Former Venice Film Festival head Marco Müller has been named Artistic Director of Italy’s Taormina Film Fest.
The announcement was made today by the special commissioner of the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation/ Fondazione Taormina Arte Sicilia, Sergio Bonomo, who said: “Maestro Müller’s professional contribution will be a driving force of success for the prestigious film event”.
The festival’s 70th edition runs this year from July 12 to 19.
“I am happy to work in Sicily to rediscover my roots – I was born and raised in Rome, but my only quarter of Italian blood is from Palermo,” Müller said.
“I thank all the people, in the institutions and among friends of cinema, who have built for me this opportunity to experiment in Taormina the moving thought of how a useful popular festival can still be built. We will use the extraordinary Teatro Antico – which was always a source of jealousy...
The announcement was made today by the special commissioner of the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation/ Fondazione Taormina Arte Sicilia, Sergio Bonomo, who said: “Maestro Müller’s professional contribution will be a driving force of success for the prestigious film event”.
The festival’s 70th edition runs this year from July 12 to 19.
“I am happy to work in Sicily to rediscover my roots – I was born and raised in Rome, but my only quarter of Italian blood is from Palermo,” Müller said.
“I thank all the people, in the institutions and among friends of cinema, who have built for me this opportunity to experiment in Taormina the moving thought of how a useful popular festival can still be built. We will use the extraordinary Teatro Antico – which was always a source of jealousy...
- 4/12/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Marco Mueller has been appointed artistic director of Italy’s Taormina Film Festival, which will have a top notch selection committee comprising British film curator and former London fest chief Sandra Hebron and former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight boss Edouard Waintrop.
As anticipated by Variety, Mueller, who over the past decades has headed both the Venice and Rome fests — among several other events — is taking the reins of the storied Sicilian event that has had its ups and downs over the years. Held since the mid-1950s in the Sicilian resort known to U.S. audiences as the location of “The White Lotus” Season 2, the summer fest boasts an 8,000-seat open-air ancient Greek amphitheater in the shadow of Sicily’s active Mt. Etna volcano. Guests have included Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Steven Spielberg, Federico Fellini, Pedro Almodovar and Tom Cruise.
The 70th edition of Taormina will run July 12-19. It will...
As anticipated by Variety, Mueller, who over the past decades has headed both the Venice and Rome fests — among several other events — is taking the reins of the storied Sicilian event that has had its ups and downs over the years. Held since the mid-1950s in the Sicilian resort known to U.S. audiences as the location of “The White Lotus” Season 2, the summer fest boasts an 8,000-seat open-air ancient Greek amphitheater in the shadow of Sicily’s active Mt. Etna volcano. Guests have included Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Steven Spielberg, Federico Fellini, Pedro Almodovar and Tom Cruise.
The 70th edition of Taormina will run July 12-19. It will...
- 4/12/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Bhutan-set political satire ’The Monk And The Gun’ takes festival’s audience award
Sarvnik Kaur’s documentary Against The Tide has won the top prize, the Golden Gateway Award, at the Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival.
The documentary, which world premiered at Sundance, follows two fishers and friends from Mumbai’s Koli community pursuing their livelihoods by different means.
Lockdown drama Bahadur - The Brave by Diwa Shah, which played in San Sebastian’s New Directors strand this year, won the Silver Gateway Award.
Kanu Behl’s drama Agra, which world premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight this year, won the special jury award.
Sarvnik Kaur’s documentary Against The Tide has won the top prize, the Golden Gateway Award, at the Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival.
The documentary, which world premiered at Sundance, follows two fishers and friends from Mumbai’s Koli community pursuing their livelihoods by different means.
Lockdown drama Bahadur - The Brave by Diwa Shah, which played in San Sebastian’s New Directors strand this year, won the Silver Gateway Award.
Kanu Behl’s drama Agra, which world premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight this year, won the special jury award.
- 11/6/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Sarvnik Kaur’s documentary Against The Tide won the Golden Gateway Award at this year’s Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival, while the Silver Gateway Award went to Bahadur – The Brave, directed by Diwa Shah. The Special Jury Award went to Kanu Behl’s Agra.
Against The Tide follows two fishermen struggling to provide for their families as the sea turns hostile due to climate change. Bahadur – The Brave revolves around Nepalese migrant laborers during the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic in India.
Agra, which had its world premiere at this year’s Cannes film festival, is the story of young Indian man attempting to navigate cramped living conditions, sexual repression and a dysfunctional family to create his own space in the world.
The South Asia Competition jury was headed by Mira Nair and also included Australian filmmaker David Michod, Filipino filmmaker and actor Isabel Sandoval...
Against The Tide follows two fishermen struggling to provide for their families as the sea turns hostile due to climate change. Bahadur – The Brave revolves around Nepalese migrant laborers during the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic in India.
Agra, which had its world premiere at this year’s Cannes film festival, is the story of young Indian man attempting to navigate cramped living conditions, sexual repression and a dysfunctional family to create his own space in the world.
The South Asia Competition jury was headed by Mira Nair and also included Australian filmmaker David Michod, Filipino filmmaker and actor Isabel Sandoval...
- 11/4/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Following four long years of pandemic shutdown, India’s Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival made a triumphant return Friday night with a glitzy opening ceremony packed with stars from the Hindi and South Indian film industries, including Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kareena Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Sonam Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar, along with Tamil cinema legends Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam, among many others. Held inside Mumbai’s shimmering new Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, which opened just in March, the ceremony featured two hours of impassioned speeches and the dolling out of awards, all of it presided over by Chopra Jonas, this year’s festival chairwoman.
In her opening remarks declaring the festival officially open, Chopra Jonas emphasized the role of women in the Indian industry, saying: “We’d like to acknowledge the pivotal role of women in front of the camera and behind – we have some of the most amazing women,...
In her opening remarks declaring the festival officially open, Chopra Jonas emphasized the role of women in the Indian industry, saying: “We’d like to acknowledge the pivotal role of women in front of the camera and behind – we have some of the most amazing women,...
- 10/28/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stars from both the Hindi and South Indian film industries turned out in force for the opening night of Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival, including Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sonam Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar, along with Tamil star Kamal Haasan, who presented the Excellence in Cinema Award (South Asia) to director-producer Mani Ratnam.
The two leading figures of South Indian cinema also announced their first collaboration in 36 years – Kh 234 – to be produced by Haasan’s Raaj Kamal Films International and Ratman’s Madras Talkies.
“We’re producing the film together – he’s directing it and any job that’s going I’m willing to do, including lead man,” joked Haasan after presenting Ratman with the award. “I’ll keep that in mind,” Ratnam retorted.
Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman and cinematographer Ravi K Chandran are also attached to the film. Haasan and Ratnam last collaborated on gangster drama Nayakan in 1987. A teaser...
The two leading figures of South Indian cinema also announced their first collaboration in 36 years – Kh 234 – to be produced by Haasan’s Raaj Kamal Films International and Ratman’s Madras Talkies.
“We’re producing the film together – he’s directing it and any job that’s going I’m willing to do, including lead man,” joked Haasan after presenting Ratman with the award. “I’ll keep that in mind,” Ratnam retorted.
Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman and cinematographer Ravi K Chandran are also attached to the film. Haasan and Ratnam last collaborated on gangster drama Nayakan in 1987. A teaser...
- 10/27/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival kicks off its second edition in the port city of Jeddah this week.
The event, which runs December 1-10, unfolds five years to the week that news first broke that the country was lifting its 35-year cinema ban as part of a wider strategy to open up its society and the economy.
