Ben Sharrock's Limbo is exclusively showing on Mubi in the United Kingdom and Ireland starting September 23, 2021 in the series The New Auteurs.An urgent yet deliberately quirky film, Ben Sharrock’s brilliant Limbo is superficially another fish out of water story. Set in a remote part of Scotland, it resembles the old Ealing Comedies, like Whisky Galore!, but with incredibly dark social realism running through it. The fish is Syrian asylum-seeker Omar who, along with fellow refugees from different countries, has been sent to a place so unwelcoming and bleak—a local place for local people—that desperation quickly sets in. Omar has his trusty instrument, his grandfather’s oud, for company and a determination and outlook that sustains him, but it’s definitely not a rose-tinted story. The cherry on the top of this drama is casting Sidse Babett Knudsen (Borgen) as the woman helping them learn customs and language.
- 10/8/2021
- MUBI
Top European TV fest Series Mania bowed with a bang at Thursday’s opening night in-person gala in Lille, northern France hosting the international premiere of the ITV Studios-sold “Vigil.”
Juries and programming were presented to a hugely enthusiastic 1,200 spectator audience packing out Lille’s main Nouveau Siècle theater.
The bang, when it came to “Vigil,” a BBC nuclear submarine thriller, came via a tremendous opening scene of a Scottish fishing trawler being pulled into the icy depths of the North Sea by an unseen force caught up in its cables – a terrific calling card for current U.K. TV production values.
Tightly written and muscularly directed by James Strong (“Broadchurch”) – as you’d expect from World Productions, producer of “Bodyguard” and “Line of Duty” – episode one of “Vigil”played to admiring audience applause on Thursday night.
More potential Series Mania’s hits await. Running Aug. 26 – Sept. 3, Series Mania...
Juries and programming were presented to a hugely enthusiastic 1,200 spectator audience packing out Lille’s main Nouveau Siècle theater.
The bang, when it came to “Vigil,” a BBC nuclear submarine thriller, came via a tremendous opening scene of a Scottish fishing trawler being pulled into the icy depths of the North Sea by an unseen force caught up in its cables – a terrific calling card for current U.K. TV production values.
Tightly written and muscularly directed by James Strong (“Broadchurch”) – as you’d expect from World Productions, producer of “Bodyguard” and “Line of Duty” – episode one of “Vigil”played to admiring audience applause on Thursday night.
More potential Series Mania’s hits await. Running Aug. 26 – Sept. 3, Series Mania...
- 8/27/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid-based Zeta Studios, producer of Netflix phenomenon “Elite,” is set to co-produce “Picadero,” a neo-noir six-part detective series already set up at Colombia’s Fidelio Films, one of the highest-flying companies in Latin America, and fast-emerging Barcelona-based Amor y Lujo, whose co-founder Almudena Monzú created “Picadero.”
Isabel Coixet, one of Spain’s greatest modern filmmakers is attached to direct episodes of the series. Her movies take in “My Life Without Me,” with Sarah Polley, “The Secret Life of Words,” starring Polley and Tim Robbins, and “The Bookshop,” toplining Emily Mortimer.
Monzu and Amor y Lujo co-founder and producer Andrea H. Catalá will pitch the series at next week’s Series Mania Forum on Aug. 30.
Drawing inspiration from Spanish film director Iciar Bollaín’s “Mataharis” and great detective classics, “Picadero” turns on Llanos who sets up in Barcelona to escape a dark family past and makes a living as a private...
Isabel Coixet, one of Spain’s greatest modern filmmakers is attached to direct episodes of the series. Her movies take in “My Life Without Me,” with Sarah Polley, “The Secret Life of Words,” starring Polley and Tim Robbins, and “The Bookshop,” toplining Emily Mortimer.
Monzu and Amor y Lujo co-founder and producer Andrea H. Catalá will pitch the series at next week’s Series Mania Forum on Aug. 30.
Drawing inspiration from Spanish film director Iciar Bollaín’s “Mataharis” and great detective classics, “Picadero” turns on Llanos who sets up in Barcelona to escape a dark family past and makes a living as a private...
- 8/27/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
One topic that has been, and continues to be, rather contentious is that of refugees, so here’s a film that should receive plaudits purely for tackling the subject. Not only that, but Limbo manages to do so in an extremely subtle and humorous manner.
If the title of this review sounds akin to a crossword clue, then that’s pretty apt because our hero, Omar (Amir El-Masry), is a Syrian asylum seeker who finds that trying to get a foothold in a strange land can get pretty complicated.
