Dreams play a pivotal role in “The Village Next to Paradise.” One of the three main characters in writer-director Mo Harawe’s poignant debut, a pre-teen boy named Cigaal (Ahmed Mohamud Saleban), has a compulsion to share his dreams with anyone who’s willing to listen. Cigaal longs for a land full of sweets, a place he sees in his sleep. The central threesome each have modest dreams: a small shop, a steady job and schooling. Life is hard in their part of Somalia, and they just want it to become a little easier.
It’s not much to ask for, and the humble ambition of the story’s characters reflects the filmmaker’s steady hand and patient vision. Harawe’s assured and confident debut, the first Somali feature ever selected for Cannes, draws on a small canvas but manages to wring authentic emotions and tell a complete narrative. A...
It’s not much to ask for, and the humble ambition of the story’s characters reflects the filmmaker’s steady hand and patient vision. Harawe’s assured and confident debut, the first Somali feature ever selected for Cannes, draws on a small canvas but manages to wring authentic emotions and tell a complete narrative. A...
- 5/30/2024
- by Murtada Elfadl
- Variety Film + TV
Mo Harawe’s debut feature The Village Next to Paradise is a haunting offering. The film, which premiered at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section and is the first Somali film to ever screen on the Croisette, presents a compelling narrative of one family’s survival in a sleepy Somali town. But it’s the devastating backdrop against which their drama plays out that lingers long after the credits roll.
The siren wails of drones soundtrack each scene of Harawe’s film, which opens with footage of a real-life report of a United States drone strike on Somalia. Since the U.S. began using drones in the East African country in the early 2000s, Somalis have suffered at the hands of an enveloping and ravenous counterterrorism operation. According to data from the New America foundation, there have been more than 300 documented uses of drones resulting in hundreds of known civilian deaths.
The siren wails of drones soundtrack each scene of Harawe’s film, which opens with footage of a real-life report of a United States drone strike on Somalia. Since the U.S. began using drones in the East African country in the early 2000s, Somalis have suffered at the hands of an enveloping and ravenous counterterrorism operation. According to data from the New America foundation, there have been more than 300 documented uses of drones resulting in hundreds of known civilian deaths.
- 5/23/2024
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mo Harawe makes history this Cannes Film Festival with debut feature The Village Next To Paradise, which is world premiering in Un Certain Regard as the first Somalian title to make it into Official Selection across the festival’s 77 editions.
Born in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, Harawe moved to Austria to study film when he was 18 years old.
The Village Next to Paradise follows hard-hitting shorts Life on the Horn, about toxic waste landing on the Somali coast, and Will My Parents Come to See Me, about a young prison inmate.
Set in a ramshackle village on the Somali coast, the drama follows a single father as he struggles with the challenges of daily life, in order to offer to his young son, Cigaal, a better future.
They are joined in their home by Araweelo, who is in the process of divorcing. Together they navigate between their different aspirations...
Born in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, Harawe moved to Austria to study film when he was 18 years old.
The Village Next to Paradise follows hard-hitting shorts Life on the Horn, about toxic waste landing on the Somali coast, and Will My Parents Come to See Me, about a young prison inmate.
Set in a ramshackle village on the Somali coast, the drama follows a single father as he struggles with the challenges of daily life, in order to offer to his young son, Cigaal, a better future.
They are joined in their home by Araweelo, who is in the process of divorcing. Together they navigate between their different aspirations...
- 5/19/2024
- by Hannah Abraham
- Deadline Film + TV
Cairo-based Mad Distribution has acquired Jonathan Millet’s Critics’ Week opener Ghost Trail from mk2 Films, Somali director Mo Harawe’s Un Certain Regard drama The Village Next To Paradise from Totem Films and Anne-Marie Jacir’s upcoming All Before You for release in the Middle East and North Africa.
They are three of 30 titles secured by Mad Distribution for Mena territories, which also include Saif Hammash’s Palestinian short Deer’s Tooth, selected for La Cinef, and Rayane Mcirdi’s Algerian-French short After The Sun, which plays in Directors’ Fortnight.
The distribution arm of indie studio Mad Solutions plans...
They are three of 30 titles secured by Mad Distribution for Mena territories, which also include Saif Hammash’s Palestinian short Deer’s Tooth, selected for La Cinef, and Rayane Mcirdi’s Algerian-French short After The Sun, which plays in Directors’ Fortnight.
The distribution arm of indie studio Mad Solutions plans...
