Exclusive: Anima, the Filipino studio behind Venice winner On The Job 2: The Missing 8 and Sundance winner Leonor Will Never Die, is joining with Project 8 Projects to co-produce Antoinette Jadaone’s teenage pregnancy drama Sunshine.
Maris Racal stars in the film, marking her third collaboration with Jadaone. The story follows a young gymnast who discovers she is pregnant on the week of the national team tryouts. On her way to a seller of illegal abortion drugs, she meets a mysterious girl who eerily talks and thinks like her.
Currently in post-production, the film is a follow-up to Jadaone’s Fan Girl (2020), which played at Tokyo International Film Festival and Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival main competition.
Jadaone is known for both indie and mainstream films in the Philippines. She directed one of the highest-grossing indie films in Philippine cinema history, That Thing Called Tadhana (2014), which also played widely at...
Maris Racal stars in the film, marking her third collaboration with Jadaone. The story follows a young gymnast who discovers she is pregnant on the week of the national team tryouts. On her way to a seller of illegal abortion drugs, she meets a mysterious girl who eerily talks and thinks like her.
Currently in post-production, the film is a follow-up to Jadaone’s Fan Girl (2020), which played at Tokyo International Film Festival and Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival main competition.
Jadaone is known for both indie and mainstream films in the Philippines. She directed one of the highest-grossing indie films in Philippine cinema history, That Thing Called Tadhana (2014), which also played widely at...
- 3/11/2024
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Sam Manacsa worked as Art Director on award-winning films such as Carlo Francisco Manatad's “Whether the Weather Is Fine”. Her short film, “If People Such as We Cease to Exist” (2016), was selected at Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Competition. “Cross My Heart and Hope To Die”was selected to premiere at the 80th La Biennale Venice International Film Festival in the official Orizzonti Short Films Competition and was later screened in Qcinema. The short has already received a number of awards from all over the world, while it is also worth mentioning that a number of filmmakers are also involved in an all-star production that also includes Yov Moor as colorist.
Cross My Heart and Hope to Die screened at Qcinema
The movie begins with a scene that would be laughably absurd if it was not so shockingly dramatic, essentially setting the tone for the film and justifying a number of...
Cross My Heart and Hope to Die screened at Qcinema
The movie begins with a scene that would be laughably absurd if it was not so shockingly dramatic, essentially setting the tone for the film and justifying a number of...
- 12/21/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Selection includes new projects from prize winning directors Martika Ramirez Escobar, Leonardo Martinelli and Le Bao.
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)’s Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) has selected ten feature film projects for its 2023 Script and Project Development Support scheme.
The ten projects, which will receive a grant of €10,000 to support their development, were selected from more than 760 applications. The fund aims to support new and diverse voices from across the globe, mainly backing those on their debut or second fiction feature projects.
Filipino director Martika Ramirez Escobar follows her Sundance-winning Leonor Will Never Die (2022) with Daughters Of The Sea,...
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)’s Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) has selected ten feature film projects for its 2023 Script and Project Development Support scheme.
The ten projects, which will receive a grant of €10,000 to support their development, were selected from more than 760 applications. The fund aims to support new and diverse voices from across the globe, mainly backing those on their debut or second fiction feature projects.
Filipino director Martika Ramirez Escobar follows her Sundance-winning Leonor Will Never Die (2022) with Daughters Of The Sea,...
- 11/9/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Projects by Rima Das and Emma Kawawada also among 30 titles set to be pitched.
South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has unveiled the 30 titles selected for the 2023 Asian Project Market (Apm), including new works by Makbul Mubarak, Koji Fukada, Rima Das and Emma Kawawada.
The film financing event, which runs as part of Biff’s Asian Contents and Film Market, will take place from October 7-10 and comprises projects by directors who have made at least one short or full-length feature as well as producers who have been involved with at least one feature. They will conduct four...
South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival (Biff) has unveiled the 30 titles selected for the 2023 Asian Project Market (Apm), including new works by Makbul Mubarak, Koji Fukada, Rima Das and Emma Kawawada.
The film financing event, which runs as part of Biff’s Asian Contents and Film Market, will take place from October 7-10 and comprises projects by directors who have made at least one short or full-length feature as well as producers who have been involved with at least one feature. They will conduct four...
- 8/3/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Busan International Film Festival has announced the 30 projects selected for this year’s Asian Project Market (Apm), including new works from leading Asian filmmakers such as Japan’s Koji Fukada, Indonesia’s Makbul Mubarak and India’s Rima Das.
Fukada, whose previous films have premiered at Cannes and Venice (Love Life), will present Japan-France co-production Nagi Notes, produced by Osanai Terutaro.
Mubarak, whose Autobiography premiered at last year’s Venice before embarking on an awards haul across Asia, is bringing Watch It Burn, produced by Indonesia’s Yulia Evina Bhara, one of the producers on this year’s Cannes Critics Week winner Tiger Stripes.
Das is a Busan regular who has also had films play in Toronto and Berlin (Bulbul Can Sing). She will present Malti My Love, which the self-taught filmmaker will also produce, just as she has produced, written,...
Fukada, whose previous films have premiered at Cannes and Venice (Love Life), will present Japan-France co-production Nagi Notes, produced by Osanai Terutaro.
Mubarak, whose Autobiography premiered at last year’s Venice before embarking on an awards haul across Asia, is bringing Watch It Burn, produced by Indonesia’s Yulia Evina Bhara, one of the producers on this year’s Cannes Critics Week winner Tiger Stripes.
Das is a Busan regular who has also had films play in Toronto and Berlin (Bulbul Can Sing). She will present Malti My Love, which the self-taught filmmaker will also produce, just as she has produced, written,...
- 8/3/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
The Busan film festival’s Asian Project Market is set to welcome several of the region’s top auteurs either as producers or prospective directors at its next edition in October.
Apm organizers Thursday unveiled 30 projects to be presented during a four-day round of one-on-one meetings and pitching sessions.
India’s Rima Das (“Tora’s Husband”) will pitch “Malti My Love.” Japan’s Fukada Koji will pitch “Nagi Notes.” Indonesia’s Makbul Mubarak (“Autobiography”) will pitch “Watch It Burn.”
Among the successful producers adding their weight to Apm contenders are: Patrick Mao Huang selling Peter Ho’s project “Appetite for Desire”; Jeremy Chua, pitching Rafael Manuel’s “Filipinana”; Ichiyama Shozo (“Ash Is Puirest White”) pitching Song Fang’s Japan-China collaboration “Full Moon”; Fran Borgia pitching Aakash Chhabra’s “I’ll Smile in September”; and Tan Chui Mui (“Barbarian Invasion”) pitching Jian Xiaoshuan’s “To Kill A Mongolian Horse.”
The project...
Apm organizers Thursday unveiled 30 projects to be presented during a four-day round of one-on-one meetings and pitching sessions.
India’s Rima Das (“Tora’s Husband”) will pitch “Malti My Love.” Japan’s Fukada Koji will pitch “Nagi Notes.” Indonesia’s Makbul Mubarak (“Autobiography”) will pitch “Watch It Burn.”
