It’ll soon be time to pack your tuxes and/or high heels and wonder “why the heck does it get so hot at 6:30 pm, just when I’m lining up for the 7:15 pm screening?” The eyes of the entertainment world will once again turn toward the French Riviera for the 77th Annual Cannes Film Festival.
The main slate announcement was made early Thursday morning, confirming many suspicions, and offering much excitement for hardcore cinephiles. For those with more mainstream tastes—and an eye toward what will still be in play come next year’s Oscars—here are some highlights.
Certainly, the biggest event screening will be the public’s first look at Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” a self-financed behemoth that he’s been dreaming about for decades. The director/vintner is a two-time winner of Cannes’s Palme D’Or—for “The Conversation” in 1974 and “Apocalypse Now...
The main slate announcement was made early Thursday morning, confirming many suspicions, and offering much excitement for hardcore cinephiles. For those with more mainstream tastes—and an eye toward what will still be in play come next year’s Oscars—here are some highlights.
Certainly, the biggest event screening will be the public’s first look at Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” a self-financed behemoth that he’s been dreaming about for decades. The director/vintner is a two-time winner of Cannes’s Palme D’Or—for “The Conversation” in 1974 and “Apocalypse Now...
- 4/11/2024
- by Jordan Hoffman
- Gold Derby
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
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
Macu Machín’s “The Undergrowth” (“La Hojarasca”) took home the top MiradaCanaria prize at the 17th MiradasDoc, which ran March 15-22 in Tenerife, Spain.
Produced by El Viaje Films, Machin’s debut feature has been picking up accolades since its world premiere at Berlinale’s Forum, snagging Best Spanish Picture and director at the Malaga Film Festival’s Zonazine, a sidebar for edgier and sometimes smaller pics.
The jury praised the doc for its “sensitive and evocative portrayal of three sisters and their deep bond of love for each other and their homeland.” In it, two elderly sisters join a third to hash out their shared inheritance of a plot of land as the rumble of an active volcano echoes close by.
Part of a burgeoning Canary Islands cinema, “The Undergrowth” explores questions of “identity, belonging, and the dynamics of the place where me and my family came from,” Machín told Variety.
Produced by El Viaje Films, Machin’s debut feature has been picking up accolades since its world premiere at Berlinale’s Forum, snagging Best Spanish Picture and director at the Malaga Film Festival’s Zonazine, a sidebar for edgier and sometimes smaller pics.
The jury praised the doc for its “sensitive and evocative portrayal of three sisters and their deep bond of love for each other and their homeland.” In it, two elderly sisters join a third to hash out their shared inheritance of a plot of land as the rumble of an active volcano echoes close by.
Part of a burgeoning Canary Islands cinema, “The Undergrowth” explores questions of “identity, belonging, and the dynamics of the place where me and my family came from,” Machín told Variety.
- 3/26/2024
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Pending Woody Allen’s final and absolute cancellation, few directors have emerged to take his place as an erudite and literary artist whose work combines snappy wordplay, base sex jokes and a philosophical willingness to stare into the abyss. Jesse Eisenberg staked a tentative claim to that throne with his 2022 debut When You Finish Saving the World, an amiable but scrappy political satire about a left-wing mother and son, but his follow-up makes a stronger case, being much more adult, less broadly scripted, and as depressing as Woody Allen circa Stardust Memories.
Key to its success is a career-high performance from Succession star Kieran Culkin, whose enigmatic presence bookends the movie. In either case, he is sitting motionless at JFK airport, watching the world go by. He plays Benji, and he is waiting for...
Key to its success is a career-high performance from Succession star Kieran Culkin, whose enigmatic presence bookends the movie. In either case, he is sitting motionless at JFK airport, watching the world go by. He plays Benji, and he is waiting for...
- 1/22/2024
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
French director Justine Triet’s Cannes Palme d’Or winning film Anatomy Of A Fall swept the awards at 36th European Film Awards in Berlin this evening, winning Best European Film, Director, Screenplay (with Arthur Harari) and actress for Sandra Hüller.
There was a strong selection this year with other films and directors leading the nominations including Aki Kaurismäki with Fallen Leaves, Agnieszka Holland with Green Border, Matteo Garrone with Me Captain, Jonathan Glazer with The Zone Of Interest.
The European Films Awards haul for Anatomy Of A Fall will likely ramp up growing Academy Awards buzz around the film and its star Sandra Hüller.
“I can’t say whether it will happen or not but yes… now we are in the race and we will continue the campaign in the U.S. and we’re totally involved, let’s see,” Triet said in an press conference after the ceremony.
There was a strong selection this year with other films and directors leading the nominations including Aki Kaurismäki with Fallen Leaves, Agnieszka Holland with Green Border, Matteo Garrone with Me Captain, Jonathan Glazer with The Zone Of Interest.
The European Films Awards haul for Anatomy Of A Fall will likely ramp up growing Academy Awards buzz around the film and its star Sandra Hüller.
“I can’t say whether it will happen or not but yes… now we are in the race and we will continue the campaign in the U.S. and we’re totally involved, let’s see,” Triet said in an press conference after the ceremony.
- 12/9/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Project Market Awards Winners
The QCinema Project Market, the industry initiative that accompanies The Philippines’ QCinema International Film Festival, revealed its winners list on Tuesday delivering almost $500,000 of grants and in-kind support.
The prizes followed a two-day networking and pitching event on Nov. 18 and 19 for 19 feature-length fiction film projects from Southeast Asia.
Two projects received the QCinema Project Market – Philippines Co-production Grant, with both collecting $55,000 (PHP3 million). They were: “The Remotes” from director-producer John Torres; and “Filipiñana,” by director Rafael Manuel. “Filipinana,” a black comedy set on a golf course, won a second prize on the night worth another $18,000. At the recent Asian Project Market in Busan it had also been a multiple prize winner.
Two film projects also received the QCinema Project Market – Philippines Co-production Grant worth $27,000 (PHP1.5 million) each: “The Boy and the Fight of Spiders (Diwalwal)” by director Jarell Serencio and “Ella Arcangel: Ballad of Tooth and...
The QCinema Project Market, the industry initiative that accompanies The Philippines’ QCinema International Film Festival, revealed its winners list on Tuesday delivering almost $500,000 of grants and in-kind support.
The prizes followed a two-day networking and pitching event on Nov. 18 and 19 for 19 feature-length fiction film projects from Southeast Asia.
Two projects received the QCinema Project Market – Philippines Co-production Grant, with both collecting $55,000 (PHP3 million). They were: “The Remotes” from director-producer John Torres; and “Filipiñana,” by director Rafael Manuel. “Filipinana,” a black comedy set on a golf course, won a second prize on the night worth another $18,000. At the recent Asian Project Market in Busan it had also been a multiple prize winner.
Two film projects also received the QCinema Project Market – Philippines Co-production Grant worth $27,000 (PHP1.5 million) each: “The Boy and the Fight of Spiders (Diwalwal)” by director Jarell Serencio and “Ella Arcangel: Ballad of Tooth and...
- 11/22/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Leading European artists, including Maria Choustova (“Donbass”), Sergei Loznitsa (“Donbass”), Pawel Lozinski (“Film balkonowy”) and Radu Jude (“Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn”), have taken a stand to support the Israeli film community as it seeks to rally voices and help free over 220 hostages in Gaza.
These names penned a heartfelt letter addressing the resurgence of antisemitism across Europe and the significant part that European artists must play in raising the alarm. The letter will be sent to the European Film Academy with a request to circulate it among its 3,000 members ahead of the European Film Awards ceremony on Dec. 9.
In Israel, prominent filmmakers such as Ari Folman, Hagai Levi, Jasmine Kainy, Eliran Peled and Joseph Cedar (“Footnote”) have spearheaded an online campaign called Bring Them Home Now, documenting the stories of relatives whose loved ones, including children and elderly people, were abducted during the Hamas terror attack on Oct.
These names penned a heartfelt letter addressing the resurgence of antisemitism across Europe and the significant part that European artists must play in raising the alarm. The letter will be sent to the European Film Academy with a request to circulate it among its 3,000 members ahead of the European Film Awards ceremony on Dec. 9.
In Israel, prominent filmmakers such as Ari Folman, Hagai Levi, Jasmine Kainy, Eliran Peled and Joseph Cedar (“Footnote”) have spearheaded an online campaign called Bring Them Home Now, documenting the stories of relatives whose loved ones, including children and elderly people, were abducted during the Hamas terror attack on Oct.
- 11/2/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Sergei Loznitsa met with “immediate confrontation” following the premiere of “Babi Yar. Context,” he revealed at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival.
The film focused on the massacre of nearly 34,000 Jews at Babi Yar in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1941.
“I found myself in the center of the cyclone with this one. Ukraine was the only country where this film was heavily criticized. It’s a painful story and dangerous footage. I was editing it for a very long time, waiting for my emotions to go down,” he added, describing the film as his “hardest” one yet.
“I don’t know how it has transformed me, but maybe it’s just my destiny to touch on these kinds of topics.”
Addressing the audience remotely during the Conference on Ethics in Documentary Filmmaking, Loznitsa – who also presented his 2020 release “A Night in the Opera” – commented: “If we consider film as art, there is no ethics in art.
The film focused on the massacre of nearly 34,000 Jews at Babi Yar in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1941.
“I found myself in the center of the cyclone with this one. Ukraine was the only country where this film was heavily criticized. It’s a painful story and dangerous footage. I was editing it for a very long time, waiting for my emotions to go down,” he added, describing the film as his “hardest” one yet.
“I don’t know how it has transformed me, but maybe it’s just my destiny to touch on these kinds of topics.”
Addressing the audience remotely during the Conference on Ethics in Documentary Filmmaking, Loznitsa – who also presented his 2020 release “A Night in the Opera” – commented: “If we consider film as art, there is no ethics in art.
- 10/28/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Marleen Slot will take over from Antoine Simkine in April 2024.
European network Ace Producers has appointed Dutch producer Marleen Slot as its new president, effective from April 19, 2024.
Slot will take over from current president Antoine Simkine, who has held the role since 2018.
Slot will work closely with Ace director Jacobine van der Vloed in developing Ace’s vision and strategy.
A member of Ace Producers since she participated in the Ace 19 programme in 2009, Slot’s involvement with the producers network has included as a speaker, consultant and expert. She is currently serving as vice-president and is a board member for Ace Producers.
European network Ace Producers has appointed Dutch producer Marleen Slot as its new president, effective from April 19, 2024.
Slot will take over from current president Antoine Simkine, who has held the role since 2018.
Slot will work closely with Ace director Jacobine van der Vloed in developing Ace’s vision and strategy.
A member of Ace Producers since she participated in the Ace 19 programme in 2009, Slot’s involvement with the producers network has included as a speaker, consultant and expert. She is currently serving as vice-president and is a board member for Ace Producers.
- 10/10/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Producer Marianne Slot will continue her successful collaboration with Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson, following 2018 “Woman at War” with TV show “The Danish Woman” and upcoming feature film “Normal Men.”
“It’s a comedy, as you can imagine. Benedikt Erlingsson and a feminist producer – that’s a good combination,” she laughs, recalling their previous film about an environmental activist going rogue.
“’Woman at War’ was so joyful to make. It is still being shown and used as a reference, even by politicians in many different countries.”
Slot talks to Variety in Locarno, when she is picking up the Raimondo Rezzonico Award, given to industry figures who have played a major role in international production.
A French producer of Danish origin, she has collaborated with such directors as Lucrecia Martel, Lisandro Alonso and Sergei Loznitsa and has been co-producing Lars von Trier’s films since 1995’s “Breaking the Waves,” including “The House That Jack Built.
“It’s a comedy, as you can imagine. Benedikt Erlingsson and a feminist producer – that’s a good combination,” she laughs, recalling their previous film about an environmental activist going rogue.
“’Woman at War’ was so joyful to make. It is still being shown and used as a reference, even by politicians in many different countries.”
Slot talks to Variety in Locarno, when she is picking up the Raimondo Rezzonico Award, given to industry figures who have played a major role in international production.
A French producer of Danish origin, she has collaborated with such directors as Lucrecia Martel, Lisandro Alonso and Sergei Loznitsa and has been co-producing Lars von Trier’s films since 1995’s “Breaking the Waves,” including “The House That Jack Built.
- 8/5/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
A Compassionate Spy (Steve James)
See an exclusive clip above.
