Among the high-profile filmmakers selected for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is a wave of upcoming talent from Asia and the Middle East, including the first Indian feature chosen for Competition in 30 years and the first film from Saudi Arabia to ever make the Official Selection.
While Cannes has a reputation for bringing back familiar names year after year, the line-up for the 77th edition does feature several rising filmmakers and not just in the “discovery” strands of the selection.
Making her first appearance in Competition is Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia with All We Imagine As Light. It marks...
While Cannes has a reputation for bringing back familiar names year after year, the line-up for the 77th edition does feature several rising filmmakers and not just in the “discovery” strands of the selection.
Making her first appearance in Competition is Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia with All We Imagine As Light. It marks...
- 4/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Cannes Premiere section stocked up on films from France with Alain Guiraudie’s Misericorde among the mix, the Out of Competition section added a Canuck oddity from Winnipeger Guy Maddin and co., the Midnight Section Screenings landed Nicolas Cage starring The Surfer by Lorcan Finnegan and Sergei Loznitsa once again drops a docu film on the Croisette with an item in the Special Screenings section. Here are nineteen titles that dropped this morning:
Cannes Premiere
“C’est Pas Moi,” Leos Carax
“En Fanfare” (“The Matching Bang”), Emmanuel Courcol
“Everybody Loves Touda,” Nabil Ayouch
“Le Roman de Jim,” Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu
“Misericorde,” Alain Guiraudie
“Rendez-Vous Avec Pol Pot,” Rithy Panh
Out Of Competition
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” George Miller
“Horizon, an American Saga,” Kevin Costner
“Rumours,” Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, Guy Maddin
“She’s Got No Name,” Chan Peter Ho-Sun
Midnight Screenings
“I, the Executioner,” Seung Wan Ryoo
“The Balconettes...
Cannes Premiere
“C’est Pas Moi,” Leos Carax
“En Fanfare” (“The Matching Bang”), Emmanuel Courcol
“Everybody Loves Touda,” Nabil Ayouch
“Le Roman de Jim,” Arnaud Larrieu and Jean-Marie Larrieu
“Misericorde,” Alain Guiraudie
“Rendez-Vous Avec Pol Pot,” Rithy Panh
Out Of Competition
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” George Miller
“Horizon, an American Saga,” Kevin Costner
“Rumours,” Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson, Guy Maddin
“She’s Got No Name,” Chan Peter Ho-Sun
Midnight Screenings
“I, the Executioner,” Seung Wan Ryoo
“The Balconettes...
- 4/12/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
As expected, the Cannes Film Festival line-up is pretty spectacular with new films from Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Arnold and David Cronenberg heading to the fest.
As the days are getting longer and there’s a tiny bit more sunshine in between the showers of rain, that can only mean one thing. The Cannes Film Festival is almost upon us.
Of course, us peasants rarely get to go, but it is fun to read the reactions from the glitzy world premieres as the stars gather in the picturesque town of Cannes.
And this year’s festival line-up is a doozy. We already knew George Miller was heading to the Croisette with Furiosa, Francis Ford Coppola is bringing Megalopolis and Kevin Costner will be premiering his new film, too, but there’s a whole heap of great filmmakers heading out to the beach with their films.
The highlights include Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness,...
As the days are getting longer and there’s a tiny bit more sunshine in between the showers of rain, that can only mean one thing. The Cannes Film Festival is almost upon us.
Of course, us peasants rarely get to go, but it is fun to read the reactions from the glitzy world premieres as the stars gather in the picturesque town of Cannes.
And this year’s festival line-up is a doozy. We already knew George Miller was heading to the Croisette with Furiosa, Francis Ford Coppola is bringing Megalopolis and Kevin Costner will be premiering his new film, too, but there’s a whole heap of great filmmakers heading out to the beach with their films.
The highlights include Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness,...
- 4/11/2024
- by Maria Lattila
- Film Stories
Descubre las películas que estarán en Cannes 2024: una lista completa de todas las secciones.
Esta mañana, Thierry Frémaux ha anunciado la programación oficial de la 77ª edición del Festival de Cannes. La pasada edición del festival fue testigo de los estrenos mundiales de las aclamadas películas “Anatomía de una Caída”, “Killers of the Flower Moon” y “The Zone of Interest”. Unas películas que posteriormente fueron nominadas al Oscar a la mejor película, de modo que este año el listón está muy alto.
Desde su primera edición en 1946, el Festival de Cannes se ha consolidado como uno de los acontecimientos cinematográficos más importantes de la industria del cine y la edición de este año ofrece una gran variedad de películas de todo el mundo; desde directores consagrados hasta nuevas voces de la industria. Aunque, por desgracia, España no tendrá representación en el festival este año.
La presidenta del jurado de...
Esta mañana, Thierry Frémaux ha anunciado la programación oficial de la 77ª edición del Festival de Cannes. La pasada edición del festival fue testigo de los estrenos mundiales de las aclamadas películas “Anatomía de una Caída”, “Killers of the Flower Moon” y “The Zone of Interest”. Unas películas que posteriormente fueron nominadas al Oscar a la mejor película, de modo que este año el listón está muy alto.
Desde su primera edición en 1946, el Festival de Cannes se ha consolidado como uno de los acontecimientos cinematográficos más importantes de la industria del cine y la edición de este año ofrece una gran variedad de películas de todo el mundo; desde directores consagrados hasta nuevas voces de la industria. Aunque, por desgracia, España no tendrá representación en el festival este año.
La presidenta del jurado de...
- 4/11/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
Clockwise from top left: Armand, The Girl With The Needle, Kinds Of Kindness and The Apprentice Photo: Film I Vast, Searchlight Pcitures, Apprentice Productions Ontario Inc/Profile Productions 2Aps/Tailored Films Ltd 2023, After what was generally considered a vintage edition of the Cannes Film Festival last year with many of the titles in the official selection receiving awards and further acclaim in festivals and critically on release (including 26 Oscar nominations and three wins) Festival director Thierry Frémaux was facing an uphill task in trumping the achievement.
Thierry Frémaux Photo: Richard Mowe In the event it looks on paper at any rate as if he has a similar fertile formula for this year’s 77th edition over which Barbie’s Greta Gerwig will preside as president of the jury.
In addition to those already announced such as George Miller (Furiosa), Kevin Costner (Horizon) and George Lucas (honorary Golden Palm), some of...
Thierry Frémaux Photo: Richard Mowe In the event it looks on paper at any rate as if he has a similar fertile formula for this year’s 77th edition over which Barbie’s Greta Gerwig will preside as president of the jury.
In addition to those already announced such as George Miller (Furiosa), Kevin Costner (Horizon) and George Lucas (honorary Golden Palm), some of...
- 4/11/2024
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Official Selection for the 77th Cannes Film Festival was revealed Thursday, with 19 movies in Competition (see full lists below).
Familiar names who will launch new works in the Competition include Ali Abbasi, who brings The Apprentice, a feature pic about the early life of Donald Trump. Andrea Arnold returns with Bird, starring Barry Keoghan, and Jacques Audiard’s latest, Emilia Perez, a musical with Selena Gomez will also debut in competition.
Elsewhere, American filmmaker Sean Baker brings Anora to the Croisette. Poor Things filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos will launch Kinds of Kindness, his latest collab with Emma Stone. David Cronenberg returns with The Shrouds, and Paul Schrader will debut Oh Canada starring Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman and Richard Gere.
