Italy’s Coccinelle Film has scored multiple sales on German director Veit Helmer’s gay love story “Gondola,” which world premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
“Gondola” is the dialogue-free tale of two female cable car attendants who fall in love as they face each other going up and down the remote mountains of Georgia. It has been sold by the Rome-based distributor to France (Destiny Distribution); Australia and New Zealand (Bonsai Films); Japan (Moviola); Spain (Reverso Films); and South Korea (Entermode Corp.)
“Gondola” – which will have its domestic theatrical release in Germany through Jip Film & Verleih in March – is having its market premiere at the upcoming European Film Market.
Helmer is well known on the international festival circuit for funny, fable-like films with little or no dialogue such as “Tuvalu”; the Azerbaijan-set “Absurdistan,” which went to Sundance in 2008; and “The Bra,” which launched from Tokyo in 2018.
“There are...
“Gondola” is the dialogue-free tale of two female cable car attendants who fall in love as they face each other going up and down the remote mountains of Georgia. It has been sold by the Rome-based distributor to France (Destiny Distribution); Australia and New Zealand (Bonsai Films); Japan (Moviola); Spain (Reverso Films); and South Korea (Entermode Corp.)
“Gondola” – which will have its domestic theatrical release in Germany through Jip Film & Verleih in March – is having its market premiere at the upcoming European Film Market.
Helmer is well known on the international festival circuit for funny, fable-like films with little or no dialogue such as “Tuvalu”; the Azerbaijan-set “Absurdistan,” which went to Sundance in 2008; and “The Bra,” which launched from Tokyo in 2018.
“There are...
- 2/2/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s Coccinelle Film Sales has acquired world rights to German director Veit Helmer’s poetic love story “Gondola,” which will world premiere at the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival.
Helmer is well known on the international festival circuit for funny, fable-like films with little or no dialogue such as “Tuvalu”; the Azerbaijan-set “Absurdistan,” which went to Sundance in 2008; and “The Bra,” that launched from Tokyo in 2018.
“Gondola,” the tale of two cable car attendants who fall in love as they face each other going up and down the remote mountains of Georgia, is also told without dialogue.
“There are a few places on earth where you don’t hop on the bus in the morning, but on the cable car [instead],” Helmer said in his director’s statement. He added that “such a place in Georgia inspired me to write a story about two cable car conductors who always meet...
Helmer is well known on the international festival circuit for funny, fable-like films with little or no dialogue such as “Tuvalu”; the Azerbaijan-set “Absurdistan,” which went to Sundance in 2008; and “The Bra,” that launched from Tokyo in 2018.
“Gondola,” the tale of two cable car attendants who fall in love as they face each other going up and down the remote mountains of Georgia, is also told without dialogue.
“There are a few places on earth where you don’t hop on the bus in the morning, but on the cable car [instead],” Helmer said in his director’s statement. He added that “such a place in Georgia inspired me to write a story about two cable car conductors who always meet...
- 9/28/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Tokyo Film Festival has set the lineup for its bumper 2023 edition, running October 23 to November 1. Scroll down for the full list.
In the main competition, the festival has set 10 world premieres. The features include Japanese filmmaker Kishi Yoshiyuki’s latest pic (Ab)normal Desire and Gu Xiaogang’s Dwelling by the West Lake. Xiaogang is also set to receive the festival’s Kurosawa Akira Award alongside Mouly Surya.
Of the main competition titles, six are from East Asia, and there is noticeably a feature from Russia, with Alexey German Jr. screening his latest film, Air. Elsewhere, the festival’s Gala section is chock-full of audience favorites from fall festivals. Titles like Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things and All of Us Strangers by Andrew Haigh will screen alongside David Gordon Green’s remake The Exorcist: Believer. The Japanese films set for the Gala section include Kitano Takeshi’s Kubi, Miike Takashi’s Lumberjack the Monster,...
In the main competition, the festival has set 10 world premieres. The features include Japanese filmmaker Kishi Yoshiyuki’s latest pic (Ab)normal Desire and Gu Xiaogang’s Dwelling by the West Lake. Xiaogang is also set to receive the festival’s Kurosawa Akira Award alongside Mouly Surya.
Of the main competition titles, six are from East Asia, and there is noticeably a feature from Russia, with Alexey German Jr. screening his latest film, Air. Elsewhere, the festival’s Gala section is chock-full of audience favorites from fall festivals. Titles like Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things and All of Us Strangers by Andrew Haigh will screen alongside David Gordon Green’s remake The Exorcist: Believer. The Japanese films set for the Gala section include Kitano Takeshi’s Kubi, Miike Takashi’s Lumberjack the Monster,...
- 9/27/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The full lineup has been unveiled for the festival’s 36th edition.
The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) today revealed the lineup for its 36th edition, including 20 world premieres across its two competition strands.
The festival, set to run October 23 to November 1, will feature 15 titles in its main Competition section led by Japan and China, which each have three films in the selection.
Scroll down for full list
From China are crime drama A Long Shot from debut feature director Gao Peng; Snow Leopard by late Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden, which premiered at Venice; and Dwelling By The West Lake by Gu Xiaogang,...
The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) today revealed the lineup for its 36th edition, including 20 world premieres across its two competition strands.
The festival, set to run October 23 to November 1, will feature 15 titles in its main Competition section led by Japan and China, which each have three films in the selection.
Scroll down for full list
From China are crime drama A Long Shot from debut feature director Gao Peng; Snow Leopard by late Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden, which premiered at Venice; and Dwelling By The West Lake by Gu Xiaogang,...
- 9/27/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
A breakdown of all 16 films screening at the 11th Panama Int’l Film Festival:
“Aftersun,”
Winner of the French Touch prize at Cannes’ Critics Week this year, “Aftersun” turns on Sophie who recalls her precious last holiday with her father when she was 11. Decades later, she reflects on their relationship and tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t. Produced by “Moonlight’s” Barry Jenkins along with Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson and Mark Ceryak.
Aftersun
“Argentina 1985,”
Winner of the Audience Award at the 2022 San Sebastian Film Festival and Argentina’s submission to the Oscars, drama is inspired by the true story of lawyers Julio Strassera, Luis Moreno Ocampo and their young legal team who dared to prosecute Argentina’s bloodiest military dictatorship and bring justice to the victims of the Military Junta. AA critics’ favourite and box office phenomenon in Argentina.
“Bratan” (“Brother”), Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov,...
“Aftersun,”
Winner of the French Touch prize at Cannes’ Critics Week this year, “Aftersun” turns on Sophie who recalls her precious last holiday with her father when she was 11. Decades later, she reflects on their relationship and tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t. Produced by “Moonlight’s” Barry Jenkins along with Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson and Mark Ceryak.
Aftersun
“Argentina 1985,”
Winner of the Audience Award at the 2022 San Sebastian Film Festival and Argentina’s submission to the Oscars, drama is inspired by the true story of lawyers Julio Strassera, Luis Moreno Ocampo and their young legal team who dared to prosecute Argentina’s bloodiest military dictatorship and bring justice to the victims of the Military Junta. AA critics’ favourite and box office phenomenon in Argentina.
