Benedetta

Film lovers roll up. Here’s our annual list of movies that could have festivals drooling in 2022. Our list kicked off last year with Power Of The Dog and Macbeth , and also included the likes of Belfast , Benedetta , The Hand Of God and A Hero . Fair to say those films all hit their mark in 2021. With Covid disruption continuing, a number of anticipated movies on last year’s list have yet to see the light of day so some will be included again this year as their releases come into view. Most of the titles below are in post-production, a few are still filming and some are done. None are yet to start principal photography and none have been declared for a festival so far. Festival organizers will have another bumper crop to choose from in 2022, that is if their physical events are able to go ahead, which is no sure thing these days. Here’s to hoping. (NB This is a non-exhaustive list. It is a snap shot.) Bardo (Or False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths) … [Read more...] about From Inarritu To Elvis & Harry Styles To Frances McDormand: 30 Movies (And A TV Series) That Could Light Up Film Festivals In 2022

EXCLUSIVE : Just in time for Sundance, IFC Films has hired Scott Shooman to be Senior Vice President of Acquisitions, reporting directly to IFC Films president Arianna Bocco . A seasoned hand in the acquisitions game who is leaving a senior exec post at Endeavor Content, Shooman has been an acquisitions exec at CBS Films, Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group. Shooman will hit the ground running: he’s tasked with leading the acquisitions team to acquire approximately 30 films per year for both the IFC Films and IFC Midnight slate in all stages of production, from script stage to finished films. He will be the primary liaison between sister companies RLJE films and Shudder as well as parent company AMC Networks and will attend festivals on behalf of the company starting with Sundance. At that virtual fest, IFC Films presents the Venice Golden Lion Winning Audrey Diwan-directed drama Happening , as well as Hanna Bergholm’s directing debut … [Read more...] about IFC Films Hires Scott Shooman For Head Of Acquisitions Post

French film exports generated 91.4M euros ($103.6M) in 2021, a 5.5% increase on the previous year’s provisional figures, while admissions were up 8% to 14.8M. Comparatively, French films within France sold 39.2M tickets during the year. The figures were announced during the annual Unifrance Rendez-Vous with French Cinema which is taking place in Paris this week — one of the rare international gatherings in the current landscape that’s being held as a physical event. Today’s numbers are provisional estimates and will be higher when they are trued up in the fall. For example, when originally announced in January 2021, the 2020 receipts were 86.6M euros, ultimately jumping to 101.7M euros when recalculated in November; a decline of over 60% versus 2019. Interestingly, China in 2021 overtook Russia to become the leading overseas market for French titles in terms of admissions, partly owing to the fact that its cinemas recovered more quickly from Covid than elsewhere. … [Read more...] about French Film Exports Grossed $104M In 2021; China Became Top Consumer

Voracious arthouse streaming company and distributor Mubi continues to ramp up operations beyond its initial online business model and has today closed an eye-catching deal to buy European indie sales giant The Match Factory . According to Mubi, The Match Factory’s current management team will remain in place and will continue to work out of Berlin in Cologne, while also expanding their presence via Mubi’s offices in London, New York and Los Angeles. We are gathering more intel about how the two teams will work together. Mubi has been building its business beyond streaming for a few years. The company has been working as a theatrical distributor in both the UK and U.S., and launched cinema ticket initiative Mubi Go in the UK to provide its members with tickets as part of their membership. It has been buying all rights on titles at festivals in recent years, an endeavor that ramped up at the 2021 Cannes film festival, where Mubi made waves by going on a buying spree … [Read more...] about Mubi Makes A Splash With Acquisition Of Arthouse Sales & Production Powerhouse The Match Factory