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Acclaimed director Johnnie To has weighed in on the censorship and funding challenges facing the Hong Kong film industry during an in-conversation event with Japanese filmmaker Yu Irie at Tokyo International Film Festival today (October 31).

The Hong Kong filmmaker, known for crime features such as Election, Exiled and Drug War, told the assembled audience that his once booming local industry is becoming “smaller and smaller in scale”.

Highlighting a lack of financial support, To pointed to the cutting of government funding for the Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival, which he founded in 2005 to nurture young talent. But he also...

Veteran director Johnnie To discussed the challenges of filmmaking under increased regulation in Hong Kong during a conversation with Japanese filmmaker Yu Irie at the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

“There is a lot of regulation in Hong Kong, especially when it comes to expression,” To said Thursday when asked about balancing culture with freedom. “You have to think about what you are going to say carefully. It’s about responsibility.”

To founded the Fresh Wave film festival in Hong Kong young filmmaker program in Hong Kong which unearthed several new talents. In 2023, the festival was hit with censorship. The filmmaker noted that creators need to adapt to the current environment. “With the Fresh Wave program there was a certain amount of censorship. In that environment you have to be ready to understand what the censorship is going to be doing.”

However, To emphasized that filmmakers shouldn’t remain passive.

South Korea is experimenting with the theatrical release of “snack films” in a bid to revitalise its struggling box office, with the latest offering set to open this weekend.

Horror-thriller 4:44 : Time Of Fear will receive a theatrical release on November 1, despite being just 44 minutes long. Reflecting this shorter runtime, tickets will be priced at under $3, less than one-third of a standard ticket, as theatres seek to entice audiences with more affordable options.

In a further bid to draw audiences, the cast includes an ensemble of K-pop stars, including Shinee’s Onew (Lee Jink), Yoo Jiae of Lovelyz, Sungyeol of Infinite,...

It is fitting that for the 30th year of the Geneva International Film Festival, artistic director Anais Emery and her team are going back to the future.

“It was very important to recall the history of the festival but not through a retrospective,” says Emery of the event that takes place in the Swiss city from November 1-10.

”We wanted to renew, to celebrate and underline Giff’s speciality and specificity.”

That means showcasing innovative storytelling delivered via the myriad audiovisual mediums available to creators, from film, TV and web content to installations, virtual reality and extended reality (Xr) works.

Das Berliner Weltkinofestival hat jetzt das Programm von Wettbewerb und Specials seiner von 29. November bis 7. Dezember stattfindenden 19. Ausgabe bekannt gegeben.

Kurdwin Ayubs „Mond“ ist einer der Filme im Wettbewerb von Around the World in 14 Films (Credit: Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion)

Das Berliner Weltkinofestival Around the World in 14 Films hat jetzt das Programm für seine von 29. November bis 7. Dezember stattfindende 19. Ausgabe bekannt gegeben.

Herzstück ist nach Angaben des Festivals der 14 Filme umfassende Wettbewerb in dem der

Basis Berlin Postproduction Award für Beste Regie vergeben wird. Unter den eingeladenen Filmen von zehn Regisseurinnen und fünf Regisseuren befinden sich auch Titel, die zuvor schon auf Festivals wie Sundance, Cannes, Venedig oder Locarno erfolgreich gezeigt wurde.

Die Wettbewerbsfilme von Around the World in 14 Films im Überblick:

• „Kill the Jockey”, Regie: Luis Ortega (Argentinien)

• „Sujo”, Regie: Astrid Rondero und Fernanda Valadez (Mexiko)

• „The Village Next to Paradise”, Regie: Mo Harawe (Somalia)

• „Vermiglio”, Regie: Maura Delpero...

At the Tokyo International Film Festival, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia participated in a discussion with renowned Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda. The two directors conversed about Kapadia’s recent film “All We Imagine As Light”, which won the Grand Prix award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Kore-eda served on the jury that awarded Kapadia’s film at Cannes, and he told the filmmaker that her film stood out for its calm storytelling approach among the louder competition entries. Kapadia’s debut narrative explores the lives of two women from Kerala living in Mumbai and their complex relationship as roommates from different generations navigating difficult love situations.

During the conversation, Kapadia described her film as focusing on themes of friendship and finding one’s own family. She noted that families in India can be both supportive but also challenging at times. Kapadia also discussed her approach to sound design and intimacy in storytelling.

Mit den Gotham Awards wird traditionell die Awards-Saison eröffnet. Sean Bakers Palmen-Gewinner hat jetzt die meisten Nominierungen für die Verleihung am 2. Dezember erhalten.

