Fans of The Name of The Rose author Umberto Eco turned out in NYC, boosting the documentary on medieval scholar turned novelist and social commentator to over $9.1k on one screen – a nice showing by The Cinema Guild for a foreign language documentary on a solid weekend for some indie and arthouse fare.
Umberto Eco: A Library Of The World explores the life and work of the famed Italian writer and semiotics professor, whose bestselling novel was turned into a 1986 film by Jean-Jacques Annaud, starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater as a medieval monk detective and his apprentice.
Director Davide Ferrario, who worked with Eco a year before the writer’s death on a video project for the 2015 Venice Biennale, gained access to his Milanese library of more than 30,000 contemporary books and 1,500 rare and antique volumes. In the doc, the prolific author and original thinker, who has waxed eloquent on blue jeans and comic books,...
Umberto Eco: A Library Of The World explores the life and work of the famed Italian writer and semiotics professor, whose bestselling novel was turned into a 1986 film by Jean-Jacques Annaud, starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater as a medieval monk detective and his apprentice.
Director Davide Ferrario, who worked with Eco a year before the writer’s death on a video project for the 2015 Venice Biennale, gained access to his Milanese library of more than 30,000 contemporary books and 1,500 rare and antique volumes. In the doc, the prolific author and original thinker, who has waxed eloquent on blue jeans and comic books,...
- 7/2/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
A trio of docs and a wider-than-usual run for a Vertical thriller populate a specialty weekend with fewer new openings as theaters stick with Asteroid City and devote screens to Indiana Jones and Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. Call it jittery Friday as the indie community like the rest of Hollywood awaits news from SAG-AFTRA as the guild’s contract is set to expire tonight.
Opening: Julie Cohen’s documentary Every Body from Focus Features arrives on 250+ screens. Produced in partnership with NBC Studios, the exploration of the intersex experience through personal stories premiered at Tribeca last month. This film follows three individuals who have moved from childhoods marked by shame, secrecy and non-consensual surgeries to thriving adulthood after each decided to set aside medical advice to keep their bodies a secret and,...
Opening: Julie Cohen’s documentary Every Body from Focus Features arrives on 250+ screens. Produced in partnership with NBC Studios, the exploration of the intersex experience through personal stories premiered at Tribeca last month. This film follows three individuals who have moved from childhoods marked by shame, secrecy and non-consensual surgeries to thriving adulthood after each decided to set aside medical advice to keep their bodies a secret and,...
- 6/30/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Around the time of the death of the acclaimed writer, bibliophile and intellectual adventurer Umberto Eco, a video appeared on the internet of him walking around his personal library, inspiring awe and no small measure of envy in those who watched it. One of Eco’s great talents was to sweep people up in his adventures due to his infectious sense of wonder, so he never gave the impression of hoarding treasure, rather of accumulating what was necessary to become a treasure. The opening of Davide Ferrario’s documentary picks up where that video left off and takes us further, much further, into a labyrinthine structure which might have left Borges dizzy. The Argentine’s metaphor is also extended here. We are invited to imagine the library as an aspect of God, and God as the ultimate library.
Though we will spend much of the film in this particular library,...
Though we will spend much of the film in this particular library,...
- 6/28/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
At the height of Umberto Eco’s popularity, it may have been tempting to dismiss the Italian scholar and novelist as too representative of his own time, a purveyor of entertainments for hip intellectuals with a poststructuralist bent. His obsessions with semiotics and fakes, conspiracy theories and heretical Christian sects of the late Middle Ages, seemed quirky, meta, and all in good fun. But in the years since his death in 2016, they’ve turned out to be uncannily prescient, as Davide Ferrario’s Umberto Eco: A Library of the World aims to prove.
This biographical documentary isn’t a peek behind the curtain into a public intellectual’s private life. Rather, it’s a reframing of the preoccupations of a thinker who’s no longer very fashionable. In the process, it becomes a timely epistemological rumination on the difference between knowledge and information, the relationship between memory and technology.
In...
