Kit Zauhar’s sophomore feature “This Closeness” follows the promise of her 2021 debut “Actual People,” which demonstrated she could tell an immersive story with few resources. Her microbudget feature “This Closeness,” a Narrative Spotlight premiere of SXSW 2023, is now about to open from Factory 25 on June 7, followed by a Mubi streaming premiere on July 3. Watch the trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below.
Per IndieWire’s 2023 SXSW preview, “This Closeness” “wields its lo-fi constraints with tremendous sophistication and insight. The entire story takes place within the constraints of a Philadelphia apartment, booked by a young couple (Zauhar and Zane Pais) for a high school reunion weekend; once there, they find themselves dealing with the awkward loner (Ian Edlund) who lives there. As tensions mount, the movie dances an elegant line between cringe-comedy and erotic thriller, with Zauhar’s character, an Asmr YouTuber, developing an enigmatic bond with their temporary roommate while...
Per IndieWire’s 2023 SXSW preview, “This Closeness” “wields its lo-fi constraints with tremendous sophistication and insight. The entire story takes place within the constraints of a Philadelphia apartment, booked by a young couple (Zauhar and Zane Pais) for a high school reunion weekend; once there, they find themselves dealing with the awkward loner (Ian Edlund) who lives there. As tensions mount, the movie dances an elegant line between cringe-comedy and erotic thriller, with Zauhar’s character, an Asmr YouTuber, developing an enigmatic bond with their temporary roommate while...
- 4/23/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Brooklyn-based indie film distribution and production company Factory 25 has acquired North American theatrical rights on writer-director Kit Zauhar’s sophomore feature This Closeness, which debuted at SXSW 2023.
The film will begin its theatrical run at the IFC Center in New York City on June 7, with further engagements and a worldwide digital release on Mubi on July 3.
The film stars Zane Pais (Margot At The Wedding) and Ian Edlund with Zauhar also starring as she did on her first feature Actual People, which debuted at Locarno in 2021. Factory 25 also released that film. Actress and singer Jessie Pinnick (Princess Cyd) and multimedia artist Kate Williams round out the cast.
Following SXSW, This Closeness screened at the Philadelphia Film Festival, the Champs-Élysées Film Festival, and the Seattle International Film Festival, where it received a special jury mention for best ensemble cast in the New American Cinema Competition.
This Closeness is produced...
The film will begin its theatrical run at the IFC Center in New York City on June 7, with further engagements and a worldwide digital release on Mubi on July 3.
The film stars Zane Pais (Margot At The Wedding) and Ian Edlund with Zauhar also starring as she did on her first feature Actual People, which debuted at Locarno in 2021. Factory 25 also released that film. Actress and singer Jessie Pinnick (Princess Cyd) and multimedia artist Kate Williams round out the cast.
Following SXSW, This Closeness screened at the Philadelphia Film Festival, the Champs-Élysées Film Festival, and the Seattle International Film Festival, where it received a special jury mention for best ensemble cast in the New American Cinema Competition.
This Closeness is produced...
- 4/19/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: UK-French sales company Alief has acquired world sales rights to Megan Seely’s dark comedy Puddysticks in which she co-stars alongside Mamoudou Athie and Dan Bakkedahl.
Seely plays Liz, a burned-out videogame designer who discovers a mysterious society of adults who heal their darkest secrets through childlike play.
Led by the alluring figure of Sylvester Cromwell (Bakkedahl), the group compels each member to reveal their most shameful memory as part of the process but when Liz finally musters the courage to share her darkest trauma, her world turns upside down.
Puddysticks is actress, writer and filmmaker Seely’s first feature length film after well-travelled short film My Loyal Audience, TV show Every Year On My Half Birthday and taking co-writing credits on 2017 feature The Mad Whale.
Her acting credits include the Filipino and American musical The Girl Who Left Home and Twist.
Seely plays Liz, a burned-out videogame designer who discovers a mysterious society of adults who heal their darkest secrets through childlike play.
Led by the alluring figure of Sylvester Cromwell (Bakkedahl), the group compels each member to reveal their most shameful memory as part of the process but when Liz finally musters the courage to share her darkest trauma, her world turns upside down.
Puddysticks is actress, writer and filmmaker Seely’s first feature length film after well-travelled short film My Loyal Audience, TV show Every Year On My Half Birthday and taking co-writing credits on 2017 feature The Mad Whale.
Her acting credits include the Filipino and American musical The Girl Who Left Home and Twist.
- 2/6/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Blondie lead vocalist Debbie Harry opened up about her film career at International Film Festival Rotterdam.
“I am not really fluent in the film industry, but I have been fortunate to get scripts from the directors I admire and trust, and who scare me a little. It’s a small selection of interesting films that are a bit odd. I guess my oddness fits into that.”
Nothing was odder than David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome.”
“We didn’t know what ‘virtual’ was. We had no term [for it] back then. We didn’t know what my character was, but we knew who she was and what she was doing to others. I think Jimmy Woods had more of a problem with it than me. Let’s face it: Cronenberg is out there and always has been,” she said.
“There was no ending to the film and some people were getting pretty uptight about it.
“I am not really fluent in the film industry, but I have been fortunate to get scripts from the directors I admire and trust, and who scare me a little. It’s a small selection of interesting films that are a bit odd. I guess my oddness fits into that.”
Nothing was odder than David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome.”
“We didn’t know what ‘virtual’ was. We had no term [for it] back then. We didn’t know what my character was, but we knew who she was and what she was doing to others. I think Jimmy Woods had more of a problem with it than me. Let’s face it: Cronenberg is out there and always has been,” she said.
“There was no ending to the film and some people were getting pretty uptight about it.
- 1/28/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) opens this evening with New Zealand director Jonathan Olgilvie’s coming-of-age tale Head South set against the late 1970s, post-punk music culture of his home city of Christchurch.
IFFR previously selected Olgilvie’s sci-fi thriller Lone Wolf for its Big Screen Competition in 2021.
“It’s the first time we’re going to meet him in person because it was during Corona,” says IFFR Artistic Director Vanja Kaludjercic of the first selection.
“When you put the two films side by side, you ask how can one filmmaker make two such different films,” she adds. “We really admire his creativity and ingenuity.”
Over the course of the next 10 days, Rotterdam will screen some 440 works.
The Main Competition for this 53rd edition is characteristically diverse.
The 14 features in the running for the main Tiger Award include Brooklyn-based filmmaker Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, exploring the life of the titular,...
IFFR previously selected Olgilvie’s sci-fi thriller Lone Wolf for its Big Screen Competition in 2021.
“It’s the first time we’re going to meet him in person because it was during Corona,” says IFFR Artistic Director Vanja Kaludjercic of the first selection.
“When you put the two films side by side, you ask how can one filmmaker make two such different films,” she adds. “We really admire his creativity and ingenuity.”
Over the course of the next 10 days, Rotterdam will screen some 440 works.
The Main Competition for this 53rd edition is characteristically diverse.
The 14 features in the running for the main Tiger Award include Brooklyn-based filmmaker Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, exploring the life of the titular,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The 53rd edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, taking place between Jan. 25 – Feb. 4, will be the first for Clare Stewart as managing director. Functioning under a dual leadership structure where the managing director and festival director oversee the commercial and creative elements of the organization respectively, IFFR appointed Stewart back in June 2023 to focus on the festival’s business side.
Speaking to Variety ahead of the festival and joined by festival director Vanja Kaludjercic, the former director of the Sydney Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival emphasized it feels like a “full circle moment” to be back in Rotterdam after first attending IFFR over 20 years ago as her first international film event outside of her home country of Australia.
