Paris-based company The Party Film Sales has boarded international rights to “Aicha,” Mehdi M. Barsaoui’s follow-up to the Venice-premiering “A Son,” and “Transmazonia” by Pia Marais (“Layla Fourie”).
WME Independent is repping North America and multi-territory deals on “Transmazonia.” Both films are in post-production and will be teased by The Party Film Sales at the European Film Market where the company will unveil promo-reels.
Set in contemporary Tunisia, “Aicha” is inspired by true events and tells the story of Aya, a woman in her late 20s who lives with her parents, feeling trapped in a life without prospects. One day, she’s involved in a bus crash while commuting to work. As the sole survivor of the accident, she realizes it could be her chance to start a new life. She flees to Tunis under a new identity, but everything is soon compromised after she witnesses a police blunder.
WME Independent is repping North America and multi-territory deals on “Transmazonia.” Both films are in post-production and will be teased by The Party Film Sales at the European Film Market where the company will unveil promo-reels.
Set in contemporary Tunisia, “Aicha” is inspired by true events and tells the story of Aya, a woman in her late 20s who lives with her parents, feeling trapped in a life without prospects. One day, she’s involved in a bus crash while commuting to work. As the sole survivor of the accident, she realizes it could be her chance to start a new life. She flees to Tunis under a new identity, but everything is soon compromised after she witnesses a police blunder.
- 2/7/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Directors include Huang Hsin-yao, Tom Lin Shu-yu, Lam Sum, Ng Ka-leung and Daishi Matsunaga.
Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (Fpp) has revealed a diverse selection of 46 films for its 2023 project market, including directors Huang Hsin-yao, Tom Lin Shu-yu and Hsu Chih-yen from Taiwan, Lam Sum and Ng Ka-leung from Hong Kong and Daishi Matsunaga from Japan
The market is scheduled to take place from November 20-22 during the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival with a the total prize pool of nearly $250,000 (Nt$8m), including a grand prize worth $32,000 (Nt$1m). All projects in the selection are eligible to...
Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Project Promotion (Fpp) has revealed a diverse selection of 46 films for its 2023 project market, including directors Huang Hsin-yao, Tom Lin Shu-yu and Hsu Chih-yen from Taiwan, Lam Sum and Ng Ka-leung from Hong Kong and Daishi Matsunaga from Japan
The market is scheduled to take place from November 20-22 during the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival with a the total prize pool of nearly $250,000 (Nt$8m), including a grand prize worth $32,000 (Nt$1m). All projects in the selection are eligible to...
- 9/25/2023
- by Silvia Wong
- ScreenDaily
The 2023 Golden Horse Film Project Promotion, the project market that accompanies the Golden Horse film festival and awards in Taiwan in November, has laid out a huge 64-title selection for its 2023 edition.
These include 39 film projects at various stages of development and financing; a further seven works in progress; and the 18-previously announced series at project stage.
The event, which runs Nov. 20-22, offers a $31,000 (Nt$1 million) first prize and a total prize pool of $250,000 (Nt$8 million) from sponsors and industry sources. All selected projects are also eligible to apply to two Taicca funding initiatives: the Creative Content Development Program and the International Co-funding Program.
Among the Taiwanese filmmakers: Huang Hsin-yao, the director of “The Great Buddha+” and “Classmates Minus,” takes on the legend of Taiwanese treasure hunters in “Super-Reasoning Treasure Hunt”; Tom Lin Shu-yu, director of “Winds of September” and “The Garden of Evening Mists,” teams up with Kimi Hsia...
These include 39 film projects at various stages of development and financing; a further seven works in progress; and the 18-previously announced series at project stage.
The event, which runs Nov. 20-22, offers a $31,000 (Nt$1 million) first prize and a total prize pool of $250,000 (Nt$8 million) from sponsors and industry sources. All selected projects are also eligible to apply to two Taicca funding initiatives: the Creative Content Development Program and the International Co-funding Program.
Among the Taiwanese filmmakers: Huang Hsin-yao, the director of “The Great Buddha+” and “Classmates Minus,” takes on the legend of Taiwanese treasure hunters in “Super-Reasoning Treasure Hunt”; Tom Lin Shu-yu, director of “Winds of September” and “The Garden of Evening Mists,” teams up with Kimi Hsia...
- 9/25/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
15 projects participated in the online market aimed at finding partners for socially and environmentally-engaged works.
French director Émilie Frèche’s In A Perfect World, about a couple who end up on the wrong side of the law when they help a young illegal migrant, has won the top prize for a fiction film at the debut edition of the French Cinema for Change co-production market.
An initiative of the Paris-based Le Temps Press film festival, the inaugural edition of the co-financing event ran April 7-8, with the aim of finding partners for film, TV and digital projects that raise awareness around environmental and societal issues.
French director Émilie Frèche’s In A Perfect World, about a couple who end up on the wrong side of the law when they help a young illegal migrant, has won the top prize for a fiction film at the debut edition of the French Cinema for Change co-production market.
An initiative of the Paris-based Le Temps Press film festival, the inaugural edition of the co-financing event ran April 7-8, with the aim of finding partners for film, TV and digital projects that raise awareness around environmental and societal issues.
- 4/15/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Devoted to projects in the final phase of development and funding, the 7th Venice Production Bridge Market will unspool between 4- 6 September with Steve McQueen and Pia Marais among the selection. Fifty-two projects, including 28 fiction films and documentaries, will be presented at the seventh edition of the Venice Gap-Financing Market (4-6 September), an event dedicated to works in the final stage of development and funding and organised as part of the Venice Production Bridge, in the 77th Venice International Film Festival. Over the course of the three-day-long Venice Gap-Financing Market, these 52 projects, chosen from among 270 works hailing from all corners of the globe, will be given the opportunity to complete their financing through one-to-one meetings with international professionals. Jostling among the selected works are 22 fiction feature films (17 European and 5 international) and 6 documentaries (all European) looking to round off their funding packages with...
Gap financing event to present 56 feature film and Vr projects.
UK director Steve McQueen’s upcoming documentary The Occupied City is among 56 projects selected for the Venice Production Bridge, the gap financing event of the Venice Film Festival, which is due to take place from September 2-12.
The three-day industry event, running September 4-6, will unveil 28 feature-length fiction and documentary projects and 12 immersive story projects.
It will also present 13 Vr projects and three cinema projects developed under the auspices of the Biennale College Cinema programme aimed at supporting emerging talents.
More than 270 project were submitted in total.
The event, involving pitches and one-on-one meetings,...
UK director Steve McQueen’s upcoming documentary The Occupied City is among 56 projects selected for the Venice Production Bridge, the gap financing event of the Venice Film Festival, which is due to take place from September 2-12.
The three-day industry event, running September 4-6, will unveil 28 feature-length fiction and documentary projects and 12 immersive story projects.
It will also present 13 Vr projects and three cinema projects developed under the auspices of the Biennale College Cinema programme aimed at supporting emerging talents.
More than 270 project were submitted in total.
The event, involving pitches and one-on-one meetings,...
- 6/23/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦69¦
- ScreenDaily
Award-winning documentary filmmakers take part in pan-European TV project.
Forty-five European documentary directors are taking part in the marathon TV project 24h Europe – We Are The Future (working title) that wraps today (Monday June 18) after a four-day shoot across the continent.
The directors include Germany’s Thomas Riedelsheimer, Serbia’s Mila Turajlic and Romania’s Alexandru Solomon.
It follows 60 protagonists in 25 European countries from Bulgaria to Iceland and focusing on the hopes, fears and desires of young people between the ages of 15 and 30.
The project is a co-production between Berlin-based zero one 24 and France’s Idéale Audience, and is backed by Arte,...
Forty-five European documentary directors are taking part in the marathon TV project 24h Europe – We Are The Future (working title) that wraps today (Monday June 18) after a four-day shoot across the continent.
The directors include Germany’s Thomas Riedelsheimer, Serbia’s Mila Turajlic and Romania’s Alexandru Solomon.
It follows 60 protagonists in 25 European countries from Bulgaria to Iceland and focusing on the hopes, fears and desires of young people between the ages of 15 and 30.
The project is a co-production between Berlin-based zero one 24 and France’s Idéale Audience, and is backed by Arte,...
- 6/18/2018
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Other big winners were Home, Layla M, The Fixer and Lady Macbeth.
Glory won best film at the 8th Les Arcs European Film Festival, which finished Friday (December 16) in the French Alps.
The second feature by Bulgarian directorial tandem Kristina Groseva and Petar Valchanov, it was awarded the festival’s top prize by the jury headed by filmmaker Radu Mihaileanu.
Produced by Abraxas Film, Graal Sa, Screening Emotions and Aporia Filmworks (sales handled by Wide), this story about a railroad worker who accidentally finds a lot of money on the tracks and decides to give it back to the police also won the Press Prize.
Another big winner at the festival was the Belgian production Home (by Prime Time Entertainment and Communication Versus Production). Directed by Fien Troch, it picked up the grand jury prize. Troch is an experienced Flemish director in the international film festival circuit and former participant at the Cannes Cinéfondation.
The best actress...
Glory won best film at the 8th Les Arcs European Film Festival, which finished Friday (December 16) in the French Alps.
The second feature by Bulgarian directorial tandem Kristina Groseva and Petar Valchanov, it was awarded the festival’s top prize by the jury headed by filmmaker Radu Mihaileanu.
Produced by Abraxas Film, Graal Sa, Screening Emotions and Aporia Filmworks (sales handled by Wide), this story about a railroad worker who accidentally finds a lot of money on the tracks and decides to give it back to the police also won the Press Prize.
Another big winner at the festival was the Belgian production Home (by Prime Time Entertainment and Communication Versus Production). Directed by Fien Troch, it picked up the grand jury prize. Troch is an experienced Flemish director in the international film festival circuit and former participant at the Cannes Cinéfondation.
The best actress...
- 12/19/2016
- ScreenDaily
Houda Benyamina [pictured], Jessica Hausner and Rebecca Daly among directors due to attend the festival.
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
- 11/8/2016
- ScreenDaily
Houda Benyamina [pictured], Jessica Hausner and Rebecca Daly among directors due to attend the festival.
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
- 11/8/2016
- ScreenDaily
It’s become a great breaking in the new year traditional here at Ioncinema.com. We begin our countdown to the our most anticipated foreign films (anything outside the U.S.) with our own Nicholas Bell curating the best bets for 2016. Here are the titles and filmmakers that didn’t make our final Top 100 cut, but are nonetheless “radar” worthy.
