Thailand’s Mosquito Films Distribution has picked up four Southeast Asian titles, including The Second Life Of Thieves, directed by Woo Ming Jin, which is making its world premiere in Biff’s Window on Asian Cinema section.
Malaysian director Woo Ming Jin’s previous films include Tiger Factory, which screened in Cannes, and Woman On Fire Looks For Water, which was in Venice and Busan.
Mosquito has also picked up Edmund Yeo’s feature directorial debut River Of Exploding Durians, which will make its world premiere in competition at the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival. Woo took on the role of producer for Yeo’s film.
“Edmund and I are excited to work with Mosquito. We are in good hands and look forward to a long-term relationship with them. I believe this is a collaboration that will serve not just Malaysian and Thai cinema, but also Southeast Asian cinema in general. Together, we can...
Malaysian director Woo Ming Jin’s previous films include Tiger Factory, which screened in Cannes, and Woman On Fire Looks For Water, which was in Venice and Busan.
Mosquito has also picked up Edmund Yeo’s feature directorial debut River Of Exploding Durians, which will make its world premiere in competition at the upcoming Tokyo International Film Festival. Woo took on the role of producer for Yeo’s film.
“Edmund and I are excited to work with Mosquito. We are in good hands and look forward to a long-term relationship with them. I believe this is a collaboration that will serve not just Malaysian and Thai cinema, but also Southeast Asian cinema in general. Together, we can...
- 10/5/2014
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Thai drama was nominated for awards at film festivals in Rotterdam and Busan.
Day for Night has acquired Lee Chatametikool’s Concrete Clouds distribution in the UK and Ireland, where it is set for release in early 2015.
Set against the backdrop of Thailand’s financial crisis of 1997, it follows four central characters who are brought together after more than a decade apart as a result of a suicide.
Chatametikool’s debut featurepremiered at Busan International Film Festival 2013. The film is a Vertical Films production and was co-produced by Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Soros Sukhum, Anocha Suwichakornpong and Sylvia Chang.
Concrete Clouds also featured in the Tiger Award competition in Rotterdam earlier this year.
Speaking about the UK/Ireland acquisition, director Chatametikool said: “One of the most pressing issues for independent filmmakers is how to build and maintain an audience, especially in today’s dwindling market. Day for Night, as a passionate champion of independent cinema, takes a fresh...
Day for Night has acquired Lee Chatametikool’s Concrete Clouds distribution in the UK and Ireland, where it is set for release in early 2015.
Set against the backdrop of Thailand’s financial crisis of 1997, it follows four central characters who are brought together after more than a decade apart as a result of a suicide.
Chatametikool’s debut featurepremiered at Busan International Film Festival 2013. The film is a Vertical Films production and was co-produced by Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Soros Sukhum, Anocha Suwichakornpong and Sylvia Chang.
Concrete Clouds also featured in the Tiger Award competition in Rotterdam earlier this year.
Speaking about the UK/Ireland acquisition, director Chatametikool said: “One of the most pressing issues for independent filmmakers is how to build and maintain an audience, especially in today’s dwindling market. Day for Night, as a passionate champion of independent cinema, takes a fresh...
- 4/25/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Though the market seemed slow on the surface, the usual sales got made: the larger companies selling almost out, the smaller ones busily speaking with others, selling here and there, worrying if this would get better, worse, or stay the same.
Meanwhile fascinating and energizing conversations were carried on with friends, newcomers, keepers of funds, representatives of countries and their needs to internationalize, to join forces with one another to create new models, internationalize, form cross cultural competent and cooperative ways of working together. We know the past model is failing to keep up with the technology and its fast spawning product. Some would say the old model is old and frail, sucking its old teeth as it pretends to carry on, but in reality, it is carrying its own corpse upon its shoulders. I would never go so far as to say this; the model will be changed, refined and redesigned, but it will survive because some people enjoy theatrical settings and that helps further other sales
FBI Casting Director Beatrice Kruger (now working on Fatih Akin¹s The Cut) spoke to us over dinner at Einsteins about her experience on Woody Allen¹s To Rome With Love, how he got involved in the real life politics of Italy as he attempted to cast real newscasters in the roles they play in real life. He didn't want the right wingers. He didn't like them, but he was told he had to hire them if he wanted to access the government monies, ...besides, how could he cast a left wing newscaster into the role off a right wing commentator? The experience of Italian politics did not make him happy.
