What new perspective can one bring to the horror genre? With his directorial debut, Chris Nash answers this question with a resoundingly brutal and formally fascinating answer. Primarily following a murderer’s steps and slashes through his travels terrorizing those near a remote cabin, the wonderfully Béla Tarr-esque In a Violent Nature sticks to its meticulous conceit and delivers one of the most chilling horror movies I’ve seen in years. Ahead of a May 31 theatrical release from IFC Films, which will be unrated, the new trailer has arrived.
Here’s the synopsis: “When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year-old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it. The undead golem hones in on the group of vacationing teens responsible for the theft and...
Here’s the synopsis: “When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year-old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it. The undead golem hones in on the group of vacationing teens responsible for the theft and...
- 5/10/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
On the indie side of filmmaking life, Sean Price Williams has seen it all. He’s worked with the Safdies, Alex Ross Perry, Nathan Silver, Robert Green, and Athina Rachel Tsangari, and often more than once. He’s the premier chronicler of New York City independent movies behind the camera, typically shooting on celluloid, and bringing surreal, gritty poetry to character-driven stories that feel on the ground like portraits of versions of ourselves.
One of the most unabashedly movie-loving cinematographers working today, Williams last year moved to directing for the sprawling, scratchy-edged tale of East Coast youth, “The Sweet East,” which remains in theaters and features stars like Jacob Elordi, Simon Rex, Jeremy O. Harris, and Ayo Edebiri.
But even more recently than that directorial debut, he released a “1000 Movies” book via Metrograph Editions, a simple, unadorned paperback that offers, rather than commentary, pages listing his favorite essential films and...
One of the most unabashedly movie-loving cinematographers working today, Williams last year moved to directing for the sprawling, scratchy-edged tale of East Coast youth, “The Sweet East,” which remains in theaters and features stars like Jacob Elordi, Simon Rex, Jeremy O. Harris, and Ayo Edebiri.
But even more recently than that directorial debut, he released a “1000 Movies” book via Metrograph Editions, a simple, unadorned paperback that offers, rather than commentary, pages listing his favorite essential films and...
- 5/7/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Artificial Eye, the arthouse distribution company established in 1976 by Curzon Cinemas, is set for a re-launch as a theatrical and home entertainment label.
Founded by Andi and Pam Engel, the label gained recognition for releasing independent, arthouse, and foreign language films, promoting films from directors such as Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers, and Trần Anh Hùng.
Artificial Eye went on hiatus in 2014, after being part of the Curzon group since 2006. In 2019, we told you Curzon Group and its subsidiaries, including Artificial Eye, had been acquired by U.S. indie distributor and exhibitor Cohen Media Group. Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure was one of the last films released under the previous version of the label.
Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label led by Managing Director Louisa Dent. One of their successes has been Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the UK box office.
Founded by Andi and Pam Engel, the label gained recognition for releasing independent, arthouse, and foreign language films, promoting films from directors such as Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers, and Trần Anh Hùng.
Artificial Eye went on hiatus in 2014, after being part of the Curzon group since 2006. In 2019, we told you Curzon Group and its subsidiaries, including Artificial Eye, had been acquired by U.S. indie distributor and exhibitor Cohen Media Group. Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure was one of the last films released under the previous version of the label.
Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label led by Managing Director Louisa Dent. One of their successes has been Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the UK box office.
- 5/1/2024
- by Hannah Abraham
- Deadline Film + TV
Werckmeister Harmonies released in the Criterion Collection on April 16th.
Béla Tarr is an auteur with a reputation befitting the Criterion Collection. The Hungarian filmmaker utilizes beautiful visuals — typically in black and white — and unsettling realism to explore the unpleasant truths of existence. It’s fitting that his first feature to receive a proper physical release in the Criterion Collection is 2000’s whimsical mystery The Werckmeister Harmonies. Even better, we get two for the price of one with the inclusion of his debut feature, Family Nest, included in the special features.
Werckmeister Harmonies Plot
A peculiar circus, consisting of a massive and mysterious whale, sets up shop in the center of a small town. As curious spectators flock to the unconventional attraction, a primal violence bubbles to the surface of the sleepy village.
The Critique
A spectator examines the mysterious whale.
Also Read: Criterion Collection: The Runner Review
Werchmeister Harmonies...
Béla Tarr is an auteur with a reputation befitting the Criterion Collection. The Hungarian filmmaker utilizes beautiful visuals — typically in black and white — and unsettling realism to explore the unpleasant truths of existence. It’s fitting that his first feature to receive a proper physical release in the Criterion Collection is 2000’s whimsical mystery The Werckmeister Harmonies. Even better, we get two for the price of one with the inclusion of his debut feature, Family Nest, included in the special features.
Werckmeister Harmonies Plot
A peculiar circus, consisting of a massive and mysterious whale, sets up shop in the center of a small town. As curious spectators flock to the unconventional attraction, a primal violence bubbles to the surface of the sleepy village.
The Critique
A spectator examines the mysterious whale.
Also Read: Criterion Collection: The Runner Review
Werchmeister Harmonies...
- 4/30/2024
- by Joshua Ryan
- FandomWire
U.K. outfit Curzon — part of the Cohen Media Group — is set to relaunch Artificial Eye, the arthouse distribution label that was established in 1976 and has been on hiatus for the last decade.
The label, first founded by film enthusiasts Andi and Pam Engel and part of the Curzon group since 2006, became renowned for releasing independent, foreign-language and arthouse title to U.K. audiences, including those by Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers and Trần Anh Hùng. Its library boasts over 400 critically acclaimed films from directors including Wim Wenders, Michael Haneke and Claire Denis. Ruben Östlund’s “Force Majeure” was one of the last films released under the previous incarnation.
Led by managing director Louisa Dent, who has been with the company since 2008, Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label — including Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the U.K.
The label, first founded by film enthusiasts Andi and Pam Engel and part of the Curzon group since 2006, became renowned for releasing independent, foreign-language and arthouse title to U.K. audiences, including those by Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers and Trần Anh Hùng. Its library boasts over 400 critically acclaimed films from directors including Wim Wenders, Michael Haneke and Claire Denis. Ruben Östlund’s “Force Majeure” was one of the last films released under the previous incarnation.
Led by managing director Louisa Dent, who has been with the company since 2008, Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label — including Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the U.K.
- 4/30/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
The UK’s Curzon is to relaunch its specialist UK/Ireland distribution label Artificial Eye, as a theatrical and home entertainment brand.
The first release under the banner will be Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Berlinale Competition title My Favourite Cake.
Led by Curzon managing director Louisa Dent, the acquisitions team will curate additions to the Artificial Eye catalogue, focusing on director-led world cinema and discoveries from emerging filmmakers.
Artificial Eye was founded in 1976 by Andi Engel and Pam Engel. The label released leading independent, foreign-language and arthouse titles, including films by Bela Tarr, the Dardenne brothers and Tran Anh Hung.
The first release under the banner will be Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Berlinale Competition title My Favourite Cake.
Led by Curzon managing director Louisa Dent, the acquisitions team will curate additions to the Artificial Eye catalogue, focusing on director-led world cinema and discoveries from emerging filmmakers.
Artificial Eye was founded in 1976 by Andi Engel and Pam Engel. The label released leading independent, foreign-language and arthouse titles, including films by Bela Tarr, the Dardenne brothers and Tran Anh Hung.
