Bulgarian multi-hyphenate Stephan Komandarev completes his trilogy on social problems and moral ills in contemporary Bulgaria with “Blaga’s Lessons,” world premiering in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Crystal Globe competition. Heretic is the sales agent.
After “Directions” (2017), which centers on tough times for some Sofia taxi drivers over a long and eventful night, and “Rounds” (2019), about police officers patrolling the capital, Komandarev and his co-writer Simeon Ventsislavov use an older woman duped by a telephone scam to look at issues afflicting their parents’ generation. Komandarev says: “The Bulgarian pensioners turned out to be the real victims of the so-called ‘transition’ (the time from 1989 to today.) These people, who have worked and created persistently all their lives, have lost basic safety and security, normal food, adequate medical care, heating, etc.”
The protagonist Blaga (Eli Skorcheva) is a retired Bulgarian language and literature teacher. A recent widow, she’s worried about how...
After “Directions” (2017), which centers on tough times for some Sofia taxi drivers over a long and eventful night, and “Rounds” (2019), about police officers patrolling the capital, Komandarev and his co-writer Simeon Ventsislavov use an older woman duped by a telephone scam to look at issues afflicting their parents’ generation. Komandarev says: “The Bulgarian pensioners turned out to be the real victims of the so-called ‘transition’ (the time from 1989 to today.) These people, who have worked and created persistently all their lives, have lost basic safety and security, normal food, adequate medical care, heating, etc.”
The protagonist Blaga (Eli Skorcheva) is a retired Bulgarian language and literature teacher. A recent widow, she’s worried about how...
- 6/28/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Further funding awarded to new Bruno Dumont feature and ‘Niko’ franchise.
Joshua Oppenheimer’s upcoming musical The End starring Tilda Swinton is one of 23 features to receive a share of €5.5m ($6.1m) in the latest round of Eurimages co-production support funding.
The film, a co-production between Denmark, Germany and Ireland, receives €480,000 – the largest of the 23 awards in this selection.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
The End stars George MacKay and Stephen Graham alongside Swinton in the musical about the last human family. Neon has acquired North America rights.
The Empire, the latest film from French director Bruno Dumont,...
Joshua Oppenheimer’s upcoming musical The End starring Tilda Swinton is one of 23 features to receive a share of €5.5m ($6.1m) in the latest round of Eurimages co-production support funding.
The film, a co-production between Denmark, Germany and Ireland, receives €480,000 – the largest of the 23 awards in this selection.
Scroll down for the full list of titles
The End stars George MacKay and Stephen Graham alongside Swinton in the musical about the last human family. Neon has acquired North America rights.
The Empire, the latest film from French director Bruno Dumont,...
- 3/30/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Winners include Marko Grba Singh, Aleksandra Odić, Selman Nacar, Ralitza Petrova projects.
Serbia’s Forget The Ocean, Why Not Try Surfing These Insane River Waves from director Marko Grba Singh was among the projects recognised by Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry platform CineLink, which handed out its awards last night (August 19).
See below for the full list of winners
A reconstruction of the 1957 encounter and relationship between the director’s Punjabi and Yugoslav grandparents, set in the context of the post-Brexit crisis in the UK, it took the €20,000 Eurimages co-production development award.
Singh’s short If I Had It My...
Serbia’s Forget The Ocean, Why Not Try Surfing These Insane River Waves from director Marko Grba Singh was among the projects recognised by Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry platform CineLink, which handed out its awards last night (August 19).
See below for the full list of winners
A reconstruction of the 1957 encounter and relationship between the director’s Punjabi and Yugoslav grandparents, set in the context of the post-Brexit crisis in the UK, it took the €20,000 Eurimages co-production development award.
Singh’s short If I Had It My...
- 8/20/2021
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova, who won Locarno Film Festival’s Golden Leopard in 2016 with “Godless,” is readying her second feature, “Lust,” which will be presented during Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Co-production Market over the coming week.
Produced by Poli Angelova and Petrova for Aporia Filmworks, in collaboration with Screening Emotions, the project has been backed by the Bulgarian National Film Center and Danish Film Institute, with Copenhagen-based Snowglobe on board as well, reuniting with the director following their collaboration on “Godless.”
The film will focus on fortysomething Lilian, forced to return to her native Bulgaria after becoming her estranged father’s heir. She wants nothing to do with his legacy, but a near-death experience delays her departure, forcing Lilian to address her life-long fear of commitment.
“All the characters interacting throughout the film are more or less incapable of receiving and reciprocating love. But there is a possibility for an awakening,...
Produced by Poli Angelova and Petrova for Aporia Filmworks, in collaboration with Screening Emotions, the project has been backed by the Bulgarian National Film Center and Danish Film Institute, with Copenhagen-based Snowglobe on board as well, reuniting with the director following their collaboration on “Godless.”
The film will focus on fortysomething Lilian, forced to return to her native Bulgaria after becoming her estranged father’s heir. She wants nothing to do with his legacy, but a near-death experience delays her departure, forcing Lilian to address her life-long fear of commitment.
“All the characters interacting throughout the film are more or less incapable of receiving and reciprocating love. But there is a possibility for an awakening,...
- 8/13/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
One of the hippest, most international Scandinavian companies, the Copenhagen-based Snowglobe, is the 5-year-old banner behind “Wildland,” the female-powered crime film set to world premiere at the Berlinale.
Starring Sidse Babett Knudsen (“Borgen”) as a mafia ringleader and introducing Sandra Guldberg Kampp, “Wildland” was written by Ingeborg Topsoe (“The Charmer”) and directed by Jeanette Nordahl. It explores the themes of family, loyalty and the cycle of violence, addiction and corruption. “It’s a female take on a mafia story, a genre that has traditionally been male-driven,” says Katrin Pors, Snowglobe’s co-founder.
The company was founded in 2015 by three plugged-in Scandinavian film executives with complementary backgrounds: Eva Jakobsen, a former producer at Nimbus Film and Zentropa, who produced hit “Antboy”; Mikkel Jersin, a former producer at Nimbus who worked with Joachim Trier, Runar Runarsson and Lisa Langseth; and Pors, who spent years in Latin America, and co-produced films by the...
Starring Sidse Babett Knudsen (“Borgen”) as a mafia ringleader and introducing Sandra Guldberg Kampp, “Wildland” was written by Ingeborg Topsoe (“The Charmer”) and directed by Jeanette Nordahl. It explores the themes of family, loyalty and the cycle of violence, addiction and corruption. “It’s a female take on a mafia story, a genre that has traditionally been male-driven,” says Katrin Pors, Snowglobe’s co-founder.
The company was founded in 2015 by three plugged-in Scandinavian film executives with complementary backgrounds: Eva Jakobsen, a former producer at Nimbus Film and Zentropa, who produced hit “Antboy”; Mikkel Jersin, a former producer at Nimbus who worked with Joachim Trier, Runar Runarsson and Lisa Langseth; and Pors, who spent years in Latin America, and co-produced films by the...
- 2/22/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
In the fall of 2010, faced with cuts in public financing, Bulgarian filmmakers and other members of industry bodies swept across the capital, Sofia, in a wave of protests against austerity measures introduced by the right-wing ruling party. At the time, the country’s fledgling film industry was in a state of crisis. But eight years later, “the situation is completely different,” says Jana Karaivanova, executive director of the National Film Center. “Bulgarian filmmaking is thriving.”
A selection of contemporary Bulgarian cinema is on display this week at the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival, with the Focus Bulgaria sidebar spotlighting eight feature films and documentaries from the Eastern European nation. Beginning with Stephan Komandarev’s “Directions,” which world premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard last year, the program showcases the growing cinematic output of a country still building an industry from the ground up.
“It’s impossible not to notice that Bulgarian...
A selection of contemporary Bulgarian cinema is on display this week at the Transilvania Intl. Film Festival, with the Focus Bulgaria sidebar spotlighting eight feature films and documentaries from the Eastern European nation. Beginning with Stephan Komandarev’s “Directions,” which world premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard last year, the program showcases the growing cinematic output of a country still building an industry from the ground up.