“It’s also interesting to be coming in as the managing director, having previously held roles that either combined the two or were more of a creative director role,...
Speaking to Variety ahead of the festival and joined by festival director Vanja Kaludjercic, the former director of the Sydney Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival emphasized it feels like a “full circle moment” to be back in Rotterdam after first attending IFFR over 20 years ago as her first international film event outside of her home country of Australia.
“It’s also interesting to be coming in as the managing director, having previously held roles that either combined the two or were more of a creative director role,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
US singer and actress Debbie Harry and Give Me Pity! filmmaker Amanda Kramer are the latest to join the line-up of talks at International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), which runs from January 25-February 4.
Harry, the lead singer of Blondie, will join the US filmmaker for a discussion on Kramer’s new sci-fi documentary, So Unreal. The film is narrated by Harry, and examines the relationship between cinema and technology in the format of a long-form video essay. Kramer uses footage from the likes of Lisberger’s Tron and Trumbull’s Brainstorm to explore technical evolution as a key theme in...
Harry, the lead singer of Blondie, will join the US filmmaker for a discussion on Kramer’s new sci-fi documentary, So Unreal. The film is narrated by Harry, and examines the relationship between cinema and technology in the format of a long-form video essay. Kramer uses footage from the likes of Lisberger’s Tron and Trumbull’s Brainstorm to explore technical evolution as a key theme in...
- 1/17/2024
- by ¬Yasmin Vince
- ScreenDaily
Debbie Harry, lead singer of Blondie, will be among those taking part in on-stage talks at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which runs Jan. 25 to Feb. 4.
Harry narrates the latest film by Amanda Kramer, “So Unreal,” an essay-documentary about the relationships between cinema, humanity and technology. On Jan. 27, the two will give an IFFR Talk discussing their work as artists with distinctive esthetics whose careers have developed across film and music.
As previously announced, other speakers in the IFFR Talk program include actor Sandra Hüller, and directors Anne Fontaine, Marco Bellocchio, Bill Plympton and Billy Woodberry.
Directors attending with their titles in the Limelight section, which is for films from established filmmakers, include Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante with “Lost in the Night,” Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland with “Green Border” and Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania with “Four Daughters,” which is shortlisted for an Oscar.
Fontaine will attend the world premiere of her 19th feature film,...
Harry narrates the latest film by Amanda Kramer, “So Unreal,” an essay-documentary about the relationships between cinema, humanity and technology. On Jan. 27, the two will give an IFFR Talk discussing their work as artists with distinctive esthetics whose careers have developed across film and music.
As previously announced, other speakers in the IFFR Talk program include actor Sandra Hüller, and directors Anne Fontaine, Marco Bellocchio, Bill Plympton and Billy Woodberry.
Directors attending with their titles in the Limelight section, which is for films from established filmmakers, include Mexican filmmaker Amat Escalante with “Lost in the Night,” Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland with “Green Border” and Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania with “Four Daughters,” which is shortlisted for an Oscar.
Fontaine will attend the world premiere of her 19th feature film,...
- 1/16/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Titles for the Limelight, Harbour, Cinema Regained and Focus strands have been added to the line-up.
Marco Müller, who headed International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) from 1989-1991, is returning as part of the 2024 Tiger international competition jury.
He is being joined by Bosnian-Dutch filmmaker Ena Sendijarević,producer, industry expert and founder of Easy Rider Films, Nadia Turincev; Hong Kong filmmaker Herman Yau; and LA Rebellion film movement figure and filmmaker Billy Woodberry, whose title Mário will have its world premiere in the Harbour strand.
They will choose the winners of the Tiger award, worth €40,000, and the special jury awards, worth...
Marco Müller, who headed International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) from 1989-1991, is returning as part of the 2024 Tiger international competition jury.
He is being joined by Bosnian-Dutch filmmaker Ena Sendijarević,producer, industry expert and founder of Easy Rider Films, Nadia Turincev; Hong Kong filmmaker Herman Yau; and LA Rebellion film movement figure and filmmaker Billy Woodberry, whose title Mário will have its world premiere in the Harbour strand.
They will choose the winners of the Tiger award, worth €40,000, and the special jury awards, worth...
- 12/12/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Rotterdam Film Festival Sets ‘Head South’ As Opening Film
Jonathan Ogilvie’s post-punk, coming-of-age comedy Head South has been announced as the opening picture of the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), running from January 25 to February 4. The festival has also teased a handful of early selections. They include Indian filmmaker Ishan Shukla’s dystopian, sci-fi animation Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust and U.S. director Billy Woodberry’s biodoc Mário, about African independence activist Mário de Andrade, which will both world premiere. Further confirmations include European premieres for Amanda Kramer’s So Unreal and Ann Hui’s Elegies as well as Omar Hilal’s Voy! Voy! Voy!, which is Egypt’s Oscar entry this year. The festival will unveil its full line-up on December 18.
Paul Schrader To Be Feted At Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Avellino Festival
U.S. director and screenwriter Paul Schrader will be honored with a Lifetime...
Jonathan Ogilvie’s post-punk, coming-of-age comedy Head South has been announced as the opening picture of the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), running from January 25 to February 4. The festival has also teased a handful of early selections. They include Indian filmmaker Ishan Shukla’s dystopian, sci-fi animation Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust and U.S. director Billy Woodberry’s biodoc Mário, about African independence activist Mário de Andrade, which will both world premiere. Further confirmations include European premieres for Amanda Kramer’s So Unreal and Ann Hui’s Elegies as well as Omar Hilal’s Voy! Voy! Voy!, which is Egypt’s Oscar entry this year. The festival will unveil its full line-up on December 18.
Paul Schrader To Be Feted At Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Avellino Festival
U.S. director and screenwriter Paul Schrader will be honored with a Lifetime...
- 11/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Jonathan Ogilvie’s post-punk coming-of-age comedy “Head South” will open the 53rd International Film Festival Rotterdam on Jan. 25, with the festival running until Feb. 4.
Ogilvie’s semi-autobiographical film is set in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1979 where a private schoolboy becomes desperately enamored with all things post-punk. The director’s last film, thriller “Lone Wolf,” screened in the festival’s Big Screen competition section in 2021.
Vanja Kaludjercic, IFFR festival director, said: “With ‘Head South,’ Jonathan Ogilvie returns to the festival with an unpredictable coming-of-age story that delights in its shifting tone. Quirkiness and nostalgia become sober and thoughtful, only to turn exuberant and then something else again, in a fitting tribute to post-punk subculture. Ogilvie is the kind of filmmaker we cherish at IFFR: those for whom the art is, above all, an adventure of discovery.”
Other films to have their world premieres at the Dutch festival include Indian filmmaker Ishan Shukla...
Ogilvie’s semi-autobiographical film is set in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1979 where a private schoolboy becomes desperately enamored with all things post-punk. The director’s last film, thriller “Lone Wolf,” screened in the festival’s Big Screen competition section in 2021.
Vanja Kaludjercic, IFFR festival director, said: “With ‘Head South,’ Jonathan Ogilvie returns to the festival with an unpredictable coming-of-age story that delights in its shifting tone. Quirkiness and nostalgia become sober and thoughtful, only to turn exuberant and then something else again, in a fitting tribute to post-punk subculture. Ogilvie is the kind of filmmaker we cherish at IFFR: those for whom the art is, above all, an adventure of discovery.”
Other films to have their world premieres at the Dutch festival include Indian filmmaker Ishan Shukla...
- 11/23/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
IFFR will run from January 25 to February 4.
