Project previously won Screen’s Best Pitch Award at Tallinn’s Baltic Event co-production market in 2011.
The Playmaker Munich is to handle international sales for Finnish director Klaus Härö’s World War II drama Never Alone (Ei Koskaan Yksin), which won Screen’s Best Pitch Award when it was pitched at Tallinn’s Baltic Event co-production market in 2011.
Since then, Härö has been busy with other projects such as the 2015 Golden Globe nominated and Oscar-shortlisted The Fencer and his first foray into English-language films with the drama My Sailor, My Love.
He has now turned his attention back to Never Alone,...
The Playmaker Munich is to handle international sales for Finnish director Klaus Härö’s World War II drama Never Alone (Ei Koskaan Yksin), which won Screen’s Best Pitch Award when it was pitched at Tallinn’s Baltic Event co-production market in 2011.
Since then, Härö has been busy with other projects such as the 2015 Golden Globe nominated and Oscar-shortlisted The Fencer and his first foray into English-language films with the drama My Sailor, My Love.
He has now turned his attention back to Never Alone,...
- 11/28/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Riding the high of a production-servicing boom, Estonia’s domestic industry has likewise shown no signs of slowing down. Here’s a roundup of top local productions in the pipeline, from producers who are searching for international partners in Cannes:
The Invisible Fight
Director: Rainer Sarnet
Producers: Katrin Kissa, Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), Alise Gelze, White Picture (Latvia), Amanda Livanou, Neda Film (Greece), Helen Vinogradov, Helsinki-filmi (Finland)
Sarnet, whose fantasy-drama “November” played at Tribeca in 2017, returns with a ‘70s-set kung-fu comedy about a guard on the Soviet-Chinese border who, after surviving a deadly attack, decides to become a monk but must continually prove along the way that he’s capable of becoming the enlightened man he set out to be.
Lioness
Director: Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo
Producers: Ivo Felt (Estonia), Guntis Trekteris (Latvia)
The sophomore feature from Trishkina-Vanhatalo, whose debut “Take It or Leave It” was Estonia’s submission for the international feature Oscar,...
The Invisible Fight
Director: Rainer Sarnet
Producers: Katrin Kissa, Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), Alise Gelze, White Picture (Latvia), Amanda Livanou, Neda Film (Greece), Helen Vinogradov, Helsinki-filmi (Finland)
Sarnet, whose fantasy-drama “November” played at Tribeca in 2017, returns with a ‘70s-set kung-fu comedy about a guard on the Soviet-Chinese border who, after surviving a deadly attack, decides to become a monk but must continually prove along the way that he’s capable of becoming the enlightened man he set out to be.
Lioness
Director: Liina Trishkina-Vanhatalo
Producers: Ivo Felt (Estonia), Guntis Trekteris (Latvia)
The sophomore feature from Trishkina-Vanhatalo, whose debut “Take It or Leave It” was Estonia’s submission for the international feature Oscar,...
- 5/21/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Estonia received a splashy introduction to the limelight in 2019, when it played host to Christopher Nolan’s time-bending sci-fi drama “Tenet.” The biggest production to shoot in the Baltic nation to date, Warner Bros.’ 200 million blockbuster landed Estonia squarely on the map for international film and television productions.
Though the coronavirus pandemic arrived not long after principal photography wrapped, the industry hasn’t skipped a beat since, with both domestic and international production — drawn by a cash rebate of up to 30 —continuing apace. This year, says Estonian Film Institute CEO Edith Sepp, there are no signs of slowing down.
“The Estonian cash rebate has been booming more than ever in the first half of this year,” she says. “In the whole of 2021, we had seven projects using the cash rebate scheme, but by January this year, we already had eight projects lined up for the rebate and the year had barely started.
Though the coronavirus pandemic arrived not long after principal photography wrapped, the industry hasn’t skipped a beat since, with both domestic and international production — drawn by a cash rebate of up to 30 —continuing apace. This year, says Estonian Film Institute CEO Edith Sepp, there are no signs of slowing down.
“The Estonian cash rebate has been booming more than ever in the first half of this year,” she says. “In the whole of 2021, we had seven projects using the cash rebate scheme, but by January this year, we already had eight projects lined up for the rebate and the year had barely started.
- 5/21/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Swedish director Katarina Launing’s ‘You Can Dance’ named the winner of Screen International ’s best pitch award.
The 2021 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has named the winners of its Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event awards.
The industry showcase took place as a hybrid of in-person and virtual events, with the winners announced today (November 26) following a week of presentations and networking with around 700 delegates.
Swedish director Katarina Launing’s feature project You Can Dance was named the winner of Screen International’s best pitch award at the Baltic Event Co-Production Market, which guarantees coverage on Screen throughout the project’s lifecycle.
The 2021 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has named the winners of its Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event awards.
The industry showcase took place as a hybrid of in-person and virtual events, with the winners announced today (November 26) following a week of presentations and networking with around 700 delegates.
Swedish director Katarina Launing’s feature project You Can Dance was named the winner of Screen International’s best pitch award at the Baltic Event Co-Production Market, which guarantees coverage on Screen throughout the project’s lifecycle.
- 11/28/2021
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
The award-winning Estonian director is now shooting his new fiction film at Tallinn’s Haven Kakumäe Marina and in Toila. Estonia’s Ilmar Raag is now working on a new project, penned by Livia Ulman and Andris Feldmanis. The Kuressaare-born director is best known for his socio-critical film The Class (2007) and his recent drama I Won’t Come Back (2014) as well as his work as a media executive, actor, screenwriter and journalist. The new fiction film, entitled Erik Stoneheart, revolves around an 11-year-old boy called Erik (Herman Avandi), who is convinced that he has a stone for a heart. That’s why he doesn’t mind that his parents have no time for him or that he has no real friends. When his family moves to a villa they inherited from Aunt Brunhilda, he discovers another family living there – Maria and her dad, whom Erik’s...
It will be the third feature from director Jonas Karasek.
Slovakian project The File (Spis) has won Screen International’s Best Pitch Award at the Baltic Event Co-Production Market at the Tallin Black Nights International Film Festival.
Producer Wanda Adamik Hrycova of Bratislava-based Wandal production, director Jonas Karasek and the film’s Finnish co-producer Oskari Huttu of Lucy Loves accepted the award, which offers editorial coverage throughout the film’s life-cycle.
The €1.8m political thriller, based on real events surrounding one of the biggest corruption scandals in Eastern European history, will be the third feature directed by Karasek.
It continues...
Slovakian project The File (Spis) has won Screen International’s Best Pitch Award at the Baltic Event Co-Production Market at the Tallin Black Nights International Film Festival.
Producer Wanda Adamik Hrycova of Bratislava-based Wandal production, director Jonas Karasek and the film’s Finnish co-producer Oskari Huttu of Lucy Loves accepted the award, which offers editorial coverage throughout the film’s life-cycle.
The €1.8m political thriller, based on real events surrounding one of the biggest corruption scandals in Eastern European history, will be the third feature directed by Karasek.
It continues...
- 11/29/2019
- by 158¦Martin Blaney¦40¦
- ScreenDaily
Estonian project Erik Stoneheart wins Screen Best Pitch Award.
Lithuania was the big winner at this year’s Baltic Event when the awards were handed out during a ceremony in Tallinn’s historical town centre on Tuesday evening.
The Eurimages Co-Production Development Award - with a non-reimbursable subsidy of €20,000 to be used exclusively to cover project development costs - was presented for the first time this year in Tallinn.
