Updated: A crowd that swelled into the thousands took to the streets of Thessaloniki Sunday night, one day after a shocking attack on a transgender couple rocked Greece’s second city and rattled filmmakers and guests at this year’s Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
Waving rainbow flags, carrying banners denouncing homophobia and transphobia and chanting protest slogans, the mostly peaceful demonstration wound through the streets of this seaside city just hours after costume-clad revelers thronged the roads ahead of Thessaloniki’s Carnival celebration next weekend.
The crowd began to gather before 7 p.m. in Aristotelous Square, which was the site of the terrifying episode on Saturday night, when a mob of close to 200 black-clad youths cursed, spat and threw bottles as they pursued the young couple. The duo ultimately took refuge in a nearby restaurant until the police arrived on the scene. At least 21 suspects have been arrested so far.
On Sunday night,...
Waving rainbow flags, carrying banners denouncing homophobia and transphobia and chanting protest slogans, the mostly peaceful demonstration wound through the streets of this seaside city just hours after costume-clad revelers thronged the roads ahead of Thessaloniki’s Carnival celebration next weekend.
The crowd began to gather before 7 p.m. in Aristotelous Square, which was the site of the terrifying episode on Saturday night, when a mob of close to 200 black-clad youths cursed, spat and threw bottles as they pursued the young couple. The duo ultimately took refuge in a nearby restaurant until the police arrived on the scene. At least 21 suspects have been arrested so far.
On Sunday night,...
- 3/10/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning film A New Kind of Wilderness has bowed at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in Greece, marking its European premiere.
Director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen attended the Thessaloniki premiere in person along with two of the film’s protagonists: Freja Vatne Payne and Ronja Breda Vatne. Freja and Ronja are the daughters of Maria Vatne, a gifted photographer who celebrated her family’s unorthodox lifestyle in a remote area of Norway through a blog called Wild + Free. The film begins with stunning footage and photographs taken by Vatne of her kids – in addition to the girls, boys Falk (Norwegian for “falcon”) and the youngest, Ulv (Norwegian for wolf).
But that opening sequence is punctuated by a bracing image – Vatne hooked up to tubes as she receives chemotherapy treatment. This idyllic life of farming, home-schooling, and communing with nature will be cruelly interrupted by tragedy.
L-r Q&a moderator,...
Director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen attended the Thessaloniki premiere in person along with two of the film’s protagonists: Freja Vatne Payne and Ronja Breda Vatne. Freja and Ronja are the daughters of Maria Vatne, a gifted photographer who celebrated her family’s unorthodox lifestyle in a remote area of Norway through a blog called Wild + Free. The film begins with stunning footage and photographs taken by Vatne of her kids – in addition to the girls, boys Falk (Norwegian for “falcon”) and the youngest, Ulv (Norwegian for wolf).
But that opening sequence is punctuated by a bracing image – Vatne hooked up to tubes as she receives chemotherapy treatment. This idyllic life of farming, home-schooling, and communing with nature will be cruelly interrupted by tragedy.
L-r Q&a moderator,...
- 3/10/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Paris-based sales outfit Cat&Docs has acquired “Unclickable,” Greek director Babis Makridis’ investigation into the murky world of digital ad fraud, ahead of its world premiere March 10 at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Variety has been given exclusive access to the film’s trailer (see below).
“Unclickable” follows a former tech executive who gathers a team of software developers and sets out to build a digital advertising fraud operation. Working from a basement in an undisclosed location, they manage to defraud a number of high-profile advertisers — including the Trump campaign and a series of pro-Biden organizations — in just a matter of weeks during the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
As the operation unfolds, the film lifts a lid on the shadowy world of digital advertising and the role played by tech giants Google and Facebook, while also spotlighting the known and lesser-known victims of ad fraud and addressing its impact on the internet economy.
“Unclickable” follows a former tech executive who gathers a team of software developers and sets out to build a digital advertising fraud operation. Working from a basement in an undisclosed location, they manage to defraud a number of high-profile advertisers — including the Trump campaign and a series of pro-Biden organizations — in just a matter of weeks during the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
As the operation unfolds, the film lifts a lid on the shadowy world of digital advertising and the role played by tech giants Google and Facebook, while also spotlighting the known and lesser-known victims of ad fraud and addressing its impact on the internet economy.
- 3/8/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Taking place just weeks after the historic passage of a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in Greece, the 26th edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival — which runs March 7 – 17 — pays tribute to that watershed moment in the long-running fight for equal rights for the country’s LGBTQ community, while also issuing a rallying cry for diversity, inclusion and empowerment across the globe.
“Our festival aspires to map out a detailed and thorough overview of our world’s complexity, welcoming films from the four corners of the world, which outline the radical changes, the challenges and the problems of our times,” says festival general director Elise Jalladeau. The program spotlights “the urgent call for diversity, stories of women’s empowerment [and] the visibility not only of the Lgbtqi+ community, but of all marginalized and oppressed groups of people who have suffered discrimination due to their identity,” she adds.
Following on the historic victory for...
“Our festival aspires to map out a detailed and thorough overview of our world’s complexity, welcoming films from the four corners of the world, which outline the radical changes, the challenges and the problems of our times,” says festival general director Elise Jalladeau. The program spotlights “the urgent call for diversity, stories of women’s empowerment [and] the visibility not only of the Lgbtqi+ community, but of all marginalized and oppressed groups of people who have suffered discrimination due to their identity,” she adds.
Following on the historic victory for...
- 3/7/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The 26th edition of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (TiDF) kicks off today (March 7) with 12 features screening in international competition.
Several titles are making their world premiere at the festival including Johatsu - Into Thin Air from Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori about the thousands of people who disappear in Japan each year.
Also playing is Sundance award-winner A New Kind Of Wilderness from Silje Evensmo Jacobsen. The Norweigan film, which won the grand jury prize in documentary, follows a family living in the wild who are forced to confront contemporary society after a tragic event.
Fellow Sundance-award winner Nocturnes...
Several titles are making their world premiere at the festival including Johatsu - Into Thin Air from Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori about the thousands of people who disappear in Japan each year.
Also playing is Sundance award-winner A New Kind Of Wilderness from Silje Evensmo Jacobsen. The Norweigan film, which won the grand jury prize in documentary, follows a family living in the wild who are forced to confront contemporary society after a tragic event.
Fellow Sundance-award winner Nocturnes...
- 3/7/2024
- ScreenDaily
Deadpan stoicism has become the default mode of the Greek Weird Wave. Though equally strange, the wavelengths of the films by such proponents of the movement as Babis Makridis, Athina Rachel Tsangari, and—before vaulting to Hollywood’s big leagues—Yorgos Lanthimos don’t always align. But there’s a sense of cold, wry detachment that informs the way in which these works probe the friction between human nature and nurtured civility.
The Greek Weird Wave movement’s films are inseparable from their constituent tropes. Many of them set out to concoct visions of a society where human society is seen merely as unhinged, irrational, or paradoxical. That’s not an untrue observation, but it doesn’t help that the experimental potential afforded by absurdism squanders itself so easily by way of uninspired and hackneyed reiterations of the tropes and conventions that define the movement.
Arcadia, Yorgos Zois’s second feature following 2015’s Interruption,...
The Greek Weird Wave movement’s films are inseparable from their constituent tropes. Many of them set out to concoct visions of a society where human society is seen merely as unhinged, irrational, or paradoxical. That’s not an untrue observation, but it doesn’t help that the experimental potential afforded by absurdism squanders itself so easily by way of uninspired and hackneyed reiterations of the tropes and conventions that define the movement.
Arcadia, Yorgos Zois’s second feature following 2015’s Interruption,...