“Bratan” (“Brother”), Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov,...
- 11/30/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
It was the debut film of Tajikistan-born Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov.
Wild Bunch International has acquired Venice Silver Lion- winning director Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov’s 1991 feature, Bratan (aka Brothers), which is screening this week in Venice Classics.
The film was the debut feature of Tajikistan-born Khudojnazarov who died in 2015. He went on to make Kosh ba Kosh (international title Odd and Even) which won the Silver Lion in Venice 1993 and his international hit, Luna Papa in 1999.
Bratan has been restored by his friend and colleague, the German filmmaker Veit Helmer, whose credits include Tuvalu and Absurdistan. Helmer has spent many years searching for...
Wild Bunch International has acquired Venice Silver Lion- winning director Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov’s 1991 feature, Bratan (aka Brothers), which is screening this week in Venice Classics.
The film was the debut feature of Tajikistan-born Khudojnazarov who died in 2015. He went on to make Kosh ba Kosh (international title Odd and Even) which won the Silver Lion in Venice 1993 and his international hit, Luna Papa in 1999.
Bratan has been restored by his friend and colleague, the German filmmaker Veit Helmer, whose credits include Tuvalu and Absurdistan. Helmer has spent many years searching for...
- 9/1/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
The section returns to the lido after two years.
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Theorem and Yasujiro Ozu’s A Hen In The Wind are among the 18 films selected for the Venice Classics strand of the 79th Venice Film Festival (August 31-September 10).
Pasolini’s Italian drama screened in competition at Venice in 1968 and received a special award from the International Catholic Film Office which was later revoked after the Vatican complained. It is restored by Cineteca di Bologna.
A Hen In The Wind is one of three Japanese films in selection. The other two are Profound Desires of the Gods by...
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Theorem and Yasujiro Ozu’s A Hen In The Wind are among the 18 films selected for the Venice Classics strand of the 79th Venice Film Festival (August 31-September 10).
Pasolini’s Italian drama screened in competition at Venice in 1968 and received a special award from the International Catholic Film Office which was later revoked after the Vatican complained. It is restored by Cineteca di Bologna.
A Hen In The Wind is one of three Japanese films in selection. The other two are Profound Desires of the Gods by...
- 7/19/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
The section returns to the lido after two years.
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Theorem and Yasujiro Ozu’s A Hen In The Wind are among the 18 films selected for the Venice Classics strand of the 79th Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).
Pasolini’s Italian drama screened in competition at Venice in 1968 and received a special award from the International Catholic Film Office which was later revoked after the Vatican complained. It is restored by Cineteca di Bologna.
A Hen In The Wind is one of three Japanese films in selection. The other two are Profound Desires of the Gods...
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Theorem and Yasujiro Ozu’s A Hen In The Wind are among the 18 films selected for the Venice Classics strand of the 79th Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).
Pasolini’s Italian drama screened in competition at Venice in 1968 and received a special award from the International Catholic Film Office which was later revoked after the Vatican complained. It is restored by Cineteca di Bologna.
A Hen In The Wind is one of three Japanese films in selection. The other two are Profound Desires of the Gods...
- 7/19/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Helmer’s previous film was 2018 silent comedy The Bra.
German director Veit Helmer has returned to the Caucasus for the third time to shoot his latest feature film Gondola (working title) in the Georgian mountains, following his 2008 Azerbaijan-set Absurdistan and 2018 silent comedy The Bra, set in Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Principal photography started last week on a 36-day shoot which is set to run until the end of September. The film tells the story of two female cable car operators who fall in love as pass each other in their gondolas travelling between a mountain village and the town in the valley below.
German director Veit Helmer has returned to the Caucasus for the third time to shoot his latest feature film Gondola (working title) in the Georgian mountains, following his 2008 Azerbaijan-set Absurdistan and 2018 silent comedy The Bra, set in Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Principal photography started last week on a 36-day shoot which is set to run until the end of September. The film tells the story of two female cable car operators who fall in love as pass each other in their gondolas travelling between a mountain village and the town in the valley below.
- 8/23/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Upcoming features from Margarethe Von Trotta and Fernando Trueba also receive support.
Co-productions from Belgian director Lukas Dhont, Canada’s Brandon Cronenberg and UK filmmaker Fyzal Boulifa are among 49 selected for support in the latest Eurimages funding round.
Dhont, whose transgender dancer drama Girl won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2018, received €300,000 toward his anticipated second feature, Close.
The Belgium-France-Netherlands co-production centres on two 13-year-old boys who have always been incredibly close but drift apart after their relationship is questioned by schoolmates. When tragedy strikes, one is forced to confront why he distanced himself from his closest friend.
German...
Co-productions from Belgian director Lukas Dhont, Canada’s Brandon Cronenberg and UK filmmaker Fyzal Boulifa are among 49 selected for support in the latest Eurimages funding round.
Dhont, whose transgender dancer drama Girl won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2018, received €300,000 toward his anticipated second feature, Close.
The Belgium-France-Netherlands co-production centres on two 13-year-old boys who have always been incredibly close but drift apart after their relationship is questioned by schoolmates. When tragedy strikes, one is forced to confront why he distanced himself from his closest friend.
German...
- 6/29/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Upcoming features from Margarethe Von Trotta and Fernando Trueba also receive support.
Co-productions from Belgian director Lukas Dhont, Canada’s Brandon Cronenberg and UK filmmaker Fyzal Boulifa are among 49 selected for support in the latest Eurimages funding round.
Dhont, whose transgender dancer drama Girl won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2018, received €300,000 toward his anticipated second feature, Close.
The Belgium-France-Netherlands co-production centres on two 13-year-old boys who have always been incredibly close but drift apart after their relationship is questioned by schoolmates. When tragedy strikes, one is forced to confront why he distanced himself from his closest friend.
German...
Co-productions from Belgian director Lukas Dhont, Canada’s Brandon Cronenberg and UK filmmaker Fyzal Boulifa are among 49 selected for support in the latest Eurimages funding round.
Dhont, whose transgender dancer drama Girl won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2018, received €300,000 toward his anticipated second feature, Close.
The Belgium-France-Netherlands co-production centres on two 13-year-old boys who have always been incredibly close but drift apart after their relationship is questioned by schoolmates. When tragedy strikes, one is forced to confront why he distanced himself from his closest friend.
German...
- 6/29/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Indican Pictures has released an official US trailer for an indie, light-hearted comedy titled The Bra, from German filmmaker Veit Helmer. The film is already out to watch now, but we're just catching up with it at this point. Set in the country of Azerbaijan (nestled between Iran and Georgia) the film tells the story of an aging train driver named Nurlan. To escape from his lonely existence, he embarks on the most adventurous journey of his life: to find the owner of a perky piece of blue underwear that his train snagged off a washing line. He rents a small room in Baku and begins his quest. Starring Predrag 'Miki' Manojlovic as Nurlan, with Paz Vega, Denis Levant, Chulpan Khamatova, Maia Morgenstern, and Frankie Wallac. This has the look and feel of an old classic B&w film, something from a time long ago, a comedic quest for love.