- 5/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Among the high-profile filmmakers selected for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is a wave of upcoming talent from Asia and the Middle East, including the first Indian feature chosen for Competition in 30 years and the first film from Saudi Arabia to ever make the Official Selection.
While Cannes has a reputation for bringing back familiar names year after year, the line-up for the 77th edition does feature several rising filmmakers and not just in the “discovery” strands of the selection.
Making her first appearance in Competition is Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia with All We Imagine As Light. It marks...
While Cannes has a reputation for bringing back familiar names year after year, the line-up for the 77th edition does feature several rising filmmakers and not just in the “discovery” strands of the selection.
Making her first appearance in Competition is Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia with All We Imagine As Light. It marks...
- 4/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
Actresses Ariane Labed and Laetitia Dosch, Halfdan Ullman Tondel, Mo Harawe, Louise Courvoisier and Julien Colonna are part of the half dozen selected filmmakers that have been selected for the 2024 edition of the Un Certain Regard section. Fifteen selections were made this morning with some alluring new works from the likes of Konstantin Bojanov, Rungano Nyoni and Italian (US-based) filmmaker Roberto Minervini added to the mix. Since the 2021 edition the Cannes Premiere section have grabbed a number of premiere screening slots out of the Debussy theatre meaning the Un Certain Regard section hovers firmly around the twenty film range – so we can expect at least five more titles to be added to the section.…...
- 4/11/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
As expected, the Cannes Film Festival line-up is pretty spectacular with new films from Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrea Arnold and David Cronenberg heading to the fest.
As the days are getting longer and there’s a tiny bit more sunshine in between the showers of rain, that can only mean one thing. The Cannes Film Festival is almost upon us.
Of course, us peasants rarely get to go, but it is fun to read the reactions from the glitzy world premieres as the stars gather in the picturesque town of Cannes.
And this year’s festival line-up is a doozy. We already knew George Miller was heading to the Croisette with Furiosa, Francis Ford Coppola is bringing Megalopolis and Kevin Costner will be premiering his new film, too, but there’s a whole heap of great filmmakers heading out to the beach with their films.
The highlights include Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness,...
As the days are getting longer and there’s a tiny bit more sunshine in between the showers of rain, that can only mean one thing. The Cannes Film Festival is almost upon us.
Of course, us peasants rarely get to go, but it is fun to read the reactions from the glitzy world premieres as the stars gather in the picturesque town of Cannes.
And this year’s festival line-up is a doozy. We already knew George Miller was heading to the Croisette with Furiosa, Francis Ford Coppola is bringing Megalopolis and Kevin Costner will be premiering his new film, too, but there’s a whole heap of great filmmakers heading out to the beach with their films.
The highlights include Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds Of Kindness,...
- 4/11/2024
- by Maria Lattila
- Film Stories
Exclusive: French sales and production company Totem Films has boarded international sales on Somalia-set drama The Village Next To Paradise by Mo Harawe.
The movie was among 14 titles announced for the Un Certain Section of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival at the event’s press conference in Paris on Thursday.
Set in a remote Somali village, the feature revolves around a newly assembled family as its members navigate between their different aspirations and the complex world surrounding them. Only love, trust and resilience will power them through their life paths.
“It is a privilege to afford to dream, let alone to become a filmmaker,” said Harawe. following the news. “The Village Next to Paradise serves as a metaphor for a country that holds the potential for paradise, were it not for the circumstances that make such a reality impossible.”
The film stars Somalian actors Ahmed Ali Farah,...
The movie was among 14 titles announced for the Un Certain Section of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival at the event’s press conference in Paris on Thursday.
Set in a remote Somali village, the feature revolves around a newly assembled family as its members navigate between their different aspirations and the complex world surrounding them. Only love, trust and resilience will power them through their life paths.
“It is a privilege to afford to dream, let alone to become a filmmaker,” said Harawe. following the news. “The Village Next to Paradise serves as a metaphor for a country that holds the potential for paradise, were it not for the circumstances that make such a reality impossible.”
The film stars Somalian actors Ahmed Ali Farah,...
- 4/11/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Descubre las películas que estarán en Cannes 2024: una lista completa de todas las secciones.
Esta mañana, Thierry Frémaux ha anunciado la programación oficial de la 77ª edición del Festival de Cannes. La pasada edición del festival fue testigo de los estrenos mundiales de las aclamadas películas “Anatomía de una Caída”, “Killers of the Flower Moon” y “The Zone of Interest”. Unas películas que posteriormente fueron nominadas al Oscar a la mejor película, de modo que este año el listón está muy alto.