Among the successful producers adding their weight to Apm contenders are: Patrick Mao Huang selling Peter Ho’s project “Appetite for Desire”; Jeremy Chua, pitching Rafael Manuel’s “Filipinana”; Ichiyama Shozo (“Ash Is Puirest White”) pitching Song Fang’s Japan-China collaboration “Full Moon”; Fran Borgia pitching Aakash Chhabra’s “I’ll Smile in September”; and Tan Chui Mui (“Barbarian Invasion”) pitching Jian Xiaoshuan’s “To Kill A Mongolian Horse.”
The project...
- 8/3/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
The Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) is excited to kickstart its 34th edition, which will run from the 30th November to 10th of December, with a call for entries for feature films from Asia, and short films from Southeast Asia, until the 6th of August. Applications for its Film Academy programmes, the Asian Producers Network, Southeast Asian Film Lab, and Youth Critics Programme are also open to industry professionals and aspiring film writers.
Screen your film alongside the region’s best
In 2022, Sgiff saw more than 100 film titles from 55 countries over 11 days of film screenings, alongside a slate of off-screen programmes that celebrated and showcased the best of independent cinema from the region.
“Now in its 34th edition, Sgiff continues to be a key arts event that showcases the best of global independent cinema to local audiences. Cinematic talent from Singapore, Southeast Asia and the wider Asian region is going...
Screen your film alongside the region’s best
In 2022, Sgiff saw more than 100 film titles from 55 countries over 11 days of film screenings, alongside a slate of off-screen programmes that celebrated and showcased the best of independent cinema from the region.
“Now in its 34th edition, Sgiff continues to be a key arts event that showcases the best of global independent cinema to local audiences. Cinematic talent from Singapore, Southeast Asia and the wider Asian region is going...
- 5/12/2023
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
Busy week sees 19 releases, including Ben Affleck’s ‘Air’, and ‘The Pope’s Exorcist’.
Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie will smash the record for widest UK-Ireland opening by an animated film this weekend, starting its run in 721 sites.
That is 31 sites above the 690-site opening for the previous record holder, Disney’s Toy Story 4 from 2019.
Adapted from the best-selling Nintendo game series, The Super Mario Bros. Movie tells the story of two Italian-American siblings trying to get their plumbing business off the ground, who are accidentally drawn into a battle to save a magical land called the Mushroom Kingdom.
Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie will smash the record for widest UK-Ireland opening by an animated film this weekend, starting its run in 721 sites.
That is 31 sites above the 690-site opening for the previous record holder, Disney’s Toy Story 4 from 2019.
Adapted from the best-selling Nintendo game series, The Super Mario Bros. Movie tells the story of two Italian-American siblings trying to get their plumbing business off the ground, who are accidentally drawn into a battle to save a magical land called the Mushroom Kingdom.
- 4/6/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The smart, retro-homage film from the Philippines went all the way to Sundance, winning one of the big awards. Film-maker Martika Ramirez Escobar talks about her inspirational grandparents, selling her car to fund her film and what it’s like to be a ‘hot young director’
Martika Ramirez Escobar makes no bones about her expectations when she submitted her debut feature, Leonor Will Never Die, to Sundance. After a year of rejections, the entry fee felt like money down the drain. She was flat broke – had sold possessions to finish the film, even her car. But then an email landed in her inbox advertising earlybird entry. “I couldn’t afford the normal price, but this was cheaper.” Half-reluctantly she paid and clicked send: “Then I forgot about it. I didn’t even tell our producer.”
How much was the fee? “Sixty dollars. Expensive!” Her idea of success by this point...
Martika Ramirez Escobar makes no bones about her expectations when she submitted her debut feature, Leonor Will Never Die, to Sundance. After a year of rejections, the entry fee felt like money down the drain. She was flat broke – had sold possessions to finish the film, even her car. But then an email landed in her inbox advertising earlybird entry. “I couldn’t afford the normal price, but this was cheaper.” Half-reluctantly she paid and clicked send: “Then I forgot about it. I didn’t even tell our producer.”
How much was the fee? “Sixty dollars. Expensive!” Her idea of success by this point...
- 4/5/2023
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Sheila Francisco is magnificent as a grieving mother and retired screenwriter in this delightfully meta mash-up that pays homage to Filipino action films
Writer-director Martika Ramirez Escobar’s feature film debut (after making a bunch of shorts) is a total delight. A homage to the pulpy Filipino action films shot on video from the 1970s and 80s, this extremely meta, self-referential comedy-drama-thriller mash-up stars the magnificent Sheila Francisco as not especially well-off housewife Leonor Reyes. Leonor is living with her son Rudy (Bong Cabrera), a middle manager planning to emigrate – but she was once a successful screenwriter, a force to be reckoned with in Manila’s local film industry until a tragic on-set accident took the life of Rudy’s brother Ronwaldo (Anthony Falcon), who as a ghost still haunts his mother’s house, sometimes visibly and sometimes not.
When Leonor notices there’s a screenwriting competition with a large...
Writer-director Martika Ramirez Escobar’s feature film debut (after making a bunch of shorts) is a total delight. A homage to the pulpy Filipino action films shot on video from the 1970s and 80s, this extremely meta, self-referential comedy-drama-thriller mash-up stars the magnificent Sheila Francisco as not especially well-off housewife Leonor Reyes. Leonor is living with her son Rudy (Bong Cabrera), a middle manager planning to emigrate – but she was once a successful screenwriter, a force to be reckoned with in Manila’s local film industry until a tragic on-set accident took the life of Rudy’s brother Ronwaldo (Anthony Falcon), who as a ghost still haunts his mother’s house, sometimes visibly and sometimes not.
When Leonor notices there’s a screenwriting competition with a large...
- 4/4/2023
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
What a week! After six days filled with Asian cinema, community events, special guests and food at Studio/K, Rialto De Pijp, and Rialto Vu, we concluded the 15th edition of CinemAsia Film Festival on Sunday 12 March with the award ceremony and the screening of the Hong Kong super star filled film Where the Wind Blows 風再起時.
During the festival, jury members Martijn te Pas, Suzanne van Voorst and Taiki Saksipit gathered to watch the competition programme to present their conclusions at the closing night award ceremony and announce the winner of the 2023 CinemAsia Jury Award.
CinemAsia's Competition program puts the spotlights on emerging, independent filmmakers placing them side-by-side with established makers of high-quality mainstream films. Each film represents a strong cinematographic and artistic vision. These films highlight the richness in themes and genres Asian cinema has to offer and reflect a complex kaleidoscope of cultural, social and political...
During the festival, jury members Martijn te Pas, Suzanne van Voorst and Taiki Saksipit gathered to watch the competition programme to present their conclusions at the closing night award ceremony and announce the winner of the 2023 CinemAsia Jury Award.
CinemAsia's Competition program puts the spotlights on emerging, independent filmmakers placing them side-by-side with established makers of high-quality mainstream films. Each film represents a strong cinematographic and artistic vision. These films highlight the richness in themes and genres Asian cinema has to offer and reflect a complex kaleidoscope of cultural, social and political...
- 3/17/2023
- by Adam Symchuk
- AsianMoviePulse
Projects from directors Martika Ramirez Escobar and Maung Sun among titles.
Full Circle Lab Philippines, the Southeast Asian project and talent development programme, has revealed the line-up for its upcoming fifth edition, including new features by Filipino filmmaker Martika Ramirez Escobar and Myanmar’s Maung Sun.
