Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan, who is awaiting the release of her upcoming streaming movie ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’, has shared that she loves Russian history of the 20th century and Russian literature.
The actress, who has been a student of history, recently spoke with Ians ahead of the release of her period film and shared that she finds it very interesting how landmark moments in Russia from the rise of Vladimir Lenin to the fall of the Soviet Union happened within a span of 100 years.
She told Ians: “I like 20th-century Russian history a lot. I think it’s very interesting how they went from Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Mikhail Gorbachev to the fall of the Soviet Union, ye sab 100 salon mein hua hai. It’s very interesting to observe it that way.”
In fact, Nikita Khrushchev was the one who denounced his predecessor Joseph Stalin...
The actress, who has been a student of history, recently spoke with Ians ahead of the release of her period film and shared that she finds it very interesting how landmark moments in Russia from the rise of Vladimir Lenin to the fall of the Soviet Union happened within a span of 100 years.
She told Ians: “I like 20th-century Russian history a lot. I think it’s very interesting how they went from Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Mikhail Gorbachev to the fall of the Soviet Union, ye sab 100 salon mein hua hai. It’s very interesting to observe it that way.”
In fact, Nikita Khrushchev was the one who denounced his predecessor Joseph Stalin...
- 3/20/2024
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
All credit to Mark Russell, the founding artistic director of the Under the Radar Festival. After the Public Theater, which has produced the international and experimental theater festival since 2006, dropped Under the Radar from its annual programming, Russell rapidly rebuilt. With no central home this season, the festival’s shows now crop up over a greater radius of the city, from smaller downtown venues like the Abrons Arts Center and Performance Space New York to major entities like Bam and Theater for a New Audience.
In its new iteration, Under the Radar, which runs through January 21, hasn’t missed a step. In fact, since so many disparate venues have programmed and produced shows this year, Under the Radar seems poised to introduce festival-wide fans to the curated tastes of theaters across New York, potentially growing year-round audiences too. There’s also the sense that the festival, partnering with producing theaters...
In its new iteration, Under the Radar, which runs through January 21, hasn’t missed a step. In fact, since so many disparate venues have programmed and produced shows this year, Under the Radar seems poised to introduce festival-wide fans to the curated tastes of theaters across New York, potentially growing year-round audiences too. There’s also the sense that the festival, partnering with producing theaters...
- 1/20/2024
- by Dan Rubins
- Slant Magazine
“Carmen” didn’t begin life as an opera: French Romantic writer Prosper Mérimée conceived this tale of Spanish passion and tragic jealousy in 1845, thirty years before his compatriot Georges Bizet brought it into its best-known, aria-rich form. But it’s a story that thrives on operatic delivery, hinging on emotions so large and loud they beg to be sung at the top of one’s lungs. That makes it the opera that filmmakers can’t leave alone, even as they tend to switch out the music: Its screen interpretations range from Otto Preminger’s Broadway-rooted “Carmen Jones” to Jean-Luc Godard’s daring, Beethoven-infused “First Name: Carmen” to Robert Townsend’s Beyoncé-starring “Carmen: A Hip-Hopera.” With the plainly titled “Carmen,” ballet star and first-time feature director Benjamin Millepied joins that club, mostly eschewing song in an attempt to conjure the material’s intensity through dance. He is only intermittently successful.
- 4/21/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Opera lovers flock to performances in order to be thrilled, aroused, overjoyed, moved to tears. Ditto disciples of dance, musical-theater fanatics, and — the worst, most masochistic, and unrepentant art-rush addicts of them all — moviegoers. Georges Bizet’s Carmen shocked audiences when it premiered in 1875 in Paris; eventually, his story of a Spanish soldier and a Roma traveler would become a staple of repertory companies and one of the best-known operas of all time. (Hum the opening notes of this, and at least one person will break into their best Beverly Sills impression.
- 4/19/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival marks its 40th edition, running March 3-12, with a full-blown return to the in-person festival experience with a sidebar of only 10 titles available online.
“We’re celebrating the human connection and getting back into cinemas again,” says programming head Lauren Cohen who in her first year flying solo at the helm, is putting her personal stamp on the festival with female-centric topics dominating the Master Classes.
“It’s our 40th anniversary, which is such a milestone for us, we want it to be bigger and better than ever,” she continues.
Opening with Ray Romano’s directorial debut “Somewhere in Queens” and wrapping with Stephen Frears’ “The Lost King,” this edition features a dozen world premieres, three North American premieres, eight U.S. premieres and 14 East Coast premieres.
Given Miami’s allure and reputation as a music capital, a serendipitous number of this year...
“We’re celebrating the human connection and getting back into cinemas again,” says programming head Lauren Cohen who in her first year flying solo at the helm, is putting her personal stamp on the festival with female-centric topics dominating the Master Classes.
“It’s our 40th anniversary, which is such a milestone for us, we want it to be bigger and better than ever,” she continues.
Opening with Ray Romano’s directorial debut “Somewhere in Queens” and wrapping with Stephen Frears’ “The Lost King,” this edition features a dozen world premieres, three North American premieres, eight U.S. premieres and 14 East Coast premieres.
Given Miami’s allure and reputation as a music capital, a serendipitous number of this year...
- 3/3/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Mars Media’s Ruben Dishdishyan and Amedia Production’s Len Blavatnik, two of the most significant figures in the Russian biz, have entered into a five-year agreement to co-produce and co-finance feature films.
The deal is a formalization of an existing partnership that to date has seen the companies team on projects including local box office hit A Dog Named Palma as well as its upcoming sequel, and the war drama T-34, which was a box office smash in China and was picked up for international territories by Netflix. In post-production are historical epic Woland, an adaptation of The Master and Margarita, and sci-fi action-adventure Mira.
The producers are aiming to make 10 features together over the next five years. Already in development are Alexander Pushkin’s epic fairytale Ruslan and Ludmila and an adaptation of Boris and Arkady Strugatsky’s famed sci-fi mystery novel The Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel.
The deal is a formalization of an existing partnership that to date has seen the companies team on projects including local box office hit A Dog Named Palma as well as its upcoming sequel, and the war drama T-34, which was a box office smash in China and was picked up for international territories by Netflix. In post-production are historical epic Woland, an adaptation of The Master and Margarita, and sci-fi action-adventure Mira.
The producers are aiming to make 10 features together over the next five years. Already in development are Alexander Pushkin’s epic fairytale Ruslan and Ludmila and an adaptation of Boris and Arkady Strugatsky’s famed sci-fi mystery novel The Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel.
- 1/11/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s a pretty rare occasion when the director of a superhero movie sits down with the composer to talk about music and neither of them ever uses the word “action” or even “superhero.”
Instead, “Black Widow” director Cate Shortland and composer Lorne Balfe talked about the backstory of Natasha Romanoff and her sister, Yelena Belova. “Every conversation we had, right from the beginning, was about Natasha’s and Yelena’s heritage,” Balfe tells Variety.
“I wanted to write the music that Natasha and Yelena listened to when they were children. Russian folk music was their original soundtrack — what their parents would have sung to them, what they would have absorbed as children.”
So, in what may be the year’s most ambitious film score to date, Balfe enlisted a 118-piece London orchestra and a 60-voice choir singing Russian lyrics. And not just any made-up Russian words: Balfe adapted the...
Instead, “Black Widow” director Cate Shortland and composer Lorne Balfe talked about the backstory of Natasha Romanoff and her sister, Yelena Belova. “Every conversation we had, right from the beginning, was about Natasha’s and Yelena’s heritage,” Balfe tells Variety.
