By Abe Friedtanzer
It’s always worth keeping track of filmmakers whose first films are nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature, and sometimes it’s quite a wait to see them return for a sophomore effort. Palestinian director Scandar Copti earned Israel its nine (and third consecutive) nomination in the foreign film category in 2009 along with Israeli co-director Yaron Shani. Fifteen years later, Copti is back with another film that feels very much like his first, probing the complexities of multicultural society in a country that’s very often in the news but not always portrayed in such an authentic and vivid manner…...
It’s always worth keeping track of filmmakers whose first films are nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature, and sometimes it’s quite a wait to see them return for a sophomore effort. Palestinian director Scandar Copti earned Israel its nine (and third consecutive) nomination in the foreign film category in 2009 along with Israeli co-director Yaron Shani. Fifteen years later, Copti is back with another film that feels very much like his first, probing the complexities of multicultural society in a country that’s very often in the news but not always portrayed in such an authentic and vivid manner…...
- 9/10/2024
- by Abe Friedtanzer
- FilmExperience
Der von der Hamburger Red Balloon Film koproduzierte „Happy Holidays“ von Scandar Copti wurde bei den Orizzonti Awards für das beste Drehbuch ausgezeichnet. Der Publikumspreis von Orizzonti Extra ging an die deutsch-österreichische Koproduktion „Shahed“/„The Witness” von Nader Saeivar.
„Happy Holidays“ (Credit: Fresco Films – Red Balloon Film – Tessalit Productions – Intramovies)
Gestern wurden nicht nur die Löwen des Hauptwettbewerbs vergeben in Venedig, sondern auch die Preise des Orizzonti-Wettbewerbs. Hier wurde der palästinische Regisseur und Autor Scandar Copti für seinen zweiten Spielfilm, „Happy Holidays“, mit dem Preis für das beste Drehbuch geehrt. Sein in Israel angesiedeltes Familiendrama, das auch nach Toronto eingeladen wurde, ist Koproduktion der Hamburger Red Balloon Film von Dorothe Beinemeier. Coptis Debüt „Ajami – Stadt der Götter“ von 2009 wurde bei der 82. Oscarverleihung als bester fremdsprachiger Film nominiert.
Mit gleich drei Preisen wurde der Orizzonti-Beitrag „Familiar Touch“ von Sarah Friedland ausgezeichnet: für die beste Regie, die beste Darstellerin (Kathleen Chalfant...
„Happy Holidays“ (Credit: Fresco Films – Red Balloon Film – Tessalit Productions – Intramovies)
Gestern wurden nicht nur die Löwen des Hauptwettbewerbs vergeben in Venedig, sondern auch die Preise des Orizzonti-Wettbewerbs. Hier wurde der palästinische Regisseur und Autor Scandar Copti für seinen zweiten Spielfilm, „Happy Holidays“, mit dem Preis für das beste Drehbuch geehrt. Sein in Israel angesiedeltes Familiendrama, das auch nach Toronto eingeladen wurde, ist Koproduktion der Hamburger Red Balloon Film von Dorothe Beinemeier. Coptis Debüt „Ajami – Stadt der Götter“ von 2009 wurde bei der 82. Oscarverleihung als bester fremdsprachiger Film nominiert.
Mit gleich drei Preisen wurde der Orizzonti-Beitrag „Familiar Touch“ von Sarah Friedland ausgezeichnet: für die beste Regie, die beste Darstellerin (Kathleen Chalfant...
- 9/8/2024
- by Barbara Schuster
- Spot - Media & Film
Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door won the Golden Lion for best film at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
Almodóvar’s first English-language feature marks the first time he has won the top award at one of the three major film festivals. Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore star in the story of a woman who makes the decision to end her life, and the friend who re-enters her world around this time.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Sony Pictures Classics will release the film in the US on December 20, with Warner Bros handling multiple international territories including UK-Ireland.
Almodóvar’s first English-language feature marks the first time he has won the top award at one of the three major film festivals. Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore star in the story of a woman who makes the decision to end her life, and the friend who re-enters her world around this time.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Sony Pictures Classics will release the film in the US on December 20, with Warner Bros handling multiple international territories including UK-Ireland.
- 9/7/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Venice awards ceremony had a political edge on Saturday evening as multiple winners used their acceptance speeches to express sympathy for the Palestinian people and condemn Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
“As a Jewish American artist working in a time-based medium, I must note, I’m accepting this award on the 336th day of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and 76th year of occupation,” said U.S. director Sarah Friedland as she accepted the Luigi de Laurentiis prize for best first film for Familiar Touch.
“I believe it is our responsibility as filmmakers to use the institutional platforms through which we work to redress Israel’s impunity on the global stage. I stand in solidarity with The people of Palestine and their struggle for liberation,” she continued.
Friedland’s film, which played in the Horizons competition, also won the section’s best director award, while Kathleen Chalfant, clinched...
“As a Jewish American artist working in a time-based medium, I must note, I’m accepting this award on the 336th day of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and 76th year of occupation,” said U.S. director Sarah Friedland as she accepted the Luigi de Laurentiis prize for best first film for Familiar Touch.
“I believe it is our responsibility as filmmakers to use the institutional platforms through which we work to redress Israel’s impunity on the global stage. I stand in solidarity with The people of Palestine and their struggle for liberation,” she continued.
Friedland’s film, which played in the Horizons competition, also won the section’s best director award, while Kathleen Chalfant, clinched...
- 9/7/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow and Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door” won the Golden Lion at the 81st Venice Film Festival. The Spanish auteur’s first feature in English took the top prize at the awards ceremony on Saturday, where he accepted the honor in person. Based on Sigrid Nunez’s novel “What Are You Going Through,” the film stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore as friends who reunite after several years.
Though Almodóvar’s latest was not reviewed as enthusiastically as most of his films (a high bar to cross), the drama was still favored to do well at the Venice awards. When it premiered earlier this week, it was met with a lengthy standing ovation of almost 20 minutes — a warm reception even for festival audiences. And few are the cinephiles in Europe who do not consider the director of “All About My Mother,” “Talk to Her,” “Volver,” “Bad Education” and “Parallel Mothers” a living great.
Though Almodóvar’s latest was not reviewed as enthusiastically as most of his films (a high bar to cross), the drama was still favored to do well at the Venice awards. When it premiered earlier this week, it was met with a lengthy standing ovation of almost 20 minutes — a warm reception even for festival audiences. And few are the cinephiles in Europe who do not consider the director of “All About My Mother,” “Talk to Her,” “Volver,” “Bad Education” and “Parallel Mothers” a living great.
- 9/7/2024
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
The 81st Venice Film Festival comes to a close today with the awards ceremony, held at the Sala Grande in the Palazzo del Cinema.
Starting at 7pm Cet (6pm BST), viewers can watch the ceremony live in the video above; Screen will be updating this page with the winners as they are announced.
Scroll down for the latest winners
The ceremony will be hosted by Italian actress Sveva Alviti, who also hosted the opening ceremony on August 28. A Competition jury led by Isabelle Huppert will award eight prizes, including the Golden Lion for best film. There are further awards in the Horizons,...
Starting at 7pm Cet (6pm BST), viewers can watch the ceremony live in the video above; Screen will be updating this page with the winners as they are announced.
