Exclusive: Newly launched Dubai-based sales company Mad World has acquired worldwide rights to Egyptian director Morad Mostafa’s Aisha Can’t Fly Away, a tense African migrant drama shooting later this year in Egypt.
The title joins the inaugural slate of Mad World, as the Arab cinema-focused sales arm of Mena distributor and talent agency Mad Solutions gears up for its Cannes Market debut next week.
Aisha Can’t Fly Away revolves around the story of Aisha, a 26-year-old African immigrant caregiver residing in Ain-shams, a Cairo neighborhood with a large African migrant community.
The film explores the intricate dynamics of a world where the authorities’ indifference to the violent tensions between Egyptians and various African nationalities has allowed different gangs to seize control. Aisha’s situation turns sour after one of these gangs offers protection in exchange for a favor.
Egypt-based South Sudanese model Buliana Simona plays Aisha in...
The title joins the inaugural slate of Mad World, as the Arab cinema-focused sales arm of Mena distributor and talent agency Mad Solutions gears up for its Cannes Market debut next week.
Aisha Can’t Fly Away revolves around the story of Aisha, a 26-year-old African immigrant caregiver residing in Ain-shams, a Cairo neighborhood with a large African migrant community.
The film explores the intricate dynamics of a world where the authorities’ indifference to the violent tensions between Egyptians and various African nationalities has allowed different gangs to seize control. Aisha’s situation turns sour after one of these gangs offers protection in exchange for a favor.
Egypt-based South Sudanese model Buliana Simona plays Aisha in...
- 5/10/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters lead the nominations for the 8th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which will be held during the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.
Both features picked up seven nominations apiece for the awards, focused on Arab films that were produced and premiered outside of the Arab world in 2023. Overseen and run by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), it was voted on by 209 critics from 72 countries and the winners will be announced during Cannes on May 18.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
This year’s nominees range from Sudan,...
Both features picked up seven nominations apiece for the awards, focused on Arab films that were produced and premiered outside of the Arab world in 2023. Overseen and run by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), it was voted on by 209 critics from 72 countries and the winners will be announced during Cannes on May 18.
Scroll down for full list of nominations
This year’s nominees range from Sudan,...
- 4/25/2024
- ScreenDaily
Producer Konstantinos Kontovrakis has left Heretic Films, the Athens-based production and sales company he co-founded with Giorgos Karnavas in 2013.
Kontovrakis has not announced his post-Heretic plans yet, but said he was “very much looking forward to the challenges and discoveries of our ever-new cinema landscape”.
He told Screen: “After over a decade of setting up and running a successful company and making great films, I found myself losing sight of the broader landscape. So much changes in our industry so fast that the time felt right for me to be immersed in it once more and to expand my...
Kontovrakis has not announced his post-Heretic plans yet, but said he was “very much looking forward to the challenges and discoveries of our ever-new cinema landscape”.
He told Screen: “After over a decade of setting up and running a successful company and making great films, I found myself losing sight of the broader landscape. So much changes in our industry so fast that the time felt right for me to be immersed in it once more and to expand my...
- 4/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever (“Banel & Adama”) has acquired international rights to “Shambhala,” the first Nepalese film to premiere in competition at the Berlinale or any other top film festival.
Directed by Min Bahadur Bham, “Shambhala” is also the first South Asian film to be selected in Berlinale’s competition lineup after three decades. Bham is best known for his feature debut, “Kalo Pothi,” which won a prize at Venice Critics’ Week in 2015. The helmer previously directed “Bansulli,” which was Nepal’s first selection at the Venice Film Festival in 2012.
“Shambhala” is set in a Himalayan polyandrous village in Nepal, where a newly married and pregnant woman, Pema, tries to make the best of her new life. But soon, her husband Tashi vanishes, prompting her to embark on a journey into the wilderness to find him, accompanied by her monk.
The film shot in the world’s highest settlement, located...
Directed by Min Bahadur Bham, “Shambhala” is also the first South Asian film to be selected in Berlinale’s competition lineup after three decades. Bham is best known for his feature debut, “Kalo Pothi,” which won a prize at Venice Critics’ Week in 2015. The helmer previously directed “Bansulli,” which was Nepal’s first selection at the Venice Film Festival in 2012.
“Shambhala” is set in a Himalayan polyandrous village in Nepal, where a newly married and pregnant woman, Pema, tries to make the best of her new life. But soon, her husband Tashi vanishes, prompting her to embark on a journey into the wilderness to find him, accompanied by her monk.
The film shot in the world’s highest settlement, located...
- 1/24/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene to Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex Associate editor and film writer at Deadline.
Today, we’re talking to directors Jesse Short Bull, and Laura Tomaselli about their new film Lakota Nation vs. The United States. Mark Ruffalo and Marisa Tomei serve as executive producers, while Benjamin Hedin and Phil Pinto serve as producers.
It is the most sacred place on earth, the birthplace of the Lakota that has shaped thought, identity and philosophy for the Očéti Šakówiŋ since time immemorial–the life-giving land known as the Black Hills. Yet with the arrival of the first Europeans in 1492, the sacred land has been the site of conflict between the people it has nurtured, and the settler state seeking to exploit and redefine it in its own image.
This documentary is a searing testament to the strength of the Oyate and a visually stunning rejoinder...
Today, we’re talking to directors Jesse Short Bull, and Laura Tomaselli about their new film Lakota Nation vs. The United States. Mark Ruffalo and Marisa Tomei serve as executive producers, while Benjamin Hedin and Phil Pinto serve as producers.
It is the most sacred place on earth, the birthplace of the Lakota that has shaped thought, identity and philosophy for the Očéti Šakówiŋ since time immemorial–the life-giving land known as the Black Hills. Yet with the arrival of the first Europeans in 1492, the sacred land has been the site of conflict between the people it has nurtured, and the settler state seeking to exploit and redefine it in its own image.
This documentary is a searing testament to the strength of the Oyate and a visually stunning rejoinder...
- 12/15/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Pan-Arab distributor Mad Solutions has acquired worldwide sales and distribution rights for Palestinian director Laila Abbas’ upcoming female empowerment drama “Thank You for Banking With Us!” and boarded the buzzed-about project as a co-producer.
The multi-pronged company that is active in marketing and talent representation – and has become a leading local distributor of Arabic-language films – recently branched out into international sales with Sudan’s Cannes title “Goodbye Julia.” The Cairo-based outfit, headed by Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, is also becoming more involved in packaging Arabic projects with international market prospects.
Laila Abbas is a Palestinian filmmaker, producer and academic who in 2013 made a splash with doc “Ice & Dust” about a young Palestinian woman who crosses the Atlantic ocean to search for a better life in Canada. In 2019, she was selected for Berlin Film Festival’s Berlinale Talents program to nurture emerging filmmakers.
“Thank You for Banking With Us!,” which is now in pre-production,...
The multi-pronged company that is active in marketing and talent representation – and has become a leading local distributor of Arabic-language films – recently branched out into international sales with Sudan’s Cannes title “Goodbye Julia.” The Cairo-based outfit, headed by Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, is also becoming more involved in packaging Arabic projects with international market prospects.
Laila Abbas is a Palestinian filmmaker, producer and academic who in 2013 made a splash with doc “Ice & Dust” about a young Palestinian woman who crosses the Atlantic ocean to search for a better life in Canada. In 2019, she was selected for Berlin Film Festival’s Berlinale Talents program to nurture emerging filmmakers.
“Thank You for Banking With Us!,” which is now in pre-production,...
- 6/30/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Twilight Singers have announced a definitive box set titled Black Out the Windows/Ladies and Gentlemen, The Twilight Singers, out in October via One Little Independent Records. In addition to newly remastered versions of the Greg Dulli-led band’s studio releases, it contains an LP of rare and previously unreleased material.
The 13-piece (six 2xLP and one EP) box set was pressed onto 180g crystal clear vinyl housed in reimagined white embossed album sleeves. It contains remasterings of the studio albums Twilight as Played by The Twilight Singers, Blackberry Belle, She Loves You, Powder Burns, and Dynamite Steps as well as the 2006 EP A Stitch in Time. The bonus album, Etcetera, features 11 tracks of rare and previously unreleased material.
Accompanying the vinyl is a 56-page book containing essays by Mark Lanegan, Duff McKagan, The Church’s Steve Kilbey, and more. It also includes career-spanning rare and previously unseen photos by Danny Clinch,...
The 13-piece (six 2xLP and one EP) box set was pressed onto 180g crystal clear vinyl housed in reimagined white embossed album sleeves. It contains remasterings of the studio albums Twilight as Played by The Twilight Singers, Blackberry Belle, She Loves You, Powder Burns, and Dynamite Steps as well as the 2006 EP A Stitch in Time. The bonus album, Etcetera, features 11 tracks of rare and previously unreleased material.
Accompanying the vinyl is a 56-page book containing essays by Mark Lanegan, Duff McKagan, The Church’s Steve Kilbey, and more. It also includes career-spanning rare and previously unseen photos by Danny Clinch,...
- 6/28/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Music
Hello and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen podcast season 2! I am your host Valerie Complex.
I had planned to take a 6 week hiatus from the podcast in order to plan the next season but ended up being gone for three months. Unfortunately, I had a family tragedy I had to deal with and It took me some time to regroup. Now we’re back in business with guest Teyana Taylor and A.V. Rockwell, star and director of Focus Feature film A Thousand and One which is now available on Peacock TV and Prime Video streaming platforms.
Rockwell is an award-winning screenwriter and director. Named as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” her distinctive voice has been celebrated for slyly addressing issues of race, identity and systemic oppression. Rockwell’s debut feature film, A Thousand and One, was written and directed for Focus Features.
I had planned to take a 6 week hiatus from the podcast in order to plan the next season but ended up being gone for three months. Unfortunately, I had a family tragedy I had to deal with and It took me some time to regroup. Now we’re back in business with guest Teyana Taylor and A.V. Rockwell, star and director of Focus Feature film A Thousand and One which is now available on Peacock TV and Prime Video streaming platforms.
Rockwell is an award-winning screenwriter and director. Named as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” her distinctive voice has been celebrated for slyly addressing issues of race, identity and systemic oppression. Rockwell’s debut feature film, A Thousand and One, was written and directed for Focus Features.
- 6/2/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy, whose absurdist social satire “Feathers” won the Cannes Critics’ Week prize in 2021 and went on to make a major splash, is set to helm “Mammals,” an English-language drama that will be a reflection on Western capitalism and family ties.
