Mohammad Rasoulof’s ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ Wins Fipresci Award at Cannes: ‘A Courageous Story’
Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” won the Fipresci award at Cannes.
The jury of the International Federation of Film Critics called it “a courageous story set in modern-day Iran that deals with the conflict between tradition and progress, depicted in a very powerful and imaginative way.”
Following a rapturous screening and 2024 record 12-minute standing ovation, the film became a Palme d’Or frontrunner, reported Variety.
“The only reason I left Iran – and that was what made me take that decision – was to go on telling the stories of my land. That was really my only motivation.”
“I need to go on telling stories, creating stories. However, this does not mean that I have left the narratives of Iran. Iran is still inside me, and I still can go on telling Iranian stories and conveying them to the rest of the world,” Rasoulof told Variety’s Nick Vivarelli two days ago.
The jury of the International Federation of Film Critics called it “a courageous story set in modern-day Iran that deals with the conflict between tradition and progress, depicted in a very powerful and imaginative way.”
Following a rapturous screening and 2024 record 12-minute standing ovation, the film became a Palme d’Or frontrunner, reported Variety.
“The only reason I left Iran – and that was what made me take that decision – was to go on telling the stories of my land. That was really my only motivation.”
“I need to go on telling stories, creating stories. However, this does not mean that I have left the narratives of Iran. Iran is still inside me, and I still can go on telling Iranian stories and conveying them to the rest of the world,” Rasoulof told Variety’s Nick Vivarelli two days ago.
- 5/25/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof is set to attend the Cannes premiere of his latest feature, The Seed Of The Sacred Fig, after receiving an eight-year prison sentence from Iranian authorities and fleeing his home country.
Speculation had been rife that the dissident director would attend the festival when the film receives its world premiere in Competition on Friday (May 24), having found asylum in Germany, but Cannes’ general delegate Thierry Fremaux has now confirmed his attendance.
“We are particularly touched to welcome [Rasoulof] here as a filmmaker,” Fremaux said in a statement to Agence France-Presse (Afp).
Our joy will be that of...
Speculation had been rife that the dissident director would attend the festival when the film receives its world premiere in Competition on Friday (May 24), having found asylum in Germany, but Cannes’ general delegate Thierry Fremaux has now confirmed his attendance.
“We are particularly touched to welcome [Rasoulof] here as a filmmaker,” Fremaux said in a statement to Agence France-Presse (Afp).
Our joy will be that of...
- 5/22/2024
- ScreenDaily
International filmmakers are calling for solidarity with Mohammad Rasoulof and persecuted filmmakers in Iran in an open letter, shared with Variety.
Rasoulof – about to screen his latest film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in Cannes’ main competition – was sentenced to imprisonment and torture by the Islamic Republic of Iran. He fled the country.
“We condemn the inhumane treatment of Rasoulof and numerous other independent artists in Iran, who are being severely punished, criminalized and silenced for exercising their artistic freedom,” it was stated in the letter, already signed by “Holy Spider” star Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Fatih Akin, Atom Egoyan, Ildiko Enyedi, Andrew Haigh, Agnieszka Holland, Laura Poitras, Sandra Hüller, Sean Baker, Payal Kapadia and Ariane Labed.
“We stand in full solidarity with Rasoulof’s demands and call upon the international film community to raise our voices against an Islamist dictatorship that systematically oppresses every aspect of their society’s lives.
Rasoulof – about to screen his latest film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in Cannes’ main competition – was sentenced to imprisonment and torture by the Islamic Republic of Iran. He fled the country.
“We condemn the inhumane treatment of Rasoulof and numerous other independent artists in Iran, who are being severely punished, criminalized and silenced for exercising their artistic freedom,” it was stated in the letter, already signed by “Holy Spider” star Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Fatih Akin, Atom Egoyan, Ildiko Enyedi, Andrew Haigh, Agnieszka Holland, Laura Poitras, Sandra Hüller, Sean Baker, Payal Kapadia and Ariane Labed.
“We stand in full solidarity with Rasoulof’s demands and call upon the international film community to raise our voices against an Islamist dictatorship that systematically oppresses every aspect of their society’s lives.
- 5/22/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Polish composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, who won a 2004 Oscar for “Finding Neverland,” died Tuesday in Krakow, the Polish Music Foundation announced. He was 71 and had suffered from Multiple System Atrophy (Msa) in recent years.
Also among Kaczmarek’s 50-plus film and television scores, mostly from the 1990s and 2000s, were “Unfaithful,” “Bliss,” “Aimee and Jaguar,” “The Visitor” and “Get Low.” He also scored the lavish four-part French-Italian miniseries of “War and Peace” in 2007.
Kaczmarek had one of the most unusual backgrounds of any film composer of his time. Born in Konin in 1953, he was educated as a lawyer. But he abandoned a planned career as a diplomat to compose music for an experimental theater company, headed by avant-garde theater director Jerzy Grotowski, in Poznan during the 1970s.
He formed his own ensemble, the Orchestra of the Eighth Day, which toured Europe in the late 1970s and early 1980s, releasing an LP,...
Also among Kaczmarek’s 50-plus film and television scores, mostly from the 1990s and 2000s, were “Unfaithful,” “Bliss,” “Aimee and Jaguar,” “The Visitor” and “Get Low.” He also scored the lavish four-part French-Italian miniseries of “War and Peace” in 2007.
Kaczmarek had one of the most unusual backgrounds of any film composer of his time. Born in Konin in 1953, he was educated as a lawyer. But he abandoned a planned career as a diplomat to compose music for an experimental theater company, headed by avant-garde theater director Jerzy Grotowski, in Poznan during the 1970s.
He formed his own ensemble, the Orchestra of the Eighth Day, which toured Europe in the late 1970s and early 1980s, releasing an LP,...
- 5/21/2024
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
German Films celebrated its 70th anniversary at Cannes on Sunday, with its guests looking back but also looking forward.
“It has gotten much better,” Managing Director Simone Baumann told Variety at the event.
“We’ve had Oscar-winning ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ Oscar-nominated ‘The Teachers’ Lounge’ [for best international feature], films by Wim Wenders and with Sandra Hüller! Sure, Wim showed a Japanese movie and Sandra a French one [‘Perfect Days’ and ‘Anatomy of a Fall’], but it doesn’t matter: It’s more ‘mixed’ these days and I am proud of it, to be honest.”
At Cannes, 14 German productions and co-productions have been selected this year, including Match Factory’s main competition offerings “Motel Destino” by Karim Aïnouz – who also attended the bash – and Miguel Gomes’ “Grand Tour.” Run Way Pictures is behind Mohammad Rasoulof’s anticipated “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”
As festivals get “more competitive,” underlines Baumann, international collabs are here to stay.
“It has gotten much better,” Managing Director Simone Baumann told Variety at the event.
“We’ve had Oscar-winning ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ Oscar-nominated ‘The Teachers’ Lounge’ [for best international feature], films by Wim Wenders and with Sandra Hüller! Sure, Wim showed a Japanese movie and Sandra a French one [‘Perfect Days’ and ‘Anatomy of a Fall’], but it doesn’t matter: It’s more ‘mixed’ these days and I am proud of it, to be honest.”
At Cannes, 14 German productions and co-productions have been selected this year, including Match Factory’s main competition offerings “Motel Destino” by Karim Aïnouz – who also attended the bash – and Miguel Gomes’ “Grand Tour.” Run Way Pictures is behind Mohammad Rasoulof’s anticipated “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”
As festivals get “more competitive,” underlines Baumann, international collabs are here to stay.
- 5/20/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
The 50th Annual Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) wrapped up on Sunday and announced the winners of the 2024 Golden Space Needle Audience and Juried Competition Awards.
The festival began on May 9 and screened 261 films representing 84 countries with “62% of the feature films were created by first or second-time filmmakers; 43% were created by women or nonbinary filmmakers; 35% of filmmakers identify as a Bipoc director; and nearly 60% are currently without U.S. distribution and may not screen commercially in the United States,” according to Siff.