- 10/15/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Santiago Segura’s Father There Is Only One sequel is a major new opener in Spain.
South Korea, opening Wednesday July 29
In South Korea, where theatrical releases open on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the new films in cinemas this weekend with top ticket reservation rates, according to the Korean Film Council (Kofic), are led by Lotte Cultureworks’ Jung Woo-sung-starrer Steel Rain 2: Summit - director Yang Woo-suk’s sequel to his North-South Korea political action thriller.
The film opened Wednesday, July 29 and as of Thursday has clocked up $1.2m atop the box office chart.
Further new titles include Chinese shark...
South Korea, opening Wednesday July 29
In South Korea, where theatrical releases open on Wednesdays and Thursdays, the new films in cinemas this weekend with top ticket reservation rates, according to the Korean Film Council (Kofic), are led by Lotte Cultureworks’ Jung Woo-sung-starrer Steel Rain 2: Summit - director Yang Woo-suk’s sequel to his North-South Korea political action thriller.
The film opened Wednesday, July 29 and as of Thursday has clocked up $1.2m atop the box office chart.
Further new titles include Chinese shark...
- 7/31/2020
- by 134¦Jean Noh¦516¦¬1101324¦Elisabet Cabeza¦37¦¬1101325¦Gabriele Niola¦35¦¬158¦Martin Blaney¦40¦¬1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
India’s Alliance Media & Entertainment is in the process of acquiring a library of works by late Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami for distribution in the Indian subcontinent from France’s MK2 Films.
The deal covers 33 features, documentaries and shorts from Kiarostami’s oeuvre, including “Taste of Cherry,” “The Wind Will Carry Us” and “Where Is My Friend’s Home.” Negotiations took place at the European Film Market, and the Berlin Film Festival. They are at an “advanced state of closure” and the signing is expected to take place imminently, Alliance’s Sunil Doshi told Variety. Kiarostami died in 2016.
Alliance previously acquired the Pedro Almodovar catalogue from France’s TF1 and Pathe Films and Jafar Panahi’s films from France’s Celluloid Dreams. It struck a deal with Disney’s Indian Ott platform Hotstar, where the works of both masters are streaming now.
Alliance also acquired the Indian distribution and...
The deal covers 33 features, documentaries and shorts from Kiarostami’s oeuvre, including “Taste of Cherry,” “The Wind Will Carry Us” and “Where Is My Friend’s Home.” Negotiations took place at the European Film Market, and the Berlin Film Festival. They are at an “advanced state of closure” and the signing is expected to take place imminently, Alliance’s Sunil Doshi told Variety. Kiarostami died in 2016.
Alliance previously acquired the Pedro Almodovar catalogue from France’s TF1 and Pathe Films and Jafar Panahi’s films from France’s Celluloid Dreams. It struck a deal with Disney’s Indian Ott platform Hotstar, where the works of both masters are streaming now.
Alliance also acquired the Indian distribution and...
- 2/27/2020
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmakers Dominik Graf, Emily Atef, Sol Bondy among many who signed petition calling for executive to resign.
Frankfurt-based regional film fund HessenFilm has fired CEO Hans Joachim Mendig over a controversial meeting pictured in an Instagram post in which the businessman is seen sitting down with far-right politician Jörg Meuthen.
The fund’s supervisory board voted unanimously at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday (24) to terminate Mendig’s employment with immediate effect.
The decision came after growing calls from the German film community for Mendig to step down after a local Frankfurt newspaper reported on the Instagram post dated July 24 by Meuthen,...
Frankfurt-based regional film fund HessenFilm has fired CEO Hans Joachim Mendig over a controversial meeting pictured in an Instagram post in which the businessman is seen sitting down with far-right politician Jörg Meuthen.
The fund’s supervisory board voted unanimously at an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday (24) to terminate Mendig’s employment with immediate effect.
The decision came after growing calls from the German film community for Mendig to step down after a local Frankfurt newspaper reported on the Instagram post dated July 24 by Meuthen,...
- 9/24/2019
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Sales include South Korea, India and Italy.
German sales agency Pluto Film has sealed a raft of deals on Veit Helmer’s comedy The Bra.
It has been sold to Brazil (Pandora Filmes), China (Turbo Film), South Korea (Alto Media), India (Alliance Media), Poland (Fundacja Filmowa Warszawa), Italy (Lab 80), and former Yugoslavia (Cinemania Group).
The film launched at the Tokyo International Film Festival last October and is about a lonely train driver who searches for the owner of a bra he found on his train.
Pluto has also signed deals on Berlinale best debut feature winner Oray for Turkey...
German sales agency Pluto Film has sealed a raft of deals on Veit Helmer’s comedy The Bra.
It has been sold to Brazil (Pandora Filmes), China (Turbo Film), South Korea (Alto Media), India (Alliance Media), Poland (Fundacja Filmowa Warszawa), Italy (Lab 80), and former Yugoslavia (Cinemania Group).
The film launched at the Tokyo International Film Festival last October and is about a lonely train driver who searches for the owner of a bra he found on his train.
Pluto has also signed deals on Berlinale best debut feature winner Oray for Turkey...
- 9/20/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Another eight documentaries and 25 short films will screen in the competition sections, and the festival has scheduled master classes by Paul Schrader and Krzysztof Zanussi. The Batumi International Arthouse Film Festival (Biaff) is set to take place for the 14th time from 16-23 September. Biaff is again organising a carefully curated programme consisting of fiction-feature, documentary and short competitions, plus sidebar sections including Georgian Panorama, Masters and Special Screenings. In the Feature Competition, there are ten films: Mark Jenkin's Bait (UK), Veit Helmer's The Bra (Germany/Azerbaijan), Reza Mirkarimi's Castle of Dreams (Iran), Elmar Imanov's End of Season (Germany/Azerbaijan/Georgia), György Pálfi's His Master’s Voice (Canada/Hungary/France/Sweden/USA), Kıvanç Sezer's La Belle Indifference (Turkey), Marko Škop's Let There Be Light (Slovakia/Czech Republic), Jacek Borcuch's Dolce Fine Giornata (Poland), Emin Alper's A Tale of Three Sisters (Turkey/Germany/Netherlands...
Total of 16 titles set for this year’s Competition line-up.
Tokyo International Film Festival has announced the 16 titles that will compete in its International Competition, including the world premieres of His Master’s Voice, from Hungary’s Gyorgy Palfi, Fruit Chan’s Three Husbands, Veit Helmer’s The Bra and Liu Hao’s The Poet.
Tiff’s competition line-up will also include the world premieres of two Japanese titles – Junji Sakamoto’s Another World and Rikiya Imaizumi’s Just Only Love (see full line-up below).
Leading Philippines filmmaker Brillante Ma Mendoza is heading this year’s Competition jury, which also comprises Us producer Bryan Burk,...
Tokyo International Film Festival has announced the 16 titles that will compete in its International Competition, including the world premieres of His Master’s Voice, from Hungary’s Gyorgy Palfi, Fruit Chan’s Three Husbands, Veit Helmer’s The Bra and Liu Hao’s The Poet.
