In the Western world, it has never been more difficult for young people to afford housing than it is today. This makes it difficult to start living an independent life. Alice (voiced by Natasa Stork) is 27 but still lives with her parents and young brother. She is increasingly desperate for her adult life to start, but it’s only when a drunken bicycle accident leaves her in a coma that she is fully able to process her feelings and understand how urgent the situation has become.
Frustrated erotic desires – often a driving factor in the pursuit of independence – are a big part of Alice’s problem. Director Flóra Anna Buda didn’t want that to put people off her film, so chose to represent Alice’s experiences – real and fictional – in a playful, Sixties style of animation which easily gives way to psychedelia in dream sequences. There is no effort.
Frustrated erotic desires – often a driving factor in the pursuit of independence – are a big part of Alice’s problem. Director Flóra Anna Buda didn’t want that to put people off her film, so chose to represent Alice’s experiences – real and fictional – in a playful, Sixties style of animation which easily gives way to psychedelia in dream sequences. There is no effort.
- 1/20/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Hungarian film industry is booming, with a record 241 domestic productions — including feature films, shorts, documentaries and TV series — produced in 2021. Here’s a selection of top projects in the pipeline or being sold during the Cannes Market:
As Long as the Grass Grows
Director: Áron Gauder
Producer: Réka Temple (Cinemon Entertainment)
Annecy main prize winner Gauder (“The District”) spins an alternative creation myth, in which mankind is but one of many creatures in the animal kingdom, and offers a hopeful story that it’s not too late to correct course and save the planet.
Blockade
Director: Ádám Tősér
Producer: Tamás Lajos (Film Positive Productions)
Based on the true story of the country’s first democratically elected prime minister, the film follows József Antall’s journey from a freedom fighter during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 to the infamous 1990 taxi blockade that shook the nation.
Sales: Nfi World Sales
The Game...
As Long as the Grass Grows
Director: Áron Gauder
Producer: Réka Temple (Cinemon Entertainment)
Annecy main prize winner Gauder (“The District”) spins an alternative creation myth, in which mankind is but one of many creatures in the animal kingdom, and offers a hopeful story that it’s not too late to correct course and save the planet.
Blockade
Director: Ádám Tősér
Producer: Tamás Lajos (Film Positive Productions)
Based on the true story of the country’s first democratically elected prime minister, the film follows József Antall’s journey from a freedom fighter during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 to the infamous 1990 taxi blockade that shook the nation.
Sales: Nfi World Sales
The Game...
- 5/21/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
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.
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (Josh Greenbaum)
Injecting a sense of delightfully unbridled frivolity to quite a dire era of studio comedy, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar marks Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig’s first project since a decade ago with Bridesmaids. Following best friends as they take their dream vacation in a town that’s being targeted for mass destruction, this is a comedy that understands being dumb doesn’t mean dumbing things down. With a radiant color palette and joke-a-minute delivery, couple with Jamie Dornan’s best performance, this will certainly be the most rewatchable film on this list in the years to come. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Hulu
Blue (Derek Jarman)
Four...
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (Josh Greenbaum)
Injecting a sense of delightfully unbridled frivolity to quite a dire era of studio comedy, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar marks Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig’s first project since a decade ago with Bridesmaids. Following best friends as they take their dream vacation in a town that’s being targeted for mass destruction, this is a comedy that understands being dumb doesn’t mean dumbing things down. With a radiant color palette and joke-a-minute delivery, couple with Jamie Dornan’s best performance, this will certainly be the most rewatchable film on this list in the years to come. – Jordan R.
Where to Stream: Hulu
Blue (Derek Jarman)
Four...
- 7/9/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A brain surgeon worries that her recent romance may be one big delusion in writer-director Lili Horvát’s seductive psychological drama
The Hungarian entry for best international feature film may not have made it into the 93rd Oscars selection, but I’d strongly suggest that you place it on your own viewing shortlist. From its teasingly enigmatic title (translated fairly literally from the Hungarian original) to its neatly cyclical narrative, this crystalline tale of memory, love and brain surgery from writer-director Lili Horvát (who made 2015’s The Wednesday Child) is a treat – sinewy, seductive and beautifully strange.