Siff holds two categories of competition: juried and audience based. Juried competitions include five feature subcategories including the Official Competition, New American Cinema Competition, New Directors Competition, Ibero-American Competition and Documentary Competition. Short film categories include live action, animation and documentary.
In addition, over 32,000 ballots were submitted for the Golden Space Needle Awards (Gsna). Films judged through the GSNAs are selected by audience members through post-screening ballots. The categories include best film,...
The festival began on May 9 and screened 261 films representing 84 countries with “62% of the feature films were created by first or second-time filmmakers; 43% were created by women or nonbinary filmmakers; 35% of filmmakers identify as a Bipoc director; and nearly 60% are currently without U.S. distribution and may not screen commercially in the United States,” according to Siff.
Siff holds two categories of competition: juried and audience based. Juried competitions include five feature subcategories including the Official Competition, New American Cinema Competition, New Directors Competition, Ibero-American Competition and Documentary Competition. Short film categories include live action, animation and documentary.
In addition, over 32,000 ballots were submitted for the Golden Space Needle Awards (Gsna). Films judged through the GSNAs are selected by audience members through post-screening ballots. The categories include best film,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Lexi Carson
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s Latido Films has clinched world sales rights to serial killer drama-thriller “Sacamantecas,” the third feature by writer-director David Pérez Sañudo, whose Latido-repped debut feature, “Ane,” swept three Spanish Academy Goya Awards in 2021.
Latido is already handling Pérez Sañudo’s second feature, “Los últimos románticos,” which it announced at the Berlin Film Festival as the first title in a two-picture deal with Sañudo. The deals come as Spanish sales companies battle to retain top-flight talent, increasingly in the crosshairs of international counterparts.
”Sacamantecas,” on which Latido Films has just clinched a pre-sale deal for Italy with Movies Inspired, marks the second title in that deal. Distribution in Spain will close shortly, said Latido Films’ Oscar Alonso.
Produced by Olmo Figueredo, who’s also backing “Los últimos románticos,” “Sacamantecas” turns on Spain’s first recorded serial killer, Juan Díaz de Garayo.
In two killing sprees over 1872-79, the ageing and...
Latido is already handling Pérez Sañudo’s second feature, “Los últimos románticos,” which it announced at the Berlin Film Festival as the first title in a two-picture deal with Sañudo. The deals come as Spanish sales companies battle to retain top-flight talent, increasingly in the crosshairs of international counterparts.
”Sacamantecas,” on which Latido Films has just clinched a pre-sale deal for Italy with Movies Inspired, marks the second title in that deal. Distribution in Spain will close shortly, said Latido Films’ Oscar Alonso.
Produced by Olmo Figueredo, who’s also backing “Los últimos románticos,” “Sacamantecas” turns on Spain’s first recorded serial killer, Juan Díaz de Garayo.
In two killing sprees over 1872-79, the ageing and...
- 5/19/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
France’s Les Films du Losange, the iconic distribution company owned by producer Charles Gillibert (“Annette”), has acquired Palmeraie et Desert,” the production company founded by celebrated filmmaker Raymond Depardon.
Les Films du Losange, which was bought by Gillibert from longtime manager Margaret Menegoz in 2021, has been dedicated to preserving and promoting cinematic heritage since its inception. It will now be responsible for the editorial management and global promotion of Depardon’s films.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival is unveiling the 4K restoration of “The Declic Years” as part of Cannes Classics which marks the beginning of the company’s work on their entire body of work. This will be articulated through four cycles covering all the feature films: Reporter, Africa, Citizen, and Peasant.
“Raymond Depardon is one of the greatest contemporary directors and photographers,” said Charles Gillibert, CEO of Les Films du Losange.
“Depardon always followed his intimate...
Les Films du Losange, which was bought by Gillibert from longtime manager Margaret Menegoz in 2021, has been dedicated to preserving and promoting cinematic heritage since its inception. It will now be responsible for the editorial management and global promotion of Depardon’s films.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival is unveiling the 4K restoration of “The Declic Years” as part of Cannes Classics which marks the beginning of the company’s work on their entire body of work. This will be articulated through four cycles covering all the feature films: Reporter, Africa, Citizen, and Peasant.
“Raymond Depardon is one of the greatest contemporary directors and photographers,” said Charles Gillibert, CEO of Les Films du Losange.
“Depardon always followed his intimate...
- 5/15/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique has closed first sales and released the first-look image from Oscar-nominated Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland’s biopic of the Czech novelist Franz Kafka, “Franz.”
The project has sold to September Film in Benelux, Filmin in Spain, Vertigo in Hungary, McF Megacom for the former Yugoslavia and Movies Inspired in Italy.
The film was previously acquired for theatrical distribution by Bac Films Distribution in France, X Verleih in Germany and Austria, Bioscop in Czech Republic and Kino Świat in Poland.
Kafka, a German-speaking Jewish Bohemian famous for surrealist and nightmarish visions, wrote “The Metamorphosis,” “The Trial” and “The Castle,” among others.
The film started shooting in Prague on April 12, including the Old Town near Kafka’s birthplace, and will continue there until the end of May, when the production moves for a week’s shoot in Berlin.
Šárka Cimbalová produces through Czech Republic’s Marlene Film Production,...
The project has sold to September Film in Benelux, Filmin in Spain, Vertigo in Hungary, McF Megacom for the former Yugoslavia and Movies Inspired in Italy.
The film was previously acquired for theatrical distribution by Bac Films Distribution in France, X Verleih in Germany and Austria, Bioscop in Czech Republic and Kino Świat in Poland.
Kafka, a German-speaking Jewish Bohemian famous for surrealist and nightmarish visions, wrote “The Metamorphosis,” “The Trial” and “The Castle,” among others.
The film started shooting in Prague on April 12, including the Old Town near Kafka’s birthplace, and will continue there until the end of May, when the production moves for a week’s shoot in Berlin.
Šárka Cimbalová produces through Czech Republic’s Marlene Film Production,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
"Helping is not illegal." Kino Lorber has revealed an official US trailer for an urgent, acclaimed Polish film titled Green Border, the latest from the masterful Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland. This premiered at last year's 2023 Venice Film Festival in the fall, where it won a Special Jury Prize at the end. Thirty years after Europa Europa, three-time Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland brings a masterful eye for realism and deep compassion to this blistering critique of a humanitarian calamity that continues to unfold. The B&w film follows family of refugees from Syria, an English teacher from Afghanistan, and a border guard, who all meet on the Polish-Belarusian border during the most recent humanitarian crisis in Belarus. Green Border is a poignant and essential work of cinema that opens our eyes and speaks to the heart, challenging viewers to reflect on the moral choices that fall to ordinary people every day. Yes it's harrowing and unforgettable.
- 5/7/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
‘Green Border’ Trailer: Agnieszka Holland’s Urgent New European Refugee Crisis Drama Arrives in June
Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland is one of the greats. A three-time Academy Award nominee—1990’s “Europa Europa,” 1993’s “Angry Harvest” and the Holocaust drama “In Darkness”— Holland is also known for her celebrated prestige TV work, particularly on the David Simon series’ “The Wire,” and “Treme” and shows like “The Killing,” and “House Of Cards.” But her best-known feature work has always leaned towards social justice and socially-conscious dramas, which brings us to her latest, “Green Border,” an bracing portrait of Europe’s refugee crisis that has been hailed as a “humanitarian masterpiece.”
Read More: ‘Green Border’ Review: Agnieszka Holland Won’t Let You Turn A Blind Eye To Suffering In Devastating Refugee Drama [TIFF]
Our review of the film described “Green Border” as “devastating” and “nightmarish.” “Holland has made a righteous, masterful work, arguably her best since ‘Europa Europa,’ but it’s not for the faint of heart or those...