Scroll down for the latest winners
The ceremony will be hosted by Italian actress Sveva Alviti, who also hosted the opening ceremony on August 28. A Competition jury led by Isabelle Huppert will award eight prizes, including the Golden Lion for best film. There are further awards in the Horizons,...
- 9/7/2024
- ScreenDaily
Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door has won the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion main prize.
Jury president Isabelle Huppert and her jury were on hand to bestow the Golden Lion along with the other main prizes. Scroll down to see the list of laureates.
Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore star in Almodóvar’s euthanasia drama, which marked the acclaimed filmmaker’s English-language debut.
The movie follows Ingrid (Moore) and Martha (Swinton) who were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme and bittersweet situation. Check out our review here.
Among other prize-winners on the night were Vermiglio by Maura Delpero, Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, and Nicole Kidman for Babygirl whose filmmaker Halina Reijn accepted the award on behalf of Kidman who she explained could not be there in...
Jury president Isabelle Huppert and her jury were on hand to bestow the Golden Lion along with the other main prizes. Scroll down to see the list of laureates.
Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore star in Almodóvar’s euthanasia drama, which marked the acclaimed filmmaker’s English-language debut.
The movie follows Ingrid (Moore) and Martha (Swinton) who were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme and bittersweet situation. Check out our review here.
Among other prize-winners on the night were Vermiglio by Maura Delpero, Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, and Nicole Kidman for Babygirl whose filmmaker Halina Reijn accepted the award on behalf of Kidman who she explained could not be there in...
- 9/7/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman and Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
From Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti, the Israel-set “Happy Holidays” is a piercing, realistic family drama, the inflection points of which reveal deep cultural and political dimensions surrounding gender and ethnicity. Like his Oscar-nominated crime drama “Ajami” (which he co-directed with Yaron Shani), Copti’s second feature follows an ensemble of characters — Arab and Jewish alike — to assemble a multifaceted portrait of life in Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city.
In depicting strained family ties and rocky courtships, “Happy Holidays” veers between anxious and joyful. Copti and cinematographer Tim Kuhn shoot each interaction with an up-close, handheld intimacy that not only magnifies the subtle, powerful performances of the cast (many of them first-time actors), but welcomes the viewer into each scene, as though it were a complicated family reunion. At the center of its sprawling plot are four members of an Arab family, who share several casual, agreeable scenes together, but whose...
In depicting strained family ties and rocky courtships, “Happy Holidays” veers between anxious and joyful. Copti and cinematographer Tim Kuhn shoot each interaction with an up-close, handheld intimacy that not only magnifies the subtle, powerful performances of the cast (many of them first-time actors), but welcomes the viewer into each scene, as though it were a complicated family reunion. At the center of its sprawling plot are four members of an Arab family, who share several casual, agreeable scenes together, but whose...
- 9/7/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety Film + TV
As the Toronto International Film Festival gets underway, The Hollywood Reporter’s critics weigh in on this year’s crop of titles, from biopics to documentaries, sweeping epics to intimate character studies, tear-jerking dramas to laugh-out-loud comedies.
Several of this year’s slate have already debuted at other festivals throughout the year. For those curious about the very best the TIFF calendar has to offer, a few — but not nearly all — of the highlights include the Steven Soderbergh ghost story Presence, which David Rooney hailed as “masterfully done” out of Sundance; the Icelandic grief drama When the Light Breaks, which Lovia Gyarkye described as “impossible to shake” at Cannes; and the literary adaptation Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, which Caryn James praised at Telluride for the “astonishing” child performance at its center.
In addition, the lineup includes a number of highly anticipated world premieres — we’re curious about David Gordon Green’s Nutcracker,...
Several of this year’s slate have already debuted at other festivals throughout the year. For those curious about the very best the TIFF calendar has to offer, a few — but not nearly all — of the highlights include the Steven Soderbergh ghost story Presence, which David Rooney hailed as “masterfully done” out of Sundance; the Icelandic grief drama When the Light Breaks, which Lovia Gyarkye described as “impossible to shake” at Cannes; and the literary adaptation Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, which Caryn James praised at Telluride for the “astonishing” child performance at its center.
In addition, the lineup includes a number of highly anticipated world premieres — we’re curious about David Gordon Green’s Nutcracker,...
- 9/5/2024
- by David Rooney, Lovia Gyarkye, Daniel Fienberg, Angie Han, Jon Frosch, Leslie Felperin, Jordan Mintzer, Caryn James and Stephen Farber
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A wide range of Egyptian films dominate the Arabic-language selection in Venice this year, including two feature debuts — from Khaled Mansour and Muhammed Hamdy — that represent new directions in Egyptian cinema.
Mansour is behind the endearing, audience-friendly “Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo.” It follows a taciturn security guard whose best friend is the canine of the title, played by two different, but similar-looking, highly trained dogs.
Operating at cinema’s more experimental edge is “Perfumed With Mint,” which also screens in TIFF’s Wavelength section. Veteran cinematographer Hamdy (“The Square”) creates a metaphorical film representing a generation that is contaminated with doubts about what a waits them.
Provocative drama “Happy Holidays” marks Palestinian helmer Scandar Copti’s (“Ajami”) first solo outing while “Sudan, Remember Us” is a political documentary from the French-Tunisian-Moroccan journalist and documentarian Hind Meddeb. Both films will also play in the Toronto Film Festival.
Rounding out the public program is “Aïcha,...
Mansour is behind the endearing, audience-friendly “Seeking Haven for Mr. Rambo.” It follows a taciturn security guard whose best friend is the canine of the title, played by two different, but similar-looking, highly trained dogs.
Operating at cinema’s more experimental edge is “Perfumed With Mint,” which also screens in TIFF’s Wavelength section. Veteran cinematographer Hamdy (“The Square”) creates a metaphorical film representing a generation that is contaminated with doubts about what a waits them.
Provocative drama “Happy Holidays” marks Palestinian helmer Scandar Copti’s (“Ajami”) first solo outing while “Sudan, Remember Us” is a political documentary from the French-Tunisian-Moroccan journalist and documentarian Hind Meddeb. Both films will also play in the Toronto Film Festival.
Rounding out the public program is “Aïcha,...
- 9/4/2024
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Drama “Happy Holidays” marks the long in the works solo directing debut of Palestinian director Scandar Copti, an Oscar nominee as co-director of “Ajami” (2009). Launching with prime slots in Venice Horizons and TIFF Centrepiece, the film follows an extended family of Palestinian citizens of Israel living in Haifa, allowing viewers to experience firsthand how cultural and societal perceptions are shaped. Moreover, it also showcases the effectiveness of his “singular drama” method, a process for working with actors that he developed while filming “Ajami.”
Copti says his artistic process always starts with a personal annoyance. The spark for “Happy Holidays” grew from a conversation he overheard as a teenager. He recalls, “A female relative of mine told her son, ‘Don’t ever let a woman tell you what to do,’ referring to his wife. This paradox made me realize just how deeply rooted patriarchal values are in our society.”
“Happy Holidays...
Copti says his artistic process always starts with a personal annoyance. The spark for “Happy Holidays” grew from a conversation he overheard as a teenager. He recalls, “A female relative of mine told her son, ‘Don’t ever let a woman tell you what to do,’ referring to his wife. This paradox made me realize just how deeply rooted patriarchal values are in our society.”
“Happy Holidays...
