Love and lust across a century form the backbone of In the Room, the latest film from director Eric Khoo (Tatsumi, Be with Me). An anthology feature with five main vignettes (titled “Rubber,” Listen,” “Change,” “Search,” and “First Time” in the end credits) and a few recurring revisits to the exploits of characters who have come and gone, the entire film is set within the confines of one Singapore hotel room, bar the occasional meet-cute or tearful lament in the corridor right outside.
The film opens on the initially sinister sight of a distressed figure in a decrepit incarnation of the room, looming over a man and woman having sex on a bed, singing to himself, “This was once a grand hotel. Now it’s in ruins.” This isn’t a horror film, but a later vignette will reveal this figure is a ghost, that of the songwriter of a...
The film opens on the initially sinister sight of a distressed figure in a decrepit incarnation of the room, looming over a man and woman having sex on a bed, singing to himself, “This was once a grand hotel. Now it’s in ruins.” This isn’t a horror film, but a later vignette will reveal this figure is a ghost, that of the songwriter of a...
- 10/11/2015
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
The full lineup for the 27th Tokyo International Film Festival has been announced and, amongst its promotion of new Japanese and Asian cinema, there's a clear commitment to this year's focus on animation, both foreign and domestic. Along with the Opening Film, the World Premiere of Disney's Big Hero 6, and the epic Anno Hideaki retrospective, featuring all night screenings of his classic anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, showings include the latest work from cult favorite Ghost in the Shell director Oshii Mamoru, Garm Wars The Last Druid, and a showing of jury member Eric Khoo's excellent animated biopic Tatsumi, which, surprisngly,was never released in Japan. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn will be acting as Jury President alongside Khoo, John H. Lee, Robert Luketic, Shinagawa Hiroshi...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 10/1/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Singapore’s Zhao Wei Films and Hong Kong-based Distribution Workshop are co-producing Eric Khoo’s erotic drama, In The Room, which started shooting in Singapore today.
Distribution Workshop’s Nansun Shi is producing and the script is co-written by Khoo and Jonathan Lim.
The high-concept erotic drama is set in a single room in a Singapore hotel over a time period spanning from World War II to the future.
Six short stories, all directed by Khoo, revolve around six different couples and explore Singapore’s history, along with changing attitudes to sex, love and relationships. The pan-Asian cast includes Hong Kong actress Josie Ho.
The film marks Khoo’s first feature since Tatsumi, an animation about manga artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi, which premiered at Cannes in 2011. Khoo is also one of seven Singaporean filmmakers directing a short for an omnibus film to celebrate Singapore’s 50th anniversary.
Distribution Workshop’s Nansun Shi is producing and the script is co-written by Khoo and Jonathan Lim.
The high-concept erotic drama is set in a single room in a Singapore hotel over a time period spanning from World War II to the future.
Six short stories, all directed by Khoo, revolve around six different couples and explore Singapore’s history, along with changing attitudes to sex, love and relationships. The pan-Asian cast includes Hong Kong actress Josie Ho.
The film marks Khoo’s first feature since Tatsumi, an animation about manga artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi, which premiered at Cannes in 2011. Khoo is also one of seven Singaporean filmmakers directing a short for an omnibus film to celebrate Singapore’s 50th anniversary.
- 9/3/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Brontis Jodorowsky, Shinji Higuchi, Choi Yong-bae and Benjamin Illos also on jury
The 17th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) has announced today its Puchon Choice feature competition jury will be headed by Singaporean director Eric Khoo (Tatsumi).
Khoo is joined by actor Brontis Jodorowsky (El Topo), son of Alejandro Jodorowsky who is the focus of a retrospective this year; Japanese filmmaker Shinji Higuchi, best known for his writing and storyboard art on Evangelion films, Korean producer Choi Yong-bae (The Host), and Benjamin Illos, member of the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection committee.
The Puchon Choice jury will award a total of $22,200 (KW25m) in six categories including best film, director, actor and actress.
PiFan also announced that this year’s Producers’ Choice awards will go to actor Lee Byung-hun (G.I. Joe, Masquerade) and actress Gianna Jun, a.k.a. Jun Ji-hyun (The Berlin File), upon the festival’s opening on July 18.
Launched last year, the annual...
The 17th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) has announced today its Puchon Choice feature competition jury will be headed by Singaporean director Eric Khoo (Tatsumi).
Khoo is joined by actor Brontis Jodorowsky (El Topo), son of Alejandro Jodorowsky who is the focus of a retrospective this year; Japanese filmmaker Shinji Higuchi, best known for his writing and storyboard art on Evangelion films, Korean producer Choi Yong-bae (The Host), and Benjamin Illos, member of the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection committee.
The Puchon Choice jury will award a total of $22,200 (KW25m) in six categories including best film, director, actor and actress.
PiFan also announced that this year’s Producers’ Choice awards will go to actor Lee Byung-hun (G.I. Joe, Masquerade) and actress Gianna Jun, a.k.a. Jun Ji-hyun (The Berlin File), upon the festival’s opening on July 18.
Launched last year, the annual...
- 7/12/2013
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
DVD & Digital Release Date: March 26, 2013
Price: DVD $26.99 each
Studio: KimStim/Zeitgeist
Ghosts from Central Europe's past haunt a train station worker in the animated feature Alois Nebel.
