The death of Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, would shake Iran to its core. In what proved to be a tinder box moment and led to what experts have asserted was the greatest challenge to the hard-line Iranian government since the 1979 revolution, the 22-year-old died in Tehran, having allegedly been beaten by the police after she’d been arrested for not wearing the mandatory hijab.
The news sparked widespread protests across the country as thousands took to the streets over the following weeks and months to demand an end to the hijab rule and for wider social freedoms, particularly for women. The brutal crackdown by authorities that followed resulted in more than 500 reportedly killed by security forces and tens of thousands detained.
Amini’s death would also shake up the production of Tatami, then underway in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, just over 200 miles from the Iranian border. The film, receiving...
The news sparked widespread protests across the country as thousands took to the streets over the following weeks and months to demand an end to the hijab rule and for wider social freedoms, particularly for women. The brutal crackdown by authorities that followed resulted in more than 500 reportedly killed by security forces and tens of thousands detained.
Amini’s death would also shake up the production of Tatami, then underway in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, just over 200 miles from the Iranian border. The film, receiving...
- 8/31/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Previous Cannes 2022 Fashion Polls: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7
Cannes closing ceremony hits this weekend and so many stars have already been strutting to the premieres and parties that we have to wonder who will stick around to the bitter end? Or, more excitingly, who might be called back to town for the closing ceremony. They don't tell people what they're winning, from what we've heard, but they do supposedly contact some filmmakers people to suggest that the team should be in town if you catch the drift. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. That's this weekend. In today's roundup, Sharon Stone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crimes of the Future's Kristen Stewart, and Zar Amir Ebrahimi who is the star of Ali Abassi's buzzy serial killer film Holy Spider. It's based on a true story though her reporter/protagonist role is an invention.
online polls...
Cannes closing ceremony hits this weekend and so many stars have already been strutting to the premieres and parties that we have to wonder who will stick around to the bitter end? Or, more excitingly, who might be called back to town for the closing ceremony. They don't tell people what they're winning, from what we've heard, but they do supposedly contact some filmmakers people to suggest that the team should be in town if you catch the drift. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. That's this weekend. In today's roundup, Sharon Stone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crimes of the Future's Kristen Stewart, and Zar Amir Ebrahimi who is the star of Ali Abassi's buzzy serial killer film Holy Spider. It's based on a true story though her reporter/protagonist role is an invention.
online polls...
- 5/25/2022
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
No, the abortion question has not come up in Cannes, at least not so far. But if the festival has brought more female directors than ever before to ground zero for international film, it is no surprise how many of them speak in their work of the quest for freedom — a woman’s right to exist and to choose a personal destiny.
The question is, of course, urgent. Abortion rights is on all of our minds in the United States, but it’s not the only threat that women face. On Sunday, a group of female activists held up smoke bombs ahead of the screening of “Holy Spider,” a thriller by Iranian-born director Ali Abassi about a faith-driven serial killer of women in a society that has spilled from patriarchy into outright misogyny. The women from the group called “Les Colleuses” held a banner displaying the names of 129 women who...
The question is, of course, urgent. Abortion rights is on all of our minds in the United States, but it’s not the only threat that women face. On Sunday, a group of female activists held up smoke bombs ahead of the screening of “Holy Spider,” a thriller by Iranian-born director Ali Abassi about a faith-driven serial killer of women in a society that has spilled from patriarchy into outright misogyny. The women from the group called “Les Colleuses” held a banner displaying the names of 129 women who...
- 5/22/2022
- by Sharon Waxman
- The Wrap
An intriguing Competition; the return of Hollywood; and familiar gender balance complaints.
Cannes Film Festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux and president Pierre Lescure announced the majority of the Official Selection for the 75th edition in Paris today (April 14).
Screen’s editorial team assesses some of the key talking points generated by this year’s line-up.
An intriguing, exciting Competition
Cannes is a big film festival that is actually, in terms of number of films, very small: official selection that is. The sidebars – Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight – are separately run. With 47 films announced today, and more to come to make it...
Cannes Film Festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux and president Pierre Lescure announced the majority of the Official Selection for the 75th edition in Paris today (April 14).
Screen’s editorial team assesses some of the key talking points generated by this year’s line-up.
