Acclaimed auteurs Francis Ford Coppola, Yorgos Lanthimos, Paolo Sorrentino and Andrea Arnold are among the filmmakers set to compete for the coveted Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.
A total of 19 features were revealed today (April 11) that will play in Competition at the festival, set to run May 14-25.
Rarely a festival to veer far from familiar names, the Competition line-up is dominated by directors who have been selected multiple times for Cannes.
They include US filmmaker Coppola with sci-fi epic Megalopolis, which stars Adam Driver and is set in a future version of New York City following a disaster.
A total of 19 features were revealed today (April 11) that will play in Competition at the festival, set to run May 14-25.
Rarely a festival to veer far from familiar names, the Competition line-up is dominated by directors who have been selected multiple times for Cannes.
They include US filmmaker Coppola with sci-fi epic Megalopolis, which stars Adam Driver and is set in a future version of New York City following a disaster.
- 4/11/2024
- ScreenDaily
Michael Winterbottom’s drama centres on the romance between a British police officer and a socialist Zionist writer but puts history-telling over emotion
Working with co-writers Laurence Coriat and Paul Viragh, Michael Winterbottom hits a clear, confident stride with a robustly well made, if emotionally flavourless historical drama set during the British mandate in what was then Palestine. It is a film that speaks in a complex way to the current Gaza debate, contending that Zionism has anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism in its 20th-century manifestation: a rage against the British masters. But the implication is that it learned habits of ruthlessness from these very people.
The film is based on the true story of Shoshana Borochov, a socialist Zionist writer who came with her Ukrainian family to Tel Aviv as a child in the 1920s and grew up to have a long-term romantic relationship with a British police officer called Thomas Wilkin,...
Working with co-writers Laurence Coriat and Paul Viragh, Michael Winterbottom hits a clear, confident stride with a robustly well made, if emotionally flavourless historical drama set during the British mandate in what was then Palestine. It is a film that speaks in a complex way to the current Gaza debate, contending that Zionism has anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism in its 20th-century manifestation: a rage against the British masters. But the implication is that it learned habits of ruthlessness from these very people.
The film is based on the true story of Shoshana Borochov, a socialist Zionist writer who came with her Ukrainian family to Tel Aviv as a child in the 1920s and grew up to have a long-term romantic relationship with a British police officer called Thomas Wilkin,...
- 2/21/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Over the last few years, Marvel has produced a mixed bag of films with some setting the box office alight and others falling flat with audiences and critics. Morbius starring Jared Leto unfortunately belonged to the second category. The third film from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe could not find favor despite having a charismatic A-list star like Leto as the titular lead.
Jared Leto’s Morbius scored over Spider-Man: Homecoming in one area despite being a failure at the box office
Though fans ripped apart the film, it surprisingly scored over the much more popular Spider-man: Homecoming in one particular aspect. Marvel fans believed that the mask of the sinister villain Vulture who is common to both films was way superior in Morbius to the one seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
SUGGESTEDTom Holland’s Spider-Man 4 Gets Much Awaited Update, Film Reportedly Set to Release Even Before Avengers 5 Morbius Scored...
Jared Leto’s Morbius scored over Spider-Man: Homecoming in one area despite being a failure at the box office
Though fans ripped apart the film, it surprisingly scored over the much more popular Spider-man: Homecoming in one particular aspect. Marvel fans believed that the mask of the sinister villain Vulture who is common to both films was way superior in Morbius to the one seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
SUGGESTEDTom Holland’s Spider-Man 4 Gets Much Awaited Update, Film Reportedly Set to Release Even Before Avengers 5 Morbius Scored...
- 2/17/2024
- by Sharanya Sankar
- FandomWire
’Shoshana’ world premiered at Toronto, ahead of screenings at Dinard film festival and BFI London Film Festival.
Michael Winterbottom is one of the UK’s more prolific independent filmmakers, with over 30 features to his name across a 35-year career – but his latest, Shoshana, has been rather a slow burn.
The drama, based on real people and events, premiered in Toronto, before playing in French festival of UK and Irish film Dinard, and will have its UK premiere at BFI London Film Festival on October 7.
It is set in 1930s Tel Aviv, as violence erupt in the British Mandate for Palestine,...
Michael Winterbottom is one of the UK’s more prolific independent filmmakers, with over 30 features to his name across a 35-year career – but his latest, Shoshana, has been rather a slow burn.
The drama, based on real people and events, premiered in Toronto, before playing in French festival of UK and Irish film Dinard, and will have its UK premiere at BFI London Film Festival on October 7.
It is set in 1930s Tel Aviv, as violence erupt in the British Mandate for Palestine,...
- 10/4/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Andrey Zvyagintsev, the two-time Oscar-nominated Russian filmmaker of “Loveless” and “Leviathan,” will next direct “Jupiter,” a politically-minded movie set to shoot in Spain and France next spring.
The movie will tell the story of a Russian oligarch’s reckoning with the harsh reality of his family’s future.
Anonymous Content and Lorem Ipsum Entertainment (“War on Everyone”) are producing “Jupiter” alongside Les Films du Losange (“A Silence”) in France and Elastica Films (“Anatomy of a Fall”) in Spain. Zvyagintsev will reteam with his regular crew, including cinemtographer Mikhail Krichman and production designer Andrey Ponkratov, who worked “Loveless” and “Leviathan.”
“Jupiter” is set in the seemingly impenetrable world of the ultra-wealthy and is being described by the producers as an “unrelenting exploration of power and corruption.”
Zvyagintsev said “Jupiter” will be a “very modern story” which “goes beyond today’s political context.” “The nature of absolute power is a universal theme,...
The movie will tell the story of a Russian oligarch’s reckoning with the harsh reality of his family’s future.
Anonymous Content and Lorem Ipsum Entertainment (“War on Everyone”) are producing “Jupiter” alongside Les Films du Losange (“A Silence”) in France and Elastica Films (“Anatomy of a Fall”) in Spain. Zvyagintsev will reteam with his regular crew, including cinemtographer Mikhail Krichman and production designer Andrey Ponkratov, who worked “Loveless” and “Leviathan.”
“Jupiter” is set in the seemingly impenetrable world of the ultra-wealthy and is being described by the producers as an “unrelenting exploration of power and corruption.”
Zvyagintsev said “Jupiter” will be a “very modern story” which “goes beyond today’s political context.” “The nature of absolute power is a universal theme,...
- 9/28/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Britain’s official post-wwi administration of Palestine lasted from 1920-48 and is probably the UK colonial enterprise least addressed by its fiction filmmakers. But now prolific writer-director Michael Winterbottom uses that complicated era as a backdrop to the compelling historical romance “Shoshana.” A passion project 15 years in the making and based on real people and events, the film employs the ill-fated, cross-cultural relationship between a ranking member of the British Palestine Police Force and a young Jewish woman to explore the way extremism and violence push people apart, forcing them to choose sides.
It’s worth noting upfront that while the British rulers had to deal with both Palestine’s Arab and Jewish citizens, each of whom want an independent country, the narrative here hews firmly to a British and Jewish p.o.v., with Arabs barely characterized except as victims and troublemakers. By the 1930s, Palestine is a cauldron...
It’s worth noting upfront that while the British rulers had to deal with both Palestine’s Arab and Jewish citizens, each of whom want an independent country, the narrative here hews firmly to a British and Jewish p.o.v., with Arabs barely characterized except as victims and troublemakers. By the 1930s, Palestine is a cauldron...
- 9/17/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Kirill Serebrennikov, the celebrated Russian playwright and director whose last three films competed at Cannes, is set to create and direct a sensual, gothic TV adaptation of “The Phantom of the Opera,” Gaston Leroux’s 19th century novel.
Serebrennikov’s TV debut, the subversive six-part miniseries will be shot in English and is being produced by Aude Albano at Pathé, in association with Ilya Stewart at Hype Studios. The latter has collaborated with Serebrennikov on his critically acclaimed movies, including “Leto,” “Petrov’s Flu” and “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” all of which have played at Cannes.
