In a vibrant move reinforcing its commitment to Brazilian cinema, Paris-based MPM Premium has announced its acquisition of “Betânia,” prior to its Berlinale bow. The film will world premiere in the diverse Panorama strand of the festival.
The announcement marks another stride in MPM Premium’s journey of accompanying new and established Brazilian directors, having previously supported works from Sundance-selected Iuli Gerbase’s “The Pink Cloud” to Berlinale hits like Flavia Neves’ “Fogaréu” and renowned Karim Aïnouz recent experimental docs (“Nardjes A.” “Mariner of the Mountains.”)
“Set in a magical place – the sand dunes of Lençois in Northern Brazil – Betânia is a heartfelt portrait of a community observing the end of the world as they know it,” Quentin Worthington, head of sales and acquisitions at MPM Premium, told Variety.
“Far from playing a sad tone, we got euphoric with self-affirmed characters larger than life, a catchy music playing to our...
The announcement marks another stride in MPM Premium’s journey of accompanying new and established Brazilian directors, having previously supported works from Sundance-selected Iuli Gerbase’s “The Pink Cloud” to Berlinale hits like Flavia Neves’ “Fogaréu” and renowned Karim Aïnouz recent experimental docs (“Nardjes A.” “Mariner of the Mountains.”)
“Set in a magical place – the sand dunes of Lençois in Northern Brazil – Betânia is a heartfelt portrait of a community observing the end of the world as they know it,” Quentin Worthington, head of sales and acquisitions at MPM Premium, told Variety.
“Far from playing a sad tone, we got euphoric with self-affirmed characters larger than life, a catchy music playing to our...
- 12/22/2023
- by Callum McLennan
- 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
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
Sunday night at the 76th Cannes Film Festival was all about the world premiere of the Jude Law and Alicia Vikander Henry VIII period pic Firebrand, which received a royal response from the crowd in the Grand Theatre Lumiere with an eight and a half minute standing ovation.
Brazilian-Algerian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz directed the movie off a script by Henrietta Ashworth and Jessica Ashworth. The pic reps Aïnouz’s English language debut and it’s playing in competition.
Firebrand stars Oscar winner Vikander as Catherine Parr, the final wife of Henry VIII, a feminist force to be reckoned with who outlived the notorious king; the fate of his wives being either divorced, dead or beheaded. She is named Regent with the king warring abroad, and she’s done everything she can to push for a new future based on her radical Protestant beliefs. Law plays a royal on his way out,...
Brazilian-Algerian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz directed the movie off a script by Henrietta Ashworth and Jessica Ashworth. The pic reps Aïnouz’s English language debut and it’s playing in competition.
Firebrand stars Oscar winner Vikander as Catherine Parr, the final wife of Henry VIII, a feminist force to be reckoned with who outlived the notorious king; the fate of his wives being either divorced, dead or beheaded. She is named Regent with the king warring abroad, and she’s done everything she can to push for a new future based on her radical Protestant beliefs. Law plays a royal on his way out,...
- 5/21/2023
- by Baz Bamigboye and Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
By Glenn Dunks
The journey from Africa to Europe has been seen many times on screen in both documentary and fiction. Mariner of the Mountains, now available on streaming after screening at last year's Cannes Film Festival, begins with a journey in the opposite direction. Far less common and shown here being committed in relative luxury compared to the dangerous refugee boats often equated with cross-continental Mediterranean journeys.
Director Karim Aïnouz is familiar to some audiences for his films like Invisible Life and Futuro Beach that span continents and the way we often go looking for something somewhere else and don’t find it. Or struggle to. Or aren’t sure what it was they were looking for at all...
The journey from Africa to Europe has been seen many times on screen in both documentary and fiction. Mariner of the Mountains, now available on streaming after screening at last year's Cannes Film Festival, begins with a journey in the opposite direction. Far less common and shown here being committed in relative luxury compared to the dangerous refugee boats often equated with cross-continental Mediterranean journeys.
Director Karim Aïnouz is familiar to some audiences for his films like Invisible Life and Futuro Beach that span continents and the way we often go looking for something somewhere else and don’t find it. Or struggle to. Or aren’t sure what it was they were looking for at all...
