Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, which reconstructs the genesis and filming of Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard, is among the recipients of the first round of Cnc’s ‘avance sur recettes’ (advance on receipts) grants of 2024.
The film, the first entirely in French from US director Linklater, is now in production in Paris. It is being produced by Paris-based Arp Productions and stars Zooey Deutsch as American Breathless star Jean Seberg.
Vince Palmo, Holly Gent, Michèle Halberstadt, and Laetitia Masson join Linklater as co-writers.
The Cnc’s refundable grant is broken into three categories. Asr 1 gives funds to directors’ first films,...
The film, the first entirely in French from US director Linklater, is now in production in Paris. It is being produced by Paris-based Arp Productions and stars Zooey Deutsch as American Breathless star Jean Seberg.
Vince Palmo, Holly Gent, Michèle Halberstadt, and Laetitia Masson join Linklater as co-writers.
The Cnc’s refundable grant is broken into three categories. Asr 1 gives funds to directors’ first films,...
- 3/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Great Freedom, starring Franz Rogowski, is showing exclusively on Mubi in many countries starting May 7, 2022. The actor is also the subject of Mubi's retrospective, Franz Rogowski: Man of the Hour.Franz Rogowski in Great Freedom (2021).Some people just have it—"it" here being largely indefinable and perhaps even a quality others also possess but for whatever reason doesn’t galvanize the masses like that rare individual. German actor Franz Rogowski is one of those people, a once-in-a-generation talent whose meteoric rise has been as surprising as it is warranted. Though he’d featured prominently as both a lead (in German director Jakob Lass’s 2013 bizarre romantic improvisation Love Steaks) and a supporting player, Rogowski’s star truly began to rise when Berlin School auteur Christian Petzold cast him in his 2018 masterpiece Transit, which launched the face that launched a thousand appreciations of it, particularly in the United States where he had theretofore been largely unknown.
- 5/28/2022
- MUBI
Liz Sheridan, the stalwart actress best known for playing Jerry’s mother on Seinfeld and the Mrs. Ochmonek on Alf, died Friday, April 15. She was 93.
Sheridan’s friend and representative, Amanda Hendon, confirmed the news, saying the actress died in her sleep of natural causes. “Liz’s worldwide fan base will continue to enjoy her extensive body of work for years to come,” Hendon said. “She was always very grateful to her fans and felt blessed to have enjoyed decades of work in the entertainment business.”
Jerry Seinfeld paid tribute to Sheridan on Twitter,...
Sheridan’s friend and representative, Amanda Hendon, confirmed the news, saying the actress died in her sleep of natural causes. “Liz’s worldwide fan base will continue to enjoy her extensive body of work for years to come,” Hendon said. “She was always very grateful to her fans and felt blessed to have enjoyed decades of work in the entertainment business.”
Jerry Seinfeld paid tribute to Sheridan on Twitter,...
- 4/15/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Liz Sheridan, the actor best know for her role as Jerry Seinfeld’s mother Helen in the classic sitcom “Seinfeld,” died on Friday, a representative confirmed to Variety. She was 93.
Seinfeld reacted to the news on Twitter, writing, “Liz was always the sweetest, nicest TV mom a son could wish for. Every time she came on our show it was the coziest feeling for me. So lucky to have known her.”
Liz was always the sweetest, nicest TV mom a son could wish for. Every time she came on our show it was the coziest feeling for me. So lucky to have known her. pic.twitter.com/ae9TDHQILU
— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) April 15, 2022
Born in 1929, Sheridan got her start as a nightclub act, earning a living by dancing and playing in both New York City and Caribbean clubs. During her time as a nightclub act, she had a romantic relationship...
Seinfeld reacted to the news on Twitter, writing, “Liz was always the sweetest, nicest TV mom a son could wish for. Every time she came on our show it was the coziest feeling for me. So lucky to have known her.”
Liz was always the sweetest, nicest TV mom a son could wish for. Every time she came on our show it was the coziest feeling for me. So lucky to have known her. pic.twitter.com/ae9TDHQILU
— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) April 15, 2022
Born in 1929, Sheridan got her start as a nightclub act, earning a living by dancing and playing in both New York City and Caribbean clubs. During her time as a nightclub act, she had a romantic relationship...
- 4/15/2022
- by Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
Liz Sheridan, who played Jerry Seinfeld’s mother on his hit NBC sitcom “Seinfeld,” died Friday morning in New York City at the age of 93.
Her representative, Amanda Hendon, confirmed to the TheWrap that Sheridan’s daughter Stephanie informed her the actress died peacefully in her sleep of natural causes.
Sheridan appeared in all nine seasons of “Seinfeld” as Jerry’s doting mother Helen. She also played nosy neighbor Raquel Ochmonek on NBC’s “Alf” from 1986-90.
She also appeared on dozens of TV series, including “Kojak,” “Archie Bunker’s Place,” “St. Elsewhere,” Newhart,” “Moonlighting,” ‘The A-Team,” “Who’s the Boss,” “Hill St. Blues,” “Cagney & Lacey,” “Family Ties,” and “Murder, She Wrote.” Her most recent TV role was voicing Mrs. Rothberg in a 2007 episode of “American Dad!”
She was born and raised in Rye, New York, to concert singer Elizabeth Poole-Jones and classical pianist, Frank Sheridan. Her first love was actor James Dean.
Her representative, Amanda Hendon, confirmed to the TheWrap that Sheridan’s daughter Stephanie informed her the actress died peacefully in her sleep of natural causes.
Sheridan appeared in all nine seasons of “Seinfeld” as Jerry’s doting mother Helen. She also played nosy neighbor Raquel Ochmonek on NBC’s “Alf” from 1986-90.
She also appeared on dozens of TV series, including “Kojak,” “Archie Bunker’s Place,” “St. Elsewhere,” Newhart,” “Moonlighting,” ‘The A-Team,” “Who’s the Boss,” “Hill St. Blues,” “Cagney & Lacey,” “Family Ties,” and “Murder, She Wrote.” Her most recent TV role was voicing Mrs. Rothberg in a 2007 episode of “American Dad!”
She was born and raised in Rye, New York, to concert singer Elizabeth Poole-Jones and classical pianist, Frank Sheridan. Her first love was actor James Dean.
- 4/15/2022
- by Sharon Knolle
- The Wrap
Liz Sheridan, the veteran actress best known for playing Jerry Seinfeld’s mother on Seinfeld and also recurred on Alf and appeared in several Broadway shows, died today in New York City. She was 93.
Her longtime friend and rep Amanda Hendon told Deadline that Sheridan died overnight in her sleep of natural causes.
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
Sheridan already was a veteran TV and film actress when she was cast as the grumpy neighbor Raquel Ochmonek on NBC’s Alf, appearing in about three dozen episodes from 1986-90. Soon after that, she landed the role of Helen Seinfeld, the adoring, protective and occasionally bemused mother of Jerry. She appeared in about 20 episodes ranging from “The Stakeout” early in Season 2 to the 1998 finale.
Sheridan also provided the voice of Mrs. Sheridan in the 1994-98 animated sictom Life with Louie, starring Louie Anderson.
She also appeared on Broadway, including...
Her longtime friend and rep Amanda Hendon told Deadline that Sheridan died overnight in her sleep of natural causes.
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
Sheridan already was a veteran TV and film actress when she was cast as the grumpy neighbor Raquel Ochmonek on NBC’s Alf, appearing in about three dozen episodes from 1986-90. Soon after that, she landed the role of Helen Seinfeld, the adoring, protective and occasionally bemused mother of Jerry. She appeared in about 20 episodes ranging from “The Stakeout” early in Season 2 to the 1998 finale.