101. El Rey del Once – Daniel Burman
102. The Dancer – Stephanie Di Giusto
103. Le Cancre – Paul Vecchiali
104. While the Women are Sleeping – Wayne Wang
105. Tomorrow – Martha Pinson
106. Spring Again – Gael Morel
107. Crowhurst – Simon Rumley
108. Le Garcon – Philippe Lioret *
109. Marie and the Misfits – Sebastien Betbeder
110. Le Caravage – Alain Chevalier
111. Night Song – Raphael Nadjari
112. Réparer les vivants – Katell Quillevere *
113. Project Lazarus – Mateo Gil
114. Afterimages – Andrzej Wajda
115. Don’t Knock Twice – Caradog James
116. Detour – Christopher Smith
117. The Bride of Rip Van Winkle – Shunji Iwai
118. Three on the Road – Johnnie To
119. Le Vin et le Vent...
101. El Rey del Once – Daniel Burman
102. The Dancer – Stephanie Di Giusto
103. Le Cancre – Paul Vecchiali
104. While the Women are Sleeping – Wayne Wang
105. Tomorrow – Martha Pinson
106. Spring Again – Gael Morel
107. Crowhurst – Simon Rumley
108. Le Garcon – Philippe Lioret *
109. Marie and the Misfits – Sebastien Betbeder
110. Le Caravage – Alain Chevalier
111. Night Song – Raphael Nadjari
112. Réparer les vivants – Katell Quillevere *
113. Project Lazarus – Mateo Gil
114. Afterimages – Andrzej Wajda
115. Don’t Knock Twice – Caradog James
116. Detour – Christopher Smith
117. The Bride of Rip Van Winkle – Shunji Iwai
118. Three on the Road – Johnnie To
119. Le Vin et le Vent...
- 1/4/2016
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
While DC and Marvel might already have a lock on several future release dates past the 2015 campaign with the Coen Bros. circling February on their calendars, for the most part, when it comes to American independent and foreign film flavored items, 2016 is still cloudy with a chance of…. 2015 just broke (we already have plenty to look forward to (Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films / Top 25 Most Anticipated Studio Films / Top 100 Most Anticipated American Independent Films – soon!) but we’re already excited about what is in store for several of our favorite auteurs. Here are picks 100 to 6, with our Nicholas Bell providing further analysis on current top five for 2016. Pictured above is Peter Strickland, who sits in our number six spot.
100. Untitled Edward Munch Project – Erik Poppe
99. Bastille Day – James Watkins
98. Live By Night – Ben Affleck
97. Imagine – Benoit Graffin
96. Pete’s Dragon – David Lowery
95. Bella Luna – Ivan Fila
94. Bat, Butterfly, Moth – Sergio Caballero...
100. Untitled Edward Munch Project – Erik Poppe
99. Bastille Day – James Watkins
98. Live By Night – Ben Affleck
97. Imagine – Benoit Graffin
96. Pete’s Dragon – David Lowery
95. Bella Luna – Ivan Fila
94. Bat, Butterfly, Moth – Sergio Caballero...
- 1/16/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Other winners include Ivan Marinovic, Amikam Kovner and Assaf Snir.
Ethiopian-born, Israeli filmmaker Alamork Marsha’s Fig Tree, based on her experiences as a child in war-torn Addis Ababa in 1991, has won the $50,000 top prize at the pitching event of Sam Spiegel school’s Jerusalem International Film Lab.
It was an apt choice as fighting escalated between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, some 70 kilometres down the road, where more than 160 inhabitants have died in Israeli air strikes over the past six days, launched in response to a barrage of rocket attacks on Israel. (In fact air sirens were heard in Jerusalem just 15 minutes before the awards were announced.)
In her pitch, Marsha revealed how Fig Tree was inspired by her childhood, living with her grandmother on the outskirts of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa during the civil war and her Jewish family’s decision to move to Israel. She said one...
Ethiopian-born, Israeli filmmaker Alamork Marsha’s Fig Tree, based on her experiences as a child in war-torn Addis Ababa in 1991, has won the $50,000 top prize at the pitching event of Sam Spiegel school’s Jerusalem International Film Lab.
It was an apt choice as fighting escalated between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, some 70 kilometres down the road, where more than 160 inhabitants have died in Israeli air strikes over the past six days, launched in response to a barrage of rocket attacks on Israel. (In fact air sirens were heard in Jerusalem just 15 minutes before the awards were announced.)
In her pitch, Marsha revealed how Fig Tree was inspired by her childhood, living with her grandmother on the outskirts of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa during the civil war and her Jewish family’s decision to move to Israel. She said one...
- 7/13/2014
- ScreenDaily
The festival is laying on a packed programme of film industry events this year, headlined by the Jerusalem Pitch Point meeting.
The meeting revolves around a central pitching event on July 14, open to both industry professionals, film students and the public, aimed at connecting Israeli filmmakers with international partners on their upcoming projects.
Participants this year include celebrated experimental director Nina Menkes, established filmmakers Nir Bergman and Dina Zvi Riklis and up and coming director Eitan Gafny, whose Lebanon-set zombie picture debut Cannon Fodder has sold well internationally.
For the first time, the event will also screen a selection of Israeli works-in-progress to selected industry professionals, including Madame Yankelova’s Fine Literature Club, the feature debut of Guilhad Emilio Schenker, whose 2010 short Lavan screened in more than 70 festivals and won numerous prizes.
The projects will compete for a trio of prizes meted out by France’s National Cinema Centre, Franco-German broadcaster...
The meeting revolves around a central pitching event on July 14, open to both industry professionals, film students and the public, aimed at connecting Israeli filmmakers with international partners on their upcoming projects.
Participants this year include celebrated experimental director Nina Menkes, established filmmakers Nir Bergman and Dina Zvi Riklis and up and coming director Eitan Gafny, whose Lebanon-set zombie picture debut Cannon Fodder has sold well internationally.
For the first time, the event will also screen a selection of Israeli works-in-progress to selected industry professionals, including Madame Yankelova’s Fine Literature Club, the feature debut of Guilhad Emilio Schenker, whose 2010 short Lavan screened in more than 70 festivals and won numerous prizes.
The projects will compete for a trio of prizes meted out by France’s National Cinema Centre, Franco-German broadcaster...
- 7/10/2014
- ScreenDaily
Ritesh Batra
Lunchbox director Ritesh Batra is one of the thirteen participants of the Jerusalem International Film Lab who will compete for production prizes worth $80,000 at a pitching event during the upcoming Jerusalem Film Festival.
Batra participated in the seven-month lab, that included two residential workshops in Jerusalem, with his second feature project titled “Photograph”.
The lab closes with a pitching event that runs parallel to the Jerusalem Film Festival where the finalized scripts are presented before a panel of international jury members. This year, the closing events will take place between July 9-13, 2014.
After the pitching event, the jury awards production prizes totaling in $80,000 in an award ceremony.
The Jury this year headed by French producer and distributor Michèle Halberstadt consists of Manfred Schmidt (Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung GmbH, Germany), Katriel Schory (Israel Film Fund), Rémi Burah (Arte France Cinema), Charles Tesson (Cannes Critics’ Week), Sonja Heinen (Berlinale Co-Production Market) and German director Pia Marais.
Lunchbox director Ritesh Batra is one of the thirteen participants of the Jerusalem International Film Lab who will compete for production prizes worth $80,000 at a pitching event during the upcoming Jerusalem Film Festival.
Batra participated in the seven-month lab, that included two residential workshops in Jerusalem, with his second feature project titled “Photograph”.
The lab closes with a pitching event that runs parallel to the Jerusalem Film Festival where the finalized scripts are presented before a panel of international jury members. This year, the closing events will take place between July 9-13, 2014.
After the pitching event, the jury awards production prizes totaling in $80,000 in an award ceremony.
The Jury this year headed by French producer and distributor Michèle Halberstadt consists of Manfred Schmidt (Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung GmbH, Germany), Katriel Schory (Israel Film Fund), Rémi Burah (Arte France Cinema), Charles Tesson (Cannes Critics’ Week), Sonja Heinen (Berlinale Co-Production Market) and German director Pia Marais.
- 7/1/2014
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Ritesh Batra, Talya Lavie, Nora Martirosyan among entrants.
Graduates of the Jerusalem International Film Lab 3rd edition will compete for $80,000 in production prizes at a pitching event at the Jerusalem International Film Festival.
Aspiring directors and producers will present 13 full-length film projects to a panel of jurists and industry.
Competing filmmakers include Talya Lavie (Israel), whose her first feature Zero Motivation won the two awards at the Tribeca Film Festival, Ritesh Batra (India), whose his first feature The Lunchbox premiered last year in Cannes Critics’ Week; Nora Martirosyan (Armenia), who won the Arte International Prize in Cannes’ Atelier (2014), and Ása Hjörleifsdóttir (Iceland), who received the Vff Talent Highlight Pitch Awards at the 2014 Berlinale.
The jury, headed by Michele Halberstadt of Arp, comprises Manfred Schmidt (executive director of the Mdm, Germany), Katriel Schory (executive director of the Israel Film Fund), Charles Tesson (artistic director of the Cannes Critics’ Week), Rémi Burah (Deputy CEO of Arte France Cinéma), [link...
Graduates of the Jerusalem International Film Lab 3rd edition will compete for $80,000 in production prizes at a pitching event at the Jerusalem International Film Festival.
Aspiring directors and producers will present 13 full-length film projects to a panel of jurists and industry.
Competing filmmakers include Talya Lavie (Israel), whose her first feature Zero Motivation won the two awards at the Tribeca Film Festival, Ritesh Batra (India), whose his first feature The Lunchbox premiered last year in Cannes Critics’ Week; Nora Martirosyan (Armenia), who won the Arte International Prize in Cannes’ Atelier (2014), and Ása Hjörleifsdóttir (Iceland), who received the Vff Talent Highlight Pitch Awards at the 2014 Berlinale.
The jury, headed by Michele Halberstadt of Arp, comprises Manfred Schmidt (executive director of the Mdm, Germany), Katriel Schory (executive director of the Israel Film Fund), Charles Tesson (artistic director of the Cannes Critics’ Week), Rémi Burah (Deputy CEO of Arte France Cinéma), [link...
- 6/30/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
English-language thriller set on French Riviera in the 1950s due to shoot July 2015.
Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz’s upcoming thriller The Beauty of Sharks was one of the hot projects at the inaugural edition of the Paris Coproduction Village, which unfolded off the French capital’s Champs Elysees last week.
Two French buyers were rumoured to be circling the thriller about a group of Us expatriate hustlers living on the French Riviera, who are trying to get a piece of an elderly socialite’s millions.
It is based on an original screenplay by UK writer Rob Green who recently worked on Billy O’Brien’s horror romance Scintilla.
The feature is produced by Filip Jan Rymsza of Royal Road Entertainment, which is based out of Los Angeles with satellite offices in New York and Luxembourg. Rymsza, who has a dual Us and Polish nationality, also takes a co-writing credit.
“The plan is to raise finance both out...
Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz’s upcoming thriller The Beauty of Sharks was one of the hot projects at the inaugural edition of the Paris Coproduction Village, which unfolded off the French capital’s Champs Elysees last week.