“It’s impossible not to notice that Bulgarian...
- 5/31/2018
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Sofia Film Festival winners also announced.
Dublin-based Italian writer-director Nathalie Biancheri’s second feature film project Wolf was awarded the Danny Lerner Grand Prix for best international project at the 15th edition of the Sofia Meetings co-production market this weekend.
The Nu Boyana Film Studios’ CEO Yariv Lerner handed over a prize of €50,000 in services and a cheque for €5,000 to Biancheri and her producer Jessie Fisk for what the director describes as “a high concept, absurdist arthouse drama”.
Budgeted at €1.2m, Wolf is set to be the first project to go into production by Fisk’s production company Feline Films.
Dublin-based Italian writer-director Nathalie Biancheri’s second feature film project Wolf was awarded the Danny Lerner Grand Prix for best international project at the 15th edition of the Sofia Meetings co-production market this weekend.
The Nu Boyana Film Studios’ CEO Yariv Lerner handed over a prize of €50,000 in services and a cheque for €5,000 to Biancheri and her producer Jessie Fisk for what the director describes as “a high concept, absurdist arthouse drama”.
Budgeted at €1.2m, Wolf is set to be the first project to go into production by Fisk’s production company Feline Films.
- 3/19/2018
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Keep up with the glitzy awards world with our bi-weekly Awards Roundup column.
– The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced that Academy Award–winning actor Helen Mirren will be honored at the 45th Chaplin Award Gala on Monday, April 30, 2018. A beloved figure of stage, screen, and television, Mirren has bestowed upon the world a series of iconic performances in a career spanning more than fifty years. The annual event will be attended by a host of notable guests and presenters and will include movie and interview clips, culminating in the presentation of the Chaplin Award.
“It is an honor and a pleasure for us to present Helen Mirren with our 45th Chaplin Award,” said Ann Tenenbaum, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Board Chairman. “From housemaid to Queen and everything in between, Ms. Mirren has delivered masterful performances of complex characters, upending stereotype after stereotype along the way.
– The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced that Academy Award–winning actor Helen Mirren will be honored at the 45th Chaplin Award Gala on Monday, April 30, 2018. A beloved figure of stage, screen, and television, Mirren has bestowed upon the world a series of iconic performances in a career spanning more than fifty years. The annual event will be attended by a host of notable guests and presenters and will include movie and interview clips, culminating in the presentation of the Chaplin Award.
“It is an honor and a pleasure for us to present Helen Mirren with our 45th Chaplin Award,” said Ann Tenenbaum, the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Board Chairman. “From housemaid to Queen and everything in between, Ms. Mirren has delivered masterful performances of complex characters, upending stereotype after stereotype along the way.
- 10/20/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
A French agricultural thriller, a Bulgarian blast of urban realism and a British adaptation of a 19th century Russian literary classic are among this year's nominees for the European Discovery prize, the best first-film award presented by the European Film Academy.
The Efa on Thursday revealed the five nominees for this year's Discovery honor, which include Hubert Charuel's Bloody Milk, a thriller set in the French countryside; Ralitza Petrova's Godless, a noir-ish depiction of impoverished brutality in small-town Bulgaria; and William Oldroyd's Lady Macbeth, which transfers the story of the original desperate housewife from Nikolai Leskov's...
The Efa on Thursday revealed the five nominees for this year's Discovery honor, which include Hubert Charuel's Bloody Milk, a thriller set in the French countryside; Ralitza Petrova's Godless, a noir-ish depiction of impoverished brutality in small-town Bulgaria; and William Oldroyd's Lady Macbeth, which transfers the story of the original desperate housewife from Nikolai Leskov's...
- 10/19/2017
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Melisa Sözen, Gordan Bogdan also set to join jury president Michel Franco.
The feature film jury for the 23rd edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 11-18) has been revealed.
Joining previously announced jury president Michel Franco will be Mark Adams, artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which recently wrapped its 71st edition. He was previously the chief film critic for Screen International.
Sarajevo’s jury is completed by Fatma Al Remaihi, chief executive officer of Doha Film Institute, Bosnian actor Gordan Bogdan (Sonja And The Bull), and Turkish actress Melisa Sözen (Winter Sleep).
Jury president Franco’s credits include After Lucia and April’s Daughter, both of which won awards in Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard strand.
He has also produced films include Lorenzo Vigas’s From Afar, which won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2015.
The jury will determine the winners of the Heart of Sarajevo awards, which will be...
The feature film jury for the 23rd edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 11-18) has been revealed.
Joining previously announced jury president Michel Franco will be Mark Adams, artistic director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which recently wrapped its 71st edition. He was previously the chief film critic for Screen International.
Sarajevo’s jury is completed by Fatma Al Remaihi, chief executive officer of Doha Film Institute, Bosnian actor Gordan Bogdan (Sonja And The Bull), and Turkish actress Melisa Sözen (Winter Sleep).
Jury president Franco’s credits include After Lucia and April’s Daughter, both of which won awards in Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard strand.
He has also produced films include Lorenzo Vigas’s From Afar, which won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2015.
The jury will determine the winners of the Heart of Sarajevo awards, which will be...
- 7/7/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
The festival will also showcase the director’s latest film.
Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco will head the jury for the main competition programme at the 23rd Sarajevo Film Festival.
Set to run August 11-18, 2017, the festival will screen the director’s most recent work April’s Daughter, which won the Un Certain Regard jury prize at Cannes this year.
In 2012, the feted director’s Lucia won the best film award in Un Certain Regard and in 2015 he also won the best screenplay award at Cannes for Chronic.
Oppenheimer
Additionally, Sarajevo is set to fete Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing), who will participate in a masterclass and audience Q&A session.
Last year’s Heart of Sarajevo prize for best feature went to Mehmet Can Mertoğlu’s Album, with the special jury prize going to Ralitza Petrova’s Godless and the special jusry mention going to Bogdan Mirica’s Dogs.
Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco will head the jury for the main competition programme at the 23rd Sarajevo Film Festival.
Set to run August 11-18, 2017, the festival will screen the director’s most recent work April’s Daughter, which won the Un Certain Regard jury prize at Cannes this year.
In 2012, the feted director’s Lucia won the best film award in Un Certain Regard and in 2015 he also won the best screenplay award at Cannes for Chronic.
Oppenheimer
Additionally, Sarajevo is set to fete Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing), who will participate in a masterclass and audience Q&A session.
Last year’s Heart of Sarajevo prize for best feature went to Mehmet Can Mertoğlu’s Album, with the special jury prize going to Ralitza Petrova’s Godless and the special jusry mention going to Bogdan Mirica’s Dogs.
- 6/15/2017
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Production company works with Danish debut director but brings in international expertise.
Danish production company Snowglobe, whose co-production credits include festival hits Ralitza Petrova’s Godless and Amat Escalante’s The Untamed, has greenlit its first Danish production.
Martin Skovbjerg’s Sticks & Stones (Brakland) will shoot in July and August on the southern Danish island of Langeland and Funen.
Theatrical distributors already on board are Denmark’s Reel Pictures, Iceland’s Bio Paradis and Norway´s Mer Film.
The story is about a teenage boy from Copenhagen who moves to a provincial area, where he is an outsider until he meets the local 15-year-old alpha male. The pair challenge each other in transgressive actions but when one boy’s family is blamed for a local scandal, their friendship is threatened. Jonas Bjerril and Vilmer Trier Brøgger will star.
The script is based on an original story by writer Christian Gamst Miller-Harris (Follow The Money, Oscar-winning short Helium...
Danish production company Snowglobe, whose co-production credits include festival hits Ralitza Petrova’s Godless and Amat Escalante’s The Untamed, has greenlit its first Danish production.
Martin Skovbjerg’s Sticks & Stones (Brakland) will shoot in July and August on the southern Danish island of Langeland and Funen.
Theatrical distributors already on board are Denmark’s Reel Pictures, Iceland’s Bio Paradis and Norway´s Mer Film.