Read More: ‘Green Border’ Review: Agnieszka Holland Won’t Let You Turn A Blind Eye To Suffering In Devastating Refugee Drama [TIFF]
Our review of the film described “Green Border” as “devastating” and “nightmarish.” “Holland has made a righteous, masterful work, arguably her best since ‘Europa Europa,’ but it’s not for the faint of heart or those...
- 5/7/2024
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Returning with one of her most acclaimed films in years, Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border premiered at Venice Film Festival last fall where it picked up a Special Jury Prize. Now, the harrowing, deeply humanistic account of the migrant journey between Belarus and Poland, will arrive in U.S. theaters starting June 21 from Kino Lorber and the first trailer has arrived.
Here’s the synopsis: “In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so-called “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa are lured by government propaganda promising easy passage to the European Union. Unable to cross into Europe and unable to turn back, they find themselves trapped in a rapidly escalating geopolitical stand-off. An unflinching depiction of the migrant crisis captured in stark black-and-white, this riveting film explores the intractable issue from multiple perspectives: a Syrian family fleeing Isis caught between cruel...
Here’s the synopsis: “In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so-called “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa are lured by government propaganda promising easy passage to the European Union. Unable to cross into Europe and unable to turn back, they find themselves trapped in a rapidly escalating geopolitical stand-off. An unflinching depiction of the migrant crisis captured in stark black-and-white, this riveting film explores the intractable issue from multiple perspectives: a Syrian family fleeing Isis caught between cruel...
- 5/7/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A documentary about harrowing loss and fleeting joy, Agnieszka Zwiefka’s “Silent Trees” follows a grieving family of Kurdish refugees escaping legal limbo. With animated interludes that function as flashbacks, it captures the world through the bespectacled eyes of a soft-spoken 16-year-old, Runa, a girl forced to grow up far too quickly in a Polish refugee camp.
The film plays like a follow-up and companion piece to another recent Polish production detailing the same inhumane premise: Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border,” a haunting dramatization of the “red zone” between the borders of Poland and Belarus, where numerous Middle Eastern migrants have been cruelly bounced back and forth between the two countries. Guerrilla cell-phone footage introduces us to the grim violence therein, laying the foundation for Runa’s coming-of-age story through dark, pixelated images of what she, her parents and her four younger brothers have been through.
Having escaped this legal no man’s land,...
The film plays like a follow-up and companion piece to another recent Polish production detailing the same inhumane premise: Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border,” a haunting dramatization of the “red zone” between the borders of Poland and Belarus, where numerous Middle Eastern migrants have been cruelly bounced back and forth between the two countries. Guerrilla cell-phone footage introduces us to the grim violence therein, laying the foundation for Runa’s coming-of-age story through dark, pixelated images of what she, her parents and her four younger brothers have been through.
Having escaped this legal no man’s land,...
- 5/3/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is set to present a retrospective on Franz Kafka and his influence on cinema, dubbed The Wish To Be A Red Indian: Kafka and Cinema. It will examine how the influential Czech writer has impacted filmmakers from Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese, Ousmane Sembene, Jan Nemec and Steven Soderbergh.
This June will mark the centenary of the final moments of Kafka, who passed away at a sanatorium in the Austrian town of Kierling. Kviff, which kicks off on June 28, will launch this strand in honor of the writer featuring films such as Soderberg’s noir mystery Kafka, Welles’ The Trial, Scorsese’s After Hours as well as Roman Polanski’s The Tenant among others.
The festival will also be honoring casting director Francine Maisler, who has worked with directors such as Denis Villeneuve, Terrence Malick and Alejandro González Iñárritu and whose credits include The Revenant,...
This June will mark the centenary of the final moments of Kafka, who passed away at a sanatorium in the Austrian town of Kierling. Kviff, which kicks off on June 28, will launch this strand in honor of the writer featuring films such as Soderberg’s noir mystery Kafka, Welles’ The Trial, Scorsese’s After Hours as well as Roman Polanski’s The Tenant among others.
The festival will also be honoring casting director Francine Maisler, who has worked with directors such as Denis Villeneuve, Terrence Malick and Alejandro González Iñárritu and whose credits include The Revenant,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
The Karlovy Vary Film Festival and Variety have teamed up to honor Francine Maisler, one of the world’s most respected casting directors, whose recent credits include “Dune: Part Two,” “The Bikeriders,” “Challengers,” “Civil War” and “Joker: Folie à Deux.”
Maisler has worked on more than 70 feature films and is a recipient of 15 Artios Awards from the Casting Society of America, including for “Marriage Story” in 2020 and “Don’t Look Up” in 2021. As well as working with director Denis Villeneuve on “Dune: Part Two,” “Dune,” “Arrival” and “Sicario,” her other films include Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” and “Knight of Cups,” and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “The Revenant” and “Birdman.” In 2022, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on HBO’s “Succession.”
As part of its homage, Karlovy Vary will hold a special screening of one of the films which Maisler worked on. Maisler will also give a public master class,...
Maisler has worked on more than 70 feature films and is a recipient of 15 Artios Awards from the Casting Society of America, including for “Marriage Story” in 2020 and “Don’t Look Up” in 2021. As well as working with director Denis Villeneuve on “Dune: Part Two,” “Dune,” “Arrival” and “Sicario,” her other films include Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” and “Knight of Cups,” and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “The Revenant” and “Birdman.” In 2022, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on HBO’s “Succession.”
As part of its homage, Karlovy Vary will hold a special screening of one of the films which Maisler worked on. Maisler will also give a public master class,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Two new Australian films, both enjoying their world premiere, are among the first titles confirmed to play at the Sydney Film Festival in June.
“In Vitro,” a sci-fi mystery thriller set on a remote cattle farm in the near future, hails from directors Will Howarth and Tom McKeith (“Beast”) and stars Ashley Zukerman (“Succession”).
With “The Pool,” director Ian Darling (“The Final Quarter”) paints a cinematic portrait of a year in the life of the iconic Bondi Icebergs, the pool and the people who cherish it.
They will be joined by New Zealand actor Rachel House (“Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), who makes her feature directorial debut with “The Mountain,” which centers on three children discovering friendship’s healing power through the spirit of adventure as they trek through spectacular New Zealand landscapes. It is executive produced by Taika Waititi and will be eligible for Sydney’s recently announced First Nations Award,...
“In Vitro,” a sci-fi mystery thriller set on a remote cattle farm in the near future, hails from directors Will Howarth and Tom McKeith (“Beast”) and stars Ashley Zukerman (“Succession”).
With “The Pool,” director Ian Darling (“The Final Quarter”) paints a cinematic portrait of a year in the life of the iconic Bondi Icebergs, the pool and the people who cherish it.
They will be joined by New Zealand actor Rachel House (“Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), who makes her feature directorial debut with “The Mountain,” which centers on three children discovering friendship’s healing power through the spirit of adventure as they trek through spectacular New Zealand landscapes. It is executive produced by Taika Waititi and will be eligible for Sydney’s recently announced First Nations Award,...
- 4/2/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
The results of the first Eurimages Project Evaluation Session of 2024 have been unveiled and among the batch of European-based filmmakers to receive some much-appreciated coin we find Tarik Saleh’s Eagles of the Republic, Carla Simon’s Romería, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Agnieszka Holland’s Franz, Amanda Kernell’s The Curse, a Love Story and Hafsia Herzi’s The Last One. For the most part, these projects are expected to move into production as early as this spring and get major film festival premieres starting in 2025. 26 fiction films received coin with five docu projects. Here are the films:
Brave – Marie-Elsa Sgualdo (Switzerland) – €300 000
Desire Lines – Dane Komljen (Serbia) – €120 000
Don’t Let Me Die – Andrei Epure (Romania) – €150 000
Eagles of the Republic – Tarik Saleh (Sweden) – €500 000
Fed Up – Júlia De Paz Solvas (Spain) – €250 000
Finale Allegro – Emanuela Piovano (Italy) – €150 000
Franz – Agnieszka Holland (Poland) – €500 000
God Will Not Help – Hana Jušić (Croatia) – €390 000
Haven of Hope – Seemab...
