog, a 200-minute drama in which an elite group of individuals...
The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 20-Mar 1) has unveiled the 15 features that will comprise its first ever Encounters competitive strand.
The new section has been introduced to support new voices in cinema, running alongside the long-established competition and Berlinale Shorts, which award the Golden and Silver Bears.
A three-member jury, which has yet to be announced, will choose the winners of best film, best director and a special jury award.
The section will open with Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog, a 200-minute drama in which an elite group of individuals...
- 1/17/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
The experienced Slovakian documentarian is working on his first feature-length fiction outing. Slovakian documentarian Marek Kuboš, who recently bade farewell to documentary filmmaking with the award-winning The Last Self-Portrait, which, as well as scooping other gongs, was victorious at the national Sun in a Net awards (see the news), is now making the leap to fiction filmmaking. Kuboš laid out the reasons why he might not make another documentary in his aforementioned cinematic love letter to documentary, and is joining the ranks of his peers who have traded documentary for fiction filmmaking. They include Marko Škop, Ivan Ostrochovský (Koza), Juraj Lehotský, Jaro Vojtek (Children) and Peter Kerekes, who is also preparing his first fiction feature, Censor. Secret, as Kuboš’s film is titled, is described as a psychological and moral drama, and its aim is to “capture the journey of the soul of...
- 10/17/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
The second installment of Infinite Fest, a monthly column by festival programmer and film critic Eric Allen Hatch, author of the recent “Why I Am Hopeful” article for Filmmaker Magazine, tackling the state of cinema as expressed by North American film festivalsPorfirioAs I prepare for my annual pilgrimage to Toronto, I’m thinking about all the great films I’ve seen at Tiff that have vanished.No, I’m not talking about Vincent Gallo’s Promises Written in Water, although we can go there for a minute. Thanks to Tiff 2010, I can count myself among the small number of folks who’ve actually seen it, and will happily verify that it not only exists but also happens to be a stark, deranged, and diabolically solipsistic masterpiece… as, in a way, was the derisive email Gallo wrote in response to my festival invite for the film in the spring of 2011, before...
- 9/5/2018
- MUBI
€5m funding is shared between 17 fiction, 2 animation and 1 documentary films.
Following its 150th meeting in Yerevan, Armenia from March 13-16, European cinema body Eurimages has awarded funding to 20 film projects.
Of the supported titles, 17 are fiction, two are animated and one is a documentary. 30% of those receiving support have female directors, who cumulatively receive 34% of the total money awarded.
See below for the full list of projects
Among the projects are Bergman Island, the next film from French director Mia Hansen-Løve (Things To Come). Launched at Cannes last year, the story centres on an American filmmaking couple who find the...
Following its 150th meeting in Yerevan, Armenia from March 13-16, European cinema body Eurimages has awarded funding to 20 film projects.
Of the supported titles, 17 are fiction, two are animated and one is a documentary. 30% of those receiving support have female directors, who cumulatively receive 34% of the total money awarded.
See below for the full list of projects
Among the projects are Bergman Island, the next film from French director Mia Hansen-Løve (Things To Come). Launched at Cannes last year, the story centres on an American filmmaking couple who find the...
- 3/19/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
In other Cottbus news, F&Me boards The Disciple and Macedonia backs Sugar Kid.
Projects from Ukraine and Georgia were the award-winners at this year’s edition of the East-West co-production market connecting cottbus (November 5-6).
Ukrainian filmmaker Max Ksjonda’s feature debut Tank received the CoCo Best Pitch Award sponsored by Eurotape Medien Service to the tune of €1,500 plus a free accreditation to the Producers Network at next year’s Cannes Film Festival, while a jury of Film Repubic’s Xavier-Henry Rashid, Sarajevo Film Festival’s Elma Tataragic and The Post Republic’s Jan-Philip Lange chose Rusudan Chkonia’s [pictured] black comedy Venice for the CoCo Post Pitch Award offering a colour correction and Dcp worth €25,000.
Tank, which will be produced by Max Serdiuk’s Kiev-based production outfit Noosphere Films, already has in-kind investment of equipment by Ukraine’s TechnoRent and private equity investment from Cyprus-based Pride Capital.