And that strange land happens to be a quiet, remote Scottish island, where he and his fellow seekers soon attract attention, for both right and wrong reasons. Whilst the setting is fictional, filming actually took place on the islands of North and South Uist, in the Outer Hebrides, with some genuine refugees as extras.
Evidently then, writer and director Ben Sharrock...
If the title of this review sounds akin to a crossword clue, then that’s pretty apt because our hero, Omar (Amir El-Masry), is a Syrian asylum seeker who finds that trying to get a foothold in a strange land can get pretty complicated.
And that strange land happens to be a quiet, remote Scottish island, where he and his fellow seekers soon attract attention, for both right and wrong reasons. Whilst the setting is fictional, filming actually took place on the islands of North and South Uist, in the Outer Hebrides, with some genuine refugees as extras.
Evidently then, writer and director Ben Sharrock...
- 8/4/2021
- by Dan Green
- The Cultural Post
Two blockbuster openers on the same weekend.
Two blockbuster titles are vying for supremacy at cinemas in the UK and Ireland this weekend, as The Suicide Squad opens for Warner Bros against Jungle Cruise for Disney.
Opening in 643 sites, The Suicide Squad is the 10th film in the DC Extended Universe of films based on DC Comics characters. It is a standalone sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad, with a separate narrative but some of the same characters.
David Ayer, director of the first title, was set to return before switching to development on a film about the Gotham City Sirens.
Two blockbuster titles are vying for supremacy at cinemas in the UK and Ireland this weekend, as The Suicide Squad opens for Warner Bros against Jungle Cruise for Disney.
Opening in 643 sites, The Suicide Squad is the 10th film in the DC Extended Universe of films based on DC Comics characters. It is a standalone sequel to 2016’s Suicide Squad, with a separate narrative but some of the same characters.
David Ayer, director of the first title, was set to return before switching to development on a film about the Gotham City Sirens.
- 7/30/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The plight of Middle Eastern refugees awaiting asylum in the West is given a mordantly absurdist edge in Limbo, a tart socio-political tale in which the urgency of distant tragedies is siphoned into a timeless setting in the Outer Hebrides, where almost nothing ever happens. The result resembles a Samuel Beckett-like piece rewritten by Bill Forsyth, a combination that squeezes mirth out of cold stones. Selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival that never happened, this BAFTA-nominated Focus Features acquisition ended up premiering in Toronto and will now be released domestically on April 30.
This second feature from British director Ben Sharrock, whose debut was the little-seen but well-reviewed 2015 Pikadero, about a young couple weathering an economic crisis in Spain, similarly places its protagonists in perilous straits not of their own making. There could scarcely be a less noticeable place in the UK to sequester political refugees than in the sparsely...
This second feature from British director Ben Sharrock, whose debut was the little-seen but well-reviewed 2015 Pikadero, about a young couple weathering an economic crisis in Spain, similarly places its protagonists in perilous straits not of their own making. There could scarcely be a less noticeable place in the UK to sequester political refugees than in the sparsely...
- 4/28/2021
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
Mirjana Karanovic’s A Good Wife wins best first film; audience award goes to Iciar Bollain’s The Olive Tree.
The 14th edition of the Brussels Film Festival closed with the Golden Iris award going to Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann, with a prize of €10,000 to distributor September Film. The film also won best screenplay and the Rtbf Vt Prize of best film.
The jury was comprised of Flemish actress Natali Broods, Italian director Emanuele Crialese, Belgian actor Pierre Dherte, Dutch actor Derek De Lint and Croatian director Ivona Juka.
The White Iris award for best first film in competition went to A Good Wife by Mirjana Karanovic.
The jury award went to Callback by Carles Torras; best photography went to Giorgos Arvanitis for Blind Sun; the Cineruopa award went to Pikadero by Ben Sharrock; Ups cinephile award went to Suntan by Argyris Papadimitropoulos.
The audience award went to The Olive Tree by Iciar Bollain, which also won...
The 14th edition of the Brussels Film Festival closed with the Golden Iris award going to Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann, with a prize of €10,000 to distributor September Film. The film also won best screenplay and the Rtbf Vt Prize of best film.
The jury was comprised of Flemish actress Natali Broods, Italian director Emanuele Crialese, Belgian actor Pierre Dherte, Dutch actor Derek De Lint and Croatian director Ivona Juka.
The White Iris award for best first film in competition went to A Good Wife by Mirjana Karanovic.
The jury award went to Callback by Carles Torras; best photography went to Giorgos Arvanitis for Blind Sun; the Cineruopa award went to Pikadero by Ben Sharrock; Ups cinephile award went to Suntan by Argyris Papadimitropoulos.