Alois Nebel (2011) from the Czech Republic and the Singapore/Japan animated co-production Tatsumi (2011) are two gorgeously animated, award-winning film dramas.
Inspired by classic film noir and rendered in mesmerizing black-and-white rotoscope animation (à la Richard Linklater’s Waking Life), Tomás Lunák’s Alois Nebel traces the haunted memories and mysterious visions of a troubled train dispatcher through the shifting cultural and political landscape in the waning days of the Cold War. It focuses on the experiences of a quiet man at a remote railway station on the Czech-Slovak border whose life is disrupted bu a fog that brings hallucinations of trains from the previous 100 years. These ghosts from Central Europe’s dark past ultimately send him on a nightmarish and ominous journey.
The...
Price: DVD $26.99 each
Studio: KimStim/Zeitgeist
Ghosts from Central Europe's past haunt a train station worker in the animated feature Alois Nebel.
Alois Nebel (2011) from the Czech Republic and the Singapore/Japan animated co-production Tatsumi (2011) are two gorgeously animated, award-winning film dramas.
Inspired by classic film noir and rendered in mesmerizing black-and-white rotoscope animation (à la Richard Linklater’s Waking Life), Tomás Lunák’s Alois Nebel traces the haunted memories and mysterious visions of a troubled train dispatcher through the shifting cultural and political landscape in the waning days of the Cold War. It focuses on the experiences of a quiet man at a remote railway station on the Czech-Slovak border whose life is disrupted bu a fog that brings hallucinations of trains from the previous 100 years. These ghosts from Central Europe’s dark past ultimately send him on a nightmarish and ominous journey.
The...
- 3/7/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Review by Dane Marti
This is my third Anime reviewed for the St. Louis Film Festival and I’m always reminded how beautiful, kinetic and Alive this form of cinema can be! Animation Rocks. Okay – I said my piece. Now back to reality: The Review. Eric Khoo directed this wild and incredible film. Hopefully he is pleased with his finished product it’s truly cool, as well as other adjectives, which I won’t get stuck writing at this moment. The point is… this film is very good.
Actually, I’m a little shocked. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy and appreciate this animated film as much as I did. Unlike the two previous colorful and inventive films which blended history and fantasy with epic legend, this film is a completely different type of beast altogether.
As a person who has written, drawn, painted and other creative pursuits, I’ve...
This is my third Anime reviewed for the St. Louis Film Festival and I’m always reminded how beautiful, kinetic and Alive this form of cinema can be! Animation Rocks. Okay – I said my piece. Now back to reality: The Review. Eric Khoo directed this wild and incredible film. Hopefully he is pleased with his finished product it’s truly cool, as well as other adjectives, which I won’t get stuck writing at this moment. The point is… this film is very good.
Actually, I’m a little shocked. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy and appreciate this animated film as much as I did. Unlike the two previous colorful and inventive films which blended history and fantasy with epic legend, this film is a completely different type of beast altogether.
As a person who has written, drawn, painted and other creative pursuits, I’ve...
- 11/17/2012
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Day three of the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival promises more great films and an appearance at the Hi-Pointe by director Joe Dante. And there are still 8 days to go!
Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il
The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.
http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012
Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Saturday, November 10th
Director Jennifer Lynch
A Fall From Grace Program is at 11:00 am at the Tivoli Theatre – A Free Event Sliff guest Jennifer Lynch (Chained.) has plans to shoot her next film, A Fall from Grace, in St. Louis. Post-Dispatch film critic Joe Williams leads a...
Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il
The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.
http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012
Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Saturday, November 10th
Director Jennifer Lynch
A Fall From Grace Program is at 11:00 am at the Tivoli Theatre – A Free Event Sliff guest Jennifer Lynch (Chained.) has plans to shoot her next film, A Fall from Grace, in St. Louis. Post-Dispatch film critic Joe Williams leads a...
- 11/10/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
I can't remember a time I went to the Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) press launch and looked over the list of films and saw so many I was interested in seeing. The claim to fame for over the years is to call it the largest and most-highly attended festival in the United States. This is a fact I've often taken issue with as I don't equate quantity with quality. Granted, there has been a large number of quality features to play the fest over the years, including Golden Space Needle (Best Film) winners such as Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), My Life as a Dog (1987), Trainspotting (1996), Run Lola Run (1999), Whale Rider (2003) and even recent Best Director winner, Michel Hazanavicius's Oss 117: Nest of Spies in 2006. That said, looking over this year's crop of films I see a lot of films I will be doing my absolute best to see.
- 4/27/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Montreal-based independent publisher caboose has been working for five years on a volume that'll finally be out in September, Introduction to a True History of Cinema and Television by Jean-Luc Godard. "In 1978, just before returning to the international stage for the second phase of his career," Godard "improvised a series of 14 one-hour talks at Concordia University in Montreal as part of a projected video history of cinema. These talks, published in French in 1980 and long out of print, have never before been translated into English. For this edition, the faulty and incomplete French transcription has been entirely revised and corrected, working from the sole videotape copies of the lectures, housed in the Concordia University archives. For this project, Godard screened for a dozen or so students his own famous films of the 1960s — watching them himself for the first time since their production — alongside single reels of some of...
- 4/5/2012
- MUBI
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? Tatsumi Trailer "Yoshihiro Tatsumi is a mangaka known for his gekiga style of alternate Japanese manga." Wish I knew what that meant. Director Eric Khoo...