Sean Bakers „Anora“ ist viermal für den Gotham Award nominiert (Credit: Festival de Cannes)

Wenn am 2. Dezember mit der Verleihung der Gotham Awards die Awards-Season eröffnet wird, kann sich Sean Bakers „Anora“ die meisten Hoffnungen machen, ausgezeichnet zu werden; der Palmengewinner wurde insgesamt viermal nominiert.

Die Geschichte über eine New Yorker Stripperin, die sich in einen russischen Oligarchen verliebt, ist neben Halina Reijns „Babygirl“, Luca Guadagninos „Challengers – Rivalen“, Aaron Schimbergs „A Different Man“ und RaMell Ross‘ „Nickel Boys“ in der Kategorie Bester Film nominiert, Hauptdarstellerin Mikey Madison konkurriert in der geschlechterübergreifend vergebenen Kategorie Beste Hauptrolle mit Pamela Anderson („The Last Showgirl“), Adrien Brody („The Brutalist“), Colman Domingo („Sing Sing“), Marianne Jean-Baptiste („Hard Truths“), Nicole Kidman („Babygirl“), Keith Kupferer („Ghostlight“), Demi Moore („The Substance“), Saoirse Ronan („The Outrun...

Antonella Sudasassi Furniss’ Memories Of A Burning Body and Razka Robby Ertanto’s Yohanna have won the best global feature and best Indonesian feature respectively at the 4th Jakarta Film Week (Jfw).

Female sexuality drama Memories Of A Burning Body by Costa Rica’s Furniss previously won the Panorama audience award when it premiered at the Berlinale while child labour drama Yohanna from Indonesia’s Ertanto first played Rotterdam earlier this year.

Jfw’s closing night (October 27) also marked the first public appearance of Indonesia’s new minister of culture Fadli Zon, who presented the awards of the pitching forum,...

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, who was awarded the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes film festival for her debut narrative feature All We Imagine As Light, talked about the challenges facing indie filmmakers in India during a conversation with Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda at Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

She also touched on how she felt about the fact that All We Imagine As Light was not selected by India’s Oscars committee as its submission for the Best International feature category, but was gracious about the snub.

Kore-eda was on the Cannes competition jury that awarded Kapadia’s film, and said he was impressed by her work, but due to the restraints of jury duty, had not been able to talk to her and find out more about her career. The Japanese director is a Cannes regular, winning the Palme d’Or for Shoplifters in 2018, while Yuji Sakamoto...

Hirokazu Koreeda confessed he had wanted to have an in-depth talk with Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia ever since he saw her film All We Imagine as Light at the Cannes Film Festival this year. On Tuesday, the Japanese auteur finally got his chance as part of the intimate TIFF Lounge talk series held during Tokyo Internation Film Festival at the plush Lexus Cafe.

All We Imagine as Light is Kapadia’s second full length feature after her 2021 debut, the documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing. Her sophomore feature has been an international critical sensation and was the first Indian film to compete in Cannes’ main competition in 30 years. The film ultimately won the French festival’s Grand Prix, the second most prestigious award. In recent weeks, All We Imagine as Light has been in the news again, as the film was widely expected to be India’s submission to the...

At this stage of the Oscar race, several things are certain. Palme d’Or winner “Anora” (Neon), which scored four nominations on October 29 for the first of the award shows of the season, the Gothams, remains the frontrunner in the Oscar race. Sean Baker’s film is followed by Netflix’s French Oscar submission “Emilia Pérez,” which was not eligible for Best Feature but didn’t land an international nod, either. Does “Emilia Pérez” need a Gothams nod in its pursuit of Oscar glory? No.

As regional festivals announce their award winners, the Gothams serve mainly as an opportunity to put some titles on the board for consideration, maybe inspiring Academy voters to watch a film they never heard of. Most of the juries for the Gotham nominations are critics, many based in New York and Los Angeles. This recognition provides clues as to where the New York and Los...

The first nominations of the season are in as contenders for the 34th Gotham Awards were unveiled on Tuesday, with Anora, Hard Truths, and The Last Showgirl among 39 features and 25 performances in the running for nine awards.

Nominees were announced via X and seesAnora, whichleads the way on four nods,Babygirl, Challengers, A Different Man, and Nickel Boys up for the best feature prize, while Pamela Anderson, Adrien Brody, Saoirse Ronan, Mikey Madison, and Demi Moore are in the running for best lead performance.

Nickel Boys and I Saw The TV Glow each earned three nominations, while Hard Truths garnered two.

The nominations for the 34th Gothams Awards were unveiled on Tuesday, with Anora, Hard Truths, and The Last Showgirl among 39 features and 25 performances in the running for nine awards.

Nominees were announced via X and seesAnora, whichleads the way on four nods,Babygirl, Challengers, A Different Man, and Nickel Boys up for the best feature prize, while Pamela Anderson, Adrien Brody, Saoirse Ronan, Mikey Madison, and Demi Moore are in the running for best lead performance.