The latest film from acclaimed documentarian Steve James, A Compassionate Spy, comes with a fascinating subject: the spy who leaked nuclear information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union, therefore ensuring that America could not establish a nuclear monopoly on the world. It’s easy to see why James would be drawn to the spy, Theodore “Ted” Hall, and his wife Joan as he has often been interested in using individuals as the framework to explore larger societal issues. Utilizing a hybrid of recreations, archival footage, and modern-day interviews, James crafts a portrait of a man, a relationship, and the sheer weight of the decision to betray your country to save the world.
A Compassionate Spy (Steve James)
See an exclusive clip above.
The latest film from acclaimed documentarian Steve James, A Compassionate Spy, comes with a fascinating subject: the spy who leaked nuclear information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union, therefore ensuring that America could not establish a nuclear monopoly on the world. It’s easy to see why James would be drawn to the spy, Theodore “Ted” Hall, and his wife Joan as he has often been interested in using individuals as the framework to explore larger societal issues. Utilizing a hybrid of recreations, archival footage, and modern-day interviews, James crafts a portrait of a man, a relationship, and the sheer weight of the decision to betray your country to save the world.
- 8/4/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Lila Aviles received best director in the international competition.
Marie Amachoukeli’s Ama Gloria and Juraj Lerotic’s Safe Place lead the winners of the 40th Jerusalem Film Festival, which handed out 1m Ils in prizes this evening (July 20).
Ama Gloria, which premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes this year, won the best international film award. The film depicts the last summer between a six-year-old girl and her nanny Gloria, before the latter returns to Cape Verde to care for her own children.
Scroll down for the full list of feature winners
A jury led by Claire Denis and consisting of Whit Stillman,...
Marie Amachoukeli’s Ama Gloria and Juraj Lerotic’s Safe Place lead the winners of the 40th Jerusalem Film Festival, which handed out 1m Ils in prizes this evening (July 20).
Ama Gloria, which premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes this year, won the best international film award. The film depicts the last summer between a six-year-old girl and her nanny Gloria, before the latter returns to Cape Verde to care for her own children.
Scroll down for the full list of feature winners
A jury led by Claire Denis and consisting of Whit Stillman,...
- 7/20/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Marie Amachoukeli’s Ama Gloria has won the Best International Film Prize at the 40th edition of the Jerusalem Film Festival, running from July 13 to July 26.
The feature, which world premiered as the opening film of Cannes Critics’ Week in May, revolves around a motherless six-year-old girl who travels to Cape Verde to reunite with her longtime nanny.
The jury presided over by Claire Denis, and also figuring Whit Stillman, Florian Zeller, Joana Vicente, and Maria Schrader praised the film’s “extraordinary poignancy, beauty and insight”.
Ama Gloria is produced by Bénédicte Couvreur, the long-time producer of Céline Sciamma and her films Petite Maman and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire.
Other winners in the International Competition include Best Director for Mexico’s Lila Avilés for Berlinale-selected family drama Totem and a Special Mention for the ensemble cast of Argentinian director Rodrigo Moreno’s The Delinquents, which debuted in Un Certain Regard this year.
The feature, which world premiered as the opening film of Cannes Critics’ Week in May, revolves around a motherless six-year-old girl who travels to Cape Verde to reunite with her longtime nanny.
The jury presided over by Claire Denis, and also figuring Whit Stillman, Florian Zeller, Joana Vicente, and Maria Schrader praised the film’s “extraordinary poignancy, beauty and insight”.
Ama Gloria is produced by Bénédicte Couvreur, the long-time producer of Céline Sciamma and her films Petite Maman and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire.
Other winners in the International Competition include Best Director for Mexico’s Lila Avilés for Berlinale-selected family drama Totem and a Special Mention for the ensemble cast of Argentinian director Rodrigo Moreno’s The Delinquents, which debuted in Un Certain Regard this year.
- 7/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
UK director Molly Manning Walker’s first film How To Have Sex won the top prize in Cannes Un Certain Regard on Friday evening.
The tale of a group of teenagers on a rite of passage clubbing holiday was described by Deadline reviewer Damon Wise as “a visceral and sensory experience” and an “exceptional debut”. Read the review here and a Deadline interview with the director here.
The Jury Prize went to Moroccan filmmaker Kamal Lazraq’s Hounds about a father and son who find themselves caught up in a kidnapping plot that goes wrong.
Best Director went to Moroccan director Asmae El Moudir’s documentary The Mother Of All Lies about the bread riots that shook a working-class Casablanca neighborhood in 1981.
She follows in the footsteps of Alain Guiraudie, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Sergei Loznitsa who also won the prize early in their careers.
In other awards, the Ensemble Prize...
The tale of a group of teenagers on a rite of passage clubbing holiday was described by Deadline reviewer Damon Wise as “a visceral and sensory experience” and an “exceptional debut”. Read the review here and a Deadline interview with the director here.
The Jury Prize went to Moroccan filmmaker Kamal Lazraq’s Hounds about a father and son who find themselves caught up in a kidnapping plot that goes wrong.
Best Director went to Moroccan director Asmae El Moudir’s documentary The Mother Of All Lies about the bread riots that shook a working-class Casablanca neighborhood in 1981.
She follows in the footsteps of Alain Guiraudie, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Sergei Loznitsa who also won the prize early in their careers.
In other awards, the Ensemble Prize...
- 5/26/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Coming Home: Nakonechnyi Explores Collateral Damage in Prescient Drama
While the near decade long conflict between Russian and Ukraine has spilled into full-blown war, a handful of directors have explored the significantly intense ripple effects which defined the era and documented the events leading up to it. Whether it’s the prolific output of Sergei Loznitsa, or last year’s Reflection from Valentyn Vasyanovych and Loup Bureau’s documentary Trenches, the struggle in the Donbas region has been an omnipresent reality, revisited as a straightforward but utterly prescient melodrama from Maksym Nakonechnyi with his directorial debut, Butterfly Vision. A female drone soldier nabbed by Russian separatists at last returns home during one of the customary prisoner exchanges between sides, pregnant by rape and numbed by the additional trauma triggered by her return.…...
While the near decade long conflict between Russian and Ukraine has spilled into full-blown war, a handful of directors have explored the significantly intense ripple effects which defined the era and documented the events leading up to it. Whether it’s the prolific output of Sergei Loznitsa, or last year’s Reflection from Valentyn Vasyanovych and Loup Bureau’s documentary Trenches, the struggle in the Donbas region has been an omnipresent reality, revisited as a straightforward but utterly prescient melodrama from Maksym Nakonechnyi with his directorial debut, Butterfly Vision. A female drone soldier nabbed by Russian separatists at last returns home during one of the customary prisoner exchanges between sides, pregnant by rape and numbed by the additional trauma triggered by her return.…...
- 5/12/2023
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Violent story of a man’s doomed efforts to settle back into family life after a shady trip abroad is dynamic but despairing
This movie from western Ukraine is one of the strangest and fiercest I have seen in a while: dynamic and yet despairing. It does not allude to Russia’s war on Ukraine, but perhaps that conflict is there subtextually, in the sense of tribal loyalty, community tradition and the distinct, almost occult pull towards the west. There is something of Aleksey German or Sergey Loznitsa here, and its lead character is like a more watchful and subdued, though no less violent, version of someone that Emir Kusturica would dream up.
The setting is Bukovina, in the eastern Carpathian mountains bordering Romania. Oleksandr Yatsentyuk plays Leonid, nicknamed Pamfir (“Stone”), a guy who has just come home from a job in Poland; he makes passionate love to his wife...
This movie from western Ukraine is one of the strangest and fiercest I have seen in a while: dynamic and yet despairing. It does not allude to Russia’s war on Ukraine, but perhaps that conflict is there subtextually, in the sense of tribal loyalty, community tradition and the distinct, almost occult pull towards the west. There is something of Aleksey German or Sergey Loznitsa here, and its lead character is like a more watchful and subdued, though no less violent, version of someone that Emir Kusturica would dream up.
The setting is Bukovina, in the eastern Carpathian mountains bordering Romania. Oleksandr Yatsentyuk plays Leonid, nicknamed Pamfir (“Stone”), a guy who has just come home from a job in Poland; he makes passionate love to his wife...
- 5/3/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Prominent Paris-based producer Marianne Slot, who has been instrumental to bringing works by auteurs such as Lars Von Trier, Lucrecia Martel, and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso to the big screen, is being honored by the Locarno Film Festival.
Slot will receive the Swiss festival’s Raimondo Rezzonico prize for a producer who epitomizes the indie ethos. She will be bestowed with the award on Aug. 5 with a tribute that will include a screening of Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s environmental-themed black comedy “Woman At War,” followed by an on-stage conversation on Aug. 6.
Born in Denmark, Slot set up the Paris-based production company Slot Machine in 1993. She has been Von Trier’s French producer since 1995, starting with “Breaking the Waves.” Over the years Slot has shepherded works by a slew of indie auteurs at various stages of their careers. Besides Martel and Erlingsson these include Bent Hamer, Małgorzata Szumowska, Paz Encina,...
Slot will receive the Swiss festival’s Raimondo Rezzonico prize for a producer who epitomizes the indie ethos. She will be bestowed with the award on Aug. 5 with a tribute that will include a screening of Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s environmental-themed black comedy “Woman At War,” followed by an on-stage conversation on Aug. 6.
Born in Denmark, Slot set up the Paris-based production company Slot Machine in 1993. She has been Von Trier’s French producer since 1995, starting with “Breaking the Waves.” Over the years Slot has shepherded works by a slew of indie auteurs at various stages of their careers. Besides Martel and Erlingsson these include Bent Hamer, Małgorzata Szumowska, Paz Encina,...
- 4/27/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The producer of ‘Women at War’ and ‘Dancer in the Dark’ will receive the Raimondo Rezzonico Award
French producer Marianne Slot, known for her collaborations with Lars von Trier, will receive the Raimondo Rezzonico Award at the 76th Locarno Film Festival (August 2-12).
After working with Von Trier on his 1995 film Breaking the Waves, she became his French producer. Throughout her career Slot has worked with international directors and producers including Lucrecia Martel, Lisandro Alonso, Naomi Kawase, Sergei Loznitsa and Benedikt Erlingsson, specialising in auteur features.
In 1993, she set up her production company Slot Machine in Paris.
Slot will be...
French producer Marianne Slot, known for her collaborations with Lars von Trier, will receive the Raimondo Rezzonico Award at the 76th Locarno Film Festival (August 2-12).
After working with Von Trier on his 1995 film Breaking the Waves, she became his French producer. Throughout her career Slot has worked with international directors and producers including Lucrecia Martel, Lisandro Alonso, Naomi Kawase, Sergei Loznitsa and Benedikt Erlingsson, specialising in auteur features.
In 1993, she set up her production company Slot Machine in Paris.
Slot will be...
- 4/27/2023
- by Ella Gauci
- ScreenDaily
Locarno Film Festival will honor French-Danish producer Marianne Slot with its Raimondo Rezzonico Award, given to figures who have played a major role in international production, at its 76th edition running from August 2 to 12.
Over the course of her 30-year career, Slot has worked with a host of internationally renowned auteurs including Lars von Trier, Lucrecia Martel, Bent Hamer, Malgoska Szumowska, Paz Encina, Lisandro Alonso, Sergei Loznitsa, Naomi Kawase and Benedikt Erlingsson.
Slot broke into producing on the early works of von Trier, taking co-producer credits on the original The Kingdom TV series as well as Breaking The Waves and The Idiots, and has since become a key figure on the international arthouse co-production scene.
The producer will be in Cannes this year with Lisandro Alonso’s ambitious historical drama Eureka starring Viggo Mortensen, which world premieres in the Cannes Premiere section.
“Marianne Slot’s approach to film production has...
Over the course of her 30-year career, Slot has worked with a host of internationally renowned auteurs including Lars von Trier, Lucrecia Martel, Bent Hamer, Malgoska Szumowska, Paz Encina, Lisandro Alonso, Sergei Loznitsa, Naomi Kawase and Benedikt Erlingsson.
Slot broke into producing on the early works of von Trier, taking co-producer credits on the original The Kingdom TV series as well as Breaking The Waves and The Idiots, and has since become a key figure on the international arthouse co-production scene.
The producer will be in Cannes this year with Lisandro Alonso’s ambitious historical drama Eureka starring Viggo Mortensen, which world premieres in the Cannes Premiere section.
“Marianne Slot’s approach to film production has...
- 4/27/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Early last year, Stefan Kitanov, director of the Sofia International Film Festival, thought that after two years of lockdowns and online events, things were finally getting back to normal.
