Glasgow Film Festival’s (Gff) Industry Focus (March 3-7) returns with a line-up that includes a celebration of the new wave of UK filmmaking and brings together filmmakers for an in conversation event with the BFI’s head of the Filmmaking Fund Mia Bays and BBC Film director Eva Yates.
NextGen will unite executives with Girl director Adura Onashile, Scrapper filmmaker Charlotte Regan and Lucy Cohen, whose feature Edge Of Summer will world premiere at this year’s Gff.
Further highlights include the Animatic Live Pitch - Gff’s new animation talent development scheme, which culminates in a live pitch...
NextGen will unite executives with Girl director Adura Onashile, Scrapper filmmaker Charlotte Regan and Lucy Cohen, whose feature Edge Of Summer will world premiere at this year’s Gff.
Further highlights include the Animatic Live Pitch - Gff’s new animation talent development scheme, which culminates in a live pitch...
- 2/6/2024
- ScreenDaily
Rose Glass’s romantic thriller Loves Lives Bleeding is set to open the 20th edition of Glasgow Film Festival (Gff) on February 28.
The UK filmmaker’s follow-up to Saint Maud stars Kristen Stewart as a gym owner who falls for a bodybuilder with criminal connections. The A24 feature will receive its UK premiere at Glasgow following its debut at Sundance earlier this month.
John Archer’s documentary Janey, about Scottish stand-up comedian Janey Godley as she embarks on her final tour following a terminal cancer diagnosis, will close the festival on March 10.
Gff has secured eight world premieres (see below...
The UK filmmaker’s follow-up to Saint Maud stars Kristen Stewart as a gym owner who falls for a bodybuilder with criminal connections. The A24 feature will receive its UK premiere at Glasgow following its debut at Sundance earlier this month.
John Archer’s documentary Janey, about Scottish stand-up comedian Janey Godley as she embarks on her final tour following a terminal cancer diagnosis, will close the festival on March 10.
Gff has secured eight world premieres (see below...
- 1/24/2024
- ScreenDaily
The inaugural animation scheme cohort has also been unveiled.
Aftersun director Charlotte Wells and Limbo filmmaker Ben Sharrock are among the 2024 mentors taking part in Glasgow Film Festival’s (Gff) New Talent Mentorship Scheme, that runs as part of Gff’s Industry Focus.
Fellow mentors are Avengers: Endgame assistant director Mark Rossi, Bad Sisters writer Ailbhe Keogan, writer-director Asim Abbasi; producer Sarah Drummond and filmmakers Louis Paxton and Michael Lee Richardson.
The scheme is funded by the William Grant Foundation, for emerging screen professionals from backgrounds currently underrepresented in the industry.
Gff is also running its inaugural animation talent development project Animatic,...
Aftersun director Charlotte Wells and Limbo filmmaker Ben Sharrock are among the 2024 mentors taking part in Glasgow Film Festival’s (Gff) New Talent Mentorship Scheme, that runs as part of Gff’s Industry Focus.
Fellow mentors are Avengers: Endgame assistant director Mark Rossi, Bad Sisters writer Ailbhe Keogan, writer-director Asim Abbasi; producer Sarah Drummond and filmmakers Louis Paxton and Michael Lee Richardson.
The scheme is funded by the William Grant Foundation, for emerging screen professionals from backgrounds currently underrepresented in the industry.
Gff is also running its inaugural animation talent development project Animatic,...
- 12/14/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The International Booker Prize, the world’s biggest award for fiction translated into English, is teaming with Mubi, bookseller Foyles and London’s The Garden Cinema on an initiative tied to the six titles nominated for its 2023 edition.
Streaming service, production company and film distributor Mubi has curated a selection of six films to complement each of the works on the 2023 book shortlist, ahead of the winner announcement on May 23. (scroll down for list)
The Garden Cinema will host a special Q&a event featuring the 2023 winners followed by a screening of the film that Mubi had paired with the winning book.
International Booker Prize administrator Fiammetta Rocco said the initiative had been inspired by the changing perception of foreign-language films in the UK, tied in with the fact that the readership for translated fiction is getting younger.
“This is part of a far wider cultural trend in which more and more films,...
Streaming service, production company and film distributor Mubi has curated a selection of six films to complement each of the works on the 2023 book shortlist, ahead of the winner announcement on May 23. (scroll down for list)
The Garden Cinema will host a special Q&a event featuring the 2023 winners followed by a screening of the film that Mubi had paired with the winning book.
International Booker Prize administrator Fiammetta Rocco said the initiative had been inspired by the changing perception of foreign-language films in the UK, tied in with the fact that the readership for translated fiction is getting younger.
“This is part of a far wider cultural trend in which more and more films,...
- 5/16/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Previous winners include Roger Deakins, Annika Summerson.
Heartstopper cinematographer Diana Olifirova is one of five nominees for the National Film and Television School’s 2022 Sue Gibson Bsc Cinematography Award.
Two of this year’s selection are on their second nomination – Ula Pontikos, for season two of Russian Doll; and Edu Grau, for Rebecca Hall’s Bafta-nominated Passing.
The other nominees are Nick Cooke for Ben Sharrock’s Limbo; and Paul Kadir Ozgur for Pascual Sisto’s John And The Hole.
This year is the sixth edition of the award, which recognises work by an alumnus of the cinematography course at the UK film school.
Heartstopper cinematographer Diana Olifirova is one of five nominees for the National Film and Television School’s 2022 Sue Gibson Bsc Cinematography Award.
Two of this year’s selection are on their second nomination – Ula Pontikos, for season two of Russian Doll; and Edu Grau, for Rebecca Hall’s Bafta-nominated Passing.
The other nominees are Nick Cooke for Ben Sharrock’s Limbo; and Paul Kadir Ozgur for Pascual Sisto’s John And The Hole.
This year is the sixth edition of the award, which recognises work by an alumnus of the cinematography course at the UK film school.
- 9/1/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Elsa Zylberstein and Mathieu Demy have also joined the cast, as the UK shoot commences.
Danish actor Sidse Babett Knudsen and British-Egyptian star Amir El-Masry have joined the cast of Little Joe filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero, as the shoot commences in Oxford, UK.
France’s Elsa Zylberstein and Mathieu Demy are also set to star, alongside the previously announced Mia Wasikowska.
The first image from the production has also been released, featuring Hausner directing Wasikowska and newcomer Luke Barker.
Club Zero is an intense psychological drama set in an elite school and stars Wasikowska as a new teacher...
Danish actor Sidse Babett Knudsen and British-Egyptian star Amir El-Masry have joined the cast of Little Joe filmmaker Jessica Hausner’s Club Zero, as the shoot commences in Oxford, UK.
France’s Elsa Zylberstein and Mathieu Demy are also set to star, alongside the previously announced Mia Wasikowska.
The first image from the production has also been released, featuring Hausner directing Wasikowska and newcomer Luke Barker.
Club Zero is an intense psychological drama set in an elite school and stars Wasikowska as a new teacher...
- 8/12/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Rising Egyptian star Amir El-Masry (“Limbo”) has been cast as the young Egyptian billionaire Mohamed al-Fayed, the former Harrods owner and father of Princess Diana’s lover Dodi, in the upcoming fifth season of Netflix’s “The Crown,” Variety can reveal.
