★★★☆☆ Seen as Russia's "secret weapon" by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, is it possible that the Bolshoi Ballet, a towering pillar of the nation's culture, be justly compared to an ancient civilisation synonymous with oppression, corruption and vacuous luxury? Given its inextricable link to national identity and location a mere stone's throw from the Kremlin, what would a vicious assault on its artistic director mean for Mother Russia as a whole? A partially successful affair, there is much to ponder over the course of British filmmaker Nick Read's Bolshoi Babylon. Co-directed by Mark Franchetti, the film oscillates around the January 2013 acid attack on Sergei Filin, perpetrated by an aggrieved fellow dancer.
- 1/10/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw and Benjamin Lee review Bolshoi Babylon, the documentary about Russia’s celebrated ballet company. Directed by Nick Read and Mark Franchetti, Bolshoi Babylon examines the notorious incident that saw artistic director Sergei Filin attacked with acid, and the effect that the revelation that a jealous dancer may be to blame has on the rest of the company. Bolshoi Babylon is released in the UK on 8 January
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- 1/7/2016
- by Xan Brooks, Peter Bradshaw, Benjamin Lee, Henry Barnes, Mat Heywood
- The Guardian - Film News
Watch the trailer for Bolshoi Babylon, which follows a year in the life of the famed Russian institution. The 2013-14 season the film covers is, however, no ordinary year: the Bolshoi’s ballet director Sergei Filin was recovering after an acid attack, and dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko was arrested for the crime, with the suggestion it had been organised after Filin failed to cast Dmitrichenko’s girlfriend in a key role. Directed by Nick Read, Bolshoi Babylon focuses on the backstage intrigue and political in-fighting that dominated the company’s year.
• Bolshoi Babylon is released on 27 November in the Us and 8 January in the UK.
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• Bolshoi Babylon is released on 27 November in the Us and 8 January in the UK.
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- 11/9/2015
- by Guardian Staff
- The Guardian - Film News
Full line-up of the Stockholm film festival includes feature and documentary competition line-ups.Scroll down for full line-up
The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 11-22) has unveiled the line-up for its 26th edition, comprising more than 190 films from over 70 countries.
The Stockholm Xxvi Competition includes Marielle Heller’s Us title The Diary of a Teenage Girl and László Nemes’ Holocaust drama Son Of Saul.
It marks the first time Stockholm has a greater number of women than men competing for the Bronze Horse – the festival’s top prize.
The documentary competition includes Amy Berg’s An Open Secret, an investigation into accusations of teenagers being sexually abused within the film industry; and Cosima Spender’s Palio, centred on the annual horse race in Siena, Italy.
Announcing the programme, festival director Git Scheynius also revealed that Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will visit Stockholm for the first time as chairman of the jury for the first Stockholm Impact Award, which...
The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 11-22) has unveiled the line-up for its 26th edition, comprising more than 190 films from over 70 countries.
The Stockholm Xxvi Competition includes Marielle Heller’s Us title The Diary of a Teenage Girl and László Nemes’ Holocaust drama Son Of Saul.
It marks the first time Stockholm has a greater number of women than men competing for the Bronze Horse – the festival’s top prize.
The documentary competition includes Amy Berg’s An Open Secret, an investigation into accusations of teenagers being sexually abused within the film industry; and Cosima Spender’s Palio, centred on the annual horse race in Siena, Italy.
Announcing the programme, festival director Git Scheynius also revealed that Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will visit Stockholm for the first time as chairman of the jury for the first Stockholm Impact Award, which...
- 10/20/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
George Gittoes. Snow Monkey and Bill Guttentag and Michael Ware.s Only the Dead will screen at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa).
Filmed in Afghanistan in 2014 when foreign forces leave and an internal power struggle begins, Snow Monkey will screen in official competition at the festival which runs November 18-29.
Produced by Lizzette Atkins and Gittoes, the final film in his What the World Needs Now! trilogy premiered at Miff this year and followed the lives of those living in the Yellow House at Jalalabad, a collective of artists, film makers and social revolutionaries as they again face the threat of a Taliban-ruled society. It was funded through Screen Australia's Signature Documentary program.
Only the Dead, which follows Ware, an Australian journalist for CNN and Time Magazine as he journeys through the deepest recesses of the Iraq War, will unspool in the Best of Fests section. Patrick McDonald produced with Ware.
Filmed in Afghanistan in 2014 when foreign forces leave and an internal power struggle begins, Snow Monkey will screen in official competition at the festival which runs November 18-29.
