Katrin Pors of Denmark’s Snowglobe and Jussi Rantamaki of Finland’s Aamu Film Company are among the 12 producers selected for Ace Leadership Special, the business workshop hosted by the Ace Producers network.
The 2024 edition will take place in Bergen in the Netherlands in June and Mallorca in Spain in September, with online elements over the summer.
Scroll down for the full Ace Leadership 2024 selection
Danish producer Pors produced Hlynur Palmason’s Cannes 2022 title Godland, which became Iceland’s entry for the best international feature award at the 2024 Oscars. Her other credits include Jonas Carpignano’s A Chiara, Dagur Kari...
The 2024 edition will take place in Bergen in the Netherlands in June and Mallorca in Spain in September, with online elements over the summer.
Scroll down for the full Ace Leadership 2024 selection
Danish producer Pors produced Hlynur Palmason’s Cannes 2022 title Godland, which became Iceland’s entry for the best international feature award at the 2024 Oscars. Her other credits include Jonas Carpignano’s A Chiara, Dagur Kari...
- 4/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
Seriesmakers, a joint initiative of Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV festival, and European film-tv powerhouse Beta Group, has revealed the 10 top-notch project lineup of the second edition of its novel and high-powered mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut.
This year’s Seriesmakers features in development drama series from Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald (“George Blake”), behind “The Last King Of Scotland,” and from Finnish director Mikko Myllylahti, who burst onto the scene co-writing with Juho Kuosmanen the latter’s “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Makki,” a 2016 Cannes Un Certain Regard winner.
Also in the mix is the highly courted Kaouther Ben Hania, a double Oscar nominee for the “compelling, ambitious hybrid” “Four Daughters,” said Variety, in the doc category and the “The Man Who Sold His Skin” (2020), Tunisia’s entry in international feature.
In all, however, nine of the ten directors winning berths this...
This year’s Seriesmakers features in development drama series from Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald (“George Blake”), behind “The Last King Of Scotland,” and from Finnish director Mikko Myllylahti, who burst onto the scene co-writing with Juho Kuosmanen the latter’s “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Makki,” a 2016 Cannes Un Certain Regard winner.
Also in the mix is the highly courted Kaouther Ben Hania, a double Oscar nominee for the “compelling, ambitious hybrid” “Four Daughters,” said Variety, in the doc category and the “The Man Who Sold His Skin” (2020), Tunisia’s entry in international feature.
In all, however, nine of the ten directors winning berths this...
- 3/4/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Picture Tree International (Pti) has boarded sales on religious cult drama Raptures (Rörelser) about the notorious real-life Korpela Movement which took hold in the remote Torne Valley on the border of Sweden and Finland in the 1930s.
Written and directed by Swedish filmmaker Jon Blåhed, the film is inspired by true events captured in the novel Dagning; röd! by award-winning minority Meänkieli language author Bengt Pohjanen.
The drama, which is currently in the second half of its shoot in northern Finland and Sweden, will be the first feature shot in Meänkieli, which is spoken by some 70,000 people in the Torne Valley but was suppressed by the Swedish state for decades.
Blåhed took further inspiration from his own family history connected to the strict Læstadian movement in the Torne Valley region where he grew up.
The drama revolves around Rakel, a devout Christian believer whose husband Teodor forms a liberal...
Written and directed by Swedish filmmaker Jon Blåhed, the film is inspired by true events captured in the novel Dagning; röd! by award-winning minority Meänkieli language author Bengt Pohjanen.
The drama, which is currently in the second half of its shoot in northern Finland and Sweden, will be the first feature shot in Meänkieli, which is spoken by some 70,000 people in the Torne Valley but was suppressed by the Swedish state for decades.
Blåhed took further inspiration from his own family history connected to the strict Læstadian movement in the Torne Valley region where he grew up.
The drama revolves around Rakel, a devout Christian believer whose husband Teodor forms a liberal...
- 2/7/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Niclas Larsson’s “Mother, Couch” was awarded the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at Goteborg, taking home the considerable amount of Sek 400,000.
Led by Ewan McGregor – this year’s recipient of the Honorary Dragon Award – the U.S.-Swedish-Danish co-production also features Ellen Burstyn and “Bones and All” breakout Taylor Russell, making it one of the starriest Goteborg winners in recent years.
“My therapist was wrong! I pitched him this idea a few years ago and he said: ‘Don’t do it.’ I am from here and this festival has meant the world to me. Standing on this stage is a bit surreal,” said Larsson.
Jurors Lena Endre, Ramata-Toulaye Sy, William Spetz, Tonia Noyabrova and Anna Novion appreciated the way it shows “how difficult it is to let go of the past, accept loss and finally embrace the future.” They praised “original and bold storytelling, with a lot of humor,...
Led by Ewan McGregor – this year’s recipient of the Honorary Dragon Award – the U.S.-Swedish-Danish co-production also features Ellen Burstyn and “Bones and All” breakout Taylor Russell, making it one of the starriest Goteborg winners in recent years.
“My therapist was wrong! I pitched him this idea a few years ago and he said: ‘Don’t do it.’ I am from here and this festival has meant the world to me. Standing on this stage is a bit surreal,” said Larsson.
Jurors Lena Endre, Ramata-Toulaye Sy, William Spetz, Tonia Noyabrova and Anna Novion appreciated the way it shows “how difficult it is to let go of the past, accept loss and finally embrace the future.” They praised “original and bold storytelling, with a lot of humor,...
- 2/3/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Picture Tree International has boarded international sales and debuted the trailer for Miia Tervo’s upcoming comedy “The Missile,” set to world premiere at Göteborg’s just-announced Nordic Competition.
Produced by Finland’s Kaisla Viitala and Daniel Kuitunen (Elokuvayhtio Komeetta) and co-produced by Estonia’s Johanna Paulson and Evelin Penttilä (Stellar Film), the film will be distributed in Scandinavia by Aurora Studios. Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Tommi Korpela, Pyry Kähkönen and Jarkko Niemi are also in the cast.
Tervo’s second feature after the award-winning “Aurora” – which opened the Swedish fest back in 2019 – teases a “uniquely crafted mix of political satire, heartfelt comedy and kitchen-sink drama, rooted in Northern brevity and melancholy,” according to its description.
Starring Oona Airola (pictured above in a first-look image), the film kicks off in Finkand’s Lapland in 1984, when an unexpected Soviet missile incident disrupts the tranquil life of single mother Niina.
Soon, she joins a...
Produced by Finland’s Kaisla Viitala and Daniel Kuitunen (Elokuvayhtio Komeetta) and co-produced by Estonia’s Johanna Paulson and Evelin Penttilä (Stellar Film), the film will be distributed in Scandinavia by Aurora Studios. Hannu-Pekka Björkman, Tommi Korpela, Pyry Kähkönen and Jarkko Niemi are also in the cast.
Tervo’s second feature after the award-winning “Aurora” – which opened the Swedish fest back in 2019 – teases a “uniquely crafted mix of political satire, heartfelt comedy and kitchen-sink drama, rooted in Northern brevity and melancholy,” according to its description.
Starring Oona Airola (pictured above in a first-look image), the film kicks off in Finkand’s Lapland in 1984, when an unexpected Soviet missile incident disrupts the tranquil life of single mother Niina.
Soon, she joins a...
- 1/9/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
“It felt like we were reconnecting after a long time,” To Leslie star Andrea Riseborough said today of working with Domhnall Gleeson on Alice & Jack, Channel 4 & PBS Masterpiece’s upcoming romantic drama that premiered at Mipcom Cannes.
Riseborough and Gleeson have worked plenty together down the years including on Never Let Me Go and Shadow Dancer, but hadn’t partnered on a project for some years until the series.
During an Alice & Jack Q&a this evening at Mipcom Cannes, chaired by Deadline’s Joe Utichi, Riseborough said it “felt like were reconnecting after a long time” and this had been obvious from the first scene that the pair did together.
“It was so catapulted and so real,” she added. “It’s strange to be both young and old with someone but I’ve done that with Domhnall and our relationship kind of reflects Alice and Jack’s meeting.
Riseborough and Gleeson have worked plenty together down the years including on Never Let Me Go and Shadow Dancer, but hadn’t partnered on a project for some years until the series.
During an Alice & Jack Q&a this evening at Mipcom Cannes, chaired by Deadline’s Joe Utichi, Riseborough said it “felt like were reconnecting after a long time” and this had been obvious from the first scene that the pair did together.