The 2024 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) will open with Jonathan Ogilvie’s post-punk coming-of-age comedy Head South on January 25.
New Zealand director Ogilvie returns to IFFR with Head South, a semi-autobiographical film that centres a private schoolboy who becomes desperately enamoured with all things post-punk in 1979 Christchurch. Ogilvie’s last film Lone Wolf screened in the festival’s Big Screen Competition in 2021.
The festival has also confirmed some of the first titles to play in its programme, along with details about industry event IFFR Pro Days.
Ishan Shukla’s dystopian sci-fi animation Schirkoa:...
The 2024 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) will open with Jonathan Ogilvie’s post-punk coming-of-age comedy Head South on January 25.
New Zealand director Ogilvie returns to IFFR with Head South, a semi-autobiographical film that centres a private schoolboy who becomes desperately enamoured with all things post-punk in 1979 Christchurch. Ogilvie’s last film Lone Wolf screened in the festival’s Big Screen Competition in 2021.
The festival has also confirmed some of the first titles to play in its programme, along with details about industry event IFFR Pro Days.
Ishan Shukla’s dystopian sci-fi animation Schirkoa:...
- 11/23/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
India Donaldson picked up the Polish Film Institute Award for her upcoming feature “Good One” at the American Film Festival in Wrocław, coming with a $50,000 cash prize for post-production in Poland.
“It’s an affirmation of how we have been working and what we have been working towards,” Los Angeles-based Donaldson told Variety after the ceremony.
“Good One” – presented during Aff’s industry event U.S. in Progress and set to be finished in January 2024 – sees 17-year-old Sam heading on a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills with her father and his oldest friend.
“It’s a very personal story, although I wouldn’t say it’s autobiographical,” said Donaldson, who wrote the film during the pandemic.
“I was living at home for the first time since I was a teenager. With my father, my stepmother and my two teenage half-siblings, who were at high-school at the time. For the most part,...
“It’s an affirmation of how we have been working and what we have been working towards,” Los Angeles-based Donaldson told Variety after the ceremony.
“Good One” – presented during Aff’s industry event U.S. in Progress and set to be finished in January 2024 – sees 17-year-old Sam heading on a weekend backpacking trip in the Catskills with her father and his oldest friend.
“It’s a very personal story, although I wouldn’t say it’s autobiographical,” said Donaldson, who wrote the film during the pandemic.
“I was living at home for the first time since I was a teenager. With my father, my stepmother and my two teenage half-siblings, who were at high-school at the time. For the most part,...
- 11/11/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Strange and unsettling, Amanda Kramer’s depiction of a TV entertainer’s descent is intriguing and amusing, with Sophie von Haselberg the multi-tasking star
Musician turned film-maker Amanda Kramer gave us a retro campy reverie of queer longing in her previous feature Please Baby Please which, though interesting, was oddly unsatisfying and insubstantial. This works much better: a genuinely strange and unsettling creation whose meaning and form can’t quite be pinned down.
It appears to be an imaginary standalone primetime US TV special which went out in some alternative dream-universe between 1975 and 1985; it is centred on one particular star, a brassy, heart-on-sleeve song-and-dance performer called Sissy St Claire, played by Sophie von Haselberg. She does musical numbers, elaborate costume changes, dance routines, goofy comedy sketches, all in the cause of entertainment. Sissy looks like a cross between Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler (Von Haselberg is in fact Midler’s...
Musician turned film-maker Amanda Kramer gave us a retro campy reverie of queer longing in her previous feature Please Baby Please which, though interesting, was oddly unsatisfying and insubstantial. This works much better: a genuinely strange and unsettling creation whose meaning and form can’t quite be pinned down.
It appears to be an imaginary standalone primetime US TV special which went out in some alternative dream-universe between 1975 and 1985; it is centred on one particular star, a brassy, heart-on-sleeve song-and-dance performer called Sissy St Claire, played by Sophie von Haselberg. She does musical numbers, elaborate costume changes, dance routines, goofy comedy sketches, all in the cause of entertainment. Sissy looks like a cross between Barbra Streisand and Bette Midler (Von Haselberg is in fact Midler’s...
- 11/7/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival announced an impressive full slate of programming for its 2023 edition, running October 12-19 with all screenings held at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations.
From the press release:
Audiences are in for an unearthly lineup of films and events, including the inaugural Leviathan Award, which will be presented to NYC horror legend William Lustig at a special 35th anniversary screening of Maniac Cop, followed by a post-screening conversation with Lustig.
The Opening Night film is the World Premiere of Kill Your Lover from directors Alix Austin and Kier Siewert, who previously announced themselves to the Bhff audience last year with their short film Sucker. The 2023 festival boasts the World Premieres of three more exciting new films: Gaia director Jaco Bouwer’s unsettling Breathing In, Aimee Kuge’s audacious debut Cannibal Mukbang, and Tyler Chipman’s powerfully creepy debut The Shade. The festival’s...
From the press release:
Audiences are in for an unearthly lineup of films and events, including the inaugural Leviathan Award, which will be presented to NYC horror legend William Lustig at a special 35th anniversary screening of Maniac Cop, followed by a post-screening conversation with Lustig.
The Opening Night film is the World Premiere of Kill Your Lover from directors Alix Austin and Kier Siewert, who previously announced themselves to the Bhff audience last year with their short film Sucker. The 2023 festival boasts the World Premieres of three more exciting new films: Gaia director Jaco Bouwer’s unsettling Breathing In, Aimee Kuge’s audacious debut Cannibal Mukbang, and Tyler Chipman’s powerfully creepy debut The Shade. The festival’s...
- 9/13/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (Bhff) announces today the full program for its 2023 incarnation, running October 12-19th with all screenings held at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations. Audiences are in for an unearthly lineup of films and events, including the inaugural Leviathan Award, which will be presented to NYC horror legend William Lustig at a special 35th-anniversary screening of Maniac Cop, followed by a post-screening conversation with Lustig.
The Opening Night film is the World Premiere of Kill Your Lover from directors Alix Austin and Keir Siewert, who previously announced themselves to the Bhff audience last year with their short film Sucker. The 2023 festival boasts the World Premieres of three more exciting new films: Gaia director Jaco Bouwer’s unsettling Breathing In, Aimee Kuge’s audacious debut Cannibal Mukbang, and Tyler Chipman’s powerfully creepy debut The Shade. The festival’s other spotlight titles include director...
The Opening Night film is the World Premiere of Kill Your Lover from directors Alix Austin and Keir Siewert, who previously announced themselves to the Bhff audience last year with their short film Sucker. The 2023 festival boasts the World Premieres of three more exciting new films: Gaia director Jaco Bouwer’s unsettling Breathing In, Aimee Kuge’s audacious debut Cannibal Mukbang, and Tyler Chipman’s powerfully creepy debut The Shade. The festival’s other spotlight titles include director...
- 9/13/2023
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Sophie von Haselberg stars in the film that has played at Rotterdam, Fantasia, Edinburgh and Fantastic Fest.
Amanda Kramer’s Give Me Pity! has sold to Bulldog for a theatrical release in the UK and Ireland from France-uk sales outfit Alief.
Sophie von Haselberg stars as a young performer who hits the small screen for her first ever television special, while desperation and unease looms.
Sarah Winshall and Jacob Agger produce the title, which has played at Rotterdam, Fantasia, Edinburgh and Fantastic Fest.
Universcine has French rights. It is currently on release in North America with Utopia and in Australia...
Amanda Kramer’s Give Me Pity! has sold to Bulldog for a theatrical release in the UK and Ireland from France-uk sales outfit Alief.
