Fifty-six French stars, including Carla Bruni, Charlotte Rampling and Carole Bouquet, signed an open letter defending Gerard Depardieu, the Oscar-nominated actor who has been charged with rape and accused by more than a dozen other women of sexual assault, harassment or groping.
The essay, published in the conservative-leaning French newspaper Le Figaro, reads, in part: “We cannot remain silent in the face of the lynching targeting him, the torrent of hate being dumped on his personality” (via AP). “When Gerard Depardieu is targeted this way, it is the art [of cinema] that is being attacked. … Depriving ourselves of this immense actor would be a drama, a defeat. The death of the art. Our art.”
Other signatories included actors Pierre Richard, Victoria Abril and Nathalie Baye, and directors Bertrand Blier and Francis Veber.
Depardieu has not been convicted in connection with any of the allegations and denies wrongdoing. He called the open letter “beautiful” and its signatories “courageous,...
The essay, published in the conservative-leaning French newspaper Le Figaro, reads, in part: “We cannot remain silent in the face of the lynching targeting him, the torrent of hate being dumped on his personality” (via AP). “When Gerard Depardieu is targeted this way, it is the art [of cinema] that is being attacked. … Depriving ourselves of this immense actor would be a drama, a defeat. The death of the art. Our art.”
Other signatories included actors Pierre Richard, Victoria Abril and Nathalie Baye, and directors Bertrand Blier and Francis Veber.
Depardieu has not been convicted in connection with any of the allegations and denies wrongdoing. He called the open letter “beautiful” and its signatories “courageous,...
- 12/26/2023
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar-winning Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar has made a name for himself with a series of brightly colored, delightfully kinky and unabashedly melodramatic titles, mixing comedy, drama, sex and violence to great success. He shows no signs of slowing down, with his latest outing in 2019 being the Oscar-nominated “Pain and Glory.” Let’s take a look back at all 22 of his films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1949 in Spain, Almodovar came to prominence during La Movida Madrilena, a cultural renaissance that blossomed at the end of Francoist Spain. Staring with his filmmaking debut “Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom” (1980), the openly gay director showed an affinity for oddballs and outsiders, populating his films with transvestites, transexuals and homosexuals, all of whom had previously been relegated to the closet. He also showed a talent for working with women, and throughout his 40 year career has placed actresses such as Penelope Cruz,...
Born in 1949 in Spain, Almodovar came to prominence during La Movida Madrilena, a cultural renaissance that blossomed at the end of Francoist Spain. Staring with his filmmaking debut “Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom” (1980), the openly gay director showed an affinity for oddballs and outsiders, populating his films with transvestites, transexuals and homosexuals, all of whom had previously been relegated to the closet. He also showed a talent for working with women, and throughout his 40 year career has placed actresses such as Penelope Cruz,...
- 9/22/2023
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
After putting the finishing touches on chapters two and three of motion-capture VR experience “Jailbirds” earlier this year, writer/director Thomas Villepoux will next adapt his tale of freedom and confinement into a feature, Variety has learned.
Currently in development, the upcoming “Jailbirds” feature will nearly triple the runtime of a nearly finished short that Villepoux and producer Griselda Gentile will bring to Cannes’ Marché du Film next month. Deploying the same motion-capture techniques Villepoux honed on his three VR pieces, both iterations of the “Jailbird” saga will delve even deeper into the work of Belgian cartoonist Philippe Foerster, whose work in the cult comics mag “Fluide Glacial” inspired the recently completed VR series.
“Artistically speaking, the project already exists,” says Griselda Gentile, who produced the various iterations through her Be Revolutions banner. “We’ve already done the creative work on character design and decors. Now we’re just working on [building out] the narrative.
Currently in development, the upcoming “Jailbirds” feature will nearly triple the runtime of a nearly finished short that Villepoux and producer Griselda Gentile will bring to Cannes’ Marché du Film next month. Deploying the same motion-capture techniques Villepoux honed on his three VR pieces, both iterations of the “Jailbird” saga will delve even deeper into the work of Belgian cartoonist Philippe Foerster, whose work in the cult comics mag “Fluide Glacial” inspired the recently completed VR series.
“Artistically speaking, the project already exists,” says Griselda Gentile, who produced the various iterations through her Be Revolutions banner. “We’ve already done the creative work on character design and decors. Now we’re just working on [building out] the narrative.
- 4/5/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Everyone loves the Hollywood holiday classics — from It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story to Home Alone and Die Hard (yes, it is a classic, too – don’t get us started).
But after the 100th rerun, one’s holiday spirit can start to sag, and nostalgia for those festive evergreens can turn toxic.
So The Hollywood Reporter‘s international team has come up with this alternative list of holiday favorites from outside the U.S.
Our eclectic dirty dozen, including a French murder mystery, a Canadian horror classic and an anime retelling of the Christmas story, are the perfect counterprogramming for anyone looking for new ideas this festive season.
Merry Christmas
2005
‘Merry Christmas’
Christian Carion’s World War I drama, about the real-life Christmas truce that broke out on the Western Front in 1914 — amid the horrors of the war, a true holiday miracle — features Diane Kruger,...
Everyone loves the Hollywood holiday classics — from It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story to Home Alone and Die Hard (yes, it is a classic, too – don’t get us started).
But after the 100th rerun, one’s holiday spirit can start to sag, and nostalgia for those festive evergreens can turn toxic.
So The Hollywood Reporter‘s international team has come up with this alternative list of holiday favorites from outside the U.S.
Our eclectic dirty dozen, including a French murder mystery, a Canadian horror classic and an anime retelling of the Christmas story, are the perfect counterprogramming for anyone looking for new ideas this festive season.
Merry Christmas
2005
‘Merry Christmas’
Christian Carion’s World War I drama, about the real-life Christmas truce that broke out on the Western Front in 1914 — amid the horrors of the war, a true holiday miracle — features Diane Kruger,...
- 12/22/2022
- by Scott Roxborough, Alex Ritman and Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Editor’s note: The following essay was written by filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar shortly after he attended the 94th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday. It was provided for IndieWire in an exclusive English translation. Almodóvar’s 2021 film “Parallel Mothers” was nominated for two awards: Best Actress (Penélope Cruz) and Best Original Score (Alberto Iglesias).
Yesterday was an exhausting day, especially in the evening. One of the secret reasons I have for being in Los Angeles (as well as going hand in hand with Penélope to the Dolby Theatre and experiencing in situ if her nomination still has a road to travel or if the prize was the nomination) is to meet with some actors as I think about the cast for my next film, which is starring Cate Blanchett and based on five stories by Lucia Berlin from her book “A Manual for Cleaning Women.” It’s an open secret, but I can’t discuss it,...
Yesterday was an exhausting day, especially in the evening. One of the secret reasons I have for being in Los Angeles (as well as going hand in hand with Penélope to the Dolby Theatre and experiencing in situ if her nomination still has a road to travel or if the prize was the nomination) is to meet with some actors as I think about the cast for my next film, which is starring Cate Blanchett and based on five stories by Lucia Berlin from her book “A Manual for Cleaning Women.” It’s an open secret, but I can’t discuss it,...
- 3/30/2022
- by Pedro Almodóvar
- Indiewire
Framing world premieres of “Maragall i la Lluna” and “Wishlist,” plus new movies from Justin Kurzel, Marjane Satrapi, Matteo Garrone and Caroline Link, Barcelona’s Bcn Film Fest aims to become one of the first festivals in Europe to stage a live on-site edition, running June 25 to July 2.
The dates and ambition were re-confirmed Tuesday when Bcn Film Fest, one of the biggest film events in the Catalan capital, announced its lineup.
“One of the most beautiful things about watching films is to do so in a theater as a shared social and cultural experience. To be able to discuss films immediately with people after seeing them. Bcn Film Fest aims to maintain that this year,” said festival artistic director Conxita Casanovas.
While pushing the pleasures of a live event, from the quality of projection and sound to cinema viewing as a social and cultural community event and driver of local economic economy,...
The dates and ambition were re-confirmed Tuesday when Bcn Film Fest, one of the biggest film events in the Catalan capital, announced its lineup.
“One of the most beautiful things about watching films is to do so in a theater as a shared social and cultural experience. To be able to discuss films immediately with people after seeing them. Bcn Film Fest aims to maintain that this year,” said festival artistic director Conxita Casanovas.
While pushing the pleasures of a live event, from the quality of projection and sound to cinema viewing as a social and cultural community event and driver of local economic economy,...
- 5/27/2020
- by John Hopewell, Elsa Keslassy and Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Fans of Icelandic cinema will be pleased to know that this year’s Glasgow Film Festival has a whole strand dedicated to the country and its cinema. This is Gff’s biggest ever country focus strand, offering up a chance to catch the very best Icelandic films of the past years. This programme includes the UK premiere of the eagerly awaited The County, from Rams director Grímur Hákonarson.
The Country
Set in a small Icelandic farming community, The County tells the story of Inga (Arndís Hrönn Egilsdóttir) a recenstly widowed dairy farmer who rebels against the powerful and corrupt local cooperative.
