Iceland-based producers Sara Nassim (Lamb) and Grimar Jonsson (Rams) are joining forces with a new production outfit, Sarimar Films.
Each will continue to run their own independent production companies as well, for projects outside the new partnership – Nassim at S101 (which she runs alongside Hronn Kristinsdottir) and Jonsson at Netop Films. They will agree project-by-project which films are best to go through Sarimar.
They said: “Our ideology is rather simple: together we stand strong and in this way form an umbrella for our companies and the projects we are working on together and separately. Sarimar Films is not just a...
Each will continue to run their own independent production companies as well, for projects outside the new partnership – Nassim at S101 (which she runs alongside Hronn Kristinsdottir) and Jonsson at Netop Films. They will agree project-by-project which films are best to go through Sarimar.
They said: “Our ideology is rather simple: together we stand strong and in this way form an umbrella for our companies and the projects we are working on together and separately. Sarimar Films is not just a...
- 5/7/2024
- ScreenDaily
European Film Promotion has revealed the participants for its Producers on the Move program, which runs before and during the Cannes Film Festival.
The promotion and networking program, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, brings together 20 of Europe’s most promising producers. This year, Efp will also put a spotlight on the numerous collaborations that have developed between the around 500 participants from 37 European countries over the past quarter century.
The 20 producers were selected for the program from the nominations submitted by Efp’s member organizations, which are all European national film promotion institutes.
They are Katharina Posch (Austria), Elisa Heene (Belgium/Flanders), Kalin Kalinov (Bulgaria), Tibor Keser (Croatia), Tonia Mishiali (Cyprus), Kristýna Michálek Květová (Czech Republic), Lina Flint (Denmark), Delphine Schmit (France), Fabian Driehorst (Germany), Maria Kontogianni (Greece), Sara Nassim (Iceland), Evan Horan (Ireland), Giedrė Žickytė (Lithuania), Katarzyna Ozga (Luxembourg), Angela Nestorovska (North Macedonia), Anita Rehoff Larsen (Norway), Isabel Machado...
The promotion and networking program, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, brings together 20 of Europe’s most promising producers. This year, Efp will also put a spotlight on the numerous collaborations that have developed between the around 500 participants from 37 European countries over the past quarter century.
The 20 producers were selected for the program from the nominations submitted by Efp’s member organizations, which are all European national film promotion institutes.
They are Katharina Posch (Austria), Elisa Heene (Belgium/Flanders), Kalin Kalinov (Bulgaria), Tibor Keser (Croatia), Tonia Mishiali (Cyprus), Kristýna Michálek Květová (Czech Republic), Lina Flint (Denmark), Delphine Schmit (France), Fabian Driehorst (Germany), Maria Kontogianni (Greece), Sara Nassim (Iceland), Evan Horan (Ireland), Giedrė Žickytė (Lithuania), Katarzyna Ozga (Luxembourg), Angela Nestorovska (North Macedonia), Anita Rehoff Larsen (Norway), Isabel Machado...
- 4/30/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The producers of festival-winning titles Lamb, Holly and Our Mothers are among those selected for European Film Promotion’s (Efp) Producers On The Move programme, which showcases rising talent and fosters international co-productions.
Some 20 European producers have been selected for the 2024 Efp programme, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
Scroll down for full list
The group will take part in a programme that aims to foster international co-productions, share experiences and create professional networks. The Pre-Festival online programme, starts today and runs until 3 May, and includes speed meetings, roundtables and pitching sessions. The producers will then meet in...
Some 20 European producers have been selected for the 2024 Efp programme, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.
Scroll down for full list
The group will take part in a programme that aims to foster international co-productions, share experiences and create professional networks. The Pre-Festival online programme, starts today and runs until 3 May, and includes speed meetings, roundtables and pitching sessions. The producers will then meet in...
- 4/30/2024
- ScreenDaily
Travis Scott is hitting the road with his first official tour since the tragedy of Astroworld in 2021. Scott will embark on his Utopia Tour Presents Circus Maximus, which will see the rap star stop at arenas across the country.
Scott is scheduled to kick off his tour in North Carolina on Oct. 11, before making his way to cities such as Orlando, Seattle, Dallas, and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Teezo Touchdown is opening the show on the dates.
According to the dates announced on Tuesday, Scott will skip Houston during the tour.
Scott is scheduled to kick off his tour in North Carolina on Oct. 11, before making his way to cities such as Orlando, Seattle, Dallas, and SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Teezo Touchdown is opening the show on the dates.
According to the dates announced on Tuesday, Scott will skip Houston during the tour.
- 9/1/2023
- by Tomás Mier
- Rollingstone.com
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Circus Maximus
Before their collaboration Aggro Dr1ft heads to the fall festival circuit, Travis Scott and Harmony Korine’s Utopia album companion Circus Maximus is now available to stream for free. Also featuring segments directed by Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Valdimar Jóhannsson (Lamb), and music-video maestro Kahlil Joseph, the release follows a brief theatrical run a few weeks back.
Killer Joe (William Friedkin)
Somewhere between greasy leftover fried chicken and stale half-finished beer cans sits Killer Joe, filmmaker William Friedkin’s fresh adaptation of Tracy Letts’ 20-year-old play. Young Chris (Emile Hirsch) has an idea: have his mother killed and collect on her insurance in order to pay off a batch of drugs that’s gone missing. Chris’ father Ansel shrugs in agreement,...
Circus Maximus
Before their collaboration Aggro Dr1ft heads to the fall festival circuit, Travis Scott and Harmony Korine’s Utopia album companion Circus Maximus is now available to stream for free. Also featuring segments directed by Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Valdimar Jóhannsson (Lamb), and music-video maestro Kahlil Joseph, the release follows a brief theatrical run a few weeks back.
Killer Joe (William Friedkin)
Somewhere between greasy leftover fried chicken and stale half-finished beer cans sits Killer Joe, filmmaker William Friedkin’s fresh adaptation of Tracy Letts’ 20-year-old play. Young Chris (Emile Hirsch) has an idea: have his mother killed and collect on her insurance in order to pay off a batch of drugs that’s gone missing. Chris’ father Ansel shrugs in agreement,...
- 8/18/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The 19 songs on Travis Scott’s comeback album Utopia weren’t enough content for him. Nearly a month after its release, the rapper has expanded the world of the album with four new music videos. The visual release, dropped all at once on YouTube, includes “Hyaena,” “Sirens,” “Modern Jam,” and “Delresto (Echoes),” which features vocal contributions from Beyoncé. All four clips have been ripped from a much larger project: the 75-minute long companion film Circus Maximus, now available in full on YouTube after a brief theatrical release and Apple Music premiere.
- 8/16/2023
- by Larisha Paul
- Rollingstone.com
Travis Scott’s ambitious live premiere of his newest album Utopia, originally set to take place at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, took place in Italy on Monday at the historic Circus Maximus, an event stadium and park in Rome that was at one point the home of chariot races. Utopia, which became Scott’s third album to debut at Number One this week, has received numerous comparisons from fans to Kanye West’s 2013 album Yeezus. So, fittingly, Travis Scott brought Ye out on stage during his show. “There...
- 8/7/2023
- by Jeff Ihaza
- Rollingstone.com
A4’s supernatural horror Talk To Me opens the debut film by Australian brothers and popular YouTubers Danny and Michael Philippou on 2,300 screens. Strong reviews (see Deadline’s here), A24 large built-in fan base and its elevated horror cred saw a Thursday gross of $1.25 million, looking to top a $4-5M weekend.