“I wanted to write the music that Natasha and Yelena listened to when they were children. Russian folk music was their original soundtrack — what their parents would have sung to them, what they would have absorbed as children.”
So, in what may be the year’s most ambitious film score to date, Balfe enlisted a 118-piece London orchestra and a 60-voice choir singing Russian lyrics. And not just any made-up Russian words: Balfe adapted the...
- 7/15/2021
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“Card Tricks”
By Raymond Benson
This British gem was considered a lost film until a print was somehow discovered a little over ten years ago and re-released in art houses and on home video. The Queen of Spades, from 1949, was one of only nine pictures helmed by Thorold Dickinson, a Norwegian director who worked mostly in the UK but also in Europe and Africa. He was perhaps most known for directing the original British version of Gaslight (1940), which George Cukor and MGM suppressed when they remade it as a Hollywood movie in 1944 (with Ingrid Bergman). There are some who believe Dickinson’s Gaslight is the better of the two.
Dickinson has been re-appraised in recent years by the likes of filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson, and by critics with a taste for genuine style and substance in their movies. The Queen of Spades...
“Card Tricks”
By Raymond Benson
This British gem was considered a lost film until a print was somehow discovered a little over ten years ago and re-released in art houses and on home video. The Queen of Spades, from 1949, was one of only nine pictures helmed by Thorold Dickinson, a Norwegian director who worked mostly in the UK but also in Europe and Africa. He was perhaps most known for directing the original British version of Gaslight (1940), which George Cukor and MGM suppressed when they remade it as a Hollywood movie in 1944 (with Ingrid Bergman). There are some who believe Dickinson’s Gaslight is the better of the two.
Dickinson has been re-appraised in recent years by the likes of filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson, and by critics with a taste for genuine style and substance in their movies. The Queen of Spades...
- 7/29/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The Queen of Spades
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1949/ 1.33:1 / 95 min.
Starring Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans
Directed by Throld Dickinson
One of the pleasures of discovering 1949’s The Queen of Spades is also discovering its director, Thorold Dickinson. Born and educated in Bristol, he abandoned Oxford for London to concentrate on the fine art of film editing and soon found himself behind the camera.
Dickinson made waves with 1940’s Gaslight but Queen was something of a critical flashpoint for the diligent director – called in as a last minute replacement, the project would cement his reputation as an artist whose portentous visual style said as much about his characters as any screenplay. Not coincidentally, those qualities were shared by the film’s associate producer, Jack Clayton.
Based on Alexander Pushkin’s 1834 short story, the film is set in a snowbound St. Petersburg enclave in 1803, a gothic inversion of one of Ernst Lubitsch‘s fairy tale villages.
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1949/ 1.33:1 / 95 min.
Starring Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans
Directed by Throld Dickinson
One of the pleasures of discovering 1949’s The Queen of Spades is also discovering its director, Thorold Dickinson. Born and educated in Bristol, he abandoned Oxford for London to concentrate on the fine art of film editing and soon found himself behind the camera.
Dickinson made waves with 1940’s Gaslight but Queen was something of a critical flashpoint for the diligent director – called in as a last minute replacement, the project would cement his reputation as an artist whose portentous visual style said as much about his characters as any screenplay. Not coincidentally, those qualities were shared by the film’s associate producer, Jack Clayton.
Based on Alexander Pushkin’s 1834 short story, the film is set in a snowbound St. Petersburg enclave in 1803, a gothic inversion of one of Ernst Lubitsch‘s fairy tale villages.
- 10/22/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Left to Right: Oleg Ivenko as Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Dudiskaya as Anna Polikarpova
Photo by Larry Horrocks. Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics.
A “white crow” is a Russian idiom meaning a misfit, an oddball, someone who does not fit the mold – a perfect description for ballet star Rudolph Nureyev.
In the 1960s, ballet stars and opera divas were pop culture rock stars, as strange as that might seems to modern ears. One of the biggest ballet stars was Rudolph Nureyev, the Russian dancer who transformed men’s role in ballet from mere props for ballerinas to dramatic, dynamic stars in their own right. But White Crow takes place long before all that, following the life of the young dancer from his hard rural Russian childhood to his tumultuous years training under the Soviet Union system to the edge of stardom while touring with the Kirov Ballet Company in Paris.
Ralph Fiennes directs this gorgeous,...
Photo by Larry Horrocks. Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics.
A “white crow” is a Russian idiom meaning a misfit, an oddball, someone who does not fit the mold – a perfect description for ballet star Rudolph Nureyev.
In the 1960s, ballet stars and opera divas were pop culture rock stars, as strange as that might seems to modern ears. One of the biggest ballet stars was Rudolph Nureyev, the Russian dancer who transformed men’s role in ballet from mere props for ballerinas to dramatic, dynamic stars in their own right. But White Crow takes place long before all that, following the life of the young dancer from his hard rural Russian childhood to his tumultuous years training under the Soviet Union system to the edge of stardom while touring with the Kirov Ballet Company in Paris.
Ralph Fiennes directs this gorgeous,...
- 5/17/2019
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
As a director, Ralph Fiennes shows the same alertness for telling details and rich characterization that he does as an actor. And that’s saying something. His talent shines in The White Crow, a look at the early life of ballet great Rudolf Nureyev, up to and including his defection from Russia and the Kirov Ballet at the Paris-Le Bourget airport in 1961. He was 23. The White Crow is not a biopic. It’s an impressionistic glimpse at the forces driving Nureyev — something of a diva even then — to accept no...
- 4/25/2019
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
We are still in the beginning phases of a reckoning with toxic masculinity that may take years to dismantle, and yet there is a persistent desire to move past it and to attempt to understand the problematic male genius on screen. We’re currently seeing it on the small screen in the new FX series “Fosse/Verdon,” and now on the big screen with “The White Crow.” And it is a chore to get through both.
The Ralph Fiennes-directed movie aims to illuminate the life of ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev (Oleg Ivenko), who left his poverty-stricken childhood in the Soviet Union behind in 1961, in the midst of its tumultuous political climate, to defect to the west in Paris. Fiennes and screenwriter David Hare are very deliberate about showing us, through flashbacks, his Saint Petersburg upbringing, where he and his three sisters shared one bed and their mother ventured out in...
The Ralph Fiennes-directed movie aims to illuminate the life of ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev (Oleg Ivenko), who left his poverty-stricken childhood in the Soviet Union behind in 1961, in the midst of its tumultuous political climate, to defect to the west in Paris. Fiennes and screenwriter David Hare are very deliberate about showing us, through flashbacks, his Saint Petersburg upbringing, where he and his three sisters shared one bed and their mother ventured out in...
- 4/23/2019
- by Candice Frederick
- The Wrap
The story of “The White Crow,” Ralph Fiennes’ latest directorial effort, is as topical as anything currently sitting on the desk of a studio head. It tells of a rebellious artist grappling with his sexuality during turbulent political times rife with tensions between the United States and an agitated Russia. But though the upcoming film, which Sony Pictures Classics will release Stateside on April 26, may be weirdly timely, it is actually set nearly 60 years ago and depicts the true tale of late ballet sensation Rudolf Nureyev.
Known for performances that were sinewy and sensual, Nureyev inflamed Cold War tensions when he became one of the first megastars to defect from the Soviet Union in 1961. Once in the United States, the ballet and contemporary dancer and choreographer became a household name, partnering with Margot Fonteyn in acclaimed productions of “Giselle” and “Swan Lake,” appearing on “The Muppet Show” and playing Rudolph Valentino...