Produced by Lizzette Atkins and Gittoes, the final film in his What the World Needs Now! trilogy premiered at Miff this year and followed the lives of those living in the Yellow House at Jalalabad, a collective of artists, film makers and social revolutionaries as they again face the threat of a Taliban-ruled society. It was funded through Screen Australia's Signature Documentary program.
Only the Dead, which follows Ware, an Australian journalist for CNN and Time Magazine as he journeys through the deepest recesses of the Iraq War, will unspool in the Best of Fests section. Patrick McDonald produced with Ware.
- 10/13/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
George Gittoes’s Snow Monkey (pictured) and Nick Read’s Bolshoi Babylon among the 15 titles in competition.
The 28th Idfa (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) has unveiled its line-up, including its main competition.
The festival, which runs Nov 18-29, will comprise 319 titles (from 3,425 submissions), 78 of which receive their world premieres at Idfa. A total of 50 Dutch productions are included in the program, spread across the various strands.
A total of 15 films will compete in the Idfa Competition for Feature-Length Documentary, including Tom Fassaert’s A Family Affair, which opens the festival on Nov 18.
The jury, made up of Laurent Bécue-Renard (France), Mahamat Saleh Haroun (Chad), Hanna Polak (Poland), Jonathan Rosenbaum (USA) and Barbara Visser (the Netherlands) will present the Vpro Idfa Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary, a cash prize of €12,500 ($14,000) and the Idfa Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary worth €2,500 ($2,800).
The titles include (synopses provided by Idfa):
Bolshoi Babylon by Nick Read (Russia / UK)
A revealing...
The 28th Idfa (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) has unveiled its line-up, including its main competition.
The festival, which runs Nov 18-29, will comprise 319 titles (from 3,425 submissions), 78 of which receive their world premieres at Idfa. A total of 50 Dutch productions are included in the program, spread across the various strands.
A total of 15 films will compete in the Idfa Competition for Feature-Length Documentary, including Tom Fassaert’s A Family Affair, which opens the festival on Nov 18.
The jury, made up of Laurent Bécue-Renard (France), Mahamat Saleh Haroun (Chad), Hanna Polak (Poland), Jonathan Rosenbaum (USA) and Barbara Visser (the Netherlands) will present the Vpro Idfa Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary, a cash prize of €12,500 ($14,000) and the Idfa Special Jury Award for Feature-Length Documentary worth €2,500 ($2,800).
The titles include (synopses provided by Idfa):
Bolshoi Babylon by Nick Read (Russia / UK)
A revealing...
- 10/9/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Jennifer Peedom.s Sherpa and Gillian Armstrong.s Women He.s Undressed will screen at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival next month.
They are among 26 titles selected for the Tiff Docs section of the fest, which runs from September 10 to 20, enhancing Australia.s profile at the event where Jocelyn Moorhouse.s The Dressmaker will have its world premiere in Gala Presentations and Simon Stone.s The Daughter will have its North American premiere in Special Presentations.
Produced by Bridget Ikin and John Smithson, Peedom.s film chronicles how Sherpas united in grief and anger to reclaim Mount Everest after an icefall killed 15 of their members on Mount Everest.. It will open in Australia in February, co-distributed by John Maynard's Footprint Films and Transmission.
It will be the international premiere of Armstrong.s doc which profiles Australian costume designer Orry-Kelly, who won three Academy Awards.
Among the world premieres...
They are among 26 titles selected for the Tiff Docs section of the fest, which runs from September 10 to 20, enhancing Australia.s profile at the event where Jocelyn Moorhouse.s The Dressmaker will have its world premiere in Gala Presentations and Simon Stone.s The Daughter will have its North American premiere in Special Presentations.
Produced by Bridget Ikin and John Smithson, Peedom.s film chronicles how Sherpas united in grief and anger to reclaim Mount Everest after an icefall killed 15 of their members on Mount Everest.. It will open in Australia in February, co-distributed by John Maynard's Footprint Films and Transmission.
It will be the international premiere of Armstrong.s doc which profiles Australian costume designer Orry-Kelly, who won three Academy Awards.
Among the world premieres...
- 8/11/2015
- by Staff writer
- IF.com.au
The Toronto International Film Festival’s prominence on the festival circuit has only grown over the years, with films from numerous different fields having gone on to critical and commercial acclaim. Among the festival’s different categories are Tiff Docs and Vanguard. Tiff Docs allows documentaries to get their own spotlight at the festival, giving acclaimed documentarians such as Michael Moore and Frederick Wiseman a platform for their films. The Vanguard section, on the other hand, showcases films that aren’t easily categorisable into a specific genre. With the Canadian Films lineup announcement having revealed the first set of films playing in each group, Tiff today revealed more of the lineup in each section. The list of newly announced films, with their official synopses, is as follows.