The audience award went to The Olive Tree by Iciar Bollain, which also won...
- 6/27/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Joseba Usabiaga and Bárbara Goenaga as Ane and Gorka in Pikadero Ben Sharrock's debut Pikadero was announced as the winner of the Michael Powell Award for best British feature film at the 70th Edinburgh International Film Festival today. The romantic comedy, written in the Basque language, tells the story of a couple's fledgling relationship that comes under pressure because they can't get time alone. You can read what he told us about the film here.
The jurors also gave a special mention to Brakes, directed by Mercedes Grower, which received its World Premiere at the Festival.
The Michael Powell Jury - which included Kim Cattral, Iciar Bollain and Clancy Brown - said: “We wanted to recognise the very personal and individual voice of director Ben Sharrock for his film Pikadero. In a year when the jury viewed a selection of very distinctive and different films his film really stood out.
The jurors also gave a special mention to Brakes, directed by Mercedes Grower, which received its World Premiere at the Festival.
The Michael Powell Jury - which included Kim Cattral, Iciar Bollain and Clancy Brown - said: “We wanted to recognise the very personal and individual voice of director Ben Sharrock for his film Pikadero. In a year when the jury viewed a selection of very distinctive and different films his film really stood out.
- 6/24/2016
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The winners have been announced at the 70th Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The festival’s top prizes were awarded to Ben Sharrock’s Pikadero (UK-Spain), which took the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film, Argyris Papadimitropoulos’s Suntan (Greece) which won Best International Feature Film, and Johan Grimonprez’s Shadow World (Us), which won Best Documentary Feature Film.
The Michael Powell jury, which included actress Kim Cattrall, Spanish filmmaker Iciar Bollain and actor Clancy Brown, also gave a special mention to Mercedes Grower’s Brakes.
On their selection of Scottish film-maker Sharrock’s Basque-language debut about a young Spanish couple’s attempt to navigate their country’s economic crisis, the Michael Powell jury said: “We wanted to recognise the very personal and individual voice on director Ben Sharrock for his film Pikadero. In a year when the jury viewed a selection of very distinctive and different films, his film really stood out.”
On handing...
The festival’s top prizes were awarded to Ben Sharrock’s Pikadero (UK-Spain), which took the Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film, Argyris Papadimitropoulos’s Suntan (Greece) which won Best International Feature Film, and Johan Grimonprez’s Shadow World (Us), which won Best Documentary Feature Film.
The Michael Powell jury, which included actress Kim Cattrall, Spanish filmmaker Iciar Bollain and actor Clancy Brown, also gave a special mention to Mercedes Grower’s Brakes.
On their selection of Scottish film-maker Sharrock’s Basque-language debut about a young Spanish couple’s attempt to navigate their country’s economic crisis, the Michael Powell jury said: “We wanted to recognise the very personal and individual voice on director Ben Sharrock for his film Pikadero. In a year when the jury viewed a selection of very distinctive and different films, his film really stood out.”
On handing...
- 6/24/2016
- ScreenDaily
Highlights include the UK premiere of Finding Dory and the world premiere of the 4K restoration of Highlander [pictured].Scroll down for competition titles
The line-up for the 70th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has been unveiled this morning by artistic director Mark Adams.
This year’s Eiff (June 15-26) will comprise a total 161 features from 46 countries including: 22 world premieres, five international premieres, 17 European premieres and 85 UK premieres.
Highlights include the UK premiere of Disney-Pixar animation Finding Dory, in-person events that include Us indie filmmaker Kevin Smith and Sex & The City actress Kim Cattrall, and the opening and closing gala world premieres of the previously announced Tommy’s Honour and Whisky Galore!.
Old classics will be re-imagined with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra performing the score to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial live at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre and the world premiere of the newly-restored 4K version of Highlander, celebrating its 30th anniversary with star Clancy Brown in attendance.
The...
The line-up for the 70th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) has been unveiled this morning by artistic director Mark Adams.
This year’s Eiff (June 15-26) will comprise a total 161 features from 46 countries including: 22 world premieres, five international premieres, 17 European premieres and 85 UK premieres.
Highlights include the UK premiere of Disney-Pixar animation Finding Dory, in-person events that include Us indie filmmaker Kevin Smith and Sex & The City actress Kim Cattrall, and the opening and closing gala world premieres of the previously announced Tommy’s Honour and Whisky Galore!.
Old classics will be re-imagined with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra performing the score to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial live at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre and the world premiere of the newly-restored 4K version of Highlander, celebrating its 30th anniversary with star Clancy Brown in attendance.