- 4/30/2024
- ScreenDaily
I was very gratified by the response to last year’s interview with Rob Tregenza, a Zelig-like figure of modern cinema. Our very long, multi-Zoom conversation covered a life in film: four features, cherished experiences with Jean-Luc Godard, and hopes he hadn’t reached the end. What I didn’t quite find time for was, and I am embarrassed to even note it, the matter of his shooting stretches of Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies, most notably its iconic opening sequence. By any token this is a major contribution to contemporary cinema for Tregenza’s part and––by that token, at least in my estimation––a major oversight on my own.
With Criterion’s 4K Uhd release of Werckmeister Harmonies arriving this month––about a year since Janus Films’ extremely successful theatrical tour––I figured it was time to ask Tregenza about his experience shooting the film. I did not...
With Criterion’s 4K Uhd release of Werckmeister Harmonies arriving this month––about a year since Janus Films’ extremely successful theatrical tour––I figured it was time to ask Tregenza about his experience shooting the film. I did not...
- 4/29/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
From On Demand To Linear
Asian TV channels operator Celestial Tiger Entertainment and myTV Super, the Ott platform of Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited (Tvb) are to launch PopC, a movie channel dedicated to Chinese online films, with content supplied by mainland China streamer iQiyi. It launches in Hong Kong from May 1.
“The idea of PopC first came about when we saw the amount of great, high quality movies that were being produced for the online space in China. The domestic reception and online hit rates for these movies are just phenomenal, and we want to bring them to an international audience outside of China by curating them all in one great channel.” said Ofanny Choi, CEO of Cte.
Its lineup will take on revolving themes on a daily basis, from fantasy-adventure, to Chinese heroes, suspense, action and comedy.
Taipei-budapest
The Taipei Film Festival has reinstated its “City in...
Asian TV channels operator Celestial Tiger Entertainment and myTV Super, the Ott platform of Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts Limited (Tvb) are to launch PopC, a movie channel dedicated to Chinese online films, with content supplied by mainland China streamer iQiyi. It launches in Hong Kong from May 1.
“The idea of PopC first came about when we saw the amount of great, high quality movies that were being produced for the online space in China. The domestic reception and online hit rates for these movies are just phenomenal, and we want to bring them to an international audience outside of China by curating them all in one great channel.” said Ofanny Choi, CEO of Cte.
Its lineup will take on revolving themes on a daily basis, from fantasy-adventure, to Chinese heroes, suspense, action and comedy.
Taipei-budapest
The Taipei Film Festival has reinstated its “City in...
- 4/26/2024
- by Patrick Frater and Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
It really needn’t be said how much Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture winner “Oppenheimer” has brought the aftershock of the atomic bomb ripping through the public consciousness again.
So the current zeitgeist is as good as any for boutique distributor and arthouse restoration outfit Arbelos to uncover a lost 1961 gem: Peter Kass’ 1961 “Time of the Heathen.” Set in the immediate aftermath of the atomic bomb, the avant-garde drama was shot by American science-fiction artist Ed Emshwiller as cinematographer. The film’s bold visuals are on full display in the exclusive trailer, hosted by IndieWire, below for the re-release of “Time of the Heathen.” Arbelos will open the film at New York’s Film at Lincoln Center on May 10 and at LA’s American Cinematheque on May 12.
Kass, who died in 2008, was best known for his work as a theater instructor in New York, collaborating with the likes of Faye Dunaway,...
So the current zeitgeist is as good as any for boutique distributor and arthouse restoration outfit Arbelos to uncover a lost 1961 gem: Peter Kass’ 1961 “Time of the Heathen.” Set in the immediate aftermath of the atomic bomb, the avant-garde drama was shot by American science-fiction artist Ed Emshwiller as cinematographer. The film’s bold visuals are on full display in the exclusive trailer, hosted by IndieWire, below for the re-release of “Time of the Heathen.” Arbelos will open the film at New York’s Film at Lincoln Center on May 10 and at LA’s American Cinematheque on May 12.
Kass, who died in 2008, was best known for his work as a theater instructor in New York, collaborating with the likes of Faye Dunaway,...
- 4/18/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Given the uniqueness and weirdness of the films of Bela Tarr, it's surprising that more of his films are not part of the Criterion collection. Here's hoping that his masterpiece Werckmeister Harmonies is but the first. A stark and deeply humanist portrayal of a small town sinking under the weight of its own desperation, it's a singular vision of a dystopian state that has already arrived, even if it's hidden in small parts of the world, and well worthy of a 4K/Blu-ray release. It's what must be a typical evening at the local bar in this (presumably) average town in Hungary, and the barman is calling the rather early closing time of 10pm. But before everyone leaves, they insist that János (Lars Rudolph), of the...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 4/17/2024
- Screen Anarchy
Xueni is a dynamic multifaceted artist who weaves her dance, acting, and directing background to craft narratives rich in emotion and nuances. Raised amidst diverse cultures, she earned her B.A. at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. Further, she refined her cinematic skills at Famu in Prague, where she had a chance to study under the mentorship of Bela Tarr. Her latest short, “Fir”, was the result of her studies in the Czech Republic and was nominated for Best Student Film Award at Czech Lion Awards held by Czech Film and Television Academy (ČFTA).
Fir review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Shan, a Chinese girl is sitting on a couch playing with her toy dog, while her mother talks to the phone. The next scene shows the girl playing hide and seek in her school, but when she opens her eyes to search for her friends,...
Fir review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
Shan, a Chinese girl is sitting on a couch playing with her toy dog, while her mother talks to the phone. The next scene shows the girl playing hide and seek in her school, but when she opens her eyes to search for her friends,...
- 4/6/2024
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
What new perspective can one bring to the horror genre? With his directorial debut, Chris Nash answers this question with a resoundingly brutal and formally fascinating answer. Primarily following a murderer’s steps and slashes through his travels terrorizing those near a remote cabin, the wonderfully Béla Tarr-esque In a Violent Nature sticks to its meticulous conceit and delivers one of the most chilling horror movies I’ve seen in years. Ahead of a May 31 theatrical release from IFC Films, the first trailer has now landed.
John Fink said in his Sundance review, “A slow-cinema spin on well-burnished tropes, In a Violent Nature largely strips the artifice of the slasher formula, which dictates a deformed man must hunt down attractive teens or young adults in either the woods or suburbia. A film built around a mythology that comes to life, as our killer rises from a grave, Chris Nash...
John Fink said in his Sundance review, “A slow-cinema spin on well-burnished tropes, In a Violent Nature largely strips the artifice of the slasher formula, which dictates a deformed man must hunt down attractive teens or young adults in either the woods or suburbia. A film built around a mythology that comes to life, as our killer rises from a grave, Chris Nash...
- 3/20/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Cinephiles will have plenty to celebrate this April with the next slate of additions to the Criterion Channel. The boutique distributor, which recently announced its June 2024 Blu-ray releases, has unveiled its new streaming lineup highlighted by an eclectic mix of classic films and modern arthouse hits.
Students of Hollywood history will be treated to the “Peak Noir: 1950” collection, which features 17 noir films from the landmark film year from directors including Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, and John Huston.
New Hollywood maverick William Friedkin will also be celebrated when five of his most beloved movies, including “Sorcerer” and “The Exorcist,” come to the channel in April.
Criterion will offer the streaming premiere of Wim Wenders’ 3D art documentary “Anselm,” which will be accompanied by the “Wim Wenders’ Adventures in Moviegoing” collection, which sees the director curating a selection of films from around the world that have influenced his careers.