Brave – Marie-Elsa Sgualdo (Switzerland) – €300 000
Desire Lines – Dane Komljen (Serbia) – €120 000
Don’t Let Me Die – Andrei Epure (Romania) – €150 000
Eagles of the Republic – Tarik Saleh (Sweden) – €500 000
Fed Up – Júlia De Paz Solvas (Spain) – €250 000
Finale Allegro – Emanuela Piovano (Italy) – €150 000
Franz – Agnieszka Holland (Poland) – €500 000
God Will Not Help – Hana Jušić (Croatia) – €390 000
Haven of Hope – Seemab...
- 3/26/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
New projects from directors including Agnieszka Holland, Carla Simon, Joachim Trier, Amanda Kernell and Tarik Saleh are among 26 features to receive backing from Eurimages’ in its latest round of co-production funding.
The 26 features – including five documentaries and one animation – have shared a total of €7m funding. Fourteen are to be directed by women.
Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s Franz Kafka biopic Franz received €500,000 ahead of an expected shoot in Czech Republic and Germany next month with newcomer Idan Weiss to play Kafka. Holland’s most recent film Green Border won the special jury prize in competition at Venice in 2023.
Spain’s Carla Simon,...
The 26 features – including five documentaries and one animation – have shared a total of €7m funding. Fourteen are to be directed by women.
Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s Franz Kafka biopic Franz received €500,000 ahead of an expected shoot in Czech Republic and Germany next month with newcomer Idan Weiss to play Kafka. Holland’s most recent film Green Border won the special jury prize in competition at Venice in 2023.
Spain’s Carla Simon,...
- 3/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
You can feel white hot anger bubbling like magma just beneath the surface of Agnieszka Holland’s excoriating drama about the brutal situation for refugees on the Poland/Belrus border. No wonder then, perhaps, that when it was released in Poland the then-ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party responded with a hate campaign attacking the director. President Andrzej Duda compared it to Nazi propaganda and described it as “anti-Polish”. PiS even went as far as to try to force cinemas to show a 30-second propaganda film entitled Safe Poland before Green Border, though many refused.
The truth, as they say, hurts. Holland pulls no punches as she offers a multiple-perspective look at the brutal state of affairs that was created when Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko lured refugees to his country’s border with Poland with talk of how easily they would be able to enter the European Union. The reality was the polar opposite.
The truth, as they say, hurts. Holland pulls no punches as she offers a multiple-perspective look at the brutal state of affairs that was created when Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko lured refugees to his country’s border with Poland with talk of how easily they would be able to enter the European Union. The reality was the polar opposite.
- 3/19/2024
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Carlos Pirovano, the recently appointed head of Argentina’s cash-strapped national film body Incaa is said to be considering a proposal to host the annual Ventana Sur market with Uruguay, as the arts funding crisis continues to rock the country’s entertainment sector.
According to a press release issued on Thursday by producers trade group Caic [Camara Argentina De La Industria Cinematografica], who met with Pirovano on Wednesday, the Incaa president said he believed Ventana Sur should continue to exist and added he was evaluating the feasibility of alternating between Argentina and Uruguay each year.
It was unclear where in Uruguay Pirovano proposed the event might occur.
According to a press release issued on Thursday by producers trade group Caic [Camara Argentina De La Industria Cinematografica], who met with Pirovano on Wednesday, the Incaa president said he believed Ventana Sur should continue to exist and added he was evaluating the feasibility of alternating between Argentina and Uruguay each year.
It was unclear where in Uruguay Pirovano proposed the event might occur.
- 3/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
The new head of Argentina’s cash-strapped national film body Incaa is said to be considering a proposal to host the annual Ventana Sur market with Uruguay as the arts funding crisis continues to rock the country’s entertainment sector.
According to a press release issued on Thursday by producers trade group Caic [Camara Argentina De La Industria Cinematografica], who met with Carlos Pirovano on Wednesday, the Incaa president said he believed Ventana Sur should continue to exist and added he was evaluating the feasibility of alternating between Argentina and Uruguay each year.
It was unclear where in Uruguay Pirovano proposed the event might occur. Buenos Aires,...
According to a press release issued on Thursday by producers trade group Caic [Camara Argentina De La Industria Cinematografica], who met with Carlos Pirovano on Wednesday, the Incaa president said he believed Ventana Sur should continue to exist and added he was evaluating the feasibility of alternating between Argentina and Uruguay each year.
It was unclear where in Uruguay Pirovano proposed the event might occur. Buenos Aires,...
- 3/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
The UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt have confirmed £37m funding for Crown Works Studios, in the north east of England, set to be of one of Europe’s largest film studio complexes.
The funding has unlocked a £450m investment from FulwellCain, a joint venture between UK-based film, TV and music outfit Fulwell 73 and investment firm Cain International, backed by Sunderland City Council.
Hunt said last week in the spring budget that over time, the government will make up to £120m available for the development.
The aim is create 8,000 jobs in the region and to generate...
The funding has unlocked a £450m investment from FulwellCain, a joint venture between UK-based film, TV and music outfit Fulwell 73 and investment firm Cain International, backed by Sunderland City Council.
Hunt said last week in the spring budget that over time, the government will make up to £120m available for the development.
The aim is create 8,000 jobs in the region and to generate...
- 3/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Palestinian title If These Stones Could Talk has won the first ever Iefta (International Emerging Film Talents Association) Award for Best Documentary in Development, worth €10,000, at Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival’s Agora industry event.
The film, directed by Hana Elias and produced by Asmahan Bkera, follows a Palestinian man’s return to his hometown to build a house for his family. As the family tends their land, they confront their estrangement from the country as Palestinian citizens of Israel.
“With warmth and authenticity, this project portrays a family’s relationship with both each other and their land in an intimate way.
The film, directed by Hana Elias and produced by Asmahan Bkera, follows a Palestinian man’s return to his hometown to build a house for his family. As the family tends their land, they confront their estrangement from the country as Palestinian citizens of Israel.
“With warmth and authenticity, this project portrays a family’s relationship with both each other and their land in an intimate way.
- 3/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Oscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche is the new president of the European Film Academy.
The Efa board on Thursday said they voted unanimously to name The English Patient and The Taste of Things star to succeed Polish director Agnieszka Holland (The Green Border) as president.
Binoche’s appointment will be put to a vote by Efa members and, assuming she receives majority support, she will take over as president on May 1, 2024.
The French star will be only the second female head of the Efa, after Holland, who took over the role in 2021, succeeding German director Wim Wenders.
“I am not a person to easily step aside, but I have come to the conclusion that I am a filmmaker first and foremost. And this is what I want to focus on in the years to come,” said Holland. “For me, it is time to step aside now. Knowing that Juliette Binoche...
The Efa board on Thursday said they voted unanimously to name The English Patient and The Taste of Things star to succeed Polish director Agnieszka Holland (The Green Border) as president.
Binoche’s appointment will be put to a vote by Efa members and, assuming she receives majority support, she will take over as president on May 1, 2024.
The French star will be only the second female head of the Efa, after Holland, who took over the role in 2021, succeeding German director Wim Wenders.
“I am not a person to easily step aside, but I have come to the conclusion that I am a filmmaker first and foremost. And this is what I want to focus on in the years to come,” said Holland. “For me, it is time to step aside now. Knowing that Juliette Binoche...
- 3/14/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
French actress Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”) will be the next president of the European Film Academy Board, succeeding Polish director Agnieszka Holland (“Europa”) in the honorary role. Holland was the first female president of the board.
Binoche was unanimously proposed by the board members after Holland decided to step down. Following a formal approval process, which historically has been a mere formality, Binoche’s appointment will officially begin on May 1, 2024. The presidential role is primarily symbolic.
Holland, who served as chairwoman of the board until 2019, became president in 2021, succeeding German director Wim Wenders. Holland plans to fully dedicate her time to making films.
Holland’s “Europa” won the Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Her 2023 film “Green Border” won the Special Jury Prize at Venice International Film Festival.