Two French buyers were rumoured to be circling the thriller about a group of Us expatriate hustlers living on the French Riviera, who are trying to get a piece of an elderly socialite’s millions.
It is based on an original screenplay by UK writer Rob Green who recently worked on Billy O’Brien’s horror romance Scintilla.
The feature is produced by Filip Jan Rymsza of Royal Road Entertainment, which is based out of Los Angeles with satellite offices in New York and Luxembourg. Rymsza, who has a dual Us and Polish nationality, also takes a co-writing credit.
“The plan is to raise finance both out...
- 6/16/2014
- ScreenDaily
Producer Trish Lake is developing White Knuckles, a psychological drama set among middle and lower middle class white Afrikaans who live in fortified residences and gated communities, keeping the outside world at bay and becoming increasingly paranoid and isolated.
The director is Pia Marais, a South African/Swedish woman who grew up in South Africa and now lives in Berlin.
The writer is Roger Monk, who was originally inspired by a true story that happened years ago that was the basis of the Cathy Henkel-directed documentary The Man Who Stole My Mother's Face, which won the Tribeca Film Festival in 2004.
Lake aims to shoot the film in Queensland and South Africa, possibly as a co-production with South Africa. Monk is a co-producer, as is Dan Lake.
.White Knuckles is purely fiction, set in contemporary South Africa, but it does explore the sort of themes that were in the original story,...
The director is Pia Marais, a South African/Swedish woman who grew up in South Africa and now lives in Berlin.
The writer is Roger Monk, who was originally inspired by a true story that happened years ago that was the basis of the Cathy Henkel-directed documentary The Man Who Stole My Mother's Face, which won the Tribeca Film Festival in 2004.
Lake aims to shoot the film in Queensland and South Africa, possibly as a co-production with South Africa. Monk is a co-producer, as is Dan Lake.
.White Knuckles is purely fiction, set in contemporary South Africa, but it does explore the sort of themes that were in the original story,...
- 5/25/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Inaugural edition of the new co-production market will run June 12-13.Scroll down for full list of projects
Pia Marais, Andrea Segre and Brillante Mendoza [pictured] are among the directors who will be presenting their new projects at the inaugural Paris Coproduction Village in June.
Organised by the same team that runs Les Arcs European Film Festival, in association with the Champs-Elysees Film Festival, the event will take place off Paris’ most famous boulevard on June 12 and 13.
The event was launched in March to replace the respected Paris Project co-production market, which folded after losing its city hall funding.
“We pulled together the line-up in an incredibly short space of time,” said Vanja Kaludjercic, who spearheads the new event alongside Les Arcs CEO Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin.
“We were very proactive in terms of chasing projects we knew were coming together. Everyone did their bit and got on the phone. We’re pretty pleased with the resulting selection.”
Fleurantin said: “It...
Pia Marais, Andrea Segre and Brillante Mendoza [pictured] are among the directors who will be presenting their new projects at the inaugural Paris Coproduction Village in June.
Organised by the same team that runs Les Arcs European Film Festival, in association with the Champs-Elysees Film Festival, the event will take place off Paris’ most famous boulevard on June 12 and 13.
The event was launched in March to replace the respected Paris Project co-production market, which folded after losing its city hall funding.
“We pulled together the line-up in an incredibly short space of time,” said Vanja Kaludjercic, who spearheads the new event alongside Les Arcs CEO Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin.
“We were very proactive in terms of chasing projects we knew were coming together. Everyone did their bit and got on the phone. We’re pretty pleased with the resulting selection.”
Fleurantin said: “It...
- 5/19/2014
- ScreenDaily
Karl Baumgartner, the German producer and champion of arthouse cinema who only last month received the Berlinale Camera prize, has died.Click here for full obituary
Baumgartner was born in 1949 and after a stint working in Rome from 1967-70 he relocated to Germany where he eventually launched the producer-distributor Pandora Film with Reinhard Brundig in 1982.
Pandora established itself as a beacon for arthouse cinema and championed the likes of Kim Ki-duk, Aki Kaurismaki and Sally Potter.
As a producer he brought a handful of films to the Berlinale including Emir Kusturica’s Super 8 Stories and most recently Pia Marais’ 2013 entry Layla Fourie.
Baumgartner produced Mostly Martha and Samsara, among others, and his co-producer credits include Kaurismaki’s Le Havre. He served as executive producer on Kusturica’s 1995 Palme d’Or winner Underground.
A Tweet from the Locarno Film Festival read, “Very sad for the loss of great producer and Locarno’s friend Karl Baumgartner, Premio Raimondo...
Baumgartner was born in 1949 and after a stint working in Rome from 1967-70 he relocated to Germany where he eventually launched the producer-distributor Pandora Film with Reinhard Brundig in 1982.
Pandora established itself as a beacon for arthouse cinema and championed the likes of Kim Ki-duk, Aki Kaurismaki and Sally Potter.
As a producer he brought a handful of films to the Berlinale including Emir Kusturica’s Super 8 Stories and most recently Pia Marais’ 2013 entry Layla Fourie.
Baumgartner produced Mostly Martha and Samsara, among others, and his co-producer credits include Kaurismaki’s Le Havre. He served as executive producer on Kusturica’s 1995 Palme d’Or winner Underground.
A Tweet from the Locarno Film Festival read, “Very sad for the loss of great producer and Locarno’s friend Karl Baumgartner, Premio Raimondo...
- 3/18/2014
- ScreenDaily
Karl Baumgartner, the German producer and champion of arthouse cinema who only last month received the Berlinale Camera prize, has died.
Baumgartner was born in 1949 and after a stint working in Rome from 1967-70 he relocated to Germany where he eventually launched the producer-distributor Pandora Film with Reinhard Brundig in 1982.
Pandora established itself as a beacon for arthouse cinema and championed the likes of Kim Ki-duk, Aki Kaurismaki and Sally Potter.
As a producer he brought a handful of films to the Berlinale including Emir Kusturica’s Super 8 Stories and most recently Pia Marais’ 2013 entry Layla Fourie.
Baumgartner produced Mostly Martha and Samsara, among others, and his co-producer credits include Kaurismaki’s Le Havre. He served as executive producer on Kusturica’s 1995 Palme d’Or winner Underground.
A Tweet from the Locarno Film Festival read, “Very sad for the loss of great producer and Locarno’s friend Karl Baumgartner, Premio Raimondo...
Baumgartner was born in 1949 and after a stint working in Rome from 1967-70 he relocated to Germany where he eventually launched the producer-distributor Pandora Film with Reinhard Brundig in 1982.
Pandora established itself as a beacon for arthouse cinema and championed the likes of Kim Ki-duk, Aki Kaurismaki and Sally Potter.
As a producer he brought a handful of films to the Berlinale including Emir Kusturica’s Super 8 Stories and most recently Pia Marais’ 2013 entry Layla Fourie.
Baumgartner produced Mostly Martha and Samsara, among others, and his co-producer credits include Kaurismaki’s Le Havre. He served as executive producer on Kusturica’s 1995 Palme d’Or winner Underground.
A Tweet from the Locarno Film Festival read, “Very sad for the loss of great producer and Locarno’s friend Karl Baumgartner, Premio Raimondo...
- 3/18/2014
- ScreenDaily
Here's a release trailer for a film that we've been following since its premier at the Berlin International Film Festival a year ago, a film that I've been looking forward to seeing, but has yet to screen in my city (at least that I'm aware of). But if you live in France, you should know that the multi-country co-production thriller by director Pia Marais, titled Layla Fourie, will open in French theaters on March 26, just about 2 weeks from now. Recapping... Here's the official synopsis: Layla Fourie, a single mother in South Africa, is given the opportunity to get proper employment as polygraphist for pre-employment tests at a casino complex. In the constant present...
- 3/11/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Beginning in 1986, the Berlin International Film Festival has presented the Berlinale Camera to film personalities or institutions to which it feels particularly indebted and wishes to express its thanks. This year, during the 64th edition of the festival, producer and distributor Karl “Baumi” Baumgartner will be awarded the prestigious Berlinale Camera.
Karl Baumgartner is one of Germany’s leading producers and independent distributors. In his capacity as producer, he has brought world cinema to German audiences expanding their horizons in terms of what cinema from abroad can provide.
In 1982, together with Reinhard Brundig, he launched Pandora Film Distribution and it developed into one of the most important companies in the field of art house cinema. Pandora Film discovered filmmakers such as Andrej Tarkovsky, Jim Jarmusch, Sally Potter, Kim Ki Duk, and Aki Kaurismäki, as well as many others. With Jane Campion’s The Piano in 1993, Karl Baumgartner celebrated his first great success as distributor. It was followed by Emir Kusturica’s Palme d’Or winning Underground (1995), executively produced by Pandora Film.
As a producer, Karl Baumgartner has participated several times in the Berlin International Film Festival – in the Competition with the films Super 8 Stories by Emir Kusturica (out of competition, 2001), My Sweet Home by Filippos Tsitos (2001), Sam Garbarski’s Irina Palm (2007), and Jasmila Žbanić’s Na putu (On the Path, 2010). His most recent contribution to the Berlinale Competition was as co-producer of Kebun binatang (Postcards from the Zoo, 2012) by Edwin and Layla Fourie (2013) by Pia Marais.
The Berlinale Camera will be awarded to Karl Baumgartner at 4.00 pm on February 8, 2014 at the CinemaxX 9. It will be followed by the film Boheemielämää (La vie de bohème, 1992) by Aki Kaurismäki who, together with Festival Director Dieter Kosslick, will give a speech in Karl Baumgartner’s honor.
The Berlinale Camera has been awarded since 1986. Until 2003, it was donated by Berlin-based jeweller David Goldberg. From 2004 through 2013, Georg Hornemann Objects, a Dusseldorf-based atelier, sponsored the trophy, which goldsmith Hornemann redesigned for the Berlinale in 2008: Modelled on a real camera, the Berlinale Camera now has 128 finely crafted components. Many of these silver and titanium parts, such as the swivel head and tripod, are movable.
Karl Baumgartner is one of Germany’s leading producers and independent distributors. In his capacity as producer, he has brought world cinema to German audiences expanding their horizons in terms of what cinema from abroad can provide.
In 1982, together with Reinhard Brundig, he launched Pandora Film Distribution and it developed into one of the most important companies in the field of art house cinema. Pandora Film discovered filmmakers such as Andrej Tarkovsky, Jim Jarmusch, Sally Potter, Kim Ki Duk, and Aki Kaurismäki, as well as many others. With Jane Campion’s The Piano in 1993, Karl Baumgartner celebrated his first great success as distributor. It was followed by Emir Kusturica’s Palme d’Or winning Underground (1995), executively produced by Pandora Film.
As a producer, Karl Baumgartner has participated several times in the Berlin International Film Festival – in the Competition with the films Super 8 Stories by Emir Kusturica (out of competition, 2001), My Sweet Home by Filippos Tsitos (2001), Sam Garbarski’s Irina Palm (2007), and Jasmila Žbanić’s Na putu (On the Path, 2010). His most recent contribution to the Berlinale Competition was as co-producer of Kebun binatang (Postcards from the Zoo, 2012) by Edwin and Layla Fourie (2013) by Pia Marais.