Tiff’s competition line-up will also include the world premieres of two Japanese titles – Junji Sakamoto’s Another World and Rikiya Imaizumi’s Just Only Love (see full line-up below).
Leading Philippines filmmaker Brillante Ma Mendoza is heading this year’s Competition jury, which also comprises Us producer Bryan Burk,...
- 9/25/2018
- by Liz Shackleton
- ScreenDaily
Gyorgi Palfi’s “His Master’s Voice” will line up against Fruit Chan’s “Three Husbands” and Veit Helmer’s “The Bra” in the main competition section of the Tokyo International Film Festival. Ralph Fiennes’ “The White Crow” will also receive its Asian premiere in competition.
The festival announced its full line up Tuesday in Tokyo. The festival will run Oct 25. – Nov. 3, 2018 at venues around the Japanese capital. It previously announced Japanese films, “Another World” and “Just Only Love” in main competition.
Another earlier announcement revealed that the festival will open with Bradley Cooper’s Lady Gaga-starring “A Star is Born.” The festival will close with “Godzilla: The Planet Eater,” the third and final part in the animated “Godzilla” trilogy. Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s “The House Where the Mermaid Sleeps” was Tuesday confirmed as a second closing film.
The 16-film competition selection is balanced between Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas,...
The festival announced its full line up Tuesday in Tokyo. The festival will run Oct 25. – Nov. 3, 2018 at venues around the Japanese capital. It previously announced Japanese films, “Another World” and “Just Only Love” in main competition.
Another earlier announcement revealed that the festival will open with Bradley Cooper’s Lady Gaga-starring “A Star is Born.” The festival will close with “Godzilla: The Planet Eater,” the third and final part in the animated “Godzilla” trilogy. Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s “The House Where the Mermaid Sleeps” was Tuesday confirmed as a second closing film.
The 16-film competition selection is balanced between Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas,...
- 9/25/2018
- by Mark Schilling
- Variety Film + TV
Berlin-based sales agent boards debut feature.
Berlin-based sales agent Pluto Film has added Henrika Kull’s Jibril to its slate ahead of this month’s European Film Market (Efm) in Berlin.
The film is Kull’s feature debut and will have its world premiere in Berlin’s Panorama strand on Feb 16. It stars Susana Abdulmajid as a divorced mother of three girls who becomes embroiled in a love affair with a prison inmate.
Kull produced with Sophie Lakow, and Carolina Steinbrecher.
Pluto Film’s slate also includes Panorama title Lemonade, which Screen unveiled the first trailer for this week, and Malene Choi’s The Return, which won a special jury mention in Rotterdam this year.
At the Efm, Pluto Film will also be touting Veit Helmer’s comedy The Bra, Robert Budina’s A Shelter Among The Clouds, Miha Mazzini’s Erased, and Roman Bondarchuk’s Volcano, Rasko Miljkovic’s The Witch Hunters, and Jan Speckenbach’s Freedom...
Berlin-based sales agent Pluto Film has added Henrika Kull’s Jibril to its slate ahead of this month’s European Film Market (Efm) in Berlin.
The film is Kull’s feature debut and will have its world premiere in Berlin’s Panorama strand on Feb 16. It stars Susana Abdulmajid as a divorced mother of three girls who becomes embroiled in a love affair with a prison inmate.
Kull produced with Sophie Lakow, and Carolina Steinbrecher.
Pluto Film’s slate also includes Panorama title Lemonade, which Screen unveiled the first trailer for this week, and Malene Choi’s The Return, which won a special jury mention in Rotterdam this year.
At the Efm, Pluto Film will also be touting Veit Helmer’s comedy The Bra, Robert Budina’s A Shelter Among The Clouds, Miha Mazzini’s Erased, and Roman Bondarchuk’s Volcano, Rasko Miljkovic’s The Witch Hunters, and Jan Speckenbach’s Freedom...
- 2/8/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Films by Petri Kotwica and Jan Prusinovský are among four new titles acquired by Media Luna New Films ahead of next week’s Cannes Marché.
The first new addition to Media Luna’s sales line-up is Petri Kotwica’s Finnish-Irish drama Absolution, starring Laura Birn (A Walk Among The Tombstones), Mari Rantasila and Eero Aho.
Also new to the slate is Dutch filmmaker Joost van Ginkel’s Amsterdam-set drama The Paradise Suite, with Magnus Krepper (The Girl Who Played With Fire), and Slovenian Blaz Zavrsnik’s comedy Juliet And Alfa Romeo.
The final new addition is Czech director Jan Prusinovský’s local box-office hit The Snake Brothers with Kryštof Hádek and Matěj Hádek.
Ida Martins’ Cologne-based outfit is also handling international sales for veteran director Stijn Coninx’s feelgood drama Marina, based on the childhood memories of the Italian-Belgian singer Rocco Granata, which has been selected for the Cannes Écrans Juniors competition this year.
Global Screen...
The first new addition to Media Luna’s sales line-up is Petri Kotwica’s Finnish-Irish drama Absolution, starring Laura Birn (A Walk Among The Tombstones), Mari Rantasila and Eero Aho.
Also new to the slate is Dutch filmmaker Joost van Ginkel’s Amsterdam-set drama The Paradise Suite, with Magnus Krepper (The Girl Who Played With Fire), and Slovenian Blaz Zavrsnik’s comedy Juliet And Alfa Romeo.
The final new addition is Czech director Jan Prusinovský’s local box-office hit The Snake Brothers with Kryštof Hádek and Matěj Hádek.
Ida Martins’ Cologne-based outfit is also handling international sales for veteran director Stijn Coninx’s feelgood drama Marina, based on the childhood memories of the Italian-Belgian singer Rocco Granata, which has been selected for the Cannes Écrans Juniors competition this year.
Global Screen...
- 5/8/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Citizenfour, The Cut and Quatsch to screen at Berlinale; Critics’ Week Berlin to be launched
The German Film Critics Association (Vdfk) has joined forces with the Heinrich Böll Foundation to launch a Critics’ Week Berlin as “a hub for everyone who connects intellectual reflection with the sensual pleasure of watching films”.
Inspired by the examples of Cannes, Venice and Locarno, the first edition’s selection of 10 features is based on two concepts: “stirring, daring, surprising cinema and a potential for cultural and critical discussion.”
The initiative is not part of the Berlinale, although members of the Vdfk board had spoken with festival director Dieter Kosslick about the idea of a critics’ week in the past.
Two titles already confirmed are the world premiere of Bernard Émond’s Le Journal d’un vieil homme (The Diary of an Old Man), adapted from the Chekhov novella A Dreary Story, and Johnnie To’s romantic comedy Don’t Go Breaking...
The German Film Critics Association (Vdfk) has joined forces with the Heinrich Böll Foundation to launch a Critics’ Week Berlin as “a hub for everyone who connects intellectual reflection with the sensual pleasure of watching films”.
Inspired by the examples of Cannes, Venice and Locarno, the first edition’s selection of 10 features is based on two concepts: “stirring, daring, surprising cinema and a potential for cultural and critical discussion.”
