Berlin film festival

The Venice Film Festival has set filmmaker Liliana Cavani and actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai to receive this year’s Golden Lions for lifetime achievement. The 80th Venice fest runs from August 30-September 9 on the Lido. Cavani, whose credits include 1974 classic The Night Porter , starring Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling, and 1985’s The Berlin Affair , has had several films at the festival, beginning with 1965’s Philippe Pétain: Processo a Vichy , which won the Lion of San Marco for best documentary. It was followed by Francesco d’Assisi (1966), Galileo (1968), I cannibali (1970), Dove siete? Io sono qui (1993) — for which Anna Bonaiuto won the Coppa Volpi for best actress — Ripley’s Game with John Malkovich (2002) and Clarisse (2012). As for Leung, whose credits include Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love, Zhang Yimou’s Hero , Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s Infernal Affairs and recent Marvel title Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, he … [Read more...] about Venice Film Festival To Honor Liliana Cavani & Tony Leung Chiu-wai With Golden Lions For Lifetime Achievement

EXCLUSIVE : Production has wrapped on a Bulgarian live-action short film starring Oscar-nominated Bulgarian actor Maria Bakalova . The film, titled Това, Kоето Oстава (English title: What Stays After ), is directed by Dimitris Georgiev. The short is produced by No Blink Pictures, New European Wave Entertainment and Bakalova’s production company Five Oceans, co-founded with fellow actor and filmmaker Julian Kostov ( Shadow and Bone, The Toxic Avenger ). Joining Bakalova in the cast of What Stays After are leading Bulgarian actors Zachary Baharov ( Game of Thrones, Slow Horses, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One ), Elena Telbis ( Losers ) and Margita Gosheva ( The Father ), with young actor Yan Lozov as the lead. Written by Bulgarian filmmakers Georgiev and Mariy Rosen, What Stays After tells the coming-of-age story of a boy during tragic events that tear his family apart. The characters in the movie face the pain of losing a loved one, … [Read more...] about Maria Bakalova Stars In & Produces Bulgarian Short Film ‘What Stays After’

Motherland , a “dark and monumental” film about neo-nationalism in Belarus, earned the top prize tonight at the prestigious CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen. Belorussian directors Alexander Mihalkovich and Hanna Badziaka accepted the Dox:Award honor at a ceremony at the Kunsthal Charlottenborg in the Danish capital. Jurors praised Motherland as “a cinematic and meaningful film that took its time unfolding the complexity of living within an oppressive and unjust system. It poses questions about the idea of an individual choice within a cornered society. The title of the film is a way to give back the power to the women who are at the forefront of this fight.” [See the full list of CPH:DOX winners below]. The world premiere of Motherland at CPH:DOX comes at a particularly timely moment, just over a year after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine with key assistance from the Kremlin-allied Belorussian government. Russian forces trained in Belarus in advance of the … [Read more...] about ‘Motherland,’ Belorussian Film That Challenges Country’s Nationalist Push, Takes Top Prize At CPH:DOX; See Full Winners List

EXCLUSIVE : Fresh off a surprise “work in progress” screening at SXSW , Robert Rodriguez’s action-thriller Hypnotic , starring Ben Affleck , has been set for a May 12 U.S. release. As we revealed last month , Ketchup Entertainment will be launching the movie on more than 2,000 screens. The looming release for a movie that remains unfinished is yet another talking point in the project’s tumultuous journey to screen. Little has been straight-forward for Hypnotic but the warm reception it received on Sunday night was a welcome respite for its creatives and financiers. It’s unusual for a big budget film to get a public ‘work in progress’ screening at a festival but Austin was a smart choice given the home crowd’s reverence for Texas-native Rodriguez. The director said today: “I’ve been working on this film for many years now, and to see the reaction from my home town audience at SXSW was humbling and validating. I look forward to now sharing it with all movie … [Read more...] about Robert Rodriguez & Ben Affleck’s ‘Hypnotic’ Gets May Release Date Following Surprise SXSW “Work In Progress” Screening

A project from Finland and a Belgium-Uruguay co-production have won the Seriesmaker initiative here at Series Mania . The projects, Yours, Margot and The Invisible Ink , both bag €50,000 ($54,000) each after winning the Beta Development Awards. They were announced minutes ago at Lille’s Series Mania Forum event, which is into its second day. Yours, Margot is an eight-part drama from Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen and producer Jussi Rantamäki. The logline is: “After discovering her father’s letters to an unknown lover, Vilja unearths her family’s traumatic past in 1980s East Berlin.” Kuosmanen’s 2021 road movie Compartment No 6 won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival official competition, and his biographical film The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki won Prix Un Certain Regard at Cannes Film Festival. The Invisible Ink comes from director César Díaz and producer Fernando Epstein, and also runs to eight parts. It follows a former Uruguayan … [Read more...] about Finland’s ‘Yours, Margot’ And Belgium-Uruguay Co-Pro ‘The Invisible Ink’ Win Beta And Series Mania Seriesmakers Initiative

Ruben Östlund and Erik Hemmendorff’s company Plattform Produktion has issued an apology to Berlin-based Argentinian artist Lola Arias over the use of her name in the 2017 Cannes Palme d’Or Winner The Square . “We understand that the use of Lola Arias’ name, which was not discussed as clearly as it should have been, created a misunderstanding connecting her work as an artist to the artwork The Square ( Rutan ) shown in the film,” the company said in a statement. “After meeting the artist in Berlin and discussing the misperception caused, we would like to emphasize that The Square ( Rutan ) is an artwork originally created by Ruben Östlund and Kalle Boman for the city of Värnamo, Sweden in 2015. All reference to the artist Lola Arias as the creator of the artwork is fictional,” it continued. “We would like to offer an apology to Lola Arias for the way her name was used in the fiction film The Square .” Östlund’s satire about the contemporary art world … [Read more...] about Ruben Östlund’s Production Company Issues Apology To Argentinian Artist Cited In ‘The Square’