Sophie von Haselberg stars as a young performer who hits the small screen for her first ever television special, while desperation and unease looms.
Sarah Winshall and Jacob Agger produce the title, which has played at Rotterdam, Fantasia, Edinburgh and Fantastic Fest.
Universcine has French rights. It is currently on release in North America with Utopia and in Australia...
- 5/23/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Good Deed Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Carol Ray Hartsell’s Hamptons-set indie romantic comedy Love … Reconsidered for a Valentine’s Day 2024 release.
Sophie von Haselberg stars as a down-on-her-luck New Yorker whose life is suddenly transferred to the Hamptons after a chance meeting with a wealthy consignment store owner.
“Love… Reconsidered is refreshing and I know audiences will fall in love with this unique cast,” said Gde’s EVP Acquisitions Erik Donley. “This is going to be a perfect film for rom-com fans everywhere.”
The deal was finalized ahead of the Cannes Market and negotiated by Gde’s Donley and Brett Walker, president at Alief with partner Miguel Angel Govea on behalf of the filmmakers.
Other cast members include Colton Haynes, Luke Gulbranson and Elaine Bromka (Uncle Buck).
The film marks Hartsell’s feature debut as a director, after...
Sophie von Haselberg stars as a down-on-her-luck New Yorker whose life is suddenly transferred to the Hamptons after a chance meeting with a wealthy consignment store owner.
“Love… Reconsidered is refreshing and I know audiences will fall in love with this unique cast,” said Gde’s EVP Acquisitions Erik Donley. “This is going to be a perfect film for rom-com fans everywhere.”
The deal was finalized ahead of the Cannes Market and negotiated by Gde’s Donley and Brett Walker, president at Alief with partner Miguel Angel Govea on behalf of the filmmakers.
Other cast members include Colton Haynes, Luke Gulbranson and Elaine Bromka (Uncle Buck).
The film marks Hartsell’s feature debut as a director, after...
- 5/19/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2023 Cannes market runs May 16-24.
Screen is rounding up the key packages launched before and during the 2023 Cannes market (which runs May 16-24).
Refresh the page for latest updates.
May 16 ’The Salt Path’
The feature debut of acclaimed theatre director Marianne Elliott stars Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs portraying the real-life couple who trekked 630 miles of UK coastline after being kicked out of their home. Black Bear are distributing in the UK.
World sales: Rocket Science
’The Rule Of Jenny Pen’
Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow star in James Ashcroft’s thriller as a conceited judging and a psychopath...
Screen is rounding up the key packages launched before and during the 2023 Cannes market (which runs May 16-24).
Refresh the page for latest updates.
May 16 ’The Salt Path’
The feature debut of acclaimed theatre director Marianne Elliott stars Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs portraying the real-life couple who trekked 630 miles of UK coastline after being kicked out of their home. Black Bear are distributing in the UK.
World sales: Rocket Science
’The Rule Of Jenny Pen’
Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow star in James Ashcroft’s thriller as a conceited judging and a psychopath...
- 5/16/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: UK-French sales company Alief has added Carol Hartsell’s Hamptons-set indie romantic comedy Love… Reconsidered to its Cannes 2023 slate on the eve of the market.
Sophie von Haselberg stars as a down-on-her-luck New Yorker whose life is suddenly transferred to the Hamptons after a chance meeting with a wealthy consignment store owner.
It is the second feature starring Bette Midler’s daughter von Haselberg sold internationally by Alief after it successfully handled Amanda Kramer’s Give Me Pity!
Other cast members include Colton Haynes, Javier Muñoz (Broadway’s Hamilton), Jill Kargman (Odd Mom Out) Marisa Ryan (Wet Hot American Summer), Rosa Gilmore (The Expanse), Luke Gulbranson, Anthony Norman (Mare of Easttown) Judy Gold (Better Things) and Elaine Bromka (Uncle Buck).
The film was scripted by Arielle Haller-Silverstone and loosely inspired by her own experiences when she lost her job during the Covid-...
Sophie von Haselberg stars as a down-on-her-luck New Yorker whose life is suddenly transferred to the Hamptons after a chance meeting with a wealthy consignment store owner.
It is the second feature starring Bette Midler’s daughter von Haselberg sold internationally by Alief after it successfully handled Amanda Kramer’s Give Me Pity!
Other cast members include Colton Haynes, Javier Muñoz (Broadway’s Hamilton), Jill Kargman (Odd Mom Out) Marisa Ryan (Wet Hot American Summer), Rosa Gilmore (The Expanse), Luke Gulbranson, Anthony Norman (Mare of Easttown) Judy Gold (Better Things) and Elaine Bromka (Uncle Buck).
The film was scripted by Arielle Haller-Silverstone and loosely inspired by her own experiences when she lost her job during the Covid-...
- 5/12/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Feature examines film as conduit for humanity’s end-of-millennium fear, anxiety, elation and obsession.
New York and LA-based genre arthouse specialists Yellow Veil Pictures have acquired worldwide rights to Amanda Kramer’s cyberspace cinema documentary So Unreal narrated by Blondie singer and pop icon Debbie Harry and will launch sales in Cannes.
So Unreal puts cyberspace cinema from 1981-2001 like The Matrix, Tron, Tetsuo and eXisTenz under the spotlight and examines film as a conduit for humanity’s fear, anxiety, elation and obsession over the emerging technology at the end of the millennium.
“What a deep honour that Debbie Harry lent her legendary,...
New York and LA-based genre arthouse specialists Yellow Veil Pictures have acquired worldwide rights to Amanda Kramer’s cyberspace cinema documentary So Unreal narrated by Blondie singer and pop icon Debbie Harry and will launch sales in Cannes.
So Unreal puts cyberspace cinema from 1981-2001 like The Matrix, Tron, Tetsuo and eXisTenz under the spotlight and examines film as a conduit for humanity’s fear, anxiety, elation and obsession over the emerging technology at the end of the millennium.
“What a deep honour that Debbie Harry lent her legendary,...
- 5/9/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Amanda Kramer's Please Baby Please is showing exclusively on Mubi starting March 3, 2023, in the United States, and March 31, 2023, in most countries in the series The New Auteurs.It says a lot that Amanda Kramer’s new film frequently features the tinkly strains of the Skyliners’ 1958 song “Since I Don’t Have You”: it has a woozily helpless romantic masochism that’s long since been discouraged by contemporary thinking about partnership. Although it may not actually take romantic suffering as its thesis, Please Baby Please—another title reminiscent of a yearning-filled doo-wop track—does embody that song’s aura of lyrical self-flagellation in a host of surprising and bold ways. Kramer’s film retools the gendered conventions around sacrifice and control in a partnership, allowing that audio cue to exemplify the paradox of power and sex in romantic love.
- 3/31/2023
- MUBI
Amanda Kramer's Please Baby Please is showing exclusively on Mubi starting March 3, 2023, in the United States, and March 31, 2023, in most countries in the series The New Auteurs.I wrote a film set in the 1950s, but I’ve never been interested in the preciousness most filmmakers project as that era's faux aura. Those delicate costumes and unironically kitschy props, that eerie “perfect museum”-like quality; I find it all terribly dull. The mid-to-late 20th century's rockabilly subculture offered us a much hipper, grittier, grimier version of that decade. I prefer façade and theatricality because I'm not intrigued by reality and never feel compelled to portray it. My favorite cinema depicts worlds so unreal that they uncover profound meanings far beyond any "authentic" account of life.How to be profound and authentic about marriage. Marriage born from perverse societal pressure, marriage for the sake of traditional/religious imperative, marriage without a sense of possible ending,...