- 2/18/2024
- by Morris Yang
- Slant Magazine
Babis Makridis takes to the sky with an experimental and sometimes difficult to watch manifesto inspired by Aristophanes’s play The Birds
Two-thirds of the way into this experimental Greek docu-fiction, one of the wandering souls featured – apparently watching footage from the film – loses his rag. “This is not about birds. It’s about us being crazy as loons. Come on Babis, I’m a customer here, too, I need to understand.” With director Babis Makridis showing all the confrontational strangeness of the Greek new wave here, the exasperation is understandable.
What Makridis has cobbled together is a poetic and initially utopian manifesto for self-liberation inspired by Aristophanes’ play The Birds, in which a king transforms into a hoopoe. In nine chapters with titles such as “Find your voice” and “Take off, land”, Makridis quizzes the characters in poker-faced interview setups about their hopes of becoming birds, and observes these...
Two-thirds of the way into this experimental Greek docu-fiction, one of the wandering souls featured – apparently watching footage from the film – loses his rag. “This is not about birds. It’s about us being crazy as loons. Come on Babis, I’m a customer here, too, I need to understand.” With director Babis Makridis showing all the confrontational strangeness of the Greek new wave here, the exasperation is understandable.
What Makridis has cobbled together is a poetic and initially utopian manifesto for self-liberation inspired by Aristophanes’ play The Birds, in which a king transforms into a hoopoe. In nine chapters with titles such as “Find your voice” and “Take off, land”, Makridis quizzes the characters in poker-faced interview setups about their hopes of becoming birds, and observes these...
- 2/2/2021
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
Mubi the premier streaming service for curated independent films, has revealed its lineup for February. Among the eclectic selection of films coming exclusively to Mubi are “Dead Pigs”, the bold directorial debut by Birds of Prey director Cathy Yan and Pietro Marcello’s “Martin Eden”, a compelling adaptation of Jack London’s novel, starring Luca Marinelli. Mubi will also exclusively present Beginning, the striking feature debut by Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili, which has been selected as Georgia’s official selection for the 93rd Academy Awards, and Werner Herzog’s deeply personal documentary “Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin” featuring his late friend and travel writer Bruce Chatwin.
In February, Mubi is proud to partner with Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program to spotlight a collection of films made by Sundance Institute Fellows. Reflecting the support given to independent storytelling by artists of Indigenous descent, this special selection includes films such...
In February, Mubi is proud to partner with Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program to spotlight a collection of films made by Sundance Institute Fellows. Reflecting the support given to independent storytelling by artists of Indigenous descent, this special selection includes films such...
- 1/31/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Blight of My Life: Nikou Finds Meaning Through Its Absence in Exceptional Debut
Somewhere along the way, the Greek Weird Wave has seemingly evolved from weird to wise, at least if Apples, the directorial debut of Christos Nikou, is any indication. Having served as second assistant director on Lanthimos’ Dogtooth (2009), the title which generated an influx of new, offbeat cinematic innovations from Greece, Nikou presents a dark satire which plays like a prophetic telegram of not only current cultural identity crises, but in an existential sense, seemingly invisible forces which decimate our lives as we know it.
A bit warmer and empathetic than the cold behavioral oddities of Lanthimos, Avranas or Babis Makridis, Nikou posits identity as something which is also rooted in our collectiveness, for without connectivity, we might as well be invisible.…...
Somewhere along the way, the Greek Weird Wave has seemingly evolved from weird to wise, at least if Apples, the directorial debut of Christos Nikou, is any indication. Having served as second assistant director on Lanthimos’ Dogtooth (2009), the title which generated an influx of new, offbeat cinematic innovations from Greece, Nikou presents a dark satire which plays like a prophetic telegram of not only current cultural identity crises, but in an existential sense, seemingly invisible forces which decimate our lives as we know it.
A bit warmer and empathetic than the cold behavioral oddities of Lanthimos, Avranas or Babis Makridis, Nikou posits identity as something which is also rooted in our collectiveness, for without connectivity, we might as well be invisible.…...
- 9/5/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
From Sundance and Rotterdam, two new indies make their digital release on our pages: stream them here. With film fests cancelled and postponed for the foreseeable future, Cineuropa is proud to present you a couple of festival darlings that toured the circuit in pre-pandemic times, and are just now celebrating their digital release. Brought to you in partnership with eyelet (read news), these titles can be watched directly through our pages. Sit down, and happy streaming. Birds (Or How To Be One) Hailing from the 2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), where it unveiled just a few months back, Birds (Or How To Be One) unspools as a meditation on our desire for freedom. The pitch? A nine-step guide on how to become a bird. Based on Aristophanes’s 5th century BC comedy The Birds - and on a present-day theatre production thereof - Babis Makridis’s third feature is an experimental,...
Babis Makridis’ film expected to be Greek Oscars entry.
The Greek-Polish co-production Pity, an existential drama by Babis Makridis, was crowned best film at the Iris Hellenic Film Academy (Helfiac) awards on Tuesday evening (April 23).
Steve Krikris’ debut feature The Waiter won four awards, whilst Her Job by Nikos Labot, and Angelos Frantzis’ Still River won three each, including best director for Frantzis and best first film for Her Job.
Pity arrived at the awards after appearing at festivals including Sundance, Rotterdam, Odessa (best film and direction), Valetta (best director) and Montenegro (best film). It also won best sound for...
The Greek-Polish co-production Pity, an existential drama by Babis Makridis, was crowned best film at the Iris Hellenic Film Academy (Helfiac) awards on Tuesday evening (April 23).
Steve Krikris’ debut feature The Waiter won four awards, whilst Her Job by Nikos Labot, and Angelos Frantzis’ Still River won three each, including best director for Frantzis and best first film for Her Job.
Pity arrived at the awards after appearing at festivals including Sundance, Rotterdam, Odessa (best film and direction), Valetta (best director) and Montenegro (best film). It also won best sound for...
- 4/25/2019
- by Alexis Grivas
- ScreenDaily
Looking to find quality European cinema in the streaming universe? These six services yield rich rewards
The discerning streaming service for those overwhelmed by the mass of content on Netflix and its ilk, Mubi offers a curated, rotating selection – one in, one out, every day – of 30 classic and contemporary arthouse films, with an array of themed seasons and mini-retrospectives dedicated to certain film-makers or movements. While its remit is global, European cinema obviously features heavily. On the menu at time of writing: Greek film-maker Babis Makridis’s vicious, Sundance-acclaimed black comedy Pity; Wim Wenders’ early existential thriller The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick; and the little-seen Ingmar Bergman chamber piece Crisis. A subscription is £7.99 a month; in the Rentals section, non-subscribers can access more than 150 pay-per-view films – from Jean-Luc Godard to Portuguese post-modernist Miguel Gomes – for £3.49 a go.
The discerning streaming service for those overwhelmed by the mass of content on Netflix and its ilk, Mubi offers a curated, rotating selection – one in, one out, every day – of 30 classic and contemporary arthouse films, with an array of themed seasons and mini-retrospectives dedicated to certain film-makers or movements. While its remit is global, European cinema obviously features heavily. On the menu at time of writing: Greek film-maker Babis Makridis’s vicious, Sundance-acclaimed black comedy Pity; Wim Wenders’ early existential thriller The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick; and the little-seen Ingmar Bergman chamber piece Crisis. A subscription is £7.99 a month; in the Rentals section, non-subscribers can access more than 150 pay-per-view films – from Jean-Luc Godard to Portuguese post-modernist Miguel Gomes – for £3.49 a go.