- 6/2/2022
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Ambulance (Michael Bay)
The Marvel machine may be the most fortuitous development for Michael Bay. Though the director hasn’t dabbled in the world of superheroes—despite a fondness for a cinematic universe of the robot variety—the homogenized, green-screen wasteland of today’s box-office behemoths has indirectly led to a reappreciation of the director’s schoolboy giddiness for practical effects and continually upping the ante for where he can place a camera. As bombastic and occasionally mind-numbing as his approach may be, there’s distinct poetry to the momentum of a maximalist vision where previs filmmaking vis-a-vis a committee is not only missing from his vocabulary, but a kinetic approach makes such a proposition nigh impossible. With Ambulance, a streamlined spectacle that borrows liberally from Heat,...
Ambulance (Michael Bay)
The Marvel machine may be the most fortuitous development for Michael Bay. Though the director hasn’t dabbled in the world of superheroes—despite a fondness for a cinematic universe of the robot variety—the homogenized, green-screen wasteland of today’s box-office behemoths has indirectly led to a reappreciation of the director’s schoolboy giddiness for practical effects and continually upping the ante for where he can place a camera. As bombastic and occasionally mind-numbing as his approach may be, there’s distinct poetry to the momentum of a maximalist vision where previs filmmaking vis-a-vis a committee is not only missing from his vocabulary, but a kinetic approach makes such a proposition nigh impossible. With Ambulance, a streamlined spectacle that borrows liberally from Heat,...
- 5/27/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Karim Aïnouz's Mariner of the Mountains is showing exclusively on Mubi in most countries starting May 23, 2022 in the series Viewfinder.For over 50 years I have lived in-between, in the interstice, experiencing the constant indeterminacy of belonging and not belonging. Being Brazilian by provenance and matrilineage, being Algerian by name and happenstance I have always lived somehow in the interval of culture, neither here nor there, but in some sense everywhere.Mariner of the Mountains is an epistolary travel-diary to a country where my father was born, yet I had never seen. divided into several chapters: From Colorado to Algeria, passing through the Atlas Mountains, eventually finding Taguermount Azouz, the birthplace of my father, whom I only met when I was 18, and ending in the Mediterranean Sea. It is also a love letter to my mother, who raised me on her own, abandoned by the man she had fallen in love with before my birth,...
- 5/26/2022
- MUBI
The May 2022 lineup at Mubi here in the United States has been unveiled, most notably featuring a Cannes Takeover timed with the 75th edition of the festival. At long last, Arnaud Desplechin’s Philip Roth adaptation Deception will arrive stateside alongside Karim Ainouz’s documentary Mariner of the Mountains. Reaching further back into the festival’s history, Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure and The Square, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible, and Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank will also come to the service.
Their Franz Rogowski series will also continue with Great Freedom and Love Steaks, while works from Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Gia Coppola, Joachim Trier, Jeff Nichols, Satyajit Ray, Takashi Miike, and more will also arrive.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
5/1/2022 | Everybody Street | Cheryl Dunn
5/2/2022 | Love Steaks | Jakob Lass
5/3/2022 | Our Lady of the Nile | Atiq Rahimi
5/4/2022 | Time Piece | Jim Henson
5/5/2022 | R100 | Hitoshi Matsumoto...
Their Franz Rogowski series will also continue with Great Freedom and Love Steaks, while works from Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Gia Coppola, Joachim Trier, Jeff Nichols, Satyajit Ray, Takashi Miike, and more will also arrive.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
5/1/2022 | Everybody Street | Cheryl Dunn
5/2/2022 | Love Steaks | Jakob Lass
5/3/2022 | Our Lady of the Nile | Atiq Rahimi
5/4/2022 | Time Piece | Jim Henson
5/5/2022 | R100 | Hitoshi Matsumoto...
- 4/28/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Distribution
PBS Distribution will be the North American distribution partner for West Road Pictures and All3Media International series “Ridley.” It stars Adrian Dunbar (“Line of Duty”) as Detective Inspector Alex Ridley, who has retired from the police after 20 years of dedicated service. Now working in a consultancy role, Ridley resumes his partnership with his former protégée, Di Carol Farman, when she turns to him for help on a complex murder investigation.
