Karim Aïnouz is following up his 2023 English-language debut “Firebrand” with a return to his Brazilian roots.
For his second consecutive Cannes premiere, Aïnouz helmed erotic thriller “Motel Destino” which will screen in competition at the festival. “Motel Destino” is Aïnouz’s sixth Cannes premiere, with his 2019 feature “Invisible Life” winning the Un Certain Regard award.
“Motel Destino” stars Iago Xavier and Nataly Rocha, who were selected from an extensive casting process, and renowned Brazilian actor Fabio Assunção. The official synopsis reads: “The neon-hued Motel Destino is a roadside sex hotel under the burning blue skies of the Northeastern coast of Brazil, run by the boorish Elias and his frustrated, beautiful wife Dayana. When 21-year-old Heraldo finds himself at the motel, after messing up a hit and going on the run from both the police and the gang he let down, Dayana finds herself intrigued and lets him stay. As the...
For his second consecutive Cannes premiere, Aïnouz helmed erotic thriller “Motel Destino” which will screen in competition at the festival. “Motel Destino” is Aïnouz’s sixth Cannes premiere, with his 2019 feature “Invisible Life” winning the Un Certain Regard award.
“Motel Destino” stars Iago Xavier and Nataly Rocha, who were selected from an extensive casting process, and renowned Brazilian actor Fabio Assunção. The official synopsis reads: “The neon-hued Motel Destino is a roadside sex hotel under the burning blue skies of the Northeastern coast of Brazil, run by the boorish Elias and his frustrated, beautiful wife Dayana. When 21-year-old Heraldo finds himself at the motel, after messing up a hit and going on the run from both the police and the gang he let down, Dayana finds herself intrigued and lets him stay. As the...
- 4/11/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Karim Aïnouz’s “Motel Destino,” which began filming last week, has eroticism, a recurring element in his films, as the backdrop. The Match Factory is selling the international rights.
His eighth fiction feature marks a return to the director’s Brazilian roots after having shot his first English-language production, “Firebrand,” starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law, which played in competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Aïnouz won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in 2019 for “Invisible Life.”
“Motel Destino” is an “intimate picture of a youth whose future has been stolen by a toxic and oppressive elite, against which rebellion and violence are often the only possible way out,” according to a press statement.
“‘Motel Destino’ is, above all, a love story,” Aïnouz said. “The love between a peripheral young man who lives against a system that wants him dead and a woman who resists the attacks...
His eighth fiction feature marks a return to the director’s Brazilian roots after having shot his first English-language production, “Firebrand,” starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law, which played in competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Aïnouz won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in 2019 for “Invisible Life.”
“Motel Destino” is an “intimate picture of a youth whose future has been stolen by a toxic and oppressive elite, against which rebellion and violence are often the only possible way out,” according to a press statement.
“‘Motel Destino’ is, above all, a love story,” Aïnouz said. “The love between a peripheral young man who lives against a system that wants him dead and a woman who resists the attacks...
- 8/7/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Karim Aïnouz has begun the Brazil shoot of erotic thriller Motel Destino, in a return to his roots after English-language drama Firebrand starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law.
The new feature began filming in the Brazilian-Algerian filmmaker’s native region of Ceará in north-eastern Brazil on July 31.
The Match Factory, which already represents several of Aïnouz’s films such as Mariner of the Mountains (2021), Invisible Life (2019) and Praia do Futuro (2014), has announced its acquisition of the international sales rights as shooting gets underway.
Motel Destino marks Aïnouz’s eighth feature after Firebrand, which world premiered in Competition in Cannes this year, and 2019 Un Certain Regard winner The Invisible Life.
The director says the film’s motel setting is “the main character of the plot”, describing it as an intersection for chronic issues of contemporary Brazil in which the future of the country’s youth has been stolen by a toxic and oppressive elite,...
The new feature began filming in the Brazilian-Algerian filmmaker’s native region of Ceará in north-eastern Brazil on July 31.
The Match Factory, which already represents several of Aïnouz’s films such as Mariner of the Mountains (2021), Invisible Life (2019) and Praia do Futuro (2014), has announced its acquisition of the international sales rights as shooting gets underway.
Motel Destino marks Aïnouz’s eighth feature after Firebrand, which world premiered in Competition in Cannes this year, and 2019 Un Certain Regard winner The Invisible Life.
The director says the film’s motel setting is “the main character of the plot”, describing it as an intersection for chronic issues of contemporary Brazil in which the future of the country’s youth has been stolen by a toxic and oppressive elite,...
- 8/7/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Project marks a return to the Brazilian director’s roots after his first English language production, Firebrand, debuted in Competition at Cannes this year.
Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz has started shooting his eighth fiction feature, Motel Destino which is being sold internationally by The Match Factory.
The project marks a return to the director’s roots after his first English language production, Firebrand starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law, debuted in Cannes Competition this year.
Motel Destino is being shot in the Brazilian state of Ceará, the director’s home state, and features two local talents, Iago Xavier and Nataly Rocha...
Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz has started shooting his eighth fiction feature, Motel Destino which is being sold internationally by The Match Factory.
The project marks a return to the director’s roots after his first English language production, Firebrand starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law, debuted in Cannes Competition this year.
Motel Destino is being shot in the Brazilian state of Ceará, the director’s home state, and features two local talents, Iago Xavier and Nataly Rocha...
- 8/7/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
A mainstay in the Un Certain Regard section (with a whopping four films as director/writer) and has sprinkled his films in Venice and Berlinale as well, Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz finally graduated to the competition section with a film that is very far removed from his native country. Firebrand follows the likes of Madame Satã (2002), O Céu de Suely (2006), and section winner A Vida Invisível de Eurídice Gusmão. He was also included as a Special Screening status for Mariner Of The Mountains in 2021.
In blood-soaked Tudor England, Katherine Parr (originally the role was assigned to Michelle Williams), the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII, is named Regent while tyrant Henry is fighting overseas.…...
In blood-soaked Tudor England, Katherine Parr (originally the role was assigned to Michelle Williams), the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII, is named Regent while tyrant Henry is fighting overseas.…...
- 5/24/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Early on in Karim Aïnouz’s richly textured and suspenseful historical drama, Firebrand, King Henry VIII commends his sixth and final wife, Catherine Parr, on her excellent job filling in as Regent while he’s been abroad engaged in warfare. Never mind the efforts to limit her powers to inconsequential matters, he tells her she won’t have to worry her “pretty little head” about all that anymore. The threat posed by women who think for themselves to the absolute power of men is a central theme in this starch-free tale of Tudor intrigue, its protofeminist perspective seamlessly woven into the narrative fabric without a hint of the didactic.
Brazilian director Aïnouz has been making hypnotically sensual movies laced with luxuriant melancholy for more than 20 years, among them such beguiling dramas as Madame Satã, The Silver Cliff and the criminally under-appreciated jewel Invisible Life (seriously, check it out, you’ll...
Brazilian director Aïnouz has been making hypnotically sensual movies laced with luxuriant melancholy for more than 20 years, among them such beguiling dramas as Madame Satã, The Silver Cliff and the criminally under-appreciated jewel Invisible Life (seriously, check it out, you’ll...
- 5/21/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hot Cannes title “Firebrand,” a period drama about Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII, has sold out internationally ahead of its world premiere on Sunday.
Sources tell Variety that the film has sold into STXInternational for the U.K. and to Sony Pictures for most other overseas markets. FilmNation has sold remaining international markets to independent international distributors.
In the U.K., Variety understands that Prime Video is in the process of buying the film from STX. This could mean that STX is handling a theatrical release, while Prime Video takes the film for streaming, or that the streamer will also handle theatrical in the territory. Sources indicate that Prime Video is also picking up streaming rights in a number of other international markets.
“Firebrand” is being shopped internationally by FilmNation while CAA is handling domestic sales. The film is still available for the U.S.
Sources tell Variety that the film has sold into STXInternational for the U.K. and to Sony Pictures for most other overseas markets. FilmNation has sold remaining international markets to independent international distributors.
In the U.K., Variety understands that Prime Video is in the process of buying the film from STX. This could mean that STX is handling a theatrical release, while Prime Video takes the film for streaming, or that the streamer will also handle theatrical in the territory. Sources indicate that Prime Video is also picking up streaming rights in a number of other international markets.
“Firebrand” is being shopped internationally by FilmNation while CAA is handling domestic sales. The film is still available for the U.S.
- 5/18/2023
- by Manori Ravindran, Elsa Keslassy and Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Karim Aïnouz has a deep passion for Rio de Janeiro’s bustling, rough streets and its many marginalized lives. His critically acclaimed debut, Madame Satã (2002), set in Rio in the 1930s, was a stylized take on the story of a trailblazing transvestite singer. Aïnouz didn’t shy away from the city’s crime, grime or poverty, but he showed his characters as shrewd and resilient, and the city’s social life as rich and vibrant. Aïnouz’s new film, the Un Certain Regard entry The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão, whose action takes place mostly ...