A White, White Day
This is the second feature from Winter Brothers director Hlynur Pálmason. Police officer Ingrimundur (Ingvar Sigurðsson) is devoted and still grieving after the sudden death of his wife. He tries to carry on, but starts to suspect that the woman he thought loved him unconditionally had been unfaithful to him.
The Country
Set in a small Icelandic farming community, The County tells the story of Inga (Arndís Hrönn Egilsdóttir) a recenstly widowed dairy farmer who rebels against the powerful and corrupt local cooperative.
A White, White Day
This is the second feature from Winter Brothers director Hlynur Pálmason. Police officer Ingrimundur (Ingvar Sigurðsson) is devoted and still grieving after the sudden death of his wife. He tries to carry on, but starts to suspect that the woman he thought loved him unconditionally had been unfaithful to him.
- 2/26/2020
- by Linda Marric
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Barcelona – A Netflix original produced by Spain’s Filmax, “Days of Christmas” marks the new series of Pau Freixas, one of the highest-profile creators on Spain’s vibrant drama series scene. A three-part miniseries, “Days” will be made available worldwide by Netflix on Dec. 6.
The story takes place over three different Christmas days, the first in 1949, the second twenty years later and the last one in current rimes more or less. The plot plumbs the secrets hidden and nurtured over these years by a family living in an isolated house in the mountains. The main characters are four women. Twelve actresses, among the best actors of their generations, play the role of four sisters at different times and stages of their lives. Victoria Abril (Pedro Almodóvar’s “High Heels”), Elena Anaya, (Almodóvar’s “The Skin I Live In”), Nerea Barros (Alberto Rodríguez’ “Marshland”) and Verónica Echegui (Simon Donald’s TV-series “Fortitude”) are some of them.
The story takes place over three different Christmas days, the first in 1949, the second twenty years later and the last one in current rimes more or less. The plot plumbs the secrets hidden and nurtured over these years by a family living in an isolated house in the mountains. The main characters are four women. Twelve actresses, among the best actors of their generations, play the role of four sisters at different times and stages of their lives. Victoria Abril (Pedro Almodóvar’s “High Heels”), Elena Anaya, (Almodóvar’s “The Skin I Live In”), Nerea Barros (Alberto Rodríguez’ “Marshland”) and Verónica Echegui (Simon Donald’s TV-series “Fortitude”) are some of them.
- 12/6/2019
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Pedro Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas have made eight movies together, and their latest, Pain & Glory, may represent the high point of their collaboration. In perhaps Almodóvar’s most directly autobiographical film to date, Banderas literally wears the auteur director’s clothes to play a Spanish filmmaker named Salvador Mallo. As the character reflects on his youth, and suffers through crippling back pain, he rekindles a friendship with a volatile actor from his past and reconnects with a lost love. Given the rocky road of their own relationship—Almodóvar criticized Banderas for his early-’90s move to Hollywood and it took them years to repair the rift—the parallels are striking. In conversation with Deadline, Almodóvar and Banderas trace their relationship from a whirlwind first encounter through to the effortless sense of catharsis and self-reflection within which Pain & Glory was made.
Deadline: Take me back to the beginning of your journey together.
Deadline: Take me back to the beginning of your journey together.
- 11/14/2019
- by Joe Utichi
- Deadline Film + TV
Welcome, one and all, to the latest episode of The Film Stage Show! Today, Michael Snydel, Bill Graham, and Brian Roan are joined by Jourdain Searles for a special Classic episode discussing Pedro Almodóvar’s controversial 1989 Nc-17 rated dark romantic comedy Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! starring Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril. The film is now streaming on Criterion Channel and on other platforms, a perfect watch before seeing the director and star’s latest collaboration Pain and Glory.
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The Film Stage Show is supported by Mubi, a curated online cinema streaming a selection of exceptional independent, classic, and award-winning films from around the world. Each day, Mubi hand-picks a new gem and you have one month to watch it. Try it for free at mubi.
Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, or stream below. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.
The Film Stage Show is supported by Mubi, a curated online cinema streaming a selection of exceptional independent, classic, and award-winning films from around the world. Each day, Mubi hand-picks a new gem and you have one month to watch it. Try it for free at mubi.
- 10/14/2019
- by Brian Roan
- The Film Stage
Pedro Almodovar celebrates his 70th birthday on September 25, 2019. The Oscar-winning Spanish auteur has made a name for himself with a series of brightly colored, delightfully kinky and unabashedly melodramatic titles, mixing comedy, drama, sex and violence to great success. He shows no signs of slowing down, with his latest outing in 2019 being the critically acclaimed “Pain and Glory.” But where does it fall with the rest of his filmography? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at all 21 of his films, ranked worst to best.
SEEPenelope Cruz movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best
Born in 1949 in Spain, Almodovar came to prominence during La Movida Madrilena, a cultural renaissance that blossomed at the end of Francoist Spain. Staring with his filmmaking debut “Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom” (1980), the openly gay director showed an affinity for oddballs and outsiders, populating his films with transvestites,...
SEEPenelope Cruz movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best
Born in 1949 in Spain, Almodovar came to prominence during La Movida Madrilena, a cultural renaissance that blossomed at the end of Francoist Spain. Staring with his filmmaking debut “Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom” (1980), the openly gay director showed an affinity for oddballs and outsiders, populating his films with transvestites,...
- 9/25/2019
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Courtesy of PhotofestAntonio Banderas is one of those screen presences who just seems to know. Preternaturally wised-up, his large liquid eyes are his gift, ever watchful and secretive. It’s like he was born knowing; he’s never not been on the make or aware of his own charms. In his decades-long collaboration with Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, he has been an infatuated stalker, a vengeance-driven plastic surgeon, and an escaped convict. His characters are often driven in equal measure by obsessive love and violent impulse; even as a young man, he rarely portrayed an innocent. With his inky, slicked hair, olive skin, and nobly handsome profile, the young Banderas sometimes looked like a sketch of a 1930s gigolo; you could easily imagine him as a homicidal pool boy or sexually fluid manipulator in a film noir. His good looks were not just fulsome...
- 9/18/2019
- MUBI
Continuing its investment in Spanish originals, Netflix has unveiled five new projects which will launch on the service worldwide in 2020. In various stages of development and production, they include superhero comedy El Vecino (The Neighbor), based on the graphic novels by Santiago Garcia and Pepo Perez. Colossal and Timecrimes filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo directs the series from Elite‘s Zeta Audiovisual.
Also in the mix, Elite‘s co-creator, Carlos Montero, has a new project in the works for Netflix. El Desorden Que Dejas (The Mess You Leave Behind) is a psychological drama based on Montero’s own award-winning novel.
There are two female-centered series to come including dramedy Valeria based on the novels by Elísabet Benavent, and Días De Navidad (Christmas Days) starring Fortitude‘s Verónica Echegui, Las Chicas Del Cable‘s Anna Moliner and High Heels‘ Victoria Abril.
The fifth project announced today is an anime adaptation of the best-selling...
Also in the mix, Elite‘s co-creator, Carlos Montero, has a new project in the works for Netflix. El Desorden Que Dejas (The Mess You Leave Behind) is a psychological drama based on Montero’s own award-winning novel.
There are two female-centered series to come including dramedy Valeria based on the novels by Elísabet Benavent, and Días De Navidad (Christmas Days) starring Fortitude‘s Verónica Echegui, Las Chicas Del Cable‘s Anna Moliner and High Heels‘ Victoria Abril.
The fifth project announced today is an anime adaptation of the best-selling...
- 2/6/2019
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
“Cold War,” Pawel Pawlikowski’s black-and-white romance set in the 1950s, scooped the prizes for best film, director and screenplay at the 31st edition of the European Film Awards on Saturday.
“Cold War” star Joanna Kulig also won the award for best actress. Marcello Fonte, the star of Matteo Garrone’s “Dogman,” won for best actor.
Armando Iannucci’s political satire “The Death of Stalin” won for best European comedy. Adapted from the French graphic novel by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, “The Death of Stalin” is a comic look at how Joseph Stalin’s stroke in 1953 threw the U.S.S.R. into chaos and inspired a mad power grab among his top advisors.
“This is very brave of you. This movie was banned in Russia,” Iannucci said upon picking up his award onstage. The British writer-director added that he loved Europe and made a joke about Brexit.
Lukas Dhont’s “Girl,...
“Cold War” star Joanna Kulig also won the award for best actress. Marcello Fonte, the star of Matteo Garrone’s “Dogman,” won for best actor.
Armando Iannucci’s political satire “The Death of Stalin” won for best European comedy. Adapted from the French graphic novel by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, “The Death of Stalin” is a comic look at how Joseph Stalin’s stroke in 1953 threw the U.S.S.R. into chaos and inspired a mad power grab among his top advisors.
“This is very brave of you. This movie was banned in Russia,” Iannucci said upon picking up his award onstage. The British writer-director added that he loved Europe and made a joke about Brexit.
Lukas Dhont’s “Girl,...
- 12/15/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar is the next President of the Jury for the Festival International du Film de Cannes, which begins on the Riviera on May 17 and runs through May 28, 2017.