Frank Cox, the founder of the Australian arthouse distributor Hopscotch which has been sold to eOne Entertainment, was in the Scandinavian Pavilion and told me he is still carrying on though on a smaller scale with his original company, New Vision Distribution. He recently acquired We¹re The Best by Lucas Moodyson, a darling film that showed in Cannes and Toronto and totally endeared me to its 13 year old girls as they searched for ways to get into trouble. (Magnolia has U.S.)
Robbie Little and Elie Mechoulam, Director of Sales and Marketing of The Little Film Company tallying up that $30,000,000 at the box office at $11 per ticket is only 3 million admissions, or 300,000 tickets sold...TV would be failure if it had such numbers. TV makes $46 million in ad sales on one episode of a great series...
Andrea Kaul, the EFM¹s new Co-Director who comes from Rtl TV and ad sales was not at that conversation, but when we spoke after the market was finished, such a topic as episodic content and online ad sales was also on her mind. The Berlinale screening of Netflix¹s second installment of Houses of Cards was a great success in the last days of the Berlinale, which was in itself food for thought. Even Dieter Kosslick, in his interview with Indiewire¹s Eric Kohn (Read Here) said, "We showed, for the first time in history, House of Cards. We have never done such a thing before. Heads were turning last night. Last year, we had [Jane Campion¹s TV series] Top of the Lake (in its entirety),so we are starting this new whole world."
Ted Hope of Fandor pointed out, "Research company Markets and Markets predicts global video-on-demand (VOD) revenue will grow from $21 billion last year to $45 billion in 2018. They define this as the combined revenues of all VOD outlets, worldwide ‹ essentially digital (online) VOD plus cable & satellite VOD. Huge numbers, but actually not a particularly high compound annual growth rate (16%) to get to the $45b number in years. Figure roughly half of this revenue flows to content owners and half to the VOD outlets."
To see the excitement of young people just beginning...everything to gain and little to lose, learning to like what they are doing to further their aims at telling stories their way. When I spoke with Wafa Tajdin, a founding partner and lead producer at Seven Thirty Films, an Africa based indie production company she runs with her sister, artist and film maker Amirah Tajdin. This Arab Indian pair of sisters is working to tell their stories of growing up in Kenya and living in Dubai...I asked which parent was what and was told that each parent was also half Arab, half Indian, the same sexes too...I should have told them about Peter, whose Italian Jewish parents also lived in such a ghetto of mixed marriages in east Harlem in the 1910s and 1920s. These are the stories which are forming in world cinema today. You can see her work Here
True cross-culture creation is taking place in the Talents section of the Efm. Eleven films of former Talent Campus participants are showing in the festival this year
One talent, Sompot Chidgasornpongse has formed a new international sales agency (and distribution company) called Mosquito. Thailand¹s leading independent filmmakers Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives), Pimpaka Towira (One Night Husband), Aditya Assarat (Hi-So), Soros Sukhum (Wonderful Town), Anocha Suwichakornpong (Mundane History), and Lee Chatametikool have joined hands to open Mosquito Films Distribution. The new company will handle international sales and festival distribution for the partners¹ films as well as upcoming titles from the new generation of Southeast Asian filmmakers. - See more Here
Ben Gibson of London Film School,Ira Deutchman of Colombia Film School, German film school dffb, Frances La Femis, Fescac the Romanian Film and Theater University are continuing their initiative Making Waves, bringing in students to work collaboratively to develop creative campaigns, edit trailers, design posters and plan roll-out packages for actual independent movies in the Efm.