“It was so catapulted and so real,” she added. “It’s strange to be both young and old with someone but I’ve done that with Domhnall and our relationship kind of reflects Alice and Jack’s meeting.
- 10/16/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Andrea Riseborough takes on the pleasure and pain of love in Channel 4 series “Alice & Jack,” created by Victor Levin.
“This frustration of really appreciating someone and also not being able to understand them or be understood, that’s such a common connection we have in life,” she tells Variety ahead of the show’s MipCom premiere. She also serves as an executive producer.
“Also, it’s not just frustration – there is excitement as well. It can take you to your highest highs, it’s the most elated feeling in the world and it’s also brutally hard. There is nothing harder than true love.”
That’s what Alice and Jack (Domhnall Gleeson) are about to find out, as following a supposed one-night stand they realize they can’t be together. They also can’t be apart.
“When Vic sent me that first episode, it felt so… Awkwardly, heartbreakingly,...
“This frustration of really appreciating someone and also not being able to understand them or be understood, that’s such a common connection we have in life,” she tells Variety ahead of the show’s MipCom premiere. She also serves as an executive producer.
“Also, it’s not just frustration – there is excitement as well. It can take you to your highest highs, it’s the most elated feeling in the world and it’s also brutally hard. There is nothing harder than true love.”
That’s what Alice and Jack (Domhnall Gleeson) are about to find out, as following a supposed one-night stand they realize they can’t be together. They also can’t be apart.
“When Vic sent me that first episode, it felt so… Awkwardly, heartbreakingly,...
- 10/16/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
“Hesitation Wound” and “Hollywoodgate” were named winners at the Zurich Film Festival, as the 19th edition of the Swiss festival came to a close.
Selman Nacar’s drama “Hesitation Wound” impressed the Feature Film Competition jury.
“Moral issues are a frequent underlying theme in many films, but the dilemma facing the main character in this film is really strongly felt here,” argued the jury, which comprised president Anton Corbijn, Finola Dwyer, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Juho Kuosmanen and Bryce Nielsen.
Praising “wonderful” Tülin Özen, cast as a lawyer struggling at home and at work – “a woman forever on the verge of either breakthrough or breakdown,” wrote Variety – they added: “It’s a film that stayed with the majority of the jury throughout the festival and even though it was a fight with two other contenders, it became our favorite. Selman Nacar, thank you so much for this delicious film.”
Iris Kaltenbäck...
Selman Nacar’s drama “Hesitation Wound” impressed the Feature Film Competition jury.
“Moral issues are a frequent underlying theme in many films, but the dilemma facing the main character in this film is really strongly felt here,” argued the jury, which comprised president Anton Corbijn, Finola Dwyer, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Juho Kuosmanen and Bryce Nielsen.
Praising “wonderful” Tülin Özen, cast as a lawyer struggling at home and at work – “a woman forever on the verge of either breakthrough or breakdown,” wrote Variety – they added: “It’s a film that stayed with the majority of the jury throughout the festival and even though it was a fight with two other contenders, it became our favorite. Selman Nacar, thank you so much for this delicious film.”
Iris Kaltenbäck...
- 10/7/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Anton Corbijn, the renowned Dutch photographer and film director (Control, The American, Life) will head up this year’s competition jury for the 2023 Zurich Film Festival.
Joining Corbijn on the Zurich jury are two-time Oscar-nominated producer Finola Dwyer (Brooklyn, An Education), French director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (Mustang), Finnish filmmaker Juho Kuosmanen (Compartment No. 6), and VFX artist Bryce Nielsen (Roma, Iron Man 2). Together they will judge the competition line up at the 2023 Zff, which runs September 28 to October 8, and present the best film Golden Eye honor, which comes with a Chf 25,000 ($27,400) cash prize.
Malte Grunert, producer of 4-time Oscar winner All Quiet on the Western Front, will head up the jury for Zurich’s Focus sidebar, joined by Oscar-nominated producer Gabrielle Tana (Philomena); Katrin Renz, a producer on Margarethe von Trotta’s Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert; editor Heike Parplies (Toni Erdmann); and Swiss actor Sven Schelker (Der Kreis...
Joining Corbijn on the Zurich jury are two-time Oscar-nominated producer Finola Dwyer (Brooklyn, An Education), French director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (Mustang), Finnish filmmaker Juho Kuosmanen (Compartment No. 6), and VFX artist Bryce Nielsen (Roma, Iron Man 2). Together they will judge the competition line up at the 2023 Zff, which runs September 28 to October 8, and present the best film Golden Eye honor, which comes with a Chf 25,000 ($27,400) cash prize.
Malte Grunert, producer of 4-time Oscar winner All Quiet on the Western Front, will head up the jury for Zurich’s Focus sidebar, joined by Oscar-nominated producer Gabrielle Tana (Philomena); Katrin Renz, a producer on Margarethe von Trotta’s Ingeborg Bachmann – Journey into the Desert; editor Heike Parplies (Toni Erdmann); and Swiss actor Sven Schelker (Der Kreis...
- 9/26/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Netherlands photographer and director Anton Corbijn has been named as president of the main feature film jury for the upcoming Zurich Film Festival.
Oscar-winning producer Malte Grunert (All Quiet On The Western Front) will be the jury president for the Focus competition, reserved for first, second and third features, while another Academy Awards winner, Last Men In Aleppo director Feras Fayyad will head up the documentary competition jury.
The juries each award a Golden Eye endowed with a $27,000.
“Anton presented his film Life about James Dean at Zff eight years ago, now we’re delighted that the world-famous director and photographer is returning to preside over the feature film jury,” said Zurich director Christian Jungen.
“Producer Malte Grunert and documentary film director Feras Fayya are also set to enrich the Zff with their wealth of experience. Our competitions are dedicated to promoting the next generation, so it’s encouraging...
Oscar-winning producer Malte Grunert (All Quiet On The Western Front) will be the jury president for the Focus competition, reserved for first, second and third features, while another Academy Awards winner, Last Men In Aleppo director Feras Fayyad will head up the documentary competition jury.
The juries each award a Golden Eye endowed with a $27,000.
“Anton presented his film Life about James Dean at Zff eight years ago, now we’re delighted that the world-famous director and photographer is returning to preside over the feature film jury,” said Zurich director Christian Jungen.
“Producer Malte Grunert and documentary film director Feras Fayya are also set to enrich the Zff with their wealth of experience. Our competitions are dedicated to promoting the next generation, so it’s encouraging...
- 9/26/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Welcome to Kino Laika: Aki Kaurismäki and Mika Lätti’s cinema in Karkkila, an hour away from Helsinki. A place where love for movies – and dogs – meets ghosts of cinema’s past.
“One time, I had a 35mm copy of the Lumière brothers’ film ‘Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat.’ I lent it to some cinema and it never came back. And now, I have forgotten which cinema it was,” recalls Kaurismäki, who, like Lätti, has been a resident of Karkkila, a modest town of 9,000, for decades now.
“I have lived here for 38 years and I like it a lot, but we never had a cinema here before. To see movies, local people had to travel to the next town or even Helsinki. Not anymore. It’s wonderful to offer them this chance,” he adds.
“Karkkila has been a good place for us both and we wanted to give something back to this town.
“One time, I had a 35mm copy of the Lumière brothers’ film ‘Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat.’ I lent it to some cinema and it never came back. And now, I have forgotten which cinema it was,” recalls Kaurismäki, who, like Lätti, has been a resident of Karkkila, a modest town of 9,000, for decades now.
“I have lived here for 38 years and I like it a lot, but we never had a cinema here before. To see movies, local people had to travel to the next town or even Helsinki. Not anymore. It’s wonderful to offer them this chance,” he adds.
“Karkkila has been a good place for us both and we wanted to give something back to this town.
- 9/20/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Creatives behind Alice & Jack, which stars Domhnall Gleeson and Andrea Riseborough in the latter’s first role since the To Leslie controversy, have spotlighted how they wanted the Channel 4/Masterpiece TV series to feel like an indie film.
Speaking before Alice & Jack‘s TIFF premiere, Cannes Grand Prix-winning director Juho Kuosmanen and EP Richard Yee explained that the team behind the show, which is penned by Mad Men’s Victor Levin, virtually all came from the world of independent cinema.
The idea for the series was Levin’s and was a passion project of his for years. He developed it with Michael London (Groundswell Productions). Andrea and Domhnall came on board after the pilot script and last episode were written – it was at this point that they met with Levin to discuss the scripts and help develop the characters during the production.