International feature film nominees are All We Imagine As Light, Green Border, Hard Truths, Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, and Vermiglio.

The inaugural best...

“Anora,” a free-wheeling comedy about a sex worker who becomes entangled with the family of a Russian oligarch, led the Gotham Awards, picking up four nominations, including a nod for best feature.

“Nickel Boys,” the story of two African-American teens who are sent to an abusive reform school, and “I Saw the TV Glow,” a psychological horror film about high schoolers who begin to lose touch with reality, were close behind with three nods apiece.

“Nickel Boys” will vie for best feature alongside “Anora.” Other nominees for the top prize include the erotic drama “Babygirl,” the black comedy “A Different Man” and “Challengers,” a love triangle that unfolds against the backdrop of professional tennis. There were several notable omissions, with critically heralded films like “The Brutalist” and “Conclave” passed over for a best feature nomination. “The Brutalist” did earn two nominations for its star Adrien Brody and for the supporting turn of Guy Pearce.

Awards season is officially underway, according to the Gotham Film & Media Institute, and “Anora,” “Babygirl,” “Challengers,” “A Different Man,” and “Nickel Boys” are among the films in competition at this year’s Gotham Awards.

On Tuesday, the membership-based, non-profit independent film group announced its nominees for the 2024 Gotham Awards, the “start of the annual awards season” according to press materials. “Anora” led with four nominations, including Best Feature, Best Lead Performance for Mikey Madison, Best Supporting Performance for Yura Borisov, and Best Director for Sean Baker.

The other Best Feature nominees included “Babygirl” (which landed Nicole Kidman a nomination for Best Lead Performance), “Challengers,” “A Different Man” (which also received recognition for Adam Pearson in Best Supporting Performance), and “Nickel Boys” (which had two other nominations – Best Director for RaMell Ross and Breakthrough Performance for Brandon Wilson).

Other highlights among the nominees include Demi Moore and Pamela Anderson in the Best Lead Performance category,...

The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced today the nominations for the 34th edition of The Gothams, including 39 feature films and 25 performances in nine award categories. Leading the Best Feature nominees are Anora, Babygirl, Challengers, A Different Man, and Nickel Boys.

“We are proud to announce the nominees for The Gothams, selected by nominating committees who bring their independent perspective to the selection process. This year’s nominations celebrate voices from across the globe, embodying the growing embrace of international cinema by audiences everywhere. We look forward to celebrating our nominees and our Gotham tributes in a few weeks,” said Sharp.

The 2024 Gothams will be held live and in person at 7 pm on Monday, December 2nd at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

Best Feature

Anora

Sean Baker, director; Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, producers (Neon)

Babygirl

Halina Reijn, director; David Hinojosa, Julia Oh, Halina Reijn, producers (A24)

Challengers

Luca Guadagnino,...

Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or-winning Anora from Neon has nabbed four Gotham Award nominations today including Best Feature, Best Director, Outstanding Lead Performance for Mikey Madison and Outstanding Supporting Performance for Yura Borisov.

Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers from Orion/Amazon MGM was nominated for Best Feature. The studio’s Nickel Boys by RaMell Ross had noms for Best Feature and Best Director.

The indie-centric awards last year removed a longstanding budget cap on eligibility, an opening for bigger budget studio and streamer fare to submit for consideration.

A24 films were everywhere with multiple nominations for Babygirl, I Saw The TV Glow, Sing Sing and A Different Man. The Brutalist, Janet Planet and Love Lies Bleeding had noms as well.

The October noms and early December ceremony are industry bellwethers, coming at the start of awards season in the crush of fall festival buzz.

“We are proud to announce the nominees for The Gothams,...

“Anora,” “Babygirl,” “Challengers,” “A Different Man” and “Nickel Boys” have been nominated as the best films of 2024 by the 2024 Gotham Awards, the Gotham Film & Media Institute announced on Tuesday.

Sean Baker’s “Anora” led all films with four nominations, including Best Feature, Best Director and Outstanding Lead and Supporting Performances for Mikey Madison and Yuri Borisov.

In the gender-neutral Gotham acting categories, other nominees included Pamela Anderson for “The Last Showgirl,” Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce for “The Brutalist,” Nicole Kidman for “Babygirl,” Marianne Jean-Baptiste for “Hard Truths,” Demi Moore for “The Substance” and Saoirse Ronan for “The Outrun.”

Eligibility for the Gotham Awards used to be restricted to films that came in under a $35 million budget cap, but the awards did away with that rule last year. Currently, the definition of a film eligible for the Gothams is “filmmaking with a point of view … where the vision of an individual director,...