“For two years I was out of all festival events and travels, I avoided all public events and spent time in our family house outside the city,” says Kitanov, who started Bulgaria’s biggest film event 27 years ago. “[Then], just as we thought the pandemic is finally over, the war in Ukraine broke out, just a month before our 2022 edition.”
The festival lineup was already locked down, but Kitanov quickly adjusted to the new reality. And made Sofia’s allegiance clear.
“We decided to withdraw Russian films and call off Russian talents and guests,” recalls Kitanov, who has many friends among both Ukrainian and Russian filmmakers and fellow festival colleagues. “[Ukrainian director] Oleg Sentsov was selected to serve on the main jury, but he...
“For two years I was out of all festival events and travels, I avoided all public events and spent time in our family house outside the city,” says Kitanov, who started Bulgaria’s biggest film event 27 years ago. “[Then], just as we thought the pandemic is finally over, the war in Ukraine broke out, just a month before our 2022 edition.”
The festival lineup was already locked down, but Kitanov quickly adjusted to the new reality. And made Sofia’s allegiance clear.
“We decided to withdraw Russian films and call off Russian talents and guests,” recalls Kitanov, who has many friends among both Ukrainian and Russian filmmakers and fellow festival colleagues. “[Ukrainian director] Oleg Sentsov was selected to serve on the main jury, but he...
- 4/1/2023
- by Stjepan Hundic
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When the European Film Market kicks off in Berlin on Feb. 16, the three Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will share the stage as the EFM’s joint Countries in Focus. The showcase, which is supported by the Estonian Film Institute, the National Film Center of Latvia and the Lithuanian Film Center, will offer a range of events within the framework of the EFM, along with a selection of market premieres and screenings of Baltic films already making waves on the festival circuit. Twelve up-and-coming Baltic producers will also be presented to the international industry during a happy hour on Feb. 17 in the Gropius Bas.
Here’s a selection of Baltic buzz titles that the region’s top producers will be taking to Berlin:
Last Sentinel
Director: Tanel Toom
Producers: Ben Pullen, Ivo Felt, Jörg Bundschuh, Pippa Cross, Matthew James Wilkinson
Kate Bosworth stars in this sci-fi thriller from...
Here’s a selection of Baltic buzz titles that the region’s top producers will be taking to Berlin:
Last Sentinel
Director: Tanel Toom
Producers: Ben Pullen, Ivo Felt, Jörg Bundschuh, Pippa Cross, Matthew James Wilkinson
Kate Bosworth stars in this sci-fi thriller from...
- 2/17/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
London-based world sales company Taskovski Films has acquired documentary “In Ukraine,” directed by Piotr Pawlus and Tomasz Wolski, which will world premiere in Berlinale’s Forum section.
The film looks at the lives of Ukrainians who stayed in their country after the Russian invasion or have returned home.
In a statement the directors said: “How to tell the story about war? How to face a topic that we are constantly informed about through television, radio and the internet? What can be offered to an audience who has seen explosions, fired rockets, drone shots, scenes of Russian tanks being shot down, CCTV footage capturing a hail of missiles, or Russian soldiers looting?
“’In Ukraine’ doesn’t show the war but its consequences. Through a simple concept that relies on anticipated shots shot with a static camera, we are looking at the collective. The main character is a country at war. The film rarely features dialogue.
The film looks at the lives of Ukrainians who stayed in their country after the Russian invasion or have returned home.
In a statement the directors said: “How to tell the story about war? How to face a topic that we are constantly informed about through television, radio and the internet? What can be offered to an audience who has seen explosions, fired rockets, drone shots, scenes of Russian tanks being shot down, CCTV footage capturing a hail of missiles, or Russian soldiers looting?
“’In Ukraine’ doesn’t show the war but its consequences. Through a simple concept that relies on anticipated shots shot with a static camera, we are looking at the collective. The main character is a country at war. The film rarely features dialogue.
- 2/9/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Why do we make the effort to venture into the unknown, travel to far-off places, and explore the planet? Is it genuine curiosity about other cultures, plain conceit, or something else? How much of the surroundings of a Buddhist temple in Laos are a group of white, largely Christian visitors able to take in aside from the urge to post pictures on social media? The lives of visitors and local people brush past each other, the ones looking for the exotic, and the latter trying to get the best out of the situation.
Onlookers is screening at Slamdance
Just a week ago, inebriated British tourists savaged the Maitree Siriboon’s “Kwai Calm,” a piece of art depicting an albino water buffalo, at the Bangkok Art Biennale and refused to apologize or pay any compensation for the damage caused. For visitors who want to say goodbye to the artwork, the...
Onlookers is screening at Slamdance
Just a week ago, inebriated British tourists savaged the Maitree Siriboon’s “Kwai Calm,” a piece of art depicting an albino water buffalo, at the Bangkok Art Biennale and refused to apologize or pay any compensation for the damage caused. For visitors who want to say goodbye to the artwork, the...
- 1/22/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
As the title suggests, Kimi Takesue’s Onlookers concerns itself with the act of spectating. Filmed in Laos, the documentary takes a sparse approach to its subject of the country’s tourism industry––more specifically those within the industry, whether it’s the workers, townspeople, or tourists themselves. With no discernible dialogue to capture, Takesue sits back and watches everyone go about their business, literally and figuratively. People gawk, sellers hawk, and the locals navigate their way through all of it. There’s plenty going on within Takesue’s latest film––all looked at with a sense of curiosity and bemusement––but in the end there’s very little to take away.
Maybe it’s because of Takesue’s own ambivalence, having been born and raised in the United States, making herself one of the film’s tourists (who onlooks the onlookers?). That meta layer comes through in the distance...
Maybe it’s because of Takesue’s own ambivalence, having been born and raised in the United States, making herself one of the film’s tourists (who onlooks the onlookers?). That meta layer comes through in the distance...
- 1/21/2023
- by C.J. Prince
- The Film Stage
Studio executives, renowned directors, and a crop of rising young talent huddled below crystal chandeliers in Paris’ Palais Royal on Thursday, turning out to fête “Benedetta” star Virginie Efira as she received the Unifrance French Cinema Award – a prize honoring those who carry the banner for Gallic cinema across the globe – in the presence of Unifrance president Serge Toubiana and the country’s Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak.
Organized as part of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris, the ceremony drew a fittingly international crowd, with filmmakers Emily Atef, Juho Kuosmanen, Sergei Loznitsa and Albert Serra joining “Athena” star Dali Benssalah, “Forever Young” lead Nadia Tereszkiewicz, “Mother and Son” breakout Annabelle Lengronne and “Everybody Loves Jeanne” director Céline Devaux for an intimate reception held in opulent surroundings.
Abdul Malak kicked off the Efira tribute with a victory lap of sorts, boasting about local theatrical attendance rates – which, with only 29 lost...
Organized as part of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris, the ceremony drew a fittingly international crowd, with filmmakers Emily Atef, Juho Kuosmanen, Sergei Loznitsa and Albert Serra joining “Athena” star Dali Benssalah, “Forever Young” lead Nadia Tereszkiewicz, “Mother and Son” breakout Annabelle Lengronne and “Everybody Loves Jeanne” director Céline Devaux for an intimate reception held in opulent surroundings.
Abdul Malak kicked off the Efira tribute with a victory lap of sorts, boasting about local theatrical attendance rates – which, with only 29 lost...
- 1/14/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival has revealed a raft of titles across strands and also 33 film projects vying for coin at the coproduction market.
Selections for the topical Perspektive Deutsches Kino strand from emerging German talent include “Seven Winters in Tehran” by Steffi Niederzoll, “Elaha” by Milena Aboyan, “Ararat” by Engin Kundag, “The Kidnapping of the Bride” by Sophia Mocorrea, Fabian Stumm’s “Bones and Names,” “Long Long Kiss” by Lukas Röder, Tanja Egen’s “On Mothers and Daughters,” “Ash Wednesday,” by João Pedro Prado and Bárbara Santos, “Nuclear Nomads” by Kilian Armando Friedrich and Tizian Stromp Zargari and “Lonely Oaks” by Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl and Jens Mühlhoff.
All the selected films in the strand will compete for the Heiner Carow Prize and the Compass-Perspektive-Award, both of which are endowed with €5,000.
A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” will open the Berlinale Classics section, which also includes Oliver Schmitz’ “Mapantsula,...
Selections for the topical Perspektive Deutsches Kino strand from emerging German talent include “Seven Winters in Tehran” by Steffi Niederzoll, “Elaha” by Milena Aboyan, “Ararat” by Engin Kundag, “The Kidnapping of the Bride” by Sophia Mocorrea, Fabian Stumm’s “Bones and Names,” “Long Long Kiss” by Lukas Röder, Tanja Egen’s “On Mothers and Daughters,” “Ash Wednesday,” by João Pedro Prado and Bárbara Santos, “Nuclear Nomads” by Kilian Armando Friedrich and Tizian Stromp Zargari and “Lonely Oaks” by Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl and Jens Mühlhoff.
All the selected films in the strand will compete for the Heiner Carow Prize and the Compass-Perspektive-Award, both of which are endowed with €5,000.
A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” will open the Berlinale Classics section, which also includes Oliver Schmitz’ “Mapantsula,...
- 1/9/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival today unveiled the titles selected for its retrospective section chosen by a collection of international directors and actors, including Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Nadine Labaki, and Tilda Swinton.
This year the theme of the retrospective sidebar is “Coming of Age at the Movies,” and each invited artist was tasked with submitting their personal favorite film that either deals with “being young and growing up” or had a “decisive role in the evolution or development” of their own artistic practice. The retrospective section will also exclusively screen films that have been newly restored.
The full list of invited artists includes Maren Ade, Pedro Almodóvar, Wes Anderson, Juliette Binoche, Lav Diaz, Alice Diop, Ava DuVernay, Nora Fingscheidt, Luca Guadagnino, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, Ethan Hawke, Karoline Herfurth, Niki Karimi, Nadine Labaki, Nadav Lapid, Sergei Loznitsa, Mohammad Rasoulof, Céline Sciamma, Martin Scorsese, Aparna Sen, M. Night Shyamalan, Carla Simón, Abderrahmane Sissako,...
This year the theme of the retrospective sidebar is “Coming of Age at the Movies,” and each invited artist was tasked with submitting their personal favorite film that either deals with “being young and growing up” or had a “decisive role in the evolution or development” of their own artistic practice. The retrospective section will also exclusively screen films that have been newly restored.
The full list of invited artists includes Maren Ade, Pedro Almodóvar, Wes Anderson, Juliette Binoche, Lav Diaz, Alice Diop, Ava DuVernay, Nora Fingscheidt, Luca Guadagnino, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, Ethan Hawke, Karoline Herfurth, Niki Karimi, Nadine Labaki, Nadav Lapid, Sergei Loznitsa, Mohammad Rasoulof, Céline Sciamma, Martin Scorsese, Aparna Sen, M. Night Shyamalan, Carla Simón, Abderrahmane Sissako,...
- 1/9/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Running Jan. 13-Feb. 13, this year’s MyFrenchFilmFestival, an online fest organized by France’s film-tv promotional body Unifrance, will mark its 13th edition with an emphasis on debut features and dynamic new voices.
Showcasing star power, animated auteur fare and award-winning documentaries – all subtitled in 15 languages – the 12 features and 17 shorts of this year’s selection will reach home viewers via 70 partner platforms as well on MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, where all the shorts will be available to screen free of charge.
In an effort to cast as wide a net as possible, this year’s competition will feature projects that run the gamut from Alice Diop’s breakthrough documentary “We” – which finds connections in the lives of immigrants, lovesick teens and retirees all connected by a commuter rail line north of Paris – to Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s satirical sketch comedy “Bloody Oranges,” which shreds polite society with anarchic glee.
In between are everything...
Showcasing star power, animated auteur fare and award-winning documentaries – all subtitled in 15 languages – the 12 features and 17 shorts of this year’s selection will reach home viewers via 70 partner platforms as well on MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, where all the shorts will be available to screen free of charge.
In an effort to cast as wide a net as possible, this year’s competition will feature projects that run the gamut from Alice Diop’s breakthrough documentary “We” – which finds connections in the lives of immigrants, lovesick teens and retirees all connected by a commuter rail line north of Paris – to Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s satirical sketch comedy “Bloody Oranges,” which shreds polite society with anarchic glee.
In between are everything...
- 1/5/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Denmark’s Oscar© 2023 Entry for Best International Feature: ‘Holy Spider’ directed by Ali AbbasiThis crime genre drama labeled “Persian Noir” is based on a 20 year old case but is shockingly relevant, as is noted in this interview with producer Sol Bondy conducted by Marina Dallarosa.