“It was key to...
Speaking before Alice & Jack‘s TIFF premiere, Cannes Grand Prix-winning director Juho Kuosmanen and EP Richard Yee explained that the team behind the show, which is penned by Mad Men’s Victor Levin, virtually all came from the world of independent cinema.
The idea for the series was Levin’s and was a passion project of his for years. He developed it with Michael London (Groundswell Productions). Andrea and Domhnall came on board after the pilot script and last episode were written – it was at this point that they met with Levin to discuss the scripts and help develop the characters during the production.
“It was key to...
- 9/16/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Masterpiece has boarded Alice & Jack, the Channel 4 TV series starring Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson.
The PBS strand will air the show from Mad Men’s Victor Levin next year following a deal struck with distributor Fremantle. Lisa Honig and Lorenzo De Maio helped strike the deal.
Alice & Jack stars Riseborough and Gleeson as the titular characters in what distributor Fremantle described as a “love story for the ages.” Logline adds: “When they first meet they’re bound by a connection so powerful it seems nothing can break it, but will their path lead them to a place of happiness and togetherness? Or will life and their own emotional complexities get in the way.”
Alice & Jack has been in the offing for years but was only announced last month, and it will premiere at TIFF tomorrow.
Upon its announcement, Gleeson said “the only work I...
The PBS strand will air the show from Mad Men’s Victor Levin next year following a deal struck with distributor Fremantle. Lisa Honig and Lorenzo De Maio helped strike the deal.
Alice & Jack stars Riseborough and Gleeson as the titular characters in what distributor Fremantle described as a “love story for the ages.” Logline adds: “When they first meet they’re bound by a connection so powerful it seems nothing can break it, but will their path lead them to a place of happiness and togetherness? Or will life and their own emotional complexities get in the way.”
Alice & Jack has been in the offing for years but was only announced last month, and it will premiere at TIFF tomorrow.
Upon its announcement, Gleeson said “the only work I...
- 9/15/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled its Primetime program on Monday, which includes nine TV series that will be screening at the festival including new shows from filmmakers Lulu Wang, Shawn Levy and Steven Knight.
The Netflix limited series “All the Light We Cannot See,” directed and executive produced by Levy and written by Steven Knight based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will have its world premiere at TIFF. The festival will also host the world premiere of “The Farewell” filmmaker Lulu Wang’s new original series “Expats,” which is set to debut on Prime Video.
“This year’s Primetime programme is bigger than ever and gives audiences the exclusive and unmatched opportunity to celebrate the best new international series together, in cinema, on the big screen,” Anita Lee, TIFF Chief Programming Officer, said in a statement. “TIFF audiences will be the first to see the Prime Video series Expats...
The Netflix limited series “All the Light We Cannot See,” directed and executive produced by Levy and written by Steven Knight based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, will have its world premiere at TIFF. The festival will also host the world premiere of “The Farewell” filmmaker Lulu Wang’s new original series “Expats,” which is set to debut on Prime Video.
“This year’s Primetime programme is bigger than ever and gives audiences the exclusive and unmatched opportunity to celebrate the best new international series together, in cinema, on the big screen,” Anita Lee, TIFF Chief Programming Officer, said in a statement. “TIFF audiences will be the first to see the Prime Video series Expats...
- 8/14/2023
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
The Toronto International Film Festival has unveiled its Primetime programme for 2023 which includes the world premieres of Bad Boy and All the Light We Cannot See.
“This year’s Primetime programme is bigger than ever and gives audiences the exclusive and unmatched opportunity to celebrate the best new international series together, in cinema, on the big screen,” says Anita Lee, TIFF Chief Programming Officer.
“TIFF audiences will be the first to see the Prime Video series Expats – Lulu Wang’s highly anticipated follow up to The Farewell, starring Nicole Kidman, Sarayu Blue and Ji-young Yo., a Pulitzer-Prize winning adaptation from Shawn Levy and Steven Knight, a high-octane Korean thriller, a brand new vision from the creator of Euphoria, an atypical love story between Domhnall Gleeson and Andrea Riseborough, a contemporary Scandinavian tragedy, and three powerful Canadian series, all spotlighting underrepresented voices from an exciting new wave of storytellers.”
Primetime Programme Alice & Jack
Victor Levin,...
“This year’s Primetime programme is bigger than ever and gives audiences the exclusive and unmatched opportunity to celebrate the best new international series together, in cinema, on the big screen,” says Anita Lee, TIFF Chief Programming Officer.
“TIFF audiences will be the first to see the Prime Video series Expats – Lulu Wang’s highly anticipated follow up to The Farewell, starring Nicole Kidman, Sarayu Blue and Ji-young Yo., a Pulitzer-Prize winning adaptation from Shawn Levy and Steven Knight, a high-octane Korean thriller, a brand new vision from the creator of Euphoria, an atypical love story between Domhnall Gleeson and Andrea Riseborough, a contemporary Scandinavian tragedy, and three powerful Canadian series, all spotlighting underrepresented voices from an exciting new wave of storytellers.”
Primetime Programme Alice & Jack
Victor Levin,...
- 8/14/2023
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Selections include Fremantle sales title Alice & Jack with Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson; Netflix series All The Light We Cannot See from Shawn Levy and Steven Knight.
TIFF brass have announced the Primetime section, a nine-strong roster of series which includes Expats, Lulu Wang’s follow-up to The Farewell for Prime Video starring Nicole Kidman in the saga of a close-knit group of Hong Kong expatriates.
The selection includes Fremantle sales title Alice & Jack (UK) a Channel 4 romance from Victor Levin starring Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson; and All The Light We Cannot See (USA) from Shawn Levy and Steven Knight,...
TIFF brass have announced the Primetime section, a nine-strong roster of series which includes Expats, Lulu Wang’s follow-up to The Farewell for Prime Video starring Nicole Kidman in the saga of a close-knit group of Hong Kong expatriates.
The selection includes Fremantle sales title Alice & Jack (UK) a Channel 4 romance from Victor Levin starring Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson; and All The Light We Cannot See (USA) from Shawn Levy and Steven Knight,...
- 8/14/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Andrea Riseborough and Domnhall Gleeson are to star in a Channel 4 drama series created by Mad Men’s Victor Levin.
The duo are leading Alice & Jack, the first major casting for Riseborough since the To Leslie Oscar controversy earlier this year.
The pair play the title characters in what distributor Fremantle described as a “love story for the ages.” Logline adds: “When they first meet they’re bound by a connection so powerful it seems nothing can break it, but will their path lead them to a place of happiness and togetherness? Or will life and their own emotional complexities get in the way.”
Alice & Jack brings together major production companies in Academy Award-nominated Groundswell Productions, De Maio Entertainment, I Am Ruth maker Me + You Productions and Fremantle. Fremantle is also handling global sales.
“The only work I’ve wanted to watch and do since the pandemic is work about connection and love,...
The duo are leading Alice & Jack, the first major casting for Riseborough since the To Leslie Oscar controversy earlier this year.
The pair play the title characters in what distributor Fremantle described as a “love story for the ages.” Logline adds: “When they first meet they’re bound by a connection so powerful it seems nothing can break it, but will their path lead them to a place of happiness and togetherness? Or will life and their own emotional complexities get in the way.”
Alice & Jack brings together major production companies in Academy Award-nominated Groundswell Productions, De Maio Entertainment, I Am Ruth maker Me + You Productions and Fremantle. Fremantle is also handling global sales.
“The only work I’ve wanted to watch and do since the pandemic is work about connection and love,...
- 8/9/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson are set to star in the romantic drama “Alice & Jack” for U.K. broadcaster Channel 4.
The series is lead directed by Juho Kuosmanen, helmer of the Golden Globe-nominated Cannes title “Compartment Number 6,” with a second block directed by BAFTA-nominated “Lilting” helmer Hong Khaou. The show is written by “Mad Men” scribe Victor Levin. It is a Fremantle production in partnership with BAFTA- and Emmy-winning Me + You Productions (“I Am Ruth”), Academy Award-nominated Groundswell Productions (“The Visitor”) and De Maio Entertainment. Fremantle is handling global sales on the project.
Rounding out the cast are Aisling Bea (“Greatest Days”), Aimee Lou Wood (“Sex Education”) and Sunil Patel (“This Time with Alan Partridge”).