The Gotham Film and Media Institute announced Tuesday the nominations for the 34th annual Gothams, honoring 39 features and 25 performances across nine award categories. Nominees were chosen by a group of journalist- and programmer-led committees. This is the first major awards body to share nominations for the year in film, and here, the Gothams are led by “Anora,” “Babygirl,” “Challengers,” “A Different Man,” and “Nickel Boys” in the Best Feature category.

“We are proud to announce the nominees for The Gothams, selected by nominating committees who bring their independent perspective to the selection process. This year’s nominations celebrate voices from across the globe, embodying the growing embrace of international cinema by audiences everywhere. We look forward to celebrating our nominees and our Gotham tributes in a few weeks,” said Gotham Film and Media Institute executive director Jeffrey Sharp.

Per the Institute, nominees are chosen by committees of film critics, journalists,...

Filmmaker Payal Kapadia has addressed India’s decision to overlook her award-winning feature All We Imagine As Light, which had been hotly tipped for the best international feature film Oscar.

Speaking with Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda at Tokyo International Film Festival today, Kapadia said: “With this film, we got a lot already so I’m very satisfied with how the journey of the film has gone. It’s been really more than I expected at all so everything that comes its way is a bonus to me.”

She later commented how she “greatly admired” Kiran Rao, the director of Laapataa Ladies,...

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia remains gracious about her film “All You Imagine as Light” not being selected as India’s Oscar submission, despite strong buzz around the title.

“All We Imagine as Light” was the first Indian film to play in competition at Cannes in 30 years and was shortlisted by France’s Oscar committee. Kapadia became the first Indian woman filmmaker to win the Grand Prix at Cannes and the film is in the process of being one of the most widely distributed Indian indie films of all time.

“I think with this film, we got a lot already, so I’m very satisfied with how the journey of the film has gone, and it’s been really more than I expected at all. So, everything that comes its way is a bonus,” Kapadia said on Tuesday during a conversation with Japanese auteur Kore-eda Hirokazu at the Tokyo International Film...

Budapest International Film Festival (Biff) is building a film funding initiative independent of the Hungarian state, as the festival’s first edition gets underway today.

The fund will launch during the festival, which runs from October 29 to November 3 at the Corvin Cinema Budapest.

The fund will be run in collaboration with the Sandor Simo Foundation, and will support at least one Hungarian feature film and a short film, from script development through to theatrical release.It will aim to raise between€500,000 to€1m in its first year, which organisers say is the current average budget of an independent Hungarian feature film.

It’s officially awards season, baby. While there are still more than four months to go before we cross the finish line at the Academy Awards, this afternoon the Gotham Awards—honoring independent film—announced their crop of 2024 nominees, officially kickstarting campaign season and offering the first clues about which...

India’s Oscar submission “Lost Ladies” (Laapataa Ladies) has found significant success on Netflix, and the film’s director Kiran Rao and Jyoti Deshpande, president of media and content business at Reliance Industries Limited (Ril), are optimistic about their awards season prospects.

“Lost Ladies” was chosen over Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner “All We Imagine as Light” as India’s submission to the Oscars. “I’m delighted that I’m in the same breath as a film that’s won at Cannes,” said Rao. “I feel like film is highly subjective. Clearly, the jury felt that our film was worthy and was unanimously chosen. And I do think that the film is really relevant in that it sparks conversations around themes that we feel very strongly about.”

The film, produced by Ril content arm Jio Studios, Aamir Khan Productions and Kindling Pictures, is set in 2001 in rural India,...

And the 2024 Montclair Film Festival awards go to…

The Montclair Film Festival bestowed its top honor, the Fiction Feature Prize, to Payal Kapadia’s critically acclaimed “All We Imagine as Light.” The feature won the Grand Prix at Cannes but was later snubbed by India for its Oscar submission. The film centers on two nurses, played by Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha, who grapple with their own relationships. “All We Imagine as Light” will premiere November 15 in theaters from Sideshow/Janus Films.

Montclair Film additionally recognized Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” with a Special Jury Prize. The Feature Film jury included artist and podcaster Janette Afsharian, AP critic Jake Coyle, and Rolling Stone critic David Fear.

The festival’s Bruce Sinofsky Award for the Documentary Feature Competition was won by “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” which was directed by Johan Grimonprez. A Special Jury Prize was...

Maura Delpero’s Venice Silver Lion winner Vermiglio has earned the Gold Hugo award in Chicago International Film Festival’s international feature competition, while Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light has won the Silver Hugo.

Vermiglio follows three sisters in an Alpine village in the latter stages of the Second World War as a deserter’s arrival has a profound impact on the community.