Desde su primera edición en 1946, el Festival de Cannes se ha consolidado como uno de los acontecimientos cinematográficos más importantes de la industria del cine y la edición de este año ofrece una gran variedad de películas de todo el mundo; desde directores consagrados hasta nuevas voces de la industria. Aunque, por desgracia, España no tendrá representación en el festival este año.
La presidenta del jurado de...
Esta mañana, Thierry Frémaux ha anunciado la programación oficial de la 77ª edición del Festival de Cannes. La pasada edición del festival fue testigo de los estrenos mundiales de las aclamadas películas “Anatomía de una Caída”, “Killers of the Flower Moon” y “The Zone of Interest”. Unas películas que posteriormente fueron nominadas al Oscar a la mejor película, de modo que este año el listón está muy alto.
Desde su primera edición en 1946, el Festival de Cannes se ha consolidado como uno de los acontecimientos cinematográficos más importantes de la industria del cine y la edición de este año ofrece una gran variedad de películas de todo el mundo; desde directores consagrados hasta nuevas voces de la industria. Aunque, por desgracia, España no tendrá representación en el festival este año.
La presidenta del jurado de...
- 4/11/2024
- by Marta Medina
- mundoCine
Ahead of a festival kicking off in just about a month, Iris Knobloch, President of the Festival de Cannes, and Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate, have unveiled the selection of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
Led by the previously announced major highlight, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, the competition lineup features the latest films from Jia Zhangke, David Cronenberg, Paul Schrader, Andrea Arnold, Sean Baker, Miguel Gomes, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jacques Audiard, Ali Abbasi, Payal Kapadia, and more.
Other sections include the previously new films from George Miller and Kevin Costner, alongside Leos Carax’s personal short C’est Pas Moi, Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson’s Rumors, Alain Guiraudie’s Miséricorde, and more.
Check out the lineup below.
Competition
All We Imagine As Light – Payal Kapadia
L’amour Ouf – Gilles Lellouche
Anora – Sean Baker
The Apprentice – Ali Abbasi
Bird – Andrea Arnold
Caught by the Tides – Jia Zhang-ke...
Led by the previously announced major highlight, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, the competition lineup features the latest films from Jia Zhangke, David Cronenberg, Paul Schrader, Andrea Arnold, Sean Baker, Miguel Gomes, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jacques Audiard, Ali Abbasi, Payal Kapadia, and more.
Other sections include the previously new films from George Miller and Kevin Costner, alongside Leos Carax’s personal short C’est Pas Moi, Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson’s Rumors, Alain Guiraudie’s Miséricorde, and more.
Check out the lineup below.
Competition
All We Imagine As Light – Payal Kapadia
L’amour Ouf – Gilles Lellouche
Anora – Sean Baker
The Apprentice – Ali Abbasi
Bird – Andrea Arnold
Caught by the Tides – Jia Zhang-ke...
- 4/11/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 77th edition (May 14-25)
The competition includes films by Andrea Arnold, David Cronenberg, Yórgos Lánthimos, Paul Schrader and Paolo Sorrentino.
Festival director Thierry Frémaux revealed the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Normandie theatre in Paris alongside festival president Iris Knobloch.
Previously announced titles include Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act, which will open the festival on May 14 out of competition, George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Kevin Costner’s Horizon, An American Saga and Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.
Barbie director Greta Gerwig will preside over the jury.
The competition includes films by Andrea Arnold, David Cronenberg, Yórgos Lánthimos, Paul Schrader and Paolo Sorrentino.
Festival director Thierry Frémaux revealed the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Normandie theatre in Paris alongside festival president Iris Knobloch.
Previously announced titles include Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act, which will open the festival on May 14 out of competition, George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Kevin Costner’s Horizon, An American Saga and Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.
Barbie director Greta Gerwig will preside over the jury.
- 4/11/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mad Celebrity — the talent management subsidiary of the pan-Arab film and TV company Mad Solutions — has signed Tunisian actor and writer Majd Mastoura, French Lebanese actor Isabelle Zighondi, and Saudi actor, producer and director Amawri Ezayah to the roster of its Mad Rising Celebrity unit, and visual artist, producer and Dop Mostafa El Kashef, who will be joining Mad Crew Celebrity.
Mastoura is best known for his work on Mohamed Ben Attia’s “Hedi” — for which he received a Silver Bear for best actor from the Berlin Film Festival, making him the first-ever Arab actor to receive the award — and Léonor Serraille’s “Mother and Son,” which world premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
His most recent project is Ben Attia’s surreal Tunisian drama feature “Behind the Mountains,” which world premiered in the Horizons Section of this year’s Venice Film Festival and is holding its Arab...