Related Story Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Festival To Honor Indian Star Shah Rukh Khan Related Story U.S. Beats Iran, Advances To Second Round Of World Cup; Will Face Netherlands Next Related Story Fox Sports Replay Cuts Protester Entirely Out Of Portugal-Uruguay World Cup Match; FIFA Says Pitch Invader Was Released – Updated
The 2021 inaugural edition unfolded amid uncertainty for both organizers and attendees. There were also a handful of last-minute glitches including the emergence of the more virulent Covid-19 Omicron strain and the no-show of figurehead artistic director Edouard Waintrop.
The event, which runs December 1-10, unfolds five years to the week that news first broke that the country was lifting its 35-year cinema ban as part of a wider strategy to open up its society and the economy.
Related Story Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Festival To Honor Indian Star Shah Rukh Khan Related Story U.S. Beats Iran, Advances To Second Round Of World Cup; Will Face Netherlands Next Related Story Fox Sports Replay Cuts Protester Entirely Out Of Portugal-Uruguay World Cup Match; FIFA Says Pitch Invader Was Released – Updated
The 2021 inaugural edition unfolded amid uncertainty for both organizers and attendees. There were also a handful of last-minute glitches including the emergence of the more virulent Covid-19 Omicron strain and the no-show of figurehead artistic director Edouard Waintrop.
- 11/30/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
“We don’t have any kind of power,” said the artistic director.
Studios are making it difficult for major talent to attend film festivals by not releasing them from film shoots, according to Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera.
“We don’t have any kind of power,” said Barbera, speaking alongside former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and Red Sea International Film Festival director Edouard Waintrop, in a conversation session called ‘The future of film festivals’.
“We have to beg them [the talent] to come; we have to beg them to stay as long as they can in the festival; we have to beg them to do interviews,...
Studios are making it difficult for major talent to attend film festivals by not releasing them from film shoots, according to Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera.
“We don’t have any kind of power,” said Barbera, speaking alongside former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and Red Sea International Film Festival director Edouard Waintrop, in a conversation session called ‘The future of film festivals’.
“We have to beg them [the talent] to come; we have to beg them to stay as long as they can in the festival; we have to beg them to do interviews,...
- 9/3/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The star studded Variety and Hotel Danieli pre-festival cocktail party on Aug. 30 was a taster of the riches in store at the Venice Film Festival that kicks off the following day.
Head of the jury Julianne Moore and fellow jurors, “A Separation” actor Leila Hatami and filmmakers Audrey Diwan, Mariano Cohn, Leonardo Di Costanzo and Rodrigo Sorogoyen, were present as was “Thor: Love and Thunder” actor Tessa Thompson, who is serving on the festival’s Horizons strand jury.
The evening, titled “Cinema Danieli – An Unforgettable Story,” on the terrace of the plush Hotel Danieli, which turns 200 this year, has become a festival tradition dating back 13 years. It was introduced by Claudio Staderini, director of the Danieli, who described the hotel as a shooting and residential choice of many of the biggest movie stars in the world.
Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera said that the Variety and Danieli pre-festival cocktail as...
Head of the jury Julianne Moore and fellow jurors, “A Separation” actor Leila Hatami and filmmakers Audrey Diwan, Mariano Cohn, Leonardo Di Costanzo and Rodrigo Sorogoyen, were present as was “Thor: Love and Thunder” actor Tessa Thompson, who is serving on the festival’s Horizons strand jury.
The evening, titled “Cinema Danieli – An Unforgettable Story,” on the terrace of the plush Hotel Danieli, which turns 200 this year, has become a festival tradition dating back 13 years. It was introduced by Claudio Staderini, director of the Danieli, who described the hotel as a shooting and residential choice of many of the biggest movie stars in the world.
Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera said that the Variety and Danieli pre-festival cocktail as...
- 8/31/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Michelangelo Frammartino was also named president of the Luigi de Laurentiis award.
Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet has been named president of the Horizons jury for the Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).
Coixet’s credentials include My Life Without Me, The Secret Life Of Words and The Bookshop. Most recently her documentary The Yellow Ceiling was introduced at Cannes Marché 2022 slate.
Joining her on the jury is Italian director Laura Bispuri; US filmmaker Antonio Campos; Algerian filmmaker Sofia Djama and former Cannes’ Directors Fortnight director Edouard Waintrop.
The Horizons section awards seven prizes in total in all major categories including a special jury prize.
Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet has been named president of the Horizons jury for the Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).
Coixet’s credentials include My Life Without Me, The Secret Life Of Words and The Bookshop. Most recently her documentary The Yellow Ceiling was introduced at Cannes Marché 2022 slate.
Joining her on the jury is Italian director Laura Bispuri; US filmmaker Antonio Campos; Algerian filmmaker Sofia Djama and former Cannes’ Directors Fortnight director Edouard Waintrop.
The Horizons section awards seven prizes in total in all major categories including a special jury prize.
- 7/20/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Spanish director Isabel Coixet will preside over the international jury of the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti competition at the upcoming edition running from August 31 to September 10.
The director knows Orizzonti well having world premiered her 2005 drama The Secret Life Of Words in the section, ahead of it winning four Spanish Goya awards the following year.
More recent credits include The Bookshop, which also swept the Goyas in 2017, winning best director, film and adapted screenplay, and Spanish and English-language romantic drama It Snows In Benidorm, starring Timothy Spall.
She will be by Italian filmmaker Laura Bispuri, whose third film The Peacock’s Paradise played in Orizzonti last year, and US director Antonio Campus, whose recent credits include HBO show The Staircase.
Further members include Sofia Djama, the Algerian director of The Blessed, for which lead Lyna Khoudri won the Orizzonti Best Actress Award in 2017 and former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Delegate General Edouard Waintrop.
The director knows Orizzonti well having world premiered her 2005 drama The Secret Life Of Words in the section, ahead of it winning four Spanish Goya awards the following year.
More recent credits include The Bookshop, which also swept the Goyas in 2017, winning best director, film and adapted screenplay, and Spanish and English-language romantic drama It Snows In Benidorm, starring Timothy Spall.
She will be by Italian filmmaker Laura Bispuri, whose third film The Peacock’s Paradise played in Orizzonti last year, and US director Antonio Campus, whose recent credits include HBO show The Staircase.
Further members include Sofia Djama, the Algerian director of The Blessed, for which lead Lyna Khoudri won the Orizzonti Best Actress Award in 2017 and former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight Delegate General Edouard Waintrop.
- 7/20/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Spanish director Isabel Coixet (The Bookshop, My Life Without Me) will head up the competition jury for the Orizzonti, or Horizons, section of this year’s Venice International Film festival, organizers unveiled on Wednesday.
The Secret Life of Words helmer will be joined by Italian director Laura Bispuri (Sworn Virgin, Daughter of Mine); American filmmaker Antonio Campos (The Staircase, The Devil All the Time); Algerian director Sofia Djama, whose feature debut, The Blessed, screened in Oizzonti last year, winning the best actress honor for star Lyna Khoudri; and French journalist and critic Edouard Waintrop, who most recently was artistic director at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight section.
The Orizzonti jury will present awards for best film, best director, a jury prize, best actor and actress, best screenplay and a best short film honor, picking from the titles selected for the Venice sidebar this year.
Venice...
Spanish director Isabel Coixet (The Bookshop, My Life Without Me) will head up the competition jury for the Orizzonti, or Horizons, section of this year’s Venice International Film festival, organizers unveiled on Wednesday.
The Secret Life of Words helmer will be joined by Italian director Laura Bispuri (Sworn Virgin, Daughter of Mine); American filmmaker Antonio Campos (The Staircase, The Devil All the Time); Algerian director Sofia Djama, whose feature debut, The Blessed, screened in Oizzonti last year, winning the best actress honor for star Lyna Khoudri; and French journalist and critic Edouard Waintrop, who most recently was artistic director at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight section.