Created and written by Levin, “Alice & Jack” is billed as “a love story for the ages.” An official synopsis for the show reads: When Alice (Riseborough) and Jack (Gleeson) first meet, they...
The series is lead directed by Juho Kuosmanen, helmer of the Golden Globe-nominated Cannes title “Compartment Number 6,” with a second block directed by BAFTA-nominated “Lilting” helmer Hong Khaou. The show is written by “Mad Men” scribe Victor Levin. It is a Fremantle production in partnership with BAFTA- and Emmy-winning Me + You Productions (“I Am Ruth”), Academy Award-nominated Groundswell Productions (“The Visitor”) and De Maio Entertainment. Fremantle is handling global sales on the project.
Rounding out the cast are Aisling Bea (“Greatest Days”), Aimee Lou Wood (“Sex Education”) and Sunil Patel (“This Time with Alan Partridge”).
Created and written by Levin, “Alice & Jack” is billed as “a love story for the ages.” An official synopsis for the show reads: When Alice (Riseborough) and Jack (Gleeson) first meet, they...
- 8/9/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
The 22nd edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival kicked off Friday night in the city of Cluj-Napoca with the international premiere of Northern Comfort, a comedy directed by Icelandic filmmaker Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, and with a tribute to the film’s star, Timothy Spall.
The famed British character actor, known for his roles in Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy and Mr. Turner, Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky, Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai, Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech and the Harry Potter films, received this year’s lifetime achievement award at the festival’s opening gala.
The Icelandic-uk-German co-production Northern Comfort is part of the massive Nordic Focus at the festival this year, with more than 40 films from Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, as well as live music performances and cine-concerts. Some of the Nordic highlights include Ruben Östlund’s 2022 Palm d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness, Lars von Trier...
The famed British character actor, known for his roles in Mike Leigh’s Topsy-Turvy and Mr. Turner, Cameron Crowe’s Vanilla Sky, Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai, Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech and the Harry Potter films, received this year’s lifetime achievement award at the festival’s opening gala.
The Icelandic-uk-German co-production Northern Comfort is part of the massive Nordic Focus at the festival this year, with more than 40 films from Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, as well as live music performances and cine-concerts. Some of the Nordic highlights include Ruben Östlund’s 2022 Palm d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness, Lars von Trier...
- 6/10/2023
- by Stjepan Hundic
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Finnish actors Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen have been making names for each other for a while now. But playing leads in Aki Kaurismäki’s latest film, “Fallen Leaves,” was a whole different story.
“He has always been that household name, even when I was growing up on a farm in the 1980s, kicking a ball against our cowhouse. It’s crazy that now, we are here together. Also, he is really just a regular guy. Funny and he actually talks a lot,” Vatanen tells Variety in Cannes.
A household name himself thanks to the “Lapland Odyssey” franchise, he has been exploring dramatic roles in “Forest Giant” or “The Man Who Died.”
“As a Finn, you are very, very familiar with his style. We have seen all his movies and it’s just in our blood, I guess. I actually thought that [entering this universe] was quite easy.”
Pöysti, celebrated for her turn...
“He has always been that household name, even when I was growing up on a farm in the 1980s, kicking a ball against our cowhouse. It’s crazy that now, we are here together. Also, he is really just a regular guy. Funny and he actually talks a lot,” Vatanen tells Variety in Cannes.
A household name himself thanks to the “Lapland Odyssey” franchise, he has been exploring dramatic roles in “Forest Giant” or “The Man Who Died.”
“As a Finn, you are very, very familiar with his style. We have seen all his movies and it’s just in our blood, I guess. I actually thought that [entering this universe] was quite easy.”
Pöysti, celebrated for her turn...
- 5/23/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Finnish film-maker’s sweet-natured odd-couple romance fills you with a feelgood glow and laughs in the face of Putin’s threat to the country
Aki Kaurismäki is the Finnish director who is notable for being not simply one of the directors who is always welcome in the Cannes competition, but also is one of the rarer subset who actually makes funny films; that is, actually-funny and not just arthouse-funny. Fallen Leaves is another of Kaurismäki’s beguiling and delightful cinephile comedies, featuring foot-tapping rock’n’roll. It’s romantic and sweet-natured, in a deadpan style that in no way undermines or ironises the emotions involved and with some sharp things to say about contemporary politics.
I found myself rooting for the hero and heroine here in an uncomplicated way that I hadn’t for any other film at Cannes. It’s something which should be adored by Finnish film fanciers...
Aki Kaurismäki is the Finnish director who is notable for being not simply one of the directors who is always welcome in the Cannes competition, but also is one of the rarer subset who actually makes funny films; that is, actually-funny and not just arthouse-funny. Fallen Leaves is another of Kaurismäki’s beguiling and delightful cinephile comedies, featuring foot-tapping rock’n’roll. It’s romantic and sweet-natured, in a deadpan style that in no way undermines or ironises the emotions involved and with some sharp things to say about contemporary politics.
I found myself rooting for the hero and heroine here in an uncomplicated way that I hadn’t for any other film at Cannes. It’s something which should be adored by Finnish film fanciers...
- 5/22/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Veteran executive’s career saw posts at United Artists Releasing, Annapurna Pictures, TWC.
Erik Lomis, the veteran Hollywood distribution executive who oversaw distribution at MGM, has died unexpectedly. He was 64.
Lomis died in Santa Monica on Tuesday (March 22). His family had not set any funeral and/or or memorial plans at time of writing but are expected to do so in the coming days. No cause was given for the death.
Born in Philadelphia on November 21, 1958, Lomis worked as a theatre usher after school during his teenage years. The job fuelled a lifelong passion and he went on to become...
Erik Lomis, the veteran Hollywood distribution executive who oversaw distribution at MGM, has died unexpectedly. He was 64.
Lomis died in Santa Monica on Tuesday (March 22). His family had not set any funeral and/or or memorial plans at time of writing but are expected to do so in the coming days. No cause was given for the death.
Born in Philadelphia on November 21, 1958, Lomis worked as a theatre usher after school during his teenage years. The job fuelled a lifelong passion and he went on to become...
- 3/22/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Programme is for film directors making first move into scripted TV.
Projects by directors Juho Kuosmanen, César Díaz and Beatriz Seigner have won the inaugural prizes of Seriesmakers, a development programme for filmmakers making their TV series debut.
Led by Series Mania Forum and supported by European studio Beta Group, the first edition of Seriesmakers had 170 submissions, and saw 10 TV series projects participate in a programme for feature film directors who are moving into the world of series.
Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen and producer Jussi Rantamäki’s Yours, Margot won one of two €50,000 Beta development awards. The 8x45-minute series...
Projects by directors Juho Kuosmanen, César Díaz and Beatriz Seigner have won the inaugural prizes of Seriesmakers, a development programme for filmmakers making their TV series debut.
Led by Series Mania Forum and supported by European studio Beta Group, the first edition of Seriesmakers had 170 submissions, and saw 10 TV series projects participate in a programme for feature film directors who are moving into the world of series.
Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen and producer Jussi Rantamäki’s Yours, Margot won one of two €50,000 Beta development awards. The 8x45-minute series...
- 3/22/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Lille, France — “Yours, Margot,” from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, Guatemalan Cannes Camera d’Or winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”) and Brazil’s Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”) have won the three prizes on offer at the first edition of Seriesmakers.
A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, after an inaugural edition delivering one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023, Seriesmakers backers Beta Group and Series Mania opened on Wednesday a call for admissions for a second edition.
Though all three series range hugely in setting and creators, all three see their protagonists go back to a recent past to explore events that have impacted their family, their modern-day country (“The Invisible Ink”), or traumas in the present (“Amigas”).
Doing so they form part of one of the biggest trends in current issue-driven series, through the resort to an alternative, future...
A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, after an inaugural edition delivering one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023, Seriesmakers backers Beta Group and Series Mania opened on Wednesday a call for admissions for a second edition.
Though all three series range hugely in setting and creators, all three see their protagonists go back to a recent past to explore events that have impacted their family, their modern-day country (“The Invisible Ink”), or traumas in the present (“Amigas”).
Doing so they form part of one of the biggest trends in current issue-driven series, through the resort to an alternative, future...
- 3/22/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
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 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...
The projects, Yours, Margot and The Invisible Ink, both bag €50,000 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...
- 3/22/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen, behind “Compartment No. 6” and “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki”– both awarded in Cannes – will now turn his attention to new series “Yours, Margot.”