- 1/21/2012
- by Christopher Stipp
- Slash Film
In this animated movie, Eric Khoo, a Singapore film-maker, pays tribute to the manga artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi, who in the 1950s created a new kind of serious Japanese comic, the "gekiga". The film artfully combines, though sometimes rather confusingly, scenes from Tatsumi's life story as told in his graphic autobiography, with five tales in the adult gekiga manner. All of them have tragic or ironic endings, and the most remarkable is "Hell", an unforgettable tale of a Japanese army journalist who becomes famous for his photograph of the shadow of two people who perished at Hiroshima. Believed to be a son massaging his mother, the image was in fact of a killer strangling a woman at the very moment the bomb exploded.
AnimationComics and graphic novelsPhilip French
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to...
AnimationComics and graphic novelsPhilip French
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to...
- 1/15/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
War Horse (12A)
(Steven Spielberg, 2011, Us) Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch. 146 mins
You can see why the hit boy-and-his-horse book/play appealed to Spielberg, in a sort of Et-meets-Saving Private Ryan way. It brings out the best and worst of him. There's some brazen old-school tear-jerking and rosy rural farming hardship, but there's also the first world war, thank God. Epic action frequently comes to the rescue, in what becomes a stirring, gruelling steeplechase across wartime Europe, towards an ending that's pure Hollywood.
Shame (18)
(Steve McQueen, 2011, UK) Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale. 101 mins
McQueen's follow-up to Hunger tackles an equally risky topic (sex addiction) with a similarly sparse and frank approach, though this is arguably more conventional. Fassbender is magnetic as usual, playing a terminally horny Manhattan man whose lone-wolf existence is disrupted by the arrival of his needy sister.
(Steven Spielberg, 2011, Us) Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch. 146 mins
You can see why the hit boy-and-his-horse book/play appealed to Spielberg, in a sort of Et-meets-Saving Private Ryan way. It brings out the best and worst of him. There's some brazen old-school tear-jerking and rosy rural farming hardship, but there's also the first world war, thank God. Epic action frequently comes to the rescue, in what becomes a stirring, gruelling steeplechase across wartime Europe, towards an ending that's pure Hollywood.
Shame (18)
(Steve McQueen, 2011, UK) Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale. 101 mins
McQueen's follow-up to Hunger tackles an equally risky topic (sex addiction) with a similarly sparse and frank approach, though this is arguably more conventional. Fassbender is magnetic as usual, playing a terminally horny Manhattan man whose lone-wolf existence is disrupted by the arrival of his needy sister.
- 1/14/2012
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Singapore’s official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the upcoming Oscars is an animated Japanese-language ode to legendary gekiga artist Yoshiro Tatsumi, based on his autobiography, A Drifting Life [Amazon U.S.] [Amazon Canada] [Amazon U.K.]. I had no idea who Tatsumi was before I saw Eric Khoo’s striking film, but I was instantly caught up in its provocative back-and-forth on the development of a creative mind and the stories that have sprung from it. Gekiga is a comic-book genre, adult-oriented manga -- not adult as in “pornographic,” but as in exploring mature, sophisticated themes that, sure, sometimes take on a sexual nature, but are in general characterized by moral complexity and grim satire and a decided not-for-children outlook. As I’m unfamiliar with Tatsumi’s body of work, I can’t say if the handful of Tatsumi’s short tales that Khoo chose to dramatize are representative of the artist or are outliers,...
- 1/13/2012
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Cult manga author Yoshihiro Tatsumi gets the biopic treatment in this ode to his work produced by Singaporean director Eric Khoo. But it’s no ordinary biopic – and we don’t mean because his work is ignored in favour of a rubbish dementia plot.
Combining Tatsumi’s life, as described in his own autobiographical manga, and several of the short stories written during his prolific career so far, ‘Tatsumi’ is a stunning animation which captures the flavour of the great creator on so many levels.
The animation style absorbs and expounds the raw, sometimes simplistic style of its subject, throwing us viscerally into the worlds he created for himself. It’s clear that Khoo has spent much time in them himself, because they draw you in with minimal effort and maximum effect.
Surprisingly, this is enhanced by the brief sorties into the fictional short stories Tatsumi created.
Cult manga author Yoshihiro Tatsumi gets the biopic treatment in this ode to his work produced by Singaporean director Eric Khoo. But it’s no ordinary biopic – and we don’t mean because his work is ignored in favour of a rubbish dementia plot.
Combining Tatsumi’s life, as described in his own autobiographical manga, and several of the short stories written during his prolific career so far, ‘Tatsumi’ is a stunning animation which captures the flavour of the great creator on so many levels.
The animation style absorbs and expounds the raw, sometimes simplistic style of its subject, throwing us viscerally into the worlds he created for himself. It’s clear that Khoo has spent much time in them himself, because they draw you in with minimal effort and maximum effect.
Surprisingly, this is enhanced by the brief sorties into the fictional short stories Tatsumi created.