The story is about a teenage boy from Copenhagen who moves to a provincial area, where he is an outsider until he meets the local 15-year-old alpha male. The pair challenge each other in transgressive actions but when one boy’s family is blamed for a local scandal, their friendship is threatened. Jonas Bjerril and Vilmer Trier Brøgger will star.
The script is based on an original story by writer Christian Gamst Miller-Harris (Follow The Money, Oscar-winning short Helium...
- 5/20/2017
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Former film producer and Virgin Records co-founder steps down after 14 years.
The National Film and Television School has confirmed today that its director Nik Powell is to step down at the end of July after 14 years at the helm.
Under Powell’s stewardship the school has firmly cemented its place as one of the major film institutions in the world.
Powell recently oversaw the delivery of two new teaching buildings covering more than 20,000 square feet and a 4K digital television studio.
The school has evolved to offer Ma, diploma, certificate and short courses in film, television and the games industries and it has become a Higher Education Institution accredited by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce).
Recent graduates include Yann Demange, Anthony Chen, Ralitza Petrova and Michael Lennox. In 2013/14 Nfts graduates were nominated for a total 31 BAFTAs and won 10.
Former graduates of the school include David Yates, Lynne Ramsay, Terence Davies, [link...
The National Film and Television School has confirmed today that its director Nik Powell is to step down at the end of July after 14 years at the helm.
Under Powell’s stewardship the school has firmly cemented its place as one of the major film institutions in the world.
Powell recently oversaw the delivery of two new teaching buildings covering more than 20,000 square feet and a 4K digital television studio.
The school has evolved to offer Ma, diploma, certificate and short courses in film, television and the games industries and it has become a Higher Education Institution accredited by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce).
Recent graduates include Yann Demange, Anthony Chen, Ralitza Petrova and Michael Lennox. In 2013/14 Nfts graduates were nominated for a total 31 BAFTAs and won 10.
Former graduates of the school include David Yates, Lynne Ramsay, Terence Davies, [link...
- 4/7/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Sofia Meetings industry winners include UK project The Tentmaster’s Daughter; The Expendables 4 heads to Bulgaria.
Ralitza Petrova’s Godless was this year’s winner of the ‘Sofia City of Film’ Grand Prix at the 21st edition of the Sofia International Film Festival (Siff).
Petrova’s feature debut, which won the Golden Leopard for best film and the best actress Silver Leopard in Locarno last year, received the award for best Bulgarian feature film.
Petrova also won Turkey’s Yapim-lab young producer award for her second feature Dust which she presented with producer Poli Angelova as a project at the Sofia Meetings.
This is the third year in a row that a local Bulgarian film has won Siff’s international competition grand prix following Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s The Lesson in 2015 and Eliza Petkova’s Zhaleika in 2016.
Local Bulgarian films also featured among the other prize winners this year: Grozeva and Valchanov’s second film Glory...
Ralitza Petrova’s Godless was this year’s winner of the ‘Sofia City of Film’ Grand Prix at the 21st edition of the Sofia International Film Festival (Siff).
Petrova’s feature debut, which won the Golden Leopard for best film and the best actress Silver Leopard in Locarno last year, received the award for best Bulgarian feature film.
Petrova also won Turkey’s Yapim-lab young producer award for her second feature Dust which she presented with producer Poli Angelova as a project at the Sofia Meetings.
This is the third year in a row that a local Bulgarian film has won Siff’s international competition grand prix following Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s The Lesson in 2015 and Eliza Petkova’s Zhaleika in 2016.
Local Bulgarian films also featured among the other prize winners this year: Grozeva and Valchanov’s second film Glory...
- 3/20/2017
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Beyond The Mountains And Hills, One Week And A Day take home top prizes after 15 days of programming.
The 20th edition of UK International Jewish Film Festival selected its award winners after fifteen days of programming. The festival showcased over 80 world, European and UK premieres of features and shorts from November 5-20.
The Israel-Germany-Belgium co-production Beyond The Mountains And Hills [pictured], directed by Eran Kolirin, took home the award for best feature film. It’s star Mili Eshet collected the prize at the ceremony.
Head of jury Jason Solomons said, “It was felt that Kolirin’s film was a bold step up from his popular debut The Band’s Visit, and we admired his willingness to examine the complexities of modern Israeli life with unflinching views that will challenge some audiences. We were struck and provoked, to varying degrees, by the idea of a family representing a nation in mid-life crisis and representing its fears.
“The film maker...
The 20th edition of UK International Jewish Film Festival selected its award winners after fifteen days of programming. The festival showcased over 80 world, European and UK premieres of features and shorts from November 5-20.
The Israel-Germany-Belgium co-production Beyond The Mountains And Hills [pictured], directed by Eran Kolirin, took home the award for best feature film. It’s star Mili Eshet collected the prize at the ceremony.
Head of jury Jason Solomons said, “It was felt that Kolirin’s film was a bold step up from his popular debut The Band’s Visit, and we admired his willingness to examine the complexities of modern Israeli life with unflinching views that will challenge some audiences. We were struck and provoked, to varying degrees, by the idea of a family representing a nation in mid-life crisis and representing its fears.
“The film maker...
- 11/21/2016
- ScreenDaily
Other winners include Sand Storm, American Honey, Old Stone, Hooligan Sparrow.
The jury of the 27th Stockholm International Film Festival has given the top award, the Bronze Horse, to Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova for Godless.
The film previously won the Golden Leopard in Locarno as well as the New Talent Grant Pix in Copenhagen last week. It tells the story of a young physiotherapist struggling to survive in an economically depressed mountain town in post-Communist Bulgaria, who forms an unlikely bond with one of her elderly patients.
The jury — comprised of producer Annika Rogell, directors Roland Vranik, Wayne Roberts and Frida Kempff, and actress Julia Ragnarsson – said the film was “an astonishing masterpiece. This is filmmaking of the highest order and marks the arrival of a new great within cinema. A film that will forever live in the hearts and minds of viewers. It is a true work of art and, simply put, is...
The jury of the 27th Stockholm International Film Festival has given the top award, the Bronze Horse, to Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova for Godless.
The film previously won the Golden Leopard in Locarno as well as the New Talent Grant Pix in Copenhagen last week. It tells the story of a young physiotherapist struggling to survive in an economically depressed mountain town in post-Communist Bulgaria, who forms an unlikely bond with one of her elderly patients.
The jury — comprised of producer Annika Rogell, directors Roland Vranik, Wayne Roberts and Frida Kempff, and actress Julia Ragnarsson – said the film was “an astonishing masterpiece. This is filmmaking of the highest order and marks the arrival of a new great within cinema. A film that will forever live in the hearts and minds of viewers. It is a true work of art and, simply put, is...
- 11/20/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Political sci-fi drama stars Sofia Kokkali.
Athens-based sales agent Heretic Outreach has added Alexandros Voulgaris’s Thread to its sales slate ahead of the film’s premiere at Thessaloniki International Film Festival on Wednesday (Nov 9).
Starring Sofia Kokkali (Little England), the sci-fi drama is directed by Voulgaris, under his film-making moniker The Boy, whose directing credits include Crying? (2003) and Pink (2006) both of which played at Tiff, and more recently Higuita (2012).
Produced by Eleni Bertes, the film had financial support from the Greek Film Centre and the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.
Set in a dystopian society, the story follows a mother who is torn between her commitment to serving The Party and her responsibilities of being a mother.
The film screens in Thessaloniki twice on Wednesday and has a further screening on Thursday (Nov 10).
Heretic Outreach has four films playing in Thessaloniki, joining Thread are Paul Negoescu’s Romanian box office hit Two Lottery Tickets, Stergios Paschos’s Locarno...
Athens-based sales agent Heretic Outreach has added Alexandros Voulgaris’s Thread to its sales slate ahead of the film’s premiere at Thessaloniki International Film Festival on Wednesday (Nov 9).
Starring Sofia Kokkali (Little England), the sci-fi drama is directed by Voulgaris, under his film-making moniker The Boy, whose directing credits include Crying? (2003) and Pink (2006) both of which played at Tiff, and more recently Higuita (2012).