A jury consisting of Petri Kemppinen, CEO of the Nordic Film & TV Fund, Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska, and Dorien van de Pas, head of New Screen Nl and a consultant for talent development at the Netherlands Film Fund, chose the feature debut project Motherland by American Film Institute graduate Tomas Vengris, the son of Lithuanian immigrants living in the Us
The €950,000 coming of age story will be produced by Uljana Kim’s Vilnius-based Studio Uljana Kim and already has Locomotive Productions from neighbouring Latvia attached as a co-producer...
Lithuania was the big winner at this year’s Baltic Event when the awards were handed out during a ceremony in Tallinn’s historical town centre on Tuesday evening.
The Eurimages Co-Production Development Award - with a non-reimbursable subsidy of €20,000 to be used exclusively to cover project development costs - was presented for the first time this year in Tallinn.
A jury consisting of Petri Kemppinen, CEO of the Nordic Film & TV Fund, Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska, and Dorien van de Pas, head of New Screen Nl and a consultant for talent development at the Netherlands Film Fund, chose the feature debut project Motherland by American Film Institute graduate Tomas Vengris, the son of Lithuanian immigrants living in the Us
The €950,000 coming of age story will be produced by Uljana Kim’s Vilnius-based Studio Uljana Kim and already has Locomotive Productions from neighbouring Latvia attached as a co-producer...
- 11/18/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Former winners of Screen International’s Best Pitch Award are among the producers with projects at the co-production market during the 14th edition of Tallinn’s Baltic Event (Nov 16-18).Scroll down for full list of projects
Finnish producers Kaarle Aho and Kai Nordberg of Making Movies Oy, who won the Screen award on two occasions (most recently, last year for the comedy Impaled Rektum) will be coming to the Baltic Event with Klaus Harö’s next feature project, the grandfather-grandson drama Dark Christ.
Making Movies is the producer of Harö’s The Fencer, Finland’s submission for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar.
Another of Harö’s feature projects, Never Alone, to be produced by Mrp Productions’ Ilkka Matila, received Screen’s best pitch award in 2011.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian producer Uljana Kim, whose production of Kristijonas Vildziunas’ Seneca’s Day took the award home from the 2013 edition of the Baltic Event, will be back...
Finnish producers Kaarle Aho and Kai Nordberg of Making Movies Oy, who won the Screen award on two occasions (most recently, last year for the comedy Impaled Rektum) will be coming to the Baltic Event with Klaus Harö’s next feature project, the grandfather-grandson drama Dark Christ.
Making Movies is the producer of Harö’s The Fencer, Finland’s submission for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar.
Another of Harö’s feature projects, Never Alone, to be produced by Mrp Productions’ Ilkka Matila, received Screen’s best pitch award in 2011.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian producer Uljana Kim, whose production of Kristijonas Vildziunas’ Seneca’s Day took the award home from the 2013 edition of the Baltic Event, will be back...
- 10/21/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
The Lesson by co-directors Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov was the big winner at this year’s Sofia International Film Festival in Bulgaria.
The duo’s feature debut became the second Bulgarian feature in Siff’s 19-year history to receive the international jury’s Grand Prix after Dragomir Sholev’s Shelter in 2011.
The Lesson also picked up the Audience Award, the Fipresci International Critics’ Prize and the award for the Best Bulgarian Feature Film.
Accepting the award, Valchanov pointed to the importance of the Sofia Meetings where The Lesson had originally been pitched and said that this event should be ¨an example¨ to the Bulgarian state to develop a long-term and sustainable film policy for the future.
The sentiment was echoed by international jury president Stephan Komanderev (The Judgement) when he presented the ¨Sofia City Of Film¨ Grand Prix to the young directors.
The Lesson, which is handled internationally by Wide Management, premiered last year...
The duo’s feature debut became the second Bulgarian feature in Siff’s 19-year history to receive the international jury’s Grand Prix after Dragomir Sholev’s Shelter in 2011.
The Lesson also picked up the Audience Award, the Fipresci International Critics’ Prize and the award for the Best Bulgarian Feature Film.
Accepting the award, Valchanov pointed to the importance of the Sofia Meetings where The Lesson had originally been pitched and said that this event should be ¨an example¨ to the Bulgarian state to develop a long-term and sustainable film policy for the future.
The sentiment was echoed by international jury president Stephan Komanderev (The Judgement) when he presented the ¨Sofia City Of Film¨ Grand Prix to the young directors.
The Lesson, which is handled internationally by Wide Management, premiered last year...
- 3/16/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Norway’s submission to the Oscars to open 56th edition; Jihlava docfest winners revealed.
Bent Hamer’s latest feature film 1001 Grams will be the opening film tonight for Lübeck’s Nordic Film Days (Oct 29 – Nov 2), which has a programme of 172 films screening from the North and North-East of Europe.
Norway’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar was co-produced by Cologne-based Pandora Film Produktion and will be released theatrically in Germany by Pandora’s distribution arm, Pandora Film Verleih, on December 18.
Ahead of 1001 Grams’ German premiere in Lübeck, co-producer Claudia Steffen and her partners at Pandora issued a statement expressing their concern „that one of our most important allies, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw, has faced significant cut-backs from its two main shareholders.“
Earlier this month, public broadcaster Wdr had revealed its intention to reduce its voluntary annual contribution to Germany’s leading regional film fund by $ 3.82m (€ 3m), and the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia...
Bent Hamer’s latest feature film 1001 Grams will be the opening film tonight for Lübeck’s Nordic Film Days (Oct 29 – Nov 2), which has a programme of 172 films screening from the North and North-East of Europe.
Norway’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar was co-produced by Cologne-based Pandora Film Produktion and will be released theatrically in Germany by Pandora’s distribution arm, Pandora Film Verleih, on December 18.
Ahead of 1001 Grams’ German premiere in Lübeck, co-producer Claudia Steffen and her partners at Pandora issued a statement expressing their concern „that one of our most important allies, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw, has faced significant cut-backs from its two main shareholders.“
Earlier this month, public broadcaster Wdr had revealed its intention to reduce its voluntary annual contribution to Germany’s leading regional film fund by $ 3.82m (€ 3m), and the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia...
- 10/29/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
This year’s European Film Awards are officially out of the gates with a not so lean 50 film submissions to select from. The 27th edition collects titles that date back to last year’s Venice and Toronto Int. Film Festivals moving into Sundance-Rotterdam-Berlin and finally Cannes of ’14. Among the 31 European countries represented, we’ve got likes of the Palme d’Or winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan leading the huge pack of contenders including Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida. Here’s the complete list of 50!:
Alienation
ОТЧУЖДЕНИЕ (Otchujdenie)
Bulgaria
Directed By: Milko Lazarov
Written By: Milko Lazarov, Kitodar Todorov & Georgi Tenev
Produced By: Veselka Kiryakova
Amour Fou
Austria/Luxembourg/Germany
Written & Directed By: Jessica Hausner
Produced By: Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Bruno Wagner, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu & Philippe Bober
Beautiful Youth
Hermosa Juventud
Spain/France
Directed By: Jaime Rosales
Written By: Jaime Rosales & Enric Rufas
Produced By: Jaime Rosales,...