Related: ‘The Apprentice’: First Look At Sebastian Stan As Donald Trump & Jeremy Strong As Roy Cohn In Cannes Competition Film
There’s a strong English-language and American presence in the...
Familiar names who will launch new works in the Competition include Ali Abbasi, who brings The Apprentice, a feature pic about the early life of Donald Trump. Andrea Arnold returns with Bird, starring Barry Keoghan, and Jacques Audiard’s latest, Emilia Perez, a musical with Selena Gomez will also debut in competition.
Elsewhere, American filmmaker Sean Baker brings Anora to the Croisette. Poor Things filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos will launch Kinds of Kindness, his latest collab with Emma Stone. David Cronenberg returns with The Shrouds, and Paul Schrader will debut Oh Canada starring Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman and Richard Gere.
Related: ‘The Apprentice’: First Look At Sebastian Stan As Donald Trump & Jeremy Strong As Roy Cohn In Cannes Competition Film
There’s a strong English-language and American presence in the...
- 4/11/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Ahead of a festival kicking off in just about a month, Iris Knobloch, President of the Festival de Cannes, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, have unveiled the selection of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
Led by the previously announced major highlight, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, the competition lineup features the latest films from Jia Zhangke, David Cronenberg, Paul Schrader, Andrea Arnold, Sean Baker, Miguel Gomes, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jacques Audiard, Ali Abbasi, Payal Kapadia, and more.
Other sections include the previously new films from George Miller and Kevin Costner, alongside Leos Carax’s personal short C’est Pas Moi, Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson’s Rumors, Alain Guiraudie’s Miséricorde, and more.
Check out the lineup below.
Competition
All We Imagine As Light – Payal Kapadia
L’amour Ouf – Gilles Lellouche
Anora – Sean Baker
The Apprentice – Ali Abbasi
Bird – Andrea Arnold
Caught by the Tides – Jia Zhang-ke...
Led by the previously announced major highlight, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, the competition lineup features the latest films from Jia Zhangke, David Cronenberg, Paul Schrader, Andrea Arnold, Sean Baker, Miguel Gomes, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jacques Audiard, Ali Abbasi, Payal Kapadia, and more.
Other sections include the previously new films from George Miller and Kevin Costner, alongside Leos Carax’s personal short C’est Pas Moi, Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson’s Rumors, Alain Guiraudie’s Miséricorde, and more.
Check out the lineup below.
Competition
All We Imagine As Light – Payal Kapadia
L’amour Ouf – Gilles Lellouche
Anora – Sean Baker
The Apprentice – Ali Abbasi
Bird – Andrea Arnold
Caught by the Tides – Jia Zhang-ke...
- 4/11/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 77th edition (May 14-25)
The competition includes films by Andrea Arnold, David Cronenberg, Yórgos Lánthimos, Paul Schrader and Paolo Sorrentino.
Festival director Thierry Frémaux revealed the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Normandie theatre in Paris alongside festival president Iris Knobloch.
Previously announced titles include Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act, which will open the festival on May 14 out of competition, George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Kevin Costner’s Horizon, An American Saga and Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.
Barbie director Greta Gerwig will preside over the jury.
The competition includes films by Andrea Arnold, David Cronenberg, Yórgos Lánthimos, Paul Schrader and Paolo Sorrentino.
Festival director Thierry Frémaux revealed the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Normandie theatre in Paris alongside festival president Iris Knobloch.
Previously announced titles include Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act, which will open the festival on May 14 out of competition, George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Kevin Costner’s Horizon, An American Saga and Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.
Barbie director Greta Gerwig will preside over the jury.
- 4/11/2024
- ScreenDaily
Cannes’ Critics Week has rounded out the jury for its 63rd edition running running May 15-23.
The previously announced Spanish writer-director-producer Rodrigo Sorogoyen will preside over the festival’s parallel selection dedicated to first and second features alongside Rwandan actress Eliane Umuhire, French producer Sylvie Pialat, Belgian director of photography Virginie Surdej, and Canadian journalist and film critic Ben Croll.
Sorogoyen is known for psychological thriller The Beasts which premiered in the Cannes Premiere strand in 2022 and won nine Goya awards, plus 2019 drama Mother, 2018 Spanish-French thriller The Realm, 2016 crime thriller May God Save Us, 2013 romantic drama Stockholm, and 2008’s 8 Dates co-directed with Peris Romano.
The previously announced Spanish writer-director-producer Rodrigo Sorogoyen will preside over the festival’s parallel selection dedicated to first and second features alongside Rwandan actress Eliane Umuhire, French producer Sylvie Pialat, Belgian director of photography Virginie Surdej, and Canadian journalist and film critic Ben Croll.
Sorogoyen is known for psychological thriller The Beasts which premiered in the Cannes Premiere strand in 2022 and won nine Goya awards, plus 2019 drama Mother, 2018 Spanish-French thriller The Realm, 2016 crime thriller May God Save Us, 2013 romantic drama Stockholm, and 2008’s 8 Dates co-directed with Peris Romano.
- 4/10/2024
- ScreenDaily
At last year’s Cannes Film Festival, Leonardo DiCaprio, Harrison Ford and Scarlett Johansson hit the red carpet to premiere their latest big movies. But Hollywood may have a much lighter presence at the 2024 edition of one of the world’s most notable film festivals.
The culprit is the combination of last year’s actors and writers strikes, which created production delays, as well as a tough economy that’s leading studios to tighten the purse-strings. But there will still be stars on the Croisette, in addition to “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig, who will be presiding over the jury.
Based on intelligence from industry insiders on both sides of the Atlantic, the upcoming edition will have a larger emphasis on European auteurs, along the lines of Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” and Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” which were each nominated for five Oscars.
While the...
The culprit is the combination of last year’s actors and writers strikes, which created production delays, as well as a tough economy that’s leading studios to tighten the purse-strings. But there will still be stars on the Croisette, in addition to “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig, who will be presiding over the jury.
Based on intelligence from industry insiders on both sides of the Atlantic, the upcoming edition will have a larger emphasis on European auteurs, along the lines of Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” and Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” which were each nominated for five Oscars.
While the...
- 3/4/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
A rare flagship indie producer left on the French market, Bruno Nahon’s Paris-based company Unité is preparing to conquer international audiences with “Rematch,” a period psychological thriller chronicling the historical battle between world chess champion Garry Kasparov, and Ibm’s supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997.
The sprawling show, directed by Yan England (“The Red Band Society”) and co-created with Nahon and André Gulluni (“Sam”), was commissioned by Arte in France and has already been sold by Federation Studios to major outlets around the world, including HBO Europe for Spain, Portugal, the Nordics, Iceland, Baltics, Central Europe, Greece and the Netherlands. Disney+ has bought first-window rights for the U.K. and will air the show in France after the Arte broadcast.
Nahon, who created Unité a decade ago, has been making bold shows and movies exploring social, religious and political aspects of societies, and has often captured the zeitgeist in the process.
The sprawling show, directed by Yan England (“The Red Band Society”) and co-created with Nahon and André Gulluni (“Sam”), was commissioned by Arte in France and has already been sold by Federation Studios to major outlets around the world, including HBO Europe for Spain, Portugal, the Nordics, Iceland, Baltics, Central Europe, Greece and the Netherlands. Disney+ has bought first-window rights for the U.K. and will air the show in France after the Arte broadcast.
Nahon, who created Unité a decade ago, has been making bold shows and movies exploring social, religious and political aspects of societies, and has often captured the zeitgeist in the process.