The Berlinale Camera will be awarded to Karl Baumgartner at 4.00 pm on February 8, 2014 at the CinemaxX 9. It will be followed by the film Boheemielämää (La vie de bohème, 1992) by Aki Kaurismäki who, together with Festival Director Dieter Kosslick, will give a speech in Karl Baumgartner’s honor.
The Berlinale Camera has been awarded since 1986. Until 2003, it was donated by Berlin-based jeweller David Goldberg. From 2004 through 2013, Georg Hornemann Objects, a Dusseldorf-based atelier, sponsored the trophy, which goldsmith Hornemann redesigned for the Berlinale in 2008: Modelled on a real camera, the Berlinale Camera now has 128 finely crafted components. Many of these silver and titanium parts, such as the swivel head and tripod, are movable.
- 2/10/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Hosted at one of Hollywood's most iconic venues, The Egyptian Theater, the German Currents Film Festivals brings to Los Angeles an outstanding selection of new cinematic works screening here for the first time. Now in its 7th edition this annual celebration of German-Language is co-presented by the Goethe Institut Los Angeles and the American Cinematheque, in cooperation with Austrian Consulate General and the Consulate General of Switzerland; with support of German Films, Deutsche Welle (Dw), The Friends of Goethe and Elma.
The festival includes narrative feature, documentaries, shorts, and family-friendly films that form part of the 4 day celebration from October 4th-7th. One of the highlights of the program is More Than Honey, which was recently chosen as the Swiss entry for the Foreign Language Academy Award, read more Here, which will be closing the festival on Monday night.
To discuss the film and interact with La audiences some of the filmmakers will also be in attendance:
Rayna Campbell - lead actress, Layla Fourie (North American Premiere)
Matt Sweetwood - director, Beerland (La Premiere)
Jan Ole Gerster - director, Oh Boy
Ennis Rotthoff - composer, Measuring The World (Us Premiere)
For more information click Here
For tickets and information about the Egyptian Theater click Here
Gala Opening Night - Us Premiere
Friday, October 4, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Measuring The World (Die Vermessung Der Welt)
Directed by Detlev Buck
Two of the greatest minds of the 19th century, mathematician Carl Friederich Gauss (Florian David Fritz) and scientist Alexander von Humboldt (Albrecht Abraham Schuch), dedicate their studies to measuring and comprehending the world they live in. Based on Daniel Kehlmann's best-selling novel of the same name, this visually stunning epic is a playful re-imagining of the great men’s lives. Humboldt, a man with a passion for global exploration, is contrasted with Gauss, a man who experiences his world through mathematical theories and figures. Humboldt, aided by his colleague, Aimé Bonpland, travels the globe physically engaging the world he wishes to understand, applying modern, scientific thinking to comparatively unknown regions. Though he remains in the same destitute community for much of his life, Gauss’ interior journey of mathematical discovery proves to be just as rich and visually stunning as Humboldt’s adventures in remote areas of the world. Fact and fiction are mixed, often to humorous effect, to chronicle the findings of two very different men who nevertheless sought the same answers. Measuring The World was nominated for two German Film Awards in 2013, and the film has won Best Costume Design and Best Make-up Design awards at the 2013 Austrian Film Awards.
In Person: Composer Enis Rotthoff
Germany / Austria (2012), 123 min. In German, French, Spanish with English Subtitles
Saturday, October 5, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
Oh Boy
Directed by Jan Ole Gerster
Jan Ole Gerster's wry and vibrant feature debut Oh Boy, which swept the 2013 German Film Awards, paints a day in the life of Niko, a twenty-something college dropout going nowhere fast. Niko lives for the moment as he drifts through the streets of Berlin, curiously observing everyone around him and oblivious to his growing status as an outsider. Then on one fateful day, through a series of absurdly amusing encounters, everything changes: his girlfriend rebuffs him, his father cuts off his allowance, and a strange psychiatrist dubiously confirms his 'emotional imbalance'. Meanwhile, a former classmate insists she bears no hard feelings toward him for his grade-school taunts when she was “Roly Poly Julia,” but it becomes increasingly apparent that she has unfinished business with him. Unable to ignore the consequences of his passivity any longer, Niko finally concludes that he has to engage with life. Shot in timeless black and white and enriched with a snappy jazz soundtrack, this slacker dramedy is a love letter to Berlin and the Generation Y experience.
In Person: Director Jan Ole Gerster
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German with English subtitles
Us Distributor: Music Box Films
Saturday, October 5 At 9:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
Beerland
Directed by Matt Sweetwood
Matt Sweetwood hails from the Midwest. Though he has lived in Germany for over ten years, the people and their culture remain a mystery to him. He undertakes a last-ditch attempt to figure the place out: by exploring the heart of German culture, their beer. If he delves into their rites and rituals, explores all the contradictions and stereotypes, will that make him, finally, a part of them? The infinite variety of beers, breweries and beer fests, the age-old history of beer, is more overwhelming than the American ever imagined. The trail of his research leads him to places far off the beaten tourist path, light-years away from the Oktoberfest. He encounters people whose dialect he barely understands. Amazingly, he finds that a country as small a Germany is subdivided into a thousand different tongues and customs, with beer as the common thread. He discovers a land full of oddities and contradictions. The Germans are deathly serious and silly at the same time, tradition-bound and weirdly visionary. Ultimately, he forms a real bond with them, finding friends where he least expected them.
In Person: Director Matt Sweetwood
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German and English with English Subtitles
Kindermatinee
Sunday, October 6 - 2:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
The Adventures of Huck Finn (Die Abenteuer Des Huck Finn)
Directed by Hermine Huntgeburth
A lively German language adaptation of Mark Twain’s classic satire. Huck Finn, having found treasure with his best friend Tom Sawyer, is now chafing in the shoes and starched shirts that come with his new wealthy lifestyle. He’d like nothing more than to kick off his shoes and run wild along the river. He gets his chance when his drunken father (August Diehl) arrives and demands a share of Huck’s money. Huck decides to escape downriver and he brings along Jim, the house slave who has recently discovered that he will be handed over to a slave trader. The two travel the Mississippi River on a makeshift raft, hoping to outrun Huck’s violent father and find a place where Jim can be accepted as a free man. Twain’s timeless adventure is exuberantly brought to the screen in a film that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Germany (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Film Workshops
Sunday, October 6 - 1:00 - 1:50 Pm & 4:00 - 4:50 Pm
Join the Echo Park Film Center for an afternoon of cinematic exploration and education with the Epfc "Filmcicle" in the courtyard of the Egyptian Theatre. The "Filmcicle" is a bicycle powered cinema and school on 3 wheels. Using traditional analog motion picture film we encourage audience members - young and old - to spend some time with us creating cinematic wonder.
www.echoparkfilmcenter.org
Sunday, October 6 At 5:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - Us Premiere
Gold
Directed by Thomas Arslan; starring Nina Hoss
Official selection (competition) at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Gold is a Western about seven German immigrants who set out in search of gold in the backwoods of British Columbia during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. Each have their motives: an older couple seeking security, a father (Lars Rudolph) hoping to help his impoverished family, an unpleasant newspaperman (Uwe Bohm) chronicling the journey, and a mysterious packer (Marko Mandic) with a past to outrun. The last to join is Emily Mayer (Nina Hoss), a metropolitan woman whose delicate demeanor masks a steely determination to survive. Assembled by a deceptively confident businessman of questionable motives, the settlers must travel through a relatively uncharted stretch of Canadian wilderness to reach their goal, the gold fields of Dawson. As the path grows more treacherous, betrayals come to light and desperate choices are made. Following in the footsteps of McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Meek’s Cutoff, Gold is an epic that offers an unconventional take on the well-worn Western genre.
Germany (2013), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Sunday, October 6, At 7:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - North American Premiere
Layla Fourie
Directed by Pia Marais
Winner of the Jury Special Mention at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Layla Frourie is a film about Layla, who is a single mother living with her son in Johannesburg and getting by with casual work. After training as a polygraph operator she manages to secure a job with a company specialising in lie detectors and security. On her way to her new workplace she is involved in an accident which will fundamentally change her life. Layla becomes entangled in a web of lies and deceit. The truth could lead to the loss of her son. For her third feature film Pia Marais - who has lived in Berlin for many years - returned to South Africa where she grew up to make this classic thriller. She uses the genre to take a look at a country which still bears the scars of apartheid. In this way, everyday life in South Africa enhances the tension in the screenplay which she co-wrote with Horst Markgraf. Almost casually, Layla Fourie develops into a political thriller which takes the audience into the paranoia, fear and mistrust of a society that is still profoundly affected by racial conflict.
Germany (2013), 108 min. In English
In Person: lead actress Rayna Campbell
Monday, October 7 At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
The Shine of the Day (Der Glanz Des Tages)
Directed by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel
Philip (Philip Hochmair) is is a young and successful actor working for the most important theatres in Vienna and Hamburg with a committed and single-minded approach to his craft. During a season in which he is busy with a production of Buchner’s Woyzeck, Philip is visited by the elderly Walter (Walter Saabel), who introduces himself as the uncle he’s never met. Walter is a former circus artist and the two men soon bond over stories of their careers. These two entertainers, both at different stages in their lives, learn from each other’s experiences. As his conversations with Walter grow more philosophical, Philip slowly emerges from his once isolated lifestyle. He is even inspired to enlist Walter’s assistance in helping a Moldavian neighbor with an immigration issue. The actors, though not related, essentially play themselves and the largely improvised script was developed around their personal experiences. The result is a rare onscreen friendship that feels warm and sincere. Co-directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel draw on their documentary filmmaking background to create a naturalistic atmosphere in which these performances can flourish.
Austria (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Monday, October 7 At 9:15 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
More Than Honey
Directed by Markus Imhoof
Winner of multiple awards, including 2013 German Film Award (Lola) for Best Documentary film, More Than Honey, directed by Oscar-nominated director Markus Imhoof (The Boat Is Full) tackles the vexing issue of why bees, worldwide, are facing extinction. With the tenacity of a man out to solve a world-class mystery, he investigates this global phenomenon, from California to Switzerland, China and Australia. Exquisite macro-photography of the bees (reminiscent of Microcosmos) in flight and in their hives reveals a fascinating, complex world in crisis. Writes Eric Kohn in Indiewire: "Imhoof captures the breeding of queen bees in minute detail, ventures to a laboratory to witness a bee brainscan, and discovers the dangerous prospects of a hive facing the infection of mites. In this latter case, the camera's magnifying power renders the infection in sci-fi terms, as if we've stumbled into a discarded scene from David Cronenberg's The Fly." This is a strange and strangely moving film that raises questions of species survival in cosmic as well as apiary terms.