Natasa Stork is quietly charismatic as Márta Vizy, a Hungarian neurosurgeon who has carved out a respectable career in the US. Yet following a brief encounter with fellow brain specialist and author János Drexler (Viktor Bodó) at a medical conference in New Jersey, her life has been upturned by the realisation that he...
The Hungarian entry for best international feature film may not have made it into the 93rd Oscars selection, but I’d strongly suggest that you place it on your own viewing shortlist. From its teasingly enigmatic title (translated fairly literally from the Hungarian original) to its neatly cyclical narrative, this crystalline tale of memory, love and brain surgery from writer-director Lili Horvát (who made 2015’s The Wednesday Child) is a treat – sinewy, seductive and beautifully strange.
Natasa Stork is quietly charismatic as Márta Vizy, a Hungarian neurosurgeon who has carved out a respectable career in the US. Yet following a brief encounter with fellow brain specialist and author János Drexler (Viktor Bodó) at a medical conference in New Jersey, her life has been upturned by the realisation that he...
- 3/21/2021
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
A liaison between two surgeons leads to a psychological riddle – even if director Lili Horvát can’t quite provide a satisfying answer
Here is a puzzle or a riddle of a psychological movie, with distant echoes of Roeg’s Bad Timing or Antonioni’s Blow-Up. A brilliant and beautiful Hungarian neurosurgeon, Márta (Natasa Stork), abandons her career in the United States just shy of her 40th birthday and returns to Budapest. And why? Because she has met a handsome compatriot at an academic conference: János (Viktor Bodó) is a fellow surgeon who romantically arranged to meet Márta at a certain time and date at the city’s Liberty Bridge.
But János doesn’t show up, and when Márta tracks him down and confronts him, he merely says with an air of baffled politeness that they have never met. Márta takes a job in Budapest and rents a certain scuzzy apartment...
Here is a puzzle or a riddle of a psychological movie, with distant echoes of Roeg’s Bad Timing or Antonioni’s Blow-Up. A brilliant and beautiful Hungarian neurosurgeon, Márta (Natasa Stork), abandons her career in the United States just shy of her 40th birthday and returns to Budapest. And why? Because she has met a handsome compatriot at an academic conference: János (Viktor Bodó) is a fellow surgeon who romantically arranged to meet Márta at a certain time and date at the city’s Liberty Bridge.
But János doesn’t show up, and when Márta tracks him down and confronts him, he merely says with an air of baffled politeness that they have never met. Márta takes a job in Budapest and rents a certain scuzzy apartment...
- 3/17/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time (Felkészülés meghatározatlan ideig tartó együttlétre) Greenwich Entertainment Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Lili Horvát Writer: Lili Horvát Cast: Natasa Stork, Viktor Bodó, Benett Vilmányi, Zsolt Nagy, Péter Tóth Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 1/7/21 Opens: January 22, […]
The post Preparations To Be Together for An Unknown Period of Time Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Preparations To Be Together for An Unknown Period of Time Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 3/14/2021
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
The actress tops the bill playing twins in Fanni Szilagyi’s feature debut, which is currently in post-production; the Partnersfilm production is being sold by Nfi World Sales. Having previously turned heads with her short film End of Puberty, Fanni Szilagyi is presently fine-tuning the post-production of her feature debut, Ice Cream Could Be Dangerous (Veszélyes lehet a fagyi). Topping the bill is Natasa Stork (giving an exceptional turn in Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and one of the 2021 European Film Promotion Shooting Stars – watch the interview), who plays a double role as twins, and who is flanked by Márton Patkós (set to grace screens soon in Things Worth Weeping For), Máté Szabó and Magdi Bódy.The story, written by Zsófi Lányi, revolves around thirtysomething identical twins Éva and Adél. They are very distant and different from one another, but they lead equally hypocritical lifestyles.