The Sundance-premiering pic follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand and become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. Michael Philippou gleefully freaked out a Comic-Con event last week with a stunt that saw him possessed by an embalmed hand before meeting what appeared to be a bloody end. Stars Sophie Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji and Joe Bird. Written by Bill Hinzman and Danny Philippou.
Limited openings: Music Box Pictures presents The Unknown Country by Morissa Maltz...
The Sundance-premiering pic follows a group of friends who discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand and become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. Michael Philippou gleefully freaked out a Comic-Con event last week with a stunt that saw him possessed by an embalmed hand before meeting what appeared to be a bloody end. Stars Sophie Wilde, Joe Bird, Alexandra Jensen, Otis Dhanji and Joe Bird. Written by Bill Hinzman and Danny Philippou.
Limited openings: Music Box Pictures presents The Unknown Country by Morissa Maltz...
- 7/28/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Travis Scott has finally released his much-anticipated fourth studio album, Utopia, via Cactus Jack and Epic Records. Stream it via Apple Music or Spotify below.
Utopia is the follow-up to Scott’s 2018 album, Astroworld, and arrives as Scott’s first full-length since the crowd crush at his 2021 Astroworld music festival that left 10 people dead and thousands more injured. Last month, a grand jury declined to criminally indict Scott for the deaths at Astroworld.
Ahead of the album’s release, Scott shared the lead single, “K-pop,” a collaboration with Bad Bunny and The Weeknd. Other guest contributors include Beyoncé, Drake, Sza, Future, 21 Savage, and Kid Cudi as well as Bon Iver and James Blake.
Music from Utopia is also featured in Scott’s new film, Circus Maximus, which premiered at select AMC theaters beginning on Thursday night. The Houston native wrote the movie and co-directed it with Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn,...
Utopia is the follow-up to Scott’s 2018 album, Astroworld, and arrives as Scott’s first full-length since the crowd crush at his 2021 Astroworld music festival that left 10 people dead and thousands more injured. Last month, a grand jury declined to criminally indict Scott for the deaths at Astroworld.
Ahead of the album’s release, Scott shared the lead single, “K-pop,” a collaboration with Bad Bunny and The Weeknd. Other guest contributors include Beyoncé, Drake, Sza, Future, 21 Savage, and Kid Cudi as well as Bon Iver and James Blake.
Music from Utopia is also featured in Scott’s new film, Circus Maximus, which premiered at select AMC theaters beginning on Thursday night. The Houston native wrote the movie and co-directed it with Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn,...
- 7/28/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Music
One week after Live Nation insisted that Travis Scott’s Utopia concert at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt had not been canceled — despite numerous local news outlets reporting otherwise — Live Nation Middle East has confirmed that the July 28 show is, in fact, canceled.
“We regret to inform you that the Utopia show, originally scheduled for July 28th at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt is cancelled,” the concert promoter said in a statement on Twitter. “Unfortunately, despite highest efforts, complex production issues meant that the show could not be constructed in the desert.
“We regret to inform you that the Utopia show, originally scheduled for July 28th at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt is cancelled,” the concert promoter said in a statement on Twitter. “Unfortunately, despite highest efforts, complex production issues meant that the show could not be constructed in the desert.
- 7/26/2023
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Travis Scott has revealed his fourth studio album, Utopia, is dropping this Friday, July 28th. Music from the project will be featured in a new film called Circus Maximus, which is set to hit theaters one day earlier.
Utopia marks the follow-up to Scott’s 2018 album, Astroworld, and is his first full-length since the 2021 crowd crush at his Astroworld music festival that left 10 people dead and thousands injured. It includes the first single, “K-pop,” a collaboration with Bad Bunny and The Weeknd. See the first of five album covers below; pre-orders are ongoing.
Scott wrote Circus Maximus and co-directed it with Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Harmony Korine, Valdimar Jóhannsson, and Kahlil Joseph. Though the poster says the movie was produced by A24, Pitchfork reports the studio has clarified it was not involved with the film. Check out the trailer below.
In a press release, the movie is described as...
Utopia marks the follow-up to Scott’s 2018 album, Astroworld, and is his first full-length since the 2021 crowd crush at his Astroworld music festival that left 10 people dead and thousands injured. It includes the first single, “K-pop,” a collaboration with Bad Bunny and The Weeknd. See the first of five album covers below; pre-orders are ongoing.
Scott wrote Circus Maximus and co-directed it with Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Harmony Korine, Valdimar Jóhannsson, and Kahlil Joseph. Though the poster says the movie was produced by A24, Pitchfork reports the studio has clarified it was not involved with the film. Check out the trailer below.
In a press release, the movie is described as...
- 7/25/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Music
Travis Scott has revealed his fourth studio album, Utopia, is dropping this Friday, July 28th. Music from the project will be featured in a new film called Circus Maximus, which is set to hit theaters one day earlier.
Utopia marks the follow-up to Scott’s 2018 album, Astroworld, and is his first full-length since the 2021 crowd crush at his Astroworld music festival that left 10 people dead and thousands injured. It includes the first single, “K-pop,” a collaboration with Bad Bunny and The Weeknd. See the first of five album covers below; pre-orders are ongoing.
Scott wrote Circus Maximus and co-directed it with Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Harmony Korine, Valdimar Jóhannsson, and Kahlil Joseph. Though the poster says the movie was produced by A24, Pitchfork reports the studio has clarified it was not involved with the film. Check out the trailer below.
In a press release, the movie is described as...
Utopia marks the follow-up to Scott’s 2018 album, Astroworld, and is his first full-length since the 2021 crowd crush at his Astroworld music festival that left 10 people dead and thousands injured. It includes the first single, “K-pop,” a collaboration with Bad Bunny and The Weeknd. See the first of five album covers below; pre-orders are ongoing.
Scott wrote Circus Maximus and co-directed it with Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Harmony Korine, Valdimar Jóhannsson, and Kahlil Joseph. Though the poster says the movie was produced by A24, Pitchfork reports the studio has clarified it was not involved with the film. Check out the trailer below.
In a press release, the movie is described as...
- 7/25/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Film News
Almost two years ago, rapper Travis Scott and the entertainment company A24 revealed they were working together on a mysterious project – and they made this revelation by sharing a picture of a script that had blood and coffee stains on it, with the title obscured. Now we know that Scott has actually worked with A24 on two separate feature films that we’re going to be seeing very soon. One of those projects is called Circus Maximus, which Scott directed alongside the likes of Harmony Korine (Kids), Gaspar Noé (Irreversible), Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), Valdimar Jóhannsson (Lamb), and music video director Kahlil Joseph. You can watch the trailer for it in the embed above.
Circus Maximus is a companion piece to Scott’s new album Utopia, which will be released this Friday, July 28th. The 75 minute film will reach theatres on July 27th.
Here’s the synopsis: Prepare to enter...
Circus Maximus is a companion piece to Scott’s new album Utopia, which will be released this Friday, July 28th. The 75 minute film will reach theatres on July 27th.
Here’s the synopsis: Prepare to enter...