Mike Downey, the current chair of the board, and Academy CEO Matthijs Wouter Knol said...
Binoche was unanimously proposed by the board members after Holland decided to step down. Following a formal approval process, which historically has been a mere formality, Binoche’s appointment will officially begin on May 1, 2024. The presidential role is primarily symbolic.
Holland, who served as chairwoman of the board until 2019, became president in 2021, succeeding German director Wim Wenders. Holland plans to fully dedicate her time to making films.
Holland’s “Europa” won the Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Her 2023 film “Green Border” won the Special Jury Prize at Venice International Film Festival.
Mike Downey, the current chair of the board, and Academy CEO Matthijs Wouter Knol said...
- 3/14/2024
- by Tony Maglio
- Indiewire
French actor Juliette Binoche will be the new president of the European Film Academy (Efa) when Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland steps down on May 1.
The Academy board unanimously proposed The Taste Of Things actor. Members now have until the end of April to vote their approval – a majority needs to be reached for Binoche to succeed.
Holland has been president since 2021, after previously serving as chairwoman of the board until 2019. The Green Border director said she is stepping down to focus on filmmaking.
“I am not a person to easily step aside, but I have come to the conclusion that...
The Academy board unanimously proposed The Taste Of Things actor. Members now have until the end of April to vote their approval – a majority needs to be reached for Binoche to succeed.
Holland has been president since 2021, after previously serving as chairwoman of the board until 2019. The Green Border director said she is stepping down to focus on filmmaking.
“I am not a person to easily step aside, but I have come to the conclusion that...
- 3/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Juliette Binoche, the Oscar-winning French actor whose sprawling career shows no signs of slowing down, is set to succeed Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland as president of the European Film Academy.
The honorary role was previously held by Ingmar Bergman, who served as the first president and was originally chosen by the 40 founding Academy members in 1989. Wim Wenders, who succeeded Bergman in 1996, served until 2020, followed by Holland, who became the first female president and has now decided to step down.
“We want to honour Agnieszka Holland’s wish and completely understand that responsibilities besides filmmaking, however inspiring and important, can sometimes stand in the way of creating art,” said the chair of the Board Mike Downey and Academy CEO Matthijs Wouter Knol in a statement shared with all Academy members in 52 European countries. “A decision like this is also one that makes us realise how much we owe to Agnieszka Holland’s work for our institution.
The honorary role was previously held by Ingmar Bergman, who served as the first president and was originally chosen by the 40 founding Academy members in 1989. Wim Wenders, who succeeded Bergman in 1996, served until 2020, followed by Holland, who became the first female president and has now decided to step down.
“We want to honour Agnieszka Holland’s wish and completely understand that responsibilities besides filmmaking, however inspiring and important, can sometimes stand in the way of creating art,” said the chair of the Board Mike Downey and Academy CEO Matthijs Wouter Knol in a statement shared with all Academy members in 52 European countries. “A decision like this is also one that makes us realise how much we owe to Agnieszka Holland’s work for our institution.
- 3/14/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
French actress Juliette Binoche has been announced as the new president of the European Film Academy, replacing Polish director Agnieszka Holland.
The body said Binoche had been unanimously proposed by the members of the Efa board after Holland expressed her desire to step down in 2024.
The role of Efa President is an honorary one and holds a symbolic power for the Berlin-based body, representing more than 4,600 cinema professionals across Europe.
Ingmar Bergman served as the first President and was originally chosen by the 40 founding Academy members in 1989.
He was followed by Wim Wenders in 1996, who held the post until 2020. His sucessor Holland was the Academy’s first female President.
Binoche will formally take up the role on May 1 2024, after a majority of the 4,600 members of the European Film Academy have given their vote of approval until the end of April 2024.
Holland indicated her decision to step down this spring, expressing...
The body said Binoche had been unanimously proposed by the members of the Efa board after Holland expressed her desire to step down in 2024.
The role of Efa President is an honorary one and holds a symbolic power for the Berlin-based body, representing more than 4,600 cinema professionals across Europe.
Ingmar Bergman served as the first President and was originally chosen by the 40 founding Academy members in 1989.
He was followed by Wim Wenders in 1996, who held the post until 2020. His sucessor Holland was the Academy’s first female President.
Binoche will formally take up the role on May 1 2024, after a majority of the 4,600 members of the European Film Academy have given their vote of approval until the end of April 2024.
Holland indicated her decision to step down this spring, expressing...
- 3/14/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The migrant dream slips slowly into a nightmare Matteo Garrone’s drama, which takes us on a Continent-crossing odyssey. Although sometimes the tone veers widely from one extreme to another, this is nevertheless a compelling addition to a burgeoning library of dramas concerning the migrant/refugee experience, including Brandt Anderson’s The Strangers Case and Agnieszka Holland’s searing Green Border, in the past 12 months alone.
It begins full of the hopefulness of cousins Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) as they prepare to leave Senegal for what they firmly believe will be a better life in Europe. Shot with colour and verve by cinematographer Paolo Carnera the optimism of the boys is contagious, even as warnings from Seydou’s mother (Khady Sy) will come to echo through the rest of the film. The mood is, initially, that of a road trip - which, of course, to the boys it is.
It begins full of the hopefulness of cousins Seydou (Seydou Sarr) and Moussa (Moustapha Fall) as they prepare to leave Senegal for what they firmly believe will be a better life in Europe. Shot with colour and verve by cinematographer Paolo Carnera the optimism of the boys is contagious, even as warnings from Seydou’s mother (Khady Sy) will come to echo through the rest of the film. The mood is, initially, that of a road trip - which, of course, to the boys it is.
- 3/9/2024
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Agnieszka Holland’s refugee drama The Green Border has taken the top prize for best film at the Polish Film Awards. The black-and-white feature, which looks at the inhumane treatment of refugees trying to cross the natural border between Belarus and Poland, premiered to critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival last year but came under attack from Poland’s far-right government, which called the movie “Nazi propaganda” for its supposedly negative depiction of Polish police and border guards. The political attacks are thought to have influenced the Polish Oscar committee’s decision not to put Green Border forward as Poland’s best international film contender this year, instead selecting Dk and Hugh Welchman’s Hugh animated literary adaptation The Peasants (which did not get nominated).
But a lot has changed in Poland since. Parliamentary elections last October ousted the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which had ruled for 8 years,...
But a lot has changed in Poland since. Parliamentary elections last October ousted the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, which had ruled for 8 years,...
- 3/7/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Record market attendance, headline acquisitions by Sony and ongoing interest in starry packages tell only part of the story of a busy European Film Market (EFM).
An event brimming with late-arriving projects gave buyers plenty to consider and the mood was buoyant following what some had cited as the least productive AFM in decades last October.
“People had had a bit of a disappointing AFM in so many different ways, and everyone was ready,” said Ella Field, EVP of international sales at the UK’s Signature Entertainment, who described EFM as the most cost-effective market of the year. “Where there are great films,...
An event brimming with late-arriving projects gave buyers plenty to consider and the mood was buoyant following what some had cited as the least productive AFM in decades last October.
“People had had a bit of a disappointing AFM in so many different ways, and everyone was ready,” said Ella Field, EVP of international sales at the UK’s Signature Entertainment, who described EFM as the most cost-effective market of the year. “Where there are great films,...
- 2/27/2024
- ScreenDaily
The international scope and grueling human cost of the global refugee crisis lends itself to contemporary epic filmmaking of a particularly sober stripe, as seen mostly recently in Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border” and Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated “Io Capitano.” Shorn of their ripped-from-the-headlines urgency, such stories of humans crossing vast distances and facing hostile odds in pursuit of a better life are as old as time itself. A muscular, assured debut feature from U.S. producer-turned-director Brandt Andersen, “The Strangers’ Case” stresses the sprawling scale of the situation with a chaptered structure that pivots between multiple involved parties in the refugee’s journey, from warmongers to traffickers to rescuers to the displaced victims themselves.