- 2/28/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Nabil Ayouch, a leading Moroccan filmmaker whose latest movie as a producer “The Blue Caftan” became the first Moroccan film to ever make it to the Oscars shortlist, is wrapping up his next directorial effort, “Everybody Loves Touda.”
Now in post-production, “Everybody Loves Touda” follows the journey of a strong-willed woman, along the lines of some of Ayouch’s best known films, such as “Much Loved” and “Razzia,” which played at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and Toronto, respectively. The movie will mark Ayouch’s directorial follow up to “Casablanca Beats,” which competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021 and marked the first Moroccan feature to vie for a Palme d’Or.
“Everybody Loves Touda” tells the story a young poetess and singer known as a Shaeirat, who raises her deaf-mute son in a small Moroccan village. Hoping to give her son a better future and more opportunities in life, she moves...
Now in post-production, “Everybody Loves Touda” follows the journey of a strong-willed woman, along the lines of some of Ayouch’s best known films, such as “Much Loved” and “Razzia,” which played at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and Toronto, respectively. The movie will mark Ayouch’s directorial follow up to “Casablanca Beats,” which competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021 and marked the first Moroccan feature to vie for a Palme d’Or.
“Everybody Loves Touda” tells the story a young poetess and singer known as a Shaeirat, who raises her deaf-mute son in a small Moroccan village. Hoping to give her son a better future and more opportunities in life, she moves...
- 12/3/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Saudi event has become a magnet for international execs and talent
As the third edition Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off today, the fledgling Saudi event has fast become a magnet for an international industry looking to access funding, talent and stories from the Middle East.
A significant number of international sales agents, distributors, financiers, producers and festival chiefs are travelling to Jeddah for Red Sea for the first time this year, making the trip despite regional tensions caused by Israel-Hamas war and an anticipated post-strike scaling up of production in the US and Europe.
At a time...
As the third edition Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off today, the fledgling Saudi event has fast become a magnet for an international industry looking to access funding, talent and stories from the Middle East.
A significant number of international sales agents, distributors, financiers, producers and festival chiefs are travelling to Jeddah for Red Sea for the first time this year, making the trip despite regional tensions caused by Israel-Hamas war and an anticipated post-strike scaling up of production in the US and Europe.
At a time...
- 11/30/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Maryam Touzani’s “The Blue Caftan,” a drama revolving around the love between a closeted man and his wife, has sold more than 500,000 tickets around the world.
The Arabic-language movie, which world premiered at Cannes in 2022 and won the Fipresci prize, has sold the most admissions overseas than any other Moroccan film in recent history, according to French promotion org Unifrance. “The Blue Caftan” was particularly successful in France, where it sold 214,000 admissions, followed by the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Japan.
Produced by leading Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch, “The Blue Caftan” stars Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”) and Saleh Bakri.
Touzani’s follow-up to Un Certain Regard title “Adam,” “The Blue Caftan” tells the story of Halim and Mina, a married couple running a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice...
The Arabic-language movie, which world premiered at Cannes in 2022 and won the Fipresci prize, has sold the most admissions overseas than any other Moroccan film in recent history, according to French promotion org Unifrance. “The Blue Caftan” was particularly successful in France, where it sold 214,000 admissions, followed by the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Japan.
Produced by leading Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch, “The Blue Caftan” stars Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”) and Saleh Bakri.
Touzani’s follow-up to Un Certain Regard title “Adam,” “The Blue Caftan” tells the story of Halim and Mina, a married couple running a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice...
- 11/21/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Ragna Nordhus joins as producer and co-owner, and Gary Cranner as executive producer and advisor.
Elisa Fernanda Pirir’s new Norwegian production company Staer, which launched in January, is already expanding with two new hires.
Both are producers who Pirir formerly worked with at Mer Film. Ragna Nordhus, who had been head of production at Mer Film, is joining Staer as producer and co-owner. Nordhus also co-produced Cannes 2022 Un Certain Regard feature More Than Ever by Emily Atef.
Gary Cranner, a former Screen Future Leaders producer, who also recently worked at Mer and previously ran his own company Chezville, joins Staer as executive producer.
Elisa Fernanda Pirir’s new Norwegian production company Staer, which launched in January, is already expanding with two new hires.
Both are producers who Pirir formerly worked with at Mer Film. Ragna Nordhus, who had been head of production at Mer Film, is joining Staer as producer and co-owner. Nordhus also co-produced Cannes 2022 Un Certain Regard feature More Than Ever by Emily Atef.
Gary Cranner, a former Screen Future Leaders producer, who also recently worked at Mer and previously ran his own company Chezville, joins Staer as executive producer.
- 5/18/2023
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the eight members of the main Competition jury, who will join its previously announced president Ruben Östlund at the 76th edition, running May 16 to 27
They comprise Moroccan director Maryam Touzani, French actor Denis Ménochet, British-Zambian screenwriter and director Rungano Nyoni, American actress, director and producer Brie Larson, American Actor and director Paul Dano, Afghan writer and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi, Argentinian director and screenwriter Damián Szifrón and French director Julia Ducournau.
Like two-time Palme d’Or winner Östlund, most of the jury members have strong Cannes pedigrees.
Having long collaborated on her husband Nabil Ayouch’s films such as Much Loved, Touzani made her feature directorial debut in Cannes Un Certain Regard with Adam in 2019 and returned to the section in 2022 with The Blue Caftan, which made it onto the Oscars long-list in the Best International Film category.
Ménochet’s Cannes credits include Quentin Tarantino...
They comprise Moroccan director Maryam Touzani, French actor Denis Ménochet, British-Zambian screenwriter and director Rungano Nyoni, American actress, director and producer Brie Larson, American Actor and director Paul Dano, Afghan writer and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi, Argentinian director and screenwriter Damián Szifrón and French director Julia Ducournau.
Like two-time Palme d’Or winner Östlund, most of the jury members have strong Cannes pedigrees.
Having long collaborated on her husband Nabil Ayouch’s films such as Much Loved, Touzani made her feature directorial debut in Cannes Un Certain Regard with Adam in 2019 and returned to the section in 2022 with The Blue Caftan, which made it onto the Oscars long-list in the Best International Film category.
Ménochet’s Cannes credits include Quentin Tarantino...
- 5/4/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Batman and The Fabelmans star Paul Dano, Titane-directing Palme d’Or winner Julia Ducournau, I Am Not a Witch breakout filmmaker Rungano Nyoni, and Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson will help make up the superstar competition jury for this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Together with French actor Denis Ménochet, of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid; Argentinian director Damián Szifron (Wild Tales, To Catch a Killer); Afghani-born, French-based filmmaker Atig Ranimi (Earth and Ashes, The Patience Stone); and Moroccan director Maryam Touzani (The Blue Caftan, Adam), they will join jury president Ruben Östlund, director of last year’s Cannes winner The Triangle of Sadness, in judging the Palme d’Or winners at the 76th Cannes International Film Festival.
Together, the jury will screen the 21 films picked for Cannes competition this year —among them Todd Haynes’ May December, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City,...
Together with French actor Denis Ménochet, of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid; Argentinian director Damián Szifron (Wild Tales, To Catch a Killer); Afghani-born, French-based filmmaker Atig Ranimi (Earth and Ashes, The Patience Stone); and Moroccan director Maryam Touzani (The Blue Caftan, Adam), they will join jury president Ruben Östlund, director of last year’s Cannes winner The Triangle of Sadness, in judging the Palme d’Or winners at the 76th Cannes International Film Festival.
Together, the jury will screen the 21 films picked for Cannes competition this year —among them Todd Haynes’ May December, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City,...
