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Exclusive: Mad World, the film sales arm of Cairo-based Mad Solutions, has acquired global rights to Lebanese director Sarah Francis’ tense couple drama Dead Dog ahead of its premiere in the Rotterdam Film Festival’s Harbor contemporary cinema strand.

Written and directed by Francis, the movie explores the temporary reunification of Aida with husband Walid who returns to their home in Lebanon after many years working abroad.

An emotional gulf has developed during his absence and the encounter is uneasy, as each tries to understand the other. A revelation about their beloved dog Pluto only serves to deepen the chasm.

Chirine Karameh, an established theatre performer and actress, co-stars opposite Nida Wakim, who starred in last year’s award-winning Lebanese thriller Zaman Dark by Christophe Karabache.

Mad Solutions co-founders Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab said they had been drawn to the drama for its exploration of the impact on families...

IFFR always had the most significant selection of Asian films among European film festivals, both in terms of quantity and quality. It seems this year, however, the programmers truly outdid themselves, with what seems to be one of the biggest selection of Asian films ever in the festival. India and Indonesia seem to lead the way, but the selection from Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Iran is also intense. Among the highlights is definitely Miike’s latest, “Blazing Fists”, with the director also attending, as much as the works of Toyoda, Lou Ye and Jia Zhangke, while the return of some of the festival’s favorites, like Perumal and Ertanto are also rather anticipated. Without further ado, here is a rundown of the Asian films in this year’s IFFR.

*all the descriptions were taken from IFFR’s official website

Tiger Competition Tears in Kuala Lumpur

Inspired by...

International Film Festival Rotterdam has unveiled the first tranche of films selected for its 54th edition, which runs Jan. 30 – Feb. 9. These 13 titles, which will play in the Bright Future or Harbour sections, will each have their world premiere at IFFR.

Bright Future is dedicated to feature-length debuts, while Harbour offers a broad range of contemporary cinema.

The first wave of titles includes several IFFR alumni, including Daniel Hoesl, a former Tiger Award winner for micro-budget experimental feature “Soldate Jeannette,” with his new work “Un gran casino”; Hubert Bals Fund awardee Pelin Esmer, who returns to the festival with a world premiere of “And the Rest Will Follow”; Christina Friedrich presenting “The Night Is Dark and Brighter Than the Day,” which comes after her IFFR debut this year with “Zone”; and avant-garde trailblazer Alexander Kluge returns, after the world premiere of “Cosmic Miniatures” in the most recent edition of the festival,...

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the first titles selected for its 54th edition unfolding in early 2025.

They comprise 13 titles that will world premiere in the Bright Future strand, aimed at first films by emerging talents, as well as its Harbour line-up, campioning work pushing cinematic boundaries, and this year, digging into themes of self-discovery, societal norms and the human condition.

Bright Future titles include Mateo Ybarra’s doc Camp d’Éte, exploring the Swiss Scout Movement, and Oskar Weimar’s Invisible Flame about a modern-day witch hunt in Kenyan fishing village.

The Harbour selections include Un Gran Casino by Daniel Hoesl, a former Tiger Award Winner for micro-budget experimental feature Soldate Jeannette, Hubert Bals Fund awardee Pelin Esmer’s And The Rest Will Follow and avant-garde trailblazer Alexander Kluge with Primitive Diversity.

Previous Bright Future breakouts include King Baby, 78 Days and Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust,...

International Film Festival Rotterdam has made the first programming selections for its 54th edition in the Bright Future and Harbour strands.

The festival has selected 13 titles, all world premieres – five in Bright Future and eight in Harbour.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

Titles in Bright Future, the section for feature debuts, include Oskar Weimar’s Kenyan filmInvisible Flame. Set in a fishing community, it sees an elderly woman face accusations of witchhood when fish begin vanish. Melbourne-based director Weimar previously made 2021 short Each Other which played at Slamdance in the US.

Also in Bright Future is Lilly Hu’s One Girl Infinite,...

Keke Palmers best roles include some fine distinctions in genre which have taken her from Disney Channel to one of Jordan Peeles best movies. Her fans might identify some common themes throughout her career, but each one of her performances stands out as something unique. She can play a peppy schoolgirl who is a perfect team player or a tough-as-nails young woman who works best alone. Palmer has delivered in movies that are thrilling, shocking, and enlightening, working with some of the best in the industry.

Palmer also has amazing vocals and some voice-acting talent, allowing her to explore more subgenres. She is also widely known for some TV roles, namely Zayday Williams from Scream Queens. Furthermore, when her most recent movie is her best, her career holds more potential still in the future. Maybe she will appear in the currently untitled fourth Jordan Peele movie, or her fame will...

The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation today announced the recipients of the Red Sea Fund's 2023 post-production funding cycle 1. Eight films by Saudi, Arab and African filmmakers will receive grants to help complete films that shine a light on important narratives and new talents emerging from the region.