The initiative is not part of the Berlinale, although members of the Vdfk board had spoken with festival director Dieter Kosslick about the idea of a critics’ week in the past.
Two titles already confirmed are the world premiere of Bernard Émond’s Le Journal d’un vieil homme (The Diary of an Old Man), adapted from the Chekhov novella A Dreary Story, and Johnnie To’s romantic comedy Don’t Go Breaking...
- 1/13/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Main awards won by films from Uruguay, Romania and Switzerland.
Germán Tejeira’s A Moonless Night (Una Noche Sin Luna) has won the International Feature Film Golden Eye award at the 10th Zurich Film Festival (Sept 25 - Oct 5).
The drama centres on three lonely lives in rural Uruguay.
The International Documentary Film Golden Eye was won by Alexander Nanau’s Romanian film, Toto and His Sisters, about a 10-year-old and his two teenage sisters who learn to survive while waiting for their mother’s release.
Both awards come with a cash prize of more than $30,000 (CHF25,000) and (CHF100,000) for Swiss promotion.
The Golden Eye in the Focus: Switzerland, Germany, Austria section was won Bruno Deville’s Swiss comedy, Boucoule.
The prize include Chf 20’000 ($20,0007) cash prize. Each winner also receives Chf 100’000 ($10,700) for the promotion of their film in Swiss cinemas.
The newly introduced Emerging Swiss Talent Award went to Bruno Deville’s Boucoule (Switzerland), and the Critic’s Choice...
Germán Tejeira’s A Moonless Night (Una Noche Sin Luna) has won the International Feature Film Golden Eye award at the 10th Zurich Film Festival (Sept 25 - Oct 5).
The drama centres on three lonely lives in rural Uruguay.
The International Documentary Film Golden Eye was won by Alexander Nanau’s Romanian film, Toto and His Sisters, about a 10-year-old and his two teenage sisters who learn to survive while waiting for their mother’s release.
Both awards come with a cash prize of more than $30,000 (CHF25,000) and (CHF100,000) for Swiss promotion.
The Golden Eye in the Focus: Switzerland, Germany, Austria section was won Bruno Deville’s Swiss comedy, Boucoule.
The prize include Chf 20’000 ($20,0007) cash prize. Each winner also receives Chf 100’000 ($10,700) for the promotion of their film in Swiss cinemas.
The newly introduced Emerging Swiss Talent Award went to Bruno Deville’s Boucoule (Switzerland), and the Critic’s Choice...
- 10/4/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
There were several prizes for German co-productions at the Cannes Film Festival (14 - 25 May 2014) this year: Winter Sleep (Tr/De/Fr, Bredok Film Production) won the Palm d'Or . The film by Nuri Bilge Ceylan also received the Fipresci Prize from the international film critics. Another co-production with German participation, Le Meraviglie by Alice Rohrwacher (It/Ch/De, Pola Pandora), was awarded the Grand Prix. White God by Kornél Mundruczó (Hu/De/Se, Pola Pandora) received the main award in the Un Certain Regard sidebar. Pola Pandora, the German production company serving as a partner on both films, was co-founded by the recently departed Karl Baumgartner, a pioneer of European arthouse cinema. Wim Wenders and his co-director Juliano Ribeiro Salgado received the Special Prize in the Un Certain Regard sidebar for the French production The Salt of the Earth. Juan Sarmiento G. was responsible for the camerawork on Leidi, the Golden Palm for Short Films. He is now living and working in Berlin after having studied at the Hff Potsdam-Babelsberg.
The cinema was filled to capacity at the world premiere of the Next Generation Short Tiger 2014 program of shorts on Sunday, 18 May 2014. Around 250 guests came to the Star Cinema where the directors and producers of the 14 selected shorts presented their works to an audience of international professionals. The director and Oscar-winner® Caroline Link, who was a member of the jury, was also present at the premiere in Cannes. Next Generation Short Tiger 2014 is organized by German Films and the German Federal Film Board (Ffa). After the screening, the audience – which included representatives of international festivals, journalists, producers and buyers, rewarded the achievements of the German short film talents with long and enthusiastic applause.
Mariette Rissenbeek, managing director of German Films: "We are delighted that this year again saw such a large interest from people wanting to get to know the up-and-coming generation of German filmmakers at the Next Generation Short Tiger premiere. Everything was represented – from the Western through drama, animation, thriller, documentary and also comedy – and all of this was of a very high quality." The first festival invitations had already started coming in after the screening in Cannes. The Next Generation Short Tiger 2014 program will be shown in the upcoming months as part of the Festivals of German Films which are organized by German Films in Madrid, New York, Buenos Aires, Paris and Moscow.
This year, the market screenings organized by German Films under the banner of " New German Films in Cannes " at Cannes' Marché du Film presented 35 new German films. The screenings were well received by the professional visitors. A popular and highly regarded meeting place – along with the German Pavilion in the International Village – proved once again to be the German Reception in honor of German cinema and the films with German participation at the festival.
Over 850 guests took the opportunity to come together in a convivial atmosphere on La Plage - Majestic Barrière on Saturday, 17 May 2014. The State Minister for Culture, Prof. Monika Grütters, made the opening speech on the occasion of her first visit to Cannes. The producers Eva Blondiau (Torn), Michael Eckelt (That Lovely Girl / Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsallem), Alfred Hürmer (Maps to the Stars), Thanassis Karathanos (Clouds of Sils Maria) and Titus Kreyenberg (Bridges of Sarajevo), the directors Elmar Imanov and Engin Kundag (Torn), Slomi Elkabetz (Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsallem) and Jessica Hausner (Amour Fou) as well as the actors Christian Friedel and Stefan Großmann (Amour Fou) were among those attending from the delegations of the German co-productions showing at the festival. The guests included, among others, representatives of festivals from Moscow, Montreal, Palm Springs, Locarno and São Paulo, the actors Stefan Konarske and Maxim Mehmet, the directors Margarethe von Trotta, Caroline Link, Dietrich Brüggemann, Veit Helmer and Marco Kreuzpaintner, author Katja Eichinger as well as international and national distributors, producers and funders.
The cinema was filled to capacity at the world premiere of the Next Generation Short Tiger 2014 program of shorts on Sunday, 18 May 2014. Around 250 guests came to the Star Cinema where the directors and producers of the 14 selected shorts presented their works to an audience of international professionals. The director and Oscar-winner® Caroline Link, who was a member of the jury, was also present at the premiere in Cannes. Next Generation Short Tiger 2014 is organized by German Films and the German Federal Film Board (Ffa). After the screening, the audience – which included representatives of international festivals, journalists, producers and buyers, rewarded the achievements of the German short film talents with long and enthusiastic applause.
Mariette Rissenbeek, managing director of German Films: "We are delighted that this year again saw such a large interest from people wanting to get to know the up-and-coming generation of German filmmakers at the Next Generation Short Tiger premiere. Everything was represented – from the Western through drama, animation, thriller, documentary and also comedy – and all of this was of a very high quality." The first festival invitations had already started coming in after the screening in Cannes. The Next Generation Short Tiger 2014 program will be shown in the upcoming months as part of the Festivals of German Films which are organized by German Films in Madrid, New York, Buenos Aires, Paris and Moscow.