Known for performances that were sinewy and sensual, Nureyev inflamed Cold War tensions when he became one of the first megastars to defect from the Soviet Union in 1961. Once in the United States, the ballet and contemporary dancer and choreographer became a household name, partnering with Margot Fonteyn in acclaimed productions of “Giselle” and “Swan Lake,” appearing on “The Muppet Show” and playing Rudolph Valentino...
- 4/18/2019
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
This retelling of Rudolf Nureyev’s escape to the west survives some flat acting thanks to David Hare’s nuanced script
The White Crow is a watchable, serviceable movie telling the story of ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev and his sensational escape to the west in the early 60s at the age of 23, while on his first European tour. Dance is represented as a transcendental experience of success, of leaving behind the past and reinventing the future. Like Billy Elliot’s defection from his working-class childhood, Nureyev’s flight involves crises of loyalty with family and community. These struggles are, however, a little enigmatic and opaque with Rudolf, as portrayed by the Ukrainian ballet star and first-time actor Oleg Ivenko. Ralph Fiennes directs and gives a performance of spaniel-eyed sadness as Nureyev’s dance teacher and mentor Alexander Pushkin, with whose wife Xenia (Chulpan Khamatova), Nureyev is to have a sentimental education.
The White Crow is a watchable, serviceable movie telling the story of ballet legend Rudolf Nureyev and his sensational escape to the west in the early 60s at the age of 23, while on his first European tour. Dance is represented as a transcendental experience of success, of leaving behind the past and reinventing the future. Like Billy Elliot’s defection from his working-class childhood, Nureyev’s flight involves crises of loyalty with family and community. These struggles are, however, a little enigmatic and opaque with Rudolf, as portrayed by the Ukrainian ballet star and first-time actor Oleg Ivenko. Ralph Fiennes directs and gives a performance of spaniel-eyed sadness as Nureyev’s dance teacher and mentor Alexander Pushkin, with whose wife Xenia (Chulpan Khamatova), Nureyev is to have a sentimental education.
- 3/20/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
First film due for completion in 2021.
Russian animation specialist Wizart is launching a franchise based on the epic fairy tales by one of Russia’s most celebrated writers, Alexander Pushkin.
The first of the films in what is envisaged as a series will be Ruslan & Ludmila, due to be completed in 2021. The company is showing a sizzle reel to Efm buyers, and will commence pre-sales in earnest in Cannes. Vladimir Nikolaev and Yuri Moskvin produce and Shelley Page is the international representative.
Nikolaev is promising the Pushkin adaptations will be animated features on the scale of Disney’s Aladdin or Tangled.
Russian animation specialist Wizart is launching a franchise based on the epic fairy tales by one of Russia’s most celebrated writers, Alexander Pushkin.
The first of the films in what is envisaged as a series will be Ruslan & Ludmila, due to be completed in 2021. The company is showing a sizzle reel to Efm buyers, and will commence pre-sales in earnest in Cannes. Vladimir Nikolaev and Yuri Moskvin produce and Shelley Page is the international representative.
Nikolaev is promising the Pushkin adaptations will be animated features on the scale of Disney’s Aladdin or Tangled.
- 2/12/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
"This could be your last trip." Studiocanal UK has debuted the first official UK trailer for the biopic drama The White Crow, the latest film directed by acclaimed actor Ralph Fiennes. It tells the incredible true story of renowned Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, who managed to defect from the Soviet Union to the West, despite being closely guarded by the Kgb, while traveling through Paris in 1961. Nureyev is played by real-life ballet dancer Oleg Ivenko making his acting debut, along with Ralph Fiennes in a role as his ballet coach Alexander Pushkin. The cast also includes Adèle Exarchopoulos, Louis Hofmann, Sergei Polunin, Olivier Rabourdin, Raphaël Personnaz, Chulpan Khamatova, Zach Avery, and Mar Sodupe. This premiered at the Telluride and London Film Festivals last year, and should be released in the Us later this year. Based on the reviews and first look at this footage, this seems like it might be pretty good.
- 1/27/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
HanWay inks further territories on Rudolf Nureyev drama.
Studiocanal has bought UK rights for The White Crow, Ralph Fiennes’ thriller about Russian ballet star Rudolf Nureyev’s defection to the West at the height of the Cold War.
HanWay Films is handling worldwide sales and co-financed the feature with BBC Films and Rogue Black. The film recently premiered at Telluride and will play as a Gala at the BFI London Film Festival next month.
HanWay has also struck a raft of new territory deals on the title: Alamode (Germany), DeAplaneta (Spain), E1, Praesens (Switzerland), Nos Lusomundo (Portugal), Odeon (Greece), Discovery...
Studiocanal has bought UK rights for The White Crow, Ralph Fiennes’ thriller about Russian ballet star Rudolf Nureyev’s defection to the West at the height of the Cold War.
HanWay Films is handling worldwide sales and co-financed the feature with BBC Films and Rogue Black. The film recently premiered at Telluride and will play as a Gala at the BFI London Film Festival next month.
HanWay has also struck a raft of new territory deals on the title: Alamode (Germany), DeAplaneta (Spain), E1, Praesens (Switzerland), Nos Lusomundo (Portugal), Odeon (Greece), Discovery...
- 9/26/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Why did world-famous Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defect? That’s the question I found myself Googling immediately after seeing Ralph Fiennes’ lovely, elegant, and curiously opaque “The White Crow,” an impressive, dance-heavy biopic which focuses on Nureyev’s childhood, training, and life-changing visit to Paris as part of the Kirov Ballet, culminating in his decision to seek asylum in France. For all its pleasures — among them generous helpings of dance and a true-life East-meets-West intrigue to rival fictive Cannes favorite “Cold War” — the film remains maddeningly ambiguous about his motives for cutting ties with the Soviet Union.
Of course, some things we can never know, although in this case, it feels like more of a creative choice than a historical one, leaving culture-savvy art-house audiences something to ponder after a classy — and respectfully sexy — night at the movies. Such crowds are presumably familiar with the reputation Nureyev made for himself over the subsequent decades,...
Of course, some things we can never know, although in this case, it feels like more of a creative choice than a historical one, leaving culture-savvy art-house audiences something to ponder after a classy — and respectfully sexy — night at the movies. Such crowds are presumably familiar with the reputation Nureyev made for himself over the subsequent decades,...
- 9/4/2018
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Sony Pictures Classics has bought rights in North America and many foreign markets to Ralph Fiennes’ Rudolf Nureyev biopic “The White Crow.”
In a deal announced Monday, Sony Classics also acquired rights to Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, and Benelux from HanWay Films.
“The White Crow” is based on the book “Rudolf Nureyev: The Life by Julie Kavanaugh.” Fiennes directed from a script by David Hare. HanWay Films, which is handling worldwide sales, also co-financed the film together with BBC Films and Rogue Black.
Oleg Ivenko stars as Nureyev, alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos as Clara Saint, and Fiennes as Russian ballet coach Alexander Pushkin. The cast also includes dancer Sergei Polunin, Chulpan Khamatova, Olivier Rabourdin, Raphaël Personnaz, and Louis Hofmann.
Nureyev, a Russian native, sought asylum in France in 1961 at the height of the Cold War. The film offers insight into Nureyev’s defection, masterminded by the dancer’s great friend,...
In a deal announced Monday, Sony Classics also acquired rights to Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, and Benelux from HanWay Films.
“The White Crow” is based on the book “Rudolf Nureyev: The Life by Julie Kavanaugh.” Fiennes directed from a script by David Hare. HanWay Films, which is handling worldwide sales, also co-financed the film together with BBC Films and Rogue Black.
Oleg Ivenko stars as Nureyev, alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos as Clara Saint, and Fiennes as Russian ballet coach Alexander Pushkin. The cast also includes dancer Sergei Polunin, Chulpan Khamatova, Olivier Rabourdin, Raphaël Personnaz, and Louis Hofmann.