This biographical documentary isn’t a peek behind the curtain into a public intellectual’s private life. Rather, it’s a reframing of the preoccupations of a thinker who’s no longer very fashionable. In the process, it becomes a timely epistemological rumination on the difference between knowledge and information, the relationship between memory and technology.
In...
- 6/25/2023
- by William Repass
- Slant Magazine
Harvey Keitel won best actor for his role in local production ‘Blood On The Crown’
Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe and Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow were among the honorary winners at the inaugural Malta Film Awards on Saturday night (Jan 29).
The event, hosted by UK comedian and actor David Walliams, was held at at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta and broadcast live on Television Malta. Local politicians and leading figures from the Maltese arts and film sectors were in attendance.
It was a lavish show, full of music and dance interludes and flashy lighting effects. Local media reported that...
Ridley Scott, Russell Crowe and Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow were among the honorary winners at the inaugural Malta Film Awards on Saturday night (Jan 29).
The event, hosted by UK comedian and actor David Walliams, was held at at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta and broadcast live on Television Malta. Local politicians and leading figures from the Maltese arts and film sectors were in attendance.
It was a lavish show, full of music and dance interludes and flashy lighting effects. Local media reported that...
- 1/31/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
The Italian director is telling the tale of a group of friends united by their passion for music. Monday 26 October saw filming commence on Tutto qua, Davide Ferrario’s new film which is produced by Lionello Cerri and Cristiana Mainardi on behalf of Lumière & Co. in league with Rai Cinema. The film shoot is scheduled to last 6 weeks. The veteran Lombardy-based director, writer and film critic who’s best known for films Guardami, selected for the 1999 Venice Film Festivals’ Dreams and Visions section, After Midnight and Freedom is making his return to fiction feature films having shot three documentaries - Devil’s Soup, Sexxx and Cento anni - over the past 6 years. The film tells the tale of a group of adult friends, each leading their own separate lives but united by the passion which first led to their meeting: music. The Boys, this being the name of...
- 10/28/2020
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
"I saw what you did." Screen Daily has revealed an official promo trailer for an indie historic drama titled Just Noise, made in Malta about the tiny island nation's fight for independence (from Britain) after World War I. The film is directed by an Italian filmmaker named Davide Ferrario and doesn't have any release dates set yet - but this will create some anticipation. Just Noise (aka Storbju) chronicles how the citizens of Malta fought for independence from Britain in 1919. When the Army was sent to quell the riots and the British government covered up the bloody encounter, more than 100 Maltese were accused of instigating the violence and jailed. The full cast features Malcolm McDowell, Harvey Keitel, Tom Prior, Ian Virgo, Leeshon Alexander, Benedick Blythe, and Christopher Dingli. This looks intense! A gripping, brutal thriller about fighting for independence from evil, merciless imperialists. I'm in. Here's the first official promo...
- 6/25/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Shocking events that changed Malta forever are chronicled in “Just Noise.” Set in 1919, the film seeks to draw attention to Britain’s violent clash against protestors. While it would make news in today’s 24/7 news cycles the same couldn’t be said for this painful chapter. Instead, this story serves as a reminder that history is littered with important moments that somehow became lost along the way.
Read More: 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2020
The film’s first trailer offers a glimpse into the scale filmmaker Davide Ferrario introduces to this project.
Continue reading ‘Just Noise’ Trailer: Harvey Keitel & Malcolm McDowell Are British Officers Overseeing Riots During Malta’s 1919 Uprising at The Playlist.
Read More: 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2020
The film’s first trailer offers a glimpse into the scale filmmaker Davide Ferrario introduces to this project.
Continue reading ‘Just Noise’ Trailer: Harvey Keitel & Malcolm McDowell Are British Officers Overseeing Riots During Malta’s 1919 Uprising at The Playlist.
- 6/25/2020
- by Valerie Thompson
- The Playlist
The film is scripted by Jean-Pierre Magro and directed by Davide Ferrario.
Veteran star Harvey Keitel has been in Malta recently, starring as a British army officer in Just Noise which is being sold at the Afm by Electric Entertainment.
The film, scripted by Jean-Pierre Magro and directed by Davide Ferrario, tells the little-known story of how Maltese citizens fought for their independence against the British Crown in 1919. Maltese people from all walks of life united to lead an uprising against the British imperial forces.