- 1/13/2012
- by Michael Edwards
- Obsessed with Film
A heartfelt, beautifully-made homage to anime director Yoshihiro Tatsumi, that fights a little shy of investigating exactly what inspired his bizarre style
Here is a striking study of the Japanese manga master Yoshihiro Tatsumi (now 76 years old) who invented the adult "gekiga" form of the genre: a kind of psychological noir. The film is rendered in the hand-drawn style of Tatsumi himself: both in the telling of his lifestory, and dramatising some of his classic tales of sexual obsession, violence and fear, particularly the extraordinary Good Bye, the story of a self-hating prostitute in postwar Japan, despised by both her neighbours and clients, who winds up drunkenly seducing her pathetic old father so as to nullify his emotional claim on her. But the slightly slushy tone of celebration rather obtusely fails to engage with the nihilist, pessimist nature of Tatsumi's work. Anyway, an intriguing event.
Rating: 3/5
AnimationWorld cinemaPeter Bradshaw
guardian.
Here is a striking study of the Japanese manga master Yoshihiro Tatsumi (now 76 years old) who invented the adult "gekiga" form of the genre: a kind of psychological noir. The film is rendered in the hand-drawn style of Tatsumi himself: both in the telling of his lifestory, and dramatising some of his classic tales of sexual obsession, violence and fear, particularly the extraordinary Good Bye, the story of a self-hating prostitute in postwar Japan, despised by both her neighbours and clients, who winds up drunkenly seducing her pathetic old father so as to nullify his emotional claim on her. But the slightly slushy tone of celebration rather obtusely fails to engage with the nihilist, pessimist nature of Tatsumi's work. Anyway, an intriguing event.
Rating: 3/5
AnimationWorld cinemaPeter Bradshaw
guardian.
- 1/13/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The 41st International Film Festival Rotterdam has selected its 15 films vying for their 2012 Tiger Awards Competition, including eight world premieres. All films mark first or second features for the filmmakers. Highlights include "It Looks Pretty from a Distance," the directorial debut of Polish visual artists Anka Sasnal and Wilhelm Sasnal, and "A Fish," directed by Hong-min Park, the first 3D film to screen in Rotterdam's competition lineup. This year's jury was also announced. Among the chosen members: Brazilian actress and filmmaker Helena Ignez ("The Red Light Bandit"); Ludmila Cvikova, Head of International Programming of the Doha Film Institute, Qatar and former programmer of the International Film Festival Rotterdam; Tine Fischer, director of Cph:dox, the international documentary film festival in Copenhagen, Denmark; filmmaker Eric Khoo from Singapore, who’s animated feature film "Tatsumi" screens in the...
- 1/11/2012
- Indiewire
I’ll just fess up: Despite the fact that it’s in its 41st year, the International Film Festival Rotterdam is something I’ve kind of never heard about until today. (Let’s blame it on a slip in my geography skills.) This ignorance on my part notwithstanding, taking a look at their initial lineup for this year — when the event runs from January 25th to February 5th — has left me mightily impressed.
The biggest world premieres come from two directors on opposite ends of at least a few spectrum: Takashi Miike and James Franco. (Discounting the fact that they’ve both depicted amputations onscreen, in one way or the other.) The former is debuting his adaptation of the popular Nintendo DS game, Ace Attorney, while the latter will be exhibiting Francophrenia (Or: Don’t Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is). A movie based on a kid’s...
The biggest world premieres come from two directors on opposite ends of at least a few spectrum: Takashi Miike and James Franco. (Discounting the fact that they’ve both depicted amputations onscreen, in one way or the other.) The former is debuting his adaptation of the popular Nintendo DS game, Ace Attorney, while the latter will be exhibiting Francophrenia (Or: Don’t Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is). A movie based on a kid’s...
- 1/6/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Animation based on Yoshihiro Tatsumi's manga memoir A Drifting Life and other short stories.
The name Yoshihiro Tatsumi probably won't be familiar to most British cinemagoers unless they are afficionados of comics, Japanese comics and manga in particular. But, in fact, Tatsumi has been hugely influential in the rise of 'gekiga' manga - a form of alternative Japanese comic art and storytelling that is aimed at more adult audiences and can deal with weighty themes such as isolation, lust, suicide and the fallout from the Second World War.
Born in Osaka, Japan in 1935, Yoshihiro...
The name Yoshihiro Tatsumi probably won't be familiar to most British cinemagoers unless they are afficionados of comics, Japanese comics and manga in particular. But, in fact, Tatsumi has been hugely influential in the rise of 'gekiga' manga - a form of alternative Japanese comic art and storytelling that is aimed at more adult audiences and can deal with weighty themes such as isolation, lust, suicide and the fallout from the Second World War.
Born in Osaka, Japan in 1935, Yoshihiro...
- 1/6/2012
- by Owen Van Spall
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Cologne, Germany -- Eric Khoo’s Tatsumi won best film in the Muhr AsiaAfrica competition and at this year’s Dubai International Film Festival (Dec 7-14), while Susan Youssef’s Habibi took best film in the Muhr Arab section. Tatsumi, an animated biography of Japanese manga artist Yoshihiro Tatsumi, is South Korea’s official entry for next year’s foreign language Oscar race. The film also won the best composer prize in Dubai for Khoo’s teenage son, Christopher. Other multiple award winners in Dubai were The Last Friday, directed by Yahya Alabdallah; Hakim Belabbes’ Boiling Dreams; Japanese comedy The Woodsman And The Rain from Shuichi
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- 12/15/2011
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
From Albania to Vietnam, 63 countries are hoping that their film entry will get picked to fill one of the five slots for Best Foreign Language Film for the 84th Annual Academy Awards.