The Red Sea Fund's 2023 post-production cycle received 59 applications, which were reviewed and filtered down to a shortlist of 18 films. Of these 18 films, eight were selected: five scripted features and three documentaries.

“The Omen” directed by Baloji, is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival 2023. This underpins the Red Sea Film Festival's mission to advocate for filmmakers who are leading the way and inspiring a new generation of creatives.

Mohammed Al Turki, CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, said: “We are excited to be unveiling eight projects which will be bolstered by the Red Sea Fund's post-production grant – which can be a vital...

Saudi, Arab and African talent supported in 2023’s first cycle of funding.

The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has unveiled the recipients of its first post-production grants of 2023.

Eight films by Saudi, Arab and African filmmakers will receive grants to help complete films that spotlight narratives and new talents emerging from the region.

They include Omen, the feature debut of Belgian-Congolese artist-turned filmmaker Baloji, which is set to premiere in Un Certain Regard at Cannes on Monday (May 22). Memento International handles sales on the film, in which a young Congolese man travels from Belgium to his birthplace of Kinshasa to...

This year’s edition takes place in-person March 10-15 and online March 19-21.

The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has revealed the 44 projects that will participate in the ninth edition of its annual talent incubator Qumra which takes place in-person March 10-15 and online March 19-21.

The selected projects come from 23 different countries and comprise 14 feature narratives, 12 feature documentaries, seven series and 11 shorts.

Two feature debuts from Oscar-nominated filmmakers are among the participants. Motherhood from Meryam Joobeur, whose Ikhwène was nominated for best live-action short in 2020, and The Station from Sara Ishaq, whose Karma Has No Walls was nominated for best...

The Berlinale continues to unveil its lineup, today announcing films selected for its Forum category: an independent section of the festival, organized by Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art, celebrating its 50th anniversary.

This intermeshing of old and new runs throughout the selection. The category offers challenging and thought-provoking films that bring together cinema with the visual arts, theatre and literature. Many of the 35 films in this year’s program — 28 of which are world premieres — are distinguished by how they navigate between past and present.

Included in the selection is late Chilean director Raúl Ruiz and his widow Valeria Sarmientos’ “The Tango of the Widower and Its Distorting Mirror,” which opens this year’s Forum. Ruiz, who died in 2011, shot the material in Chile in 1967, but was unable to complete it before going into exile in 1973. His widow Sarmiento has now transformed the footage into a finished film.

The...

The strand’s 50th anniversary to open with a previously unfinished film by late Chilean director Raúl Ruiz.

The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 20-March 1) has revealed the 35 films in this year’s Forum line-up, including 28 world premieres.

Scroll down for full list of titles

The strand aims to highlight challenging and thought-provoking filmmaking that brings together film with visual art, theatre and literature.

This year’s Forum will open with The Tango Of The Widower And Its Distorting Mirror from late Chilean director Raúl Ruiz and his widow Valeria Sarmiento.

Ruiz – a four-time Palme d’Or nominee who won...

Dog movies almost always want to make you cry. The ones that just want to make you smile are few and far between. That’s usually the case with pet centric flicks, which is good for emotion, but sometimes rough for animal lovers like yours truly. It’s nice on occasion to not go into a film with a canine companion and have to fret about an impending death. Luckily, one look at Patrick, the new dog centric comedy, and your heart will melt without ever reducing you to tears. It’s far from perfect, but it’s more than cute enough to be worthy of a recommendation. The movie is a comedy about how a dog ends up leading a young woman to happiness. At the beginning, Sarah Francis (Beattie Edmondson) has a life that could charitably be called an absolute mess. After the death of her grandmother, for...

Yesterday, at an exclusive and lush garden setting secreted in the heart of the capital, dog lovers were out in force at the London premiere of new Disney movie Patrick which stars a wonderful pug (who is actually called Harley). He was joined by the the cast and crew of the new British comedy, who walked the red carpet along with the four-legged star of the new film Patrick.

The film stars Ed Skrein, Emilia Jones, Beattie Edmondson, Jennifer Saunders, Gemma Jones, Cherie Lunghi, Emily Atack, Peter Davison, Bernard Cribbons and Meera Syal. It is written and directed by Mandie Fletcher.

Our intrepid crew of Colin Hart and Scott Davis were on the carpet to speak and woof with the assembled cast, here are their interviews.

Patrick is released in the UK on the 29th of June.

Patrick Premiere Interviews

Patrick Official Synopsis

Sarah Francis is a young woman whose...

Disney UK have released the first trailer for canine focused British rom-com, Patrick.

Beattie Edmondson stars as Sarah Francis, a teacher who is bequeathed a “small beast” by her grandmother. That ‘beast’ turns out to be a cute but naughty pug dog called Patrick.