The project was previously pitched at the Odessa Film Festival...
Projects from Ukraine and Georgia were the award-winners at this year’s edition of the East-West co-production market connecting cottbus (November 5-6).
Ukrainian filmmaker Max Ksjonda’s feature debut Tank received the CoCo Best Pitch Award sponsored by Eurotape Medien Service to the tune of €1,500 plus a free accreditation to the Producers Network at next year’s Cannes Film Festival, while a jury of Film Repubic’s Xavier-Henry Rashid, Sarajevo Film Festival’s Elma Tataragic and The Post Republic’s Jan-Philip Lange chose Rusudan Chkonia’s [pictured] black comedy Venice for the CoCo Post Pitch Award offering a colour correction and Dcp worth €25,000.
Tank, which will be produced by Max Serdiuk’s Kiev-based production outfit Noosphere Films, already has in-kind investment of equipment by Ukraine’s TechnoRent and private equity investment from Cyprus-based Pride Capital.
The project was previously pitched at the Odessa Film Festival...
- 11/6/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
In other Cottbus news, F&Me boards The Disciple and Macedonia backs Sugar Kid.
Projects from Ukraine and Georgia were the award-winners at this year’s edition of the East-West co-production market connecting cottbus (November 5-6).
Ukrainian filmmaker Max Ksjonda’s feature debut Tank received the CoCo Best Pitch Award sponsored by Eurotape Medien Service to the tune of €1,500 plus a free accreditation to the Producers Network at next year’s Cannes Film Festival, while a jury of Film Repubic’s Xavier-Henry Rashid, Sarajevo Film Festival’s Elma Tataragic and The Post Republic’s Jan-Philip Lange chose Rusudan Chkonia’s [pictured] black comedy Venice for the CoCo Post Pitch Award offering a colour correction and Dcp worth €25,000.
Tank, which will be produced by Max Serdiuk’s Kiev-based production outfit Noosphere Films, already has in-kind investment of equipment by Ukraine’s TechnoRent and private equity investment from Cyprus-based Pride Capital.
The project was previously pitched at the Odessa Film Festival...
Projects from Ukraine and Georgia were the award-winners at this year’s edition of the East-West co-production market connecting cottbus (November 5-6).
Ukrainian filmmaker Max Ksjonda’s feature debut Tank received the CoCo Best Pitch Award sponsored by Eurotape Medien Service to the tune of €1,500 plus a free accreditation to the Producers Network at next year’s Cannes Film Festival, while a jury of Film Repubic’s Xavier-Henry Rashid, Sarajevo Film Festival’s Elma Tataragic and The Post Republic’s Jan-Philip Lange chose Rusudan Chkonia’s [pictured] black comedy Venice for the CoCo Post Pitch Award offering a colour correction and Dcp worth €25,000.
Tank, which will be produced by Max Serdiuk’s Kiev-based production outfit Noosphere Films, already has in-kind investment of equipment by Ukraine’s TechnoRent and private equity investment from Cyprus-based Pride Capital.
The project was previously pitched at the Odessa Film Festival...
- 11/6/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Full line-up of the Stockholm film festival includes feature and documentary competition line-ups.Scroll down for full line-up
The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 11-22) has unveiled the line-up for its 26th edition, comprising more than 190 films from over 70 countries.
The Stockholm Xxvi Competition includes Marielle Heller’s Us title The Diary of a Teenage Girl and László Nemes’ Holocaust drama Son Of Saul.
It marks the first time Stockholm has a greater number of women than men competing for the Bronze Horse – the festival’s top prize.
The documentary competition includes Amy Berg’s An Open Secret, an investigation into accusations of teenagers being sexually abused within the film industry; and Cosima Spender’s Palio, centred on the annual horse race in Siena, Italy.
Announcing the programme, festival director Git Scheynius also revealed that Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will visit Stockholm for the first time as chairman of the jury for the first Stockholm Impact Award, which...
The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 11-22) has unveiled the line-up for its 26th edition, comprising more than 190 films from over 70 countries.