Sheridan also provided the voice of Mrs. Sheridan in the 1994-98 animated sictom Life with Louie, starring Louie Anderson.
She also appeared on Broadway, including...
- 4/15/2022
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Few actors in cinema right now are as distinctive and exhilarating as Franz Rogowski. Among a sea of bland leading men he has a presence wholly his own, making every new film an event just to see what he’s going to do next. He’s impossible to pin down, possessing an unpredictability from one scene to the next, and the ability to convey that there’s so much going on underneath the surface of his characters––some of which we can interpret, much of which we may never fully know.
Being a mystery we’re not used to seeing in modern film, it’s no surprise Rogowski quickly made a name for himself working with some of our best directors, with key supporting roles in Sebastian Schipper’s one-shot wonder Victoria, and the most recent films of Michael Haneke (Happy End) and Terrence Malick (A Hidden Life). He is...
Being a mystery we’re not used to seeing in modern film, it’s no surprise Rogowski quickly made a name for himself working with some of our best directors, with key supporting roles in Sebastian Schipper’s one-shot wonder Victoria, and the most recent films of Michael Haneke (Happy End) and Terrence Malick (A Hidden Life). He is...
- 3/2/2022
- by Mitchell Beaupre
- The Film Stage
Rather than using the excuse of a pandemic to slow down, the indefatigable and hugely prolific director Mark Cousins has instead speeded up his output. This is the first of two films he has screening in Cannes, while two more finished films are in the pipeline. It was fitting that his latest venture, a follow-up to The Story of Film: An Odyssey, was the first screening of the Cannes Film Festival for it is a celebration of this millennium’s cinema and is a sweeping, vast and loving look at the recent past and potential future of film.
Cousins has taken a slightly different approach with this instalment: gone are the interviews with filmmakers. In their stead, we have a slew of film clips – from 97 films! – that speak for themselves. While Cannes critics and film buffs will recognise a host of winners from previous festivals – Shoplifters and Parasite making notable...
Cousins has taken a slightly different approach with this instalment: gone are the interviews with filmmakers. In their stead, we have a slew of film clips – from 97 films! – that speak for themselves. While Cannes critics and film buffs will recognise a host of winners from previous festivals – Shoplifters and Parasite making notable...
- 7/7/2021
- by Jo-Ann Titmarsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Unspooling from June 8-15, the Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition will feature a slew of drama projects worth looking out for, from psychological thrillers to biopics and new takes on modern relationships.
“Insomnia” (1-2-3 Production) 2022
Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov
Synopsis: Yuri is a successful psychiatrist and hypnotist, a committed non-believer, capable of rationalizing anything except for his own nightmares: featuring his late ex-wife, some red-haired beauty and a strange symbol that looks like an infinity sign. When a mother of a boy, also tormented by nightmares, turns to Yuri for help, he tries to untangle this case. In the process of treatment Yuri comes across evidence of reincarnation, while the boy himself gives him clues to the mystery of his own nightmares.
Valeriy Fedorovich: “‘Insomnia’ is a mystical drama with some thriller elements and unconventional Russian A-list duet of Gosha Kutsenko and Irina Starshenbaum, known internationally for their...
“Insomnia” (1-2-3 Production) 2022
Producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeniy Nikishov
Synopsis: Yuri is a successful psychiatrist and hypnotist, a committed non-believer, capable of rationalizing anything except for his own nightmares: featuring his late ex-wife, some red-haired beauty and a strange symbol that looks like an infinity sign. When a mother of a boy, also tormented by nightmares, turns to Yuri for help, he tries to untangle this case. In the process of treatment Yuri comes across evidence of reincarnation, while the boy himself gives him clues to the mystery of his own nightmares.
Valeriy Fedorovich: “‘Insomnia’ is a mystical drama with some thriller elements and unconventional Russian A-list duet of Gosha Kutsenko and Irina Starshenbaum, known internationally for their...
- 6/7/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The popularity of subscription video-on-demand services in Russia has been growing rapidly and, as noted by Olga Filipuk, chief content officer of Yandex Mediaservices, the production of original shows has now reached a new level. While there is still a demand for Russian takes on tried-and-tested global genres such as crime thrillers and science-fiction, global success depends on having an original story: Russian in terms of style but relatable to viewers in other countries.
“Platforms explore new, complicated topics; they are not as limited as TV channels,” says Alexandra Modestova, CEO of Expocontent, mentioning the likes of “Happy End,” “Mediator,” “An Ordinary Woman” and “To the Lake,” which has become one of the top-watched shows on Netflix in the U.S. and worldwide.
“Russia has around 100 million potential content consumers and Netflix aims at this audience by launching its first originals here, like ‘Anna K,’ as well as acquiring series,...
“Platforms explore new, complicated topics; they are not as limited as TV channels,” says Alexandra Modestova, CEO of Expocontent, mentioning the likes of “Happy End,” “Mediator,” “An Ordinary Woman” and “To the Lake,” which has become one of the top-watched shows on Netflix in the U.S. and worldwide.
“Russia has around 100 million potential content consumers and Netflix aims at this audience by launching its first originals here, like ‘Anna K,’ as well as acquiring series,...
- 6/7/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Meryl Streep’s three Academy Award wins were all for serious dramatic acting roles — as a divorcee engaged in a custody battle in 1979’s “Kramer vs. Kramer,” as a Holocaust survivor in 1982’s “Sophie’s Choice” and as British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 2011’s “The Iron Lady.”
But her 40-plus years as a big-screen presence has been as much if not more defined by musical moments rather than her serious roles. That would include 1978’s “The Deer Hunter,” the source of her first Oscar nomination in a supporting role as a working-class gal who is torn between two hometown Vietnam vets. The use of a somber rendition of “God Bless America” was a source of controversy at the end of the film. But it made sense that Streep, who made her 1977 Broadway debut performing “Surabaya Johnny” in “Happy End” and who had studied opera at one point at age 12, would...
But her 40-plus years as a big-screen presence has been as much if not more defined by musical moments rather than her serious roles. That would include 1978’s “The Deer Hunter,” the source of her first Oscar nomination in a supporting role as a working-class gal who is torn between two hometown Vietnam vets. The use of a somber rendition of “God Bless America” was a source of controversy at the end of the film. But it made sense that Streep, who made her 1977 Broadway debut performing “Surabaya Johnny” in “Happy End” and who had studied opera at one point at age 12, would...
- 11/14/2020
- by Susan Wloszczyna
- Gold Derby
Meryl Streep’s three Academy Award wins were all for serious dramatic acting roles — as a divorcee engaged in a custody battle in 1979’s “Kramer vs. Kramer,” as a Holocaust survivor in 1982’s “Sophie’s Choice” and as British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 2011’s “The Iron Lady.”
But her 40-plus years as a big-screen presence has been as much if not more defined by musical moments rather than her serious roles. That would include 1978’s “The Deer Hunter,” the source of her first Oscar nomination in a supporting role as a working-class gal who is torn between two hometown Vietnam vets. The use of a somber rendition of “God Bless America” was a source of controversy at the end of the film. But it made sense that Streep, who made her 1977 Broadway debut performing “Surabaya Johnny” in “Happy End” and who had studied opera at one point at age 12, would...