- 9/4/2024
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli was one of the guests at a gala dinner hosted by the Doha Film Institute (Dfi) and the Media City Qatar (McQ) on the fringes of the Venice Film Festival on Monday evening.
The veteran producer’s presence added fuel to recent reports that she is attempting to secure Qatari finance for ex-James Bond actor Daniel Craig’s big screen passion project Othello, with well-placed sources hinting on Monday night that talks were ongoing.
Related: ‘Russians At War’ Teaser: Anastasia Trofimova’s Doc Gives Rare Insight Into Life Of Russian Soldiers On The Frontline In Ukraine – Venice
Broccoli — who is co-head of James Bond producer Eon Productions with Michael G. Wilson — has reportedly been working with Craig for some time on the project, billed as a modern adaptation of the Shakespearean classic set in American army barracks in Iraq.
Related: ‘King Ivory’: Melissa Leo,...
The veteran producer’s presence added fuel to recent reports that she is attempting to secure Qatari finance for ex-James Bond actor Daniel Craig’s big screen passion project Othello, with well-placed sources hinting on Monday night that talks were ongoing.
Related: ‘Russians At War’ Teaser: Anastasia Trofimova’s Doc Gives Rare Insight Into Life Of Russian Soldiers On The Frontline In Ukraine – Venice
Broccoli — who is co-head of James Bond producer Eon Productions with Michael G. Wilson — has reportedly been working with Craig for some time on the project, billed as a modern adaptation of the Shakespearean classic set in American army barracks in Iraq.
Related: ‘King Ivory’: Melissa Leo,...
- 9/3/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Andres Veiel’s documentary “Riefenstahl,” which challenges the carefully crafted public persona of one of Germany’s most controversial directors, who was forever tainted by working with the Nazis, is one of 17 German films playing in the various sections of the Venice Film Festival.
A deep dive into Leni Reifenstahl’s previously inaccessible archive, the 160-minute film lifts the lid on secrets the director of the 1935 Nuremberg propaganda film “Triumph of the Will” struggled more than half her life to keep hidden.
Veiel, who was brought onboard to direct by producer Sandra Maischberger of Berlin’s Vincent Films – who had gained unfettered access to Riefenstahl’s archive after the death of her longtime companion and husband Horst Kette in 2016 – is untroubled by the film’s out-of-competition berth as he believes the festival is the right venue for its first showing.
“For me, it is the right festival for the film,...
A deep dive into Leni Reifenstahl’s previously inaccessible archive, the 160-minute film lifts the lid on secrets the director of the 1935 Nuremberg propaganda film “Triumph of the Will” struggled more than half her life to keep hidden.
Veiel, who was brought onboard to direct by producer Sandra Maischberger of Berlin’s Vincent Films – who had gained unfettered access to Riefenstahl’s archive after the death of her longtime companion and husband Horst Kette in 2016 – is untroubled by the film’s out-of-competition berth as he believes the festival is the right venue for its first showing.
“For me, it is the right festival for the film,...
- 8/31/2024
- by Nick Holdsworth
- Variety Film + TV
Following “Marie’s Story” and “Take a Chance on Me,” French director Jean-Pierre Améris is reteaming with Paris-based Indie Sales on his next movie, “It Takes Two to Tango,” a romantic comedy starring Valérie Lemercier.
Currently filming in Geneva and France, the film also stars Gérard Darmon (“King”) and Patrick Timsit (“Brother and Sister”). The plot revolves around Antoine Toussaint (Darmon), a famous and disillusioned 70-year-old crooner who meets Victoire (Lemercier), a good-natured fan with a few loose wires, while on a train to Geneva where he plans to end his life. This unlikely encounter thwarts all Antoine’s plans, for better or worse.
“It Takes Two to Tango” is produced by Denis Carot and Sophie Revil at France’s Escazal Films and will be released in France by Arp in April 2025.
“We are excited to re-team with Jean-Pierre Améris and bring his universe and heart-warming characters to audiences around the world,...
Currently filming in Geneva and France, the film also stars Gérard Darmon (“King”) and Patrick Timsit (“Brother and Sister”). The plot revolves around Antoine Toussaint (Darmon), a famous and disillusioned 70-year-old crooner who meets Victoire (Lemercier), a good-natured fan with a few loose wires, while on a train to Geneva where he plans to end his life. This unlikely encounter thwarts all Antoine’s plans, for better or worse.
“It Takes Two to Tango” is produced by Denis Carot and Sophie Revil at France’s Escazal Films and will be released in France by Arp in April 2025.
“We are excited to re-team with Jean-Pierre Améris and bring his universe and heart-warming characters to audiences around the world,...
- 8/30/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s Venice Film Festival will, for 10 days, be the starriest place on earth, with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in “Joker: Folie à Deux,” Cate Blanchett in Alfonso Cuarón’s TV series “Disclaimer” and Daniel Craig in Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer” all lighting up the Lido. But Alberto Barbera, the festival’s artistic director, promises that Venice still has grit underlying the glamour.
Barbera’s mandate at Venice has been extended through 2026 by new Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, a right-wing journalist and author appointed by Italy’s ruling coalition. But Barbera makes it clear he has been given free rein at a time when top festivals are becoming “important tools” in discussions about the most persistent problems facing the world. The 81st edition features movies that delve into two major geopolitical crises. “We’ve never backed down from dealing with thorny issues that can cause controversy,” Barbera says.
Barbera’s mandate at Venice has been extended through 2026 by new Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, a right-wing journalist and author appointed by Italy’s ruling coalition. But Barbera makes it clear he has been given free rein at a time when top festivals are becoming “important tools” in discussions about the most persistent problems facing the world. The 81st edition features movies that delve into two major geopolitical crises. “We’ve never backed down from dealing with thorny issues that can cause controversy,” Barbera says.
- 8/20/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has unveiled the 43 features selection for the Centrepiece programme including world premieres for Algerian director Merzak Allouache’s feuding matriarchs comedy Front Row and Laura Piani’s romantic comedy Jane Austen Wrecked My Life.
Taking their place in the global cinema showcase alongside the latest work from 41 countries are features that have already impressed at festivals, such as Mohammad Rasoulof’s Cannes award winner The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, and Steven Soderbergh’s Sundance selection Presence.
The 18 world premieres include Iranian filmmaker Ali Samadi Ahadi’s human rights drama Seven Days written by Rasoulof,...
Taking their place in the global cinema showcase alongside the latest work from 41 countries are features that have already impressed at festivals, such as Mohammad Rasoulof’s Cannes award winner The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, and Steven Soderbergh’s Sundance selection Presence.
The 18 world premieres include Iranian filmmaker Ali Samadi Ahadi’s human rights drama Seven Days written by Rasoulof,...
- 8/6/2024
- ScreenDaily
The lagoon setting, starry red carpets and summer dates of the Venice film festival don’t lend it a reputation as the most political of festivals. But Venice Film Festuval’s 81’s line-up collectively mirrors many of the challenges of the times – from Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars, through to migration, climate catastrophe and the rise of far-right movements.
Many of these themes are explored in documentaries playing out of competition. Asif Kapadia’s 2073 asks what the world will be like in 50 years and shows, according to Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera, “how the world is rapidly plunging into a vortex of lies,...
Many of these themes are explored in documentaries playing out of competition. Asif Kapadia’s 2073 asks what the world will be like in 50 years and shows, according to Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera, “how the world is rapidly plunging into a vortex of lies,...