All We Imagine As Light was the first Indian film in Cannes Competition in three decades and follows two nurses who head off on a road trip.

Silver Hugos in the international feature competition...

The 2024 Chicago Film Festival shined a light on films that stretch the limits of storytelling. From Italy to Cape Verde, this year’s award winners drew viewers in with stories about family, identity, and resilience, along with fresh directing approaches and standout performances. Below are some highlights from the festival’s top prize categories.

Gold Hugo for Best Film: Vermiglio

Directed by Maura Delpero, Vermiglio tells the story of a young woman finding her way within a complex family in Italy’s scenic Alps. The film won the festival’s top honor for its attention to human details and beautiful visuals, capturing relationships that feel timeless.

Silver Hugo for Jury Prize: All We Imagine As Light

Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light explores choice and control across generations in a journey that invites audiences to confront life’s crossroads. It balances comfort with disruption and presents these choices with a relatable vulnerability.

Chicago – The 60th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) announced its competitive award winners on October 25th, 2024, and the recipient of The Gold Hugo in the International Feature Film Competition – the festival’s top honor – is Italy’s ‘Vermiglio” (directed by Maura Delparo), regarding a woman and family complexities in the Italian Alps.

Picking up the Festival’s Silver Hugo in the International Feature Film competition is a multi-internationally produced “All We Imagine as Light” (directed by Payal Kapadia). In the New Directors Competition, Mo Harawe’s “The Village Next to Paradise” is awarded the Gold Hugo, with Maryam Moghaddam & Behtash Sanaeeha “My Favourite Cake” receiving the Silver Hugo. The complete list of honorees is below.

“The winning films at the 60th edition of the Chicago International Film Festival reflect a broad diversity of subject, style, and geography,” said Mimi Plauché, the Robert and Penelope Steiner Family Foundation Artistic Director of the Chicago International Film Festival.

The Chicago International Film Festival is wrapping up its 60th edition by handing out its prizes. In fact, though the New York Film Festival has been around longer (it just wrapped its 62nd festival), Chicago is the longest running fest in North America to give out awards. And as you’d expect from this festival that’s especially focused on international film, its winners have also been standouts at Cannes and Venice.

The Best Film winner, or Gold Hugo, at the Chicago International Film Festival is Maura Delpero’s “Vermiglio,” a World War II drama centered in the Alps that drew praise out of Venice, though received a mixed reception from IndieWire. Italy has named the film its entry for next year’s Best International Feature competition at the Academy Awards. The previous three winners of the Gold Hugo at Chicago are Gabor Reisz’s “Explanation for Everything,” Hlynur Palmason’s “Godland,...

Amit Dutta’s hand-drawn animation “Rhythm of a Flower” (Phool Ka Chand) has won the Mami Mumbai Film Festival’s Golden Gateway Award, the event’s top accolade.

The film is a biopic chronicling the twilight years of Indian classical singer Kumar Gandharva. Dutta is an auteur whose works have been frequently shown at the Venice, Rotterdam, Berlin and Jeonju film festivals.

Anupama Srinivasan and Anirban Dutta’s documentary on Himalayan moths, “Nocturnes,” won the festival’s Silver Gateway Award. The film previously won awards at Sundance and Thessaloniki.

Raam Reddy’s “The Fable,” starring Manoj Bajpayee, which chronicles the unravelling of a family after a series of mysterious fires, won the festival’s Special Jury Prize. The film debuted at the Berlinale and is on a global festival run that also includes Valladolid’s Seminci.

Another Sundance winner, Shuchi Talati’s coming-of-age drama “Girls Will Be Girls,” headlined by Kani Kusruti,...

La Piscine Photo: Criterion Collection The French Film Festival is returning to cinemas next month across the UK with a programme of French and Francophone films, mostly UK Premieres, spreading over 60 screenings.

Talents in attendance include actor and director Mathieu Amalric and filmmakers Jean-Marie Larrieu, Arnaud Larrieu, Claire Simon, Emmanuel Mouret, Payal Kapadia, Isabelle Prim and Yolande Zauberman.

Cinemas showing films include the French Institute in Edinburgh and the city's Dominion, Glasgow's Gft, Chichester Cinema and London's Ciné Lumière.

Holy Cow Photo: Laurent Le Crabe Among the current crop of Francophone films that will screen is Emmanuel Courcol's The Marching Band, which recently won the Audience Award at San Sebastian Film Festival, charming coming-of-age film Holy Cow and Belgian #MeToo drama Julie Keeps Quiet.

Classic movies in the line-up include Claude Sautet's César And Rosalie and Jacques Deray's sultry La Piscine.

Read more about the festival and...