Also exciting was the search for new models, not only in the film world of funding by government organizations, but of society as discussed in such films as Göran Hugo Olsson¹s (Black Mix Tapes) Concerning Violence and Hubert Sauper¹s We Come as Friends , and of women in society. 50% of public funds should be made available for women who not only constitute 50% of the public as moviegoers and should represent 50% of the cinephiles (those working in the film business) but 50% of all societies and therefore should have 50% of the voice of public policy.
In its second year, the Dortmund Women's Film Festival drew even more women to hear and discuss the status of women in the film business and gender parity. Speakers such as Heike Meyer-Döring of the Creative Europe Desk of Film and Medienstiftung Nrw, Bosnian filmmaker and Golden Bear Winner in 2006 Jasmila Zbanic, So-in Hong of the Seoul International Womens Film Festival speaking on aims and projects of the Asian Women Film Network, Melissa Silverstein of the Athena Film Festival and blogger on Women and Hollywood updating on the status of women filmmakers in the U.S., Mariel Macia of Mica/ Cima, Spain speaking of the proposal for the EU Commission regarding gender equality on state aid for film - all these and more, like Claudia Landsberger head of Eye International, Film Institute Netherlands hosting a panel of Susana de la Sierra, General Director of Icaa, Spanish Film Institute noting that 7% of the leading roles were women and the 2007 Law for Gender Equality, Cornelia Hammelmann, Project Director of the German Federal Fund, Sanja Ravlic, President of the Gender Equality Study Group of Eurimages, Croatia -- all spoke of what seems as obvious as the noses on our faces, but which has made little impact on the reality of policies yet... We had so many more conversations, I wish I could put them all here.
With all the ideas circulating, one could hardly say that the Berlinale and the European Film Market were not busy.
Meanwhile fascinating and energizing conversations were carried on with friends, newcomers, keepers of funds, representatives of countries and their needs to internationalize, to join forces with one another to create new models, internationalize, form cross cultural competent and cooperative ways of working together. We know the past model is failing to keep up with the technology and its fast spawning product. Some would say the old model is old and frail, sucking its old teeth as it pretends to carry on, but in reality, it is carrying its own corpse upon its shoulders. I would never go so far as to say this; the model will be changed, refined and redesigned, but it will survive because some people enjoy theatrical settings and that helps further other sales
FBI Casting Director Beatrice Kruger (now working on Fatih Akin¹s The Cut) spoke to us over dinner at Einsteins about her experience on Woody Allen¹s To Rome With Love, how he got involved in the real life politics of Italy as he attempted to cast real newscasters in the roles they play in real life. He didn't want the right wingers. He didn't like them, but he was told he had to hire them if he wanted to access the government monies, ...besides, how could he cast a left wing newscaster into the role off a right wing commentator? The experience of Italian politics did not make him happy.
Frank Cox, the founder of the Australian arthouse distributor Hopscotch which has been sold to eOne Entertainment, was in the Scandinavian Pavilion and told me he is still carrying on though on a smaller scale with his original company, New Vision Distribution. He recently acquired We¹re The Best by Lucas Moodyson, a darling film that showed in Cannes and Toronto and totally endeared me to its 13 year old girls as they searched for ways to get into trouble. (Magnolia has U.S.)
Robbie Little and Elie Mechoulam, Director of Sales and Marketing of The Little Film Company tallying up that $30,000,000 at the box office at $11 per ticket is only 3 million admissions, or 300,000 tickets sold...TV would be failure if it had such numbers. TV makes $46 million in ad sales on one episode of a great series...