The Orizzonti jury will present awards for best film, best director, a jury prize, best actor and actress, best screenplay and a best short film honor, picking from the titles selected for the Venice sidebar this year.
Venice...
- 7/20/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Spanish director Isabel Coixet, known for prizewinning works such as “The Secret Life of Words” and “The Bookshop,” will preside over the jury of the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons (Orizonti) section dedicated to more cutting-edge works.
Coixet will be joined on the Horizons jury by Italian director Laura Bispuri; U.S. director and producer Antonio Campos, who most recently created, wrote and directed HBO Max series “The Staircase,” starring Colin Firth, Toni Collette and Juliette Binoche; Algerian director Sofia Djama, whose first feature “The Blessed” won the 2017 Horizons best actress award for Lyna Khoudri; and former Cannes Director’s Fortnight chief Edouard Waintrop.
Additionally, Italian director Michelangelo Frammartino, who was in Venice last year with “Il Buco,” will preside over the jury for the “Luigi de Laurentiis” award for best first work across all Venice sections, which is worth 100,000.
Joining Frammartino on the Venice jury for best first work...
Coixet will be joined on the Horizons jury by Italian director Laura Bispuri; U.S. director and producer Antonio Campos, who most recently created, wrote and directed HBO Max series “The Staircase,” starring Colin Firth, Toni Collette and Juliette Binoche; Algerian director Sofia Djama, whose first feature “The Blessed” won the 2017 Horizons best actress award for Lyna Khoudri; and former Cannes Director’s Fortnight chief Edouard Waintrop.
Additionally, Italian director Michelangelo Frammartino, who was in Venice last year with “Il Buco,” will preside over the jury for the “Luigi de Laurentiis” award for best first work across all Venice sections, which is worth 100,000.
Joining Frammartino on the Venice jury for best first work...
- 7/20/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight, the section running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, has appointed Julien Rejl as artistic director. He will succeed to Paolo Moretti, who had his third and last edition this year.
Rejl was named by the Srf (Société des réalisateurs de films), the governing body of Directors’ Fortnight. When announcing the news of Moretti’s exit in February, the Srf said it wished “to rethink thoroughly Directors’ Fortnight, its name, its singularity, and its strategic and political role.”
While the international name of the section doesn’t seem to have changed, the Srf suggested that it was rebranding it in French as the “Quinzaine des Cinéastes” to reflect its wish to be “more inclusive and turned towards film and filmmakers in a decisive and firmly political way.”
The Srf said Rejl’s “sheer, communicative, structured and versatile passion is exactly what arthouse cinema will need in the coming years.
Rejl was named by the Srf (Société des réalisateurs de films), the governing body of Directors’ Fortnight. When announcing the news of Moretti’s exit in February, the Srf said it wished “to rethink thoroughly Directors’ Fortnight, its name, its singularity, and its strategic and political role.”
While the international name of the section doesn’t seem to have changed, the Srf suggested that it was rebranding it in French as the “Quinzaine des Cinéastes” to reflect its wish to be “more inclusive and turned towards film and filmmakers in a decisive and firmly political way.”
The Srf said Rejl’s “sheer, communicative, structured and versatile passion is exactly what arthouse cinema will need in the coming years.
- 6/27/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes Directors’ Fortnight has appointed former arthouse sales agent Julien Rejl as its new delegate general and tweaked its French name in a move to usher in a new era of inclusivity for the 60-year-old parallel sidebar.
Rejl replaces outgoing Directors’ Fortnight head Paolo Moretti who took up the role in September 2018, succeeding Edouard Waintrop who oversaw the section from 2012-2018.
France’s Directors’ Guild, or Société des Réalisateurs de Films (Srf), the body which oversees the sidebar, said his appointment had been voted on during a general assembly on June 25.
“His absolute passion, which is communicative, constructive and pluralist is what arthouse filmmakers will need in the years to come,” it said in a statement.
It added that the organisation had also voted to change its French name to La Quinzaine des Cinéastes, from its previous name of La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at the meeting.
This move makes its...
Rejl replaces outgoing Directors’ Fortnight head Paolo Moretti who took up the role in September 2018, succeeding Edouard Waintrop who oversaw the section from 2012-2018.
France’s Directors’ Guild, or Société des Réalisateurs de Films (Srf), the body which oversees the sidebar, said his appointment had been voted on during a general assembly on June 25.
“His absolute passion, which is communicative, constructive and pluralist is what arthouse filmmakers will need in the years to come,” it said in a statement.
It added that the organisation had also voted to change its French name to La Quinzaine des Cinéastes, from its previous name of La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at the meeting.
This move makes its...
- 6/27/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Julien Rejl replaces Paolo Moretti, who stepped down after Cannes.
Julien Rejl, former sales executive at French company Capricci, has been appointed the new delegate general of Directors’ Fortnight.
Rejl takes over from Paolo Moretti, who left after this year’s Cannes.
A graduate of both Paris’ European Business School and La Femis Cinema School, Rejl worked at production, distribution and sales firm Capricci from 2010 to 2021, rising to the role of head of sales.
Speaking of the new format the section is looking to adopt, Rejl said, ”This new identity is first and foremost an opportunity to reaffirm the role...
Julien Rejl, former sales executive at French company Capricci, has been appointed the new delegate general of Directors’ Fortnight.
Rejl takes over from Paolo Moretti, who left after this year’s Cannes.
A graduate of both Paris’ European Business School and La Femis Cinema School, Rejl worked at production, distribution and sales firm Capricci from 2010 to 2021, rising to the role of head of sales.
Speaking of the new format the section is looking to adopt, Rejl said, ”This new identity is first and foremost an opportunity to reaffirm the role...
- 6/27/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Alex Garland’s “Men,” Mia Hansen-Love’s “One Fine Morning” and Alice Winocour’s “Paris Memories” are among the films that will screen in the independent Directors Fortnight section at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, Directors Fortnight organizers announced at a press conference in Paris on Tuesday.
Garland, the director of “Ex Machina,” will be making his Cannes debut with “Men,” while Hansen-Love will be returning to a different section of the festival where she was in the main competition a year ago with “Bergman Island.”
Other films include Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages,” produced by the Safdie brothers. Of the 23 films announced on Tuesday, 11 have female directors.
Previously, Directors Fortnight announced that Pietro Marcello’s “L’envol” (“Scarlett”) would serve as the opening screening in the section.
Directors Fortnight is an independent section that runs concurrent with the main Cannes Film Festival. It was launched in 1969 on the heels of the...
Garland, the director of “Ex Machina,” will be making his Cannes debut with “Men,” while Hansen-Love will be returning to a different section of the festival where she was in the main competition a year ago with “Bergman Island.”
Other films include Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages,” produced by the Safdie brothers. Of the 23 films announced on Tuesday, 11 have female directors.
Previously, Directors Fortnight announced that Pietro Marcello’s “L’envol” (“Scarlett”) would serve as the opening screening in the section.
Directors Fortnight is an independent section that runs concurrent with the main Cannes Film Festival. It was launched in 1969 on the heels of the...
- 4/19/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Despite a 2018 pledge to program more films by female filmmakers, the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday announced a competition lineup with only three films directed by women.
While additional films could still be added to the slate for next month’s festival, the Cannes lineup falls short of the already dismal record of the last two editions. In 2019 and 2021, the festival featured four films by female directors.
This year’s 18 competition films include Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon,” American director Kelly Reichardt’s drama “Showing Up” and Italian-French actress-director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s “The Almond Tree.”
In the Un Certain Regard section, devoted to films with less visibility than the main competition entries, eight of the 15 films are from female directors, including “Beast” from Riley Keough and Gina Gammell.
Four years ago, Cannes general delegate Thierry Fremaux, Directors’ Fortnight artistic director Edouard Waintrop and Critics’ Week head Charles Tesson became...