El Zohairy’s sophomore film, which will feature still unspecified actors from different countries, is being co-written by the buzzed-about auteur with British Egyptian writer-director Mohamed Adeeb, who wrote the hit Egyptian TV series “Bimbo,” directed by Amr Salama.
“Mammals” takes its cue from events in Adeeb’s life which in turn inspired El Zohairy to draw inspiration from the life of his father, who died in 2016 in the United States, where he was an immigrant living under difficult conditions, he said. In the film, a young man visits his distant father in one of the world’s most lavish resorts. When he arrives there he discovers that,...
El Zohairy’s sophomore film, which will feature still unspecified actors from different countries, is being co-written by the buzzed-about auteur with British Egyptian writer-director Mohamed Adeeb, who wrote the hit Egyptian TV series “Bimbo,” directed by Amr Salama.
“Mammals” takes its cue from events in Adeeb’s life which in turn inspired El Zohairy to draw inspiration from the life of his father, who died in 2016 in the United States, where he was an immigrant living under difficult conditions, he said. In the film, a young man visits his distant father in one of the world’s most lavish resorts. When he arrives there he discovers that,...
- 5/26/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Leading Egyptian independent production company Film Clinic is gearing up for the shoot of The Inevitable Journey Of Finding The Wedding Dress by Jaylan Auf.
Yasmin Raeis (Looking for Oum Kulthum) and newcomer Asma Galal co-star as a bride-to-be and her best friend who embark on a mad dash across Cairo in search of a wedding dress after a mishap with the original gown on the eve of the ceremony.
“It’s a social drama about two best friends from a low-income neighborhood,” says Film Clinic founder and head Mohamed Hefzy. “The city is very much part of the story and a character in the film.”
Auf previously worked as assistant director on Egyptian features such as Excuse My French, Décor and The Cat Mouse, while her short film Turning Ten played in Competition at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2019.
“We’ve been trying to get...
Yasmin Raeis (Looking for Oum Kulthum) and newcomer Asma Galal co-star as a bride-to-be and her best friend who embark on a mad dash across Cairo in search of a wedding dress after a mishap with the original gown on the eve of the ceremony.
“It’s a social drama about two best friends from a low-income neighborhood,” says Film Clinic founder and head Mohamed Hefzy. “The city is very much part of the story and a character in the film.”
Auf previously worked as assistant director on Egyptian features such as Excuse My French, Décor and The Cat Mouse, while her short film Turning Ten played in Competition at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2019.
“We’ve been trying to get...
- 5/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Prettybird has announced A.V. Rockwell signed with the commercial and music video representation company. Rockwell’s feature film debut, “A Thousand and One,” won the U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Sundance film festival. Prior to her feature film, Rockwell directed for television, and her award-winning short film “Feathers” was released by Searchlight Pictures and is now available to stream on the Criterion Channel.
Rockwell joins Prettybird’s award-winning roster of filmmakers, including “Everything Everywhere All At Once” Academy Award-winning duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (also known as “The Daniels”), Janicza Bravo (“Zola”) and comedy duo Tim & Eric.
“I am so excited to have A.V. join the roster. I have been following her work for years and have always been in awe of her ability to tell stories rooted in truth with intensity and intimacy – in both her written and visual language. She is a...
Rockwell joins Prettybird’s award-winning roster of filmmakers, including “Everything Everywhere All At Once” Academy Award-winning duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (also known as “The Daniels”), Janicza Bravo (“Zola”) and comedy duo Tim & Eric.
“I am so excited to have A.V. join the roster. I have been following her work for years and have always been in awe of her ability to tell stories rooted in truth with intensity and intimacy – in both her written and visual language. She is a...
- 5/17/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay, Sophia Scorziello and Charna Flam
- Variety Film + TV
Three categories have been added to this year’s awards.
Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan leads the nominations in the 7th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which has added categories for best editing, cinematography and music.
The Arabic-language drama, in which a woman and her closeted gay husband hire a young apprentice at their caftan store, secured seven nominations – every category except editing and documentary. The film premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year and was Morocco’s submission for the international feature film Oscar, making the shortlist but not final nominations.
A strong showing...
Moroccan filmmaker Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan leads the nominations in the 7th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which has added categories for best editing, cinematography and music.
The Arabic-language drama, in which a woman and her closeted gay husband hire a young apprentice at their caftan store, secured seven nominations – every category except editing and documentary. The film premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes last year and was Morocco’s submission for the international feature film Oscar, making the shortlist but not final nominations.
A strong showing...
- 5/12/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Another busy week sees 18 new titles in cinemas.
A major horror franchise resurrects itself at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, as Studiocanal’s Evil Dead Rise opens in 587 cinemas – the eighth-widest opening ever for an 18-rated film.
Written and directed by Lee Cronin, Evil Dead Rise follows two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by flesh-possessing demons thrusting them into a battle for survival.
The film stars Australian actresses Lily Sullivan, who starred in Amazon Studios series Picnic At Hanging Rock and features including Galore; and Alyssa Sutherland, from Amazon’s Vikings series.
Rise is the fifth film in the Evil Dead franchise,...
A major horror franchise resurrects itself at the UK-Ireland box office this weekend, as Studiocanal’s Evil Dead Rise opens in 587 cinemas – the eighth-widest opening ever for an 18-rated film.
Written and directed by Lee Cronin, Evil Dead Rise follows two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by flesh-possessing demons thrusting them into a battle for survival.
The film stars Australian actresses Lily Sullivan, who starred in Amazon Studios series Picnic At Hanging Rock and features including Galore; and Alyssa Sutherland, from Amazon’s Vikings series.
Rise is the fifth film in the Evil Dead franchise,...
- 4/21/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Hollywood stars and filmmakers joined for a weekend of celebrating film legacies and the impact they have had on cinema at the 2023 TCM Classic Film Festival.
To kick off the festival at the Los Angeles’ Tcl Chinese Theatre, The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and Hollywood Legion Theater at Post 43, Angie Dickinson chatted with TCM host Ben Mankiewicz on opening night Thursday about Rio Bravo, her role as Feathers and starring opposite John Wayne and Dean Martin.
When talking about what it was like working with director Howard Hawks, Dickinson said, “He was a man of few words,” and while filming, he told her and the crew to “just relax, and he and I sat there, talking about nothing. It was just to relax me and get me to the point that he wanted me to be for the scene.”
Directors Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson also took part in a...
To kick off the festival at the Los Angeles’ Tcl Chinese Theatre, The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and Hollywood Legion Theater at Post 43, Angie Dickinson chatted with TCM host Ben Mankiewicz on opening night Thursday about Rio Bravo, her role as Feathers and starring opposite John Wayne and Dean Martin.
When talking about what it was like working with director Howard Hawks, Dickinson said, “He was a man of few words,” and while filming, he told her and the crew to “just relax, and he and I sat there, talking about nothing. It was just to relax me and get me to the point that he wanted me to be for the scene.”
Directors Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson also took part in a...
- 4/16/2023
- by Carly Thomas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It’s time to get familiar with A.V. Rockwell — the writer and director of her hit feature film debut “A Thousand and One,” which is continuing to run up numbers at the box office in addition to earning a 96% from Rotten Tomatoes. Rockwell’s elegant, poetically gritty and soulful artistry was noticed prior to this moment, though. In 2019, she was named as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for her short film, “Feathers.” This year she’s seen critical and commercial success for “A Thousand and One.”
She’s been writing and directing ever since her adolescence, leading school plays, though she she says she never saw herself as a writer until she started working on “A Thousand and One.” Like her fave filmmakers Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese, Rockwell is a...
She’s been writing and directing ever since her adolescence, leading school plays, though she she says she never saw herself as a writer until she started working on “A Thousand and One.” Like her fave filmmakers Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese, Rockwell is a...
- 4/5/2023
- by Raquel "Rocky" Harris
- The Wrap
“A Thousand and One” is the story of a Black woman named Inez who has just been released from Rikers Island and reconnects with her 6-year-old son Terry, who has been kept in the foster care system. At the risk of losing him again, she decides to abduct him and rebuild their life together in New York City as the home they’ve always known changes around them.
Teyana Taylor, starring in the role of Inez in A.V. Rockwell’s feature film directorial debut “A Thousand and One,” was a “leap of faith” decision the writer-director said she’s “proud” she made in a recent discussion with TheWrap.
“Even in those first readings, I could feel it. I could feel how much [Taylor] understood this woman because either she was her or she knew her,” Rockwell said. “I think all of that work we did, all those conversations, it shows up on screen.
Teyana Taylor, starring in the role of Inez in A.V. Rockwell’s feature film directorial debut “A Thousand and One,” was a “leap of faith” decision the writer-director said she’s “proud” she made in a recent discussion with TheWrap.
“Even in those first readings, I could feel it. I could feel how much [Taylor] understood this woman because either she was her or she knew her,” Rockwell said. “I think all of that work we did, all those conversations, it shows up on screen.
- 3/31/2023
- by Raquel "Rocky" Harris
- The Wrap
Gritty, raw, and moving, "A Thousand and One" is already generating buzz among critics for its depiction of a mother and son struggling to survive in an increasingly gentrified and evolving New York City.
Written and directed by A.V. Rockwell, who's 2018 short film, "Feathers," was an Oscar contender, "A Thousand and One" follows Inez (Teyana Taylor), a young mother who reconnects with her son, Terry, after she is released from prison in 1994. Stuck in the foster care system as a young child, Terry expresses to Inez that he wants to be with her, so Inez kidnaps him from the state and raises him from adolescence to young adulthood. Over the course of two decades, Inez and Terry grow and adapt to the changing world around them, as Harlem and New York City as a whole become gentrified throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
While not based on a true story, "A Thousand and One...
Written and directed by A.V. Rockwell, who's 2018 short film, "Feathers," was an Oscar contender, "A Thousand and One" follows Inez (Teyana Taylor), a young mother who reconnects with her son, Terry, after she is released from prison in 1994. Stuck in the foster care system as a young child, Terry expresses to Inez that he wants to be with her, so Inez kidnaps him from the state and raises him from adolescence to young adulthood. Over the course of two decades, Inez and Terry grow and adapt to the changing world around them, as Harlem and New York City as a whole become gentrified throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
While not based on a true story, "A Thousand and One...
- 3/27/2023
- by Alicia Geigel
- Popsugar.com
There is a particular focus on comedies.
TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) has selected 20 projects for its ScriptLab 2023, plus five story editors, in what it describes as the first ‘fully international’ iteration of the annual development scheme.
The 20 projects come from 20 writer-directors and eight co-writers, and have been selected from 550 submissions.
Scroll down for the full list of participants
Those selected will take part in three week-long residential modules in April, June and November; with two online modules in September and October. The participants will be divided into five groups, and tutored by script consultants Philippe Barriere, Severine Cornamusaz, Aleksandra Swierk, Marietta von Hausswolff and Gino Ventriglia.
TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) has selected 20 projects for its ScriptLab 2023, plus five story editors, in what it describes as the first ‘fully international’ iteration of the annual development scheme.
The 20 projects come from 20 writer-directors and eight co-writers, and have been selected from 550 submissions.
Scroll down for the full list of participants
Those selected will take part in three week-long residential modules in April, June and November; with two online modules in September and October. The participants will be divided into five groups, and tutored by script consultants Philippe Barriere, Severine Cornamusaz, Aleksandra Swierk, Marietta von Hausswolff and Gino Ventriglia.
- 3/27/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Greek production and sales house Heretic has upped its longtime head of sales and acquisitions exec Ioanna Stais to partner.
Stais, who has been with the company since 2014, has been a key driver behind Heretic’s bustling film sales slate which has included Berlin Golden Bear winner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn from director Radu Jude, and Omar El Zohairy’s Feathers, which won Cannes Critics’ week in 2021. In 2019, the company handled world sales for Retablo, Peru’s official submission for the International Oscar, which was also nominated for a BAFTA Outstanding Debut Award and Best International Film for the Film Independent Spirit Award.
The company recently boarded world sales rights for Jude’s latest project, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World, as well as Sundance doc And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine, which it sold widely.
“Having joined the...
Stais, who has been with the company since 2014, has been a key driver behind Heretic’s bustling film sales slate which has included Berlin Golden Bear winner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn from director Radu Jude, and Omar El Zohairy’s Feathers, which won Cannes Critics’ week in 2021. In 2019, the company handled world sales for Retablo, Peru’s official submission for the International Oscar, which was also nominated for a BAFTA Outstanding Debut Award and Best International Film for the Film Independent Spirit Award.
The company recently boarded world sales rights for Jude’s latest project, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World, as well as Sundance doc And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine, which it sold widely.
“Having joined the...
- 3/21/2023
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
March is a big month for Lena Waithe and her Hillman Grad production banner. Yet, Waithe’s four films, all debuting within weeks of one another — “A Thousand and One,” “Kokomo City,” “Being Mary Tyler Moore,” and “Chang Can Dunk” — have virtually nothing in common. They range from a Sundance drama to an experimental documentary to a biographical HBO doc to a Disney+ teen movie, wavering widely in genre, tone, studio, and subject matter.
Well, almost nothing in common. All four films are the feature debuts of their directors. Incubating talent and giving them a shot has become an ethos for Waithe and Hillman Grad, something that has allowed the company and Waithe’s brand to blossom since launching in 2015.
Waithe’s producing success dates back to 2014, when her first project as a producer on 2014’s “Dear White People” also happened to be the debut film of Justin Simien and...
Well, almost nothing in common. All four films are the feature debuts of their directors. Incubating talent and giving them a shot has become an ethos for Waithe and Hillman Grad, something that has allowed the company and Waithe’s brand to blossom since launching in 2015.
Waithe’s producing success dates back to 2014, when her first project as a producer on 2014’s “Dear White People” also happened to be the debut film of Justin Simien and...
- 3/10/2023
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
After every Sundance Film Festival, movie lovers everywhere are treated to a torrent of buzz about the premieres and come away with one overriding question — "when can I watch these movies?" Well, we now have at least one answer.
"A Thousand And One" will get a wide release in U.S. theaters on March 31, 2023, distributed by Focus Features. Directed by A.V. Rockwell, the film won the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival following its January 22 festival debut there.
The film focuses on a black single mother named Inez (Teyana Taylor), living in 1993 New York City. Barely making ends meet as a hairdresser after a stint in Rikers Island, her son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola), is in foster care. When she asks Terry if he'd be happier with her and he answers yes, she kidnaps her own son, taking him back to Harlem. Since they're now fugitives, Terry gets the new name "Darryl,...
"A Thousand And One" will get a wide release in U.S. theaters on March 31, 2023, distributed by Focus Features. Directed by A.V. Rockwell, the film won the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival following its January 22 festival debut there.
The film focuses on a black single mother named Inez (Teyana Taylor), living in 1993 New York City. Barely making ends meet as a hairdresser after a stint in Rikers Island, her son Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola), is in foster care. When she asks Terry if he'd be happier with her and he answers yes, she kidnaps her own son, taking him back to Harlem. Since they're now fugitives, Terry gets the new name "Darryl,...
- 2/26/2023
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Saturday night meant another feather in the cap for Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy, whose Arab-language social satire “Feathers” took the Best Film prize on the awards night of the 5th Joburg Film Festival in Johannesburg, South Africa. His story centers on a father who literally turns into a chicken during a magic show at a son’s birthday party.
“Feathers,” also written by Zohairy, was winner of Cannes Critics’ Week in 2021 and bagged awards at the El-Gouna Film Festival, Carthage Film Festival and Pingyao Film Festival, as well as last year’s Rabat International Author Film Festival.
Meanwhile, “Faya Dayi,” the monochrome docu-drama from first-time Mexican-Ethiopian director Jessica Beshir, about growing the khat plant in Ethiopia, scooped the prize in the Best African Film category at the glitzy in-person ceremony, which took place inside the Nelson Mandela Square’s Theatre on the Square in Johannesburg.
The fest’s Best...
“Feathers,” also written by Zohairy, was winner of Cannes Critics’ Week in 2021 and bagged awards at the El-Gouna Film Festival, Carthage Film Festival and Pingyao Film Festival, as well as last year’s Rabat International Author Film Festival.
Meanwhile, “Faya Dayi,” the monochrome docu-drama from first-time Mexican-Ethiopian director Jessica Beshir, about growing the khat plant in Ethiopia, scooped the prize in the Best African Film category at the glitzy in-person ceremony, which took place inside the Nelson Mandela Square’s Theatre on the Square in Johannesburg.
The fest’s Best...
- 2/5/2023
- by Thinus Ferreira
- Variety Film + TV
How Two Sundance-Winning Films Forecast the Future for Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Production Company
Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad has much to celebrate in just the first few months of the new year: with two films, “A Thousand and One” and “Kokomo City” winning big at Sundance; the family film “Chang Can Dunk” launching March 10 on Disney+ ; a documentary about Mary Tyler Moore premiering at SXSW; and a sixth season of “The Chi” on the way.
The company, founded by the actor, producer and Emmy-winning writer in 2015, is at a pinnacle moment, but it’s also just getting started.
“Here’s the really interesting part about the next three months, it’s not like we snapped our fingers and got here,” Hillman Grad CEO Rishi Rajani says, as he and Waithe joined Variety for a discussion over Zoom following the announcement of their Sundance wins. “This next three months is the culmination of the last few years of what Hillman Grad has built.”
He...
The company, founded by the actor, producer and Emmy-winning writer in 2015, is at a pinnacle moment, but it’s also just getting started.
“Here’s the really interesting part about the next three months, it’s not like we snapped our fingers and got here,” Hillman Grad CEO Rishi Rajani says, as he and Waithe joined Variety for a discussion over Zoom following the announcement of their Sundance wins. “This next three months is the culmination of the last few years of what Hillman Grad has built.”
He...
- 2/3/2023
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Returning to Johannesburg cinemas for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the Joburg Film Festival kicked off its 5th edition with a joyful relaunch on Tuesday night, as local luminaries walked a gold carpet in Nelson Mandela Square in honor of the festival’s slogan, “Our Stories. Our Gold,” and the crowd was serenaded with a soaring performance from South African soprano Zandile Mzazi and singer Thandiswa Mazwai.
The event, which runs Jan. 31 – Feb. 5, bowed with the African premiere of “Xalé” (pictured), from veteran Senegalese director Moussa Sène Absa, a story of female subjugation and self-liberation that opened last year’s BFI Film Festival and was the West African nation’s entry in the 2023 international feature film Oscar race.
The festival wraps with “The Umbrella Men,” by local helmer John Barker (“Wonder Boy for President”), a caper comedy about first-time bank robbers pulling a heist...
The event, which runs Jan. 31 – Feb. 5, bowed with the African premiere of “Xalé” (pictured), from veteran Senegalese director Moussa Sène Absa, a story of female subjugation and self-liberation that opened last year’s BFI Film Festival and was the West African nation’s entry in the 2023 international feature film Oscar race.
The festival wraps with “The Umbrella Men,” by local helmer John Barker (“Wonder Boy for President”), a caper comedy about first-time bank robbers pulling a heist...
- 2/1/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
When director A.V. Rockwell attended Sundance in 2018, her short film “Feathers” was acquired by Searchlight and later qualified for the Oscars. Even with that high bar, her 2023 experience at the festival exceeded expectations, as her debut feature “A Thousand and One” went home with the Grand Jury Prize for the U.S. Dramatic Competition.
A potent dose of kitchen sink realism in the pantheon of gritty New York stories, the movie stars Teyana Taylor as a struggling Harlem woman who kidnaps her child from foster care and raises him over the course of two decades.
An intimate period piece that starts in 1994 and ends in 2005, “A Thousand and One” shows the filmmaker’s trenchant ability to juggle the vast themes of class and race in tandem with gentrification while maintaining a powerful emotional centerpiece built around a poignant mother-son dynamic. Produced by Focus Features, which releases the movie at the end of March,...
A potent dose of kitchen sink realism in the pantheon of gritty New York stories, the movie stars Teyana Taylor as a struggling Harlem woman who kidnaps her child from foster care and raises him over the course of two decades.
An intimate period piece that starts in 1994 and ends in 2005, “A Thousand and One” shows the filmmaker’s trenchant ability to juggle the vast themes of class and race in tandem with gentrification while maintaining a powerful emotional centerpiece built around a poignant mother-son dynamic. Produced by Focus Features, which releases the movie at the end of March,...
- 1/29/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
After two years of virtual festivals, Sundance is overdue for a comeback. The Park City event is set to return to Park City on January 19 and continue through January 29. While films will still be available to online ticket holders starting January 24, the main emphasis will be the in-person experience that put Sundance on the map in the first place.