- 3/30/2023
- MUBI
Riseborough and Harry Melling play a couple who get off on violence in an oddball, over-saturated thriller with a surprise cameo from Demi Moore
A rocky-horror sexual awakening is promised in Amanda Kramer’s initially interesting but ultimately laborious queer reverie of 50s and 60s style, like a theatrical daydream as experienced by Anybodys, from West Side Story. The long dissolve fades and blue-lit nightclub scenes are amusingly Lynchian, as is the very stylish and all-too-brief cameo from Demi Moore as a mysterious and worldly neighbour called Maureen. But the film feels over-determined and self-satisfied.
Andrea Riseborough and Harry Melling play Suze and Arthur, a couple with liberal, bohemian tastes who live in a rough part of town and like going to beatnik poetry clubs. But passionate, slinky Suze is unsatisfied with her milksop husband Arthur; he rejects caveman masculinity and quotes Hamlet: “Man delights not me, no nor...
A rocky-horror sexual awakening is promised in Amanda Kramer’s initially interesting but ultimately laborious queer reverie of 50s and 60s style, like a theatrical daydream as experienced by Anybodys, from West Side Story. The long dissolve fades and blue-lit nightclub scenes are amusingly Lynchian, as is the very stylish and all-too-brief cameo from Demi Moore as a mysterious and worldly neighbour called Maureen. But the film feels over-determined and self-satisfied.
Andrea Riseborough and Harry Melling play Suze and Arthur, a couple with liberal, bohemian tastes who live in a rough part of town and like going to beatnik poetry clubs. But passionate, slinky Suze is unsatisfied with her milksop husband Arthur; he rejects caveman masculinity and quotes Hamlet: “Man delights not me, no nor...
- 3/27/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Sophie von Haselberg stars as Sissy St. Claire in Amanda Kramer’s psychedelic fever dream musical Give Me Pity! It’s part mock 70’s television special, part monologue film, and requires the creation of a bigger-than-life persona on screen, and von Haselberg carries it all and delivers a virtuoso performance. On this episode, she takes us from Kramer “pulling me from the ether,” through extensive preparation, getting the character “into my body,” a frustrating Covid pause, on to the live theater-like 5 day shoot, and how she doesn’t think she would have “ever allowed myself to dream that something like this would […]
The post “I Know This Woman. I Have Her in My Body”: Sophie von Haselberg first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Know This Woman. I Have Her in My Body”: Sophie von Haselberg first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/14/2023
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Sophie von Haselberg stars as Sissy St. Claire in Amanda Kramer’s psychedelic fever dream musical Give Me Pity! It’s part mock 70’s television special, part monologue film, and requires the creation of a bigger-than-life persona on screen, and von Haselberg carries it all and delivers a virtuoso performance. On this episode, she takes us from Kramer “pulling me from the ether,” through extensive preparation, getting the character “into my body,” a frustrating Covid pause, on to the live theater-like 5 day shoot, and how she doesn’t think she would have “ever allowed myself to dream that something like this would […]
The post “I Know This Woman. I Have Her in My Body”: Sophie von Haselberg first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Know This Woman. I Have Her in My Body”: Sophie von Haselberg first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/14/2023
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
When the curtain rises on Sissy St. Clare's Saturday night television special — the one she has desperately coveted for so long now — she's frank with the audience about the realities of "making it." It's no easy feat, but a girl like her isn't going to stop for anything. As her wide-eyed, brightly smiling optimism bleeds through the show's catchy opening number "I'm Making It" — punctuated by the repeated lyric "Going straight to your heart on demand!" — she tells the audience that she has so much planned for them, including stakes that go "higher and higher and higher." It tapers off and she launches into a monologue that becomes a covenant with the audience, promising them that the special won't end until she's "bashed in" and "begging each and every one of you to set me free."
As she moves back into the happy-go-lucky world of dancing and singing and "making it,...
As she moves back into the happy-go-lucky world of dancing and singing and "making it,...
- 3/1/2023
- by Lex Briscuso
- Slash Film
A woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Sissy St. Claire (Sophie von Haselberg) appears on a soundstage for her Saturday night television special. Like the tireless performers who came before her, St. Claire will spend the duration of the broadcast showcasing elaborate outfits, dramatic monologues, groan-worthy jokes, peppy musical numbers and an assortment of special guests (some human and others canine). Tonight is either her big break or the conclusion of a descent into madness—either way, don’t dare change that channel! Give Me Pity!, the latest film from director Amanda Kramer, is a warped take on variety show […]
The post “Part Emulation and Part Making Shit Up”: Amanda Kramer on Give Me Pity! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Part Emulation and Part Making Shit Up”: Amanda Kramer on Give Me Pity! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/27/2023
- by Erik Luers
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
A woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Sissy St. Claire (Sophie von Haselberg) appears on a soundstage for her Saturday night television special. Like the tireless performers who came before her, St. Claire will spend the duration of the broadcast showcasing elaborate outfits, dramatic monologues, groan-worthy jokes, peppy musical numbers and an assortment of special guests (some human and others canine). Tonight is either her big break or the conclusion of a descent into madness—either way, don’t dare change that channel! Give Me Pity!, the latest film from director Amanda Kramer, is a warped take on variety show […]
The post “Part Emulation and Part Making Shit Up”: Amanda Kramer on Give Me Pity! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Part Emulation and Part Making Shit Up”: Amanda Kramer on Give Me Pity! first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/27/2023
- by Erik Luers
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month, including an epic six-film series dedicated to the brand new restorations of the films of Nina Menkes. The slate also includes a Brian De Palma double bill with Obsession and Body Double as well as Paul Schrader’s Hardcore.
Additional highlights include the Andrea Riseborough-led Please Baby Please, three films by Eugene Kotlyarenko, a Ghost in the Shell double bill, and, ahead of their release of Passages later this year, Ira Sach’s Little Men.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
March 1 – Glass Life, directed by Sara Cwynar | Brief Encounters
March 2 – The Great Sadness of Zohara, directed by Nina Menkes | Phantom Cinema: The Films of Nina Menkes
March 3 – Please Baby Please, directed by Amanda Kramer | Mubi Spotlight
March 4 – Hardcore, directed by Paul Schrader
March 5 – Kedi, directed by Ceyda Torun
March 6 – Magdalena Viraga, directed by...
Additional highlights include the Andrea Riseborough-led Please Baby Please, three films by Eugene Kotlyarenko, a Ghost in the Shell double bill, and, ahead of their release of Passages later this year, Ira Sach’s Little Men.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
March 1 – Glass Life, directed by Sara Cwynar | Brief Encounters
March 2 – The Great Sadness of Zohara, directed by Nina Menkes | Phantom Cinema: The Films of Nina Menkes
March 3 – Please Baby Please, directed by Amanda Kramer | Mubi Spotlight
March 4 – Hardcore, directed by Paul Schrader
March 5 – Kedi, directed by Ceyda Torun
March 6 – Magdalena Viraga, directed by...
- 2/21/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Winnie Cheung’s “Residency,” which has its world premiere in the Bright Future section of Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam, has debuted its trailer (below). Alief is selling the film, which is a “haunting metafictional tale about female artists pushed beyond their limits at a cursed artist residency.”
The film, set at New York artists’ studio The Locker Room, is described by Alief’s Miguel Angel Govea as “an adventurous take on the final girl horror trope.” It is a “hybrid feature dancing between fiction and non-fiction norms that plays like a punk rock cover of Gaspar Noé’s ‘Climax.'”