- 2/11/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSSofia Coppola is reuniting with her Lost in Translation star Bill Murray for a new film entitled On the Rocks, co-starring Rashida Jones.A remarkable online database cohering women film editors significant contributions to cinema has been launched. Women Film Editors is an essential addition to the online film world.Recommended VIEWINGA24's trailer for the U.S. release of Claire Denis' High Life is here and it does not disappoint. You can find our take on this dark sci-fi here.The late Hu Bo's magnificent An Elephant Sitting Still gets a beautiful, elegiac U.S. trailer in the event of an upcoming run at Film Society of Lincoln Center. On the other end of cinema's spectrum, here's the trailer for Dan Gilroy's Velvet Buzzsaw, starring a manic Jake Gyllenhaal as a exploitative art dealer.
- 1/16/2019
- MUBI
Help Me, I’m Poor: Makridis Adds a Footnote to the Greek Cinema
Look no further than Babis Makridis’ sophomore feature, the bluntly named Pity, for evidence of the villain who plays the victim so well. Like the converse of the guilty professional vs. wronged client scenario of fellow Greek Weird Wave alum Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Makidris crafts a familiar black comedy with the cruel austerity of which has marked every single one of the treatments penned by scribe Efthymis Filippou. In essence, this is more of the same mix of idiosyncratic banality which once seemed novel about a decade prior, when exercises like Dogtooth and Alps seemed to reorganize the remnants of certain art-house auteurs from the 1970s (such as Arturo Ripstein) and regurgitate such energies with persuasively perverted mirth on the complexities of contemporary cultures (and their archaic values).…
Continue reading.
Look no further than Babis Makridis’ sophomore feature, the bluntly named Pity, for evidence of the villain who plays the victim so well. Like the converse of the guilty professional vs. wronged client scenario of fellow Greek Weird Wave alum Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Makidris crafts a familiar black comedy with the cruel austerity of which has marked every single one of the treatments penned by scribe Efthymis Filippou. In essence, this is more of the same mix of idiosyncratic banality which once seemed novel about a decade prior, when exercises like Dogtooth and Alps seemed to reorganize the remnants of certain art-house auteurs from the 1970s (such as Arturo Ripstein) and regurgitate such energies with persuasively perverted mirth on the complexities of contemporary cultures (and their archaic values).…
Continue reading.
- 1/15/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Babis Makridis's Pity (2018), which is receiving an exclusive global online premiere on Mubi, is showing from January 11 – February 9, 2019 as a Special Discovery.The bone-dry humor and flat affect that characterize the informal movement known as the “Greek Weird Wave” finds—somehow—even bleaker expression in Babis Makridis’s Pity, in which a nameless father and lawyer (Yannis Drakopoulos) becomes addicted to unhappiness while mourning his comatose wife. Equipped with the stilted language of Efythmis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos’s co-writer for practically every one of his films prior to this year’s The Favourite, Pity is a deceptively low-key entry into a national arthouse cinema distinguished by the work of Lanthimos and Athina Rachel Tsangari. Makridis’s second feature film is not a sweeping work so much as one with a fixed target: Pity intimately navigates the state of...
- 1/11/2019
- MUBI
Grímur Hákonarson’s Rams follow-up The County to screen footage out of competition.
The 10th edition of the Les Arcs Film Festival has selected its crop of work in progress projects.
The festival unveiled its co-production project selection and inaugural Talent Village last week.
Completing this year’s Industry Village are 15 projects, all of which are in post-production and do not yet have sales agents attached.
They include new projects from director Babis Makridis, whose Pity premiered at Sundance this year, Damjan Kozole, whose Nightlife won best director at Karlovy Vary in 2016, and Levan Akin whose The Circle was a 2015 Berlinale selection.
The 10th edition of the Les Arcs Film Festival has selected its crop of work in progress projects.
The festival unveiled its co-production project selection and inaugural Talent Village last week.
Completing this year’s Industry Village are 15 projects, all of which are in post-production and do not yet have sales agents attached.
They include new projects from director Babis Makridis, whose Pity premiered at Sundance this year, Damjan Kozole, whose Nightlife won best director at Karlovy Vary in 2016, and Levan Akin whose The Circle was a 2015 Berlinale selection.
- 11/29/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Variety has been given exclusive access to the first teasers for Syllas Tzoumerkas’ female revenge story “The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea” – being sold at Afm by Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales.
Set in a small eel-farming town in the west of Greece it’s a story of two women, who live solitary lives while dreaming of getting away. One of them is Elisabeth, a once-ambitious policewoman forced to relocate from Athens 10 years ago and now living a joyless, hung over life; the other is Rita, a quiet, mysterious sister of a local music star. When a sudden suicide case upsets the town and turns the local community upside-down, the two women who have been ignoring each other’s existence so far begin drifting toward each other. As the secrets hidden in the swamps begin to surface, they will have a chance to become each other’s saviors.
Set in a small eel-farming town in the west of Greece it’s a story of two women, who live solitary lives while dreaming of getting away. One of them is Elisabeth, a once-ambitious policewoman forced to relocate from Athens 10 years ago and now living a joyless, hung over life; the other is Rita, a quiet, mysterious sister of a local music star. When a sudden suicide case upsets the town and turns the local community upside-down, the two women who have been ignoring each other’s existence so far begin drifting toward each other. As the secrets hidden in the swamps begin to surface, they will have a chance to become each other’s saviors.
- 11/1/2018
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Titles include Ash Is Purest White and Burning.
Turkey’s Adana Film Festival (September 22-30) has revealed its International Competition titles and jury.
The nine-strong line-up, all Turkish premieres, includes Cannes competition titles Ash Is Purest White (Jia Zhangke) and Burning (Lee Chang-Dong), Karlovy Vary winner I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History As Barbarians (Radu Jude) and Olivier Assayas’ Venice competition title Non-Fiction.
It also includes the Turkish premiere of Mahmut Fazil Coskun’s The Announcement, which won a special jury prize in the Horizons section at Venice Film Festival this month and is also in the festival’s National Competition.
Turkey’s Adana Film Festival (September 22-30) has revealed its International Competition titles and jury.
The nine-strong line-up, all Turkish premieres, includes Cannes competition titles Ash Is Purest White (Jia Zhangke) and Burning (Lee Chang-Dong), Karlovy Vary winner I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History As Barbarians (Radu Jude) and Olivier Assayas’ Venice competition title Non-Fiction.
It also includes the Turkish premiere of Mahmut Fazil Coskun’s The Announcement, which won a special jury prize in the Horizons section at Venice Film Festival this month and is also in the festival’s National Competition.
- 9/17/2018
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Ewa Puszczyńska, Klaudia Śmieja, Jan Naszewski join forces.
Ewa Puszczyńska and Klaudia Śmieja have joined forces with Jan Naszewski’s Poland-based New Europe Film Sales (Rams) to form production company Nem Corp.
The company is putting together a slate that will aim to attract international film projects to Poland, with a view to taking advantage of the 30% tax incentives newly introduced by the Polish parliament, as well as the soft money and private funding opportunities available in the country.
It will do co-production and service work, as well as developing new projects with Polish talents. New Europe will take on...
Ewa Puszczyńska and Klaudia Śmieja have joined forces with Jan Naszewski’s Poland-based New Europe Film Sales (Rams) to form production company Nem Corp.
The company is putting together a slate that will aim to attract international film projects to Poland, with a view to taking advantage of the 30% tax incentives newly introduced by the Polish parliament, as well as the soft money and private funding opportunities available in the country.
It will do co-production and service work, as well as developing new projects with Polish talents. New Europe will take on...
- 8/31/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Ewa Puszczyńska, the producer behind Pawel Pawlikowski’s Oscar-winner “Ida” and the director’s Cannes best director award winner and Toronto Film Festival entry “Cold War,” is setting up a new production company, Nem Corp., with Klaudia Śmieja, the producer of Claire Denis’ Toronto film “High Life” and Agnieszka Holland’s upcoming “Gareth Jones,” and sales agent Jan Naszewski’s New Europe Film Sales.