Described as a “riveting psychological thriller with horrific undertones” by the production team, the story of “The Phantom of the Opera” revolves around an up-and-coming artist, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a disfigured musical genius, a monster haunting the Paris Opera House. Known as the Phantom of the Opera, the maleficent figure is a controlling,...
Serebrennikov’s TV debut, the subversive six-part miniseries will be shot in English and is being produced by Aude Albano at Pathé, in association with Ilya Stewart at Hype Studios. The latter has collaborated with Serebrennikov on his critically acclaimed movies, including “Leto,” “Petrov’s Flu” and “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” all of which have played at Cannes.
Described as a “riveting psychological thriller with horrific undertones” by the production team, the story of “The Phantom of the Opera” revolves around an up-and-coming artist, Christine Daaé, who becomes the obsession of a disfigured musical genius, a monster haunting the Paris Opera House. Known as the Phantom of the Opera, the maleficent figure is a controlling,...
- 9/6/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Rumors of cinema's demise may have been greatly exaggerated ... or at least have arrived somewhat prematurely.
In the midst of box office analysts and movie nerds screaming that the sky is falling, partly motivated by superhero movies (and the occasional "Fast & Furious sequel) becoming the only dependably profitable movies at the box office while the mid-budget feature targeted for adults has practically disappeared entirely, we might have a glimpse of hope. Original and R-rated adult comedies may be a dying breed these days, but salvation has potentially arrived in the form of, well, Jennifer Lawrence trying to get a 19-year-old to sleep with her. I'm suddenly thinking of that classic Shakespeare quote about strange bedfellows, for some reason.
It's true -- moviegoers have been starved of the kinds of raunchy sex comedies that used to be all the rage in the early aughts. Part of that might be because we...
In the midst of box office analysts and movie nerds screaming that the sky is falling, partly motivated by superhero movies (and the occasional "Fast & Furious sequel) becoming the only dependably profitable movies at the box office while the mid-budget feature targeted for adults has practically disappeared entirely, we might have a glimpse of hope. Original and R-rated adult comedies may be a dying breed these days, but salvation has potentially arrived in the form of, well, Jennifer Lawrence trying to get a 19-year-old to sleep with her. I'm suddenly thinking of that classic Shakespeare quote about strange bedfellows, for some reason.
It's true -- moviegoers have been starved of the kinds of raunchy sex comedies that used to be all the rage in the early aughts. Part of that might be because we...
- 5/25/2023
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
Producer Ilya Stewart has launched an independent studio based in Europe that will operate on a global scale, working with international talent and focusing on English-language feature films and television series, Variety can exclusively reveal.
Hype Studios is the new venture from Stewart, the formerly Moscow-based producer who in recent years has been a fixture at the Cannes Film Festival, where his collaborations with Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov, including “Petrov’s Flu” and “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” have premiered in competition.
Among the co-productions with American and European partners currently on Hype Studios’ slate is Zach Wigon’s “Sanctuary,” starring Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott, which premieres as a Special Presentation next month at the Toronto International Film Festival and was produced with Rumble Films and Mosaic Films, along with Charades. Also on the slate is Pietro Marcello’s French-language “Scarlet,” produced in partnership with CG Cinéma’s Charles Gillibert, which opened this...
Hype Studios is the new venture from Stewart, the formerly Moscow-based producer who in recent years has been a fixture at the Cannes Film Festival, where his collaborations with Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov, including “Petrov’s Flu” and “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” have premiered in competition.
Among the co-productions with American and European partners currently on Hype Studios’ slate is Zach Wigon’s “Sanctuary,” starring Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott, which premieres as a Special Presentation next month at the Toronto International Film Festival and was produced with Rumble Films and Mosaic Films, along with Charades. Also on the slate is Pietro Marcello’s French-language “Scarlet,” produced in partnership with CG Cinéma’s Charles Gillibert, which opened this...
- 8/25/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov has premiered three films in Cannes competition, but walked the red carpet at the festival for the first time this week. In 2017, Serebrennikov was convicted by Russian authorities of an embezzlement scheme associated with his theater company and banned from leaving the country, a decision that angered human rights groups who alleged the charges were fake. When the sentence was lifted at the start of this year, Serebrennikov resettled in Germany while finishing his new drama, “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” just in time for the film to play at Cannes.
Sitting on a balcony at the festival the day after his premiere, Serebrennikov said that even though leaving Russia meant that he had to abandon his 90-year-old father, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine expedited the filmmaker’s decision to move away as soon as the law allowed for it. “If you live inside the war, and you...
Sitting on a balcony at the festival the day after his premiere, Serebrennikov said that even though leaving Russia meant that he had to abandon his 90-year-old father, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine expedited the filmmaker’s decision to move away as soon as the law allowed for it. “If you live inside the war, and you...
- 5/20/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
by Cláudio Alves
The first day of Main Competition screenings saw the premiere of a few film by Kirill Serebrennikov, and a collaboration from Felix van Groeningen, and Charlotte Vandermeersch. Tchaikovsky's Wife (read Elisa's review) marks the third time Serebrennikov competes for the Palme d'Or, but the first time he's been at the Croisette. In the last few years, he's forbidden from exiting Russia after being convicted of deviating state funds for the Gogol Center in Moscow, a subterfuge for punishing an artist who's consistently spoken against Putin's regime. The other screening was less politically charged in comparison. The Eight Mountains (read Elisa's review) is the first directorial collaboration of Groeningen and Vandermeersch, though they previously wrote the screenplay for Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown. Moreover, it's Vandermeersch's debut as a director and is the first of five competition titles directed or co-directed by women – a record in Cannes history.
The first day of Main Competition screenings saw the premiere of a few film by Kirill Serebrennikov, and a collaboration from Felix van Groeningen, and Charlotte Vandermeersch. Tchaikovsky's Wife (read Elisa's review) marks the third time Serebrennikov competes for the Palme d'Or, but the first time he's been at the Croisette. In the last few years, he's forbidden from exiting Russia after being convicted of deviating state funds for the Gogol Center in Moscow, a subterfuge for punishing an artist who's consistently spoken against Putin's regime. The other screening was less politically charged in comparison. The Eight Mountains (read Elisa's review) is the first directorial collaboration of Groeningen and Vandermeersch, though they previously wrote the screenplay for Groeningen's The Broken Circle Breakdown. Moreover, it's Vandermeersch's debut as a director and is the first of five competition titles directed or co-directed by women – a record in Cannes history.
- 5/19/2022
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
One day after dissident Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Tchaikovsky’s Wife” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, members of the Ukrainian film industry took to the Croisette to call for a total boycott of Russian movie. Meanwhile, just steps away in the Palais des Festivals, the director’s long-awaited return to cinema’s grandest stage was overshadowed by questions about the festival’s controversial selection and over the film’s financial ties to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Speaking at a politically charged press conference on Thursday, Serebrennikov described Russia’s war in Ukraine as a “total catastrophe” but rejected calls for a boycott of Russian film. “I fully understand people who are calling for boycotts. I understand them because they’re so pained, so hurt by what is happening in the country,” he said.
But efforts to ban a nation’s culture, he added, were an “impossible” feat: “I believe we shouldn’t boycott language,...
Speaking at a politically charged press conference on Thursday, Serebrennikov described Russia’s war in Ukraine as a “total catastrophe” but rejected calls for a boycott of Russian film. “I fully understand people who are calling for boycotts. I understand them because they’re so pained, so hurt by what is happening in the country,” he said.
But efforts to ban a nation’s culture, he added, were an “impossible” feat: “I believe we shouldn’t boycott language,...
- 5/19/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The 2022 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or competition begins with Kirill Serebrennikov‘s Tchaikovsky’s Wife — his fourth consecutive feature to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival which makes it back to back years with Petrov’s Flu premiering in 2021. The Student (2016) was an Un Certain Regard selection and 2018’s Leto was his first time in competition.