But her 40-plus years as a big-screen presence has been as much if not more defined by musical moments rather than her serious roles. That would include 1978’s “The Deer Hunter,” the source of her first Oscar nomination in a supporting role as a working-class gal who is torn between two hometown Vietnam vets. The use of a somber rendition of “God Bless America” was a source of controversy at the end of the film. But it made sense that Streep, who made her 1977 Broadway debut performing “Surabaya Johnny” in “Happy End” and who had studied opera at one point at age 12, would...
- 11/12/2020
- by Susan Wloszczyna, Chris Beachum and Misty Holland
- Gold Derby
The 13th edition of the International Animation Festival will be held as a physical event focusing on domestic talents. The 13th edition of Slovak International Film Festival Fest Anča is joining the ranks of domestic on-site film gatherings. The festival’s main theme flowing throughout the programme is The Day After. “We opted to portray the confrontation of numerous global and personal apocalypses and losses, the meeting of new beginnings – through humour (often black), optimism (often misplaced), and mostly keeping calm and level-headed. An approach stemming either from a rich seam of valuable life experience or boundless naïveté,” explains focus section programmer Eliška Děcká. The Day After serves as an umbrella for several sections entailing local and international short animated films pertaining to that central topic, including Jan Saska’s award-winning black comedy Happy End, Matúš Vizár’s celebrated crash course into the evolution of pandas in the form of a sci-fi.
The musical will feature Mathieu Amalric, Mélanie Thierry, Josiane Balasko, Maïwenn, Denis Lavant and Jalil Lespert. An Sbs production sold by Pyramide. On Monday 24 August, brothers Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu began shooting on Tralala, their 8th feature after, amongst others, To Paint or Make Love (in competition in Cannes in 2005), Le Voyage aux Pyrénées (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs 2008), Happy End (Piazza Grande in Locarno 2009), Love is the Perfect Crime (Toronto 2013) and 21 Nights with Pattie (Best Screenplay award in San Sebastian in 2015). The cast includes Mathieu Amalric (soon to appear in The French Dispatch), Mélanie Thierry (nominated in the Best Actress category at the 2019 Césars for Memoir of War; recently seen in Da 5 Bloods), Josiane Balasko (nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 2020 Césars for By the Grace of God; soon in La pièce rapportée), Maïwenn (in cinemas on October...
Russian multi-hyphenate Fedor Bondarchuk was riding high after a series of blockbuster hits when Hollywood came calling in 2014. Fresh off the domestic success of his alien invasion movie “Attraction,” and the World War II epic “Stalingrad,” Warner Bros. tapped him to direct a big-budget movie based on Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey.”
But then a devastating economic crisis hit Russia, and the deal unraveled, with Bondarchuk deciding he couldn’t decamp to Hollywood at a time when his own country was reeling. It was a prescient move. Six years later, the domestic market in Russia is booming, international sales are growing by leaps and bounds, and Bondarchuk’s Art Pictures Studio has become one of the country’s more formidable production houses.
Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, 2020 was shaping up to be a banner year for Bondarchuk, who recently signed with CAA. The sci-fi thriller “Sputnik,” which Art Pictures produced with Vodorod Pictures,...
But then a devastating economic crisis hit Russia, and the deal unraveled, with Bondarchuk deciding he couldn’t decamp to Hollywood at a time when his own country was reeling. It was a prescient move. Six years later, the domestic market in Russia is booming, international sales are growing by leaps and bounds, and Bondarchuk’s Art Pictures Studio has become one of the country’s more formidable production houses.
Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, 2020 was shaping up to be a banner year for Bondarchuk, who recently signed with CAA. The sci-fi thriller “Sputnik,” which Art Pictures produced with Vodorod Pictures,...
- 6/8/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Celebrated Russian filmmaker Sergei Bondarchuk, whose classic 1966 adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s War And Peace was an Oscar and Golden Globe winner, will be the subject of a documentary telling the story of his life. He also helmed the 1970 epic Waterloo, produced by Dino De Laurentiis.
The feature comes from Art Pictures Studio, the production, sales and distribution company run by his son, the actor and filmmaker Fedor Bondarchuk. The doc is shooting in Russia, France, the UK, Italy, and Los Angeles and counts figures including Jean-Luc Godard, Martha De Laurentiis, and Katharina Kubrick as interviewees. Anton Zhelnov and Denis Kataev are directing.
The project is just one of a number being introduced by Art Pictures to buyers at the upcoming Russian Virtual Content Market, which will showcase the country’s latest productions to international distributors in an online event kicking off June 8. The event, run by national body Roskino,...
The feature comes from Art Pictures Studio, the production, sales and distribution company run by his son, the actor and filmmaker Fedor Bondarchuk. The doc is shooting in Russia, France, the UK, Italy, and Los Angeles and counts figures including Jean-Luc Godard, Martha De Laurentiis, and Katharina Kubrick as interviewees. Anton Zhelnov and Denis Kataev are directing.
The project is just one of a number being introduced by Art Pictures to buyers at the upcoming Russian Virtual Content Market, which will showcase the country’s latest productions to international distributors in an online event kicking off June 8. The event, run by national body Roskino,...
- 5/18/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Through a collection of nine essays written by academics, the book tries to explore, analyze and highlight Korean melodrama, arguably the most dominant genre in the country’s cinema.
In the first essay, Kathleen McHugh analyzes the concept of nationalist cinema, makes a comparison with the American melodrama and examines the position of women in both countries’ movies, while highlighting a connection with Mexican cinema. The medium for these comments is “Madame Freedom”, which McHugh analyzes quite thoroughly, making a number of very interesting observations, particularly focusing on the mambo-dancing scene. The comments are quite interesting as much as the connections made, with McHugh using her lack of deep knowledge about Korean cinema as a source of unique observations. At the same time, however, this ignorance (as per the writer’s words) has made her focus a bit too much on other countries’ movies, while the comment...
In the first essay, Kathleen McHugh analyzes the concept of nationalist cinema, makes a comparison with the American melodrama and examines the position of women in both countries’ movies, while highlighting a connection with Mexican cinema. The medium for these comments is “Madame Freedom”, which McHugh analyzes quite thoroughly, making a number of very interesting observations, particularly focusing on the mambo-dancing scene. The comments are quite interesting as much as the connections made, with McHugh using her lack of deep knowledge about Korean cinema as a source of unique observations. At the same time, however, this ignorance (as per the writer’s words) has made her focus a bit too much on other countries’ movies, while the comment...
- 4/14/2020
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Belgian director Fabrice du Welz is known for his extremely violent and gory films, which typically reach a fever-pitch of intensity if they do not start from an already nerve-wracking place. His aesthetic project is one of confrontation, and his interest lies in exploring limit-experiences of intense emotions and sensations, of the kind which produce both psychological and physical pain. Already in his phenomenal 1999 short film A Wonderful Love, he centers on an ordinary and unassuming woman, living in a disgusting apartment, who “falls in love” with the corpse of a male stripper she accidentally murdered. It is gruesome, funny, sweet, and disturbing all at the same time. His early feature films were part of a similar project and share this wonderful, productive collision of tones, Calvaire (2004) projecting the psychosexual hang-ups of its main character onto a brutish fight for survival in a rural hellscape, Vinyan (2008) following a grieving couple...
- 1/25/2020
- MUBI
Celebrated actress Isabelle Huppert, speaking at the Sarajevo Film Festival on Sunday, looked back on her illustrious career in a candid discussion that touched on her acting, the many renowned directors with whom she’s worked, and the importance of dialogue.
The festival honored Huppert with its Honorary Heart of Sarajevo award “in recognition of her exceptional contribution to the art of film,” which has included collaborations with the likes of Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard and Michael Haneke.