- 5/4/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Collaborators include documentary specialist Kristine Ann Skaret, US producer Jim Stark.
Producer Elisa Fernanda Pirir is leaving Norway’s Mer Film to set up her production company Staer based in Tromso in northern Norway.
Collaborators in the new venture include co-owner Kristine Ann Skaret, a documentary expert from Stray Dogs whose credits include Villagers And Vagabonds and Aswang; and executive producer Jim Stark, the US producer who has credits including co-producing Jim Jarmusch’s Down By Law and serving as one of the executive producers of Triangle Of Sadness.
Staer will work with a mix of Scandinavian and international filmmakers.
Producer Elisa Fernanda Pirir is leaving Norway’s Mer Film to set up her production company Staer based in Tromso in northern Norway.
Collaborators in the new venture include co-owner Kristine Ann Skaret, a documentary expert from Stray Dogs whose credits include Villagers And Vagabonds and Aswang; and executive producer Jim Stark, the US producer who has credits including co-producing Jim Jarmusch’s Down By Law and serving as one of the executive producers of Triangle Of Sadness.
Staer will work with a mix of Scandinavian and international filmmakers.
- 1/18/2023
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Establishing herself as one of the world’s few Arctic Circle feature film producers, having set up shop in Norway’s Tromsø, former Mer Films production exec Elisa Fernanda Pirir is launching her own production company, Staer, which is backing productions by Morocco’s Nabil Ayouch and Colombia’s Juan Carlos Arango, among others, as she also develops her first titles by Sami talent.
Born in Guatemala, Pirir is joined at Staer by KriStine Ann Skaret, behind the award-winning film “Villagers and Vagabonds” (2020), the co-production “Aswang” (2019) and the premiere-ready “Not That Kind of Guy” (2022).
Born in Guatemala but moving to northern Norway in 2007, Pirir joined Mer Film, the company behind Jorunn Myklebust Syversen’s “Disco” Eskil Vogt’s “The Innocents” and Ole Giæver’s “Ellos eatnu – Let the River Flow,” which plays in Nordic Competition at this year’s Goteborg Film Festival. Mer also co-produced Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Oscar-nominated documentary “Flee.
Born in Guatemala, Pirir is joined at Staer by KriStine Ann Skaret, behind the award-winning film “Villagers and Vagabonds” (2020), the co-production “Aswang” (2019) and the premiere-ready “Not That Kind of Guy” (2022).
Born in Guatemala but moving to northern Norway in 2007, Pirir joined Mer Film, the company behind Jorunn Myklebust Syversen’s “Disco” Eskil Vogt’s “The Innocents” and Ole Giæver’s “Ellos eatnu – Let the River Flow,” which plays in Nordic Competition at this year’s Goteborg Film Festival. Mer also co-produced Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Oscar-nominated documentary “Flee.
- 1/18/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Europe is less dominant this year, with Asia, Latin America and Africa represented.
The Academy’s 2023 international feature film shortlist manages to be both predictable and refreshing at the same time.
It’s predictable in that the 15-strong shortlist contains most of the front runners expected to make it to this stage, including France’s Saint Omer, Austria’s Corsage, Denmark’s Holy Spider, Argentina’s Argentina, 1985, Belgium’s Close, South Korea’s Decision To Leave and Mexico’s Bardo. Among the few surprising omissions are Maryna Er Gorbach’s Ukrainian war drama Klondike and Carla Simon’s Berlinale winner Alcarràs.
The Academy’s 2023 international feature film shortlist manages to be both predictable and refreshing at the same time.
It’s predictable in that the 15-strong shortlist contains most of the front runners expected to make it to this stage, including France’s Saint Omer, Austria’s Corsage, Denmark’s Holy Spider, Argentina’s Argentina, 1985, Belgium’s Close, South Korea’s Decision To Leave and Mexico’s Bardo. Among the few surprising omissions are Maryna Er Gorbach’s Ukrainian war drama Klondike and Carla Simon’s Berlinale winner Alcarràs.
- 12/22/2022
- by Ben Dalton¬Tim Dams¬Charles Gant¬Fionnuala Halligan¬Mona Tabbara¬Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Amjad Al Rasheed’s “Inshallah A Boy,” Luck Razanajaona’s “Disco Afrika,” and Boubacar Sangaré’s “A Golden Life” claimed a trio of post-production prizes at this year’s Atlas Workshops, which ran from Nov. 14–17 as part of the Marrakech Film Festival.
The Moroccan festival’s industry platform, this 5th edition of the Atlas Workshops saw a return to in-person events after two years online, and with it, a welcome reception from the 250 professional delegates who turned out to support the 23 selected projects – in development, production and post-production – with mentorship sessions, targeted consulting and, finally, 109,000 in prize money split between the eight winning titles.
Directed by Amjad Al Rasheed, produced by Rula Nasser of The Imaginarium Films, and winner of this year’s top prize at Venice Final Cut, the Jordanian drama “Inshallah A Boy” can now add a 25,000 Atlas Workshops post-production grant to an already hefty list honors (that...
The Moroccan festival’s industry platform, this 5th edition of the Atlas Workshops saw a return to in-person events after two years online, and with it, a welcome reception from the 250 professional delegates who turned out to support the 23 selected projects – in development, production and post-production – with mentorship sessions, targeted consulting and, finally, 109,000 in prize money split between the eight winning titles.
Directed by Amjad Al Rasheed, produced by Rula Nasser of The Imaginarium Films, and winner of this year’s top prize at Venice Final Cut, the Jordanian drama “Inshallah A Boy” can now add a 25,000 Atlas Workshops post-production grant to an already hefty list honors (that...
- 11/18/2022
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Rafiki Fariala, whose doc ‘We Students!’ became this year the first feature from the Central African Republic to play at the Berlinale, has unveiled at Marrakech’s Atlas Workshop his follow-up, the refugee-themed “Congo Boy.”
Exemplifying the nascent trend towards pan-regional partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa, “Congo Boy” is lead produced by Vicky Nelson Wackoro at Car’s Makongo Films, in co-production with Dieudo Hamadi at the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kiripi Films as wels Caroline Nataf at France’s Unité.
A fiction film, but heavily autobiographical, “Congo Boy” turns on Robert, 17, who lives in the Car’s capital, Bangui, and dreams of a career in music.
With both his parents imprisoned after attempting to flee Car’s civilian reprisals in 2013, however, Robert has to look after work non-stop to feed his four young siblings and has no time to study. A big cash-prize music contest at the local...
Exemplifying the nascent trend towards pan-regional partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa, “Congo Boy” is lead produced by Vicky Nelson Wackoro at Car’s Makongo Films, in co-production with Dieudo Hamadi at the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kiripi Films as wels Caroline Nataf at France’s Unité.
A fiction film, but heavily autobiographical, “Congo Boy” turns on Robert, 17, who lives in the Car’s capital, Bangui, and dreams of a career in music.
With both his parents imprisoned after attempting to flee Car’s civilian reprisals in 2013, however, Robert has to look after work non-stop to feed his four young siblings and has no time to study. A big cash-prize music contest at the local...
- 11/16/2022
- by John Hopewell and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Boasting a selection of 76 films from 33 countries spread across seven sections, this year’s Marrakech Film Festival will offer no shortage of cinematic treasure. Running over Nov. 11 – 19, the festival’s 19th edition will open with “Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio” ahead of gala screenings of James Gray’s “Armageddon Time,” Paul Schrader’s “Master Gardener,” and Sally El Hosaini’s “The Swimmers.”