- 7/25/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
While rapper Travis Scott stars in Harmony Korine‘s latest film Aggro Dr1ft (announced today as part of the Venice 2023 lineup), today Scott announces another collaboration with Korine (and a handful of other filmmakers): Circus Maximus, the 75-minute visual accompaniment to his forthcoming album Utopia. Scott and Korine direct alongside Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Lamb director Valdimar Jóhannsson and celebrated artist and music video helmer Kahlil Joseph. A brief official synopsis reads: Prepare to enter Circus Maximus as Travis Scott takes his audience on a mind-bending visual odyssey across the globe, woven together by the speaker rattling sounds of […]
The post Trailer Watch: Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus, Co-Directed With Harmony Korine, Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn and More first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus, Co-Directed With Harmony Korine, Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn and More first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 7/25/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
While rapper Travis Scott stars in Harmony Korine‘s latest film Aggro Dr1ft (announced today as part of the Venice 2023 lineup), today Scott announces another collaboration with Korine (and a handful of other filmmakers): Circus Maximus, the 75-minute visual accompaniment to his forthcoming album Utopia. Scott and Korine direct alongside Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Lamb director Valdimar Jóhannsson and celebrated artist and music video helmer Kahlil Joseph. A brief official synopsis reads: Prepare to enter Circus Maximus as Travis Scott takes his audience on a mind-bending visual odyssey across the globe, woven together by the speaker rattling sounds of […]
The post Trailer Watch: Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus, Co-Directed With Harmony Korine, Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn and More first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus, Co-Directed With Harmony Korine, Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn and More first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 7/25/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Update: A24 representatives have confirmed to IndieWire that the studio is not involved with the film even though the poster touts “Circus Maximus” as “produced by A24.” IndieWire has reached out to Scott’s representatives for comment.
Earlier: Surprise album drops are all the rage in the music industry, but Travis Scott is going further with a surprise movie drop. In preparation for the Friday launch of his album “Utopia,” the rapper has directed a new film “Circus Maximus,” and it’s coming to AMC theaters starting Thursday.
Scott announced the film on Twitter Tuesday morning (via Pitchfork). In one tweet, he shared a short trailer of the upcoming movie, which features footage of him performing. In a second tweet, he unveiled the poster of the film, featuring an image of him on a motorcycle. According to the poster, Scott wrote and directed the film, with additional high-profile collaborators including Gaspar Noé,...
Earlier: Surprise album drops are all the rage in the music industry, but Travis Scott is going further with a surprise movie drop. In preparation for the Friday launch of his album “Utopia,” the rapper has directed a new film “Circus Maximus,” and it’s coming to AMC theaters starting Thursday.
Scott announced the film on Twitter Tuesday morning (via Pitchfork). In one tweet, he shared a short trailer of the upcoming movie, which features footage of him performing. In a second tweet, he unveiled the poster of the film, featuring an image of him on a motorcycle. According to the poster, Scott wrote and directed the film, with additional high-profile collaborators including Gaspar Noé,...
- 7/25/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Today brought confirmation of our exclusive news that Harmony Korine had directed Travis Scott in a new feature, the 80-minute Aggro Dr1ft. But Scott’s also just announced Circus Maximus, a companion to his album Utopia that will release on Thursday, with AMC listing its runtime as 75 minutes. The real kicker (unless you’re one of those sick runtime fetishists) is its directorial lineup: joining Scott behind the camera are Korine, Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn, Valdimar Jóhannsson (Lamb), and music-video maestro Kahlil Joseph.
Being that it’s tied to Scott’s album Utopia, one can infer this takes the visual album approached recently popularized by the likes of Frank Ocean, Beyoncé (Knowles), and Solange (Knowles)––a project doubly suggested by this official synopsis:
Prepare to enter “Circus Maximus” as Travis Scott takes his audience on a mind-bending visual odyssey across the globe, woven together by the speaker rattling...
Being that it’s tied to Scott’s album Utopia, one can infer this takes the visual album approached recently popularized by the likes of Frank Ocean, Beyoncé (Knowles), and Solange (Knowles)––a project doubly suggested by this official synopsis:
Prepare to enter “Circus Maximus” as Travis Scott takes his audience on a mind-bending visual odyssey across the globe, woven together by the speaker rattling...
- 7/25/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: The International Booker Prize, the world’s biggest award for fiction translated into English, is teaming with Mubi, bookseller Foyles and London’s The Garden Cinema on an initiative tied to the six titles nominated for its 2023 edition.
Streaming service, production company and film distributor Mubi has curated a selection of six films to complement each of the works on the 2023 book shortlist, ahead of the winner announcement on May 23. (scroll down for list)
The Garden Cinema will host a special Q&a event featuring the 2023 winners followed by a screening of the film that Mubi had paired with the winning book.
International Booker Prize administrator Fiammetta Rocco said the initiative had been inspired by the changing perception of foreign-language films in the UK, tied in with the fact that the readership for translated fiction is getting younger.
“This is part of a far wider cultural trend in which more and more films,...
Streaming service, production company and film distributor Mubi has curated a selection of six films to complement each of the works on the 2023 book shortlist, ahead of the winner announcement on May 23. (scroll down for list)
The Garden Cinema will host a special Q&a event featuring the 2023 winners followed by a screening of the film that Mubi had paired with the winning book.
International Booker Prize administrator Fiammetta Rocco said the initiative had been inspired by the changing perception of foreign-language films in the UK, tied in with the fact that the readership for translated fiction is getting younger.
“This is part of a far wider cultural trend in which more and more films,...
- 5/16/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The European Film Academy (Efa) has unveiled 462 film professionals as new members in an announcement timed to coincide with Europe Day on May 9.
The new arrivals will be eligible to vote in the academy’s European Film Awards, the region’s equivalent to the Academy Awards, as well as contribute to its other initiatives across the year.
The Efa said a record number of professionals had accepted to join the organization this year, adding that 50% were female, 49%, were male, and 1% defined as non-binary.
The bigger intake comes amid a drive to revamp the academy which recently announced it would be moving the Efa ceremony to January in 2026, from its traditional December slot, to make it more relevant in the annual film awards season culminating with the Oscars.
The Efa currently now counts 4,600 members based in 52 countries.
The new members mainly hailed from Germany (68), France (38), Switzerland (37), Poland (36), Italy (33), Spain (24), UK (28) and...
The new arrivals will be eligible to vote in the academy’s European Film Awards, the region’s equivalent to the Academy Awards, as well as contribute to its other initiatives across the year.
The Efa said a record number of professionals had accepted to join the organization this year, adding that 50% were female, 49%, were male, and 1% defined as non-binary.
The bigger intake comes amid a drive to revamp the academy which recently announced it would be moving the Efa ceremony to January in 2026, from its traditional December slot, to make it more relevant in the annual film awards season culminating with the Oscars.
The Efa currently now counts 4,600 members based in 52 countries.
The new members mainly hailed from Germany (68), France (38), Switzerland (37), Poland (36), Italy (33), Spain (24), UK (28) and...
- 5/9/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The ninth edition of Iceland’s Stockfish Film & Industry Festival, which runs March 23 to April 2, is innovating under an ambitious new team that includes one of Variety’s 10 Producers to Watch, Hrönn Kristinsdottír (“Lamb”), as artistic director and festival veteran Carolina Salas as managing director.
Among the highlights will be a masterclass with Oscar-nominated cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister (“Tár”), who is currently in Iceland shooting the fourth season of HBO’s “True Detective.”
The screening program opens with Ukraine’s “Pamfir,” directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk and includes tributes to Oscar-nominated Polish helmer Jerzy Skolimowski and U.K. producer Mike Downey, recipient of the fest’s first “Outstanding Contribution to the Industry” kudos.