Mastoura is best known for his work on Mohamed Ben Attia’s “Hedi” — for which he received a Silver Bear for best actor from the Berlin Film Festival, making him the first-ever Arab actor to receive the award — and Léonor Serraille’s “Mother and Son,” which world premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
His most recent project is Ben Attia’s surreal Tunisian drama feature “Behind the Mountains,” which world premiered in the Horizons Section of this year’s Venice Film Festival and is holding its Arab...
- 12/5/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Meryam Joobeur’s “Motherhood,” Mo Harawe’s “The Village Next to Paradise” and Mia Bendrimia’s “The Magma” claimed a trio of post-production prizes at this year’s Atlas Workshops, which ran from Nov. 27 – 30 as part of the Marrakech Film Festival.
Winner of the top award, “Motherhood” walked away with a €30,000 post-production grant. Produced by Sarra Ben Hassan, the film builds on themes director Joobeur explored in her Oscar-nominated 2018 short “Brotherhood,” once again tracking family tensions when a young Isis combatant returns to his Tunisian home. With her feature debut, Joobeur will now explore the story through a lens of maternal guilt, incorporating touches of magical realism and psychological horror for good measure.
Set for delivery early next year, the film is touted for a splashy festival launch.
In fact, Joobeur had already left Marrakech and was already headed back into the rush of post-production by the time the prizes...
Winner of the top award, “Motherhood” walked away with a €30,000 post-production grant. Produced by Sarra Ben Hassan, the film builds on themes director Joobeur explored in her Oscar-nominated 2018 short “Brotherhood,” once again tracking family tensions when a young Isis combatant returns to his Tunisian home. With her feature debut, Joobeur will now explore the story through a lens of maternal guilt, incorporating touches of magical realism and psychological horror for good measure.
Set for delivery early next year, the film is touted for a splashy festival launch.
In fact, Joobeur had already left Marrakech and was already headed back into the rush of post-production by the time the prizes...
- 12/1/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
‘Motherhood’ is directed by Tunisa’s Meryam Joobeur while ‘Amnesia’ is by Palestine’s Dima Hamdam.
The sixth edition of the four-day Atlas Workshops of the Marrakech International Film Festival (Fifm) closed on Thursday (November 30) with the presentation of eight awards representing total cash prizes €126,000
The three prizes for films in post-production went to Meryam Joobeur’s Motherhood, Mo Harawe’s The Village Next To Paradise and Mia Bendrimia’s The Magma.
Motherhood is the anticipated feature debut of Oscar-nominated Tunisian-Canadian filmmaker Joobeur and is produced by Sarra Ben Hassen of Tunisia’s Instinct Blue.
Somalian filmmaker Harawe’s The...
The sixth edition of the four-day Atlas Workshops of the Marrakech International Film Festival (Fifm) closed on Thursday (November 30) with the presentation of eight awards representing total cash prizes €126,000
The three prizes for films in post-production went to Meryam Joobeur’s Motherhood, Mo Harawe’s The Village Next To Paradise and Mia Bendrimia’s The Magma.
Motherhood is the anticipated feature debut of Oscar-nominated Tunisian-Canadian filmmaker Joobeur and is produced by Sarra Ben Hassen of Tunisia’s Instinct Blue.
Somalian filmmaker Harawe’s The...
- 12/1/2023
- by E. Nina Rothe
- ScreenDaily
‘Motherhood’ is directed by Tunisa’s Meryam Joobeur while ‘Amnesia’ is by Palestine’s Dima Hamdam.
The sixth edition of the four-day Atlas Workshops of the Marrakech International Film Festival (Fifm) closed on Thursday (November 30) with the presentation of eight awards representing total cash prizes €126,000
The three prizes for films in post-production went to Meryam Joobeur’s Motherhood, Mo Harawe’s The Village Next To Paradise and Mia Bendrimia’s The Magma.
Motherhood is the anticipated feature debut of Oscar-nominated Tunisian-Canadian filmmaker Joobeur and is produced by Sarra Ben Hassen of Tunisia’s Instinct Blue.
Somalian filmmaker Harawe’s The...
The sixth edition of the four-day Atlas Workshops of the Marrakech International Film Festival (Fifm) closed on Thursday (November 30) with the presentation of eight awards representing total cash prizes €126,000
The three prizes for films in post-production went to Meryam Joobeur’s Motherhood, Mo Harawe’s The Village Next To Paradise and Mia Bendrimia’s The Magma.