While hosting a handful of world premieres – including Anurag Kashyap’s Bollywood-flavored “Almost Love,” to be presented outdoors at Marrakech’s Jemaa El Fna Square – this year’s festival will also spotlight a number of jewels from the festival circuit.
Below are fourteen standouts from this year’s program.
“Abdelinho” (dir. Hicham Ayouch) (Moroccan Panorama)
Satirical comedy “Abdelinho” follows a young Moroccan man with samba in his bones and Brazil ever on his mind. Director Hicham Ayouch’s bright crowd-pleaser is one of several finished projects to graduate...
While hosting a handful of world premieres – including Anurag Kashyap’s Bollywood-flavored “Almost Love,” to be presented outdoors at Marrakech’s Jemaa El Fna Square – this year’s festival will also spotlight a number of jewels from the festival circuit.
Below are fourteen standouts from this year’s program.
“Abdelinho” (dir. Hicham Ayouch) (Moroccan Panorama)
Satirical comedy “Abdelinho” follows a young Moroccan man with samba in his bones and Brazil ever on his mind. Director Hicham Ayouch’s bright crowd-pleaser is one of several finished projects to graduate...
- 11/11/2022
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/29/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/29/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/29/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/28/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Maryam Touzani’s exploration of suppressed homosexuality The Blue Caftan has been submitted as Morocco’s official entry in the Best International Feature Film Oscar category.
The feature debuted in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and sidebar and recently played in Toronto.
Photo Gallery: Best International Feature Film Oscar Winners
Lubna Azabal and Saleh Bakri play a husband and wife who run a handmade caftan shop in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas in the city of Salé. Their marriage hides a secret that neither wants to confront until a young male assistant (Ayoub Missioui) enters their lives.
The Blue Caftan is Touzani’s second feature film after Adam, which dealt with single motherhood, another taboo subject within Moroccan society. That film was the country’s Oscar entry in 2019.
Touzani also has taken writing and producing credits on husband Nabil Ayouch’s features Razzia and Casablanca Beats.
“I’m proud to...
The feature debuted in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and sidebar and recently played in Toronto.
Photo Gallery: Best International Feature Film Oscar Winners
Lubna Azabal and Saleh Bakri play a husband and wife who run a handmade caftan shop in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas in the city of Salé. Their marriage hides a secret that neither wants to confront until a young male assistant (Ayoub Missioui) enters their lives.
The Blue Caftan is Touzani’s second feature film after Adam, which dealt with single motherhood, another taboo subject within Moroccan society. That film was the country’s Oscar entry in 2019.
Touzani also has taken writing and producing credits on husband Nabil Ayouch’s features Razzia and Casablanca Beats.
“I’m proud to...
- 9/27/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The subgenre of “ambitious outsider teacher who is determined to inspire a ragtag group of disenchanted students” is well-worn, to put it mildly. Yet when the formula works its works well. Enter Casablanca Beats, written (with the collaboration of Maryam Touzani) and directed by Nabil Ayouch. It concerns Anas (Anas Basbousi), a former rapper with a gig at the local arts center in Casablanca. He teaches hip-hop to a diverse group of underprivileged students, bonding them together in the process. Each student is forced to confront repressive traditions in Morocco and challenge the status quo, debating the lengths to which they will rebel—be it through their lyrics, dress, or otherwise.
“Young as I am I feel like an old man / I see the future as black as my skin,” raps Ismail (Ismail Adouab), while Amina (Amina Kannan) is pulled out of class after her conservative parents learn that they are being taught hip-hop.
“Young as I am I feel like an old man / I see the future as black as my skin,” raps Ismail (Ismail Adouab), while Amina (Amina Kannan) is pulled out of class after her conservative parents learn that they are being taught hip-hop.
- 9/20/2022
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
“Casablanca Beats” was reviewed by TheWrap out of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
Director Nabil Ayouch’s “Casablanca Beats” wears its narrative trappings ever so lightly. If the film’s bookends prime the viewer for an inspiration teacher drama, a kind of “Dead Poets Society” or “School of Rockablanca” about an unconventional prof helping his students at a community arts center find their voice, there’s both more and less to it than that.
Less in the sense that the film is not at all plot-heavy, with neither the teacher, one-time rapper Anas (played by real-life rapper Anas Basbousi), nor his students, who also play characters that share their real names, ever taking the lead. But what “Casablanca Beats” forgoes in conventional narrative it more than makes up for in filmic form, charging forward as a nonstop blitz of lyrics, language, movement and music.
It is, in other words, a world cinema hip-hop musical,...
Director Nabil Ayouch’s “Casablanca Beats” wears its narrative trappings ever so lightly. If the film’s bookends prime the viewer for an inspiration teacher drama, a kind of “Dead Poets Society” or “School of Rockablanca” about an unconventional prof helping his students at a community arts center find their voice, there’s both more and less to it than that.
Less in the sense that the film is not at all plot-heavy, with neither the teacher, one-time rapper Anas (played by real-life rapper Anas Basbousi), nor his students, who also play characters that share their real names, ever taking the lead. But what “Casablanca Beats” forgoes in conventional narrative it more than makes up for in filmic form, charging forward as a nonstop blitz of lyrics, language, movement and music.
It is, in other words, a world cinema hip-hop musical,...
- 9/15/2022
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
This fall, Arab filmmakers will be out in force at such prestigious international fests as Venice and Toronto. Venice alone boasts six features from first- and second-time Arab directors in its official sections, plus an additional six works-in-progress at its Final Cut Production Bridge. Meanwhile, Toronto opens with “The Swimmers,” a drama from U.K. helmer Sally El Hosaini based on the journey of Syrian sisters and Olympic hopefuls Yusra and Sara Mardini, who fled the war in their home country for Germany. Yusra competed in the 2016 and 2021 Summer Olympics. An additional six Arab films will screen at the Canadian fest.
Dek: Arab filmmakers embrace genres and issues as festivals and distributors take notice
By Alissa Simon
This fall, Arab filmmakers will be out in force at such prestigious international fests as Venice and Toronto. Venice alone boasts six features from first- and second-time Arab directors in its official sections,...
Dek: Arab filmmakers embrace genres and issues as festivals and distributors take notice
By Alissa Simon
This fall, Arab filmmakers will be out in force at such prestigious international fests as Venice and Toronto. Venice alone boasts six features from first- and second-time Arab directors in its official sections,...
- 9/3/2022
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Strand Releasing has acquired all North American rights to Maryam Touzani’s “The Blue Caftan,” which world premiered at Cannes and won the Fipresci prize. The film, which is represented in international markets by Films Boutique, will have its North American premiere at Toronto in the Special Screenings section.
Touzani’s follow-up to Un Certain Regard title “Adam,” “The Blue Caftan” tells the story of Halim and Mina, a married couple running a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows an utmost dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man.
Produced by Nabil Ayouch, “The Blue Caftan” stars Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”) and Saleh Bakri.
Touzani said “The Blue Caftan...
Touzani’s follow-up to Un Certain Regard title “Adam,” “The Blue Caftan” tells the story of Halim and Mina, a married couple running a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with the commands of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows an utmost dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man.
Produced by Nabil Ayouch, “The Blue Caftan” stars Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”) and Saleh Bakri.
Touzani said “The Blue Caftan...
- 8/9/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Maryam Touzani’s has its Cannes premiere later this week for Films Boutique.