That wide span, however, prevents a particularly penetrating look at any individual experience of the crisis. Brandt draws his characters in broad, flat strokes that serve the architecture of the narrative — and its cumulative, practically...
That wide span, however, prevents a particularly penetrating look at any individual experience of the crisis. Brandt draws his characters in broad, flat strokes that serve the architecture of the narrative — and its cumulative, practically...
- 2/25/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The line between art and activism is blurred — often to a fault — in The Strangers’ Case, a visceral migrant drama that plays less as a movie with a message than as a message with a movie.
Written and directed by Brandt Andersen, an executive producer (American Made, Everest), former NBA G League franchise owner and international activist, the film follows several characters whose lives are upended by the Syrian Civil War, switching points of view as it moves from the grim battlegrounds of Aleppo to the gates of Europe.
It can be an intense experience to sit through, and Andersen doesn’t hold back on the gruesome violence and nonstop tragedy many migrants suffered during the conflict — and continue to suffer to this day. But that doesn’t always make for great drama, nor for characters who go deep enough, resulting in a well-meaning film that feels half like a globetrotting Hollywood thriller,...
Written and directed by Brandt Andersen, an executive producer (American Made, Everest), former NBA G League franchise owner and international activist, the film follows several characters whose lives are upended by the Syrian Civil War, switching points of view as it moves from the grim battlegrounds of Aleppo to the gates of Europe.
It can be an intense experience to sit through, and Andersen doesn’t hold back on the gruesome violence and nonstop tragedy many migrants suffered during the conflict — and continue to suffer to this day. But that doesn’t always make for great drama, nor for characters who go deep enough, resulting in a well-meaning film that feels half like a globetrotting Hollywood thriller,...
- 2/23/2024
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Anatomy of a Fall French producer Marie-Ange Luciani put in a flying appearance at the Berlinale this week with Claire Burger’s coming-of-age drama Langue Étrangère which received a warm reception in competition.
With the Berlin premiere taking place the day after the Baftas in London (where Anatomy of a Fall won Best Screenplay) and eight days before the January 27 voting deadline for this year’s Academy Awards, Luciani was also in the thick of the awards campaign.
She co-produced the Oscar hopeful with David Thion at Les Films Pelléas under the banner of her Paris-based banner Les Films de Pierre, the company created by Yves Saint Laurent’s long-time business and life partner Pierre Bergé which she acquired on his death in 2018.
New production Langue Étrangère is a bittersweet coming-of-age tale starring Lilith Grasmug as French teenager Fanny who travels to Germany on language exchange trip. Her German counterpart...
With the Berlin premiere taking place the day after the Baftas in London (where Anatomy of a Fall won Best Screenplay) and eight days before the January 27 voting deadline for this year’s Academy Awards, Luciani was also in the thick of the awards campaign.
She co-produced the Oscar hopeful with David Thion at Les Films Pelléas under the banner of her Paris-based banner Les Films de Pierre, the company created by Yves Saint Laurent’s long-time business and life partner Pierre Bergé which she acquired on his death in 2018.
New production Langue Étrangère is a bittersweet coming-of-age tale starring Lilith Grasmug as French teenager Fanny who travels to Germany on language exchange trip. Her German counterpart...
- 2/23/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Following the October parliamentary election that saw the defeat of the right-wing Law and Justice party and appointment of leader of the opposition party Donald Tusk as prime minister, Polish filmmakers are cautiously readying for change.
“So far, our cinema authorities have not changed. It remains to be seen whether they will change their approach to funding more topical or controversial projects. Recent years have been very difficult in this regard,” says acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland.
Holland’s latest film, refugee drama “Green Border,” had been attacked by the right-wing government last year. Her next film, “Franz,” about Franz Kafka, is a Czech-German-Polish co-production to be sold at EFM by Films Boutique.
“We know everything and nothing about Kafka. There are dozens of detailed biographies and the reasons for his growing importance remain a mystery. I am trying to put this film together like a scattered jigsaw puzzle,” she adds.
“So far, our cinema authorities have not changed. It remains to be seen whether they will change their approach to funding more topical or controversial projects. Recent years have been very difficult in this regard,” says acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland.
Holland’s latest film, refugee drama “Green Border,” had been attacked by the right-wing government last year. Her next film, “Franz,” about Franz Kafka, is a Czech-German-Polish co-production to be sold at EFM by Films Boutique.
“We know everything and nothing about Kafka. There are dozens of detailed biographies and the reasons for his growing importance remain a mystery. I am trying to put this film together like a scattered jigsaw puzzle,” she adds.
- 2/17/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Berlin-based Rise and Shine World Sales has acquired international rights to Lidia Duda’s documentary “Forest,” which will have its world premiere at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
Previously noticed at Ji.hlava, where it picked up the New Visions Award. Duda’s film focuses on a Polish family living right next to the oldest European forest, trying to create a safe haven for their children. But soon, they start noticing refugees stranded in the wilderness, unwelcome both in Poland and Belarus.
“From the beginning, we felt a strong connection to the story,” Rise and Shine manager Anja Dziersk says.
“The encounters of the family with the refugees, in the midst of the forest, bring world politics down to a very personal experience. It reflects on all of us: ‘What would I do in the same situation?’ Lidia Duda manages to create a film which is subjective yet highly relatable.”
The Polish director – also behind “Fledglings,...
Previously noticed at Ji.hlava, where it picked up the New Visions Award. Duda’s film focuses on a Polish family living right next to the oldest European forest, trying to create a safe haven for their children. But soon, they start noticing refugees stranded in the wilderness, unwelcome both in Poland and Belarus.
“From the beginning, we felt a strong connection to the story,” Rise and Shine manager Anja Dziersk says.
“The encounters of the family with the refugees, in the midst of the forest, bring world politics down to a very personal experience. It reflects on all of us: ‘What would I do in the same situation?’ Lidia Duda manages to create a film which is subjective yet highly relatable.”
The Polish director – also behind “Fledglings,...
- 2/15/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s Rai Cinema has confirmed the launch of its own dedicated international film sales arm.
Rai Cinema International Distribution will officially launch at the European Film Market (EFM) at the Berlinale.
Rai Cinema, the film production division of state broadcaster Rai, has an annual budget of $85m and invests in a large slate of 50-70 films a year. It also handles distribution in Italy through its distribution division 01 Distribution. The launch of a dedicated sales arm marks a new departure.
Rai Cinema will handle international distribution of new films which will then continue to be managed by existing...
Rai Cinema International Distribution will officially launch at the European Film Market (EFM) at the Berlinale.
Rai Cinema, the film production division of state broadcaster Rai, has an annual budget of $85m and invests in a large slate of 50-70 films a year. It also handles distribution in Italy through its distribution division 01 Distribution. The launch of a dedicated sales arm marks a new departure.
Rai Cinema will handle international distribution of new films which will then continue to be managed by existing...
- 2/5/2024
- ScreenDaily
Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border” won the audience award at the 53rd edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam in a strong year for the event, which recorded 253,500 visits across its programs.
Holland’s Venice Jury Prize-winner derives its name from the swampy forests found at the border between Poland and Belarus, a perilous place where hundreds of migrants — mostly from the Middle East and Africa — try to make their way into the European Union. “Green Border” chronicles the intertwined lives of people caught in the geopolitical webs of the crossing and joins several of Holland’s films to have played at IFFR, including “Europa Europa” and “Burning Bush.”
This year’s edition of the festival, which took place between Jan. 25 – Feb. 4, featured 424 films, 183 of which were world premieres, plus accompanying programs including Art Directions and IFFR Talks. As part of the Talks program, the festival welcomed names such as Sandra Hüller,...
Holland’s Venice Jury Prize-winner derives its name from the swampy forests found at the border between Poland and Belarus, a perilous place where hundreds of migrants — mostly from the Middle East and Africa — try to make their way into the European Union. “Green Border” chronicles the intertwined lives of people caught in the geopolitical webs of the crossing and joins several of Holland’s films to have played at IFFR, including “Europa Europa” and “Burning Bush.”