This year, the market screenings organized by German Films under the banner of " New German Films in Cannes " at Cannes' Marché du Film presented 35 new German films. The screenings were well received by the professional visitors. A popular and highly regarded meeting place – along with the German Pavilion in the International Village – proved once again to be the German Reception in honor of German cinema and the films with German participation at the festival.
Over 850 guests took the opportunity to come together in a convivial atmosphere on La Plage - Majestic Barrière on Saturday, 17 May 2014. The State Minister for Culture, Prof. Monika Grütters, made the opening speech on the occasion of her first visit to Cannes. The producers Eva Blondiau (Torn), Michael Eckelt (That Lovely Girl / Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsallem), Alfred Hürmer (Maps to the Stars), Thanassis Karathanos (Clouds of Sils Maria) and Titus Kreyenberg (Bridges of Sarajevo), the directors Elmar Imanov and Engin Kundag (Torn), Slomi Elkabetz (Gett, The Trial of Viviane Amsallem) and Jessica Hausner (Amour Fou) as well as the actors Christian Friedel and Stefan Großmann (Amour Fou) were among those attending from the delegations of the German co-productions showing at the festival. The guests included, among others, representatives of festivals from Moscow, Montreal, Palm Springs, Locarno and São Paulo, the actors Stefan Konarske and Maxim Mehmet, the directors Margarethe von Trotta, Caroline Link, Dietrich Brüggemann, Veit Helmer and Marco Kreuzpaintner, author Katja Eichinger as well as international and national distributors, producers and funders.
- 6/7/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: German kids adventure Fiddlesticks has been snapped up buyers following its market premiere.
Following a deal with Farbfilm for theatrical release in Germany and Austria in October, the feature has been sold to France (Pretty Pictures), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe) and Romania (Metropolis).
Deals for Benelux and Norway to be announced soon, according to director Veit Helmer, who is coordinating theatrical sales himself while BetaFilm handles TV sales.
Fiddlesticks tells the story of six youngsters who try and free their grandparents from and old people’s home, with a cast that includes Benno Fürmann and Fritzi Haberlandt.
Pretty Pictures’ James Velaise said: “What a delight to discover a really fun live action European film (such a rarity these days) for children from four years old and all the way up to watching with parents. My four year boy screened it in German with delight and gave me the big thumbs up so that was...
Following a deal with Farbfilm for theatrical release in Germany and Austria in October, the feature has been sold to France (Pretty Pictures), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe) and Romania (Metropolis).
Deals for Benelux and Norway to be announced soon, according to director Veit Helmer, who is coordinating theatrical sales himself while BetaFilm handles TV sales.
Fiddlesticks tells the story of six youngsters who try and free their grandparents from and old people’s home, with a cast that includes Benno Fürmann and Fritzi Haberlandt.
Pretty Pictures’ James Velaise said: “What a delight to discover a really fun live action European film (such a rarity these days) for children from four years old and all the way up to watching with parents. My four year boy screened it in German with delight and gave me the big thumbs up so that was...
- 5/19/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Beta Cinema will handle international sales on German director Isabelle Stevers’ grotesque drama Cooking Cats, which began shooting in Cologne last week.
UK actor Jim Broadbent has been cast as a British ambassador in the drama set in the world of international aid schemes with Maria Furtwängler as an Un aid worker caught between the contradictions of a jetsetting life and tackling Third World poverty.
Other cast members include former European Shooting Star Dorka Gryllus and newcomer Mehmer Sözer.
Stever’s previous films include the feature films Erste Ehe and Gisela and an episode of the omnibus film Deutschland ‘09.
The co-production between Sutor Kolonko Filmproduktion, cine plus Filmproduktion and broadcasters Wdr, Br and Ndr will be released theatrically in Germany by Movienet.
Shooting will continue at the Hürth-based Medienparks Nrw studio, in Düsseldorf and Jordan’s Amman until the beginning of June.
Schipper thriller and love story
Another addition to Beta’s slate is actor-director [link=nm...
UK actor Jim Broadbent has been cast as a British ambassador in the drama set in the world of international aid schemes with Maria Furtwängler as an Un aid worker caught between the contradictions of a jetsetting life and tackling Third World poverty.
Other cast members include former European Shooting Star Dorka Gryllus and newcomer Mehmer Sözer.
Stever’s previous films include the feature films Erste Ehe and Gisela and an episode of the omnibus film Deutschland ‘09.
The co-production between Sutor Kolonko Filmproduktion, cine plus Filmproduktion and broadcasters Wdr, Br and Ndr will be released theatrically in Germany by Movienet.
Shooting will continue at the Hürth-based Medienparks Nrw studio, in Düsseldorf and Jordan’s Amman until the beginning of June.
Schipper thriller and love story
Another addition to Beta’s slate is actor-director [link=nm...
- 5/9/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Director Veit Helmer appears to be taking the concept of the star-crossed lover quite literally with his upcoming scifi romcom Baikonur. Taking its title from the actual Kazakh space-launch site where it is set I don't think I can do a better job of explaining this one than does the official synopsis:"Whatever falls from heaven, you may keep." So goes the unwritten law of the Kazakh steppes. A law avidly adhered to by the inhabitants of a small village, who collect the space debris that falls downrange from the nearby Baikonur space station. The last two youthful members of the village are the radio operator Iskander, known as Gagarin, and the spirited Nazira. While Nazira finds it increasing difficult to conceal her love for...
- 8/22/2011
- Screen Anarchy
DVDs may be sooner or later drummed out of existence -- by online downloads, at first, I'd guess, reducing movie "releases" to nothing more than press announcements of availability -- but for now they're still "things" you can buy or rent, physical manifestations of the art form, not just the opportunity for access. In the process, they're continuing as our default B-movie distribution stream, offering up indies and foreign films and unforeseen archivals that had a snowball's hellbound chance at finding theatrical screentime. These are still not eligible for any year-end toasts, absurdly enough, and so here's my list of the best of the year's straight-to-digi-vid, for which the only qualification is being entirely overlooked, this year or ever, by our theatrical distribution wimps, and being new to U.S. home video of any stripe.
15. "Absurdistan"
(Veit Helmer, Germany/Russia/Azerbaijan, 2008)
A bawdy Caucasus folktale, Helmer's nutty yarn visits a...
15. "Absurdistan"
(Veit Helmer, Germany/Russia/Azerbaijan, 2008)
A bawdy Caucasus folktale, Helmer's nutty yarn visits a...
- 12/22/2009
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
Wedged between Sundance and Berlin is the extremely important Rotterdam film festival. Rotterdam functions as Europe's first major film fest of the year, but it seconds as a premiere destination for filmmakers such as Andrei Zvyagintsev (The Return), Amat Escalante (Sangre) and Juraj Lehotsky (Blind Loves) who make the kind of films that need a "helping hand". This list is of obvious interest because we'll be talking about this projects-turned-into-films down the road - we only need to look at Venice/Tiff for recent examples such as Samuel Maoz's Lebanon and Shirin Neshat's Women without Men to see the quality of films that got their start here. - Wedged between Sundance and Berlin is the extremely important Rotterdam film festival. Rotterdam functions as Europe's first major film fest of the year, but it seconds as a premiere destination for filmmakers such as Andrei Zvyagintsev (The Return), Amat Escalante...