The labs will comprise 12 projects in development, three films in post-production, eight emerging producers and three story editors. A total of 45 participants and 14 mentors are set to participate in the in-person workshop, held in the Central Luzon region in the north of Manila from March 27-31, This will be followed by online sessions, which run until September.
Full Circle Lab Philippines, the Southeast Asian project and talent development programme, has revealed the line-up for its upcoming fifth edition, including new features by Filipino filmmaker Martika Ramirez Escobar and Myanmar’s Maung Sun.
The labs will comprise 12 projects in development, three films in post-production, eight emerging producers and three story editors. A total of 45 participants and 14 mentors are set to participate in the in-person workshop, held in the Central Luzon region in the north of Manila from March 27-31, This will be followed by online sessions, which run until September.
- 3/6/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
In 2022, the Philippines was on quite a roll on the international cinematic arena with local films gaining critical acclaim and Filipino talents getting representation worldwide. There’s Martika Ramirez Escobar’s absurdist tale Leonor Will Never Die which made history with a Special Jury Award Prize win at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival which was also the premiere lieu for the Grand Jury Prize winning short “The Headhunter’s Daughter” by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan. Erik Matti’s Venice winner On The Job: The Missing 8 also got a nod at the 50th International Emmy Awards in the best TV movie or miniseries category.…...
- 2/1/2023
- by Acer Batislaong
- IONCINEMA.com
Event Outline
The Osaka Asian Film Festival aims to facilitate human resources development and exchange, to invigorate the Osaka economy, and to increase the city’s appeal, through providing opportunities to watch excellent Asian films, supporting filmmaking in Osaka and attracting filmmakers from Asian countries and regions to Osaka. Promoting Osaka worldwide as a gateway city for Asian films, and engaging with many people from the fields of culture, art, education, tourism and business, from Osaka and all of Asia, Oaff works as an open platform to contribute to the development of Osaka and cinema.
Marking its 18th edition this year, Oaff, under programming director Teruoka Sozo, will again select high-quality Asian films. The Competition section, which receives increased recognition every year, will again select films previously unreleased in Japan. The regular sections, Special Screenings and Indie Forum, and other special programs will also feature a wide variety of excellent Asian films.
The Osaka Asian Film Festival aims to facilitate human resources development and exchange, to invigorate the Osaka economy, and to increase the city’s appeal, through providing opportunities to watch excellent Asian films, supporting filmmaking in Osaka and attracting filmmakers from Asian countries and regions to Osaka. Promoting Osaka worldwide as a gateway city for Asian films, and engaging with many people from the fields of culture, art, education, tourism and business, from Osaka and all of Asia, Oaff works as an open platform to contribute to the development of Osaka and cinema.
Marking its 18th edition this year, Oaff, under programming director Teruoka Sozo, will again select high-quality Asian films. The Competition section, which receives increased recognition every year, will again select films previously unreleased in Japan. The regular sections, Special Screenings and Indie Forum, and other special programs will also feature a wide variety of excellent Asian films.
- 2/1/2023
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
The Osaka Asian Film Festival will return in March for its 18th edition with a lineup of current Asian feature and short films and a spotlight on works from Hong Kong.
The competition section, which selects from films that are currently unreleased in Japan, numbers 13 titles. These include: Kai Ko’s “Bad Education,” “December” from Japan-based Indian director Anshul Chauhan, and two Indian-made films Rima Das’ “Tora’s Husband” and Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy’s “Max, Min and Meowzaki.”
The indie section comprises a mix of Japanese feature and short films from challenging or emerging talents, with a winner set to receive the separate Japan Cuts prize.
A Spotlight section of other independent films by up-and-coming directors includes: Martika Ramirez Escobar’s “Leonor Will Never Die,” Mejbaur Rahman Sumon’s Bangladesh-France production “Hawa,” Thitipong Kerdtongtawee’s “Omg! Oh My Girl” and documentary “Jiseok.”
The Hong Kong spotlight, consisting of five titles, cuts...
The competition section, which selects from films that are currently unreleased in Japan, numbers 13 titles. These include: Kai Ko’s “Bad Education,” “December” from Japan-based Indian director Anshul Chauhan, and two Indian-made films Rima Das’ “Tora’s Husband” and Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy’s “Max, Min and Meowzaki.”
The indie section comprises a mix of Japanese feature and short films from challenging or emerging talents, with a winner set to receive the separate Japan Cuts prize.
A Spotlight section of other independent films by up-and-coming directors includes: Martika Ramirez Escobar’s “Leonor Will Never Die,” Mejbaur Rahman Sumon’s Bangladesh-France production “Hawa,” Thitipong Kerdtongtawee’s “Omg! Oh My Girl” and documentary “Jiseok.”
The Hong Kong spotlight, consisting of five titles, cuts...
- 1/31/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Considering that action/martial arts movies is the biggest exporting product of Asian cinema towards the US market, it is no surprise that the biggest industries of the continent and particularly S. Korea has turned extensively towards this path, as it eloquently highlighted in this list. Indonesia continues on the legacy of “Raid” with Malaysia following in the same brutal martial arts direction. The surprise this year, however, comes both from the Philippines, with “Leonor” being a mashup of genres that also entail impressive action in 70s style, and Kuwait, with the abundance of money the Arabic countries are able to spend at the moment ending up in a Hollywood level action movie, courtesy of Zeyad ( Z ) Alhusaini, who even managed to cast Ron Perlman in it. Lastly, the tribute to Michelle Yeoh’s career (among a million other things) that is “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and the...
- 1/2/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
First Love (A.J. Edwards)
Following The Better Angels and Age Out, A.J. Edwards’ third feature, First Love, is both a tender tale of blossoming romance and nuanced depiction of the pride and human frailties that can disrupt a decades-long bond. The writer-director, who got his start working with Terrence Malick on The Tree of Life, The New World, To the Wonder, Knight of Cups, and Song to Song, displays an immense amount of grace in this recession-era portrait of family and romance. Led by Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Diane Kruger, Jeffrey Donovan, and Sydney Park, the film got a quiet release earlier this summer, but certainly deserves to find an audience in coming years.
Where to Stream: Hulu
The Legend of Molly Johnson...
First Love (A.J. Edwards)
Following The Better Angels and Age Out, A.J. Edwards’ third feature, First Love, is both a tender tale of blossoming romance and nuanced depiction of the pride and human frailties that can disrupt a decades-long bond. The writer-director, who got his start working with Terrence Malick on The Tree of Life, The New World, To the Wonder, Knight of Cups, and Song to Song, displays an immense amount of grace in this recession-era portrait of family and romance. Led by Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Diane Kruger, Jeffrey Donovan, and Sydney Park, the film got a quiet release earlier this summer, but certainly deserves to find an audience in coming years.
Where to Stream: Hulu
The Legend of Molly Johnson...
- 12/30/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Hainan Island International Film Festival (Hiiff) in China’s Sanya has returned as an in-person event, following a relatively short Covid-related postponement, with separate competition sections for features, documentaries and shorts.
The festival opened on December 18 with a screening of Chinese filmmaker Da Peng’s Post Truth and is scheduled to wrap on December 25. It was originally scheduled to run December 3-10, but was postponed due to the on-going Covid situation.
Veteran festival director Marco Mueller recently joined Hiiff as artistic director. He previously headed programming for China’s Pingyao International Film Festival.