Tiff Docs
Amazing Grace, directed by Sydney Pollack, making its International Premiere
Sydney Pollack’s film of Aretha Franklin’s ‘Amazing Grace.’ Filmed...
Tiff Docs
Amazing Grace, directed by Sydney Pollack, making its International Premiere
Sydney Pollack’s film of Aretha Franklin’s ‘Amazing Grace.’ Filmed...
- 8/11/2015
- by Deepayan Sengupta
- SoundOnSight
Organisers unleashed their latest volley of programming, an embarrassment of riches featuring new non-fiction work about education activist Malala Yousafzai, Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre, the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the iconic tango pairing of María Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes.
Midnight Madness brings a Turkish glimpse of hell, new work from the directors of Almost Human and The Loved Ones, a cyborg Pov story and Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, which premiered in Cannes and backer Broad Green Pictures recently made available for Us distribution after electing not to self-release.
Vanguard entries include Gaspar Noé’s Love, Alex de la Iglesia’s My Big Night and Ryoo Seung-wan’s South Korean cop thriller Veteran.
The Masters Of Cinema programme features Jafar Panahi’s Taxi, Alexander Sokurov’s Francofonia and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Our Little Sister, while the Tiff Cinematheque selection of restored classics includes Luchino Viconti’s Rocco And His Brothers and Marcel Ophüls...
Midnight Madness brings a Turkish glimpse of hell, new work from the directors of Almost Human and The Loved Ones, a cyborg Pov story and Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, which premiered in Cannes and backer Broad Green Pictures recently made available for Us distribution after electing not to self-release.
Vanguard entries include Gaspar Noé’s Love, Alex de la Iglesia’s My Big Night and Ryoo Seung-wan’s South Korean cop thriller Veteran.
The Masters Of Cinema programme features Jafar Panahi’s Taxi, Alexander Sokurov’s Francofonia and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Our Little Sister, while the Tiff Cinematheque selection of restored classics includes Luchino Viconti’s Rocco And His Brothers and Marcel Ophüls...
- 8/11/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Scandi distributor’s pick-ups include Palo Alto [pictured] and Kristen Stewart drama Camp X-Ray.
Recently launched Scandinavian distributor Edge Entertainment acquired three films in the Cannes marche: Gia Coppola’s debut Palo Alto, doc Bolshoi Babylon and Kristen Stewart drama Camp X-Ray.
Documentary Bolshoi Babylon, from producer Simon Chinn and director Nick Read, reveals life behind the curtain of the Bolshoi Ballet, the cultural institute increasingly marred by stories of corruption and backstabbing.
Edge acquired the film for Scandinavia and Iceland from Altitude Films.
From Rezo Films, Edge picked up rights in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland to drama Camp X-Ray, the Sundance premiere that stars Kristen Stewart as a young woman guard at a notorious military detention centre.
From Pathe International the company picked up Scandinavian and Icelandic rights to Palo Alto, the Us drama about a group of rebellious high school kids, based on the short story collection by James Franco - who also appears...
Recently launched Scandinavian distributor Edge Entertainment acquired three films in the Cannes marche: Gia Coppola’s debut Palo Alto, doc Bolshoi Babylon and Kristen Stewart drama Camp X-Ray.
Documentary Bolshoi Babylon, from producer Simon Chinn and director Nick Read, reveals life behind the curtain of the Bolshoi Ballet, the cultural institute increasingly marred by stories of corruption and backstabbing.
Edge acquired the film for Scandinavia and Iceland from Altitude Films.
From Rezo Films, Edge picked up rights in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland to drama Camp X-Ray, the Sundance premiere that stars Kristen Stewart as a young woman guard at a notorious military detention centre.
From Pathe International the company picked up Scandinavian and Icelandic rights to Palo Alto, the Us drama about a group of rebellious high school kids, based on the short story collection by James Franco - who also appears...
- 5/27/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Documentaries from Latin America were the big winners at this year’s Visions du Réel (April 25-May 3) in Switzerland’s Nyon.
The Sesterce d’Or for best feature length film in the international competition was awarded to Mexican filmmaker Hatuey Viveros Lavielle’s n, which also received a special mention from the interreligious jury.