The upcoming series is one of the 10 projects chosen for Series Mania and Beta Group’s Seriesmakers.
Based on Meri Valkama’s novel, “Yours, Margot” will be produced, just like his previous films, by Helsinki-based Aamu Film Company, with “Compartment” scribes Andris Feldmanis and Livia Ulman also on board. This time Kuosmanen dissects the experiences of Vilja, who spent her childhood in East Berlin, following her foreign correspondent father. After his death, she finds old letters to “Erich,” all from mysterious “Margot.” Now, as an adult, she decides to return to Berlin and track her down.
“It’s a great story about a person who looks for the truth about her childhood years, but finds only different interpretations and contradictory memories.
The upcoming series is one of the 10 projects chosen for Series Mania and Beta Group’s Seriesmakers.
Based on Meri Valkama’s novel, “Yours, Margot” will be produced, just like his previous films, by Helsinki-based Aamu Film Company, with “Compartment” scribes Andris Feldmanis and Livia Ulman also on board. This time Kuosmanen dissects the experiences of Vilja, who spent her childhood in East Berlin, following her foreign correspondent father. After his death, she finds old letters to “Erich,” all from mysterious “Margot.” Now, as an adult, she decides to return to Berlin and track her down.
“It’s a great story about a person who looks for the truth about her childhood years, but finds only different interpretations and contradictory memories.
- 3/14/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV fest, and German film-tv powerhouse Beta Group has revealed the 10 projects in the first edition of Seriesmakers, unveiling what must be one of the most talent-packed project lineups at any festival, film or TV, in 2023,
A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, Series Mania features in development drama series from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, ‘Bang Gang’s’ Eva Husson and “Birds of a Passage’s” Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego.
Also in the mix is “Amigas,” the first TV project of Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”), one of Brazil’s foremost young movie directors, “The Invisible Ink,” teaming Cannes best first feature winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”)and New Uruguay Cinema founding father Fernando Epstein; and Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh, who scored with Berlin Encounters’ title “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.”
All in all, Seriesmakers, which is just...
A mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut, Series Mania features in development drama series from “Compartment No 6’s” Juho Kuosmanen, ‘Bang Gang’s’ Eva Husson and “Birds of a Passage’s” Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego.
Also in the mix is “Amigas,” the first TV project of Beatriz Seigner (“Los Silencios”), one of Brazil’s foremost young movie directors, “The Invisible Ink,” teaming Cannes best first feature winner César Díaz (“Our Mothers”)and New Uruguay Cinema founding father Fernando Epstein; and Indian arthouse filmmaker Pushpendra Singh, who scored with Berlin Encounters’ title “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.”
All in all, Seriesmakers, which is just...
- 3/13/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
I have been tracking producer Sol Bondy since 2016 when co-production The Happiest Day in the Life of Ölli Mäki won the Un Certain Regard Grand Prize and the European Film Award for Best Debut. He and Fred Burle have been developing The Girl from Köln (aka Köln 75) with writer-director Ido Fluk, the filmmaker behind 2016 Tribeca selection The Ticket since 2019. "This project has been very close to our hearts in the last few years and we're very excited with the way it's been shaped so far," said Bondy, a Variety Producer to Watch in 2018. "It's been such a joy working with Ido on this exciting story and we're thrilled to have put an amazing team together," added Burle, Brazilian born producer who was just made a partner in One Two Films, alongside co-founders Sol Bondy and Christoph Lange. Burle joined One Two in January 2017, having graduated from the German Film and Television Academy (dffb) the previous year. He has previously worked as a film critic, at The Match Factory, and as curator of the inaugural dffb film festival. One Two Films has produced and co-produced award-winning films such as Holy Spider (Read my blog about it here), Vadim Perelman's Persian Lessons (Read my blog about it here), Jennifer Fox's Sundance breakout The Tale, Isabel Coixet's The Bookshop and Juho Kuosmanen's The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki.Other titles in the pipeline include Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson's dark comedy Northern Comfort, which premieres in SXSW later this month, Annemarie Jacir's survival drama The Oblivion Theory, Sarah Arnold's debut feature Wild Encounters and Michiel ten Horn's romantic comedy Any Other Night. In Berlin this year it was announced that Bankside would be The Girl from Köln's international sales agent and was launching sales. Alamode Film already has German-speaking territories and is a coproducer, who have very recently secured funding through the Fff, the local fund in Bavaria. It is in early pre-production and will shoot this year in Poland and Germany. The Girl from Köln tells the little-known story of Vera Brandes, who, in 1975, at the age of 17, staged the famous Köln Concert by jazz musician Keith Jarrett, which became the top-selling jazz solo album of all time. With Polish Film Institute backing, Oscar-winning Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska (Ida, Cold War) of Extreme Emotions is co-producing along with Annegret Weitkämper-Krug of Germany's Gretchenfilm (Seneca). Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Oren Moverman (Love & Mercy, Bad Education) serves as executive producer. Moverman also produced Fluk's previous feature, The Ticket. The Tale writer-director Jennifer Fox also serves as executive producer. Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green executive produce for Bankside. It stars Mala Emde (Skin Deep, And Tomorrow the Entire World) in the lead role, alongside John Magaro (Past Lives) as Jarrett. Magaro was also in Cannes last year with Kelly Reichardt's competition title Showing Up.Other cast attached include Alexander Scheer (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush), Ulrich Tukur (The Life of Others), Susanne Wolff (Sisi & I, Styx), Jördis Triebel (Dark), Jan Bülow (Lindenberg) and Marie-Lou Sellem (Tar, Exit Marrakesh). The NYU-graduate Fluk was dubbed "a talent to watch" by Variety following his feature debut Never Too Late, the first crowd-sourced Israeli film ever made. His American debut, the Tribeca competition selection, The Ticket, starred Dan Stevens and Malin Akerman. Upcoming projects include 24 Hours in June, a retelling of the final day in the life of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union, to be produced by Academy Award winner James Schamus (Brokeback Mountain) and Joe Pirro (Driveways). Fluk is repped by Amotz Zakai, Amy Schiffman, and Kegan Schell at Echo Lake Entertainment. He is also created the recently-announced HBO series Empty Mansions for Fremantle with director Joe Wright (Atonement, Darkest Hour) attached to direct the pilot. "From the moment I heard Vera's story, about how as a high school teenager she organized one of the greatest concerts in history, I knew her story had to be told," said Fluk. "We were immediately exhilarated by Vera Brandes' remarkable female empowerment story. Her strength, courage and sheer belief in herself and the music of Keith Jarrett will entertain and inspire audiences around the world," added Kelliher.
- 3/5/2023
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Finland’s Aamu Film Company will invest in Jenni Jauri’s new production company Silmu Films, Variety has found out exclusively.
Aamu, founded in 2001 and co-owned by Jussi Rantamäki and Emilia Haukka, has become a local arthouse powerhouse thanks to its festival-friendly slate, especially Juho Kuosmanen’s “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki” and Golden Globe-nominated “Compartment No. 6,” awarded the Grand Prix in Cannes.
“We had a good film with decent sales and we started to think about what we should do next,” Rantamäki said. “Aamu’s brand is simple and clear: we only work with a select few directors. We don’t want to change that; we don’t want to turn into a factory where you don’t know what is happening and with whom. So first we decided not to grow, and then realized we could invest in a new company instead.”
Apart from Kuosmanen,...
Aamu, founded in 2001 and co-owned by Jussi Rantamäki and Emilia Haukka, has become a local arthouse powerhouse thanks to its festival-friendly slate, especially Juho Kuosmanen’s “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki” and Golden Globe-nominated “Compartment No. 6,” awarded the Grand Prix in Cannes.
“We had a good film with decent sales and we started to think about what we should do next,” Rantamäki said. “Aamu’s brand is simple and clear: we only work with a select few directors. We don’t want to change that; we don’t want to turn into a factory where you don’t know what is happening and with whom. So first we decided not to grow, and then realized we could invest in a new company instead.”
Apart from Kuosmanen,...
- 2/23/2023
- by John Hopewell and Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Studio executives, renowned directors, and a crop of rising young talent huddled below crystal chandeliers in Paris’ Palais Royal on Thursday, turning out to fête “Benedetta” star Virginie Efira as she received the Unifrance French Cinema Award – a prize honoring those who carry the banner for Gallic cinema across the globe – in the presence of Unifrance president Serge Toubiana and the country’s Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak.