Hiiff’s 11-title competition section will screen recent festival favourites including Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer and Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beasts. Chinese titles in competition include Chakme Rinpoche’s Georgia and Qiao Siyu’s The Cord Of Life. The documentary competition will screen eight titles (see line-up below).
In addition to the competition sections,...
The festival opened on December 18 with a screening of Chinese filmmaker Da Peng’s Post Truth and is scheduled to wrap on December 25. It was originally scheduled to run December 3-10, but was postponed due to the on-going Covid situation.
Veteran festival director Marco Mueller recently joined Hiiff as artistic director. He previously headed programming for China’s Pingyao International Film Festival.
Hiiff’s 11-title competition section will screen recent festival favourites including Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer and Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beasts. Chinese titles in competition include Chakme Rinpoche’s Georgia and Qiao Siyu’s The Cord Of Life. The documentary competition will screen eight titles (see line-up below).
In addition to the competition sections,...
- 12/19/2022
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
The film debuted in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
Ukrainian smuggling drama Pamfir, which debuted in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May, has secured a UK-Ireland theatrical release deal with Conic.
Having acquired the film from sales agent Indie Sales, Conic is planning a Spring 2023 release for the film.
Pamfir is the debut feature of writer-director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. The film’s development received support from the TorinoFilmLab, Midpoint and Cannes’ Cinefondation; Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk has participated in the Berlinale Talents and Locarno Film Academy programmes.
Set in the run-up to a traditional carnival in rural Western Ukraine, Pamfir follows an eponymous smuggler whose plans...
Ukrainian smuggling drama Pamfir, which debuted in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in May, has secured a UK-Ireland theatrical release deal with Conic.
Having acquired the film from sales agent Indie Sales, Conic is planning a Spring 2023 release for the film.
Pamfir is the debut feature of writer-director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. The film’s development received support from the TorinoFilmLab, Midpoint and Cannes’ Cinefondation; Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk has participated in the Berlinale Talents and Locarno Film Academy programmes.
Set in the run-up to a traditional carnival in rural Western Ukraine, Pamfir follows an eponymous smuggler whose plans...
- 12/15/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
For the last few years, Sundance has had a strong record for premiering Asian titles that would overtake the film festival circuit. Asian diaspora and titles from Asia alike dominated the slate last year, with Indian documentary “All That Breathes” taking home the Grand Jury Prize in World Cinema Documentary; Christine Choy-starring “The Exiles” walking away with the Grand Jury Prize in US Documentary; and Kogonada’s quiet sci-fi “After Yang” winning the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. Other productions have made a splash on the circuit as well, like the Martika Ramirez Escobar’s stunning debut “Leonor Will Never Die” and Julie Ha and Eugene Yi’s well-researched documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee.” The successes of the previous years have ramped up our own excitement for what is to come in 2023 — which will be, for the first time in the last 2 years, premiere in-person,...
- 12/11/2022
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Click here to read the full article.
Welcoming nearly 200 international guests from film delegations and juries, the 33rd Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) marked an exuberant return to the hustle and bustle of its pre-pandemic editions. Running from Nov. 24 to Dec. 4, the festival offered 101 films and a first-ever VR short film program, with Singaporean films comprising over a quarter of the lineup.
The tides of change have been stirring since the festival brought in new program director Thong Kay Wee for the 2021 edition, which saw a significant revamp of its program sections. However, this year’s fully-physical format proved to be the first real testing ground for the festival’s new changes.
Here are four takeaways from the 2022 edition of the festival.
Expanded geographical ambitions
There is a significant geographical expansion underway in the festival’s programming and industry labs. For example, the festival’s Producers Network has expanded to include producers across Asia,...
Welcoming nearly 200 international guests from film delegations and juries, the 33rd Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) marked an exuberant return to the hustle and bustle of its pre-pandemic editions. Running from Nov. 24 to Dec. 4, the festival offered 101 films and a first-ever VR short film program, with Singaporean films comprising over a quarter of the lineup.
The tides of change have been stirring since the festival brought in new program director Thong Kay Wee for the 2021 edition, which saw a significant revamp of its program sections. However, this year’s fully-physical format proved to be the first real testing ground for the festival’s new changes.
Here are four takeaways from the 2022 edition of the festival.
Expanded geographical ambitions
There is a significant geographical expansion underway in the festival’s programming and industry labs. For example, the festival’s Producers Network has expanded to include producers across Asia,...
- 12/8/2022
- by Sara Merican
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Violent Night" “Stranger Things’” David Harbour stars as Santa Claus in the new action-thriller “Violent Night.” See my review of the film below and for our fun interview with Harbour, click here. "Leonor Will Never Die" Directed by the first Filipina to win at Sundance, Martika Ramirez Escobar’s “Leonor Will Never Die” is now
The post Movie Reviews: “Violent Night” and “Leonor Will Never Die” appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.
The post Movie Reviews: “Violent Night” and “Leonor Will Never Die” appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.
- 12/4/2022
- by manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
It’s hard to encapsulate the half-sunny, half-funeral vibe of “Leonor Will Never Die”, a touching end-of-life drama that’s also a loving homage to kitschy Filipino action cinema. Writer-director Martika Ramirez Escobar pays tribute to her title character, a fictional Pinoy genre filmmaker who, at the end of her life, wakes up inside one of her unproduced screenplays.
Escobar’s debut feature frequently shifts between sad, dimly lit conversations with Leonor (Sheila Francisco) and her concerned loved ones, particularly her adult son Rudie (Bong Cabrera), and scenes within “Return of the Owl,” Leonor’s unfinished dream project, which follows the generic adventures of tough guy construction worker Ronwaldo (Rocky Salumbides).
Some psychedelic transitions, including trippy dream sequences and photo montages, help to establish the slippery nature of Leonor’s subjective reality. A few sequences from “Return of the Owl” also seem credible, but even they ultimately feel monotonous and...
Escobar’s debut feature frequently shifts between sad, dimly lit conversations with Leonor (Sheila Francisco) and her concerned loved ones, particularly her adult son Rudie (Bong Cabrera), and scenes within “Return of the Owl,” Leonor’s unfinished dream project, which follows the generic adventures of tough guy construction worker Ronwaldo (Rocky Salumbides).
Some psychedelic transitions, including trippy dream sequences and photo montages, help to establish the slippery nature of Leonor’s subjective reality. A few sequences from “Return of the Owl” also seem credible, but even they ultimately feel monotonous and...
- 12/2/2022
- by Simon Abrams
- The Wrap
I was so happy to virtually meet Martika Ramirez Escobar, the writer-director of the fantastic magical realism film “Leonor Will never Die.” She is also the first Filipina to win at Sundance taking home the Special Jury Prize for Innovative Spirit. In this interview, we talked about the inspiration for her film, her background
The post “Leonor Will Never Die” appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.
The post “Leonor Will Never Die” appeared first on Manny the Movie Guy.
- 11/30/2022
- by manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Ronwaldo (Anthony Falcon) and Leonor (Sheila Francisco) in Leonor Will Never Die. Martika Ramirez Escobar: 'The presence of the ghost is inspired by a true story of my own grandma, who would say of her son, who did pass away, that she would sometimes feel his presence in her bed' Photo: Music Box Films The film within a film device is given a playful run over the jumps by Martika Ramirez Escobar in her debut Leonor Will Never Die, where even the ‘normal’ world has a touch of the supernatural. There might be a fear on the part of the viewer that Leonor (Sheila Francisco) won’t make it through the first five minutes of the film, let alone its entirety in what turns out to be a cleverly worked sight gag. She might look like your average gran but Leonor was once a famous action film director. Now,...