Five slots, 63 countries, the competition is fierce! Is your country of choice one of the 63 hopefuls?
I'm happy that my home country, the Philippines, has an entry, the dramedy "The Woman in the Septic Tank" from director Marlon N. Rivera. Released in the Philippines on August 3rd, the film became the highest grossing independent movie in my country's cinema history. So keeping my fingers crossed for this movie!
The shortlist will be released in January and then it will be whittled down to five contenders when the nominations are announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. The winner will be announced on Oscar night on Sunday, February 26, 2012.
Take a look at the complete list of Best Foreign Language hopefuls:
Albania, "Amnesty,...
Five slots, 63 countries, the competition is fierce! Is your country of choice one of the 63 hopefuls?
I'm happy that my home country, the Philippines, has an entry, the dramedy "The Woman in the Septic Tank" from director Marlon N. Rivera. Released in the Philippines on August 3rd, the film became the highest grossing independent movie in my country's cinema history. So keeping my fingers crossed for this movie!
The shortlist will be released in January and then it will be whittled down to five contenders when the nominations are announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. The winner will be announced on Oscar night on Sunday, February 26, 2012.
Take a look at the complete list of Best Foreign Language hopefuls:
Albania, "Amnesty,...
- 10/17/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
The 2011 Sitges Film Festival has concluded its competition portion and announced awards in more categories than we've seen at any other fest. The biggest winners are Kevin Smith's Red State and Joe Cornish's Attack the Block, but several other films we've been closely watching here on Dread scored victories as well, including Kill List, Livid, The Divide, The Woman, Bellflower, Hell, and Detention.
Here's the full breakdown from the fest, held 6-16 October on the Catalan coast of Spain. Congratulations to all the winners!
Oficial FANTÀSTIC In-competition – Sitges 44
J. A. Bayona, Quim Casas, Lisa Marie, Ryoo Seung-Wan, Richard Stanley (judges)
Best Short Film (tie)
Dirty Silverwear by Steve Daniels
The Unliving by Hugo Lilja
Best Production Design
Marc Thiébault for Livide (Alexandre Bustillo & Julian Maury)
Best Makeup FX
Steven Kostanski for The Divide (Xavier Gens)
Best Special Effects
Lluís Castells and Javier García for Eva (Kike Maíllo)
Best...
Here's the full breakdown from the fest, held 6-16 October on the Catalan coast of Spain. Congratulations to all the winners!
Oficial FANTÀSTIC In-competition – Sitges 44
J. A. Bayona, Quim Casas, Lisa Marie, Ryoo Seung-Wan, Richard Stanley (judges)
Best Short Film (tie)
Dirty Silverwear by Steve Daniels
The Unliving by Hugo Lilja
Best Production Design
Marc Thiébault for Livide (Alexandre Bustillo & Julian Maury)
Best Makeup FX
Steven Kostanski for The Divide (Xavier Gens)
Best Special Effects
Lluís Castells and Javier García for Eva (Kike Maíllo)
Best...
- 10/15/2011
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
Yesterday the Academy finally released the full list of 2012 Foreign Language Oscar contenders adding four films I did not have on my previous list from the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, United Kingdom and a mysterious title I can't find anything about from Kazakhstan and now that the short list has been announced and everyone has posted the Academy's press release it's like searching for a needle in a haystack if you go looking for more information on it. That said, if anyone has a link to any information on Egor Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky's Returning to the 'A' I would love to share it as I have links and information for all other 62 films submitted for consideration. As I said in my last post addressing the category, I haven't seen any of these films, a rarity for me, but based on buzz the top contenders would seem to include Zhang Yimou's The War of Flowers,...
- 10/14/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia Oscar 2012: New Zealand/First Samoan Feature Among Best Foreign Language Film Contenders Albania, Amnesty, Bujar Alimani, director; Argentina, Aballay, Fernando Spiner, director; Austria, Breathing, Karl Markovics, director; Belgium, Bullhead, Michael R. Roskam, director; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belvedere, Ahmed Imamovic, director; Brazil, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, José Padilha, director; Bulgaria, Tilt, Viktor Chouchkov, Jr., director; Canada, Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau, director; Chile, Violeta Went to Heaven, Andrés Wood, director; China, The Flowers of War, Zhang Yimou, director; Colombia, The Colors of the Mountain, Carlos César Arbeláez, director; Croatia, 72 Days, Danilo Serbedzija, director; Cuba, Havanastation, Ian Padrón, director; Czech Republic, Alois Nebel, Tomás Lunák, director; Denmark, Superclásico, Ole Christian Madsen, director; Dominican Republic, Love Child, Leticia Tonos, director; Egypt, Lust, Khaled el Hagar, director; Estonia, Letters to Angel, Sulev Keedus, director; Finland, Le Havre, Aki Kaurismäki, director; France, Declaration of War,...
- 10/13/2011
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
We gave you an update a few weeks ago, but The Academy now has its final list of the 63 films competing for Best Foreign Film Oscar. This list will get cut down as films screen and the committee decides on a final five when the nominations get announced late January. The notable films include Iran’s A Separation, which we adored and China’s massive budget The Flowers of War starring Christian Bale (which isn’t even complete to my knowledge).