Netflix confirmed the casting but declined to provide further details.
As previously reported by Variety, Salim Daw (“Oslo”) has been cast as the older incarnation of Mohamed al-Fayed.
Born in Cairo and raised in London, Amir El Masry broke out internationally in 2016 with a small standout role as a hotel chef opposite Tom Hiddleston in Susanne Bier-directed mini-series “The Night Manager.” He more recently garnered critical praise for his role as Syrian asylum-seeker living on a small Scottish island in Ben Sharrock’s drama “Limbo” for which El Masry won a BAFTA Scotland acting award. El Masry also scored a role as a military chief in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Netflix confirmed the casting but declined to provide further details.
As previously reported by Variety, Salim Daw (“Oslo”) has been cast as the older incarnation of Mohamed al-Fayed.
Born in Cairo and raised in London, Amir El Masry broke out internationally in 2016 with a small standout role as a hotel chef opposite Tom Hiddleston in Susanne Bier-directed mini-series “The Night Manager.” He more recently garnered critical praise for his role as Syrian asylum-seeker living on a small Scottish island in Ben Sharrock’s drama “Limbo” for which El Masry won a BAFTA Scotland acting award. El Masry also scored a role as a military chief in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
- 6/22/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Although set in the Republic of Ireland, this slight but surprisingly powerful film will hit a raw nerve in countries all over Europe in the wake of the Ukrainian refugee crisis. More specifically, it will likely have an impact on the U.K. arthouse circuit, after the British government’s recent, controversial decision to launder asylum-seekers via a scheme deporting them to Rwanda for processing.
Why its producers chose Tribeca as a launchpad, then, is a bit of mystery, and if it’s down to star power, any stray Marvel fans drawn by Letitia Wright’s MCU pedigree certainly won’t be in for a rollercoaster thrill-ride.
That said, anyone attuned to its creative team’s integrity and the film’s careful, considered tempo will likely be sympathetic to its concerns.
Wright, deceptively superb in an unshowy, understated way, stars as Aisha Osagie, a young Nigerian woman in her 20s...
Why its producers chose Tribeca as a launchpad, then, is a bit of mystery, and if it’s down to star power, any stray Marvel fans drawn by Letitia Wright’s MCU pedigree certainly won’t be in for a rollercoaster thrill-ride.
That said, anyone attuned to its creative team’s integrity and the film’s careful, considered tempo will likely be sympathetic to its concerns.
Wright, deceptively superb in an unshowy, understated way, stars as Aisha Osagie, a young Nigerian woman in her 20s...
- 6/12/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Park Chan-wook’s anticipated Cannes Competition title Decision to Leave has sold to arthouse streamer, theatrical distributor and producer Mubi in what we understand to be the company’s biggest film deal to date.
Mubi, which has made waves in the past 12 months for its voracious appetite for significant festival movies and its acquisition of German sales firm The Match Factory, has picked up Decision to Leave for North America, the UK, Ireland, Turkey, and India.
The film will be released theatrically in the U.S. and the UK with a fall 2022 date planned, followed by an exclusive Mubi streaming release. Parasite outfit Cj is handling international sales and negotiated the deal with the growing arthouse player.
Korean-language thriller Decision to Leave charts the aftermath of a man falling from a mountain peak to his death. The detective in charge of the investigation, Hae-joon, comes to meet the dead man’s wife Seo-rae.
Mubi, which has made waves in the past 12 months for its voracious appetite for significant festival movies and its acquisition of German sales firm The Match Factory, has picked up Decision to Leave for North America, the UK, Ireland, Turkey, and India.
The film will be released theatrically in the U.S. and the UK with a fall 2022 date planned, followed by an exclusive Mubi streaming release. Parasite outfit Cj is handling international sales and negotiated the deal with the growing arthouse player.
Korean-language thriller Decision to Leave charts the aftermath of a man falling from a mountain peak to his death. The detective in charge of the investigation, Hae-joon, comes to meet the dead man’s wife Seo-rae.
- 4/28/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The ceremony is set to take place on February 22.
Aleem Khan’s After Love, Ben Sharrock’s Limbo and Henry Blake’s County Lines are among the titles nominated for the UK and Ireland’s Casting Directors’ Guild’s (CDG) Casting Awards 2022.
Shaheen Baig has three nominations across two different categories.
Scroll down for nominees
Baig has been shortlisted for best casting in an independent film (under £3m) for her work on Khan’s debut After Love, starring Joanna Scanlan and Nasser Memarzia; and alongside Jonny Boutwood for Billie Piper’s directorial debut Rare Beasts, with a cast including Piper,...
Aleem Khan’s After Love, Ben Sharrock’s Limbo and Henry Blake’s County Lines are among the titles nominated for the UK and Ireland’s Casting Directors’ Guild’s (CDG) Casting Awards 2022.
Shaheen Baig has three nominations across two different categories.
Scroll down for nominees
Baig has been shortlisted for best casting in an independent film (under £3m) for her work on Khan’s debut After Love, starring Joanna Scanlan and Nasser Memarzia; and alongside Jonny Boutwood for Billie Piper’s directorial debut Rare Beasts, with a cast including Piper,...
- 1/18/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
When Vikash Bhai read the script for “Limbo” — Ben Sharrock’s film about refugees stuck on a Scottish island desperately awaiting permission to stay in the United Kingdom — he was struck by the “honesty, the heart and the humor.”
While Bhai was raised in Leicester, England, the character of Farhad, a pop culture-loving Afghani, struck several chords with him: growing up the son of an Indian immigrant and single mother, he knew what it was like to feel like an outsider with the world you dream of — in his case, the drama schools in London — in sight, but just out of reach.
Yet he also related to Farhad’s indestructible optimism, which overrides any persisting sadness: “My mother is my inspiration — she always had hope and that’s where I drew the bravery in Farhad’s character from,” he says. “It’s an homage to my mom.”
Determined to land the role,...
While Bhai was raised in Leicester, England, the character of Farhad, a pop culture-loving Afghani, struck several chords with him: growing up the son of an Indian immigrant and single mother, he knew what it was like to feel like an outsider with the world you dream of — in his case, the drama schools in London — in sight, but just out of reach.
Yet he also related to Farhad’s indestructible optimism, which overrides any persisting sadness: “My mother is my inspiration — she always had hope and that’s where I drew the bravery in Farhad’s character from,” he says. “It’s an homage to my mom.”
Determined to land the role,...
- 1/14/2022
- by Stuart Miller
- Variety Film + TV
From Petite Maman to The Father to The Lost Daughter, our critic lists his top films of 2021 – and surveys the year in cinema. Have your say in the comments
This was the year that the cinema emerged, blinking, from its enforced hibernation, and the new James Bond film, which was beginning to feel like some sort of commercial or cultural myth, actually came out to tumultuous box office business. International film festivals were once again happening in reality. And some old debates and quarrels have been revived. Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux, who has decided against scheduling any films that did not have a big-screen cinema release, pointedly asked his audience at the opening press conference if Netflix has ever nurtured any directors from the beginning of their career.
Answer came there none – although Twitter was lively on the subject afterwards. But maybe 2021 was the time to put this argument to bed.