- 7/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
Venice Film Festival has revealed the programme for its 81st edition, featuring a 21-strong Competition that includes new films from Todd Phillips, Pedro Almodovar, Luca Guadagino, Pablo Larrain, Brady Corbet and Justin Kurzel.
Scroll down for full line-up
The selection was unveiled by festival president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and artistic director Alberto Barbera. It marked Buttafuoco’s first time at the annual press conference, after replacing Roberto Cicutto in October 2023.
Further filmmakers in Competition include Wang Bing, Luis Ortega, Dea Kulumbegashvili, Dag Johan Haugerud, Athina Rachel Tsangari and Walter Salles.
The line-up also includes Jon Watt’s Wolfs, starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney,...
Scroll down for full line-up
The selection was unveiled by festival president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and artistic director Alberto Barbera. It marked Buttafuoco’s first time at the annual press conference, after replacing Roberto Cicutto in October 2023.
Further filmmakers in Competition include Wang Bing, Luis Ortega, Dea Kulumbegashvili, Dag Johan Haugerud, Athina Rachel Tsangari and Walter Salles.
The line-up also includes Jon Watt’s Wolfs, starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney,...
- 7/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
A trio of French sales houses have made a flurry of appointments ahead of the summer break and before the autumn festival season.
Núria Palenzuela Camon has joined Paris-based Indie Sales as head of festivals and will co-run marketing alongside the company’s sales executive Constance Poubelle. She is taking over for Clement Chautant who is heading to French arthouse distributor Arizona Distribution to lead on acquisitions.
Palenzuela Camon is fresh off a four-year stint as head of festivals and marketing at sales outfit Totem Films. Salomé Rizk will take over in the same position at Totem after running the festivals team for Loco Films.
Núria Palenzuela Camon has joined Paris-based Indie Sales as head of festivals and will co-run marketing alongside the company’s sales executive Constance Poubelle. She is taking over for Clement Chautant who is heading to French arthouse distributor Arizona Distribution to lead on acquisitions.
Palenzuela Camon is fresh off a four-year stint as head of festivals and marketing at sales outfit Totem Films. Salomé Rizk will take over in the same position at Totem after running the festivals team for Loco Films.
- 7/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired “Happy Holidays,” the sophomore feature of Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti.
Copti’s feature debut, “Ajami,” co-directed by Yaron Shani, won the Camera d’Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and was nominated for an Oscar in the international feature category.
“Happy Holidays” takes place in contemporary Israel, where a minor accident in Jerusalem triggers a chain of events. “Lies and unspoken truths will sow division among a multi-faceted patriarchal society,” reads the synopsis.
Nicolas Eschbach, Indie Sales’ CEO and co-founder, described “Happy Holidays” as a “highly-expected second feature from Palestinian director Scandar Copti after his Cannes-selected critically-acclaimed debut.”
Currently in post-production, the film is expected to be delivered in the spring. “Happy Holidays” is produced by Red Balloon Film in Germany, together with Tessalit Productions in France, Intramovies in Italy and Fresco Films in Palestine.
Indie Sales will introduce the...
Copti’s feature debut, “Ajami,” co-directed by Yaron Shani, won the Camera d’Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and was nominated for an Oscar in the international feature category.
“Happy Holidays” takes place in contemporary Israel, where a minor accident in Jerusalem triggers a chain of events. “Lies and unspoken truths will sow division among a multi-faceted patriarchal society,” reads the synopsis.
Nicolas Eschbach, Indie Sales’ CEO and co-founder, described “Happy Holidays” as a “highly-expected second feature from Palestinian director Scandar Copti after his Cannes-selected critically-acclaimed debut.”
Currently in post-production, the film is expected to be delivered in the spring. “Happy Holidays” is produced by Red Balloon Film in Germany, together with Tessalit Productions in France, Intramovies in Italy and Fresco Films in Palestine.
Indie Sales will introduce the...
- 2/2/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Industry speakers at festival include ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ director Jasmila Zbanic, former Marvel exec Karim Zreik.
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has selected 26 feature film projects for its Red Sea Souk Project Market; plus a Work-in-Progress showcase, and speakers for its 360° industry events programme.
The 26 Souk projects hail from Africa and the Arab region. Titles include Djeliya, Memory Of Manding, a documentary from Burkinabe filmmaker Boubacar Sangare, whose third film A Golden Life played at the Berlinale earlier this year.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
Also included is Scandar Copti’s animated documentary A Childhood,...
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has selected 26 feature film projects for its Red Sea Souk Project Market; plus a Work-in-Progress showcase, and speakers for its 360° industry events programme.
The 26 Souk projects hail from Africa and the Arab region. Titles include Djeliya, Memory Of Manding, a documentary from Burkinabe filmmaker Boubacar Sangare, whose third film A Golden Life played at the Berlinale earlier this year.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
Also included is Scandar Copti’s animated documentary A Childhood,...
- 11/7/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has revealed details of the Red Sea Souk, the fest’s industry market that will offer meeting and networking opportunities revolving around new Arab and African product.
The Souk will take place Dec. 2-5 alongside the Nov. 30-Dec. 9 fest in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore. The fest’s industry side will also comprise the Red Sea Talent Days on Dec. 6-7, which will give regional talents and young filmmakers a chance to connect with industry experts.
The Red Sea Souk Project Market will showcase 26 feature-length projects from across the Arab and African region. Of these, 12 are Red Sea Lodge projects that were developed in-house during the year through workshops and labs in partnership with Italy’s Torino Film Lab.
Four of these projects will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 selected projects in the...
The Souk will take place Dec. 2-5 alongside the Nov. 30-Dec. 9 fest in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore. The fest’s industry side will also comprise the Red Sea Talent Days on Dec. 6-7, which will give regional talents and young filmmakers a chance to connect with industry experts.
The Red Sea Souk Project Market will showcase 26 feature-length projects from across the Arab and African region. Of these, 12 are Red Sea Lodge projects that were developed in-house during the year through workshops and labs in partnership with Italy’s Torino Film Lab.
Four of these projects will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 selected projects in the...
- 11/7/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has revealed the 26 projects selected as part of this year’s Red Sea Souk Market, which will run Dec. 2-5.
“The Red Sea Souk Project Market will present 26 feature-length projects from across the Arab and African region, offering a first opportunity for the industry audience to connect and build future opportunities with these projects,” organizers said on Tuesday.
Part of the selection are 12 “Red Sea Lodge” projects which were developed during the year through workshops and in partnership with the Torino Film Lab. Four of them will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 projects in the market will compete for cash prizes offered by the Red Sea Fund, to be awarded by an international jury of producers. They are worth $35,000 for development, $25,000 for the jury special mention award and $100,000 for production.
Meanwhile, the...
“The Red Sea Souk Project Market will present 26 feature-length projects from across the Arab and African region, offering a first opportunity for the industry audience to connect and build future opportunities with these projects,” organizers said on Tuesday.
Part of the selection are 12 “Red Sea Lodge” projects which were developed during the year through workshops and in partnership with the Torino Film Lab. Four of them will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 projects in the market will compete for cash prizes offered by the Red Sea Fund, to be awarded by an international jury of producers. They are worth $35,000 for development, $25,000 for the jury special mention award and $100,000 for production.
Meanwhile, the...