Mexico’s Miss Bala (read our Cannes and Vancouver reviews) and Finland’s Le Havre (our Cannes and Toronto reviews) are also contenders. Lebanon’s Where Do We Go Now? is also in the mix, a drama that won the top prize at Toronto. There are many others we’ve seen at festivals, so follow that coverage here as we head into Oscar season. Check out the press release below.
Mexico’s Miss Bala (read our Cannes and Vancouver reviews) and Finland’s Le Havre (our Cannes and Toronto reviews) are also contenders. Lebanon’s Where Do We Go Now? is also in the mix, a drama that won the top prize at Toronto. There are many others we’ve seen at festivals, so follow that coverage here as we head into Oscar season. Check out the press release below.
- 10/13/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Press Release:
Beverly Hills, CA - Sixty-three countries, including first-time entrant New Zealand, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 84th Academy Awards®.
The 2011 submissions are:
Albania, “Amnesty,” Bujar Alimani, director;
Argentina, “Aballay,” Fernando Spiner, director;
Austria, “Breathing,” Karl Markovics, director;
Belgium, “Bullhead,” Michael R. Roskam, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina,”Belvedere,” Ahmed Imamovic, director;
Brazil, “Elite Squad: The Enemy Within,” José Padilha, director;
Bulgaria, “Tilt,” Viktor Chouchkov, Jr., director;
Canada, “Monsieur Lazhar,” Philippe Falardeau, director;
Chile, “Violeta Went to Heaven,” Andrés Wood, director;
China, “The Flowers of War,” Zhang Yimou, director;
Colombia, “The Colors of the Mountain,” Carlos César Arbeláez, director;
Croatia, “72 Days,” Danilo Serbedzija, director;
Cuba, “Havanastation,” Ian Padrón, director;
Czech Republic,”Alois Nebel,” Tomás Lunák, director;
Denmark, “Superclásico,” Ole Christian Madsen, director;
Dominican Republic,”Love Child,” Leticia Tonos, director;
Egypt, “Lust,” Khaled el Hagar, director;
Estonia, “Letters to Angel,” Sulev Keedus, director;
Finland,...
Beverly Hills, CA - Sixty-three countries, including first-time entrant New Zealand, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 84th Academy Awards®.
The 2011 submissions are:
Albania, “Amnesty,” Bujar Alimani, director;
Argentina, “Aballay,” Fernando Spiner, director;
Austria, “Breathing,” Karl Markovics, director;
Belgium, “Bullhead,” Michael R. Roskam, director;
Bosnia and Herzegovina,”Belvedere,” Ahmed Imamovic, director;
Brazil, “Elite Squad: The Enemy Within,” José Padilha, director;
Bulgaria, “Tilt,” Viktor Chouchkov, Jr., director;
Canada, “Monsieur Lazhar,” Philippe Falardeau, director;
Chile, “Violeta Went to Heaven,” Andrés Wood, director;
China, “The Flowers of War,” Zhang Yimou, director;
Colombia, “The Colors of the Mountain,” Carlos César Arbeláez, director;
Croatia, “72 Days,” Danilo Serbedzija, director;
Cuba, “Havanastation,” Ian Padrón, director;
Czech Republic,”Alois Nebel,” Tomás Lunák, director;
Denmark, “Superclásico,” Ole Christian Madsen, director;
Dominican Republic,”Love Child,” Leticia Tonos, director;
Egypt, “Lust,” Khaled el Hagar, director;
Estonia, “Letters to Angel,” Sulev Keedus, director;
Finland,...
- 10/13/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Update: The total is now 60 films as Steve Pond at The Wrap informs us the Domenican Republic's submission La hija natural has been accepted. He also says we should expect four or five more films to be added to the list by the time things are said and done. My original post follows...
The deadline for countries to submit films for consideration at this year's Oscars was Monday, October 3 and this year's list is a little lighter than last (so far) as 60 countries have offered up submissions compared to 66 last year and 67 the year before that. Looking over the complete list, which I have included directly below and can always be viewed in my "The Contenders" section right here, there are a few that stand out based on what I've heard, but then again, this is the first year I can ever remember where I haven't seen a single one of the entries.
The deadline for countries to submit films for consideration at this year's Oscars was Monday, October 3 and this year's list is a little lighter than last (so far) as 60 countries have offered up submissions compared to 66 last year and 67 the year before that. Looking over the complete list, which I have included directly below and can always be viewed in my "The Contenders" section right here, there are a few that stand out based on what I've heard, but then again, this is the first year I can ever remember where I haven't seen a single one of the entries.
- 10/7/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Today, Montreal's Festival du nouveau cinéma (Fnc), which will take place between October 12 to 23. Here's the complete line-up of feature films according to the press release we received.
Opening and closing
The 40th edition of the Fnc kicks off on Wednesday, October 12, with Declaration of War by Valérie Donzelli (France) at Cinéma Impérial (Centre Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon). This critically-acclaimed second feature by Valérie Donzelli (The Queen of Hearts) tells the love story of Roméo and Juliette who are battling to save their sick child. The director and her producer Edouard Weil will be in attendance.
Ten days later, on Saturday, October 22, Monsieur Lazhar (Quebec/Canada) by Philippe Falardeau will close the Festival. Selected to represent Canada at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lahzar shows the efforts of an Algerian schoolteacher to help his Grade 6 students come to terms with their teacher’s death.