Alienation
ОТЧУЖДЕНИЕ (Otchujdenie)
Bulgaria
Directed By: Milko Lazarov
Written By: Milko Lazarov, Kitodar Todorov & Georgi Tenev
Produced By: Veselka Kiryakova
Amour Fou
Austria/Luxembourg/Germany
Written & Directed By: Jessica Hausner
Produced By: Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Bruno Wagner, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu & Philippe Bober
Beautiful Youth
Hermosa Juventud
Spain/France
Directed By: Jaime Rosales
Written By: Jaime Rosales & Enric Rufas
Produced By: Jaime Rosales,...
- 9/16/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
More than 30 European countries represented in the line-up.Scroll down for list in full
The 50 films recommended for a nomination for the European Film Awards (EFAs) have been unveiled.
The European Film Academy and Efa Productions revealed the titles at a press conference in Riga, Latvia where this year’s 27th EFAs will take place on Dec 13.
A total of 31 European countries are represented. In the 20 countries with the most Efa members, these members have voted one national film directly into the selection list.
To complete the list, a selection committee consisting of Efa Board Members and invited experts have included further films. Those experts include Screen International chief film critic and reviews editor Mark Adams (UK), Marit Kapla (Sweden), Stefan Kitanov (Bulgaria), Paz Lázaro (Spain), Christophe Leparc (France) and Elma Tataragic (Bosnia & Herzegovina).
In the coming weeks, more than 3,000 members of the European Film Academy will vote for the nominations in the categories European Film, Director...
The 50 films recommended for a nomination for the European Film Awards (EFAs) have been unveiled.
The European Film Academy and Efa Productions revealed the titles at a press conference in Riga, Latvia where this year’s 27th EFAs will take place on Dec 13.
A total of 31 European countries are represented. In the 20 countries with the most Efa members, these members have voted one national film directly into the selection list.
To complete the list, a selection committee consisting of Efa Board Members and invited experts have included further films. Those experts include Screen International chief film critic and reviews editor Mark Adams (UK), Marit Kapla (Sweden), Stefan Kitanov (Bulgaria), Paz Lázaro (Spain), Christophe Leparc (France) and Elma Tataragic (Bosnia & Herzegovina).
In the coming weeks, more than 3,000 members of the European Film Academy will vote for the nominations in the categories European Film, Director...
- 9/16/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Ryan Kampe’s Visit Films has closed multiple territories on its current slate of films, led by Toronto selections Charlie’s Country and It Follows.
Rolf de Heer’s Australian drama Charlie’s Country has sold in the UK (StudioCanal), France (Nour Films) and Southeast Asia (Astro).
Star David Gulpilil won the best actor award in Cannes following the film’s international premiere in Un Certain Regard in Cannes.
David Robert Mitchell’s Tiff Midnight Madness entry It Follows, a Cannes Critics’ Week genre hit last May, has closed in Australia / New Zealand (Rialto) and Japan (Pony Canyon).
Visit previously licensed rights for the UK (Icon) and France (Metropolitan). Radius TWC will distribute in the Us.
Carlos Marques-Marcet’s SXSW modern romance 10.000 Km has sold in Southeast Asia (Astro), Benelux (FilmFreak), Hong Kong (Cinehub), Greece (Mikrokosmos) and MidEast (Sundance Channel International). Broad Green holds North American rights.
In other deals, Visit has licensed...
Rolf de Heer’s Australian drama Charlie’s Country has sold in the UK (StudioCanal), France (Nour Films) and Southeast Asia (Astro).
Star David Gulpilil won the best actor award in Cannes following the film’s international premiere in Un Certain Regard in Cannes.
David Robert Mitchell’s Tiff Midnight Madness entry It Follows, a Cannes Critics’ Week genre hit last May, has closed in Australia / New Zealand (Rialto) and Japan (Pony Canyon).
Visit previously licensed rights for the UK (Icon) and France (Metropolitan). Radius TWC will distribute in the Us.
Carlos Marques-Marcet’s SXSW modern romance 10.000 Km has sold in Southeast Asia (Astro), Benelux (FilmFreak), Hong Kong (Cinehub), Greece (Mikrokosmos) and MidEast (Sundance Channel International). Broad Green holds North American rights.
In other deals, Visit has licensed...
- 9/11/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Ryan Kampe’s Visit Films has closed multiple territories on its current slate of films, led by Toronto selections Charlie’s Country and It Follows.
Rolf de Heer’s Australian drama Charlie’s Country has sold in the UK (StudioCanal), France (Nour Films) and Southeast Asia (Astro).
Star David Gulpilil won the best actor award in Cannes following the film’s international premiere in Un Certain Regard in Cannes.
David Robert Mitchell’s Tiff Midnight Madness entry It Follows, a Cannes Critics’ Week genre hit last May, has closed in Australia / New Zealand (Rialto) and Japan (Pony Canyon).
Visit previously licensed rights for the UK (Icon) and France (Metropolitan). Radius TWC will distribute in the Us.
Carlos Marques-Marcet’s SXSW modern romance 10.000 Km has sold in Southeast Asia (Astro), Benelux (FilmFreak), Hong Kong (Cinehub), Greece (Mikrokosmos) and MidEast (Sundance Channel International). Broad Green holds North American rights.
In other deals, Visit has licensed...
Rolf de Heer’s Australian drama Charlie’s Country has sold in the UK (StudioCanal), France (Nour Films) and Southeast Asia (Astro).
Star David Gulpilil won the best actor award in Cannes following the film’s international premiere in Un Certain Regard in Cannes.
David Robert Mitchell’s Tiff Midnight Madness entry It Follows, a Cannes Critics’ Week genre hit last May, has closed in Australia / New Zealand (Rialto) and Japan (Pony Canyon).
Visit previously licensed rights for the UK (Icon) and France (Metropolitan). Radius TWC will distribute in the Us.
Carlos Marques-Marcet’s SXSW modern romance 10.000 Km has sold in Southeast Asia (Astro), Benelux (FilmFreak), Hong Kong (Cinehub), Greece (Mikrokosmos) and MidEast (Sundance Channel International). Broad Green holds North American rights.
In other deals, Visit has licensed...
- 9/11/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Retrospective to include films from Danis Tanovic, Cristi Puiu, Mira Fornay and more.
A total of 50 films are to make up the retrospective Eastern Promises: Autobiography of Eastern Europe at the 62nd San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 19-27).
The line-up includes movies produced since 2000 in the countries that lived under Soviet influence after the Second World War and include some that were never released theatrically in Spain.
Several directors of films in the retrospective will attend the festival to present their works including Sarunas Bartas (Lithuania), Kristina Buožytė (Lithuania), Marian Crisan (Romania), Mira Fornay (Slovakia), Bohdan Sláma (Czech Republic), Malgorzata Szumowska (Poland) and Anna Viduleja (Latvia).
A book will be published to accompany the retrospective with contributions from journalists and critics across Europe.
The titles are:
Kruh In Mleko / Bread And Milk
Jan Cvitkovic (Slovenia) 2001
A modern classic of Slovenian cinema, the tale of a man who went out for bread and milk and lost himself to alcohol...
A total of 50 films are to make up the retrospective Eastern Promises: Autobiography of Eastern Europe at the 62nd San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 19-27).
The line-up includes movies produced since 2000 in the countries that lived under Soviet influence after the Second World War and include some that were never released theatrically in Spain.