Cannes executives Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux stated:
“For its 70th edition, the Festival de Cannes is delighted to welcome a unique and hugely popular artist. His works have already carved out an eternal niche in the history of film. A long and loyal friendship binds Pedro Almodóvar to the Festival, where he was a member of the Jury under the presidency of Gérard Depardieu.”
The filmmaker said:
“I am grateful, honoured and a bit overwhelmed. I am aware of the responsibility that entails being the president of the jury and I hope to be up to the job. I can only tell that I’ll devote myself, body and soul, to this task, that it is both a privilege and a pleasure.
Cannes executives Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux stated:
“For its 70th edition, the Festival de Cannes is delighted to welcome a unique and hugely popular artist. His works have already carved out an eternal niche in the history of film. A long and loyal friendship binds Pedro Almodóvar to the Festival, where he was a member of the Jury under the presidency of Gérard Depardieu.”
The filmmaker said:
“I am grateful, honoured and a bit overwhelmed. I am aware of the responsibility that entails being the president of the jury and I hope to be up to the job. I can only tell that I’ll devote myself, body and soul, to this task, that it is both a privilege and a pleasure.
- 1/31/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar is the next President of the Jury for the Festival International du Film de Cannes, which begins on the Riviera on May 17 and runs through May 28, 2017.
Cannes executives Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux stated:
“For its 70th edition, the Festival de Cannes is delighted to welcome a unique and hugely popular artist. His works have already carved out an eternal niche in the history of film. A long and loyal friendship binds Pedro Almodóvar to the Festival, where he was a member of the Jury under the presidency of Gérard Depardieu.”
The filmmaker said:
“I am grateful, honoured and a bit overwhelmed. I am aware of the responsibility that entails being the president of the jury and I hope to be up to the job. I can only tell that I’ll devote myself, body and soul, to this task, that it is both a privilege and a pleasure.
Cannes executives Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux stated:
“For its 70th edition, the Festival de Cannes is delighted to welcome a unique and hugely popular artist. His works have already carved out an eternal niche in the history of film. A long and loyal friendship binds Pedro Almodóvar to the Festival, where he was a member of the Jury under the presidency of Gérard Depardieu.”
The filmmaker said:
“I am grateful, honoured and a bit overwhelmed. I am aware of the responsibility that entails being the president of the jury and I hope to be up to the job. I can only tell that I’ll devote myself, body and soul, to this task, that it is both a privilege and a pleasure.
- 1/31/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
When you think Pedro Almodóvar, you think Rossy de Palma. The actress’ unconventional, but striking, beauty has often made her the most memorable player in the auteur’s works, from her uptight virgin in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, to the heroine’s sister in The Flower of My Secret. In Julieta, which marks lucky number seven in de Palma’s collaborations with Almodóvar, she plays Marian, an overprotective housekeeper who looks after what she thinks should be her employer Xoan’s (Daniel Grao) interests. After meeting the title character, played in younger age by Adriana Ugarte, who is about to become the new mistress of the house, Marian reveals a secret that sets the entire plot into its tragic motion.
The usually glamorous actress – she’s been muse to designers like Thierry Mugler and Jean-Paul Gaultier – is seen sporting a frumpy, matronly look as Marian, in...
The usually glamorous actress – she’s been muse to designers like Thierry Mugler and Jean-Paul Gaultier – is seen sporting a frumpy, matronly look as Marian, in...
- 12/21/2016
- by Jose Solís
- The Film Stage
Jason from Mnpp here with an under-the-weather edition of "Beauty vs Beast" - apologies if I am brief and lacking some spark today, I'm staring at my computer screen from the business end of a box of kleenex and with one too many sudafed capsules dotting my system. I bring up my sickness not to be (entirely) self-indulgent but to explain why I didn't make it out to see Jackie this weekend as I'd planned - every cough feels like a cinematic betrayal right now.
So until me and Natalie can rendezvous with our matching pink pillboxes I will ask you today to look backwards at the previous biggest Kennedy assassination movie on the books, Oliver Stone's JFK. I don't remember the Oscar race that year but I'm kind of surprised Costner wasn't nominated for the film - maybe they'd had their fill with Dances With Wolves the year before?...
So until me and Natalie can rendezvous with our matching pink pillboxes I will ask you today to look backwards at the previous biggest Kennedy assassination movie on the books, Oliver Stone's JFK. I don't remember the Oscar race that year but I'm kind of surprised Costner wasn't nominated for the film - maybe they'd had their fill with Dances With Wolves the year before?...
- 12/5/2016
- by JA
- FilmExperience
Jason from Mnpp here back from turkey break and prepping a fresh "Beauty vs Beast" for y'all to feast upon. The Spanish provocateur Pedro Almodovar's latest film Julieta (which our pal Manuel reviewed right here via the New York Film Festival) opens in the U.S. in just a couple of weeks and so the Museum of Modern Art is celebrating all things Almodovar with a great big retrospective, starting tomorrow. The series runs through mid-December and they're showing pretty much everything he's made - don't miss out!
And so in turn for this week's "Beauty vs Beast" I'm asking you to look back to Almodovar's 1990 romantic comedy of kinky kidnapping, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (aka ¡Átame!) and its rope-crossed lovers -- Ricky (Antonio Banderas), fresh off the psych ward, and Marina (Victoria Abril), the actress and recovered drug addict who finds herself on the receiving end of Ricky's deranged affections.
And so in turn for this week's "Beauty vs Beast" I'm asking you to look back to Almodovar's 1990 romantic comedy of kinky kidnapping, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (aka ¡Átame!) and its rope-crossed lovers -- Ricky (Antonio Banderas), fresh off the psych ward, and Marina (Victoria Abril), the actress and recovered drug addict who finds herself on the receiving end of Ricky's deranged affections.
- 11/28/2016
- by JA
- FilmExperience
Projects previously presented at the market include Laszlo Nemes’s Oscar-winning Son Of Saul.
The 14th CineLink Co-Production Market (Aug 18-20), the backbone of Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry section, will this year present 15 projects from South-East Europe, and three guest projects from Qatar and Mexico.
CineLink boasts an impressive track record. An average of 60% of the projects that have taken part at the market in the last 13 years went all the way from development to production.
The most recent success is Laszlo Nemes’ Son Of Saul which won the Grand Prix at Cannes 2015 and Oscar for Best Foreign Language Films.
Other titles developed at the market include two winners of Venice’s Lion of the Future: White Shadow by Noaz Deshe, and Mold by Ali Aydin; two Berlinale Silver Bear winners: Harmony Lessons by Emir Baigazin and If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle by Florin Serban; and Semih Kaplanoglu’s 2010 Golden Bear winner Honey.
The...
The 14th CineLink Co-Production Market (Aug 18-20), the backbone of Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry section, will this year present 15 projects from South-East Europe, and three guest projects from Qatar and Mexico.
CineLink boasts an impressive track record. An average of 60% of the projects that have taken part at the market in the last 13 years went all the way from development to production.
The most recent success is Laszlo Nemes’ Son Of Saul which won the Grand Prix at Cannes 2015 and Oscar for Best Foreign Language Films.
Other titles developed at the market include two winners of Venice’s Lion of the Future: White Shadow by Noaz Deshe, and Mold by Ali Aydin; two Berlinale Silver Bear winners: Harmony Lessons by Emir Baigazin and If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle by Florin Serban; and Semih Kaplanoglu’s 2010 Golden Bear winner Honey.
The...
- 8/17/2016
- ScreenDaily
A slate of 12 upcoming features seeking French and European co-producers and sales representation were presented at the event running within the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris.
Ghanaian New York-based director Frances Bodomo’s upcoming feature Afronauts, based on the real-life tale of a Zambian bid to enter the space race shortly after the country gained independence in 1964, was one of the projects drawing strong buzz at the Paris Coproduction Village running June 8-10.
“On the basis of the number meetings booked this was one of the most popular projects on the table although of course a lot will happen behind...
Ghanaian New York-based director Frances Bodomo’s upcoming feature Afronauts, based on the real-life tale of a Zambian bid to enter the space race shortly after the country gained independence in 1964, was one of the projects drawing strong buzz at the Paris Coproduction Village running June 8-10.
“On the basis of the number meetings booked this was one of the most popular projects on the table although of course a lot will happen behind...
- 6/13/2016
- ScreenDaily
Paris Co-pro Village buzz titles include 'Afronauts', 'Blood-Drenched Beard', 'Dark Lies The Island'
A slate of 12 upcoming features seeking French and European co-producers and sales representation were presented at the event running within the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris.
Ghanaian New York-based director Frances Bodomo’s upcoming feature Afronauts, based on the real-life tale of a Zambian bid to enter the space race shortly after the country gained independence in 1964, was one of the projects drawing strong buzz at the Paris Coproduction Village running June 8-10.
“On the basis of the number meetings booked this was one of the most popular projects on the table although of course a lot will happen behind...
Ghanaian New York-based director Frances Bodomo’s upcoming feature Afronauts, based on the real-life tale of a Zambian bid to enter the space race shortly after the country gained independence in 1964, was one of the projects drawing strong buzz at the Paris Coproduction Village running June 8-10.