US Theatrical Release October 28, 2022.
Producer Sol Bondy’s explanation of Holy Spider’s genesis and progress through the Covid infected era details the difficulties this film met at every step. However, once finished, it premiered in Cannes Competition and went on to play in the Jerusalem Film Festival, and in Toronto International Film Festival. He noted that the audience in Toronto; was 30–40% Iranians. Their ability to understand nuances and “code words” brought an element of laughter to an otherwise bloody crime film, labeled “Persian noir”.
The filmmaker Ali Abbasi is Iranian and lives in Denmark, the country submitting the film to the Motion Picture Academy for Oscar nomination. It could never have been shot in Iran due to its subject matter, though they did try, as they did in Turkey as well before shooting in Jordan. The production faced years of Covid‑19 surges, shooting delays, location changes and government resistance.
Holy Spider is based upon a true story of the infamous “spider killings” which took place while the director, Ali Abbasi, was living in the country between 2000 and 2001. It is produced by Germany’s Sol Bondy whose previous film Persian Lessons was also based on a provocative story and was Belarus’ 2020 submission for Oscars. Abbasi’s film Border was a Cannes winner of Un Certain Regard and 2018 Oscar nominated film.
A coproduction of Denmark, Germany, France, and Sweden, Holy Spider tells the story of Saeed Hanaei, a family man who embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission. In all, he murdered 16 women.
This genre film, with misogyny being the core theme, comes at a time where massive protests in Iran, following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini have unified the country in an unprecedented manner. While more and more protesters, many underage, are being killed by the regime, Holy Spider has met Iranian diaspora audiences with cheers.
During Cannes, film and TV funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburgcelebrated the six films that it funded running in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival. These were Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider in Competition, Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness in Competition, Emily Atef’s More Than Ever in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Un beau matin in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History of Destruction in Special Screenings, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ Mariupolis 2, in Special Screenings. Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding these films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.”
At their celebration, I spoke with one of the most outstanding young actresses who played Zinab, a sex worker in the Holy Spider. German-based, Iran-born Sara Fazilat is also German Film’s Face To Face ambassador 2022. She is also the lead cast in Nico by Eline Gehring that was shown almost worldwide at numerous film festivals. Unfortunately Nico is not available online in the U.S…yet. It is about Nico who is enjoying the summer in Berlin with her best friend Rosa until a racist attack pulls her out of her carefree everyday life. Traumatized by the crime, the geriatric nurse decides never to be a victim again and begins to train with a karate world champion.
I also saw Sol Bondy of One Two Films, one of the lead producers of Holy Spider. Produced along with Jacob Jarek of Denmark’s Profile Pictures, coproducers were Nordisk Film Production, Wild Bunch International, Film i Väst, Why Not Productions, Zdf/Arte and Arte France Cinéma.
Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek also stand out as alumni of Berlinale Talents. They both co-produced Icelandic films The County and Under The Tree previously.
Jarek, who went to the National Film School of Denmark with Abbasi and was one of the producers of his debut feature Shelley, says the director “had this story in his mind for a long time but we officially started developing it in 2016”. After Abbasi’s second feature Border was an international success at Cannes and beyond in 2018, the filmmaker was in demand. He told Jarek, “Now’s our chance to make Holy Spider,” a project always close to his heart.
An Interview with Sol Bondy by Marina Dalarossa
Marina: So the first question is just about you and the producer Jakob Jarek. Could you talk a bit about how you actually came to work together?
Sol: We didn’t do the Berlinale Talents the same year. I did it relatively late in my career, and truthfully, mainly because of the woman who runs the program, she urged me to do it. I had worked for the talents for many, many years and quite a few of my friends had done it during film school and by the time I did it, I’d been out of film school running my company for 6 years already.
But we didn’t meet there. Jakob and I were both minor coproducers on an Icelandic film called Under the Tree. That’s how we met. And then we also were both minor coproducers on another Icelandic film called The County.
We knew of each other before, I knew some people that he worked with and thought they were doing really interesting films. And then in Cannes 2018, Border had just premiered a couple of days before, everybody was talking about it and Jakob asked me if I wanted to join the next film of Ali? I didn’t read a script or ask any questions; I also didn’t know what I was getting myself into but I said yes immediately. I sensed this could be a great opportunity.
And that instinct was right. The film was financed relatively quickly and within a year we had most of the budget together. But then Covid came. I’m sure we’ll get into that later!
Marina: Yes thanks. I want to know if you think being in Talents helped your career at all?
Sol: Well, given the very specific timing of it, I think it would have helped my career much more if I had done it earlier. But there are also other great intiatives out there, postgraduate training for producers. Before Talents, I did a program called Transatlantic Partners in 2013. That was really helpful and actually generated two big projects for me. One was Angry Indian Goddessesand the other was The Tale.
A couple of years later I did a program called Inside Pictures. It was also extremely valuable and really helped me make some really important business decisions going forward. Jacob also did this program but again, in another year. There are many great initiatives. Also I’ve always loved going to festivals. They make your network bigger and stronger.
Marina: You talked about how you came on board to produce Holy Spider, but what do you think made Jakob decide you should come in at that point?
Sol: He had a hard task producing and financing a film set in the Middle East without any Middle Eastern money. Also, with this topic it was clear you can’t just roll into Iran and make a film there.
On top of that, there had been a shift in the Danish government. Suddenly, to reach a certain amount of financing from the Danish Film Institute, the film had to be culturally relevant to Denmark. So I believe that halved the financing opportunities for Jacob in Denmark. He needed money from outside Denmark to make this film; he needed coproducers.
He’s well versed in international coproductions, so he knew when is a good time to attach coproducing partners and also how much time it can take. For instance, we often get approached with projects and they tell us they will be shooting in three months. We have to tell them that when we coproduce in Germany, we have deadlines and a lot of bureaucracy, so while we can do a lot — we’re very lucky with that — it still takes time.
To get back to the first question: We were ready to go, we had the budget we thought we needed to make the film and when Covid came and then Jakob found himself in a situation where two of his projects, a series and a feature film, were hit by Covid. And it was unclear how these massive losses were going to be covered. The world was in turmoil and Jakob’s projects in limbo.
It became clear, he could currently not commit to the project — such a challenging production by a very demanding director. Ali (the director) on the other hand, who could have chosen any project after his widely successful and much loved Border, was saying, “Guys, I get it, but I don’t care about circumstances. If you guys can’t figure out how we can make this film now, then it’s over, I’m out.”
And that put me under maximum pressure because making films is squarey our only source of income. I had three employees to pay, was expecting my second child, and at that pont, we didn’t know that the German government would be helping out companies like ours. Without this film, it seemed I would have to close my shop. So Jacob and I looked at what options we had and decided I would go for it. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, but I said, Ok, I’ll do it.
What was unfortunate at that time is that Jordan, during the first wave, basically closed the borders and would not let anyone in. So the country that we had scouted and wanted to shoot in was essentially shut down. We couldn’t really plan a production there because nobody knew when the borders would open again or if they might close again at some point.
So it was decided to go to Turkey. It didn’t look like Erdogan was going to close Turkey. So we went into Turkey and we scouted for weeks with a big crew, the cinematographer, the production designer, the line producers from Germany, the Turkish line producer who we hired to service the production. There was a big gang scouting different cities in Turkey. And although it was harder to match Iran, we found the right locations a couple of weeks later.
The crew was growing; we were exploring how to bring period cars over the border. Pre-production was basically in full swing, at the same time, we were waiting for a shooting permit, and this shooting permit never came. So I decided to do some more digging because this was making me very uncomfortable. I knew I couldn’t shoot without the permit. I was about to spend a significant amount of more money and I’d already spent around €50,000. Not being able to shoot the film in Turkey would mean that money would just be down the drain. Plus the entire production plan. You can imagine, with everything there, where we came from, the delays that we had already encountered, it was nerve-wracking.
We then basically found out behind the scenes that our application had gone from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Turkish Ambassador and he got the feedback that this film should not be supported.
I then took Ali and my two line producers and we flew to Ankara to meet with the Ministry of Culture. And they told us to speak to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The next day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us that to get shooting permits we hd to speak with the Ministry of Culture. They basically used us like a pinball. We realiaed that we had been censored in Turkey. And it was a huge blow. I fet so hepless. Everyone was upset. Ali was furious.
It took some time to get the whole demoralized team back into the mental state to give it another go back in Jordan, where the borders had re-opened but which was logistically much more complicated.
And we went for it. We found new locations, hired local crews, got visas for our Iranian players and even managed to import Iranian cars to Jordan. You could make a documentary feature about just this aspect of the production of importing these cars. They arrived after a huge delay, when we were already shooting, but we managed to make it work.
Marina: This sounds intense. Were there other significant issues?
One of the most challenging aspects of the film was the casting, which was very complex, as we were mainly looking for Iranians who didn’t live in Iran. We knew participating in this film would be challenging for their future in the country. But Ali was adamant that his two main roles needed to be perfect in terms of their body language and the dialect. So we essentially needed people from Iran. We had found two who were willing to take the risk with all the consequences even potentially relocating after the shoot. The lead actress finally came for the makeup and hair test about 10 days before shooting. Couple days later she came to my hotel room crying and said, “I can’t do it. It’s too much.”
So we were a week before shooting and we didn’t have a lead actress. It was another massive blow. And this is when it was decided after bit of back and forth and deliberation that our casting director Zar Amir-Ebrahimi would step in and play the role. And she was rewarded in Cannes with the Best Actress Golden Palm. It’s a pretty crazy story.
And then, just two days before we were Finally going to shoot the film, Covid hit us in a way where couldn’t start shooting. I felt like I didn’t know if I was making a film or if I was in “Lost in La Mancha — Part 2”. My wife for months kept telling me I should have a documentary crew filming all this madness. I told her I was going to murder someone if I had a documentary crew around.
Marina: Wow! And after the film was completed, Denmark’s decided to submit your film to the Academy Awards. Do you know what went into their decision?
Sol: Well, the Danes may have one of the best track records in recent years when it comes to choosing the film and then being nominated or even winning. I think in the last 11 years they won twice. They got 7 nominations and I think 9 made the shortlist.
So this speaks to two things: First of all, the quality of the films they make in this small country. And then, they really look carefully at which films has the biggest chances. In our case: no other Danish film had been to Cannes competition. No other film had US distribution and played Telluride and TIFF. And already in Cannes, we had the fantastic PR of past successes like Drive My Car and Flee, so it made a lot of sense for them to choose Holy Spider. It’s still a very brave choice because it’s not a very Danish film on the outside. On the inside it looks different, you know the composer is Danish, the editor is Danish, the production designer, ok she’s Swedish, but Ali also has a Danish passport. Jakob is like me, a delegate producer and is Danish. So it has a strong Danish footprint.
Many outlets, like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter included the film in their predictions to get the nomination. So I guess all this helped the Danes come to this decision.
Marina: How does it feel to be chosen by the Danes and also to be chosen for Cannes and have gotten so many prizes already?
Sol: What can I say? It feels great! At the same time, it’s also a lot of hard work. And it’s something that we always had our eyes upon, also because Border won the Un Certain Regard. So after that, the next step is to be in Cannes Competition. Now I’ve seen this go both ways, The Icelandic film where Jacob and I were minority producers together: the filmmaker had previously done the film Rams, which had also won Un Certain Regard. We all hoped to go to Cannes Competition with this new film, The County. But we didn’t get into Cannes at all. We premiered in Toronto, which is good, but it’s not the same So looking coldly at that, you could say we failed.
Another example would be a finished film, that I was happy to be a coproducer on, called The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki . It won Un Certain Regard the year after Rams did. And so the director wanted his next film, Compartment No. 6, to go to Cannes Competition — and it did. It even won the Jury Prize! Sadly, I wasn’t involved in that production.
This is something we were discussing throughout this entire production. We were always saying the film was our chance to show the world Ali was not a one-hit wonder. You know, many people refer to Border as Ali’s first film, which it’s not. It’s his second film, his first film Shelley did well, but it wasn’t a massive breakout hit like Border was. It’s hard to follow up on a success like that.
So that fact that we succeeded in following up the Certain Regard win with getting into Competition was very exciting and rewarding. I also have to give credit to our French co-producers Wild Bunch and Why Not Productions. While they didn’t really have a lot to do with the physical production, they really helped in securing the world premiere. They gave us invaluable advice in the last stretch.