Several directors of films in the retrospective will attend the festival to present their works including Sarunas Bartas (Lithuania), Kristina Buožytė (Lithuania), Marian Crisan (Romania), Mira Fornay (Slovakia), Bohdan Sláma (Czech Republic), Malgorzata Szumowska (Poland) and Anna Viduleja (Latvia).
A book will be published to accompany the retrospective with contributions from journalists and critics across Europe.
The titles are:
Kruh In Mleko / Bread And Milk
Jan Cvitkovic (Slovenia) 2001
A modern classic of Slovenian cinema, the tale of a man who went out for bread and milk and lost himself to alcohol...
- 8/8/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
New films from Krzysztof Zanussi and Ralph Fiennes to also world premiere at Window To Europe Film Festival.
New films by Gérard Depardieu, Krzysztof Zanussi and Ralph Fiennes will have their world premieres at the 22nd edition of the Window To Europe Film Festival (Aug 8-15) in the Russian town of Vyborg situated close to the border with Finland.
French director Philippe Martinez’s tale of redemption and revenge Viktor, which stars Depardieu, Elizabeth Hurley and Eli Danker, will open a competition section dedicated to films co-produced with Russia.
Viktor, which was shot in Chechnya and Moscow last summer and is being handled internationally by UK-based sales agent Saradan Media, will be released by Paradise in Russian cinemas on September 4.
Co-production competition
Other co-productions selected include Zanussi’s Foreign Body, produced by his own company Studio Filmowe Tor with Italy’s Revolver Film and Russia’s Ineureka and Bella Vostok Ltd; Uzbek director Dilmurod Masaidov’s thriller...
New films by Gérard Depardieu, Krzysztof Zanussi and Ralph Fiennes will have their world premieres at the 22nd edition of the Window To Europe Film Festival (Aug 8-15) in the Russian town of Vyborg situated close to the border with Finland.
French director Philippe Martinez’s tale of redemption and revenge Viktor, which stars Depardieu, Elizabeth Hurley and Eli Danker, will open a competition section dedicated to films co-produced with Russia.
Viktor, which was shot in Chechnya and Moscow last summer and is being handled internationally by UK-based sales agent Saradan Media, will be released by Paradise in Russian cinemas on September 4.
Co-production competition
Other co-productions selected include Zanussi’s Foreign Body, produced by his own company Studio Filmowe Tor with Italy’s Revolver Film and Russia’s Ineureka and Bella Vostok Ltd; Uzbek director Dilmurod Masaidov’s thriller...
- 8/5/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Russian actor Sergey Puskepalis is to make his directorial debut and has cast Alexey Serebryakov, star of Cannes winner Leviathan.
Clinch is billed as a drama with tragicomic elements starring Serebryakov, who headlined Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan, winner of best screenplay at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Clinch, which is being produced by Ruben Dishdishyan’s Mars Media Entertainment, also features the actress Asya Domskaya in her first screen role.
Speaking to Ria-Novosti, Puskepalis explained that the film’s story, which he had developed for the past five years, focuses on “the clinch of relations between the ‘next’ generations and people of my age”.
“We are not very good at understanding the kids who are around 20-22 years-old. And there’s an essential difference between us – they are citizens of Russia and we are all still from the Ussr,” he added.
Puskepalis and his co-star Grigory Dobrygin shared a Silver Bear at the 2010 Berlinale for their...
Clinch is billed as a drama with tragicomic elements starring Serebryakov, who headlined Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan, winner of best screenplay at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Clinch, which is being produced by Ruben Dishdishyan’s Mars Media Entertainment, also features the actress Asya Domskaya in her first screen role.
Speaking to Ria-Novosti, Puskepalis explained that the film’s story, which he had developed for the past five years, focuses on “the clinch of relations between the ‘next’ generations and people of my age”.
“We are not very good at understanding the kids who are around 20-22 years-old. And there’s an essential difference between us – they are citizens of Russia and we are all still from the Ussr,” he added.
Puskepalis and his co-star Grigory Dobrygin shared a Silver Bear at the 2010 Berlinale for their...
- 7/11/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Ukrainian feature wins Grand Prix at ‘Zerkalo’ Andrey Tarkovsky International Film Festival.
Ukrainian director Miroslav Slaboshpitzky’s The Tribe (Plemya) was the winner of this year’s ¨Zerkalo¨ Andrey Tarkovsky International Film Festival (June 10-15).
The film, which follows a deaf mute boy’s attempts to fit into the boarding school system, won three prizes at the Critics’ Week in Cannes when it premiered there last month.
Named after Tarkovsky’s 1975 film Mirror (Zerkalo), the festival is programmed by the Russian film critic Andrey Plakhov in Tarkovsky’s birthplace of Ivanovo.
This year’s eighth edition had ‘women in cinema’ as its all-embracing theme.
Thus, the feature film jury consisted only of women, including Kinotavr’s programme director Sitora Alieva, veteran Portuguese actress Isabella Ruth, Us actress-producer Heidi Jo Markel, and Slovak film-maker Mira Fornay whose My Dog Killer screened in Ivanovo last year.
Apart from the Grand Prix, they gave the award for best director to Berlin-based...
Ukrainian director Miroslav Slaboshpitzky’s The Tribe (Plemya) was the winner of this year’s ¨Zerkalo¨ Andrey Tarkovsky International Film Festival (June 10-15).
The film, which follows a deaf mute boy’s attempts to fit into the boarding school system, won three prizes at the Critics’ Week in Cannes when it premiered there last month.
Named after Tarkovsky’s 1975 film Mirror (Zerkalo), the festival is programmed by the Russian film critic Andrey Plakhov in Tarkovsky’s birthplace of Ivanovo.
This year’s eighth edition had ‘women in cinema’ as its all-embracing theme.
Thus, the feature film jury consisted only of women, including Kinotavr’s programme director Sitora Alieva, veteran Portuguese actress Isabella Ruth, Us actress-producer Heidi Jo Markel, and Slovak film-maker Mira Fornay whose My Dog Killer screened in Ivanovo last year.
Apart from the Grand Prix, they gave the award for best director to Berlin-based...
- 6/17/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Russia has made headlines lately for no shortage of reasons (the Olympics, Edward Snowden, Ukraine, you name it) and so there are plenty of stories to tell from the country. Russia’s Ministry of Culture is backing a project that we'd wager they're hoping will shine a different light on the nation, and they're rounding up some big names to help out. The omnibus "Petersburg: A Category Of Feelings" is being put together and a roster of directors, including Todd Solondz, Ralph Fiennes, Sam Rockwell, Timur Bekmambetov, Avdotya Smirnova, Bakur Bakuradze, Cedric Klapisch, Igor Voloshin and Ilmar Raag are on board to direct episodes of the project. The movie will use the letters from the titular city as descriptions or qualities—Pleasure, Effort, Trust, Envy, Repose, Shrewdness, Bravery, Uncertainty, Refuge and Glee—for the filmmakers to follow in their works. And in case you're wondering, this is a different project than the "Saint Petersburg,...
- 6/2/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Films by Todd Solondz, Ralph Fiennes and Andrei Konchalovsky as well as an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s White Nights, starring Daniel Brühl, are among 12 projects to be supported by Russia’s Ministry of Culture this year.
Solondz, Fiennes and Bekmambetov are set to join director colleagues Avdotya Smirnova, Bakur Bakuradze, Cedric Klapisch, Igor Voloshin, Ilmar Raag and Sam Rockwell in shooting episodes of the omnibus film Petersburg: A Category Of Feelings.