Contemporary cinema is also well represented,...
Students of Hollywood history will be treated to the “Peak Noir: 1950” collection, which features 17 noir films from the landmark film year from directors including Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, and John Huston.
New Hollywood maverick William Friedkin will also be celebrated when five of his most beloved movies, including “Sorcerer” and “The Exorcist,” come to the channel in April.
Criterion will offer the streaming premiere of Wim Wenders’ 3D art documentary “Anselm,” which will be accompanied by the “Wim Wenders’ Adventures in Moviegoing” collection, which sees the director curating a selection of films from around the world that have influenced his careers.
Contemporary cinema is also well represented,...
- 3/18/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
April’s an uncommonly strong auteurist month for the Criterion Channel, who will highlight a number of directors––many of whom aren’t often grouped together. Just after we screened House of Tolerance at the Roxy Cinema, Criterion are showing it and Nocturama for a two-film Bertrand Bonello retrospective, starting just four days before The Beast opens. Larger and rarer (but just as French) is the complete Jean Eustache series Janus toured last year. Meanwhile, five William Friedkin films and work from Makoto Shinkai, Lizzie Borden, and Rosine Mbakam are given a highlight.
One of my very favorite films, Comrades: Almost a Love Story plays in a series I’ve been trying to program for years: “Hong Kong in New York,” boasting the magnificent Full Moon in New York, Farewell China, and An Autumn’s Tale. Wim Wenders gets his “Adventures in Moviegoing”; After Hours, Personal Shopper, and Werckmeister Harmonies fill...
One of my very favorite films, Comrades: Almost a Love Story plays in a series I’ve been trying to program for years: “Hong Kong in New York,” boasting the magnificent Full Moon in New York, Farewell China, and An Autumn’s Tale. Wim Wenders gets his “Adventures in Moviegoing”; After Hours, Personal Shopper, and Werckmeister Harmonies fill...
- 3/18/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Directed by Neo Sora, “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus” records the final performance of its namesake composer and musician prior to his death from cancer in March 2023. Per Sora, Sakamoto’s son, “Opus” is less a documentary than a concert film, capturing 20 tracks — electronic, orchestral, and everything in between — from his multifaceted career as they’re played on the piano in crisp black and white, in lighting that transitions from night to day and back to night.
As he explains, it was no small task to chronicle what he knew could be his father’s last artistic gift to the world. But when speaking about the film, Sora maintains a studied objectivity that focuses more on the process of making it than the feelings behind it — much less about his father in general. Even as a fan of Sakamoto’s since the days of Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Last Emperor,” it’s...
As he explains, it was no small task to chronicle what he knew could be his father’s last artistic gift to the world. But when speaking about the film, Sora maintains a studied objectivity that focuses more on the process of making it than the feelings behind it — much less about his father in general. Even as a fan of Sakamoto’s since the days of Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Last Emperor,” it’s...
- 3/15/2024
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
Though based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1958 crime novella The Pledge (which was also the source for Sean Penn’s 2001 film of the same name), György Fehér’s Twilight plays more like an existential horror film than a noir or police procedural. Indeed, the ins and outs of the investigation into the mysterious murder of a child are of little concern to Fehér, who crafts a mood piece that’s keyed to the aura of dread and despair that grips a community in the wake of this and other similar murders.
Set in a small, remote Hungarian town surrounded by vast hills and dense thickets of trees, Twilight exists in a sort of metaphorical purgatory. Throughout, the film’s spare black-and-white images, deliberate pacing, and glacial camera movements, coupled with the near-constant rumbling ambiance that dominates the soundtrack, brilliantly conjure how an unseen but ubiquitous evil haunts the townsfolk. Long tracking...
Set in a small, remote Hungarian town surrounded by vast hills and dense thickets of trees, Twilight exists in a sort of metaphorical purgatory. Throughout, the film’s spare black-and-white images, deliberate pacing, and glacial camera movements, coupled with the near-constant rumbling ambiance that dominates the soundtrack, brilliantly conjure how an unseen but ubiquitous evil haunts the townsfolk. Long tracking...
- 2/15/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
“If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.”
— John Cage
Sátántangó’s first few minutes provide an unsubtle hint that we’re in for a slow and gloomy slog, though you would expect that from any film by Béla Tarr. The Hungarian master, currently retired (he insists), is an international star who never set out to make a crowd-pleaser, even if his primary characters are pleasure-seeking proles at large in the swampy ruins of the post-Communist Eastern European Bloc.
Sátántangó commences with a wide, stagnant shot over a muddy paddock, a congregation of cows rooted in puddles in the near distance. The cows are themselves pretty interesting to observe, especially as one or two appear aware of the camera. They saunter toward the edges of the frame, and the camera bestirs itself,...
— John Cage
Sátántangó’s first few minutes provide an unsubtle hint that we’re in for a slow and gloomy slog, though you would expect that from any film by Béla Tarr. The Hungarian master, currently retired (he insists), is an international star who never set out to make a crowd-pleaser, even if his primary characters are pleasure-seeking proles at large in the swampy ruins of the post-Communist Eastern European Bloc.
Sátántangó commences with a wide, stagnant shot over a muddy paddock, a congregation of cows rooted in puddles in the near distance. The cows are themselves pretty interesting to observe, especially as one or two appear aware of the camera. They saunter toward the edges of the frame, and the camera bestirs itself,...
- 2/8/2024
- by Jessica Almereyda
- The Film Stage
Aki Kaurismäki's Fallen Leaves is screening exclusively on Mubi in many countries.Fallen Leaves.There’s a moment early in Aki Kaurismäki’s latest film, Fallen Leaves (2023), that will surely tug at the heartstrings of shy lovers everywhere. A man, Holappa (played by Jussi Vatanen), and a woman, Ansa (Alma Pöysti), sit across from each other in a bar. Between them, his friend tries vainly to flirt with hers, getting nowhere, but Holappa and Ansa themselves do not speak, and instead merely stare meekly into their drinks, the gap of a few meters opening up like a yawning chasm. Then, for just a moment, Holappa looks up from his beer and their eyes meet. And as they do, the first cascading piano chords of Franz Schubert’s “Serenade” are heard and a besuited man takes the karaoke stage to start singing: “Softly my songs plead / through the night for...
- 2/4/2024
- MUBI
The Criterion Collection is constantly curating and adding the best and brightest of cinema to its collection, but its April 2024 is pretty stellar and adds two classic films that haven’t been in the collection previously that really deserved to be there.
The first film added to the collection in April is notable because of Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr. While Tarr is a giant of international cinema, specifically what’s often referred to as “slow cinema,” the addition of Tarr’s 2000 classic, “Werckmeister Harmonies,” is actually the first of the filmmaker’s movies ever added to the Collection (at least on DVD/Blu-Ray and not counting the Criterion Channel).
Continue reading Criterion Adds ‘I Am Cuba,’ ‘Werckmeister Harmonies’ & More For April 2024 at The Playlist.
The first film added to the collection in April is notable because of Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr. While Tarr is a giant of international cinema, specifically what’s often referred to as “slow cinema,” the addition of Tarr’s 2000 classic, “Werckmeister Harmonies,” is actually the first of the filmmaker’s movies ever added to the Collection (at least on DVD/Blu-Ray and not counting the Criterion Channel).