Tchaikovsky’s Wife essentially tells the story of Antonina Miliukova’s not too healthy union with the great Pyotr Tchaikovsky (Odin Lund Biron). It’s a heightened drama and historical hypothesis that sees Miliukova (a truly committed performance by actress Alyona Mikhailova) spiral out of control offering self-adulation and exaggeratedly late accountability.…...
Tchaikovsky’s Wife essentially tells the story of Antonina Miliukova’s not too healthy union with the great Pyotr Tchaikovsky (Odin Lund Biron). It’s a heightened drama and historical hypothesis that sees Miliukova (a truly committed performance by actress Alyona Mikhailova) spiral out of control offering self-adulation and exaggeratedly late accountability.…...
- 5/18/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
The Cannes Film Festival has been careful to steer clear of Russian participation this year, barring “official Russian delegations” and “anyone linked to the Russian government” and also declining to credential many Russian journalists. That puts a clear focus on director Kirill Serebrennikov, whose “Tchaikovsky’s Wife” is the only Russian film in the festival’s official selection.
And when you consider that Serebrennikov had publicly criticized Vladimir Putin’s government in the past and had been placed under house arrest on what some say were trumped-up fraud charges, you’d figure that his presence in the festival probably means that he’s bringing a film that wags a finger at the country where he no longer lives.
But instead, “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” which premiered on Wednesday as part of the festival’s Main Competition, is set in the late 19th century, toward the end of a different Russian empire, which means...
And when you consider that Serebrennikov had publicly criticized Vladimir Putin’s government in the past and had been placed under house arrest on what some say were trumped-up fraud charges, you’d figure that his presence in the festival probably means that he’s bringing a film that wags a finger at the country where he no longer lives.
But instead, “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” which premiered on Wednesday as part of the festival’s Main Competition, is set in the late 19th century, toward the end of a different Russian empire, which means...
- 5/18/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
With Ken Russell’s madly over-the-top The Music Lovers reassuringly tucked in dusty attic corners after 52 years, a fresh and notably inspired take on Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s fraught marriage arrives in the churningly emotional and visually rich Tchaikovsky’s Wife.
Director Kirill Serebrennikov, whose most recent films were Leto and Petrov’s Flu, is currently in exile from his homeland following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additional ill will at home surrounding the prominent theater and opera director’s new work stems from its exploration of the composer’s gay leanings, an officially taboo subject locally but one that will stir interest among significant audiences internationally.
By all accounts, Tchaikovsky’s intimate life was fraught, complicated and likely rooted in a need to at least appear to adhere to convention. Almost at once, the film pulls you into to swirl of musically driven movement, emotional instability and highly focused desire...
Director Kirill Serebrennikov, whose most recent films were Leto and Petrov’s Flu, is currently in exile from his homeland following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additional ill will at home surrounding the prominent theater and opera director’s new work stems from its exploration of the composer’s gay leanings, an officially taboo subject locally but one that will stir interest among significant audiences internationally.
By all accounts, Tchaikovsky’s intimate life was fraught, complicated and likely rooted in a need to at least appear to adhere to convention. Almost at once, the film pulls you into to swirl of musically driven movement, emotional instability and highly focused desire...
- 5/18/2022
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
Since co-founding Moscow-based production house Hype Film in 2011, Ilya Stewart and partner Murad Osmann – Variety Producers to Watch in 2018 – have grown the company from an award-winning commercial and music video producer into one of the most successful film production outfits in the country, thanks in no small part to their partnership with arthouse director and provocateur Kirill Serebrennikov.
After collaborating on his 2016 Un Certain Regard prize winner “The Student,” Serebrennikov and Stewart teamed up again on “Leto,” a rock drama which played in competition on the Croisette in 2018. Last year they competed again with “Petrov’s Flu,” a hallucinatory romp through a post-Soviet Russia in the grips of a mysterious flu pandemic.
Serebrennikov, however, was forced to sit out both premieres in the wake of his house arrest – and a subsequent travel ban – stemming from a 2017 charge of embezzlement that his supporters say was fabricated. Walking the red carpet ahead of the “Petrov’s Flu” debut,...
After collaborating on his 2016 Un Certain Regard prize winner “The Student,” Serebrennikov and Stewart teamed up again on “Leto,” a rock drama which played in competition on the Croisette in 2018. Last year they competed again with “Petrov’s Flu,” a hallucinatory romp through a post-Soviet Russia in the grips of a mysterious flu pandemic.
Serebrennikov, however, was forced to sit out both premieres in the wake of his house arrest – and a subsequent travel ban – stemming from a 2017 charge of embezzlement that his supporters say was fabricated. Walking the red carpet ahead of the “Petrov’s Flu” debut,...
- 5/18/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Despite widespread calls to boycott Russian cinema in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, the Cannes Film Festival struck an uneasy compromise by banning state delegations and Russians with ties to President Vladimir Putin while allowing individual filmmakers to attend.
It’s a decision iconoclastic Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov was quick to support on the eve of the world premiere of his latest feature, “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” which bows in competition on May 18.
The director was a no-show at his last two Cannes premieres due in no small part to a history of provocation and dissent against the Russian government. But Serebrennikov – who after a nearly five-year legal ordeal learned on March 28 that he could leave Russia a free man – insists that the type of subversive cinema he creates should be separated from pro-Kremlin propaganda and the “paranoid ideology” of the Putin regime.
“Russian culture is about the fragility of life.
It’s a decision iconoclastic Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov was quick to support on the eve of the world premiere of his latest feature, “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” which bows in competition on May 18.
The director was a no-show at his last two Cannes premieres due in no small part to a history of provocation and dissent against the Russian government. But Serebrennikov – who after a nearly five-year legal ordeal learned on March 28 that he could leave Russia a free man – insists that the type of subversive cinema he creates should be separated from pro-Kremlin propaganda and the “paranoid ideology” of the Putin regime.
“Russian culture is about the fragility of life.
- 5/18/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
British director Michael Winterbottom will start shooting his long-gestating “Promised Land,” a thriller set during the leadup to the 1948 partition of Palestine and the subsequent creation of the state of Israel, this fall in Italy.
U.K. actors Douglas Booth and Harry Melling (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) and Russia’s Irina Starshenbaum, who was in Cannes in 2018 with Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Leto,” are attached as the pic’s main cast.
Italy’s Vision Distribution, which is headed by veteran sales agent Catia Rossi, is launching pre-sales on “Promised Land” in Cannes.
Based on real events, “Promised Land” is a political thriller that unfolds during the British Mandate in 1930s Tel Aviv. It follows two Brit police officers Thomas Wilkin (Booth) and Geoffrey Morton (Melling) in their hunt for charismatic poet and Zionist freedom fighter Avraham Stern, who was plotting to evict British authorities.
Wilkin is torn between his duty...
U.K. actors Douglas Booth and Harry Melling (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) and Russia’s Irina Starshenbaum, who was in Cannes in 2018 with Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Leto,” are attached as the pic’s main cast.
Italy’s Vision Distribution, which is headed by veteran sales agent Catia Rossi, is launching pre-sales on “Promised Land” in Cannes.
Based on real events, “Promised Land” is a political thriller that unfolds during the British Mandate in 1930s Tel Aviv. It follows two Brit police officers Thomas Wilkin (Booth) and Geoffrey Morton (Melling) in their hunt for charismatic poet and Zionist freedom fighter Avraham Stern, who was plotting to evict British authorities.
Wilkin is torn between his duty...
- 5/17/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Ben Whishaw is to lead Limonov, The Ballad of Eddie, a feature from Kirill Serebrennikov, the Russian filmmaker whose Tchaikovsky’s Wife will play at Cannes.
The film penned by Serebrennikov, Ben Hopkins and Cold War‘s Paweł Pawlikowski is inspired by Emmanuel Carrère’s best-selling novel and tells the story of Eduard Limonov’s life and journey through Russia, the U.S. and Europe during the second half of the 20th century.
Limonov was many things, a revolutionary militant, a thug, an underground writer, a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan, but also a switchblade-waving poet, a lover of beautiful women, a warmonger, a political agitator and a novelist who wrote of his own greatness.