Huppert said much of her success has depended on the vision of filmmakers and the way they have sought to portray her on screen.
“In an actor’s life it’s all about the encounters that you have at the top of the pyramid, which is the director. The director decides how you are going to be looked at, the way you are going to be desired, the way you are going to be loved.
The festival honored Huppert with its Honorary Heart of Sarajevo award “in recognition of her exceptional contribution to the art of film,” which has included collaborations with the likes of Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard and Michael Haneke.
Huppert said much of her success has depended on the vision of filmmakers and the way they have sought to portray her on screen.
“In an actor’s life it’s all about the encounters that you have at the top of the pyramid, which is the director. The director decides how you are going to be looked at, the way you are going to be desired, the way you are going to be loved.
- 8/19/2019
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
She had previously worked at Senator Film, Atlas Film & Medien and her own company Mk Film Consulting.
Milada Kolberg has been appointed to the newly created position of head of acquisitions at Berlin-based distributor X Verleih, with responsibility for acquiring new projects and completed films from Germany and internationally for distribution.
Kolberg, who arrives in Locarno today (August 8) on the lookout for new titles at the festival, took up her position at X Verleih at the beginning of August.
She had previously served as head of acquisitions and sales at Senator Film, Atlas Film & Medien and, most recently, managed her own company,...
Milada Kolberg has been appointed to the newly created position of head of acquisitions at Berlin-based distributor X Verleih, with responsibility for acquiring new projects and completed films from Germany and internationally for distribution.
Kolberg, who arrives in Locarno today (August 8) on the lookout for new titles at the festival, took up her position at X Verleih at the beginning of August.
She had previously served as head of acquisitions and sales at Senator Film, Atlas Film & Medien and, most recently, managed her own company,...
- 8/8/2019
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
“Compassion is a weakness, isn’t it?” yells a homeless woman at polished business consultant Lola Wegenstein, for refusing to give her spare change, making reference to what she assumes the cutthroat world of suits is like. She is not wrong, and Lola, an incredibly capable professional continually undermined in male-dominated environments, knows it too well.
That glorification of heartless assertiveness for career advancement — expected in men and demanded of women — is incompatible with the inherent vulnerability of the human mind. Still, in highly competitive settings, ruthlessness is rewarded while any indication of softness is despised. In “The Ground Beneath My Feet,” the superbly calibrated new feature from Austrian writer-director Marie Kreutzer, the clash between these opposite approaches to life and work is interpreted as an ambivalent psychological thriller enriched with searing social commentary.
A rising ace at a firm in charge of overseeing layoffs and unpopular transitions to make struggling companies more viable,...
That glorification of heartless assertiveness for career advancement — expected in men and demanded of women — is incompatible with the inherent vulnerability of the human mind. Still, in highly competitive settings, ruthlessness is rewarded while any indication of softness is despised. In “The Ground Beneath My Feet,” the superbly calibrated new feature from Austrian writer-director Marie Kreutzer, the clash between these opposite approaches to life and work is interpreted as an ambivalent psychological thriller enriched with searing social commentary.
A rising ace at a firm in charge of overseeing layoffs and unpopular transitions to make struggling companies more viable,...
- 8/2/2019
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
Thriller evolves around a crazed and destructive love story between two teenagers who meet at a psychiatric hospital.
Memento Films International has boarded sales on Belgian director Fabrice du Welz’s thriller Adoration ahead of its premiere on the Locarno Film Festival’s Piazza Grande in August.
It is the final film in du Welz’s Ardennes trilogy set against the backdrop of the rugged, forested region spanning southeast Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany.
It revolves around a crazed and destructive love story between two teenagers who meet at a psychiatric hospital and embark on a dangerous trip together.
The...
Memento Films International has boarded sales on Belgian director Fabrice du Welz’s thriller Adoration ahead of its premiere on the Locarno Film Festival’s Piazza Grande in August.
It is the final film in du Welz’s Ardennes trilogy set against the backdrop of the rugged, forested region spanning southeast Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany.
It revolves around a crazed and destructive love story between two teenagers who meet at a psychiatric hospital and embark on a dangerous trip together.
The...
- 7/17/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
“Let There Be Light,” a contender for the Crystal Globe at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, takes on troubling issues confronting Eastern Europe as a Slovak father, pushed to work abroad in the hopes of buying his family a better life, discovers his absence has allowed his eldest son to drift into a dangerous political fringe. Inspired by current events, writer/director Marko Škop takes on proto-fascist youth brigades and small-town intolerance in his sophomore feature. The film has its world premiere on Sunday.
How did the rise of so-called youth “Guard” groups factor into your thinking about what could drive a family apart?
For me the core of the film is the theme of a “missing father.” For the main character, Milan, it started with his father and his cold upbringing. He wants to be different: He would like to give his own children much more. In order to...
How did the rise of so-called youth “Guard” groups factor into your thinking about what could drive a family apart?
For me the core of the film is the theme of a “missing father.” For the main character, Milan, it started with his father and his cold upbringing. He wants to be different: He would like to give his own children much more. In order to...
- 6/28/2019
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
Something unusual happened at the Cannes premiere of “The Best Years of a Life,” Claude Lelouch’s syrupy second sequel to his trend-setting 1966 global smash “A Man and a Woman.” Not the endless, roaring standing ovation that happened when the lights came up: That’s expected, even required, of the tuxed-up crowd at Grand Théâtre Lumière, for films far better and worse than this light fondant fancy. No, it came just after, as the applause eventually faded out and the vast audience harmonized in collective gibberish sing-song: Chaba-daba-da-daba-daba-da, da-da-da chaba-daba-da… — over and over, until beachside revelers some distance away could probably hear this mass karaoke spin on Francis Lai’s original 1966 love theme drifting on the breeze.
It was a sweet, decidedly uncool moment that emphasized what Lelouch’s sweet, decidedly uncool film really is: not so much a freestanding feature as an unadulterated nostalgia trip, its modest effect dependent...
It was a sweet, decidedly uncool moment that emphasized what Lelouch’s sweet, decidedly uncool film really is: not so much a freestanding feature as an unadulterated nostalgia trip, its modest effect dependent...
- 5/31/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
‘I was extraordinarily lucky to have waited fifty-two years to make this film.’
Paris-based Other Angle Pictures has boarded world sales on French director Claude Lelouch’s The Best Years Of A Life ahead of its Out of Competition premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film reunites Lelouch with legendary actors Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant in the follow-up to his Palme d’Or, Academy Award, Golden Globe-winning 1966 romantic drama A Man And A Woman.
Its storyline revisits the original characters of Anne Gauthier and Jean-Louis Duroc – a script girl and a racing driver who embark on a hesitant...
Paris-based Other Angle Pictures has boarded world sales on French director Claude Lelouch’s The Best Years Of A Life ahead of its Out of Competition premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film reunites Lelouch with legendary actors Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant in the follow-up to his Palme d’Or, Academy Award, Golden Globe-winning 1966 romantic drama A Man And A Woman.
Its storyline revisits the original characters of Anne Gauthier and Jean-Louis Duroc – a script girl and a racing driver who embark on a hesitant...
- 5/8/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Andy Cabic was exploring the stacks in a Tower Records in Japan when he had an epiphany. The musician, who fronts the folk-rock band Vetiver, was on tour with Devendra Banhart in the mid-2000s when he walked into the store and found displays highlighting Japanese artists from the Seventies and Eighties, like Tatsuro Yamashita, Sugar Babe and Happy End. He spent the next few hours tucked in a listening booth, devouring this music that was at once totally new, yet somehow familiar. It sounded like American soft rock, Aor,...