For the first time ever, two Hungarian films are competing for the Berlinale’s Golden Bear: “Forest – I See You Everywhere,” a standalone sequel to the 2003 Berlinale hit “Forest,” from veteran auteur Bence Fliegauf, and “Natural Light” from feature debutant Dénes Nagy. Csaba Káel, chairman of the National Film Institute of Hungary (Nfi), says, “I believe it demonstrates the vitality and strength of the Hungarian industry flourishing despite the unprecedented circumstances caused by the pandemic worldwide.”
The two films represent opposite poles of current Hungarian filmmaking. Brimming with discourse, the independently funded “Forest” tells multiple complex, engaging stories of contemporary life in Hungary. And as he did in his Berlinale-winner “Just the Wind” (2012), Fliegauf creates deep empathy for his characters who deliver standout performances.
On the other hand, “Natural Light,” with its minimal dialogue, harks back to an older tradition in Hungarian cinema where stunning cinematography leads the other formal elements.
The two films represent opposite poles of current Hungarian filmmaking. Brimming with discourse, the independently funded “Forest” tells multiple complex, engaging stories of contemporary life in Hungary. And as he did in his Berlinale-winner “Just the Wind” (2012), Fliegauf creates deep empathy for his characters who deliver standout performances.
On the other hand, “Natural Light,” with its minimal dialogue, harks back to an older tradition in Hungarian cinema where stunning cinematography leads the other formal elements.
- 3/3/2021
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
The European Shooting Stars is one of our very favourite events of the year. This year we feared for its existence, unable to foresee quite how the event – which celebrates the best of young European acting talent – would be able to go ahead, away from its usual home at the Berlinale. But the good folks over at European Film Promotion have done a remarkable job, defying the odds and delivering this brilliant initiative virtually. We’re a very proud media partner, and were thrilled to once more have the opportunity to speak to the ten winners, each bringing such a wealth of maturity and talent that should amount in hugely success careers. So here in this big mega-post, make a nice cuppa tea and be sure to watch all of these fascinating interviews.
We speak to Portuguese actress Alba Baptista, Swedish actor Gustav Lindh. Then we have Fionn O’Shea from Ireland,...
We speak to Portuguese actress Alba Baptista, Swedish actor Gustav Lindh. Then we have Fionn O’Shea from Ireland,...
- 2/25/2021
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The hook for Hungarian writer/director Lili Horvát’s second feature doesn’t lack intrigue. Following a doctor who returns back home to Budapest after a chance, love-inducing meeting with another at a surgical conference, Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time––a mouthful of a title for the mystery-first drama––lives in the grey areas of the workplace, relationships, and loneliness. Once Vizy Márta (Natasa Stork) arrives to meet her hopeful-lover, Drexler János (Viktor Bodó), he’s nowhere to be seen, and after she finds him at the local university (and attached hospital), he seems to not recognize her. According to him, he’s never seen her before in his life.
A film that’s as much about our own perception of relationships as those relationships themselves, Horvát’s story keeps viewers in the dark, intercutting Vizy’s attempt to infiltrate Drexler’s life with behavioral...
A film that’s as much about our own perception of relationships as those relationships themselves, Horvát’s story keeps viewers in the dark, intercutting Vizy’s attempt to infiltrate Drexler’s life with behavioral...
- 1/21/2021
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Lili Horvát, the writer-director of this year’s Hungarian Oscar entry Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time, has signed with UTA.
The move comes after Preparations, her second feature film, debuted at this past year’s Venice and Toronto film festivals. It follows a neurosurgeon (Natasa Stork) who, after 20 years in the U.S., returns to Budapest for a romantic rendezvous with a fellow doctor (Viktor Bodó) she met at a conference in New Jersey. When she finally tracks him down, the man claims the two have never met.