- 11/7/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Red Sea International Film Festival, has unveiled the 26 projects selected as part of its industry-focused Red Sea Souk Market, running from December 2 to 5.
Projects in development include Palestinian director Scandar Copti’s A Childhood, Lebanese-French filmmaker Danielle Arbid’s Love Conquers All and Madness And Honey Days by Iraq’s Ahmed Yassin Al-Daradji.
Within the Market selection are twelve Red Sea Lodge projects which were developed during the year through intensive workshops and in partnership with the Torino Film Lab. Four of these projects will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 selected projects will compete for cash prizes offered by the Red Sea Fund, to be awarded by an international jury of producers: $35,000 for development, $25,000 for the Jury Special Mention Award and $100,000 for production
Another six projects will be showcased in Works-In-Progress section including Men In The Sun by Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel,...
Projects in development include Palestinian director Scandar Copti’s A Childhood, Lebanese-French filmmaker Danielle Arbid’s Love Conquers All and Madness And Honey Days by Iraq’s Ahmed Yassin Al-Daradji.
Within the Market selection are twelve Red Sea Lodge projects which were developed during the year through intensive workshops and in partnership with the Torino Film Lab. Four of these projects will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 selected projects will compete for cash prizes offered by the Red Sea Fund, to be awarded by an international jury of producers: $35,000 for development, $25,000 for the Jury Special Mention Award and $100,000 for production
Another six projects will be showcased in Works-In-Progress section including Men In The Sun by Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel,...
- 11/7/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
“High seven figures, eight figures – this is crazy money that they make, and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
- 7/15/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
“High seven figures, eight figures – this is crazy money that they make, and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
- 7/15/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
“High seven figures, eight figures – this is crazy money that they make, and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
- 7/15/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The programme supports work-in-progress films from Africa and the Middle East
Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays is among the seven selected projects for the 11th edition of Venice Final Cut, supporting work-in-progress films from Africa and the Middle East.
The programme, which runs as part of Venice Film Festival’s production bridge, has selected four fiction and three documentary projects to be screened to producers, distributors, buyers, post-production companies and programmers during the three-day workshop in Venice (September 3-5).
Happy Holidays follows a student whose double life is exposed when she gets involved in a minor accident. It’s a co-production between Palestine,...
Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays is among the seven selected projects for the 11th edition of Venice Final Cut, supporting work-in-progress films from Africa and the Middle East.
The programme, which runs as part of Venice Film Festival’s production bridge, has selected four fiction and three documentary projects to be screened to producers, distributors, buyers, post-production companies and programmers during the three-day workshop in Venice (September 3-5).
Happy Holidays follows a student whose double life is exposed when she gets involved in a minor accident. It’s a co-production between Palestine,...
- 7/14/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Seven films have been selected for the 11th edition of Final Cut in Venice, the works-in-progress section of the 80th Venice Film Festival.
Final Cut in Venice, which runs Sept. 3-5, provides support for the completion of films from Africa and five Middle Eastern countries: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. It is one of the programs run by the festival’s industry section, Venice Production Bridge.
Over three days, the working copies of the selected films will be presented to producers, buyers, distributors, post-production companies and film festival programmers. The first two days are devoted to screenings, and then one-to-one meetings between the producers of the projects and the professionals attending the Venice Production Bridge will take place on the third day. The program will conclude with the awarding of prizes in kind or in cash, the purpose of which is to provide support for the films’ post-production.
Within...
Final Cut in Venice, which runs Sept. 3-5, provides support for the completion of films from Africa and five Middle Eastern countries: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. It is one of the programs run by the festival’s industry section, Venice Production Bridge.
Over three days, the working copies of the selected films will be presented to producers, buyers, distributors, post-production companies and film festival programmers. The first two days are devoted to screenings, and then one-to-one meetings between the producers of the projects and the professionals attending the Venice Production Bridge will take place on the third day. The program will conclude with the awarding of prizes in kind or in cash, the purpose of which is to provide support for the films’ post-production.
Within...
- 7/14/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Saudi Arabian director talks filming a tale of survival in Neom.
One of only two Saudi titles in Competition at this year’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff), Mohammed “Moe” Alatawi’s feature debut Within Sand combines aspects of a road movie with the futuristic landscapes found in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, where it was shot.
It is ultimately a tale of survival for its lead character, a young man named Snam, played by newcomer Ra’ed Alshammari, who is ambushed by thieves in the deserted terrain and left with only a knife to fend for himself.
Within Sand...
One of only two Saudi titles in Competition at this year’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff), Mohammed “Moe” Alatawi’s feature debut Within Sand combines aspects of a road movie with the futuristic landscapes found in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, where it was shot.
It is ultimately a tale of survival for its lead character, a young man named Snam, played by newcomer Ra’ed Alshammari, who is ambushed by thieves in the deserted terrain and left with only a knife to fend for himself.
Within Sand...
- 12/9/2022
- by E. Nina Rothe
- ScreenDaily
Germany’s Red Balloon Film and Palestine’s Fresco Films have boarded director Ameer Fakher Eldin’s second film “Nothing of Nothing Remains.” The film is part of a trilogy building on his first film, “The Stranger” (pictured), which premiered in Venice and represents Palestine at the Oscars in the International Feature Film category.
“Nothing of Nothing Remains” has received development and script funding from German regional funder Moin Film Fund in Hamburg. Fresco and Red Balloon are now moving into the financing phase for the film.
“It’s part of a trilogy,” Eldin tells Variety, speaking from Berlin. “The first film, ‘The Stranger,’ is about a stranger amongst his own people. The second one is about a stranger amongst strangers. I do not want to give too much away but it’s a story set in Germany. The third one will be set in France. All three films are about the theme of home.
“Nothing of Nothing Remains” has received development and script funding from German regional funder Moin Film Fund in Hamburg. Fresco and Red Balloon are now moving into the financing phase for the film.
“It’s part of a trilogy,” Eldin tells Variety, speaking from Berlin. “The first film, ‘The Stranger,’ is about a stranger amongst his own people. The second one is about a stranger amongst strangers. I do not want to give too much away but it’s a story set in Germany. The third one will be set in France. All three films are about the theme of home.
- 12/5/2021
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
The Eurimages Fund is supporting 28 features.
European support body Eurimages has selected 28 features for a total of €6.1m ($6.9m) funding, including new works by Robert Guédiguian and Jim Sheridan.
French filmmaker Guédiguian – who has directed 21 features since 1981 including his most recent, Venice 2019 selection Gloria Mundi – receives €470,000 for France-Canada co-production Bamako Twist.
Ireland’s Sheridan, who has been nominated for six Oscars across his career since his breakthrough debut feature My Left Foot, receives €280,000 for Ireland-uk-France documentary In Absentia, co-directed with Colm Quinn. The documentary looks into the murder of French producer Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in Ireland, in December 1996.
Other...
European support body Eurimages has selected 28 features for a total of €6.1m ($6.9m) funding, including new works by Robert Guédiguian and Jim Sheridan.
French filmmaker Guédiguian – who has directed 21 features since 1981 including his most recent, Venice 2019 selection Gloria Mundi – receives €470,000 for France-Canada co-production Bamako Twist.
Ireland’s Sheridan, who has been nominated for six Oscars across his career since his breakthrough debut feature My Left Foot, receives €280,000 for Ireland-uk-France documentary In Absentia, co-directed with Colm Quinn. The documentary looks into the murder of French producer Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in Ireland, in December 1996.