This was the year that the cinema emerged, blinking, from its enforced hibernation, and the new James Bond film, which was beginning to feel like some sort of commercial or cultural myth, actually came out to tumultuous box office business. International film festivals were once again happening in reality. And some old debates and quarrels have been revived. Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux, who has decided against scheduling any films that did not have a big-screen cinema release, pointedly asked his audience at the opening press conference if Netflix has ever nurtured any directors from the beginning of their career.
Answer came there none – although Twitter was lively on the subject afterwards. But maybe 2021 was the time to put this argument to bed.
- 12/16/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Nominations have been unveiled for the 42nd London Critics’ Circle Film Awards. Check out the full list below.
Jane Campion’s The Power Of The Dog leads the field with nine nominations, followed by Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter which received 6 (a Netflix one-two). Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir Part II, released by Picturehouse in the UK, followed with five.
This year’s contenders feature a notably healthy representation of female filmmakers, with the top three most nominated films all helmed by women directors.
More than 180 critics across print, online and broadcast media voted for this year’s noms, which were unveiled by British actors Joanna Vanderham and Gwilym Lee. The ceremony will take place on February 6, 2022, at London’s May Fair Hotel.
“Even though cinemas were closed for half of this year, our members were always watching films,” says Rich Cline, chair of the Critics’ Circle Film Section.
Jane Campion’s The Power Of The Dog leads the field with nine nominations, followed by Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter which received 6 (a Netflix one-two). Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir Part II, released by Picturehouse in the UK, followed with five.
This year’s contenders feature a notably healthy representation of female filmmakers, with the top three most nominated films all helmed by women directors.
More than 180 critics across print, online and broadcast media voted for this year’s noms, which were unveiled by British actors Joanna Vanderham and Gwilym Lee. The ceremony will take place on February 6, 2022, at London’s May Fair Hotel.
“Even though cinemas were closed for half of this year, our members were always watching films,” says Rich Cline, chair of the Critics’ Circle Film Section.
- 12/16/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Farhana Bhula will join Film4 in January.
The UK’s Film4 has appointed Farhana Bhula as a senior commissioning executive, with a January start date. She joins from the BFI Film Fund where she is presently a senior development and production executive.
Bhula will commission and oversee production on new projects, as well as co-managing the development team alongside fellow senior commissioning executive David Kimbangi and head of development Ben Coren. She will report to Film4’s creative director Ollie Madden.
Bhula replaces Julia Oh, who returns to the US after five years at Film4 to take up a role...
The UK’s Film4 has appointed Farhana Bhula as a senior commissioning executive, with a January start date. She joins from the BFI Film Fund where she is presently a senior development and production executive.
Bhula will commission and oversee production on new projects, as well as co-managing the development team alongside fellow senior commissioning executive David Kimbangi and head of development Ben Coren. She will report to Film4’s creative director Ollie Madden.
Bhula replaces Julia Oh, who returns to the US after five years at Film4 to take up a role...
- 11/15/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has won this year’s $60,000 Sydney Film Prize for There Is No Evil, beating out 11 other Sydney Film Festival (Sff) competition films.
The winner of last year’s Berlinale Golden Bear triumphed amongst a field that included Leah Purcell’s The Drovers Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Asia Pacific Screen Awards winner, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, and Ben Sharrock’s Limbo, which was given a special mention.
Designed to examine the impact of capital punishment on Iranian society, the 2020 drama follows four thematically linked stories about individuals facing complex dilemmas.
In awarding the prize at yesterday’s ceremony at the State Theatre, Sff Jury president David Michôd said the There Is No Evil was “adventurous with form and genre, beautifully performed and realised with a deft touch for simple, elegant filmmaking craft”.
“Picking a winner from a collection of films as diverse as this one is never easy,...
The winner of last year’s Berlinale Golden Bear triumphed amongst a field that included Leah Purcell’s The Drovers Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, Asia Pacific Screen Awards winner, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, and Ben Sharrock’s Limbo, which was given a special mention.
Designed to examine the impact of capital punishment on Iranian society, the 2020 drama follows four thematically linked stories about individuals facing complex dilemmas.
In awarding the prize at yesterday’s ceremony at the State Theatre, Sff Jury president David Michôd said the There Is No Evil was “adventurous with form and genre, beautifully performed and realised with a deft touch for simple, elegant filmmaking craft”.
“Picking a winner from a collection of films as diverse as this one is never easy,...
- 11/15/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Ben Sharrock’s Limbo received a special mention.
Iranian writer/director Mohammad Rasoulof’s There Is No Evil has won the A$60,000 Sydney Film Prize, and UK writer/director Ben Sharrock’s Limbo received a special mention.
The Sydney Film Prize is awarded to the most “audacious, cutting-edge and courageous” feature in Sydney Film Festival’s official competition line-up. Other films vying for the prize at this year’s festival included The Hand Of God, Flee and Drive My Car.
Made up of four stories and containing much moral complexity, There Is No Evil looks at how the existence of capital punishment profoundly affects society.
Iranian writer/director Mohammad Rasoulof’s There Is No Evil has won the A$60,000 Sydney Film Prize, and UK writer/director Ben Sharrock’s Limbo received a special mention.
The Sydney Film Prize is awarded to the most “audacious, cutting-edge and courageous” feature in Sydney Film Festival’s official competition line-up. Other films vying for the prize at this year’s festival included The Hand Of God, Flee and Drive My Car.
Made up of four stories and containing much moral complexity, There Is No Evil looks at how the existence of capital punishment profoundly affects society.
- 11/14/2021
- by Sandy George
- ScreenDaily
Julia Oh has been hired by 2Am, the full-service production and management company founded by Christine D’Souza Gelb, David Hinojosa and Kevin Rowe, as a producer.
Oh will be based in NY with the company’s production team, working alongside Hinojosa and Zach Nutman.
2Am’s film and TV production division, overseen by Hinojosa, is currently in post-production on Halina Reijn’s English-language debut, Bodies Bodies Bodies, starring Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott, and Pete Davidson, and on Emmy winner Billy Porter’s directorial debut, What If?, at Orion Pictures. It’s also finishing principal photography on Past Lives, a feature drama written and directed by Celine Song.
The company’s management division represents such acclaimed writers and directors as Amalia Ulman (El Planeta), Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version), Ari Aster (Hereditary), Janicza Bravo (Zola), Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play), Kota Eberhardt (X-Men: Dark Phoenix), Leilah Weinraub (The Shakedown...
Oh will be based in NY with the company’s production team, working alongside Hinojosa and Zach Nutman.
2Am’s film and TV production division, overseen by Hinojosa, is currently in post-production on Halina Reijn’s English-language debut, Bodies Bodies Bodies, starring Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Rachel Sennott, and Pete Davidson, and on Emmy winner Billy Porter’s directorial debut, What If?, at Orion Pictures. It’s also finishing principal photography on Past Lives, a feature drama written and directed by Celine Song.
The company’s management division represents such acclaimed writers and directors as Amalia Ulman (El Planeta), Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version), Ari Aster (Hereditary), Janicza Bravo (Zola), Jeremy O. Harris (Slave Play), Kota Eberhardt (X-Men: Dark Phoenix), Leilah Weinraub (The Shakedown...