While the pandemic disrupted the film industry in 2020, Sundance managed to take place that year just before the shutdowns, launching future Best Picture winner “Coda” into an unpredictable landscape. Now, the market and culture of moviegoing remains in flux, and Sundance is poised to return to the scene just in time to launch a wide array of movies into that ever-changing climate.
And there are a lot of movies in contention. After countless productions were put on hold at the start of the pandemic, they’ve been revving back to action over the past year,...
While the pandemic disrupted the film industry in 2020, Sundance managed to take place that year just before the shutdowns, launching future Best Picture winner “Coda” into an unpredictable landscape. Now, the market and culture of moviegoing remains in flux, and Sundance is poised to return to the scene just in time to launch a wide array of movies into that ever-changing climate.
And there are a lot of movies in contention. After countless productions were put on hold at the start of the pandemic, they’ve been revving back to action over the past year,...
- 11/7/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Egypt, which is home to the Middle East and North Africa’s biggest film industry, will not participate in the Best International Film Oscar race this year.
According to Egyptian media reports, confirmed by Deadline, the committee of critics and cinema professionals responsible for selecting the country’s submission decided not to send a film for the lack of a credible candidate.
The four films on the final shortlist comprised Marwan Hamed’s Kira & El Gin, Hadi El-Baghoury’s Full Moon, Sherif Arafa’s The Crime and Magdy Ahmed Ali’s 2 Talaat Harb.
Two films generating potential submission buzz — Nadine Khan’s Abu Saddam and Omar El Zohairy’s Cannes 2021 Critics’ Week winner Feathers — could not be taken into consideration because they did not meet the 2022 theatrical release requirements.
The decision for Egypt to opt out of the race was made at the end of September, but the news has...
According to Egyptian media reports, confirmed by Deadline, the committee of critics and cinema professionals responsible for selecting the country’s submission decided not to send a film for the lack of a credible candidate.
The four films on the final shortlist comprised Marwan Hamed’s Kira & El Gin, Hadi El-Baghoury’s Full Moon, Sherif Arafa’s The Crime and Magdy Ahmed Ali’s 2 Talaat Harb.
Two films generating potential submission buzz — Nadine Khan’s Abu Saddam and Omar El Zohairy’s Cannes 2021 Critics’ Week winner Feathers — could not be taken into consideration because they did not meet the 2022 theatrical release requirements.
The decision for Egypt to opt out of the race was made at the end of September, but the news has...
- 10/4/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Spanish production and distribution company Elamedia has acquired “Tengo sueños eléctricos” (I Have Electric Dreams), the Locarno prize-winning debut by director Valentina Maurel, which will screen in the Horizontes Latinos section of the San Sebastian Film Festival. Elamedia will be releasing the film in Spanish theaters later this year.
Set in Costa Rica, “Electric Dreams” follows Eva (Daniela Marin Navarro), a strong-willed 16-year-old girl who lives with her mother, her younger sister and their cat, but desperately wants to move in with her estranged father (Reinaldo Amien Guttierez). Clinging onto him as he goes through a second adolescence, she balances between the tenderness and sensitivity of teenage life and the ruthlessness of the adult world.
Produced by Wrong Men (Belgium) and Geko Films (France) and co-produced with Tres Tigres (Costa Rica), the film had its world premiere in the international competition at Locarno, where Maurel won the award for best...
Set in Costa Rica, “Electric Dreams” follows Eva (Daniela Marin Navarro), a strong-willed 16-year-old girl who lives with her mother, her younger sister and their cat, but desperately wants to move in with her estranged father (Reinaldo Amien Guttierez). Clinging onto him as he goes through a second adolescence, she balances between the tenderness and sensitivity of teenage life and the ruthlessness of the adult world.
Produced by Wrong Men (Belgium) and Geko Films (France) and co-produced with Tres Tigres (Costa Rica), the film had its world premiere in the international competition at Locarno, where Maurel won the award for best...
- 9/17/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Amjad Al Rasheed’s feature debut “Inshallah a Boy” – co-produced by Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar – was awarded La Biennale di Venezia Prize at Final Cut, an industry program at the Venice Film Festival dedicated to films from African and Arab countries.
Shot in February, with mostly Jordanian crew, it was lensed by Kanamé Onoyama.
In the story, a mother and a housewife – played by Mouna Hawa, known for “In Between” – has to face the sudden death of her husband. According to the inheritance law, his family is entitled to most of her belongings, including the home she paid for herself – just because she doesn’t have a son. Desperate, she pretends to be pregnant.
“So many people ask us: ‘Is this real? Do you really have this law?!’ It’s inspired by the experience of someone I know, someone close to me. But when we started to develop the story,...
Shot in February, with mostly Jordanian crew, it was lensed by Kanamé Onoyama.
In the story, a mother and a housewife – played by Mouna Hawa, known for “In Between” – has to face the sudden death of her husband. According to the inheritance law, his family is entitled to most of her belongings, including the home she paid for herself – just because she doesn’t have a son. Desperate, she pretends to be pregnant.
“So many people ask us: ‘Is this real? Do you really have this law?!’ It’s inspired by the experience of someone I know, someone close to me. But when we started to develop the story,...
- 9/8/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Heretic, the Athens-based boutique production company and sales agent, has acquired world sales rights for “Runner,” by director Marian Mathias, which will have its world premiere in the Discovery section of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Already sparking upbeat word of mouth, “Runner” follows Haas (Hannah Schiller), an 18-year-old girl who was raised by her father in the rural Midwest. When her father suddenly dies, she must carry out his wish to be buried in the town where he was born. There, she meets a young man named Will (Darren Houle), a lonely, creative soul who is working to support his family back home. The two form a friendship that challenges their understanding of love and loss.
“Runner” was produced by Joy Jorgensen (Killjoy) and co-produced with Nadia Turincev, Omar El Kadi (Easy Riders) and Marian Mathias (Man Alive), whose short film “Give Up the Ghost” was an official selection...
Already sparking upbeat word of mouth, “Runner” follows Haas (Hannah Schiller), an 18-year-old girl who was raised by her father in the rural Midwest. When her father suddenly dies, she must carry out his wish to be buried in the town where he was born. There, she meets a young man named Will (Darren Houle), a lonely, creative soul who is working to support his family back home. The two form a friendship that challenges their understanding of love and loss.
“Runner” was produced by Joy Jorgensen (Killjoy) and co-produced with Nadia Turincev, Omar El Kadi (Easy Riders) and Marian Mathias (Man Alive), whose short film “Give Up the Ghost” was an official selection...
- 8/5/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Heretic, the Athens-based boutique production company and sales agent, has acquired world sales rights for “Tengo sueños eléctricos” (“I Have Electric Dreams”), by director Valentina Maurel, which will have its premiere in the Locarno Film Festival’s international competition.
Set in Costa Rica, the film follows Eva (Daniela Marin Navarro), a strong-willed 16-year-old girl who lives with her mother, her younger sister and their cat, but desperately wants to move in with her estranged father (Reinaldo Amien Guttierez). Clinging onto him as he goes through a second adolescence, she balances between the tenderness and sensitivity of teenage life and the ruthlessness of the adult world.
Produced by Wrong Men (Belgium) and co-produced with Geko Films (France) and Tres Tigres (Costa Rica), the film straddles the fine line between love and hate, in a world where aggression and rage are intertwined with the vertigo of female sexual awakening.
“‘I Have Electric...
Set in Costa Rica, the film follows Eva (Daniela Marin Navarro), a strong-willed 16-year-old girl who lives with her mother, her younger sister and their cat, but desperately wants to move in with her estranged father (Reinaldo Amien Guttierez). Clinging onto him as he goes through a second adolescence, she balances between the tenderness and sensitivity of teenage life and the ruthlessness of the adult world.
Produced by Wrong Men (Belgium) and co-produced with Geko Films (France) and Tres Tigres (Costa Rica), the film straddles the fine line between love and hate, in a world where aggression and rage are intertwined with the vertigo of female sexual awakening.
“‘I Have Electric...
- 7/28/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes competition title “Pacifiction,” from “Liberté” director Albert Serra, has been acquired for the U.S. by specialty distributors Grasshopper Film and Gratitude Films.
Serra won the Un Certain Regard section’s Special Jury Prize in 2019 for “Liberté” and cracked the festival’s official selection this year with “Pacifiction.”
The film is set on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, and centers on the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official, whose role brings him to navigate both the high-end “establishment” and shady venues where he mingles with the locals. Lately, he’s had to contend with a rumor about the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing.
Grasshopper and Gratitude will release the movie in theaters in late 2022.
“Pacifiction” stars Benoît Magimel, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Cécile Guilbert, Matahi Pambrun and Sergi López. It was produced by Serra, Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Montse Triola,...
Serra won the Un Certain Regard section’s Special Jury Prize in 2019 for “Liberté” and cracked the festival’s official selection this year with “Pacifiction.”
The film is set on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, and centers on the High Commissioner of the Republic and French government official, whose role brings him to navigate both the high-end “establishment” and shady venues where he mingles with the locals. Lately, he’s had to contend with a rumor about the sighting of a submarine whose ghostly presence could herald the return of French nuclear testing.
Grasshopper and Gratitude will release the movie in theaters in late 2022.
“Pacifiction” stars Benoît Magimel, Pahoa Mahagafanau, Cécile Guilbert, Matahi Pambrun and Sergi López. It was produced by Serra, Pierre-Olivier Bardet, Montse Triola,...
- 6/3/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy’s absurdist social satire “Feathers,” in which the good-for-nothing husband of a woman with three children is turned into a chicken, is the big winner of the sixth edition of the Critics’ Awards for Arab Films.
The biting black comedy, winner of last year’s Cannes Critics’ Week prize, scooped best film, director and screenplay at the prizes organized by Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc) and voted on by 167 film critics from 68 countries, who viewed the films on Festival Scope.
Nominees are chosen among Arab-language films that premiered on the festival circuit outside of the Arab world in 2021. The awards were announced on Sunday in Cannes.
“Feathers,” which took six years to get to the big screen, was produced by Juliette Lepoutre from Still Moving (France), in co-production with Mohamed Hefzy’s Film Clinic (Egypt), Shahinaz Al Akkad from Lagoonie Film (Egypt), Derk-Jan Warrink and...
The biting black comedy, winner of last year’s Cannes Critics’ Week prize, scooped best film, director and screenplay at the prizes organized by Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc) and voted on by 167 film critics from 68 countries, who viewed the films on Festival Scope.