The...
- 5/25/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Two Brian Cox-starrers and a documentary focus on female directors are amongst this year’s programme of films.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival has unveiled the Scottish selection for it 69th edition (June 15-26).
As previously announced, the festival will open with Tommy’s Honour (world premiere), starring Peter Mullan and Jack Lowden, and will close with Whisky Galore!, starring Gregor Fisher, James Cosmo and Eddie Izzard (world premiere).
Veteran actor Brian Cox has two features in the selection, János Edelényi’s comedy The Carer [pictured] and Jon Cassar’s western Forsaken, in which he stars alongside both Kiefer and Donald Sutherland.
Scottish actor Rose Leslie will star alongside Ray Liotta and Gina Rodriguez in family drama Sticky Notes, from director Amanda Sharp.
Angus Macfadyen, known for playing Robert the Bruce in Braveheart, makes his directorial debut with Macbeth Unhinged, a black-and-white retelling of the Shakespearian tragedy.
This year’s Scottish Documentary Institute’s Bridging the Gap series...
The Edinburgh International Film Festival has unveiled the Scottish selection for it 69th edition (June 15-26).
As previously announced, the festival will open with Tommy’s Honour (world premiere), starring Peter Mullan and Jack Lowden, and will close with Whisky Galore!, starring Gregor Fisher, James Cosmo and Eddie Izzard (world premiere).
Veteran actor Brian Cox has two features in the selection, János Edelényi’s comedy The Carer [pictured] and Jon Cassar’s western Forsaken, in which he stars alongside both Kiefer and Donald Sutherland.
Scottish actor Rose Leslie will star alongside Ray Liotta and Gina Rodriguez in family drama Sticky Notes, from director Amanda Sharp.
Angus Macfadyen, known for playing Robert the Bruce in Braveheart, makes his directorial debut with Macbeth Unhinged, a black-and-white retelling of the Shakespearian tragedy.
This year’s Scottish Documentary Institute’s Bridging the Gap series...
- 5/17/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: San Sebastian and Zurich comedy-drama gets UK sales company.
Film Republic has picked up international sales rights to Edinburgh-based Ben Sharrock’s well-received debut feature Pikadero, which premiered in the New Directors competition in San Sebastian and won the Critics’ Award at the Zurich Film Festival.
The Spain-uk co-production is the company’s first UK acquisition.
Set against the backdrop of Spain’s economic crisis, Pikadero follows a penniless, young couple who have trouble consummating their fledgling relationship in their parents’ homes.
Since screening in San Sebastian and Zurich, the film has been screened at festivals in Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Braunschweig and Huelva, among others, winning the Fipresci Prize and Best Feature Film Award at Kiev’s Molodist, the Best Editor award and Special Achievement in Acting for Barbara Goenaga in Tirana, and a Special Mention for Best New Director at the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival.
Most recently, Pikadero had been...
Film Republic has picked up international sales rights to Edinburgh-based Ben Sharrock’s well-received debut feature Pikadero, which premiered in the New Directors competition in San Sebastian and won the Critics’ Award at the Zurich Film Festival.
The Spain-uk co-production is the company’s first UK acquisition.
Set against the backdrop of Spain’s economic crisis, Pikadero follows a penniless, young couple who have trouble consummating their fledgling relationship in their parents’ homes.
Since screening in San Sebastian and Zurich, the film has been screened at festivals in Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Braunschweig and Huelva, among others, winning the Fipresci Prize and Best Feature Film Award at Kiev’s Molodist, the Best Editor award and Special Achievement in Acting for Barbara Goenaga in Tirana, and a Special Mention for Best New Director at the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival.
Most recently, Pikadero had been...
- 12/9/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Pikadero, the Basque language debut feature from Edinburgh-based filmmaker Ben Sharrock, had its world premiere in the New Directors section of San Sebastian Film Festival this year and has gone on to win the Fipresci prize and Best Film award at the Ukraine's Molodist Film Festival in Kiev. It stars Joseba Usabiaga and Bárbara Goenaga as Ane and Gorka - a pair of twentysomethings who are trapped by the economic crisis. The title refers not only to riding schools but is also slang for a public place used for sexual trysts - theonly option for Ane and Gorka since they both still love at home. Sharrock's gently absurd film follows the pair as they try - and fail - to get some time alone at the same time as they begin to question their hopes for the future. I caught up with Sharrock...
- 11/2/2015
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Mexico’s Kings of Nowhere wins doc prize; Thank You For Bombing wins Switzerland, Germany, Austria award.Scroll down for full list of winners
Grimur Hakonarson’s Rams (Hrútar) has won the Golden Eye for Best International Feature Film at the 11Sth Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24-Oct 4).