An intriguing, exciting Competition
Cannes is a big film festival that is actually, in terms of number of films, very small: official selection that is. The sidebars – Critics’ Week, Directors’ Fortnight – are separately run. With 47 films announced today, and more to come to make it...
- 4/15/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow¬Fionnuala Halligan¬Louise Tutt¬Tim Dams¬Mona Tabbara¬Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer (below) for Danish horror film “Speak No Evil,” which has its world premiere at Sundance. Sales are being handled by TrustNordisk.
The film follows a Danish family on vacation in Tuscany, where they befriend a Dutch family. Months later the Danish couple receive an invitation to visit the Dutch and decide to go for the weekend. However, it doesn’t take long before the joy of reunion is replaced by misunderstandings. Things gradually get out of hand, as the Dutch turn out to be something different than what they have pretended to be.
The film was directed by Christian Tafdrup, and written by Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup.
Christian Tafdrup describes “Speak No Evil” as a satirical horror movie. “Satirical, because it revolves around ordinary people’s absurdly recognizable ways of behaving. A horror movie, because the film is dark, evil and willingly foul.
The film follows a Danish family on vacation in Tuscany, where they befriend a Dutch family. Months later the Danish couple receive an invitation to visit the Dutch and decide to go for the weekend. However, it doesn’t take long before the joy of reunion is replaced by misunderstandings. Things gradually get out of hand, as the Dutch turn out to be something different than what they have pretended to be.
The film was directed by Christian Tafdrup, and written by Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup.
Christian Tafdrup describes “Speak No Evil” as a satirical horror movie. “Satirical, because it revolves around ordinary people’s absurdly recognizable ways of behaving. A horror movie, because the film is dark, evil and willingly foul.
- 1/13/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Anna Serner, the well-respected CEO of the Swedish Film Institute who’s been a leading force behind gender parity campaigns in the film industry, has announced she will be stepping down from her role this fall.
News of Serner’s resignation has prompted a joint open letter from 50 organizations thanking the executive for her dedication to reaching equality and equity in the international film industry. The letter, initiated by the org Women in Film and Television International, praised Serner for her “decade-long commitment” as well as her “passion, dedication and clarity,” which has given [them] all hope, encouragement and strength.”
“It’s impossible to overstate the importance of your work for gender equality. Since taking the helm of the Swedish Film Institute in 2011, you’ve been an unwavering force for women at all levels of the industry,” said the letter, which was signed by Helene Granqvist, from Women in Film and...
News of Serner’s resignation has prompted a joint open letter from 50 organizations thanking the executive for her dedication to reaching equality and equity in the international film industry. The letter, initiated by the org Women in Film and Television International, praised Serner for her “decade-long commitment” as well as her “passion, dedication and clarity,” which has given [them] all hope, encouragement and strength.”
“It’s impossible to overstate the importance of your work for gender equality. Since taking the helm of the Swedish Film Institute in 2011, you’ve been an unwavering force for women at all levels of the industry,” said the letter, which was signed by Helene Granqvist, from Women in Film and...
- 4/28/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
by Nathaniel R
Given that we're two months into a new year, the best cinema of 2018 is receding in our mind's eye, still shimmering but moving out of focus. But so much vivid color and feeling remains. Before we are fully blinded to its beauties by a whole new batch of cinematic images to obsess over, here's one last post to honor the year that was. Here's your host's choices for the 25 best films of 2018.
This year's Honorable Mentions are a varied bunch taking us from horny self-discovery in Swedish woods to a trash-heap island in Japan. Strangely, grief was the year's most defining theme across genres as diverse as horror, tragicomedy, bopics, thrillers, character studies, and romantic dramas.
The films are listed in loosely ascending order, though we always reserve the right to change our minds where lists and rankings are concerned:
Paddington 2 If all franchises were crafted with...
Given that we're two months into a new year, the best cinema of 2018 is receding in our mind's eye, still shimmering but moving out of focus. But so much vivid color and feeling remains. Before we are fully blinded to its beauties by a whole new batch of cinematic images to obsess over, here's one last post to honor the year that was. Here's your host's choices for the 25 best films of 2018.