The series, which consists of four two-hour episodes, is currently filming across Northern England, and will premiere on ITV in the U.K. It has sold to Npo in the Netherlands, Vrt in Flemish Belgium, BritBox for exclusive Australia streaming, Pumpkin TV has China VOD rights, and Rlj Entertainment has secured DVD/Video rights for Australia and New Zealand.
“Ridley” is written and created by Paul Matthew Thompson (“Vera”) and co-created by Jonathan Fisher (“Blood”), MD of West Road Pictures,...
PBS Distribution will be the North American distribution partner for West Road Pictures and All3Media International series “Ridley.” It stars Adrian Dunbar (“Line of Duty”) as Detective Inspector Alex Ridley, who has retired from the police after 20 years of dedicated service. Now working in a consultancy role, Ridley resumes his partnership with his former protégée, Di Carol Farman, when she turns to him for help on a complex murder investigation.
The series, which consists of four two-hour episodes, is currently filming across Northern England, and will premiere on ITV in the U.K. It has sold to Npo in the Netherlands, Vrt in Flemish Belgium, BritBox for exclusive Australia streaming, Pumpkin TV has China VOD rights, and Rlj Entertainment has secured DVD/Video rights for Australia and New Zealand.
“Ridley” is written and created by Paul Matthew Thompson (“Vera”) and co-created by Jonathan Fisher (“Blood”), MD of West Road Pictures,...
- 4/21/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) added 65 titles to its lineup Tuesday, unveiling the non-competitive program sections Best of Fests, Masters and Paradocs. The 34th edition of IDFA takes place from Nov. 17-28 in Amsterdam.
Best of Fests honors award winners, critics’ picks and audience favorites from the year’s festivals. The 46 strong selection includes India-set story about estranged lovers “A Night of Knowing Nothing” by Payal Kapadia, documentary award winner at Cannes, wildlife film “The Velvet Queen,” by debut director Marie Amiguet, “Users,” an exploration of humanity’s future by Natalia Almada, and “Taming the Garden,” the slow-cinema feature by Salomé Jashi.
These are joined by buzzy audience films such as Alison Klayman’s Alanis Morissette biopic “Jagged,” and Bing Liu and Joshua Altman’s “All These Sons,” from the filmmaking team behind “Minding the Gap.” The section also pays tribute to the surprise gems from the festival circuit,...
Best of Fests honors award winners, critics’ picks and audience favorites from the year’s festivals. The 46 strong selection includes India-set story about estranged lovers “A Night of Knowing Nothing” by Payal Kapadia, documentary award winner at Cannes, wildlife film “The Velvet Queen,” by debut director Marie Amiguet, “Users,” an exploration of humanity’s future by Natalia Almada, and “Taming the Garden,” the slow-cinema feature by Salomé Jashi.
These are joined by buzzy audience films such as Alison Klayman’s Alanis Morissette biopic “Jagged,” and Bing Liu and Joshua Altman’s “All These Sons,” from the filmmaking team behind “Minding the Gap.” The section also pays tribute to the surprise gems from the festival circuit,...
- 10/5/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
If you haven’t heard of The Match Factory, you probably don’t work in the international arthouse film arena. The German sales and production outfit is one of the world’s leading champions of auteur cinema and has consistently been involved in a raft of festival-winning titles since its inception in 2006. From Cannes Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives to Berlin Golden Bear winners Grbavica and Honey to Oscar-nominated titles Waltz With Bashir, Ajami, The Milk Of Sorrow, The Broken Circle Breakdown and Omar, the Cologne-based company is unwavering in its effort to bring distinct and striking titles to an international audience.
Michael Weber, managing director and mastermind behind the European outfit, and the company’s well-respected head of sales Thania Dimitrakopoulou, are in Cannes this week with their biggest and most eclectic festival slate to date. They’re representing 14 titles including Competition titles Memoria,...
Michael Weber, managing director and mastermind behind the European outfit, and the company’s well-respected head of sales Thania Dimitrakopoulou, are in Cannes this week with their biggest and most eclectic festival slate to date. They’re representing 14 titles including Competition titles Memoria,...
- 7/15/2021
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Do you know "Raul"? I don't and I never cease to be fascinated by this bizzarre Cannes Festival tradition. Sometimes, just before a press screening, someone screams "Raouuul!". No one seems to know why or when this phenomenon started, but the most seasoned journalists I know told me that the Raoul tradition started many, many years ago. Maybe I can just google it and find an answer but every person I ask about it has a different theory, so I'm enjoying the mystery. Anyway, on to today's three films...