Serebrennikov’s Tchaikovsky’s Wife (Zhena Chaikovskogo) is in competition at Cannes, the fourth from the Russian director following Petrov’s Flu last year, 2018’s Leto and 2016’s Uchenik.
The film is produced by Wildside...
The film penned by Serebrennikov, Ben Hopkins and Cold War‘s Paweł Pawlikowski is inspired by Emmanuel Carrère’s best-selling novel and tells the story of Eduard Limonov’s life and journey through Russia, the U.S. and Europe during the second half of the 20th century.
Limonov was many things, a revolutionary militant, a thug, an underground writer, a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan, but also a switchblade-waving poet, a lover of beautiful women, a warmonger, a political agitator and a novelist who wrote of his own greatness.
Serebrennikov’s Tchaikovsky’s Wife (Zhena Chaikovskogo) is in competition at Cannes, the fourth from the Russian director following Petrov’s Flu last year, 2018’s Leto and 2016’s Uchenik.
The film is produced by Wildside...
- 5/11/2022
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Iconoclastic Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov will be unveiling footage in Cannes from his new work-in-progress film “Limonov, the Ballad of Eddie,” starring Ben Whishaw as radical Russian poet and dissident Eduard Limonov and Viktoria Miroshnichenko (“Beanpole”) as his wife Elena.
Serebrennikov, who will coming to Cannes with his latest completed work “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” premiering in competition, was shooting “Limonov” in Russia when the war broke out. The director has since been able to leave the country and will complete the rest of the shoot in Europe.
A “Limonov” promo reel will be unspooled for buyers in Cannes on May 17.
Based on the best-selling book by Emmanuelle Carrere, “Limonov” depicts the adventures of non-conformist poet and provocateur Eduard Limonov, who grew up in what today is the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. He escaped from what was then the Soviet Union for the U.S., where he became a switchblade-waving punk poet,...
Serebrennikov, who will coming to Cannes with his latest completed work “Tchaikovsky’s Wife,” premiering in competition, was shooting “Limonov” in Russia when the war broke out. The director has since been able to leave the country and will complete the rest of the shoot in Europe.
A “Limonov” promo reel will be unspooled for buyers in Cannes on May 17.
Based on the best-selling book by Emmanuelle Carrere, “Limonov” depicts the adventures of non-conformist poet and provocateur Eduard Limonov, who grew up in what today is the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. He escaped from what was then the Soviet Union for the U.S., where he became a switchblade-waving punk poet,...
- 5/11/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Versatile British actor Ben Whishaw, best known globally for playing Q in five James Bond films, has been cast in what’s bound to be the one of the most complex roles of his career.
The actor will play the titular character in “Limonov, The Ballad of Eddie,” a new English-language film by revered Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov, about radical Russian poet and political dissident Eduard Limonov.
The film, which will be presented as a promo reel to buyers in Cannes on May 17, is inspired by the best-selling novel “Limonov” by French writer and director Emmanuelle Carrère, which was translated in 35 countries. See interview with Serebrennikov.
“Limonov” delves into the story of Eduard Limonov, who lived many lives. He was an underground writer in the Soviet Union who escaped to the U.S. where he became a punk-poet and also a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan. “Eddie” then became...
The actor will play the titular character in “Limonov, The Ballad of Eddie,” a new English-language film by revered Russian auteur Kirill Serebrennikov, about radical Russian poet and political dissident Eduard Limonov.
The film, which will be presented as a promo reel to buyers in Cannes on May 17, is inspired by the best-selling novel “Limonov” by French writer and director Emmanuelle Carrère, which was translated in 35 countries. See interview with Serebrennikov.
“Limonov” delves into the story of Eduard Limonov, who lived many lives. He was an underground writer in the Soviet Union who escaped to the U.S. where he became a punk-poet and also a butler to a millionaire in Manhattan. “Eddie” then became...
- 5/11/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Ukrainian Institute has issued an official letter to the Cannes Film Festival and French director Michel Hazanavicius asking them to rename his opening night movie “Z (Comme Z),” which the org claims is a pro-war symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In Russia, “Z” is considered a pro-war symbol that has also been used in pro-Russian demonstrations across Europe. The symbol has recently been adopted by some Russian figures taking part in world events, such as gymnast Ivan Kuliak who, while in Qatar for a World Cup event, sported a “Z” on his chest while standing on a podium next to Ukrainian athlete Illia Kovtun. Last week, Lithuania’s parliament voted to ban public displays of the letter “Z” in protest of the ongoing war.
A letter sent to Cannes by the Ukrainian Institute, and seen by Variety, reads: “We consider that changing the title of the opening...
In Russia, “Z” is considered a pro-war symbol that has also been used in pro-Russian demonstrations across Europe. The symbol has recently been adopted by some Russian figures taking part in world events, such as gymnast Ivan Kuliak who, while in Qatar for a World Cup event, sported a “Z” on his chest while standing on a podium next to Ukrainian athlete Illia Kovtun. Last week, Lithuania’s parliament voted to ban public displays of the letter “Z” in protest of the ongoing war.
A letter sent to Cannes by the Ukrainian Institute, and seen by Variety, reads: “We consider that changing the title of the opening...
- 4/22/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
A few hours after unveiling Cannes Film Festival’s 2022 Official Selection on the Champs Elysees, artistic director Thierry Fremaux sat down with Variety to discuss the festival’s drive to not give in to calls for a cultural boycott of Russian films and filmmakers, efforts to have more female directors in competition, discussions to bring back streamers in a near future and what those rumors about David Lynch in the lineup were about. The all-star competition lineup of this upcoming 75th edition boasts no less than four Palme d’Or winning directors, including Japanese master Kore-eda Hirokazu (Japan) and Swedish helmer Ruben Ostlund (“Triangle of Sadness”), as well new films by David Cronenberg (“Crimes of the Future”), Kelly Reichardt (”Showing Up”), James Gray (“Armageddon Time”) and dissident Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov (“Tchaïkovski’s Wife”).
Congrats on putting together this wonderful lineup. I think it’s the most exciting Cannes lineup...
Congrats on putting together this wonderful lineup. I think it’s the most exciting Cannes lineup...
- 4/14/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Update 3/31: The organizers of the Razzies announced Thursday that they have rescinded Bruce Willis’ “Worst Performance” Award following news of the actor’s aphasia diagnosis . Willis previously had his own category at the 2022 Golden Raspberry Awards due to his many small roles in a string of straight-to-video action movies in 2021.
“After much thought and consideration, the Razzies have made the decision to rescind the Razzie Award given to Bruce Willis, due to his recently disclosed diagnosis,” the co-founders of the Razzies said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter...
“After much thought and consideration, the Razzies have made the decision to rescind the Razzie Award given to Bruce Willis, due to his recently disclosed diagnosis,” the co-founders of the Razzies said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter...
- 3/31/2022
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Kirill Serebrennikov, the prominent Russian director of film and theater, has had his widely-condemned fraud sentence commuted and has subsequently left the country.
On Monday, a Moscow court moved to cancel the three-year prison sentence and erase his criminal record after half of the term had passed without any parole violations, according to local reports. His travel ban has also been lifted.
A picture of Serebrennikov sporting an “I turn the TV off” t-shirt was then posted to social media on Tuesday, purportedly showing he had arrived in France after leaving Russia.
Deadline sources have confirmed that he is now in Germany where he is working on film and theater projects. It is unlikely that he will be returning to Russia any time soon, though the decision is not set in stone permanently.
Last year, Serebrennikov was unable to attend the Cannes premiere of his film Petrov’s Flu due to the travel ban.
On Monday, a Moscow court moved to cancel the three-year prison sentence and erase his criminal record after half of the term had passed without any parole violations, according to local reports. His travel ban has also been lifted.
A picture of Serebrennikov sporting an “I turn the TV off” t-shirt was then posted to social media on Tuesday, purportedly showing he had arrived in France after leaving Russia.
Deadline sources have confirmed that he is now in Germany where he is working on film and theater projects. It is unlikely that he will be returning to Russia any time soon, though the decision is not set in stone permanently.