Organized as part of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris, the ceremony drew a fittingly international crowd, with filmmakers Emily Atef, Juho Kuosmanen, Sergei Loznitsa and Albert Serra joining “Athena” star Dali Benssalah, “Forever Young” lead Nadia Tereszkiewicz, “Mother and Son” breakout Annabelle Lengronne and “Everybody Loves Jeanne” director Céline Devaux for an intimate reception held in opulent surroundings.
Abdul Malak kicked off the Efira tribute with a victory lap of sorts, boasting about local theatrical attendance rates – which, with only 29 lost...
Organized as part of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Paris, the ceremony drew a fittingly international crowd, with filmmakers Emily Atef, Juho Kuosmanen, Sergei Loznitsa and Albert Serra joining “Athena” star Dali Benssalah, “Forever Young” lead Nadia Tereszkiewicz, “Mother and Son” breakout Annabelle Lengronne and “Everybody Loves Jeanne” director Céline Devaux for an intimate reception held in opulent surroundings.
Abdul Malak kicked off the Efira tribute with a victory lap of sorts, boasting about local theatrical attendance rates – which, with only 29 lost...
- 1/14/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Running Jan. 13-Feb. 13, this year’s MyFrenchFilmFestival, an online fest organized by France’s film-tv promotional body Unifrance, will mark its 13th edition with an emphasis on debut features and dynamic new voices.
Showcasing star power, animated auteur fare and award-winning documentaries – all subtitled in 15 languages – the 12 features and 17 shorts of this year’s selection will reach home viewers via 70 partner platforms as well on MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, where all the shorts will be available to screen free of charge.
In an effort to cast as wide a net as possible, this year’s competition will feature projects that run the gamut from Alice Diop’s breakthrough documentary “We” – which finds connections in the lives of immigrants, lovesick teens and retirees all connected by a commuter rail line north of Paris – to Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s satirical sketch comedy “Bloody Oranges,” which shreds polite society with anarchic glee.
In between are everything...
Showcasing star power, animated auteur fare and award-winning documentaries – all subtitled in 15 languages – the 12 features and 17 shorts of this year’s selection will reach home viewers via 70 partner platforms as well on MyFrenchFilmFestival.com, where all the shorts will be available to screen free of charge.
In an effort to cast as wide a net as possible, this year’s competition will feature projects that run the gamut from Alice Diop’s breakthrough documentary “We” – which finds connections in the lives of immigrants, lovesick teens and retirees all connected by a commuter rail line north of Paris – to Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s satirical sketch comedy “Bloody Oranges,” which shreds polite society with anarchic glee.
In between are everything...
- 1/5/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen, who won the Cannes Grand Prize for Compartment No. 6 in 2021, will be guest of honor at the fifth Talent Village of France’s Les Arcs Film Festival, running December 10-17 in the French Alps.
The three-day meeting running within the festival’s industry program will support eight emerging European directors and consists of workshops and one-on-one meetings aimed at advancing their short and feature-length works.
Kuosmanen, whose credits also include the Cannes 2016 Un Certain Regard award winner The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, will attend in the role of Talent Village Ambassador and will meet and mentor all the participants.
Other industry professionals acting as tutors will include Danish producer Katrin Pors of Copenhagen-based production company Snowglobe; Olivier Barbier, Head of Acquisitions at France’s mk2 films, Locarno Film Festival programmer and Festival Scope co-founder Mathilde Henrot and music supervisor Martin Caraux from...
The three-day meeting running within the festival’s industry program will support eight emerging European directors and consists of workshops and one-on-one meetings aimed at advancing their short and feature-length works.
Kuosmanen, whose credits also include the Cannes 2016 Un Certain Regard award winner The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, will attend in the role of Talent Village Ambassador and will meet and mentor all the participants.
Other industry professionals acting as tutors will include Danish producer Katrin Pors of Copenhagen-based production company Snowglobe; Olivier Barbier, Head of Acquisitions at France’s mk2 films, Locarno Film Festival programmer and Festival Scope co-founder Mathilde Henrot and music supervisor Martin Caraux from...
- 11/3/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen named as Talent Village ambassador.
Les Arcs Film Festival’s industry programme has selected eight emerging directors for its Talent Village initiative and has named Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen as its Talent Village ambassador.
The programme, consisting of workshops and meetings, is designed to help the directors move from short to feature-length projects, with a particular attention given to industry issues and international aspects of the projects.
Kuosmanen won the Grand Prix in Cannes in 2021 for Compartment N°6, a follow-up to his Un Certain Regard film The Happiest Day In The Life of Olli Mäki...
Les Arcs Film Festival’s industry programme has selected eight emerging directors for its Talent Village initiative and has named Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen as its Talent Village ambassador.
The programme, consisting of workshops and meetings, is designed to help the directors move from short to feature-length projects, with a particular attention given to industry issues and international aspects of the projects.
Kuosmanen won the Grand Prix in Cannes in 2021 for Compartment N°6, a follow-up to his Un Certain Regard film The Happiest Day In The Life of Olli Mäki...
- 11/2/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
The Nordic screen industries are riding a tide of recent success, from Joachim Trier’s dual Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person in the World” (Norway), and Juho Kuosmanen’s Cannes prize winner “Compartment No. 6” (Finland), to Apple TV’s hit Norwegian crime drama “Exit.”
But the Nordics have a ways to go on diversity and inclusion and can do more to support emerging talents — including taking a more mindful approach toward how on-set practices can create an unhealthy work environment.
Those were the key takeaways of a panel discussion on Sept. 21 at the Finnish Film Affair, the industry arm of the Helsinki International Film Festival — Love & Anarchy. Moderated by Finnish TV presenter Andrea Reuter, the event brought together three up-and-coming film professionals from Nordic countries to discuss the hopes and challenges for the next generation of filmmakers from the region.
The event was a collaboration with Nordisk Film & TV Fond,...
But the Nordics have a ways to go on diversity and inclusion and can do more to support emerging talents — including taking a more mindful approach toward how on-set practices can create an unhealthy work environment.
Those were the key takeaways of a panel discussion on Sept. 21 at the Finnish Film Affair, the industry arm of the Helsinki International Film Festival — Love & Anarchy. Moderated by Finnish TV presenter Andrea Reuter, the event brought together three up-and-coming film professionals from Nordic countries to discuss the hopes and challenges for the next generation of filmmakers from the region.
The event was a collaboration with Nordisk Film & TV Fond,...
- 9/22/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
“The Woodcutter Story,” a Finnish drama with a surreal touch, has been sold to Australia (Palace Films), Baltics (Estinfilm), Sweden (Njuta), Germany (Eksystent) and France (Urban), Paris-based Totem Films shared exclusively with Variety.
Directed by Mikko Myllylahti, it sees a good man who runs into bad luck: he loses his job and his wife leaves, but Pepe (Jarkko Lahti) is trying to keep his head high. Even when strange things start to happen in his sleepy village.
The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics Week, screens Wednesday at the Helsinki Film Festival – Love & Anarchy. It will have its North American premiere at Chicago Film Festival and its U.K. premiere at the London Film Festival.
“It’s a very strange film,” said Myllylahti back in May. Also opening up about a real-life encounter – and real-life woodcutter – that inspired him.
“There was something very Finnish about the way he was dealing with his ordeals: sometimes,...
Directed by Mikko Myllylahti, it sees a good man who runs into bad luck: he loses his job and his wife leaves, but Pepe (Jarkko Lahti) is trying to keep his head high. Even when strange things start to happen in his sleepy village.
The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics Week, screens Wednesday at the Helsinki Film Festival – Love & Anarchy. It will have its North American premiere at Chicago Film Festival and its U.K. premiere at the London Film Festival.
“It’s a very strange film,” said Myllylahti back in May. Also opening up about a real-life encounter – and real-life woodcutter – that inspired him.
“There was something very Finnish about the way he was dealing with his ordeals: sometimes,...
- 9/21/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
As the Finnish Film Affair embarks on the start of its second decade, the organizers of the annual industry event, which runs parallel to the Helsinki International Film Festival — Love & Anarchy, can both reflect on 10 years of success and look ahead for ways to continue to serve both the Finnish and the Nordic film industries.
“Finnish Film Affair started in 2012 with 240 participants. This year, for our 11th edition, we have nearly 500 delegates attending from over 20 countries, with a third of them being international guests and buyers,” Finnish Film Affair director Maria Pirkkalainen told Variety on the eve of the event, which runs from Sept. 21 – 23.