Keitel admits he didn’t know anything about the Maltese revolution before he embarked on the project,...
Veteran star Harvey Keitel has been in Malta recently, starring as a British army officer in Just Noise which is being sold at the Afm by Electric Entertainment.
The film, scripted by Jean-Pierre Magro and directed by Davide Ferrario, tells the little-known story of how Maltese citizens fought for their independence against the British Crown in 1919. Maltese people from all walks of life united to lead an uprising against the British imperial forces.
Keitel admits he didn’t know anything about the Maltese revolution before he embarked on the project,...
- 11/9/2019
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
In today’s film news roundup, Lily James circles a British drama role, “Blackjack: The Jackie Ryan Story” has started production, Laika makes a veteran hire and “Beanpole” and “Just Noise” get distribution.
Castings
Lily James is in negotiations to join Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes in the British historical drama “Dig,” set up at Netflix.
Based on a true story, James will portray an archaeology student. Mulligan will play a widow who believes her land contains buried riches and then turns her property into an archaeological site. Fiennes will portray a local archaeologist.
Simon Stone is directing with Gabrielle Tana producing. The project was previously set up for BBC Films with Nicole Kidman attached.
James starred in “Baby Driver” and “Yesterday” and has been shooting a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” alongside Armie Hammer. James is repped by UTA and U.K.’s Tavistock Wood.
Production Starts
Production has...
Castings
Lily James is in negotiations to join Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes in the British historical drama “Dig,” set up at Netflix.
Based on a true story, James will portray an archaeology student. Mulligan will play a widow who believes her land contains buried riches and then turns her property into an archaeological site. Fiennes will portray a local archaeologist.
Simon Stone is directing with Gabrielle Tana producing. The project was previously set up for BBC Films with Nicole Kidman attached.
James starred in “Baby Driver” and “Yesterday” and has been shooting a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rebecca” alongside Armie Hammer. James is repped by UTA and U.K.’s Tavistock Wood.
Production Starts
Production has...
- 9/6/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Davide Ferrario to direct from screenplay by Jean-Pierre Magro.
Dean Devlin’s Los Angeles-based Electric Entertainment has acquired worldwide rights to the Maltese production Just Noise starring Harvey Keitel and Malcolm McDowell.
Set to begin production this month, the feature chronicles how the citizens of Malta fought for independence from Britain in 1919. When the Army was sent to quell the riots and the British government covered up the bloody encounter, more than 100 Maltese were accused of instigating the violence and jailed.
Davide Ferrario will direct from a screenplay by Jean-Pierre Magro, who produces with Pedja Miletic and Aaron Briffa. Roland Joffe,...
Dean Devlin’s Los Angeles-based Electric Entertainment has acquired worldwide rights to the Maltese production Just Noise starring Harvey Keitel and Malcolm McDowell.
Set to begin production this month, the feature chronicles how the citizens of Malta fought for independence from Britain in 1919. When the Army was sent to quell the riots and the British government covered up the bloody encounter, more than 100 Maltese were accused of instigating the violence and jailed.
Davide Ferrario will direct from a screenplay by Jean-Pierre Magro, who produces with Pedja Miletic and Aaron Briffa. Roland Joffe,...
- 9/5/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Venice International Film Festival is in the process announcing the lineup for its 71st edition. Here's what we know so far:
Competition
The Cut (Fatih Akin)
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Roy Andersson)
99 Homes (Ramin Bahrani)
Tales (Rakhshan Bani E'temad)
La rancon de la gloire (Xavier Beauvois)
Hungry Hearts (Saverio Costanzo)
Le dernier coup de marteau (Alix Delaporte)
Pasolini (Abel Ferrara)
Manglehorn (David Gordon Green)
Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (Alejandro González Iñárritu)
Three Hearts (Benoît Jacquot)
The Postman's White Nights (Andrei Konchalovsky)
Il Giovane Favoloso (Mario Martone)
Sivas (Kaan Mujdeci)
Anime Nere (Francesco Munzi)
Good Kill (Andrew Niccol)
Loin des hommes (David Oelhoffen)
The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)
Nobi (Shinya Tsukamoto)
Red Amnesia (Wang Xiaoshuai)
Out Of Competition
Joe Date. Photo by Evan Dickson.