Last year, Serebrennikov was unable to attend the Cannes premiere of his film Petrov’s Flu due to the travel ban.
- 3/30/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov — the director of Cannes competition titles “Leto” and “Petrov’s Flu” — has left the country following the end of a three-year travel ban, and arrived in Paris on Sunday. He’s currently in Germany where he will be based for the foreseeable future, Variety has learned.
A picture of the iconoclastic Russian helmer popped up on social media on Wednesday. In the pic, Serebrennikov wears a T-shirt that reads “I turn the TV off,” which alludes to the propaganda flooding Russian TV since the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Serebrennikov was sentenced in June 2020 to a three-year suspended prison sentence and was also issued a fine over trumped-up charges of embezzlement. A Moscow court canceled the suspended sentence after questioning the filmmaker twice last week.
“The Russian government had already given him back his passport in January so that he could travel to Germany for a play,...
A picture of the iconoclastic Russian helmer popped up on social media on Wednesday. In the pic, Serebrennikov wears a T-shirt that reads “I turn the TV off,” which alludes to the propaganda flooding Russian TV since the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Serebrennikov was sentenced in June 2020 to a three-year suspended prison sentence and was also issued a fine over trumped-up charges of embezzlement. A Moscow court canceled the suspended sentence after questioning the filmmaker twice last week.
“The Russian government had already given him back his passport in January so that he could travel to Germany for a play,...
- 3/30/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival has taken a position on the war in Ukraine, and will bar Russian delegations at its 75th edition this May.
“As the world has been hit by a heavy crisis in which a part of Europe finds itself in a state of war, the Festival de Cannes wishes to extend all its support to the people of Ukraine and all those who are in its territory,” reads a statement released on Tuesday. “However modest as it is, we join our voices with those who oppose this unacceptable situation and denounce the attitude of Russia and its leaders.
“During this winter of 2022, the Festival de Cannes has entered its preparation phase. Unless the war of assault ends in conditions that will satisfy the Ukrainian people, it has been decided that we will not welcome official Russian delegations nor accept the presence of anyone linked to the Russian government.
“As the world has been hit by a heavy crisis in which a part of Europe finds itself in a state of war, the Festival de Cannes wishes to extend all its support to the people of Ukraine and all those who are in its territory,” reads a statement released on Tuesday. “However modest as it is, we join our voices with those who oppose this unacceptable situation and denounce the attitude of Russia and its leaders.
“During this winter of 2022, the Festival de Cannes has entered its preparation phase. Unless the war of assault ends in conditions that will satisfy the Ukrainian people, it has been decided that we will not welcome official Russian delegations nor accept the presence of anyone linked to the Russian government.
- 3/1/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Kirill Serebrennikov, the iconoclastic Russian filmmaker behind Cannes competition titles “Petrov’s Flu” and “Leto,” is reteaming with French banner Charades on his next daring movie, “Tchaikovsky’s Wife.”
Serebrennikov, who is under a three-year travel ban, sheds light on the tumultuous relationship between Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the most famous Russian composer of all time, and his wife Antonina Miliukova in his new film.
Set in 19th century Russia, the movie portrays Miliukova, a beautiful and bright young woman who became obsessed with Tchaikovsky after listening to his music for the first time. The composer will finally accept their union but once married, he will be blaming her for his misfortunes and breakdowns, and will try to get rid of her in every possible way. Miliukova, meanwhile, decides to endure and to do whatever it takes not to divorce him. Humiliated, disgraced and discarded, she slowly slips into madness.
Serebrennikov has partnered...
Serebrennikov, who is under a three-year travel ban, sheds light on the tumultuous relationship between Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the most famous Russian composer of all time, and his wife Antonina Miliukova in his new film.
Set in 19th century Russia, the movie portrays Miliukova, a beautiful and bright young woman who became obsessed with Tchaikovsky after listening to his music for the first time. The composer will finally accept their union but once married, he will be blaming her for his misfortunes and breakdowns, and will try to get rid of her in every possible way. Miliukova, meanwhile, decides to endure and to do whatever it takes not to divorce him. Humiliated, disgraced and discarded, she slowly slips into madness.
Serebrennikov has partnered...
- 2/1/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Apple TV Plus has released a teaser trailer for “WeCrashed,” its upcoming limited series about the rise and fall of real estate startup WeWork and the couple who headed the company. The footage also comes alongside a newly announced premiere date of March 18.
“This isn’t a place for people to punch in and out,” Leto’s Adam Neumann deadpans. Hathaway’s Rebekaj Neumann then declares that “WeWork’s role is to elevate the world’s consciousness.”
WeWork was once viewed as the next hot startup, with a value of nearly $50 billion. However, the company pulled the plug on an initial public offering in September 2019 in the wake of revelations about the erratic management and personal enrichment of its now disgraced co-founder Adam Neumann. Neumann resigned from the company around this time, while WeWork accepted a bailout from SoftBank.
“WeCrashed” is based on the Wondery podcast “WeCrashed: The Rise and...
“This isn’t a place for people to punch in and out,” Leto’s Adam Neumann deadpans. Hathaway’s Rebekaj Neumann then declares that “WeWork’s role is to elevate the world’s consciousness.”
WeWork was once viewed as the next hot startup, with a value of nearly $50 billion. However, the company pulled the plug on an initial public offering in September 2019 in the wake of revelations about the erratic management and personal enrichment of its now disgraced co-founder Adam Neumann. Neumann resigned from the company around this time, while WeWork accepted a bailout from SoftBank.
“WeCrashed” is based on the Wondery podcast “WeCrashed: The Rise and...
- 1/19/2022
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes title “Petrov’s Flu” has been picked up for the U.K. and Ireland by Sovereign Distribution.
The U.K.-based producer-distributor bought rights for Kirill Serebrennikov’s film from French sales agent Charades. The sci-fi drama, which was written and directed by the Russian helmer, enjoyed its world premiere at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d’Or, earlier this month.
Charades has closed deals for the title in France (Bad Films), Benelux (Imagine), Greece (Weird Wave), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), Portugal (Films4you), Poland (Gutek Films), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), Baltics (Kino Soprus) and ex-Yugoslavia (Megacom), Israel (Lev Cinema/Shani Films), Turkey (Fabula Films), Mexico (Cine Canibal) and Indonesia (Falcon Pictures).
Adapted from the novel “The Petrovs In And Around Flu” by Russian author Alexey Sainikov, the film was described by Variety as a delirious, deadpan romp through post-Soviet Russia. The story...
The U.K.-based producer-distributor bought rights for Kirill Serebrennikov’s film from French sales agent Charades. The sci-fi drama, which was written and directed by the Russian helmer, enjoyed its world premiere at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d’Or, earlier this month.
Charades has closed deals for the title in France (Bad Films), Benelux (Imagine), Greece (Weird Wave), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), Portugal (Films4you), Poland (Gutek Films), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), Baltics (Kino Soprus) and ex-Yugoslavia (Megacom), Israel (Lev Cinema/Shani Films), Turkey (Fabula Films), Mexico (Cine Canibal) and Indonesia (Falcon Pictures).
Adapted from the novel “The Petrovs In And Around Flu” by Russian author Alexey Sainikov, the film was described by Variety as a delirious, deadpan romp through post-Soviet Russia. The story...
- 7/21/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Petrov’s Flu opens on a stuffy commute—a Moscow bus in the early years of post-Soviet Russia. The eponymous protagonist is already bent over a handrail, stricken with his affliction. The mood is fevered, almost circus-like, the lighting like pea soup. In a moment of madness, Petrov (played by Semyon Serzin) is dragged from the bus by militiamen in Mexican wrestling masks. Hard rock plays. He takes a gun and joins their firing squad, mowing down some nameless humans. The mind briefly wanders to Brazil, and somehow Songs from the Second Floor.
The director here is Kirill Serebrennikov, a filmmaker whose imagination must forever do battle with the drama of his own life. Raised in Rostov in the 1970s, Serebrennikov became a key figure in the state-sponsored progressive cultural shifts of Vladimir Putin’s early years in office—seen at the time as a counterweight to the leader’s moves towards a new authoritarianism.