Nureyev, a Russian native, sought asylum in France in 1961 at the height of the Cold War. The film offers insight into Nureyev’s defection, masterminded by the dancer’s great friend,...
- 8/13/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American rights for Ralph Fiennes’ film “The White Crow,” the studio said on Monday.
The film, based on the book “Rudolf Nureyev: The Life” by Julie Kavanaugh, was directed by Fiennes and written by Oscar-nominated David Hare. Along with North America, Sony nabbed rights to distribute the film in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, and Benelux.
“The White Crow” captures the physicality and brilliance of ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, whose escape to the West stunned the world at the height of the Cold War. Nureyev emerged as one of ballet’s most famous stars, and though seen as a wild and beautiful dancer he was limited by the world of 1950s Leningrad. His flirtation with Western artists and ideas led him into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the Kgb. The film offers insight into Nureyev’s dangerous defection, masterminded by the dancer’s great friend,...
The film, based on the book “Rudolf Nureyev: The Life” by Julie Kavanaugh, was directed by Fiennes and written by Oscar-nominated David Hare. Along with North America, Sony nabbed rights to distribute the film in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, and Benelux.
“The White Crow” captures the physicality and brilliance of ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev, whose escape to the West stunned the world at the height of the Cold War. Nureyev emerged as one of ballet’s most famous stars, and though seen as a wild and beautiful dancer he was limited by the world of 1950s Leningrad. His flirtation with Western artists and ideas led him into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse with the Kgb. The film offers insight into Nureyev’s dangerous defection, masterminded by the dancer’s great friend,...
- 8/13/2018
- by Trey Williams
- The Wrap
David Hare adapted screenplay about Russian dancer’s daring escape to West.
Sony Pictures Classics has picked up North America and multiple territories from HanWay Films to Ralph Fiennes’ Rudolf Nureyev drama The White Crow.
The distributor will put The White Crow through Sony for Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, and Benelux.
David Hare’s screenplay inspired by Julie Kavanaugh’s book Rudolf Nureyev: The Life chronicles Russian ballet star Nureyev’s daring escape to the West at the height of the Cold War.
HanWay Films handles worldwide sales and co-financed the feature with BBC Films and Rogue Black.
Sony Pictures Classics has picked up North America and multiple territories from HanWay Films to Ralph Fiennes’ Rudolf Nureyev drama The White Crow.
The distributor will put The White Crow through Sony for Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, and Benelux.
David Hare’s screenplay inspired by Julie Kavanaugh’s book Rudolf Nureyev: The Life chronicles Russian ballet star Nureyev’s daring escape to the West at the height of the Cold War.
HanWay Films handles worldwide sales and co-financed the feature with BBC Films and Rogue Black.
- 8/13/2018
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North America and key markets on Ralph Fiennes’ Rudolf Nureyev pic The White Crow from HanWay Films.
The prestige label has also taken Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Asia and Benelux.
Inspired by the book Rudolf Nureyev: The Life by Julie Kavanaugh, the drama charts the iconic dancer’s famed defection from the Soviet Union to the West in 1961, despite Kgb efforts to stop him. Fiennes directs from a script by David Hare (The Hours). The anticipated drama is still in the running for an autumn festival berth.
Acclaimed dancer Oleg Ivenko stars as Nureyev, alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Color) as Clara Saint, and Fiennes as Russian ballet coach Alexander Pushkin. Also featured are ballet-world enfant terrible Sergei Polunin, Chulpan Khamatova, Olivier Rabourdin, Raphaël Personnaz and Louis Hofmann.
The deal was negotiated between Spc and Gabrielle Stewart for HanWay.
The prestige label has also taken Latin America, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Asia and Benelux.
Inspired by the book Rudolf Nureyev: The Life by Julie Kavanaugh, the drama charts the iconic dancer’s famed defection from the Soviet Union to the West in 1961, despite Kgb efforts to stop him. Fiennes directs from a script by David Hare (The Hours). The anticipated drama is still in the running for an autumn festival berth.
Acclaimed dancer Oleg Ivenko stars as Nureyev, alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Color) as Clara Saint, and Fiennes as Russian ballet coach Alexander Pushkin. Also featured are ballet-world enfant terrible Sergei Polunin, Chulpan Khamatova, Olivier Rabourdin, Raphaël Personnaz and Louis Hofmann.
The deal was negotiated between Spc and Gabrielle Stewart for HanWay.
- 8/13/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
An operatic thriller about the staging of an opera in contemporary Moscow, The Queen of Spades feels at times almost like a Russian-language remake of Darren Aronofsky’s lurid ballet-themed psychodrama Black Swan. Director Pavel Lungin co-wrote the screenplay with David Seidler, who earned an Oscar for The King’s Speech. They borrow their title, key characters and selective plot elements from two related sources: Alexander Pushkin’s supernatural short story, first published in 1834, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s 1890 opera of the same name.
A film festival regular and one-time best director prize-winner in Cannes, Lungin has penned librettos for operas and orchestral pieces...
A film festival regular and one-time best director prize-winner in Cannes, Lungin has penned librettos for operas and orchestral pieces...
- 11/26/2016
- by Stephen Dalton
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Screen Pitch competition line-up; Queen Of Spades opens Main Competition.
Films from Russia, the Baltic states, Poland, Croatia and Georgia are among 17 projects selected for the 15th edition of the Baltic Event’s Co-Production Market (November 21-24).
The projects will be competing, among other awards, for Screen International’s Best Pitch Award which has gone in the past to projects from Finland, Estonia and Russia as well as the first ever Baltic co-production of a fiction feature film, Lithuania’s Seneca’s Day.
The prize is decided by the Co-Production Market’s participants.
This year’s selection features new projects by Latvia’s Laila Pakalnina (Insect Night), Croatia’s Vinko Bresan (What A Country!) and Poland’s Wojciech Smarzowski (The Clergy) and Dariusz Gajewski (Trust).
In addition, the Tallinn forum will serve as the venue for up-and-coming filmmakers such as Russia’s Maxim Dashkin, Lithuania’s Tomas Smulkis and Sweden’s Maria Eriksson to present new film...
Films from Russia, the Baltic states, Poland, Croatia and Georgia are among 17 projects selected for the 15th edition of the Baltic Event’s Co-Production Market (November 21-24).
The projects will be competing, among other awards, for Screen International’s Best Pitch Award which has gone in the past to projects from Finland, Estonia and Russia as well as the first ever Baltic co-production of a fiction feature film, Lithuania’s Seneca’s Day.
The prize is decided by the Co-Production Market’s participants.
This year’s selection features new projects by Latvia’s Laila Pakalnina (Insect Night), Croatia’s Vinko Bresan (What A Country!) and Poland’s Wojciech Smarzowski (The Clergy) and Dariusz Gajewski (Trust).
In addition, the Tallinn forum will serve as the venue for up-and-coming filmmakers such as Russia’s Maxim Dashkin, Lithuania’s Tomas Smulkis and Sweden’s Maria Eriksson to present new film...
- 10/21/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Texas actors, this is a cool one! Casting is underway for “Bagatelle,” an upcoming short film based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin. The project seeks a female actor for the leading role of Natalie, “a Russian cellist stranded in Texas,” as well as two male actors for the supporting roles of John and Max. Production is slated for this coming November and December in both Los Angeles, California, and Texas. Billed as “a short art-house narrative drama,” the piece will be shot on 35mm film, and will be produced by Daniel Levin and Emmy nominee Tchavdar Georgiev. For more information on “Bagatelle,” you can see the full listing here. And be sure to check out all of Backstage’s Texas auditions! Seeking some acting advice? Check out Backstage’s YouTube channel!