Maryam Touzani’s Un Certain Regard entry The Blue Caftan has sold to multiple territories in advance of its Cannes premiere later this week for Films Boutique.
It will be distributed in France (Ad Vitam), Benelux (Cineart), Spain (Karma), Japan (Longride), Italy (Movies Inspired), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Austria (Thimfilm), Denmark (Camera Film), Greece (Danaos), Israel (Nachshon Films) and Baltics (A-one).
Lubna Azabal, Saleh Bakri, and Ayoub Missioui star in the film about a man and woman who run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest...
Maryam Touzani’s Un Certain Regard entry The Blue Caftan has sold to multiple territories in advance of its Cannes premiere later this week for Films Boutique.
It will be distributed in France (Ad Vitam), Benelux (Cineart), Spain (Karma), Japan (Longride), Italy (Movies Inspired), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Austria (Thimfilm), Denmark (Camera Film), Greece (Danaos), Israel (Nachshon Films) and Baltics (A-one).
Lubna Azabal, Saleh Bakri, and Ayoub Missioui star in the film about a man and woman who run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest...
- 5/24/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Dubai-based distribution and production outfit Front Row Filmed Entertainment has boarded Arab-language comedy “Abdelinho,” directed by Morocco’s Hicham Ayouch and toplined by Ali Suliman (“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”).
The move comes as Front Row, which is a prominent Mena region indie distributor, ramps up its production side following its Arabic adaptation of Italian dramedy “Perfect Strangers” that it produced in tandem with Egypt’s Film Clinic. The redo was recently acquired by Netflix and is being touted as a local hit.
“Abdelinho” is a coming-of-age-comedy set in a small town in Morocco. It’s centered around its titular character, a gentle-spirited dreamer who has a strong fascination with Brazil. Accordingly, Abdelinho speaks Portuguese and dances the samba.
His life is turned upside-down by the arrival of a televangelist played by Suliman, the prominent Palestinian thesp who broke out in Hany Abu Assad’s Oscar-nominated 2005 film “Paradise Now” and...
The move comes as Front Row, which is a prominent Mena region indie distributor, ramps up its production side following its Arabic adaptation of Italian dramedy “Perfect Strangers” that it produced in tandem with Egypt’s Film Clinic. The redo was recently acquired by Netflix and is being touted as a local hit.
“Abdelinho” is a coming-of-age-comedy set in a small town in Morocco. It’s centered around its titular character, a gentle-spirited dreamer who has a strong fascination with Brazil. Accordingly, Abdelinho speaks Portuguese and dances the samba.
His life is turned upside-down by the arrival of a televangelist played by Suliman, the prominent Palestinian thesp who broke out in Hany Abu Assad’s Oscar-nominated 2005 film “Paradise Now” and...
- 5/10/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Films Boutique has acquired four films set to world premiere at Cannes, including Albert Serra (“The Death of Louis Xiv”)’s “Pacifiction” which will compete in the 75th edition’s Official Selection.
The Berlin-based international sales banner has also acquired rising Morrocan helmer Maryam Touzani (“Adam”)’s “The Blue Caftan” and Costa Rican director Ariel Escalante Meza’s “Domingo and the Mist” which will both play in Un Certain Regard; as well as Portuguese filmmaker João Pedro Rodrigues (“The Ornithologist”)’s “Will-o’-The-Wisp,” set for Directors’ Fortnight.
“Pacifiction” stars Cesar-winning French actor Benoit Magimel (“Peaceful”) as a calculating French government official working in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti. While investigating on a mysterious submarine, he navigates the high end ’establishment,’ and mingles with locals in underground venues.
Serra was last in Cannes with his 2019 feature film “Liberté” which won the jury prize at Un Certain Regard.”‘Pacifiction’ is a...
The Berlin-based international sales banner has also acquired rising Morrocan helmer Maryam Touzani (“Adam”)’s “The Blue Caftan” and Costa Rican director Ariel Escalante Meza’s “Domingo and the Mist” which will both play in Un Certain Regard; as well as Portuguese filmmaker João Pedro Rodrigues (“The Ornithologist”)’s “Will-o’-The-Wisp,” set for Directors’ Fortnight.
“Pacifiction” stars Cesar-winning French actor Benoit Magimel (“Peaceful”) as a calculating French government official working in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti. While investigating on a mysterious submarine, he navigates the high end ’establishment,’ and mingles with locals in underground venues.
Serra was last in Cannes with his 2019 feature film “Liberté” which won the jury prize at Un Certain Regard.”‘Pacifiction’ is a...
- 5/6/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Nabil Ayouch’s grittily authentic tale of a rapper turned teacher helping his students find their creative voices is a class act
The Arabic title of Franco-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s empowering hip-hop fable translates loosely as “rise your voice”, while in France, where the film competed for the Cannes Palme d’Or, it’s known as Haut et fort – “high and loud”. Both monikers perfectly capture the vibrant spirit of this stirring street musical, described by its creator as arising out of “the desire to make a film to give voice to young people”. On one level it’s a patchwork of popular cinematic tropes, combining the strength-through-music themes of films as diverse as 8 Mile and School of Rock with the inspirational classroom formats of everything from Blackboard Jungle to Dead Poets Society. But there’s also a strong whiff of the discursive politics of Ken Loach’s Land and Freedom,...
The Arabic title of Franco-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s empowering hip-hop fable translates loosely as “rise your voice”, while in France, where the film competed for the Cannes Palme d’Or, it’s known as Haut et fort – “high and loud”. Both monikers perfectly capture the vibrant spirit of this stirring street musical, described by its creator as arising out of “the desire to make a film to give voice to young people”. On one level it’s a patchwork of popular cinematic tropes, combining the strength-through-music themes of films as diverse as 8 Mile and School of Rock with the inspirational classroom formats of everything from Blackboard Jungle to Dead Poets Society. But there’s also a strong whiff of the discursive politics of Ken Loach’s Land and Freedom,...
- 5/1/2022
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
‘The Velvet Queen: Snow Leopard’, ‘Casablanca Beats’ land in cinemas.
Universal’s Downton Abbey: A New Era looks to revive a flagging box office this weekend, as the second-widest opening of all time in the UK and Ireland.
The film will start in 746 locations, behind only the 772 of Universal stablemate No Time To Die from September 2021, and ahead of previous record holder Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker from 2019.
Those films started with £21m and £14.4m respectively. Despite the wide opening, an eight-figure start is probably beyond A New Era; the first Downton Abbey film started with £5.2m from 732 sites...
Universal’s Downton Abbey: A New Era looks to revive a flagging box office this weekend, as the second-widest opening of all time in the UK and Ireland.
The film will start in 746 locations, behind only the 772 of Universal stablemate No Time To Die from September 2021, and ahead of previous record holder Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker from 2019.
Those films started with £21m and £14.4m respectively. Despite the wide opening, an eight-figure start is probably beyond A New Era; the first Downton Abbey film started with £5.2m from 732 sites...
- 4/29/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Nabil Ayouch’s film Casablanca Beats offers a glimpse of how Moroccan teens are finding an outlet in hip-hop. The director reveals how its positive energy has given him hope
‘Hip-hop didn’t just come out of nowhere,” explains young teacher Anas to his even younger class in Casablanca Beats. He speaks of the “poverty, racism and humiliation” experienced by hip-hop’s African-American founders, and how the genre became a vehicle for self-empowerment and social change. “It’s rap that speaks of our lives, of our problems, things people aren’t supposed to know.”