Motherhood is the anticipated feature debut of Oscar-nominated Tunisian-Canadian filmmaker Joobeur and is produced by Sarra Ben Hassen of Tunisia’s Instinct Blue.
Somalian filmmaker Harawe’s The...
- 12/1/2023
- by E. Nina Rothe
- ScreenDaily
Projects come from 11 different countries across the Arab world and African continent.
The Atlas Workshops, the industry platform of the Marrakech International Film Festival, has unveiled 25 projects for its sixth edition, which runs from November 27-30.
Atlas Workshops has lined up 16 projects in development and nine films in production or post-production from 11 countries across the Arab world and African continent.
The line-up includes projects from Tunisian directors Youssef Chebbi and Erige Sehiri. Chebbi’s feature Ashkal played in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes last year, as did Sehiri’s Under The Fig Trees.
Also coming to The Atlas Workshops is Somalia...
The Atlas Workshops, the industry platform of the Marrakech International Film Festival, has unveiled 25 projects for its sixth edition, which runs from November 27-30.
Atlas Workshops has lined up 16 projects in development and nine films in production or post-production from 11 countries across the Arab world and African continent.
The line-up includes projects from Tunisian directors Youssef Chebbi and Erige Sehiri. Chebbi’s feature Ashkal played in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes last year, as did Sehiri’s Under The Fig Trees.
Also coming to The Atlas Workshops is Somalia...
- 11/3/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the 25 projects selected for the sixth edition of its industry-focused Atlas Workshops, aimed at nurturing emerging Moroccan, Arab and African talent.
Running from November 27 to 30, the event will present 16 projects in development and nine films in production or post-production from 11 countries, selected from among the 320 applications received from the Arab world and African continent.
In a reflection of the growing diversity of the stories being told by Arab and African independent filmmakers, the selection spans a diverse range of film genres, from Lebanese director Sandra Tabet’s horror picture Rabies to Moroccan filmmaker Hind Bensari’s humanist documentary Out of School and Adnane Baraka’s poetic work We Don’t Forget.
Moroccan filmmaker Baraka made waves with his documentary Fragments from Heaven, about a nomad living in a tent in a remote part of Morocco who goes in search of meteorite fragments to boost the family fortunes.
Running from November 27 to 30, the event will present 16 projects in development and nine films in production or post-production from 11 countries, selected from among the 320 applications received from the Arab world and African continent.
In a reflection of the growing diversity of the stories being told by Arab and African independent filmmakers, the selection spans a diverse range of film genres, from Lebanese director Sandra Tabet’s horror picture Rabies to Moroccan filmmaker Hind Bensari’s humanist documentary Out of School and Adnane Baraka’s poetic work We Don’t Forget.
Moroccan filmmaker Baraka made waves with his documentary Fragments from Heaven, about a nomad living in a tent in a remote part of Morocco who goes in search of meteorite fragments to boost the family fortunes.
- 11/3/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Projects from Bhutan to Brazil to receive production and distribution funding.
The Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (Wcf) has revealed 13 features it will support with a share of $380,000 in production and distribution funding.
Projects include Nothing In Its Place by Turkish filmmaker Burak Çevik, whose features The Pillar Of Salt, Belonging and Forms Of Forgetting each premiered at the Berlinale Forum.
His latest focuses on one of Turkey’s most bloody political massacres, which took place in the country’s capital of Ankara in 1978, and focuses on the night when a group of leftist youths who believed in unarmed revolution...
The Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (Wcf) has revealed 13 features it will support with a share of $380,000 in production and distribution funding.
Projects include Nothing In Its Place by Turkish filmmaker Burak Çevik, whose features The Pillar Of Salt, Belonging and Forms Of Forgetting each premiered at the Berlinale Forum.
His latest focuses on one of Turkey’s most bloody political massacres, which took place in the country’s capital of Ankara in 1978, and focuses on the night when a group of leftist youths who believed in unarmed revolution...
- 8/7/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio will be presented with the European Film Academy’s Award for European Innovative Storytelling for his miniseries “Exterior Night.” The director will be guest of honor at the 35th European Film Awards ceremony on Dec. 10 at Reykjavik.
In “Exterior Night,” Bellocchio returns to the case of the kidnapping and assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades in 1978, a subject that he tackled in his feature film “Good Morning, Night,” for which he received the Fipresci Prize at the 2003 European Film Awards.
The academy has also revealed nominations in several categories for the awards.
