Austria’s refreshingly outré official submission to this year’s Oscars race (it didn’t advance to the shortlist) is a captivating exploration of glamour, schmoozing and the soul-draining superficialities of what Joni Mitchell called the star-making machinery. As with their previous features, directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel handle all the top-line production duties themselves on Vera, shooting on 16mm and using mostly nonprofessional actors in a blend of drama and documentary. But their latest outing is also a leap into more structured fiction, and at its center is a woman who’s no stranger to the camera.
Vera Gemma, who won the Orizzonti Award for best female performance upon the film’s Venice premiere, has been a reality star, stripper, lion tamer, writer and director, as well as an actor. She grew up on movie sets, at the feet of her famous dad, Giuliano Gemma, a beloved luminary...
Vera Gemma, who won the Orizzonti Award for best female performance upon the film’s Venice premiere, has been a reality star, stripper, lion tamer, writer and director, as well as an actor. She grew up on movie sets, at the feet of her famous dad, Giuliano Gemma, a beloved luminary...
- 2/9/2024
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Other victorious films stealing focus at the “live” awards ceremony held in Bologna include The Earth is Blue as an Orange and Self Portrait. On the same day that Italian movie-theatres were re-opened post-Covid (15 June), the Biografilm Festival also returned to the cinema, handing out “in person” the awards of its 16th edition, which this year unspooled online. Bologna’s Pop Up Cinema Medica Palace was the setting in which the winning films of the Festival - an event which attracted over 45,000 bookings in the Biografilm Hera Theatre’s virtual cinema - were finally announced last night. Biografilm 2020’s International Competition jury, composed of Luca Ragazzi (director and film critic), Shelly Silver (artist and video-artist) and Martijn te Pas (festival programmer and documentary specialist), awarded the trophy for Best Film to Janna Ji Wonders’ Walchensee Forever and the Best First Work gong to Iryna Tsilyk’s The Earth is Blue as.
Films include a collaboration between Sing Sing prison inmates and a leading contemporary dance company from Turner Prize nominated visual artist Phil Collins.
Scroll down for full list of projects
Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 5-10) has revealed the titles that will pitch for funding at its MeetMarket initiative, celebrating 10 years in 2015.
A total of 64 filmmaker teams from 19 countries will pitch to international and UK decision makers for research, development and production funding
At Crossover Market, which includes digital titles, a further 26 interactive projects from 12 countries will pitch in one-to-one meetings to a range of specialist decision makers.
Among the Crossover projects being pitched are the latest from Oscar Raby who won last year’s Interactive Audience Award with Assent; and Ram Devineni who attracted funding at last year’s Crossover Market and Tribeca New Media Fund for Priya’s Shakti.
New pitch opportunities this year include a BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra Stories commission for young filmmakers, the Guardian...
Scroll down for full list of projects
Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 5-10) has revealed the titles that will pitch for funding at its MeetMarket initiative, celebrating 10 years in 2015.
A total of 64 filmmaker teams from 19 countries will pitch to international and UK decision makers for research, development and production funding
At Crossover Market, which includes digital titles, a further 26 interactive projects from 12 countries will pitch in one-to-one meetings to a range of specialist decision makers.
Among the Crossover projects being pitched are the latest from Oscar Raby who won last year’s Interactive Audience Award with Assent; and Ram Devineni who attracted funding at last year’s Crossover Market and Tribeca New Media Fund for Priya’s Shakti.
New pitch opportunities this year include a BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra Stories commission for young filmmakers, the Guardian...
- 4/27/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Oscar-nominated UK director Tanel Toom and Estonian documentary maker Jaak Kilmi are among 22 film-makers with film projects in the fifth edition of the When East Meets West (Wemw) co-production forum (Jan 18-20).
Estonian-born Toom, who was nominated for The Confession (his graduation film from the UK’s Nfts), will be in Trieste with his fiction feature debut, the sci-fi thriller Gateway 6, to be produced by Matt Wilkinson and Ben Pullen’s Stigma Films, while Latvian producer Antra Gaile of Mistrus Media will be pitching Kilmi’s People From Nowhere.
A total of 10 documentaries and 12 fiction feature projects from 13 countries were selected from a record 285 submissions, including 57 from Italy, 38 from the UK, 19 from Canada, 15 from Ireland, 13 from the Us, and 143 from Eastern Europe.
Since Wemw’s 2015 edition has a focus on English-speaking countries, the line-up includes:
veteran Canadian film-maker Anne Henderson’s documentary project Missing Persona;
the Us-Italian co-production The Oldest Man Alive by Antonio Tibaldi, to be produced...
Estonian-born Toom, who was nominated for The Confession (his graduation film from the UK’s Nfts), will be in Trieste with his fiction feature debut, the sci-fi thriller Gateway 6, to be produced by Matt Wilkinson and Ben Pullen’s Stigma Films, while Latvian producer Antra Gaile of Mistrus Media will be pitching Kilmi’s People From Nowhere.