Words with Gods (Guillermo Arriaga, Emir Kusturica, Amos Gitai, Mira Nair, Warwick Thornton, Hector Babenco, Bahman Ghobadi,...
Competition
The Cut (Fatih Akin)
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Roy Andersson)
99 Homes (Ramin Bahrani)
Tales (Rakhshan Bani E'temad)
La rancon de la gloire (Xavier Beauvois)
Hungry Hearts (Saverio Costanzo)
Le dernier coup de marteau (Alix Delaporte)
Pasolini (Abel Ferrara)
Manglehorn (David Gordon Green)
Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (Alejandro González Iñárritu)
Three Hearts (Benoît Jacquot)
The Postman's White Nights (Andrei Konchalovsky)
Il Giovane Favoloso (Mario Martone)
Sivas (Kaan Mujdeci)
Anime Nere (Francesco Munzi)
Good Kill (Andrew Niccol)
Loin des hommes (David Oelhoffen)
The Look of Silence (Joshua Oppenheimer)
Nobi (Shinya Tsukamoto)
Red Amnesia (Wang Xiaoshuai)
Out Of Competition
Joe Date. Photo by Evan Dickson.
Words with Gods (Guillermo Arriaga, Emir Kusturica, Amos Gitai, Mira Nair, Warwick Thornton, Hector Babenco, Bahman Ghobadi,...
- 7/25/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
This morning in Rome, Biennale president Paolo Baratta and Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera unveiled the lineup for the 71st Venice Film Festival, which features some extraordinarily exciting titles and intriguingly under-the-radar picks.
Twenty films will be competing in the main competition, 19 of which are world premieres with one international premiere out of the lot. Out of all the titles at Venice this year, Birdman, which stars Michael Keaton and features a star-studded cast including Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts, is undoubtedly the title with the most chance of gaining Oscar attention this year after making the rounds on the festival circuit (it’s heading to the Toronto International Film Festival next).
Also anticipated are Manglehorn, a collaboration between Prince Avalanche helmer David Gordon Green and Al Pacino, and Andrew Niccol’s Good Kill, with Ethan Hawke, Bruce Greenwood, January Jones and Zoe Kravitz.
Twenty films will be competing in the main competition, 19 of which are world premieres with one international premiere out of the lot. Out of all the titles at Venice this year, Birdman, which stars Michael Keaton and features a star-studded cast including Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts, is undoubtedly the title with the most chance of gaining Oscar attention this year after making the rounds on the festival circuit (it’s heading to the Toronto International Film Festival next).
Also anticipated are Manglehorn, a collaboration between Prince Avalanche helmer David Gordon Green and Al Pacino, and Andrew Niccol’s Good Kill, with Ethan Hawke, Bruce Greenwood, January Jones and Zoe Kravitz.
- 7/24/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
The 71st Venice Film Festival announced its lineup this morning, highlighted by films from American directors, including David Gordon Green, Barry Levinson, Peter Bogdanovich, Lisa Cholodenko, Andrew Niccol, and James Franco. As had been previously announced, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, starring Michael Keaton and many others, will be the opening film when the festival begins on Aug. 27.
Click below for the entire list of 55 films playing in Venice.
Competition
The Cut, directed by Fatih Akin
Starring Tahar Rahim, Akin Gazi, Simon Abkarian, George Georgiou
A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence, directed by Roy Andersson
Starring Holger Andersson,...
Click below for the entire list of 55 films playing in Venice.
Competition
The Cut, directed by Fatih Akin
Starring Tahar Rahim, Akin Gazi, Simon Abkarian, George Georgiou
A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence, directed by Roy Andersson
Starring Holger Andersson,...