- 11/27/2022
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Laura Poitras’ Venice Golden Lion-winner All The Beauty And The Bloodshed opens in three theaters today, testing a crowded specialty market at the IFC Center, Lincoln Center & Bam in NYC. It adds LA and San Francisco (AMC Sunset 5 & AMC Kabuki) Dec. 2.
Presented by Neon, this is the story of internationally renowned photographer and activist Nan Goldin told through her slideshows, intimate interviews and ground-breaking photography, intertwined with the artist’s fight to hold the billionaire Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma, makers of notoriously addictive pain medication Oxycontin, accountable for the nation’s devastating opioid crisis. It was only the second time a doc has won top honors at Venice. The film played Telluride, Toronto and the New York Film Festival (Centerpiece Film).
Poitras and Goldin will be doing in-theater Q&As throughout the weekend. Deadline review here. It’s 96 Certified Fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. It opens into a documentary boom.
Presented by Neon, this is the story of internationally renowned photographer and activist Nan Goldin told through her slideshows, intimate interviews and ground-breaking photography, intertwined with the artist’s fight to hold the billionaire Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma, makers of notoriously addictive pain medication Oxycontin, accountable for the nation’s devastating opioid crisis. It was only the second time a doc has won top honors at Venice. The film played Telluride, Toronto and the New York Film Festival (Centerpiece Film).
Poitras and Goldin will be doing in-theater Q&As throughout the weekend. Deadline review here. It’s 96 Certified Fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. It opens into a documentary boom.
- 11/25/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Martika Ramirez Escobar is a Philippine director and cinematographer, born in Manila in 1992. Before her debut, “Leonor Will Never Die”, she worked as a freelancer in local production houses, and made a number of shorts that captured the attention of festival audiences.
On the occasion of “Leonor Will Never Die” screening at Five Flavours, we speak with her about the ending of the movie, Filipino cinema of the 70s, her grandmother, Monster Jimenez, Mario Cornejo and Lawrence S. Ang, and many other topics.
Leonor Will Never Die is screening at Five Flavours
Why didn’t you have Leonor kill them all with the hammer in the end?
(laughter) The protagonist does not like to kill people, so she definitely wouldn’t. Instead, she tries to change how action films are like, where she would kill all people at once, and so she tries to solve problems by talking to them,...
On the occasion of “Leonor Will Never Die” screening at Five Flavours, we speak with her about the ending of the movie, Filipino cinema of the 70s, her grandmother, Monster Jimenez, Mario Cornejo and Lawrence S. Ang, and many other topics.
Leonor Will Never Die is screening at Five Flavours
Why didn’t you have Leonor kill them all with the hammer in the end?
(laughter) The protagonist does not like to kill people, so she definitely wouldn’t. Instead, she tries to change how action films are like, where she would kill all people at once, and so she tries to solve problems by talking to them,...
- 11/25/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Martika Ramirez Escobar’s creative and inspired debut Leonor Will Never Die employs a narrative trick à la Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation. The story being told within the film is the film itself and references its own creation. Meta-textual narratives like this can often turn unwieldy, especially in the hands of debut-feature writers, and Escober does not completely buck such trend. The self-referential material and multiple-threaded storylines tend to overstretch greater narrative. Yet Leonor plays with interesting blends of reality and fiction, borrowing from Filipino action influences to create a potent concoction of how inspiration might strike a writer’s creative impulses.
Leonor (Sheila Francisco) was once part of the cinematic world she envisions now only in her dreams. A washed-up actress in the Philippines who yearns to rekindle her relationship with the art of cinema, she brushes the dust off an old script when she gets...
Leonor (Sheila Francisco) was once part of the cinematic world she envisions now only in her dreams. A washed-up actress in the Philippines who yearns to rekindle her relationship with the art of cinema, she brushes the dust off an old script when she gets...
- 11/24/2022
- by Soham Gadre
- The Film Stage
It's a very fine line to walk when your film is metatextual; movies about the making of a movie, particularly the movie that's being made, means understanding the language of cinema deeply enough to make the references without killing the mood, and trusting your audience to follow the path without getting bored or anger. Luckily, Leonor Will Never Die is a delightful film, a tribute to classic 80s Southeast Asian action films, and a portrait of an artist in late-life crisis. Director and writer Martika Ramirez Escobar, making her feature debut, crafts an engaging story, with plenty of cinephile inside jokes that invite the viewer, as both we and the titular character are quite literally brought into the creative process. Leonor (Sheila Francisco) was once...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 11/23/2022
- Screen Anarchy
The film has eight nominations, followed by Todd Field’s ’Tár’ with seven
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All At Once leads the 38th Independent Spirit Awards nominations with eight nods, followed closely by Todd Field’s Tár which has seven nominations.
Both films are up for best feature alongside Luca Guadagnino’s Bones And All, Ellie Foumbi’s Our Father, The Devil, and Sarah Polley’s Women Talking.
Everything Everywhere’s nominations include best director and screenplay. The film’s star Michelle Yeoh is also nominated for best lead performance in the awards’ first year using gender-neutral acting categories.
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All At Once leads the 38th Independent Spirit Awards nominations with eight nods, followed closely by Todd Field’s Tár which has seven nominations.
Both films are up for best feature alongside Luca Guadagnino’s Bones And All, Ellie Foumbi’s Our Father, The Devil, and Sarah Polley’s Women Talking.
Everything Everywhere’s nominations include best director and screenplay. The film’s star Michelle Yeoh is also nominated for best lead performance in the awards’ first year using gender-neutral acting categories.
- 11/22/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
The annual film event in Laos that was for the past 12 years known as the Luang Prabang Film Festival has given up its name in order to go ahead with next month’s edition.
“Organizers have recently acquiesced to a name change in order to continue to produce this year’s event, scheduled for Dec. 8- 11, and will move forward using only the iconic blue chair to identify the festival,” they said in a statement that also unveiled the festival’s film selection.
Contacted by Variety, organizers had no additional comment beyond their published statement.
The festival has been operated on a non-profit basis with the backing of private sector and local government sponsors in the Unesco Heritage town of Luang Prabang. It has supported the Laos local film industry, operated talent development workshops and provided free-of-charge screenings of recent Southeast Asian films to the Laos public.
The 2022 selection includes...
“Organizers have recently acquiesced to a name change in order to continue to produce this year’s event, scheduled for Dec. 8- 11, and will move forward using only the iconic blue chair to identify the festival,” they said in a statement that also unveiled the festival’s film selection.
Contacted by Variety, organizers had no additional comment beyond their published statement.
The festival has been operated on a non-profit basis with the backing of private sector and local government sponsors in the Unesco Heritage town of Luang Prabang. It has supported the Laos local film industry, operated talent development workshops and provided free-of-charge screenings of recent Southeast Asian films to the Laos public.
The 2022 selection includes...