- 11/11/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Limbo, Focus Features’ darkly comic refugee drama that landed a Cannes 2020 badge, has emerged with the most number of 2021 BAFTA Scotland awards nominations.
Unveiled on Wednesday, they saw Ben Sharrock’s sophomore feature come away five nominations, including for best film, best actor for both Amir El-Masry and Vikash Bhai, best director and best writer film/TV. Sharrock, El-Masry, Bhai and producer Irune Gurtabai are all first-time nominees.
In the director category, Sharrock goes up against Kevin Macdonald, nominated for The Mauritanian (adding to the five BAFTA nominations it received earlier this year), and Eva Riley for Perfect 10.
Elsewhere, Tilda Swinton was ...
Unveiled on Wednesday, they saw Ben Sharrock’s sophomore feature come away five nominations, including for best film, best actor for both Amir El-Masry and Vikash Bhai, best director and best writer film/TV. Sharrock, El-Masry, Bhai and producer Irune Gurtabai are all first-time nominees.
In the director category, Sharrock goes up against Kevin Macdonald, nominated for The Mauritanian (adding to the five BAFTA nominations it received earlier this year), and Eva Riley for Perfect 10.
Elsewhere, Tilda Swinton was ...
- 10/13/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Limbo, Focus Features’ darkly comic refugee drama that landed a Cannes 2020 badge, has emerged with the most number of 2021 BAFTA Scotland awards nominations.
Unveiled on Wednesday, they saw Ben Sharrock’s sophomore feature come away five nominations, including for best film, best actor for both Amir El-Masry and Vikash Bhai, best director and best writer film/TV. Sharrock, El-Masry, Bhai and producer Irune Gurtabai are all first-time nominees.
In the director category, Sharrock goes up against Kevin Macdonald, nominated for The Mauritanian (adding to the five BAFTA nominations it received earlier this year), and Eva Riley for Perfect 10.
Elsewhere, Tilda Swinton was ...
Unveiled on Wednesday, they saw Ben Sharrock’s sophomore feature come away five nominations, including for best film, best actor for both Amir El-Masry and Vikash Bhai, best director and best writer film/TV. Sharrock, El-Masry, Bhai and producer Irune Gurtabai are all first-time nominees.
In the director category, Sharrock goes up against Kevin Macdonald, nominated for The Mauritanian (adding to the five BAFTA nominations it received earlier this year), and Eva Riley for Perfect 10.
Elsewhere, Tilda Swinton was ...
- 10/13/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Ben Sharrock's Limbo is exclusively showing on Mubi in the United Kingdom and Ireland starting September 23, 2021 in the series The New Auteurs.An urgent yet deliberately quirky film, Ben Sharrock’s brilliant Limbo is superficially another fish out of water story. Set in a remote part of Scotland, it resembles the old Ealing Comedies, like Whisky Galore!, but with incredibly dark social realism running through it. The fish is Syrian asylum-seeker Omar who, along with fellow refugees from different countries, has been sent to a place so unwelcoming and bleak—a local place for local people—that desperation quickly sets in. Omar has his trusty instrument, his grandfather’s oud, for company and a determination and outlook that sustains him, but it’s definitely not a rose-tinted story. The cherry on the top of this drama is casting Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen) as the woman helping them learn customs and language.
- 10/8/2021
- MUBI
Ben Sharrock’s feature scooped Hitchcock d’Or Ciné and the public prize feature film award
Ben Sharrock’s Limbo has won the Hitchcock d’Or Ciné and the public prize feature film award at the 32nd edition of Dinard Festival of British Film, which took place as a hybrid event from September 29 to October 3.
Sharrock’s Bifa award-winning sophomore feature stars Screen Star of Tomorrow Amir El-Masry as a promising young musician who has fled the conflict in Syria, and finds himself stranded with a group of other refugees on a remote Scottish island.
Nika McGuigan received a posthumous...
Ben Sharrock’s Limbo has won the Hitchcock d’Or Ciné and the public prize feature film award at the 32nd edition of Dinard Festival of British Film, which took place as a hybrid event from September 29 to October 3.
Sharrock’s Bifa award-winning sophomore feature stars Screen Star of Tomorrow Amir El-Masry as a promising young musician who has fled the conflict in Syria, and finds himself stranded with a group of other refugees on a remote Scottish island.
Nika McGuigan received a posthumous...
- 10/7/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
With Nsw reopening for the fully vaccinated, Sydney Film Festival is set to finally go ahead, with a line-up that director Nashen Moodley believes is one the most diverse and exciting in the event’s 68-year history.
Traditionally held in June, this year has seen the festival pushed back twice, initially to August, and then November.
Yet when the Delta outbreak nixed the August edition, it was unclear that the festival would realistically be held at all. Indeed, Sff will mark the first major festival event to occur in Sydney’s CBD post-lockdown, a notion that fills Moodley with “excitement but trepidation”.
The move to November meant the festival was tasked with reconfirming every title that had been programmed so far. Overall, it lost about 20 films, but gained almost 30, including some of the year’s most anticipated out of Venice and Toronto.
Among the new additions are Jane Campion’s...
Traditionally held in June, this year has seen the festival pushed back twice, initially to August, and then November.
Yet when the Delta outbreak nixed the August edition, it was unclear that the festival would realistically be held at all. Indeed, Sff will mark the first major festival event to occur in Sydney’s CBD post-lockdown, a notion that fills Moodley with “excitement but trepidation”.
The move to November meant the festival was tasked with reconfirming every title that had been programmed so far. Overall, it lost about 20 films, but gained almost 30, including some of the year’s most anticipated out of Venice and Toronto.
Among the new additions are Jane Campion’s...
- 10/6/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
The programme is now in its seventh year and will run October 8-11.
The British Film Institute (BFI) Network has announced the 12 filmmakers who will take part in the London Film Festival’s (Lff) annual professional development programme, Network@Lff.
The programme, now in its seventh year, is supported by the BFI with National Lottery funding, and will take place from October 8-11.
The 12 filmmakers were selected from 360 applicants. The BFI said the programme “celebrates difference in approach and perspective, and seeks out filmmakers looking to disrupt conventions”.
This year’s line-up includes Bifa-nominated writer, director and producer Jessi Gutch,...
The British Film Institute (BFI) Network has announced the 12 filmmakers who will take part in the London Film Festival’s (Lff) annual professional development programme, Network@Lff.
The programme, now in its seventh year, is supported by the BFI with National Lottery funding, and will take place from October 8-11.
The 12 filmmakers were selected from 360 applicants. The BFI said the programme “celebrates difference in approach and perspective, and seeks out filmmakers looking to disrupt conventions”.
This year’s line-up includes Bifa-nominated writer, director and producer Jessi Gutch,...
- 10/5/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The programme is now in its seventh year and will run October 8-11.
The British Film Institute (BFI) has announced the 12 filmmakers who will take part in the London Film Festival’s (Lff) annual professional development programme, Network@Lff.
The programme, now in its seventh year, is supported by the BFI with National Lottery funding, and will take place from October 8-11.
The 12 filmmakers were selected from 360 applicants. The BFI said the programme “celebrates difference in approach and perspective, and seeks out filmmakers looking to disrupt conventions”.
This year’s line-up includes Bifa-nominated writer, director and producer Jessi Gutch, whose...