Greenwich Entertainment acquired U.S. rights to the psychological thriller and will release it January 22. The pic was part of Deadline’s Contenders International awards-season showcase last weekend.
“The main terrain of this [movie’s] story is mystery,” she said during Contenders, “this place in the unsettling murky no man’s land that separates love from madness.”
Horvát...
The move comes after Preparations, her second feature film, debuted at this past year’s Venice and Toronto film festivals. It follows a neurosurgeon (Natasa Stork) who, after 20 years in the U.S., returns to Budapest for a romantic rendezvous with a fellow doctor (Viktor Bodó) she met at a conference in New Jersey. When she finally tracks him down, the man claims the two have never met.
Greenwich Entertainment acquired U.S. rights to the psychological thriller and will release it January 22. The pic was part of Deadline’s Contenders International awards-season showcase last weekend.
“The main terrain of this [movie’s] story is mystery,” she said during Contenders, “this place in the unsettling murky no man’s land that separates love from madness.”
Horvát...
- 1/15/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Lili Horvát's mystery-drama has been selected for Hungary's submission to the best foreign language Oscar this year. The original title, Felkészülés meghatározatlan ideig tartó együttlétre, and its English translation, Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period Of Time, present some graphic design challenges due to its unusual length. These challenges were easily met (and then some) by design firm Frost Foundry, who oft into a gradient of blood red bed sheets occupying more than half of the space, and title planted firmly on the lead actress, Natasa Stork's curved posterior. The point lighting on this image, the contrast in the white and red sheets, the curves and folds in both, and the dark shadow in the top corner all signal mystery, sex, privacy and...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 1/15/2021
- Screen Anarchy
European Shooting Stars 2021
This year’s ten European Shooting Star actors are Seidi Haarla (Finland), Nicolas Maury (France), Albrecht Schuch (Germany), Natasa Stork (Hungary), Fionn O’Shea (Ireland), Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė (Lithuania), Martijn Lakemeier (The Netherlands), Sara Klimoska (North Macedonia), Alba Baptista (Portugal) and Gustav Lindh (Sweden). The selection jury included U.S. casting director Cassandra Han, Kosovan director Antoneta Kastrati and Danish producer René Ezra. European Film Promotion’s 24th edition of the program will take place digitally, from 23 to 25 February 2021. Previous Shooting Stars have included Carey Mulligan, Alba Rohrwacher, Alicia Vikander, Maisie Williams and Riz Ahmed.
Nent Group Chair
Nent Group Chair David Chance has decided not to stand for re-election this year. The Nent Group Nomination Committee has proposes the election of Pernille Erenbjerg as the new Chair of the Board. Erenbjerg has served as member of the Nent Group Board since May 2020, and was previously President and CEO of Tdc,...
This year’s ten European Shooting Star actors are Seidi Haarla (Finland), Nicolas Maury (France), Albrecht Schuch (Germany), Natasa Stork (Hungary), Fionn O’Shea (Ireland), Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė (Lithuania), Martijn Lakemeier (The Netherlands), Sara Klimoska (North Macedonia), Alba Baptista (Portugal) and Gustav Lindh (Sweden). The selection jury included U.S. casting director Cassandra Han, Kosovan director Antoneta Kastrati and Danish producer René Ezra. European Film Promotion’s 24th edition of the program will take place digitally, from 23 to 25 February 2021. Previous Shooting Stars have included Carey Mulligan, Alba Rohrwacher, Alicia Vikander, Maisie Williams and Riz Ahmed.
Nent Group Chair
Nent Group Chair David Chance has decided not to stand for re-election this year. The Nent Group Nomination Committee has proposes the election of Pernille Erenbjerg as the new Chair of the Board. Erenbjerg has served as member of the Nent Group Board since May 2020, and was previously President and CEO of Tdc,...
- 1/12/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman, Tom Grater and Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Talent showcase to move online due to ongoing virus restrictions.