- 11/22/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
After two pandemic-affected editions of the Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff), the country’s longest-running film festival is back with a stunning list of 101 independent films from 55 countries. As the world continues adapting to a truly new normal, the 33rd edition of Sgiff focuses on discovering fresh and inclusive perspectives in a bid to demonstrate human connectedness and function as a vehicle of progress.#
Celebrating New Perspectives
Opening this year’s Festival is Assault, a darkly comic, absorbing thriller that depicts the farce and fault lines in a society ruled by the insecurities of men. Directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov, a major figure in Kazakh cinema, Assault premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Yerzhanov first gained prominence following his breakout feature The Owners (2014), which premiered at Cannes and was nominated for Best Asian...
Celebrating New Perspectives
Opening this year’s Festival is Assault, a darkly comic, absorbing thriller that depicts the farce and fault lines in a society ruled by the insecurities of men. Directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov, a major figure in Kazakh cinema, Assault premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Yerzhanov first gained prominence following his breakout feature The Owners (2014), which premiered at Cannes and was nominated for Best Asian...
- 10/28/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Kazakh filmmaker Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s thriller “Assault,” which previously played Rotterdam, will open the 33rd Singapore International Film Festival.
Singaporean film “#LookAtMe,” which was denied certification by local authorities, remains part of the lineup, but will not screen at the festival. “#LookAtMe will not be screened at the 33rd Singapore International Film Festival as it has been refused classification by the Infocomm Media Development Authority,” says a note on the festival website.
Films in competition at the festival’s Asian feature film competition, the Silver Screen Awards, include “Archaeology Of Love” (South Korea) by Lee Wan-min; “Arnold Is A Model Student” (Thailand-Singapore-France-Netherlands-Philippines) by Sorayos Prapapan; “Autobiography” (Indonesia-France-Germany-Poland-Singapore-Philippines-Qatar) by Makbul Mubarak “The Cloud Messenger” (India) by Rahat Mahajan; “Convenience Store” (Russia-Slovenia-Turkey) by Michael Borodin; “Gaga” (Taiwan) by Laha Mebow; “Joyland” (Pakistan) by Saim Sadiq; “Leonor Will Never Die” (Philippines) by Martika Ramirez Escobar; and “Summer With Hope” (Canada-Iran) by Sadaf Foroughi.
Singaporean film “#LookAtMe,” which was denied certification by local authorities, remains part of the lineup, but will not screen at the festival. “#LookAtMe will not be screened at the 33rd Singapore International Film Festival as it has been refused classification by the Infocomm Media Development Authority,” says a note on the festival website.
Films in competition at the festival’s Asian feature film competition, the Silver Screen Awards, include “Archaeology Of Love” (South Korea) by Lee Wan-min; “Arnold Is A Model Student” (Thailand-Singapore-France-Netherlands-Philippines) by Sorayos Prapapan; “Autobiography” (Indonesia-France-Germany-Poland-Singapore-Philippines-Qatar) by Makbul Mubarak “The Cloud Messenger” (India) by Rahat Mahajan; “Convenience Store” (Russia-Slovenia-Turkey) by Michael Borodin; “Gaga” (Taiwan) by Laha Mebow; “Joyland” (Pakistan) by Saim Sadiq; “Leonor Will Never Die” (Philippines) by Martika Ramirez Escobar; and “Summer With Hope” (Canada-Iran) by Sadaf Foroughi.
- 10/27/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
A city enjoying a spectacular growth spur and a metropolis dying out as we speak. A star looking for a way out from a deadly trap and a teenager determined to have a say in her own future. Japanese feel-good movies and terrifying horrors. As always, Five Flavours offers a full spectrum of moods, emotions, and themes. We announce the complete program of the Festival and kick off tickets sales!
Five Flavours Asian Film Festival is the annual review of the best cinema from East, Southeast, and South Asia organized in Poland. Since 2006, it presents the premieres of the newest, carefully selected films from the region, the classics from Asian archives, retrospectives of selected filmmakers, and reviews of national cinemas.
This year’s selection includes 39 meticulously chosen films, 30 of which will be available online, on the territory of Poland only. After the success of last year’s hybrid edition, Five...
Five Flavours Asian Film Festival is the annual review of the best cinema from East, Southeast, and South Asia organized in Poland. Since 2006, it presents the premieres of the newest, carefully selected films from the region, the classics from Asian archives, retrospectives of selected filmmakers, and reviews of national cinemas.
This year’s selection includes 39 meticulously chosen films, 30 of which will be available online, on the territory of Poland only. After the success of last year’s hybrid edition, Five...
- 10/26/2022
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Quentin Dupieux awarded screenplay prize ex-aequo with himself for Smoking Causes Coughing and Incredible But True.
Finnish production Sisu directed by Jalmari Helander took the main award at the 55th edition of Sitges, marking the director’s second time winning the prestigious Catalan genre event’s best feature award after his 2010 selection Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale.
Helander’s third feature also earned best actor at Europe’s biggest genre film festival for Jorma Tommila, cinematography for Kjell Lagerroos, and music for Juri Seppä and Tuomas Wäinölä. Handled by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (excluding Nordics), the Second World War survival...
Finnish production Sisu directed by Jalmari Helander took the main award at the 55th edition of Sitges, marking the director’s second time winning the prestigious Catalan genre event’s best feature award after his 2010 selection Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale.
Helander’s third feature also earned best actor at Europe’s biggest genre film festival for Jorma Tommila, cinematography for Kjell Lagerroos, and music for Juri Seppä and Tuomas Wäinölä. Handled by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (excluding Nordics), the Second World War survival...
- 10/16/2022
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Films about filmmakers, both real and fictional, are all the rage right now. From Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Bardo” to Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” the fall movie season features some of Hollywood’s biggest directors releasing movies about the journeys that their profession has taken them on. The films cover a wide range of genres, from stark realism to the very weird, but few are as unique as “Leonor Will Never Die.”
Martika Ramirez Escobar’s feature directorial debut, which won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Innovative Spirit at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival before screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and Fantastic Fest, blurs the lines between fiction and reality while honoring the rich history of Filipino action cinema. The movie tells the story of a retired filmmaker who ends up as a character in her own unfinished screenplay after a falling television hits her on...
Martika Ramirez Escobar’s feature directorial debut, which won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Innovative Spirit at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival before screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and Fantastic Fest, blurs the lines between fiction and reality while honoring the rich history of Filipino action cinema. The movie tells the story of a retired filmmaker who ends up as a character in her own unfinished screenplay after a falling television hits her on...
- 10/13/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
The official trailer release for HBO’s latest documentary, “A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting” arrives amid wide-spread conversation of continued anti-Semitism in the media and just a week after Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar year. But the film’s impact is intended to reach beyond the community it reflects by informing viewers about the heart-wrenching tragedy that occurred four years ago in Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania.
On Oct. 27, 2018, a white supremacist attack targeted the congregation at Pittsburgh synagogue, resulting in the death of eleven people and injuries to six others — some of whom were Holocaust survivors. The unprecedented violence was considered to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the U.S.
“The days when synagogues just leave their doors open — I think those days are gone,” one interviewee comments in a voice-over featured in the trailer.
Both powerfully profound and deeply disturbing,...
On Oct. 27, 2018, a white supremacist attack targeted the congregation at Pittsburgh synagogue, resulting in the death of eleven people and injuries to six others — some of whom were Holocaust survivors. The unprecedented violence was considered to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the U.S.