The director here is Kirill Serebrennikov, a filmmaker whose imagination must forever do battle with the drama of his own life. Raised in Rostov in the 1970s, Serebrennikov became a key figure in the state-sponsored progressive cultural shifts of Vladimir Putin’s early years in office—seen at the time as a counterweight to the leader’s moves towards a new authoritarianism.
- 7/14/2021
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Wes Anderson’s ’The French Dispatch’ and Kirill Serebrennikov’s ’Petrov’s Flu’ both received middling average scores on the grid.
Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch and Kirill Serebrennikov’s Petrov’s Flu both received middling average scores on Screen’s 2021 Cannes jury grid, with more than half of the competition titles now seen by critics.
Six of our ten critics awarded Anderson’s latest a score of two (average), with it receiving a mean score of 2.3 overall. Only The Telegraph (Robbie Collin and Tim Robey) gave it a four (good), with Liberation’s critics Julien Gester and Didier Péron scoring...
Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch and Kirill Serebrennikov’s Petrov’s Flu both received middling average scores on Screen’s 2021 Cannes jury grid, with more than half of the competition titles now seen by critics.
Six of our ten critics awarded Anderson’s latest a score of two (average), with it receiving a mean score of 2.3 overall. Only The Telegraph (Robbie Collin and Tim Robey) gave it a four (good), with Liberation’s critics Julien Gester and Didier Péron scoring...
- 7/13/2021
- by Melissa Kasule
- ScreenDaily
Kirill Serebrennikov made an appearance by FaceTime on Monday after the premiere of “Petrov’s Flu,” which bowed in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The 51-year-old helmer is banned from leaving Russia and was unable to attend the opening.
“I would like to thank everyone who is here. This is the first time that I am showing my film,” Serebrennikov told the audience. “I am obviously delighted and I am celebrating this 21st century which, thanks to new technologies, allows us to be together.”
This year marks the second no-show on the Croisette for the Russian director, after he was forced to skip the 2018 premiere of competition title “Leto” while under house arrest. Serebrennikov was sentenced in June 2020 to a three-year suspended prison sentence and issued a fine over a case of embezzlement, on what his supporters say are trumped-up charges.
Walking the red carpet outside the Lumière Theater before the “Petrov’s Flu” premiere,...
“I would like to thank everyone who is here. This is the first time that I am showing my film,” Serebrennikov told the audience. “I am obviously delighted and I am celebrating this 21st century which, thanks to new technologies, allows us to be together.”
This year marks the second no-show on the Croisette for the Russian director, after he was forced to skip the 2018 premiere of competition title “Leto” while under house arrest. Serebrennikov was sentenced in June 2020 to a three-year suspended prison sentence and issued a fine over a case of embezzlement, on what his supporters say are trumped-up charges.
Walking the red carpet outside the Lumière Theater before the “Petrov’s Flu” premiere,...
- 7/12/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
It’s been two years since iconoclastic Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov was released from a 20-month period of house arrest on embezzlement charges widely considered to have been trumped up by the government. If things haven’t been plain sailing since then — the revived case ended in a suspended sentence last year, confining the director to his home country — he has at least been free to roam, work and film in Russia. Cue “Petrov’s Flu,” Serebrennikov’s first feature since his release, and a consummate answer to the admittedly niche question of just what kind of film one makes after such a period of confinement: one that moves as freely and recklessly as possible, untethered by short-leash rules of time, space or storytelling.
Tearing at a mile a minute through an extravagantly surreal vision of Yekaterinburg in the maddening grip of a flu epidemic, “Petrov’s Flu” is a rowdy, exhilarating...
Tearing at a mile a minute through an extravagantly surreal vision of Yekaterinburg in the maddening grip of a flu epidemic, “Petrov’s Flu” is a rowdy, exhilarating...
- 7/12/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Three years after his musical drama “Leto” bowed on the Croisette, Kirill Serebrennikov returns to Cannes’ main competition with “Petrov’s Flu,” a deadpan, hallucinatory romp through a post-Soviet Russia in the grips of a mysterious flu epidemic. The acclaimed director spoke to Variety about living with fear and making the most out of solitude.
How did you get involved with “Petrov’s Flu”?
I was hired to write the script. And I started to read the [novel on which the film is based] and understand how to take this very complicated Russian contemporary literature and turn it into a movie. In the process, I fell in love with this story, because I found a lot of it very personal. And when I finished the script, I didn’t want to give it to somebody else.
What did you see in it?
From my point of view, it’s a very Russian movie, and a very personal film about...
How did you get involved with “Petrov’s Flu”?
I was hired to write the script. And I started to read the [novel on which the film is based] and understand how to take this very complicated Russian contemporary literature and turn it into a movie. In the process, I fell in love with this story, because I found a lot of it very personal. And when I finished the script, I didn’t want to give it to somebody else.
What did you see in it?
From my point of view, it’s a very Russian movie, and a very personal film about...
- 7/12/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Didier Lupfer, the former CEO of Studiocanal, has launched the Paris-based production banner The Media Company with a lineup comprising high-concept films and series, including “The Quest of Fire” and “Front Row.”
The outfit is also developing about 10 feature films, including Russian helmer Michael Idov’s “Aspiration,” which is co-produced with Artem Vassiliev at Métrafilms, and thriller “Override,” directed by Dmitry Glukhovsky (“Tekst”).
Lupfer said he was in advanced negotiations with a high-profile U.K. marketing agency to measure the projects’ potential for young adults and collaborate on developing content for specific niches. “The development phase of each project will be as long as it needs to ensure that we can deliver the right content and concepts,” said Lupfer.
“Override” turns on an Uber driver who has a nervous breakdown and spirals out of control on his last day.
“Aspiration” will mark the third feature film of Idov, who co-wrote...
The outfit is also developing about 10 feature films, including Russian helmer Michael Idov’s “Aspiration,” which is co-produced with Artem Vassiliev at Métrafilms, and thriller “Override,” directed by Dmitry Glukhovsky (“Tekst”).
Lupfer said he was in advanced negotiations with a high-profile U.K. marketing agency to measure the projects’ potential for young adults and collaborate on developing content for specific niches. “The development phase of each project will be as long as it needs to ensure that we can deliver the right content and concepts,” said Lupfer.
“Override” turns on an Uber driver who has a nervous breakdown and spirals out of control on his last day.
“Aspiration” will mark the third feature film of Idov, who co-wrote...
- 7/11/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Russian government has banned director from travelling to Cannes for competition world premiere.
Paris-based Charades has posted a raft of deals on Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s Petrov’s Flu ahead of its world premiere in Competition on Monday.
European deals include to Benelux (Imagine), Greece (Weird Wave), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), Portugal (Films4you), Poland (Gutek Films), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), Baltics (Kino Soprus) and ex-Yugoslavia (Megacom).
In the rest of the world, it has gone to Israel (Lev Cinema/Shani Films), Turkey (Fabula Films), Mexico (Cine Canibal) and Indonesia (Falcon Pictures).
French distributor Bac Films will release...
Paris-based Charades has posted a raft of deals on Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s Petrov’s Flu ahead of its world premiere in Competition on Monday.
European deals include to Benelux (Imagine), Greece (Weird Wave), Italy (I Wonder Pictures), Portugal (Films4you), Poland (Gutek Films), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), Baltics (Kino Soprus) and ex-Yugoslavia (Megacom).
In the rest of the world, it has gone to Israel (Lev Cinema/Shani Films), Turkey (Fabula Films), Mexico (Cine Canibal) and Indonesia (Falcon Pictures).
French distributor Bac Films will release...
- 7/11/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Hype Film, the production company behind Kirill Serebrennikov’s Cannes competition title “Petrov’s Flu,” has signed a first-look deal with Ivi, the largest Russian VOD platform.
As part of the two-year deal, Hype Film will develop 10 and produce at least two Russian-language scripted shows exclusively for Ivi, which boasts more than 59 million unique visitors per month.