The project, which is to be produced by Lenfilm Studio in cooperation with Sergey Selyanov’s St Petersburg-based production powerhouse Ctb Company, will invite the filmmakers to present their views of the “Venice of the North” through emotions or qualities whose first letters make up the city’s name: Pleasure, Effort, Trust, Envy, Repose, Shrewdness, Bravery, Uncertainty, Refuge and Glee.
The idea for the project originates from Selyanov, and one of the episodes will be directed by actor-director-producer Fedor Bondarchuk who is also serving as the...
Solondz, Fiennes and Bekmambetov are set to join director colleagues Avdotya Smirnova, Bakur Bakuradze, Cedric Klapisch, Igor Voloshin, Ilmar Raag and Sam Rockwell in shooting episodes of the omnibus film Petersburg: A Category Of Feelings.
The project, which is to be produced by Lenfilm Studio in cooperation with Sergey Selyanov’s St Petersburg-based production powerhouse Ctb Company, will invite the filmmakers to present their views of the “Venice of the North” through emotions or qualities whose first letters make up the city’s name: Pleasure, Effort, Trust, Envy, Repose, Shrewdness, Bravery, Uncertainty, Refuge and Glee.
The idea for the project originates from Selyanov, and one of the episodes will be directed by actor-director-producer Fedor Bondarchuk who is also serving as the...
- 6/2/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
I Won’t Come Back
Directed by Ilmar Raag
Russia, 2014
Anya (Polina Pushkaruk) is an orphan on the track to success. She receives top marks in school and makes her way into graduate school as a professor’s assistant. When an old friend, Dima (Sergey Yatsenyuk), gets her into trouble with the police she goes on the run, meeting a young girl, Christina (Vika Lobacheva) along the way.
The second half of I Won’t Come Back is far stronger than the beginning, which features an affair that plays as close to implausible, a drug deal arrest staged unfortunately comically, and two leads whose interactions feel forced and redundant.
Luckily, things change once Andrey (Andrey Astrakhantsev), the older man with whom Anya is infatuated, is absent from the film and the stakes are raised on Anya and Christina’s journey. Two particular scenes – one where Christina is very nearly, and casually,...
Directed by Ilmar Raag
Russia, 2014
Anya (Polina Pushkaruk) is an orphan on the track to success. She receives top marks in school and makes her way into graduate school as a professor’s assistant. When an old friend, Dima (Sergey Yatsenyuk), gets her into trouble with the police she goes on the run, meeting a young girl, Christina (Vika Lobacheva) along the way.
The second half of I Won’t Come Back is far stronger than the beginning, which features an affair that plays as close to implausible, a drug deal arrest staged unfortunately comically, and two leads whose interactions feel forced and redundant.
Luckily, things change once Andrey (Andrey Astrakhantsev), the older man with whom Anya is infatuated, is absent from the film and the stakes are raised on Anya and Christina’s journey. Two particular scenes – one where Christina is very nearly, and casually,...
- 5/1/2014
- by Neal Dhand
- SoundOnSight
Zero Motivation, a dark comedy about the lives of Israeli female soldiers, was named the top film at the 13th Tribeca Film Festival. Writer/director Tayla Lavie accepted the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, as well as the Nora Ephron Prize, which goes to the female filmmaker who best embodies Ephron’s spirit and vision. “In her unique and ambitious first feature, deftly handled such difficult themes as the military, sexism, love, ambition, and friendship,” the jury noted. “This filmmaker also pulled off the awesome feat of managing multiple characters and storylines. In what was definitely the most hilarious...
- 4/25/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Estonian filmmaker Ilmar Raag comes to Tribeca with "I Won't Come Back," a drama about a woman on the run. Known for "Love is Blind" and "A Lady in Paris," Raag returns to Russia to create a work he promises is "something that would get your heart beating." Tell us about yourself? I probably did too many things before starting to make movies. I studied history, film economy, television in Estonia, in France and in the States. I worked as journalist and as television executive. It all took almost too long before I decided to do only things that I want to do. So, in a way, I started my life only in 2007 with the film "The Class". 5 years later I managed to release my second film "A Lady in Paris", shot in France with Jeanne Moreau. And only then I was ready for real adventures. Biggest challenge coming into the project?...
- 4/15/2014
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
By the looks of it, the Tribeca Film Festival might finally be growing out of their awkward teenage phase and moving into a new era where the nab more than just Sundance and SXSW festival rejects. Artistic Director Frederic Boyer has managed to nab some noteworthy American indie projects such as Lou Howe’s Gabriel (see pic above), Keith Miller’s Five Star, Adam Rapp’s Loitering with Intent, and Tristan Patterson’s Electric Slide.
On the docu front, we’ve got the latest from the likes of notable documentarians Marshall Curry and Jessica Yu. Think Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Round meets child solider movie for Curry’s awesomely titled Point and Shoot — where the Libyan rebel army take hold of Curry’s subject. Yu moves from water shortage in Last Call at the Oasis (read our review) to the biggest pandemic of all; Misconception looks at the consequences...
On the docu front, we’ve got the latest from the likes of notable documentarians Marshall Curry and Jessica Yu. Think Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Round meets child solider movie for Curry’s awesomely titled Point and Shoot — where the Libyan rebel army take hold of Curry’s subject. Yu moves from water shortage in Last Call at the Oasis (read our review) to the biggest pandemic of all; Misconception looks at the consequences...
- 3/4/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The 13th Tribeca Film Festival has announced half its slate for next month’s New York celebration, which runs April 16-27. Culled from more than 6,000 submissions, Tribeca 2014 includes 55 world premieres, 37 first-time filmmakers, and 22 female directors. “Variously inspired by individual interests and experience and driven by an intense sensibility of style, the array of new filmmaking voices in this year’s competition is especially impressive and I think memorable,” said Frederic Boyer, Tribeca’s artistic director. “The range of American subcultures and international genres represented here are both eclectic and wide reaching.”
On April 17, Gabriel will open the World Narrative competition,...
On April 17, Gabriel will open the World Narrative competition,...
- 3/4/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Tribeca Film Festival top brass have announced (4) the World Narrative and Documentary Competition film selections and Viewpoints titles, comprising 47 of the 89 features that will screen at the festival over April 16-27.
The World Narrative Feature Competition will open with the world premiere of Lou Howe’s Gabriel starring Rory Culkin, while the corresponding documentary category kicks off with the world premiere of Frédéric Tcheng’s Dior And I (pictured).
Viewpoints opens with the world premiere of Onur Tukel’s Summer Of Blood and the section includes the North American premiere of Diao Yinan’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Black Coal, Thin Ice as well as the Us premiere of David Mackenzie’s Starred Up.
All three sections will commence on April 17. As previously announced, the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival will open with documentary Time Is Illmatic a day earlier.
Overall the festival will screen features from 32 countries including 55 world premieres, six international premieres, 12 North American...
The World Narrative Feature Competition will open with the world premiere of Lou Howe’s Gabriel starring Rory Culkin, while the corresponding documentary category kicks off with the world premiere of Frédéric Tcheng’s Dior And I (pictured).
Viewpoints opens with the world premiere of Onur Tukel’s Summer Of Blood and the section includes the North American premiere of Diao Yinan’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Black Coal, Thin Ice as well as the Us premiere of David Mackenzie’s Starred Up.
All three sections will commence on April 17. As previously announced, the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival will open with documentary Time Is Illmatic a day earlier.