The 10 rising actors selected for this year’s European Shooting Stars has been unveiled and will be showcased online for the first time as a result of the pandemic.
This year’s selection comprise: Seidi Haarla (Finland); Nicolas Maury (France); Albrecht Schuch (Germany); Natasa Stork (Hungary); Fionn O’Shea (Ireland); Zygimante Elena Jakstaite (Lithuania); Martijn Lakemeijer (Netherlands); Sara Klimoska (North Macedonia); Alba Baptista (Portugal); and Gustav Lindh (Sweden).
European Film Promotion (Efp) usually provides a high-profile platform for emerging talent at the Berlinale, introducing young actors to international casting directors, producers and filmmakers at the festival.
The 10 rising actors selected for this year’s European Shooting Stars has been unveiled and will be showcased online for the first time as a result of the pandemic.
This year’s selection comprise: Seidi Haarla (Finland); Nicolas Maury (France); Albrecht Schuch (Germany); Natasa Stork (Hungary); Fionn O’Shea (Ireland); Zygimante Elena Jakstaite (Lithuania); Martijn Lakemeijer (Netherlands); Sara Klimoska (North Macedonia); Alba Baptista (Portugal); and Gustav Lindh (Sweden).
European Film Promotion (Efp) usually provides a high-profile platform for emerging talent at the Berlinale, introducing young actors to international casting directors, producers and filmmakers at the festival.
- 1/12/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
European Film Promotion has revealed the 10 actors who will take part in the 24th edition of European Shooting Stars. The program, which launches emerging European thespians onto the world stage, has boosted the careers of actors like Carey Mulligan, Alicia Vikander, Riz Ahmed and George MacKay.
For the first time, Efp will present the neophyte actors to the film industry, public and international press as part of a three-day online program. Efp’s oldest and most prestigious initiative will take place digitally from Feb. 23-25, one week before the industry events of this year’s 71st Berlinale (March 1-5). The Shooting Stars award ceremony will take place within the framework of the Berlinale screenings in the summer.
“Although this year we sadly cannot meet in person, we invite you to join, discover and celebrate the best in rising European acting talent, while staying safe at home,” Efp’s managing director Sonja Heinen said.
For the first time, Efp will present the neophyte actors to the film industry, public and international press as part of a three-day online program. Efp’s oldest and most prestigious initiative will take place digitally from Feb. 23-25, one week before the industry events of this year’s 71st Berlinale (March 1-5). The Shooting Stars award ceremony will take place within the framework of the Berlinale screenings in the summer.
“Although this year we sadly cannot meet in person, we invite you to join, discover and celebrate the best in rising European acting talent, while staying safe at home,” Efp’s managing director Sonja Heinen said.
- 1/12/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The European Shooting Stars, an annual list of the top 10 new acting talents coming out of Europe, unveiled its 2021 roster on Tuesday.
They include Germany’s Albrecht Schuch, who caught international attention for his performances in System Crasher (2019) and Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020); Irish actor Fionn O’Shea, who stars in David Freyne’s Dating Amber (2020) and has a supporting role in Hulu drama Normal People (2020); Natasa Stork, the star of Hungary’s international feature Oscar contender Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (2020); and Nicolas Maury, a member of the ensemble cast of Netflix’s French ...
They include Germany’s Albrecht Schuch, who caught international attention for his performances in System Crasher (2019) and Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020); Irish actor Fionn O’Shea, who stars in David Freyne’s Dating Amber (2020) and has a supporting role in Hulu drama Normal People (2020); Natasa Stork, the star of Hungary’s international feature Oscar contender Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (2020); and Nicolas Maury, a member of the ensemble cast of Netflix’s French ...
- 1/12/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The European Shooting Stars, an annual list of the top 10 new acting talents coming out of Europe, unveiled its 2021 roster on Tuesday.