- 9/1/2016
- backstage.com
Film.UA Group has closed more deals here in Cannes for Ukrainian animation The Stolen Princess.
Attending the Marché for the first time, Ukrainian outfit Film.UA Group has announced deals on its animated feature The Stolen Princess with Bulgaria (ProFilms company) and Iran (Cinema 24).
These follow on from the deal earlier in the market with Klb Company for distribution in France and French-speaking territories.
The Stolen Princess is an animated 3D feature, currently in production at the Animagrad Animation Studio (a part of Film.UA Group).
Loosely based on the classical poem by Aleksandr Pushkin about love and magic, the project is due to be delivered in late 2017.
Film.UA Group has also licensed two further titles to Cinema 24 in Iran. These are Yury Kovaliov’s adventure fantasy The Stronghold (to be released in Dec 2016 in Ukraine) and two seasons of crime series The Sniffer.
Attending the Marché for the first time, Ukrainian outfit Film.UA Group has announced deals on its animated feature The Stolen Princess with Bulgaria (ProFilms company) and Iran (Cinema 24).
These follow on from the deal earlier in the market with Klb Company for distribution in France and French-speaking territories.
The Stolen Princess is an animated 3D feature, currently in production at the Animagrad Animation Studio (a part of Film.UA Group).
Loosely based on the classical poem by Aleksandr Pushkin about love and magic, the project is due to be delivered in late 2017.
Film.UA Group has also licensed two further titles to Cinema 24 in Iran. These are Yury Kovaliov’s adventure fantasy The Stronghold (to be released in Dec 2016 in Ukraine) and two seasons of crime series The Sniffer.
- 5/16/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Plus: Ce+S wins first contract to instal Dolby Atmos in Colombia
The National Association Of Theatre Owners on Wednesday revealed that the average cost of going to the cinema in the first quarter of the year in the Us climbed 5.4%.
Q1 2016 tickets prices increased to $8.58 from $8.12 for the same period a year ago.
Meanwhile the average price over 2015 amounted to $8.43 and the cost in Q4 2015 reached $8.70.
Cinema Equipment and Supplies (Ce+S) has been selection by Cinemas Procinal to become the first company to design and implement Dolby Atmos in a Colombian theatre.Malibu-based Fortune Features plans to adapt classic plays for the virtual reality market. The company is securing funding to produce Mozart & Salieri in Virtual Reality into 180-degree Vr. The film is based on a play by Alexander Pushkin about the poisoning of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by his old friend Antonio Salieri. Fortune Features hopes to adapt Shakespeare and Chekhov in the future and, separately...
The National Association Of Theatre Owners on Wednesday revealed that the average cost of going to the cinema in the first quarter of the year in the Us climbed 5.4%.
Q1 2016 tickets prices increased to $8.58 from $8.12 for the same period a year ago.
Meanwhile the average price over 2015 amounted to $8.43 and the cost in Q4 2015 reached $8.70.
Cinema Equipment and Supplies (Ce+S) has been selection by Cinemas Procinal to become the first company to design and implement Dolby Atmos in a Colombian theatre.Malibu-based Fortune Features plans to adapt classic plays for the virtual reality market. The company is securing funding to produce Mozart & Salieri in Virtual Reality into 180-degree Vr. The film is based on a play by Alexander Pushkin about the poisoning of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by his old friend Antonio Salieri. Fortune Features hopes to adapt Shakespeare and Chekhov in the future and, separately...
- 4/20/2016
- ScreenDaily
It was Michael Powell who proposed the idea of the composed film, in which movement, color and framing are all synchronized to music to create a seamless work of art, and he began putting it into practice in Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, before going all-out with Tales of Hoffmann and Bluebeard's Castle. Few have followed in his steps. One who did was the late Andrzej Żuławski, whose filmed opera (music by Mussorgsky, lyrics by Pushkin) Boris Godunov (1989) is one of the most relentlessly and astonishingly beautiful cinematic artifacts I have ever seen.It is in the nature of these things that when watching the film it is quite impossible to think of anything which comes close. After the end titles have rolled, one may begin putting things in perspective, but while you're looking at Żuławski's images, nothing finer can be imagined.Shamelessly theatrical in its design, the film...
- 3/7/2016
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
Two supporting roles, one male and one female, are being cast out of Houston, Texas, for the independent feature film, “Bagatelle.” The story is loosely based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin and follows a Russian cello player who comes to Texas in search of a better life. For more details, check out the full casting notice here, and be sure to check out the rest of our Texas audition listings!
- 12/16/2015
- backstage.com
As the final strands of the Captain’s sanity unravel towards the close of August Strindberg’s The Father, the titular patriarch takes us on a grand tour of literary female infidelity. “It’s all here. In these books. They prove it. I’m not mad. Look. The Odyssey. Book One, page 6. The Upsala translation. Telemachus talking: ‘My mother swears he’s my father. But how do I know? No man knows for sure.’ That’s Telemachus talking. Talking about Penelope. The most virtuous of women. Wonderful. Or the prophet Ezekiel. Harken to old Ezekiel: ‘The man who says, “Here’s my father” is a fool. Who can tell – whose loins he comes from?’ Couldn’t be clearer. More? Pushkin. Alexander Pushkin. Russia’s greatest poet. I quote: ‘The cause of his death was the rumour that his wife had been unfaithful. Not the bullet that pierced his chest. He...
- 3/16/2015
- The Independent - Film
Tilda Swinton is known for her unique appearance and eccentric roles, but that only scratches the surface of this international star.
Swinton began her career in creative, arthouse flicks before slowly transitioning to more mainstream roles, though don't pigeon-hole her as merely an actress; she's inspired designers and appeared in performance art around the globe. This summer, she's back on the big screen (and nearly unrecognizable) in the critically acclaimed "Snowpiercer."
From her incredible family ancestry to her connection to David Bowie, here are 25 things you probably don't know about Tilda Swinton.
1. Tilda Swinton was born Katherine Matilda Swinton on November 5, 1960 in London, England to Sir John Swinton and Judith Balfour.
2. Her paternal ancestry is Anglo-Scot and can be traced back a thousand years, to the Middle Ages. A Thousand Years. I can't even process that...
3. Clan Swinton is of Saxon origin and descended from the nobles of the kingdom of Northumberland,...
Swinton began her career in creative, arthouse flicks before slowly transitioning to more mainstream roles, though don't pigeon-hole her as merely an actress; she's inspired designers and appeared in performance art around the globe. This summer, she's back on the big screen (and nearly unrecognizable) in the critically acclaimed "Snowpiercer."
From her incredible family ancestry to her connection to David Bowie, here are 25 things you probably don't know about Tilda Swinton.
1. Tilda Swinton was born Katherine Matilda Swinton on November 5, 1960 in London, England to Sir John Swinton and Judith Balfour.
2. Her paternal ancestry is Anglo-Scot and can be traced back a thousand years, to the Middle Ages. A Thousand Years. I can't even process that...
3. Clan Swinton is of Saxon origin and descended from the nobles of the kingdom of Northumberland,...
- 6/27/2014
- by Jonny Black
- Moviefone
Redemption Films revives several more titles in its continuing resurgence of Alain Robbe-Grillet with his 1968 film, The Man Who Lies. Starring the director’s preferred leading man, Jean-Louis Trintignant, it’s an interesting exercise that seems perfectly calibrated for Robbe-Grillet’s style of filmmaking, that of the fractured, elliptical narrative. Here, we follow a protagonist who makes up his story as he goes along, which feels not unlike how Robbe-Grillet writes his narratives, where a series of accidental strands may or may not work together to create a discernible tale.