“The days when synagogues just leave their doors open — I think those days are gone,” one interviewee comments in a voice-over featured in the trailer.
Both powerfully profound and deeply disturbing,...
- 10/12/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay, Michaela Zee, EJ Panaligan and Katie Reul
- Variety Film + TV
It's a very fine line to walk when your film is metatextual; movies about the making of a movie, particularly the movie that's being made, means understanding the language of cinema deeply enough to make the references without killing the mood, and trusting your audience to follow the path without getting bored or anger. Luckily, Leonor Will Never Die is a delightful film, a tribute to classic 80s Southeast Asian action films, and a portrait of an artist in late-life crisis. Director and writer Martika Ramirez Escobar, making her feature debut, crafts an engaging story, with plenty of cinephile inside jokes that invite the viewer, as both we and the titular character are quite literally brought into the creative process. Leonor (Sheila Francisco) was once...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/10/2022
- Screen Anarchy
The Lund Fantastic Film Festival is back and about to celebrate the broad spectrum of genre cinema once more. From October 27 until November 5, the 28th edition of Lund Fantastic is set to return to Kino and TriArtPlay for a selection of physical and virtual screenings that bring the most distinct or diverse fantastic films to the local Swedish audience. Opening on October 27, Carlota Pereda’s Sundance sensation Piggy reveals a blood-soaked debut that presents a relevant, honest story packed with talent and emotion in equal measure. The festival is also proud to reveal the first titles of its feature film competition, with both Raúl Cerezo’s and Fernando Gonzalez’s The Passenger and Martika Ramirez Escobar’s Leonor Will Never Die. The former is a complex...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/6/2022
- Screen Anarchy
Martika Ramirez Escobar’s debut feature blurs fiction and reality.
New distributor Conic has acquired UK-Ireland rights to Martika Ramirez Escobar’s Filipino feature debut Leonor Will Never Die.
Conic, which purchased the film from Dubai-based sales agent Cercamon, is planning a theatrical release for early 2023.
The film premiered at Sundance in January, where it won a Special Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic section, for Innovative Spirit.
It has subsequently played festivals including Edinburgh, Buenos Aires, Udine, Jeonju and Neuchatel; and won the Amplify Voices award at Toronto last month, where it closed the Midnight Madness section.
Leonor...
New distributor Conic has acquired UK-Ireland rights to Martika Ramirez Escobar’s Filipino feature debut Leonor Will Never Die.
Conic, which purchased the film from Dubai-based sales agent Cercamon, is planning a theatrical release for early 2023.
The film premiered at Sundance in January, where it won a Special Jury Prize in the World Cinema Dramatic section, for Innovative Spirit.
It has subsequently played festivals including Edinburgh, Buenos Aires, Udine, Jeonju and Neuchatel; and won the Amplify Voices award at Toronto last month, where it closed the Midnight Madness section.
Leonor...
- 10/5/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
After 11 days and over 200 films, Toronto International Film Festival finally came to a close on Sunday. On the ground, much of the buzz seemed geared towards upcoming fall releases, like “Glass Onion: Knives Out”, “The Fabelmans”, “The Woman King”, and “Pearl.” TIFF juries seemed to think otherwise, however. Independent productions have taken home most of the awards, with a good half of them being Asian identifying filmmakers took home near half of the awards. Of these, at least 25 percent identify as Asian Canadian, and at least three do not identify as cisgender male. The range has also been notable. With productions ranging from Mongolia (“Snow in September”) to Palestine (“A Gaza Weekend”), from sleepy towns in Canada (“Riceboy Sleeps”) to film sets in the Philippines (“Leonor Will Never Die”), the list of movies reveals the sheer diversity in the continent of Asia – and all the diasporas accompanying it.
But without further ado,...
But without further ado,...
- 9/21/2022
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
The Luang Prabang Film Festival held annually in Laos’ cultural hub will make an in-person return to action in December.
The festival operated as a virtual event in 2020 under pandemic conditions. But was forced to cancel its 2021 edition.
The town has no permanent movie theater and the festival uses temporary facilities, but previous editions have attracted big crowds. All events are open to the public and are free of charge.
Over four days organizers will put on a mix of some twenty film screenings, public discussions and Q&a sessions with local audiences. This year, the Lpff will add a second night venue.
The additional venue will allow organizers to broaden the selection beyond the Thai and Lao staples. The full lineup will be announced in October.
Laos fully reopened to tourists in May this year and the festival’s comeback was made possible by the return of corporate sponsors in early June.
The festival operated as a virtual event in 2020 under pandemic conditions. But was forced to cancel its 2021 edition.
The town has no permanent movie theater and the festival uses temporary facilities, but previous editions have attracted big crowds. All events are open to the public and are free of charge.
Over four days organizers will put on a mix of some twenty film screenings, public discussions and Q&a sessions with local audiences. This year, the Lpff will add a second night venue.
The additional venue will allow organizers to broaden the selection beyond the Thai and Lao staples. The full lineup will be announced in October.
Laos fully reopened to tourists in May this year and the festival’s comeback was made possible by the return of corporate sponsors in early June.
- 9/19/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Canada’s Riceboy Sleeps wins Platform Prize.
Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans has bolstered its awards season prospects by winning the TIFF People’s Choice Award on Sunday (September 18).
The award is a highly reliable bellwether of Academy voter attention. In the last ten years every TIFF audience award winner has earned a best picture Oscar nomination and three have gone on to win awards season’s top prize: Nomadland in 2021, Green Book in 2019, and 12 Years A Slave in 2014.
The Fabelmans earned a rapturous reception at its world premiere on September 10 and immediately announced itself in the awards race,...
Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans has bolstered its awards season prospects by winning the TIFF People’s Choice Award on Sunday (September 18).
The award is a highly reliable bellwether of Academy voter attention. In the last ten years every TIFF audience award winner has earned a best picture Oscar nomination and three have gone on to win awards season’s top prize: Nomadland in 2021, Green Book in 2019, and 12 Years A Slave in 2014.
The Fabelmans earned a rapturous reception at its world premiere on September 10 and immediately announced itself in the awards race,...
- 9/18/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
After two weeks and dozens of movies, the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival has come to a close. At Sunday’s Awards Breakfast, all eyes were on the People’s Choice Award, which is frequently a bellwether for the Oscar race. For the past decade, every winner of the coveted award has gone onto receive a nomination for Best Picture. Competition for the People’s Choice Award was stiff, with critical darlings such as “Women Talking” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” vying for the top prize. But ultimately, Steven Spielberg’s crowd pleasing, semi-autobiographical film “The Fabelmans” was named the winner.
“Above all, I am glad I brought this film to Toronto,” Spielberg said in a statement. “This is the most personal film I have made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF intimate and personal for me and my entire ‘Fabelmans’ family.”
“2022 brought...
“Above all, I am glad I brought this film to Toronto,” Spielberg said in a statement. “This is the most personal film I have made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF intimate and personal for me and my entire ‘Fabelmans’ family.”
“2022 brought...
- 9/18/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical coming-of-age story “The Fabelmans” took home the Toronto International Film Festival’s people’s choice award, providing a major boost to its awards season chances.