Kristinsdottír said: “Mike Downey has achieved a great many things in the worldwide film industry, but he also has a special connection to Iceland, having co-produced Icelandic productions for decades.”
How did a producer like Kristinsdottír, whose latest...
Among the highlights will be a masterclass with Oscar-nominated cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister (“Tár”), who is currently in Iceland shooting the fourth season of HBO’s “True Detective.”
The screening program opens with Ukraine’s “Pamfir,” directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk and includes tributes to Oscar-nominated Polish helmer Jerzy Skolimowski and U.K. producer Mike Downey, recipient of the fest’s first “Outstanding Contribution to the Industry” kudos.
Kristinsdottír said: “Mike Downey has achieved a great many things in the worldwide film industry, but he also has a special connection to Iceland, having co-produced Icelandic productions for decades.”
How did a producer like Kristinsdottír, whose latest...
- 3/23/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has acquired world sales rights for Adura Onashile’s feature debut Girl, starring rising French actress Déborah Lukumuena and big screen debutant Le’Shantey Bonsu.
The buzzy title, which was unveiled at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival’s Works in Progress showcase, was announced today as having been selected for the World Dramatic Competition of Sundance’s upcoming edition, running January 19-29, 2023
The Scotland-set drama tells the story of eleven-year-old Ama and her mother, Grace, who take solace in the gentle but isolated world they obsessively create.
But Ama’s thirst for life and her need to grow and develop challenge the rules of their insular world and gradually force Grace to reckon with a past she struggles to forget.
Established Glasgow-based theatre actress and director Onashile (Expensive Shit) wrote the screenplay and directs.
It marks the first English-language role for Lukumuena, who broke out...
The buzzy title, which was unveiled at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival’s Works in Progress showcase, was announced today as having been selected for the World Dramatic Competition of Sundance’s upcoming edition, running January 19-29, 2023
The Scotland-set drama tells the story of eleven-year-old Ama and her mother, Grace, who take solace in the gentle but isolated world they obsessively create.
But Ama’s thirst for life and her need to grow and develop challenge the rules of their insular world and gradually force Grace to reckon with a past she struggles to forget.
Established Glasgow-based theatre actress and director Onashile (Expensive Shit) wrote the screenplay and directs.
It marks the first English-language role for Lukumuena, who broke out...
- 12/7/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Legendary Hungarian director Béla Tarr is at peace.
“It’s time for the old guys to leave. Retire, enjoy the sun,” he tells Variety in Cairo.
Tarr, in town to collect his lifetime achievement award and lead a workshop for young filmmakers, stopped making feature films after 2011 “The Turin Horse.” He has no intention of going back on his word.
“Everyone knew it was going to be my last. I knew that if I manage to make this movie, I won’t be able to say more. The language I have been creating became perfect. It’s ready and packed, so take it or leave it. It’s up to you now,” he says.
“You can’t repeat yourself, it’s boring and fake. We all know these guys who had some success 30 years ago and they keep using the same recipe. But something that was powerful 30 years ago is not powerful today.
“It’s time for the old guys to leave. Retire, enjoy the sun,” he tells Variety in Cairo.
Tarr, in town to collect his lifetime achievement award and lead a workshop for young filmmakers, stopped making feature films after 2011 “The Turin Horse.” He has no intention of going back on his word.
“Everyone knew it was going to be my last. I knew that if I manage to make this movie, I won’t be able to say more. The language I have been creating became perfect. It’s ready and packed, so take it or leave it. It’s up to you now,” he says.
“You can’t repeat yourself, it’s boring and fake. We all know these guys who had some success 30 years ago and they keep using the same recipe. But something that was powerful 30 years ago is not powerful today.
- 11/18/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Valdimar Jóhannsson’s Icelandic project stars Noomi Rapace.
The 2022 Nordic Council Film Prize has been awarded to Iceland’s Lamb, directed Valdimar Jóhannsson, who co-wrote with Sjón; and produced by Hrönn Kristinsdóttir and Sara Nassim.
The award was presented on Tuesday evening (November 2) during the Nordic Council’s autumn session in Helsinki.
The lucrative Nordic Council Film Prize comes with a cash award of 39,800, which is shared between the director, writers, and producers in honour of the collaborative nature of filmmaking.
Lamb, which premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2021 and won the ‘prize of originality’, is a supernatural drama...
The 2022 Nordic Council Film Prize has been awarded to Iceland’s Lamb, directed Valdimar Jóhannsson, who co-wrote with Sjón; and produced by Hrönn Kristinsdóttir and Sara Nassim.
The award was presented on Tuesday evening (November 2) during the Nordic Council’s autumn session in Helsinki.
The lucrative Nordic Council Film Prize comes with a cash award of 39,800, which is shared between the director, writers, and producers in honour of the collaborative nature of filmmaking.
Lamb, which premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2021 and won the ‘prize of originality’, is a supernatural drama...
- 11/2/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Valdimar Jóhannsson’s Lamb has won the 2022 Nordic Council Film Prize.
The award was announced Tuesday evening during the Nordic Council’s Autumn Session in Helsinki, Finland. Lamb beat out four other shortlisted films, including Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, Hlynur Pálmason’s Godland, Teemu Nikki’s The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic, and Clara Sola, directed by Nathalie Álvarez Mesén.
The Nordic Council Film Prize, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, is awarded annually to “an artistically significant, Nordic-produced full-length feature film with cinema distribution”. The prize also comes with a Dkk 300,000 cash prize, which is shared between the director, writers, and producers.
Discussing their decision to pick Lamb, the Nordic council jury described the film as “unique and darkly menacing.”
“Lamb combines Iceland‘s tradition of pastoral cinema and the literary heritage of the folk tale,” the jury said in a statement.
The award was announced Tuesday evening during the Nordic Council’s Autumn Session in Helsinki, Finland. Lamb beat out four other shortlisted films, including Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, Hlynur Pálmason’s Godland, Teemu Nikki’s The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic, and Clara Sola, directed by Nathalie Álvarez Mesén.
The Nordic Council Film Prize, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, is awarded annually to “an artistically significant, Nordic-produced full-length feature film with cinema distribution”. The prize also comes with a Dkk 300,000 cash prize, which is shared between the director, writers, and producers.
Discussing their decision to pick Lamb, the Nordic council jury described the film as “unique and darkly menacing.”
“Lamb combines Iceland‘s tradition of pastoral cinema and the literary heritage of the folk tale,” the jury said in a statement.
- 11/1/2022
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/21/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The Icelandic Film and Television Academy has selected Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s Beautiful Beings as Iceland’s official entry in the Best International Feature Film category for the 2023 Academy Awards.
The coming-of-age drama world premiered in Berlin Panorama this year, where it won the Europa Cinemas Label and then went on to play over 30 festivals, winning eight awards to date. It is currently selected for the European Film Awards’ longlist.
The feature is Guðmundsson’s second film after his award-winning debut feature Heartstone.
Set in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik, the drama follows Addi, a teenage boy raised by a clairvoyant mother, who adopts a bullied kid into his group of violent misfits.
When the boys’ own aggressive behavior escalates toward life-threatening situations, Addi starts to experience a series of dreamlike visions. Will his newfound intuition guide him and his friends toward a safer path, or will they dive further into violence?...