The film, about two estranged brothers who have to reunite to save their sheep during an outbreak of disease, is Iceland’s submission for the Oscars for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Zff’s international jury, headed by Carol producer Elizabeth Carlson, awarded the title as well as a cash prize of more than $25,000 (CHF25,000).
It continues a strong festival run for Rams, which won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in May before going on to screen at Karlovy Vary, Telluride and Toronto among others.
International sales are handled by New Europe Film Sales, which has sold the film to around 40 countries. Cohen Media Group handle Us distribution.
It also marks...
Grimur Hakonarson’s Rams (Hrútar) has won the Golden Eye for Best International Feature Film at the 11Sth Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24-Oct 4).
The film, about two estranged brothers who have to reunite to save their sheep during an outbreak of disease, is Iceland’s submission for the Oscars for Best Foreign-Language Film.
Zff’s international jury, headed by Carol producer Elizabeth Carlson, awarded the title as well as a cash prize of more than $25,000 (CHF25,000).
It continues a strong festival run for Rams, which won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in May before going on to screen at Karlovy Vary, Telluride and Toronto among others.
International sales are handled by New Europe Film Sales, which has sold the film to around 40 countries. Cohen Media Group handle Us distribution.
It also marks...
- 10/4/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The 13 films competing for a $55,000 prize include Scott Graham’s Iona and Hans Christian Berger’s After Eden.Scroll down for full line-up
The San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 18-26) has revealed the 13 films competing for the Kutxabank-New Directors Award, which includes a prize of $55,000 (€50,000).
The New Directors section, comprising first or second works by international filmmakers, includes Iona, Scott Graham’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed Shell, which world premiered at San Sebastian in 2012.
Iona stars Ruth Negga as the title character who takes her teenage son to the island where she was born so they can hide from a violent crime.
New Directors line-up
Synopses provided by the festival
After Eden
Hans Christian Berger (Canada)
A tale of love and temptation in the age of Internet pornography. A reclusive university student tracks down his favourite porn star in the real world and becomes her anonymous follower - until he finds the courage to connect in person...
The San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 18-26) has revealed the 13 films competing for the Kutxabank-New Directors Award, which includes a prize of $55,000 (€50,000).
The New Directors section, comprising first or second works by international filmmakers, includes Iona, Scott Graham’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed Shell, which world premiered at San Sebastian in 2012.
Iona stars Ruth Negga as the title character who takes her teenage son to the island where she was born so they can hide from a violent crime.
New Directors line-up
Synopses provided by the festival
After Eden
Hans Christian Berger (Canada)
A tale of love and temptation in the age of Internet pornography. A reclusive university student tracks down his favourite porn star in the real world and becomes her anonymous follower - until he finds the courage to connect in person...
- 7/28/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Spanish-language titles from Pablo Agüero, Asier Altuna, Cesc Gay among line-up.Scroll down for line-up
The San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 18 – 26) this morning announced an array of Spanish-language titles set to compete at the festival, including new films from Pablo Agüero, Asier Altuna, Cesc Gay, Marc Recha, Federico Veiroj and Agustí Villaronga, all of which will play in Official Competition.
Gay’s Truman, starring Ricardo Darin and Javier Cámara, revolves around the relationship between two friends - accompanied by a faithful dog - who share an intense few days, while Marc Recha’s latest Un Dia Perfecte Per Volar, starring his son Roc and Sergi López, charts the story of a boy trying to fly a kite made by his father.
Aguero’s drama Eva No Duerme explores political turmoil in Argentina through the life of an expert in charge of embalming iconic politician Evita Peron.
As anonunced this morning in Madrid, Imanol Uribe’s [link...
The San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 18 – 26) this morning announced an array of Spanish-language titles set to compete at the festival, including new films from Pablo Agüero, Asier Altuna, Cesc Gay, Marc Recha, Federico Veiroj and Agustí Villaronga, all of which will play in Official Competition.
Gay’s Truman, starring Ricardo Darin and Javier Cámara, revolves around the relationship between two friends - accompanied by a faithful dog - who share an intense few days, while Marc Recha’s latest Un Dia Perfecte Per Volar, starring his son Roc and Sergi López, charts the story of a boy trying to fly a kite made by his father.
Aguero’s drama Eva No Duerme explores political turmoil in Argentina through the life of an expert in charge of embalming iconic politician Evita Peron.
As anonunced this morning in Madrid, Imanol Uribe’s [link...
- 7/23/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
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