While additional films could still be added to the slate for next month’s festival, the Cannes lineup falls short of the already dismal record of the last two editions. In 2019 and 2021, the festival featured four films by female directors.
This year’s 18 competition films include Claire Denis’ “Stars at Noon,” American director Kelly Reichardt’s drama “Showing Up” and Italian-French actress-director Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s “The Almond Tree.”
In the Un Certain Regard section, devoted to films with less visibility than the main competition entries, eight of the 15 films are from female directors, including “Beast” from Riley Keough and Gina Gammell.
Four years ago, Cannes general delegate Thierry Fremaux, Directors’ Fortnight artistic director Edouard Waintrop and Critics’ Week head Charles Tesson became...
- 4/14/2022
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
Cannes’ Directors Fortnight, the section running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, is set to change its leadership after the 2022 edition. It will be Paolo Moretti’s third and last edition as artistic director of the program.
The Srf (Société des réalisateurs de films) which is the governing body of Directors Fortnight, announced the news on Feb. 9 and said that more changes are being planned. “The administration board of the Srf wishes to rethink thoroughly Directors’ Fortnight, its name, its singularity, and its strategic and political role.”
Moretti joined Directors’ Fortnight in 2019 from the Roche-sur-Yon Festival, where he had been artistic director since 2014. His exit comes as a surprise and industry insiders said Moretti was hoping to stay for one more edition in 2023. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 edition had to be scrapped. In 2021, Directors’ Fortnight returned with a lineup which included Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II,” Clio Barnard...
The Srf (Société des réalisateurs de films) which is the governing body of Directors Fortnight, announced the news on Feb. 9 and said that more changes are being planned. “The administration board of the Srf wishes to rethink thoroughly Directors’ Fortnight, its name, its singularity, and its strategic and political role.”
Moretti joined Directors’ Fortnight in 2019 from the Roche-sur-Yon Festival, where he had been artistic director since 2014. His exit comes as a surprise and industry insiders said Moretti was hoping to stay for one more edition in 2023. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 edition had to be scrapped. In 2021, Directors’ Fortnight returned with a lineup which included Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II,” Clio Barnard...
- 2/9/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Italian-born Moretti was the first non-French national to head any Cannes section.
Paolo Moretti will step down as delegate general of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight after its 2022 edition as part of a move to overhaul the 60-year parallel section, its organisers the French Directors Guild announced on Wednesday.
“The board, elected in September 2021, wishes to thoroughly rethink the Directors’ Fortnight, its name, its singularity and its strategic and militant position. As such, and in order to carry out this new project, it will soon be welcoming a new general delegate,” the Srf said in a statement.
“The Srf salutes the work...
Paolo Moretti will step down as delegate general of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight after its 2022 edition as part of a move to overhaul the 60-year parallel section, its organisers the French Directors Guild announced on Wednesday.
“The board, elected in September 2021, wishes to thoroughly rethink the Directors’ Fortnight, its name, its singularity and its strategic and militant position. As such, and in order to carry out this new project, it will soon be welcoming a new general delegate,” the Srf said in a statement.
“The Srf salutes the work...
- 2/9/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
As the Red Sea Film Festival, Saudi Arabia’s first international film event, gets underway, it’s become clear that the artistic director of the fest’s milestone first edition won’t be in charge of programming the second one.
Edouard Waintrop, a former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight chief, was conspicuously absent Monday at the opening night gala at the Vox Cinemas multiplex in Jeddah’s historic Al Balad district.
Instead of being on the star-studded red carpet, Waintrop was at his home in Spain suffering from exhaustion, he said, awaiting results from several medical exams after testing negative for Covid-19. And he won’t be returning to Jeddah, at least not in his guise as fest chief.
“For me it was always meant to be a one-shot,” Waintrop told Variety, adding: “I never even had a one-year contract; it was always renewable contracts for a few months.”
Waintrop was appointed...
Edouard Waintrop, a former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight chief, was conspicuously absent Monday at the opening night gala at the Vox Cinemas multiplex in Jeddah’s historic Al Balad district.
Instead of being on the star-studded red carpet, Waintrop was at his home in Spain suffering from exhaustion, he said, awaiting results from several medical exams after testing negative for Covid-19. And he won’t be returning to Jeddah, at least not in his guise as fest chief.
“For me it was always meant to be a one-shot,” Waintrop told Variety, adding: “I never even had a one-year contract; it was always renewable contracts for a few months.”
Waintrop was appointed...
- 12/7/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight artistic director oversaw selection of inaugural edition.
Red Sea International Film Festival artistic director Edouard Waintrop has cancelled his attendance of the festival due to health reasons.
Waintrop was to have flown out of Paris to Jeddah on Sunday for the inaugural edition of Saudi Arabia’s first international film festival (December 6-15) but cancelled his flight.
Contacted by Screen, Waintrop said he had fallen ill over the weekend and had been advised by his doctor to stop working for a week.
“I am very sad to not get back to Jeddah,” said Waintrop.
Waintrop was...
Red Sea International Film Festival artistic director Edouard Waintrop has cancelled his attendance of the festival due to health reasons.
Waintrop was to have flown out of Paris to Jeddah on Sunday for the inaugural edition of Saudi Arabia’s first international film festival (December 6-15) but cancelled his flight.
Contacted by Screen, Waintrop said he had fallen ill over the weekend and had been advised by his doctor to stop working for a week.
“I am very sad to not get back to Jeddah,” said Waintrop.
Waintrop was...
- 12/7/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
International film festival launches in Jeddah exactly four years after lifting of Saudi’s 35-year cinema ban.
Saudi Arabia’s new Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) opens in the country’s second-largest city of Jeddah on Monday evening (December 6), opening with Joe Wright’s musical Cyrano, starring Peter Dinklage in the title role.
Wright is expected to attend the opening ceremony, taking place in a specially constructed outdoor theatre in the port city’s 1,400-year-old historic quarter of Al-Balad, which will serve as the festival hub.
The UK director will be among around 1,000 international guests expected to attend the festival,...
Saudi Arabia’s new Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) opens in the country’s second-largest city of Jeddah on Monday evening (December 6), opening with Joe Wright’s musical Cyrano, starring Peter Dinklage in the title role.
Wright is expected to attend the opening ceremony, taking place in a specially constructed outdoor theatre in the port city’s 1,400-year-old historic quarter of Al-Balad, which will serve as the festival hub.
The UK director will be among around 1,000 international guests expected to attend the festival,...
- 12/6/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Kore-eda’s ‘Air Doll’ Gets First U.S. Release
Exclusive: New York-based distributor Dekanalog has picked up Japanese pic Air Doll, directed by Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda, and will give the film its first U.S. release. Released in Japan in 2009, the film follows an inflatable sex doll who finds that she has grown consciousness and a heart. Wandering Tokyo, she discovers the innate complexities of being human, including the heartbreak of loneliness. The deal was overseen by sales agent Gabrielle Rozing at Fortissimo Films and George Schmalz of Dekanalog. The picture will be released in U.S. cinemas and on VOD in early 2022.
Red Sea Fund First Projects
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Fund has selected 97 projects it will back as part of its first funding cycle. The projects hail from Saudi Arabia (26), the Arab region (60) and Africa (11) and range from feature films to shorts, animations and series.
Exclusive: New York-based distributor Dekanalog has picked up Japanese pic Air Doll, directed by Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda, and will give the film its first U.S. release. Released in Japan in 2009, the film follows an inflatable sex doll who finds that she has grown consciousness and a heart. Wandering Tokyo, she discovers the innate complexities of being human, including the heartbreak of loneliness. The deal was overseen by sales agent Gabrielle Rozing at Fortissimo Films and George Schmalz of Dekanalog. The picture will be released in U.S. cinemas and on VOD in early 2022.