- 5/2/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Susanne Wolff is a force to be reckoned with in Styx Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Wolfgang Fischer's impassioned Styx, co-written with Ika Künzel, shot by Benedict Neuenfels, and edited by Monika Willi, takes us on an unexpected journey. Rike is a German emergency doctor. She sails alone, heading to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, where Charles Darwin experimented with the coexistence of native and non-native flora and fauna.
Wolfgang Fischer on Susanne Wolff as Rike: "It was important that she's an emergency doctor, she's got the skills."
After a violent storm, Rike finds herself confronted with a leaky, sinking, overcrowded fishing boat carrying desperate refugees. One of them, a boy with a bracelet spelling out Kingsley (Gedion Oduor Wekesa), manages to swim over to her. What is she to do? The Coast Guard seem to be stalling...
Wolfgang Fischer's impassioned Styx, co-written with Ika Künzel, shot by Benedict Neuenfels, and edited by Monika Willi, takes us on an unexpected journey. Rike is a German emergency doctor. She sails alone, heading to Ascension Island in the South Atlantic, where Charles Darwin experimented with the coexistence of native and non-native flora and fauna.
Wolfgang Fischer on Susanne Wolff as Rike: "It was important that she's an emergency doctor, she's got the skills."
After a violent storm, Rike finds herself confronted with a leaky, sinking, overcrowded fishing boat carrying desperate refugees. One of them, a boy with a bracelet spelling out Kingsley (Gedion Oduor Wekesa), manages to swim over to her. What is she to do? The Coast Guard seem to be stalling...
- 4/29/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In Christian Petzold’s Transit, Franz Rogowski plays a hollowed-out European refugee who has escaped from two concentration camps. He assumes the identity of a dead novelist as he tries to escape to safety through Marseilles in 1942. Rogowski’s posture and sunken eyes, aided by makeup and Petzold’s distinct lighting, give us the impression of a man withered in a world of crisis. It’s a quiet performance yet it fills the screen with grandeur, thanks to the physicality and commitment of the actor. In a New York Times feature, Petzold called him “a great actor who is able to balance sadness and confidence, coldness and empathy like a dancer.” Before Transit, Rogowski was seen in Victoria (2015) and played Isabelle Huppert’s son in Michael Haneke’s Happy End (2017).
On a recent visit to New York to promote Transit, we got the chance to interview the actor. He is...
On a recent visit to New York to promote Transit, we got the chance to interview the actor. He is...
- 3/9/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Take “Casablanca,” remove all the fun parts, and set it in the present day. It’s not such an odd idea. In Christian Petzold’s “Transit,” it feels eerily natural, and that’s both horrifying and fascinating.
“Transit” stars Franz Rogowski (“Happy End”) as Georg, a man asked to deliver mail to a writer in the midst of a contemporary fascist regime, during a violent purge of immigrants called “Spring Cleaning.” But when Georg arrives with the mail, he discovers the writer, Weidel, is already dead. He killed himself after, as his letters suggest, the rejection of his latest novel and the rejection of his estranged wife.
Georg is then asked to help another, wounded man travel to Marseilles, where that man can reunite with his family and leave the country, but the perilous journey leaves him dead too. With no plan, no friends, and no hope, Georg tries to...
“Transit” stars Franz Rogowski (“Happy End”) as Georg, a man asked to deliver mail to a writer in the midst of a contemporary fascist regime, during a violent purge of immigrants called “Spring Cleaning.” But when Georg arrives with the mail, he discovers the writer, Weidel, is already dead. He killed himself after, as his letters suggest, the rejection of his latest novel and the rejection of his estranged wife.
Georg is then asked to help another, wounded man travel to Marseilles, where that man can reunite with his family and leave the country, but the perilous journey leaves him dead too. With no plan, no friends, and no hope, Georg tries to...
- 3/1/2019
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
by Murtada Elfadl
Transit, opening this weekend in limited release, is the latest from the gifted German director Christian Petzold. It is a haunting modern day adaptation of Anna Seghers 1942 novel "Transit Visa". The film stars Franz Rogowski (Happy End) and Paula Beer as would-be lovers desperate to escape an occupied France. We got a chance to interview Petzold in January when he visited New York for a retrospective of his work by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. When we meet he informs us that he’s been up for more than 24 hours because of a flight delay, so he might struggle to find the words in English. But that's not what happens. There’s a translator but she only chimes in a couple of times in our half hour conversation. Perhaps delirious from no sleep, he’s in the mood to talk.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Transit, opening this weekend in limited release, is the latest from the gifted German director Christian Petzold. It is a haunting modern day adaptation of Anna Seghers 1942 novel "Transit Visa". The film stars Franz Rogowski (Happy End) and Paula Beer as would-be lovers desperate to escape an occupied France. We got a chance to interview Petzold in January when he visited New York for a retrospective of his work by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. When we meet he informs us that he’s been up for more than 24 hours because of a flight delay, so he might struggle to find the words in English. But that's not what happens. There’s a translator but she only chimes in a couple of times in our half hour conversation. Perhaps delirious from no sleep, he’s in the mood to talk.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
- 2/28/2019
- by Murtada Elfadl
- FilmExperience
Adoration
Belgian provocateur Fabrice du Welz returns with Adoration, the third chapter of his celebrated Ardennes trilogy, which follows his 2004 debut Calvaire and 2014’s delicious Alleluia (our interview)—both titles which the director is perhaps best known for in the Us. Having taken recent trips abroad, including the troubled French production of 2014’s Colt 45 and du Welz’s English language debut Message from the King (available on Netflix), du Welz at last returns to the isolated hysteria which has marked his past Ardennes installment by reuniting with his Vinyan (2008) star Emmanuelle Beart. Also included in the fantastic cast are French icon Beatrice Dalle, Belgian actors Benoit Poelvoorde and Peter van den Begin, Haneke discovery Fantine Harduin (the troubled child of 2017’s Happy End), Xavier Legrand’s Custody breakout Thomas Gioria, and excitingly, the return of Laurent Lucas, who headlined the two previous Ardennes titles.…
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Belgian provocateur Fabrice du Welz returns with Adoration, the third chapter of his celebrated Ardennes trilogy, which follows his 2004 debut Calvaire and 2014’s delicious Alleluia (our interview)—both titles which the director is perhaps best known for in the Us. Having taken recent trips abroad, including the troubled French production of 2014’s Colt 45 and du Welz’s English language debut Message from the King (available on Netflix), du Welz at last returns to the isolated hysteria which has marked his past Ardennes installment by reuniting with his Vinyan (2008) star Emmanuelle Beart. Also included in the fantastic cast are French icon Beatrice Dalle, Belgian actors Benoit Poelvoorde and Peter van den Begin, Haneke discovery Fantine Harduin (the troubled child of 2017’s Happy End), Xavier Legrand’s Custody breakout Thomas Gioria, and excitingly, the return of Laurent Lucas, who headlined the two previous Ardennes titles.…
Continue reading.
- 1/8/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Eighteen years after his debut feature film “Happy End”, director Jung Ji-woo reunites with actor par excellence Choi Min-sik for murder mystery/courtroom drama “Heart Blackened”, the remake of Chinese film “Silent Witness” starring superstar Aaron Kwok. “Heart Blackened” earned Best Supporting Actress nominations for both Lee Hanee and Lee Soo-kyung at the 54th Baeksang Art Awards, with the latter eventually emerging victorious.