The Moroccan teenagers listening to Anas can relate to this. Hip-hop is now a commercial industry in the US, but around the world rap has become the lingua franca for disempowered and disaffected youth, and the soundtrack to revolution. Nowhere more so than north Africa. During the Arab spring in the 2010s, protesters in Tunisia and...
‘Hip-hop didn’t just come out of nowhere,” explains young teacher Anas to his even younger class in Casablanca Beats. He speaks of the “poverty, racism and humiliation” experienced by hip-hop’s African-American founders, and how the genre became a vehicle for self-empowerment and social change. “It’s rap that speaks of our lives, of our problems, things people aren’t supposed to know.”
The Moroccan teenagers listening to Anas can relate to this. Hip-hop is now a commercial industry in the US, but around the world rap has become the lingua franca for disempowered and disaffected youth, and the soundtrack to revolution. Nowhere more so than north Africa. During the Arab spring in the 2010s, protesters in Tunisia and...
- 4/21/2022
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Hip-hop, dance and youthful revolt are a long-standing collaboration in cinema, in everything from Hustle & Flow to Patti Cake$ and any number of dance-driven films, the latest from French-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch is the latest to take up the beat. His quasi-musical follows a new teacher at an arts centre in the neighbourhood of Sidi Moumen in Casablanca, who we can see from the massive spray paint word "Vibes" he paints on the music room wall - much to the administrator's disgust - is not a person who likes to follow the rules.
The centre itself is a real place and the youngsters we meet there are non-professionals playing versions of themselves, while the teacher, Anas is played by Anas Bousas, who did, indeed, come to teach at that school having had a rap career. This closeness to real-life gives the film an honest and naturalistic energy, although the backstory.
The centre itself is a real place and the youngsters we meet there are non-professionals playing versions of themselves, while the teacher, Anas is played by Anas Bousas, who did, indeed, come to teach at that school having had a rap career. This closeness to real-life gives the film an honest and naturalistic energy, although the backstory.
- 3/9/2022
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Touzani’s previous feature Adam premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and was Morocco’s Oscar candidate.
Berlin-based Films Boutique has taken world rights to The Blue Caftan, the second film by Maryam Touzani. The company has also announced early deals on the film, due to be delivered later this spring. It has sold to Japan (Longride), Switzerland (Filmcoopi) and Spain (Karma) and will be distributed by Ad Vitam in France.
The Blue Caftan is billed by its producer Nabil Ayouch as “a deeply moving gaze into the stifled homosexuality of a man within his marriage.”
The film follows Halim...
Berlin-based Films Boutique has taken world rights to The Blue Caftan, the second film by Maryam Touzani. The company has also announced early deals on the film, due to be delivered later this spring. It has sold to Japan (Longride), Switzerland (Filmcoopi) and Spain (Karma) and will be distributed by Ad Vitam in France.
The Blue Caftan is billed by its producer Nabil Ayouch as “a deeply moving gaze into the stifled homosexuality of a man within his marriage.”
The film follows Halim...
- 2/11/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
The 2022 Glasgow Film Festival unveils an exciting programme with the UK premiere of The Outfit kicking it off.
Undoubtedly a highlight in the festival calendar, Gff this year will show 10 world premieres including Monstrous as part of FrightFest and the European premiere of Alan Cumming’s My Old School.
Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic’s Camera D’ or winning, Murina, will close the festival in what will be its UK premiere.
The 18th annual festival will exclusively show the first episode of season six of the worldwide hit series, Outlander. Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta is among the Scottish premieres as well as Ruth Paxton’s A Banquet, to name but a few.
Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta.
In-person events also return with the legendary Armando Iannucci who will look back on his varied career to date.
As well as the 1962 retrospective showing classics including Cape Fear, which we reported here, the festival will...
Undoubtedly a highlight in the festival calendar, Gff this year will show 10 world premieres including Monstrous as part of FrightFest and the European premiere of Alan Cumming’s My Old School.
Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic’s Camera D’ or winning, Murina, will close the festival in what will be its UK premiere.
The 18th annual festival will exclusively show the first episode of season six of the worldwide hit series, Outlander. Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta is among the Scottish premieres as well as Ruth Paxton’s A Banquet, to name but a few.
Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta.
In-person events also return with the legendary Armando Iannucci who will look back on his varied career to date.
As well as the 1962 retrospective showing classics including Cape Fear, which we reported here, the festival will...
- 1/27/2022
- by Thomas Alexander
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Cannes 2019 discoveries Mounia Meddour and Maryam Touzani are among the Mena filmmakers with works in post-production.
Middle Eastern and North African cinema enjoyed a high profile on the 2021 festival scene thanks to a raft of works from the region including Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s Casablanca Beats, Egyptian Cannes Critics’ Week winner Feathers, Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl’s Costa Brava, Lebanon, and Tribeca selection Souad by Egyptian filmmaker Ayten Amin.
Will this trend continue into 2022? Screen rounds up key titles from the Middle East and North Africa that are likely to excite festival programmers this year.
Am-Bi-Gu-i-Ty (Tun)
Dir. Nada Mezni Hafaiedh...
Middle Eastern and North African cinema enjoyed a high profile on the 2021 festival scene thanks to a raft of works from the region including Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s Casablanca Beats, Egyptian Cannes Critics’ Week winner Feathers, Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl’s Costa Brava, Lebanon, and Tribeca selection Souad by Egyptian filmmaker Ayten Amin.
Will this trend continue into 2022? Screen rounds up key titles from the Middle East and North Africa that are likely to excite festival programmers this year.
Am-Bi-Gu-i-Ty (Tun)
Dir. Nada Mezni Hafaiedh...
- 1/26/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
With last year’s surprise nominee “The Man Who Sold His Skin” hailing from Tunisia, Oscar handicappers should be sure to give West Asia and North Africa titles close scrutiny this time around.
Among the 11 submissions are several titles likely to be highly competitive in the international feature category. These include Iran’s social media critique “A Hero” from previous two-time winner Asghar Farhadi; Israel’s “Let It Be Morning”, a wry satire helmed by Eran Kolirin, about a Palestinian village put under military lockdown by the Israeli army; and Lebanon’s “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” a darkly comic commentary on the realities of modern-day Lebanon from feature debutant Mounia Akl.
Although “A Hero” may not be prime Farhadi, it already boasts the Grand Prix from Cannes. The narrative focuses on one of life’s losers, a likeable working-class man who, while on a short furlough from debtors prison, engineers events...
Among the 11 submissions are several titles likely to be highly competitive in the international feature category. These include Iran’s social media critique “A Hero” from previous two-time winner Asghar Farhadi; Israel’s “Let It Be Morning”, a wry satire helmed by Eran Kolirin, about a Palestinian village put under military lockdown by the Israeli army; and Lebanon’s “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” a darkly comic commentary on the realities of modern-day Lebanon from feature debutant Mounia Akl.
Although “A Hero” may not be prime Farhadi, it already boasts the Grand Prix from Cannes. The narrative focuses on one of life’s losers, a likeable working-class man who, while on a short furlough from debtors prison, engineers events...
- 12/13/2021
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
After going dark for the first time in more than half a century, the return of the Cannes Film Festival proves one major point: the event is still a significant launch pad when it comes to the International Feature Film Oscars. Indeed, of the 90-plus submissions recorded so far this year, nearly a quarter made their debut on the Croisette, be it in Competition, Un Certain Regard, Directors’ Fortnight or Critics’ Week. It’s perhaps to be expected—since the Academy first introduced the category in 1956, foreign-language auteur works have dominated more commercial fare—but the skew towards Cannes is telling. Other festivals have their place—notably Berlin and Venice, with Sundance emerging this year as an unexpected new contender—but, as a rough guide, Cannes has physically premiered six of the last 10 winners and presented last year’s victor, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round (Denmark) under the umbrella of its virtual 2020 label.