This year’s edition of the festival, which took place between Jan. 25 – Feb. 4, featured 424 films, 183 of which were world premieres, plus accompanying programs including Art Directions and IFFR Talks. As part of the Talks program, the festival welcomed names such as Sandra Hüller,...
- 2/5/2024
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
Berlin-based Pluto Film Distribution Network has taken on world sales for Josef Hader’s Andrea Gets A Divorce which world premieres in the Panorama section at the Berlinale this month.
Andrea Gets A Divorce sees leading Austrian actor and comedian Hader go behind the camera again after his debut film, the satire Wild Mouse, premiered in competition in Berlin in 2017.
Andrea Gets A Divorce centres on a policewoman who commits a hit-and-run after her drunken soon-to-be ex-husband runs out in front of her car. She later discovers someone else has accepted responsibility, a teacher and recovered alcoholic.
Hader stars alongside Birgit Minichmayr,...
Andrea Gets A Divorce sees leading Austrian actor and comedian Hader go behind the camera again after his debut film, the satire Wild Mouse, premiered in competition in Berlin in 2017.
Andrea Gets A Divorce centres on a policewoman who commits a hit-and-run after her drunken soon-to-be ex-husband runs out in front of her car. She later discovers someone else has accepted responsibility, a teacher and recovered alcoholic.
Hader stars alongside Birgit Minichmayr,...
- 2/5/2024
- ScreenDaily
Green Border, Agnieszka Holland’s harrowing tale of refugees caught in the wooded boundary between Belarus and Poland, won the Audience Award at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival, which wrapped up Sunday.
Japanese director Tanaka Toshihiko won Rotterdam’s coveted Tiger Award for best competition film for his debut Rei, a drama exploring human relationships made almost entirely with a cast and crew of mostly nonprofessionals and students. The Iranian drama The Old Bachelor, from director Oktay Baraheni, won Rotterdam’s Vpro Big Screen Award.
The Fipresci Award, handed out by international film critics, went to Kiss Wagon from the Indian director Midhun Murali.
Judged by the audience’s response, Rotterdam 2024 was a resounding success, with the festival reporting more than a quarter of a million viewers over its 11-day program, which included the screening of 424 films and artist discussions with the likes of Oscar contender Sandra Hüller (Anatomy...
Japanese director Tanaka Toshihiko won Rotterdam’s coveted Tiger Award for best competition film for his debut Rei, a drama exploring human relationships made almost entirely with a cast and crew of mostly nonprofessionals and students. The Iranian drama The Old Bachelor, from director Oktay Baraheni, won Rotterdam’s Vpro Big Screen Award.
The Fipresci Award, handed out by international film critics, went to Kiss Wagon from the Indian director Midhun Murali.
Judged by the audience’s response, Rotterdam 2024 was a resounding success, with the festival reporting more than a quarter of a million viewers over its 11-day program, which included the screening of 424 films and artist discussions with the likes of Oscar contender Sandra Hüller (Anatomy...
- 2/5/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border won the audience award of the 2024 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).
It was the final award presented at this year’s festival which ran January 25-February 4. Green Border follows a group of people caught in the Belarus–European Union border crisis. It premiered at Venice last year where it won the special jury prize. However, it was condemned by some politicians in Holland’s native Poland, causing a public outcry.
Last year’s audience award went to Dalva, a debut feature by Emmanuelle Nicot.
The festival’s main awards were handed out on Friday, with...
It was the final award presented at this year’s festival which ran January 25-February 4. Green Border follows a group of people caught in the Belarus–European Union border crisis. It premiered at Venice last year where it won the special jury prize. However, it was condemned by some politicians in Holland’s native Poland, causing a public outcry.
Last year’s audience award went to Dalva, a debut feature by Emmanuelle Nicot.
The festival’s main awards were handed out on Friday, with...
- 2/5/2024
- ScreenDaily
For Italian conductor Beatrice Venezi, 2024 kicked off on a decidedly sour note.
On New Year’s Eve the baton-wielding Venezi, a friend of right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, was heckled at the Opéra de Nice by French anti-fascist protesters as she took to the podium.
The incident reflected tensions rippling through European entertainment industry circles as far-right parties sweep to power in Italy and the Netherlands and gain ground across the EU.
Italy took a sharp turn to the right in 2022, when Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, emerged the winner in the national elections. Since then her right-wing camp, which denies accusations of nostalgia for fascism, has moved to hold more sway within state-controlled media and cultural institutions such as broadcaster Rai, the Centro Sperimentale film school and the Biennale, the Venice Film Festival’s parent organization.
Scrutiny is being directed at Venezi, an adviser to Meloni-appointed culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.
On New Year’s Eve the baton-wielding Venezi, a friend of right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, was heckled at the Opéra de Nice by French anti-fascist protesters as she took to the podium.
The incident reflected tensions rippling through European entertainment industry circles as far-right parties sweep to power in Italy and the Netherlands and gain ground across the EU.
Italy took a sharp turn to the right in 2022, when Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, emerged the winner in the national elections. Since then her right-wing camp, which denies accusations of nostalgia for fascism, has moved to hold more sway within state-controlled media and cultural institutions such as broadcaster Rai, the Centro Sperimentale film school and the Biennale, the Venice Film Festival’s parent organization.
Scrutiny is being directed at Venezi, an adviser to Meloni-appointed culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.
- 2/2/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
UK-based HanWay Films has boarded world sales on Kasia Adamik’s thriller Winter Of The Crow starring Lesley Manville, ahead of the European Film Market.
Principal photography has begun in Warsaw, Poland on the Cold War thriller which stars Manville as a UK professor who arrives in the country just as martial law is imposed. Also among the cast are Tom Burke, Zofia Wichłacz, and Andrzej Konopka.
Winter Of The Crow is produced by Poland’s Wild Mouse Production and Film Produkcja as well as the UK’s Iris Productions and Film and Music Entertainment. Douglas Cummins is co-producing while...
Principal photography has begun in Warsaw, Poland on the Cold War thriller which stars Manville as a UK professor who arrives in the country just as martial law is imposed. Also among the cast are Tom Burke, Zofia Wichłacz, and Andrzej Konopka.
Winter Of The Crow is produced by Poland’s Wild Mouse Production and Film Produkcja as well as the UK’s Iris Productions and Film and Music Entertainment. Douglas Cummins is co-producing while...
- 1/30/2024
- ScreenDaily
UK-based HanWay Films has boarded world sales on Kasia Adamik’s thriller Winter Of The Crow starring Lesley Manville, ahead of the European Film Market.
Principal photography has begun in Warsaw, Poland on the Cold War thriller which stars Manville as a UK professor who arrives in the country just as martial law is imposed. Also among the cast are Tom Burke, Zofia Wichłacz, and Andrzej Konopka.
Winter Of The Crow is produced by Poland’s Wild Mouse Production and Film Produkcja as well as Ireland’s Iris Productions and the UK’s Film and Music Entertainment. Douglas Cummins is...
Principal photography has begun in Warsaw, Poland on the Cold War thriller which stars Manville as a UK professor who arrives in the country just as martial law is imposed. Also among the cast are Tom Burke, Zofia Wichłacz, and Andrzej Konopka.
Winter Of The Crow is produced by Poland’s Wild Mouse Production and Film Produkcja as well as Ireland’s Iris Productions and the UK’s Film and Music Entertainment. Douglas Cummins is...
- 1/30/2024
- ScreenDaily
Hanway Films will represent worldwide sales at next month’s EFM on Winter Of The Crow, a Cold War thriller starring Oscar-nominated actress Lesley Manville. The film is currently shooting in Warsaw.