The international jury of UK producer Simon Field, German director Nicolas Humbert and French philosopher Marie-José Mondzain said that it appreciated the “patient perspective” of “this extremely sensitive film [which] explores the relation between emancipation and tradition, proximity and separation at the heart of an indigenous family.”
Paraguay’s Arami Ullón received the Sesterce d’Argent prize in the Regard Neufs competition and a special mention from the C-Side Prize jury for his debut El Tiempo Nublado.
The Chilean Mafi collective picked up the George Foundation Jury award for the most innovative medium-length film for Propaganda, about the presidential election campaign of autumn 2013, while...
The Sesterce d’Or for best feature length film in the international competition was awarded to Mexican filmmaker Hatuey Viveros Lavielle’s n, which also received a special mention from the interreligious jury.
The international jury of UK producer Simon Field, German director Nicolas Humbert and French philosopher Marie-José Mondzain said that it appreciated the “patient perspective” of “this extremely sensitive film [which] explores the relation between emancipation and tradition, proximity and separation at the heart of an indigenous family.”
Paraguay’s Arami Ullón received the Sesterce d’Argent prize in the Regard Neufs competition and a special mention from the C-Side Prize jury for his debut El Tiempo Nublado.
The Chilean Mafi collective picked up the George Foundation Jury award for the most innovative medium-length film for Propaganda, about the presidential election campaign of autumn 2013, while...
- 5/5/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Penal Colony No. 6, it’s seven hours from the nearest city, and based in the heart of a forest the size of Germany where the temperature is a balmy -40 degrees. It houses some 260 prisoners who are responsible for 800 murders collectively. The worst of the worst are the 85 former death row inmates, saved by Russia’s decision to repeal the death penalty and now remanded to this very prison till the end of their days. For most, that rescinding of state ordered death would be reason to be grateful, but for the so-called lifers at Penal Colony No. 6, death would be a blessing.
The access we’re granted here by director Nick Read is nothing short of incredible, and what’s interesting is that there seems to be no fear of these inmates doing something untoward with the access that they themselves have with the filmmakers, sometimes with no bars between them.
The access we’re granted here by director Nick Read is nothing short of incredible, and what’s interesting is that there seems to be no fear of these inmates doing something untoward with the access that they themselves have with the filmmakers, sometimes with no bars between them.
- 5/3/2014
- by Adam A. Donaldson
- We Got This Covered
Altitude Film Sales to take Benedict Cumberbatch thriller Blood Mountain, documentary Bolshoi Babylon and Sundance award-winner Fishing Without Nets to the Efm.
Altitude Film Sales is to bring three new titles to the European Film Market (Efm) at the Berlin Film Festival next week in addition to its previously announced slate.
Fishing Without Nets, winner of this year’s Sundance Us Dramatic Directing Award, is produced by Vice and Think Media Studios.
It marks the directorial feature debut of Cutter Hodierne, whose short film of the same name won the Sundance Special Jury Prize in 2012. Shot in East Africa using Somali non-actors, the film tells the story of an oil tanker hijacking from the perspective of impoverished Somalis.
As announced yesterday, Altitude will also bring Blood Mountain, directed by Sergei Bodrov and starring Benedict Cumberbatch. UTA Independent Film Group helped arrange financing for the project and will represent the North American rights to the film.
The third new...
Altitude Film Sales is to bring three new titles to the European Film Market (Efm) at the Berlin Film Festival next week in addition to its previously announced slate.
Fishing Without Nets, winner of this year’s Sundance Us Dramatic Directing Award, is produced by Vice and Think Media Studios.
It marks the directorial feature debut of Cutter Hodierne, whose short film of the same name won the Sundance Special Jury Prize in 2012. Shot in East Africa using Somali non-actors, the film tells the story of an oil tanker hijacking from the perspective of impoverished Somalis.
As announced yesterday, Altitude will also bring Blood Mountain, directed by Sergei Bodrov and starring Benedict Cumberbatch. UTA Independent Film Group helped arrange financing for the project and will represent the North American rights to the film.
The third new...
- 1/29/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Altitude Film Sales to take Benedict Cumberbatch thriller Blood Mountain, documentary Bolshoi Babylon and Sundance award-winner Fishing Without Nets to the Efm.
Altitude Film Sales is to bring three new titles to the European Film Market (Efm) at the Berlin Film Festival next week in addition to its previously announced slate.
Fishing Without Nets, winner of this year’s Sundance Us Dramatic Directing Award, is produced by Vice and Think Media Studios.