Continue reading Criterion Adds ‘I Am Cuba,’ ‘Werckmeister Harmonies’ & More For April 2024 at The Playlist.
- 1/17/2024
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
The Criterion Collection reaches out to encompass more radical works of cinema in April 2024, led by Mathieu Kassovitz's completely unsettling La Haine (1995); the seminal Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), described by Criterion as "a hypnotic parable of societal collapse from auteur Béla Tarr and codirector-editor Ágnes Hranitzky;" the remarkable I Am Cuba (1964) from director Mikhail Kalatozov; Nancy Savoca's under-appreciated Dogfight, starring Lili Taylor and River Phoenix; and Peter Weir's dreamy and mysterious Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), available in 4K. La Haine, Werckmeister Harmonies, and I Am Cuba are also being issued in 4K, so it's a splendid time for world cinema fans to dust off their wallets and indulge. (I say that knowing that April 15 is also looming as an important date...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 1/16/2024
- Screen Anarchy
While the year remains young, Criterion’s already looking to Q2 2024. April’s a notable month for its 4K haul: Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky’s Werckmeister Harmonies, having played in a dazzling restoration last year, will be the filmmakers’ first time in the collection (and come packaged with Tarr’s debut feature Family Nest). Mikhail Kalatozov’s less of a stranger, but his I Am Cuba continues the much-welcomed growth of Latin American cinema (notwithstanding its Soviet connections) on physical media.
Meanwhile, La Haine and Picnic at Hanging Rock get upgrades, and Nancy Savoca’s lesser-seen Dogfight enters on Blu-ray.
See artwork below and more details at Criterion:
The post The Criterion Collection’s April Lineup Includes Werckmeister Harmonies and I Am Cuba on 4K first appeared on The Film Stage.
Meanwhile, La Haine and Picnic at Hanging Rock get upgrades, and Nancy Savoca’s lesser-seen Dogfight enters on Blu-ray.
See artwork below and more details at Criterion:
The post The Criterion Collection’s April Lineup Includes Werckmeister Harmonies and I Am Cuba on 4K first appeared on The Film Stage.
- 1/16/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
We recently learned that five years after Dragged Across Concrete, S. Craig Zahler will soon announce his next feature. In the meantime, the director has unveiled his favorite music, books, and––most pertinent to this site––films he watched in the past year.
The 21-movie list includes not only his ten favorites of the year but revival screenings as well, including Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky’s Werckmeister Harmonies, Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri, Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible, Nagisa Ôshima’s The Pleasures of the Flesh, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria, and William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.
When it comes to new releases, amongst the favorites of the Bone Tomahawk director were Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw, Skinamarink, Godzilla Minus One, the Indian action-thriller Jawan, films by Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Glazer, and the latest in the Saw franchise.
Check out the list below.
Godzilla Minus One...
The 21-movie list includes not only his ten favorites of the year but revival screenings as well, including Béla Tarr and Ágnes Hranitzky’s Werckmeister Harmonies, Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri, Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible, Nagisa Ôshima’s The Pleasures of the Flesh, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria, and William Friedkin’s The Exorcist.
When it comes to new releases, amongst the favorites of the Bone Tomahawk director were Sean Durkin’s The Iron Claw, Skinamarink, Godzilla Minus One, the Indian action-thriller Jawan, films by Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Glazer, and the latest in the Saw franchise.
Check out the list below.
Godzilla Minus One...
- 1/15/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
No reasonably intelligent person imagines an artist’s statement about the horrors in Gaza would, in fact, end those horrors, but there are always limits to what one can take and hopes for what one could do. It might even be said that, as observers of the world and human behavior, filmmakers are especially inclined to recoil. When I interviewed Pedro Costa last month he spoke, unprompted, of a situation that’s only grown worse: “It’s very clear that we cannot stand images anymore. I can’t. I can’t. The images of the world for me [Exhales] I can’t. I turn my eyes, and I’m sure you do the same. It’s unbearable.” When I spoke with Anthony Dod Mantle a couple of weeks later it, again, emerged––vis-a-vis The Zone of Interest, whose own cinematographer alluded to it the next day. It’s difficult being a person in the world,...
- 12/29/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The Berlin Film Festival has appointed Tricia Tuttle, the former head of the BFI London Film Festival, to become the new director of the international film event starting in 2024.
Tuttle will succeed Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek, who have co-led the Berlinale as artistic and executive directors since 2020 and will step down after this year’s edition when their respective mandates end.
The Berlin Film Festival is the world’s second biggest international film festival after Cannes. It also hosts the European Film Market, a crucial industry gathering where independent films are pitched and sold.
Tuttle was the director of the BFI London Film Festival during a fast-growing five-year era in which audiences nearly doubled before she stepped down after the 2022 edition. She worked as the festival’s deputy for five years before that to her predecessor Clare Stewart. She helped the festival expand outside of London with venues set up across the U.
Tuttle will succeed Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek, who have co-led the Berlinale as artistic and executive directors since 2020 and will step down after this year’s edition when their respective mandates end.
The Berlin Film Festival is the world’s second biggest international film festival after Cannes. It also hosts the European Film Market, a crucial industry gathering where independent films are pitched and sold.
Tuttle was the director of the BFI London Film Festival during a fast-growing five-year era in which audiences nearly doubled before she stepped down after the 2022 edition. She worked as the festival’s deputy for five years before that to her predecessor Clare Stewart. She helped the festival expand outside of London with venues set up across the U.
- 12/12/2023
- by Erik Kirschbaum and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The German film industry is eagerly awaiting the appointment of the Berlin Film Festival’s new director, expected to be announced tomorrow, and as the guessing game surrounding the choice shifts into high gear, one thing looks increasingly clear: the new head will face considerable financial and political challenges at the Berlinale.
Speculation in the local industry has been rife with likely candidates to succeed Carlo Chatrian and Mariëtte Rissenbeek, who have co-led the Berlinale as artistic and executive directors since 2020 and will step down after this year’s edition when their respective mandates end.
A number of potential contenders have now quashed those rumors, among them Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO and director of the European Film Academy, who made it clear to Variety that he was not in the running and was very content in his current post; Kirsten Niehuus, head of funding org Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, who said she...
Speculation in the local industry has been rife with likely candidates to succeed Carlo Chatrian and Mariëtte Rissenbeek, who have co-led the Berlinale as artistic and executive directors since 2020 and will step down after this year’s edition when their respective mandates end.
A number of potential contenders have now quashed those rumors, among them Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO and director of the European Film Academy, who made it clear to Variety that he was not in the running and was very content in his current post; Kirsten Niehuus, head of funding org Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, who said she...
- 12/11/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Sandra Hüller in Anatomy Of A Fall Anatomy Of A Fall was the big winner at the European Film Awards in Berlin tonight.
Justin Triet's ambiguous drama about a writer who finds herself in the dock for the murder of her husband, took home the prizes for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay (which Triet shared with her partner Arthur Harari).
Lead actress Sandra Hüller, who was double nominated in the Best Actress category thank to The Zone Of Interest, took home the gong for Triet's film.
The prize for Best Actor went to Mads Mikkelson for historic drama Nikolaj Arcel's The Promised Land.
Best Documentary went to Anna Hints' Smoke Sauna Sisterhood. The European discovery – prix Fipresci went to Molly Manning Walker's debut How To Have Sex.
The honorary award of the academy president and board was given to Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to British star.