The Philippines’ QCinema International Film Festival has locked its 12th edition lineup, with Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Cloud” — Japan’s submission for the 97th Academy Awards — set to close the November event. The festival opens with “Directors’ Factory Philippines,” an eight-filmmaker omnibus collaboration with Cannes Directors’ Fortnight that pairs Filipino directors with counterparts from across Asia.

The omnibus features four films: Eve Baswel and Malaysia’s Gogularaajan Rajendran direct “Walay Balay”; Maria Estela Paiso teams with India’s Ashok Vish for “Nightbirds”; Arvin Belarmino collaborates with Cambodia’s Lomorpich Rithy on “Silig”; and Don Eblahan partners with Singapore’s Tan Siyou for “Cold Cut.”

The Quezon City-based fest will unspool 77 titles, including 55 features and 22 shorts, across 11 sections under this year’s theme “The Gaze.”

In the main competition Asian Next Wave, eight features compete: Duong Dieu Linh’s Venice Critics’ Week grand prize winner “Don’t Cry Butterfly”; Nelicia Low’s “Pierce...

International awards contendersAll We Imagine As Light andThe Girl With The Needleare among the films screening as part of the international competition at the 30th anniversary edition of the Geneva International Film Festival, taking place in Switzerland from November 1-10.

Payal Kapadia’s Indian dramaAll We Imagine As Light centres on three woman living in modern-day Mumbai and was awarded the grand prix at Cannes earlier this year.

Several of the competition films are also representing their countries at the Oscars as international feature submissions includingMatthew Rankin’s Universal Languagefor Canada and Magnus von Horn’sThe Girl With The Needlefor Denmark.

Payal Kapadia’s Grand Prix-winning “All We Imagine as Light” just had its premiere at the Mami Film Festival 2024. The excitement was predictably through the roof. Of course, it was partially related to the recognition it received which an Indian film had not even stood a chance for in several years. However, another tissue connects the film specifically to Mumbai, the city that was excited about it. It’s the supposed ‘Mumbai Spirit’. In the post-screening Q&a session, Kapadia briefly spoke about the same phenomena.

Mumbai is a city filled with contradictions. Many people come to this ‘city of dreams’, looking at it through their rose-tinted glasses. They go on a journey akin to the ‘American dream.’ They assume their efforts or skills are enough to let them rise up the ladder. So, they tolerate its inescapable sweat and dust, the massive rent prices, and the crowded trains. While living there,...

Despite a welcome East Side renaissance in repertory screenings, genre fests, and classical retrospectives, Los Angeles as a sprawling industry town needs a banner festival where undiscovered gems, glitzy red carpet premieres, and especially international fare can earn equal ovation. Only AFI Fest, even if scaled down from the previous decade, fits the bill.

The festival’s full-time programming team travels year-long to festivals such as the Berlinale, Cannes, and TIFF to scout the finest work, and the weighty influence of the American Film Institute ensures the glamour and the gravitas. This year, the Angelina Jolie-starrer “Maria,” the world premiere of the latest Clint Eastwood movie, “Juror #2,” and the opening night documentary tribute “Music by John Williams” are all on-brand selections. Robert Zemeckis will be in conversation with Tom Hanks on Thursday before the sold-out Friday premiere of their latest collaboration, “Here.”

Premiering in L.A. are several titles...

Exclusive: Sideshow and Janus Films have set a December 25 U.S. theatrical release date for Venice Silver Lion winner Vermiglio. The drama from writer, director and producer Maura Delpero is also Italy’s submission to the Best International Feature Film Oscar category. Delpero is the first woman to represent the country in 19 years.

A portrait of a sprawling family, Vermiglio is set in 1944, in the titular high-mountain village of the Italian Alps where war looms as a distant but constant threat. The arrival of Pietro (Giuseppe De Domenico), a taciturn Sicilian soldier who hides out in town after deserting the army, disrupts the dynamics of the local teacher’s family, changing them forever. He develops a romance with the eldest daughter, Lucia (Martina Scrinzi), which ends up having unforeseen consequences for everyone. As the world emerges from its tragedy, the family will face its own.

Also starring are Tommaso Ragno and Roberta Rovelli.

The British Independent Film Awards (Bifas) has unveiled the documentary and international film longlists for its 2024 ceremony, with films including in-videogame title Grand Theft Hamlet and Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora.

Grand Theft Hamlet is on the 12-strong best feature documentary list. The film is the debut feature from directorial duo Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane; it premiered at SXSW this year and was recently acquired for a UK-Ireland theatrical release. It follows two struggling actors who find solace from lockdown isolation by staging William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the online Grand Theft Auto game.

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Madrid-based distributor Atalante is ramping up its heritage cinema titles in Spain, where it’s set to release Vera Chytilová’s 1966 Czechoslovakian dark comedy “Daisies” and Kavery Kaul’s 1988 calypso music documentary “One Hand Don’t Clap.”