Nominees are chosen among Arab-language films that premiered on the festival circuit outside of the Arab world in 2021. The awards were announced on Sunday in Cannes.
“Feathers,” which took six years to get to the big screen, was produced by Juliette Lepoutre from Still Moving (France), in co-production with Mohamed Hefzy’s Film Clinic (Egypt), Shahinaz Al Akkad from Lagoonie Film (Egypt), Derk-Jan Warrink and...
- 5/22/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
167 film critics from 68 countries voted on the awards organised by the Arab Cinema Centre.
Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy’s social satire Feathers, which won the top prize at Cannes Critics’ Week last year, has swept the board at the sixth edition of the Critics’ Awards for Arab Films.
The film, which was nominated in four categories, won best film, director and screenplay.
This year’s edition of the awards, spearheaded by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), focuses on Arab-language films that premiered on the festival circuit outside of the Arab world in 2021.
It was voted on by 167 film critics from 68 countries,...
Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy’s social satire Feathers, which won the top prize at Cannes Critics’ Week last year, has swept the board at the sixth edition of the Critics’ Awards for Arab Films.
The film, which was nominated in four categories, won best film, director and screenplay.
This year’s edition of the awards, spearheaded by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), focuses on Arab-language films that premiered on the festival circuit outside of the Arab world in 2021.
It was voted on by 167 film critics from 68 countries,...
- 5/22/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Saudi-Egyptian co-production revolves around the special bond between a young Bedouin orphan and a camel.
Egyptian director A.B. Shawky, whose first feature Yomeddine enjoyed a buzzy Cannes launch in Competition in 2018, has signed to direct Saudi-set coming-of-age tale Sea Of Sands.
The feature is a joint production between Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, whose recent credits include Feathers, Amira and Souad. Ithra’s head of performing arts and cinema Majed Z. Samman also takes a producer credit.
The film revolves around the relationship between a young Bedouin orphan...
Egyptian director A.B. Shawky, whose first feature Yomeddine enjoyed a buzzy Cannes launch in Competition in 2018, has signed to direct Saudi-set coming-of-age tale Sea Of Sands.
The feature is a joint production between Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, whose recent credits include Feathers, Amira and Souad. Ithra’s head of performing arts and cinema Majed Z. Samman also takes a producer credit.
The film revolves around the relationship between a young Bedouin orphan...
- 5/20/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Saudi-Egyptian co-production revolves around the special bond between a young Bedouin orphan and a camel.
Egyptian director A.B. Shawky, whose first feature Yomeddine enjoyed a buzzy Cannes launch in Competition in 2018, has signed to direct Saudi-set coming-of-age tale Hajjan (previously titled Sea Of Sands).
The feature is a joint production between Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, whose recent credits include Feathers, Amira and Souad. Ithra’s head of performing arts and cinema Majed Z. Samman also takes a producer credit.
The film revolves around the relationship between a...
Egyptian director A.B. Shawky, whose first feature Yomeddine enjoyed a buzzy Cannes launch in Competition in 2018, has signed to direct Saudi-set coming-of-age tale Hajjan (previously titled Sea Of Sands).
The feature is a joint production between Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture, known as Ithra, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy, whose recent credits include Feathers, Amira and Souad. Ithra’s head of performing arts and cinema Majed Z. Samman also takes a producer credit.
The film revolves around the relationship between a...
- 5/20/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Front Row has been pushing into production with first titles including Perfect Strangers and Intouchables remakes.
Dubai-based Front Row Filmed Entertainment has boarded Moroccan director Hicham Ayouch’s upcoming satirical comedy Abdelinho as a producer as well as taken Mena rights for the film.
The pan-Arab distribution and production company joins Ayouch, who also produces under the banner of Président Productions, and co-producers Canal + International, Chadi Abdo’s Paris-based Hecat Studio (The Cave) and Moroccan companies FreeMonkeyz and Sihamou Productions.
Front Row has enjoyed a high-profile six months as its expansion into developing and producing Arabic content, which began in...
Dubai-based Front Row Filmed Entertainment has boarded Moroccan director Hicham Ayouch’s upcoming satirical comedy Abdelinho as a producer as well as taken Mena rights for the film.
The pan-Arab distribution and production company joins Ayouch, who also produces under the banner of Président Productions, and co-producers Canal + International, Chadi Abdo’s Paris-based Hecat Studio (The Cave) and Moroccan companies FreeMonkeyz and Sihamou Productions.
Front Row has enjoyed a high-profile six months as its expansion into developing and producing Arabic content, which began in...
- 5/10/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Past best film awards from the previous five editions include Wajib, Yomeddine and Gaza Mon Amour.
Jordanian director Bassel Ghandour’s The Alleys and Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy’s Feathers lead the nominations in the sixth edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films.
The films each garnered nominations in four categories, including best film, director and screenplay.
Spearheaded and run by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), this edition focused on Arab-language films that premiered on the festival circuit outside of the Arab world in 2021.
It was voted on by 167 film critics from 68 countries, who viewed the films on Festival Scope.
Jordanian director Bassel Ghandour’s The Alleys and Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy’s Feathers lead the nominations in the sixth edition of the Critics Awards for Arab Films.
The films each garnered nominations in four categories, including best film, director and screenplay.
Spearheaded and run by the Cairo-based Arab Cinema Centre (Acc), this edition focused on Arab-language films that premiered on the festival circuit outside of the Arab world in 2021.
It was voted on by 167 film critics from 68 countries, who viewed the films on Festival Scope.
- 5/10/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Arab cinema is going from strength to strength with a run of really good, successful, films from across the region telling authentic and compelling stories that have captured the hearts and minds of global audiences. During Cannes, filmmakers from the region will come together on May 21 at 10 am at the Marina Stage in the Riviera to discuss the future of Arab cinema and discuss the opportunities and challenges that need to be addressed in order to build a robust industry that will elevate Arab cinema and command the attention it deserves.
This year there are nine films in the Festival Competition, Un Certain Regard, Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week plus four projects in L’Atelier. They are listed below.
Saudi Film Commission will host a Conference and a panel on the State of Arabia with Lotfy Nathan, producer, director, writer whose work in progress Harka won the US 30,000 award at the 2021 Red Sea Film Festival and is now premiering in Un Certain Regard. Also on the panel is Mohammed Hefzy, producer, writer and Aymebn Khoja, producer, director, writer and to be moderated by Liz Shackelton, Screen International Asia Editor
My Choices for Feature Film: ‘Europa’, Selected Documentary Film: ‘Republic Of Silence’, Selected Actor: Adam Ali, Selected Actress: Maisa Abd Elhadi, Selected Director: Ayten Amin, Selected Screenplay: Ayten Amin — Mahmoud Ezzat
Panelist #1 Lotfy Nathan is the recipient of The Red Sea Fund cash prize awarded in 2021 by the Red Sea Souk Jury. The Red Sea Souk Award grant of US 30,000 was presented for his film Harka aka Contra aka Before the Spring, a “simple, tragic parable” as described by Nathan, about Ali, a young Tunisian making a precarious living selling contraband gas as he faces an impending eviction and is forced to take care of his two younger sisters, who, in real life, precipitated the Arab Spring with his act of defiance demanding dignity. His choice became the symbol of a silenced generation trying to be heard. His film Harka is in Un Certain Regard in the Cannes Film Festival 2022! The international sales agent is Constellation.
Harka
Nathan is an American filmmaker of Egyptian descent. His first feature film, the documentary 12 O’Clock Boys, for which he received the HBO Emerging Artist Award, was selected in over 50 international festivals, including SXSW, Sundance LA, Lincoln Center, Viennale, Hot Docs, London and Copenhagen. It is distributed in the United States by Oscilloscope and has been purchased by Showtime and Amazon as well as being optioned by Will Smith’s company, Overbrook Entrertainement to adapt into a drama. In 2015, Lotfy was a recipient of the Creative Capital and participated in a Cinereach Foundation director’s residency. He had previously been a recipient of the Garrett Scott Fund, the Peter Reed Foundation, the Grainger Marburg Fund, and the IFP Fellowship. This, his first feature film, was developed in the Sundance Film Institute’s Screenwriting Lab in 2016 and is now in post-production.
The film’s producer Julie Viez started her career in the film industry at Warner Bros Emea (Europe Middle East Asia). She then focused on independent film production, working for companies such as Pan-Européenne, The Film, and CG Cinema. She works on an international scale and produces a wide range of budgets. In 2019 Julie shot La Salamandre , the debut feature of director Alex Carvalho which premiered at Venice’s Settimana in 2021. She is developing several ambitious features and series, among which the next features by Cannes-nominated directors Abu Bakr Shawky, Jonathan Littell, Morgan Simon, and Marie Monge.
The third partner are the producers of The Man Who Sold His Skin, Academy Award Nomination 2020 — see my previous blog on that film — whose director, Kaouther Ben Hania, is now President of the Jury for Critics Week.).
Panelist #2 is the prolific Egyptian screenwriter and producer Mohamed Hefzy, with a constantly growing filmography of 30 feature films including worldwide acclaimed titles such as Huda’s Salon (2021) Feathers (2021), Souad (2021) You Will Die at Twenty (2019), Youmeddine (2018), and Clash (2016). He has served as a jury member in various international festivals including the 75th Venice International Film Festival. As of its 40th edition and for four consecutive years; Mohamed Hefzy was the appointed President of the Cairo International Film Festival.
In 2005, He founded Film Clinic; the now pioneer production house in the Mena region with a variety of commercial blockbusters and arthouse films that have participated in major film festivals worldwide including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance, Toronto, and Tribeca with more than 80 international awards under its belt. Later Hefzy founded Film Clinic Indie Distribution, with a mission to create opportunities for Arab independent films within and beyond festival circuits & Co- founded Meem Creative Circle which produced Netflix’s first Egyptian original series Paranormal.
Hefzy was cited among 30 future leaders in film production by Screen International, headed Variety’s list of Ten Names You Need to Know in the Arab Film Industry and was among Variety’s 500 list of the most influential people in the media industry worldwide. He was granted the Arab Cinema Personality of the Year award by the Hollywood Reporter & Arab Cinema Center. Hefzy is an official member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences in the producers’ branch. In recognition of his significant contribution to the Arab film scene, He was honored as a “Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres” from France.
Panelist #3 is Aymen Khoja, a film producer-director committed to bold voices and innovative forms to bridge cultures and to clear up any misunderstandings.