The British Film Institute (BFI) has announced the 12 filmmakers who will take part in the London Film Festival’s (Lff) annual professional development programme, Network@Lff.
The programme, now in its seventh year, is supported by the BFI with National Lottery funding, and will take place from October 8-11.
The 12 filmmakers were selected from 360 applicants. The BFI said the programme “celebrates difference in approach and perspective, and seeks out filmmakers looking to disrupt conventions”.
This year’s line-up includes Bifa-nominated writer, director and producer Jessi Gutch, whose...
- 10/5/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Further new openers include ‘Wildfire’, ‘Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins’.
Blockbuster and independent titles are on releaes at UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend, with Disney debuting Shang-Chi And The Legend of the Ten Rings, and Mubi launching Leos Carax’s Cannes opener Annette.
Playing in 643 locations for Disney and made under the Marvel Studios banner, Shang-Chi And The Legend of the Ten Rings tells the story of a master of unarmed weaponry-based Kung Fu, who is forced to confront his past after being drawn into the Ten Rings organisation.
The film is a substantial step up in budget and...
Blockbuster and independent titles are on releaes at UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend, with Disney debuting Shang-Chi And The Legend of the Ten Rings, and Mubi launching Leos Carax’s Cannes opener Annette.
Playing in 643 locations for Disney and made under the Marvel Studios banner, Shang-Chi And The Legend of the Ten Rings tells the story of a master of unarmed weaponry-based Kung Fu, who is forced to confront his past after being drawn into the Ten Rings organisation.
The film is a substantial step up in budget and...
- 9/3/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The festival films will all be split across six strands, including competition titles.
Dinard Festival of British Film has set the programme and jury for its 32nd edition, which will take place from September 29 to October 3 both in-person in northern France and online.
Following the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to the pandemic, the festival returns with six new thematic strands, all exhibiting different aspects of UK and Irish film.
‘Dinard Rocks The Casbah’ presents four features exploring different musical genres – reggae, punk, britpop and techno. ‘Irish Eyes In Dinard’ includes five recent Irish features including Phyllida Lloyd’s Herself,...
Dinard Festival of British Film has set the programme and jury for its 32nd edition, which will take place from September 29 to October 3 both in-person in northern France and online.
Following the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to the pandemic, the festival returns with six new thematic strands, all exhibiting different aspects of UK and Irish film.
‘Dinard Rocks The Casbah’ presents four features exploring different musical genres – reggae, punk, britpop and techno. ‘Irish Eyes In Dinard’ includes five recent Irish features including Phyllida Lloyd’s Herself,...
- 9/1/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Since 2011, the Edinburgh Film Festival’s Talent Lab has nurtured a number of rising filmmakers through an assortment of masterclasses, workshops and individual mentoring sessions: Talents like Ben Sharrock (“Limbo”), Eva Riley (a recent winner BIFA winner for “Perfect 10”) and Rob Savage (“Host”) are alumni of the program. In 2019, however, the program yielded the Talent Lab Connects offshoot, in which a smaller selection of writers, directors and producers are given the chance to develop specific feature film or series projects with a range of industry mentors.
Now in its third year — and its second of the program taking place online — the program will be headed again by renowned U.K. script editor Kate Leys, whose recent credits include Simon Amstell’s “Benjamin,” Bart Layton’s “American Animals” and John Maclean’s “Slow West.”
Six projects have been selected for Talent Lab Connects:
“A Man at the Window”: Yorkshire-born...
Now in its third year — and its second of the program taking place online — the program will be headed again by renowned U.K. script editor Kate Leys, whose recent credits include Simon Amstell’s “Benjamin,” Bart Layton’s “American Animals” and John Maclean’s “Slow West.”
Six projects have been selected for Talent Lab Connects:
“A Man at the Window”: Yorkshire-born...
- 8/24/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Strong start for the Ryan Reynolds blockbuster.
Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Aug 13-15) Total gross to date Week 1 Free Guy (Disney) £2.39m £2.47m 1 2 The Paw Patrol Movie (Paramount) £1.26m £2.41m 1 3 The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros) £1.07m £10.8m 3 4 Jungle Cruise (Disney) £845,000 £8.5m 3 5 Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Bros) £505,000 £10.1m 4
Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.39
Disney’s Ryan Reynolds blockbuster Free Guy has opened with £2.39m to top the UK-Ireland box office this weekend.
The film scored a £3,824 average from 625 locations, and has £2.47m including previews.
This is a decent return for what is a rare ‘original’ big-budget studio film...
Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Aug 13-15) Total gross to date Week 1 Free Guy (Disney) £2.39m £2.47m 1 2 The Paw Patrol Movie (Paramount) £1.26m £2.41m 1 3 The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros) £1.07m £10.8m 3 4 Jungle Cruise (Disney) £845,000 £8.5m 3 5 Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Bros) £505,000 £10.1m 4
Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.39
Disney’s Ryan Reynolds blockbuster Free Guy has opened with £2.39m to top the UK-Ireland box office this weekend.
The film scored a £3,824 average from 625 locations, and has £2.47m including previews.
This is a decent return for what is a rare ‘original’ big-budget studio film...
- 8/16/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Cinemateca Brasileira. (WikiCommons)A devastating fire hit the Cinemateca Brasileira on July 29 and has left significant damage to the longest-running cinema institution in Brazil. In response, the workers of Cinemateca Brasileira have shared a statement regarding the continual mistreatment of facilities and staff by the government: "Without workers archives can not be preserved!" After facing unexpected budget cuts, microcinema No Evil Eye Cinema has announced a fundraising call for action and is seeking grants, foundational support, and other funding opportunities to sustain their programming and educational programs. On the Score podcast last week, composer Carter Burwell stated that "[Ethan Coen] just didn’t want to make movies anymore," in response to a question about Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth. This may mean the Coens are done working as a directing duo,...
- 8/4/2021
- MUBI
One topic that has been, and continues to be, rather contentious is that of refugees, so here’s a film that should receive plaudits purely for tackling the subject. Not only that, but Limbo manages to do so in an extremely subtle and humorous manner.
If the title of this review sounds akin to a crossword clue, then that’s pretty apt because our hero, Omar (Amir El-Masry), is a Syrian asylum seeker who finds that trying to get a foothold in a strange land can get pretty complicated.
And that strange land happens to be a quiet, remote Scottish island, where he and his fellow seekers soon attract attention, for both right and wrong reasons. Whilst the setting is fictional, filming actually took place on the islands of North and South Uist, in the Outer Hebrides, with some genuine refugees as extras.
Evidently then, writer and director Ben Sharrock...
If the title of this review sounds akin to a crossword clue, then that’s pretty apt because our hero, Omar (Amir El-Masry), is a Syrian asylum seeker who finds that trying to get a foothold in a strange land can get pretty complicated.
And that strange land happens to be a quiet, remote Scottish island, where he and his fellow seekers soon attract attention, for both right and wrong reasons. Whilst the setting is fictional, filming actually took place on the islands of North and South Uist, in the Outer Hebrides, with some genuine refugees as extras.
Evidently then, writer and director Ben Sharrock...
- 8/4/2021
- by Dan Green
- The Cultural Post
Warner Bros’ supervillain blockbuster scored a strong £3.25m.
Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (July 30-Aug 1) Total gross to date Week 1 The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros) £3.25m £3.25m 1 2 Jungle Cruise (Disney) £2.24m £2.24m 1 3 Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Bros) £1.3m £6.6m 2 4 The Croods 2: A New Age (Universal) £892,559 £4.2m 3 5 Black Widow (Disney) £786,548 £16.06m 4
Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.39
James Gunn’s supervillain blockbuster The Suicide Squad opened top of the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, with a £3.25m start.
Playing in 643 locations, the film recorded a £5,051 location average for Warner Bros.
The £3.25m total is down on the £4.8m opening...
Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (July 30-Aug 1) Total gross to date Week 1 The Suicide Squad (Warner Bros) £3.25m £3.25m 1 2 Jungle Cruise (Disney) £2.24m £2.24m 1 3 Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Bros) £1.3m £6.6m 2 4 The Croods 2: A New Age (Universal) £892,559 £4.2m 3 5 Black Widow (Disney) £786,548 £16.06m 4
Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.39
James Gunn’s supervillain blockbuster The Suicide Squad opened top of the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, with a £3.25m start.
Playing in 643 locations, the film recorded a £5,051 location average for Warner Bros.
The £3.25m total is down on the £4.8m opening...
- 8/2/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Two blockbuster openers on the same weekend.
Two blockbuster titles are vying for supremacy at cinemas in the UK and Ireland this weekend, as The Suicide Squad opens for Warner Bros against Jungle Cruise for Disney.
Opening in 643 sites, The Suicide Squad is the 10th film in the DC Extended Universe of films based on DC Comics characters. It is a standalone sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad, with a separate narrative but some of the same characters.
David Ayer, director of the first title, was set to return before switching to development on a film about the Gotham City Sirens.
Two blockbuster titles are vying for supremacy at cinemas in the UK and Ireland this weekend, as The Suicide Squad opens for Warner Bros against Jungle Cruise for Disney.
Opening in 643 sites, The Suicide Squad is the 10th film in the DC Extended Universe of films based on DC Comics characters. It is a standalone sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad, with a separate narrative but some of the same characters.
David Ayer, director of the first title, was set to return before switching to development on a film about the Gotham City Sirens.
- 7/30/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
During festival season there are always a few hidden gems that we adore that deservedly receive high-praise and one of them is Ben Sharrock’s Limbo.
The feature length debut for the Scottish writer-director is one to remember with the film receiving two BAFTA nominations this year. It comes as no surprise with the film’s great script and fantastic performance from the film’s star, Amir El-Masry.
Prepare for offbeat humour, a chicken named after Freddy Mercury and the Ross/Rachel Friends debate. We chat with Ben about the success of Limbo, filming in the Outer Hebrides and what he misses when he’s not in Scotland.
You can watch the full interview below:
Synopsis
Ben Sharrock’s critically adored Limbo is a wry, funny and poignant cross-cultural satire that subtly sews together the hardship and hope of the refugee experience. Set on a fictional remote Scottish island, it...
The feature length debut for the Scottish writer-director is one to remember with the film receiving two BAFTA nominations this year. It comes as no surprise with the film’s great script and fantastic performance from the film’s star, Amir El-Masry.
Prepare for offbeat humour, a chicken named after Freddy Mercury and the Ross/Rachel Friends debate. We chat with Ben about the success of Limbo, filming in the Outer Hebrides and what he misses when he’s not in Scotland.
You can watch the full interview below:
Synopsis
Ben Sharrock’s critically adored Limbo is a wry, funny and poignant cross-cultural satire that subtly sews together the hardship and hope of the refugee experience. Set on a fictional remote Scottish island, it...
- 7/28/2021
- by Thomas Alexander
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Limbo is released in cinemas this weekend, and it’s one of our favourite films of the year so far. Ben Sharrock has crafted a film that is moving, pertinent and political, and yet to counteract the more upsetting themes at play, it’s incredibly sweet and funny. Much of that pathos, and the film’s tricky tonality – comes through the performance of supporting lead Vikash Bhai, so needless to say, we were thrilled to have the chance to interview the actor to discuss this brilliant piece of work, while looking back over his career to date – and what the future may hold.
Watch the full interview with Vikash Bhai here:
Synopsis
Limbo is a wry and poignant observation of the refugee experience, set on a fictional remote Scottish island where a group of new arrivals await the results of their asylum claims. It centres on Omar, a young Syrian...
Watch the full interview with Vikash Bhai here:
Synopsis
Limbo is a wry and poignant observation of the refugee experience, set on a fictional remote Scottish island where a group of new arrivals await the results of their asylum claims. It centres on Omar, a young Syrian...
- 7/28/2021
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
New Scottish comedy Limbo tells the story of a Syrian refugee seeking asylum, but it’s a rare example of the UK film industry broaching the topic
“Bet you never thought you’d end up here pal, eh?” says a Scottish islander to Syrian refugee Omar in the new movie Limbo. The place looks idyllic, but if you’re an asylum seeker waiting for your application to be processed like Omar, there’s little to do there except wait. Despite Omar’s plight, and actor Amir El-Masry’s deadpan expression, Limbo is actually a dry comedy that makes us feel immensely for its subjects without patronising, caricaturing or belittling their plight. It’s a rare film indeed. And it’s worth asking why.
Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips...
“Bet you never thought you’d end up here pal, eh?” says a Scottish islander to Syrian refugee Omar in the new movie Limbo. The place looks idyllic, but if you’re an asylum seeker waiting for your application to be processed like Omar, there’s little to do there except wait. Despite Omar’s plight, and actor Amir El-Masry’s deadpan expression, Limbo is actually a dry comedy that makes us feel immensely for its subjects without patronising, caricaturing or belittling their plight. It’s a rare film indeed. And it’s worth asking why.
Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips...
- 7/26/2021
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Mubi will release Sharrock’s 2015 film ’Pikadero’ in the UK and Ireland.
UK sales outfit Film Republic has sealed deals across its slate of titles at both the Pre-Cannes Screenings and the online Cannes market, including a UK-Ireland streaming deal for Ben Sharrock’s Pikadero with Mubi.
Sharrock’s film won the award for best British feature debut at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2016, alongside awards from Zurich, Kiev and Brussels festivals.
The director has subsequently made 2020 festival hit Limbo, which was nominated for outstanding British Film and outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer at the 2021 Baftas.
UK sales outfit Film Republic has sealed deals across its slate of titles at both the Pre-Cannes Screenings and the online Cannes market, including a UK-Ireland streaming deal for Ben Sharrock’s Pikadero with Mubi.
Sharrock’s film won the award for best British feature debut at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2016, alongside awards from Zurich, Kiev and Brussels festivals.
The director has subsequently made 2020 festival hit Limbo, which was nominated for outstanding British Film and outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer at the 2021 Baftas.
- 7/14/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
This story about Cannes’ 2020 selection first appeared in TheWrap’s special digital Cannes magazine.
Last year, Cannes announced a list of 62 new feature films as its official selection for 2020, a year in which the festival itself didn’t take place. Bearing the prestigious imprimatur of the festival, the movies had a variety of releases. Here are some of the ones with the highest profiles since being singled out by Cannes.