Other...
- 6/5/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Qatar gives grants to TV and two web series for the first time.
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has announced the latest round of 38 projects to be supported under its autumn 2018 grants cycle.
Among the grantees is Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl who won Dfi funding for her upcoming film Costa Brava Lebanon about a family whose idyllic mountain retreat home is blighted when the government decides to build a landfill by their home. It was one of seven projects hailing from Lebanon.
Other grantees included Palestinian director Laila Abbas’s comedy-drama Barzakh about two sisters who hide their father’s...
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has announced the latest round of 38 projects to be supported under its autumn 2018 grants cycle.
Among the grantees is Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl who won Dfi funding for her upcoming film Costa Brava Lebanon about a family whose idyllic mountain retreat home is blighted when the government decides to build a landfill by their home. It was one of seven projects hailing from Lebanon.
Other grantees included Palestinian director Laila Abbas’s comedy-drama Barzakh about two sisters who hide their father’s...
- 12/21/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
One of four Israeli films making their bow in Venice this year, Stripped (Erom) in the Horizons section marks the long-awaited return of Yaron Shani, who co-directed the foreign-language Academy Award contender Ajami with Palestinian director Scandar Copti. His first solo feature feels a little disappointing: sometimes touchingly on target and engrossing, at other times tripped up by labored storytelling, narrative inconsistencies and the bizarre faux-censorship of nude scenes. However, the non-pro cast is engaging and believable, reinforcing the cinema verite feeling conveyed by the realistically detailed scenes and preference for close-ups. The film’s exploration of intimacy has a peculiarly ...
One of four Israeli films making their bow in Venice this year, Stripped (Erom) in the Horizons section marks the long-awaited return of Yaron Shani, who co-directed the foreign-language Academy Award contender Ajami with Palestinian director Scandar Copti. His first solo feature feels a little disappointing: sometimes touchingly on target and engrossing, at other times tripped up by labored storytelling, narrative inconsistencies and the bizarre faux-censorship of nude scenes. However, the non-pro cast is engaging and believable, reinforcing the cinema verite feeling conveyed by the realistically detailed scenes and preference for close-ups. The film’s exploration of intimacy has a peculiarly ...
The first of Shani’s ‘The Love Trilogy’ premieres on August 29.
Celluloid Dreams has unveiled the first trailer for Israeli director Yaron Shani’s emotional drama Stripped ahead of its premiere in Venice’s Horizons sidebar this evening (Aug 29).
The film revolves around the life-changing relationship between successful 34-year-old novelist Alice, who is suffering from acute anxiety, and 17-year-old Ziv, a talented classical musician who is forced to put his passion on hold while he completes compulsory military service.
Stripped is Shani’s debut solo feature, after the award-winning 2009 drama Ajami, which he co-directed with Scandar Copti, and is also...
Celluloid Dreams has unveiled the first trailer for Israeli director Yaron Shani’s emotional drama Stripped ahead of its premiere in Venice’s Horizons sidebar this evening (Aug 29).
The film revolves around the life-changing relationship between successful 34-year-old novelist Alice, who is suffering from acute anxiety, and 17-year-old Ziv, a talented classical musician who is forced to put his passion on hold while he completes compulsory military service.
Stripped is Shani’s debut solo feature, after the award-winning 2009 drama Ajami, which he co-directed with Scandar Copti, and is also...
- 8/29/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
First look at project mostly non-professional actors who were were asked to live the lives of their fictional characters for a shooting period of over a year.
Paris-based sales company Celluloid Dreams has taken world rights sales to The Love Trilogy by Israeli director Yaron Shani.
It is Shani’s solo debut feature, after Ajami, which he co-directed with Scandar Copti. That film was Oscar-nominated in the Best Foreign Film category and also won a Caméra d’Or special mention at Cannes Film Festival in 2009.
The first film Stripped is currently ending post-production. Screen is able to reveal an exclusive first look image,...
Paris-based sales company Celluloid Dreams has taken world rights sales to The Love Trilogy by Israeli director Yaron Shani.
It is Shani’s solo debut feature, after Ajami, which he co-directed with Scandar Copti. That film was Oscar-nominated in the Best Foreign Film category and also won a Caméra d’Or special mention at Cannes Film Festival in 2009.
The first film Stripped is currently ending post-production. Screen is able to reveal an exclusive first look image,...
- 5/7/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Producer of Rafi Pitts’ Berlinale Competition title is lining up several new projects.
Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion, the German producer of Rafi Pitts’ Berlinale Competition title Soy Nero [pictured], is lining up projects from Israel and Cyprus.
Twenty Twenty’s managing director Thanassis Karathanos told Screen that principal photography on Israeli filmmaker Veronica Kedar’s Family began at locations in the German city of Halle last week.
Although the film’s story is set in Israel, Family will be shot completely in Germany. It marks another collaboration for Karathanos with Mosh Danon’s Inosan Productions after working together on Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s 2009 film Ajami.
Kedar’s second feature had been pitched at the 2014 edition of the Berlinale Co-Production Market where Twenty Twenty’s second project, Christos Georgiou’s Happy Birthday, was also presented to potential co-producers.
A March start is planned for the shooting of Georgiou’s first feature since the 2008 comedy Small Crime and...
Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion, the German producer of Rafi Pitts’ Berlinale Competition title Soy Nero [pictured], is lining up projects from Israel and Cyprus.
Twenty Twenty’s managing director Thanassis Karathanos told Screen that principal photography on Israeli filmmaker Veronica Kedar’s Family began at locations in the German city of Halle last week.
Although the film’s story is set in Israel, Family will be shot completely in Germany. It marks another collaboration for Karathanos with Mosh Danon’s Inosan Productions after working together on Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s 2009 film Ajami.
Kedar’s second feature had been pitched at the 2014 edition of the Berlinale Co-Production Market where Twenty Twenty’s second project, Christos Georgiou’s Happy Birthday, was also presented to potential co-producers.
A March start is planned for the shooting of Georgiou’s first feature since the 2008 comedy Small Crime and...
- 2/14/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
People are still talking about that unfortunate year at the Oscars when Paul Haggis' "Crash" won Best Picture over "Brokeback Mountain." The 2004 winner is here on our list (check the bottom portion), but this week, Paul Haggis returns to the same form with "Third Person," which jumps from Paris to Rome to New York as it traces the hidden connections between three very different men played by Liam Neeson, Adrien Brody and James Franco. That got us thinking about our favorite films that have multiple story lines that either run simultaneously, or are interconnected in some way. Here's our list of nine of the best indies that use hyperlinked narratives, and four that aren't so memorable. Let us know your favorites in the comments. "Third Person" opens June 20. "Ajami" Dir. Scandar Copti, Yaron Shandi (2009) "Ajami" is the result of an astonishing collaboration between Palestinian Scandar Copti and Israeli Yaron Shani.
- 6/19/2014
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
In Doha, there was once a buzzing festival and schemes to nurture local talent, but now much of the the money in the Qatari film business goes to projects elsewhere – such as the $55m co-production Black Gold
• Black Gold: Jean-Jacques Annaud's Arabian frights
A video appearing to show Omar Sharif slapping a woman was not supposed to be the biggest story to come out of the 2011 Doha Tribeca film festival. The focus should have been on Black Gold, a $55m Qatari co-production – and arguably the most ambitious film shot in the Middle East since Lawrence of Arabia – which had had its world premiere just days earlier. To the irritation of the organisers, however, it was the right arm of the 1962 epic's octogenarian breakout star, incensed by a persistent fan, which stole the headlines.