Vadim Sokolovsky, head of Ivi Originals, said: “Hype Film is a recognizable brand name in the Russian and international film industry. For the last 10 years the company has been producing such critically acclaimed projects as Vadim Perelman’s ‘Persian Lessons’ and Kirill Serebrennikov’s ‘Leto,’ to name a few. Ivi Originals’ strategy is to give emerging and established artists an opportunity to realize their most ambitious projects with Ivi. We are happy that Hype Film shares this vision with us.”
“Content is king right now. We hope that with Hype Film’s projects we...
As part of the two-year deal, Hype Film will develop 10 and produce at least two Russian-language scripted shows exclusively for Ivi, which boasts more than 59 million unique visitors per month.
Vadim Sokolovsky, head of Ivi Originals, said: “Hype Film is a recognizable brand name in the Russian and international film industry. For the last 10 years the company has been producing such critically acclaimed projects as Vadim Perelman’s ‘Persian Lessons’ and Kirill Serebrennikov’s ‘Leto,’ to name a few. Ivi Originals’ strategy is to give emerging and established artists an opportunity to realize their most ambitious projects with Ivi. We are happy that Hype Film shares this vision with us.”
“Content is king right now. We hope that with Hype Film’s projects we...
- 7/1/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Unspooling from June 8-15, the Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition will feature a slew of drama projects worth looking out for, from psychological thrillers to biopics and new takes on modern relationships.
“Insomnia” (1-2-3 Production) 2022
Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov
Synopsis: Yuri is a successful psychiatrist and hypnotist, a committed non-believer, capable of rationalizing anything except for his own nightmares: featuring his late ex-wife, some red-haired beauty and a strange symbol that looks like an infinity sign. When a mother of a boy, also tormented by nightmares, turns to Yuri for help, he tries to untangle this case. In the process of treatment Yuri comes across evidence of reincarnation, while the boy himself gives him clues to the mystery of his own nightmares.
Valeriy Fedorovich: “‘Insomnia’ is a mystical drama with some thriller elements and unconventional Russian A-list duet of Gosha Kutsenko and Irina Starshenbaum, known internationally for their...
“Insomnia” (1-2-3 Production) 2022
Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov
Synopsis: Yuri is a successful psychiatrist and hypnotist, a committed non-believer, capable of rationalizing anything except for his own nightmares: featuring his late ex-wife, some red-haired beauty and a strange symbol that looks like an infinity sign. When a mother of a boy, also tormented by nightmares, turns to Yuri for help, he tries to untangle this case. In the process of treatment Yuri comes across evidence of reincarnation, while the boy himself gives him clues to the mystery of his own nightmares.
Valeriy Fedorovich: “‘Insomnia’ is a mystical drama with some thriller elements and unconventional Russian A-list duet of Gosha Kutsenko and Irina Starshenbaum, known internationally for their...
- 6/7/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Set to return to Cannes competition after his impressive rock ‘n roll drama Leto, director Kirill Serebrennikov’s latest work is Petrov’s Flu. Although conceived before the pandemic, the adaptation of Alexey Salnikov’s 2018 novel “The Petrovs In and Around the Flu” certainly has new resonance as it captures life in a post-Soviet Russia, specifically in a city in the throes of a flu epidemic. Ahead of a Cannes premiere, a new trailer has now arrived.
Described as a deadpan, hallucinatory romp, the film follows the Petrov family as they struggle through yet another day in a country where the past is never past, the present is a booze-fueled, icy fever dream of violence and tenderness.
The film was written while the director was on house arrest in Moscow. “I was under house arrest for almost two years,” he told THR. “But the last year I was quite free.
Described as a deadpan, hallucinatory romp, the film follows the Petrov family as they struggle through yet another day in a country where the past is never past, the present is a booze-fueled, icy fever dream of violence and tenderness.
The film was written while the director was on house arrest in Moscow. “I was under house arrest for almost two years,” he told THR. “But the last year I was quite free.
- 6/7/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
"Is it okay that we kidnapped a corpse and kind of mocked it?" A festival promo trailer has debuted for the new Russian film titled Petrov's Flu, the latest from acclaimed Russian filmmaker / theater director Kirill Serebrennikov. It's premiering at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival next month in the Competition section. His last feature, a rock band film called Leto (which is a Great film), also premiered at Cannes in 2018 while Serebrennikov was under house-arrest in Russia (for political reasons). Based on the novel titled "The Petrovs In and Around the Flu" by Alexey Sainikov, Petrov’s Flu is described as a “deadpan, hallucinatory romp through Post-Soviet Russia”. A day in the life of a comic book artist and his family in post-Soviet Russia, as he is taken on a long walk by his friend while he has the flu. Starring Semyon Serzin, Chulpan Khamatova, with Yuriy Borisov, Yuliya Peresild, Yuri Kolokolnikov,...
- 6/7/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The film is described as ’a deadpan romp through post-Soviet Russia”.
Screen can exclusively reveal the first trailer for Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s new film Petrov’s Flu ahead of its world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in July.
Based on the novel The Petrovs In And Around Flu by Alexey Sainikov, Petrov’s Flu is described as a “deadpan, hallucinatory romp through Post-Soviet Russia”.
“With the city in the throes of a flu epidemic, the Petrov family struggles through yet another day in a country where the past is never past, the present is a booze-fuelled, icy...
Screen can exclusively reveal the first trailer for Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s new film Petrov’s Flu ahead of its world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in July.
Based on the novel The Petrovs In And Around Flu by Alexey Sainikov, Petrov’s Flu is described as a “deadpan, hallucinatory romp through Post-Soviet Russia”.
“With the city in the throes of a flu epidemic, the Petrov family struggles through yet another day in a country where the past is never past, the present is a booze-fuelled, icy...
- 6/7/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The Matrix and Joker co-producer Village Roadshow Pictures is teaming with Matt Reeves’ 6th & Idaho (The Batman) and XYZ Films (Mandy) for the English-language remake of recently-released Russian sci-fi-thriller Sputnik.
Set in the Soviet Union in the 1980s during the Cold War, the film follows a young female doctor who is recruited by the military to assess a cosmonaut who survived a mysterious space accident and returned to Earth with a dangerous organism living inside him. The English-language remake is currently in development.
Producers for the remake include Matt Reeves, Adam Kassan and Rafi Crohn for 6th & Idaho, Mikhail Vrubel and Alexander Andryushenko for Vodorod Pictures, Fedor Bondarchuk for Art Pictures and Ilya Stewart for Hype Film.
Egor Abramenko, Murad Osmann, Pavel Burya, Alina Tyazhlova and Mila Rozanova are executive producers. XYZ Films also serves as executive producers. Jillian Apfelbaum (Late Night) will oversee for Village Roadshow Pictures.
The...
Set in the Soviet Union in the 1980s during the Cold War, the film follows a young female doctor who is recruited by the military to assess a cosmonaut who survived a mysterious space accident and returned to Earth with a dangerous organism living inside him. The English-language remake is currently in development.
Producers for the remake include Matt Reeves, Adam Kassan and Rafi Crohn for 6th & Idaho, Mikhail Vrubel and Alexander Andryushenko for Vodorod Pictures, Fedor Bondarchuk for Art Pictures and Ilya Stewart for Hype Film.
Egor Abramenko, Murad Osmann, Pavel Burya, Alina Tyazhlova and Mila Rozanova are executive producers. XYZ Films also serves as executive producers. Jillian Apfelbaum (Late Night) will oversee for Village Roadshow Pictures.
The...
- 3/29/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Two members of the Russian punk band will appear in court on March 18.
International film and TV professionals including actors Gillian Anderson, Martin Sheen and members of the European Film Academy (Efa) have called on the Russian government to drop all charges against two members of punk band Pussy Riot, as the pair’s trial begins tomorrow (March 18).
Masha Alekhina and Lucy Shtein will appear in court in Moscow, accused of calling for a rally in support of political prisoners. They face up to two years in prison; the pair have been under house arrest for two months already, with...