- 7/24/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
This morning came the announcement of the 2014 Venice Film Festival lineup and we already knew Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman would serve as the opening night film and for the most part a lot of the more recognizable entries are those we already discussed as part of the Toronto Film Festival lineup. This includes Ramin Bahrani's 99 Homes, David Gordon Green's Manglehorn starring Al Pacino, Abel Ferrera's Pasolini, Barry Levinson's The Humbling and Andrew Niccol's The Good Kill. There are, however, some titles worthy of note such as the latest film from The Act of Killing director Joshua Oppenheimer, The Lord of Silence, Fatih Akin's The Cut, She's Funny that Way from Peter Bogdanovich, Lisa Cholodenko's Olive Kitteredge and a new film from James Franco in The Sound and the Fury based on Faulkner's novel. Joe Dante shows up with a new horror-comedy in Burying the Ex,...
- 7/24/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Whiles the likes of Terrence Malick, Todd Haynes, Alexander Sokurov, Giorgos Lanthimos and J.C. Chandor no where to be found in the fall fest season map (with concerns to Malick — Telluride and Tiff might still have those surprises up their sleeves) the 71st edition of the Venice Film Festival is still a lean and mean (American-French-Italian heavy) comp with the now “confirmed” presence of Fatih Akin (the cross continent The Cut - see pic above), Ramin Bahrani (Michael Shannon starrer 99 Homes), Abel Ferrara (a Thin Blue Line truth revealer Pasolini), David Gordon Green (Pacino comeback vehicle Manglehorn), Roy Andersson (the long awaited A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence) and Joshua Oppenheimer (public Indonesian isolation accompaniment film The Look Of Silence). The U.S. presence is equally as heavy in the Out of Comp section with the likes of Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, Barry Levinson, Lisa Cholodenko and James Franco making a stop,...
- 7/24/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, Andrew Niccol’s Good Kill and Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence among competition titles.Scroll down for full lists
The line-up for the 71st Venice Film Festival (Aug 27-Sept 6) has been revealed this morning by Biennale president Paolo Baratta and film festival director Alberto Barbera at Rome’s St. Regis Grand Hotel.
Early standouts include Abel Ferrara’s Pasolini, which centres on the final days of the Italian filmmaker and his death in 1975; David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, starring Al Pacino as a locksmith in a small town who never got over the love of his life; and The Look Of Silence, Joshua Oppenheimer’s highly anticipated follow-up to his award-winning documentary, The Act of Killing.
As previously announced, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, starring Michael Keaton, will open the festival on August 27 and is among the 20-strong competition titles, of which all...
The line-up for the 71st Venice Film Festival (Aug 27-Sept 6) has been revealed this morning by Biennale president Paolo Baratta and film festival director Alberto Barbera at Rome’s St. Regis Grand Hotel.
Early standouts include Abel Ferrara’s Pasolini, which centres on the final days of the Italian filmmaker and his death in 1975; David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, starring Al Pacino as a locksmith in a small town who never got over the love of his life; and The Look Of Silence, Joshua Oppenheimer’s highly anticipated follow-up to his award-winning documentary, The Act of Killing.
As previously announced, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, starring Michael Keaton, will open the festival on August 27 and is among the 20-strong competition titles, of which all...
- 7/24/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Films by David Gordon Green, Andrew Niccol and Abel Ferrara will bring world premieres to the Lido di Venezia this year, as the Venice Film Festival has announced its selections for the 71st edition of the oldest such event in the world. Green's "Manglehorn" with Al Pacino, Niccol's "Good Kill" with Ethan Hawke and Ferrara's "Pasolini" with Willem Dafoe promise to bring a fair share of star power to the event, while actors such as Viggo Mortensen, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver feature in films sprinkled throughout the Competition. "The Act of Killing" director Joshua Oppenheimer will also continue his look at the Indonesian genocide with a new documentary, "The Look of Silence." Playing out of competition are films by Barry Levinson ("The Humbling," also starring Pacino), James Franco ("The Sound and the Fury") and Lisa Cholodenko ("Olive Kitteridge"), while Focus Features will bring the new Laika film, "The Boxtrolls,...
- 7/24/2014
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Dueling festival lineups! It seems that for every announcement for the Toronto International Film Festival lineup comes a competing (and often overlapping) one from Venice. Here we're collecting the finalized Venice lineups so far. (Above image: Philippe Garrel's A Burning Hot Summer.)