Landing less than a year after this diminutive, gas-rich Gulf state contentiously won the right to host the 2022 World Cup,...
• Black Gold: Jean-Jacques Annaud's Arabian frights
A video appearing to show Omar Sharif slapping a woman was not supposed to be the biggest story to come out of the 2011 Doha Tribeca film festival. The focus should have been on Black Gold, a $55m Qatari co-production – and arguably the most ambitious film shot in the Middle East since Lawrence of Arabia – which had had its world premiere just days earlier. To the irritation of the organisers, however, it was the right arm of the 1962 epic's octogenarian breakout star, incensed by a persistent fan, which stole the headlines.
Landing less than a year after this diminutive, gas-rich Gulf state contentiously won the right to host the 2022 World Cup,...
- 3/7/2014
- The Guardian - Film News
If you are attending the Berlinale, there's still time to register for Scandar Copti's two day workshop on directing actors. The intensive workshop, limited to 25 participants, takes place February 16-17 and will focus on Copti's method to elicit natural performances from actors. It is intended for directors, actors and film students. Copti's 2009 film "Ajami" won the Camera d'Or Special Mention at Cannes, and was also nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar (watch the trailer below). More info on the workshop is below and here. Workshop info: Filmmakers often use the element of surprise to direct actors for certain scenes to get authentic emotional responses. The directors of Ajami based their film entirely on this principal. Unlike other forays into improvisation, Ajami had a very precise screenplay and a well-constructed plot that demanded precise emotional responses from its actors. The actors ended up acting out a...
- 1/2/2013
- by Sophia Savage
- Thompson on Hollywood
Last week's Doha Tribeca film festival showcased an uprising of Arab films shot straight from the streets
Last week, delegates from across the Arab world met in Doha to discuss the future of a liberated Libya. Meanwhile, across town, Tarak Ben Ammar was launching his new movie. Black Gold is an epic spun from the discovery of oil on the Arabian peninsula, and as its producer, Ben Ammar was keen to keen to play up its timeliness. "We were shooting in Tunisia just as Ben Ali fell," he told a sweaty crowd in a small air-conditioned room at the Doha Tribeca film festival. "Those events became history not only for Tunisia but for the world. Let's hope this is a new age for Arab cinema too."
Across from Ben Ammar sit some of his cast: Freida Pinto, Tahar Rahim and Mark Strong. They echo his sentiments, project their belief that,...
Last week, delegates from across the Arab world met in Doha to discuss the future of a liberated Libya. Meanwhile, across town, Tarak Ben Ammar was launching his new movie. Black Gold is an epic spun from the discovery of oil on the Arabian peninsula, and as its producer, Ben Ammar was keen to keen to play up its timeliness. "We were shooting in Tunisia just as Ben Ali fell," he told a sweaty crowd in a small air-conditioned room at the Doha Tribeca film festival. "Those events became history not only for Tunisia but for the world. Let's hope this is a new age for Arab cinema too."
Across from Ben Ammar sit some of his cast: Freida Pinto, Tahar Rahim and Mark Strong. They echo his sentiments, project their belief that,...
- 11/3/2011
- by Paul MacInnes
- The Guardian - Film News
When Fifa awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, there was widespread disbelief. But the bid was just another step in the ambitious emirate's plan to become a global player – not just in sport, but culturally, with events such as a Robert De Niro-endorsed film festival. Welcome to the Gulf's latest Brave New World
"Rich is good, obviously," an eminent Qatari tells me. Obviously. "But to be cultured, well, that's something else…" He's talking less about individuals than states, in particular his own which is now – on a per-capita basis – the richest country in the world, a status chiefly explained by Qatar possessing plenty of what the world most wants: oil and gas.
It also now has the World Cup – or will have in 2022, after Fifa's decision late last year to award the tournament to the Gulf state. The decision provoked plenty of commentary, little of it entirely complimentary.
A...
"Rich is good, obviously," an eminent Qatari tells me. Obviously. "But to be cultured, well, that's something else…" He's talking less about individuals than states, in particular his own which is now – on a per-capita basis – the richest country in the world, a status chiefly explained by Qatar possessing plenty of what the world most wants: oil and gas.
It also now has the World Cup – or will have in 2022, after Fifa's decision late last year to award the tournament to the Gulf state. The decision provoked plenty of commentary, little of it entirely complimentary.
A...
- 1/23/2011
- by Robert Yates
- The Guardian - Film News
Rachid Bouchareb, Amanda Palmer, H. E. Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousuf Al Thani © 2010 Getty Images, Credit: Sean Gallup A spectacular outdoor film screening is fast becoming a Doha Tribeca Film Festival trademark, and award-winning French-Algerian director, Rachid Bouchareb, was proud to present his Outside the Law as the opening night screening. "Outside the Law is not just about the Algerian struggle for independence," said Bouchareb, "it also explores how an individual's culture is integral to their sense of identity and belonging in the world, a universal theme which I am sure Dtff audiences will be able to connect with." From left to right: Chadi Zeneddine (Dfi Mentor), Amanda Palmer (Dfi Executive Director), Scandar Copti (Dfi Head of Education and Film Programmer), Maggie Kim (Dfi Managing Director), David Kwok (Tribeca Film Festival (Tff) Director of Programming), Genna Terranova (Tribeca Film Festival (Tff) Senior Programmer) The excitment and glamour of Dtff's Opening Gala...
- 10/26/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
Going into any year’s respective Oscar season, one area of Academy Awards is often unknown to the general public: the foreign film category.
With most of the film’s not getting the chance to screen outside of places like New York or La, many of the films that are nominated for the Best Foreign Film award seem to come out of nowhere, particularly knowing the process behind getting nominated (each country can submit only one film for consideration).
Well, with nominated films like A Prophet and The White Ribbon both hitting DVD earlier this year, and the award winner The Secret In Their Eyes still making its way throughout theaters stateside, Israel’s submission and subsequent nominated film, Ajami, has finally been released on DVD.
And I have to say, it was well worth the wait.
Ajami, named after an area of Jaffa where Jews, Christians, Palestinians and Arabs attempt to live together,...
With most of the film’s not getting the chance to screen outside of places like New York or La, many of the films that are nominated for the Best Foreign Film award seem to come out of nowhere, particularly knowing the process behind getting nominated (each country can submit only one film for consideration).
Well, with nominated films like A Prophet and The White Ribbon both hitting DVD earlier this year, and the award winner The Secret In Their Eyes still making its way throughout theaters stateside, Israel’s submission and subsequent nominated film, Ajami, has finally been released on DVD.
And I have to say, it was well worth the wait.
Ajami, named after an area of Jaffa where Jews, Christians, Palestinians and Arabs attempt to live together,...
- 9/5/2010
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): ***
Scandar Copti, a Palestinian, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew, teamed up to direct the crime drama Ajami. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film, which seems more a result of that behind-the-scenes achievement than anything that occurs onscreen. Indeed, comparing it to some of Amos Gitai's better films (Yom Yom, Kadosh, etc.) it feels rather graceless, and compared to something like City of God,Ajami feels practically inert.