They include Germany’s Albrecht Schuch, who caught international attention for his performances in System Crasher (2019) and Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020); Irish actor Fionn O’Shea, who stars in David Freyne’s Dating Amber (2020) and has a supporting role in Hulu drama Normal People (2020); Natasa Stork, the star of Hungary’s international feature Oscar contender Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (2020); and Nicolas Maury, a member of the ensemble cast of Netflix’s French ...
They include Germany’s Albrecht Schuch, who caught international attention for his performances in System Crasher (2019) and Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020); Irish actor Fionn O’Shea, who stars in David Freyne’s Dating Amber (2020) and has a supporting role in Hulu drama Normal People (2020); Natasa Stork, the star of Hungary’s international feature Oscar contender Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (2020); and Nicolas Maury, a member of the ensemble cast of Netflix’s French ...
- 1/12/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"You're a doctor. You know exactly where feelings get you." Greenwich has released an official US trailer for a Hungarian romantic drama called Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (originally Felkészülés meghatározatlan ideig tartó együttlétre in Hungarian). This premiered at the Venice Film Festival in the Venice Days sidebar last year. The film stars Natasa Stork as Márta, a 40-year-old neurosurgeon, who has fallen in love. She leaves her shining American career behind after 20 years and returns to Budapest to start a new life with the man she met at a conference. But the love of her life claims they have never met before. How is this possible? This also stars Viktor Bodó, Benett Vilmányi, Zsolt Nagy, Péter Tóth, Andor Lukáts, and Attila Mokos. This does indeed look very mysterious, though it's pretty obvious the guy is sketchy and has some secrets. But I'm intrigued to...
- 1/10/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time, Hungary’s contender this year for the International Feature Film Oscar, hinges on a moment around seven minutes into the movie.
Brain surgeon Márta Visy, played beguilingly by Natasa Stork, travels home to Budapest from New York for a romantic liaison with a fellow neurologist she met at a New Jersey medical conference. But when the two encounter each other for a second time, the neurologist, János Drexler (Viktor Bodó), claims not to recognize Visy. She then collapses in the street.
The scene was the “sprout” from which the whole film grew, says writer-director Lili Horvát during her appearance at Deadline’s Contenders International awards season-event. The result is a noirish romantic story, told from the perspective a woman who is late to love, which examines the enormous role our imaginations play when we fall for someone.
Did Visy imagine...
Brain surgeon Márta Visy, played beguilingly by Natasa Stork, travels home to Budapest from New York for a romantic liaison with a fellow neurologist she met at a New Jersey medical conference. But when the two encounter each other for a second time, the neurologist, János Drexler (Viktor Bodó), claims not to recognize Visy. She then collapses in the street.
The scene was the “sprout” from which the whole film grew, says writer-director Lili Horvát during her appearance at Deadline’s Contenders International awards season-event. The result is a noirish romantic story, told from the perspective a woman who is late to love, which examines the enormous role our imaginations play when we fall for someone.
Did Visy imagine...
- 1/9/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Had Jesse and Celine actually met six months after the events of “Before Sunrise” as planned, had their relationship gone horribly wrong to the point where one of them couldn’t even remember the other, and had they both been neurosurgeons, it might look something like “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time.” This cool-headed debut from filmmaker Lili Horvát is Hungary’s submission for the 2021 Academy Award for Best International Feature. Watch the official trailer, exclusive to IndieWire, below.
With the gloomy echoes of Krzysztof Kieślowski, Horvát follows a doctor named Márta around Budapest — not unlike how Hitchcock chased Kim Novak in “Vertigo” — who’s convinced a perfect stranger is a man she met abroad and had plans to meet up with back in her home city. The mouthful of a title belies the filmmaker’s stark approach to complex material in this haunting cinematic puzzle.
With the gloomy echoes of Krzysztof Kieślowski, Horvát follows a doctor named Márta around Budapest — not unlike how Hitchcock chased Kim Novak in “Vertigo” — who’s convinced a perfect stranger is a man she met abroad and had plans to meet up with back in her home city. The mouthful of a title belies the filmmaker’s stark approach to complex material in this haunting cinematic puzzle.