While running from a band of soldiers in hot pursuit, Boris (Jean-Louis Trintignant) stumbles into a small European town and ingratiates himself upon the community by claiming to be the friend of one of their missing citizens named Jean Robin. Arriving at Robin’s castle, he seduces his maid, his sister, and his wife, each telling them some fabricated tale about his associations with Robin.
While running from a band of soldiers in hot pursuit, Boris (Jean-Louis Trintignant) stumbles into a small European town and ingratiates himself upon the community by claiming to be the friend of one of their missing citizens named Jean Robin. Arriving at Robin’s castle, he seduces his maid, his sister, and his wife, each telling them some fabricated tale about his associations with Robin.
- 6/3/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Films by Todd Solondz, Ralph Fiennes and Andrei Konchalovsky as well as an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s White Nights, starring Daniel Brühl, are among 12 projects to be supported by Russia’s Ministry of Culture this year.
Solondz, Fiennes and Bekmambetov are set to join director colleagues Avdotya Smirnova, Bakur Bakuradze, Cedric Klapisch, Igor Voloshin, Ilmar Raag and Sam Rockwell in shooting episodes of the omnibus film Petersburg: A Category Of Feelings.
The project, which is to be produced by Lenfilm Studio in cooperation with Sergey Selyanov’s St Petersburg-based production powerhouse Ctb Company, will invite the filmmakers to present their views of the “Venice of the North” through emotions or qualities whose first letters make up the city’s name: Pleasure, Effort, Trust, Envy, Repose, Shrewdness, Bravery, Uncertainty, Refuge and Glee.
The idea for the project originates from Selyanov, and one of the episodes will be directed by actor-director-producer Fedor Bondarchuk who is also serving as the...
Solondz, Fiennes and Bekmambetov are set to join director colleagues Avdotya Smirnova, Bakur Bakuradze, Cedric Klapisch, Igor Voloshin, Ilmar Raag and Sam Rockwell in shooting episodes of the omnibus film Petersburg: A Category Of Feelings.
The project, which is to be produced by Lenfilm Studio in cooperation with Sergey Selyanov’s St Petersburg-based production powerhouse Ctb Company, will invite the filmmakers to present their views of the “Venice of the North” through emotions or qualities whose first letters make up the city’s name: Pleasure, Effort, Trust, Envy, Repose, Shrewdness, Bravery, Uncertainty, Refuge and Glee.
The idea for the project originates from Selyanov, and one of the episodes will be directed by actor-director-producer Fedor Bondarchuk who is also serving as the...
- 6/2/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Colin Salmon has revealed that he has found it hard to get acting roles in the UK.
The British actor - who has recently appeared in Us shows 24: Live Another Day and Arrow - explained why many UK stars have chosen to find work in America.
He told ITV's Loose Women: "It's been really hard here in Britain for actors and therefore we've had to up our game.
"I think we have incredible voice coaches now because it's all muscle memory. We are trained a different way. It's not like we're imagining it, we know, we're specific. We know the areas."
He continued: "I've worked with Cicely Berry from the Royal Shakespeare Company, the best voice coach in the world, and Paul Robeson, so we have all the backstory.
"You've got the young actors - I'm about to do Musketeers - and the young guys on that, the discipline level is another level.
The British actor - who has recently appeared in Us shows 24: Live Another Day and Arrow - explained why many UK stars have chosen to find work in America.
He told ITV's Loose Women: "It's been really hard here in Britain for actors and therefore we've had to up our game.
"I think we have incredible voice coaches now because it's all muscle memory. We are trained a different way. It's not like we're imagining it, we know, we're specific. We know the areas."
He continued: "I've worked with Cicely Berry from the Royal Shakespeare Company, the best voice coach in the world, and Paul Robeson, so we have all the backstory.
"You've got the young actors - I'm about to do Musketeers - and the young guys on that, the discipline level is another level.
- 5/21/2014
- Digital Spy
The Russian distribution sector is gaining a new player with the launch of Dreamteam.
Mark Lolo, who exited his post as president of the distributor-producer Central Partnership a year ago to pursue his “own projects”, is joined at the head of the new venture by another seasoned professional, Andrei Tereshok, formerly CEO of the Kronverk chain of cinemas which has screens in Russia and Ukraine.
With one release planned a month from next January, Dreamteam’s first title will be on Jan 1: Dmitri Dyachenko’s comedy Faster Than Rabbits (Bystree, chem kroliki), featuring the comedy troupe Kvartet I who also appeared in Dyachenko’s 2010 film What Men Talk About (O chyom govoryat muzhchiny), a Russian, male answer to Sex And The City.
This will be followed on Feb 13 by the world premiere of Armen Gevorgyan’s romantic comedy Unreal Love (Nerealnaya Lyubov) with Gosha Kutsenko and Marina Alexandrovna.
Amonth later it will release Gazgolder, described as “a musical...
Mark Lolo, who exited his post as president of the distributor-producer Central Partnership a year ago to pursue his “own projects”, is joined at the head of the new venture by another seasoned professional, Andrei Tereshok, formerly CEO of the Kronverk chain of cinemas which has screens in Russia and Ukraine.
With one release planned a month from next January, Dreamteam’s first title will be on Jan 1: Dmitri Dyachenko’s comedy Faster Than Rabbits (Bystree, chem kroliki), featuring the comedy troupe Kvartet I who also appeared in Dyachenko’s 2010 film What Men Talk About (O chyom govoryat muzhchiny), a Russian, male answer to Sex And The City.
This will be followed on Feb 13 by the world premiere of Armen Gevorgyan’s romantic comedy Unreal Love (Nerealnaya Lyubov) with Gosha Kutsenko and Marina Alexandrovna.
Amonth later it will release Gazgolder, described as “a musical...
- 12/3/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Believed by Alexander Sokurov to be the only location in the world to truly represent both the history and culture of humanity, the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia was conceived by the master filmmaker as the sole conservatory of all we hold sacred, a single ark of supreme majesty in a sea of enlightened murk, the Russian Ark. And why not? Founded by Catherine the Great in 1764, the colossal complex of galleries and ballrooms is home to, at over three million paintings, the single largest collection of artwork in the world. Sokurov’s ark not only contains an immense wealth of art (still only a fraction of it’s holdings), but countless true-to-history aristocrats who walk the decadent halls, transcending time to intermix with spiritual visitors in traditional ceremonies, modern gallery gazing, an all out ballroom celebration, and everything in between. As ghostly visitors ourselves, we are given privy...
- 11/19/2013
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Russian cinematographer whose work with the director Andrei Tarkovsky produced poetic and powerful films
It is sometimes difficult to assess how and how much directors of photography contribute to films. However, nobody watching Andrei Tarkovsky's visual masterpieces Andrei Rublev (1966) and Solaris (1972) could fail to be struck by the remarkable cinematography of Vadim Yusov, who has died aged 84.
Yusov was Tarkovsky's favourite cinematographer, having shot four of the director's eight films, from the medium-length The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) to Solaris. Yusov also shot four features for Sergei Bondarchuk, another great of Russian cinema.
Tarkovsky's films are some of the most personal, poetic and powerful statements to have come out of eastern Europe. In contrast, Bondarchuk's films, while also imbued with a rich pictorial sense, have an objective, epic grandeur. "Tarkovsky and Bondarchuk were worlds apart," declared Yusov. "It was my job to enter both their worlds."
Yusov's relationship with the two directors also differed.