Produced by Eleni Bertes, the film had financial support from the Greek Film Centre and the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.
Set in a dystopian society, the story follows a mother who is torn between her commitment to serving The Party and her responsibilities of being a mother.
The film screens in Thessaloniki twice on Wednesday and has a further screening on Thursday (Nov 10).
Heretic Outreach has four films playing in Thessaloniki, joining Thread are Paul Negoescu’s Romanian box office hit Two Lottery Tickets, Stergios Paschos’s Locarno...
- 11/7/2016
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
Festival moves to new autumn dates; audience award goes to Heartstone, and Girls Lost wins best children’s film.
Cph Pix’s New Talent Grand Pix has been awarded to Bulgarian filmmaker Ralitza Petrova for her film Godless.
The film, which is co-produced by new Danish production company Snowglobe, previously won the Golden Leopard in Locarno. It tells the story of a young physiotherapist struggling to survive in an economically depressed mountain town in post-Communist Bulgaria, who forms an unlikely bond with one of her elderly patients.
The New Talent Grand Pix – awarded for a debut feature — comes with $11,000 (€10,000); the jury was comprised of director Philippe Grandrieux (France), producer Erika Wasserman (Sweden) and DoP Manuel Alberto Claro (Denmark) [pictured with director Petrova].
In a statement, the jury said, “We were looking for a film-maker and talent who is not afraid to grab the world with the possibilities of cinema itself and use all its means to invite us inside this process...
Cph Pix’s New Talent Grand Pix has been awarded to Bulgarian filmmaker Ralitza Petrova for her film Godless.
The film, which is co-produced by new Danish production company Snowglobe, previously won the Golden Leopard in Locarno. It tells the story of a young physiotherapist struggling to survive in an economically depressed mountain town in post-Communist Bulgaria, who forms an unlikely bond with one of her elderly patients.
The New Talent Grand Pix – awarded for a debut feature — comes with $11,000 (€10,000); the jury was comprised of director Philippe Grandrieux (France), producer Erika Wasserman (Sweden) and DoP Manuel Alberto Claro (Denmark) [pictured with director Petrova].
In a statement, the jury said, “We were looking for a film-maker and talent who is not afraid to grab the world with the possibilities of cinema itself and use all its means to invite us inside this process...
- 11/7/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
The curtain fell on India’s biggest Film Festival, Jio Mami 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star on Thursday, 27th October, 2016. The ceremony took place at Bal Gandharva Rangmandir, Bandra. World-renowned filmmakers, talent and Bollywood stars walked the red carpet to celebrate the end of Mumbai’s very own film festival’s latest edition.
Sonam Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Abhay Deol, Kabir Khan, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Abhijat Joshi, Rahul Bose, Kunal Kapoor, Zoya Akhtar, Ayan Mukerji, Vishal Bharadwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Shakun Batra, Konkona Sensharma, Rajkumar Hirani, Richa Chadda, Neha Sharma and others walked the red carpet at the closing ceremony along with Jio Mami with Star Co-chairperson Kiran Rao, Festival Director Anupama Chopra. Shweta Tripathi and Vicky Kaushal hosted the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Mrs. Nita M. Ambani, Founder and Chairperson, Reliance Foundation & Co-Chair, Mami Board of Trustees said, “It has been an incredible week of cinema at the Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival.
Sonam Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Abhay Deol, Kabir Khan, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Abhijat Joshi, Rahul Bose, Kunal Kapoor, Zoya Akhtar, Ayan Mukerji, Vishal Bharadwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Shakun Batra, Konkona Sensharma, Rajkumar Hirani, Richa Chadda, Neha Sharma and others walked the red carpet at the closing ceremony along with Jio Mami with Star Co-chairperson Kiran Rao, Festival Director Anupama Chopra. Shweta Tripathi and Vicky Kaushal hosted the event.
Speaking on the occasion, Mrs. Nita M. Ambani, Founder and Chairperson, Reliance Foundation & Co-Chair, Mami Board of Trustees said, “It has been an incredible week of cinema at the Jio Mami Mumbai Film Festival.
- 10/30/2016
- by Trupti Kantilal
- Bollyspice
Other winners included Ralitza Petrova’s Godless and The Narrow Path, directed by Satish Babusenan and Santosh Babusenan.
Davy Chou’s Diamond Island won the Golden Gateway Award in Mumbai Film Festival’s international competition, while Haobam Paban Kumar’ Lady Of The Lake scooped the same honour in India Gold.
Diamond Island, a co-production between Cambodia, France and three other countries, received its world premiere in Critics Week at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and premiered in Cambodia this week. Lady Of The Lake, a Manipuri-language drama about fishermen being driven from their homes, recently premiered at Busan.
Other winners in Mumbai’s international competition included Bulgarian filmmaker Ralitza Petrova’s Godless, which took the Silver Gateway Award, and Mexican director Natalia Almada’s Everything Else, which took the Jury Grand Prize. Special mentions went to Alba, directed by Ecuador’s Macarena Arias, and UK-Peruvian drama When Two Worlds Collide.
In the India...
Davy Chou’s Diamond Island won the Golden Gateway Award in Mumbai Film Festival’s international competition, while Haobam Paban Kumar’ Lady Of The Lake scooped the same honour in India Gold.
Diamond Island, a co-production between Cambodia, France and three other countries, received its world premiere in Critics Week at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and premiered in Cambodia this week. Lady Of The Lake, a Manipuri-language drama about fishermen being driven from their homes, recently premiered at Busan.
Other winners in Mumbai’s international competition included Bulgarian filmmaker Ralitza Petrova’s Godless, which took the Silver Gateway Award, and Mexican director Natalia Almada’s Everything Else, which took the Jury Grand Prize. Special mentions went to Alba, directed by Ecuador’s Macarena Arias, and UK-Peruvian drama When Two Worlds Collide.
In the India...
- 10/28/2016
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
AFI Fest has announced the selections for its New Auteurs, American Independents, Midnights and Shorts sections. Already announced as part of the weeklong festival, which runs in Hollywood from November 10 – 17, are “Elle,” “20th Century Women” and the world premieres of both “The Comedian” and “Rules Don’t Apply.” Read the full announcement here, and see the New Auteurs, American Independents and Midnight selections below.
Read More: Warren Beatty’s ‘Rules Don’t Apply’ Will Open AFI Fest 2016
New Auteurs
“Always Shine” (dir. Sophia Takal)
“Buster’s Mal Heart” (dir. Sarah Adina Smith)
“Divines” (dir. Houda Benyamina)
“The Future Perfect” (dir. Nele Wohlatz)
“Godless” (dir. Ralitza Petrova)
“Kati Kati” (dir. Mbithi Masya)
“Kill Me Please” (dir. Anita Rocha da Silveira)
“One Week and a Day” (dir. Asaph Polonsky)
“Oscuro Animal” (dir. Felipe Guerrero)
“Still Life” (dir. Maud Alpi)
Read More: Watch: Lola Kirke Takes Us Inside the Mind of an Epileptic...
Read More: Warren Beatty’s ‘Rules Don’t Apply’ Will Open AFI Fest 2016
New Auteurs
“Always Shine” (dir. Sophia Takal)
“Buster’s Mal Heart” (dir. Sarah Adina Smith)
“Divines” (dir. Houda Benyamina)
“The Future Perfect” (dir. Nele Wohlatz)
“Godless” (dir. Ralitza Petrova)
“Kati Kati” (dir. Mbithi Masya)
“Kill Me Please” (dir. Anita Rocha da Silveira)
“One Week and a Day” (dir. Asaph Polonsky)
“Oscuro Animal” (dir. Felipe Guerrero)
“Still Life” (dir. Maud Alpi)
Read More: Watch: Lola Kirke Takes Us Inside the Mind of an Epileptic...
- 10/18/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
The 27th edition of the Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 9 - 20) will present 200 films from 70 countries.
The Stockholm International Film Festival will kick-off with Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake, followed by a mid-festival ‘middle film’ screening in the shape of Nate Parker’s Birth of A Nation, and will close with Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea.