It marks the directorial feature debut of Cutter Hodierne, whose short film of the same name won the Sundance Special Jury Prize in 2012. Shot in East Africa using Somali non-actors, the film tells the story of an oil tanker hijacking from the perspective of impoverished Somalis.
As announced yesterday, Altitude will also bring Blood Mountain, directed by Sergei Bodrov and starring Benedict Cumberbatch. UTA Independent Film Group helped arrange financing for the project and will represent the North American rights to the film.
The third new...
Altitude Film Sales is to bring three new titles to the European Film Market (Efm) at the Berlin Film Festival next week in addition to its previously announced slate.
Fishing Without Nets, winner of this year’s Sundance Us Dramatic Directing Award, is produced by Vice and Think Media Studios.
It marks the directorial feature debut of Cutter Hodierne, whose short film of the same name won the Sundance Special Jury Prize in 2012. Shot in East Africa using Somali non-actors, the film tells the story of an oil tanker hijacking from the perspective of impoverished Somalis.
As announced yesterday, Altitude will also bring Blood Mountain, directed by Sergei Bodrov and starring Benedict Cumberbatch. UTA Independent Film Group helped arrange financing for the project and will represent the North American rights to the film.
The third new...
- 1/29/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
In the latest movie from About A Boy director Paul Weitz, actor Paul Dano plays Nick Flynn, a young writer who starts working at a homeless shelter. Nick is forced to face himself and his background when his estranged father Jonathan, (Robert De Niro) a downward spiraling writer, comes to stay at the shelter. Being Flynn is based on Nick Flynn’s memoir “Another Bullsh*t Night in Suck City.”
I spoke with director Paul Weitz in a roundtable interview to discuss what it was like to adapt this true story with the real man’s support, the chemistry of De Niro and Dano, and more.
Being Flynn opens in Chicago on March 9, 2012.
How did the Q&A go last night?
Pretty good. Quite kind.
‘Quite kind’? Is that your normal priority with Q&A’s?
Oh God, yeah. It’s funny because first they sort of bring up the...
I spoke with director Paul Weitz in a roundtable interview to discuss what it was like to adapt this true story with the real man’s support, the chemistry of De Niro and Dano, and more.
Being Flynn opens in Chicago on March 9, 2012.
How did the Q&A go last night?
Pretty good. Quite kind.
‘Quite kind’? Is that your normal priority with Q&A’s?
Oh God, yeah. It’s funny because first they sort of bring up the...
- 3/8/2012
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
I’ll admit it now: I have a soft spot for Jerry O’Connell. I met him once at a press event for his 2001 movie Tomcats, and he signed a box containing a promotional pair of boxers “Keep puttin’ em behind bars” for my lawyer sister, who was then with the D.A.’s office. Though I can’t recall the specifics, I remember that he also entertained a handful of strangers with a story about a young woman who’d just shot him down. He’s not suave like a Clooney, but he’s effortlessly charming in his own way.
- 9/23/2010
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
The full list of winners at the British Academy Television Craft Awards, held yesterday at the London Hilton on Park Lane, is as follows: Breakthrough Talent
Ed Hime - writer (Skins)
Matt Rudge - director/producer (The Autistic Me)
Jessie Versluys - director (The Hospital/Katie: My Beautiful Face) - Winner!
Ed Wardle - producer (Alone In The Wild) Costume Design
Joey Attawia - An Englishman In New York
Jenny Beavan - Cranford
James Keast - Desperate Romantics
Natalie Ward - Red Riding 1974 - Winner! Director: Factual
Patrick Forbes - The Force - Winner!
Annabel Gillings - How Earth Made Us (Water)
Nick Read - The Slumdog Children of Mumbai
Dan Reed - Terror In Mumbai (Dispatches) Director: Fiction
Yann Demange - Criminal Justice
James (more)...
Ed Hime - writer (Skins)
Matt Rudge - director/producer (The Autistic Me)
Jessie Versluys - director (The Hospital/Katie: My Beautiful Face) - Winner!
Ed Wardle - producer (Alone In The Wild) Costume Design
Joey Attawia - An Englishman In New York
Jenny Beavan - Cranford
James Keast - Desperate Romantics
Natalie Ward - Red Riding 1974 - Winner! Director: Factual
Patrick Forbes - The Force - Winner!
Annabel Gillings - How Earth Made Us (Water)
Nick Read - The Slumdog Children of Mumbai
Dan Reed - Terror In Mumbai (Dispatches) Director: Fiction
Yann Demange - Criminal Justice
James (more)...
- 5/24/2010
- by By Catriona Wightman
- Digital Spy
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