This year's Honorable Mentions are a varied bunch taking us from horny self-discovery in Swedish woods to a trash-heap island in Japan. Strangely, grief was the year's most defining theme across genres as diverse as horror, tragicomedy, bopics, thrillers, character studies, and romantic dramas.
The films are listed in loosely ascending order, though we always reserve the right to change our minds where lists and rankings are concerned:
Paddington 2 If all franchises were crafted with...
- 3/12/2019
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
There are 87 titles vying for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award this year, in what continues to be a robust lineup of talent, with rich tales to tell from faraway lands. With a number of previous winners and nominees returning for another go-round, and some movies with a strong shot at nominations in other races, this has shaped up to be one of the richest rosters of Oscar contenders in recent memory. At this early stage, there appear to be some clear frontrunners, but as always, there are discoveries yet to be made, and the Foreign Language Committee faces the seriously daunting task of carving out a shortlist of nine films before the official nominations.
This year, however, new Committee heads Larry Karaszewski and Diane Weyermann, who replace the long-serving Mark Johnson, have sought to make it easier on members to screen the films. In a bid for greater participation,...
This year, however, new Committee heads Larry Karaszewski and Diane Weyermann, who replace the long-serving Mark Johnson, have sought to make it easier on members to screen the films. In a bid for greater participation,...
- 11/30/2018
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Paweł Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” leads the pack in this year’s European Film Awards, picking up five nominations after winning Best Director laurels earlier this year at Cannes. The black-and-white romance is followed closely by Matteo Garrone’s “Dogman,” Alice Rohrwacher’s “Happy as Lazzaro,” and Ali Abassi’s “Border,” all of which also picked up awards on the Croisette and now find themselves with four nods apiece.
This year’s ceremony takes place on December 15 in Seville, Spain. Here’s the full list of nominations:
European Film 2018
Border, dir: Ali Abbasi
Cold War, dir: Pawel Pawlikowski
Dogman, dir: Matteo Garrone
Girl dir: Lukas Dhont
Happy As Lazzaro, dir: Alice Rohrwacher
European Documentary 2018
A Woman Captured, dir: Bernadett Tuza-Ritter
Bergman – A Year In A Life, dir: Jane Magnusson
Of Fathers And Sons, dir: Talal Derki
The Distant Barking Of Dogs, dir: Simon Lering Wilmont
The Silence Of Others, dirs:...
This year’s ceremony takes place on December 15 in Seville, Spain. Here’s the full list of nominations:
European Film 2018
Border, dir: Ali Abbasi
Cold War, dir: Pawel Pawlikowski
Dogman, dir: Matteo Garrone
Girl dir: Lukas Dhont
Happy As Lazzaro, dir: Alice Rohrwacher
European Documentary 2018
A Woman Captured, dir: Bernadett Tuza-Ritter
Bergman – A Year In A Life, dir: Jane Magnusson
Of Fathers And Sons, dir: Talal Derki
The Distant Barking Of Dogs, dir: Simon Lering Wilmont
The Silence Of Others, dirs:...
- 11/10/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
The Oscar for foreign-language film may ostensibly represent world cinema at an evening otherwise largely dedicated to Hollywood, but it’s marked by its own form of cultural hegemony: Eurocentrism.
Of the 70 foreign-language films (including special award winners) honored as the year’s best by the Academy, a whopping 56 have been from Europe. For the less math-inclined, that’s 80% — a figure attributable in part to the relative density of developed film industries on the Continent, whatever other biases may be at play. Of the national submissions for this year’s award, for example, more than 40% are European productions — including many of those most hotly tipped for a nomination.
Related Content Critical Analysis: Japan, South Korea in Vanguard of Oscar Titles
Arguably the film leading this year’s European charge comes from a recent winner in the category: Poland’s Pawel Pawlikowski, whose arthouse smash “Ida” cut a clear path to victory in the 2014 season.
Of the 70 foreign-language films (including special award winners) honored as the year’s best by the Academy, a whopping 56 have been from Europe. For the less math-inclined, that’s 80% — a figure attributable in part to the relative density of developed film industries on the Continent, whatever other biases may be at play. Of the national submissions for this year’s award, for example, more than 40% are European productions — including many of those most hotly tipped for a nomination.