- 12/10/2021
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Eric Lagesse, the CEO/president of Paris-based arthouse distributor and world sales outfit Pyramide Films, received the Industry Tribute Award at Cairo Film Festival on Friday. Variety spoke with him about his relationship with Arab cinema, and the state of the independent film business in France.
How do you feel about receiving this tribute?
It’s great, but I have had a year to get used to it. Because of the pandemic, I didn’t receive it last year, as planned. Nothing major has changed in the meantime. I am still very fond of Arab and Egyptian films. We are now working with a new generation of films and filmmakers like “Amira” (pictured), which played in the Horizons Competition at the Venice Film Festival this year.
What is your connection to the Arab film world?
We have been collaborating with the Arab world since the beginning of Pyramide. The first...
How do you feel about receiving this tribute?
It’s great, but I have had a year to get used to it. Because of the pandemic, I didn’t receive it last year, as planned. Nothing major has changed in the meantime. I am still very fond of Arab and Egyptian films. We are now working with a new generation of films and filmmakers like “Amira” (pictured), which played in the Horizons Competition at the Venice Film Festival this year.
What is your connection to the Arab film world?
We have been collaborating with the Arab world since the beginning of Pyramide. The first...
- 12/5/2021
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
Director Nabil Ayouch spoke of the real story behind Morocco’s Oscar submission Casablanca Beats, a musical drama about a teacher at a cultural center in the Moroccan city.
“It is personal and autobiographical in a way,” he said during Kino Lorber’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International awards-season event. “I grew up in a suburb of Paris that was quite violent and very close to the one that we see in the film in Casablanca. And when I was young, I knew how to love myself and connect with myself through arts and culture: specifically a cultural center. And later on, when I became a director, thanks to that center, after a film that I made called Horses of God, I decided to build up the center in the suburb of Casablanca.”
Ayouch then filmed Casablanca Beats in that very establishment. “Every week, more than 1,000 young girls...
“It is personal and autobiographical in a way,” he said during Kino Lorber’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International awards-season event. “I grew up in a suburb of Paris that was quite violent and very close to the one that we see in the film in Casablanca. And when I was young, I knew how to love myself and connect with myself through arts and culture: specifically a cultural center. And later on, when I became a director, thanks to that center, after a film that I made called Horses of God, I decided to build up the center in the suburb of Casablanca.”
Ayouch then filmed Casablanca Beats in that very establishment. “Every week, more than 1,000 young girls...
- 11/20/2021
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
Deadline’s Contenders Film: International kicks off this morning, offering up the opportunity to hear from filmmakers who have been making waves around the world in 2021. The second annual event spotlighting international feature films begins at 9 a.m. Pt and will showcase the cream of the crop from this year’s festival awards winners, box office hits and International Feature Oscar hopefuls as the teams behind them discuss their work and inspirations.
Click here to register and watch the livestream.
For Contenders Film: International, we’ve again pivoted to a virtual event, which will boast a robust lineup. In total, talent will appear to discuss 26 titles that will represent their home countries as the official submissions for the International Feature Film category at the 94th Academy Awards. A total of 19 studios, streamers and distributors be on hand with presentations including clips and Q&As moderated by Deadline’s crack crew...
Click here to register and watch the livestream.
For Contenders Film: International, we’ve again pivoted to a virtual event, which will boast a robust lineup. In total, talent will appear to discuss 26 titles that will represent their home countries as the official submissions for the International Feature Film category at the 94th Academy Awards. A total of 19 studios, streamers and distributors be on hand with presentations including clips and Q&As moderated by Deadline’s crack crew...
- 11/20/2021
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
The Red Sea International Film Festival has set the lineup for its inaugural edition which runs from December 6-15 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The roster includes 138 titles from 67 countries and will open with MGM’s Joe Wright-directed musical romance Cyrano. The film previously played Telluride and Rome among others and releases domestically on December 31. Among highlights are also Netflix’s Venice Film Festival drama The Lost Daughter. Closing the Red Sea Fest is the world premiere of Egyptian director Amr Salama’s Bara El Manhag.
Sixteen films will run in the competition which is focused on films from Asia, Africa and the Arab world (see full list below). They will vie for the Golden Yusr Award as well as in individual directing, acting and writing categories. Among the titles screening are Hany Abu-Assad’s Huda’s Salon, Georgian Oscar submission Brighton 4th and Panah Panahi’s Hit The Road.
Kaleem Aftab,...
The roster includes 138 titles from 67 countries and will open with MGM’s Joe Wright-directed musical romance Cyrano. The film previously played Telluride and Rome among others and releases domestically on December 31. Among highlights are also Netflix’s Venice Film Festival drama The Lost Daughter. Closing the Red Sea Fest is the world premiere of Egyptian director Amr Salama’s Bara El Manhag.
Sixteen films will run in the competition which is focused on films from Asia, Africa and the Arab world (see full list below). They will vie for the Golden Yusr Award as well as in individual directing, acting and writing categories. Among the titles screening are Hany Abu-Assad’s Huda’s Salon, Georgian Oscar submission Brighton 4th and Panah Panahi’s Hit The Road.
Kaleem Aftab,...
- 11/9/2021
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2022 Academy Awards
Entries for the 2022 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27, 2022 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. This is the first time since 2018 that the ceremony will take place in March, having moved to avoid conflicting with the Winter Olympics.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly non-English dialogue...
Entries for the 2022 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27, 2022 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. This is the first time since 2018 that the ceremony will take place in March, having moved to avoid conflicting with the Winter Olympics.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly non-English dialogue...
- 10/25/2021
- by Ben Dalton¬Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Updated on October 19, 2021 with new additions.
The American Film Institute announced today the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, which includes Sony Pictures Classics’ “Parallel Mothers,” written and directed by Academy Award winner Pedro Almodóvar and starring the beloved Spanish auteur’s longtime muse Penélope Cruz. The film will receive a red carpet premiere at the historic Tcl Chinese Theatre on Saturday, November 13. Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” has also been added, and will screen at the Tcl Chinese Theatre on Thursday, November 11.
Other additions to the lineup include buzzy festival titles such as Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket,” Nadav Lapid’s “Ahed’s Knee,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” and Apichatpong Weerakethakul’s Tilda Swinton starrer “Memoria.”
The full lineup joins the previously announced world premiere of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s feature directorial debut, “Tick Tick Boom”. The Netflix feature is based on the autobiographical...
The American Film Institute announced today the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, which includes Sony Pictures Classics’ “Parallel Mothers,” written and directed by Academy Award winner Pedro Almodóvar and starring the beloved Spanish auteur’s longtime muse Penélope Cruz. The film will receive a red carpet premiere at the historic Tcl Chinese Theatre on Saturday, November 13. Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” has also been added, and will screen at the Tcl Chinese Theatre on Thursday, November 11.
Other additions to the lineup include buzzy festival titles such as Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket,” Nadav Lapid’s “Ahed’s Knee,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car,” and Apichatpong Weerakethakul’s Tilda Swinton starrer “Memoria.”
The full lineup joins the previously announced world premiere of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s feature directorial debut, “Tick Tick Boom”. The Netflix feature is based on the autobiographical...
- 10/19/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
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