Andrea Kaul, the EFM¹s new Co-Director who comes from Rtl TV and ad sales was not at that conversation, but when we spoke after the market was finished, such a topic as episodic content and online ad sales was also on her mind. The Berlinale screening of Netflix¹s second installment of Houses of Cards was a great success in the last days of the Berlinale, which was in itself food for thought. Even Dieter Kosslick, in his interview with Indiewire¹s Eric Kohn (Read Here) said, "We showed, for the first time in history, House of Cards. We have never done such a thing before. Heads were turning last night. Last year, we had [Jane Campion¹s TV series] Top of the Lake (in its entirety),so we are starting this new whole world."
Ted Hope of Fandor pointed out, "Research company Markets and Markets predicts global video-on-demand (VOD) revenue will grow from $21 billion last year to $45 billion in 2018. They define this as the combined revenues of all VOD outlets, worldwide ‹ essentially digital (online) VOD plus cable & satellite VOD. Huge numbers, but actually not a particularly high compound annual growth rate (16%) to get to the $45b number in years. Figure roughly half of this revenue flows to content owners and half to the VOD outlets."
To see the excitement of young people just beginning...everything to gain and little to lose, learning to like what they are doing to further their aims at telling stories their way. When I spoke with Wafa Tajdin, a founding partner and lead producer at Seven Thirty Films, an Africa based indie production company she runs with her sister, artist and film maker Amirah Tajdin. This Arab Indian pair of sisters is working to tell their stories of growing up in Kenya and living in Dubai...I asked which parent was what and was told that each parent was also half Arab, half Indian, the same sexes too...I should have told them about Peter, whose Italian Jewish parents also lived in such a ghetto of mixed marriages in east Harlem in the 1910s and 1920s. These are the stories which are forming in world cinema today. You can see her work Here
True cross-culture creation is taking place in the Talents section of the Efm. Eleven films of former Talent Campus participants are showing in the festival this year
One talent, Sompot Chidgasornpongse has formed a new international sales agency (and distribution company) called Mosquito. Thailand¹s leading independent filmmakers Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives), Pimpaka Towira (One Night Husband), Aditya Assarat (Hi-So), Soros Sukhum (Wonderful Town), Anocha Suwichakornpong (Mundane History), and Lee Chatametikool have joined hands to open Mosquito Films Distribution. The new company will handle international sales and festival distribution for the partners¹ films as well as upcoming titles from the new generation of Southeast Asian filmmakers. - See more Here
Ben Gibson of London Film School,Ira Deutchman of Colombia Film School, German film school dffb, Frances La Femis, Fescac the Romanian Film and Theater University are continuing their initiative Making Waves, bringing in students to work collaboratively to develop creative campaigns, edit trailers, design posters and plan roll-out packages for actual independent movies in the Efm.
Also exciting was the search for new models, not only in the film world of funding by government organizations, but of society as discussed in such films as Göran Hugo Olsson¹s (Black Mix Tapes) Concerning Violence and Hubert Sauper¹s We Come as Friends , and of women in society. 50% of public funds should be made available for women who not only constitute 50% of the public as moviegoers and should represent 50% of the cinephiles (those working in the film business) but 50% of all societies and therefore should have 50% of the voice of public policy.
In its second year, the Dortmund Women's Film Festival drew even more women to hear and discuss the status of women in the film business and gender parity. Speakers such as Heike Meyer-Döring of the Creative Europe Desk of Film and Medienstiftung Nrw, Bosnian filmmaker and Golden Bear Winner in 2006 Jasmila Zbanic, So-in Hong of the Seoul International Womens Film Festival speaking on aims and projects of the Asian Women Film Network, Melissa Silverstein of the Athena Film Festival and blogger on Women and Hollywood updating on the status of women filmmakers in the U.S., Mariel Macia of Mica/ Cima, Spain speaking of the proposal for the EU Commission regarding gender equality on state aid for film - all these and more, like Claudia Landsberger head of Eye International, Film Institute Netherlands hosting a panel of Susana de la Sierra, General Director of Icaa, Spanish Film Institute noting that 7% of the leading roles were women and the 2007 Law for Gender Equality, Cornelia Hammelmann, Project Director of the German Federal Fund, Sanja Ravlic, President of the Gender Equality Study Group of Eurimages, Croatia -- all spoke of what seems as obvious as the noses on our faces, but which has made little impact on the reality of policies yet... We had so many more conversations, I wish I could put them all here.