I can say that until now, we have achieved every goal that we had, and there are a few exciting steps ahead. The US release had a great limited opening weekend, the nominations at the European Film Awards are coming up and then there’s of course the Oscar shortlist of 15 films just before Christmas. We’re crossing our fingers!
Marina: I also have to ask, with the recent events in Iran, was this something you were thinking of making the film?
Sol: Well no, of course not! But the fact that our film is based on a 20 year old case — and has become so shockingly timely is incredible. Showing the film at festivals where many Iranians attend has been such an intense experience. People have thanked us for our courage to finally make a film that shows a (big) portion of their reality, one they don’t get to see in Iranian cinema. And of course the film’s main theme, misogyny, is squarely what is firing up this revolution in Iran. It really feels like the days of the Islamic Republic will be over, the different groups withing the Iranian society are more united then ever before, men are supporting women on the street and the next generation isn’t willing to give up. It’s insane what is happening there and honestly, more people should be talking about this. They are killing teenagers in the street.
Marina: The next couple questions I want to ask you are more general about your career. What did you think when you chose your career?
Sol: My parents are both filmmakers, but I never really cared too much about their work. I was quite oblivious to what was what was going on right in front of me.
But through my parents connections, I was cast as a child actor and did quite a bit of acting, so I always thought that after high school I would become an actor. But then I realized maybe I should also look for something behind the camera, because I remembered as a child actor, people were so nice and the jobs seemed fun and interesting and so I did an internship. And it became clear to me that I needed to become a director! I thought this would be the perfect way to combine all my talents.
It took three or four years and a lot of failed applications for directing to realize that I would not be studying film directing at any film school. But Reinhad Hauff, the head of the dffb, the Berlin Film School, said at some point after my second failed application that he thought I might be good for his producing class. And that’s how I got into producing after never having given it a thought before.
And I really came to terms with my profession the end of my second year while working with this one director, Grzegorz Muskala, I realized if I could find people like him, with an exceptional level of talent and tenacity and foresight I could be the right person to support them. I just needed to be very picky about who I chose to work with.
On the other hand, I also realized I have a real knack for distribution, because many producing students in my film school would just produce a film and then they would just produce the next film. And this was always crazy for me, because when the film is finished, finding distribution for your film is the most exciting moment. Like now we can do something, even for shorts! We can take the film to festivals, we can sell it to TV, this is the fun part. Of course you need to have the right film.
But I quickly earned a reputation of being somebody who took very good care of his films. All my films went to many festivals and won awards and did well. So at the end of my studies I graduated with a 1.2 million feature, which was a big achievement at that time, this was 2010. I also launched my company more or less at the same time. Since then we’ve produced or coproduced 16 films.
Marina: What do you think drives you now to continue?
Sol: There was a moment, a couple of years ago where I realized I needed to shift gears. I separated from my previous business partner with whom I had had set up the company. We built the company together, but I realized our visions weren’t really aligned anymore. I had this urge to do slightly bigger films and my little family was growing and I simply needed to make more money — while staying true to the films that I love.
So rather than diversifying with many small projects, I wanted to make fewer films but larger ones. That is also a bigger risk in a way. I wanted to take it a bit slower than the previous 10 years. Maybe also because my wife is a filmmaker. We’ve had two kids, and now it’s also her turn to go to the forefront and make more films.
Marina: And so now I guess one could say you’ve kind of made it to the top or at least you’ve checked off all those goals that you wanted to reach.
Sol: Everything that has happened with Holy Spider is really great. And having a film in Cannes Competition is quite special — who knows if it’s going to happen again? So maybe, maybe this is the top.
Marina: Do you have different kinds of goals now?
Sol: No I think I have similar goals. I like to aim high. I’m ambitious. But I also know what’s within reach. I wouldn’t set goals that are completely unrealistic in that sense.
Marina: And can you talk about what you are working on right now, so that we can start tracking it?
Sol: Yeah, so Northern Comfort is a is a fear of flying comedy by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, the same Icelandic director of Under the Tree. And this is his English language debut because his previous films have been remade in the US. We thought, why not just shoot in English language in the first place?
A diverse group of people with a chronic fear of flying are stranded in the wintry north. That film is a lot of fun for a change! And I know there’s appetite in the market for comedies. We’re in the final stages of postproduction and hoping to show the film sometime early next year.
Köln 75 is our real passion project. It’s set in Germany. The story came to us through Oren Moverman who approached us because we had worked on The Tale together. He felt that we would be the right people to be producing this. It’s a beautiful and inspiring great true story about a 17 year old school girl who organizes one of the the world’s most famous concerts on German soil, the Cologne concert from Keith Jarrett in 1975 which is widely regarded as his masterpiece and sold nearly 5 mil. copies worldwide. It really was the soundtrack of an entire generation. So it’s really exciting. An uplifting and fun story with a fantastic script by Ido Fluk. We already have amazing partners to work on this film.
Marina: Is it different now working on German soil?
Sol: Well it’s not the first time, but it’s the first time in a couple years and it is different, yes. Production has exploded across the world with the arrival of the streamers. In Germany we really feel it. All the actors, all the crews, everybody is just like working like crazy. So you could say of course it’s a great time to be a producer. But for us it’s always hard to make a film. Always has been, always will be, there are really no free rides if you’re producing independent films.
Marina: And last question, what advice do you have for young filmmakers?
Sol: The most simple and striking advice that I received myself at some point, though at first I nearly missed it, was from Katriel Schory who ran the film fund in Israel for a long time.
Sydney knows him well I’m sure.
He gave this one inspirational speech at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2006, when I was a film student. He said the most important thing for a producer is you always have to be nice, open and friendly. And I was like, well yeah… But the way that he explained it got to me. He said that everybody who’s in a certain position of power has a free choice who he wants to work with.
And these people are always going to choose to work with the people who are nice, open and friendly and if you are that person and if you are nice, open and friendly all the time, then you’re just more likely to climb the steps of your career. And at the same time you will make this industry a better place to work in.
I found it very compelling and striking and I’ve realized that that really is what brings you forward. And so I always tried to be that person. I haven’t thought about it in a long time, so I wonder if maybe I’ve lost it a little bit on the way. Producing Holy Spider was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and has surely made me very cynical at times, but that is definitely a good piece of advice for young filmmaker, I think.
Holy Spider, 115 minutes
Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Screenplay: Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Cast: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Nima Akbarpour, Sara Fazilat, Sina Parvaneh, Alice Rahimi, Mesbah Taleb
Cinematography by: Nadim Carlsen
Film Editing: Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Production Designer: Lina Nordqvist
Costumes Cesigner: Hanadi Khurma
Music: Martin Dirkov
Produced by: Sol Bondy, Jacob Jarek
Co-producers: Fred Burle, Eva Åkergren, Vincent Maraval, Calle Marthin, Peter Possne, Olivier Père, Rémi Burah
Production Cos: Profile Pictures, One Two Films, Why Not Productions, Nordisk Film Production Ab
Backing: Danish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Moin Filmförderung, Dfff, Ffa, Nordisk Film + TV Fund, Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, Film I Väst, Zdf, Arte, Arte France Cinéma
Isa Wild Bunch has thus far sold Holy Spider to Utopia for U.S., Cinéart for Benelux, A-One Films Baltic for Baltics, Academy 2 ror Italy, Alamode Filmsfor Germany, BTeam Pictures for Spain, Bir Film for Turkey, Camera Film for Denmark, Canibal for Mexico, Cinobo for Greece, Edko Films for Hong Kong, Falcon Pictures for Indonesia, Film Europe for Czechia and Slovakia, Fivia/Cenex for Yugoslavia, Gaga for Japan, Gutek Film for Poland, Independenta Film for Romania, Karma for Spain, Metropolitan Filmexportfor France, Mubi for UK Ireland, Malaysia, India; Nordisk and Mer for Norway, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, Pancinema for South Korea, United King Films for Israel, Vertigo for Hungary, Xenix for Switzerland, Front Row for Mena.
US Theatrical Release October 28, 2022.
Producer Sol Bondy’s explanation of Holy Spider’s genesis and progress through the Covid infected era details the difficulties this film met at every step. However, once finished, it premiered in Cannes Competition and went on to play in the Jerusalem Film Festival, and in Toronto International Film Festival. He noted that the audience in Toronto; was 30–40% Iranians. Their ability to understand nuances and “code words” brought an element of laughter to an otherwise bloody crime film, labeled “Persian noir”.
The filmmaker Ali Abbasi is Iranian and lives in Denmark, the country submitting the film to the Motion Picture Academy for Oscar nomination. It could never have been shot in Iran due to its subject matter, though they did try, as they did in Turkey as well before shooting in Jordan. The production faced years of Covid‑19 surges, shooting delays, location changes and government resistance.
Holy Spider is based upon a true story of the infamous “spider killings” which took place while the director, Ali Abbasi, was living in the country between 2000 and 2001. It is produced by Germany’s Sol Bondy whose previous film Persian Lessons was also based on a provocative story and was Belarus’ 2020 submission for Oscars. Abbasi’s film Border was a Cannes winner of Un Certain Regard and 2018 Oscar nominated film.
A coproduction of Denmark, Germany, France, and Sweden, Holy Spider tells the story of Saeed Hanaei, a family man who embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission. In all, he murdered 16 women.
This genre film, with misogyny being the core theme, comes at a time where massive protests in Iran, following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini have unified the country in an unprecedented manner. While more and more protesters, many underage, are being killed by the regime, Holy Spider has met Iranian diaspora audiences with cheers.
During Cannes, film and TV funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburgcelebrated the six films that it funded running in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival. These were Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider in Competition, Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness in Competition, Emily Atef’s More Than Ever in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Un beau matin in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History of Destruction in Special Screenings, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ Mariupolis 2, in Special Screenings. Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding these films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.”
At their celebration, I spoke with one of the most outstanding young actresses who played Zinab, a sex worker in the Holy Spider. German-based, Iran-born Sara Fazilat is also German Film’s Face To Face ambassador 2022. She is also the lead cast in Nico by Eline Gehring that was shown almost worldwide at numerous film festivals. Unfortunately Nico is not available online in the U.S…yet. It is about Nico who is enjoying the summer in Berlin with her best friend Rosa until a racist attack pulls her out of her carefree everyday life. Traumatized by the crime, the geriatric nurse decides never to be a victim again and begins to train with a karate world champion.
I also saw Sol Bondy of One Two Films, one of the lead producers of Holy Spider. Produced along with Jacob Jarek of Denmark’s Profile Pictures, coproducers were Nordisk Film Production, Wild Bunch International, Film i Väst, Why Not Productions, Zdf/Arte and Arte France Cinéma.
Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek also stand out as alumni of Berlinale Talents. They both co-produced Icelandic films The County and Under The Tree previously.
Jarek, who went to the National Film School of Denmark with Abbasi and was one of the producers of his debut feature Shelley, says the director “had this story in his mind for a long time but we officially started developing it in 2016”. After Abbasi’s second feature Border was an international success at Cannes and beyond in 2018, the filmmaker was in demand. He told Jarek, “Now’s our chance to make Holy Spider,” a project always close to his heart.
An Interview with Sol Bondy by Marina Dalarossa
Marina: So the first question is just about you and the producer Jakob Jarek. Could you talk a bit about how you actually came to work together?
Sol: We didn’t do the Berlinale Talents the same year. I did it relatively late in my career, and truthfully, mainly because of the woman who runs the program, she urged me to do it. I had worked for the talents for many, many years and quite a few of my friends had done it during film school and by the time I did it, I’d been out of film school running my company for 6 years already.
But we didn’t meet there. Jakob and I were both minor coproducers on an Icelandic film called Under the Tree. That’s how we met. And then we also were both minor coproducers on another Icelandic film called The County.
We knew of each other before, I knew some people that he worked with and thought they were doing really interesting films. And then in Cannes 2018, Border had just premiered a couple of days before, everybody was talking about it and Jakob asked me if I wanted to join the next film of Ali? I didn’t read a script or ask any questions; I also didn’t know what I was getting myself into but I said yes immediately. I sensed this could be a great opportunity.
And that instinct was right. The film was financed relatively quickly and within a year we had most of the budget together. But then Covid came. I’m sure we’ll get into that later!
Marina: Yes thanks. I want to know if you think being in Talents helped your career at all?
Sol: Well, given the very specific timing of it, I think it would have helped my career much more if I had done it earlier. But there are also other great intiatives out there, postgraduate training for producers. Before Talents, I did a program called Transatlantic Partners in 2013. That was really helpful and actually generated two big projects for me. One was Angry Indian Goddessesand the other was The Tale.