The coming-of-age drama world premiered in Berlin Panorama this year, where it won the Europa Cinemas Label and then went on to play over 30 festivals, winning eight awards to date. It is currently selected for the European Film Awards’ longlist.
The feature is Guðmundsson’s second film after his award-winning debut feature Heartstone.
Set in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik, the drama follows Addi, a teenage boy raised by a clairvoyant mother, who adopts a bullied kid into his group of violent misfits.
When the boys’ own aggressive behavior escalates toward life-threatening situations, Addi starts to experience a series of dreamlike visions. Will his newfound intuition guide him and his friends toward a safer path, or will they dive further into violence?...
- 9/20/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
New Europe Film Sales has added U.K. distributor Signature Entertainment to the slew of global buyers won over by Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s “Beautiful Beings,” which has racked up awards from Poland, Bulgaria, Italy and Taiwan, since its first bow at the last Berlinale Panorama.
Earlier deals were closed with the U.S. (Altered Innocence), Hungary (Vertigo), Benelux (Arti Film), Germany/Austria (Salzgeber), Spain (Filmin), and Cee (HBO).
Billed by Variety reviewer Jessica Kiang as an “Icelandic coming-of age, radiant with violence and tenderness,” Guðmundsson’s drama revolves around a young boy raised by a clairvoyant mother who decides to adopt a bullied misfit into his gang of outsiders.
“It’s about the importance of parental support and guidance and how that can influence youngsters and their decision-making,” said the director.
Guðmundsson is among a handful of standout Icelandic voices on New Europe Film Sales’ roster, together with Hlynur Pálmason and Valdimar Jóhansson,...
Earlier deals were closed with the U.S. (Altered Innocence), Hungary (Vertigo), Benelux (Arti Film), Germany/Austria (Salzgeber), Spain (Filmin), and Cee (HBO).
Billed by Variety reviewer Jessica Kiang as an “Icelandic coming-of age, radiant with violence and tenderness,” Guðmundsson’s drama revolves around a young boy raised by a clairvoyant mother who decides to adopt a bullied misfit into his gang of outsiders.
“It’s about the importance of parental support and guidance and how that can influence youngsters and their decision-making,” said the director.
Guðmundsson is among a handful of standout Icelandic voices on New Europe Film Sales’ roster, together with Hlynur Pálmason and Valdimar Jóhansson,...
- 8/25/2022
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Three of the nominees premiered at Cannes 2021.
The five nominees for the lucrative Nordic Council Film Prize have been unveiled at the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund today (August 23).
Three of the nominees premiered at Cannes 2021: Iceland’s Lamb, directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson; Norway’s The Worst Person In The World from Joachim Trier; and Sweden’s Clara Sola directed by Nathalie Álvarez Mesén.
Denmark’s entry is Hlynur Pálmason’s Godland, which debuted at Cannes this year.
Finnish entry The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic, directed by Teemu Nikki, premiered in the Orizzonti...
The five nominees for the lucrative Nordic Council Film Prize have been unveiled at the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund today (August 23).
Three of the nominees premiered at Cannes 2021: Iceland’s Lamb, directed by Valdimar Jóhannsson; Norway’s The Worst Person In The World from Joachim Trier; and Sweden’s Clara Sola directed by Nathalie Álvarez Mesén.
Denmark’s entry is Hlynur Pálmason’s Godland, which debuted at Cannes this year.
Finnish entry The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic, directed by Teemu Nikki, premiered in the Orizzonti...
- 8/23/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Hungarian auteur will also mentor young Egyptian filmmakers at the festival.
Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr is to receive a lifetime achievement award at the 44th Cairo International Film Festival (November 13-22).
The award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter will also mentor a workshop with young Egyptian filmmakers at the festival and will separately deliver a masterclass at the event.
The festival will also screen 4K restorations of Tarr’s 2000 feature Werckmeister Harmonies and 2011 drama The Turin Horse, considered two of his finest works. This will make Ciff “one of the early platforms to screen Tarr’s newly restored film copies,...
Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr is to receive a lifetime achievement award at the 44th Cairo International Film Festival (November 13-22).
The award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter will also mentor a workshop with young Egyptian filmmakers at the festival and will separately deliver a masterclass at the event.
The festival will also screen 4K restorations of Tarr’s 2000 feature Werckmeister Harmonies and 2011 drama The Turin Horse, considered two of his finest works. This will make Ciff “one of the early platforms to screen Tarr’s newly restored film copies,...
- 8/11/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Kyle Jaeger has joined 2Am as a manager and will focus on representing emerging creators across film, television and theater.
Jaeger spent the past six years at ICM Partners as an agent in the firm’s TV literary group. He was involved in the sale of numerous high-end development to FX, HBO Max and Netflix, among others. He also helped staff clients on series such as HBO’s The Idol and The Sympathizer, on HBO Max’s The Other Two, as well as Showtime’s hit series Yellowjackets.
During his time at ICM, he built a reputation for identifying and developing emerging voices from varying backgrounds; several of his clients are expected to join him at 2Am including Eboni Booth, who was involved in HBO Max’s Julia.
2Am is coming off a busy first year having signed new filmmakers with films coming out or about to premiere. That...
Jaeger spent the past six years at ICM Partners as an agent in the firm’s TV literary group. He was involved in the sale of numerous high-end development to FX, HBO Max and Netflix, among others. He also helped staff clients on series such as HBO’s The Idol and The Sympathizer, on HBO Max’s The Other Two, as well as Showtime’s hit series Yellowjackets.
During his time at ICM, he built a reputation for identifying and developing emerging voices from varying backgrounds; several of his clients are expected to join him at 2Am including Eboni Booth, who was involved in HBO Max’s Julia.
2Am is coming off a busy first year having signed new filmmakers with films coming out or about to premiere. That...
- 8/9/2022
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
Scandinavia is bringing talent old and new to the Cannes Film Market’s Cannes Docs sidebar this year, with a showcase of five feature length films-in-the-making pitched as part of the Scandinavian Showcase on Saturday.
“Children of the Lowest Heaven”
From Denmark, internationally acclaimed writer-director Birgitte Stærmose Mortensen, who has been working on mini-series for HBO, Starz and Netflix for the past five years, presented “Children of the Lowest Heaven” (“Ønskeliv”), a hybrid doc set in Kosovo.
Inspired by her short “Out of Love” (2009), about a group of children living in poverty in post-war Pristina, it picks up where she left off with the characters, who are now young adults, still fighting to survive in one of Europe’s poorest nations.
It’s about the long-term effects of war, and what it means to live a life in poverty. Poverty is not a moment but a lifelong state of being:...
“Children of the Lowest Heaven”
From Denmark, internationally acclaimed writer-director Birgitte Stærmose Mortensen, who has been working on mini-series for HBO, Starz and Netflix for the past five years, presented “Children of the Lowest Heaven” (“Ønskeliv”), a hybrid doc set in Kosovo.
Inspired by her short “Out of Love” (2009), about a group of children living in poverty in post-war Pristina, it picks up where she left off with the characters, who are now young adults, still fighting to survive in one of Europe’s poorest nations.
It’s about the long-term effects of war, and what it means to live a life in poverty. Poverty is not a moment but a lifelong state of being:...
- 5/22/2022
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
Icelandic filmmaker Valdimar Jóhannsson, who made his feature directorial debut with “Lamb,” has signed with CAA, Variety can reveal.