Nem Corp. intends to attract “prestigious international film projects” to Poland, both as co-productions and service work, as well as develop projects of its own with top Polish talent. The company, which is already working on a slate of projects, wants to take advantage of the 30% tax incentive newly introduced by the Polish parliament as well as the soft money and private funding opportunities available in Poland.
Puszczyńska co-produced Robert Schwentke’s “The Captain” and Rezo Gigineishvili’s Berlinale-selected “Hostages,” and works as an expert for the Torino Film Lab.
Nem Corp. intends to attract “prestigious international film projects” to Poland, both as co-productions and service work, as well as develop projects of its own with top Polish talent. The company, which is already working on a slate of projects, wants to take advantage of the 30% tax incentive newly introduced by the Polish parliament as well as the soft money and private funding opportunities available in Poland.
Puszczyńska co-produced Robert Schwentke’s “The Captain” and Rezo Gigineishvili’s Berlinale-selected “Hostages,” and works as an expert for the Torino Film Lab.
- 8/31/2018
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Titles include Berlin winner ‘Touch Me Not’, ‘Cold War’ and ‘Paddington 2’.
The 49 films recommended for nomination for the 2018 European Film Awards have been revealed.
Scroll down for full list of titles
The list includes Adina Pintilie’s Berlin winner Touch Me Not and Cannes prize winners Cold War, Dogman and Happy As Lazzaro.
Films with UK involvement on the list include Michael Pearce’s Beast and Paddington 2.
The films were selected by the 20 countries with the most Efa members as well as a selection committee consisting of the Efa board and experts.
In the coming weeks, more than...
The 49 films recommended for nomination for the 2018 European Film Awards have been revealed.
Scroll down for full list of titles
The list includes Adina Pintilie’s Berlin winner Touch Me Not and Cannes prize winners Cold War, Dogman and Happy As Lazzaro.
Films with UK involvement on the list include Michael Pearce’s Beast and Paddington 2.
The films were selected by the 20 countries with the most Efa members as well as a selection committee consisting of the Efa board and experts.
In the coming weeks, more than...
- 8/21/2018
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Crystal Swan, a Belarus/Germany/Russia/U.S. co-production directed by Darya Zhuk, was awarded the Grand Prix of Odessa International Film Festival at the closing ceremony held in the Ukrainian port city July 21.
Pity, by Greek director Babis Makridis, picked up the international competition's best film award. Makridis also collected the best director award.
The jury's special mention went to the Romania-France film Pororoca, directed by Constantin Popescu.
Victor Polster collected the best performance award for Girl by Belgian director Lukas Dhont.
Home Games by Alisa Kovalenko, co-produced by Ukraine, France and Poland, was awarded the best European documentary prize.
Delta, directed ...
Pity, by Greek director Babis Makridis, picked up the international competition's best film award. Makridis also collected the best director award.
The jury's special mention went to the Romania-France film Pororoca, directed by Constantin Popescu.
Victor Polster collected the best performance award for Girl by Belgian director Lukas Dhont.
Home Games by Alisa Kovalenko, co-produced by Ukraine, France and Poland, was awarded the best European documentary prize.
Delta, directed ...
- 7/21/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Crystal Swan, a Belarus/Germany/Russia/U.S. co-production directed by Darya Zhuk, was awarded the Grand Prix of Odessa International Film Festival at the closing ceremony held in the Ukrainian port city July 21.
Pity, by Greek director Babis Makridis, picked up the international competition's best film award. Makridis also collected the best director award.
The jury's special mention went to the Romania-France film Pororoca, directed by Constantin Popescu.
Victor Polster collected the best performance award for Girl by Belgian director Lukas Dhont.
Home Games by Alisa Kovalenko, co-produced by Ukraine, France and Poland, was awarded the best European documentary prize.
Delta, directed ...
Pity, by Greek director Babis Makridis, picked up the international competition's best film award. Makridis also collected the best director award.
The jury's special mention went to the Romania-France film Pororoca, directed by Constantin Popescu.
Victor Polster collected the best performance award for Girl by Belgian director Lukas Dhont.
Home Games by Alisa Kovalenko, co-produced by Ukraine, France and Poland, was awarded the best European documentary prize.
Delta, directed ...
- 7/21/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based sales outfit New Europe Film Sales has announced multiple sales for Paweł Maślona’s black comedy “Panic Attack,” which had its international premiere this week in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s main competition.
The film, which was a box-office hit in Poland this year, has been sold to Greece (Neo), Lithuania (Kino Pavasaris), Iceland (Bio Paradis), and Central and Eastern Europe (HBO Central Europe). Further deals, including U.K., are under negotiation. The film is also attracting interest from producers looking to remake it for their local markets, according to the sales agency.
“Panic Attack” comprises six stories about ordinary people put in extreme situations, which cause them to experience a panic attack. “We experience a roller coaster of events: a woman meets her two exes during one night, a couple picks the worst seat on an airplane, a young girl risks having her girlfriends expose her as a porn star,...
The film, which was a box-office hit in Poland this year, has been sold to Greece (Neo), Lithuania (Kino Pavasaris), Iceland (Bio Paradis), and Central and Eastern Europe (HBO Central Europe). Further deals, including U.K., are under negotiation. The film is also attracting interest from producers looking to remake it for their local markets, according to the sales agency.
“Panic Attack” comprises six stories about ordinary people put in extreme situations, which cause them to experience a panic attack. “We experience a roller coaster of events: a woman meets her two exes during one night, a couple picks the worst seat on an airplane, a young girl risks having her girlfriends expose her as a porn star,...
- 7/5/2018
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
By Peter BelsitoThis Greek film tells a compelling and odd story.While his wife lies in a seemingly permanent coma, an attorney comes to depend on the kindness of strangers in a dark comedy written by director Babis Makridis and ‘The Lobster’ scribe Efthymis Filippou.
Even when he’s sobbing — which he does frequently — the unnamed lead character in this beach side, sunny, pitch-black comedy has a mechanical quality, unemotional.
He is gentle with his unconscious bed ridden wife — is she dying? — we never know.
His wife has been hospitalized since an accident, her prospects of recovery from a coma looking increasingly dim.
His routine is strange. He wears his pain routinely, mechanically with the same proud precision as his crisp lawyer suits.
His constant sadness can feel like a form of bullying, manipulating others to fill the awkward silence with gestures of sympathy. Very important to him are the...
Even when he’s sobbing — which he does frequently — the unnamed lead character in this beach side, sunny, pitch-black comedy has a mechanical quality, unemotional.
He is gentle with his unconscious bed ridden wife — is she dying? — we never know.
His wife has been hospitalized since an accident, her prospects of recovery from a coma looking increasingly dim.
His routine is strange. He wears his pain routinely, mechanically with the same proud precision as his crisp lawyer suits.
His constant sadness can feel like a form of bullying, manipulating others to fill the awkward silence with gestures of sympathy. Very important to him are the...
- 2/5/2018
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
“How much pleasure did you take as a kid, Lasher said, in imagining yourself dead?”
“Never mind as a kid,” Grappa said. “I still do it all the time. Whenever I’m upset over something, I imagine all my friends, relatives and colleagues gathered at my bier. They are very, very sorry they weren't nicer to me while I lived. Self-pity is something I've worked very hard to maintain. Why abandon it just because you grow up? Self-pity is something that children are very good at, which must mean it is natural and important. Imagining yourself dead is the cheapest, sleaziest, most satisfying form of childish self-pity. How sad and remorseful and guilty all those people are, standing by your great bronze coffin. They can't even look each other in the eye because they know that the death of this decent and compassionate man is the result of a conspiracy they all took part in.