Over six years of experience producing and directing with international studios and production companies, such as Mbc Studios the biggest broadcaster in the Middle East and Viu, the No1 streaming platform east of Asia. Aymen has filmed in different cities all over the world from Los Angeles, Dubai, Abu-Dhabi, Bucharest, Cairo, to Jeddah. He successfully delivers high-quality films and series on time within budget.
In 2016 Aymen co-founded Khoja Brothers Productions and managed to fund, direct, co-produce, co-write his first feature film Shoot Aka The Arabian Warrior, and successfully released it theatrically then sold it to Sony Pictures, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Apple, and lastly Shahid. Aymen’s debut making ultra-low-budget films made him emphasize story quality, maximize creativity, and carefully spend every dollar.
Aymen received his Master’s degree in film with honors from the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles where he produced and directed many short films that have been played in different film festivals around the world. Aymen received his Bachelor’s in Business and Management from King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia. This background helped him to be at the top of his organizing game, networking, and career growth.
Born and raised in the east of Saudi Arabia until the age of 11, Khoja then traveled back with his parents to the west, Makkah where he stayed until he was 23 when he traveled to the US to pursue his dream of making films. Aymen had the passion and drive to make movies in a time there were no theaters in his home country. Being a pioneer, he had to push and fight traditions to achieve what he believes is his mission in life: to bridge and close gaps between cultures through the form of cinema by telling the right stories.
Nine Mena Films to see in the Festival:
Cannes Ff Competition Leila’s Brothers directed by Saeed Roustayi from IranCannes Ff Competition Holy Spider directed by Iranian Ali Abbasi but funded by France, Germany, Sweden, DenmarkUn Certain Regard Harka directed by Lotfy Nathan from TunisiaUn Certain Regard The Blue Caftan directed by Maryam Touzani from MoroccoUn Certain Regard Mediterranean Fever directed by Maha Haj from PalestineUn Certain Regard Domingo And The Mist directed by Ariel Escalante from Costa Rica with support from QatarDirectors’ Fortnight Under the Fig Trees directed by Eriga Sehiri from TunisiaDirectors’ Fortnight Ashkal directed by Youssef Chebbi from TunisiaCritics’ Week in Competition Imagine directed by Ali Behrad from IranL’Atelier project: Hamlet From The Slums from Egypt, directed by Ahmed Fawzi SalehL’Atelier project: The Blind Ferryman from Iraq and Switzerland, directed by Ali Al-FatlawiL’Atelier project: You Are My Everything from Israel, directed by Michal VinikdL’Atelier project: The Doubt from Palestine and Israel, directed by Ihab Jadallah...
This year there are nine films in the Festival Competition, Un Certain Regard, Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week plus four projects in L’Atelier. They are listed below.
Saudi Film Commission will host a Conference and a panel on the State of Arabia with Lotfy Nathan, producer, director, writer whose work in progress Harka won the US 30,000 award at the 2021 Red Sea Film Festival and is now premiering in Un Certain Regard. Also on the panel is Mohammed Hefzy, producer, writer and Aymebn Khoja, producer, director, writer and to be moderated by Liz Shackelton, Screen International Asia Editor
My Choices for Feature Film: ‘Europa’, Selected Documentary Film: ‘Republic Of Silence’, Selected Actor: Adam Ali, Selected Actress: Maisa Abd Elhadi, Selected Director: Ayten Amin, Selected Screenplay: Ayten Amin — Mahmoud Ezzat
Panelist #1 Lotfy Nathan is the recipient of The Red Sea Fund cash prize awarded in 2021 by the Red Sea Souk Jury. The Red Sea Souk Award grant of US 30,000 was presented for his film Harka aka Contra aka Before the Spring, a “simple, tragic parable” as described by Nathan, about Ali, a young Tunisian making a precarious living selling contraband gas as he faces an impending eviction and is forced to take care of his two younger sisters, who, in real life, precipitated the Arab Spring with his act of defiance demanding dignity. His choice became the symbol of a silenced generation trying to be heard. His film Harka is in Un Certain Regard in the Cannes Film Festival 2022! The international sales agent is Constellation.
Harka
Nathan is an American filmmaker of Egyptian descent. His first feature film, the documentary 12 O’Clock Boys, for which he received the HBO Emerging Artist Award, was selected in over 50 international festivals, including SXSW, Sundance LA, Lincoln Center, Viennale, Hot Docs, London and Copenhagen. It is distributed in the United States by Oscilloscope and has been purchased by Showtime and Amazon as well as being optioned by Will Smith’s company, Overbrook Entrertainement to adapt into a drama. In 2015, Lotfy was a recipient of the Creative Capital and participated in a Cinereach Foundation director’s residency. He had previously been a recipient of the Garrett Scott Fund, the Peter Reed Foundation, the Grainger Marburg Fund, and the IFP Fellowship. This, his first feature film, was developed in the Sundance Film Institute’s Screenwriting Lab in 2016 and is now in post-production.
The film’s producer Julie Viez started her career in the film industry at Warner Bros Emea (Europe Middle East Asia). She then focused on independent film production, working for companies such as Pan-Européenne, The Film, and CG Cinema. She works on an international scale and produces a wide range of budgets. In 2019 Julie shot La Salamandre , the debut feature of director Alex Carvalho which premiered at Venice’s Settimana in 2021. She is developing several ambitious features and series, among which the next features by Cannes-nominated directors Abu Bakr Shawky, Jonathan Littell, Morgan Simon, and Marie Monge.
The third partner are the producers of The Man Who Sold His Skin, Academy Award Nomination 2020 — see my previous blog on that film — whose director, Kaouther Ben Hania, is now President of the Jury for Critics Week.).
Panelist #2 is the prolific Egyptian screenwriter and producer Mohamed Hefzy, with a constantly growing filmography of 30 feature films including worldwide acclaimed titles such as Huda’s Salon (2021) Feathers (2021), Souad (2021) You Will Die at Twenty (2019), Youmeddine (2018), and Clash (2016). He has served as a jury member in various international festivals including the 75th Venice International Film Festival. As of its 40th edition and for four consecutive years; Mohamed Hefzy was the appointed President of the Cairo International Film Festival.
In 2005, He founded Film Clinic; the now pioneer production house in the Mena region with a variety of commercial blockbusters and arthouse films that have participated in major film festivals worldwide including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Sundance, Toronto, and Tribeca with more than 80 international awards under its belt. Later Hefzy founded Film Clinic Indie Distribution, with a mission to create opportunities for Arab independent films within and beyond festival circuits & Co- founded Meem Creative Circle which produced Netflix’s first Egyptian original series Paranormal.
Hefzy was cited among 30 future leaders in film production by Screen International, headed Variety’s list of Ten Names You Need to Know in the Arab Film Industry and was among Variety’s 500 list of the most influential people in the media industry worldwide. He was granted the Arab Cinema Personality of the Year award by the Hollywood Reporter & Arab Cinema Center. Hefzy is an official member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences in the producers’ branch. In recognition of his significant contribution to the Arab film scene, He was honored as a “Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres” from France.
Panelist #3 is Aymen Khoja, a film producer-director committed to bold voices and innovative forms to bridge cultures and to clear up any misunderstandings.
Over six years of experience producing and directing with international studios and production companies, such as Mbc Studios the biggest broadcaster in the Middle East and Viu, the No1 streaming platform east of Asia. Aymen has filmed in different cities all over the world from Los Angeles, Dubai, Abu-Dhabi, Bucharest, Cairo, to Jeddah. He successfully delivers high-quality films and series on time within budget.
In 2016 Aymen co-founded Khoja Brothers Productions and managed to fund, direct, co-produce, co-write his first feature film Shoot Aka The Arabian Warrior, and successfully released it theatrically then sold it to Sony Pictures, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Apple, and lastly Shahid. Aymen’s debut making ultra-low-budget films made him emphasize story quality, maximize creativity, and carefully spend every dollar.
Aymen received his Master’s degree in film with honors from the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles where he produced and directed many short films that have been played in different film festivals around the world. Aymen received his Bachelor’s in Business and Management from King Abdul-Aziz University, Saudi Arabia. This background helped him to be at the top of his organizing game, networking, and career growth.
Born and raised in the east of Saudi Arabia until the age of 11, Khoja then traveled back with his parents to the west, Makkah where he stayed until he was 23 when he traveled to the US to pursue his dream of making films. Aymen had the passion and drive to make movies in a time there were no theaters in his home country. Being a pioneer, he had to push and fight traditions to achieve what he believes is his mission in life: to bridge and close gaps between cultures through the form of cinema by telling the right stories.
Nine Mena Films to see in the Festival:
Cannes Ff Competition Leila’s Brothers directed by Saeed Roustayi from IranCannes Ff Competition Holy Spider directed by Iranian Ali Abbasi but funded by France, Germany, Sweden, DenmarkUn Certain Regard Harka directed by Lotfy Nathan from TunisiaUn Certain Regard The Blue Caftan directed by Maryam Touzani from MoroccoUn Certain Regard Mediterranean Fever directed by Maha Haj from PalestineUn Certain Regard Domingo And The Mist directed by Ariel Escalante from Costa Rica with support from QatarDirectors’ Fortnight Under the Fig Trees directed by Eriga Sehiri from TunisiaDirectors’ Fortnight Ashkal directed by Youssef Chebbi from TunisiaCritics’ Week in Competition Imagine directed by Ali Behrad from IranL’Atelier project: Hamlet From The Slums from Egypt, directed by Ahmed Fawzi SalehL’Atelier project: The Blind Ferryman from Iraq and Switzerland, directed by Ali Al-FatlawiL’Atelier project: You Are My Everything from Israel, directed by Michal VinikdL’Atelier project: The Doubt from Palestine and Israel, directed by Ihab Jadallah...
- 5/8/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Derk-Jan Warrink, co-founder of Keplerfilm, will represent The Netherlands as Producer on the Move at the Cannes Film Festival, May 17–28. The coproduction ‘The Woodcutter Story’**, directed by Mikko Myllylahti is set to premiere in Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique. Keplerfilm will also celebrate the world premiere of Fleur van der Meulen’s debut feature ‘Pink Moon’** at Tribeca next month and Michiel ten Horn’s family film ‘Hotel Sinestra’** is currently in post-production.