- 5/17/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Karim Aïnouz has a deep passion for Rio de Janeiro’s bustling, rough streets and its many marginalized lives. His critically acclaimed debut, Madame Satã (2002), set in Rio in the 1930s, was a stylized take on the story of a trailblazing transvestite singer. Aïnouz didn’t shy away from the city’s crime, grime or poverty, but he showed his characters as shrewd and resilient, and the city’s social life as rich and vibrant. Aïnouz’s new film, the Un Certain Regard entry The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão, whose action takes place mostly ...
- 5/17/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The “tropical melodrama” set in 1950s Rio de Janeiro
The Match Factory has sold Karim Aïnouz’’s Un Certain Regard title The Invisible Life Of Euridice Gusmao to France (Arp), Spain (Vertigo) and Germany (Piffl Medien) ahead of the start of Cannes next week.
The Invisible Life Of Euridice Gusmao, described as a “tropical melodrama”, is the Brazilian director’s first return to Cannes since Madame Satã also screened in Un Certain Regard in 2002. The new film is set in Rio de Janeiro in 1950 and is based on a novel by Martha Batalha. It stars Carol Duarte, Julia Stockler, Gregorio...
The Match Factory has sold Karim Aïnouz’’s Un Certain Regard title The Invisible Life Of Euridice Gusmao to France (Arp), Spain (Vertigo) and Germany (Piffl Medien) ahead of the start of Cannes next week.
The Invisible Life Of Euridice Gusmao, described as a “tropical melodrama”, is the Brazilian director’s first return to Cannes since Madame Satã also screened in Un Certain Regard in 2002. The new film is set in Rio de Janeiro in 1950 and is based on a novel by Martha Batalha. It stars Carol Duarte, Julia Stockler, Gregorio...
- 5/9/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
One project from Sri Lanka –Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s “Mother”– and another from Myanmar –The Maw Naing’s “The Women”– won ex-aequo, the main kudos at the Locarno Festival’s Open Doors co-production forum.
The winning projects share a high sensitivity towards female-related issues, a trend among many of the participants this year. The $50,000 award was split between the two.
Produced by Youngjeong Oh at Yangon-based One Point Zero, “The Women,” the third feature of The Maw Naing (Karlovy Vary-premiered “The Monk”) turns on the struggles of four women who have moved from remote villages to the city of Yangon, Myanmar to work and get a better life. The four women share a bedroom near the city factory area.
“Despite working hard and keeping their hopes high, they can’t escape from poverty. Their lives are not strongly connected, but from their present, we can see their past and future. I...
The winning projects share a high sensitivity towards female-related issues, a trend among many of the participants this year. The $50,000 award was split between the two.
Produced by Youngjeong Oh at Yangon-based One Point Zero, “The Women,” the third feature of The Maw Naing (Karlovy Vary-premiered “The Monk”) turns on the struggles of four women who have moved from remote villages to the city of Yangon, Myanmar to work and get a better life. The four women share a bedroom near the city factory area.
“Despite working hard and keeping their hopes high, they can’t escape from poverty. Their lives are not strongly connected, but from their present, we can see their past and future. I...
- 8/7/2018
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Locarno, Switzerland — Asian Shadows has acquired international rights to Suba Sivakumaran’s feature debut “House of My Fathers,” a project presented at Locarno’s Open Doors in 2016.
It will be the first Sri Lankan film on the slate of Asian Shadows, the Hong Kong-based sales agency representing Asian talent such as Chinese Wang Bing’s “Mrs. Fang,” a Golden Leopard Winner in 2017, and Thai Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s “Die Tomorrow,” premiered in Berlin this year.
“House of My Fathers” is produced by Suba Sivakumaran’s Palmyrah Talkies which is based in London, in co-production with Dominique Welinski at Dw Productions, whose credits include Karim Aïnouz’ “Madame Satã” and Alireza Khatami’s “Oblivion Verses.” Welinski is co-producing Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s new project “Mother,” which is being presented at this year 71st Locarno Open Doors Hub.
“We were amazed by the strength of the film, in both its style and message. Suba has...
It will be the first Sri Lankan film on the slate of Asian Shadows, the Hong Kong-based sales agency representing Asian talent such as Chinese Wang Bing’s “Mrs. Fang,” a Golden Leopard Winner in 2017, and Thai Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s “Die Tomorrow,” premiered in Berlin this year.
“House of My Fathers” is produced by Suba Sivakumaran’s Palmyrah Talkies which is based in London, in co-production with Dominique Welinski at Dw Productions, whose credits include Karim Aïnouz’ “Madame Satã” and Alireza Khatami’s “Oblivion Verses.” Welinski is co-producing Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s new project “Mother,” which is being presented at this year 71st Locarno Open Doors Hub.