It’s a return to form for a Nordic showcase that, like other industry events around the world, has faced a range of disruptions since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
“The past years haven’t been the easiest for the Nordic film industry, and...
“Finnish Film Affair started in 2012 with 240 participants. This year, for our 11th edition, we have nearly 500 delegates attending from over 20 countries, with a third of them being international guests and buyers,” Finnish Film Affair director Maria Pirkkalainen told Variety on the eve of the event, which runs from Sept. 21 – 23.
It’s a return to form for a Nordic showcase that, like other industry events around the world, has faced a range of disruptions since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
“The past years haven’t been the easiest for the Nordic film industry, and...
- 9/20/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/13/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/13/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/13/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Beaver Trilogy (Trent Harris)
For a 1979 local news segment, Trent Harris filmed an affable young man’s drag performance as Olivia Newton-John at a talent show in Beaver, Utah. A few years later, Harris retold the story of the “Beaver Kid” in two fictional shorts, the first starring a then-unknown Sean Penn, the second starring a then-unknown Crispin Glover. The feature-length sum of all three parts, Beaver Trilogy is a captivating portrait of an outsider, a meta odyssey into reenactment and exploitation, and a true cult masterpiece.
New to Streaming: Le Cinéma Club
The Card Counter (Paul Schrader)
Whatever new could be said about Paul Schrader as an artist—curving around the extra-textual value in Kickstarter campaigns, Facebook posts, and tragic losses...
Beaver Trilogy (Trent Harris)
For a 1979 local news segment, Trent Harris filmed an affable young man’s drag performance as Olivia Newton-John at a talent show in Beaver, Utah. A few years later, Harris retold the story of the “Beaver Kid” in two fictional shorts, the first starring a then-unknown Sean Penn, the second starring a then-unknown Crispin Glover. The feature-length sum of all three parts, Beaver Trilogy is a captivating portrait of an outsider, a meta odyssey into reenactment and exploitation, and a true cult masterpiece.
New to Streaming: Le Cinéma Club
The Card Counter (Paul Schrader)
Whatever new could be said about Paul Schrader as an artist—curving around the extra-textual value in Kickstarter campaigns, Facebook posts, and tragic losses...
- 6/10/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Berlin-based One Two Films, in Cannes this week with Ali Abbasi’s competition title “Holy Spider,” is prepping a new feature from writer-director Ido Fluk, the filmmaker behind 2016 Tribeca selection “The Ticket.”
“Köln 75” tells the true story of Vera Brandes, who, in 1975 and at the age of 17, staged the famous Köln Concert by jazz musician Keith Jarrett, which became the top-selling jazz solo album of all time. It stars Mala Emde (“And Tomorrow the Entire World”) in the lead role, alongside John Magaro (“First Cow”) as Jarrett. Magaro is also in Cannes with Kelly Reichardt’s competition title “Showing Up.”
Oscar-winning Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska of Extreme Emotions will co-produce, with Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Oren Moverman serving as executive producer. Moverman also produced Fluk’s previous feature, “The Ticket.”
Other cast attached include Alexander Scheer (“Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush”), Ulrich Tukur (“The Life of Others”), Susanne Wolff...
“Köln 75” tells the true story of Vera Brandes, who, in 1975 and at the age of 17, staged the famous Köln Concert by jazz musician Keith Jarrett, which became the top-selling jazz solo album of all time. It stars Mala Emde (“And Tomorrow the Entire World”) in the lead role, alongside John Magaro (“First Cow”) as Jarrett. Magaro is also in Cannes with Kelly Reichardt’s competition title “Showing Up.”
Oscar-winning Polish producer Ewa Puszczynska of Extreme Emotions will co-produce, with Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Oren Moverman serving as executive producer. Moverman also produced Fluk’s previous feature, “The Ticket.”
Other cast attached include Alexander Scheer (“Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush”), Ulrich Tukur (“The Life of Others”), Susanne Wolff...
- 5/20/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
There is a sort of checklist for Finnish films — and I say this with love — that includes snowy exteriors, bleakly austere interiors, ice fishing and someone getting murdered with an axe. The Woodcutter Story ticks every box, plus a few more. Characters who barely speak, for example — and who may, indeed, have nothing to say. When they do, there is a jolting humor that may not be humor at all: their deadpan delivery gives nothing away. This is the Finnish way.
Director/writer Mikko Myllylahti — a poet who also penned the script for Juho Kuosmanen’s The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki, which won a major prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 — sets his Cannes Critics’ Week title in an unnamed village in the far north of Finland clustered around a timber mill. Myllylahti’s hero Pepe is a timber worker, played by the same actor...
Director/writer Mikko Myllylahti — a poet who also penned the script for Juho Kuosmanen’s The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki, which won a major prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 — sets his Cannes Critics’ Week title in an unnamed village in the far north of Finland clustered around a timber mill. Myllylahti’s hero Pepe is a timber worker, played by the same actor...
- 5/19/2022
- by Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
Finland’s Mikko Myllylahti returns to Cannes’ Critics Week with his feature debut as a director “The Woodcutter Story.” His short “Tiger” premiered in the same section in 2018, while “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki,” which he co-wrote with Juho Kuosmanen, won Un Certain Regard back in 2016.
“It’s a very strange film,” he tells Variety about his dark fairytale about the ever-optimistic Pepe, whose world – confined to a small, snowbound town – is slowly crumbling around him. Admitting that after “Olli Mäki,” based on a true story of a boxer preparing for his big break in the 1960s, he needed to “get away from reality.”
“I was fascinated by old tales and in Finland, they can be quite cruel,” he says. But the film was also inspired by a real-life encounter with a woodcutter from the north, not far away from his hometown of Tornio, whose calm...
“It’s a very strange film,” he tells Variety about his dark fairytale about the ever-optimistic Pepe, whose world – confined to a small, snowbound town – is slowly crumbling around him. Admitting that after “Olli Mäki,” based on a true story of a boxer preparing for his big break in the 1960s, he needed to “get away from reality.”
“I was fascinated by old tales and in Finland, they can be quite cruel,” he says. But the film was also inspired by a real-life encounter with a woodcutter from the north, not far away from his hometown of Tornio, whose calm...
- 5/18/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Festival
The second edition of the Ponta Lopud Festival (June 22-27) on the island of Lopud, near Dubrovnik, Croatia, will feature masterclasses from Oscar winners Frances McDormand and Joel Coen. “At this point in our professional lives, we can’t think of a better way to spend the warm days of summer than in conversation about the process of filmmaking and the love of film watching with a group of other filmmakers on an island in the Adriatic Sea,” said McDormand and Coen.
Participants at this year’s edition include filmmakers Tamara Kotevska (“Honeyland”), Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (“Murina), Una Gunjak (“Chicken”), and actor Gordan Bogdan (“Fargo”). There will also be lectures by director Juho Kuosmanen, producer Peter Spears and talent agent Brian Swardstrom and conversations between masters and participants moderated by special guests, directors Pawel Pawlikowski, Michel Franco, Lili Horvat, Danis Tanovic and Ognjen Glavonic.
The founders of the Ponta Lopud Festival are Miro Purivatra,...
The second edition of the Ponta Lopud Festival (June 22-27) on the island of Lopud, near Dubrovnik, Croatia, will feature masterclasses from Oscar winners Frances McDormand and Joel Coen. “At this point in our professional lives, we can’t think of a better way to spend the warm days of summer than in conversation about the process of filmmaking and the love of film watching with a group of other filmmakers on an island in the Adriatic Sea,” said McDormand and Coen.
Participants at this year’s edition include filmmakers Tamara Kotevska (“Honeyland”), Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (“Murina), Una Gunjak (“Chicken”), and actor Gordan Bogdan (“Fargo”). There will also be lectures by director Juho Kuosmanen, producer Peter Spears and talent agent Brian Swardstrom and conversations between masters and participants moderated by special guests, directors Pawel Pawlikowski, Michel Franco, Lili Horvat, Danis Tanovic and Ognjen Glavonic.
The founders of the Ponta Lopud Festival are Miro Purivatra,...
- 5/13/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Frances McDormand and Joel Coen are set to headline as ‘masters’ at the second edition of the Ponta Lopud Festival next month.
The U.S. duo will offer up a series of acting and directing masterclasses for the invite-only event which takes place on the Croatian island of Lopud.