“Never mind as a kid,” Grappa said. “I still do it all the time. Whenever I’m upset over something, I imagine all my friends, relatives and colleagues gathered at my bier. They are very, very sorry they weren't nicer to me while I lived. Self-pity is something I've worked very hard to maintain. Why abandon it just because you grow up? Self-pity is something that children are very good at, which must mean it is natural and important. Imagining yourself dead is the cheapest, sleaziest, most satisfying form of childish self-pity. How sad and remorseful and guilty all those people are, standing by your great bronze coffin. They can't even look each other in the eye because they know that the death of this decent and compassionate man is the result of a conspiracy they all took part in.
- 2/2/2018
- MUBI
New Europe Film Sales boards work in progress.
Swedish artist and filmmaker Anna Odell’s (The Reunion) next feature has been picked up for world sales by Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales.
Source: MousTrap Films
Anna Odell in The Reunion
The untitled feature stars Odell alongside Scandinavian talent Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Sofie Gråböl, Vera Vitali, Thure Lindhart, Jens Albinus and Shanti Roney. The unscripted project is an attempt to examine the masculine and feminine identities, it will mix reality and fiction in an effort to create conflict.
The film is currently in the editing suite with delivery set for mid-to-late 2018. New Europe will be showing clips to industry at the Nordic Film Market in Goteborg this week, where it is part of the festival’s works in progress showcase.
Producers are Frida Bargo and Mattias Nohrborg at B-reel Films, in co-production with Film i Väst, Swedish Television, Avenyfamiljen, Fasad Produktion and Nimbus and supported by [link=co...
Swedish artist and filmmaker Anna Odell’s (The Reunion) next feature has been picked up for world sales by Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales.
Source: MousTrap Films
Anna Odell in The Reunion
The untitled feature stars Odell alongside Scandinavian talent Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, Sofie Gråböl, Vera Vitali, Thure Lindhart, Jens Albinus and Shanti Roney. The unscripted project is an attempt to examine the masculine and feminine identities, it will mix reality and fiction in an effort to create conflict.
The film is currently in the editing suite with delivery set for mid-to-late 2018. New Europe will be showing clips to industry at the Nordic Film Market in Goteborg this week, where it is part of the festival’s works in progress showcase.
Producers are Frida Bargo and Mattias Nohrborg at B-reel Films, in co-production with Film i Väst, Swedish Television, Avenyfamiljen, Fasad Produktion and Nimbus and supported by [link=co...
- 2/1/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Titles both score Benelux deals.
New Europe Film Sales has closed early deals on two of its titles playing this week at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr).
Source: Iffr
Loveling / Pity
Brazil-Uruguay drama Loveling, which premiered as the opening film of Sundance’s World Cinema Competition and had its European premiere in Iffr’s Voices strand, has been picked up for France (Condor/Version Original) and Benelux (September Film Distribution).
The film follows a mother, played by Karine Teles, who struggles to let go of her 17-year-old son after he signs up for a sporting contract in Germany. Gustavo Pizzi directed, Tatiana Leite produced and executive producers were Leo Ribeiro and Rodrigo Leite.
Screen’s review called it a “charming drama” and an “audience-pleaser” that is “destined for healthy festival exposure”.
New Europe has also struck a Benelux deal (Filmfreak) alongside an agreement for Turkey (Bir) on its title Pity. The film also premiered...
New Europe Film Sales has closed early deals on two of its titles playing this week at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr).
Source: Iffr
Loveling / Pity
Brazil-Uruguay drama Loveling, which premiered as the opening film of Sundance’s World Cinema Competition and had its European premiere in Iffr’s Voices strand, has been picked up for France (Condor/Version Original) and Benelux (September Film Distribution).
The film follows a mother, played by Karine Teles, who struggles to let go of her 17-year-old son after he signs up for a sporting contract in Germany. Gustavo Pizzi directed, Tatiana Leite produced and executive producers were Leo Ribeiro and Rodrigo Leite.
Screen’s review called it a “charming drama” and an “audience-pleaser” that is “destined for healthy festival exposure”.
New Europe has also struck a Benelux deal (Filmfreak) alongside an agreement for Turkey (Bir) on its title Pity. The film also premiered...
- 1/31/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Yannis Chalkiadakis has been an editor of advertisements, shorts and feature films since 1993. His recent credits include Interruption (2015, Venice), A Woman’s Way (2009, Berlin) and L (2012, Sundance). He edited that last film for Babis Makridis, who returned to Sundance this year for his dark comedy Pity. Chalkiadakis speaks with Filmmaker below on the parallels between editing and sculpture, the influence of Hitchcock on his work and why, when it comes to editing, “it’s not the software that counts.” Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and […]...
- 1/30/2018
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Greek director Babis Makridis premiered his debut feature L at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. He returned to the festival this year for his follow-up, the dark comedy Pity co-written by the co-writer of Yorgos Lanthimos’s films. The film stars Yannis Drakopoulos as a self-absorbed sad-sack addicted to the pity of others. Pity was shot by Konstantinos Koukoulios, here making his debut as a Dp of features. Koukoulios spoke with Filmmaker about the influence of Edward Hopper on the movie, lighting a forest at night and his primary aesthetic goal: to make a film about sadness that doesn’t look sad. Filmmaker: How and why did […]...
- 1/30/2018
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The 2018 Sundance Film Festival wasn’t a big marketplace compared to previous editions, but critics found plenty of cinematic highlights to celebrate in this year’s lineup, regardless of how much interest they attracted from hungry buyers. IndieWire invited dozens of critics attending the festival to vote on their favorite films of the lineup, and the movie that received the most support won no awards and didn’t even land distribution before the end of the festival, but stood out as one of the most widely praised selections anyway.
Read More:The 2018 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview, and News Item Posted During the Festival
“Madeline’s Madeline,” the third feature from writer-director Josephine Decker and her first at Sundance, topped IndieWire’s annual critics survey of the top films with 15% of the vote in the Best Film category. Decker’s surreal drama, which premiered in the festival’s Next section,...
Read More:The 2018 IndieWire Sundance Bible: Every Review, Interview, and News Item Posted During the Festival
“Madeline’s Madeline,” the third feature from writer-director Josephine Decker and her first at Sundance, topped IndieWire’s annual critics survey of the top films with 15% of the vote in the Best Film category. Decker’s surreal drama, which premiered in the festival’s Next section,...
- 1/29/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
An unspoken consensus exists among prominent Greek filmmakers, including Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth), Athina Rachel Tsangari (Chevalier), and Argyris Papadimitropoulos (Suntan), regarding the validity of the so-called “Weird Wave.” In their rare eyes, a collective effort at creating similarly themed or formally related tales of peculiar subjects didn’t emerge premeditatedly. But in spite of their individual disassociation from this construct created by critics, Greek films in the last decade undeniably appear to share a tonal and aesthetic DNA, which may very well come from their national idiosyncrasies and dramatic tradition. As the latest entry in this mind-bending catalogue, Babis Makridis' sophomore feature Pity, co-written with Oscar-nominated scribe (and Lanthimos' longtime accomplice) Efthimis Filippou, is a master class in the psychological examination of a character on the verge...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 1/23/2018
- Screen Anarchy
Pain is not only painful; it’s repetitious. At least that’s the case in director Babis Makridis’ “Pity,” a slow-burn drama about the relentless heartache loss tends to cause. In the beginning, we find Giannis (Yannis Drakopoulos) standing inside his home, in front of the door. He’s in a white button-up shirt and horn-rimmed glasses. There’s a knock at the door. A woman enters. She has a homemade Bundt cake. In “Pity,” there is an endless supply of these luscious pastries. It’s one of the few bright spots in Giannis’ otherwise morbid existence. The film trudges through the trenches of his wife’s...