Related Content Critical Analysis: Japan, South Korea in Vanguard of Oscar Titles
Arguably the film leading this year’s European charge comes from a recent winner in the category: Poland’s Pawel Pawlikowski, whose arthouse smash “Ida” cut a clear path to victory in the 2014 season.
- 11/8/2018
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
MoviePass Films has become an investor and strategic marketing partner on the Gabe Polsky-directed documentary In Search Of Greatness, in anticipation of the film’s release next month. Polsky previously directed Red Army, which Sony Pictures Classics released after its 2014 Cannes debut and he also is a producer on the Nat Geo series Genius.
A joint venture between Helios and Matheson Analytics and Emmett Furla Oasis Films, MoviePass Films has made this deal with Art of Sport (Aos), the newly-formed, sports-centric distribution entity. The film will be pushed by the MoviePass subscription service and made available to members as a bonus movie that won’t count toward their monthly in-theater movie ticket allotment.
The docu examines what makes certain athletes greater than others, and whether that greatness can be nurtured in young athletes. Among the world class athletes in the film are hockey star Wayne Gretzky, Hall of Fame...
A joint venture between Helios and Matheson Analytics and Emmett Furla Oasis Films, MoviePass Films has made this deal with Art of Sport (Aos), the newly-formed, sports-centric distribution entity. The film will be pushed by the MoviePass subscription service and made available to members as a bonus movie that won’t count toward their monthly in-theater movie ticket allotment.
The docu examines what makes certain athletes greater than others, and whether that greatness can be nurtured in young athletes. Among the world class athletes in the film are hockey star Wayne Gretzky, Hall of Fame...
- 10/25/2018
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Lff 2018 Border Review Border (2018) Film Review from the 62nd Annual London Film Festival, a movie directed by Ali Abassi, starring Eva Melander, Eera Milonoff, Sten Ljunggren, Jorgen Thorsson, Viktor Akerblom, Rakel Warmlander, Ann Petren, Kjell Wilhelmsen and Matti Boustedt. It is difficult to recommend Border. Then again, it is equally tough to advise against [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Border: Fantasy at its Most Fearless and Gruesome [Lff 2018]...
Continue reading: Film Review: Border: Fantasy at its Most Fearless and Gruesome [Lff 2018]...
- 10/12/2018
- by Deyan Angelov
- Film-Book
MoviePass subscribers get to watch both titles as bonus films.
MoviePass Films, the Jv between controversial MoviePass and embattled parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics and Emmett Furla Oasis Films, has partnered with Neon to invest and co-release Monsters And Men and Border.
The partnership kicks off on Tuesday (25) with the New York City premiere of Sundance pick-up Monsters And Men, ahead of the New York and Los Angeles limited launch on Thursday (27).
Reinaldo Marcus Green wrote and directed the drama about the police shooting of a black man that stars BlacKkKlansman’s John David Washington and newcomers Anthony Ramos...
MoviePass Films, the Jv between controversial MoviePass and embattled parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics and Emmett Furla Oasis Films, has partnered with Neon to invest and co-release Monsters And Men and Border.
The partnership kicks off on Tuesday (25) with the New York City premiere of Sundance pick-up Monsters And Men, ahead of the New York and Los Angeles limited launch on Thursday (27).
Reinaldo Marcus Green wrote and directed the drama about the police shooting of a black man that stars BlacKkKlansman’s John David Washington and newcomers Anthony Ramos...
- 9/24/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: MoviePass Films has made a deal to invest in and co-release the next two films to be distributed by Neon: the Reinaldo Marcus Green-directed Sundance award-winner Monsters and Men and Ali Abassi’s Cannes award-winner Border. Both films are completed and will open theatrically in the U.S. this fall. MoviePass Films is a joint venture between MoviePass Inc. corporate parent Helios and Matheson Analytics and Emmett Furla Oasis (Efo) Films.
Monsters and Men premieres tomorrow in New York City before it is initially released in that city and Los Angeles this Thursday. BlacKkKlansman‘s John David Washington and newcomers Anthony Ramos and Kelvin Harrison Jr. star in a film that won the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Outstanding First Feature. Pic goes wide next month. The Ali Abassi-directed Border won top prize in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard sidebar this year. Border has...