A couple of years later I did a program called Inside Pictures. It was also extremely valuable and really helped me make some really important business decisions going forward. Jacob also did this program but again, in another year. There are many great initiatives. Also I’ve always loved going to festivals. They make your network bigger and stronger.
Marina: You talked about how you came on board to produce Holy Spider, but what do you think made Jakob decide you should come in at that point?
Sol: He had a hard task producing and financing a film set in the Middle East without any Middle Eastern money. Also, with this topic it was clear you can’t just roll into Iran and make a film there.
On top of that, there had been a shift in the Danish government. Suddenly, to reach a certain amount of financing from the Danish Film Institute, the film had to be culturally relevant to Denmark. So I believe that halved the financing opportunities for Jacob in Denmark. He needed money from outside Denmark to make this film; he needed coproducers.
He’s well versed in international coproductions, so he knew when is a good time to attach coproducing partners and also how much time it can take. For instance, we often get approached with projects and they tell us they will be shooting in three months. We have to tell them that when we coproduce in Germany, we have deadlines and a lot of bureaucracy, so while we can do a lot — we’re very lucky with that — it still takes time.
To get back to the first question: We were ready to go, we had the budget we thought we needed to make the film and when Covid came and then Jakob found himself in a situation where two of his projects, a series and a feature film, were hit by Covid. And it was unclear how these massive losses were going to be covered. The world was in turmoil and Jakob’s projects in limbo.
It became clear, he could currently not commit to the project — such a challenging production by a very demanding director. Ali (the director) on the other hand, who could have chosen any project after his widely successful and much loved Border, was saying, “Guys, I get it, but I don’t care about circumstances. If you guys can’t figure out how we can make this film now, then it’s over, I’m out.”
And that put me under maximum pressure because making films is squarey our only source of income. I had three employees to pay, was expecting my second child, and at that pont, we didn’t know that the German government would be helping out companies like ours. Without this film, it seemed I would have to close my shop. So Jacob and I looked at what options we had and decided I would go for it. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, but I said, Ok, I’ll do it.
What was unfortunate at that time is that Jordan, during the first wave, basically closed the borders and would not let anyone in. So the country that we had scouted and wanted to shoot in was essentially shut down. We couldn’t really plan a production there because nobody knew when the borders would open again or if they might close again at some point.
So it was decided to go to Turkey. It didn’t look like Erdogan was going to close Turkey. So we went into Turkey and we scouted for weeks with a big crew, the cinematographer, the production designer, the line producers from Germany, the Turkish line producer who we hired to service the production. There was a big gang scouting different cities in Turkey. And although it was harder to match Iran, we found the right locations a couple of weeks later.
The crew was growing; we were exploring how to bring period cars over the border. Pre-production was basically in full swing, at the same time, we were waiting for a shooting permit, and this shooting permit never came. So I decided to do some more digging because this was making me very uncomfortable. I knew I couldn’t shoot without the permit. I was about to spend a significant amount of more money and I’d already spent around €50,000. Not being able to shoot the film in Turkey would mean that money would just be down the drain. Plus the entire production plan. You can imagine, with everything there, where we came from, the delays that we had already encountered, it was nerve-wracking.
We then basically found out behind the scenes that our application had gone from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Turkish Ambassador and he got the feedback that this film should not be supported.
I then took Ali and my two line producers and we flew to Ankara to meet with the Ministry of Culture. And they told us to speak to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The next day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us that to get shooting permits we hd to speak with the Ministry of Culture. They basically used us like a pinball. We realiaed that we had been censored in Turkey. And it was a huge blow. I fet so hepless. Everyone was upset. Ali was furious.
It took some time to get the whole demoralized team back into the mental state to give it another go back in Jordan, where the borders had re-opened but which was logistically much more complicated.
And we went for it. We found new locations, hired local crews, got visas for our Iranian players and even managed to import Iranian cars to Jordan. You could make a documentary feature about just this aspect of the production of importing these cars. They arrived after a huge delay, when we were already shooting, but we managed to make it work.
Marina: This sounds intense. Were there other significant issues?
One of the most challenging aspects of the film was the casting, which was very complex, as we were mainly looking for Iranians who didn’t live in Iran. We knew participating in this film would be challenging for their future in the country. But Ali was adamant that his two main roles needed to be perfect in terms of their body language and the dialect. So we essentially needed people from Iran. We had found two who were willing to take the risk with all the consequences even potentially relocating after the shoot. The lead actress finally came for the makeup and hair test about 10 days before shooting. Couple days later she came to my hotel room crying and said, “I can’t do it. It’s too much.”
So we were a week before shooting and we didn’t have a lead actress. It was another massive blow. And this is when it was decided after bit of back and forth and deliberation that our casting director Zar Amir-Ebrahimi would step in and play the role. And she was rewarded in Cannes with the Best Actress Golden Palm. It’s a pretty crazy story.
And then, just two days before we were Finally going to shoot the film, Covid hit us in a way where couldn’t start shooting. I felt like I didn’t know if I was making a film or if I was in “Lost in La Mancha — Part 2”. My wife for months kept telling me I should have a documentary crew filming all this madness. I told her I was going to murder someone if I had a documentary crew around.
Marina: Wow! And after the film was completed, Denmark’s decided to submit your film to the Academy Awards. Do you know what went into their decision?
Sol: Well, the Danes may have one of the best track records in recent years when it comes to choosing the film and then being nominated or even winning. I think in the last 11 years they won twice. They got 7 nominations and I think 9 made the shortlist.
So this speaks to two things: First of all, the quality of the films they make in this small country. And then, they really look carefully at which films has the biggest chances. In our case: no other Danish film had been to Cannes competition. No other film had US distribution and played Telluride and TIFF. And already in Cannes, we had the fantastic PR of past successes like Drive My Car and Flee, so it made a lot of sense for them to choose Holy Spider. It’s still a very brave choice because it’s not a very Danish film on the outside. On the inside it looks different, you know the composer is Danish, the editor is Danish, the production designer, ok she’s Swedish, but Ali also has a Danish passport. Jakob is like me, a delegate producer and is Danish. So it has a strong Danish footprint.
Many outlets, like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter included the film in their predictions to get the nomination. So I guess all this helped the Danes come to this decision.
Marina: How does it feel to be chosen by the Danes and also to be chosen for Cannes and have gotten so many prizes already?
Sol: What can I say? It feels great! At the same time, it’s also a lot of hard work. And it’s something that we always had our eyes upon, also because Border won the Un Certain Regard. So after that, the next step is to be in Cannes Competition. Now I’ve seen this go both ways, The Icelandic film where Jacob and I were minority producers together: the filmmaker had previously done the film Rams, which had also won Un Certain Regard. We all hoped to go to Cannes Competition with this new film, The County. But we didn’t get into Cannes at all. We premiered in Toronto, which is good, but it’s not the same So looking coldly at that, you could say we failed.
Another example would be a finished film, that I was happy to be a coproducer on, called The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki . It won Un Certain Regard the year after Rams did. And so the director wanted his next film, Compartment No. 6, to go to Cannes Competition — and it did. It even won the Jury Prize! Sadly, I wasn’t involved in that production.
This is something we were discussing throughout this entire production. We were always saying the film was our chance to show the world Ali was not a one-hit wonder. You know, many people refer to Border as Ali’s first film, which it’s not. It’s his second film, his first film Shelley did well, but it wasn’t a massive breakout hit like Border was. It’s hard to follow up on a success like that.
So that fact that we succeeded in following up the Certain Regard win with getting into Competition was very exciting and rewarding. I also have to give credit to our French co-producers Wild Bunch and Why Not Productions. While they didn’t really have a lot to do with the physical production, they really helped in securing the world premiere. They gave us invaluable advice in the last stretch.
I can say that until now, we have achieved every goal that we had, and there are a few exciting steps ahead. The US release had a great limited opening weekend, the nominations at the European Film Awards are coming up and then there’s of course the Oscar shortlist of 15 films just before Christmas. We’re crossing our fingers!
Marina: I also have to ask, with the recent events in Iran, was this something you were thinking of making the film?
Sol: Well no, of course not! But the fact that our film is based on a 20 year old case — and has become so shockingly timely is incredible. Showing the film at festivals where many Iranians attend has been such an intense experience. People have thanked us for our courage to finally make a film that shows a (big) portion of their reality, one they don’t get to see in Iranian cinema. And of course the film’s main theme, misogyny, is squarely what is firing up this revolution in Iran. It really feels like the days of the Islamic Republic will be over, the different groups withing the Iranian society are more united then ever before, men are supporting women on the street and the next generation isn’t willing to give up. It’s insane what is happening there and honestly, more people should be talking about this. They are killing teenagers in the street.
Marina: The next couple questions I want to ask you are more general about your career. What did you think when you chose your career?
Sol: My parents are both filmmakers, but I never really cared too much about their work. I was quite oblivious to what was what was going on right in front of me.
But through my parents connections, I was cast as a child actor and did quite a bit of acting, so I always thought that after high school I would become an actor. But then I realized maybe I should also look for something behind the camera, because I remembered as a child actor, people were so nice and the jobs seemed fun and interesting and so I did an internship. And it became clear to me that I needed to become a director! I thought this would be the perfect way to combine all my talents.
It took three or four years and a lot of failed applications for directing to realize that I would not be studying film directing at any film school. But Reinhad Hauff, the head of the dffb, the Berlin Film School, said at some point after my second failed application that he thought I might be good for his producing class. And that’s how I got into producing after never having given it a thought before.
And I really came to terms with my profession the end of my second year while working with this one director, Grzegorz Muskala, I realized if I could find people like him, with an exceptional level of talent and tenacity and foresight I could be the right person to support them. I just needed to be very picky about who I chose to work with.
On the other hand, I also realized I have a real knack for distribution, because many producing students in my film school would just produce a film and then they would just produce the next film. And this was always crazy for me, because when the film is finished, finding distribution for your film is the most exciting moment. Like now we can do something, even for shorts! We can take the film to festivals, we can sell it to TV, this is the fun part. Of course you need to have the right film.
But I quickly earned a reputation of being somebody who took very good care of his films. All my films went to many festivals and won awards and did well. So at the end of my studies I graduated with a 1.2 million feature, which was a big achievement at that time, this was 2010. I also launched my company more or less at the same time. Since then we’ve produced or coproduced 16 films.
Marina: What do you think drives you now to continue?
Sol: There was a moment, a couple of years ago where I realized I needed to shift gears. I separated from my previous business partner with whom I had had set up the company. We built the company together, but I realized our visions weren’t really aligned anymore. I had this urge to do slightly bigger films and my little family was growing and I simply needed to make more money — while staying true to the films that I love.
So rather than diversifying with many small projects, I wanted to make fewer films but larger ones. That is also a bigger risk in a way. I wanted to take it a bit slower than the previous 10 years. Maybe also because my wife is a filmmaker. We’ve had two kids, and now it’s also her turn to go to the forefront and make more films.
Marina: And so now I guess one could say you’ve kind of made it to the top or at least you’ve checked off all those goals that you wanted to reach.
Sol: Everything that has happened with Holy Spider is really great. And having a film in Cannes Competition is quite special — who knows if it’s going to happen again? So maybe, maybe this is the top.
Marina: Do you have different kinds of goals now?
Sol: No I think I have similar goals. I like to aim high. I’m ambitious. But I also know what’s within reach. I wouldn’t set goals that are completely unrealistic in that sense.
Marina: And can you talk about what you are working on right now, so that we can start tracking it?
Sol: Yeah, so Northern Comfort is a is a fear of flying comedy by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, the same Icelandic director of Under the Tree. And this is his English language debut because his previous films have been remade in the US. We thought, why not just shoot in English language in the first place?
A diverse group of people with a chronic fear of flying are stranded in the wintry north. That film is a lot of fun for a change! And I know there’s appetite in the market for comedies. We’re in the final stages of postproduction and hoping to show the film sometime early next year.
Köln 75 is our real passion project. It’s set in Germany. The story came to us through Oren Moverman who approached us because we had worked on The Tale together. He felt that we would be the right people to be producing this. It’s a beautiful and inspiring great true story about a 17 year old school girl who organizes one of the the world’s most famous concerts on German soil, the Cologne concert from Keith Jarrett in 1975 which is widely regarded as his masterpiece and sold nearly 5 mil. copies worldwide. It really was the soundtrack of an entire generation. So it’s really exciting. An uplifting and fun story with a fantastic script by Ido Fluk. We already have amazing partners to work on this film.