The Stockholm Xxvi Competition includes Marielle Heller’s Us title The Diary of a Teenage Girl and László Nemes’ Holocaust drama Son Of Saul.
It marks the first time Stockholm has a greater number of women than men competing for the Bronze Horse – the festival’s top prize.
The documentary competition includes Amy Berg’s An Open Secret, an investigation into accusations of teenagers being sexually abused within the film industry; and Cosima Spender’s Palio, centred on the annual horse race in Siena, Italy.
Announcing the programme, festival director Git Scheynius also revealed that Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will visit Stockholm for the first time as chairman of the jury for the first Stockholm Impact Award, which...
- 10/20/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The East-West co-production market has selected 10 projects this year, down from 13 in 2014.
New films by Slovakia’s Ivan Ostrochovský, and Israel’s Evgeny Ruman are among 10 projects selected for a slimmed down version of Germany’s East-West co-production market Connecting Cottbus (CoCo) (November 5-6).
Last year, the East-West co-production market presented 13 projects.
This year’s line-up includes Romanian director Bogdan Muranescu’s 1985, which was the winner of the CoCo Award at the Transilvania Pitch Stop during Cluj’s Transilvania International Festival in June, and Danyael Sugawara’s When Fucking Spring Is In The Air, to be produced by Trent of Oak Motion Pictures, as part of FilmFestival Cottbus’ Global East focus on The Netherlands.
Ostrochovský will be coming to Cottbus on the back of the success of his boxing drama Koza to pitch The Disciple about the extent aspiring priests were prepared to go in collaborating with the Communist regime in Slovakia of the 1980s, while Ruman will...
New films by Slovakia’s Ivan Ostrochovský, and Israel’s Evgeny Ruman are among 10 projects selected for a slimmed down version of Germany’s East-West co-production market Connecting Cottbus (CoCo) (November 5-6).
Last year, the East-West co-production market presented 13 projects.
This year’s line-up includes Romanian director Bogdan Muranescu’s 1985, which was the winner of the CoCo Award at the Transilvania Pitch Stop during Cluj’s Transilvania International Festival in June, and Danyael Sugawara’s When Fucking Spring Is In The Air, to be produced by Trent of Oak Motion Pictures, as part of FilmFestival Cottbus’ Global East focus on The Netherlands.
Ostrochovský will be coming to Cottbus on the back of the success of his boxing drama Koza to pitch The Disciple about the extent aspiring priests were prepared to go in collaborating with the Communist regime in Slovakia of the 1980s, while Ruman will...
- 10/16/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Films from 81 countries have been subitted for this year’s Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
The Us Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has confirmed that 81 countries have submitted films for consideration for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Paraguay is the only first-time entrant.
The figure is down on last year, when a record 83 countries submitted features and the eventual winner was Polish feature Ida, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski.
Nine finalists will be shortlisted, which will be whittled down to five nominees that will be announced on Jan 14, 2016.
The 88th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Feb 28, 2016, televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
The 2015 submissions are:
Afghanistan Utopia, Hassan Nazer
Albania Bota, Iris Elezi, Thomas Logoreci
Algeria Twilight of Shadows, Mohamed Lakhdar Hamina
Argentina The Clan, Pablo Trapero
Australia Arrows of the Thunder, Dragon Greg Sneddon
Austria Goodnight Mommy, Veronika Franz, [link...
The Us Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has confirmed that 81 countries have submitted films for consideration for this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Paraguay is the only first-time entrant.
The figure is down on last year, when a record 83 countries submitted features and the eventual winner was Polish feature Ida, directed by Pawel Pawlikowski.
Nine finalists will be shortlisted, which will be whittled down to five nominees that will be announced on Jan 14, 2016.
The 88th Academy Awards will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Feb 28, 2016, televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
The 2015 submissions are:
Afghanistan Utopia, Hassan Nazer
Albania Bota, Iris Elezi, Thomas Logoreci
Algeria Twilight of Shadows, Mohamed Lakhdar Hamina
Argentina The Clan, Pablo Trapero
Australia Arrows of the Thunder, Dragon Greg Sneddon
Austria Goodnight Mommy, Veronika Franz, [link...
- 10/8/2015
- ScreenDaily
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.