Cheung commented: “Rather than representing women as sexualized victims through the traditional lens of male fantasies, I’m exploring the real horror behind the anxiety of being a female artist, which is often mixed in with pleasure, delirium and joy.”
Cheung was the editor and one of the producers of “Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched,...
The film, set at New York artists’ studio The Locker Room, is described by Alief’s Miguel Angel Govea as “an adventurous take on the final girl horror trope.” It is a “hybrid feature dancing between fiction and non-fiction norms that plays like a punk rock cover of Gaspar Noé’s ‘Climax.'”
Cheung commented: “Rather than representing women as sexualized victims through the traditional lens of male fantasies, I’m exploring the real horror behind the anxiety of being a female artist, which is often mixed in with pleasure, delirium and joy.”
Cheung was the editor and one of the producers of “Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched,...
- 1/27/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Who would’ve thought that ten years removed from the “Harry Potter” franchise, the most interesting and consistent actor to come out of that young ensemble would be the kid who played Dudley Dursley, of all people? Yet with “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Harry Melling has accumulated a pretty impressive CV.
Continue reading ‘Please Baby Please’ Review: Amanda Kramer’s ’50s Musical Is Visually Spectacular But Narratively Muddled at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Please Baby Please’ Review: Amanda Kramer’s ’50s Musical Is Visually Spectacular But Narratively Muddled at The Playlist.
- 10/31/2022
- by Christian Gallichio
- The Playlist
The term “queer” has exploded in the last few decades: Once a mere synonym for “strange,” “queer” was reportedly used as a homophobic slur starting in the late 19th century. While the word enjoyed reclamation in activist circles throughout the 20th century, its recent mainstream adoption has been swift and unprecedented. Where “queer” used to add a biting edge to the works of avant-garde artists or radical protestors, now you’re just as likely to see it describe the CEO of Land O’Lakes butter.
These days, the word “queer” does a lot of heavy lifting, and it certainly encompasses more than homosexuality. Depending what academic theory you read, “queer” can be used as a noun, adjective or verb, or as an identity label or a descriptor for any non-normative person or behavior. Optimists may call it an umbrella term. Pessimists may call it meaningless.
Perhaps because “queerness” has become so expansive,...
These days, the word “queer” does a lot of heavy lifting, and it certainly encompasses more than homosexuality. Depending what academic theory you read, “queer” can be used as a noun, adjective or verb, or as an identity label or a descriptor for any non-normative person or behavior. Optimists may call it an umbrella term. Pessimists may call it meaningless.
Perhaps because “queerness” has become so expansive,...
- 10/29/2022
- by Lena Wilson
- The Wrap
She’s stung in satire, chilled in horror, and charmed in comedy, but you’ve never seen Andrea Riseborough eat quite like this. Fusing each of these considered genres into one madcap mash-up, the British actress and producer kicks up her heels in “Please Baby Please,” a visually audacious camp exploration of gender and repression set in a dystopian 1950s New York. From the inventive mind of queer experimental filmmaker Amanda Kramer, “Please Baby Please” feels like John Waters and Peter Greenaway got together to remake Robert Wise’s “West Side Story.”
If that sounds like a lot, it is, but Kramer mostly pulls it off. Conceptually precise and visually daring, “Please Baby Please” is an impressive invention built on hyper-stylized performances and production. Unfortunately, it relies far too heavily on these elements — in place of story, character, and even comedy. Though Riseborough is clearly having the time of her...
If that sounds like a lot, it is, but Kramer mostly pulls it off. Conceptually precise and visually daring, “Please Baby Please” is an impressive invention built on hyper-stylized performances and production. Unfortunately, it relies far too heavily on these elements — in place of story, character, and even comedy. Though Riseborough is clearly having the time of her...
- 10/28/2022
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Eleven years after making his feature writing and directing debut with the comedy American Animal (a film he also starred in), Matt D’Elia is ready to make his second feature – and this time he’s making a “genre-bending relationship horror thriller” called A Void. Variety reports that Aya Cash (The Boys) has signed on to star in the film alongside Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project) and Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World).
Set to begin filming next year, A Void will tell the story of
troubled lovers Sarah and Nick, lifelong urbanites and intellectuals, who move from the city to the country to start a new chapter. As their repressed traumas become more evident, so too do the cracks in their relationship. These problems are only compounded when they encounter a mysterious anomaly on their property: An inexplicable black void that, according to all laws of physics, shouldn...
Set to begin filming next year, A Void will tell the story of
troubled lovers Sarah and Nick, lifelong urbanites and intellectuals, who move from the city to the country to start a new chapter. As their repressed traumas become more evident, so too do the cracks in their relationship. These problems are only compounded when they encounter a mysterious anomaly on their property: An inexplicable black void that, according to all laws of physics, shouldn...
- 10/27/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Visit Films will represent worldwide rights on the genre-bending relationship horror-thriller “A Void,” the latest feature from ”American Animal” director and star Matt D’Elia.
The film will be presented to buyers at next week’s American Film Market, and begin production in 2023.
“A Void” centers on troubled lovers Sarah and Nick, lifelong urbanites and intellectuals, who move from the city to the country to start a new chapter. As their repressed traumas become more evident, so too do the cracks in their relationship. These problems are only compounded when they encounter a mysterious anomaly on their property: An inexplicable black void that, according to all laws of physics, shouldn’t and can’t exist — and yet, there it is.
As Sarah and Nick attempt to understand what they’ve stumbled upon, bizarre and terrifying events begin to take place, both in their dreams and in their waking lives.
“A Void” is written by D’Elia.
The film will be presented to buyers at next week’s American Film Market, and begin production in 2023.
“A Void” centers on troubled lovers Sarah and Nick, lifelong urbanites and intellectuals, who move from the city to the country to start a new chapter. As their repressed traumas become more evident, so too do the cracks in their relationship. These problems are only compounded when they encounter a mysterious anomaly on their property: An inexplicable black void that, according to all laws of physics, shouldn’t and can’t exist — and yet, there it is.
As Sarah and Nick attempt to understand what they’ve stumbled upon, bizarre and terrifying events begin to take place, both in their dreams and in their waking lives.
“A Void” is written by D’Elia.
- 10/26/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
If ever a film was “very much a vibe,” as the kids say, it is Please, Baby, Please. Directed by Amanda Kramer from a screenplay by Kramer & Noel David Taylor and starring the great Andrea Riseborough and Harry Melling, it starts at an eleven out of ten. “Traditional” couple Suze (Riseborough) and Arthur (Melling) witness a double-murder while walking home in the Lower East Side. The culprits are The Young Gents, a leather-clad greaser gang straight out casting for The Wild One. Though Kathryn Bigelow’s The Loveless or Walter Hill’s Streets of Fire may be a more appropriate reference here. This act of aggression serves as catalyst for a much-needed reckoning between Suze and Arthur. As long-dormant desires are laid bare, both must finally be honest with one another about everything.
This deconstruction of gender is wrapped in a stripped-down dreamscape aesthetic, often slipping into nightmare. 1950s B-pictures are the clear inspiration,...
This deconstruction of gender is wrapped in a stripped-down dreamscape aesthetic, often slipping into nightmare. 1950s B-pictures are the clear inspiration,...
- 10/25/2022
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Jake Choi (Single Parents) has signed on to star alongside Lil Rel Howery, Yvonne Orji, John Cena and Meredith Hagner in 20th Century Studios’ Vacation Friends sequel Honeymoon Friends for Hulu.
In the original film released to the streamer in August of 2021, an uptight couple (Howery and Orji) makes friends with a rowdy couple (Cena and Hagner) while on vacation in Mexico, but their friendship takes an awkward turn when they get back home.