Switzerland/Germany/Austria (2012), 90 min. In English and German w/English subtitles
Us Distributor: Kino Lorber...
The festival includes narrative feature, documentaries, shorts, and family-friendly films that form part of the 4 day celebration from October 4th-7th. One of the highlights of the program is More Than Honey, which was recently chosen as the Swiss entry for the Foreign Language Academy Award, read more Here, which will be closing the festival on Monday night.
To discuss the film and interact with La audiences some of the filmmakers will also be in attendance:
Rayna Campbell - lead actress, Layla Fourie (North American Premiere)
Matt Sweetwood - director, Beerland (La Premiere)
Jan Ole Gerster - director, Oh Boy
Ennis Rotthoff - composer, Measuring The World (Us Premiere)
For more information click Here
For tickets and information about the Egyptian Theater click Here
Gala Opening Night - Us Premiere
Friday, October 4, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Measuring The World (Die Vermessung Der Welt)
Directed by Detlev Buck
Two of the greatest minds of the 19th century, mathematician Carl Friederich Gauss (Florian David Fritz) and scientist Alexander von Humboldt (Albrecht Abraham Schuch), dedicate their studies to measuring and comprehending the world they live in. Based on Daniel Kehlmann's best-selling novel of the same name, this visually stunning epic is a playful re-imagining of the great men’s lives. Humboldt, a man with a passion for global exploration, is contrasted with Gauss, a man who experiences his world through mathematical theories and figures. Humboldt, aided by his colleague, Aimé Bonpland, travels the globe physically engaging the world he wishes to understand, applying modern, scientific thinking to comparatively unknown regions. Though he remains in the same destitute community for much of his life, Gauss’ interior journey of mathematical discovery proves to be just as rich and visually stunning as Humboldt’s adventures in remote areas of the world. Fact and fiction are mixed, often to humorous effect, to chronicle the findings of two very different men who nevertheless sought the same answers. Measuring The World was nominated for two German Film Awards in 2013, and the film has won Best Costume Design and Best Make-up Design awards at the 2013 Austrian Film Awards.
In Person: Composer Enis Rotthoff
Germany / Austria (2012), 123 min. In German, French, Spanish with English Subtitles
Saturday, October 5, At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
Oh Boy
Directed by Jan Ole Gerster
Jan Ole Gerster's wry and vibrant feature debut Oh Boy, which swept the 2013 German Film Awards, paints a day in the life of Niko, a twenty-something college dropout going nowhere fast. Niko lives for the moment as he drifts through the streets of Berlin, curiously observing everyone around him and oblivious to his growing status as an outsider. Then on one fateful day, through a series of absurdly amusing encounters, everything changes: his girlfriend rebuffs him, his father cuts off his allowance, and a strange psychiatrist dubiously confirms his 'emotional imbalance'. Meanwhile, a former classmate insists she bears no hard feelings toward him for his grade-school taunts when she was “Roly Poly Julia,” but it becomes increasingly apparent that she has unfinished business with him. Unable to ignore the consequences of his passivity any longer, Niko finally concludes that he has to engage with life. Shot in timeless black and white and enriched with a snappy jazz soundtrack, this slacker dramedy is a love letter to Berlin and the Generation Y experience.
In Person: Director Jan Ole Gerster
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German with English subtitles
Us Distributor: Music Box Films
Saturday, October 5 At 9:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
Beerland
Directed by Matt Sweetwood
Matt Sweetwood hails from the Midwest. Though he has lived in Germany for over ten years, the people and their culture remain a mystery to him. He undertakes a last-ditch attempt to figure the place out: by exploring the heart of German culture, their beer. If he delves into their rites and rituals, explores all the contradictions and stereotypes, will that make him, finally, a part of them? The infinite variety of beers, breweries and beer fests, the age-old history of beer, is more overwhelming than the American ever imagined. The trail of his research leads him to places far off the beaten tourist path, light-years away from the Oktoberfest. He encounters people whose dialect he barely understands. Amazingly, he finds that a country as small a Germany is subdivided into a thousand different tongues and customs, with beer as the common thread. He discovers a land full of oddities and contradictions. The Germans are deathly serious and silly at the same time, tradition-bound and weirdly visionary. Ultimately, he forms a real bond with them, finding friends where he least expected them.
In Person: Director Matt Sweetwood
Germany (2012), 85 min. In German and English with English Subtitles
Kindermatinee
Sunday, October 6 - 2:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
The Adventures of Huck Finn (Die Abenteuer Des Huck Finn)
Directed by Hermine Huntgeburth
A lively German language adaptation of Mark Twain’s classic satire. Huck Finn, having found treasure with his best friend Tom Sawyer, is now chafing in the shoes and starched shirts that come with his new wealthy lifestyle. He’d like nothing more than to kick off his shoes and run wild along the river. He gets his chance when his drunken father (August Diehl) arrives and demands a share of Huck’s money. Huck decides to escape downriver and he brings along Jim, the house slave who has recently discovered that he will be handed over to a slave trader. The two travel the Mississippi River on a makeshift raft, hoping to outrun Huck’s violent father and find a place where Jim can be accepted as a free man. Twain’s timeless adventure is exuberantly brought to the screen in a film that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
Germany (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Film Workshops
Sunday, October 6 - 1:00 - 1:50 Pm & 4:00 - 4:50 Pm
Join the Echo Park Film Center for an afternoon of cinematic exploration and education with the Epfc "Filmcicle" in the courtyard of the Egyptian Theatre. The "Filmcicle" is a bicycle powered cinema and school on 3 wheels. Using traditional analog motion picture film we encourage audience members - young and old - to spend some time with us creating cinematic wonder.
www.echoparkfilmcenter.org
Sunday, October 6 At 5:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - Us Premiere
Gold
Directed by Thomas Arslan; starring Nina Hoss
Official selection (competition) at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Gold is a Western about seven German immigrants who set out in search of gold in the backwoods of British Columbia during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. Each have their motives: an older couple seeking security, a father (Lars Rudolph) hoping to help his impoverished family, an unpleasant newspaperman (Uwe Bohm) chronicling the journey, and a mysterious packer (Marko Mandic) with a past to outrun. The last to join is Emily Mayer (Nina Hoss), a metropolitan woman whose delicate demeanor masks a steely determination to survive. Assembled by a deceptively confident businessman of questionable motives, the settlers must travel through a relatively uncharted stretch of Canadian wilderness to reach their goal, the gold fields of Dawson. As the path grows more treacherous, betrayals come to light and desperate choices are made. Following in the footsteps of McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Meek’s Cutoff, Gold is an epic that offers an unconventional take on the well-worn Western genre.
Germany (2013), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Sunday, October 6, At 7:00 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - North American Premiere
Layla Fourie
Directed by Pia Marais
Winner of the Jury Special Mention at the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival, Layla Frourie is a film about Layla, who is a single mother living with her son in Johannesburg and getting by with casual work. After training as a polygraph operator she manages to secure a job with a company specialising in lie detectors and security. On her way to her new workplace she is involved in an accident which will fundamentally change her life. Layla becomes entangled in a web of lies and deceit. The truth could lead to the loss of her son. For her third feature film Pia Marais - who has lived in Berlin for many years - returned to South Africa where she grew up to make this classic thriller. She uses the genre to take a look at a country which still bears the scars of apartheid. In this way, everyday life in South Africa enhances the tension in the screenplay which she co-wrote with Horst Markgraf. Almost casually, Layla Fourie develops into a political thriller which takes the audience into the paranoia, fear and mistrust of a society that is still profoundly affected by racial conflict.
Germany (2013), 108 min. In English
In Person: lead actress Rayna Campbell
Monday, October 7 At 7:30 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature - L.A. Premiere
The Shine of the Day (Der Glanz Des Tages)
Directed by Tizza Covi & Rainer Frimmel
Philip (Philip Hochmair) is is a young and successful actor working for the most important theatres in Vienna and Hamburg with a committed and single-minded approach to his craft. During a season in which he is busy with a production of Buchner’s Woyzeck, Philip is visited by the elderly Walter (Walter Saabel), who introduces himself as the uncle he’s never met. Walter is a former circus artist and the two men soon bond over stories of their careers. These two entertainers, both at different stages in their lives, learn from each other’s experiences. As his conversations with Walter grow more philosophical, Philip slowly emerges from his once isolated lifestyle. He is even inspired to enlist Walter’s assistance in helping a Moldavian neighbor with an immigration issue. The actors, though not related, essentially play themselves and the largely improvised script was developed around their personal experiences. The result is a rare onscreen friendship that feels warm and sincere. Co-directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel draw on their documentary filmmaking background to create a naturalistic atmosphere in which these performances can flourish.
Austria (2012), 101 min. In German with English Subtitles
Monday, October 7 At 9:15 Pm Egyptian Theatre
Double Feature
More Than Honey
Directed by Markus Imhoof
Winner of multiple awards, including 2013 German Film Award (Lola) for Best Documentary film, More Than Honey, directed by Oscar-nominated director Markus Imhoof (The Boat Is Full) tackles the vexing issue of why bees, worldwide, are facing extinction. With the tenacity of a man out to solve a world-class mystery, he investigates this global phenomenon, from California to Switzerland, China and Australia. Exquisite macro-photography of the bees (reminiscent of Microcosmos) in flight and in their hives reveals a fascinating, complex world in crisis. Writes Eric Kohn in Indiewire: "Imhoof captures the breeding of queen bees in minute detail, ventures to a laboratory to witness a bee brainscan, and discovers the dangerous prospects of a hive facing the infection of mites. In this latter case, the camera's magnifying power renders the infection in sci-fi terms, as if we've stumbled into a discarded scene from David Cronenberg's The Fly." This is a strange and strangely moving film that raises questions of species survival in cosmic as well as apiary terms.
Switzerland/Germany/Austria (2012), 90 min. In English and German w/English subtitles
Us Distributor: Kino Lorber...
- 10/4/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Premiering stateside at the 7th Annual Festival of German Films - October 4th -7th - in Los Angeles is the Germany/South Africa/France/the Netherlands co-production and thriller by director Pia Marais, titled Layla Fourie - a film that we have been following almost throughout its development; we last posted its first clips and poster back in February. The film, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February of this year, centers on Layla Fourie, a single mother in South Africa, who "is given the opportunity to get proper employment as polygraphist for pre-employment tests at a casino complex. In...
- 9/11/2013
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
It was booed by the critics at the Cannes Film Festival but Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives won the top prize at the Sydney Film Festival.
Jury president Hugo Weaving conceded the .visually mesmerising and disturbing film. had polarised the jury and said it was a majority decision to award the bleak drama the $60,000 Sydney Film Prize.
Icon is due to release the film, which stars Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas and Vithaya Pansringarm, on July 18. It's described as a brutal story of betrayal, rage and redemption set in the Thai underworld..