With all the ideas circulating, one could hardly say that the Berlinale and the European Film Market were not busy.
- 2/27/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Six of Thailand’s leading independent filmmakers have joined forces to launch an international sales and festival distribution company, Mosquito Films Distribution.
The six filmmakers include Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who won the Cannes Palme d’Or for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, along with Pimpaka Towira (One Night Husband), Aditya Assarat (Hi-So), producer Soros Sukhum, Anocha Suwichakornpong (Mundane History) and Lee Chatametikool (Concrete Clouds).
The new company will handle international sales and festival distribution for the six partners’ films, as well as upcoming titles from the new generation of South-East Asian filmmakers. In addition to working on individual films, the new outfit aims to aggregate the content into curated programmes for film festivals and educational institutions.
Mosquito Films Distribution will make its debut at the Rotterdam Film Festival, which starts tomorrow (Jan 22-Feb 2) and also attend the Berlin Film Festival.
The company’s initial slate includes Concrete Clouds, directed by Chatametikool...
The six filmmakers include Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who won the Cannes Palme d’Or for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, along with Pimpaka Towira (One Night Husband), Aditya Assarat (Hi-So), producer Soros Sukhum, Anocha Suwichakornpong (Mundane History) and Lee Chatametikool (Concrete Clouds).
The new company will handle international sales and festival distribution for the six partners’ films, as well as upcoming titles from the new generation of South-East Asian filmmakers. In addition to working on individual films, the new outfit aims to aggregate the content into curated programmes for film festivals and educational institutions.
Mosquito Films Distribution will make its debut at the Rotterdam Film Festival, which starts tomorrow (Jan 22-Feb 2) and also attend the Berlin Film Festival.
The company’s initial slate includes Concrete Clouds, directed by Chatametikool...
- 1/21/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: At Busan’s Asian Film Market, Thailand’s Pop Pictures has sold previous New Currents Award winner 36 to UK distributor Day for Night.
Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s debut feature also picked up the Fipresci Award last year at the Busan International Film Festival (Biff) before going on to other fests including Rotterdam’s Tiger Competition.
“We’re very happy to continue this relationship with Day for Night. They had a very nice release for our previous film Hi-so in London in March, and when they showed the same enthusiasm for 36, I did not hesitate to work with them on the new title,” said Aditya Assarat, Pop Pictures managing director and producer of the film.
Assarat’s own directorial debut Wonderful Town was also a New Currents winner in 2007 as well as an Asian Cinema Fund winner. He has since returned with several films - either as director or producer, including this year...
Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s debut feature also picked up the Fipresci Award last year at the Busan International Film Festival (Biff) before going on to other fests including Rotterdam’s Tiger Competition.
“We’re very happy to continue this relationship with Day for Night. They had a very nice release for our previous film Hi-so in London in March, and when they showed the same enthusiasm for 36, I did not hesitate to work with them on the new title,” said Aditya Assarat, Pop Pictures managing director and producer of the film.
Assarat’s own directorial debut Wonderful Town was also a New Currents winner in 2007 as well as an Asian Cinema Fund winner. He has since returned with several films - either as director or producer, including this year...
- 10/10/2013
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Thailand’s Ministry of Culture is once again organizing the Thai Pitch event at this year’s Cannes Film Festival market. Four projects from well-regarded Thai filmmakers have been chosen to take part in this year’s initiative, to be held on Saturday May 18th from 10:00-15:30. The event will take place at the Thailand Pavilion in Cannes’ Village International no. 140. This year, Thai Pitch will be coordinated by producer and film programmer Raymond Phathanavirangoon.