International film and TV professionals including actors Gillian Anderson, Martin Sheen and members of the European Film Academy (Efa) have called on the Russian government to drop all charges against two members of punk band Pussy Riot, as the pair’s trial begins tomorrow (March 18).
Masha Alekhina and Lucy Shtein will appear in court in Moscow, accused of calling for a rally in support of political prisoners. They face up to two years in prison; the pair have been under house arrest for two months already, with...
- 3/17/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Major Russian distributor Central Partnership wraps up European Film Market (EFM) with a bunch of global sales. “Chernobyl”, a high-budget actioner directed by Danila Kozlovsky, goes to China to air on iQIYI, and will also travel to Taiwan and European territories.
“Chernobyl” is the first major Russian film dedicated to the disaster and its aftermath. The story follows fireman Alexey, accompanied by an engineer and a military diver, on a perilous mission to drain water from a reservoir under the burning reactor. They descend into the depths of the reactor building, prepared to sacrifice their own lives to prevent an even greater catastrophe. “Chernobyl” stars actor-turned-director Danila Kozlovsky (“Vikings”), Oksana Akinshina, Philipp Avdeev and others.
“We tried to tell a powerful story of love between particular people, in a particular family, that happened in the times of a horrifying global-scale disaster. We are not trying to appoint who’s guilty or give a verdict,...
“Chernobyl” is the first major Russian film dedicated to the disaster and its aftermath. The story follows fireman Alexey, accompanied by an engineer and a military diver, on a perilous mission to drain water from a reservoir under the burning reactor. They descend into the depths of the reactor building, prepared to sacrifice their own lives to prevent an even greater catastrophe. “Chernobyl” stars actor-turned-director Danila Kozlovsky (“Vikings”), Oksana Akinshina, Philipp Avdeev and others.
“We tried to tell a powerful story of love between particular people, in a particular family, that happened in the times of a horrifying global-scale disaster. We are not trying to appoint who’s guilty or give a verdict,...
- 3/12/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The Moscow-based company is looking for partners at EFM.
Moscow’s Hype Film, whose credits include Mona Fastvold’s Venice Competition contender The World To Come and Kirill Serebrennikov’s buzzy Petrov’s Flu (sold by Charades), is lining up a project exploring the lives of contemporary Russians with disabilities.
The Carpenter is to be directed by Avdotya (Dunya) Smirnova, whose previous filmmaker credits include Two Days (2011) starring Fedor Bondarchuk, and Andrei Konchalovsky’s 2007 comedy drama Gloss, which she co-wrote.
Smirnova’s drama will look at the experiences of parents who make huge sacrifices to give their disabled child a comfortable life.
Moscow’s Hype Film, whose credits include Mona Fastvold’s Venice Competition contender The World To Come and Kirill Serebrennikov’s buzzy Petrov’s Flu (sold by Charades), is lining up a project exploring the lives of contemporary Russians with disabilities.
The Carpenter is to be directed by Avdotya (Dunya) Smirnova, whose previous filmmaker credits include Two Days (2011) starring Fedor Bondarchuk, and Andrei Konchalovsky’s 2007 comedy drama Gloss, which she co-wrote.
Smirnova’s drama will look at the experiences of parents who make huge sacrifices to give their disabled child a comfortable life.
- 3/4/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Moscow’s Hype Film, whose credits include Mona Fastvold’s Venice Competition contender The World To Come and Kirill Serebrennikov’s buzzy Petrov’s Flu (sold by Charades), is lining up a project exploring the lives of contemporary Russians with disabilities.
The Carpenter is to be directed by Avdotya (Dunya) Smirnova, whose previous filmmaker credits include Two Days (2011) starring Fedor Bondarchuk, and Andrei Konchalovsky’s 2007 comedy drama Gloss, which she co-wrote.
Smirnova’s drama will look at the experiences of parents who make huge sacrifices to give their disabled child a comfortable life.
Smirnova co-wrote the screenplay with novelist/screenwriter Marina Stepnova.
The Carpenter is to be directed by Avdotya (Dunya) Smirnova, whose previous filmmaker credits include Two Days (2011) starring Fedor Bondarchuk, and Andrei Konchalovsky’s 2007 comedy drama Gloss, which she co-wrote.
Smirnova’s drama will look at the experiences of parents who make huge sacrifices to give their disabled child a comfortable life.
Smirnova co-wrote the screenplay with novelist/screenwriter Marina Stepnova.
- 3/4/2021
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Twenty years after helping launch each other’s film careers with Requiem for a Dream, Jared Leto and Darren Aronofsky look to have found a project to reteam on. Sources tell Deadline one of 2021’s first big packages is coming together as Leto has attached himself to star in Adrift, with Aronofsky on board to direct. Jason Blum will produce through his Blumhouse Proudctions along with Leto and Emma Ludbrook via Leto’s production company Paradox, as will Carla Hacken.
The film is based on a short story by Koji Suzuki, who wrote The Ring. Aronofsky and Luke Dawson will be writing the script. Insiders close to the package say Leto identified the project and he and Ludbrook pursued the rights for 10 years before bringing to Blum and Aronofsky.
The story is set in the dead calm of the open sea, where a fishing boat discovers an abandoned yacht with a strange distress call.
The film is based on a short story by Koji Suzuki, who wrote The Ring. Aronofsky and Luke Dawson will be writing the script. Insiders close to the package say Leto identified the project and he and Ludbrook pursued the rights for 10 years before bringing to Blum and Aronofsky.
The story is set in the dead calm of the open sea, where a fishing boat discovers an abandoned yacht with a strange distress call.
- 1/28/2021
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
Petrov’s Flu
Russia’s Kirill Serebrennikov 2004 film Ragin, based on a Chekov story, won the East of West Award at Karlovy Vary and 2008’s Yuriy’s Day picked up several awards in Locarno. In 2012, Betrayal competed in Venice, and 2016’s The Student went to Un Certain Regard in Cannes and he quickly followed this with 2018’s Leto – his first comp film. For his eighth feature, Serebrennikov, still unable to leave Moscow despite being released from house of arrest in April of 2019, has completed Petrov’s Flu, based on Alexey Salnikov’s (a contemporary writer compared to Bulgakov or Gogol) novel The Petrovs in Various Stages of the Flu (he scripted the project while under house arrest).…...
Russia’s Kirill Serebrennikov 2004 film Ragin, based on a Chekov story, won the East of West Award at Karlovy Vary and 2008’s Yuriy’s Day picked up several awards in Locarno. In 2012, Betrayal competed in Venice, and 2016’s The Student went to Un Certain Regard in Cannes and he quickly followed this with 2018’s Leto – his first comp film. For his eighth feature, Serebrennikov, still unable to leave Moscow despite being released from house of arrest in April of 2019, has completed Petrov’s Flu, based on Alexey Salnikov’s (a contemporary writer compared to Bulgakov or Gogol) novel The Petrovs in Various Stages of the Flu (he scripted the project while under house arrest).…...
- 1/5/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
As a cisgender, heterosexual Black woman who went to an all-girls high school in New York City, there isn't much that I can presumably relate to in the Broadway musical The Prom. Much like the live show, Ryan Murphy's film adaptation of the musical follows four down-on-their-luck Broadway stars who set out to help a high schooler after discovering that she's banned from taking her girlfriend to prom. Though the four only plan to help Emma to give their self-centered images a charitable boost, they find themselves emotionally invested in her story, and when it backfires, genuinely fighting to give her a night she won't forget.
It's impossible not to fall in love with Jo Ellen Pellman's endearingly earnest Emma, but I found myself connecting with Ariana DeBose's Alyssa. The West Side Story actress plays the popular girl in school with a chip on her shoulder in the form of her mother,...
It's impossible not to fall in love with Jo Ellen Pellman's endearingly earnest Emma, but I found myself connecting with Ariana DeBose's Alyssa. The West Side Story actress plays the popular girl in school with a chip on her shoulder in the form of her mother,...
- 12/11/2020
- by Mekishana Pierre
- Popsugar.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.