Justin Triet's ambiguous drama about a writer who finds herself in the dock for the murder of her husband, took home the prizes for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay (which Triet shared with her partner Arthur Harari).
Lead actress Sandra Hüller, who was double nominated in the Best Actress category thank to The Zone Of Interest, took home the gong for Triet's film.
The prize for Best Actor went to Mads Mikkelson for historic drama Nikolaj Arcel's The Promised Land.
Best Documentary went to Anna Hints' Smoke Sauna Sisterhood. The European discovery – prix Fipresci went to Molly Manning Walker's debut How To Have Sex.
The honorary award of the academy president and board was given to Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to British star.
- 12/9/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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
Justine Triet’s courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall” triumphed at the 36th European Film Awards, taking statuettes for best film, director, screenwriter and actress at the ceremony, which took place Saturday in Berlin. It had been previously announced that it had won the best editing prize as well.
“Anatomy of a Fall” won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and recently took the screenplay and international feature awards at the Gothams, but was not selected to represent France in the international feature film category of the Oscars. Despite that setback, Triet said the film would still compete for other categories at the Oscars. “Now we are in the race, of course. We continue down that road,” she said at a press conference following the ceremony in Berlin.
Triet, who co-wrote the screenplay with Arthur Harari, said that they had written it for Sandra Hüller, winner of the best actress award.
“Anatomy of a Fall” won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and recently took the screenplay and international feature awards at the Gothams, but was not selected to represent France in the international feature film category of the Oscars. Despite that setback, Triet said the film would still compete for other categories at the Oscars. “Now we are in the race, of course. We continue down that road,” she said at a press conference following the ceremony in Berlin.
Triet, who co-wrote the screenplay with Arthur Harari, said that they had written it for Sandra Hüller, winner of the best actress award.
- 12/9/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
‘How To Have Sex’, ‘Smoke Sauna Sisterhood’ and ‘The Promised Land’ were also decorated.
It was a strong night for Anatomy Of A Fall at this year’s European Film Awards, taking home five awards at this evening’s (December 9) ceremony in Berlin.
French filmmaker Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner continued its triumphant streak, having recently scored the Bifa for best international independent film and best international feature and screenplay at the Gothams. The mystery thriller, which Triet co-wrote with her partner Arthur Harari, and stars Sandra Hüller, clinched the prizes in the European film, director, screenwriter and actress categories,...
It was a strong night for Anatomy Of A Fall at this year’s European Film Awards, taking home five awards at this evening’s (December 9) ceremony in Berlin.
French filmmaker Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner continued its triumphant streak, having recently scored the Bifa for best international independent film and best international feature and screenplay at the Gothams. The mystery thriller, which Triet co-wrote with her partner Arthur Harari, and stars Sandra Hüller, clinched the prizes in the European film, director, screenwriter and actress categories,...
- 12/9/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The ceremony kicks off live from Berlin today (December 9) at 19:30 Cet.
The European Film Awards is taking place in Berlin tonight (December 9), and Screen will be revealing the winners live from the ceremony, kicking off at 19:30 Cet.
German actor Britta Steffenhagen is hosting the awards, which will take place at the Arena Berlin.
Screen will be live-streaming the ceremony below, or you can refresh the page and scroll down to read the winners as they are announced.
Three of the best European film nominees world premiered at Cannes. Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall...
The European Film Awards is taking place in Berlin tonight (December 9), and Screen will be revealing the winners live from the ceremony, kicking off at 19:30 Cet.
German actor Britta Steffenhagen is hosting the awards, which will take place at the Arena Berlin.
Screen will be live-streaming the ceremony below, or you can refresh the page and scroll down to read the winners as they are announced.
Three of the best European film nominees world premiered at Cannes. Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winner Anatomy Of A Fall...
- 12/9/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Croatian documentary Ship from Elvis Lenić won the Opus Bonum award, the festival’s top prize.
Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík’s Photophobia won the best Czech documentary award at the 27th edition of the Czech Republic’s documentary film festival Ji.hlava (October 24-29).
Slovakia’s entry for best international feature at the Oscars, Photophobia centres around a Ukrainian family hiding from the war in a metro station where one of the young sons meets another girl trapped there and they form a bond. Also winner of best European film at Venice’s Giornate degli Autori, the film is...
Ivan Ostrochovský and Pavol Pekarčík’s Photophobia won the best Czech documentary award at the 27th edition of the Czech Republic’s documentary film festival Ji.hlava (October 24-29).
Slovakia’s entry for best international feature at the Oscars, Photophobia centres around a Ukrainian family hiding from the war in a metro station where one of the young sons meets another girl trapped there and they form a bond. Also winner of best European film at Venice’s Giornate degli Autori, the film is...
- 10/30/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
From hulks of collective ruins to immigrant family struggles, marginalized communities and climate crises, the 27th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival wrapped Saturday with honors for work from diverse perspectives on a myriad of pressing subjects.
The Opus Bonum main prize went to Elvis Lenic’s Croatian doc “Ship,” an exploration of an unintentional monument to socialist worker collectives in the form of the Uljanik shipyard, once the country’s largest. Now an industrial graveyard, the vast port facility is closing down after 160 years, a moment Lenic filmed with powerful imagery in a story that reminds viewers of the fates of those who built the now ghostly cargo vessels and their docks.
The Ji.hlava audience prize went to Czech doc “Is There Any Place for Me, Please?” Jarmila Stukova’s powerful portrait of a woman who survived an acid attack by an ex-boyfriend, which connected with viewers in...
The Opus Bonum main prize went to Elvis Lenic’s Croatian doc “Ship,” an exploration of an unintentional monument to socialist worker collectives in the form of the Uljanik shipyard, once the country’s largest. Now an industrial graveyard, the vast port facility is closing down after 160 years, a moment Lenic filmed with powerful imagery in a story that reminds viewers of the fates of those who built the now ghostly cargo vessels and their docks.
The Ji.hlava audience prize went to Czech doc “Is There Any Place for Me, Please?” Jarmila Stukova’s powerful portrait of a woman who survived an acid attack by an ex-boyfriend, which connected with viewers in...
- 10/28/2023
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
Launching an ambitious program of compelling global and Czech work, the 27th edition of the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival opened on Tuesday, kicking off six days of more than 350 film screenings by veteran and new filmmakers.
Fest head and founder Marek Hovorka, who launched the event in his hometown in 1997, introduced what is now Central and Eastern Europe’s main event for docs, defining the fest mission as “a celebration of films, image, sound, gestures and diversity.”
The films selected this year are “all very original,” he told the opening gala audience, and show filmmakers “perceive the world very differently.”
The fest, raising its curtain in the location that remains its home, the communist-era Dko “house of culture,” as the pre-1989 regime dubbed such multi-purpose spaces, attracts for its launch hundreds of guests seated at white-decked tables, sipping local wine.
Opening night moderators embraced an ironic take on AI,...
Fest head and founder Marek Hovorka, who launched the event in his hometown in 1997, introduced what is now Central and Eastern Europe’s main event for docs, defining the fest mission as “a celebration of films, image, sound, gestures and diversity.”
The films selected this year are “all very original,” he told the opening gala audience, and show filmmakers “perceive the world very differently.”
The fest, raising its curtain in the location that remains its home, the communist-era Dko “house of culture,” as the pre-1989 regime dubbed such multi-purpose spaces, attracts for its launch hundreds of guests seated at white-decked tables, sipping local wine.