Jóhannsson made a splash last year with the Noomi Rapace-led “Lamb,” which the helmer co-wrote with Icelandic author Sjón. The off-kilter film — which became a viral sensation after its trailer debuted — follows a childless couple who discover a hybrid lamb baby that’s half-human, half lamb. They take her in and raise her as their own child, but nature soon comes calling to reclaim its own.
“Lamb,” which was the talk of Cannes following its world premiere at the festival in 2021, was produced by Hrönn Kristinsdóttir and Sara Nassim, and co-produced by Piodor Gustavson and Klaudia Smieja-Rostworowska.
The film was shortlisted for best international feature film at this year’s Oscars, and longlisted for the BAFTA Awards. It won the Prize of Originality in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.
Jóhannsson made a splash last year with the Noomi Rapace-led “Lamb,” which the helmer co-wrote with Icelandic author Sjón. The off-kilter film — which became a viral sensation after its trailer debuted — follows a childless couple who discover a hybrid lamb baby that’s half-human, half lamb. They take her in and raise her as their own child, but nature soon comes calling to reclaim its own.
“Lamb,” which was the talk of Cannes following its world premiere at the festival in 2021, was produced by Hrönn Kristinsdóttir and Sara Nassim, and co-produced by Piodor Gustavson and Klaudia Smieja-Rostworowska.
The film was shortlisted for best international feature film at this year’s Oscars, and longlisted for the BAFTA Awards. It won the Prize of Originality in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.
- 5/13/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
New Europe Film Sales has announced the first sales for Cannes Un Certain Regard-selected “Godland,” directed by Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason.
The film was picked up in France by Jour2Fete, and the movie was also acquired by three distributors that worked on Pálmason’s Cannes Critics’ Week title “A White, White Day” – Benelux rights were sold to Imagine, Poland was picked up by New Horizons Association and Australia/New Zealand was picked up by Palace.
The film is set in the late 19th century, when a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, the mission and morality.
The film is produced by Denmark’s Snowglobe in collaboration with Iceland’s Join Motion Pictures, in co-production with France’s Maneki Films, Film I Väst & Garagefilm in Sweden,...
The film was picked up in France by Jour2Fete, and the movie was also acquired by three distributors that worked on Pálmason’s Cannes Critics’ Week title “A White, White Day” – Benelux rights were sold to Imagine, Poland was picked up by New Horizons Association and Australia/New Zealand was picked up by Palace.
The film is set in the late 19th century, when a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, the mission and morality.
The film is produced by Denmark’s Snowglobe in collaboration with Iceland’s Join Motion Pictures, in co-production with France’s Maneki Films, Film I Väst & Garagefilm in Sweden,...
- 4/29/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The last French acting star to preside over the jury was Isabelle Huppert in 2009.
French actor Vincent Lindon has been named president of the jury for the 75th Cannes Film Festival, running May 17-28.
He will be joined by eight other jury members comprising UK actress and director Rebecca Hall, Indian actress Deepika Padukone, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, Italian actress and director Jasmine Trinca, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, French director Ladj Ly, US director Jeff Nichols and Norwegian director Joachim Trier.
In the same release, Cannes also announced that Trinca’s debut feature Marcel! will world premiere as a Special Screening.
French actor Vincent Lindon has been named president of the jury for the 75th Cannes Film Festival, running May 17-28.
He will be joined by eight other jury members comprising UK actress and director Rebecca Hall, Indian actress Deepika Padukone, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, Italian actress and director Jasmine Trinca, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, French director Ladj Ly, US director Jeff Nichols and Norwegian director Joachim Trier.
In the same release, Cannes also announced that Trinca’s debut feature Marcel! will world premiere as a Special Screening.
- 4/26/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Above: 2021 UK quad poster for 4K restoration of The 400 Blows. Design by The Posterhouse.50,000 Movie Poster of the Day fans can’t be wrong. Yes, just this week my Movie Poster of the Day Instagram—a feed that was a spin-off from this column—surpassed 50,000 followers, which is a little ways off Cristiano Ronaldo’s 411 million and still a tenth of the half a million that Movie Poster of the Day used to have on Tumblr, though I never quite believed those numbers. But I put a lot of faith in my Movie Poster of the Day followers and so every six months I like to collect and rank the most “liked” posters that I have posted in the previous 26 weeks as some sort of bellwether of popular taste.The 400 Blows poster above racked up 3,168 likes earlier this year, making it the third most-liked poster I’ve ever posted (for...
- 3/11/2022
- MUBI
Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Valdimar Jóhannsson's Lamb is showing exclusively on Mubi in many countries starting February 25, 2022 in the series Debuts.“What the fuck is this?” “Happiness.” This exchange occurs halfway in Valdimar Jóhannsson’s debut feature, Lamb, a cautionary tale about familial integrity but one that if fuelled by the insatiable, all-too-human desire for togetherness. The happiness in question is embodied by a family of three: Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason), Maria (Noomi Rapace), and their adopted daughter Ada, whose origin prompts the bemused question to begin with. But with Lamb, Jóhannsson and his co-writer Sjón prefer to interrogate repercussions instead of genesis.The film’s opening shot is shrouded in mystique, as a herd of wild horses turn back from their path amidst a snow storm, while its hiss drenches the whole scene in ambiguity and dread. Inside a barn, not too far away,...
- 3/10/2022
- MUBI
Five Inspirations is a series in which we ask directors to share five things that shaped and informed their film. Valdimar Jóhannsson's Lamb is showing exclusively on Mubi in many countries starting February 25, 2022 in the series Debuts.Inspiration #1Anguish (1879) by August Friedrich Albrecht SchenckThis is one of the paintings that inspired me from the very beginning. It is quite a dramatic painting and tells not only the story of motherhood but also the story of how nature can both give and take. It is quite dramatic and brings up many thoughts and stories.Inspiration #2Filmzenék Tarr Béla Filmjeihez by Mihály VígWhile thinking about, writing, and preparing Lamb, I would listen to this soundtrack over and over again. It is somehow the familiarity of the repetition of life.Inspiration #3The Good Shepherd by Gunnar GunnarssonThis is a well-known novel in Icelandic literature, very much Man v.s. Nature. Man uniting...
- 2/23/2022
- MUBI
For such a small and lightly populated region, the Nordics have been delivering an impressive number of critical darlings from a wide range of filmmakers. Nordic features hit a milestone this year, with three Cannes prize-winning films, Valdimar Jóhannsson’s “Lamb,” Juho Kuosmanen’s “Compartment No. 6” and Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World,” along with Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s documentary “Flee,” among the 15 on the Oscar shortlist, with the last two getting multiple noms.
Sundance also hosted a record number of Nordic movies, such as Alli Haapasalo’s “Girl Picture,” which picked up the Audience Award in the World Dramatic section, while more pics are in the pipeline at the Berlinale.
For decades, Sweden, Denmark and, to a lesser extent, Norway, were considered the top purveyors of internationally successful movies with helmers including Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, Susanne Bier, Roy Andersson, Trier and Ruben Ostlund, taking...
Sundance also hosted a record number of Nordic movies, such as Alli Haapasalo’s “Girl Picture,” which picked up the Audience Award in the World Dramatic section, while more pics are in the pipeline at the Berlinale.
For decades, Sweden, Denmark and, to a lesser extent, Norway, were considered the top purveyors of internationally successful movies with helmers including Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, Susanne Bier, Roy Andersson, Trier and Ruben Ostlund, taking...