And yet the film is still effective in its own, small way. It follows several characters in five overlapping chapters, all set in one multi-ethnic section of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv. It begins as a man working on a car is gunned down in the street. It turns out that the real target was the neighbor who sold him the car, Omar (Shahir Kabaha), an Arab Israeli. Worse, Omar...
Rating (out of 5): ***
Scandar Copti, a Palestinian, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew, teamed up to direct the crime drama Ajami. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film, which seems more a result of that behind-the-scenes achievement than anything that occurs onscreen. Indeed, comparing it to some of Amos Gitai's better films (Yom Yom, Kadosh, etc.) it feels rather graceless, and compared to something like City of God,Ajami feels practically inert.
And yet the film is still effective in its own, small way. It follows several characters in five overlapping chapters, all set in one multi-ethnic section of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv. It begins as a man working on a car is gunned down in the street. It turns out that the real target was the neighbor who sold him the car, Omar (Shahir Kabaha), an Arab Israeli. Worse, Omar...
- 8/27/2010
- by underdog
- GreenCine
A look at what's new on DVD today:
"$5 a Day" (2008)
Directed by Nigel Cole
Released by Image Entertainment
A refugee of the bankrupt Capitol Films, this dramedy starring Christopher Walken as a raconteur who claims he's able to live a full life on the titular Lincoln bill is finally seeing the light of day after premiering at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. Alessandro Nivola co-stars as his son who drives him to New Mexico when he falls ill. Sharon Stone and Amanda Peet are along for the ride.
"2:22" (2008)
Directed by Phillip Guzman
Released by Inception Media Group
A quartet of thieves scheme to rob a boutique hotel on New Year's Eve, but find out that what's waiting for them on the inside is even colder than the snow-caked streets outside. Just as he did for his 2006 crime thriller "Played," star/co-writer Rossi called upon famous pals Gabriel Byrne and Val Kilmer...
"$5 a Day" (2008)
Directed by Nigel Cole
Released by Image Entertainment
A refugee of the bankrupt Capitol Films, this dramedy starring Christopher Walken as a raconteur who claims he's able to live a full life on the titular Lincoln bill is finally seeing the light of day after premiering at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. Alessandro Nivola co-stars as his son who drives him to New Mexico when he falls ill. Sharon Stone and Amanda Peet are along for the ride.
"2:22" (2008)
Directed by Phillip Guzman
Released by Inception Media Group
A quartet of thieves scheme to rob a boutique hotel on New Year's Eve, but find out that what's waiting for them on the inside is even colder than the snow-caked streets outside. Just as he did for his 2006 crime thriller "Played," star/co-writer Rossi called upon famous pals Gabriel Byrne and Val Kilmer...
- 8/24/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
The Secret In Their Eyes scooped the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s award ceremony, beating other nominees Ajami (Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani), The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke), A Prophet (Jacques Audiard) and The Milk of Sorrow(Claudia Llosa). Now, after month’s of waiting, the film is being released in the UK.
Synopsis: In 1999, retired Argentinian federal justice agent Benjamín Espósito is writing a novel, using an old closed case as the source material. That case is the brutal rape and murder of Liliana Coloto. In addition to seeing the extreme grief of the victim’s husband Ricardo Morales, Benjamín, his assistant Pablo Sandoval, and newly hired department chief Irene Menéndez-Hastings were personally affected by the case as Benjamín and Pablo tracked the killer, hence the reason why the unsatisfactory ending to the case has always bothered him. Despite the department already having two other suspects,...
Synopsis: In 1999, retired Argentinian federal justice agent Benjamín Espósito is writing a novel, using an old closed case as the source material. That case is the brutal rape and murder of Liliana Coloto. In addition to seeing the extreme grief of the victim’s husband Ricardo Morales, Benjamín, his assistant Pablo Sandoval, and newly hired department chief Irene Menéndez-Hastings were personally affected by the case as Benjamín and Pablo tracked the killer, hence the reason why the unsatisfactory ending to the case has always bothered him. Despite the department already having two other suspects,...
- 8/4/2010
- by Jamie Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Taking its name from a benighted neighbourhood of the ancient coastal city of Jaffa, Ajami represented Israel with a nomination in the foreign language category at the Academy Awards earlier this year. It is, however, co-directed and co-scripted by Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew, and Scandar Copti, who carefully calls himself a "Palestinian citizen of the Israeli state". As their film shows, what you are and where you're from ultimately defines your destiny in Ajami.
The film borrows from the techniques of Gomorrah and the Mexican new wave as typified by, say, Amores Perros, in weaving characters and storylines to create a tapestry of lives. The drama is kickstarted by a drive-by shooting that kills an innocent boy, mistaken for one of the main characters, Omar (Shahir Kabaha). It's the result of a vendetta between two crime clans and revenge for the shooting of a Bedouin weeks earlier.
Terrorised, Omar's...
The film borrows from the techniques of Gomorrah and the Mexican new wave as typified by, say, Amores Perros, in weaving characters and storylines to create a tapestry of lives. The drama is kickstarted by a drive-by shooting that kills an innocent boy, mistaken for one of the main characters, Omar (Shahir Kabaha). It's the result of a vendetta between two crime clans and revenge for the shooting of a Bedouin weeks earlier.
Terrorised, Omar's...
- 6/19/2010
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Ajami (15)
(Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, 2009, Isr/Ger) Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim. 125 mins.
If any situation justifies the multi-angled Crash/Amores Perros-style treatment, it's modern-day Israel. Co-written and directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian, mostly using non-professional actors, this is more hip, streetwise and even-handed than we're used to. Set in a mixed neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, the plot skilfully juggles intertwined stories of feuds, families, drugs and violence involving characters from all faiths.
Trash Humpers (18)
(Harmony Korine, 2009, Us/UK) Brian Kotzue, Travis Nicholson, Rachel Korine. 78 mins.
Korine preserves his enfant terrible reputation with a scrappy, seedy home video following a group of masked delinquents around. It's a vaudeville of depravity (they literally hump dustbins) that manages to be grimy without being explicit.
Wild Grass (12A)
(Alain Resnais, 2009, Fra/Ita) André Dussolier, Sabine Azéma. 104 mins.
Veteran Resnais crafts a silky, genre-hopping middle-aged romance that's full of wonders and mysteries.
(Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, 2009, Isr/Ger) Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim. 125 mins.
If any situation justifies the multi-angled Crash/Amores Perros-style treatment, it's modern-day Israel. Co-written and directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian, mostly using non-professional actors, this is more hip, streetwise and even-handed than we're used to. Set in a mixed neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, the plot skilfully juggles intertwined stories of feuds, families, drugs and violence involving characters from all faiths.
Trash Humpers (18)
(Harmony Korine, 2009, Us/UK) Brian Kotzue, Travis Nicholson, Rachel Korine. 78 mins.
Korine preserves his enfant terrible reputation with a scrappy, seedy home video following a group of masked delinquents around. It's a vaudeville of depravity (they literally hump dustbins) that manages to be grimy without being explicit.
Wild Grass (12A)
(Alain Resnais, 2009, Fra/Ita) André Dussolier, Sabine Azéma. 104 mins.
Veteran Resnais crafts a silky, genre-hopping middle-aged romance that's full of wonders and mysteries.
- 6/18/2010
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
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