A total of 10 documentaries and 12 fiction feature projects from 13 countries were selected from a record 285 submissions, including 57 from Italy, 38 from the UK, 19 from Canada, 15 from Ireland, 13 from the Us, and 143 from Eastern Europe.
Since Wemw’s 2015 edition has a focus on English-speaking countries, the line-up includes:
veteran Canadian film-maker Anne Henderson’s documentary project Missing Persona;
the Us-Italian co-production The Oldest Man Alive by Antonio Tibaldi, to be produced...
- 1/5/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Italy: Love It, Or Leave It is the story of two Italian friends who take a tour around their country to see whether or not it's worth staying there. They find a lot of problems but room for optimism, too. The film had its UK premiere at Sheffield Docfest this week, after which co director Luca Ragazzi took questions from the audience.
Luca was thanked for a very entertaining film, but was then asked “If you were Mario Monti, what would you do?"
Not an easy one to give a quick answer to, but Luca said “Italians always complain. We tried to select people who do something to change things. We wanted to offer inspiration.”
This is just a drop in the ocean. Can these little things make a difference?
Luca: “Maybe now we are in a moment of change. The ones who have the power in Italy are now.
Luca was thanked for a very entertaining film, but was then asked “If you were Mario Monti, what would you do?"
Not an easy one to give a quick answer to, but Luca said “Italians always complain. We tried to select people who do something to change things. We wanted to offer inspiration.”
This is just a drop in the ocean. Can these little things make a difference?
Luca: “Maybe now we are in a moment of change. The ones who have the power in Italy are now.
- 6/16/2012
- by Val Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
I can't remember a time I went to the Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) press launch and looked over the list of films and saw so many I was interested in seeing. The claim to fame for over the years is to call it the largest and most-highly attended festival in the United States. This is a fact I've often taken issue with as I don't equate quantity with quality. Granted, there has been a large number of quality features to play the fest over the years, including Golden Space Needle (Best Film) winners such as Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), My Life as a Dog (1987), Trainspotting (1996), Run Lola Run (1999), Whale Rider (2003) and even recent Best Director winner, Michel Hazanavicius's Oss 117: Nest of Spies in 2006. That said, looking over this year's crop of films I see a lot of films I will be doing my absolute best to see.
- 4/27/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
What is one’s relation to his or her homeland? Is it one’s responsibility to, no matter how bad things truly get, to see that your nation of birth thrives to its fullest extent? These are just a few of the questions posited by the new documentary from ‘Suddenly Last Winter’ directing team Luca Ragazzi and Gustav Hofer, entitled ‘Italy: Love It Or Leave It.’
Read more on SXSW 2012 Review: Italy: Love It Or Leave It...
Read more on SXSW 2012 Review: Italy: Love It Or Leave It...
- 3/10/2012
- by Joshua Brunsting
- GordonandtheWhale
Sound On Sight will once again be covering the SXSW Film Festival this year, making it our second time attending. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas fest taking place March 9-17, including 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. As previously announced, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods will have the honours of opening the festival, and now they have released the full list of films – and it’s looking pretty amazing. Enjoy!
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths,...
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths,...
- 2/3/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, shot by Bob Gruen in 1977
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
screens as part of 24 Beats per Second
SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:
Narrative Feature Competition
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.
Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen
screens as part of 24 Beats per Second
SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:
Narrative Feature Competition
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)
Eden
Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.
- 2/1/2012
- MUBI
With Sundance 2012 Film Festival over, the next big one on the horizon is South by Southwest, which we’ll be heavily covering. The biggest chunk of the line-up has been announced today, which has some great premieres including 21 Jump Street, Tiff and Sundance hit The Raid, Will Ferrell‘s Casa de mi Padre, the documentary Girl Model (which we liked at Tiff), as well as the next from Broken Lizard, The Babymakers. There are many other promising titles included and you can see them all below. Check back for our coverage for the fest, kicking off March 9th.
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
Narrative Feature Competition
This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:
Booster
Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin
When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.
- 2/1/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Attendees of South by Southwest 2012 are in for a treat. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas festival taking place March 9-17. Among them are 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. The organization already announced [1] Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods would open the festival (the movie is phenomenal [2]) and today the majority of the remaining line up has been revealed. One of the highlights is the unbelievably smart and hilarious 21 Jump Street, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Both of those are World Premieres. Other highlights include The Hunter, Killer Joe, The Babymakers, frankie goes boom, God Bless America, The Imposter, The Raid, Bernie and Casa de mi Padre just to name a few. After the jump, read descriptions of all the films that have been announced so far. Before I copy and paste the rest of the list, a few minor notes.