Typifying the hostile response in Cannes, IndieWire's Eric Kohn said, .Refn stages each scene with the self-serious bleakness of a Robert Bresson picture, but applies such a cheap, one-note premise that his air quote approach to art house aesthetics reeks of student film indulgence."
.I am very honoured and extremely excited to have received...
Jury president Hugo Weaving conceded the .visually mesmerising and disturbing film. had polarised the jury and said it was a majority decision to award the bleak drama the $60,000 Sydney Film Prize.
Icon is due to release the film, which stars Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas and Vithaya Pansringarm, on July 18. It's described as a brutal story of betrayal, rage and redemption set in the Thai underworld..
Typifying the hostile response in Cannes, IndieWire's Eric Kohn said, .Refn stages each scene with the self-serious bleakness of a Robert Bresson picture, but applies such a cheap, one-note premise that his air quote approach to art house aesthetics reeks of student film indulgence."
.I am very honoured and extremely excited to have received...
- 6/16/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
A still from Monsoon Shootout
Amit Kumar’s debut feature Monsoon Shootout has been selected for competition at the Sydney Film Festival. Ship of Theseus director Anand Gandhi is on the Jury of the festival.
Actor Hugo Weaving will preside over the Jury that comprises South African-born filmmaker Pia Marais, Anand Gandhi and film programmer Paolo Bertolin.
Monsoon Shootout is a thriller exploring police violence, corruption and the moral quandary facing an idealistic rookie cop. It features Neeraj Kabi, Vijay Verma and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The film will have a Midnight Screening at the 66th Cannes film festival.
Sourav Sarangi’s multiple-award-winning documentary Char…The No-Man’s Island, Anand Gandhi’s Ship of Theseus and Ian McDonald’s Algorithms will screen at Sydney film festival. Also screening is short film Tau Seru (India-Australia) by Rodd Rathjen, which is part of Cannes Critics Week lineup.
The full program of the Sydney film festival includes 190 films from 55 countries.
Amit Kumar’s debut feature Monsoon Shootout has been selected for competition at the Sydney Film Festival. Ship of Theseus director Anand Gandhi is on the Jury of the festival.
Actor Hugo Weaving will preside over the Jury that comprises South African-born filmmaker Pia Marais, Anand Gandhi and film programmer Paolo Bertolin.
Monsoon Shootout is a thriller exploring police violence, corruption and the moral quandary facing an idealistic rookie cop. It features Neeraj Kabi, Vijay Verma and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The film will have a Midnight Screening at the 66th Cannes film festival.
Sourav Sarangi’s multiple-award-winning documentary Char…The No-Man’s Island, Anand Gandhi’s Ship of Theseus and Ian McDonald’s Algorithms will screen at Sydney film festival. Also screening is short film Tau Seru (India-Australia) by Rodd Rathjen, which is part of Cannes Critics Week lineup.
The full program of the Sydney film festival includes 190 films from 55 countries.
- 5/8/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Below you will find our total coverage of the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival by Adam Cook.
Above: Denis Côté's Vic+Flo Saw a Bear
Impressions
#1
On Wong Kar-Wai's The Grandmaster and Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Hope
#2
On Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha, Sebastián Leilo's Gloria and Denis Côté's Vic+Flo Saw a Bear
#3
On James Benning's Stemple Pass, J.P. Sniadecki/Huang Xiang/Xu Ruotao's Yumen and Bruno Dumont's Camille Claudel, 1915
#4
On Jafar Panahi/Kamboziya Partovi's Closed Curtain, Hong Sangsoo's Nobody's Daughter Haewon and Richard Linklater's Before Midnight
#5
On Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess and Jacques Doillon's Love Battles
B-Sides
On The Weimar Touch retrospective, the Waves vs. Particles art installations by Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel, and mini-capsules on Hala Lofty's Coming Forth by Day, Thomas Arslan's Gold, Pia Marais' Layla Fourie, Nicolàs Pereda & Jacob Schulsinger's Killing Strangers and Shane Carruth...
Above: Denis Côté's Vic+Flo Saw a Bear
Impressions
#1
On Wong Kar-Wai's The Grandmaster and Ulrich Seidl's Paradise: Hope
#2
On Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha, Sebastián Leilo's Gloria and Denis Côté's Vic+Flo Saw a Bear
#3
On James Benning's Stemple Pass, J.P. Sniadecki/Huang Xiang/Xu Ruotao's Yumen and Bruno Dumont's Camille Claudel, 1915
#4
On Jafar Panahi/Kamboziya Partovi's Closed Curtain, Hong Sangsoo's Nobody's Daughter Haewon and Richard Linklater's Before Midnight
#5
On Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess and Jacques Doillon's Love Battles
B-Sides
On The Weimar Touch retrospective, the Waves vs. Particles art installations by Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel, and mini-capsules on Hala Lofty's Coming Forth by Day, Thomas Arslan's Gold, Pia Marais' Layla Fourie, Nicolàs Pereda & Jacob Schulsinger's Killing Strangers and Shane Carruth...
- 2/24/2013
- by Notebook
- MUBI
The Weimar Touch
One of the most conflicting parts of attending a film festival like the Berlinale, especially if you are a professional, is trying to balance seeing the new films and the retrospective screenings—the latter often acting as an unreachable mirage in the distance. The cinephile inside oneself yearns to take in these 35mm blessings but ultimately has to take risks on new work either for the sake of coverage, or, really, to "keep up." I was able to attend a small handful of screenings from the festival's retrospective The Weimar Touch, particularly focusing on the "Know Your Enemy" subsection of films that took a stand against Nazism during the war, including André de Toth's remarkable None Shall Escape, Douglas Sirk's Hitler's Madman, Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! and Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be. Watching these films in Berlin with German audiences helped intensify their significance,...
One of the most conflicting parts of attending a film festival like the Berlinale, especially if you are a professional, is trying to balance seeing the new films and the retrospective screenings—the latter often acting as an unreachable mirage in the distance. The cinephile inside oneself yearns to take in these 35mm blessings but ultimately has to take risks on new work either for the sake of coverage, or, really, to "keep up." I was able to attend a small handful of screenings from the festival's retrospective The Weimar Touch, particularly focusing on the "Know Your Enemy" subsection of films that took a stand against Nazism during the war, including André de Toth's remarkable None Shall Escape, Douglas Sirk's Hitler's Madman, Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! and Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be. Watching these films in Berlin with German audiences helped intensify their significance,...
- 2/19/2013
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
Still from Child’s Pose
Child’s Pose by Romanian director Călin Peter Netzer won the Golden Bear at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival which concluded on Saturday. The film portrays a mother consumed by self-love in a struggle to save her lost son.
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker by Danis Tanović won the Silver Bear while the award for Best Director went to David Gordon Green for Prince Avalanche.
British filmmaker Kim Longinotto’s India-based documentary Salma bagged the second place in Panorama Audience awards at Berlinale (Read here).
List of Awards:
Golden Bear for the Best Film
Poziţia Copilului
Child’s Pose
by Călin Peter Netzer
Jury Grand Prix (Silver Bear)
Epizoda u životu berača željeza
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker
by Danis Tanović
Alfred Bauer Prize (Silver Bear) – in memory of the Festival Founder –for a feature film...
Child’s Pose by Romanian director Călin Peter Netzer won the Golden Bear at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival which concluded on Saturday. The film portrays a mother consumed by self-love in a struggle to save her lost son.
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker by Danis Tanović won the Silver Bear while the award for Best Director went to David Gordon Green for Prince Avalanche.
British filmmaker Kim Longinotto’s India-based documentary Salma bagged the second place in Panorama Audience awards at Berlinale (Read here).
List of Awards:
Golden Bear for the Best Film
Poziţia Copilului
Child’s Pose
by Călin Peter Netzer
Jury Grand Prix (Silver Bear)
Epizoda u životu berača željeza
An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker
by Danis Tanović
Alfred Bauer Prize (Silver Bear) – in memory of the Festival Founder –for a feature film...
- 2/17/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Jose here. The Berlin Film Festival came to its end a few hours ago and the big winners came from Romania and Bosnia. Călin Peter Netzer's Child's Pose won the prestigious Golden Bear, while Danis Tanovic's An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker picked up the Jury Grand Prix as well as the Best Actor award for Nazif Mujic.
The winners as selected by the jury headlined by Wong Kar-wai were:
Golden Bear: Child's Pose by Călin Peter Netzer Jury Grand Prix: An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker by Danis Tanović
Tanović's movie has a real life family recreate an event that almost cost them their son's life. Not only does this sound like an interesting project but it also shows a two year trend in the festival where real life people dramatizing events have taken the main prizes. Last year's Golden Bear winner,...
The winners as selected by the jury headlined by Wong Kar-wai were:
Golden Bear: Child's Pose by Călin Peter Netzer Jury Grand Prix: An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker by Danis Tanović
Tanović's movie has a real life family recreate an event that almost cost them their son's life. Not only does this sound like an interesting project but it also shows a two year trend in the festival where real life people dramatizing events have taken the main prizes. Last year's Golden Bear winner,...
- 2/17/2013
- by Jose
- FilmExperience
The 63rd Berlinale is coming to a close, and the awards have been announced!
In Competition
Golden Bear - Child's Pose, directed by Călin Peter Netzer
Jury Grand Prix - An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, directed by Danis Tanović
Silver Bear for Best Director - Prince Avalanche, directed by David Gordon Green
Best Actor - Nazif Mujić, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker
Best Actress - Paulina Garcia, Gloria
Best Screenplay - Closed Curtain, written by Jafar Panahi
Alfred Bauer Prize - Vic+Flo Saw a Bear, directed by Denis Côté
Outstanding Artistic Contribution - Cinematographer Aziz Zhambakiyev, for Harmony Lessons
Special Mentions - Promised Land, directed by Gus Van Sant & Layla Fourie, directed by Pia Marais
Best First Feature Award
Best First Feature - The Rocket, directed by Kim Mordaunt
Special Mention - The Battle of Tabatô, directed by João Viana
Teddy...
In Competition
Golden Bear - Child's Pose, directed by Călin Peter Netzer
Jury Grand Prix - An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, directed by Danis Tanović
Silver Bear for Best Director - Prince Avalanche, directed by David Gordon Green
Best Actor - Nazif Mujić, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker
Best Actress - Paulina Garcia, Gloria
Best Screenplay - Closed Curtain, written by Jafar Panahi
Alfred Bauer Prize - Vic+Flo Saw a Bear, directed by Denis Côté
Outstanding Artistic Contribution - Cinematographer Aziz Zhambakiyev, for Harmony Lessons
Special Mentions - Promised Land, directed by Gus Van Sant & Layla Fourie, directed by Pia Marais
Best First Feature Award
Best First Feature - The Rocket, directed by Kim Mordaunt
Special Mention - The Battle of Tabatô, directed by João Viana
Teddy...