Clay Tarver directed the buddy comedy from his script co-written by Tom Mullen, Tim Mullen, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, seeing it score Hulu’s biggest opening weekend for an original title, though the Predator franchise prequel Prey has since trumped it. Todd Garner and Timothy M. Bourne produced, with Steve Pink and Sean Robins exec producing.
Details as to the sequel’s plot are being kept under wraps. While unconfirmed, we hear that...
In the original film released to the streamer in August of 2021, an uptight couple (Howery and Orji) makes friends with a rowdy couple (Cena and Hagner) while on vacation in Mexico, but their friendship takes an awkward turn when they get back home.
Clay Tarver directed the buddy comedy from his script co-written by Tom Mullen, Tim Mullen, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, seeing it score Hulu’s biggest opening weekend for an original title, though the Predator franchise prequel Prey has since trumped it. Todd Garner and Timothy M. Bourne produced, with Steve Pink and Sean Robins exec producing.
Details as to the sequel’s plot are being kept under wraps. While unconfirmed, we hear that...
- 10/13/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Give Me Pity! Photo: Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival
After making a splash at Fantasia and Edinburgh, Amanda Kramer’s Give Me Pity! is now set to screen at Fantastic Fest. At all three festivals, it has stood out, a bold piece of work not easily forgotten or confused with anything else. Shot against a simmering hot pink backdrop, full of sequins, spangles and flashing lights, it follows performer Sissy St. Sinclair (Sophie von Haselberg) as she enjoys her first TV special but gradually begins to crack under the pressure, spiralling into a psychedelic nightmare. At the former two festivals it screened alongside another film of Amanda’s, musical exploration of gender and sexuality Please Baby Please, so when we got together to chat, I asked her how she felt about them touring as a pair.
“I'm so grateful that both films can be recognised and have a twin moment,...
After making a splash at Fantasia and Edinburgh, Amanda Kramer’s Give Me Pity! is now set to screen at Fantastic Fest. At all three festivals, it has stood out, a bold piece of work not easily forgotten or confused with anything else. Shot against a simmering hot pink backdrop, full of sequins, spangles and flashing lights, it follows performer Sissy St. Sinclair (Sophie von Haselberg) as she enjoys her first TV special but gradually begins to crack under the pressure, spiralling into a psychedelic nightmare. At the former two festivals it screened alongside another film of Amanda’s, musical exploration of gender and sexuality Please Baby Please, so when we got together to chat, I asked her how she felt about them touring as a pair.
“I'm so grateful that both films can be recognised and have a twin moment,...
- 9/22/2022
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSKing Lear.Jean-Luc Godard, groundbreaking French-Swiss filmmaker across six decades, died last week at age 91. In the week since, a number of tributes have been shared: among them, Blair McClendon in n+1, J. Hoberman in The Nation, Manohla Dargis in the New York Times, and Richard Hell in Screen Slate. Alternatively, you can find a 2002 essay on Godard by filmmaker and theorist Peter Wollen on Verso's blog, watch a 1988 conversation between Godard and critic Serge Daney, or read this list Godard contributed to the British film journal Afterimage in 1970. Shadow and Act founder Tambay Obenson is fundraising to launch Akoroko, a new platform devoted to African film and television. The platform intends to combine film journalism with “consultation, cataloging, and curated film streaming.”Two posters (below) for the 61st New York Film Festival feature photographs taken by Nan Goldin.
- 9/20/2022
- MUBI
Please Baby Please Trailer — Amanda Kramer‘s Please Baby Please (2022) movie trailer has been released by Music Box Films. The Please Baby Please trailer stars Andrea Riseborough, Harry Melling, Karl Glusman, Demi Moore, Cole Escola, and Ryan Simpkins. Crew Amanda Kramer and Noel David Taylor wrote the screenplay for Please Baby Please. Plot Synopsis Please Baby [...]
Continue reading: Please Baby Please (2022) Movie Trailer: Andrea Riseborough stars in a Melodrama with Romantic Songs and S&m Dance Routines...
Continue reading: Please Baby Please (2022) Movie Trailer: Andrea Riseborough stars in a Melodrama with Romantic Songs and S&m Dance Routines...
- 9/17/2022
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
Camp’s an acquired taste, but when it’s good, it is oh so good. Case in point: Amanda Kramer‘s “Please Baby Please,” fresh off its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this year.
The new film stars Andrea Riseborough and Harry Melling as a couple in 1950s Manhattan who witness a murder and become the obsession of a local greaser gang.
Continue reading ‘Please Baby Please’ Trailer: Get Camp With Director Amanda Kramer On October 28 at The Playlist.
The new film stars Andrea Riseborough and Harry Melling as a couple in 1950s Manhattan who witness a murder and become the obsession of a local greaser gang.
Continue reading ‘Please Baby Please’ Trailer: Get Camp With Director Amanda Kramer On October 28 at The Playlist.
- 9/16/2022
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
‘Please Baby Please’ Trailer: Karl Glusman and Andrea Riseborough Turn Heads in Gay Musical Fantasia
One of the wildest, campiest, least apologetic films of the 2022 festival season is “Please Baby Please.” Amanda Kramer’s 1950s-set LGBT musical thriller tells the story of a straight-passing married couple who begin questioning their conceptions of gender, sexuality, and monogamy after witnessing a murder and becoming involved with a greaser gang known as the Young Gents. The movie premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival and was soon acquired by Music Box Films, who is giving it a theatrical release later this year.
“There are many things we love about this film, including Andrea Riseborough’s fierce and fearless performance,” said Music Box Films’ Brian Andreotti. “Director Amanda Kramer’s bold mise en scene and stylized 1950s iconography combine to give adventurous audiences a highly entertaining musing on gender roles and desire that is both timely and timeless,”
“Please Baby Please” is directed by Amanda Kramer, working from a script...
“There are many things we love about this film, including Andrea Riseborough’s fierce and fearless performance,” said Music Box Films’ Brian Andreotti. “Director Amanda Kramer’s bold mise en scene and stylized 1950s iconography combine to give adventurous audiences a highly entertaining musing on gender roles and desire that is both timely and timeless,”
“Please Baby Please” is directed by Amanda Kramer, working from a script...
- 9/15/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
10 films were competing for the Powell and Pressburger award.
Scottish animators Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson’s 60-minutes documentary A Cat Called Dom has won the inaugural Powell and Pressburger Award for best film at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Anderson and Henderson star in and co-direct the inventive documentary, which had its world premiere at Eiff. The film explores how Will deals with his mother’s cancer diagnosis and also the frustrations of trying to make a film.
The jury, comprised of president Gaylene Gould (founder of creative lab The Space to Come), producer Rosie Crerar and author Sarah Winman,...
Scottish animators Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson’s 60-minutes documentary A Cat Called Dom has won the inaugural Powell and Pressburger Award for best film at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Anderson and Henderson star in and co-direct the inventive documentary, which had its world premiere at Eiff. The film explores how Will deals with his mother’s cancer diagnosis and also the frustrations of trying to make a film.
The jury, comprised of president Gaylene Gould (founder of creative lab The Space to Come), producer Rosie Crerar and author Sarah Winman,...
- 8/23/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Blue Finch Films has boarded international sales (excluding North America) to Mali Elfman’s sci-fi mystery Next Exit, which premiered at Tribeca earlier this year. North American distribution will be handled by Magnolia Pictures.
The film marks the directorial debut for Mali Elfman and stars Katie Parker (The Fall Of The House Of Usher) and Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass), with Rose McIver (Ghosts) and Karen Gillan (Avengers: Endgame).