- 2/1/2012
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
SPLIT, Croatia -- The Split Mediterranean Film Festival kicks off its first edition Tuesday night with opening film "The Edge of Heaven" by Fatih Akin. The Festival takes place in the ancient center of the city of Split, Croatia's major city on the Adriatic coast, and runs May 27-31. A total of nine features and five shorts are featured in competition.
Other competition titles include festival hits such as Nadine Labaki's "Caramel", Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Samuel Benchetrit's "I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster," "Suddenly Last Winter" by Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, Abdel Kechiche's "The Secret of the Grain" and Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Orphanage".
Screening out of competition is the much-anticipated "Will Not Stop There" ("Nije Kraj"), the latest film by Vinko Bresan ("Marshal Tito's Spirit", "How the War Started on My Island"), Croatia's most international director.
Further sidebar sections include a retrospective of Mediterranean-themed films from the 1930s through the 1990s and a two-day roundtable discussion on issues such as politics, shifting demographics, religion, tourism and ecology and how they influence the various cultural scenes of a region that spans three continents: Europe, Africa and Asia.
Other competition titles include festival hits such as Nadine Labaki's "Caramel", Julian Schnabel's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," Samuel Benchetrit's "I Always Wanted to Be a Gangster," "Suddenly Last Winter" by Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, Abdel Kechiche's "The Secret of the Grain" and Juan Antonio Bayona's "The Orphanage".
Screening out of competition is the much-anticipated "Will Not Stop There" ("Nije Kraj"), the latest film by Vinko Bresan ("Marshal Tito's Spirit", "How the War Started on My Island"), Croatia's most international director.
Further sidebar sections include a retrospective of Mediterranean-themed films from the 1930s through the 1990s and a two-day roundtable discussion on issues such as politics, shifting demographics, religion, tourism and ecology and how they influence the various cultural scenes of a region that spans three continents: Europe, Africa and Asia.
- 5/26/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE, Germany -- Sex, politics and rock 'n' roll are the themes running through this year's Panorama, the Berlin International Film Festival's main sidebar.
Parvez Sharma's A Jihad For Love, which will open Panorama's documentary section, Dokumente, looks at the conflict between sexuality and religion by examining the lives of devout Muslims who are homosexual. The film was produced by Sandi Dubowski, who looked at similar issues among gay orthodox Jews in Trembling Before G-d. That film debuted in Panorama in 2001 and won Berlin's Teddy award for the best film with a homosexual theme.
Sexual politics are at the core of several Dokumente entries including Dondu Kilic's The Other Istanbul, Suddenly, Last Winter from Italian directors Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, Jochen Hick's East/West and "Dead Gay Men and Living Lesbians" by Berlin's own Rosa von Praunheim.
Middle East politics is the focus of Eran Riklis' Lemon Tree, the drama that opens the Panorama Special section. The film looks at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of a Palestinian woman who inherits a lemon grove bordering on Israeli territory.
Other high-profile Panorama Special screenings include Brad Anderson's Transsiberian, featuring Woody Harrelson, Thomas Kretschmann and Ben Kingsley, and the world premiere of Madonna's directorial debut, Filth & Wisdom starring Richard E. Grant.
Madonna won't be the only pop star featured on this year's Panorama. Legendary punk princess Patti Smith will give a concert in the German capital to support the Panorama debut of Steven Sebring's documentary Patti Smith: Dream of Life. Ceri Levy's Bananaz follows Britpop regulars Damon Alban and Jamie Hewlett, creators of the virtual band Gorillaz.
Parvez Sharma's A Jihad For Love, which will open Panorama's documentary section, Dokumente, looks at the conflict between sexuality and religion by examining the lives of devout Muslims who are homosexual. The film was produced by Sandi Dubowski, who looked at similar issues among gay orthodox Jews in Trembling Before G-d. That film debuted in Panorama in 2001 and won Berlin's Teddy award for the best film with a homosexual theme.
Sexual politics are at the core of several Dokumente entries including Dondu Kilic's The Other Istanbul, Suddenly, Last Winter from Italian directors Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, Jochen Hick's East/West and "Dead Gay Men and Living Lesbians" by Berlin's own Rosa von Praunheim.
Middle East politics is the focus of Eran Riklis' Lemon Tree, the drama that opens the Panorama Special section. The film looks at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of a Palestinian woman who inherits a lemon grove bordering on Israeli territory.
Other high-profile Panorama Special screenings include Brad Anderson's Transsiberian, featuring Woody Harrelson, Thomas Kretschmann and Ben Kingsley, and the world premiere of Madonna's directorial debut, Filth & Wisdom starring Richard E. Grant.
Madonna won't be the only pop star featured on this year's Panorama. Legendary punk princess Patti Smith will give a concert in the German capital to support the Panorama debut of Steven Sebring's documentary Patti Smith: Dream of Life. Ceri Levy's Bananaz follows Britpop regulars Damon Alban and Jamie Hewlett, creators of the virtual band Gorillaz.
- 1/24/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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