Directors attending the festival include Francis Ford Coppola (who will receive the lifetime achievement award, present a public talk, and screen Apocalypse Now), Ken Loach, Francois Ozon (who receives the festival’s Visionary Award), Ira Sachs, Alice Lowe, Mark Cousins, Anne Fontaine, Gabe Klinger, and many more.
The festival’s main competition line-up is:
A Decent Woman by Lukas Valenta Rinner (Arg, S Kor, Aus)A Taste Of Ink by Morgan Simon (Fr)Albüm by Mehmet Can Mertoğlu (Tur, Fr, Rom)Are We Not Cats by Xander Robin (Us)Birth Of A Nation by [link...
The Stockholm International Film Festival will kick-off with Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner I, Daniel Blake, followed by a mid-festival ‘middle film’ screening in the shape of Nate Parker’s Birth of A Nation, and will close with Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea.
Directors attending the festival include Francis Ford Coppola (who will receive the lifetime achievement award, present a public talk, and screen Apocalypse Now), Ken Loach, Francois Ozon (who receives the festival’s Visionary Award), Ira Sachs, Alice Lowe, Mark Cousins, Anne Fontaine, Gabe Klinger, and many more.
The festival’s main competition line-up is:
A Decent Woman by Lukas Valenta Rinner (Arg, S Kor, Aus)A Taste Of Ink by Morgan Simon (Fr)Albüm by Mehmet Can Mertoğlu (Tur, Fr, Rom)Are We Not Cats by Xander Robin (Us)Birth Of A Nation by [link...
- 10/18/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Bulgarian-Danish-French drama previously won festival awards in Locarno and Sarajevo.
Ralitza Petrova’s Godless has won this year’s Golden Puffin, the top award at the 13th Reykjavik International Film Festival (Riff)
The jury, comprised of Goteborg artistic director Jonas Holmberg, Rams director Grimur Hákonarson and bestselling Icelandic novelist Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, said, “The Golden Puffin goes to a bleak but beautiful film with poignant acting and atmospheric cinematography. The film combines the downbeat suspense of an medicalised crime story with a subtle portrayal of the agony in a post communist society where redemption is only glimpsed in the sacral world of music.”
Godless, which is a Bulgarian-Danish-French co-production, previously won the Golden Leopard in Locarno and the Special Jury Award and the Heart of Sarajevo for best actress (Irena Ivanova) at Sarajevo Film Festival. It also won five national awards at the Golden Rose National Film Festival in Bulgaria.
Petrova is a graduate of the UK’s National...
Ralitza Petrova’s Godless has won this year’s Golden Puffin, the top award at the 13th Reykjavik International Film Festival (Riff)
The jury, comprised of Goteborg artistic director Jonas Holmberg, Rams director Grimur Hákonarson and bestselling Icelandic novelist Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, said, “The Golden Puffin goes to a bleak but beautiful film with poignant acting and atmospheric cinematography. The film combines the downbeat suspense of an medicalised crime story with a subtle portrayal of the agony in a post communist society where redemption is only glimpsed in the sacral world of music.”
Godless, which is a Bulgarian-Danish-French co-production, previously won the Golden Leopard in Locarno and the Special Jury Award and the Heart of Sarajevo for best actress (Irena Ivanova) at Sarajevo Film Festival. It also won five national awards at the Golden Rose National Film Festival in Bulgaria.
Petrova is a graduate of the UK’s National...
- 10/10/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Copenhagen’s festival, in new autumn dates, will show a record 226 features kicking off with Doctor Strange.
Copenhagen’s Cph Pix festival, now in its new autumn dates, has revealed a record 226 feature films in its lineup.
The 14-day festival (Oct 27 - Nov 9), which now also includes kids and family festival Buster, will show 46 features for young people in its daytime programmes and 180 films for teenagers and adults in the evenings.
As previously reported, the eighth edition of festival will open with a gala premiere of Marvel’s Doctor Strange (Mads Mikkelsen will attend).
There will be four main awards at Pix: the New Talent Grand Pix for a debut feature (with $11,200 (€10,000)); the Politiken Audience Award that comes with Danish distribution support, and the Nordisk Film Fond prizes for best children’s feature and best children’s short.
Terence Davies [pictured] will be given a full retrospective as well as showing his latest film A Quiet Passion and participating...
Copenhagen’s Cph Pix festival, now in its new autumn dates, has revealed a record 226 feature films in its lineup.
The 14-day festival (Oct 27 - Nov 9), which now also includes kids and family festival Buster, will show 46 features for young people in its daytime programmes and 180 films for teenagers and adults in the evenings.
As previously reported, the eighth edition of festival will open with a gala premiere of Marvel’s Doctor Strange (Mads Mikkelsen will attend).
There will be four main awards at Pix: the New Talent Grand Pix for a debut feature (with $11,200 (€10,000)); the Politiken Audience Award that comes with Danish distribution support, and the Nordisk Film Fond prizes for best children’s feature and best children’s short.
Terence Davies [pictured] will be given a full retrospective as well as showing his latest film A Quiet Passion and participating...
- 10/3/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Miguel Gomes [pictured] and Reha Erdem to head international competition and India Gold juries, respectively; fest also unveils line-up and Jia Zhangke award.
Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes (Arabian Nights) is heading the jury for the international competition at this year’s Mumbai Film Festival, while Turkish director Reha Erdem will preside over the jury for the India Gold section.
Gomes will be joined by filmmakers Tala Hadid and Anurag Kashyap, producer Christine Vachon and Hot Docs president Chris McDonald. Titles selected for the International Competition for first-time filmmakers include Israeli filmmaker Elite Zexer’s Sand Storm and Diamond Island, from French-Cambodian filmmaker Davy Chou (see full line-up below).
Erdem recently won the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize at Venice for Big Big World. He will be joined on the India Gold jury by composer Mychael Danna (Life Of Pi), Hong Kong director Yonfan (Peony Pavilion), Polish director Tomasz Wasilewski (United States Of Love) and critic Stephanie Zacharek.
The festival...
Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes (Arabian Nights) is heading the jury for the international competition at this year’s Mumbai Film Festival, while Turkish director Reha Erdem will preside over the jury for the India Gold section.
Gomes will be joined by filmmakers Tala Hadid and Anurag Kashyap, producer Christine Vachon and Hot Docs president Chris McDonald. Titles selected for the International Competition for first-time filmmakers include Israeli filmmaker Elite Zexer’s Sand Storm and Diamond Island, from French-Cambodian filmmaker Davy Chou (see full line-up below).
Erdem recently won the Special Orizzonti Jury Prize at Venice for Big Big World. He will be joined on the India Gold jury by composer Mychael Danna (Life Of Pi), Hong Kong director Yonfan (Peony Pavilion), Polish director Tomasz Wasilewski (United States Of Love) and critic Stephanie Zacharek.
The festival...
- 9/30/2016
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
The “social realism” sub-genre of drama has been awards bait in the European festival circuit lately and this year’s Locarno International Film Festival jury, led by Arturo Ripstein, bit at Ralitza Petrova’s debut film Godless. The vision of post-Communism Bulgaria is uncompromising and relentless, pessimistic and depressive, which means it fits right in with the “important” films that it shares its genre with. The overexposure of a genre that relies on the shock and brutality of everyday life detracts from the stuffy misery of Godless, which blends in with a number of Eastern European films canonized in the past decade.
Gana (Irena Ivanova) takes care of the suffering elderly and fuels her morphine addiction by stealing and selling her patient’s identification cards. Her desire to leave the poor town is heightened as her drug-fueled paranoia develops and she catches her boyfriend with other women. After meeting Yoan,...
Gana (Irena Ivanova) takes care of the suffering elderly and fuels her morphine addiction by stealing and selling her patient’s identification cards. Her desire to leave the poor town is heightened as her drug-fueled paranoia develops and she catches her boyfriend with other women. After meeting Yoan,...