“We were amazed by the strength of the film, in both its style and message. Suba has...
- 8/6/2018
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
Friends of Don Ranvaud remember the recently passed producer-sales agent-academic. “He was guided by ideals in a world where this is becoming rarer,” Salles tells Geoffrey Macnab.
Don Ranvaud was one of the most colourful figures on the international film circuit, a globe-trotting producer-sales agent-journalist-academic whose methods were sometimes chaotic but who inspired enormous affection and loyalty. Following his death last weekend, figures from across the industry have paid tribute to him.
“Don was a passionate, inspiring friend, and all of us who had the privilege to collaborate with him in Brazil are shocked and saddened by his disappearance,” director Walter Salles told Screen. “Don’s whole life revolved around cinema, and it is telling that he passed away in a film festival [Ranvaud suffered a hear attack at the Montreal Film Festival on September 5].
“What interested him was the humanity in films, what we could learn from the story and its characters. Don was vital for Central Station coming to life, as well as...
Don Ranvaud was one of the most colourful figures on the international film circuit, a globe-trotting producer-sales agent-journalist-academic whose methods were sometimes chaotic but who inspired enormous affection and loyalty. Following his death last weekend, figures from across the industry have paid tribute to him.
“Don was a passionate, inspiring friend, and all of us who had the privilege to collaborate with him in Brazil are shocked and saddened by his disappearance,” director Walter Salles told Screen. “Don’s whole life revolved around cinema, and it is telling that he passed away in a film festival [Ranvaud suffered a hear attack at the Montreal Film Festival on September 5].
“What interested him was the humanity in films, what we could learn from the story and its characters. Don was vital for Central Station coming to life, as well as...
- 9/9/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Karim Aïnouz's Playa del Futuro“Films are interesting when they’re specific.” So said Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz when asked why he explores identity—queer, national, gender, ethnic—in his films like Madame Satã and his most recent work, the sensuous Playa del Futuro. With his features being the focus of the International Film Festival Panama’s retrospective during its fourth edition, Aïnouz’s comment can also be extended to the fest’s (still evolving) mandate: an emphasis on—and bolstering of—the geographically specific cinemas in Central America. This idea of films defined by borders has increasingly gone out of vogue, as the nation state as it was defined in the 19th and 20th century has all but dissipated with increasing international co-financing and multi-national organizations not recognizing borders (let alone international labor laws). But as Aïnouz notes, this only makes festivals like Iffp more important: “It’s...
- 4/20/2015
- by Kiva Reardon
- MUBI
Joining the titles already announced—including films by Alain Resnais and Dominik Graf—the following films complete the lineup for the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival's Competition section.
Bai Ri Yan Huo (Black Coal, Thin Ice)
People’s Republic of China
By Yinan Diao (Night Train, Uniform)
With Fan Liao, Lun Mei Gwei, Xuebing Wang
World premiere
Boyhood
USA
By Richard Linklater (Before Midnight, Me & Orson Welles)
With Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater
International premiere
Chiisai Ouchi (The Little House)
Japan
By Yoji Yamada (Tokyo Family, About Her Brother)
With Takako Matsu, Haru Kuroki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chieko Baisho
International premiere
Historia del miedo (History of Fear)
Argentina / Uruguay / Germany / France
By Benjamin Naishtat - feature debut
With Jonathan Da Rosa, Claudia Cantero, Mirella Pascual, Cesar Bordon, Tatiana Gimenez
World premiere
Jack
Germany
By Edward Berger
With Ivo Pietzcker, Georg Arms, Luise Heyer, Vincent Redetzki, Jacob Matschenz,...
Bai Ri Yan Huo (Black Coal, Thin Ice)
People’s Republic of China
By Yinan Diao (Night Train, Uniform)
With Fan Liao, Lun Mei Gwei, Xuebing Wang
World premiere
Boyhood
USA
By Richard Linklater (Before Midnight, Me & Orson Welles)
With Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater
International premiere
Chiisai Ouchi (The Little House)
Japan
By Yoji Yamada (Tokyo Family, About Her Brother)
With Takako Matsu, Haru Kuroki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chieko Baisho
International premiere
Historia del miedo (History of Fear)
Argentina / Uruguay / Germany / France
By Benjamin Naishtat - feature debut
With Jonathan Da Rosa, Claudia Cantero, Mirella Pascual, Cesar Bordon, Tatiana Gimenez
World premiere
Jack
Germany
By Edward Berger
With Ivo Pietzcker, Georg Arms, Luise Heyer, Vincent Redetzki, Jacob Matschenz,...