“On the basis of the number meetings booked this was one of the most popular projects on the table although of course a lot will happen behind...
- 6/13/2016
- ScreenDaily
Oro
Director: Agustin Diaz Yanes
Writer: Arturo Perez-Reverte
One of Spain’s most unappreciated directors (at least as far as international renown) is Agustin Diaz Yanes. If you haven’t seen his 2001 sophomore film Don’t Tempt Me starring Penelope Cruz and Victoria Abril as representatives of Heaven and Hell duking it out over the soul of Demain Bichir’s broody boxer, you’re missing out. After the large scale international co-production Alatriste (2006) starring Viggo Mortensen (see set pic above), Yanes reunited with Abril for the revenge thriller Walking Vengeance (aka Just Walking) in 2008. He’s been quiet since, but will be adapting another work by celebrated author Arturto Perez-Reverte (who penned the novel upon which Alatriste is based) this year with Oro, a period adventure inspired by 16th century Spanish conquistadors searching for gold in the Amazon jungle. Sony Pictures Spain just recently boarded the project which will star...
Director: Agustin Diaz Yanes
Writer: Arturo Perez-Reverte
One of Spain’s most unappreciated directors (at least as far as international renown) is Agustin Diaz Yanes. If you haven’t seen his 2001 sophomore film Don’t Tempt Me starring Penelope Cruz and Victoria Abril as representatives of Heaven and Hell duking it out over the soul of Demain Bichir’s broody boxer, you’re missing out. After the large scale international co-production Alatriste (2006) starring Viggo Mortensen (see set pic above), Yanes reunited with Abril for the revenge thriller Walking Vengeance (aka Just Walking) in 2008. He’s been quiet since, but will be adapting another work by celebrated author Arturto Perez-Reverte (who penned the novel upon which Alatriste is based) this year with Oro, a period adventure inspired by 16th century Spanish conquistadors searching for gold in the Amazon jungle. Sony Pictures Spain just recently boarded the project which will star...
- 1/7/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
"Vicente Aranda, the Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer has died aged 88," reports Jessica Jones for the Local. "One of the director’s most internationally acclaimed films was Amantes [Lovers, 1991] a film noir that follows the passionate affair between a young man and an older woman, played by Jorge Sanz and Victoria Abril, behind the back of his innocent young girlfriend (Maribel Verdú). The film won best film and best director at the Goya’s, Spain’s most prestigious film awards and almost immediately became a modern classic of Spanish cinema." We're gathering remembrances. » - David Hudson...
- 5/26/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
"Vicente Aranda, the Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer has died aged 88," reports Jessica Jones for the Local. "One of the director’s most internationally acclaimed films was Amantes [Lovers, 1991] a film noir that follows the passionate affair between a young man and an older woman, played by Jorge Sanz and Victoria Abril, behind the back of his innocent young girlfriend (Maribel Verdú). The film won best film and best director at the Goya’s, Spain’s most prestigious film awards and almost immediately became a modern classic of Spanish cinema." We're gathering remembrances. » - David Hudson...
- 5/26/2015
- Keyframe
Dramas from Jayro Bustamante and Gabriel Ripstein take top prizes in Mexico.
Fresh from its won at the Berlinale last month, Ixcanul (Ixcanul Volcano), the feature debut of Guatemalan writer-director Jayro Bustamente, won best Ibero-American picture and best director at the 30th Guadalajara International Film Festival on Saturday (March 14).
The docu-drama, which won the Alfred Bauer Prize in Berlin, features mainly non-actors and centes on the poor residents who live on the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala
Gabriel Ripstein’s arms trafficking drama 600 Miles, starring Tim as an Atf agent who is kidnapped by a Mexican gun runner, won best Mexican film in Guadalajara. It also picked up a prize at Berlin in February, winning best first feature for Ripstein.
Mexican debutant Celso Garcia’s drama-comedy road movie The Yellow Thin Line (La delgada linea amarilla) won the special jury prize, screenplay and audience awards). The film was executive produced by Guillermo del Toro.
Competing...
Fresh from its won at the Berlinale last month, Ixcanul (Ixcanul Volcano), the feature debut of Guatemalan writer-director Jayro Bustamente, won best Ibero-American picture and best director at the 30th Guadalajara International Film Festival on Saturday (March 14).
The docu-drama, which won the Alfred Bauer Prize in Berlin, features mainly non-actors and centes on the poor residents who live on the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala
Gabriel Ripstein’s arms trafficking drama 600 Miles, starring Tim as an Atf agent who is kidnapped by a Mexican gun runner, won best Mexican film in Guadalajara. It also picked up a prize at Berlin in February, winning best first feature for Ripstein.
Mexican debutant Celso Garcia’s drama-comedy road movie The Yellow Thin Line (La delgada linea amarilla) won the special jury prize, screenplay and audience awards). The film was executive produced by Guillermo del Toro.
Competing...
- 3/16/2015
- by alexisgrivas@yahoo.com (Alexis Grivas)
- ScreenDaily
Catherine Deneuve: César Award Besst Actress Record-Tier (photo: Catherine Deneuve in 'In the Courtyard / Dans la cour') (See previous post: "Kristen Stewart and Catherine Deneuve Make César Award History.") Catherine Deneuve has received 12 Best Actress César nominations to date. Deneuve's nods were for the following movies (year of film's release): Pierre Salvadori's In the Courtyard / Dans la Cour (2014). Emmanuelle Bercot's On My Way / Elle s'en va (2013). François Ozon's Potiche (2010). Nicole Garcia's Place Vendôme (1998). André Téchiné's Thieves / Les voleurs (1996). André Téchiné's My Favorite Season / Ma saison préférée (1993). Régis Wargnier's Indochine (1992). François Dupeyron's Strange Place for an Encounter / Drôle d'endroit pour une rencontre (1988). Jean-Pierre Mocky's Agent trouble (1987). André Téchiné's Hotel America / Hôtel des Amériques (1981). François Truffaut's The Last Metro / Le dernier métro (1980). Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Le sauvage (1975). Additionally, Catherine Deneuve was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category...
- 1/30/2015
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Witching And Bitching The London Spanish Film Festival returns for its 10th birthday with a diverse programme running from September 25 to October 5.
Crowd-pleasers inlcude the latest films by Álex de la Iglesia and Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, along with the surprise Spanish box office hit from the end of last year, Three Many Weddings (Javier Ruiz Caldera, 2013). But the returning Basque and Catalan sidebars also offer the chance to discover films - representing a range of genres - that might otherwise slip under the radar given the paucity of Spanish titles that make it to these shores.
The retrospective of the often-controversial Vicente Aranda includes several UK premieres, most notably Freedom Fighters (1996), which boasts a cast including Ariadna Gil, Victoria Abril, Ana Bélen, and Loles Léon. Abril will be interviewed before the screening of Lovers (Vicente Aranda, 1992) on Saturday October 4 - Abril is always...
Crowd-pleasers inlcude the latest films by Álex de la Iglesia and Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, along with the surprise Spanish box office hit from the end of last year, Three Many Weddings (Javier Ruiz Caldera, 2013). But the returning Basque and Catalan sidebars also offer the chance to discover films - representing a range of genres - that might otherwise slip under the radar given the paucity of Spanish titles that make it to these shores.
The retrospective of the often-controversial Vicente Aranda includes several UK premieres, most notably Freedom Fighters (1996), which boasts a cast including Ariadna Gil, Victoria Abril, Ana Bélen, and Loles Léon. Abril will be interviewed before the screening of Lovers (Vicente Aranda, 1992) on Saturday October 4 - Abril is always...
- 9/15/2014
- by Rebecca Naughten
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Spain, 1989
No matter if his protagonists are deranged or distraught, happy or sad, or if his stories are light or dark, comedic or tragic, the films of Pedro Almodóvar are usually at the very least enjoyable. Even at their most disturbing, there is something inescapably jubilant about his lavish use of color, his vibrant characters, and his unceasing passion for life and filmmaking. And when he aims to make something purely amusing, the results can be astonishing. It is for all of these reasons that Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, surprisingly the first Almodóvar film released by the Criterion Collection, is such a treat.
In this 1989 feature, made just after Almodóvar’s award-winning breakthrough Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Victoria Abril stars as junkie porn star turned respectable leading lady Marina Osorio, the object...
Written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Spain, 1989
No matter if his protagonists are deranged or distraught, happy or sad, or if his stories are light or dark, comedic or tragic, the films of Pedro Almodóvar are usually at the very least enjoyable. Even at their most disturbing, there is something inescapably jubilant about his lavish use of color, his vibrant characters, and his unceasing passion for life and filmmaking. And when he aims to make something purely amusing, the results can be astonishing. It is for all of these reasons that Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, surprisingly the first Almodóvar film released by the Criterion Collection, is such a treat.
In this 1989 feature, made just after Almodóvar’s award-winning breakthrough Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Victoria Abril stars as junkie porn star turned respectable leading lady Marina Osorio, the object...