It is sometimes difficult to assess how and how much directors of photography contribute to films. However, nobody watching Andrei Tarkovsky's visual masterpieces Andrei Rublev (1966) and Solaris (1972) could fail to be struck by the remarkable cinematography of Vadim Yusov, who has died aged 84.
Yusov was Tarkovsky's favourite cinematographer, having shot four of the director's eight films, from the medium-length The Steamroller and the Violin (1961) to Solaris. Yusov also shot four features for Sergei Bondarchuk, another great of Russian cinema.
Tarkovsky's films are some of the most personal, poetic and powerful statements to have come out of eastern Europe. In contrast, Bondarchuk's films, while also imbued with a rich pictorial sense, have an objective, epic grandeur. "Tarkovsky and Bondarchuk were worlds apart," declared Yusov. "It was my job to enter both their worlds."
Yusov's relationship with the two directors also differed.
- 8/26/2013
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Moscow Business Square’s Best Pitch Award has been won by Valeria Gai Germanika for her planned update of a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale.
Germanika, who focusses on coming-of-age films, is known as Russian cinema’s ‘enfent terrible’ and receied the Caméra d’Or at Cannes in 2008 for her feature film Everybody Dies But Me..
Her latest project, The Dream-God, is a contemporary reworking of Christian Andersen’s Ole-Luk-Oie. The $2.45m (€1.875m) production by Andrey Sigle’s St Petersburg-based Proline Film already has $1.6m (€1.25m) in place.
The film’s action centres on a seven-year old boy haunted by a friendly monster called The Dream-God who visits him every night in the form of a Goth singer from the poster in his elder sister’s bedroom.
Proline’s Leonid Choub revealed during the pitching at the Business Square that they intend to cast a Western rock star in the role of the Dream-God and feature his music...
Germanika, who focusses on coming-of-age films, is known as Russian cinema’s ‘enfent terrible’ and receied the Caméra d’Or at Cannes in 2008 for her feature film Everybody Dies But Me..
Her latest project, The Dream-God, is a contemporary reworking of Christian Andersen’s Ole-Luk-Oie. The $2.45m (€1.875m) production by Andrey Sigle’s St Petersburg-based Proline Film already has $1.6m (€1.25m) in place.
The film’s action centres on a seven-year old boy haunted by a friendly monster called The Dream-God who visits him every night in the form of a Goth singer from the poster in his elder sister’s bedroom.
Proline’s Leonid Choub revealed during the pitching at the Business Square that they intend to cast a Western rock star in the role of the Dream-God and feature his music...
- 6/26/2013
- ScreenDaily
New projects by Peter Greenaway, Pavel Lungin and Valeria Gai Germanika are among 18 feature films selected to be pitched at the fifth edition of Moscow Business Square’s Co-Production Forum.
This will be the second time that Greenaway is at the Forum after presenting his project Food Of Love, based on Thomas Mann’s novella Death In Venice, there last year. His pitch then won him the $40,000 (€30,000) Best Pitch award sponsored by the new Moscow production complex Glavkino.
This time the Welsh-born director will be introducing Eisenstein In Guanajuato, which recounts the time the 33-year-old Russian director fell briefly, but intensely in love in a small Mexican town while researching for the never completed picture Que viva México! in Mexico between 1929-1931.
At last year’s Odessa International Film Festival, Greenaway told ScreenDaily that “99% of the financing” was in place for this project and he hoped at the time to shoot in Mexico at the end of...
This will be the second time that Greenaway is at the Forum after presenting his project Food Of Love, based on Thomas Mann’s novella Death In Venice, there last year. His pitch then won him the $40,000 (€30,000) Best Pitch award sponsored by the new Moscow production complex Glavkino.
This time the Welsh-born director will be introducing Eisenstein In Guanajuato, which recounts the time the 33-year-old Russian director fell briefly, but intensely in love in a small Mexican town while researching for the never completed picture Que viva México! in Mexico between 1929-1931.
At last year’s Odessa International Film Festival, Greenaway told ScreenDaily that “99% of the financing” was in place for this project and he hoped at the time to shoot in Mexico at the end of...
- 6/12/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
With the Oscars just under a week away, Indiewire's latest curation of Hulu's Documentaries page offers a selection of docs exploring similar themes and topics as those explored in this year's non-fiction nominees. Watch these films now while you wait for the results on February 24th! Filmmaker Emad Burnat puts his safety on the line to capture the encroachment of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict on his village in feature doc nominee "5 Broken Cameras." In Andrzej Fidyk's "Belarusian Waltz," performance artist Alexander Pushkin similarly risks his freedom and possibly his life by staging stunts openly criticizing Belarus' dictatorial regime, while Gabriele Zamparini and Lorenzo Meccoli seek alternatives to conflict through interviews with activists and thinkers in "Peace!" Dror Moreh's provocative "The Gatekeepers" affords a first-hand look at Israel's national security and its implications for the...
- 2/20/2013
- by Basil Tsiokos
- Indiewire
Previously on The Amazing Race, teams traveled to Moscow, Russia, where we were once again treated to male pulchritude when several teams joined the Russian national synchronized swimming team for a routine. Trey & Lexi took 1st place for the second Leg in a row and won a trip to Maui that Lexi would love to turn into a honeymoon trip. The Chippendales nuded up in the swimming pool and finished 2nd. The lying thieving twins got away with pinching Team Headbang's money and landed at the Pit Stop in 3rd. Speaking of, James & Abba continued their unlucky streak when a cabbie absconded with James's passport and other possessions preventing them from checking in at the Amazing Mat. Brent & Josh and Ryan & Abbie took a foolish chance on a connecting flight, stranding themselves overnight. Their idiotic pact to run the Leg together left Ryan & Abbie cooling their heels at the pool...
- 11/19/2012
- by fakename
- The Backlot
Somebody make this happen Asap! Jeffrey Wright is one of those actors who I rarely see give interviews. He seems like an intensely private man who lets his work speak for itself; and I think I speak for most folks when I say that we love his work, and wish he was given even more opportinuties - especially in lead roles. So it was thrilling to watch the below interview which he gave recently, specifically to talk The Hunger Games (he was cast as Beetee, manipulator of electricity, in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), and hear him express his strong interest in playing Russian poet and author Alexander Pushkin, who some may not know has African roots; his...
- 10/20/2012
- by Courtney
- ShadowAndAct
They say it's your birthday.♬ ♩♬♩♬ it's my birthday, too.
Herewith, in semi off the cuff order, the greatest peoplethings born on this day in history. Happy June 6th!
Honorable mention...
Jason Isaacs -The impossibly hot 49 year old actor studied to be a lawyer but if he had stuck with it we would have never had his Captain Hook, or his Lucius Malfoy, or his bickering married screenwriter in Friends With Money, or even known who he is. Tragedy averted.
Vc Andrews - not for writing the ridiculous "Flowers in the Attic" but for inspiring the ridiculous genius of Parker Posey's Waiting for Guffman scene in which the brilliant comic actress uses it for her small town theater audition.
"and who's on top and who's on bottom now? Huh?!"
Top Ten June 6th Birthday Peoplethings!
10 Levi Stubbs
From the Four Topps to Audrey II. I ♥ Little Shop of Horrors, don't you.
Herewith, in semi off the cuff order, the greatest peoplethings born on this day in history. Happy June 6th!
Honorable mention...
Jason Isaacs -The impossibly hot 49 year old actor studied to be a lawyer but if he had stuck with it we would have never had his Captain Hook, or his Lucius Malfoy, or his bickering married screenwriter in Friends With Money, or even known who he is. Tragedy averted.