- 2/17/2013
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Berlin 2013: Best Director David Gordon Green This year's Best Director at the Berlinale was David Gordon Green for Prince Avalanche, featuring Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch as two quite disparate road workers who develop an unlikely friendship. Green also wrote the Prince Avalanche screenplay, from an original story by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson. (Pictured above: David Gordon Green.) Best Actress Paulina Garcia Best Actress winner Paulina Garcia (pictured above holding her Silver Bear) is the star of Sebastián Lelio's dramatic comedy Gloria, which follows a middle-aged woman who rediscovers love in the person of a naval officer in his mid-60s. Roadside Attractions will handle the distribution of the well-liked Gloria in the U.S. Iranian dissident Jafar Panahi receives award The Best Screenplay prize went to Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi and Kamboziya Partovi for the narrative drama Closed Curtain. While accepting the award, Partovi told the audience that...
- 2/17/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Berlin — A Romanian drama that centers on a woman's effort to cover up her son's responsibility for an accident in which a boy is fatally injured won the Berlin film festival's top Golden Bear award on Saturday.
"Child's Pose," directed by Calin Peter Netzer, emerged as the winner from a field of 19 films that included a strong eastern European contingent this year – the 63rd edition of the event, the first of the year's major European film festivals. Netzer said he was "a little bit speechless" at the award.
The tale of corruption and guilt depicts the efforts of an upper-class mother, played by Luminita Gheorghiu, to bribe witnesses to give false statements and keep her son – the driver, who was speeding at the time of the accident – out of prison.
"This is about a ... pathological relationship between mother and son," he told reporters later. "The rest is really just a backdrop,...
"Child's Pose," directed by Calin Peter Netzer, emerged as the winner from a field of 19 films that included a strong eastern European contingent this year – the 63rd edition of the event, the first of the year's major European film festivals. Netzer said he was "a little bit speechless" at the award.
The tale of corruption and guilt depicts the efforts of an upper-class mother, played by Luminita Gheorghiu, to bribe witnesses to give false statements and keep her son – the driver, who was speeding at the time of the accident – out of prison.
"This is about a ... pathological relationship between mother and son," he told reporters later. "The rest is really just a backdrop,...
- 2/16/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival this month is the multi-country co-production thriller by director Pia Marais, titled Layla Fourie - a film that I've been following almost throughout its development, and that I'm very interested in seeing, hoping that it travels west, specifically New York. Recapping... Here's the official synopsis: Layla Fourie, a single mother in South Africa, is given the opportunity to get proper employment as polygraphist for pre-employment tests at a casino complex. In the constant present atmosphere of mistrust, lies and fear, Layla becomes a suspect herself on a murder happening on her first working day. ...
- 2/14/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
★★☆☆☆ Swedish/South African director Pia Marais has garnered a small, yet loyal following on the festival circuit thanks to her assured debut The Unpolished (2007) and its confident follow-up At Ellen's Age (2010). Her third feature, Layla Fourie (2013), thus finds itself in competition for the top Golden Bear prize at this year's Berlinale. Sadly, this highly anticipated effort from one of Europe's most promising up-and-coming directors is a dismayingly formulaic and frustrating second-rate thriller. Layla (Rayna Campbell) is a struggling single mother, working as a waitress in a local strip bar whilst her young son, Kane (Rapule Hendricks), sleeps out back.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 2/11/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
The Berlin International Film Festival is celebrating its opening today, on February 7, 2013 at 7.30 pm. After a few words of greeting from Minister of State for Cultural and Media Affairs Bernd Neumann and Governing Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit, the Festival will be officially opened by Jury President Wong Kar Wai (Hong Kong, China) and Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick. The International Jury – whose other members are Susanne Bier (Denmark), Andreas Dresen (Germany), Ellen Kuras (USA), Shirin Neshat (Iran), Tim Robbins (USA) and Athina Rachel Tsangari (Greece) – will also be introduced during the gala. Anke Engelke will again host the evening. This year’s music will be provided by Ulrich Tukur & Die Rhythmus Boys. 3sat will be broadcasting the opening live. Ziyi Zhang in Yi dai zong shi (The Grandmaster) by Wong Kar Wai Following the gala, Wong Kar Wai’s epic martial-arts drama The Grandmaster will have its international premiere. The director and his leading actors,...
- 2/7/2013
- by hnblog@hollywoodnews.com (Hollywood News Team)
- Hollywoodnews.com
A list of the movies being shown in the official program at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, which runs Feb. 7-17.
In competition:
Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn (A Long and Happy Life), director Boris Khlebnikov.
Prince Avalanche, David Gordon Green.
Uroki Garmonii (Harmony Lessons), Emir Baigazin.
Vic+Flo ont vu un ours (Vic+Flo Saw a Bear), Denis Cote.
W imie … (In the Name of), Malgoska Szumowska.
Camille Claudel 1915, Bruno Dumont.
Elle s’en va (On my Way), Emmanuelle Bercot.
Epizoda u zivotu beraca zeljeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker), Danis Tanovic.
Gloria, Sebastian Lelio.
In competition:
Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn (A Long and Happy Life), director Boris Khlebnikov.
Prince Avalanche, David Gordon Green.
Uroki Garmonii (Harmony Lessons), Emir Baigazin.
Vic+Flo ont vu un ours (Vic+Flo Saw a Bear), Denis Cote.
W imie … (In the Name of), Malgoska Szumowska.
Camille Claudel 1915, Bruno Dumont.
Elle s’en va (On my Way), Emmanuelle Bercot.
Epizoda u zivotu beraca zeljeza (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker), Danis Tanovic.
Gloria, Sebastian Lelio.
- 1/28/2013
- by Associated Press
- EW - Inside Movies
A list of the movies being shown in the official program at this year's Berlin International Film Festival, which runs Feb. 7-17.
In competition:
"Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn" ("A Long and Happy Life"), director Boris Khlebnikov.
"Prince Avalanche," David Gordon Green.
"Uroki Garmonii" ("Harmony Lessons"), Emir Baigazin.
"Vic+Flo ont vu un ours" ("Vic+Flo Saw a Bear"), Denis Cote.
"W imie ..." ("In the Name of"), Malgoska Szumowska.
"Camille Claudel 1915," Bruno Dumont.
"Elle s'en va" ("On my Way"), Emmanuelle Bercot.
"Epizoda u zivotu beraca zeljeza" ("An Episode in the Life of an Iron
Picker"), Danis Tanovic.
"Gloria," Sebastian Lelio.
"Gold," Thomas Arslan.
"La Religieuse" ("The Nun"), Guillaume Nicloux.
"Layla Fourie," Pia Marais.
"The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman," Fredrik Bond.
"Nugu-ui Ttal-do Anin Haewon" ("Nobody's Daughter Haewon"), Hong Sangsoo.
"Paradies: Hoffnung" ("Paradise: Hope"), Ulrich Seidl.
"Parde" ("Closed Curtain"), Jafar Panahi and Kambozia Partovi.
"Pozitia Copilului" ("Child's Pose"), Calin Peter Netzer.
"Promised Land,...
In competition:
"Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn" ("A Long and Happy Life"), director Boris Khlebnikov.
"Prince Avalanche," David Gordon Green.
"Uroki Garmonii" ("Harmony Lessons"), Emir Baigazin.
"Vic+Flo ont vu un ours" ("Vic+Flo Saw a Bear"), Denis Cote.
"W imie ..." ("In the Name of"), Malgoska Szumowska.
"Camille Claudel 1915," Bruno Dumont.
"Elle s'en va" ("On my Way"), Emmanuelle Bercot.
"Epizoda u zivotu beraca zeljeza" ("An Episode in the Life of an Iron
Picker"), Danis Tanovic.
"Gloria," Sebastian Lelio.
"Gold," Thomas Arslan.
"La Religieuse" ("The Nun"), Guillaume Nicloux.
"Layla Fourie," Pia Marais.
"The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman," Fredrik Bond.
"Nugu-ui Ttal-do Anin Haewon" ("Nobody's Daughter Haewon"), Hong Sangsoo.
"Paradies: Hoffnung" ("Paradise: Hope"), Ulrich Seidl.
"Parde" ("Closed Curtain"), Jafar Panahi and Kambozia Partovi.
"Pozitia Copilului" ("Child's Pose"), Calin Peter Netzer.
"Promised Land,...
- 1/28/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Last we wrote about this project, in September - a multi-country co-production thriller by Pia Marais, titled Layla Fourie - was in post-production, with expectations that it would likely debut on the international film festival circuit in early 2013. It looks like that's going to after all, with news this morning that it'll make its world premiere at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival next month. Recapping... Here's the official synopsis: Layla Fourie, a single mother in South Africa, is given the opportunity to get proper employment as polygraphist for pre-employment tests at a casino complex. In the constant present...
- 1/11/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Because, looking forward, 2013 promises to be such a fruitful cornucopia of cinema, we were excited to be able to easily list an additional 100 titles we are eagerly looking forward to catching in the new year. From these 200-101 titles, we’re happy to list several projects featuring the extremely busy Isabelle Huppert, include two English language projects, Ned Benson’s split film project The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby His/Hers and the Niels Arden Oplev film, Dead Man Down (and don’t forget her French projects, a starring turn in Serge Bozon’s followup, Tip Top as well as Guillaume Nicloux’s The Religious).
Additionally, the horror genre should be extremely noteworthy in the coming year, with new projects from Neil Marshall (The Descent), Alexandre Aja (High Tension), Fabrice Du Welz (Calvaire), Lucky McKee (May) and directing team Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury (Inside). We’ve got two Australian beauties playing...
Additionally, the horror genre should be extremely noteworthy in the coming year, with new projects from Neil Marshall (The Descent), Alexandre Aja (High Tension), Fabrice Du Welz (Calvaire), Lucky McKee (May) and directing team Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury (Inside). We’ve got two Australian beauties playing...
- 1/10/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Last we wrote about this project, in March, shooting was just getting underway on location in Johannesburg, South Africa. The film, a multi-country co-production thriller by Pia Marais, titled Layla Fourie, is currently in post-production, and we should probably expect it to debut on the international film festival circuit in early 2013, from Pandora Film Produktion, Topkapi Films, DV8 Films and Cinema Defacto. Here's the official synopsis: Layla Fourie, a single mother in South Africa, is given the opportunity to get proper employment as polygraphist for pre-employment tests at a casino complex. In the constant present atmosphere of...
- 9/3/2012
- by Courtney
- ShadowAndAct
Updated through 3/28.
"The sometimes hard-to-distinguish variances between being caged and allowed to roam free inform the trials and tribulations of the middle-aged woman at the center of Pia Marais's second feature, At Ellen's Age," begins Chris Cabin in Slant. "The eponymous heroine, a flight attendant played by the magnetic Jeanne Balibar, arrives home from a flight to the news that her partner (Georg Friedrich) has knocked up another woman. The news of this long-gestating infidelity, along with some undisclosed medical results she receives that are assumedly not pleasant, leads to Ellen staging a nutty on a flight out of Africa, leading in turn to her immediate dismissal from her job."...