The film also stars Ed Skrein, who played Ajax in Deadpool, and PhoneShop lead Tom Bennett as the potential love interests. Also popping up is Edmondson’s mother, Jennifer Saunders.

Also in trailers – UK trailer drops for Super Troopers 2

The film is released on June 29th

Patrick Official Synopsis

Sarah Francis is a young woman whose life is a bit of a mess. The last thing she needs is someone else to look after, let alone someone who dribbles, snores and eats from the kitchen bin!! Yet, like it or not, her Grandmother has bequeathed her a very spoilt dog, Patrick – her pug. Surely she must have had her reasons?...

They join Zvyagintsev, Weerasethakul and Rosi for event, which runs March 9-14.

Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell and Us director Bennett Miller have been named as the final two masters at the Doha Film Institute’s talent and project event Qumra, running March 9-14.

Organisers the Doha Film Institute also unveiled details of the 34 projects from 25 countries – in various stages of production - that have been selected to attend the event.

They include Weldi, the upcoming feature by Tunisian director Mohamed Ben Attia, whose picture Hedi won best first feature at the Berlinale in 2016, as well as Palestinian-British director Basil Khalil’s A Gaza Weekend, his feature debut feature after Oscar-nominated short Ave Maria.

Powell and Miller join previously announced masters Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, Thai filmmaker Apitchatpong Weerasethakul and Italian documentarian Gianfranco Rosi who will mentor participants attending the bespoke meeting aimed at first and second time filmmakers.

The five masters will attend the event unfolding in and...

A total of 35 projects supported in latest funding round.

Algerian director Merzak Allouache and Chilean writer-filmmaker Dominga Sotomayor have clinched funding in the autumn round of grants from the Doha Film Institute (Dfi).

Source: Idfa

Of Fathers And Sons

Allouache, whose last film Madame Courage premiered in Venice’s New Horizons sidebar in 2015, won backing for his upcoming drama Divine Wind, about an attack on an oil refinery which does not go to plan.

Double Rotterdam-winner Sotomayer’s grant is for her upcoming coming of age drama Late To Die Young about a group of youngsters living in an isolated community outside the city as they prepare for New Year’s Eve.

Other supported fiction feature projects include Syrian film-maker Soudade Kaadan’s The Day I Lost My Shadow about a woman who gets swept up in the Syrian war in 2012 after she takes the day off work to search for a gas cylinder.

A total of 35 projects supported in latest funding round.

Algerian director Merzak Allouache and Chilean writer-filmmaker Dominga Sotomayor have clinched funding in the autumn round of grants from the Doha Film Institute (Dfi).

Source: Idfa

Of Fathers And Sons

Allouache, whose last film Madame Courage premiered in Venice’s New Horizons sidebar in 2015, won backing for his upcoming drama Divine Wind, about an attack on an oil refinery which does not go to plan.

Double Rotterdam-winner Sotomayer’s grant is for her upcoming coming of age drama Late To Die Young about a group of youngsters living in an isolated community outside the city as they prepare for New Year’s Eve.

Other supported fiction feature projects include Syrian film-maker Soudade Kaadan’s The Day I Lost My Shadow about a woman who gets swept up in the Syrian war in 2012 after she takes the day off work to search for a gas cylinder.

Documentary feature grantees...

Line-up includes two programmes curated by Ai Weiwei and The Yes Men.

Copenhagen documentary festival Cph:dox has unveiled the programme for its 11th edition, which runs Nov 7-17.

More than 200 films will be screened including 57 world and international premieres; a new prize for journalistic documentaries called F:act Award; and curated programmes from artist Ai Weiwei and activist duo The Yes Men.

For the first time, the festival is introducing an overall theme: Everything is Under Control.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has selected 10 films for this year’s festival with the theme in mind, reflecting “artists’ role and responsibility towards the acts of the establishment”.

The festival will also screen the world premiere of Weiwei’s new film Stay Home!, about a 10-year old girl who is not allowed to receive medical care for her HIV-infection, as she is the second child in the family.

Us activist duo The Yes Men aim to bring the power of the...

The trauma of street harassment, the joy of Airplane!, heartbreaking holiday snaps and baring breasts in public

✒ The Readers' Room has nothing but respect for men. In fact, if you look at the byline on this piece, you'll see that it's staffed by one. But it has to be said: sometimes the uglier sex is a little too shouty, a little too determined to have its say, even if that say is not remotely relevant, or has been had at least six million times before.

Shhh. Don't interrupt. Daddy hasn't finished yet.

Online, your many pseudonyms make it impossible to know the sex of every commenter. But, generally, the more male-dominated a discussion is, the more likely it is to turn nasty and stray from the point. Ladies, in other words, tend to be ladylike, while gentlemen are frequently ungentlemanly.

A gross oversimplification? Perhaps. But last Friday's feature on street...