Derk-Jan Warrink
www.see-nl.com
Besides Derk-Jan’s place in Cannes this year, Netherlands has secured a place in the Festivl Competition with Close directed by Lukas Dhont, a coproduction of Belgium, Netherlands, France. Internationl sales agent (Isa) The Match Factory is selling this story of Leo and Remi, two thirteen-year-old boys whose close friendship suddenly thrown into disarray as the prospect of adolescence looms. Trying to understand what has gone wrong, Leo seeks comfort and grows closer to Remi’s mother, Sophie, as the boys pursue forgiveness and reconciliation to try and get their friendship back together. Lukas Dhont directs from a screenplay by Dhont and Angelo Tijssens, reteaming after their first feature film Girl.
Directors’ Fortnight is screening A Male/ Un varón directed by Fabian Hernández, a coproduction of Colombia, France, Germany, and Netherlands. Critics’ Week Competition is premiering The Woodcutter Story / Metsurin tarina directed by Mikko Myllylahti, a copro of Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, and Germany.
In L’Atelier is Anna 1st directd by Rosanne Pel of Netherlands.
To return to Derk-Jan who founded Keplerfilm together with Koji Nelissen in 2016 after having worked on award-winning films such as The Lobster* (by Yorgos Lanthimos), Bullhead (Michaël R. Roskam), Blind* (Eskil Vogt) and Monos** (Alejandro Landes), Keplerfilm has established itself as a (co-)production company of high-quality independent international feature films such as Semaine de la Critique 2021 Grand Prize winner Feathers* (Omar El Zohairy), Netflix Original Captain Nova** (Maurice Trouwborst) and Buladó** (Eché Janga) which was awarded Best Film at the National Film Awards.
Keplerfilm strongly values building a creative breeding ground on which exceptional and talented writers and directors can grow to their full potential, with an eye for an equal number of female and male directors. They have founded a writer’s residency which offers filmmakers the opportunity to work on a film plan for a month. Keplerfilm focuses on feature film and has the ambition to tell stories about real people, with inescapable struggles and genuine desires, while at the same time always aiming to entertain the audience intellectually.
Derk-Jan Warrink is one of the in total 20 promising, up-and-coming European producers who have been selected for Producers on the Move, European Film Promotion’s high profile hybrid promotion and networking platform. The exclusive group of producers will be put in the spotlight before and during the Cannes Film Festival and take part in a tailor-made hybrid program in order to foster international co-productions, intensify the exchange of experiences and help create new professional networks. The Pre-Festival online program, which started May 3rd and runs until May 5th, includes 1:1 speed meetings, roundtables and pitching sessions. Producers will then meet personally during the Festival de Cannes from 19 to 23 May and take part in a five-day on-site program including case studies, social events and an extensive promotional campaign via the international trade magazines.
Previous Producers on the Move from the Netherlands include Iris Otten of Juliet — Pupkin(2021), Joram Willink of Bind Film (2019), Frank Hoeve of Baldr (2018), Julius Ponten of New Amsterdam Film Company (2017), Janneke Doolaard of Doxy Films (2016), Ellen Havenith of Prpl (2015), Harro van Staverden of Phanta Basta (2014), Marleen Slot of Viking Film (2013) and Trent of Oak Motion Pictures (2012).
*supported by the Netherlands Film Fund
**supported by the Netherlands Film Fund and Netherlands Production Incentive
Derk-Jan Warrink, Keplerfilm
Ph: +31 20 737 0608
derkjan@keplerfilm.com
www.keplerfilm.com
European Film Promotion
info@efp-online.com
www.efp-online.com
See Nl, a collaboration between Eye Filmmuseum and the Netherlands Film Fund, is dedicated to the international promotion of Dutch films, film professionals and film culture.
www.see-nl.com / www.eyefilm.nl
www.eyefilm.nl/en/privacy-cookiestatement...
Derk-Jan Warrink
www.see-nl.com
Besides Derk-Jan’s place in Cannes this year, Netherlands has secured a place in the Festivl Competition with Close directed by Lukas Dhont, a coproduction of Belgium, Netherlands, France. Internationl sales agent (Isa) The Match Factory is selling this story of Leo and Remi, two thirteen-year-old boys whose close friendship suddenly thrown into disarray as the prospect of adolescence looms. Trying to understand what has gone wrong, Leo seeks comfort and grows closer to Remi’s mother, Sophie, as the boys pursue forgiveness and reconciliation to try and get their friendship back together. Lukas Dhont directs from a screenplay by Dhont and Angelo Tijssens, reteaming after their first feature film Girl.
Directors’ Fortnight is screening A Male/ Un varón directed by Fabian Hernández, a coproduction of Colombia, France, Germany, and Netherlands. Critics’ Week Competition is premiering The Woodcutter Story / Metsurin tarina directed by Mikko Myllylahti, a copro of Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, and Germany.
In L’Atelier is Anna 1st directd by Rosanne Pel of Netherlands.
To return to Derk-Jan who founded Keplerfilm together with Koji Nelissen in 2016 after having worked on award-winning films such as The Lobster* (by Yorgos Lanthimos), Bullhead (Michaël R. Roskam), Blind* (Eskil Vogt) and Monos** (Alejandro Landes), Keplerfilm has established itself as a (co-)production company of high-quality independent international feature films such as Semaine de la Critique 2021 Grand Prize winner Feathers* (Omar El Zohairy), Netflix Original Captain Nova** (Maurice Trouwborst) and Buladó** (Eché Janga) which was awarded Best Film at the National Film Awards.
Keplerfilm strongly values building a creative breeding ground on which exceptional and talented writers and directors can grow to their full potential, with an eye for an equal number of female and male directors. They have founded a writer’s residency which offers filmmakers the opportunity to work on a film plan for a month. Keplerfilm focuses on feature film and has the ambition to tell stories about real people, with inescapable struggles and genuine desires, while at the same time always aiming to entertain the audience intellectually.
Derk-Jan Warrink is one of the in total 20 promising, up-and-coming European producers who have been selected for Producers on the Move, European Film Promotion’s high profile hybrid promotion and networking platform. The exclusive group of producers will be put in the spotlight before and during the Cannes Film Festival and take part in a tailor-made hybrid program in order to foster international co-productions, intensify the exchange of experiences and help create new professional networks. The Pre-Festival online program, which started May 3rd and runs until May 5th, includes 1:1 speed meetings, roundtables and pitching sessions. Producers will then meet personally during the Festival de Cannes from 19 to 23 May and take part in a five-day on-site program including case studies, social events and an extensive promotional campaign via the international trade magazines.
Previous Producers on the Move from the Netherlands include Iris Otten of Juliet — Pupkin(2021), Joram Willink of Bind Film (2019), Frank Hoeve of Baldr (2018), Julius Ponten of New Amsterdam Film Company (2017), Janneke Doolaard of Doxy Films (2016), Ellen Havenith of Prpl (2015), Harro van Staverden of Phanta Basta (2014), Marleen Slot of Viking Film (2013) and Trent of Oak Motion Pictures (2012).
*supported by the Netherlands Film Fund
**supported by the Netherlands Film Fund and Netherlands Production Incentive
Derk-Jan Warrink, Keplerfilm
Ph: +31 20 737 0608
derkjan@keplerfilm.com
www.keplerfilm.com
European Film Promotion
info@efp-online.com
www.efp-online.com
See Nl, a collaboration between Eye Filmmuseum and the Netherlands Film Fund, is dedicated to the international promotion of Dutch films, film professionals and film culture.
www.see-nl.com / www.eyefilm.nl
www.eyefilm.nl/en/privacy-cookiestatement...
- 5/8/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Critics Week (or La Semaine de la Critique), the selection dedicated to first and second films running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, will boast a jury presided over by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania (“The Man who Sold his Skin”).
Ben Hania has directed four features, including “Beauty and the Dogs” which competed in Un Certain Regard in 2017, and “The Man who Sold his Skin” which played at Venice in 2020 and was the first Tunisian film nominated for the Oscars’ international feature film race.
The jury of the 61st edition will be completed by French-Greek actress and director Ariane Labed, Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson (“Woman at War”), Belgian cinematographer Benoît Debie, and South Korean journalist and Busan Festival’s topper Huh Moon yung.
Four prizes will be handed out by Ben Hania’s jury, the La Semaine de la Critique Grand Prize, the French Touch Prize of the Jury, the...
Ben Hania has directed four features, including “Beauty and the Dogs” which competed in Un Certain Regard in 2017, and “The Man who Sold his Skin” which played at Venice in 2020 and was the first Tunisian film nominated for the Oscars’ international feature film race.
The jury of the 61st edition will be completed by French-Greek actress and director Ariane Labed, Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson (“Woman at War”), Belgian cinematographer Benoît Debie, and South Korean journalist and Busan Festival’s topper Huh Moon yung.
Four prizes will be handed out by Ben Hania’s jury, the La Semaine de la Critique Grand Prize, the French Touch Prize of the Jury, the...
- 4/18/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Tfl has also unveiled the 10 writers picked for the inaugural edition of its SeriesLab – Talents scheme.
The TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) has unveiled the 20 new projects selected for its 2022 ScriptLab, and the 10 writers picked for the inaugural edition of its SeriesLab – Talents scheme.
The ScriptLab is a nine-month scriptwriting programme involving feature films at an early stage of development. This year’s iteration focused on comedies, with eight of the 20 projects written by women.
Composed of two week-long residential workshops, one in Turin and one in Finland, as well as three online modules, the ScriptLab also feeds in to TorinoFilmLab annual industry event the Tfl Meeting.
The TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) has unveiled the 20 new projects selected for its 2022 ScriptLab, and the 10 writers picked for the inaugural edition of its SeriesLab – Talents scheme.
The ScriptLab is a nine-month scriptwriting programme involving feature films at an early stage of development. This year’s iteration focused on comedies, with eight of the 20 projects written by women.
Composed of two week-long residential workshops, one in Turin and one in Finland, as well as three online modules, the ScriptLab also feeds in to TorinoFilmLab annual industry event the Tfl Meeting.
- 3/10/2022
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
The 11th annual First Look festival at the Museum of the Moving Image released its star-studded lineup February 7.
The festival, which is set to take place March 16–20 at the MoMI museum in Astoria, Queens, will open with the New York City premiere of Camera d’Or winner “Murina.” Director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović was honored with the title at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival for Best First Feature, and the film is executive produced by Martin Scorsese.
“Murina” is a coming-of-age story set in a scenic coastal Croatian town. Also on March 16, Tsai Ming-Liang’s ode to Hong Kong, “The Night,” will host its New York premiere. Closing Night selection and 2021 Locarno Grand Prix winner “The Balcony Movie” finishes off the festival.