“Daises,” which Atalante is releasing in November, “is maybe one of the most iconic modern European films that we are very proud to put in theaters,” Atalante CEO Ramiro Ledo Cordeiro told Variety at the Lumière Film Festival’s International Classic Film Market (Mifc) in Lyon, France.

While the company had previously released one or two heritage films a year, 2024 saw an extraordinary number of releases, Ledo added.

Indeed, Atalante’s releases this year included the 4K restoration by Toho of Yasujiro Ozu’s 1950 Japanese drama “The Munekata Sisters,” which premiered last year in Cannes; the new restoration of Martha Coolidge’s 1975 U.S. drama “Not a Pretty Picture,” a reconstruction of sexual...

The Dharamshala International Film Festival (Diff) 2024 is set to kick off in style with Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light as the opening film. Running from November 7 to 10 at the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamshala, this year’s edition promises to be a vibrant celebration of independent cinema from across the world.

Kapadia’s film, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year to an eight-minute standing ovation, has quickly become a global sensation. The film not only earned the prestigious Grand Prix at Cannes but also holds the distinction of being the first Indian film in 30 years to compete for the Palme d’Or. After its success in France, where it was released by Condor Distribution on October 2, it has also made waves in North America, with Janus Films and Sideshow acquiring distribution rights in May. It further cemented its place on the festival circuit with a...

Winner of the Cannes’ Grand Prix 2024, All We Imagine as Light, opened Mami Mumbai Film Festival 2024

Talent marked the opening of the festival included Shabana Azmi, Waheeda Rehman, Payal Kapadia, Rana Daggubati, Siddharth Roy Kapoor, Vikramaditya Motwane, Mini Mathur, Kabir Khan, Ramesh Sippy, Rohan Sippy, Hansal Mehta, Pratik Gandhi, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Abhishek Chaubey, Amole Gupte, Jim Sarbh among others.

Mumbai, October 18, 2024

Mami Mumbai Film Festival 2024 opened its six-day celebration of global cinema, creativity, and culture in Mumbai on the 18th of October with the critically acclaimed film “All We Imagine as Light,” winner of the Cannes’ Grand Prix 2024.

Festival Opening Ceremony

Interim Festival Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and Artistic Director Deepti DCunha declared the festival open, marking the beginning of a spectacular showcase of cinematic excellence. The ceremony was attended by esteemed members of the film fraternity, festival partners, and dignitaries.

Followed by a Q&a with Payal Kapadia and Anupama Chopra post-screening.

As the biggest festival in one of the world’s biggest film markets, the Tokyo International Film Festival has always been held under the glare of painfully high expectations. But taking place towards the end of Asia’s crowded autumn festival season, then struggling through the brutal years of the pandemic, it hasn’t been easy for the event to create a global footprint.

Ando Hiroyasu, who came on board as chairman in 2019, was determined to change all that and started to restructure the festival during the pandemic. In 2021, Shozo Ichiyama, a veteran producer (Caught By the Tides) and former Tokyo Filmex director, joined TIFF as Programming Director and helped to reorganize and streamline the program. Under Ando’s management, the festival also moved from Roppongi to the Ginza-Hibiya district, which has more cinemas, leisure and cultural venues, and introduced a series of high-profile filmmaker talks, known as the TIFF Lounge Talk Sessions.

The new trailer and poster have debuted for Payal Kapadia’s acclaimed film All We Imagine As Light which won the Grand Prize at this year’s prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Celebrated by audiences at top festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, and earning a perfect 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, the award-winning motion picture begins its theatrical release on November 15th.

Written and Directed by Payal Kapadia, this brilliant film stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon, and Azees Nedumangad

The light, the lives, and the textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated in All We Imagine As Light. Centering on two roommates who also work together in a city hospital — head nurse Prabha and recent hire Anu — plus their coworker, cook Parvaty, Kapadia’s film alights on moments of connection and heartache, hope and disappointment to...

Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s April head the nominations for the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa), each securing nods in five categories.

Both will compete for best film, best director, best screenplay, best cinematography and best performance at the awards, which will be presented on November 30 at a ceremony on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Scroll down for full list of nominations

All We Imagine As Light, billed as an ode to nocturnal Mumbai, premiered in Competition at Cannes, where it won the festival’s grand prix. April, the story of a Georgian ob-gyn who faces accusations,...

Two films by women directors, Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’ and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s ‘April’ lead the nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Both films will compete in five categories – best film, best director, best screenplay, best cinematography and best performance – it was revealed Wednesday in a nominations announcement.