Marina: Is it different now working on German soil?
Sol: Well it’s not the first time, but it’s the first time in a couple years and it is different, yes. Production has exploded across the world with the arrival of the streamers. In Germany we really feel it. All the actors, all the crews, everybody is just like working like crazy. So you could say of course it’s a great time to be a producer. But for us it’s always hard to make a film. Always has been, always will be, there are really no free rides if you’re producing independent films.
Marina: And last question, what advice do you have for young filmmakers?
Sol: The most simple and striking advice that I received myself at some point, though at first I nearly missed it, was from Katriel Schory who ran the film fund in Israel for a long time.
Sydney knows him well I’m sure.
He gave this one inspirational speech at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2006, when I was a film student. He said the most important thing for a producer is you always have to be nice, open and friendly. And I was like, well yeah… But the way that he explained it got to me. He said that everybody who’s in a certain position of power has a free choice who he wants to work with.
And these people are always going to choose to work with the people who are nice, open and friendly and if you are that person and if you are nice, open and friendly all the time, then you’re just more likely to climb the steps of your career. And at the same time you will make this industry a better place to work in.
I found it very compelling and striking and I’ve realized that that really is what brings you forward. And so I always tried to be that person. I haven’t thought about it in a long time, so I wonder if maybe I’ve lost it a little bit on the way. Producing Holy Spider was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and has surely made me very cynical at times, but that is definitely a good piece of advice for young filmmaker, I think.
Holy Spider, 115 minutes
Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Screenplay: Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Cast: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Nima Akbarpour, Sara Fazilat, Sina Parvaneh, Alice Rahimi, Mesbah Taleb
Cinematography by: Nadim Carlsen
Film Editing: Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Production Designer: Lina Nordqvist
Costumes Cesigner: Hanadi Khurma
Music: Martin Dirkov
Produced by: Sol Bondy, Jacob Jarek
Co-producers: Fred Burle, Eva Åkergren, Vincent Maraval, Calle Marthin, Peter Possne, Olivier Père, Rémi Burah
Production Cos: Profile Pictures, One Two Films, Why Not Productions, Nordisk Film Production Ab
Backing: Danish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Moin Filmförderung, Dfff, Ffa, Nordisk Film + TV Fund, Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, Film I Väst, Zdf, Arte, Arte France Cinéma
Isa Wild Bunch has thus far sold Holy Spider to Utopia for U.S., Cinéart for Benelux, A-One Films Baltic for Baltics, Academy 2 ror Italy, Alamode Filmsfor Germany, BTeam Pictures for Spain, Bir Film for Turkey, Camera Film for Denmark, Canibal for Mexico, Cinobo for Greece, Edko Films for Hong Kong, Falcon Pictures for Indonesia, Film Europe for Czechia and Slovakia, Fivia/Cenex for Yugoslavia, Gaga for Japan, Gutek Film for Poland, Independenta Film for Romania, Karma for Spain, Metropolitan Filmexportfor France, Mubi for UK Ireland, Malaysia, India; Nordisk and Mer for Norway, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, Pancinema for South Korea, United King Films for Israel, Vertigo for Hungary, Xenix for Switzerland, Front Row for Mena.
- 12/18/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Open letter by film industry organisations says Ukrainian Film State Agency head should be dismissed.
Ukraine’s film community has called for the resignation of Maryna Kuderchuk, head of the country’s main film agency, following allegations of “unprofessional and dishonest actions ….which have led to the deepening crisis in Ukrainian cinema”.
An open letter has been signed by film organisations including the Union of Film Critics of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Guild of Directors and addressed to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, prime minister Denys Shmyhal, and minister of culture and information policy Oleksandr Tkachenko, among others.
Contacted by Screen,...
Ukraine’s film community has called for the resignation of Maryna Kuderchuk, head of the country’s main film agency, following allegations of “unprofessional and dishonest actions ….which have led to the deepening crisis in Ukrainian cinema”.
An open letter has been signed by film organisations including the Union of Film Critics of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Guild of Directors and addressed to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, prime minister Denys Shmyhal, and minister of culture and information policy Oleksandr Tkachenko, among others.
Contacted by Screen,...
- 11/29/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab¬Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The awards aim to promote European films to Arab audiences.
Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo and Mikko Myllylahti’s The Woodcutter Story are among the nominees for the 4th Arab Critics’ Awards for European Film.
The 23-strong list, which will be shortlisted to three and an eventual winner, includes 11 entries for best international feature at the Oscars.
Alongside Eo, which follows a donkey travelling from the Polish circus to an Italian slaughterhouse, other Oscar hopefuls on the list include Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson’s Beautiful Beings from Iceland and Juraj Lerotic’s Locarno winner Safe Place from Croatia.
A joint venture between...
Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo and Mikko Myllylahti’s The Woodcutter Story are among the nominees for the 4th Arab Critics’ Awards for European Film.
The 23-strong list, which will be shortlisted to three and an eventual winner, includes 11 entries for best international feature at the Oscars.
Alongside Eo, which follows a donkey travelling from the Polish circus to an Italian slaughterhouse, other Oscar hopefuls on the list include Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson’s Beautiful Beings from Iceland and Juraj Lerotic’s Locarno winner Safe Place from Croatia.
A joint venture between...
- 11/2/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Celebrating its 60th edition this year, the Viennale has marked the occasion by inviting six filmmakers to create trailers for the festival. Featuring work by Claire Denis, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Albert Serra, Narcisa Hirsch, Sergei Loznitsa, and Nina Menkes, the festival notes “their short works differ in tonality as well as emotion, but they all speak of cinema, its history and the world around us.”
Denis’ short pays tribute to the late Michel Subor, while the Oscar-winning Hamaguchi looks to nature and Serra to animals. Hirsch and Menkes deliver beautifully impressionistic shorts, with the former looking into her archives, and Loznitsa captures the convergence of citizens and war in the present day.
Watch below with a hat tip to Mubi and learn more about each shot on the official site.
Le Soldat by Claire Denis
Walden by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Vienna Waltz by Albert Serra
Songs from Naples by Narcisa Hirsch
Independence Day...
Denis’ short pays tribute to the late Michel Subor, while the Oscar-winning Hamaguchi looks to nature and Serra to animals. Hirsch and Menkes deliver beautifully impressionistic shorts, with the former looking into her archives, and Loznitsa captures the convergence of citizens and war in the present day.
Watch below with a hat tip to Mubi and learn more about each shot on the official site.
Le Soldat by Claire Denis
Walden by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Vienna Waltz by Albert Serra
Songs from Naples by Narcisa Hirsch
Independence Day...
- 10/27/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAnna May Wong in Piccadilly.Trailblazing film star Anna May Wong will be the first Asian American to appear on US currency. Wong, whose legacy is overviewed in this Guardian article by Pamela Hutchinson, will be the face of more than 300 million quarters.Alice Diop has won the Prix Jean Vigo, an award given to a French director each year since 1951, for her first fiction feature Saint Omer. Earlier this year, the film won won two awards at the Venice Film Festival and was selected as the French entry for Best International Film at the 2023 Oscars.Paweł Pawlikowski’s next feature—tentatively titled The Island—will be led by Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara. Per Variety, they play an American couple who “turn their backs on civilization to build a secluded paradise,” until a...
- 10/26/2022
- MUBI
Programme reconfigured to include non-Baltic directors heading Baltic co-productions.
The world premiere of Lithuanian feature The Poet will open the Baltic Competition at this year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, which will screen 15 features from the region.
Directed by Giedrius Tamosevicius and Vytautas V. Landsbergis, The Poet is the one world premiere in the selection, alongside four international premieres.
Scroll down for the full list of Baltic Competition titles
It is a historical drama in which the titular writer becomes an intermediary between Soviet authorities and rebels, and must choose his allies and words carefully in order to survive.
The world premiere of Lithuanian feature The Poet will open the Baltic Competition at this year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, which will screen 15 features from the region.
Directed by Giedrius Tamosevicius and Vytautas V. Landsbergis, The Poet is the one world premiere in the selection, alongside four international premieres.
Scroll down for the full list of Baltic Competition titles
It is a historical drama in which the titular writer becomes an intermediary between Soviet authorities and rebels, and must choose his allies and words carefully in order to survive.
- 10/25/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Chicago – The 58th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) announced its award winners on October 21st, 2022, and the recipient of The Gold Hugo in the International Feature Film Competition – the festival’s top honor – is Hiynu Pålmason’s ‘Godland”, a multi-layered critique of colonialist destruction.
Picking up the Festival’s Silver Hugo in the International Feature Film competition is “Close” (directed by Lucas Dhant), which also receives the Gold Hugo-q in the OutLook competition. In the New Directors Competition, Charlotte Le Bon’s “Falcon Lake” takes the Gold Hugo and Ann Oren’s “Piaffe” takes the Silver Hugo. The complete list of honorees is below.
“The Chicago International Film Festival has a 58-year history of honoring the most exciting, most original talent, and this year’s winners reflect a diversity of storytelling and filmmaking in remarkable and timely ways,” said Chicago International Film Festival Artistic Director Mimi Plauché. “With visual languages bold and subtle,...
Picking up the Festival’s Silver Hugo in the International Feature Film competition is “Close” (directed by Lucas Dhant), which also receives the Gold Hugo-q in the OutLook competition. In the New Directors Competition, Charlotte Le Bon’s “Falcon Lake” takes the Gold Hugo and Ann Oren’s “Piaffe” takes the Silver Hugo. The complete list of honorees is below.
“The Chicago International Film Festival has a 58-year history of honoring the most exciting, most original talent, and this year’s winners reflect a diversity of storytelling and filmmaking in remarkable and timely ways,” said Chicago International Film Festival Artistic Director Mimi Plauché. “With visual languages bold and subtle,...
- 10/22/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
TÁR (Todd Field).VENICEAwardsTop 10: Leonardo Goi1. Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)2. No Bears (Jafar Panahi)3. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)4. Saint Omer (Alice Diop)5. The Kiev Trial (Sergei Loznitsa)6. Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)7. Blonde (Andrew Dominik)8. A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)9. Athena (Romain Gavras)10. TÁR (Todd Field)Coverageby Leonardo GoiDispatch 1: White Noise (Noah Baumbach), Bardo (or a False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths) (Alejandro González Iñárritu), TÁR (Todd Field)Dispatch 2: A Couple (Frederick Wiseman), Athena (Romain Gavras), Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)Dispatch 3: Master Gardener (Paul Schrader), The Whale (Darren Aronofsky), The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)Dispatch 4: The Kiev Trial (Sergei Loznitsa), Saint Omer (Alice Diop), Blonde (Andrew Dominik)Dispatch 5: No Bears (Jafar Panahi), Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)TORONTOTop 10: Daniel Kasman (Unranked)All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)Eventide (Sharon Lockhart)The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg)F1ghting Looks Different 2 Me Now (Fox Maxy)How...
- 9/30/2022
- MUBI
Festival programmes tribute to Mantas Kvedaravicius, filmmaker killed in Ukraine.
New films from Martin Scorsese, Patricio Guzman, Gianfranco Rosi and Ruth Beckermann are among the Masters selection for the 35th International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s music film Personality Crisis: One Night Only will have its international premiere at IDFA, following a world debut at New York Film Festival in October. The film shows a set from US singer-songwriter David Johansen at New York’s Café Carlyle from January 2020.
The festival will also play Gianfranco Rosi’s first archive-based film In viaggio, which considers the human...
New films from Martin Scorsese, Patricio Guzman, Gianfranco Rosi and Ruth Beckermann are among the Masters selection for the 35th International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s music film Personality Crisis: One Night Only will have its international premiere at IDFA, following a world debut at New York Film Festival in October. The film shows a set from US singer-songwriter David Johansen at New York’s Café Carlyle from January 2020.
The festival will also play Gianfranco Rosi’s first archive-based film In viaggio, which considers the human...
- 9/27/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Documentary festival IDFA will host the international premieres of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi’s music film “Personality Crisis: One Night Only” and Barbara Kopple’s “Gumbo Coalition” as part of its Masters program, as well as the world premiere of Coco Schrijber’s “Look What You Made Me Do.”
The selection includes the work of several renowned directors who have reinvented their cinematic language. Patricio Guzmán breaks from his poetic approach to adopt a more direct, political form of filmmaking with “My Imaginary Country,” centering on the October 2019 protests in Santiago. Gianfranco Rosi directs his first archive-based film “In viaggio,” which sees Pope Francis’ journeys as a map of the human condition. Jørgen Leth and Andreas Koefoed co-direct a film together for the first time with “Music for Black Pigeons,” a reflection on aging through jazz music, and Ruth Beckermann’s “Mutzenbacher” takes a look at a controversial erotic...