The four projects include:
A Culinary Murder
dir: Somkiat Vithuranich (October Sonata)
prod: Pawas Sawatchaiyamet (Headshot, Red Eagle)
Born poor and raised as the kitchen maid to a wealthy, corrupt family, Anoma spends her childhood learning that the secrets to a man’s heart lie in his stomach. When she is made to marry the master of the house, she begins to transform her culinary skills into a deadly weapon. If food could kill, then her food is the deadliest.
The General’S Secret
dir/prod: Pimpaka Towira (One Night Husband)
Rian lives alone with her mother who suffers from a chronic back pain. One day, after a trip, she finds that her mother's condition has gotten better after receiving a homeopathic massage from an old masseuse called “auntie”. Rian does not believe in the treatment, but her mother feels otherwise. She decides to find out auntie’s secret by making a massage appointment with her.
The Way Back
dir: Boonsong Nakphoo (Four Stations)
prod: Pantham Thongsang (Tropical Malady, Mid Road Gang)
Sueb decides to leave the capital city Bangkok behind and bring his family to live a humble life in the countryside. Things initially seems to be as joyful as anticipated, until stresses gradually pile up. Unexpectedly, one day his wife takes their only son back to the capital city. Sueb insists on hanging onto his land until he finds the key to a harmonious life.
The White Buffalo
dir: Aditya Assarat (Wonderful Town, Hi-so)
prod: Aditya Assarat, Soros Sukhum (Mundane History, P-047)
This is the story of Peter, a European, who is married to a Thai woman and living in her village. It is a situation that reflects a colonial past, an age when white men came to the East to exploit and build their own paradise. But today, the balance of power has changed. The European is large only in body. He is no match for the cunning and deceit of the Thais.
For more information about the event and individual projects, as well as inquiries into booking meetings, please go to www.thaipitch.com...
The four projects include:
A Culinary Murder
dir: Somkiat Vithuranich (October Sonata)
prod: Pawas Sawatchaiyamet (Headshot, Red Eagle)
Born poor and raised as the kitchen maid to a wealthy, corrupt family, Anoma spends her childhood learning that the secrets to a man’s heart lie in his stomach. When she is made to marry the master of the house, she begins to transform her culinary skills into a deadly weapon. If food could kill, then her food is the deadliest.
The General’S Secret
dir/prod: Pimpaka Towira (One Night Husband)
Rian lives alone with her mother who suffers from a chronic back pain. One day, after a trip, she finds that her mother's condition has gotten better after receiving a homeopathic massage from an old masseuse called “auntie”. Rian does not believe in the treatment, but her mother feels otherwise. She decides to find out auntie’s secret by making a massage appointment with her.
The Way Back
dir: Boonsong Nakphoo (Four Stations)
prod: Pantham Thongsang (Tropical Malady, Mid Road Gang)
Sueb decides to leave the capital city Bangkok behind and bring his family to live a humble life in the countryside. Things initially seems to be as joyful as anticipated, until stresses gradually pile up. Unexpectedly, one day his wife takes their only son back to the capital city. Sueb insists on hanging onto his land until he finds the key to a harmonious life.
The White Buffalo
dir: Aditya Assarat (Wonderful Town, Hi-so)
prod: Aditya Assarat, Soros Sukhum (Mundane History, P-047)
This is the story of Peter, a European, who is married to a Thai woman and living in her village. It is a situation that reflects a colonial past, an age when white men came to the East to exploit and build their own paradise. But today, the balance of power has changed. The European is large only in body. He is no match for the cunning and deceit of the Thais.
For more information about the event and individual projects, as well as inquiries into booking meetings, please go to www.thaipitch.com...