- 8/26/2014
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week
"Only Lovers Left Alive"
What's It About? Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston star as gorgeous, globe-trotting vampire lovers in this delectable treat from writer/director Jim Jarmusch
Why We're In: As Adam and Eve, Hiddles is the mopey yin to Swinton's yang. The costumes and production design are to die (or live forever) for. John Hurt, Mia Wasikowska, and Jeffrey Wright shine in smaller roles. In a word, it's gorgeous.
Rt 4 chance 2 win Tom Hiddleston's vampire drama #OnlyLoversLeftAlive -- on DVD this week! http://t.co/PJSHeLWlOu
- moviefone (@moviefone) August 17, 2014
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week
"Y Tu Mama También (Criterion)"
What's It About? Alfonso Cuarón's road trip romance features star-making performances by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, who play two young dudes who both become infatuated with an older woman. Beautiful, sexy, and sad.
Why We're In: Now when...
"Only Lovers Left Alive"
What's It About? Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston star as gorgeous, globe-trotting vampire lovers in this delectable treat from writer/director Jim Jarmusch
Why We're In: As Adam and Eve, Hiddles is the mopey yin to Swinton's yang. The costumes and production design are to die (or live forever) for. John Hurt, Mia Wasikowska, and Jeffrey Wright shine in smaller roles. In a word, it's gorgeous.
Rt 4 chance 2 win Tom Hiddleston's vampire drama #OnlyLoversLeftAlive -- on DVD this week! http://t.co/PJSHeLWlOu
- moviefone (@moviefone) August 17, 2014
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week
"Y Tu Mama También (Criterion)"
What's It About? Alfonso Cuarón's road trip romance features star-making performances by Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, who play two young dudes who both become infatuated with an older woman. Beautiful, sexy, and sad.
Why We're In: Now when...
- 8/18/2014
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
Italian actor-director to receive Excellence Award.
Italian actor and director Giancarlo Giannini is to attend the 67th Locarno Film Festival (Aug 6-16) as one of the guests of honour of the Titanus retrospective and will receive an Excellence Award Moët & Chandon.
Giannini will receive the honour on the Piazza Grande on Aug 12. As per Locarno tradition, the next day the Festival audience will have the opportunity to attend an “In Conversation” session with the actor at the Spazio Cinema (Forum).
A series of screenings will accompany this tribute. In addition to Non stuzzicate la zanzara and Indian Summer, screened as part of the Titanus retrospective, there will also be a screening of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Lili Marleen (1981) in his honour.
Locarno 2014 line-up
An Excellence Award is also being presented to Juliette Binoche this year.
Previous recipients of the Excellence Award include Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, Michel Piccoli, Toni Servillo, Isabelle Huppert, [link...
Italian actor and director Giancarlo Giannini is to attend the 67th Locarno Film Festival (Aug 6-16) as one of the guests of honour of the Titanus retrospective and will receive an Excellence Award Moët & Chandon.
Giannini will receive the honour on the Piazza Grande on Aug 12. As per Locarno tradition, the next day the Festival audience will have the opportunity to attend an “In Conversation” session with the actor at the Spazio Cinema (Forum).
A series of screenings will accompany this tribute. In addition to Non stuzzicate la zanzara and Indian Summer, screened as part of the Titanus retrospective, there will also be a screening of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Lili Marleen (1981) in his honour.
Locarno 2014 line-up
An Excellence Award is also being presented to Juliette Binoche this year.
Previous recipients of the Excellence Award include Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, Michel Piccoli, Toni Servillo, Isabelle Huppert, [link...
- 7/23/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 19, 2014
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril get to know each other in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
The rambunctious 1990 dark comedy Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s (Broken Embraces) colorful and controversial tribute to the pleasures and perils of Stockholm syndrome.
The film stars Antonio Banderas (Haywire) as an unbalanced but alluring former mental patient and Victoria Abril (Walking Vengeance) as the B-movie and porn star he takes prisoner in the hopes of convincing her to marry him.
A highly unconventional romance that came on the spike heels of Almodóvar’s international sensation Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, this is a splashy, sexy central work in the career of one of the international cinema’s most beloved and provocative auteurs, radiantly shot by the director’s great cinematographer José Luis Alcaine...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril get to know each other in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
The rambunctious 1990 dark comedy Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s (Broken Embraces) colorful and controversial tribute to the pleasures and perils of Stockholm syndrome.
The film stars Antonio Banderas (Haywire) as an unbalanced but alluring former mental patient and Victoria Abril (Walking Vengeance) as the B-movie and porn star he takes prisoner in the hopes of convincing her to marry him.
A highly unconventional romance that came on the spike heels of Almodóvar’s international sensation Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, this is a splashy, sexy central work in the career of one of the international cinema’s most beloved and provocative auteurs, radiantly shot by the director’s great cinematographer José Luis Alcaine...
- 5/20/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Winners have been announced! See below.
The First Edition of the Platinum Awards, a gala presentation in Panama April 5th, sponsored by Egeda and Fipca was an idea born two years ago in Panama at the Festival'sl Forum with Iberoamerican filmmakers and the Iberoamerican Producers Association (Fipca). Panama's Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce offered to pay for the first edition which is being held now. Jose Pacheco, the Deputy Minister and also the President of the Panama Film Commission, along with Arianne Marie Benedetti, then had to convince their government that the investment in the awards, along with the investment in cinema would further the country's extraordinary influx of capital and would help establish the Premios Platinos as the most important global event promoting and supporting the Iberoamerican film industry. Everyone here for the 4th Annual Panama Film Festival was quite excited and it was an extraordinary affair. Twenty-two Spanish speaking countries in the Americas as well as Brazil, Portugal and Spain gathered along with world press (John Hopewell of Variety and I myself of SydneysBuzz/ LatinoBuzz and Indiewire were the only gringo press around) and producers, directors, actors, cinematographers and writers to pay homage to the great talent arising out of the Iberoamerican countries whose potential audience exceeds that of the United States.
This was pointed out with great enthusiasm by Javier Camára, the actor nominated for Best Male Actor for his role in David Trueba's Living is Easy with Eyes Closed (Vivir es fácil con los ojos cerrados). He plays a high-school English/ Latin teacher in 1966 Spain who drives to Almeria in hopes of meeting his hero, John Lennon. Along the way, he picks up two runaways. The movie title, Living is Easy With Eyes Closed, comes from a line in Lennon's song Strawberry Fields Forever which he wrote while filming How I Won the War in Almeria. (Camára is also a fan of Real Madrid.)
In this first edition 701 films have participated. Of these, each of the countries made a pre-selection of their candidates through their representatives Fipca and national film academies. Subsequently, a jury of prominent industry professionals has selected the winners just announced at the gala on April 5 in Panama. The Directors of the event are Adrian Solar Lozier for Fipca and one of Chili's most recognized producers and Enrique Cerezo Torres, one of the founders of Egeda twenty-five years ago, its chief executive for the past seventeen years, President of the Madrid Film Commission and President of the Madrid School of Cinema. (He is also the President of the Athletic Football Club of Madrid.)
Mexican singer and actress, Alessandra Rosaldo, and Colombian journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas whose TV show on film is featured on CNN Latino, co-hosted the televised event. Canal Plus of Spain and others representing television across the Americas were present.
The winners in each of the eight categories were named to a huge audience of the most important Latin American cinema talent who sat on pins and needles waiting to hear the winners.
Accepting the Platinum Award of Honor, Sonia Braga, known to U.S. audiences from the 1976 breakout Brazilian film, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, and again in 1985 and 1988 with Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Milagro Beanfield War respectively, was elegant and eloquent in her acceptance.
The most nominated films were The German Doctor: Wakolda, Gloria and Living is Easy with Eyes Closed. The surprise was that Living is Easy did not win a single award. Already the winner of 11 Awards and nominated for 5 other awards, David Trueba definitely can not hide behind the loser category. The Spanish film Living is Easy with Eyes Closed won six Goya Awards including Best Director.
And The Winners are:
Best Iberoamerican Fiction Film: Gloria (Chile). Nominated were The German Doctor: Wakolda (Argentina), Heli (Mexico), Witching and Bitching (Spain), La jaula de oro (The Golden Cage) (Mexico), Roa (Colombia) and Living is Easy with Eyes Closed Spain) compete for the title of Best Latin American Film of the Year.
Best Female Performance: Paulina García (Gloria). Nominated were Karen Martínez (The Golden Cage), Laura De la Uz (Ana's Film), Marian Álvarez (Wounded), Nashla Bogaert (Who's the Boss?), Natalia Oreiro (Wakolda). You can read Gloria's review and interview with Sebastian Lelio and Paulna Garcia here: Review by Carlos Aguilar and Interview with Sebastian Lelio and Paulina Garcia by Sydney Levine. You can soon read more about upcoming Dominican Republic's Nashla Bogaert whom I met and interviewed in Panama. She is my choice of the one to keep an eye on.
Best Male Performance: Eugenio Derbez (Instructions Not Included). The equivalent of the Platinos, our own Academy Award usually steers clear of comedy in the best actor category, as if comedy were not as difficult as drama. But this was well deserved in terms of popularity as this film's huge success in both U.S. and Mexico shows. U.S.$44 million in U.S. and U.S.$ 41 million in Mexico are not to be ignored. This major hit hit a major nerve in U.S. and Mexico. Also nominated were Antonio de la Torre (Cannibal), , Javier Cámara (Living is Easy with Eyes Closed), Ricardo Darín (Thesis on a Homicide) and Víctor Prada (The Cleaner).