Heart Blackened is screening at London Korean Film Festival
Yim Tae-san is the CEO of a vast empire who believes that money is the solution to all of life problems, except for his fledgling relationship with his daughter Yim Mi-ra. His relationship with her is further dented with his engagement to beautiful and much-loved singer Park Yoo-na, who just cannot seem to get Mi-ra to warm up to her, despite her best efforts. When Yoo-na is found killed in a parking lot shortly after a meeting with Mi-ra,...
Heart Blackened is screening at London Korean Film Festival
Yim Tae-san is the CEO of a vast empire who believes that money is the solution to all of life problems, except for his fledgling relationship with his daughter Yim Mi-ra. His relationship with her is further dented with his engagement to beautiful and much-loved singer Park Yoo-na, who just cannot seem to get Mi-ra to warm up to her, despite her best efforts. When Yoo-na is found killed in a parking lot shortly after a meeting with Mi-ra,...
- 10/29/2018
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Nathaniel R reporting from the Toronto International Film Festival
Fans of the haunting post-war German drama Phoenix (well loved right here), will want to check out the latest from one of Germany's greatest directors Christian Petzold. Like Phoenix, Transit is a story of lives tragically ruined by war and new identities emerging from the rubble. Transit isn't as much of an eery mystery as Phoenix, but it plays with similar themes. Our protagonist Georg played by the arresting, highly watchable Franz Rogowski (Happy End) initially appears to be an opportunist, doing two dangerous jobs for cash involving personal letters or actual transport for desperate people trying to escape attention in Germany on their way out of the country, and stealing another man's identity as his own ticket out. But our first impression is quickly complicated...
Fans of the haunting post-war German drama Phoenix (well loved right here), will want to check out the latest from one of Germany's greatest directors Christian Petzold. Like Phoenix, Transit is a story of lives tragically ruined by war and new identities emerging from the rubble. Transit isn't as much of an eery mystery as Phoenix, but it plays with similar themes. Our protagonist Georg played by the arresting, highly watchable Franz Rogowski (Happy End) initially appears to be an opportunist, doing two dangerous jobs for cash involving personal letters or actual transport for desperate people trying to escape attention in Germany on their way out of the country, and stealing another man's identity as his own ticket out. But our first impression is quickly complicated...
- 9/13/2018
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Instinctively, The Wife embodies every notion that "behind every successful man there is a good woman" or something to that effect. In the case of Swedish director Bjorn Runge's literate marital melodrama this known sentiment stretches beyond the simplicity of that common saying. Indeed, The Wife has a captivating way about its quiet explosiveness that feels so effortless in its character study of elusive female empowerment at the helm of a troubled marriage and the contained emotional boundaries that are looking to burst from years of matrimonial malaise. What could have been essentially a cliched and conventional look at a typical marriage at the crossroads surprisingly resonates as a solid drama of conviction highlighted by a convincing and probing performance by Glen Close. In fact, Close's mature...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 8/17/2018
- Screen Anarchy
UK film industry has received €74m from Creative Eruope since 2014.
With the UK government wrestling with the Brexit crisis, two new reports have been published drawing attention to the positive effect of Creative Europe, the EU’s training and support programme on the UK’s film industry.
Both highlight the way Creative Europe has “deepened appetites” for the distribution of UK film and television in European markets and of European film and television in the UK.
The annual ‘Creative Europe In The UK’ report, published by Creative Europe, has revealed €74m ($87m) has been awarded to 334 UK-based organisations and companies...
With the UK government wrestling with the Brexit crisis, two new reports have been published drawing attention to the positive effect of Creative Europe, the EU’s training and support programme on the UK’s film industry.
Both highlight the way Creative Europe has “deepened appetites” for the distribution of UK film and television in European markets and of European film and television in the UK.
The annual ‘Creative Europe In The UK’ report, published by Creative Europe, has revealed €74m ($87m) has been awarded to 334 UK-based organisations and companies...
- 7/11/2018
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Following their jam-packed first wave of announcements, Fantasia International Film Festival has revealed even more cinematic celebrations and screenings in their second wave of titles screening this summer in Montreal, including Tales From the Hood 2, the cyber thriller Searching, and Blumhouse's Hurt:
Press Release: Montreal, Quebec - June 14, 2018 - The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 22nd Anniversary in Montreal this summer, taking place from July 12 - August 1, with its Frontières International Co-Production Market being held July 19 - 22. The full lineup of over 130 feature films will be announced on June 28. In the meantime, the festival is excited to reveal a selected Second Wave of titles and events.
Fantasia is proud to announce that the festival’s 22nd edition will open with the North American Premiere of Dans La Brume (“Just a Breath Away”), a large-scale genre co-production between France and Canada, directed by celebrated Quebec filmmaker Daniel Roby,...
Press Release: Montreal, Quebec - June 14, 2018 - The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 22nd Anniversary in Montreal this summer, taking place from July 12 - August 1, with its Frontières International Co-Production Market being held July 19 - 22. The full lineup of over 130 feature films will be announced on June 28. In the meantime, the festival is excited to reveal a selected Second Wave of titles and events.
Fantasia is proud to announce that the festival’s 22nd edition will open with the North American Premiere of Dans La Brume (“Just a Breath Away”), a large-scale genre co-production between France and Canada, directed by celebrated Quebec filmmaker Daniel Roby,...
- 6/15/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
On paper, this looks like a less than spectacular Cannes. Where are the stars? Where are the big names?
Just two of the 21 films in competition are American: Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” and David Robert Mitchell’s “Under the Silver Lake.” From the U.K., zero. Disney will bring “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” though it’s upstaging Cannes by holding the world premiere five days earlier in Hollywood. If you had to skip a year, this would be the time to do it, some have gone as far as to suggest.
I couldn’t disagree more. The fact that we don’t know what to expect from most of the films in competition makes this the most exciting lineup in ages — one with a genuine opportunity for discovery.
I’ve been attending Cannes since 2011. That’s how far you’d have to go back to find an edition with...
Just two of the 21 films in competition are American: Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” and David Robert Mitchell’s “Under the Silver Lake.” From the U.K., zero. Disney will bring “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” though it’s upstaging Cannes by holding the world premiere five days earlier in Hollywood. If you had to skip a year, this would be the time to do it, some have gone as far as to suggest.
I couldn’t disagree more. The fact that we don’t know what to expect from most of the films in competition makes this the most exciting lineup in ages — one with a genuine opportunity for discovery.
I’ve been attending Cannes since 2011. That’s how far you’d have to go back to find an edition with...
- 5/7/2018
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Slim pickings this year make Cannes feel like the canary in the coal mine. While cinephiles and critics have plenty of promising art films to sample, the realities of a narrowing audience for specialty fare mean only a handful of the films on the Croisette will land a North American theatrical release.
For one thing, Harvey Weinstein is gone from the scene, having supplied Cannes for decades with Oscar-winners such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Life is Beautiful,” “The Piano,” and “The Artist.” Weinstein’s last Cannes official selection, Taylor Sheridan’s Un Certain Regard director-winner “Wind River,” was overlooked at Oscar time. And top-drawer stars may skip this year’s first Weinstein-free AmFAR Cinema Against AIDs fundraiser at the Hotel du Cap.
Also staying away this year is Woody Allen, who debuted “Cafe Society,” “Irrational Man,” “Midnight in Paris,” and “Match Point” on the Croisette. Amazon’s “Rainy Day in New York” stars hot-as-flapjacks Timothee Chalamet,...