- 12/13/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
Absurdistan
Directed by Veit Helmer
2008, 90 minutes, In Russian with English subtitles
First Run Features Heterosexually speaking, one of the greatest manipulative powers women have had over men since perhaps the dawn of time is the ability to withhold sex. From Aristophanes' ancient comedy Lysistrata (about a battle between the sexes that erupts after the women of Greece lock up their chastity belts in protest of the Peloponnesian War) to the Kenyan women's activist groups who even got prostitutes to take part in a sex strike this past April, this practice has long been effective, and deftly illustrates how foolish and base we men can be. While Veit Helmer's bawdy burlesque Absurdistan seems, at first glance, like a fanciful folktale reimagining of Lysistrata, it's actually based upon a real-life Turkish incident that the Tuvalu director had read about in a 2001 newspaper article. Continued reading DVD Of The Week: Absurdistan.
Directed by Veit Helmer
2008, 90 minutes, In Russian with English subtitles
First Run Features Heterosexually speaking, one of the greatest manipulative powers women have had over men since perhaps the dawn of time is the ability to withhold sex. From Aristophanes' ancient comedy Lysistrata (about a battle between the sexes that erupts after the women of Greece lock up their chastity belts in protest of the Peloponnesian War) to the Kenyan women's activist groups who even got prostitutes to take part in a sex strike this past April, this practice has long been effective, and deftly illustrates how foolish and base we men can be. While Veit Helmer's bawdy burlesque Absurdistan seems, at first glance, like a fanciful folktale reimagining of Lysistrata, it's actually based upon a real-life Turkish incident that the Tuvalu director had read about in a 2001 newspaper article. Continued reading DVD Of The Week: Absurdistan.
- 8/20/2009
- GreenCine Daily
The mistake that people have made about John Cassavetes, both those who fall swooning at the altar of his films and those who find them overwrought, irritating and indulgent, is in considering him as a realist. A mere realist. Cassavetes' work may look realistic, spontaneous and controlled in the moment by emotional typhoons, but this is not your Italian granddaddy's neo-realist peasant drama or anything like the new-ish introverted realism coming in thick bolts out of the global cameras of the Dardennes, Jia, Tsai, Reygadas, Costa, etc. The only Cassavetes movie that was truly improvised was his first, "Shadows" (1959); after that, the scripts were fleshed out in grueling detail through rehearsals, and what grumpy Hollywood turks like Sean Penn and Vincent Gallo have seen as letting the actor's id run free in a psychodramatic hothouse of booze and childish regression -- cutting through the bullshit and getting to the reality...
- 8/18/2009
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
Absurdistan
Directed by: Veit Helmer
Cast: Kristyna Malérozá, Maximilian Mauff, Nino Chkheidze
Running Time: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: Unrated
Plot: In a small village between Asia and Europe, outside of any known country, lives Aya and Temelko. Born on the same day, they grow up together and feel destined to be together. Aya’s grandmother, kind of a soothsayer, predicts that they have one week in which to come together or they never will. In the interim, the pipe that brings water to their town breaks and the men in town refuse to fix it so the women go all Lysistrata and refuse their husbands sex until the pipe is repaired. Meaning Temelko has less than a week to fix the pipe and get the girl.
Who’s It For? Do you like German comedy? And yes, it is different. This would be good for fans of Aki Kaurismäki (Man Without...
Directed by: Veit Helmer
Cast: Kristyna Malérozá, Maximilian Mauff, Nino Chkheidze
Running Time: 1 hr 25 mins
Rating: Unrated
Plot: In a small village between Asia and Europe, outside of any known country, lives Aya and Temelko. Born on the same day, they grow up together and feel destined to be together. Aya’s grandmother, kind of a soothsayer, predicts that they have one week in which to come together or they never will. In the interim, the pipe that brings water to their town breaks and the men in town refuse to fix it so the women go all Lysistrata and refuse their husbands sex until the pipe is repaired. Meaning Temelko has less than a week to fix the pipe and get the girl.
Who’s It For? Do you like German comedy? And yes, it is different. This would be good for fans of Aki Kaurismäki (Man Without...
- 4/3/2009
- by Megan Lehar
- The Scorecard Review
Max Mauff And Kristyna MALÉROVÁ In Director Veit Helmer's Absurdistan. Courtesy First Run Features.
German writer-director Veit Helmer is a true oddity, a creative mind whose films might well have been unearthed from a time capsule buried during the era of silent comedy. Born in Hanover in 1968, Helmer spent much of his childhood watching Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd and by the age of 14 had already made his first film. He studied at Munich's School of Television and Film, and made quirky shorts throughout his time there, such as the highly inventive Surprise! (1995). When Wim Wenders, a professor of his, decided to make a film based on one of his students' screenplays, he chose Helmer's submission. The resulting film,...
German writer-director Veit Helmer is a true oddity, a creative mind whose films might well have been unearthed from a time capsule buried during the era of silent comedy. Born in Hanover in 1968, Helmer spent much of his childhood watching Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd and by the age of 14 had already made his first film. He studied at Munich's School of Television and Film, and made quirky shorts throughout his time there, such as the highly inventive Surprise! (1995). When Wim Wenders, a professor of his, decided to make a film based on one of his students' screenplays, he chose Helmer's submission. The resulting film,...
- 2/18/2009
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
As its theatrical poster infers, Veit Helmer’s third feature Absurdistan (2008) is a buoyant and romantically ebullient fable, tempering the sexual politics of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata with enchanting dollops of magical realism and insouciant humor. Since at least the Soviet perestroika, the term “absurdistan”—according to Wikipedia—has been in use to satirize “a country in which absurdity is the norm, especially in its public authorities and government.”
Eschewing the term’s potential political heft, however, Helmer adopted it to entitle his allegorical comedy centered on two childhood sweethearts—Aya (Kristyna Malérová) and Temelko (Max Mauff)—who seem destined for each other from the moment they’re born. But when a water shortage threatens their village and the lazy indifference of the male villagers angers the women to go on a sex strike until the drought is resolved, Aya and Temelko’s first night of love—predicted by a narrow astrological window—is jeopardized.
Eschewing the term’s potential political heft, however, Helmer adopted it to entitle his allegorical comedy centered on two childhood sweethearts—Aya (Kristyna Malérová) and Temelko (Max Mauff)—who seem destined for each other from the moment they’re born. But when a water shortage threatens their village and the lazy indifference of the male villagers angers the women to go on a sex strike until the drought is resolved, Aya and Temelko’s first night of love—predicted by a narrow astrological window—is jeopardized.
- 2/9/2009
- by Michael Guillen
- Screen Anarchy
Sundance Film Festival
PARK CITY -- The battle between the sexes rises to ludicrous heights in Absurdistan, an attempt at comic allegory that stretches a thin premise to feature length. A film best suited to the international festival circuit, it might find a welcome at European-friendly fests before potentially securing a spot on overseas TV or DVD.