Platinum Award For Best Director: Amat Escalante (Heli). Nominated were Sebastian Lelio (Gloria), David Trueba (Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed), Lucia Puenzo (The German Doctor: Wakolda). You can read Heli's Review by Carlos Aguilar and the Interview with Amat Escalante by Carlos Aguilar.
Platinum Best Screenplay Award: Sebastian Lelio, Gonzalo Maza (Gloria). Also nominated were Daniel Sánchez Arévalo (Great Spanish Family), David Trueba (Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed), Lucia Puenzo (The German Doctor-Wakolda)
Platinum Award For Best Original Score: Emilio Kauderer for Foosball (Football). Also nominated were Karin Zielinski for El Limpiador (The Cleaner) -- you can read its Review by Carlos Aguilar , Joan Valent (Zugarramurdi Witches)
Platinum Award For Best Animated Film: Foosball (Football). Nominated were Anina -- you can read Anina's Review by Carlos Aguilar , The Secret Of Jade Medallion, Justin And The Sword Of Value, Uma History Of Love And Fury
Platinum Award For Best Documentary: Con la Pata Quebrada (With a Broken Leg). Nominated were: Cuates de Australia (Friends from Australia), Eternal Night Of The Twelve Moons, The Day That Lasted 21 Years from Brazil about the U.S. instigated coup d’etat in 1964, Still Being.
Camilo Vives (recently deceased, head of production for Icaic) Platinum Award for Best Iberoamerican co-production, in memory of his Presidency of Fipca for over 10 years and co-chair of the Forum Egeda / Fipca was The German Doctor Wakolda which beat out Anina, Esclavo de Dios and La jaula de oro. Read more on The German Doctor Wakolda here: Review by Carlos Aguilar and Case Study by Sydney Levine.
See more on the Platinum Award website: www.premiosplatino.com.
Alessandra Rosaldo stated: "These Awards will be the most valuable Iberoamerican Film Excellence Awards, something this industry needs and demands to reward the creativity and talent of our film industry.
Juan Carlos Arciniegas said: "The Platinum Awards are pioneers, transcend borders and put our countries in a fair competition that will highlight the diversity of the region cinematically. These awards will write the history of the participating films."
Eugenio Derbez, Blanca Guerra, Victoria Abril and Patricia Velasquez were some of the presenters.
The First Edition of the Platinum Awards, a gala presentation in Panama April 5th, sponsored by Egeda and Fipca was an idea born two years ago in Panama at the Festival'sl Forum with Iberoamerican filmmakers and the Iberoamerican Producers Association (Fipca). Panama's Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce offered to pay for the first edition which is being held now. Jose Pacheco, the Deputy Minister and also the President of the Panama Film Commission, along with Arianne Marie Benedetti, then had to convince their government that the investment in the awards, along with the investment in cinema would further the country's extraordinary influx of capital and would help establish the Premios Platinos as the most important global event promoting and supporting the Iberoamerican film industry. Everyone here for the 4th Annual Panama Film Festival was quite excited and it was an extraordinary affair. Twenty-two Spanish speaking countries in the Americas as well as Brazil, Portugal and Spain gathered along with world press (John Hopewell of Variety and I myself of SydneysBuzz/ LatinoBuzz and Indiewire were the only gringo press around) and producers, directors, actors, cinematographers and writers to pay homage to the great talent arising out of the Iberoamerican countries whose potential audience exceeds that of the United States.
This was pointed out with great enthusiasm by Javier Camára, the actor nominated for Best Male Actor for his role in David Trueba's Living is Easy with Eyes Closed (Vivir es fácil con los ojos cerrados). He plays a high-school English/ Latin teacher in 1966 Spain who drives to Almeria in hopes of meeting his hero, John Lennon. Along the way, he picks up two runaways. The movie title, Living is Easy With Eyes Closed, comes from a line in Lennon's song Strawberry Fields Forever which he wrote while filming How I Won the War in Almeria. (Camára is also a fan of Real Madrid.)
In this first edition 701 films have participated. Of these, each of the countries made a pre-selection of their candidates through their representatives Fipca and national film academies. Subsequently, a jury of prominent industry professionals has selected the winners just announced at the gala on April 5 in Panama. The Directors of the event are Adrian Solar Lozier for Fipca and one of Chili's most recognized producers and Enrique Cerezo Torres, one of the founders of Egeda twenty-five years ago, its chief executive for the past seventeen years, President of the Madrid Film Commission and President of the Madrid School of Cinema. (He is also the President of the Athletic Football Club of Madrid.)
Mexican singer and actress, Alessandra Rosaldo, and Colombian journalist Juan Carlos Arciniegas whose TV show on film is featured on CNN Latino, co-hosted the televised event. Canal Plus of Spain and others representing television across the Americas were present.
The winners in each of the eight categories were named to a huge audience of the most important Latin American cinema talent who sat on pins and needles waiting to hear the winners.
Accepting the Platinum Award of Honor, Sonia Braga, known to U.S. audiences from the 1976 breakout Brazilian film, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, and again in 1985 and 1988 with Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Milagro Beanfield War respectively, was elegant and eloquent in her acceptance.
The most nominated films were The German Doctor: Wakolda, Gloria and Living is Easy with Eyes Closed. The surprise was that Living is Easy did not win a single award. Already the winner of 11 Awards and nominated for 5 other awards, David Trueba definitely can not hide behind the loser category. The Spanish film Living is Easy with Eyes Closed won six Goya Awards including Best Director.
And The Winners are:
Best Iberoamerican Fiction Film: Gloria (Chile). Nominated were The German Doctor: Wakolda (Argentina), Heli (Mexico), Witching and Bitching (Spain), La jaula de oro (The Golden Cage) (Mexico), Roa (Colombia) and Living is Easy with Eyes Closed Spain) compete for the title of Best Latin American Film of the Year.
Best Female Performance: Paulina García (Gloria). Nominated were Karen Martínez (The Golden Cage), Laura De la Uz (Ana's Film), Marian Álvarez (Wounded), Nashla Bogaert (Who's the Boss?), Natalia Oreiro (Wakolda). You can read Gloria's review and interview with Sebastian Lelio and Paulna Garcia here: Review by Carlos Aguilar and Interview with Sebastian Lelio and Paulina Garcia by Sydney Levine. You can soon read more about upcoming Dominican Republic's Nashla Bogaert whom I met and interviewed in Panama. She is my choice of the one to keep an eye on.
Best Male Performance: Eugenio Derbez (Instructions Not Included). The equivalent of the Platinos, our own Academy Award usually steers clear of comedy in the best actor category, as if comedy were not as difficult as drama. But this was well deserved in terms of popularity as this film's huge success in both U.S. and Mexico shows. U.S.$44 million in U.S. and U.S.$ 41 million in Mexico are not to be ignored. This major hit hit a major nerve in U.S. and Mexico. Also nominated were Antonio de la Torre (Cannibal), , Javier Cámara (Living is Easy with Eyes Closed), Ricardo Darín (Thesis on a Homicide) and Víctor Prada (The Cleaner).
Platinum Award For Best Director: Amat Escalante (Heli). Nominated were Sebastian Lelio (Gloria), David Trueba (Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed), Lucia Puenzo (The German Doctor: Wakolda). You can read Heli's Review by Carlos Aguilar and the Interview with Amat Escalante by Carlos Aguilar.
Platinum Best Screenplay Award: Sebastian Lelio, Gonzalo Maza (Gloria). Also nominated were Daniel Sánchez Arévalo (Great Spanish Family), David Trueba (Living Is Easy With Eyes Closed), Lucia Puenzo (The German Doctor-Wakolda)
Platinum Award For Best Original Score: Emilio Kauderer for Foosball (Football). Also nominated were Karin Zielinski for El Limpiador (The Cleaner) -- you can read its Review by Carlos Aguilar , Joan Valent (Zugarramurdi Witches)
Platinum Award For Best Animated Film: Foosball (Football). Nominated were Anina -- you can read Anina's Review by Carlos Aguilar , The Secret Of Jade Medallion, Justin And The Sword Of Value, Uma History Of Love And Fury
Platinum Award For Best Documentary: Con la Pata Quebrada (With a Broken Leg). Nominated were: Cuates de Australia (Friends from Australia), Eternal Night Of The Twelve Moons, The Day That Lasted 21 Years from Brazil about the U.S. instigated coup d’etat in 1964, Still Being.
Camilo Vives (recently deceased, head of production for Icaic) Platinum Award for Best Iberoamerican co-production, in memory of his Presidency of Fipca for over 10 years and co-chair of the Forum Egeda / Fipca was The German Doctor Wakolda which beat out Anina, Esclavo de Dios and La jaula de oro. Read more on The German Doctor Wakolda here: Review by Carlos Aguilar and Case Study by Sydney Levine.
See more on the Platinum Award website: www.premiosplatino.com.