The First Look festival features “new and innovative international cinema.” Spotlight screenings include the New York premiere of “Zero Fucks Given,” starring Adèle Exarchopoulos as a flight attendant in crisis,...
The festival, which is set to take place March 16–20 at the MoMI museum in Astoria, Queens, will open with the New York City premiere of Camera d’Or winner “Murina.” Director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović was honored with the title at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival for Best First Feature, and the film is executive produced by Martin Scorsese.
“Murina” is a coming-of-age story set in a scenic coastal Croatian town. Also on March 16, Tsai Ming-Liang’s ode to Hong Kong, “The Night,” will host its New York premiere. Closing Night selection and 2021 Locarno Grand Prix winner “The Balcony Movie” finishes off the festival.
The First Look festival features “new and innovative international cinema.” Spotlight screenings include the New York premiere of “Zero Fucks Given,” starring Adèle Exarchopoulos as a flight attendant in crisis,...
- 2/7/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The Criterion Channel’s February Lineup Includes Melvin Van Peebles, Douglas Sirk, Laura Dern & More
Another month, another Criterion Channel lineup. In accordance with Black History Month their selections are especially refreshing: seven by Melvin Van Peebles, five from Kevin Jerome Everson, and Criterion editions of The Harder They Come and The Learning Tree.
Regarding individual features I’m quite happy to see Abderrahmane Sissako’s fantastic Bamako, last year’s big Sundance winner (and Kosovo’s Oscar entry) Hive, and the remarkably beautiful Portuguese feature The Metamorphosis of Birds. Add a three-film Laura Dern collection (including the recently canonized Smooth Talk) and Pasolini’s rarely shown documentary Love Meetings to make this a fine smorgasboard.
See the full list of February titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
Alan & Naomi, Sterling Van Wagenen, 1992
All That Heaven Allows, Douglas Sirk, 1955
The Angel Levine, Ján Kadár, 1970
Babylon, Franco Rosso, 1980
Babymother, Julian Henriques, 1998
Bamako, Abderrahmane Sissako, 2006
Beat Street, Stan Lathan, 1984
Blacks Britannica, David Koff, 1978
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,...
Regarding individual features I’m quite happy to see Abderrahmane Sissako’s fantastic Bamako, last year’s big Sundance winner (and Kosovo’s Oscar entry) Hive, and the remarkably beautiful Portuguese feature The Metamorphosis of Birds. Add a three-film Laura Dern collection (including the recently canonized Smooth Talk) and Pasolini’s rarely shown documentary Love Meetings to make this a fine smorgasboard.
See the full list of February titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
Alan & Naomi, Sterling Van Wagenen, 1992
All That Heaven Allows, Douglas Sirk, 1955
The Angel Levine, Ján Kadár, 1970
Babylon, Franco Rosso, 1980
Babymother, Julian Henriques, 1998
Bamako, Abderrahmane Sissako, 2006
Beat Street, Stan Lathan, 1984
Blacks Britannica, David Koff, 1978
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,...
- 1/24/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The pop-up initiative showcases independent cinema within the framework of the Diriyah Biennale.
Burgeoning Saudi exhibitor Muvi Cinemas and content production and distribution company Telfaz11 have launched joint pop-up venture Wadi Cinema aimed at fostering arthouse cinema-going in the country.
Unfolding within Saudi Arabia’s first-ever art biennale, running in the historic city of Diriyah on the outskirts of Riyadh from December 16 to March 11, the initiative consists of a temporary cinema and a programme of recent arthouse titles.
It opens on Thursday (December 23) with a screening of Oscar-nominated The Man Who Sold His Skin by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania,...
Burgeoning Saudi exhibitor Muvi Cinemas and content production and distribution company Telfaz11 have launched joint pop-up venture Wadi Cinema aimed at fostering arthouse cinema-going in the country.
Unfolding within Saudi Arabia’s first-ever art biennale, running in the historic city of Diriyah on the outskirts of Riyadh from December 16 to March 11, the initiative consists of a temporary cinema and a programme of recent arthouse titles.
It opens on Thursday (December 23) with a screening of Oscar-nominated The Man Who Sold His Skin by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania,...
- 12/23/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Turkish director Selman Nacar’s “Between Two Dawns,” a taut moral thriller exploring ethical and familial responsibilities over the course of one 24-hour period, took home the top honor at the 39th edition of the Torino Film Festival, which ran from Nov. 26 – Dec. 4.
Chaired by director Ildikó Enyedi, and made up of actor Alessandro Gassmann, composer Evgueni Galperine and sales exec Isabel Ivars, this year’s jury commended Nacar’s filmmaking, calling the winning title “a mature film, directed with intelligent sobriety, which reveals a new, big talent.” The prize came with a purse of €18,000.
No doubt glad to return to in-person, restriction free screenings after last year’s online only edition, the jury spread the love around, offering special jury prizes to both Omar El Zohairy’s “Feathers” and Amalia Ulman’s “El Planeta.” Ulman’s film also won the Fipresci prize. Acting honors went to South Korea’s Gong Seung-yeon,...
Chaired by director Ildikó Enyedi, and made up of actor Alessandro Gassmann, composer Evgueni Galperine and sales exec Isabel Ivars, this year’s jury commended Nacar’s filmmaking, calling the winning title “a mature film, directed with intelligent sobriety, which reveals a new, big talent.” The prize came with a purse of €18,000.
No doubt glad to return to in-person, restriction free screenings after last year’s online only edition, the jury spread the love around, offering special jury prizes to both Omar El Zohairy’s “Feathers” and Amalia Ulman’s “El Planeta.” Ulman’s film also won the Fipresci prize. Acting honors went to South Korea’s Gong Seung-yeon,...
- 12/5/2021
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s Torino Film Festival, the pre-eminent event for young directors and indie cinema — now being revamped after going virtual due to the pandemic — will somewhat symbolically kick off its upcoming 39th edition with the international premiere of “Sing 2” with director Garth Jennings in tow.
“It’s a hymn to going back into movie theaters,” says Torino artistic director Stefano Francia di Celle on choosing the animated musical comedy, featuring more than 40 rock, rap and pop tunes, as opener for the Nov. 26-Dec. 4 event. It will be Italy’s first festival held in venues with 100% seating capacity since Covid-19 struck.
“Sing 2,” he points out, is also only the second feature helmed by Jennings, who cut his teeth in the indie world making videos for many of the best pop acts of the 1990s such as Blur, Radiohead and Beck, before he was able to get Universal on board for his impressive “Sing” debut.
“It’s a hymn to going back into movie theaters,” says Torino artistic director Stefano Francia di Celle on choosing the animated musical comedy, featuring more than 40 rock, rap and pop tunes, as opener for the Nov. 26-Dec. 4 event. It will be Italy’s first festival held in venues with 100% seating capacity since Covid-19 struck.
“Sing 2,” he points out, is also only the second feature helmed by Jennings, who cut his teeth in the indie world making videos for many of the best pop acts of the 1990s such as Blur, Radiohead and Beck, before he was able to get Universal on board for his impressive “Sing” debut.
- 11/25/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, the International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg (Iffmh) is for the first time taking place in cinemas across both cities, introducing new sections, and looking back at its rich history with a special retrospective.
“Being 70 in a way is a starting point for reflection,” says festival director Sascha Keilholz. “What was the festival like in the past? What is it now? Where do we want to go in the future? The festival is in a transformational process that we started last year and was actually quite successful.”
Indeed, after adopting a new brand image last year, the Iffmh won the 2021 German Brand Award for brand strategy and design.
After being forced online last year amid the pandemic, going back into theaters was one of this year’s main goals, Keilholz says. “This is more important than ever.”
In celebrating its return to cinemas as well...
“Being 70 in a way is a starting point for reflection,” says festival director Sascha Keilholz. “What was the festival like in the past? What is it now? Where do we want to go in the future? The festival is in a transformational process that we started last year and was actually quite successful.”
Indeed, after adopting a new brand image last year, the Iffmh won the 2021 German Brand Award for brand strategy and design.
After being forced online last year amid the pandemic, going back into theaters was one of this year’s main goals, Keilholz says. “This is more important than ever.”
In celebrating its return to cinemas as well...
- 11/9/2021
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
The international premiere of animated musical comedy “Sing 2” will open the upcoming Torino Film Festival, Italy’s preeminent event for young directors and indie fare, which will be honoring Monica Bellucci with a lifetime achievement award.
Director Garth Jennings will be on hand in Torino for the overseas festival bow of his sequel to 2016’s “Sing,” which follows a koala named Buster Moon, voiced by Matthew McConaughey, as he and his cast of performing animals prepare for their biggest concert yet in Redshore City, and must convince a reclusive rockstar (Bono) to join them.
Bellucci, besides coming to be celebrated and to hold a masterclass, will also be attending the fest to launch her latest film “The Girl in the Fountain,” directed by Italy’s Antongiulio Panizzi, in which she plays the iconic Anita Ekberg, a role for which she died her hair blonde.
Charlotte Gainsbourg will also be...
Director Garth Jennings will be on hand in Torino for the overseas festival bow of his sequel to 2016’s “Sing,” which follows a koala named Buster Moon, voiced by Matthew McConaughey, as he and his cast of performing animals prepare for their biggest concert yet in Redshore City, and must convince a reclusive rockstar (Bono) to join them.
Bellucci, besides coming to be celebrated and to hold a masterclass, will also be attending the fest to launch her latest film “The Girl in the Fountain,” directed by Italy’s Antongiulio Panizzi, in which she plays the iconic Anita Ekberg, a role for which she died her hair blonde.
Charlotte Gainsbourg will also be...
- 11/9/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Egyptian Red Sea event marked its fifth edition from October 14-22.
Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, running in its namesake Egyptian Red Sea resort from October 14-22, got off to a memorable start this year when a fire broke out on the red carpet of the main festival plaza area on the eve of the opening ceremony.
By the next day, there was no sign of the near-disaster after hundreds of workers toiled through the night to repair the damage.
This freak accident would set the scene for an eventful edition, however, marked by guest deportations and cancellations, a...
Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, running in its namesake Egyptian Red Sea resort from October 14-22, got off to a memorable start this year when a fire broke out on the red carpet of the main festival plaza area on the eve of the opening ceremony.
By the next day, there was no sign of the near-disaster after hundreds of workers toiled through the night to repair the damage.
This freak accident would set the scene for an eventful edition, however, marked by guest deportations and cancellations, a...
- 10/25/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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