TIFF’s people’s choice award is one of the most reliable predictors of eventual Oscar success. In past years, winners such as “Green Book” and “Nomadland” went on to capture the best picture prize at the Academy Awards. Other recent recipients, including “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “La La Land” and “Jojo Rabbit,” were best picture nominees and major forces during awards season.
Since the people’s choice category was created in 1978, seven recipients went on to win best picture at the Oscars — five of which were in the past 20 years.
“As I said on stage the other night, ‘Above all, I’m glad I brought this film to Toronto!’ This is the most personal film I’ve ever made,...
TIFF’s people’s choice award is one of the most reliable predictors of eventual Oscar success. In past years, winners such as “Green Book” and “Nomadland” went on to capture the best picture prize at the Academy Awards. Other recent recipients, including “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “La La Land” and “Jojo Rabbit,” were best picture nominees and major forces during awards season.
Since the people’s choice category was created in 1978, seven recipients went on to win best picture at the Oscars — five of which were in the past 20 years.
“As I said on stage the other night, ‘Above all, I’m glad I brought this film to Toronto!’ This is the most personal film I’ve ever made,...
- 9/18/2022
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans picked up the top People’s Choice honor Sunday at the Toronto Film Festival, which wrapped up its 47th edition.
Spielberg’s latest film grabbed TIFF’s top audience award, which is often a barometer of future Academy Award nominations. “This is the most personal film I’ve ever made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire Fabelman family,” the director said in a statement following the announcement of his win.
The Fabelmans, co-written with Tony Kushner, marks the first time the Oscar winner debuted a movie at the Toronto Film Festival. The childhood memoir will be released Nov. 11 via Universal. Another autobiographical family film about a director’s childhood, Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, was named the top audience prize winner in...
Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans picked up the top People’s Choice honor Sunday at the Toronto Film Festival, which wrapped up its 47th edition.
Spielberg’s latest film grabbed TIFF’s top audience award, which is often a barometer of future Academy Award nominations. “This is the most personal film I’ve ever made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire Fabelman family,” the director said in a statement following the announcement of his win.
The Fabelmans, co-written with Tony Kushner, marks the first time the Oscar winner debuted a movie at the Toronto Film Festival. The childhood memoir will be released Nov. 11 via Universal. Another autobiographical family film about a director’s childhood, Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, was named the top audience prize winner in...
- 9/18/2022
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” has won the 2022 TIFF People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced at an awards breakfast on Sunday in Toronto.
Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” took the first runner-up slot, while Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” was the second runner-up.
The People’s Choice Documentary award went to Hubert Davis’ hockey doc “Black Ice,” while the Midnight Madness award was won by Eric Appel’s entirely fake rock biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”
Also Read:
‘The Fabelmans’ Film Review: Steven Spielberg’s Sweet Memory Piece Picks Up Steam as It Goes
In a year with an abundance of high-profile, crowd-pleasing movies in the TIFF lineup, other films in competition for the award included Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” Florian Zeller’s “The Son,” Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,...
Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” took the first runner-up slot, while Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” was the second runner-up.
The People’s Choice Documentary award went to Hubert Davis’ hockey doc “Black Ice,” while the Midnight Madness award was won by Eric Appel’s entirely fake rock biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”
Also Read:
‘The Fabelmans’ Film Review: Steven Spielberg’s Sweet Memory Piece Picks Up Steam as It Goes
In a year with an abundance of high-profile, crowd-pleasing movies in the TIFF lineup, other films in competition for the award included Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” Florian Zeller’s “The Son,” Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,...
- 9/18/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Updated, 9:45 Am with Steven Spielberg statement:
Here is Steven Spielberg’s full statement upon winning the Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice award for The Fabelmans.
“As I said on stage the other night, ‘Above all, I’m glad I brought this film to Toronto!.’ This is the most personal film I’ve ever made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire Fabelman family. Thank you to Cameron Bailey and the incredible staff at TIFF; thank you to Universal Pictures; and a very special thank you to all the movie fans in Toronto who have made this past weekend one I’ll never forget.”
Previously: The People’s Choice Award from the just-wrapped 2022 Toronto Film Festival has gone to Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. First Runner Up is Canada’s own Sarah Polley’s Women Talking.
Here is Steven Spielberg’s full statement upon winning the Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice award for The Fabelmans.
“As I said on stage the other night, ‘Above all, I’m glad I brought this film to Toronto!.’ This is the most personal film I’ve ever made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire Fabelman family. Thank you to Cameron Bailey and the incredible staff at TIFF; thank you to Universal Pictures; and a very special thank you to all the movie fans in Toronto who have made this past weekend one I’ll never forget.”
Previously: The People’s Choice Award from the just-wrapped 2022 Toronto Film Festival has gone to Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. First Runner Up is Canada’s own Sarah Polley’s Women Talking.
- 9/18/2022
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
When you think of action stars, what names come to mind? Arnold Schwarzenegger? Jean-Claude Van Damme? Casper Van Dien? These are all great examples, but there's one up-and-coming star that might outshine them all, and her name is Sheila Francisco. While that might not be a name many Americans will recognize, genre fanatics will certainly get to know the Filipino singer after "Leonor Will Never Die," which was programmed at the Toronto International Film Festival under its Midnight Madness banner.
Martika Ramirez Escobar's directorial debut is not unlike other movies that pay homage to other movies. Of course, it can't be compared to more dramatic fare like the similarly TIFF-bound "Empire of Light," but it does stand as a love letter to the action movies of yesteryear. However, what makes "Leonor Will Never Die" so engaging is its central story, which centers around the titular Leonor Reyes (Francisco) and...
Martika Ramirez Escobar's directorial debut is not unlike other movies that pay homage to other movies. Of course, it can't be compared to more dramatic fare like the similarly TIFF-bound "Empire of Light," but it does stand as a love letter to the action movies of yesteryear. However, what makes "Leonor Will Never Die" so engaging is its central story, which centers around the titular Leonor Reyes (Francisco) and...
- 9/18/2022
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
Weird will rule the world. That’s the vibe on the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival’s opening night premiere of Eric Appel’s debut feature “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”
“This is not a movie that we expect you to sit down and take a moral from the story,” star Daniel Radcliffe told IndieWire of the unapologetic biopic spoof. “But if there is something to it, it’s about leaning into your own weirdness and that being a way of finding your own happiness.”
Written by Appel and Weird Al himself, the semi-“true” story of Yankovic’s rise from a polka-playing outcast to a pop culture satirist selling out stadiums began as a fake trailer for FunnyOrDie.com in 2010. It starred Aaron Paul as Weird Al and featured Patton Oswalt, Olivia Wilde, and Gary Cole among others. With Radcliffe assuming the role of Al, Appel expanded...
“This is not a movie that we expect you to sit down and take a moral from the story,” star Daniel Radcliffe told IndieWire of the unapologetic biopic spoof. “But if there is something to it, it’s about leaning into your own weirdness and that being a way of finding your own happiness.”
Written by Appel and Weird Al himself, the semi-“true” story of Yankovic’s rise from a polka-playing outcast to a pop culture satirist selling out stadiums began as a fake trailer for FunnyOrDie.com in 2010. It starred Aaron Paul as Weird Al and featured Patton Oswalt, Olivia Wilde, and Gary Cole among others. With Radcliffe assuming the role of Al, Appel expanded...
- 9/9/2022
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
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