Monsters and Men premieres tomorrow in New York City before it is initially released in that city and Los Angeles this Thursday. BlacKkKlansman‘s John David Washington and newcomers Anthony Ramos and Kelvin Harrison Jr. star in a film that won the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Outstanding First Feature. Pic goes wide next month. The Ali Abassi-directed Border won top prize in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard sidebar this year. Border has...
- 9/24/2018
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Seeing worldwide sales sell-outs on “355” and “Ironbark,” from FilmNation, and Studiocanal’s “The Secret Garden,” the 2018 Cannes Film Festival proved the second big market in a row to buck, although only in part, longer-term pessimism.
After glacial-paced early trading, titles sold from Cannes first weekend both to the U.S. and abroad at a steady, though never spectacular, rate.
But if Cannes, like February’s surprisingly buoyant Berlin, suggested there is still life in the international independent film business, despite a tepid Sundance and dire American Film Market, it also delivered a sobering snapshot of new market realities.
Whichever way the 2018 Cannes Film Market is taken, heartening signs of continued market traction have to be placed in a context of a longer-term attrition in the independent theatrical market affecting both many mid-sized English-language movies and arthouse titles alike. The bottom hasn’t fallen out of either market. But their theatrical space,...
After glacial-paced early trading, titles sold from Cannes first weekend both to the U.S. and abroad at a steady, though never spectacular, rate.
But if Cannes, like February’s surprisingly buoyant Berlin, suggested there is still life in the international independent film business, despite a tepid Sundance and dire American Film Market, it also delivered a sobering snapshot of new market realities.
Whichever way the 2018 Cannes Film Market is taken, heartening signs of continued market traction have to be placed in a context of a longer-term attrition in the independent theatrical market affecting both many mid-sized English-language movies and arthouse titles alike. The bottom hasn’t fallen out of either market. But their theatrical space,...
- 5/22/2018
- by John Hopewell and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: The festival will show eight films directed by Young under the name Bernard Shakey.
After Cph Pix revealed last week that it will open with Marvel’s Doctor Strange, the Copenhagen festival has unveiled that it will host world premieres of eight Danish films as well as hosting a retrospective of works by musician and film-maker Neil Young.
The eighth edition of Cph Pix, which is now in new autumn dates (Oct 27 – Nov 9), will offer world premieres of Morten Bh’s Anti, Mads Erichsen’s Vindmøllernes Sus, Frederik Barington’s Nar Solen Skinner, Anders Fløe’s Afskaret, Philippe Lesage’s Copenhague, A Love Story, David Noel Bourke’s Bakerman and Dariusz Steiness’s De Vildfarne.
The other Danish offerings are all debut features: Christian Tafdrup’s Parents, Ulrich Thomsen’s In Embryo, Ali Abassi’s Shelley and Puk Grasten’s 37.
“We’re excited to present such a diverse roster of Danish films this year,” festival director...
After Cph Pix revealed last week that it will open with Marvel’s Doctor Strange, the Copenhagen festival has unveiled that it will host world premieres of eight Danish films as well as hosting a retrospective of works by musician and film-maker Neil Young.
The eighth edition of Cph Pix, which is now in new autumn dates (Oct 27 – Nov 9), will offer world premieres of Morten Bh’s Anti, Mads Erichsen’s Vindmøllernes Sus, Frederik Barington’s Nar Solen Skinner, Anders Fløe’s Afskaret, Philippe Lesage’s Copenhague, A Love Story, David Noel Bourke’s Bakerman and Dariusz Steiness’s De Vildfarne.
The other Danish offerings are all debut features: Christian Tafdrup’s Parents, Ulrich Thomsen’s In Embryo, Ali Abassi’s Shelley and Puk Grasten’s 37.
“We’re excited to present such a diverse roster of Danish films this year,” festival director...
- 9/12/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
From the producers of When Animals Dream and Only God Forgives, director Ali Abassi’s Danish/Swedish Gothic chiller Shelley has been favorably compared to Rosemary’s Baby, which is more than enough to pique our interest. The film, an official selection at… Continue Reading →
The post Fantasia 2016: Danish Horror Film Shelley Gives Birth to a Trailer appeared first on Dread Central.
The post Fantasia 2016: Danish Horror Film Shelley Gives Birth to a Trailer appeared first on Dread Central.
- 7/7/2016
- by John Squires
- DreadCentral.com
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