Red Sea Fund First Projects
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Fund has selected 97 projects it will back as part of its first funding cycle. The projects hail from Saudi Arabia (26), the Arab region (60) and Africa (11) and range from feature films to shorts, animations and series.
- 11/30/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (6-15 December) has scored a coup with the world premiere of cricket movie ’83 as its closing film, and the promised attendance of Bollywood star Deepika Padukone, subject Kapil Dev, and director Kabir Khan.
‘83 tells the true story of the charismatic Dev, played by Ranveer Singh, who led the Indian cricket team to its first World Cup victory in 1983 at the hallowed Lord’s Cricket Ground in London against the West Indies, regarded at the time as invincible.
According to the producers of the Hindi language film, the actors trained for months with the real cricketers they were playing to understand the nuances of the sport.
The movie is presented by Reliance Entertainment, Phantom Films and Kabir Khan Films, and will screen ahead of its release across the Gulf region on December 23 and worldwide release on 24 December.
The world premiere will...
‘83 tells the true story of the charismatic Dev, played by Ranveer Singh, who led the Indian cricket team to its first World Cup victory in 1983 at the hallowed Lord’s Cricket Ground in London against the West Indies, regarded at the time as invincible.
According to the producers of the Hindi language film, the actors trained for months with the real cricketers they were playing to understand the nuances of the sport.
The movie is presented by Reliance Entertainment, Phantom Films and Kabir Khan Films, and will screen ahead of its release across the Gulf region on December 23 and worldwide release on 24 December.
The world premiere will...
- 11/29/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Middle East Premiere of Joe Wright’s ‘Cyrano’ to Open Saudi Arabia’s Inaugural Red Sea Film Festival
The Middle East premiere of British director Joe Wright’s dazzling romantic drama “Cyrano” will open the Red Sea Film Festival, which is Saudi Arabia’s first full-fledged film festival and market with international ambitions.
The ambitious event, which is a key plank of the kingdom’s plans to diversify its oil-based economy and become a prominent Middle East moviemaking hub – following the 2017 removal of its religion-related ban on cinema – is set to run Dec. 6-15 in the historic district of the city of Jeddah, a Unesco World Heritage site.
Organizers on Tuesday unveiled a well-assorted lineup featuring lots of fresh Arabic fare interspersed with high-profile international pics such as, besides “Cyrano,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Elena Ferrante adaptation “The Lost Daughter,” Ana Lily Amirpour’s “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon,” and Oscar-nominated Japanese filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda’s anime feature “Belle,” which will open the fest’s Next Generation section.
The ambitious event, which is a key plank of the kingdom’s plans to diversify its oil-based economy and become a prominent Middle East moviemaking hub – following the 2017 removal of its religion-related ban on cinema – is set to run Dec. 6-15 in the historic district of the city of Jeddah, a Unesco World Heritage site.
Organizers on Tuesday unveiled a well-assorted lineup featuring lots of fresh Arabic fare interspersed with high-profile international pics such as, besides “Cyrano,” Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Elena Ferrante adaptation “The Lost Daughter,” Ana Lily Amirpour’s “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon,” and Oscar-nominated Japanese filmmaker Mamoru Hosoda’s anime feature “Belle,” which will open the fest’s Next Generation section.
- 11/9/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Five works in progress and 11 films in development due to be showcased at event running December 8-11.
The Red Souk, the industry component of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival’s project market, has unveiled fresh details for its inaugural edition running December 8-11.
Running within the framework of its larger parent festival, which will also mark its first edition this year from December 6-15, the souk will focus on Arab and African filmmakers and will feature a project market, work in progress screenings, an exhibition space and an industry talks programme.
Lebanese-French director Wissam Charaf’s Beirut-set romantic drama Dirty Difficult Dangerous,...
The Red Souk, the industry component of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival’s project market, has unveiled fresh details for its inaugural edition running December 8-11.
Running within the framework of its larger parent festival, which will also mark its first edition this year from December 6-15, the souk will focus on Arab and African filmmakers and will feature a project market, work in progress screenings, an exhibition space and an industry talks programme.
Lebanese-French director Wissam Charaf’s Beirut-set romantic drama Dirty Difficult Dangerous,...
- 9/30/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
The new fund gives production and post-production support to Arab world cinema projects.
Lebanese director Ely Dagher’s Beirut-set drama The Sea Ahead and Jordanian filmmaker Darin J. Sallam’s debut feature Farha are among the first 14 recipients of the Red Sea International Film Festival’s $14m fund.
Starring French-Lebanese actress Manal Issa as a young woman who returns to Beirut after many years of absence, The Sea Ahead world premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight earlier this year. It was Dagher’s first feature after Waves ’98, which won the Cannes Palme D’Or for best short film in 2015.
Farha will...
Lebanese director Ely Dagher’s Beirut-set drama The Sea Ahead and Jordanian filmmaker Darin J. Sallam’s debut feature Farha are among the first 14 recipients of the Red Sea International Film Festival’s $14m fund.
Starring French-Lebanese actress Manal Issa as a young woman who returns to Beirut after many years of absence, The Sea Ahead world premiered in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight earlier this year. It was Dagher’s first feature after Waves ’98, which won the Cannes Palme D’Or for best short film in 2015.
Farha will...
- 9/6/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
After making its debut on the Croisette in 2018, Saudi Arabia is back in Cannes.
The kingdom has a national pavilion promoting the launch of a high-profile film festival on the Red Sea, and is looking to lure more international productions to come shoot in AlUla, a sprawling area of desert and giant boulders that boasts an ancient city.
Since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinema in 2017, the kingdom has experienced a boom in all aspects of film industry activity, recently becoming the Middle East’s top-grossing territory in terms of theatrical box office returns.
But Saudi’s ambitions to build a film industry have been hindered by the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and reports that appear to implicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the assassination that prompted media companies from the U.S. and elsewhere to clam up.
Is that changing? The Saudi presence at...
The kingdom has a national pavilion promoting the launch of a high-profile film festival on the Red Sea, and is looking to lure more international productions to come shoot in AlUla, a sprawling area of desert and giant boulders that boasts an ancient city.
Since Saudi Arabia lifted its 35-year-old religion-related ban on cinema in 2017, the kingdom has experienced a boom in all aspects of film industry activity, recently becoming the Middle East’s top-grossing territory in terms of theatrical box office returns.
But Saudi’s ambitions to build a film industry have been hindered by the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and reports that appear to implicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the assassination that prompted media companies from the U.S. and elsewhere to clam up.
Is that changing? The Saudi presence at...
- 7/10/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli and Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Juries will award a best leading performance prize and a best supporting performance prize.
Spain’s San Sebastian International Film Festival will no longer bestow awards for best actress and best actor, replacing them with a Silver Shell for best leading performance and one for best supporting performance from the 69th edition of the festival (September 17-25).
“Gender is no longer a parameter that we’ll be taking into consideration when choosing between performances,” explained the festival’s director José Luis Rebordinos. “We’ll be joining the path already taken by our friends at the Belin Film Festival, in tune with the changing times.
Spain’s San Sebastian International Film Festival will no longer bestow awards for best actress and best actor, replacing them with a Silver Shell for best leading performance and one for best supporting performance from the 69th edition of the festival (September 17-25).
“Gender is no longer a parameter that we’ll be taking into consideration when choosing between performances,” explained the festival’s director José Luis Rebordinos. “We’ll be joining the path already taken by our friends at the Belin Film Festival, in tune with the changing times.
- 6/22/2021
- by Elisabet Cabeza
- ScreenDaily
Cinetic Media, CAA Media Finance arranging financing, represent North America with WME.
Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell will reunite in Todd Solondz’s comedy Love Child for Killer Films and 2Am, with Madriver International set to introduce the project to international buyers at the Pre-Cannes Screenings next week.
Solondz, whose credits include Welcome To The Dollhouse and Happiness, will direct from his own script. Killer Films’ Christine Vachon will produce with David Hinojosa on behalf of 2Am.
Cinetic Media and CAA Media Finance are arranging financing and represent North American rights along with WME.
Love Child is styled as a...
Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell will reunite in Todd Solondz’s comedy Love Child for Killer Films and 2Am, with Madriver International set to introduce the project to international buyers at the Pre-Cannes Screenings next week.
Solondz, whose credits include Welcome To The Dollhouse and Happiness, will direct from his own script. Killer Films’ Christine Vachon will produce with David Hinojosa on behalf of 2Am.
Cinetic Media and CAA Media Finance are arranging financing and represent North American rights along with WME.
Love Child is styled as a...
- 6/15/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Fund will be available to both emerging and established directors with projects in development, production or post-production.
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has launched the $10m Red Sea Fund aimed at supporting emerging filmmakers and established directors from the Arab world and Africa.
It aims to back more than 100 feature and series projects in its first year. Saudi nationals will be able to apply to the fund for support for short films in development and production.
The Jeddah-based foundation Red Sea Film Festival Foundation was created in 2019 following the lifting of Saudi Arabia’s 30-year cinema ban.
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has launched the $10m Red Sea Fund aimed at supporting emerging filmmakers and established directors from the Arab world and Africa.
It aims to back more than 100 feature and series projects in its first year. Saudi nationals will be able to apply to the fund for support for short films in development and production.
The Jeddah-based foundation Red Sea Film Festival Foundation was created in 2019 following the lifting of Saudi Arabia’s 30-year cinema ban.
- 6/15/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
The Red Sea Film Foundation, the Saudi Arabian organization that overseas the kingdom’s Red Sea International Film Festival, has launched the Red Sea Fund, a $10 million fund aimed at supporting projects with directors from the Arab world and Africa.
The fund is set to back more than 100 feature projects in its first year, as well as episodic content, and will also be open to short films from Saudi nationals.
“Helping African and Arab cinema grow, that’s a very exciting responsibility,” said the festival’s newly-appointed artistic director, Edouard Waintrop. “That’s what the Red Sea Fund ...
The fund is set to back more than 100 feature projects in its first year, as well as episodic content, and will also be open to short films from Saudi nationals.
“Helping African and Arab cinema grow, that’s a very exciting responsibility,” said the festival’s newly-appointed artistic director, Edouard Waintrop. “That’s what the Red Sea Fund ...
- 6/15/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The Red Sea Film Foundation, the Saudi Arabian organization that overseas the kingdom’s Red Sea International Film Festival, has launched the Red Sea Fund, a $10 million fund aimed at supporting projects with directors from the Arab world and Africa.
The fund is set to back more than 100 feature projects in its first year, as well as episodic content, and will also be open to short films from Saudi nationals.
“Helping African and Arab cinema grow, that’s a very exciting responsibility,” said the festival’s newly-appointed artistic director, Edouard Waintrop. “That’s what the Red Sea Fund ...
The fund is set to back more than 100 feature projects in its first year, as well as episodic content, and will also be open to short films from Saudi nationals.
“Helping African and Arab cinema grow, that’s a very exciting responsibility,” said the festival’s newly-appointed artistic director, Edouard Waintrop. “That’s what the Red Sea Fund ...
- 6/15/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Siff Young is jointly organised with the Cannes Marche.
Shanghai International Film Festival (Siff) announced the five directors who have been selected for Siff Young, a new talent support programme jointly organised by the Cannes Marche du Film, during the festival’s opening weekend.
Four of the filmmakers – Han Shuai, Liang Ming, Rao Xiaozhi and Wang Jing – attended the June 12 event in person, which was held as a forum with a live audience at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The fifth is Hong Kong-based Derek Tsang who was unable to come in person due to pandemic travel restrictions.
The directors were...
Shanghai International Film Festival (Siff) announced the five directors who have been selected for Siff Young, a new talent support programme jointly organised by the Cannes Marche du Film, during the festival’s opening weekend.
Four of the filmmakers – Han Shuai, Liang Ming, Rao Xiaozhi and Wang Jing – attended the June 12 event in person, which was held as a forum with a live audience at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The fifth is Hong Kong-based Derek Tsang who was unable to come in person due to pandemic travel restrictions.
The directors were...
- 6/14/2021
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
“I feel if you open the door, you need to step inside.”
Edouard Waintrop has taken over from Saudi director Mahmoud Sabbagh as the artistic director of the first Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff), due to take place November 11 to 20 in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Sabbagh stepped down in July 2020 after the planned first edition in spring 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Waintrop oversaw seven editions of Cannes parallel section Directors’ Fortnight from 2011 to 2018, having previously spent five years running Switzerland’s International Film Festival of Fribourg, which is known for the diversity of its selection and focus on Asia,...
Edouard Waintrop has taken over from Saudi director Mahmoud Sabbagh as the artistic director of the first Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff), due to take place November 11 to 20 in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
Sabbagh stepped down in July 2020 after the planned first edition in spring 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Waintrop oversaw seven editions of Cannes parallel section Directors’ Fortnight from 2011 to 2018, having previously spent five years running Switzerland’s International Film Festival of Fribourg, which is known for the diversity of its selection and focus on Asia,...
- 6/14/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Festival also unveils new programmers and festival sections.
Former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight head Edouard Waintrop is joining the inaugural edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival as artistic director. The festival is due to take place in the port city of Jeddah from November 11 to 20.
”This new and great festival will celebrate all aspects of cinema, from the creatives telling stories to the technical craftspeople putting imaginative ideas onto the big screen, celebrating filmmaking as force for positive change,” said Waintrop. ”It is a great privilege and honour to be leading the Red Sea International Film Festival.
Former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight head Edouard Waintrop is joining the inaugural edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival as artistic director. The festival is due to take place in the port city of Jeddah from November 11 to 20.
”This new and great festival will celebrate all aspects of cinema, from the creatives telling stories to the technical craftspeople putting imaginative ideas onto the big screen, celebrating filmmaking as force for positive change,” said Waintrop. ”It is a great privilege and honour to be leading the Red Sea International Film Festival.
- 6/14/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has announced Edouard Waintrop as its artistic director ahead of the inaugural edition in November, 2021.
This is a coup for the event given Waintrop’s standing on the circuit. The former critic was Director of Cannes’ parallel strand Directors’ Fortnight from 2012 – 2018.
Also joining the Rsiff team as Special Program Manager is Faizah Ambah, the writer-director and former Washington Post correspondent.
Waintrop will join a team of programmers including film critic Kaleem Aftab (Director of International Programming), Antoine Khalife (Director of Arab Programs & Film Classics), and Mohyee Qari (Program Manager).
The programming team is also adding Marta Balaga, Alice Kharoubi, Leigh Singer, Carmen Thompson, Badih Massaad, and Kim Young-Woo as programming consultants.
Julie Bergeron is returning to the Rsiff as Red Sea Souk Consultant, moving from her previous role as Head of Red Sea Souk. Bergeron has been head of industry programs at the...
This is a coup for the event given Waintrop’s standing on the circuit. The former critic was Director of Cannes’ parallel strand Directors’ Fortnight from 2012 – 2018.
Also joining the Rsiff team as Special Program Manager is Faizah Ambah, the writer-director and former Washington Post correspondent.
Waintrop will join a team of programmers including film critic Kaleem Aftab (Director of International Programming), Antoine Khalife (Director of Arab Programs & Film Classics), and Mohyee Qari (Program Manager).