“The French Dispatch” / Searchlight Pictures
Faithful
“DNA,” Maïwenn
Premiered at the Deauville Film Festival in September 2020, released by Netflix in the U.S. in December and in France in May.
“True Mothers,” Naomi Kawase
Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2020; submitted as Japan’s entry in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category.
“Peninsula,” Yeon Sang-Ho
Released theatrically in South Korea in July 2020 and in the U.S. (as Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula) in August.
“Another Round,...
Last year, Cannes announced a list of 62 new feature films as its official selection for 2020, a year in which the festival itself didn’t take place. Bearing the prestigious imprimatur of the festival, the movies had a variety of releases. Here are some of the ones with the highest profiles since being singled out by Cannes.
“The French Dispatch” / Searchlight Pictures
Faithful
“DNA,” Maïwenn
Premiered at the Deauville Film Festival in September 2020, released by Netflix in the U.S. in December and in France in May.
“True Mothers,” Naomi Kawase
Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2020; submitted as Japan’s entry in the Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category.
“Peninsula,” Yeon Sang-Ho
Released theatrically in South Korea in July 2020 and in the U.S. (as Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula) in August.
“Another Round,...
- 7/6/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Mubi has acquired all UK and Ireland rights for Leos Carax’s Annette which is due to open the Cannes Film Festival in competition on July 6, a day ahead of its French release. The distributor and streamer has set a theatrical UK and Ireland release on September 3. This is the second recent UK deal for Mubi on a Cannes title, following its pick-up of Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta last month.
The long-in-the-works musical drama stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, along with Simon Helberg and Belgian singer-songwriter Angèle in her acting debut.
Set in contemporary Los Angeles, Annette tells the story of Henry (Driver), a stand-up comedian with a fierce sense of humor who falls in love with Ann (Cotillard), a world-renowned opera singer. Under the spotlight, the pair forms a passionate and glamorous couple. With the birth of their first child, the titular Annette,...
The long-in-the-works musical drama stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, along with Simon Helberg and Belgian singer-songwriter Angèle in her acting debut.
Set in contemporary Los Angeles, Annette tells the story of Henry (Driver), a stand-up comedian with a fierce sense of humor who falls in love with Ann (Cotillard), a world-renowned opera singer. Under the spotlight, the pair forms a passionate and glamorous couple. With the birth of their first child, the titular Annette,...
- 6/10/2021
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Subversive period drama set to play in Competition at Cannes.
London-based streaming platform and distributor Mubi has secured all UK-Ireland rights to Paul Verhoeven’s period drama Benedetta, which is set to premiere in Competition at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival in July.
The deal was struck with Pathé International, which is handling world sales, and Mubi plans to release the film theatrically. The film will receive its world premiere at Cannes on July 9 and release in French cinemas on the same day.
Inspired by true events, Benedetta is set in the late 17th century and stars Virginie Efira as...
London-based streaming platform and distributor Mubi has secured all UK-Ireland rights to Paul Verhoeven’s period drama Benedetta, which is set to premiere in Competition at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival in July.
The deal was struck with Pathé International, which is handling world sales, and Mubi plans to release the film theatrically. The film will receive its world premiere at Cannes on July 9 and release in French cinemas on the same day.
Inspired by true events, Benedetta is set in the late 17th century and stars Virginie Efira as...
- 5/25/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Photo: ‘Limbo’/Mubi About ‘Limbo’ If you’ve been following the independent film circuit this past year, you’ve most likely heard of the film ‘Limbo,’ which was just released yesterday in theaters after a 2020 premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and a successful festival run. The film is a debut feature from writer-director Ben Sharrock and has garnered many accolades, including two recent BAFTA nominations for Outstanding British Film of the Year and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer. ‘Limbo’ comes at a particular moment in time worldwide where humanitarian crises are beginning to make their way into films in more honest, authentic, and poignant ways. As Sharrock told Entertainment Weekly in an interview, “This film is not about refugees, it's about human beings. The point of it is no matter where you're from, you can relate to these people just as people." Related article:...
- 5/4/2021
- by Lana Nguyen
- Hollywood Insider - Substance & Meaningful Entertainment
Displaced men dream of Europe but are stuck on a Scottish island in Ben Sharrock’s spot-on sophomore feature
“A musician who doesn’t play music is dead” is an aphorism that gets mentioned several times in “Limbo,” but Syrian oud player Omar isn’t dead; he’s just stuck on an island off the coast of Scotland, hoping for asylum.
In writer-director Ben Sharrock’s exquisitely crafted sophomore feature, Omar is one of several men from around the world caught between past and future, between despair and hope, sustained only by the possibility of leaving families and cultures behind and creating a new home for themselves. In the meantime, there is waiting, there are English lessons, and there are “Friends” reruns.
Omar spends most of the film carrying around his bulky oud without being able to play it — like most of the metaphors in “Limbo,” it’s more graceful...
“A musician who doesn’t play music is dead” is an aphorism that gets mentioned several times in “Limbo,” but Syrian oud player Omar isn’t dead; he’s just stuck on an island off the coast of Scotland, hoping for asylum.
In writer-director Ben Sharrock’s exquisitely crafted sophomore feature, Omar is one of several men from around the world caught between past and future, between despair and hope, sustained only by the possibility of leaving families and cultures behind and creating a new home for themselves. In the meantime, there is waiting, there are English lessons, and there are “Friends” reruns.
Omar spends most of the film carrying around his bulky oud without being able to play it — like most of the metaphors in “Limbo,” it’s more graceful...
- 4/30/2021
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Vikash Bhai (left) stars as “Farhad” and Amir El-Masry (right) stars as “Omar” in director Ben Sharrock’s Limbo, a Focus Features release. Cr. Courtesy of Colin Tennant / Focus Features
A young Syrian musician and a motley collection of other refugees wait on a remote Scottish island while the British government decides their asylum claims, in writer/director Ben Sharrock’s wry funny, poignant Limbo. Limbo paints a dryly comic, often absurdist tale of life in limbo, but it also takes us to unexpected places, just as their journey took to them to this unlikely spot.
Limbo features excellent direction, a tightly-crafted script, fine performances and stunning photography of the harsh, windswept island landscape. This smart, well-crafted film, both funny and touching, was a BAFTA nominee and a winner at the British Independent Film Awards and the Cairo International Film Festival.
The British government has sent this group of refugees to a distant,...
A young Syrian musician and a motley collection of other refugees wait on a remote Scottish island while the British government decides their asylum claims, in writer/director Ben Sharrock’s wry funny, poignant Limbo. Limbo paints a dryly comic, often absurdist tale of life in limbo, but it also takes us to unexpected places, just as their journey took to them to this unlikely spot.
Limbo features excellent direction, a tightly-crafted script, fine performances and stunning photography of the harsh, windswept island landscape. This smart, well-crafted film, both funny and touching, was a BAFTA nominee and a winner at the British Independent Film Awards and the Cairo International Film Festival.
The British government has sent this group of refugees to a distant,...