- 1/20/2018
- by Sam Fragoso
- The Wrap
Even when he's sobbing — one of his cherished pastimes — the unnamed lead character in Babis Makridis' sun-drenched, pitch-black comedy has a robotic quality, stiff-limbed and blank-faced. His ultra-mannered eccentricity might be attributed to his being partly the creation of Efthimis Filippou, the foremost screenwriter of the Greek Weird Wave, with Dogtooth, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer among his credits.
But while the provocative ideas in some of those collaborations with Yorgos Lanthimos devolved into tiresome pretension, Pity offers something far more satisfying. As stylized as Makridis' second feature is, it's grounded in recognizable behavior,...
But while the provocative ideas in some of those collaborations with Yorgos Lanthimos devolved into tiresome pretension, Pity offers something far more satisfying. As stylized as Makridis' second feature is, it's grounded in recognizable behavior,...
- 1/20/2018
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Pity,” the second feature from Greek filmmaker Babis Makridis, begins and ends with the sight and sounds of a weeping man, and in between is divided into chapters through aggressive use of intertitles. Their ubiquity recalls the rhythm of a silent film, with every action articulated in plain sight for viewer comprehension; the first appearance of an intertitle suggests poetry as a means of introduction, but with every appearance thereafter we realize that Makridis is simply plucking thoughts from his protagonist’s head and placing them on-screen to spare the audience the chore of mind reading.
Continue reading ‘Pity’ Swings Too Dark In Its Satiric Portrait Of Sorrow [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Pity’ Swings Too Dark In Its Satiric Portrait Of Sorrow [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
- 1/19/2018
- by Andrew Crump
- The Playlist
Starting this week, the 2018 Sundance Film Festival gives us a first glimpse at the year in cinema, but even if you won’t be at Park City, we’re rounding up an initial glimpse at the premieres. After highlighting our most-anticipated films, bookmark this page for a continually-updated round-up of trailers and clips, kicking off with the Jon Hamm-led Beirut, World Cinema offerings Pity and Loveling, the documentaries Seeing Allred and Genesis 2.0 (pictured above), and more.
Check out the trailers (and clips) below thus far in alphabetical order and we’ll be posting reviews from Park City soon, so follow along here.
Beirut (Brad Anderson)
A U.S. diplomat flees Lebanon in 1972 after a tragic incident at his home. Ten years later, he is called back to war-torn Beirut by CIA operatives to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind.
A Boy, A Girl, A Dream.
Check out the trailers (and clips) below thus far in alphabetical order and we’ll be posting reviews from Park City soon, so follow along here.
Beirut (Brad Anderson)
A U.S. diplomat flees Lebanon in 1972 after a tragic incident at his home. Ten years later, he is called back to war-torn Beirut by CIA operatives to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind.
A Boy, A Girl, A Dream.
- 1/15/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
I Am Not A Witch among titles supported.
Source: Kinology
I Am Not A Witch
European Film Promotion (Efp) is backing nine European features that are travelling to this month’s Sundance Film Festival (January 18-28).
Through its Film Sales Support programme, the organisation is giving a €35,000 boost to the marketing of the selected titles.
Four of the titles are screening in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition: Isold Uggadottir’s And Breathe Normally (The Match Factory), Gustav Möller’s The Guilty (TrustNordisk), Isabella Eklöf’s Holiday (Heretic Outreach), and Babis Makridis’ Pity (New European Film Sales).
A further four are in the World Cinema Documentary Competition: Christian Frei’s Genesis 2.0 (Rise and Shine World Sales), Talal Derki’s Of Fathers And Sons (Autlook Filmsales), Samuel Collardey’s A Polar Year (Kinology), and Lorna Tucker’s Westwood (Dogwoof).
Finally, in Sundance’s Spotlight section, Rungano Nyoni’s Bafta-nominated I Am Not A Witch (Kinology) will also receive...
Source: Kinology
I Am Not A Witch
European Film Promotion (Efp) is backing nine European features that are travelling to this month’s Sundance Film Festival (January 18-28).
Through its Film Sales Support programme, the organisation is giving a €35,000 boost to the marketing of the selected titles.
Four of the titles are screening in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition: Isold Uggadottir’s And Breathe Normally (The Match Factory), Gustav Möller’s The Guilty (TrustNordisk), Isabella Eklöf’s Holiday (Heretic Outreach), and Babis Makridis’ Pity (New European Film Sales).
A further four are in the World Cinema Documentary Competition: Christian Frei’s Genesis 2.0 (Rise and Shine World Sales), Talal Derki’s Of Fathers And Sons (Autlook Filmsales), Samuel Collardey’s A Polar Year (Kinology), and Lorna Tucker’s Westwood (Dogwoof).
Finally, in Sundance’s Spotlight section, Rungano Nyoni’s Bafta-nominated I Am Not A Witch (Kinology) will also receive...
- 1/11/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
While “Greek Weird Wave” might not be the exact right nomenclature for the collection of pitch black comedies that continue to spill forth from the very talented filmmakers of the Mediterranean country, it’s hard to shake one simple fact: some of this stuff really is weird. But delightfully so! The next great entry into the sub-genre is set for a Sundance debut, when director Babis Makridis (“L”) and co-writer Efthimis Filippou (“Dogtooth,” “The Lobster”) premiere their latest work of wacky self-loathing: “Pity.”
The story is simple, following a nameless everyman, played by comedian Yannis Drakopoulos, who revels in unhappiness, lives for being sad, and relishes being, well, pitied. His life is made all the better — worse? — when his wife falls into a coma, a terrible situation that comes complete with plenty of sadness and whole heaps of pity. It’s kind of ideal. But can it possibly last?
Read...
The story is simple, following a nameless everyman, played by comedian Yannis Drakopoulos, who revels in unhappiness, lives for being sad, and relishes being, well, pitied. His life is made all the better — worse? — when his wife falls into a coma, a terrible situation that comes complete with plenty of sadness and whole heaps of pity. It’s kind of ideal. But can it possibly last?
Read...
- 1/10/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Festival launches international competition to be judged by audiences.
The Goteborg Film Festival (Jan 26-Feb 5) has unveiled its 2018 of 399 films from 78 countries.
Source: Goteborg Film Festival
Amateurs
Gabriela Pilcher’s Amateurs will open the festival and also compete for the lucrative Dragon Award for best Nordic film (full list of competition titles below).
Pilcher, who previously directed festival hit Eat Sleep Die, presents the world premiere of her second feature, which is about a small town in Sweden that hopes to revive its economic activity by bringing in a German discount supermarket. The supermarket brand asks local teenagers to make films about their hometown, but the films don’t turn out as expected.
The festival’s new prize, the Dragon Award for best international film, will be fought over by 20 international films that will be voted on by the festival audience for a $6,000 (Sek 50,000) prize.
Films competing are: Disobedience by Sebastián Lelio The Death of Stalin by [link=nm...
The Goteborg Film Festival (Jan 26-Feb 5) has unveiled its 2018 of 399 films from 78 countries.
Source: Goteborg Film Festival
Amateurs
Gabriela Pilcher’s Amateurs will open the festival and also compete for the lucrative Dragon Award for best Nordic film (full list of competition titles below).
Pilcher, who previously directed festival hit Eat Sleep Die, presents the world premiere of her second feature, which is about a small town in Sweden that hopes to revive its economic activity by bringing in a German discount supermarket. The supermarket brand asks local teenagers to make films about their hometown, but the films don’t turn out as expected.
The festival’s new prize, the Dragon Award for best international film, will be fought over by 20 international films that will be voted on by the festival audience for a $6,000 (Sek 50,000) prize.
Films competing are: Disobedience by Sebastián Lelio The Death of Stalin by [link=nm...