- 9/13/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Ralitza Petrova, an emerging filmmaker from Bulgaria, unveiled her powerful debut outing Godless recently at the Locarno Film Festival, where she ended up standing in the spotlight and holding the Golden Leopard award. She thus joined the ranks of talented newcomers initiating a curiosity of future prospect of their careers and how their body of work will eventually evolve. Two years ago, Maya Vitkova, another Bulgarian debutant, appeared on the festival circuit introducing her surprisingly ripe feature-length debut Viktoria. Vitkova touched upon a myriad of subjects related to motherhood and raising a child in a totalitarian state, recalling the not so distant past of Bulgaria. Petrova follows in Vitkova's footsteps in terms of subject matter, while displaying exceptional talent, vision and personal style. Similarly to Vitkova,...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 9/13/2016
- Screen Anarchy
Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
- 8/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
- 8/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Next month’s Toronto International Film Festival has nearly completed its lineup announcements, and each one is more impressive than the last. Today’s Tiff picks feature a number of slate additions for sections as varied as the forward-focused Discovery, their burgeoning Pop Vr section and even a handful of last minute additions to the Tiff Docs list. New titles of note that have just been announced include the Cannes hit “The Red Turtle,” Wayne Roberts’ “Katie Says Goodbye” and the well-regarded “Sand Storm,” all of which will screen as part of Discovery.
Read More: Tiff Lineup: 5 Reasons to Get Excited About the 2016 Program
Both the Next Wave and Tiff Kids section pull titles from other, previously announced sections to create an appealing lineup for the next generation of cinephiles. Standout titles include “Moonlight,” “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” and “The Eagle Huntress.”
Additionally, the festival has...
Read More: Tiff Lineup: 5 Reasons to Get Excited About the 2016 Program
Both the Next Wave and Tiff Kids section pull titles from other, previously announced sections to create an appealing lineup for the next generation of cinephiles. Standout titles include “Moonlight,” “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” and “The Eagle Huntress.”
Additionally, the festival has...
- 8/23/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The OrnithologistIt’s one thing to watch a film festival unfold and take the films as they come when they come, on their own individual merits. It’s another to look back at them as part of a bigger picture, tracing connections made in invisible ink that may not be apparent at the time. That’s one way to look at the competitive selection of Locarno in 2016. As usual, yes, Locarno did take risks very few other A-list festivals would, and it still gets away with stuff other events can’t. (Let’s pause here to remember that Filipino auteur du jour Lav Diaz only went on to the main Berlin line-up after winning the Golden Leopard two years ago.) If getting away with it means tripping over itself occasionally (and in my short time of attending Locarno there have been stumbles, believe me), I’m absolutely fine with it.
- 8/22/2016
- MUBI
Godless wins Special Jury Prize and Best Actress.Scroll down for the full list of winners
Turkish director Mehmet Can Mertoğlu’s Album has won the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20).
The comedy, which premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes in May, follows a middle class Turkish couple who try to cover up the forgery of their family history.
The decision was made by a jury led by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman. The award comes with a prize of $18,000 (€16,000).
Album producer Yoel Meranda commented when receiving the award: “Many people here know that most of the stuff that helped this film get made happened in Sarajevo. It started in Sarajevo, and it’s amazing that we have completed this circle.”
Ralitza Petrova’s Godless was awarded two prizes: the Special Jury prize and Best Actress for lead Irena Ivanova.
The Bulgarian-French-Danish...
Turkish director Mehmet Can Mertoğlu’s Album has won the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20).
The comedy, which premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes in May, follows a middle class Turkish couple who try to cover up the forgery of their family history.
The decision was made by a jury led by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman. The award comes with a prize of $18,000 (€16,000).
Album producer Yoel Meranda commented when receiving the award: “Many people here know that most of the stuff that helped this film get made happened in Sarajevo. It started in Sarajevo, and it’s amazing that we have completed this circle.”
Ralitza Petrova’s Godless was awarded two prizes: the Special Jury prize and Best Actress for lead Irena Ivanova.
The Bulgarian-French-Danish...
- 8/20/2016
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
NEWSPhoto by Luca DieguezThe Locarno Film Festival has announced its awards, which include the Golden Leopard for Ralitza Petrova's Godless, Special Jury Prize for Radu Jude's Scarred Hearts, and Best Direction to João Pedro Rodrigues for The Ornithologist. Eduardo Williams, who we interviewed at the festival, won the top prize in the Filmmakers of the Present Section for The Human Surge, and Nele Wohlatz, who we also talked to, won the Prize for Best First Feature for her El Futuro Perfecto. See our index of Locarno coverage here.Michael Haneke has wrapped shooting on his follow-up to Amour. Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Isabelle Huppert and Mathieu Kassovitz, Happy End "revolves around the life of a middle-class family in Northern France who are faced with a number of setbacks but pay little attention to the dire situation in the refugee camps just a few miles away from their house."The...
- 8/17/2016
- MUBI
The 69th annual Locarno Film Festival finally concluded after eleven days and screenings of 279 films, and awarded its Palmarès. The Golden Leopard went to “Godless,” a first feature from Bulgaria’s Ralitza Petrova. The film portrait of the criminal underbelly of Bulgaria also took home Best Actress for Irena Ivanova.
The fest jury awarded João Pedro Rodrigues Best Director for “O Ornitólogo.” Romanian director Radu Jude won the Special Jury Prize for his film “Inimi Cicatrizate” (Scarred Hearts), which was inspired by the 1937 Max Blecher novel.
Read More: João Pedro Rodrigues’ ‘The Ornithologist’ Will Blow Your Mind — Locarno Review
The public favorite, Ken Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake,” about a UK retiree struggling to obtain medical assistance from the state, won the Audience Award; at Cannes, Indiewire’s Eric Kohn dubbed the film “Loach’s best movie in years.”
Read More: Cannes Review: Why ‘I, Daniel Blake’ is Ken Loach...
The fest jury awarded João Pedro Rodrigues Best Director for “O Ornitólogo.” Romanian director Radu Jude won the Special Jury Prize for his film “Inimi Cicatrizate” (Scarred Hearts), which was inspired by the 1937 Max Blecher novel.
Read More: João Pedro Rodrigues’ ‘The Ornithologist’ Will Blow Your Mind — Locarno Review
The public favorite, Ken Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake,” about a UK retiree struggling to obtain medical assistance from the state, won the Audience Award; at Cannes, Indiewire’s Eric Kohn dubbed the film “Loach’s best movie in years.”
Read More: Cannes Review: Why ‘I, Daniel Blake’ is Ken Loach...
- 8/13/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Bulgarian drama won the Golden Leopard as well as Best Actress for star Irena Ivanova.
Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova’s debut feature Godless has won the top prize, the Golden Leopard, at the 69th Locarno Film Festival.
The drama also took the Best Actress award for Irena Ivanova’s performance as a nurse looking after elderly patients with dementia in a remote Bulgarian town.
In addition, the production by Klas Film’s Rossitsa Valkanova with Denmark’s Snowglobe and France’s Alcatraz Films and Film Factory, received the Ecumenical Jury’s Prize, which comes with a cash award of $20,500 (CHF20,000).
The screenplay for Godless - which is being handled internationally by Greek-based Heretic Outreach - had been supported by Torino FilmLab’s FrameWork, Sarajevo’s CineLink and the Women in Film Finishing Fund in Los Angeles.
“This prize was unusual among juries because it was a unanimous decision between all the members of our team,” the International...
Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova’s debut feature Godless has won the top prize, the Golden Leopard, at the 69th Locarno Film Festival.
The drama also took the Best Actress award for Irena Ivanova’s performance as a nurse looking after elderly patients with dementia in a remote Bulgarian town.
In addition, the production by Klas Film’s Rossitsa Valkanova with Denmark’s Snowglobe and France’s Alcatraz Films and Film Factory, received the Ecumenical Jury’s Prize, which comes with a cash award of $20,500 (CHF20,000).
The screenplay for Godless - which is being handled internationally by Greek-based Heretic Outreach - had been supported by Torino FilmLab’s FrameWork, Sarajevo’s CineLink and the Women in Film Finishing Fund in Los Angeles.
“This prize was unusual among juries because it was a unanimous decision between all the members of our team,” the International...