The programming team is also adding Marta Balaga, Alice Kharoubi, Leigh Singer, Carmen Thompson, Badih Massaad, and Kim Young-Woo as programming consultants.
Julie Bergeron is returning to the Rsiff as Red Sea Souk Consultant, moving from her previous role as Head of Red Sea Souk. Bergeron has been head of industry programs at the...
- 6/14/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
French film critic Edouard Waintrop, a former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight chief, has joined Saudi Arabia’s nascent Red Sea International Film Festival as artistic director.
Waintrop, who between 2012 and 2018 headed the independently run Cannes section, had previously been an advisor to the ambitious Red Sea fest which, after a delay due to coronavirus, is now on track to hold its first edition Nov. 11-20 in the historic district of the city of Jeddah, a Unesco World Heritage site.
In a statement the Red Sea fest’s new chief said the event “will celebrate all aspects of cinema, from the creatives telling stories to the technical craftspeople putting imaginative ideas onto the big screen, celebrating filmmaking as force for positive change.”
It will be “the place for the leaders and visionaries of Arab cinema, both established and emerging, to meet, celebrate successes, and look forward to a bright future,” he added.
Waintrop, who between 2012 and 2018 headed the independently run Cannes section, had previously been an advisor to the ambitious Red Sea fest which, after a delay due to coronavirus, is now on track to hold its first edition Nov. 11-20 in the historic district of the city of Jeddah, a Unesco World Heritage site.
In a statement the Red Sea fest’s new chief said the event “will celebrate all aspects of cinema, from the creatives telling stories to the technical craftspeople putting imaginative ideas onto the big screen, celebrating filmmaking as force for positive change.”
It will be “the place for the leaders and visionaries of Arab cinema, both established and emerging, to meet, celebrate successes, and look forward to a bright future,” he added.
- 6/14/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
After canceling its last edition due to the pandemic, Directors’ Fortnight, a section running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, will be back with a stylish and eclectic international lineup, including Joanna Hogg’s highly anticipated “The Souvenir Part II,” Clio Barnard’s “Ali & Ava,” Jonas Carpignano’s “A Chiara,” Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman’s Rwanda-set sci-fi film “Neptune Frost,” and Alice Rohrwacher, Pietro Marcello and Francesco Munzi’s “Futura.”
The highlight of this edition will likely be the world premiere of “The Souvenir Part II,” which will mark the first presence of Hogg, an acclaimed British writer-director, at Cannes. The romance-drama is headlined by Tilda Swinton — who will also be in Cannes for “The French Dispatch” and “Memoria” competing in the festival’s Official Selection — as well as Richard Ayoade, Charlie Heaton and Harris Dickinson. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the film revolves around a student who begins to...
The highlight of this edition will likely be the world premiere of “The Souvenir Part II,” which will mark the first presence of Hogg, an acclaimed British writer-director, at Cannes. The romance-drama is headlined by Tilda Swinton — who will also be in Cannes for “The French Dispatch” and “Memoria” competing in the festival’s Official Selection — as well as Richard Ayoade, Charlie Heaton and Harris Dickinson. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, the film revolves around a student who begins to...
- 6/8/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Eight-month programme culminates with industry pitching event at first edition of Red Sea International Film Festival in November.
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled the 12 projects that will participate in its 2021 Red Sea Lodge project lab, which is organised in collaboration with the TorinoFilmLab.
Six of the projects are Saudi while the other projects hail from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Lebanon.
Half of the projects are directed by women including Saudi director Dalyah Bakheet’s The Photographer Of Madina, based on the true story of a female photographer who opened the first studio for women in Saudia Arabia,...
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled the 12 projects that will participate in its 2021 Red Sea Lodge project lab, which is organised in collaboration with the TorinoFilmLab.
Six of the projects are Saudi while the other projects hail from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Lebanon.
Half of the projects are directed by women including Saudi director Dalyah Bakheet’s The Photographer Of Madina, based on the true story of a female photographer who opened the first studio for women in Saudia Arabia,...
- 3/25/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
“We’re not going to give the Nobel Peace Prize to Delon,” said Fremaux.
In his pre-festival press conference, Cannes Film Festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux staunchly defended the event’s efforts to achieve gender equality and the awarding this year of an honorary Palme d’Or to controversial actor Alain Delon.
“I want to say that Cannes is always criticised – they [the press] ask Cannes to do things they don’t ask other festivals to do,” commented Frémaux. “[On] social issues, societal matters, the Cannes festival has to be perfect.”
Frémaux defended the festival’s decision to award Delon an honorary Palme...
In his pre-festival press conference, Cannes Film Festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux staunchly defended the event’s efforts to achieve gender equality and the awarding this year of an honorary Palme d’Or to controversial actor Alain Delon.
“I want to say that Cannes is always criticised – they [the press] ask Cannes to do things they don’t ask other festivals to do,” commented Frémaux. “[On] social issues, societal matters, the Cannes festival has to be perfect.”
Frémaux defended the festival’s decision to award Delon an honorary Palme...
- 5/13/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
“We’re not going to give the Nobel Peace Prize to Delon,” said Fremaux
In his pre-festival press conference, Cannes Film Festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux staunchly defended the event’s efforts to achieve gender equality and the awarding this year of an honorary Palme d’Or to controversial actor Alain Delon.
“I want to say that Cannes is always criticised – they [the press] ask Cannes to do things they don’t ask other festivals to do,” commented Frémaux. “[On] social issues, societal matters, the Cannes festival has to be perfect.”
Frémaux defended the festival’s decision to award Delon an honorary Palme...
In his pre-festival press conference, Cannes Film Festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux staunchly defended the event’s efforts to achieve gender equality and the awarding this year of an honorary Palme d’Or to controversial actor Alain Delon.
“I want to say that Cannes is always criticised – they [the press] ask Cannes to do things they don’t ask other festivals to do,” commented Frémaux. “[On] social issues, societal matters, the Cannes festival has to be perfect.”
Frémaux defended the festival’s decision to award Delon an honorary Palme...
- 5/13/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Robert Eggers’ anticipated “The Lighthouse” with Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, Luca Guadagnino’s medium-length film “The Staggering Girl” and Japanese helmer Takashi Miike’s “First Love” are set to unspool at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight under the new leadership of Paolo Moretti.
Described by Moretti as a “hypnotic two-hander” powered by Pattinson and Dafoe, “The Lighthouse” is a fantasy horror film set in a mysterious island in New England at the end of the 19th century. Eggers previously directed “The Witch.”
As with Cannes’ official selection, Directors’ Fortnight will showcase a wide range of genre movies. Besides “The Lighthouse,” the other anticipated genre films set for Directors’ Fortnight include Bertrand Bonello’s “Zombi Child,” about the Haitian Clairvius Narcisse, victim of a voodoo; Miike’s “First Love”; Babak Anvari’s “Wounds,” with Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson; and Tunisian helmer Ala Eddine Slim’s “Tlamess.”
Moretti, who took over from...
Described by Moretti as a “hypnotic two-hander” powered by Pattinson and Dafoe, “The Lighthouse” is a fantasy horror film set in a mysterious island in New England at the end of the 19th century. Eggers previously directed “The Witch.”
As with Cannes’ official selection, Directors’ Fortnight will showcase a wide range of genre movies. Besides “The Lighthouse,” the other anticipated genre films set for Directors’ Fortnight include Bertrand Bonello’s “Zombi Child,” about the Haitian Clairvius Narcisse, victim of a voodoo; Miike’s “First Love”; Babak Anvari’s “Wounds,” with Armie Hammer and Dakota Johnson; and Tunisian helmer Ala Eddine Slim’s “Tlamess.”
Moretti, who took over from...
- 4/23/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes Directors’ Fortnight will open with French comedy Deerskin, starring Jean Dujardin (The Artist) and Adèle Haenel (Bpm).