Vc Andrews - not for writing the ridiculous "Flowers in the Attic" but for inspiring the ridiculous genius of Parker Posey's Waiting for Guffman scene in which the brilliant comic actress uses it for her small town theater audition.
"and who's on top and who's on bottom now? Huh?!"
Top Ten June 6th Birthday Peoplethings!
10 Levi Stubbs
From the Four Topps to Audrey II. I ♥ Little Shop of Horrors, don't you.
- 6/6/2012
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
After winning an Academy Award, a lot of doors open. And if you're already 75 years old when you win, you'd think you might want to walk through as quickly as possible. Well, for a man that age, walking fast isn't exactly easy and definitely not the M.O. of the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind last year's Best Picture winner The King Speech. Almost a full year after winning Best Original Screenplay, David Seidler has finally announced his followup project, an adaptation of famed Russian author Alexander Pushkin's Queen of Spades. Screen Daily was the first to break the news that Seidler has chosen to adapt Pushkin's short story for the big screen. Published in 1833, the plot follows a Russian officer's obsession with uncovering the secrets of a "money-spinning card cheat." Sounds little like the obsession-driven The Prestige, a Christopher Nolan film which also uses obsession and magic as the basis...
- 2/8/2012
- cinemablend.com
You’d think that, having won an Academy Award less than 12 months ago, David Seidler wouldn’t have faded back into relative obscurity. Sure, he could simply be working on some projects and avoiding the media all the while, but our last report on the guy came in late March — which, if you look at your little calendar, is kind of a while ago.
However, ScreenDaily (via ThePlaylist) reports that he’s still cracking on scripts, this time with Russian Art Pictures Studio on Queen of the Desert, an adaptation of the 19th Century story from Alexander Pushkin. Here, however, the scribe will rework the tale for a modern setting, all while presumably telling the same story — that of “a Russian officer who goes mad in an attempt to uncover the secret behind a money-spinning card cheat.” Pavel Lungin (Tsar, Taxi Blues) will direct; Art Pictures Studio are producing.
I...
However, ScreenDaily (via ThePlaylist) reports that he’s still cracking on scripts, this time with Russian Art Pictures Studio on Queen of the Desert, an adaptation of the 19th Century story from Alexander Pushkin. Here, however, the scribe will rework the tale for a modern setting, all while presumably telling the same story — that of “a Russian officer who goes mad in an attempt to uncover the secret behind a money-spinning card cheat.” Pavel Lungin (Tsar, Taxi Blues) will direct; Art Pictures Studio are producing.
I...
- 2/8/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
"The King’s Speech" scribe David Seidler is set to pen a contemporary-set adaptation of Russian author Alexander Pushkin’s 1833 short story "Queen of Spades" reports Screen Daily.
Pavel Lungin ("Tsar") is attached to direct the story which recounts the story of a Russian officer who goes mad in an attempt to uncover the secret behind a money-spinning card cheat.
The €12 million film will feature music from Tchaikovsky's 1890 opera based on Pushkin's work.
Pavel Lungin ("Tsar") is attached to direct the story which recounts the story of a Russian officer who goes mad in an attempt to uncover the secret behind a money-spinning card cheat.
The €12 million film will feature music from Tchaikovsky's 1890 opera based on Pushkin's work.
- 2/8/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
David Seidler, who wrote the Oscar-winning script for "The King's Speech," is adapting Alexander Pushkin's Russian short story, "Queen of Spades." The project, which has directer Pavel Lungin ("Tsar") attached, will be shopped at Berlin's European Film Market by the Russian Cinema Fund (which has seven of Russia's production companies under its arm, including Fyodor Bondarchuk’s Art Pictures Studio -- they'll be producing and are looking for cohorts). Seidler, a 74-year old Brit, is adapting the story to be a contemporary morality tale which follows a Russian officer made crazy by trying to discover the secret behind a card cheat....
- 2/7/2012
- Thompson on Hollywood
Despite taking home the Academy Award last year for Best Original Screenplay, David Seidler's writing credits are nowhere near as impressive as you'd imagine for an Oscar-winning writer of his age. The oldest ever winner of the Original Screenplay Oscar had found himself mostly writing TV movies in recent years, and his most notable credit came back in 1988 with Francis Ford Coppola's "Tucker: The Man and His Dream." But winning such a big award for "The King's Speech" opens a lot of doors, and it makes sites like this one pay attention to what the writer's next project might be. ScreenDaily reports that Seidler is working on an adaptation of Alexander Pushkin's "Queen of Spades" for the Russian Art Pictures Studio. "Queen of Spades" is a nineteenth century Russian short story of a man becomes obsessed with the tale of a woman who lost a fortune playing...
- 2/7/2012
- The Playlist
Ralph Fiennes is in talks to star in an adaptation of Russian author Ivan Turgenev’s 1872 play "A Month In The Country" for Horosho Production reports Screen Daily.
Despite the play's age, this would mark its first adaptation for the cinema. Fiennes has met with producer Natalia Ivanova and discussed the possibility of him playing Rakitin, the devoted, but resentful admirer of a rich landowner’s wife.
Fiennes has apparently said that he would even be prepared to learn Russian for the part. Fiennes previously starred in another cinematic adaptation of a Russian classic - Martha Fiennes’ 1999 film "Onegin" which was based on Alexander Pushkin’s epic verse novel.
Despite the play's age, this would mark its first adaptation for the cinema. Fiennes has met with producer Natalia Ivanova and discussed the possibility of him playing Rakitin, the devoted, but resentful admirer of a rich landowner’s wife.
Fiennes has apparently said that he would even be prepared to learn Russian for the part. Fiennes previously starred in another cinematic adaptation of a Russian classic - Martha Fiennes’ 1999 film "Onegin" which was based on Alexander Pushkin’s epic verse novel.
- 7/11/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Vertov, Dziga: Kiev I sent. 28g. celovek s kinoapparatom
Storyboard
Kiev 1 Sept[ember] [19]28
Gun apparatus directs its muzzle towards the city.
1. [Camera] lens with a device, filmed like a gun, lengthways—moves tentatively over the city.
2. [Camera] muzzle of the lens enters the picture, stays still and then wanders on
3. Muzzle of the lens hovers over the city
4. Camera races across the city, like the “Bronze Horseman”
5. Giant c.s.a. [Celovek s kinoapparatom = man with the camera] stands straddle-legged, stares downwards, takes aim and starts to shoot.
6. -- Volleyball net
7. ----------- Window-sill
Score of vision
In several respects, this dated page, which has been cleanly torn out of a grey notebook with squared paper, constitutes a remarkable document deriving from Vertov’s red pen.
To date, no comparable example is known in which the glowing champion of documentary film made a preparatory list of camera shots, picture contents and compositions and extensively commented upon them. Although it is not...
Storyboard
Kiev 1 Sept[ember] [19]28
Gun apparatus directs its muzzle towards the city.
1. [Camera] lens with a device, filmed like a gun, lengthways—moves tentatively over the city.
2. [Camera] muzzle of the lens enters the picture, stays still and then wanders on
3. Muzzle of the lens hovers over the city
4. Camera races across the city, like the “Bronze Horseman”
5. Giant c.s.a. [Celovek s kinoapparatom = man with the camera] stands straddle-legged, stares downwards, takes aim and starts to shoot.
6. -- Volleyball net
7. ----------- Window-sill
Score of vision
In several respects, this dated page, which has been cleanly torn out of a grey notebook with squared paper, constitutes a remarkable document deriving from Vertov’s red pen.
To date, no comparable example is known in which the glowing champion of documentary film made a preparatory list of camera shots, picture contents and compositions and extensively commented upon them. Although it is not...
- 4/23/2011
- MUBI
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