For one thing, Harvey Weinstein is gone from the scene, having supplied Cannes for decades with Oscar-winners such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Life is Beautiful,” “The Piano,” and “The Artist.” Weinstein’s last Cannes official selection, Taylor Sheridan’s Un Certain Regard director-winner “Wind River,” was overlooked at Oscar time. And top-drawer stars may skip this year’s first Weinstein-free AmFAR Cinema Against AIDs fundraiser at the Hotel du Cap.
Also staying away this year is Woody Allen, who debuted “Cafe Society,” “Irrational Man,” “Midnight in Paris,” and “Match Point” on the Croisette. Amazon’s “Rainy Day in New York” stars hot-as-flapjacks Timothee Chalamet,...
- 5/7/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Slim pickings this year make Cannes feel like the canary in the coal mine. While cinephiles and critics have plenty of promising art films to sample, the realities of a narrowing audience for specialty fare mean only a handful of the films on the Croisette will land a North American theatrical release.
For one thing, Harvey Weinstein is gone from the scene, having supplied Cannes for decades with Oscar-winners such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Life is Beautiful,” “The Piano,” and “The Artist.” Weinstein’s last Cannes official selection, Taylor Sheridan’s Un Certain Regard director-winner “Wind River,” was overlooked at Oscar time. And top-drawer stars may skip this year’s first Weinstein-free AmFAR Cinema Against AIDs fundraiser at the Hotel du Cap.
Also staying away this year is Woody Allen, who debuted “Cafe Society,” “Irrational Man,” “Midnight in Paris,” and “Match Point” on the Croisette. Amazon’s “Rainy Day in New York” stars hot-as-flapjacks Timothee Chalamet,...
For one thing, Harvey Weinstein is gone from the scene, having supplied Cannes for decades with Oscar-winners such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Life is Beautiful,” “The Piano,” and “The Artist.” Weinstein’s last Cannes official selection, Taylor Sheridan’s Un Certain Regard director-winner “Wind River,” was overlooked at Oscar time. And top-drawer stars may skip this year’s first Weinstein-free AmFAR Cinema Against AIDs fundraiser at the Hotel du Cap.
Also staying away this year is Woody Allen, who debuted “Cafe Society,” “Irrational Man,” “Midnight in Paris,” and “Match Point” on the Croisette. Amazon’s “Rainy Day in New York” stars hot-as-flapjacks Timothee Chalamet,...
- 5/7/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
KollywoodThe film won the award, which is given based on fan votes, amidst stiff competition from movies from various other countries.Digital NativeThe Vijay starrer Mersal has won the Best Foreign Language Film at the 4th edition of the National Film Awards UK 2018. The award is given based on fan votes, it may be mentioned here. The film had stiff competition in this sector with several films from various countries, such as Happy End (France), Loveless (Russia), In the Fade (Germany/France), The Square (Sweden, Germany, France), A Fantastic Woman (Chile), Vaya (South Africa) and The Insult (Lebanon), in contention for the award. It may be mentioned here that Vijay was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Award for the film. Directed by Atlee, Mersal is an action thriller that has Vijay playing the lead role with Kajal Aggarwal and Samantha as the female leads. The others in the star cast playing supporting roles include Sj Surya, Vadivelu and Sathyaraj. Despite facing some hurdles as it was caught up in a controversy after the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bjp demanded the removal of certain dialogues which criticised the Goods and Services Tax (Gst) and digital India, Mersal was a box office success. The film collected around Rs 251 crore worldwide, coming next only to Baahubali 2. The film performed exceptionally well overseas, especially in North America and even in countries like France and Australia. It has surpassed records held by Vishwaroopam in the Us, Kabali in the UK and is very close to breaking Enthiran’s record in Malaysia. Made on a huge budget of Rs 120 crores, the film was bankrolled by N Ramasamy, Hema Rukmani and H Murali under the banner Thenandal Studio Limited. The film also has a strong technical crew with the Oscar winning music composer Ar Rahman scoring the music, Gk Vishnu cranking the camera and Ruben editing it. Released on October 18 last year on the occasion of Deepavali, the film had a massive pre-release buzz. Mersal went on to score a century at the box office. As the news about Mersal bagging the prestigious international award came out, Vijay’s fans are elated. The star is currently busy playing the lead role in the untitled Ar Murugadoss directorial which is due to hit the silver screens on November 7 to coincide with Deepavali this year. Produced by Sun Picture’s Kalanidhi Maran, the film has Keerthy Suresh playing the female lead. (Content provided by Digital Native)...
- 4/2/2018
- by Monalisa
- The News Minute
In this season of awards and pantheonic enshrinement, Dr. Garth Twa remembers those films that were treated negligently, their merits left to fallow.
This year at the Vancouver International Film Festival and at the London Film Festival—and it happens every year—there were films that shone, or stunned, or made a profound impact. But now they are gone. What zeitgeist clockwork, what Jungian tides, lead some films to acclaim and Oscars—like, say, in recent years, Lenny Abrahamson’s The Room or Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight, and rightfully so—while others sink and die like a forgotten Tamagotchi? There are some superb films in contention for awards this year, but three of the year’s best have been forgotten: The Meyerwitz Stories (New and Selected), possibly Noah Baumbach’s best film; A Ghost Story, by David Lowery, which was sublime, and something actually new under the sun; and Good Time...
This year at the Vancouver International Film Festival and at the London Film Festival—and it happens every year—there were films that shone, or stunned, or made a profound impact. But now they are gone. What zeitgeist clockwork, what Jungian tides, lead some films to acclaim and Oscars—like, say, in recent years, Lenny Abrahamson’s The Room or Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight, and rightfully so—while others sink and die like a forgotten Tamagotchi? There are some superb films in contention for awards this year, but three of the year’s best have been forgotten: The Meyerwitz Stories (New and Selected), possibly Noah Baumbach’s best film; A Ghost Story, by David Lowery, which was sublime, and something actually new under the sun; and Good Time...
- 3/1/2018
- by Dr. Garth Twa
- Pure Movies
Migration isn’t just a hot-button issue in the political arena. It’s a hot topic in your local arthouse theater, too. At Berlin’s film festival, the subject is everywhere–from Wolfgang Fischer’s Styx and documentaries like Central Airport Thf–perhaps natural for the capital of a country now home to more than a million recent asylum-seekers from the middle east and Africa.
Local boy Christian Petzold’s audacious retelling of Anna Seghers’s World War II-set novel about refugees escaping Nazi-controlled France is a strange, beguiling creation that will be hard to beat in the competition line-up, and ranks as a rare period piece that utterly gets under the skin of contemporary concerns. It’s an engrossing, uncanny and somewhat disturbing film, and completes something of a trio of historical melodramas after Barbara and his worldwide hit Phoenix, but develops the themes of those in an adventurous,...
Local boy Christian Petzold’s audacious retelling of Anna Seghers’s World War II-set novel about refugees escaping Nazi-controlled France is a strange, beguiling creation that will be hard to beat in the competition line-up, and ranks as a rare period piece that utterly gets under the skin of contemporary concerns. It’s an engrossing, uncanny and somewhat disturbing film, and completes something of a trio of historical melodramas after Barbara and his worldwide hit Phoenix, but develops the themes of those in an adventurous,...
- 2/18/2018
- by Ed Frankl
- The Film Stage
The 10 young European actors selected for this year’s Shooting Stars initiative are in town to meet the global film industry.