- 5/16/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Gangs Of Wasseypur Part 2 | Stoker | Arbitrage | Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters | Caesar Must Die | The Bay | Sleep Tight | Broken City | Trashed | Safe Haven | Hi-So | Michael H. Profession: Director | The Gospel According To Matthew | The Attacks Of 26/11 | Acoustic Routes
Gangs Of Wasseypur Part 2 (18)
(Anurag Kashyap, 2012, Ind) Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Zeishan Quadri, Aditya Kumar, Huma Qureshi. 160 mins
It's over five hours long in all, but there's barely a slack moment in this exhilarating Indian epic as it races through generations of smalltown criminal, industrial and political enmity. Yes, it's violent, but like all great crime stories it's also a vibrant tapestry of family life and modern history, closer to Leone, Coppola or Tarantino than Bollywood.
Stoker (18)
(Park Chan-wook, 2013, Us/UK) Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode. 99 mins
The Oldboy director gives us a sensual, tantalisingly ambiguous thriller, centred on Wasikowska and her shifty smalltown family.
Arbitrage (15)
(Nicholas Jarecki, 2012, Us) Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling.
Gangs Of Wasseypur Part 2 (18)
(Anurag Kashyap, 2012, Ind) Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Zeishan Quadri, Aditya Kumar, Huma Qureshi. 160 mins
It's over five hours long in all, but there's barely a slack moment in this exhilarating Indian epic as it races through generations of smalltown criminal, industrial and political enmity. Yes, it's violent, but like all great crime stories it's also a vibrant tapestry of family life and modern history, closer to Leone, Coppola or Tarantino than Bollywood.
Stoker (18)
(Park Chan-wook, 2013, Us/UK) Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode. 99 mins
The Oldboy director gives us a sensual, tantalisingly ambiguous thriller, centred on Wasikowska and her shifty smalltown family.
Arbitrage (15)
(Nicholas Jarecki, 2012, Us) Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Brit Marling.
- 3/2/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
★★★☆☆ Thai director Aditya Assarat's debut film, Wonderful Town (2007), saw a quiet romance set amidst a community mourning in the wake of the 2004 tsunami. Whilst his sophomore feature does shift away from it slightly, Hi-So (2010) - and its first half in particular - is still haunted by the spectre of that devastating natural disaster. Meditatively taking in both an eerily desolate seafront and similarly deserted husk in Bangkok, it is perhaps through the settings that Assarat tries to convey his thoughts on the high society (hi-so) types of the title. The action opens in a derelict coastal hotel where American educated actor, Ananda (Ananda Everingham), is hooting a film.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 2/28/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Admittedly I wasn't certain what I was getting myself into when I sat down for Hi-so but with a title which is described as "sardonic Thai slang for "high society"," I at least hoped to get a bit of insight into what sort of trouble a guy in his early 20s and living alone in Thailand, could get himself into but instead, Aditya Assarat's film is nearly two hours of a guy doing nothing and reminiscing about his youth.
Continue reading...
Continue reading...
- 10/5/2011
- QuietEarth.us
Hi-So opens with a beautiful young woman being escorted into an exclusive high-end resort in Thailand, then abruptly cuts to a man walking down a hall in a shambles. His head and his wrist are bandaged and he is more than a little bit haggard. Right away you think see the social contradiction that Hi-So, Thai slang for high society, is setting up. That is until the man walks down the hall and right onto a movie set. Gotcha! Aditya Assarat's second feature film eschews such overt allegories by shrugging off judgment almost as quickly as it shows its face. Although Assarat's glossy 20-something anti-drama is certainly concerned about aspects of social depravity, it is also very sympathetic to the plight of the privileged...
- 10/1/2011
- Screen Anarchy
I'm hoping that I'll soon be able to post thoughts on Ulrich Köhler's Sleeping Sickness, Wim Wenders's Pina (I'll be arguing the case for the defense), Ralph Fiennes's Coriolanus and, from programs other than the Competition, Aditya Assarat's Hi-So, Joe Swanberg's Silver Bullets and Art History, Seung-wan Ryoo's The Unjust and Cyril Tuschi's Khodorkovsky — but for now, a quick roundup on films of potential interest (for whatever reason) that I've missed and, considering the way the schedule's panning out, may not get around to seeing, at least at the Berlinale.