Dujardin plays a man who becomes obsessed with owning an expensive designer deerskin jacket, leading him to blow his life savings and even turn to crime. The film will have its world premiere on May 15, and will be released theatrically in France on June 19, distributed by Diaphana. Producers are Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe for Atelier de Production with Arte France. Sales are handled by WTFilms.
Dujardin won Best Actor awards both at Cannes and at the Oscars for The Artist. Rising star Haenel is well known for movies including Bpm, Love At First Fight and The Unknown Girl.
The film is the seventh from director Quentin Dupieux (Keep An Eye Out). The filmmaker began his career making music videos and commercials working with Michel Gondry. His previous movies include Rubber, selected for...
Dujardin plays a man who becomes obsessed with owning an expensive designer deerskin jacket, leading him to blow his life savings and even turn to crime. The film will have its world premiere on May 15, and will be released theatrically in France on June 19, distributed by Diaphana. Producers are Thomas and Mathieu Verhaeghe for Atelier de Production with Arte France. Sales are handled by WTFilms.
Dujardin won Best Actor awards both at Cannes and at the Oscars for The Artist. Rising star Haenel is well known for movies including Bpm, Love At First Fight and The Unknown Girl.
The film is the seventh from director Quentin Dupieux (Keep An Eye Out). The filmmaker began his career making music videos and commercials working with Michel Gondry. His previous movies include Rubber, selected for...
- 4/4/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Quentin Dupieux’s “Deerskin,” an offbeat French comedy with Jean Dujardin (“The Artist”) and Adèle Haenel (“Bpm”), is set to open the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight.
“Deerskin,” which marks Dupieux’s seventh feature, stars Dujardin as a man who becomes obsessed with owning a pricey designer deerskin jacket, leading him to blow his life savings and even turn to crime. Mathieu and Thomas Verhaeghe at Paris-based Atelier de Production produced the movie. WTFilms represents “Deerskin” in international markets.
Dupieux previously attended Directors’ Fortnight in 2013 with the short film “Wrong Cops,” which was the first chapter of the feature film of the same name presented earlier that year at Sundance.
Dupieux, who began his career working with Michel Gondry on music videos and advertising clips, made his feature debut with “Nonfilm” in 2001. His third film, “Rubber,” played at Cannes’ Critics’ Week in 2010.
He also directed “In Reality,” which played at the Venice Film Festival,...
“Deerskin,” which marks Dupieux’s seventh feature, stars Dujardin as a man who becomes obsessed with owning a pricey designer deerskin jacket, leading him to blow his life savings and even turn to crime. Mathieu and Thomas Verhaeghe at Paris-based Atelier de Production produced the movie. WTFilms represents “Deerskin” in international markets.
Dupieux previously attended Directors’ Fortnight in 2013 with the short film “Wrong Cops,” which was the first chapter of the feature film of the same name presented earlier that year at Sundance.
Dupieux, who began his career working with Michel Gondry on music videos and advertising clips, made his feature debut with “Nonfilm” in 2001. His third film, “Rubber,” played at Cannes’ Critics’ Week in 2010.
He also directed “In Reality,” which played at the Venice Film Festival,...
- 4/4/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The film stars Jean Dujardin as a man who becomes dangerously obsessed with owning a designer deerskin jacket.
French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux’s black comedy Deerskin (Le Daim), starring Jean Dujardin as a man who becomes dangerously obsessed with owning a designer deerskin jacket, has been confirmed to open the 51st edition of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight (May 15-25).
Dujardin, best known internationally for his Oscar-winning performance in The Artist, is joined in the cast by Adèle Haenel.
It is a seventh feature for Dupieux who began his career making music videos and advertising, working with the likes of Michel Gondry,...
French filmmaker Quentin Dupieux’s black comedy Deerskin (Le Daim), starring Jean Dujardin as a man who becomes dangerously obsessed with owning a designer deerskin jacket, has been confirmed to open the 51st edition of Cannes Directors’ Fortnight (May 15-25).
Dujardin, best known internationally for his Oscar-winning performance in The Artist, is joined in the cast by Adèle Haenel.
It is a seventh feature for Dupieux who began his career making music videos and advertising, working with the likes of Michel Gondry,...
- 4/4/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
The board of the rebellious parallel section praised the Halloween director’s mastery of the horror genre.
France’s directors’ guild the Société des Réalisateurs de Film (Srf) has announced it will honour John Carpenter with its Carrosse d’Or award on the opening night of its 51st Cannes Directors’ Fortnight on May 15.
The board of the rebellious parallel section praised the Halloween director’s mastery of the horror genre, publishing an extract of the invitation letter it had sent to the filmmaker.
“Each of your films enhances the irresistible delight of staging. In each of them, the work on space,...
France’s directors’ guild the Société des Réalisateurs de Film (Srf) has announced it will honour John Carpenter with its Carrosse d’Or award on the opening night of its 51st Cannes Directors’ Fortnight on May 15.
The board of the rebellious parallel section praised the Halloween director’s mastery of the horror genre, publishing an extract of the invitation letter it had sent to the filmmaker.
“Each of your films enhances the irresistible delight of staging. In each of them, the work on space,...
- 3/28/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Former Directors’ Fortnight artistic director will oversee international selection.
Former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight artistic director Edouard Waintrop has joined the Bordeaux International Festival of Independent Film (Le Festival International du Film Indépendant de Bordeaux – Fifib), where he will oversee the international selection,
Natacha Seweryn has also come on board to pilot the festival’s “Avant-garde Selection”. Seweryn has collaborated with a number of festivals over the years including the respected first-film focused festival Premiers Plans in the Loire region city of Angers and Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Fifib said in a statement that the arrival of Waintrop and Seweryn signalled...
Former Cannes Directors’ Fortnight artistic director Edouard Waintrop has joined the Bordeaux International Festival of Independent Film (Le Festival International du Film Indépendant de Bordeaux – Fifib), where he will oversee the international selection,
Natacha Seweryn has also come on board to pilot the festival’s “Avant-garde Selection”. Seweryn has collaborated with a number of festivals over the years including the respected first-film focused festival Premiers Plans in the Loire region city of Angers and Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Fifib said in a statement that the arrival of Waintrop and Seweryn signalled...
- 1/15/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Yórgos Lánthimos’s “The Favourite,” Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria,” Claire Denis’s “High Life” and Ethan Hawke’s “Blaze” are among the many well-received films from Venice and Toronto set to be having their French premiere at La Roche-sur-Yon Festival which is headed by Paolo Moretti, the new topper of Cannes’s Directors Fortnight.
The international competition lineup of this 9th edition is headlined by “The Favourite,” Timur Bekmanbetov’s “Profile,” Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Maya,” and Berlin’s Golden Bear winner “Touch Me Not” directed by Adina Pintilie.
“Our idea is to shed light on contemporary films that were discovered in other festivals than Cannes in order to give our audiences an alternative image of cinema,” said Moretti.
Among the stars and filmmakers expected to attend La Roche-sur-Yon is Hawke who will be on hand to present his latest directorial outing, “Blaze” (pictured), as well as Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” in which he stars.
The international competition lineup of this 9th edition is headlined by “The Favourite,” Timur Bekmanbetov’s “Profile,” Mia Hansen-Løve’s “Maya,” and Berlin’s Golden Bear winner “Touch Me Not” directed by Adina Pintilie.
“Our idea is to shed light on contemporary films that were discovered in other festivals than Cannes in order to give our audiences an alternative image of cinema,” said Moretti.
Among the stars and filmmakers expected to attend La Roche-sur-Yon is Hawke who will be on hand to present his latest directorial outing, “Blaze” (pictured), as well as Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed” in which he stars.
- 10/10/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
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.