- 1/8/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Jasmila Zbanic wins the Crystal Arrow and the Audience Award, The Whaler Boy scoops the Grand Prize, Mendonza and Natasa Stork are named best actors while the Cineuropa prize goes to Shorta. It’s a double victory at the 12th Les Arcs Film Festival (whose one-off online edition will continue until 26 December) for Quo Vadis, Aida?, by Bosnian director Jasmila Zbanic, which not only walked away with the 2020 Crystal Arrow for Best Film, as decided upon by a jury helmed by the French director and actress Zabou Breitman, but also won big with the Audience Award. Unveiled in competition at the Venice Film Festival, Quo Vadis, Aida? was produced by Bosnian firm Deblokda alongside Austrian groups Coop99 and Orf, Romanian outfit Digital Cube, Poland’s Extreme Emotions, Paris-based Indie Prod, the Netherlands’ N279 Entertainment, German firm Razor Film, Norway’s Tordenfilm and Turkey’s Trt. International sales are steered by Parisian group.
- 12/18/2020
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
The movie by Hungary’s Lili Horvát has received the Golden Spike for Best Film at the 65th Valladolid International Film Festival, as well as Best New Director and Best Actress for Natasa Stork. The 65th Seminci – Valladolid International Film Festival drew to a close on Saturday 31 October. Although it was an edition with a lower number of screenings, owing to the restrictions imposed by the health crisis, according to its director, Javier Angulo, it was still “carried out with the exactly the same amount of care and hopeful anticipation as in previous years, despite the obstacles”. And so, with a reduced capacity in the Calderón theatre in order to maintain a safe distance between attendees, the prizes were handed out during a gala ceremony that was brought forward from its usual time slot in order to observe the curfew imposed in the region of Castile and León. During...
Skating into my halfway point for the 56th Chicago International Film Festival, I’m starting to realize the little things I miss about doing this in person. Sure, seeing movies on the big screen is always the preferred way, but what about the other stuff? What about starting each morning by kneeling at the altar of the Dunkin Donuts Express inside the Grand Red Line stop? My Keurig is getting me by, but binging several movies without eating anything just isn’t the same without those little touches.
And rest assured, those little touches cushion the blow each festival has. Meet the first empty movie of this year’s Ciff. It’s the United States premiere of Stefanie Klemm’s Of Fish and Men (Grade: C-), something so stagnant and stretched out that it almost feels like it’s trying to get nothing out of its audiences. Each festival has one of these movies,...
And rest assured, those little touches cushion the blow each festival has. Meet the first empty movie of this year’s Ciff. It’s the United States premiere of Stefanie Klemm’s Of Fish and Men (Grade: C-), something so stagnant and stretched out that it almost feels like it’s trying to get nothing out of its audiences. Each festival has one of these movies,...
- 10/18/2020
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
In Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period of Time, a cerebral, desaturated Hungarian melodrama directed by Lili Horvát, two neurosurgeons engage in an erotically charged cat-and-mouse game that feels grounded and simultaneously imponderable. After briefly meeting in the United States for a medical conference, where they nibble at each other’s attention, Márta (Natasa Stork) and János (Viktor Bodó) go on separate paths, not before making a Linklaterian promise to meet again, two months later, in Budapest, to complete the romance. She’s easily convinced that János is the man of her dreams, an idea she’s insatiably obsessing over so much, that she cuts her ties with her job and friends and moves to Hungary just to be in his proximity.
It turns out, János doesn’t exactly recall ever meeting Márta. A first red flag in a series of many, she seems to make up romantic projections for fear.
It turns out, János doesn’t exactly recall ever meeting Márta. A first red flag in a series of many, she seems to make up romantic projections for fear.