"The sometimes hard-to-distinguish variances between being caged and allowed to roam free inform the trials and tribulations of the middle-aged woman at the center of Pia Marais's second feature, At Ellen's Age," begins Chris Cabin in Slant. "The eponymous heroine, a flight attendant played by the magnetic Jeanne Balibar, arrives home from a flight to the news that her partner (Georg Friedrich) has knocked up another woman. The news of this long-gestating infidelity, along with some undisclosed medical results she receives that are assumedly not pleasant, leads to Ellen staging a nutty on a flight out of Africa, leading in turn to her immediate dismissal from her job."...
- 3/28/2011
- MUBI
by Vadim Rizov
At Ellen's Age (Im Alter Von Ellen), concerning a flight attendant who freaks out and quits as the plane prepares for takeoff, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival days before JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater famously told off a rude passenger, opened the emergency landing door, and slid away from his job. Slater now lives as a low-tier quasi-reality star, making minor celebrity appearances and milking TMZ coverage while working on a book. (He shares an agent with Barry Manilow.) Flight attendant Ellen's (Jeanne Balibar) dramatic exit here takes her in a more meaningful direction, from neurotic, directionless woman to committed animal rights activist.
Like its protagonist, German filmmaker Pia Marais' comedy morphs twice. At first, it's a jittery portrait of rigorously put-together Ellen. Post-Dardennes tics of European filmmaking persist: the aggressive handheld camera prowling behind Ellen's head as she strides through anonymous airports is familiar,...
At Ellen's Age (Im Alter Von Ellen), concerning a flight attendant who freaks out and quits as the plane prepares for takeoff, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival days before JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater famously told off a rude passenger, opened the emergency landing door, and slid away from his job. Slater now lives as a low-tier quasi-reality star, making minor celebrity appearances and milking TMZ coverage while working on a book. (He shares an agent with Barry Manilow.) Flight attendant Ellen's (Jeanne Balibar) dramatic exit here takes her in a more meaningful direction, from neurotic, directionless woman to committed animal rights activist.
Like its protagonist, German filmmaker Pia Marais' comedy morphs twice. At first, it's a jittery portrait of rigorously put-together Ellen. Post-Dardennes tics of European filmmaking persist: the aggressive handheld camera prowling behind Ellen's head as she strides through anonymous airports is familiar,...
- 3/24/2011
- GreenCine Daily
At Ellen’s Age, the follow-up to South African-born director Pia Marais’ award-winning debut The Unpolished, is an elegiac German drama that follows an unanchored woman through her rocky mid-life crisis. While a compelling concept, the execution of this rites of passage narrative is muddled at best.
Acclaimed French film star Jeanne Balibar plays Ellen, a globetrotting flight attendant who abruptly walks away from the life she knows after she receives grave news from her doctor and an infidelity confession from her lover. Reeling from this dramatic double-whammy Ellen’s life spirals into a tailspin that leaves her jobless, homeless, and lost. Now a stray, she’s suitably taken in by a group of grungy, twenty-something animal activists. She half-heartedly accompanies them on protests and late-night shenanigans but eventually grows tired of their youthful enthusiasm. Plagued by a wish for a grander purpose than freeing chicken and lab mice allows,...
Acclaimed French film star Jeanne Balibar plays Ellen, a globetrotting flight attendant who abruptly walks away from the life she knows after she receives grave news from her doctor and an infidelity confession from her lover. Reeling from this dramatic double-whammy Ellen’s life spirals into a tailspin that leaves her jobless, homeless, and lost. Now a stray, she’s suitably taken in by a group of grungy, twenty-something animal activists. She half-heartedly accompanies them on protests and late-night shenanigans but eventually grows tired of their youthful enthusiasm. Plagued by a wish for a grander purpose than freeing chicken and lab mice allows,...
- 3/23/2011
- by Kristy Puchko
- The Film Stage
Have you picked up your tickets yet?
It’s that time of the year, when the early film festivals debut/premiere some of the films that we’ll be talking about later on in the year.
Sundance, Berlin, Pan African, Fespaco, and South By Southwest Film Festivals are done! And this week, the 40th installment of the New Directors/New Films Film Festival here in New York City, begins!
Press screenings for the festival end today, and I saw around 10 films. I’ve already reviewed 4 or so of them, with another 5 or 6 reviews coming, today and tomorrow. I’ll also include a brief write-up of what to expect at the festival, films you should see, those that you could skip, etc… so stay tuned for that.
The lineup of the New Directors/New Films Film Festival follows below, and those of you who live in New York, or who are...
It’s that time of the year, when the early film festivals debut/premiere some of the films that we’ll be talking about later on in the year.
Sundance, Berlin, Pan African, Fespaco, and South By Southwest Film Festivals are done! And this week, the 40th installment of the New Directors/New Films Film Festival here in New York City, begins!
Press screenings for the festival end today, and I saw around 10 films. I’ve already reviewed 4 or so of them, with another 5 or 6 reviews coming, today and tomorrow. I’ll also include a brief write-up of what to expect at the festival, films you should see, those that you could skip, etc… so stay tuned for that.
The lineup of the New Directors/New Films Film Festival follows below, and those of you who live in New York, or who are...
- 3/21/2011
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
Updated through 2/25.
As with the first quick roundup, the idea here is to point to critical takes on films that I've not caught at the Berlinale but which I'm interested in hearing about (again, for whatever reason), and I'm guessing you might be as well. With just two days left for the festival, this entry will carry on being the catch-all collection for the unseen for days, possibly even weeks, to come.
"As a rule, critics have learned from bitter experience not to expect revelations from Berlin, especially not from the flaccid and usually middle-brow competition selection," writes Jonathan Romney in a dispatch to Sight & Sound. "Surprises, if they come, will be from left field — and the one film I saw this year that can genuinely be called a UFO is a Russian science-fiction extravaganza, shown in the Panorama section. Target (Mishen) — 'The Target' would be a better translation, to...
As with the first quick roundup, the idea here is to point to critical takes on films that I've not caught at the Berlinale but which I'm interested in hearing about (again, for whatever reason), and I'm guessing you might be as well. With just two days left for the festival, this entry will carry on being the catch-all collection for the unseen for days, possibly even weeks, to come.
"As a rule, critics have learned from bitter experience not to expect revelations from Berlin, especially not from the flaccid and usually middle-brow competition selection," writes Jonathan Romney in a dispatch to Sight & Sound. "Surprises, if they come, will be from left field — and the one film I saw this year that can genuinely be called a UFO is a Russian science-fiction extravaganza, shown in the Panorama section. Target (Mishen) — 'The Target' would be a better translation, to...
- 2/25/2011
- MUBI
Celebrating its 40th year of spotlighting the world’s best up-and-coming feature filmmakers, the Museum of Modern Art and Film Society of Lincoln Center’s prestigious New Directors/New Films series has chosen Portland-based experimental filmmaker Matt McCormick‘s Some Days Are Better Than Others to screen.
McCormick is hardly a “new” director. He’s been making short films and music videos since 1999. However, Some Days Are Better Than Others is his first feature-length project. The movie follows the lives of several quirky Portland residents who all experience the good times of their lives slipping quickly into memory, while their more painful moments are so difficult to let go of.
Starring in the film is Carrie Brownstein, the former guitarist and singer for the band Sleater-Kinney and current star of the hit IFC cable TV series Portlandia. Brownstein previously appeared in Miranda July’s short film Getting Stronger Every Day...
McCormick is hardly a “new” director. He’s been making short films and music videos since 1999. However, Some Days Are Better Than Others is his first feature-length project. The movie follows the lives of several quirky Portland residents who all experience the good times of their lives slipping quickly into memory, while their more painful moments are so difficult to let go of.
Starring in the film is Carrie Brownstein, the former guitarist and singer for the band Sleater-Kinney and current star of the hit IFC cable TV series Portlandia. Brownstein previously appeared in Miranda July’s short film Getting Stronger Every Day...
- 2/17/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center Announce Feature Film Lineup for the 40th Annual New Directors/New Films March 23 . April 3
J.C. Chandor.s .Margin Call. is the Opening Night presentation with Maryam Keshavarz.s Award-winning .Circumstance. the Closing Night selection
The Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the full lineup today for the 40th edition of New Directors/New Films (March 23 . April 3). Dedicated to the discovery of new works by emerging and dynamic filmmaking talent, the film festival will screen 28 feature films (24 narrative, 4 documentary) representing 22 countries.
The opening night feature is J.C. Chandor.s Margin Call. Screening on Wednesday, March 23, at 7:00Pm at MoMA, Chandor’s feature film directing debut is a timely and terrifying dramatic expose that tackles twenty-four hours on an investment bank trading floor; a day that brings layer upon layer of human and...
J.C. Chandor.s .Margin Call. is the Opening Night presentation with Maryam Keshavarz.s Award-winning .Circumstance. the Closing Night selection
The Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the full lineup today for the 40th edition of New Directors/New Films (March 23 . April 3). Dedicated to the discovery of new works by emerging and dynamic filmmaking talent, the film festival will screen 28 feature films (24 narrative, 4 documentary) representing 22 countries.
The opening night feature is J.C. Chandor.s Margin Call. Screening on Wednesday, March 23, at 7:00Pm at MoMA, Chandor’s feature film directing debut is a timely and terrifying dramatic expose that tackles twenty-four hours on an investment bank trading floor; a day that brings layer upon layer of human and...
- 2/17/2011
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
NYC’s New Directors/New Films Festival Unveils Lineup (“Pariah,” “Black Power Mixtape”) Make The Cut
Ahhh yes, it’s that time of the year, when the early film festivals debut/premiere some of the films that we’ll be talking about later on in the year.
Sundance is done; the Berlin and Pan African Film Festivals are currently underway; the South By Southwest Film Festival takes over Austin, TX in less than a month! And a few days after it ends, the 40th installment of the New Directors/New Films Film Festival here in New York City, begins!
Can’t you just feel the excitement in the air? I can!
And I feel even better knowing that I was granted press credentials by the festival organizers, meaning I’ll be seeing as many of these films for Free, with reviews to follow on this site, afterward, as usual.
The lineup of the New Directors/New Films Film Festival was just unveiled, and those of you who live in New York,...
Sundance is done; the Berlin and Pan African Film Festivals are currently underway; the South By Southwest Film Festival takes over Austin, TX in less than a month! And a few days after it ends, the 40th installment of the New Directors/New Films Film Festival here in New York City, begins!
Can’t you just feel the excitement in the air? I can!
And I feel even better knowing that I was granted press credentials by the festival organizers, meaning I’ll be seeing as many of these films for Free, with reviews to follow on this site, afterward, as usual.
The lineup of the New Directors/New Films Film Festival was just unveiled, and those of you who live in New York,...
- 2/16/2011
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
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