Based on a short story by Nobel Prize and International Booker-winning Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, the feature is set in what is described as “the surreal and cinematic world of 1981 Warsaw.” The full synopsis reads: Warsaw, Poland – December 13th, 1981 – martial law is imposed and overnight shuts down the country just as British psychiatry professor Dr. Joan Andrews (Manville) arrives in Warsaw as a guest lecturer at the University. Taxis have been replaced by tanks; citizens are treated like criminals. But as chaos engulfs the city, armed with her camera she witnesses a brutal murder by the secret police.
In mortal danger and trapped as Poland is closed down, Joan becomes a hunted fugitive running for her life. Using...
Based on a short story by Nobel Prize and International Booker-winning Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, the feature is set in what is described as “the surreal and cinematic world of 1981 Warsaw.” The full synopsis reads: Warsaw, Poland – December 13th, 1981 – martial law is imposed and overnight shuts down the country just as British psychiatry professor Dr. Joan Andrews (Manville) arrives in Warsaw as a guest lecturer at the University. Taxis have been replaced by tanks; citizens are treated like criminals. But as chaos engulfs the city, armed with her camera she witnesses a brutal murder by the secret police.
In mortal danger and trapped as Poland is closed down, Joan becomes a hunted fugitive running for her life. Using...
- 1/30/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Lesley Manville, most recently seen as Princess Margaret in the final seasons of “The Crown,” is to lead “Winter of the Crow,” now shooting in Warsaw, Poland.
Ahead of the European Film Market in Berlin, HanWay is launching worldwide sales on the feature, based on the short story by Olga Tokarczuk, a Nobel Literature Prize and International Booker Prize winner and one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland.
Alongside Manville, soon to be seen in “Back to Black,” the sporting cast includes Tom Burke, Zofia Wichłacz (“World on Fire” and a European Shooting Star winner at the Berlin Film Festival in 2017) and Andrzej Konopka.
From award-winning director and storyboard artist Kasia Adamik (winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2017 for “Spoor”), “Winter of the Crow” is a Cold War thriller set in the surreal and cinematic world of 1981 Warsaw.
Ahead of the European Film Market in Berlin, HanWay is launching worldwide sales on the feature, based on the short story by Olga Tokarczuk, a Nobel Literature Prize and International Booker Prize winner and one of the most critically acclaimed and successful authors of her generation in Poland.
Alongside Manville, soon to be seen in “Back to Black,” the sporting cast includes Tom Burke, Zofia Wichłacz (“World on Fire” and a European Shooting Star winner at the Berlin Film Festival in 2017) and Andrzej Konopka.
From award-winning director and storyboard artist Kasia Adamik (winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2017 for “Spoor”), “Winter of the Crow” is a Cold War thriller set in the surreal and cinematic world of 1981 Warsaw.
- 1/30/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
The 53rd edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, taking place between Jan. 25 – Feb. 4, will be the first for Clare Stewart as managing director. Functioning under a dual leadership structure where the managing director and festival director oversee the commercial and creative elements of the organization respectively, IFFR appointed Stewart back in June 2023 to focus on the festival’s business side.
Speaking to Variety ahead of the festival and joined by festival director Vanja Kaludjercic, the former director of the Sydney Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival emphasized it feels like a “full circle moment” to be back in Rotterdam after first attending IFFR over 20 years ago as her first international film event outside of her home country of Australia.
“It’s also interesting to be coming in as the managing director, having previously held roles that either combined the two or were more of a creative director role,...
Speaking to Variety ahead of the festival and joined by festival director Vanja Kaludjercic, the former director of the Sydney Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival emphasized it feels like a “full circle moment” to be back in Rotterdam after first attending IFFR over 20 years ago as her first international film event outside of her home country of Australia.
“It’s also interesting to be coming in as the managing director, having previously held roles that either combined the two or were more of a creative director role,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
Debbie Harry, lead singer of Blondie, will be among those taking part in on-stage talks at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which runs Jan. 25 to Feb. 4.
Harry narrates the latest film by Amanda Kramer, “So Unreal,” an essay-documentary about the relationships between cinema, humanity and technology. On Jan. 27, the two will give an IFFR Talk discussing their work as artists with distinctive esthetics whose careers have developed across film and music.
As previously announced, other speakers in the IFFR Talk program include actor Sandra Hüller, and directors Anne Fontaine, Marco Bellocchio, Bill Plympton and Billy Woodberry.
Directors attending with their titles in the Limelight section, which is for films from established filmmakers, include Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante with “Lost in the Night,” Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland with “Green Border” and Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania with “Four Daughters,” which is shortlisted for an Oscar.
Fontaine will attend the world premiere of her 19th feature film,...
Harry narrates the latest film by Amanda Kramer, “So Unreal,” an essay-documentary about the relationships between cinema, humanity and technology. On Jan. 27, the two will give an IFFR Talk discussing their work as artists with distinctive esthetics whose careers have developed across film and music.
As previously announced, other speakers in the IFFR Talk program include actor Sandra Hüller, and directors Anne Fontaine, Marco Bellocchio, Bill Plympton and Billy Woodberry.
Directors attending with their titles in the Limelight section, which is for films from established filmmakers, include Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante with “Lost in the Night,” Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland with “Green Border” and Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania with “Four Daughters,” which is shortlisted for an Oscar.
Fontaine will attend the world premiere of her 19th feature film,...
- 1/16/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Kino Lorber Chief Strategy Officer Ed Carroll has been named President, Kino Lorber Media Group, reporting to chairman-ceo Richard Lorber.
Carroll, the 30+-year veteran and former COO of AMC Networks left the company in 2021, and joined Kino Lorber a year ago as chief strategy officer helping oversee its expansion into digital, including the acquisition of MHz Choice SVOD and creating a joint venture that includes the Topic streaming service. Last fall, Kino launched a new SVOD service, Kino Film Collection, on Amazon Prime Video Channels.
Kino Lorber has been layering streaming and digital alongside its core theatrical and home entertainment releases. Two from 2023 were shortlisted for Academy Awards – Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters in both the Best International Feature and Best Documentary Feature; and Nancy Buirski’s Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy in Best Documentary Feature. Recent theatrical acquisitions include Agnieszka Holland’s Venice award-winner Green Border,...
Carroll, the 30+-year veteran and former COO of AMC Networks left the company in 2021, and joined Kino Lorber a year ago as chief strategy officer helping oversee its expansion into digital, including the acquisition of MHz Choice SVOD and creating a joint venture that includes the Topic streaming service. Last fall, Kino launched a new SVOD service, Kino Film Collection, on Amazon Prime Video Channels.
Kino Lorber has been layering streaming and digital alongside its core theatrical and home entertainment releases. Two from 2023 were shortlisted for Academy Awards – Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters in both the Best International Feature and Best Documentary Feature; and Nancy Buirski’s Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy in Best Documentary Feature. Recent theatrical acquisitions include Agnieszka Holland’s Venice award-winner Green Border,...
- 1/11/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Executive joined as Chief Strategy Officer one year ago.
Kino Lorber Chief Strategy Officer Ed Carroll has been appointed to president of Kino Lorber Media Group.
Richard Lorber, who remains chairman and CEO and to whom Carroll will report, made the announcement on Thursday.
Reporting to Carroll will be COO Martha Benyam, who will oversee the MHz Choice and Topic SVoDs and the home entertainment group; chief revenue officer Lisa Schwartz, formerly president of IFC Films, who will oversee content sales and platform distribution as well as Kino Lorber’s film division, which includes the Kino Film Collection SVoD; and Judy Silverman,...
Kino Lorber Chief Strategy Officer Ed Carroll has been appointed to president of Kino Lorber Media Group.
Richard Lorber, who remains chairman and CEO and to whom Carroll will report, made the announcement on Thursday.
Reporting to Carroll will be COO Martha Benyam, who will oversee the MHz Choice and Topic SVoDs and the home entertainment group; chief revenue officer Lisa Schwartz, formerly president of IFC Films, who will oversee content sales and platform distribution as well as Kino Lorber’s film division, which includes the Kino Film Collection SVoD; and Judy Silverman,...
- 1/11/2024
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
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