- 1/9/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: German sales outfit boards Hagar Ben-Asher film set in the days following WWII.
The Match Factory is reuniting with Israeli filmmaker Hagar Ben-Asher for her third feature film The War Has Ended.
The Cologne-based company will handle world sales on the film while managing director Michael Weber will co-produce the film through his Pola Pandora Filmproduktion outfit in Berlin alongside Poland’s Madants and Israel’s Transfax Film Productions.
Pitching the €3.5m project at this week’s Polish Days in Wroclaw, Madants’ Beata Rzezniczek said the planned Polish majority production - which received development funding from the Polish-German Fund at the beginning of 2017 - is set to begin shooting at locations in Poland from late 2018.
Set in the days following the Second World War, The War Has Ended sees a marionette puppeteer rescuing a 13-year-old girl from verge of death and subsequently teaching her the art of puppeteering. Their lives become intertwined through circumstances and the...
The Match Factory is reuniting with Israeli filmmaker Hagar Ben-Asher for her third feature film The War Has Ended.
The Cologne-based company will handle world sales on the film while managing director Michael Weber will co-produce the film through his Pola Pandora Filmproduktion outfit in Berlin alongside Poland’s Madants and Israel’s Transfax Film Productions.
Pitching the €3.5m project at this week’s Polish Days in Wroclaw, Madants’ Beata Rzezniczek said the planned Polish majority production - which received development funding from the Polish-German Fund at the beginning of 2017 - is set to begin shooting at locations in Poland from late 2018.
Set in the days following the Second World War, The War Has Ended sees a marionette puppeteer rescuing a 13-year-old girl from verge of death and subsequently teaching her the art of puppeteering. Their lives become intertwined through circumstances and the...
- 8/10/2017
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: German sales outfit boards Hagar Ben-Asher film set in the days following WWII.
The Match Factory is reuniting with Israeli filmmaker Hagar Ben-Asher for her third feature film The War Has Ended.
The Cologne-based sales company will also serve as a co-producer on the film through its Pola Pandora Filmproduktion outfit in Berlin alongside Poland’s Madants and Israel’s Transfax Film Productions.
Pitching the €3.5m project at this week’s Polish Days in Wroclaw, Madants’ Beata Rzezniczek said the planned Polish majority production - which received development funding from the Polish-German Fund at the beginning of 2017 - is set to begin shooting at locations in Poland from late 2018.
Set in the days following the Second World War, The War Has Ended sees a marionette puppeteer rescuing a 13-year-old girl from verge of death and subsequently teaching her the art of puppeteering. Their lives become intertwined through circumstances and the belief that the war may never...
The Match Factory is reuniting with Israeli filmmaker Hagar Ben-Asher for her third feature film The War Has Ended.
The Cologne-based sales company will also serve as a co-producer on the film through its Pola Pandora Filmproduktion outfit in Berlin alongside Poland’s Madants and Israel’s Transfax Film Productions.
Pitching the €3.5m project at this week’s Polish Days in Wroclaw, Madants’ Beata Rzezniczek said the planned Polish majority production - which received development funding from the Polish-German Fund at the beginning of 2017 - is set to begin shooting at locations in Poland from late 2018.
Set in the days following the Second World War, The War Has Ended sees a marionette puppeteer rescuing a 13-year-old girl from verge of death and subsequently teaching her the art of puppeteering. Their lives become intertwined through circumstances and the belief that the war may never...
- 8/10/2017
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The project is co-written byDogtooth writer Efthimis Filippou.
Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has signed Babis Makridis’ black comedy Pity for world sales. The director’s follow-up to 2012 Sundance selection L is co-written by Makridis and Yorgos Lanthimos’ screenwriting collaborator Efthimis Filippou (Dogtooth, The Killing of a Sacred Deer).
Pity is billed as the absurd story of a lawyer who feels happy only when he is unhappy. When his wife falls into a coma, he notices how much better his life is when the people around him pity him. When she recovers, he becomes obsessed with being sad again.
Set for delivery later this year, the film is a Greek-Polish coproduction between Neda Film, Faliro House Productions, Madants and Beben Films, supported by Eurimages, The Onassis Foundation, Ert Sa, the Greek Film Center, & Polish Film Institute.
New Europe Film Sales’ past sales line-up has included Cannes Acid selection Scaffolding by Matan Yair, Berlinale Generation...
Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has signed Babis Makridis’ black comedy Pity for world sales. The director’s follow-up to 2012 Sundance selection L is co-written by Makridis and Yorgos Lanthimos’ screenwriting collaborator Efthimis Filippou (Dogtooth, The Killing of a Sacred Deer).
Pity is billed as the absurd story of a lawyer who feels happy only when he is unhappy. When his wife falls into a coma, he notices how much better his life is when the people around him pity him. When she recovers, he becomes obsessed with being sad again.
Set for delivery later this year, the film is a Greek-Polish coproduction between Neda Film, Faliro House Productions, Madants and Beben Films, supported by Eurimages, The Onassis Foundation, Ert Sa, the Greek Film Center, & Polish Film Institute.
New Europe Film Sales’ past sales line-up has included Cannes Acid selection Scaffolding by Matan Yair, Berlinale Generation...
- 5/17/2017
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Screen investigates which films from around the world could launch on the Croisette, including on opening night.
With just over a month to go before the line-up for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is unveiled in Paris, Croisette predictions and wish lists are hitting the web thick and fast.
Screen’s network of correspondents and contributors around the world have been putting out feelers to get a sense of what might or might not make it to the Palais du Cinéma or one of the parallel sections.
Just like the Oscars, this year’s festival is likely to unfold amid a politically-charged atmosphere. Beyond Trump and the rise of populism across the globe, France will be digesting the result of its own presidential election on May 7. Against this background, the festival will be feting its 70th edition.
Below, Screen reveals which titles might - and might not - be in the running for a place at the...
With just over a month to go before the line-up for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is unveiled in Paris, Croisette predictions and wish lists are hitting the web thick and fast.
Screen’s network of correspondents and contributors around the world have been putting out feelers to get a sense of what might or might not make it to the Palais du Cinéma or one of the parallel sections.
Just like the Oscars, this year’s festival is likely to unfold amid a politically-charged atmosphere. Beyond Trump and the rise of populism across the globe, France will be digesting the result of its own presidential election on May 7. Against this background, the festival will be feting its 70th edition.
Below, Screen reveals which titles might - and might not - be in the running for a place at the...
- 3/13/2017
- ScreenDaily
While the nation of Greece undergoes vast economic reform and it’s unstable political climate is shaking the boat, there is a neat little output of filmmaking talents who are taking the international film festival circuit by storm. We might be adding the name of Sofia Exarchou to a list that includes Babis Makridis, Panos H. Koutras and Alexandros Avranas as Greek filmmakers to look out for. With a pair of shorts under her belt, work on her feature debut began in 2012, Park collected a slew of support in the Crossroads Cnc Development Prize, Thessaloniki 2012, Eurimages Development Award, Sarajevo 2013 and both of the Sundance Institute’s January Screenwriter’s Lab & June Director’s Lab. It was the recent winner of the work in progress at Karlovy Vary, so all signs point to a 2016 fest unveiling with Park City a strong possibility.
Gist: Nine years have passed, and the Olympic Village in Athens,...
Gist: Nine years have passed, and the Olympic Village in Athens,...
- 11/25/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
BrinkVision has acquired the North American distribution rights for "L," a strange comedy film from the writer of the Oscar-nominated "Dogtooth." Read More: Meet the Sundance Filmmaker #34: Babis Makridis, "L"The quirky story follows a 40-year-old man who lives in his car and only meets with his family at a specified date in car parking lots. After getting fired from his job, he abandons his car, and his life begins to take on a new meaning. "L," which played at Sundance in January 2012, is directed by Babis Makridis and written by Efthymis Filippou. BrinkVision will release "L" on DVD and VOD August 26. ...