Next Exit follows a research scientist who makes headlines proving she can track people after death. Her radical scientific study is looking for volunteers for a pain-free passing to the afterlife and attracts two young misfit strangers who embark on a lengthy road trip into the unknown.
Written and directed by Mali Elfman, the film is presented by Helmstreet Productions’ Lindsay Helms and Joel Nevells and produced by Syzygy Adventures’ Derek Bishé and Narineh Hacopian. Blue Finch Films will be starting...
The film marks the directorial debut for Mali Elfman and stars Katie Parker (The Fall Of The House Of Usher) and Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass), with Rose McIver (Ghosts) and Karen Gillan (Avengers: Endgame).
Next Exit follows a research scientist who makes headlines proving she can track people after death. Her radical scientific study is looking for volunteers for a pain-free passing to the afterlife and attracts two young misfit strangers who embark on a lengthy road trip into the unknown.
Written and directed by Mali Elfman, the film is presented by Helmstreet Productions’ Lindsay Helms and Joel Nevells and produced by Syzygy Adventures’ Derek Bishé and Narineh Hacopian. Blue Finch Films will be starting...
- 8/16/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: UK-French film company Alief has secured international sales rights to Australian filmmaker Alena Lodkina’s second feature Petrol, following its buzzy world premiere in Locarno’s Filmmakers Of The Present competition.
The Melbourne-set drama, co-stars Nathalie Morris as an impressionable film student of Russian origin who falls under the thrall of an enigmatic performance artist, played by big screen newcomer Hannah Lynch.
The pair move in together and their lives become more and more entwined, with Morris’s character embarking on a voyage of self-discovery played out between reality and her imagination.
Morris is best known internationally for her starring role in Stan’s Australian teen pregnancy series Bump, which premieres in North America on CW Network this month and was acquired for the U.K. by the BBC.
Petrol was the first Australian feature film to play in competition at Locarno since Clara Law’s Floating Life in...
The Melbourne-set drama, co-stars Nathalie Morris as an impressionable film student of Russian origin who falls under the thrall of an enigmatic performance artist, played by big screen newcomer Hannah Lynch.
The pair move in together and their lives become more and more entwined, with Morris’s character embarking on a voyage of self-discovery played out between reality and her imagination.
Morris is best known internationally for her starring role in Stan’s Australian teen pregnancy series Bump, which premieres in North America on CW Network this month and was acquired for the U.K. by the BBC.
Petrol was the first Australian feature film to play in competition at Locarno since Clara Law’s Floating Life in...
- 8/11/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The phenomenon of celebrities who are famous just for being famous is one of those things which makes perfect sense to insiders and is a complete mystery to everyone else. It has become more common in the internet age, but it has its roots in US TV shows which have changed remarkably little between the 1950s and the 2020s. Give Me Pity!, one of a pair of contributions to the 2022 Fantasia International Film Festival by writer/director Amanda Kramer, presents viewers with an imaginary take on one such show and allows it to flow, unhindered, to its logical extreme.
The star of this show is one Sissy Sinclair. We see her first in full Baby Jane get-up, with added angel wings and bridal veil, talking about how...
The star of this show is one Sissy Sinclair. We see her first in full Baby Jane get-up, with added angel wings and bridal veil, talking about how...
- 8/1/2022
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Outfest has announced the award winners of its 40th Anniversary Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Film Festival.
Top prizes went to Amanda Kramer’s Please Baby Please, starring Andrea Riseborough, Henry Melling, Karl Glusman and Demi Moore, for Outstanding North American Narrative Feature; Gabriel Martins’ Brazilian family drama Mars One took the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Feature, and the newly-named Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Feature went to Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens, about the Lebanese female thrash metal band Slave to Sirens. The Academy Award-qualifying festival’s two Grand Jury prizes for Narrative shorts went to April Maxey’s Work (Outstanding U.S. Narrative Short) and Dania Bedir’s Warsha, both of which are now Oscar eligible. Outstanding Documentary Short went to Brydie O’Connor’s Love, Barbara.
Audience awards went to Juan Felipe Zuleta’s crowd-pleasing Unidentified Objects, and documentary feature...
Top prizes went to Amanda Kramer’s Please Baby Please, starring Andrea Riseborough, Henry Melling, Karl Glusman and Demi Moore, for Outstanding North American Narrative Feature; Gabriel Martins’ Brazilian family drama Mars One took the Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding International Narrative Feature, and the newly-named Paul D. Lerner and Stephen Reis Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Documentary Feature went to Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens, about the Lebanese female thrash metal band Slave to Sirens. The Academy Award-qualifying festival’s two Grand Jury prizes for Narrative shorts went to April Maxey’s Work (Outstanding U.S. Narrative Short) and Dania Bedir’s Warsha, both of which are now Oscar eligible. Outstanding Documentary Short went to Brydie O’Connor’s Love, Barbara.
Audience awards went to Juan Felipe Zuleta’s crowd-pleasing Unidentified Objects, and documentary feature...
- 7/27/2022
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
“Please Baby Please” and “Mars One” are among the winners of the 40th Anniversary Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival. The organization announced the honorees during its award ceremony Wednesday.
The L.A.-based nonprofit, which promotes LGBTQ filmmakers and projects, ran its 40th edition festival from July 14-24. Over the course of the festival, 30,000 people attended its programming and more than 200 films screened, including 42 world premieres. The festival opened with Billy Porter’s directorial debut “Anything’s Possible” and closed with the LGBTQ slasher film “They/Them.”
“Please Baby Please,” directed by Amanda Kramer and starring Andrea Riseborough and Henry Melling, took the outstanding North American feature prize, while Brazilian director Gabriel Martins’ family drama “Mars One” won the outstanding international feature award. Audience award winners included “Unidentified Objects” by Juan Felipe Zuleta and documentary feature “Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story.” Select award winners will be available to stream...
The L.A.-based nonprofit, which promotes LGBTQ filmmakers and projects, ran its 40th edition festival from July 14-24. Over the course of the festival, 30,000 people attended its programming and more than 200 films screened, including 42 world premieres. The festival opened with Billy Porter’s directorial debut “Anything’s Possible” and closed with the LGBTQ slasher film “They/Them.”
“Please Baby Please,” directed by Amanda Kramer and starring Andrea Riseborough and Henry Melling, took the outstanding North American feature prize, while Brazilian director Gabriel Martins’ family drama “Mars One” won the outstanding international feature award. Audience award winners included “Unidentified Objects” by Juan Felipe Zuleta and documentary feature “Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story.” Select award winners will be available to stream...
- 7/27/2022
- by Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
Fans of musicals will instantly connect with the opening of Please Baby Please, one of a pair of films by Amanda Kramer which screened at Fantasia 2022 and quickly secured distribution. It is, in context, a conventional opening, in which a gang of leather-clad tough guys wielding baseball bats and twirling chains emerge from an alleyway, striking dramatic poses along the way. At first they scuffle with one another in a highly structured, lightly eroticised dance. Then they break the rules, as such gangs are elsewhere supposed to, beating two passers-by to death just as another couple arrives on the scene.
This second pairing is Suse (Andrea Riseborough) and Arthur (Harry Melling). They freeze at the sight, uncertain what to do, but the Young Gents let them pass, more interested in taunting them than in initiating another attack, especially as they are right outside their home so now know...
This second pairing is Suse (Andrea Riseborough) and Arthur (Harry Melling). They freeze at the sight, uncertain what to do, but the Young Gents let them pass, more interested in taunting them than in initiating another attack, especially as they are right outside their home so now know...
- 7/24/2022
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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