- 8/13/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Ralitza Petrova's Godless has won the Golden Leopard at this year's Locarno Film Festival. Further prizes awarded by the International Competition jury (President Arturo Ripstein, plus Kate Moran, Rafi Pitts, Rodrigo Teixeira and Wang Bing): Special Jury Prize: Radu Jude's Scarred Hearts. Best Direction: João Pedro Rodrigues for The Ornithologist. Best Actress: Irena Ivanova for Godless. Best Actor: Andrzej Seweryn for The Last Family. And a Special Mention goes to Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel's Mister Universo. We've got the full list of all the awards. » - David Hudson...
- 8/13/2016
- Keyframe
Ralitza Petrova's Godless has won the Golden Leopard at this year's Locarno Film Festival. Further prizes awarded by the International Competition jury (President Arturo Ripstein, plus Kate Moran, Rafi Pitts, Rodrigo Teixeira and Wang Bing): Special Jury Prize: Radu Jude's Scarred Hearts. Best Direction: João Pedro Rodrigues for The Ornithologist. Best Actress: Irena Ivanova for Godless. Best Actor: Andrzej Seweryn for The Last Family. And a Special Mention goes to Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel's Mister Universo. We've got the full list of all the awards. » - David Hudson...
- 8/13/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
For the fifth year, IndieWire is co-hosting the Locarno Critics Academy, giving a group of talented up-and-coming critics a chance to help their role in the current climate for film criticism and journalism at the Locarno International Film Festival. With assistance from Penske Media, the Swiss Alliance of Film Journalists and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, participants will engage in a series of activities and then get to work. They will spend the first half of the festival which begins today, in roundtable discussions with working critics and industry figures; beginning next week, they’ll write about films at this year’s festival, as well as topics ranging from television to digital media.
Before then, take a minute to get to know them, and find out what they’re looking forward to checking out. Keep up with their dispatches from this year’s festival here and follow them on Twitter.
Before then, take a minute to get to know them, and find out what they’re looking forward to checking out. Keep up with their dispatches from this year’s festival here and follow them on Twitter.
- 8/3/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Radu Jude’s Scarred Hearts among titles; In Focus strand also revealed.
Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20) has unveiled its competition and in focus titles ahead of the launch of its 22nd edition next month.
The eight features in competition include two world premieres: Ivan Marinović’s debut The Black Pin; and Lukas Valenta Rinner’s A Decent Woman.
The Black Pin, from Montenegro director Marinovic, centres on a priest who finds himself at odds with the other inhabitants of his small, rural parish when he opposes a large property sale. Serbian Vladimir Vasiljević is co-producing.
Austrian filmmaker Rinner, whose Parabellum won the special jury prize at Jeonju and was up for Rotterdam’s Tiger Award in 2015, returns with A Decent Woman, the story of a housemaid working in an exclusive gated community on the outskirts of Buenos Aires who embarks on a journey of sexual liberation at a nudist swingers club.
After winning...
Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20) has unveiled its competition and in focus titles ahead of the launch of its 22nd edition next month.
The eight features in competition include two world premieres: Ivan Marinović’s debut The Black Pin; and Lukas Valenta Rinner’s A Decent Woman.
The Black Pin, from Montenegro director Marinovic, centres on a priest who finds himself at odds with the other inhabitants of his small, rural parish when he opposes a large property sale. Serbian Vladimir Vasiljević is co-producing.
Austrian filmmaker Rinner, whose Parabellum won the special jury prize at Jeonju and was up for Rotterdam’s Tiger Award in 2015, returns with A Decent Woman, the story of a housemaid working in an exclusive gated community on the outskirts of Buenos Aires who embarks on a journey of sexual liberation at a nudist swingers club.
After winning...
- 7/20/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Mikkel Jersin, Katrin Pors, and Eva Jakobsen are working on films with Amat Escalante, Carlos Reygadas and Ciro Guerra.
Danish producers Mikkel Jersin (Sparrows), Katrin Pors (The Untamed) and Eva Jakobsen (Antboy) have joined forces to launch Snowglobe, a new production outfit that will back director-driven films.
Snowglobe, which will have a focus on international co-productions, is currently working with established auteurs such as Colombia’s Embrace Of The Serpent director Ciro Guerra and Mexican directors Amat Escalante and Carlos Reygadas.
The company is producing, alongside Guerra’s usual producer Cristina Gallego, his next film Birds Of Passage, which will start shooting in January 2017.
Pors says: “It is the story of an indigenous family from La Guajira Desert who get involved in a war to control a business that ends up destroying their lives and their culture. It’s the story of the origins of drug trafficking in the 1970s in Colombia.”
The company...
Danish producers Mikkel Jersin (Sparrows), Katrin Pors (The Untamed) and Eva Jakobsen (Antboy) have joined forces to launch Snowglobe, a new production outfit that will back director-driven films.
Snowglobe, which will have a focus on international co-productions, is currently working with established auteurs such as Colombia’s Embrace Of The Serpent director Ciro Guerra and Mexican directors Amat Escalante and Carlos Reygadas.
The company is producing, alongside Guerra’s usual producer Cristina Gallego, his next film Birds Of Passage, which will start shooting in January 2017.
Pors says: “It is the story of an indigenous family from La Guajira Desert who get involved in a war to control a business that ends up destroying their lives and their culture. It’s the story of the origins of drug trafficking in the 1970s in Colombia.”
The company...
- 5/4/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Mikkel Jersin, Katrin Pors, and Eva Jakobsen are working on films with Amat Escalante, Carlos Reygadas and Ciro Guerra.
Danish producers Mikkel Jersin (Sparrows), Katrin Pors (The Untamed) and Eva Jakobsen (Antboy) have joined forces to launch Snowglobe, a new production outfit that will back director-driven films.
Snowglobe, which will have a focus on international co-productions, is currently working with established auteurs such as Colombia’s Embrace Of The Serpent director Ciro Guerra and Mexican directors Amat Escalante and Carlos Reygadas.
The company is producing, alongside Guerra’s usual producer Cristina Gallego, his next film Birds Of Passage, which will start shooting in January 2017.
Pors says: “It is the story of an indigenous family from La Guajira Desert who get involved in a war to control a business that ends up destroying their lives and their culture. It’s the story of the origins of drug trafficking in the 1970s in Colombia.”
The company...
Danish producers Mikkel Jersin (Sparrows), Katrin Pors (The Untamed) and Eva Jakobsen (Antboy) have joined forces to launch Snowglobe, a new production outfit that will back director-driven films.
Snowglobe, which will have a focus on international co-productions, is currently working with established auteurs such as Colombia’s Embrace Of The Serpent director Ciro Guerra and Mexican directors Amat Escalante and Carlos Reygadas.
The company is producing, alongside Guerra’s usual producer Cristina Gallego, his next film Birds Of Passage, which will start shooting in January 2017.
Pors says: “It is the story of an indigenous family from La Guajira Desert who get involved in a war to control a business that ends up destroying their lives and their culture. It’s the story of the origins of drug trafficking in the 1970s in Colombia.”
The company...
- 5/4/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
A new crop of female directors received a boost from Los Angeles-based Women in Film, as the group doled out its Film Finishing Fund grants for feature, documentary and short films on Friday. Co-chairs Betsy Pollock and Nancy Rae Stone presented the grants, one offering as much as $25,000 to complete female-helmed projects. Deb Shoval scored $25,000 for her feature “Awol.” In addition, unspecified grants were handed out to Priscilla Anany for “Children of the Mountain” and Ralitza Petrova for “Godless” and Also Read: Secret Hollywood Meeting Addresses Crisis in Gender Disparity Documentary grants went to Frances McElroy’s “Black Ballerina” and Ashley York’s “So Help.
- 12/12/2015
- by Matt Donnelly
- The Wrap
Acting awards split between casts of Mustang and Chevalier, Son Of Saul wins Special Jury Prize.Scroll down for full list of winners
The 21st Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 14-22) wrapped tonight with Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang winning the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film.