Competition
The Ides of March (George Clooney, USA) (opening night) 4:44 Last Day on Earth (Abel Ferrara, USA) Alps (Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece) A Burning Hot Summer (Philippe Garrel, France) Carnage (Roman Polanski, France/Germany/Spain/Poland) Chicken With Plums (Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, France/Belgium/Germany) A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, Canada) Dark Horse (Todd Solondz, USA) The Exchange (Eran Kolirin, Israel/Germany) Faust (Alexander Sokurov, Russia) Himizu (Sion Sono, Japan) Killer Joe (William Friedkin, USA) Life without Principle (Johnnie To, Hk) Quando la notte (Cristina Comencini, Italy) Seediq Bale (Wei Desheng, Taiwan) Shame (Steve McQueen, UK) Terraferma (Emanuele Crialese, Italy) Texas Killing Fields (Ami Canaan Mann,...
Competition
The Ides of March (George Clooney, USA) (opening night) 4:44 Last Day on Earth (Abel Ferrara, USA) Alps (Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece) A Burning Hot Summer (Philippe Garrel, France) Carnage (Roman Polanski, France/Germany/Spain/Poland) Chicken With Plums (Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, France/Belgium/Germany) A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg, Canada) Dark Horse (Todd Solondz, USA) The Exchange (Eran Kolirin, Israel/Germany) Faust (Alexander Sokurov, Russia) Himizu (Sion Sono, Japan) Killer Joe (William Friedkin, USA) Life without Principle (Johnnie To, Hk) Quando la notte (Cristina Comencini, Italy) Seediq Bale (Wei Desheng, Taiwan) Shame (Steve McQueen, UK) Terraferma (Emanuele Crialese, Italy) Texas Killing Fields (Ami Canaan Mann,...
- 8/9/2011
- MUBI
After the snowy hype of Sundance, the bustle in Berlin and the sheer craziness of Cannes, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival comes as sweet respite.
Now in its 44th edition, the Czech festival acts as a calm way station for cinema buffs and industry folk to regroup post-Cannes and pre-Venice and enjoy film without the adjunct "business."
The setting -- a West Bohemian spa town -- provides the necessary isolation while the screening schedule carefully balances recent festival winners with established art house faves and new work from independent directors the world over.
The competition vying for the 2009 Crystal Globe is strictly indie -- highlights include German comedy "Whisky with Vodka" from Andreas Dresen ("Cloud 9"), Sophie Barthes' directorial debut "Cold Souls" starring Paul Giamatti and minimalist drama "Twenty" from Iranian director Abdolreza Kahani.
But Karlovy Vary has also found space for mainstream entertainment such as Sam Mendes...
Now in its 44th edition, the Czech festival acts as a calm way station for cinema buffs and industry folk to regroup post-Cannes and pre-Venice and enjoy film without the adjunct "business."
The setting -- a West Bohemian spa town -- provides the necessary isolation while the screening schedule carefully balances recent festival winners with established art house faves and new work from independent directors the world over.
The competition vying for the 2009 Crystal Globe is strictly indie -- highlights include German comedy "Whisky with Vodka" from Andreas Dresen ("Cloud 9"), Sophie Barthes' directorial debut "Cold Souls" starring Paul Giamatti and minimalist drama "Twenty" from Iranian director Abdolreza Kahani.
But Karlovy Vary has also found space for mainstream entertainment such as Sam Mendes...
- 6/25/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
By Michael Atkinson
The new Chinese documentary "Please Vote for Me" (2007) has an irresistible arc: take a class of average middle class third-graders, give them the opportunity to vote for "class monitor;" tell the three candidates that they have to run campaigns, in order to net as many votes as they can; and let the political process run its course . that is, let it corrupt, humiliate and demoralize the children just as they were led to believe they were creating "democracy." Weijun Chen's film . which runs a mere 55 minutes . has an almost crystalline purity to its ironies. Three Wuhan children are "selected" by the teachers . two boys (one of whom is the incumbent monitor, and given to shoving his classmates around) and a girl, whose shy demeanor would seem to make her a dubious candidate. Right out of the gate, the campaigns become hilarious-yet-chilling mirror images of adult political...