European Comedy:
“Cop Secret” (:Leynilögga”), directed by Hannes Þór Halldórsson (Iceland)
“The Good Boss” (“El Buen Patrón”), directed by Fernando León De Aranoa (Spain)
“The Divide” (“La Fracture”), directed by Catherine Corsini (France)
European Animated Feature Film:
“Little Nicholas – Happy As Can Be” (“Le Petit Nicolas – Qu’est-ce...
In “Exterior Night,” Bellocchio returns to the case of the kidnapping and assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades in 1978, a subject that he tackled in his feature film “Good Morning, Night,” for which he received the Fipresci Prize at the 2003 European Film Awards.
The academy has also revealed nominations in several categories for the awards.
European Comedy:
“Cop Secret” (:Leynilögga”), directed by Hannes Þór Halldórsson (Iceland)
“The Good Boss” (“El Buen Patrón”), directed by Fernando León De Aranoa (Spain)
“The Divide” (“La Fracture”), directed by Catherine Corsini (France)
European Animated Feature Film:
“Little Nicholas – Happy As Can Be” (“Le Petit Nicolas – Qu’est-ce...
- 10/19/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Three new German dramas have scooped up top honors at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival’s First Look awards, an industry prize that backs works-in-progress.
Lukas Nathrath’s One Last Evening, a scathing dramedy that skewers success-obsessed society, took the Cinegrell First Look Award, which comes with a 51,000 (50,000 euro) bursary in postproduction services from German/Swiss post-house Cinegrell.
Arthur & Diana, a road movie from director Sara Summa, won the Le Film Français Award and the accompanying 5,700 (5,600 euro) in advertising services for the yet-to-be-released feature. Summa, director of the Italian-set 2019 horror title The Last to See Them, stars in the documentary-style Arthur & Diana with her real-life brother. The feature follows the two siblings as they travel from Berlin to South Tyrol re-enacting the road trips of their childhood.
Locarno Pro’s Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize, which includes 5,100 (5,000 euro) to go toward the design of an international poster for the film,...
Three new German dramas have scooped up top honors at the 2022 Locarno Film Festival’s First Look awards, an industry prize that backs works-in-progress.
Lukas Nathrath’s One Last Evening, a scathing dramedy that skewers success-obsessed society, took the Cinegrell First Look Award, which comes with a 51,000 (50,000 euro) bursary in postproduction services from German/Swiss post-house Cinegrell.
Arthur & Diana, a road movie from director Sara Summa, won the Le Film Français Award and the accompanying 5,700 (5,600 euro) in advertising services for the yet-to-be-released feature. Summa, director of the Italian-set 2019 horror title The Last to See Them, stars in the documentary-style Arthur & Diana with her real-life brother. The feature follows the two siblings as they travel from Berlin to South Tyrol re-enacting the road trips of their childhood.
Locarno Pro’s Kaiju Cinema Diffusion Prize, which includes 5,100 (5,000 euro) to go toward the design of an international poster for the film,...
- 8/8/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Three German features in post win awards.
The Locarno Film Festival’s industry programme Locarno Pro has handed out its first awards to three German feature films in postproduction, presented as part of its First Look works in progress section.
An international jury comprised of festival directors Vanja Kaludjercic, Tricia Tuttle and Huh Moonyung gave the Cinegrell First Look Award offering postproduction services worth €50,000 to Lukas Nathrath’s tragicomedy One Last Evening, produced by Klinkerfilm in co-production with Doppelbauer & Nathrath Filmproduktion.
Meanwhile, Le Film Français Award with advertising services worth €5,600 went to Dffb student Sara Summa’s European road movie Arthur & Diana.
The Locarno Film Festival’s industry programme Locarno Pro has handed out its first awards to three German feature films in postproduction, presented as part of its First Look works in progress section.
An international jury comprised of festival directors Vanja Kaludjercic, Tricia Tuttle and Huh Moonyung gave the Cinegrell First Look Award offering postproduction services worth €50,000 to Lukas Nathrath’s tragicomedy One Last Evening, produced by Klinkerfilm in co-production with Doppelbauer & Nathrath Filmproduktion.
Meanwhile, Le Film Français Award with advertising services worth €5,600 went to Dffb student Sara Summa’s European road movie Arthur & Diana.
- 8/8/2022
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Lukas Nathrath’s “One Last Evening,” an often excruciating tragedy-laced dramedy set around a couple’s farewell dinner for friends, won big at Locarno’s First Look on Sunday, scooping the Cinegrell First Look Award.
The award consists in €50,000 in post-production services from Cinegrell, a Switzerland and Germany based services house.