Alessandra Rosaldo stated: "These Awards will be the most valuable Iberoamerican Film Excellence Awards, something this industry needs and demands to reward the creativity and talent of our film industry.
Juan Carlos Arciniegas said: "The Platinum Awards are pioneers, transcend borders and put our countries in a fair competition that will highlight the diversity of the region cinematically. These awards will write the history of the participating films."
Eugenio Derbez, Blanca Guerra, Victoria Abril and Patricia Velasquez were some of the presenters.
- 4/6/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award: Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau, Judi Dench are the only three female recipients to date (photo: European movies’ Lifetime Achievement Award-less actress Danielle Darrieux) (See previous post: "Catherine Deneuve: Only the Third Woman to Receive European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.") As mentioned in the previous post, French film icon Catherine Deneuve is only the third woman to receive the European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award since the organization’s first awards ceremony in 1988. Deneuve’s predecessors are The Lovers‘ Jeanne Moreau (1997) and Notes on a Scandal‘s Judi Dench (2008). In that regard, the European Film Academy is as male-oriented as the Beverly Hills-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. More on that below. Male recipients of the European Film Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award are the following: Ingmar Bergman, Marcello Mastroianni, Federico Fellini, Andrzej Wajda, Alexandre Trauner, Billy Wilder,...
- 9/25/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
’2 Guns’ weekend box office: Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington pairing disappointing? A limp "low $20 million" range, is what 2 Guns U.S. distributor Universal claims it’s expecting at the North American box office from the first-ever pairing of Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg — as momentous a cinematic occasion, if the American media is to believed, as the first pairing of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? back in 1962. Of course, Universal’s lowball figure is an excuse for the studio to claim, "Omigod! 2 Guns has performed way beyond what any and all of us were expecting!" — as long as the Washington / Wahlberg combo brings in $25 million or more. (Photo: Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg in 2 Guns.) Well, Universal apparently made a good p.r. movie, as the R-rated, Baltasar Kormákur-directed 2 Guns collected a barely acceptable $10 million from 3,306 North American theaters on Friday according to...
- 8/4/2013
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
Álex de la Iglesia is quite possibly my favorite filmmaker. Seriously, I cannot think of another director whose entire body of work I find quite as remarkable. The Day of the Beast (which should be its own entry in The Unseen, as it never had a Us release) is my favorite horror comedy ever. The Baby’s Room scared the hell out me and should not have been stashed away in the bulk title release of 6 Films to Keep You Awake. The Last Circus is brutally beautiful. Even his more “commercial” film, The Oxford Murders, is a meticulously woven masterpiece. Iglesia has recently appeared in horror news both for his inclusion in The ABCs of Death 2 and also for the insane trailer of his upcoming film Witching and Bitching (watch the trailer here). But the Iglesia film I’m discussing in this article is even more obscure than these rather...
- 7/31/2013
- by Rebekah McKendry
- FEARnet
Spanish actress Victoria Abril is to be honoured with the Excellence Award at the 66th Locarno Film Festival (Aug 7-17).
Abril, muse to directors Vincente Aranda and Pedro Almodóvar, will receive the award at the Piazza Grande on August 10.
The festival audience will have an opportunity to participate in a conversation with the actress, who made her debut in 1977 with a role in Aranda’s Sex Change.
Two films will be screened in tribute to Abril: Almodóvar’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990) and Baltasar Kormákur’s 101 Reykjavik (2000).
“With the sunny exuberance that has characterized many of the roles she has played that have so captured the public’s imagination, Victoria Abril arrives in Locarno to add a splash of colour to a festival that aims to be a home for the full range of cinema,” said artistic director Carlo Chatrain.
Previous recipients of the award include Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, [link...
Abril, muse to directors Vincente Aranda and Pedro Almodóvar, will receive the award at the Piazza Grande on August 10.
The festival audience will have an opportunity to participate in a conversation with the actress, who made her debut in 1977 with a role in Aranda’s Sex Change.
Two films will be screened in tribute to Abril: Almodóvar’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990) and Baltasar Kormákur’s 101 Reykjavik (2000).
“With the sunny exuberance that has characterized many of the roles she has played that have so captured the public’s imagination, Victoria Abril arrives in Locarno to add a splash of colour to a festival that aims to be a home for the full range of cinema,” said artistic director Carlo Chatrain.
Previous recipients of the award include Susan Sarandon, John Malkovich, [link...
- 7/29/2013
- ScreenDaily
Normally we focus on Austin theaters for Movies This Week, but we're more than willing to go a little north of town to Pflugerville for Cinemark's Best Shorts Festival 2012, for three screenings only up at Tinseltown 20. On Monday, the Texas Film Hall of Fame presents No Country for Old Men at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar -- the cast includes Barry Corbin, who will be honored at the award ceremony next month.
Wednesday you have three (count 'em!) very different cinematic experiences to choose from. Cine Las Americas is hosting a benefit sneak preview of Oscar-nominated Chico & Rita, a contender for Best Animated Feature, at the Metropolitan. Afs Best of the Fests screens SXSW 2011 selection Better This World at Alamo Village with special guests David McKay and Bradley Crowder, the two young men from Midland, Texas who were arrested on terrorism charges at the 2008 Republican National Convention. And the Paramount...
Wednesday you have three (count 'em!) very different cinematic experiences to choose from. Cine Las Americas is hosting a benefit sneak preview of Oscar-nominated Chico & Rita, a contender for Best Animated Feature, at the Metropolitan. Afs Best of the Fests screens SXSW 2011 selection Better This World at Alamo Village with special guests David McKay and Bradley Crowder, the two young men from Midland, Texas who were arrested on terrorism charges at the 2008 Republican National Convention. And the Paramount...
- 2/24/2012
- by Jenn Brown
- Slackerwood
José Coronado, No Rest for the Wicked Pedro Almodóvar didn't have much luck at the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Goya Awards this evening in Madrid: Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In won a total of four Goyas, but none for its director/writer. Starring Antonio Banderas as a plastic surgeon, Elena Anaya as his captive woman, and Jan Cornet as the good-looking young man whom the doctor blames for the death of his daughter, the sex-bending mystery melodrama won Goyas for Best Actress (Anaya), Best New Actor (Cornet), Best Original Music (Alberto Iglesias, his tenth Goya win), and Best Makeup/Hair. [Full list of Premios Goya winners/nominations.] Instead of the internationally renowned (and BAFTA winner) The Skin I Live In, the 2012 Goyas' big winner was Enrique Urbizu's No habrá paz para los malvados / No Rest for the Wicked, the story of a murderous, corrupt cop. No Rest for the Wicked won Goyas for Best Picture,...
- 2/20/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Based on title alone, would you go see a movie called The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears? Probably not. It sounds like the kind of bland puffery that consists mainly of scenes where groups of women are crying and telling each other it’s going to be alright. The purple poetry of the name is unfortunate, because it almost guarantees that some will skip over a strong, unique revenge story with a killer lead actress. In this case, judging a movie by its poster is the wrong move. From writer/director Teona Strugar Mitevska, it’s the kind of movie that toys around with convention and flirts with pretense while, for the most part, staying focused on characters and conflict. That conflict begins with a devastating opening scene which pairs timing, taboo and gripping performance to great effect. It’s a gut punch, but instead of picking you up off the curb, the...
- 2/16/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Following up the initial announcement of titles, the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival revealed it will open with the period drama Les Adieux à la reine (Farewell My Queen) today. From director Benoît Jacquot, the drama stars Inglourious Basterds lead Diane Kruger, as well as Léa Seydoux who broke-out in Midnight in Paris and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol this year. Based on, Chantal Thomas’ novel we have the first stills of the film (from Lumiere via The Playlist) that follows the “first few days of the French Revolution from the perspective of the servants at Versailles.”
Kruger, who plays Marie Antoinette here, has only appeared in one big film following her post-Basterds role with Unknown, but I look forward to her future work, especially with this film. I thought Seydoux was great as an action villain in Ghotocol and excited to see her career rise. Check out the stills below,...
Kruger, who plays Marie Antoinette here, has only appeared in one big film following her post-Basterds role with Unknown, but I look forward to her future work, especially with this film. I thought Seydoux was great as an action villain in Ghotocol and excited to see her career rise. Check out the stills below,...
- 1/4/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
The Berlinale's announced today that 20 films are now lined up for its Panorama program. All in all, around 50 titles will make up the main program, Panorama Special and Panorama Dokumente.
10+10 by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wang Toon, Wu Nien-Jen, Sylvia Chang, Chen Guo-Fu, Wei Te-Sheng, Chung Meng-Hung, Chang Tso-Chi, Arvin Chen, Yang Ya-Che and others, Taiwan — see a full report from the Taipei Film Commission: "Funded by the Golden Horse Film Festival and the Republic of China Centenary Foundation, 10+10 [is] a movie comprised of 20 short films by 10 renowned and 10 emerging Taiwanese filmmakers."
Death For Sale by Faouzi Bensaïdi, France
With Fehd Benchemsi, Fouad Labiad, Mouhcine Malzi, Imane Elmechrafi, Faouzi Bensaïdi
Die Wand (The Wall) by Julian Roman Pölsler, Austria/Germany
With Martina Gedeck — Synopsis from The Match Factory: "(1.) The wall is a highly unusual exploration of solitude and survival. (2.) It is the story of a woman who is separated from the...