While young acting talent is spotlighted annually by initiatives such as Bafta’s Rising Star award and Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow, European Film Promotion’s (Efp) Shooting Stars programme is the most visible celebration of next-generation thespian talent allied to an A-list film festival.
Each year, 10 young European actors are awarded the Shooting Star accolade at the Berlinale, a five-person jury having selected the winners from submissions by the 37 Efp member countries. The recipients travel to Berlin to meet producers, casting directors and other film industry figures, and are feted at a ceremony at the Berlinale Palast, which this year takes place on Monday February 19.
This year’s line-up includes UK Screen Star Of Tomorrow Michaela Coel, Norway’s Thelma star Eili Harboe, Hungary’s Réka Tenki, who appeared in last...
While young acting talent is spotlighted annually by initiatives such as Bafta’s Rising Star award and Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow, European Film Promotion’s (Efp) Shooting Stars programme is the most visible celebration of next-generation thespian talent allied to an A-list film festival.
Each year, 10 young European actors are awarded the Shooting Star accolade at the Berlinale, a five-person jury having selected the winners from submissions by the 37 Efp member countries. The recipients travel to Berlin to meet producers, casting directors and other film industry figures, and are feted at a ceremony at the Berlinale Palast, which this year takes place on Monday February 19.
This year’s line-up includes UK Screen Star Of Tomorrow Michaela Coel, Norway’s Thelma star Eili Harboe, Hungary’s Réka Tenki, who appeared in last...
- 2/18/2018
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
A man arrives in purgatory, eager to learn his eternal fate. The divine judgement, however, is slow to arrive. The minutes turn to hours, the hours turn to days, and the days begin to blur together in a place where time has no meaning. Eventually, after what feels to him like a hundred years, the man begs for a verdict. “What are you talking about?” comes the reply. “You’ve been in hell since you got here.”
That grim parable is told to Georg (“Happy End” breakout Franz Rogowski) roughly halfway into Christian Petzold’s “Transit,” and yet the poor bastard doesn’t seem to realize that it’s about him. The inscrutable hero of an inscrutable film that unfolds like a remake of “Casablanca” as written by Franz Kafka, Georg has just escaped occupied Paris by the skin of his teeth, stowing away on a train to the port of Marseille.
That grim parable is told to Georg (“Happy End” breakout Franz Rogowski) roughly halfway into Christian Petzold’s “Transit,” and yet the poor bastard doesn’t seem to realize that it’s about him. The inscrutable hero of an inscrutable film that unfolds like a remake of “Casablanca” as written by Franz Kafka, Georg has just escaped occupied Paris by the skin of his teeth, stowing away on a train to the port of Marseille.
- 2/17/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Forget everything you just heard, and go back to sleep…
On this episode of Adjust Your Tracking, Joe and I get back on mic after a two-week break, and we run into the damn apocalypse of all things. Hate it when that happens. Mostly, though, we’re catching up on past titles (including, briefly, the year’s most ironically titled film in “Happy End,” from icy/austere genius Michael Haneke… see it, but only if you’re a fan) and skipping over whatever forgettable new releases have tripped and fallen into theaters lately.
On this episode of Adjust Your Tracking, Joe and I get back on mic after a two-week break, and we run into the damn apocalypse of all things. Hate it when that happens. Mostly, though, we’re catching up on past titles (including, briefly, the year’s most ironically titled film in “Happy End,” from icy/austere genius Michael Haneke… see it, but only if you’re a fan) and skipping over whatever forgettable new releases have tripped and fallen into theaters lately.
- 2/9/2018
- by Erik McClanahan
- The Playlist
Looking at responses, I think Happy End being a disappointment was in no small part a matter of time: after five years, Michael Haneke’s return was, by his count, ordinary, familiar, not substantial in any way that necessitates the fact that at least one more feature might’ve been made in the same stretch. I won’t say he’s making up for lost time, since a) it’s not my place, b) we both know he doesn’t give a damn about what we’re thinking, but it feels that way — length-wise, at least.
In his own words: “After ten TV movies and 12 films, I wanted to tell a longer story for once.” And so it’s to ten-part television with Kelvin’s Book, a “high concept series [that] is set in a dystopian world” wherein “a group of young people in a not too distant future […] are forced...
In his own words: “After ten TV movies and 12 films, I wanted to tell a longer story for once.” And so it’s to ten-part television with Kelvin’s Book, a “high concept series [that] is set in a dystopian world” wherein “a group of young people in a not too distant future […] are forced...
- 1/29/2018
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
No longer content to confine his brand of feel-bad nihilism to movie theaters, Michael Haneke is working on his first TV series. “Kelvin’s Book” will consist of 10 episodes and is described as a high-concept venture by FremantleMedia’s Ufa Fiction, which is developing the series with everyone’s favorite Austrian auteur.
Read More:Michael Haneke Says He’s Not ‘Dark’ but If ‘Happy End’ Disturbs, That’s Your Problem
The series is “set in a dystopian world and will tell the adventurous story of a group of young people in a not too distant future. During a flight, they are forced to make an emergency landing outside of their home and are confronted with the actual face of their home country for the first time.” As for his motivations, Haneke said simply, “After ten TV-movies and twelve films, I wanted to tell a longer story for once.”
Read More:Michael Haneke...
Read More:Michael Haneke Says He’s Not ‘Dark’ but If ‘Happy End’ Disturbs, That’s Your Problem
The series is “set in a dystopian world and will tell the adventurous story of a group of young people in a not too distant future. During a flight, they are forced to make an emergency landing outside of their home and are confronted with the actual face of their home country for the first time.” As for his motivations, Haneke said simply, “After ten TV-movies and twelve films, I wanted to tell a longer story for once.”
Read More:Michael Haneke...
- 1/29/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
For years, fans of Michael Haneke have hit their nearest arthouse to experience his perverse, cold-blooded, darkly humorous pictures. Now, the filmmaker is joining the throngs who are headed to television, for a project that truly sounds unlike anything he’s done before. If some have dismissed “Happy End” for playing the hits, so to speak, well Haneke has something truly original — at least for him — on the horizon.
Continue reading Michael Haneke Goes Peak TV With ‘Kelvin’s Book’ at The Playlist.
Continue reading Michael Haneke Goes Peak TV With ‘Kelvin’s Book’ at The Playlist.
- 1/29/2018
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
On hand at the Unifrance Rendez-vous in Paris to promote Michael Haneke’s new film Happy End, which was released in the U.S. this past December by Sony Pictures Classics, Isabelle Huppert spoke to THR about her fourth collaboration with the Austrian auteur and some of her feelings about the current #MeToo movement.
The 64-year-old Huppert recently appeared at the Golden Globes wearing black, in a sign of solidarity with attendees supporting the Time’s Up movement launched this month by Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman and other powerful industry women.
When asked about how that movement and the #MeToo campaign are being...
The 64-year-old Huppert recently appeared at the Golden Globes wearing black, in a sign of solidarity with attendees supporting the Time’s Up movement launched this month by Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman and other powerful industry women.
When asked about how that movement and the #MeToo campaign are being...
- 1/23/2018
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Austrian writer-director Michael Haneke has made many a masterpiece – and his latest, Happy End, isn't one of them. Yet this cinematic poke in the eye about an upper class family imploding still exerts a perverse fascination. From early provocations like The Seventh Continent (1989) through later boundary-pushing works like The Piano Teacher, Cache, The White Ribbon, Funny Games (both the original and it's English-language remake) and Amour, the fillmaker specializes in the toxic indifference that can kill a family or society as a whole. He offers no easy answers. As the...
- 1/4/2018
- Rollingstone.com
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