The biggest prize at this year’s Locarno Pro First Look, a pix-in-post showcase dedicated six new movies from Germany, went to a first feature which delivers a scathing portrait of a success-obsessed society whose members mostly don’t live up to their promise, especially in their own estimation.
Sebastian Jakob Doppelbauer plays Clemens, a once budding singer-songwriter but now pitied depressive whose girlfriend is now shaping up as the partner with a future as an on-the-rise doctor. Clemens in contrast doesn’t do shit.
Starting off afresh, moving from Hanover to Berlin, the couple stage a farewell dinner that spirals out of control,...
The award consists in €50,000 in post-production services from Cinegrell, a Switzerland and Germany based services house.
The biggest prize at this year’s Locarno Pro First Look, a pix-in-post showcase dedicated six new movies from Germany, went to a first feature which delivers a scathing portrait of a success-obsessed society whose members mostly don’t live up to their promise, especially in their own estimation.
Sebastian Jakob Doppelbauer plays Clemens, a once budding singer-songwriter but now pitied depressive whose girlfriend is now shaping up as the partner with a future as an on-the-rise doctor. Clemens in contrast doesn’t do shit.
Starting off afresh, moving from Hanover to Berlin, the couple stage a farewell dinner that spirals out of control,...
- 8/7/2022
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Alliance 4 Development, a co-development initiative for film projects from Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland hosted by Locarno Pro, has revealed 11 titles selected for its 7th edition.
The majority of the projects will be directed by women, from Giorgia Wurth’s “Allegra” about a late-life sexual awakening to Malina Mackiewicz’s “Bottom of the Ocean Electric Fish” and Mariko Minoguchi’s upcoming “Element.” The latter will address some environmental fears as a team of scientists tries to ensure that Earth’s water supply won’t suddenly disappear.
Minoguchi, who previously co-wrote the script to Tim Fehlbaum’s “The Colony,” is hoping to develop a German science fiction film that “doesn’t shy away from big emotions or images,” she stated, “that makes you think and reflect and, above all, is a moving and impressive cinematic experience.”
Big emotions will also fuel Manon Coubia’s “Songs of the Fallen Mountains,” with...
The majority of the projects will be directed by women, from Giorgia Wurth’s “Allegra” about a late-life sexual awakening to Malina Mackiewicz’s “Bottom of the Ocean Electric Fish” and Mariko Minoguchi’s upcoming “Element.” The latter will address some environmental fears as a team of scientists tries to ensure that Earth’s water supply won’t suddenly disappear.
Minoguchi, who previously co-wrote the script to Tim Fehlbaum’s “The Colony,” is hoping to develop a German science fiction film that “doesn’t shy away from big emotions or images,” she stated, “that makes you think and reflect and, above all, is a moving and impressive cinematic experience.”
Big emotions will also fuel Manon Coubia’s “Songs of the Fallen Mountains,” with...
- 8/3/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
On May 30, 2022 the 19th edition of the Vienna Shorts Film Festival came to an end with prizes, flowers and champagne for the lucky winners at Stadtkino. Austrian director Mo Harawe celebrated a triumph, receiving not only the Austrian Short Film Award for his haunting film Will My Parents Come to See Me, but also qualifications for the Academy Award®, the European Film Award and the Austrian Film Award. The top prizes in the two international competitions went to the Qatari film And Then They Burn the Sea and the Japanese animation Bird in the Peninsula. Double honored with the new Social Responsibility Award and the Orf.at Audience Award was the essay Invisible Hands by Lia Sudermann and Simon Nagy. The awards in detail:
© And Then They Burn The Sea (Majid Al-Remaihi), Au Revoir Jérôme!, How Do You Measure A Year? (Jay Rosenblatt)
Fido Fiction & Documentary
The main prize in...
© And Then They Burn The Sea (Majid Al-Remaihi), Au Revoir Jérôme!, How Do You Measure A Year? (Jay Rosenblatt)
Fido Fiction & Documentary
The main prize in...
- 6/1/2022
- by Suzie Cho
- AsianMoviePulse
With happy award winners and beautiful weather, the 18th edition of our festival came to a festive end yesterday evening in the open air at Karmelitermarkt. Four main prizes went to female directors—a pleasing sign of the radiance of young female filmmaking, which accounted for exactly half of the competitions. The German animation The Natural Death of a Mouse by Katharina Huber won two awards and was entered in the race for the Oscars, as was the Austrian co-production Cause of Death by South African director Jyoti Mistry and the Serbian coming-of-age film Armadila by Gorana Jovanović. On top of that, Greek filmmaker Thelyia Petraki was chosen as a candidate for the European Film Awards for her 80s drama Bella. Here now the awards in detail:
Fido Fiction & Documentary
The top prize in the international competition Fiction & Documentary went to Armadila by Gorana Jovanović, which “talks with all the...