Also competing for best film are Yoko Yamanaka’s Tokyo-set story of a young woman’s mental illness, “Desert of Namibia” (Japan); Neo Sora’s future Tokyo tale of perilous social surveillance “Happyend”; and Jiang Xiaoxuan’s “To Kill a Mongolian Horse”, a portrait of a Mongolian horseman turned performer, based on a true story.

Four of the five films nominated for best film are from female directors, and in an Apsa first, all five best film contenders are first or second features.

In addition to Kapadia, Kulumbegashvili and Jiang, the nominees for best director include Tato Kotetishvili for “Holy Electricity,...

The Mumbai Film Festival, one of India’s leading cinema events, unveiled its program for the upcoming 2024 edition. Set for October 19-24, the festival will showcase over 50 films from across South Asia and beyond. This continues the festival’s expansion beyond India and strengthens its role supporting South Asian filmmakers.

A key part of the festival is the South Asia Competition, featuring 11 top films from the region chosen through a rigorous selection process. For the second year, the competition includes submissions from other South Asian countries like Nepal and the UK. Some highlights are Oscar hopefuls like “Santosh” and “Shambhala” as well as award-winning indies such as “Village Rockstars 2” and “Girls Will Be Girls.”

The high-profile opening night selection is “All We Imagine As Light.” Directed by Payal Kapadia, this film took the top prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Closing out the festival is Sean Baker’s “Anora,...

Mumbai Film Festival has announced the 11 titles selected for its South Asia competition, the main competitive section of the festival, which includes the UK’s Oscars submission, Sandhya Suri’s Santosh, making its South Asian premiere.

The line-up also includes Nepal’s Oscars submission, Min Bahadur Bham’s Shambhala, along with one other Nepali title – Deepak Rauniyar’s Pooja, Sir – and Bhutanese title Agent Of Happiness, directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbo.

Indian titles in the competition include Rima Das’ Village Rockstars 2, which recently won a Jiseok award at Busan International Film Festival; multiple award-winner Girls Will Be Girls, by Shuchi Talati; Raam Reddy’s The Fable and Midhun Murali’s Kiss Wagon (see full line-up below).

The non competitive Focus South Asia section is screening ten features and 13 shorts, including a title from Afghanistan – Roya Sadat’s The Sharp Edge Of Peace – and a short film from Myanmar,...

For as much rich history and beautiful tradition as the Academy Awards are known for, South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho perhaps said it best when he described the ceremony as “very local.” Though this didn’t stop his “Parasite” from sweeping the 2020 Oscars, the rules around what gets nominated and what kind of stories are deserving of such accolades has been a major issue in recent years.

For instance, despite winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes International Film Festival last year, Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” was refused as France’s submission to the Oscar, the country instead choosing the more traditional “The Taste of Things.” Triet went on to win the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for her film while “The Taste of Things” went home empty-handed. In a repeat of these circumstances, Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia stunned Cannes audiences this year, winning the Grand Prix...

On the occasion of her film All We Imagine as Light screening at Busan, Kani Kusruti talks to Panos Kotzathanasis about her role in the film and how she chooses the characters she plays, the success of the film, dancing on the red carpet in Cannes, her cooperation with Payal Kapadia and Divya Prabha, and other topics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kdk1Y_2CEo&ab_channel=AsianMoviePulse...

Watch the full episode above or listen to it below.

After a short, overwhelming stint in the mobile Criterion Closet, which boasts over 1,200 titles in the order they were added to the collection, Screen Talk co-hosts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio welcomed Criterion president Peter Becker to the annual New York Film Festival edition of “Screen Talk” Live.

But first, the co-hosts debated the merits of Luca Guadagnino’s artful but long “Queer” starring Daniel Craig as an aging gay junkie suffering from unrequited love. And they also argued about the NYFF closing nighter, “Blitz,” which some think lacks that Steve McQueen edge. His biggest budget film to date is also his most traditional, starring Saoirse Ronan and Elliott Heffernan as a mother and son separated during the London blitz of World War II. Reviews are stronger in Britain than stateside so far (Metascore: 76). Anne thinks it will play for Academy voters,...

Nominations voting is from January 8-12, 2025, with official Oscar nominations announced January 17, 2025. Final voting is February 11-18, 2025. And finally, the 97th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 2 and air live on ABC at 7:00 p.m. Et/ 4:00 p.m. Pt. We update our picks through awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2025 Oscar predictions.

The State of the Race

Breaking down the odds a film gets a Best Original Screenplay nomination, the first thing to note is that the Oscar usually goes to a film written or co-written by the director. The last film to win this category without the director having a writing credit is “The King’s Speech” over a decade ago. If one were to guess why this is, a good answer would be that with Best Picture expanding to 10 categories, the door opened to voters being invested in even more filmmakers’ successes,...