Opening night moderators embraced an ironic take on AI,...
- 10/25/2023
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
Béla Tarr Set For European Film Awards Honor
Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr will receive the Honorary Award of the Academy President and Board at this year’s European Film Awards. Tarr is the sixth filmmaker to receive this recognition – earlier recipients are Manoel de Oliveira, Michel Piccoli, Sir Michael Caine, Andrzej Wajda, and Costa-Gavras. Tarr is best known for his 1994 feature Sátántangó, a 450-minute adaptation of the novel by László Krasznahorkai. The film won the Grand Prix of the Jury at the Budapest Hungarian Film Week and quickly reached cult status, often referred to as one of the most important films of the 1990s. This year’s European Film Awards take place in Berlin on December 9.
‘Aftersun’ Leads 2023 BAFTA Scotland Awards
Charlotte Well’s debut feature, Aftersun, leads this year’s BAFTA Scotland Awards with five nominations. The film has been nominated in the following categories: Actor Film, Actress Film,...
Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr will receive the Honorary Award of the Academy President and Board at this year’s European Film Awards. Tarr is the sixth filmmaker to receive this recognition – earlier recipients are Manoel de Oliveira, Michel Piccoli, Sir Michael Caine, Andrzej Wajda, and Costa-Gavras. Tarr is best known for his 1994 feature Sátántangó, a 450-minute adaptation of the novel by László Krasznahorkai. The film won the Grand Prix of the Jury at the Budapest Hungarian Film Week and quickly reached cult status, often referred to as one of the most important films of the 1990s. This year’s European Film Awards take place in Berlin on December 9.
‘Aftersun’ Leads 2023 BAFTA Scotland Awards
Charlotte Well’s debut feature, Aftersun, leads this year’s BAFTA Scotland Awards with five nominations. The film has been nominated in the following categories: Actor Film, Actress Film,...
- 10/11/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
BÉLA Tarr Gets European Film Honor
Legendary Hungarian director Béla Tarr will receive the Honorary Award from of the Academy President and Board at the European Film Awards on Dec. 9.
“With this award the European Film Academy wishes to pay special tribute to an outstanding director and a personality with a strong political voice, who is not only deeply respected by his colleagues but also celebrated by audiences worldwide,” the Academy said in a press release.
Previous recipients of the award include Manoel de Oliveira, Michel Piccoli, Michael Caine, Andrzej Wajda and Costa-Gavras. Tarr is best known for his films “Damnation” (1988), “Sátántangó” (1994), “Werckmeister Harmonies” (2000) and “The Turin Horse” (2011).
‘Tumse Na Ho Payega!’ Goes No. 1 In India
Disney and Hotstar film “Tumse Na Ho Payega!,” starring Ishawk Singh and Mahima Makwana, was the most-viewed film in the Indian Ott space between Oct. 2 and Oct. 8 with 4.6 million views.
The film tells the...
Legendary Hungarian director Béla Tarr will receive the Honorary Award from of the Academy President and Board at the European Film Awards on Dec. 9.
“With this award the European Film Academy wishes to pay special tribute to an outstanding director and a personality with a strong political voice, who is not only deeply respected by his colleagues but also celebrated by audiences worldwide,” the Academy said in a press release.
Previous recipients of the award include Manoel de Oliveira, Michel Piccoli, Michael Caine, Andrzej Wajda and Costa-Gavras. Tarr is best known for his films “Damnation” (1988), “Sátántangó” (1994), “Werckmeister Harmonies” (2000) and “The Turin Horse” (2011).
‘Tumse Na Ho Payega!’ Goes No. 1 In India
Disney and Hotstar film “Tumse Na Ho Payega!,” starring Ishawk Singh and Mahima Makwana, was the most-viewed film in the Indian Ott space between Oct. 2 and Oct. 8 with 4.6 million views.
The film tells the...
- 10/11/2023
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Tarr to receive Honorary Award of the European Film Academy president and board.
Hungarian director Béla Tarr is to receive the Honorary Award of the European Film Academy president and board at this year’s European Film Awards.
Béla Tarr is the sixth filmmaker to receive this recognition. Previous recipients were Manoel de Oliveira, Michel Piccoli, Michael Caine, Andrzej Wajda and Costa-Gavras.
Efa said it wished to pay special tribute to an “outstanding director and a personality with a strong political voice, who is not only deeply respected by his colleagues but also celebrated by audiences worldwide.”
Tarr made his...
Hungarian director Béla Tarr is to receive the Honorary Award of the European Film Academy president and board at this year’s European Film Awards.
Béla Tarr is the sixth filmmaker to receive this recognition. Previous recipients were Manoel de Oliveira, Michel Piccoli, Michael Caine, Andrzej Wajda and Costa-Gavras.
Efa said it wished to pay special tribute to an “outstanding director and a personality with a strong political voice, who is not only deeply respected by his colleagues but also celebrated by audiences worldwide.”
Tarr made his...
- 10/11/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Hungarian director Béla Tarr will receive the Honorary Award of the European Film Academy president and board at the 36th European Film Awards in Berlin on Dec. 9.
“With this award the European Film Academy (Efa) wishes to pay special tribute to an outstanding director and a personality with a strong political voice, who is not only deeply respected by his colleagues but also celebrated by audiences worldwide,” Efa said on Wednesday. “Béla Tarr is the sixth filmmaker to receive this recognition – earlier recipients were Manoel de Oliveira, Michel Piccoli, Sir Michael Caine, Andrzej Wajda and Costa-Gavras.”
Born in Hungary, the auteur started experiments in filmmaking at the age of 16. His feature debut, Family Nest. In 1982, The Prefab People received a special mention at the Locarno Film Festival. Tarr followed that up with Almanac of Fall (1984) and Damnation, which was nominated for the first European Film Awards in 1988.
One of Tarr’s best-known films is Sátántangó,...
“With this award the European Film Academy (Efa) wishes to pay special tribute to an outstanding director and a personality with a strong political voice, who is not only deeply respected by his colleagues but also celebrated by audiences worldwide,” Efa said on Wednesday. “Béla Tarr is the sixth filmmaker to receive this recognition – earlier recipients were Manoel de Oliveira, Michel Piccoli, Sir Michael Caine, Andrzej Wajda and Costa-Gavras.”
Born in Hungary, the auteur started experiments in filmmaking at the age of 16. His feature debut, Family Nest. In 1982, The Prefab People received a special mention at the Locarno Film Festival. Tarr followed that up with Almanac of Fall (1984) and Damnation, which was nominated for the first European Film Awards in 1988.
One of Tarr’s best-known films is Sátántangó,...
- 10/11/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Just four days ago was the 50th anniversary of the 1973 coup d’etat, when Augusto Pinochet came to absolute power in Chile. The Pinochet we all know and have heard of died in 2006, but El Conde, the new Netflix film, has a surprise for you. Pinochet is alive, and what happened in 2006, when Pinochet stopped his heart and pretended to die, was just one of his skills as a vampire. Yes, the Chilean dictator is actually a 250-year-old vampire who invites trouble after he is suspected of having been on a killing spree, feasting on the hearts of people. Vampires are known to do that. Eating hearts ensures that they grow young. This satirical black comedy, directed by Pablo Larrain, brings him back to familiar territory, dealing with Augusto Pinochet and the aftermath of his military dictatorship. In 2012, Larrain directed the critically acclaimed “No,” and here he is again dealing with ‘Pinochetism,...