The new Chinese documentary "Please Vote for Me" (2007) has an irresistible arc: take a class of average middle class third-graders, give them the opportunity to vote for "class monitor;" tell the three candidates that they have to run campaigns, in order to net as many votes as they can; and let the political process run its course . that is, let it corrupt, humiliate and demoralize the children just as they were led to believe they were creating "democracy." Weijun Chen's film . which runs a mere 55 minutes . has an almost crystalline purity to its ironies. Three Wuhan children are "selected" by the teachers . two boys (one of whom is the incumbent monitor, and given to shoving his classmates around) and a girl, whose shy demeanor would seem to make her a dubious candidate. Right out of the gate, the campaigns become hilarious-yet-chilling mirror images of adult political...
- 8/26/2008
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
- I admit to not knowing one damn thing about this writer named Primo Levi – all the more reason to be curious about this week’s release of Primo Levi's Journey – a Cinema Guild release. Narrated by Chris Cooper, this doc’s starting point begins in the winter of 1945, Primo Levi, one the century’s greatest writers (“If This Is A Man”), was liberated from the Auschwitz concentration camp. With the war still underway, he embarked on a thousand-mile journey to his home in Turin, Italy – a strange and beguiling odyssey memorialized in his book, “The Truce.” Sixty years later, director Davide Ferrario set out to follow in Levi’s footsteps. Retracing his historic trip through Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Rumania, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria, Primo Levi’S Journey weaves a path through a modern Europe that has both changed and remained eerily the same – from democratic rallies in
- 8/13/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
- Pictured above: Laurence Kardish (MoMa) Antonio Monda (Nyu), Giampoalo Letta (Medusa Films), Salvatore Ferragamo (Ferragamo), and Mario Sesti (Film Critic) MoMA has done it again. Another tribute to Italian Cinema has arrived at the Museum of Modern Art. Following the tribute to Antonio Capuano and the tribute to Gianni Amelio, MoMA has hooked up with Medus Films and Salvatore Ferragamo to celebrate Medusa Film’s 10th Anniversary. As I was sitting in at the press conference for this event, I looked on stage and saw Ettore Scola. I turned to my right and saw Dario Argento. I look behind me and saw Paolo Sorrentino. I looked in front of me and saw Stefano Accorsi. It was the who’s who of Italian Cinema yesterday and today. To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the production and distribution company Medusa, the president of Medusa donated 14 of their most popular titles to
- 1/20/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
CANNES -- Giovanni Veronesi and Ferzan Ozpetek led the way with 12 David di Donatello nominations each for their respective films Manuale D'Amore (Manual of Love) and Cuore Sacro (Sacred Heart), Italy's equivalent to the Oscars. Both films were nominated in the best film category. Paolo Sorrentino's Le Consequenze dell'amore (The Consequences of Love) and Gianni Amelio's Le Chiavi di Casa (The House Keys) received 10 and seven award nominations respectively including best film and director nominations. Rounding out the best film category was Certi Bambini (Certain Kids), which was directed by Andrea and Antonio Frazzi. Both Ozpetek and the Frazzi brothers were nominated for best director as was Davide Ferrario for Dopo Mezzanotte (After Midnight), which received ten nominations.
- 4/12/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CANNES -- Giovanni Veronesi and Ferzan Ozpetek led the way with 12 David di Donatello nominations each for their respective films "Manuale D'Amore" (Manual of Love) and "Cuore Sacro" (Sacred Heart), Italy's equivalent to the Oscars. Both films were nominated in the best film category. Paolo Sorrentino's "Le Consequenze dell'amore" (The Consequences of Love) and Gianni Amelio's "Le Chiavi di Casa" (The House Keys) received 10 and seven award nominations respectively including best film and director nominations. Rounding out the best film category was "Certi Bambini" (Certain Kids), which was directed by Andrea and Antonio Frazzi. Both Ozpetek and the Frazzi brothers were nominated for best director as was Davide Ferrario for "Dopo Mezzanotte" (After Midnight), which received ten nominations.
- 4/11/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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