German director/co-writer Veit Helmer's principal limitation is not an absence of imagination, but a lack of focus in the execution of his fanciful tale. Childhood sweethearts Temelko (Maximilian Mauff) and Aya (Kristyna Malerova) come of age in a small village in the arid and imaginary nation of Absurdistan (actually Azerbaijan), where the men are famed for their supposed virility and the women known for their apparent compliance. Although most of the males are incompetent at the jobs necessary to keep the little community functioning, the women always are ready to take up the slack and get the work done.
One issue they can't address is the growing deterioration of the town's water source, dependent on a rickety pipeline running from a treacherous cave high in the mountains. Although the women entreat the men to resolve the shortage, their spouses are little interested in tackling the problem, even as the dwindling supply brings about drastic conservation measures.
Desperate, the villagers send their young men to the big city to study the water problem and Temelko reluctantly departs, even though Aya's grandmother has consulted the stars and set a date for the couple to consummate their relationship four years in the future.
When he returns close to the appointed time from his urban sojourn, Temelko unwisely squanders water from the town's meager supply for the ritual bath that must precede the couple's special night, provoking Aya to angrily prohibit any lovemaking until Temelko solves the water crisis.
Soon, all the village women have delivered the same message to their spouses, declaring No water, no sex, as low-intensity gender warfare gradually begins to escalate, trapping Temelko and Aya in the middle.
While Helmer and his three co-writers aim for a lyrically comic tone, the inspiration for their script was an actual incident in Turkey. The story's anecdotal origins provide little material for compelling character development or inspired dialogue, relying primarily on voice-overs narrated by Aya and Temelko.
Helmer's attempt to craft an absurdist Lysistrata-like fable founders further on his tendency to favor small comic bits at the expense of developing the overall narrative. With two ineffectual lead performances and a supporting cast drawn from 16 European nations, Helmer's filmmaking skills aren't sufficient to the task of forging a coherent vision for the film.
ABSURDISTAN
A Veit Helmer film production in association withMedienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, FFF and MFG
Credits:
Director: Veit Helmer
Screenwriters: Gordan Mihic, Zaza Buadze, Ahmet Golbol, Veit Helmer
Producer: Linda Kornemann
Director of photography: George Beridze
Music: Shigeru Umebayashi
Costume designers: Mehriban Efendiyeva, Serap Bahadir
Editor: Vincent Assmann
Cast:
Temelko: Maximilian Mauff
Aya: Kristyna Malerova
Running time -- 87 minutes
No MPAA rating...
PARK CITY -- The battle between the sexes rises to ludicrous heights in Absurdistan, an attempt at comic allegory that stretches a thin premise to feature length. A film best suited to the international festival circuit, it might find a welcome at European-friendly fests before potentially securing a spot on overseas TV or DVD.
German director/co-writer Veit Helmer's principal limitation is not an absence of imagination, but a lack of focus in the execution of his fanciful tale. Childhood sweethearts Temelko (Maximilian Mauff) and Aya (Kristyna Malerova) come of age in a small village in the arid and imaginary nation of Absurdistan (actually Azerbaijan), where the men are famed for their supposed virility and the women known for their apparent compliance. Although most of the males are incompetent at the jobs necessary to keep the little community functioning, the women always are ready to take up the slack and get the work done.
One issue they can't address is the growing deterioration of the town's water source, dependent on a rickety pipeline running from a treacherous cave high in the mountains. Although the women entreat the men to resolve the shortage, their spouses are little interested in tackling the problem, even as the dwindling supply brings about drastic conservation measures.
Desperate, the villagers send their young men to the big city to study the water problem and Temelko reluctantly departs, even though Aya's grandmother has consulted the stars and set a date for the couple to consummate their relationship four years in the future.
When he returns close to the appointed time from his urban sojourn, Temelko unwisely squanders water from the town's meager supply for the ritual bath that must precede the couple's special night, provoking Aya to angrily prohibit any lovemaking until Temelko solves the water crisis.
Soon, all the village women have delivered the same message to their spouses, declaring No water, no sex, as low-intensity gender warfare gradually begins to escalate, trapping Temelko and Aya in the middle.
While Helmer and his three co-writers aim for a lyrically comic tone, the inspiration for their script was an actual incident in Turkey. The story's anecdotal origins provide little material for compelling character development or inspired dialogue, relying primarily on voice-overs narrated by Aya and Temelko.
Helmer's attempt to craft an absurdist Lysistrata-like fable founders further on his tendency to favor small comic bits at the expense of developing the overall narrative. With two ineffectual lead performances and a supporting cast drawn from 16 European nations, Helmer's filmmaking skills aren't sufficient to the task of forging a coherent vision for the film.
ABSURDISTAN
A Veit Helmer film production in association withMedienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, FFF and MFG
Credits:
Director: Veit Helmer
Screenwriters: Gordan Mihic, Zaza Buadze, Ahmet Golbol, Veit Helmer
Producer: Linda Kornemann
Director of photography: George Beridze
Music: Shigeru Umebayashi
Costume designers: Mehriban Efendiyeva, Serap Bahadir
Editor: Vincent Assmann
Cast:
Temelko: Maximilian Mauff
Aya: Kristyna Malerova
Running time -- 87 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 1/30/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- There were 983 submissions from 15 countries in this category and apart from a couple of names, I know not one of the final selections below. World Cinema Dramatic Competition"Absurdistan" (Germany), directed by Veit Helmer, written by Helmer, Zaza Buadze, Gordan Mihic and Ahmet Golbol, about a sex strike by village women that threatens a young couple's first night together."Blue Eyelids" (Mexico), directed by Ernesto Contreras, about the ramifications of a single woman's winning of a beach trip for two."Captain Abu Raed" (Jordan), directed and written by Amin Matalqa, concerning an aging airport janitor who relates tall tales to local kids who think he's a pilot."The Drummer" (Hong Kong), directed and written by Kenneth Bi, the story of a young man who matures from reckless gangster to serious grownup due to the influence of Zen drumming."Elite Squad" (Brazil), directed by Jose Padilha ("Bus 174") and written by Braulio Mantovani and Padilha,
- 11/28/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
- What do these films have in common? They were past recipients of the award handed out by the Sundance Institute. This yearâ.s crop sees filmmakers from all over the world (a couple of worthy candidates that I've had the chance to see). The twelve finalists for the 2006 Sundance/Nhk International Filmmakers Awards are: Europe: Veit Helmer / Azerbaijan Dream (Germany)â. When a remote village loses its water supply, two young lovers find themselves caught in a battle of the sexes. Their hope to consummate their love is thwarted as the women of the town declare a â.no sex strikeâ. until their water supply returns. Born in Hanover in 1968, Veit Helmer began making award-winning short films as a teenager. After attending the Academy of Television & Film in Munich, he set up his production company in Berlin and made his first feature Tuvalu in 1998, which received the Fipresci prize
- 12/13/2005
- IONCINEMA.com
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