The film also received the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress, which went to its whole female cast: Güneş Şensoy, Doga Doğuşlu, Tuğba Sunguroğlu, Elit İşcan, and Ilayda Akdoğan.
László Nemes picked up the Special Jury Prize for Holocaust drama Son Of Saul.
Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Chevalier won a Special Jury Mention, and its male ensemble, consisting of Yorgos Kéntros, Vangelis Mouríkis, Panos Kóronis, Makis Papadimitríou, Yorgos Pyrpassópoulos, and Sakis Rouvás received the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actor.
The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary went to Alexander Nanau’s Toto And His Sisters, while the same award in the short film competition went to A Matter Of Will...
The 21st Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 14-22) wrapped tonight with Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang winning the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film.
The film also received the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress, which went to its whole female cast: Güneş Şensoy, Doga Doğuşlu, Tuğba Sunguroğlu, Elit İşcan, and Ilayda Akdoğan.
László Nemes picked up the Special Jury Prize for Holocaust drama Son Of Saul.
Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Chevalier won a Special Jury Mention, and its male ensemble, consisting of Yorgos Kéntros, Vangelis Mouríkis, Panos Kóronis, Makis Papadimitríou, Yorgos Pyrpassópoulos, and Sakis Rouvás received the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actor.
The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary went to Alexander Nanau’s Toto And His Sisters, while the same award in the short film competition went to A Matter Of Will...
- 8/22/2015
- by vladan.petkovic@gmail.com (Vladan Petkovic)
- ScreenDaily
Acting awards split between casts of Mustang and Chevalier, Son Of Saul wins Special Jury Prize.Scroll down for full list of winners
The 21st Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 14-22) wrapped tonight with Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang winning the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film.
The film also received the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress, which went to its whole female cast: Güneş Şensoy, Doga Doğuşlu, Tuğba Sunguroğlu, Elit İşcan, and Ilayda Akdoğan.
László Nemes picked up the Special Jury Prize for Holocaust drama Son Of Saul.
Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Chevalier won a Special Jury Mention, and its male ensemble, consisting of Yorgos Kéntros, Vangelis Mouríkis, Panos Kóronis, Makis Papadimitríou, Yorgos Pyrpassópoulos, and Sakis Rouvás received the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actor.
The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary went to Alexander Nanau’s Toto And His Sisters, while the same award in the short film competition went to A Matter Of Will...
The 21st Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 14-22) wrapped tonight with Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang winning the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film.
The film also received the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress, which went to its whole female cast: Güneş Şensoy, Doga Doğuşlu, Tuğba Sunguroğlu, Elit İşcan, and Ilayda Akdoğan.
László Nemes picked up the Special Jury Prize for Holocaust drama Son Of Saul.
Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Chevalier won a Special Jury Mention, and its male ensemble, consisting of Yorgos Kéntros, Vangelis Mouríkis, Panos Kóronis, Makis Papadimitríou, Yorgos Pyrpassópoulos, and Sakis Rouvás received the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actor.
The Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary went to Alexander Nanau’s Toto And His Sisters, while the same award in the short film competition went to A Matter Of Will...
- 8/22/2015
- by vladan.petkovic@gmail.com (Vladan Petkovic)
- ScreenDaily
Elle Driver, Wide Management and European film funds on what brings them back to the Sarajevo Film Festival’s development and financing platform.
The Sarajevo Film Festival has launched the 13th edition of CineLink (Aug 19-22), a development and financing platform that provides the backbone of its industry section, featuring around 25 projects suited for co-production.
The selection - split between a co-production market and work in progress event - has traditionally focused on Southeast Europe but has opened up in recent years to projects from the Caucasus region, while this year will see two projects from Doha and one from Russia.
Click here for the co-production market titlesClick here for the Work in Progress titles
“From the very beginning, the Sarajevo Film Festival always aimed to be relevant for the film industry,” says Jovan Marjanović, head of industry at Sff.
And it is, thanks especially to the CineLink Industry Days, which essentially...
The Sarajevo Film Festival has launched the 13th edition of CineLink (Aug 19-22), a development and financing platform that provides the backbone of its industry section, featuring around 25 projects suited for co-production.
The selection - split between a co-production market and work in progress event - has traditionally focused on Southeast Europe but has opened up in recent years to projects from the Caucasus region, while this year will see two projects from Doha and one from Russia.
Click here for the co-production market titlesClick here for the Work in Progress titles
“From the very beginning, the Sarajevo Film Festival always aimed to be relevant for the film industry,” says Jovan Marjanović, head of industry at Sff.
And it is, thanks especially to the CineLink Industry Days, which essentially...
- 8/21/2015
- ScreenDaily
The Fixer among five projects selected for the CineLink Work in Progress sessions.
The Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 14-22) has unveiled five projects selected for this year’s CineLink Work in Progress sessions - an industry preview of upcoming films from Southeast Europe.
The presentations are open for invited guests who may engage in the projects completion or distribution, and will run Aug 19-20.
Scheduled to attend are representatives from Wild Bunch, The Match Factory, Pyramide, Memento, Fortissimo as well as the Cannes, Berlin, Sundance and Rotterdam film festivals.
The 2015 project line-up consists of three fiction projects, one animation and one documentary, selected from the festival’s documentary workshop Docu Rough Cut Boutique.
They include The Fixer (Fixeur) from Adrian Sitaru, the Romanian filmmaker who won best director at Locarno in 2011 with Best Intentions and the Daad Short Film Award at the 2010 Berlinale with The Cage (Colivia).
The Fixer is inspired by true events and centres on a young...
The Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 14-22) has unveiled five projects selected for this year’s CineLink Work in Progress sessions - an industry preview of upcoming films from Southeast Europe.
The presentations are open for invited guests who may engage in the projects completion or distribution, and will run Aug 19-20.
Scheduled to attend are representatives from Wild Bunch, The Match Factory, Pyramide, Memento, Fortissimo as well as the Cannes, Berlin, Sundance and Rotterdam film festivals.
The 2015 project line-up consists of three fiction projects, one animation and one documentary, selected from the festival’s documentary workshop Docu Rough Cut Boutique.
They include The Fixer (Fixeur) from Adrian Sitaru, the Romanian filmmaker who won best director at Locarno in 2011 with Best Intentions and the Daad Short Film Award at the 2010 Berlinale with The Cage (Colivia).
The Fixer is inspired by true events and centres on a young...
- 8/11/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The Fixer among five projects selected for the CineLink Work in Progress sessions.
The Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 14-22) has unveiled five projects selected for this year’s CineLink Work in Progress sessions - an industry preview of upcoming films from Southeast Europe.
The presentations are open for invited guests who may engage in the projects completion or distribution and will run Aug 19-20. Scheduled to attend are representatives from Wild Bunch, The Match Factory, Pyramide, Memento, Fortissimo as well as the Cannes, Berlin, Sundance and Rotterdam film festivals.
The 2015 project line-up consists of three fiction projects, one animation and one documentary, selected from the festival’s documentary workshop Docu Rough Cut Boutique.
They include The Fixer (Fixeur) from Adrian Sitaru, the Romanian filmmaker who won best director at Locarno in 2011 with Best Intentions and the Daad Short Film Award at the 2010 Berlinale with The Cage (Colivia).
The Fixer is inspired by true events and centres on a young...
The Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 14-22) has unveiled five projects selected for this year’s CineLink Work in Progress sessions - an industry preview of upcoming films from Southeast Europe.
The presentations are open for invited guests who may engage in the projects completion or distribution and will run Aug 19-20. Scheduled to attend are representatives from Wild Bunch, The Match Factory, Pyramide, Memento, Fortissimo as well as the Cannes, Berlin, Sundance and Rotterdam film festivals.
The 2015 project line-up consists of three fiction projects, one animation and one documentary, selected from the festival’s documentary workshop Docu Rough Cut Boutique.
They include The Fixer (Fixeur) from Adrian Sitaru, the Romanian filmmaker who won best director at Locarno in 2011 with Best Intentions and the Daad Short Film Award at the 2010 Berlinale with The Cage (Colivia).
The Fixer is inspired by true events and centres on a young...
- 8/11/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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