The new festival, which was started last year by Sarajevo Film Festival former director and founder Miro Purivatra and Lopud’s Tilda Grossel Bogdanovic, is specifically tailored for directors, actors and cinematographers from southeast Europe.
This year, the festival will also host special lectures by director Juho Kuosmanen, producer Peter Spears and talent agent Brian Swardstrom. It will also host conversations between participants and special guests such as Pawel Pawlikowski, Michel Franco, Lili Horvat, Danis Tanovic and Ognjen Glavonic and Antonio Sanchez.
Among selected participants for the second edition of Ponta Lopud are: Honeyland director Tamara Kotevska; Murina helmer Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic,...
The U.S. duo will offer up a series of acting and directing masterclasses for the invite-only event which takes place on the Croatian island of Lopud.
The new festival, which was started last year by Sarajevo Film Festival former director and founder Miro Purivatra and Lopud’s Tilda Grossel Bogdanovic, is specifically tailored for directors, actors and cinematographers from southeast Europe.
This year, the festival will also host special lectures by director Juho Kuosmanen, producer Peter Spears and talent agent Brian Swardstrom. It will also host conversations between participants and special guests such as Pawel Pawlikowski, Michel Franco, Lili Horvat, Danis Tanovic and Ognjen Glavonic and Antonio Sanchez.
Among selected participants for the second edition of Ponta Lopud are: Honeyland director Tamara Kotevska; Murina helmer Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic,...
- 5/13/2022
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Lecturers include Finland’s Juho Kuosmanen, US producer Peter Spears.
US duo Frances McDormand and Joel Coen will be ‘masters’ for the second edition of Ponta Lopud Film Festival, on the island of Lopud near Dubrovnik, Croatia.
McDormand and Coen will give invite-only masterclasses to directors, actors and cinematographers from Southeast Europe, in the festival from June 22 to 27.
Ponta Lopud was started last year by Miro Purivatra, founder and long-time director of Sarajevo Film Festival; and Tilda Grossel Bogdanovic.
The festival will also host lectures from Juho Kuosmanen, Finnish director of Compartment No. 6; Peter Spears, US producer of titles including...
US duo Frances McDormand and Joel Coen will be ‘masters’ for the second edition of Ponta Lopud Film Festival, on the island of Lopud near Dubrovnik, Croatia.
McDormand and Coen will give invite-only masterclasses to directors, actors and cinematographers from Southeast Europe, in the festival from June 22 to 27.
Ponta Lopud was started last year by Miro Purivatra, founder and long-time director of Sarajevo Film Festival; and Tilda Grossel Bogdanovic.
The festival will also host lectures from Juho Kuosmanen, Finnish director of Compartment No. 6; Peter Spears, US producer of titles including...
- 5/13/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Updated, April 21: The Cannes Film Festival has added competition titles and additional screenings in the Midnight, Un Certain Regard, and Out of Competition sections. They are:
Competition
“The Eight Mountains,” Charlotte Vandermeersch, Felix Van Groeningen
“Un Petit Frère,” Leonor Serraille
“Tourment Sur Les Iles,” Albert Serra
Cannes Premiere
“Don Juan,” Serge Bozon
“La Nuit du 12,” Dominik Moll
“Chronicle of a Temporary Affair,” Emmanuel Mouret
Midnight Screenings
“Rebel,” Adil Arbi, Bilall Fallah
Un Certain Regard
“More Than Ever,” Emily Atef
“Mediterranean Fever,” Maha Haj
“The Blue Caftan,” Maryam Touzani
Out of Competition
“L’Innocent,” Louis Garrel
Special Screenings
“Mi Pais Imaginario,” Patricio Guzmán
“The Vagabonds,” Doroteya Droumeva
“Riposte Feministe,” Marie Perennes, Simon Depardon
“Restos do Vento,” Tiago Guedes
“Little Nicholas,” Amandine Fredon, Benjamin Massoubre
Earlier, April 14: The 2022 Cannes Film Festival is upon us and once again taking place in person this spring from May 17 through May 28. The lineup for...
Competition
“The Eight Mountains,” Charlotte Vandermeersch, Felix Van Groeningen
“Un Petit Frère,” Leonor Serraille
“Tourment Sur Les Iles,” Albert Serra
Cannes Premiere
“Don Juan,” Serge Bozon
“La Nuit du 12,” Dominik Moll
“Chronicle of a Temporary Affair,” Emmanuel Mouret
Midnight Screenings
“Rebel,” Adil Arbi, Bilall Fallah
Un Certain Regard
“More Than Ever,” Emily Atef
“Mediterranean Fever,” Maha Haj
“The Blue Caftan,” Maryam Touzani
Out of Competition
“L’Innocent,” Louis Garrel
Special Screenings
“Mi Pais Imaginario,” Patricio Guzmán
“The Vagabonds,” Doroteya Droumeva
“Riposte Feministe,” Marie Perennes, Simon Depardon
“Restos do Vento,” Tiago Guedes
“Little Nicholas,” Amandine Fredon, Benjamin Massoubre
Earlier, April 14: The 2022 Cannes Film Festival is upon us and once again taking place in person this spring from May 17 through May 28. The lineup for...
- 4/21/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The directorial debut of veteran French literary star revisits 1970s France through family home videos of the period.
Paris-based company Totem has boarded sales on Directors’ Fortnight documentary The Super 8 Years, the feature directorial debut of veteran French literary star Annie Ernaux with her son David Ernaux-Briot.
Ernaux, 81, is one of France’s most respected contemporary writers for her body of work capturing life for women and social change in the country from the 1960s onwards.
A number of her novels have been adapted to the big screen in recent years including Passion Simple by Danielle Arbid in 2020 and Happening by Audrey Diwan,...
Paris-based company Totem has boarded sales on Directors’ Fortnight documentary The Super 8 Years, the feature directorial debut of veteran French literary star Annie Ernaux with her son David Ernaux-Briot.
Ernaux, 81, is one of France’s most respected contemporary writers for her body of work capturing life for women and social change in the country from the 1960s onwards.
A number of her novels have been adapted to the big screen in recent years including Passion Simple by Danielle Arbid in 2020 and Happening by Audrey Diwan,...
- 4/20/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut ’When You Finish Saving The World’ will open the section focused on first and second films.
Cannes Critics’ Week, the parallel section focused on first and second films, has unveiled the line-up for its 61st edition, running May 18-26.
The section will showcase 11 features, seven of them in competition, and another 13 shorts.
It is the first selection piloted by incoming Critics’ Week artistic director Ava Cahen, since taking over the reins from Charles Tesson, who stepped down at the end of last year’s 60th edition after 10 years at the helm.
At 36, she is the...
Cannes Critics’ Week, the parallel section focused on first and second films, has unveiled the line-up for its 61st edition, running May 18-26.
The section will showcase 11 features, seven of them in competition, and another 13 shorts.
It is the first selection piloted by incoming Critics’ Week artistic director Ava Cahen, since taking over the reins from Charles Tesson, who stepped down at the end of last year’s 60th edition after 10 years at the helm.
At 36, she is the...
- 4/20/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Two wildly mismatched travellers find themselves sharing a sleeping compartment from Moscow to Murmansk in Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen’s beguiling romance
Back in the early 1990s, while covering the filming of the bizarre Russian-backed, Ukraine-set horror movie Dark Waters, I spent 17 hours on a midnight train from Moscow to Odesa. To this day I can still vividly recall the noise, smell and claustrophobia of that journey, crammed into a damp, four-bunk berth with tiny corridors whose windows were sealed shut, leading to toilets that were best avoided. All those memories came rushing back as I watched Compartment No 6, a 1990s-set drama in which a young woman boards a Moscow train heading the other way – up towards the port city of Murmansk. The film’s trajectory may be north rather than south, and the timescale far longer than my trip, but the expression on Finnish actor Seidi Haarla’s...
Back in the early 1990s, while covering the filming of the bizarre Russian-backed, Ukraine-set horror movie Dark Waters, I spent 17 hours on a midnight train from Moscow to Odesa. To this day I can still vividly recall the noise, smell and claustrophobia of that journey, crammed into a damp, four-bunk berth with tiny corridors whose windows were sealed shut, leading to toilets that were best avoided. All those memories came rushing back as I watched Compartment No 6, a 1990s-set drama in which a young woman boards a Moscow train heading the other way – up towards the port city of Murmansk. The film’s trajectory may be north rather than south, and the timescale far longer than my trip, but the expression on Finnish actor Seidi Haarla’s...
- 4/10/2022
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
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