Fido Fiction & Documentary
The top prize in the international competition Fiction & Documentary went to Armadila by Gorana Jovanović, which “talks with all the...
- 6/3/2021
- by Adam Symchuk
- AsianMoviePulse
Other winners included Russian drama ‘Conference’ and Egyptian documentary ‘Lift Like A Girl’.
Ben Sharrock’s UK drama Limbo was awarded three top prizes at the Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) on Thursday, including the Golden Pyramid for best film.
The asylum seeker drama, which received a Cannes 2020 label and world premiered at Toronto, also won the Henry Barakat award for best artistic contribution and the Fipresci critics award. It follows a best film win at the Macao international film festival in China earlier this week.
The 47th edition of the festival, which took place as a physical event in the Egyptian capital,...
Ben Sharrock’s UK drama Limbo was awarded three top prizes at the Cairo International Film Festival (Ciff) on Thursday, including the Golden Pyramid for best film.
The asylum seeker drama, which received a Cannes 2020 label and world premiered at Toronto, also won the Henry Barakat award for best artistic contribution and the Fipresci critics award. It follows a best film win at the Macao international film festival in China earlier this week.
The 47th edition of the festival, which took place as a physical event in the Egyptian capital,...
- 12/11/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
British film “Limbo,” a wry refugee drama, directed by Edinburgh-born director Ben Sharrock and produced by Spain’s Irune Gurtubai, won the Golden Pyramid for best film at the Cairo Film Festival on Thursday.
Told in a pleasing deadpan style, “Limbo” recounts the story of a Syrian musician, played by the BIFA nominated rising star Amir El-Masry, who is placed on a Scottish island when awaiting his request for asylum to be processed. The film, which recently picked up the top prize at the Macau Film Festival, also picked up Cairo’s Henry Barakat Award for best artistic contribution. The film, sold by Protagonist Pictures and staged by Caravan Cinema and presented by Film 4, Screen Scotland and BFI, also took home the Fipresci award.
Russian director Alexander Sokurov was president of the seven-person jury, featuring German director Burhan Qurbani, Egyptian producer Gaby Khoury, Mexican actress Naian Gonzalez Norvind, Brazilian director Karim Ainouz,...
Told in a pleasing deadpan style, “Limbo” recounts the story of a Syrian musician, played by the BIFA nominated rising star Amir El-Masry, who is placed on a Scottish island when awaiting his request for asylum to be processed. The film, which recently picked up the top prize at the Macau Film Festival, also picked up Cairo’s Henry Barakat Award for best artistic contribution. The film, sold by Protagonist Pictures and staged by Caravan Cinema and presented by Film 4, Screen Scotland and BFI, also took home the Fipresci award.
Russian director Alexander Sokurov was president of the seven-person jury, featuring German director Burhan Qurbani, Egyptian producer Gaby Khoury, Mexican actress Naian Gonzalez Norvind, Brazilian director Karim Ainouz,...
- 12/10/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
Locarno Film Festival’s decision this year to pull its traditional completed feature film sections — with its top Golden Leopard prizes — has thrust into the limelight its short film lineup, Pardi di Domani (Leopards of Tomorrow). This year’s contest certainly lives up to its name — with many filmmakers already delivering titles that feel like short feature films.
“Several themes stand out, such as issues of family ties, friendships, while some films underpin more political and topical issues,” says Charlotte Corchète, head of the selection committee.
Selected from the 43-title lineup, here are some of the films worth catching.
“Black Hole”
The most buzzed of Swiss shorts, capturing Vincent and his teen friends during a long summer in his home Swiss valley, skateboarding, lazing by the lake, driving around in Vitara convertible or sharing a joint. For Vincent, however, this summer will be his last: He’ll soon leave to study abroad.
“Several themes stand out, such as issues of family ties, friendships, while some films underpin more political and topical issues,” says Charlotte Corchète, head of the selection committee.
Selected from the 43-title lineup, here are some of the films worth catching.
“Black Hole”
The most buzzed of Swiss shorts, capturing Vincent and his teen friends during a long summer in his home Swiss valley, skateboarding, lazing by the lake, driving around in Vitara convertible or sharing a joint. For Vincent, however, this summer will be his last: He’ll soon leave to study abroad.
- 8/10/2020
- by John Hopewell and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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