Overall the festival will screen features from 32 countries including 55 world premieres, six international premieres, 12 North American...
- 3/4/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Benelux is the regional focus for Trieste’s fourth edition of its When East Meets West (Wemw) co-production forum (January 20-22, 2014) being held during the Trieste Film Festival.
Eight of the 22 projects being presented in public pitches at the forum, which runs Jan 20-22, will be projects from the Benelux countries - Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - looking for potential co-producers and distributors from Italy or Eastern Europe.
They include new projects from Luxembourg’s Bady Minck, 1313 Dante’s Emperor, and The Netherlands’ David Verbeek, Full Contact, as well as the Belgian documentary film-makers Daniel Lambo, Eternal Silence, and Gilles Coton, Meet Enver Hadri.
Wemw’s project manager Alessandro Gropplero told ScreenDaily that this year’s call for projects had attracted a record 200 entries - 23 from the Benelux, 32 from Italy and 145 from Eastern Europe - with 140 fiction film projects and 60 documentary projects.
An international jury then selected 10 fiction and 12 documentary projects in development to be pitched...
Eight of the 22 projects being presented in public pitches at the forum, which runs Jan 20-22, will be projects from the Benelux countries - Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - looking for potential co-producers and distributors from Italy or Eastern Europe.
They include new projects from Luxembourg’s Bady Minck, 1313 Dante’s Emperor, and The Netherlands’ David Verbeek, Full Contact, as well as the Belgian documentary film-makers Daniel Lambo, Eternal Silence, and Gilles Coton, Meet Enver Hadri.
Wemw’s project manager Alessandro Gropplero told ScreenDaily that this year’s call for projects had attracted a record 200 entries - 23 from the Benelux, 32 from Italy and 145 from Eastern Europe - with 140 fiction film projects and 60 documentary projects.
An international jury then selected 10 fiction and 12 documentary projects in development to be pitched...
- 12/19/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Producers from Lithuania, Romania, Denmark and Finland were the recipients of five awards presented at the Baltic Event’s Co-Production Market (Nov 26-29).
This year’s Screen International Best Pitch Award went to Lithuanian producer Uljana Kim of Vilnius-based Studio Uljana Kim who was pitching Kristijonas Vildžiūnas’s fourth feature Seneca’s Day which is set to be the first co-production between the three Baltic states.
The €1.48m drama, which also has France’s Philippe Avril attached as a co-producer via his Strasbourg-based company Unlimited, has already received development support from the Lithuanian Film Centre and Media.
Previous winners of the Screen International award, which follows the winning project editorially from development into production and subsequent distribution, includes Petri Kotwica’s Rat King, Alexei German Jr.’s Under Electric Clouds and Jaak Kilmi’s The Hoppers.
Cannes Producers Network
Cannes’ Producers Network gave two free accreditations for its 2014 edition to two promising young producers, the Baltic...
This year’s Screen International Best Pitch Award went to Lithuanian producer Uljana Kim of Vilnius-based Studio Uljana Kim who was pitching Kristijonas Vildžiūnas’s fourth feature Seneca’s Day which is set to be the first co-production between the three Baltic states.
The €1.48m drama, which also has France’s Philippe Avril attached as a co-producer via his Strasbourg-based company Unlimited, has already received development support from the Lithuanian Film Centre and Media.
Previous winners of the Screen International award, which follows the winning project editorially from development into production and subsequent distribution, includes Petri Kotwica’s Rat King, Alexei German Jr.’s Under Electric Clouds and Jaak Kilmi’s The Hoppers.
Cannes Producers Network
Cannes’ Producers Network gave two free accreditations for its 2014 edition to two promising young producers, the Baltic...
- 12/2/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Dok Leipzig’s Golden Dove for Best International Documentary went to the Us, while Norway scored a hat-trick at the Nordic Film Days in Lübeck.
The top award in Leipzig’s International Documentary Competition went to Italian-born, Us-based film-maker Roberto Minervini’s Stop The Pounding Heart whose portrayal of a strict religious family was described by the jury as ¨refreshing and unsettling at the same time.¨
The Us-Belgian-Italian co-production is handled internationally by Doc & Film.
The Golden Dove in the German Documentary Competition was awarded to Carlo Zoratti for his feature-length debut The Special Need, while the newly-created Golden Dove for the animation-documentary hybrid form was presented to French director Daniela De Felice’s Casa.
A total of 18 prizes with cash awards totalling almost €70,000 ($95,000) included the Fipresci Prize for Gang Zhao’s A Folk Troupe; the Mdr Film Prize for Vitaly Mansky’s Pipeline; and the Youth Jury Prize to Joanna by Aneta Kopacz, a graduate...
The top award in Leipzig’s International Documentary Competition went to Italian-born, Us-based film-maker Roberto Minervini’s Stop The Pounding Heart whose portrayal of a strict religious family was described by the jury as ¨refreshing and unsettling at the same time.¨
The Us-Belgian-Italian co-production is handled internationally by Doc & Film.
The Golden Dove in the German Documentary Competition was awarded to Carlo Zoratti for his feature-length debut The Special Need, while the newly-created Golden Dove for the animation-documentary hybrid form was presented to French director Daniela De Felice’s Casa.
A total of 18 prizes with cash awards totalling almost €70,000 ($95,000) included the Fipresci Prize for Gang Zhao’s A Folk Troupe; the Mdr Film Prize for Vitaly Mansky’s Pipeline; and the Youth Jury Prize to Joanna by Aneta Kopacz, a graduate...
- 11/4/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Uberto Pasolini’s Still Life to open this year’s Warsaw Film Festival (Wff) tonight, which will close with Roman Polanski’s Venus In Fur on Oct 20.
The number of world, international and European premieres in the Wff line-up have never been as high as this year, with the selection of no less than 22 world premieres, 21 international premieres and 22 European premieres.
The world premieres include six titles in the festival’s main International competition:
Romanian film-maker Anca Damian’s English-language feature debut A Very Unsettled Summer, her first film since Crulic
Estonian Ilmar Raag’s unusual love story in a small village Love Is Blind
Zaza Urushadze’s Estonian-Georgian co-production Tangerines, which has also been invited to festivals in Mannheim-Heidelberg and Cottbus
Iranian director Amir Toodehroosta’s Paat where dogs go underground in Tehran
Zdeňek Tyc’s moving drama Like Never Before about an oddball painter approaching death in his country home
In addition, there will be...
The number of world, international and European premieres in the Wff line-up have never been as high as this year, with the selection of no less than 22 world premieres, 21 international premieres and 22 European premieres.
The world premieres include six titles in the festival’s main International competition:
Romanian film-maker Anca Damian’s English-language feature debut A Very Unsettled Summer, her first film since Crulic
Estonian Ilmar Raag’s unusual love story in a small village Love Is Blind
Zaza Urushadze’s Estonian-Georgian co-production Tangerines, which has also been invited to festivals in Mannheim-Heidelberg and Cottbus
Iranian director Amir Toodehroosta’s Paat where dogs go underground in Tehran
Zdeňek Tyc’s moving drama Like Never Before about an oddball painter approaching death in his country home
In addition, there will be...