Opening and closing
The 40th edition of the Fnc kicks off on Wednesday, October 12, with Declaration of War by Valérie Donzelli (France) at Cinéma Impérial (Centre Sandra & Leo Kolber, Salle Lucie & André Chagnon). This critically-acclaimed second feature by Valérie Donzelli (The Queen of Hearts) tells the love story of Roméo and Juliette who are battling to save their sick child. The director and her producer Edouard Weil will be in attendance.
Ten days later, on Saturday, October 22, Monsieur Lazhar (Quebec/Canada) by Philippe Falardeau will close the Festival. Selected to represent Canada at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lahzar shows the efforts of an Algerian schoolteacher to help his Grade 6 students come to terms with their teacher’s death.
- 9/27/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
I will soon post a list of films I have already seen that I highly recommend as well as a list of my most anticipated films screening at this year’s Festival du Nouveau Cinema. For now here is the press release from the festival. Make sure you read carefully because there are a ton of great films to check out.
Montreal, Tuesday September 27, 2011– Montreal’s Festival du nouveau cinéma will be celebrating its 40th edition from October 12 to 23. For the past 40 years, Canada’s oldest film festival has offered film buffs a selection of the year’s most exciting new films — a bold lineup with plenty of whimsical and surprising elements, but one that also turns its lens on social realities and the evolution of film and new technologies. Over the course of this year’s 11-day Festival, audiences of all ages can take in features and shorts, fiction films and documentaries,...
Montreal, Tuesday September 27, 2011– Montreal’s Festival du nouveau cinéma will be celebrating its 40th edition from October 12 to 23. For the past 40 years, Canada’s oldest film festival has offered film buffs a selection of the year’s most exciting new films — a bold lineup with plenty of whimsical and surprising elements, but one that also turns its lens on social realities and the evolution of film and new technologies. Over the course of this year’s 11-day Festival, audiences of all ages can take in features and shorts, fiction films and documentaries,...
- 9/27/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Each year the Sitges Film Festival commercial spot is almost as eagerly awaited by the general public as its lineup, and Rafa Antón, creative director of the China agency and the man responsible for its campaigns over the last ten years, has presented this year’s commercial, entitled "Alter Ego". In addition, the preliminary lineup for the Festival has been revealed, but it's not complete by any means. More will be announced throughout the month.
Antón presented the commercial at the Velodrome, property of the brand, along with Festival director Angel Sala and one of Sitges 2011’s partners Moritz Beer.
As explained at the presentation of the Sitges 2011 posters, artificial intelligence is this year’s central theme, represented through the geminoids created by professor Ishiguro in Japan. For the commercials, Rafa Antón stated that he’d “continued with the same commemorative leitmotif of the tenth anniversary of Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg...
Antón presented the commercial at the Velodrome, property of the brand, along with Festival director Angel Sala and one of Sitges 2011’s partners Moritz Beer.
As explained at the presentation of the Sitges 2011 posters, artificial intelligence is this year’s central theme, represented through the geminoids created by professor Ishiguro in Japan. For the commercials, Rafa Antón stated that he’d “continued with the same commemorative leitmotif of the tenth anniversary of Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg...
- 9/16/2011
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
High time to round up the films at this year's Cannes Film Festival that never saw entries of their own and send them on their way. Today: Un Certain Regard.
"Bakur Bakuradze's The Hunter seems like a ficticious version of Raymond Depardon's Modern Life, a trilogy on farming that was screened in Cannes in 2008," finds Moritz Pfeifer, who also interviews the director for the East European Film Bulletin. "With no soundtrack, no professional actors, little dialogue and a minimalist plot, the film depicts the daily life of Ivan (Mikhail Barskovich) as he peacefully runs his pig farm in one of the less populous areas of northwestern Russia…. Clearly, Bakuradze wants to depict an alternative world, and the spirit of his film is more utopian than its hyper-realistic images suggest."
Grumbles the Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt: "There is maybe 10 to 15 minutes of actual story located within this 124 minute slog,...
"Bakur Bakuradze's The Hunter seems like a ficticious version of Raymond Depardon's Modern Life, a trilogy on farming that was screened in Cannes in 2008," finds Moritz Pfeifer, who also interviews the director for the East European Film Bulletin. "With no soundtrack, no professional actors, little dialogue and a minimalist plot, the film depicts the daily life of Ivan (Mikhail Barskovich) as he peacefully runs his pig farm in one of the less populous areas of northwestern Russia…. Clearly, Bakuradze wants to depict an alternative world, and the spirit of his film is more utopian than its hyper-realistic images suggest."
Grumbles the Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt: "There is maybe 10 to 15 minutes of actual story located within this 124 minute slog,...
- 5/31/2011
- MUBI
Updated through 5/28.
The titles below will take you to the roundups, that is, the coverage of the coverage of each film screening in the 2011 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Click the names after the titles for our own reviews, whether they be quick takes or longer considerations. And finally, pointers to assessments of this year's edition, made both before and after the awards are announced, will collect at the bottom of this page.
Competition
Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In.
Bertrand Bonello's House of Tolerance. Daniel Kasman.
Alain Cavalier's Pater.
Joseph Cedar's Footnote.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Kid with a Bike. Daniel Kasman.
Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist.
Aki Kaurismäki's Le Havre. Daniel Kasman.
Naomi Kawase's Hanezu.
Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty.
Maïwenn's Poliss. Daniel Kasman.
Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life.
The titles below will take you to the roundups, that is, the coverage of the coverage of each film screening in the 2011 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Click the names after the titles for our own reviews, whether they be quick takes or longer considerations. And finally, pointers to assessments of this year's edition, made both before and after the awards are announced, will collect at the bottom of this page.
Competition
Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In.
Bertrand Bonello's House of Tolerance. Daniel Kasman.
Alain Cavalier's Pater.
Joseph Cedar's Footnote.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Kid with a Bike. Daniel Kasman.
Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist.
Aki Kaurismäki's Le Havre. Daniel Kasman.
Naomi Kawase's Hanezu.
Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty.
Maïwenn's Poliss. Daniel Kasman.
Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life.
- 5/28/2011
- MUBI
Yes, I'm still hacking my way through the backlog of Cannes interviews. Trier and Miike down, Beloved director Christophe Honoré is due for Monday (and then some longer interviews I did with the cast and director of one particular movie, which will surface sometime in the not too dim-and-distant). But today is the turn of Eric Khoo, the man behind animated anthology Tatsumi, which played in Un Certain Regard.
read more...
read more...
- 5/27/2011
- by PaulMartin
- indiemoviesonline
Another day, another controversy. This time around, it was all about the highly anticipated Melancholia, from Danish provocateur Lars von Trier. Looking well fed and in good spirits, this time he was all jokes, including saying that his next film is religious porn starring Kirsten Dunst and the he understands Hitler. That was enough for some people to tune him out, as if they had never seen or heard the man.
And there were some others that really hated his new movie, Melancholia. It contains with enough beauty, intensity and compelling ideas to earn a recommendation. Actually, in a way, it turned out to be what The Tree of Life was aiming for; an intimate portrait of the complex and difficult way many families function, in the forefront of the largest scheme of things. The movie starts with the end: everybody dies when a giant planet crashes into Earth. A...
And there were some others that really hated his new movie, Melancholia. It contains with enough beauty, intensity and compelling ideas to earn a recommendation. Actually, in a way, it turned out to be what The Tree of Life was aiming for; an intimate portrait of the complex and difficult way many families function, in the forefront of the largest scheme of things. The movie starts with the end: everybody dies when a giant planet crashes into Earth. A...
- 5/18/2011
- by Ed Lucatero
- SoundOnSight
Nothing can top last year's Cannes for the German Sales Agent -- Apichatpong Weerasethakul can thank the Tim Burton led jury for Uncle Boonmee being crowned with the Palme. This year The Match Factory have one in the main comp, a dark horse contender with Aki Kaurismaki's Le Havre and they have a trio in the Un Certain Regard section in Oslo, August 31st, Tatsumi and Stopped on Track. They've got a catalogue full of future items in the works such as the latest from Miguel Gomes and Peter Strickland. Visit the site or check out some of their slate below. Le Havre by Aki KAURISMÄKI - Completed Oslo, August 31St (Oslo, 31. August) by Joachim Trier - Completed Tatsumi by Eric Khoo - Completed A Mysterious World (Un Mundo Misterioso) by Rodrigo Moreno - Completed Barzakh by Mantas Kvedaravicius - Completed If Not Us, Who (Wer WENN Nicht Wir...
- 5/13/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Let’s continue our little chat about the movies that will compete in Un Certain Regard category at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It’s time for a project that comes from director Eric Khoo, titled simply Tatsumi, and already described as “an animated feature film tribute to Japanese animator hero Yoshihiro Tatsumi.” So, Tatsumi celebrates the [...] Cannes 2011: Tatsumi by Eric Khoo is a post from: www.FilmoFilia.com...
- 5/12/2011
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
Updated through 5/9.
Along with the trailer for Hong Sang-soo's The Day He Arrives, another's just appeared for Kim Ki-duk's Arirang. Both will be screening in Un Certain Regard and, if you're checking the entry rounding up all the current news on the lineup of the Official Selection, you'll see, first, that it's being continuously updated (as are the entries on Critics' Week and Directors' Fortnight), and second, another trailer: the one for Na Hong-jin's Yellow Sea. And of course, you've seen the trailers for Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life and Lars von Trier's Melancholia. Let's have a look at a few more.
Here's one for Joseph Cedar's Footnote:
And here's another and another.
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Kid with a Bike:
Update, 5/9: The Playlist has two clips.
Julie Leigh's Sleeping Beauty:
Nanni Moretti's We Have a Pope, with Michel Piccoli...
Along with the trailer for Hong Sang-soo's The Day He Arrives, another's just appeared for Kim Ki-duk's Arirang. Both will be screening in Un Certain Regard and, if you're checking the entry rounding up all the current news on the lineup of the Official Selection, you'll see, first, that it's being continuously updated (as are the entries on Critics' Week and Directors' Fortnight), and second, another trailer: the one for Na Hong-jin's Yellow Sea. And of course, you've seen the trailers for Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life and Lars von Trier's Melancholia. Let's have a look at a few more.
Here's one for Joseph Cedar's Footnote:
And here's another and another.
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Kid with a Bike:
Update, 5/9: The Playlist has two clips.
Julie Leigh's Sleeping Beauty:
Nanni Moretti's We Have a Pope, with Michel Piccoli...
- 5/9/2011
- MUBI
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