- 2/12/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
In a new series, Variety catches up with the directors of the films shortlisted for the International Feature Film Oscar to discuss their road to the awards, what they’ve learned so far, and what’s taken them off guard.
Valdimar Jóhannsson’s feature debut “Lamb” was acquired by A24 ahead of its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Prize of Originality. Starring Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Snær Guðnason and Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, the supernatural drama follows a childless couple in rural Iceland who make an alarming discovery in their sheep barn. After defying the will of nature in an attempt to heal their pain, they soon face dark consequences.
What does it mean to you to be shortlisted for the best international feature Oscar?
It is a great honor, and it means a lot to me. I am in the company of many great filmmakers...
Valdimar Jóhannsson’s feature debut “Lamb” was acquired by A24 ahead of its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Prize of Originality. Starring Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Snær Guðnason and Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, the supernatural drama follows a childless couple in rural Iceland who make an alarming discovery in their sheep barn. After defying the will of nature in an attempt to heal their pain, they soon face dark consequences.
What does it mean to you to be shortlisted for the best international feature Oscar?
It is a great honor, and it means a lot to me. I am in the company of many great filmmakers...
- 2/1/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Predicting the eventual five Oscar nominees for Best International Feature is made difficult by the three-step process that began after the November 1 deadline for countries to submit entries. To be part of the selection process for this category, which was called Best Foreign Language Film before 2020, requires a great deal of dedication. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2022 Oscar predictions for Best International Feature.)
First, the several hundred academy members of the International Feature screening committee were divided into groups and required to watch a minimum of 12 of the submissions over a six-week period that ended in mid December. They rated them from 6 to 10 and their top 15 vote-getters made it to the next round. That list of semi-finalists was revealed on December 21, 2021.
These 15 films are made available to the entire academy membership who can cast ballots for the final five nominees provided they attest to having watched all the entries.
First, the several hundred academy members of the International Feature screening committee were divided into groups and required to watch a minimum of 12 of the submissions over a six-week period that ended in mid December. They rated them from 6 to 10 and their top 15 vote-getters made it to the next round. That list of semi-finalists was revealed on December 21, 2021.
These 15 films are made available to the entire academy membership who can cast ballots for the final five nominees provided they attest to having watched all the entries.
- 1/24/2022
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
If you wanted to name a winner from the Oscar international film shortlist right now, it would be the Cannes Film Festival. Nine of the 15 titles that made the cut came from the fest, even though the Palme d’Or winner, France’s submission “Titane,” did not. But then only those who were not paying attention to past trends in stage one voting assumed that it would be included.
Although a record 93 countries put forward an entry, only 15 are moving on. The ones selected for the shortlist come from almost every continent, although Africa, despite some exciting entries such as Somalia’s “The Gravedigger’s Wife,” Chad’s “Lingui: The Sacred Bonds” and Morocco’s “Casablanca Beats,” was ignored (all three titles premiered at Cannes).
Cannes players that are in the mix include Iran’s “A Hero,” helmed by previous Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi; Norway’s “The Worst Person in the World...
Although a record 93 countries put forward an entry, only 15 are moving on. The ones selected for the shortlist come from almost every continent, although Africa, despite some exciting entries such as Somalia’s “The Gravedigger’s Wife,” Chad’s “Lingui: The Sacred Bonds” and Morocco’s “Casablanca Beats,” was ignored (all three titles premiered at Cannes).
Cannes players that are in the mix include Iran’s “A Hero,” helmed by previous Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi; Norway’s “The Worst Person in the World...
- 1/22/2022
- by Shalini Dore and Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Welp, 2021 was certainly a year. There was a lot of good (Movies! TV! Books! Random Horror Awesomeness!) and a lot of bad (pretty much everything else), but we made it to 2022, and I am excited for all that’s to come in the next 12 months (at least when it comes to stuff going on in horror). Over the course of last year, I think formally reviewed over 60 films, did interviews for at least 20 other projects beyond those reviewed films, relaunched Indie Horror Month in April, and even did a ton of other features and articles on Daily Dead as well.
Suffice to say, 2021 was pretty darned busy for me on the writing front and because there was so much content that I absolutely adored, I decided that for my favorites list this time around, I wanted to do things a bit differently because if I dive into every single thing...
Suffice to say, 2021 was pretty darned busy for me on the writing front and because there was so much content that I absolutely adored, I decided that for my favorites list this time around, I wanted to do things a bit differently because if I dive into every single thing...
- 1/4/2022
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Paolo Sorrentino, director of the 86th Academy Awards winner The Great Beauty, has his latest The Hand Of God (a Netflix release) shortlisted for the 94th Academy Awards Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
From Kosovo, Hive, Blerta Basholli director; Belgium, Playground, Laura Wandel director; Bhutan, Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom, Pawo Choyning Dorji director; Austria, Great Freedom, Sebastian Meise director; Germany, I’m Your Man, Maria Schrader director; Italy, The Hand Of God, Paolo Sorrentino director (also of the Oscar-winning The Great Beauty at the 86th Academy Awards); Japan, Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi director; Panama, Plaza Catedral, Abner Benaim director; Norway, The Worst Person In The World, Joachim Trier director; Iran, A Hero, Asghar Farhadi director; Spain, The Good Boss, Fernando León de Aranoa director; Denmark, Flee, Jonas Poher Rasmussen director; Mexico, Prayers For The Stolen, Tatiana Huezo director; Finland, Compartment No. 6, Juho Kuosmanen director, and Iceland, Lamb, Valdimar Jóhannsson director...
From Kosovo, Hive, Blerta Basholli director; Belgium, Playground, Laura Wandel director; Bhutan, Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom, Pawo Choyning Dorji director; Austria, Great Freedom, Sebastian Meise director; Germany, I’m Your Man, Maria Schrader director; Italy, The Hand Of God, Paolo Sorrentino director (also of the Oscar-winning The Great Beauty at the 86th Academy Awards); Japan, Drive My Car, Ryusuke Hamaguchi director; Panama, Plaza Catedral, Abner Benaim director; Norway, The Worst Person In The World, Joachim Trier director; Iran, A Hero, Asghar Farhadi director; Spain, The Good Boss, Fernando León de Aranoa director; Denmark, Flee, Jonas Poher Rasmussen director; Mexico, Prayers For The Stolen, Tatiana Huezo director; Finland, Compartment No. 6, Juho Kuosmanen director, and Iceland, Lamb, Valdimar Jóhannsson director...
- 12/21/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The 15-strong shortlist for the Oscars’ International Feature Film category is due on Tuesday, so it’s time to run down my annual preview of titles that have a good shot at making the cut. Films from a total 93 countries are eligible in the race this year, and below we take a close look at a selection of them.
As continues to be the case every year, this is a strong crop of work from diverse voices around the world. Themes range from the personal to the audacious, from true-life to folkloric and mystical, and include humanistic takes — in some cases dramatic, and in some, comedic.
Prizewinners from festivals, notably Cannes this year, make up a number of the entries, while Sundance also has a prominent showing.
Deadline, through its various Contenders events, as well as separate interviews, has spoken with the filmmakers behind many of the overall entries. Each...
As continues to be the case every year, this is a strong crop of work from diverse voices around the world. Themes range from the personal to the audacious, from true-life to folkloric and mystical, and include humanistic takes — in some cases dramatic, and in some, comedic.
Prizewinners from festivals, notably Cannes this year, make up a number of the entries, while Sundance also has a prominent showing.