- 4/30/2021
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
"I cannot be myself back home." I need to write about this film because it's the best film I've seen in 2021 so far, and I've been thinking about it all the time since watching. Limbo is a dark comedy about the refugee experience in the UK written & directed by British filmmaker Ben Sharrock, and it was initially supposed to premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival last year (before it was cancelled). Instead, it premiered at the Toronto, San Sebastian, Zurich, and London Film Festivals in the fall, and it has already been earning rave reviews. I'm so glad I finally caught up with it. Limbo would be my top pick for the Palme d'Or if Cannes had happened, really truly. I honestly want to drop the m word and call this a masterpiece. I loved it so much. It's perfect, there's not a thing to change about it. It even...
- 4/30/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Reflecting on the complexity of the movement of refugees who are seeking asylum in foreign lands has been a long-held passion for filmmaker Ben Sharrock. With his upcoming second feature film, ‘Limbo,’ which he wrote and directed, the filmmaker shared his dedication to contemplating the trials and tribulations of refugees by offering audiences a wry […]
The post Video Interview: Ben Sharrock Talks Limbo (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Video Interview: Ben Sharrock Talks Limbo (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 4/28/2021
- by Karen Benardello
- ShockYa
The plight of Middle Eastern refugees awaiting asylum in the West is given a mordantly absurdist edge in Limbo, a tart socio-political tale in which the urgency of distant tragedies is siphoned into a timeless setting in the Outer Hebrides, where almost nothing ever happens. The result resembles a Samuel Beckett-like piece rewritten by Bill Forsyth, a combination that squeezes mirth out of cold stones. Selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival that never happened, this BAFTA-nominated Focus Features acquisition ended up premiering in Toronto and will now be released domestically on April 30.
This second feature from British director Ben Sharrock, whose debut was the little-seen but well-reviewed 2015 Pikadero, about a young couple weathering an economic crisis in Spain, similarly places its protagonists in perilous straits not of their own making. There could scarcely be a less noticeable place in the UK to sequester political refugees than in the sparsely...
This second feature from British director Ben Sharrock, whose debut was the little-seen but well-reviewed 2015 Pikadero, about a young couple weathering an economic crisis in Spain, similarly places its protagonists in perilous straits not of their own making. There could scarcely be a less noticeable place in the UK to sequester political refugees than in the sparsely...
- 4/28/2021
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
Immigrant Song: The Personal is Political in Sharrock’s Quietly Sincere Portrait of Asylum Seeker
The plight of the political asylum seeker is a complex situation mired in specific bureaucratic underpinnings depending, of course, on where someone is coming from and where they hope to get to. Like the title of a famed Joyce Carol Oates story, “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” are the simple questions of which the answers to yield a formidable, labyrinthine waiting game, evoked succinctly in the title of Scottish filmmaker Ben Sharrock’s sophomore film, Limbo.…...
The plight of the political asylum seeker is a complex situation mired in specific bureaucratic underpinnings depending, of course, on where someone is coming from and where they hope to get to. Like the title of a famed Joyce Carol Oates story, “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” are the simple questions of which the answers to yield a formidable, labyrinthine waiting game, evoked succinctly in the title of Scottish filmmaker Ben Sharrock’s sophomore film, Limbo.…...
- 4/27/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Considering how dire last summer was for theatrical exhibition and the perpetually-in-flux release calendar, we opted to forgo our standard preview of the season. However, with theaters beginning to reopen across the country and promising releases on the horizon, there’s thankfully enough to warrant a summer movie preview this year. While potentially worthwhile studio offerings are still a bit slim, there’s still plenty to see over the next four months. As a note, while May usually indicates the start of the season, we’ve included a handful of films arriving on the last day of April, this Friday, that will roll out over the next month.
Check out our picks below and return for monthly updates as more is sure to be added to the calendar.
About Endlessness (Roy Andersson; April 30)
“What should I do now that I have lost my faith?” is the question that animates About Endlessness...
Check out our picks below and return for monthly updates as more is sure to be added to the calendar.
About Endlessness (Roy Andersson; April 30)
“What should I do now that I have lost my faith?” is the question that animates About Endlessness...
- 4/27/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
In Ben Sharrock’s second feature “Limbo,” the compositions
are frequently flat. Miraculously, though, the characters contained within them
are anything but. The neatly coiffed geometry of Nick Cooke’s
photography immediately jumps out, recalling masters of the tableau like Elia
Suleiman or Aki Kaurismäki. As the camera stilly observes a seated
crowd of refugees uninspired by a cultural immersion seminar, Sharrock’s offbeat
perspective announces itself.
Continue reading ‘Limbo’: Ben Sharrock’s Deadpan Humor Makes This Refugee Story Come Alive [Review] at The Playlist.
are frequently flat. Miraculously, though, the characters contained within them
are anything but. The neatly coiffed geometry of Nick Cooke’s
photography immediately jumps out, recalling masters of the tableau like Elia
Suleiman or Aki Kaurismäki. As the camera stilly observes a seated
crowd of refugees uninspired by a cultural immersion seminar, Sharrock’s offbeat
perspective announces itself.
Continue reading ‘Limbo’: Ben Sharrock’s Deadpan Humor Makes This Refugee Story Come Alive [Review] at The Playlist.
- 4/23/2021
- by Marshall Shaffer
- The Playlist
Six projects include upcoming titles produced by Jack Tarling among others.
Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has unveiled the six projects selected for its film and TV development programme, which will take place online for a second year.
The third edition of Talent Lab Connects (TLC) will run from April to December 2021 and includes script editing and mentoring support, with all workshops and mentoring taking place remotely due to pandemic restrictions.
Story editor Kate Leys will head up the group of industry mentors guiding the selected teams towards development of a feature film or serial drama project.
The six projects...
Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has unveiled the six projects selected for its film and TV development programme, which will take place online for a second year.
The third edition of Talent Lab Connects (TLC) will run from April to December 2021 and includes script editing and mentoring support, with all workshops and mentoring taking place remotely due to pandemic restrictions.
Story editor Kate Leys will head up the group of industry mentors guiding the selected teams towards development of a feature film or serial drama project.
The six projects...
- 4/15/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The Ee BAFTA Film Awards officially took place on 11 April 2021, just a few months ahead of the television awards ceremony, which will be held later this year. On 9 March, the nominees for each film category were announced, including the highly anticipated Rising Star award, which previously saw Top Boy star Michael Ward take the win back in 2020.
Strong contenders for this year's awards ceremony included Nomadland and coming-of-age drama Rocks both with seven nominations, followed by Minari with six total nominations. Riz Ahmed's Sound of Metal was nominated for three awards, including a nomination for Ahmed himself as best actor.
On 10 April, a number of the award winners, including casting, costume design, and British short animation, were announced in a small ceremony hosted by Clara Amfo.
Check out the full list of winners ahead.
Best Film
Winner: Nomadland
The Father
The Mauritanian
Promising Young Woman
The Trial of the...
Strong contenders for this year's awards ceremony included Nomadland and coming-of-age drama Rocks both with seven nominations, followed by Minari with six total nominations. Riz Ahmed's Sound of Metal was nominated for three awards, including a nomination for Ahmed himself as best actor.
On 10 April, a number of the award winners, including casting, costume design, and British short animation, were announced in a small ceremony hosted by Clara Amfo.
Check out the full list of winners ahead.
Best Film
Winner: Nomadland
The Father
The Mauritanian
Promising Young Woman
The Trial of the...
- 4/11/2021
- by Navi Ahluwalia
- Popsugar.com
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