"As the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster approaches, it's time for the tragic events of April 26, 1986 to find filmic expression, beyond the several excellent documentaries already made," writes Deborah Young in the Hollywood Reporter. "Given the tension and humanity of its first hour, Innocent Saturday should have been that film. It isn't,...
"As the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster approaches, it's time for the tragic events of April 26, 1986 to find filmic expression, beyond the several excellent documentaries already made," writes Deborah Young in the Hollywood Reporter. "Given the tension and humanity of its first hour, Innocent Saturday should have been that film. It isn't,...
- 2/14/2011
- MUBI
Berlinale 2011 poster
Patang (The Kite), a feature film written and directed by Prashant Bhargava, will be screened as part of the 41st Forum in Berlinale 2011. The film, a co-production between India and USA, is a drama set in the backdrop of India’s largest kite festival in Ahmedabad.
Forum will present a total of 39 films in the main programme and 6 films as special screenings, 24 of which are world premieres and 12 international premieres. It is considered to be the most experimental section of the Berlinale which presents original, provocative and disturbing cinema.
In addition, 8 films will be shown from the creative period of the Japanese director Shibuya Minoru. The 61st Berlinale will take place from February 10-20, 2011.
The complete Programme of Forum:
Main Programme
Amnesty by Bujar Alimani, Albania/Greece/France
Auf der Suche (Looking for Simon) by Jan Krüger, Germany/France
Ausente (Absent) by Marco Berger, Argentina
The Ballad of...
Patang (The Kite), a feature film written and directed by Prashant Bhargava, will be screened as part of the 41st Forum in Berlinale 2011. The film, a co-production between India and USA, is a drama set in the backdrop of India’s largest kite festival in Ahmedabad.
Forum will present a total of 39 films in the main programme and 6 films as special screenings, 24 of which are world premieres and 12 international premieres. It is considered to be the most experimental section of the Berlinale which presents original, provocative and disturbing cinema.
In addition, 8 films will be shown from the creative period of the Japanese director Shibuya Minoru. The 61st Berlinale will take place from February 10-20, 2011.
The complete Programme of Forum:
Main Programme
Amnesty by Bujar Alimani, Albania/Greece/France
Auf der Suche (Looking for Simon) by Jan Krüger, Germany/France
Ausente (Absent) by Marco Berger, Argentina
The Ballad of...
- 1/18/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The Berlin International Film Festival (German: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), one of the world’s leading film festivals and most reputable media events has just announced their complete lineup for the Forum program this year, and it looks incredible once again.
With 274,000 tickets sold and 487,000 admissions, it is considered the largest publicly-attended film festival worldwide. Up to 400 films are shown in several sections, representing a comprehensive array of the cinematic world. Around twenty films compete for the awards called the Golden and Silver Bears. Basically it is the place to be if you work in the business. The European Film Market (Efm), a film trade fair held simultaneously to the Berlinale, is a major industry meeting for the international film circuit once a year. The trade fair serves distributors, film buyers, producers, financiers and co-production agents. The festival has established a cosmopolitan character integrating art, glamour, commerce and a global media attention.
With 274,000 tickets sold and 487,000 admissions, it is considered the largest publicly-attended film festival worldwide. Up to 400 films are shown in several sections, representing a comprehensive array of the cinematic world. Around twenty films compete for the awards called the Golden and Silver Bears. Basically it is the place to be if you work in the business. The European Film Market (Efm), a film trade fair held simultaneously to the Berlinale, is a major industry meeting for the international film circuit once a year. The trade fair serves distributors, film buyers, producers, financiers and co-production agents. The festival has established a cosmopolitan character integrating art, glamour, commerce and a global media attention.
- 1/18/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
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