Deadline, through its various Contenders events, as well as separate interviews, has spoken with the filmmakers behind many of the overall entries. Each...
- 12/19/2021
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
1. FleeThe official release poster for Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated refugee memoir Flee—the one you might have seen more often than this—isn’t half bad: the film’s subject, Amin, is revealed in the elongated ascenders of the title, as if behind bars, while a happy memory of him as a child slips freely into the poster’s negative space. And, to be honest, the design I have chosen as my favorite movie poster of the year (this is the original Swedish version but a US version of this design has been seen in the wild) doesn’t express Flee half as well as that other one does. Its it-takes-a-village cast of characters promises something different from the film itself, which is a lean and harrowing and often solitary odyssey from Afghanistan to Denmark, and from childhood to manhood. That said, I can’t stop loving this poster...
- 12/18/2021
- MUBI
Moviegoing Memories is a series of short interviews with filmmakers about going to the movies. Valdimar Jóhannsson's Lamb is Mubi Go's Film of the Week in the UK for December 10, 2021.Notebook: How would you describe your movie in the least amount of words?Valdimar JÓHANNSSON: A modern folk tale about grief and happiness, with a surreal twist.Notebook: Where and what is your favorite movie theater? Why is it your favorite?JÓHANNSSON: I will have to name three theaters, firstly the Debussy theater in Cannes, it is grand and it was the first time Lamb was shown to a large audience; secondly would be Kino Meeting Point in Sarajevo (Bosnia-Hersegovina), where I watched over 80 films during my studies at the Film Factory; and thirdly I will say the Ritzy in Brixton, which is beautiful and where you can breath in the history of cinema.Notebook: What is the...
- 12/9/2021
- MUBI
This outrageous story of a bereaved couple’s surrogate child ropes in a wild bestiary of creatures great and digital
Icelandic director Valdimar Jóhannsson makes a coolly outrageous feature debut with this jawdropping horror-comedy of loneliness, co-written by Jóhannsson with the lyricist and Björk collaborator Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson, or Sjón. It is performed with unflinching commitment by its executive producer-star Noomi Rapace, who is first among equals in a great cast of humans, animals and various prosthetic and digital creature effects.
Maria (Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snaer Guðnason) are an unhappy couple with a remote farm in Iceland: it gradually becomes clear they have lost their only child. The drama begins with a strange spirit-visitation in the barn that scares the animals: a ewe becomes pregnant with a bizarre animal-human hybrid and poor, stricken Maria (her name’s importance is left for us to digest) conceives a passionate attachment to this precious being,...
Icelandic director Valdimar Jóhannsson makes a coolly outrageous feature debut with this jawdropping horror-comedy of loneliness, co-written by Jóhannsson with the lyricist and Björk collaborator Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson, or Sjón. It is performed with unflinching commitment by its executive producer-star Noomi Rapace, who is first among equals in a great cast of humans, animals and various prosthetic and digital creature effects.
Maria (Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snaer Guðnason) are an unhappy couple with a remote farm in Iceland: it gradually becomes clear they have lost their only child. The drama begins with a strange spirit-visitation in the barn that scares the animals: a ewe becomes pregnant with a bizarre animal-human hybrid and poor, stricken Maria (her name’s importance is left for us to digest) conceives a passionate attachment to this precious being,...
- 12/7/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Les Arcs Film Festival has unveiled the 15-title lineup of its Work-in-Progress session, the popular industry sidebar whose alumni roster include Vladimar Jóhannsson’s “Lamb,” Lukas Dhont’s “Girl” and Nora Fingscheidt’s “System Crasher.”
The section, curated by Frederic Boyer, the artistic director of Tribeca and Les Arcs Film Festival, will include “Opponent,” a drama by Swedish up-and-comer Milad Alami (“The Charmer”) and produced by Sweden’s Tangy and Norway’s Ape&Bjørn; “Preparations for a Miracle,” directed by Tobias Nölle and produced by Switzerland’s Hugofilm Features and Germany’s Flare Film; and “Silver Haze,” helmed by Sacha Polak and produced by Dutch banner Viking Film and the U.K.’s Emu Films.
Spanning 18 countries across Europe, the selection comprises films in post-production, eight of which are by female directors. Jeremy Zelnik who spearheads Les Arcs’s Industry Village received a record 164 projects, which reflects the fact that many...
The section, curated by Frederic Boyer, the artistic director of Tribeca and Les Arcs Film Festival, will include “Opponent,” a drama by Swedish up-and-comer Milad Alami (“The Charmer”) and produced by Sweden’s Tangy and Norway’s Ape&Bjørn; “Preparations for a Miracle,” directed by Tobias Nölle and produced by Switzerland’s Hugofilm Features and Germany’s Flare Film; and “Silver Haze,” helmed by Sacha Polak and produced by Dutch banner Viking Film and the U.K.’s Emu Films.
Spanning 18 countries across Europe, the selection comprises films in post-production, eight of which are by female directors. Jeremy Zelnik who spearheads Les Arcs’s Industry Village received a record 164 projects, which reflects the fact that many...
- 12/3/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
It took eight years and a very enticing look book before Lamb co-writer and director Valdimar Jóhannsson got Iceland’s current Oscar entry off the ground.
The A24 theatrical release follows a childless couple, Maria (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason), who are desolate sheep farmers in the cold countryside. Then something wonderful happens — you could call it divine – and without spoiling too much a special someone comes into their lives. They name her Ada.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actress told us during during the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International that Jóhannsson’s pitch was of few words, but rather a bulk of pictures in a heavy volume of illustrations he created. “I was drawn into the universe of Lamb,” Rapace said.
The filmmaker co-penned the screenplay with Icelandic poet Sjón. Jóhannsson even created a clay scale model of the farm he yearned to create for the film.
The A24 theatrical release follows a childless couple, Maria (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason), who are desolate sheep farmers in the cold countryside. Then something wonderful happens — you could call it divine – and without spoiling too much a special someone comes into their lives. They name her Ada.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actress told us during during the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International that Jóhannsson’s pitch was of few words, but rather a bulk of pictures in a heavy volume of illustrations he created. “I was drawn into the universe of Lamb,” Rapace said.
The filmmaker co-penned the screenplay with Icelandic poet Sjón. Jóhannsson even created a clay scale model of the farm he yearned to create for the film.
- 11/20/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
A24 and Apple Original Films play double duty on the William Shakespeare adaptation of “The Tragedy of Macbeth” from Joel Coen. With A24’s awards website launching, their entire roster is listed for industry guilds and voters to consider this awards season. The studio that brought Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” to a best picture win and made Yuh-Jung Youn the second Asian woman to win an acting Oscar last year with “Minari” has another potentially historic event on the awards horizon.
At last year’s 93rd Oscar ceremony, Frances McDormand became the first woman to be nominated for acting and producing in the same year (Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey have received nominations in acting and picture but in different years). Along with her husband, Joel Coen, and Robert Graf, McDormand is serving as a producer once again, putting herself in play to achieve a historic back-to-back feat. If nominated for actress and picture,...
At last year’s 93rd Oscar ceremony, Frances McDormand became the first woman to be nominated for acting and producing in the same year (Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey have received nominations in acting and picture but in different years). Along with her husband, Joel Coen, and Robert Graf, McDormand is serving as a producer once again, putting herself in play to achieve a historic back-to-back feat. If nominated for actress and picture,...
- 11/15/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.