- 10/11/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Title: A Lady in Paris Director: Ilmar Raag Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Laine Mägi, Patrick Pineau ‘An Estonian Woman in Paris’ would have been the literal and more appropriate title for the movie ‘A Lady in Paris.’ That is probably the only fault – imputable to foreign translators – that may be found in the delicate story of the Estonian media executive, screenwriter and film director, Ilmar Raag. The Baltic woman who goes to Paris is Anne (Laine Mägi). She moves to the French capital to take care of Frida (Jeanne Moreau), an elderly Estonian lady who emigrated to France long ago. But Anne will soon realise that all Frida wants from [ Read More ]
The post A Lady in Paris Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post A Lady in Paris Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 4/19/2013
- by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
- ShockYa
While Cannes’ Quinzaine struggles to reframe its identity, its former artistic director Olivier Père continues to impress in his new job at the Locarno Film Festival. On Wednesday, he and his programming team unveiled a lineup that is absolutely salivatory, a who’s who for high-minded cinephiles. Perhaps most impressive of all, he has managed to once again nudge the festival’s selection aesthetic even deeper into esoteric ‘experimental’ territory without seeming all that radical. More than any other festival, Locarno is the home for the edgy projects that are too sophisticated for Cannes, whose cold shoulder to avant-garde narrative filmmaking becomes more glaring with each passing year. Check out the complete line-up at the bottom of this page.
In their International Competition, in which films compete for the increasingly prestigious Golden Leopard, we have a collaboration between João Pedro Rodrigues and his partner João Rui Guerra da Mata called...
In their International Competition, in which films compete for the increasingly prestigious Golden Leopard, we have a collaboration between João Pedro Rodrigues and his partner João Rui Guerra da Mata called...
- 7/13/2012
- by Blake Williams
- IONCINEMA.com
Michael Haneke, Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant
on the set of Amour
It's been a couple of weeks since the French magazine Premiere posted "Cannes 2012: Le buzzomètre," a list of over 30 films, each of which were assigned a numerical probability of its making the lineup at Cannes this year. Speculation has only grown hotter, of course, with an official announcement slated for April 19; Critics' Week and the Directors' Fortnight will follow on April 23 and 24, respectively. "Paris is rife with rumors about who will make it," reports Fabien Lemercier at Cineuropa. "Several films by 'big fish' have not been seen yet, and many who have already shown their film are eagerly awaiting news."
A few days ago, a French blog pulled an April Fools' Day prank that thoroughly ticked off Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux. The blog claimed to have seen the full lineup, "briefly published on the official Cannes Film Festival...
on the set of Amour
It's been a couple of weeks since the French magazine Premiere posted "Cannes 2012: Le buzzomètre," a list of over 30 films, each of which were assigned a numerical probability of its making the lineup at Cannes this year. Speculation has only grown hotter, of course, with an official announcement slated for April 19; Critics' Week and the Directors' Fortnight will follow on April 23 and 24, respectively. "Paris is rife with rumors about who will make it," reports Fabien Lemercier at Cineuropa. "Several films by 'big fish' have not been seen yet, and many who have already shown their film are eagerly awaiting news."
A few days ago, a French blog pulled an April Fools' Day prank that thoroughly ticked off Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux. The blog claimed to have seen the full lineup, "briefly published on the official Cannes Film Festival...
- 4/5/2012
- MUBI
The Baltic state of Estonia is home to 1.3 million people and 1,500 of its local (mostly amateur) filmmakers got together to create the apocalyptic dramedy, That's It!. The group wanted to celebrate a century of Estonian cinema, and through the magic of the interwebs they were able to collectively write the script and develop a crew based on an online polling system. Casting was handled via a reality television show, and the whole process took a little over a year. More experienced filmmakers like Ilmar Raag, who directed the 2007 award-winning The Class, and documentarian Jaak Kilmi (Disco and Atomic War) oversaw the group's production process. The film chronicles the days leading up to the end of the world and follows a group of friends figuring out how they...
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- 11/11/2011
- by Alison Nastasi
- Movies.com
Friday afternoon marked the screening of the award-winning Estonian film, The Class. A brutally honest look at violence in high school, it is the debut film from director Ilmar Raag. (The Class is screening in competition and eligible for the Target cash award.) Lili Pilt from the Estonian Film Institute accompanied the film from Tallinn to Dallas. Pilt explained the genesis of the film, "The director was going to school...
- 4/5/2008
- AMC News: Film Festivals
- The very young, and so far, extremely successful Cannes Atelier program (now in its 4th year) has announced the 15 projects as part of the 2008 curriculum that basically invites directors and their producers to pitch their projects, find financing and/or find distribution to world investors in film the film festival dates. This year's batch includes plenty of first time film projects from short film directors who've canvased the festival circuit but the list also two familiar names with the 6th film project from Lou Ye's (Summer Palace) and the sophomore feature (Lucky Life) from Lee Isaac Chung - perhaps 2007's best new director with Munyurangabo (Liberation Day) making waves on the circuit. Here are the selected projects: Australia – Cure For Serpents by Ben Hackworth (2nd feature film)China – Bitch by Lou Ye (6th feature film)Colombia – The Stoplight Society by Ruben Mendoza (1st feature film)Estonia – One More Croissant
- 3/31/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
PARIS -- The Festival de Cannes has selected 15 projects from 14 countries for the fourth installment of the Cinefondation's Atelier program, organizers said Monday.
Launched in 2005, the Atelier was created to aid both established directors and rising-star filmmakers with the financing and completion of their upcoming projects. The Cinefondation's Atelier -- or "workshop" in English -- allows the selected filmmakers to spend eight days networking at the world's biggest international film event of the year.
From May 16-23, the chosen directors and their respective producers will schmooze along the Croisette and meet with market attendees.
This year's eclectic mix of international filmmakers include U.S. first-time feature helmer Braden King ("Here"), Lee Isaac Chung ("Lucky Life") and Arvin Chen (Taiwanese co-production "First Page Taipei").
Other first-time helmers chosen include French director Lea Fehner ("Qu'un seul tienne, et les autres suivront"), Colombia's Ruben Mendoza ("The Stoplight Society"), Israeli Nadav Lapid ("The Policeman"), Romanians Razvan Radulescu and Melissa De Raaf ("First of All, Felicia"), Somali helmer Abdi Ismael Jama ("Queleh") and Vietnam's Phang Dang Di ("Bi, Don't Be Afraid").
More experienced filmmakers include China's Lou Ye, selected for his sixth feature film, "Bitch"; Hungarian Benedek Fliegauf, on hand with his third feature, "Womb"; and Oleg Novkovic, who brings his fourth effort, "White, White World". Second-time helmers are Uruguay's Juan Pittaluga, with "Punta del Este", and Estonian Ilmar Raag, with "One More Croissant".
Launched in 2005, the Atelier was created to aid both established directors and rising-star filmmakers with the financing and completion of their upcoming projects. The Cinefondation's Atelier -- or "workshop" in English -- allows the selected filmmakers to spend eight days networking at the world's biggest international film event of the year.
From May 16-23, the chosen directors and their respective producers will schmooze along the Croisette and meet with market attendees.
This year's eclectic mix of international filmmakers include U.S. first-time feature helmer Braden King ("Here"), Lee Isaac Chung ("Lucky Life") and Arvin Chen (Taiwanese co-production "First Page Taipei").
Other first-time helmers chosen include French director Lea Fehner ("Qu'un seul tienne, et les autres suivront"), Colombia's Ruben Mendoza ("The Stoplight Society"), Israeli Nadav Lapid ("The Policeman"), Romanians Razvan Radulescu and Melissa De Raaf ("First of All, Felicia"), Somali helmer Abdi Ismael Jama ("Queleh") and Vietnam's Phang Dang Di ("Bi, Don't Be Afraid").