Mariner of the Mountains (Karim Aïnouz)
Special Screenings
I took the ticket for the latest by the Brazilian director on a whim, because I woke up early that day and I really liked his previous feature, Invisible Life. I had read nothing about this one since sometimes I like to go in blindfolded. At first I was so confused by the form,...
Mariner of the Mountains (Karim Aïnouz)
Special Screenings
I took the ticket for the latest by the Brazilian director on a whim, because I woke up early that day and I really liked his previous feature, Invisible Life. I had read nothing about this one since sometimes I like to go in blindfolded. At first I was so confused by the form,...
- 7/12/2021
- by Elisa Giudici
- FilmExperience
Michelle Williams will play Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII’s six wives, in Karim Aïnouz’s “Firebrand.”
The film marks the English-language debut of Karim Aïnouz, and goes into production in the U.K. in early 2022. The film is produced by Gabrielle Tana of Magnolia Mae Films, and written by Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth (“Killing Eve”).
Aïnouz’s “Mariner of the Mountains” premieres in Cannes as a Special Screening on July 9.
“I could not be more excited to be bringing the undiscovered story of Katherine Parr to the screen, a ferociously brilliant woman who I am inspired by deeply and has been largely invisible, or certainly under-represented in English history,” said Aïnouz. “Much is known about Henry VIII’s tyrannical reign, and those who perished and suffered at his hands, but my focus here is on a woman who not only managed to survive, but also, to thrive.
The film marks the English-language debut of Karim Aïnouz, and goes into production in the U.K. in early 2022. The film is produced by Gabrielle Tana of Magnolia Mae Films, and written by Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth (“Killing Eve”).
Aïnouz’s “Mariner of the Mountains” premieres in Cannes as a Special Screening on July 9.
“I could not be more excited to be bringing the undiscovered story of Katherine Parr to the screen, a ferociously brilliant woman who I am inspired by deeply and has been largely invisible, or certainly under-represented in English history,” said Aïnouz. “Much is known about Henry VIII’s tyrannical reign, and those who perished and suffered at his hands, but my focus here is on a woman who not only managed to survive, but also, to thrive.
- 7/7/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes is back in full force with the announcement of the Official Selection for the film festival’s 74th edition. Taking place in July after having been originally scheduled for May, Cannes is returning with an in-person event after the pandemic forced the festival to cancel in 2020. Spike Lee, who was supposed to head the jury and premiere his “Da 5 Bloods” out of competition last year, is returning to Cannes 2021 as jury president. Films such as Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” Leos Carax’s “Annette,” and Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta” were all supposed to premiere at Cannes 2020 but are now confirmed for Cannes 2021 after waiting a year to be unveiled to the world.
Given this is the first Cannes in the Covid pandemic era, there are as many questions about the event’s safety protocols as there are about the lineup. Cannes general delegate Thierry Frémaux told IndieWire...
Given this is the first Cannes in the Covid pandemic era, there are as many questions about the event’s safety protocols as there are about the lineup. Cannes general delegate Thierry Frémaux told IndieWire...
- 6/3/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The Final Cut in Venice initiative has been running since 2013.
Karim Ainouz’s new documentary Nardjes, Alger, Mars 2019 is one of six titles from Africa and the Middle East selected for Final Cut in Venice, the works-in-progress workshop run by the Venice Production Bridge of the Venice International Film Festival.
The three-day workshop runs from August 31 to September 2. All six selected titles are in production, and will be presented to international film professionals to create co-production and post-production opportunities.
Ainouz’s film is a co-production between Algeria, France, Germany and his native Brazil. The filmmaker most recently directed The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão,...
Karim Ainouz’s new documentary Nardjes, Alger, Mars 2019 is one of six titles from Africa and the Middle East selected for Final Cut in Venice, the works-in-progress workshop run by the Venice Production Bridge of the Venice International Film Festival.
The three-day workshop runs from August 31 to September 2. All six selected titles are in production, and will be presented to international film professionals to create co-production and post-production opportunities.
Ainouz’s film is a co-production between Algeria, France, Germany and his native Brazil. The filmmaker most recently directed The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão,...
- 7/18/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
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