- 10/15/2020
- by Georgiana Musat
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Jasmila Žbanić’s “Quo Vadis, Aida?” and Azra Deniz Okyay’s “Ghosts” won best film in the international and national competitions, respectively, at Turkey’s Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, the 57th edition of which concluded on Saturday.
Unable to attend the festival due to the pandemic, Žbanić sent a video message in which she said: “This film came about through the collaboration of nine different countries. I emphasize this because I think now, more than ever, we need to show that we’re trying to understand each other better by telling our different stories together. This award will help the film to be watched by more people, as well as bringing us together through our love of cinema and for each other.”
Iranian director Massoud Bakhshi won best director for “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness.” Natasa Stork won best actress for “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time.
Unable to attend the festival due to the pandemic, Žbanić sent a video message in which she said: “This film came about through the collaboration of nine different countries. I emphasize this because I think now, more than ever, we need to show that we’re trying to understand each other better by telling our different stories together. This award will help the film to be watched by more people, as well as bringing us together through our love of cinema and for each other.”
Iranian director Massoud Bakhshi won best director for “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness.” Natasa Stork won best actress for “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time.
- 10/12/2020
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Had Jesse and Celine actually met six months after the events of “Before Sunrise” as planned, had they gone horribly wrong to the point where one of the parties couldn’t even remember the other, and had they both been neurosurgeons, the scenario might look something like “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time.” , a kind of amnesiac love story crossed with the gloomiest of Krzysztof Kieślowski movies, and bordering on existential science fiction. Even if the conceit winds up a little undercooked, and a loopy ending doesn’t quite stick the landing, the filmmaking is exacting and assured, pulling us in like a current into the heart of a most strange romantic mystery.
Márta Vizy is a neurosurgeon, single and childless and approaching 40, who’s just returned to Budapest after an extended residency across the ocean in New Jersey. She’s returned to Hungary spurred by...
Márta Vizy is a neurosurgeon, single and childless and approaching 40, who’s just returned to Budapest after an extended residency across the ocean in New Jersey. She’s returned to Hungary spurred by...
- 9/12/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The winner of Karlovy Vary’s East of the West prize for her debut, “The Wednesday Child” (2015), Hungarian multihyphenate Lili Horvát screens “Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time” at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival after its world premiere in Venice Days. Her unusual love story explores the role of projections in love and the fine line between romance and madness.
Your first film boasted a gritty, neo-realistic look and this one feels mysterious and dreamy. How did you decide on the visual style and why did you decide to shoot on 35mm?
The key element of “Preparations” is insecurity, the fragility and precariousness of reality. While researching that, Róbert Maly, the Dp, and I came upon the work of Saul Leiter, an American photographer, at an exhibition in Vienna. The mysteriousness hidden in his photos, in their texture, color, lighting and framing, became our first point of reference.
Your first film boasted a gritty, neo-realistic look and this one feels mysterious and dreamy. How did you decide on the visual style and why did you decide to shoot on 35mm?
The key element of “Preparations” is insecurity, the fragility and precariousness of reality. While researching that, Róbert Maly, the Dp, and I came upon the work of Saul Leiter, an American photographer, at an exhibition in Vienna. The mysteriousness hidden in his photos, in their texture, color, lighting and framing, became our first point of reference.
- 9/10/2020
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
Lili Horváth’s second feature film will enjoy its world premiere on the Lido, within the Giornate degli Autori section, before screening in Canada within the Contemporary World Cinema line-up. Revealed by way of The Wednesday Child, the young Hungarian director Lili Horváth will find herself under the spotlights at the 77th Venice Film Festival (running 2 – 12 September) with her second feature film Preparations To Be Together For An Unknown Period of Time, which will enjoy its world premiere at the 17th Giornate degli Autori event. And the film will be doubling up on festivals in ideal fashion, subsequently showcasing in the 45th Toronto Film Festival within the Contemporary World Cinema section. Standing tall in the cast are Natasa Stork (well received in Heavenly Shift, and...
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