- 1/15/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Ira Sachs has found the third piece in his acting puzzle in the rarely used, under-appreciated actress who since Bent Hamer’s Factotum has become a fixture of sorts for supporting roles in quality indie fare items (we loved her take in Cyrus as well). Marisa Tomei (replaces a once attached Kelly Reilly) in Love is Strange, landing the role of Kate, a novelist who is married to Ben’s (John Lithgow) nephew. The couple agrees to let Ben move in after he’s forced to sell his apartment. Production is set for the end of the month and will be produced by Parts & Labor’s Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy, Lucas Joaquin (producer on Sach’s brilliant Keep the Lights On – read our 4-star review) and Jayne Baron Sherman.
Gist: This follows a newlywed gay couple (John Lithgow and Alfred Molina) who are forced to live apart.
Worth...
Gist: This follows a newlywed gay couple (John Lithgow and Alfred Molina) who are forced to live apart.
Worth...
- 8/7/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The Brazilian drama Neighboring Sounds made it onto many critics’ best-of lists for 2012 and recently won Best Feature at the Cinema Tropical Awards in New York, which recognize excellence in Latin American cinema. The film’s director, Kleber Mendonça Filho, was in town to accept the award and to attend a screening at the Museum of the Moving Image of short films he produced over the last decade. The first of these shorts was made in 2002, the year Fernando Meirelles’ urban epic City of God burst onto the international scene and Madame Satã played at Cannes. In the decade …...
- 1/28/2013
- by Paul Dallas
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Strand Releasing
NEW YORK -- This latest film by Brazil's Karim Ainouz doesn't have the panache of his exuberant transvestite film Madame Sata, but it's still a well-observed slice of social realist cinema. The downbeat tale of a young woman turning to prostitution to escape life in a claustrophobic Brazilian town is well written, and benefits from naturalistic performances. It should do OK business in small upscale urban venues, though lack of a strong marketing angle might pose a problem.
The story revolves around Hermila (Hermila Guedes), a young woman striving to escape her oppressively small hometown in northeastern Brazil. Young and pretty but without prospects, she decides to raffle herself. The winner will get, as Hermila describes it, "a night in paradise." Dramatic tension is increased when a caring ex-boyfriend tries to keep her from leaving town.
Cinematography by Walter Carvalho (Central Station) successfully evokes the bleak feeling of a nowhere town. His compositions remind you of the work of famed American photographer Steven Shore, who made a career out of depicting such places in an esthetic style.
But Love for Sale, which opened Aug. 15, is generally an actors' piece. Guedes convincingly essays the role of a desperate innocent who gets slightly out of her depth. Some angry scenes with her mother ignite with dramatic intensity, and she subtly portrays a sad indifference towards the man who loves her. The final shot, a long static take of the town's road sign, has an Antonioni-esque feel.
NEW YORK -- This latest film by Brazil's Karim Ainouz doesn't have the panache of his exuberant transvestite film Madame Sata, but it's still a well-observed slice of social realist cinema. The downbeat tale of a young woman turning to prostitution to escape life in a claustrophobic Brazilian town is well written, and benefits from naturalistic performances. It should do OK business in small upscale urban venues, though lack of a strong marketing angle might pose a problem.
The story revolves around Hermila (Hermila Guedes), a young woman striving to escape her oppressively small hometown in northeastern Brazil. Young and pretty but without prospects, she decides to raffle herself. The winner will get, as Hermila describes it, "a night in paradise." Dramatic tension is increased when a caring ex-boyfriend tries to keep her from leaving town.
Cinematography by Walter Carvalho (Central Station) successfully evokes the bleak feeling of a nowhere town. His compositions remind you of the work of famed American photographer Steven Shore, who made a career out of depicting such places in an esthetic style.
But Love for Sale, which opened Aug. 15, is generally an actors' piece. Guedes convincingly essays the role of a desperate innocent who gets slightly out of her depth. Some angry scenes with her mother ignite with dramatic intensity, and she subtly portrays a sad indifference towards the man who loves her. The final shot, a long static take of the town's road sign, has an Antonioni-esque feel.
- 8/28/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Variety reports that Rob Williams has joined Wellspring Media as manager of acquisitions, rounding out the buying team that is led by Marie Therese Guirgis. Williams left his theatrical marketing post at DreamWorks' New York office to join the arthouse distributor, which is currently basking in the success of Alexander Sokurov's Russian Ark. Also on Wellspring's 2003 calendar is Bahman Ghobadi's Marooned in Iraq, Karim Ainouz's Madame Sata and Delphine Gleize's Carnages.
- 4/1/2003
- IMDbPro News
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