- 9/15/2023
- by Ayush Awasthi
- Film Fugitives
At times Bosnia and Herzegovina has looked like it was stuck in a bit of a no-man’s land when it comes to film production, lacking the financial fire-power to press forward, but its TV series business is booming.
The Southeast European country boasts two Oscar nominations – Danis Tanović’s “No Man’s Land,” which nabbed a statuette in 2002, and Jasmila Žbanić’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” which was nominated in 2021 – and its filmmakers have enjoyed success on the festival circuit, but it still hasn’t upped its meagre level of production, especially in terms of fiction features, with only one or two majority Bosnian films produced a year.
The problem lies in the “messy and unregulated model of audiovisual support in general,” according to producer-director Jasmin Duraković, whose film “The Glory of Unhappiness” screens in the Bh Film sidebar at Sarajevo Film Festival, which presents the recent crop of films with investment from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Southeast European country boasts two Oscar nominations – Danis Tanović’s “No Man’s Land,” which nabbed a statuette in 2002, and Jasmila Žbanić’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” which was nominated in 2021 – and its filmmakers have enjoyed success on the festival circuit, but it still hasn’t upped its meagre level of production, especially in terms of fiction features, with only one or two majority Bosnian films produced a year.
The problem lies in the “messy and unregulated model of audiovisual support in general,” according to producer-director Jasmin Duraković, whose film “The Glory of Unhappiness” screens in the Bh Film sidebar at Sarajevo Film Festival, which presents the recent crop of films with investment from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- 8/11/2023
- by Tara Karajica
- Variety Film + TV
UK-French sales agent, distribution and production company Alief has announced that the Ted Raimi led psychological thriller, Failure!, will have its World Premiere at FrightFest on August 28th 2023. Alief picked up worldwide rights at the Cannes Film Festival in May after Failure! made its debut at the Fantastic Pavillion. To mark the occasion, a teaser trailer and poster has been released. Failure! follows James who has a big debt with the bank and is given one hour to choose between financial ruin or murder in order to protect his family. As the hour progresses he finds his home and phone invaded by multiple characters pulling him in different directions, gradually adding to his distress and his unravelling. But who is real and who isn’t? As well as Raimi, the film also stars Merrick McCartha (Senior Year), Melissa Diaz (Ruthless), John Paul Medrano (Seven Days) and Daniel Kuhlman (Voodoo MacBeth) and Noel Douglas Orput.
- 8/1/2023
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
The sales, distribution, and production company Alief picked up the worldwide rights to the psychological thriller Failure!, starring Ted Raimi, at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and now they have announced that the film is going to have its world premiere at the FrightFest film festival in London on August 28th! In anticipation of the premiere, a teaser trailer for Failure! has been unveiled and can be seen in the embed above.
Directed by Alex Kahuam (Forgiveness), Failure! was shot in a single 87 minute take. Within that single take we follow James (Raimi), who has a big debt with the bank and is given one hour to choose between financial ruin or murder in order to protect his family. As the hour progresses he finds his home and phone invaded by multiple characters pulling him in different directions, gradually adding to his distress and his unravelling. But who...
Directed by Alex Kahuam (Forgiveness), Failure! was shot in a single 87 minute take. Within that single take we follow James (Raimi), who has a big debt with the bank and is given one hour to choose between financial ruin or murder in order to protect his family. As the hour progresses he finds his home and phone invaded by multiple characters pulling him in different directions, gradually adding to his distress and his unravelling. But who...
- 7/19/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
"Better to wake up, you fool." This is incredible. A magnificent 10-min short film is available online called Inside The Blind Iris, directed by Brazilian filmmaker Douglas Bernardt. Filmed in the UK, this features choreography and art direction by famed dancer Botis Seva, along with mesmerizing cinematography by Dp Harry Wheeler. "Inside The Blind Iris is an experimental cinematic dance film exploring oppression and the absence of belonging. Set in the main character’s confused state of mind, dancers appear as haunting spirits and memories, as he journeys in search of his own self." It's a visual experience that combines dance and cinematography and music to explore themes of oppression and dominance and autonomy. Featuring music by composed Torben Lars Sylvest. The light & shadows dance scenes that kick in at ~4:30 in this video are phenomenal, visually astounding and kinetic. The ending with the whale is also rad - an...
- 7/14/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
There is an old joke about a pious man stranded on a desert island. As he prays for divine deliverance, a ship arrives, but he sends it away, saying, “God will save me.” Ditto a helicopter and eventually a seaplane. The man dies, to his surprise, and when he gets to heaven, asks God why he did not save him. God replies, “Look, man, I sent a ship, a helicopter and a seaplane…” If the moral of this old chestnut were hewn from the craggy quarries of a benighted Georgian mining village, and carved in strikingly gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, it might look a little like “Citizen Saint,” Tinatin Kajrishvili’s somber, scabrous third film, in which a rural community refuses to accept a God who moves in anything but the most mysterious ways.
Departing from the low-key naturalism of her two prior features “Brides” and “Horizon,” here Kajrishvili moves into an overtly allegorical register,...
Departing from the low-key naturalism of her two prior features “Brides” and “Horizon,” here Kajrishvili moves into an overtly allegorical register,...
- 7/8/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Though based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1958 crime novella The Pledge (which was also the source for Sean Penn’s 2001 film of the same name), György Fehér’s Twilight plays more like an existential horror film than a noir or police procedural. Indeed, the ins and outs of the investigation into the mysterious murder of a child are of little concern to Fehér, who crafts a mood piece that’s keyed to the aura of dread and despair that grips a community in the wake of this and other similar murders.
Set in a small, remote Hungarian town surrounded by vast hills and dense thickets of trees, Twilight exists in a sort of metaphorical purgatory. Throughout, the film’s spare black-and-white images, deliberate pacing, and glacial camera movements, coupled with the near-constant rumbling ambiance that dominates the soundtrack, brilliantly conjure how an unseen but ubiquitous evil haunts the townsfolk. Long tracking...
Set in a small, remote Hungarian town surrounded by vast hills and dense thickets of trees, Twilight exists in a sort of metaphorical purgatory. Throughout, the film’s spare black-and-white images, deliberate pacing, and glacial camera movements, coupled with the near-constant rumbling ambiance that dominates the soundtrack, brilliantly conjure how an unseen but ubiquitous evil haunts the townsfolk. Long tracking...
- 6/20/2023
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
Werckmeister Harmonies.Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) begins at closing time. Dousing the embers in his wood-burning stove, a weary bartender shouts at the gathered drunks to get out. Not yet, they say, there’s still one last thing left to do. And right on time arrives János (Lars Rudolph), a bug-eyed young man full of uncomplicated yet not entirely naïve wonder about the universe. He picks one drunk to be the sun, another the Earth, and a third to be the moon, and has them act out a swirling, swaying dance, the sun shining, the Earth revolving until, quite suddenly, János calls them to a stop: a lunar eclipse, wonder of wonders, has settled onto the Earth, blocking out the light of the sun, and calling the entire room to a hush. But then, says János, the moon passes, the sun returns, and all of them have “escaped the weight of darkness,...
- 6/12/2023
- MUBI
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Museum of the Moving Image
An Asteroid City-themed series programmed by Wes Anderson and Jake Perlin includes 35mm prints of Some Came Running and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore; Blow Out shows on 35mm this Sunday, while Rope plays in a queer cinema series.