10+10 by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wang Toon, Wu Nien-Jen, Sylvia Chang, Chen Guo-Fu, Wei Te-Sheng, Chung Meng-Hung, Chang Tso-Chi, Arvin Chen, Yang Ya-Che and others, Taiwan — see a full report from the Taipei Film Commission: "Funded by the Golden Horse Film Festival and the Republic of China Centenary Foundation, 10+10 [is] a movie comprised of 20 short films by 10 renowned and 10 emerging Taiwanese filmmakers."
Death For Sale by Faouzi Bensaïdi, France
With Fehd Benchemsi, Fouad Labiad, Mouhcine Malzi, Imane Elmechrafi, Faouzi Bensaïdi
Die Wand (The Wall) by Julian Roman Pölsler, Austria/Germany
With Martina Gedeck — Synopsis from The Match Factory: "(1.) The wall is a highly unusual exploration of solitude and survival. (2.) It is the story of a woman who is separated from the...
- 1/4/2012
- MUBI
Mads Mikkelsen will receive the European Film Academy's European Achievement in World Cinema 2011 Honorary Award "in recognition of a unique contribution to the world of film." Previous recipients include Milos Forman, Roman Polanski, Antonio Banderas, Lars von Trier, Isabelle Huppert, Maurice Jarre, Liv Ullmann, Roberto Benigni, Gabriel Yared, and Victoria Abril. Among the Danish-born Mikkelsen's credits are Nicolas Winding Refn’s crime dramas Pusher (1996) and With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II (2004); Anders Thomas Jensen's The Green Butchers (2003) and Adam's Apples (2005); Susanne Bier's Open Hearts (2002) and the Oscar-nominated After the Wedding (2006); and Ole Christian Madsen's Flame and Citron (2008). Outside of Denmark, Mikkelsen was the creepy villain with the bleeding eye in Martin Campbell's Casino Royale (2006); Igor Stravinsky in Jan Kounen's Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009); a corporate go-getter with a past in Peter Lindmark's Swedish drama Exit (2009); One Eye in Winding Refn's English-language Valhalla Rising...
- 10/25/2011
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to the worthwhile titles now streaming on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we look at alternatives to Footloose, The Skin I Live In and Texas Killing Fields .
This weekend music , murder and madness collide in theaters, where small-town teens discover the joys of choreography, a devastated widower delves into madness, and Texan detectives track a sadistic killer. But if these features won’t sate your cravings for badass dance moves, Spanish flavored drama, and true to life crime tales, we got you covered with a list of hot titles that are currently available online.
A town where dancing is illegal is turned upside down by a teen-aged rebel (Kenny Wormald) with the deep desire to cut loose…footloose. Craig Brewer, the subversive director behind Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan, helms this sassy remake of the...
This weekend music , murder and madness collide in theaters, where small-town teens discover the joys of choreography, a devastated widower delves into madness, and Texan detectives track a sadistic killer. But if these features won’t sate your cravings for badass dance moves, Spanish flavored drama, and true to life crime tales, we got you covered with a list of hot titles that are currently available online.
A town where dancing is illegal is turned upside down by a teen-aged rebel (Kenny Wormald) with the deep desire to cut loose…footloose. Craig Brewer, the subversive director behind Hustle & Flow and Black Snake Moan, helms this sassy remake of the...
- 10/13/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Back in the 80's when 3D was taking its dying breath yet again, as it is starting to do now, a couple of guys based in Italy, American actor Tony Anthony and director Ferdinando Baldi, decided to utilize the format to its fullest potential and create a spaghetti western action picture that would blow any other 3D competition out of the water. The film was Coming At Ya!, a title that has nothing to do with the story of the film but rather the gimmick they sold it on. And shit does come at ya, by the truck loads. Tony Anthony is Hart, a man about to wed his beloved Abilene, played by a young and gorgeous Victoria Abril, when a group of bandits...
- 9/26/2011
- Screen Anarchy
The Skin I Live In star on the 'terrifying responsibility' of working with Spain's great director, Pedro Almodóvar
Ten years ago, the Spanish film-maker Pedro Almodóvar called Elena Anaya and asked to meet. She went to Madrid and immediately the director started to apologise profusely; he had a tiny role in his new project, he explained, but he couldn't imagine anyone else playing it. The young actor told him to stop: "I said to him I would be a vase or a lampshade if he wanted – facing a wall or whatever," she remembers now. The film was Talk to Her and Almodóvar was not exaggerating; Anaya's part is so small that when her father went to the premiere, he didn't even notice she was in it.
A decade on, Almodóvar called again. The intervening years had been good to both of them: Almodóvar had evolved his lurid, exuberant early films...
Ten years ago, the Spanish film-maker Pedro Almodóvar called Elena Anaya and asked to meet. She went to Madrid and immediately the director started to apologise profusely; he had a tiny role in his new project, he explained, but he couldn't imagine anyone else playing it. The young actor told him to stop: "I said to him I would be a vase or a lampshade if he wanted – facing a wall or whatever," she remembers now. The film was Talk to Her and Almodóvar was not exaggerating; Anaya's part is so small that when her father went to the premiere, he didn't even notice she was in it.
A decade on, Almodóvar called again. The intervening years had been good to both of them: Almodóvar had evolved his lurid, exuberant early films...
- 8/13/2011
- by Tim Lewis
- The Guardian - Film News
Yesterday, the first wave of films for Austin’s Fantastic Fest 2011 were announced. Since experiencing this festival for the first time last year, I have been waiting, impatiently, for September to roll around to attend this year. We published a “wishlist” of sorts of films we thought might play at Fantastic Fest and it looks like we scored two in this first wave – we aren’t counting Fulci’s Zombie because that was sort of a cheat. Read beyond the break to find out what films will be playing.
From the Press Release:
Austin, TX—Thursday, July 14th, 2011— Fantastic Fest is proud to announce our first wave of programming for the seventh edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 22-29 in Austin, Texas.
This batch of 20 films spans the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, Korea and of course the USA. We’re debuting digital restorations of Italian horror...
From the Press Release:
Austin, TX—Thursday, July 14th, 2011— Fantastic Fest is proud to announce our first wave of programming for the seventh edition of Fantastic Fest, happening September 22-29 in Austin, Texas.
This batch of 20 films spans the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, Korea and of course the USA. We’re debuting digital restorations of Italian horror...
- 7/15/2011
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
One of the best damned film festivals on the entire planet, Fantastic Fest, has announced the first wave of films for their 2011 event running from September 22nd to the 29th, and if you've never been, do yourself a favor ... do whatever you have to do to get there and experience the madness first-hand!
This batch of 20 films spans the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, Korea and of course the USA. They’re debuting digital restorations of Italian horror classics and a stunning 3D epic with more objects flying in your face than Michael Bay and James Cameron combined. With favorite Fantastic Fest veterans returning with new projects and a new slate of debut directors, 2011 is shaping up to be an epic edition.
"Fantastic Fest is the high-point of my year. Every year old friends return and strangers become friends. Fantastic Fest is my extended dysfunctional family; each...
This batch of 20 films spans the globe from Japan, Belgium, Mexico, Russia, Hong Kong, Korea and of course the USA. They’re debuting digital restorations of Italian horror classics and a stunning 3D epic with more objects flying in your face than Michael Bay and James Cameron combined. With favorite Fantastic Fest veterans returning with new projects and a new slate of debut directors, 2011 is shaping up to be an epic edition.
"Fantastic Fest is the high-point of my year. Every year old friends return and strangers become friends. Fantastic Fest is my extended dysfunctional family; each...
- 7/14/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
The Fantasia Film Festival kicks off today with the Canadian premiere of Kevin Smith’s Red State, and now we’re already looking ahead at another major film fest. Fantastic Fest is one of the best film festivals in the states. Held in Austin Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse, the event screens nothing but the best in genre films. Sound On Sight contributors Emmett Duff and Alice Gray are always in attendance to bring us coverage on the event, as well as their favourite films. The list of the first wave of films playing at the festival has been announced and it’s already pretty amazing. Leading the pack is the World Premiere of director Ferdinando Baldi’s Comin’ At Ya! 3D. There are also a few films that already come highly recommended from me, which include the Canadian sci-fi dystopian mind fuck Beyond The Black Rainbow, Julian Gilbey’s A Lonely Place To Die,...
- 7/14/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Fantastic Fest is one of the most chaotic, disturbing, entertaining and best film festivals in the United States. For one week straight, the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas plays nothing but the most promising, controversial and exciting genre films the world has to offer with many of them not seeing wide release until several months later. /Film will once again be on the ground in Austin from September 22-29 and we just got the announcement of the first wave of films playing at the festival. Chances are that, with the exception of two restored Fulci films (Zombi and House by the Cemetery) and the 10th Anniversary release of Versus, you haven't heard of these movies yet. But, come September, you most certainly will start hearing a lot more. Check them out after the jump. The above art is this year's official art by Mike Saputo. Below is the...
- 7/14/2011
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
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