More experienced filmmakers include China's Lou Ye, selected for his sixth feature film, "Bitch"; Hungarian Benedek Fliegauf, on hand with his third feature, "Womb"; and Oleg Novkovic, who brings his fourth effort, "White, White World". Second-time helmers are Uruguay's Juan Pittaluga, with "Punta del Este", and Estonian Ilmar Raag, with "One More Croissant".
- 3/31/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
ROME -- The Rome Independent Film Festival on Tuesday announced that its seventh edition will include 80 projects from 30 different countries, including an emphasis on films from France, Greece and Spain.
Not be confused with the RomaCinemaFest, which will hold its third edition in October, the Rome Independent Film Festival, or RIFF, screens and promotes nonstudio projects and encourages participation from the community.
This year, the festival will screen 20 full-length feature films, 18 documentaries and 30 short films. It awards prizes in eight competitive categories.
Last year, Nick Lyon's cult film "Punk Love" took home the top prize. Previous winners have included Monty Lapica's "Self Medicated" and "The Garden of Earthly Delights" from Lech Majewski.
On tap for the April 18-24 festival will be Ilmar Raag's "Klass" (The Class), an honorable mention selection at Karlovy Vary last year, and "Bajo las estrellas" (Beneath the Stars) from Felix Viscarret, which was nominated for eight Goya Awards this year, winning two. Italian productions include "Ossidiana" from Silvana Maja and Tony D'Angelo's "Una notte" (One Night).
Not be confused with the RomaCinemaFest, which will hold its third edition in October, the Rome Independent Film Festival, or RIFF, screens and promotes nonstudio projects and encourages participation from the community.
This year, the festival will screen 20 full-length feature films, 18 documentaries and 30 short films. It awards prizes in eight competitive categories.
Last year, Nick Lyon's cult film "Punk Love" took home the top prize. Previous winners have included Monty Lapica's "Self Medicated" and "The Garden of Earthly Delights" from Lech Majewski.
On tap for the April 18-24 festival will be Ilmar Raag's "Klass" (The Class), an honorable mention selection at Karlovy Vary last year, and "Bajo las estrellas" (Beneath the Stars) from Felix Viscarret, which was nominated for eight Goya Awards this year, winning two. Italian productions include "Ossidiana" from Silvana Maja and Tony D'Angelo's "Una notte" (One Night).
- "The award is a way of encouraging young filmmakers to deal with really important issues at a time when the film industry has more and more assumed the shape and form of a butchery and fornication business!" These are the words of the late Ingmar Bergman, the filmmaker presided over a homegrown Göteborg International Film Festival for more than a decade and fest organizer came up with a great way to honor his vision: by setting up a yearly award to encourage new talent. Last year Andrea Arnold's Red Road was honored and this year the Tibida jury of Margarethe von Trotta, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, István Szabó and Kim Rossi Stuart.The prize consists of one week's stay at the Bergman Week on Fårö during the summer of 2008, a box of Bergman DVDs from the Bergman foundation and a beautiful engraved stone from Ingmar Bergman's Fårö. The nominees for Tibida 2008 are:Ilmar Raag,
- 1/9/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
- With Eran Kolirin's The Band's Visit out of the foreign Oscar picture, Ioncinema.com predicts a four-way race between audience faves Persepolis, The Counterfeiters, 4 months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and Caramel. Spain's The Orphanage has the best chance at completing the 5 pack. That said everything else is just a formality. The final five picks will be announced on Jan. 22. The Oscar ceremony takes place Feb. 24. 2008 Foreign Oscar Long ListArgentina: Xxy (Lucia Puenzo)Australia: The Home Song Stories (Tony Ayres) Austria: The Counterfeiters (Stefan Ruzowitzky)Azerbaijan: Caucasia (Farid Gumbatov)Bangladesh: On The Wings Of Dreams (Golam Rabbany Biblob)Belgium: Ben X (Nic Balthazar) Bosnia and Herzegovina: It's Hard To Be Nice (Srdjan Vuletic)Brazil: The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (Cao Hamburger)Bulgaria: Warden of the Dead (Ilian Simeonov)Canada: The Days of Darkness (Denys Arcand)Chile: Padre nuestro (Our Father) - (Rodrigo Sepulveda)China: The Knot (Yun shui
- 10/18/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
The animated film "Persepolis", from France, Denys Arcand's "Days of Darkness" from Canada, Johnnie To's "Exiled" from Hong Kong and Cristian Mungiu's Palm d'Or winner "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" are among the 63 films that have qualified for Oscar consideration in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' foreign language film category.
The record number of 63 entries include first-time submissions from Azerbaijan (Farid Gumbatov's "Caucasia") and Ireland (Tom Collins' "Kings").
Nominations for the 80th Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 22, and the Oscars will be handed out Feb. 24.
The complete list follows:
Argentina, "XXY", Lucia Puenzo, director; Australia, "The Home Song Stories", Tony Ayres; Austria, "The Counterfeiters", Stefan Ruzowitzky; Azerbaijan, "Caucasia", Farid Gumbatov; Bangladesh, "On the Wings of Dreams", Golam Rabbany, Biplob; Belgium, "Ben X", Nic Balthazar; Bosnia and Herzegovina, "It's Hard to Be Nice", Srdan Vuletic; Brazil, "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation," Cao Hamburger; and Bulgaria, "Warden of the Dead", Ilian Simeonov.
Canada, "Days of Darkness", Denys Arcand; Chile, "Padre Nuestro", Rodrigo Sepulveda; China, "The Knot", Yin Li; Colombia, "Satanas", Andi Baiz; Croatia, "Armin", Ognjen Svilicic; Cuba, "The Silly Age", Pavel Giroud; Czech Republic, "I Served the King of England", Jiri Menzel, director; Denmark, "The Art of Crying", Peter Schonau Fog; Egypt, "In the Heliopolis Flat", Mohamed Khan; and Estonia, "The Class", Ilmar Raag.
The record number of 63 entries include first-time submissions from Azerbaijan (Farid Gumbatov's "Caucasia") and Ireland (Tom Collins' "Kings").
Nominations for the 80th Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 22, and the Oscars will be handed out Feb. 24.
The complete list follows:
Argentina, "XXY", Lucia Puenzo, director; Australia, "The Home Song Stories", Tony Ayres; Austria, "The Counterfeiters", Stefan Ruzowitzky; Azerbaijan, "Caucasia", Farid Gumbatov; Bangladesh, "On the Wings of Dreams", Golam Rabbany, Biplob; Belgium, "Ben X", Nic Balthazar; Bosnia and Herzegovina, "It's Hard to Be Nice", Srdan Vuletic; Brazil, "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation," Cao Hamburger; and Bulgaria, "Warden of the Dead", Ilian Simeonov.
Canada, "Days of Darkness", Denys Arcand; Chile, "Padre Nuestro", Rodrigo Sepulveda; China, "The Knot", Yin Li; Colombia, "Satanas", Andi Baiz; Croatia, "Armin", Ognjen Svilicic; Cuba, "The Silly Age", Pavel Giroud; Czech Republic, "I Served the King of England", Jiri Menzel, director; Denmark, "The Art of Crying", Peter Schonau Fog; Egypt, "In the Heliopolis Flat", Mohamed Khan; and Estonia, "The Class", Ilmar Raag.
- 10/18/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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