Bam
A retrospective of the great Juliet Berto brings Celine and Julie, Godard’s Weekend, and more.
Museum of Modern Art
A tribute to casting directors Ellen Lewis and Laura Rosenthal brings prints of Goodfellas and I’m Not There, as well as Dead Man.
Roxy Cinema
35mm prints of The Fifth Element and Eastwood’s The Gauntlet screen this weekend, while J. Hoberman and Ken Jacobs present a tribute to Jack Smith; 4K restorations of The Trial, The Doom Generation, and Dogville play.
Film at Lincoln Center
Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies continues showing in a long-overdue restoration.
Museum of the Moving Image
An Asteroid City-themed series programmed by Wes Anderson and Jake Perlin includes 35mm prints of Some Came Running and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore; Blow Out shows on 35mm this Sunday, while Rope plays in a queer cinema series.
Bam
A retrospective of the great Juliet Berto brings Celine and Julie, Godard’s Weekend, and more.
Museum of Modern Art
A tribute to casting directors Ellen Lewis and Laura Rosenthal brings prints of Goodfellas and I’m Not There, as well as Dead Man.
Roxy Cinema
35mm prints of The Fifth Element and Eastwood’s The Gauntlet screen this weekend, while J. Hoberman and Ken Jacobs present a tribute to Jack Smith; 4K restorations of The Trial, The Doom Generation, and Dogville play.
Film at Lincoln Center
Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies continues showing in a long-overdue restoration.
- 6/2/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
AMC Networks Central Europe (Amcni Cne) and Oble Studios are set to co-produce a new revenge period drama set in Hungary titled “Fata Morgana.”
Set in Hungary in the early twentieth century, “Fata Morgana” is based on a legend – believed to be a true story – about an anti-heroine who disguises herself as a man in order to go on a killing spree avenging oppressed women.
The show – which has undertones of “Killing Eve” – centers around Victoria, who is frustrated with the physical abuse she witnesses perpetually inflicted on women by men. Vowing to get revenge, she takes on the identity of vigilante “Piperman” – blurring the lines between a feminist superhero and contemptable murderer.
Gabor Harmi has been confirmed as the showrunner on the series, which will see each episode utilize a distinct artistic approach to the story, while Zsofi Ruttkay, Gyorgy Palfi, and Gabor Papp are co-writers. Creative producers are...
Set in Hungary in the early twentieth century, “Fata Morgana” is based on a legend – believed to be a true story – about an anti-heroine who disguises herself as a man in order to go on a killing spree avenging oppressed women.
The show – which has undertones of “Killing Eve” – centers around Victoria, who is frustrated with the physical abuse she witnesses perpetually inflicted on women by men. Vowing to get revenge, she takes on the identity of vigilante “Piperman” – blurring the lines between a feminist superhero and contemptable murderer.
Gabor Harmi has been confirmed as the showrunner on the series, which will see each episode utilize a distinct artistic approach to the story, while Zsofi Ruttkay, Gyorgy Palfi, and Gabor Papp are co-writers. Creative producers are...
- 6/1/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Finally, an all-but-lost masterpiece lives again.
Hungarian filmmaker György Fehér, a protégé of his fellow countryman and master director Béla Tarr, died in 2002, but more than two decades later, his strange and stirring anti-mystery “Twilight” has been restored for the world to see.
You might recognize the story of a retiring detective pulled back in for One Last Job as he’s pushed to obsessive ends over a dead girl found missing in an ominous forest. “Twilight” is based on a 1955 novella by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt that itself was adapted by Sean Penn into the 2001 film “The Pledge,” starring Jack Nicholson as the wizened alcoholic private eye chasing a serial killer who may or may not exist.
In Feher’s “Twilight,” the detective is played by Péter Haumann, and he’s looking for a murderer known only as The Giant and who only seems to exist in scratch drawings...
Hungarian filmmaker György Fehér, a protégé of his fellow countryman and master director Béla Tarr, died in 2002, but more than two decades later, his strange and stirring anti-mystery “Twilight” has been restored for the world to see.
You might recognize the story of a retiring detective pulled back in for One Last Job as he’s pushed to obsessive ends over a dead girl found missing in an ominous forest. “Twilight” is based on a 1955 novella by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt that itself was adapted by Sean Penn into the 2001 film “The Pledge,” starring Jack Nicholson as the wizened alcoholic private eye chasing a serial killer who may or may not exist.
In Feher’s “Twilight,” the detective is played by Péter Haumann, and he’s looking for a murderer known only as The Giant and who only seems to exist in scratch drawings...
- 5/31/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Nuri Bilge Ceylan likes to take his time. The Turkish director is one of the greatest living practitioners of slow cinema. The filmmaking ethos — pioneered by Russian auteur Andrei Tarkovsky and taken up by the likes of Theo Angelopoulos, Albert Serra, Béla Tarr, Kelly Reichardt and Lav Diaz — eschews the rapid editing and relentless nonstop forward-driving plots of the Hollywood blockbuster (looking at you, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) for a more contemplative, metaphysical approach.
The characters in a Ceylan movie don’t do much. There’s little action or traditional suspense, and the storylines are fairly basic. In 2002’s Distant, a rural factory worker visits his cousin in Istanbul. Homicide police unearth the body of a murder victim and take a long drive back to the city for the autopsy in 2011’s Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. An old actor, his wife and his sister sit...
The characters in a Ceylan movie don’t do much. There’s little action or traditional suspense, and the storylines are fairly basic. In 2002’s Distant, a rural factory worker visits his cousin in Istanbul. Homicide police unearth the body of a murder victim and take a long drive back to the city for the autopsy in 2011’s Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. An old actor, his wife and his sister sit...
- 5/27/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Film at Lincoln Center
Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies begins showing in a long-overdue restoration.
Roxy Cinema
A new 35mm print of Philippe Garrel’s Nico-scored The Inner Scar screens this weekend, as does a print of Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast; The Heartbreak Kid and 4K restoration of Dogville play, while “City Dudes” returns on Saturday.
Museum of the Moving Image
A 35mm print of Blow Out leads the pack on “See It Big: Summer Movies,” while Morocco and The Fly play in a queer cinema series.
Anthology Film Archives
An Udo Kier retrospective continues; Dreyer plays in Essential Cinema.
IFC Center
The David Lynch retrospective continues; Party Girl plays in new 4K restorations, while A Clockwork Orange, They Live, and Aliens have late showings; João Pedro Rodrigues’ O Fantasma plays on Saturday.
Film Forum
A retrospective on New York movies is underway,...
Film at Lincoln Center
Béla Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies begins showing in a long-overdue restoration.
Roxy Cinema
A new 35mm print of Philippe Garrel’s Nico-scored The Inner Scar screens this weekend, as does a print of Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast; The Heartbreak Kid and 4K restoration of Dogville play, while “City Dudes” returns on Saturday.
Museum of the Moving Image
A 35mm print of Blow Out leads the pack on “See It Big: Summer Movies,” while Morocco and The Fly play in a queer cinema series.
Anthology Film Archives
An Udo Kier retrospective continues; Dreyer plays in Essential Cinema.
IFC Center
The David Lynch retrospective continues; Party Girl plays in new 4K restorations, while A Clockwork Orange, They Live, and Aliens have late showings; João Pedro Rodrigues’ O Fantasma plays on Saturday.
Film Forum
A retrospective on New York movies is underway,...
- 5/25/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.