- 5/22/2014
- by Eric Eidelstein
- Indiewire
New projects from Peter Webber, Naomi Kawase [pictured], Alessandro Comodin, Eran Kolirin are in the 2014 selection.
The International Film Festival Rotterdam’s co-production market CineMart (26 – 29 January) has completed its selection for the 2014 edition.
The selection includes new projects from directors including Peter Webber, Naomi Kawase, Alessandro Comodin, Eran Kolirin, Alexis dos Santos and Alejandro Landes, Shereen Seno and Igor Drljaca.
Returning producers include Cedomir Kolar (Asap Films), Helena Danielsson (Hepp Films), and Piotr Kobus (Mañana).
Iffr and Cph:dox, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, combine forces at Iffr on the Art:Film initiative, which connects visual art to cinema. The three Art:Film projects presented at CineMart 2014 are Fierté nationale by Sven Augustijnen, Tarda Primavera by Michael Frammartino, and Invention by Mark Lewis.
The CineMart projects are eligible for two prizes: the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (€30,000 for a European co-production) and the the Arte France Cinéma Award (€5,000).
CineMart’s Bianca Taal and Nienke Poelsma said about the selection: “We are...
The International Film Festival Rotterdam’s co-production market CineMart (26 – 29 January) has completed its selection for the 2014 edition.
The selection includes new projects from directors including Peter Webber, Naomi Kawase, Alessandro Comodin, Eran Kolirin, Alexis dos Santos and Alejandro Landes, Shereen Seno and Igor Drljaca.
Returning producers include Cedomir Kolar (Asap Films), Helena Danielsson (Hepp Films), and Piotr Kobus (Mañana).
Iffr and Cph:dox, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, combine forces at Iffr on the Art:Film initiative, which connects visual art to cinema. The three Art:Film projects presented at CineMart 2014 are Fierté nationale by Sven Augustijnen, Tarda Primavera by Michael Frammartino, and Invention by Mark Lewis.
The CineMart projects are eligible for two prizes: the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award (€30,000 for a European co-production) and the the Arte France Cinéma Award (€5,000).
CineMart’s Bianca Taal and Nienke Poelsma said about the selection: “We are...
- 12/18/2013
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Mumbai, Oct 20: For Greek director Babis Makridis, movie making seems to be a way to escape reality.
The director, here for the 14th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff), says his movies make him lose all sense of time and space, and hopes his works have a similar effect on his audience as well.
"When I make a film, I lose sense of time and space. I want to forget reality. I hope the viewers lose sense of time and space for those two hours (too)," Makridis, whose
latest film "L" was screened at The.
The director, here for the 14th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff), says his movies make him lose all sense of time and space, and hopes his works have a similar effect on his audience as well.
"When I make a film, I lose sense of time and space. I want to forget reality. I hope the viewers lose sense of time and space for those two hours (too)," Makridis, whose
latest film "L" was screened at The.
- 10/20/2012
- by Leon David
- RealBollywood.com
14th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff) announced its complete lineup today in a press conference. Mff will be held from October 18th to 25th at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Ncpa) and Inox, Nariman Point, Liberty Cinemas, Marine Lines as the main festival venues and Cinemax, Andheri and Cinemax Sion as the satellite venues. Click here to watch trailers and highlights from the festival.
Here is the complete list of films to be screened during the festival (October 18-25)
International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors
1. From Tuesday To Tuesday (De Martes A Martes)
Dir.: Gustavo Fernandez Triviño (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 111′)
2. The Last Elvis (El Último Elvis)
Dir.: Armando Bo (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 91′)
3. The Sapphires
Dir.: Wayne Blair (Australia / 2012 / Col. / 103′)
4. The Wall (Die Wand)
Dir.: Julian Pölsler (Austria-Germany / 2012 / Col. / 108′)
5. Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis)
Dir.: Mads Matthiesen (Denmark / 2012 / Col. / 93′)
6. Augustine
Dir.: Alice Winccour (France / 2012 / Col.
Here is the complete list of films to be screened during the festival (October 18-25)
International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors
1. From Tuesday To Tuesday (De Martes A Martes)
Dir.: Gustavo Fernandez Triviño (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 111′)
2. The Last Elvis (El Último Elvis)
Dir.: Armando Bo (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 91′)
3. The Sapphires
Dir.: Wayne Blair (Australia / 2012 / Col. / 103′)
4. The Wall (Die Wand)
Dir.: Julian Pölsler (Austria-Germany / 2012 / Col. / 108′)
5. Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis)
Dir.: Mads Matthiesen (Denmark / 2012 / Col. / 93′)
6. Augustine
Dir.: Alice Winccour (France / 2012 / Col.
- 9/24/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
To celebrate their 5th anniversary, the Arizona Underground Film Festival has expanded to a whopping nine nights on Sept. 21-29 for a cinematic event the likes of Tucson has never seen before!
The shenanigans kick off with the opening night film The Legend of Kaspar Hauser, an experimental Italian feature directed by Davide Manuli and starring Vincent Gallo as the hero and the villain to a strange young boy, then end with the closing night film Jason M. Solomon’s nostalgic documentary 7 Years Underground: A 60′s Tale, which profiles the legendary Cafe Au Go Go in NYC that hosted such up-and-coming acts such as Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, George Carlin, Lily Tomlin and more.
In between those two films lies a twisted carnage of movie mayhem, including Spencer Parsons’ demented homage to ’70s mystery cartoons Saturday Morning Massacre; Michael Melamedoff exploitative semi-doc The Exhibitionists; Stephen Amis’ Australian WWII sci-fi...
The shenanigans kick off with the opening night film The Legend of Kaspar Hauser, an experimental Italian feature directed by Davide Manuli and starring Vincent Gallo as the hero and the villain to a strange young boy, then end with the closing night film Jason M. Solomon’s nostalgic documentary 7 Years Underground: A 60′s Tale, which profiles the legendary Cafe Au Go Go in NYC that hosted such up-and-coming acts such as Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, George Carlin, Lily Tomlin and more.
In between those two films lies a twisted carnage of movie mayhem, including Spencer Parsons’ demented homage to ’70s mystery cartoons Saturday Morning Massacre; Michael Melamedoff exploitative semi-doc The Exhibitionists; Stephen Amis’ Australian WWII sci-fi...
- 9/14/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 5th annual Arizona Underground Film Festival, which will run on Sept. 21-29 at various venues around Tucson, Arizona, has officially released the titles of six of the films that will be screening at this year’s event.
It’s clear from this half-dozen batch of movies that the fest will be sticking to its successful formula that has allowed it to grow by leaps and bounds since 2008. That formula consists of offering up a diverse batch of fun genre fare, controversial exploitation films, crowd-pleasing music documentaries and somewhat unclassifiable cinematic oddities.
The titles and brief descriptions are below. The full lineup will be available on Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film in early September.
The Legend of Kaspar Hauser, dir. Davide Manuli. In this Italian update of the Werner Herzog classic film, which was based on a true story, controversial American actor Vincent Gallo tackles the dual roles...
It’s clear from this half-dozen batch of movies that the fest will be sticking to its successful formula that has allowed it to grow by leaps and bounds since 2008. That formula consists of offering up a diverse batch of fun genre fare, controversial exploitation films, crowd-pleasing music documentaries and somewhat unclassifiable cinematic oddities.
The titles and brief descriptions are below. The full lineup will be available on Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film in early September.
The Legend of Kaspar Hauser, dir. Davide Manuli. In this Italian update of the Werner Herzog classic film, which was based on a true story, controversial American actor Vincent Gallo tackles the dual roles...
- 8/27/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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