The selection includes the work of several renowned directors who have reinvented their cinematic language. Patricio Guzmán breaks from his poetic approach to adopt a more direct, political form of filmmaking with “My Imaginary Country,” centering on the October 2019 protests in Santiago. Gianfranco Rosi directs his first archive-based film “In viaggio,” which sees Pope Francis’ journeys as a map of the human condition. Jørgen Leth and Andreas Koefoed co-direct a film together for the first time with “Music for Black Pigeons,” a reflection on aging through jazz music, and Ruth Beckermann’s “Mutzenbacher” takes a look at a controversial erotic...
- 9/27/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
While we’re in the middle of the fall festival season, with Telluride, Venice, and TIFF in the rearview, and NYFF, BFI London, and AFI Fest on the horizon, it’s time to round up some of our early favorites. We’ve polled our contributors from Venice and TIFF to share their top picks, which one can see below along with our ongoing coverage here.
David Katz (@davidfabiankatz)
1. Saint Omer (Alice Diop)
2. Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
4. Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)
5. The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)
6. Love Life (Kôji Fukada)
7. Blonde (Andrew Dominik)
8. A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)
9. In Viaggio (Gianfranco Rosi)
10. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)
Luke Hicks (@lou_kicks)
1. Bones and All (Luca Guadagnino)
2. Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
4. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)
5. Athena (Romain Gavras)
6. White Noise (Noah Baumbach)
7. The Banshees of Inisherin...
David Katz (@davidfabiankatz)
1. Saint Omer (Alice Diop)
2. Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
4. Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)
5. The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)
6. Love Life (Kôji Fukada)
7. Blonde (Andrew Dominik)
8. A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)
9. In Viaggio (Gianfranco Rosi)
10. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)
Luke Hicks (@lou_kicks)
1. Bones and All (Luca Guadagnino)
2. Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
4. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)
5. Athena (Romain Gavras)
6. White Noise (Noah Baumbach)
7. The Banshees of Inisherin...
- 9/21/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Festival runs October 12-23.
Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History Of Destruction are among the international competitions line-up at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival next month.
This year’s competitions include 10 films receiving their North American premiere and 17 getting their US premiere as the entries vie for the festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of international feature, international documentary, and new directors.
The festival runs October 12-23. The full international competition line-ups are below.
Playing in International Feature Competition are: The Beasts (Sp-Fr), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, US premiere; Before,...
Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History Of Destruction are among the international competitions line-up at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival next month.
This year’s competitions include 10 films receiving their North American premiere and 17 getting their US premiere as the entries vie for the festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of international feature, international documentary, and new directors.
The festival runs October 12-23. The full international competition line-ups are below.
Playing in International Feature Competition are: The Beasts (Sp-Fr), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, US premiere; Before,...
- 9/16/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
In January 1946, nine months ahead of the Nuremberg trials, some of the foremost legal practitioners in the Soviet Union assembled in Kiev for the trial of 15 German Nazis accused of committing war crimes. They had multiple aims: to secure due process (discouraging vigilante attacks which were making it hard to restore peace in some areas), to demonstrate that acts committed in war could be scrutinised just as intensely as crimes in peacetime, to hold those particular individuals to account and to give the survivors a sense of closure. They also sought to tease out the truth of events in order to contribute to an accurate history and begin the process of trying to understand how it all happened, in the hope that it might be possible to prevent it from happening again.
Director Sergei Loznitsa came across archive footage of this trial when researching his 2021 documentary [film]Babi Yar....
Director Sergei Loznitsa came across archive footage of this trial when researching his 2021 documentary [film]Babi Yar....
- 9/7/2022
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The pursuit of justice in the wake of unspeakable war crimes is at the heart of Ukrainian documentary filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa’s timely new feature, “The Kiev Trial.” Produced by Atoms & Void for the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, the film had its world premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival. The trailer can be viewed below.
Held in January 1946 in the former Soviet Union, the film’s titular trial was among the first court cases to hold Nazis and their collaborators accountable for atrocities committed during World War II — acts that would come to be known as “crimes against humanity” during the historic tribunals held in Nuremberg, Germany.
Using unique, never-before-seen archive footage, Loznitsa reconstructs key moments of the proceedings against the 15 accused, including statements from the defendants and testimonies from eyewitnesses, many of whom were survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp and the Nazi massacre at Babi Yar,...
Held in January 1946 in the former Soviet Union, the film’s titular trial was among the first court cases to hold Nazis and their collaborators accountable for atrocities committed during World War II — acts that would come to be known as “crimes against humanity” during the historic tribunals held in Nuremberg, Germany.
Using unique, never-before-seen archive footage, Loznitsa reconstructs key moments of the proceedings against the 15 accused, including statements from the defendants and testimonies from eyewitnesses, many of whom were survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp and the Nazi massacre at Babi Yar,...
- 9/6/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Emily Blunt Heading To Mipcom For ‘The English’ Red Carpet Curtain Raiser
Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer and Hugo Blick are headed to Cannes for a red carpet screening of buzzy Western drama series The English at Mipcom. The event will be the curtain raiser for the Rx France-hosted event and will take place at the Grand Auditorium in Cannes’ Palais des Festivals on Sunday October 16 at 6pm Cet, the evening before the main festival, market and conference kicks off. A Q&a with stars Blunt and Spencer and writer-director Blick will follow. The English follows aristocratic Englishwoman Lady Cornelia Locke (the Blunt) and ex-cavalry scout Eli Whipp (Spencer), as they come together in 1890 mid-America to cross a violent landscape built on dreams and blood. Stephen Rea, Rafe Spall and Valerie Pachner are also among the cast. Drama Republic and Eight Rooks are co-producing for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in...
Emily Blunt, Chaske Spencer and Hugo Blick are headed to Cannes for a red carpet screening of buzzy Western drama series The English at Mipcom. The event will be the curtain raiser for the Rx France-hosted event and will take place at the Grand Auditorium in Cannes’ Palais des Festivals on Sunday October 16 at 6pm Cet, the evening before the main festival, market and conference kicks off. A Q&a with stars Blunt and Spencer and writer-director Blick will follow. The English follows aristocratic Englishwoman Lady Cornelia Locke (the Blunt) and ex-cavalry scout Eli Whipp (Spencer), as they come together in 1890 mid-America to cross a violent landscape built on dreams and blood. Stephen Rea, Rafe Spall and Valerie Pachner are also among the cast. Drama Republic and Eight Rooks are co-producing for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in...
- 8/30/2022
- by Jesse Whittock and Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Selection includes the final film by murdered Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravicius.
The 13 feature documentaries in the running for the 2022 European Film Awards have been revealed.
Scroll down for full list of titles
They include Mariupolis 2 by murdered Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravicius, which premiered at Cannes and comprises footage the director shot before he was captured and killed by the Russian army in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in April.
Also selected is Mr Landsbergis by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, a four-hour account of the struggle for Lithuania’s independence from the Ussr in the early 1990s, which won the...
The 13 feature documentaries in the running for the 2022 European Film Awards have been revealed.
Scroll down for full list of titles
They include Mariupolis 2 by murdered Lithuanian filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravicius, which premiered at Cannes and comprises footage the director shot before he was captured and killed by the Russian army in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in April.
Also selected is Mr Landsbergis by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa, a four-hour account of the struggle for Lithuania’s independence from the Ussr in the early 1990s, which won the...
- 8/30/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Croatian writer-director Juraj Lerotić’s “Safe Place,” an emotional story of a family reeling in the wake of a suicide attempt, took the top prize at the Sarajevo Film Festival, which wrapped a record-setting 2022 edition in the Bosnian capital on Friday night.
The Heart of Sarajevo Award for best feature film was given by a jury headed by Austrian filmmaker Sebastian Meise (“The Great Freedom”), which included French filmmaker Lucile Hadžihalilović (“Earwig”), Croatian writer-director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (“Murina”), Serbian actor Milan Marić (“Dovlatov”) and Israeli producer and consultant Katriel Schory.
“Safe Place” plays on Lerotić’s own pained family history, with the Croatian multihyphenate taking on the lead role in his deeply personal story — a performance that also earned him the award for best actor in Sarajevo.
Fresh off a triumphant world premiere in Locarno, where the film won three awards including best first feature, “Safe Place” was described by...
The Heart of Sarajevo Award for best feature film was given by a jury headed by Austrian filmmaker Sebastian Meise (“The Great Freedom”), which included French filmmaker Lucile Hadžihalilović (“Earwig”), Croatian writer-director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (“Murina”), Serbian actor Milan Marić (“Dovlatov”) and Israeli producer and consultant Katriel Schory.
“Safe Place” plays on Lerotić’s own pained family history, with the Croatian multihyphenate taking on the lead role in his deeply personal story — a performance that also earned him the award for best actor in Sarajevo.
Fresh off a triumphant world premiere in Locarno, where the film won three awards including best first feature, “Safe Place” was described by...
- 8/20/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
New Sarajevo Film Festival director Jovan Marjanović is promising “a vintage edition” for the 28th Sff.
“We had a great opening film — Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund — and we have a great closing film — May Labour Day by the Bosnian director Pjer Žalica, who’s one of the most beloved local filmmakers — so it’s going to be an emotional end to the festival,” says Marjanović who took over from Mirsad Purivatra, the festival’s original founder who started the festival in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War.
Marjanović joined the Sff team in 1999, straight after high school, and started the top job after two years running the festival’s industry section and two years serving as Sff co-director alongside Purivatra. From the start, the Sff staked out its claim to be the premier festival for cinema from Southeastern Europe.
New Sarajevo Film Festival director Jovan Marjanović is promising “a vintage edition” for the 28th Sff.
“We had a great opening film — Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund — and we have a great closing film — May Labour Day by the Bosnian director Pjer Žalica, who’s one of the most beloved local filmmakers — so it’s going to be an emotional end to the festival,” says Marjanović who took over from Mirsad Purivatra, the festival’s original founder who started the festival in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War.
Marjanović joined the Sff team in 1999, straight after high school, and started the top job after two years running the festival’s industry section and two years serving as Sff co-director alongside Purivatra. From the start, the Sff staked out its claim to be the premier festival for cinema from Southeastern Europe.
- 8/16/2022
- by Stjepan Hundic
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ostlund advocated for cinema over the “individualistic” perspective of phones.
Ruben Ostlund advocated for “putting people in their context” through the communal experience of cinema, in opening the 28th Sarajevo Film Festival with his Palme d’Or-winning Triangle Of Sadness.
Receiving his honorary Heart of Sarajevo award, Ostlund said, “It’s great to be back here, in a big room with an audience that is together. Today I was thinking about the telephone, and the way that we are holding the telephone when we are watching things. We hold it like this [he motioned a ‘portrait’ mode], and we are holding like this when we...
Ruben Ostlund advocated for “putting people in their context” through the communal experience of cinema, in opening the 28th Sarajevo Film Festival with his Palme d’Or-winning Triangle Of Sadness.
Receiving his honorary Heart of Sarajevo award, Ostlund said, “It’s great to be back here, in a big room with an audience that is together. Today I was thinking about the telephone, and the way that we are holding the telephone when we are watching things. We hold it like this [he motioned a ‘portrait’ mode], and we are holding like this when we...
- 8/13/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
When the first edition of what would become the Sarajevo Film Festival was held in 1995, the Bosnian capital was in the final year of a devastating, four-year siege. Electricity shortages plunged the city into darkness, while food and hard currency were scarce. The inaugural screenings were held in the basement of a bombed-out building – a literal hole-in-the-wall – where tickets could be purchased with cigarettes instead of cash.
The annual event that emerged from the rubble didn’t just contribute to the cultural life of the city. In the early days after the siege, organizers and local clean-up crews got to work around Sarajevo, refurbishing historic buildings that had been destroyed by the shelling and converting them into festival venues. “Everyone who was involved felt that they were contributing to this rebuilding,” says festival director Jovan Marjanović. “The city was almost fully destroyed. And the festival was the place, and this time in the summer,...
The annual event that emerged from the rubble didn’t just contribute to the cultural life of the city. In the early days after the siege, organizers and local clean-up crews got to work around Sarajevo, refurbishing historic buildings that had been destroyed by the shelling and converting them into festival venues. “Everyone who was involved felt that they were contributing to this rebuilding,” says festival director Jovan Marjanović. “The city was almost fully destroyed. And the festival was the place, and this time in the summer,...
- 8/13/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
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