Picturehouse Entertainment has made its first animation pickup, acquiring UK-Ireland distribution rights to Sylvain Chomet’s The Magnificent Life Of Marcel Pagnol.
The Magnificent Life Of Marcel Pagnol follows the life of Pagnol, a playwright, novelist and filmmaker who became one of the world’s most inventive and prolific artists in the mid-20th century.
The film is currently in production ahead of completion in 2025. It is produced by Ashargin Poire and Valerie Puech for What the Prod. Co-producers are Lilian Eche’s Bidibul Productions, Adrian Politowski’s Align and Aton Soumache for On Classics (Mediawan Kids & Family), in...
The Magnificent Life Of Marcel Pagnol follows the life of Pagnol, a playwright, novelist and filmmaker who became one of the world’s most inventive and prolific artists in the mid-20th century.
The film is currently in production ahead of completion in 2025. It is produced by Ashargin Poire and Valerie Puech for What the Prod. Co-producers are Lilian Eche’s Bidibul Productions, Adrian Politowski’s Align and Aton Soumache for On Classics (Mediawan Kids & Family), in...
- 5/20/2024
- ScreenDaily
THR puts the spotlight on the best films from the festival circuit that have yet to land a U.S. distribution deal.
La Cocina
Directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios
Sales WME Independent, Fifth Season
From Anthony Bourdain giving American readers an inside look at the rock ’n’ roll restaurant industry in Kitchen Confidential to Nancy Meyers’ citrus-dotted white marble countertops in enviable home kitchens, modern American audiences have had an infatuation with cookery. Though previously largely reserved for the nonfiction space with entries like Bourdain’s No Reservations and Netflix’s operatic Chef’s Table, the narrative possibilities of the dark underbelly of back-of-house restaurant staff have began to emerge lately. The Bear, the anxiety-inducing FX series about a Chicago Italian beef joint, swept the Emmys in January and is poised to do the same this go-around. Enter director Ruizpalacios’ La Cocina. “Think The Bear on cocaine with a Red Bull chaser...
La Cocina
Directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios
Sales WME Independent, Fifth Season
From Anthony Bourdain giving American readers an inside look at the rock ’n’ roll restaurant industry in Kitchen Confidential to Nancy Meyers’ citrus-dotted white marble countertops in enviable home kitchens, modern American audiences have had an infatuation with cookery. Though previously largely reserved for the nonfiction space with entries like Bourdain’s No Reservations and Netflix’s operatic Chef’s Table, the narrative possibilities of the dark underbelly of back-of-house restaurant staff have began to emerge lately. The Bear, the anxiety-inducing FX series about a Chicago Italian beef joint, swept the Emmys in January and is poised to do the same this go-around. Enter director Ruizpalacios’ La Cocina. “Think The Bear on cocaine with a Red Bull chaser...
- 5/19/2024
- by Scott Roxborough and Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The British Film Institute has partnered with film animation studio Laika to start its event series Stop Motion: Celebrating Hand-Crafted Animation On The Big Screen, which will offer free screenings for children under 16 and include Laika’s five films to date: “Coraline” (2009), “Paranorman” (2012), “The Boxtrolls” (2014), “Kubo and the Two Strings” (2016) and “Missing Link” (2019), all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for outstanding animated feature.
The season, curated by BFI Southbank Lead Programmer Justin Johnson, will take place from Aug. 1 through Oct. 9. Additional titles playing on the big screen throughout the season will include “King Kong” (1933), “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963), “Chicken Run” (2001), “Corpse Bride” (2005), “Coraline” (2009), “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009) and “Anomalisa” (2015).
A free exhibition at BFI Southbank, Laika: Frame x Frame, will also run and showcase the art, science and innovation of the studio’s films. The exhibition will allow visitors an exclusive look at puppets, sets and artifacts from...
The season, curated by BFI Southbank Lead Programmer Justin Johnson, will take place from Aug. 1 through Oct. 9. Additional titles playing on the big screen throughout the season will include “King Kong” (1933), “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963), “Chicken Run” (2001), “Corpse Bride” (2005), “Coraline” (2009), “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009) and “Anomalisa” (2015).
A free exhibition at BFI Southbank, Laika: Frame x Frame, will also run and showcase the art, science and innovation of the studio’s films. The exhibition will allow visitors an exclusive look at puppets, sets and artifacts from...
- 5/15/2024
- by Jazz Tangcay, Lexi Carson, Jack Dunn and Selena Kuznikov
- Variety Film + TV
The 2024 Tribeca Festival has added even more films, including eight world premieres, to its lineup.
The annual New York event will now include the world premieres of two sports documentaries: Roger Federer’s Twelve Final Days, directed by Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia, about the 20-time Grand Slam tennis champion’s decision to retire from the sport, and Dawn Porter’s Power of the Dream, about the WNBA’s fights for fair pay, better airtime and social justice. Both docs are set to stream on Amazon’s Prime Video.
And it’s adding the North American premiere of Nanette Burstein’s Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes as well as the world premiere of Sabrina Van Tassel’s Missing From Fire Trail Road, about the efforts to find out what happened to missing Native American woman Mary Ellen Johnson-Davis, who disappeared more than two years ago from the Tulalip Indian reservation near Seattle.
The annual New York event will now include the world premieres of two sports documentaries: Roger Federer’s Twelve Final Days, directed by Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia, about the 20-time Grand Slam tennis champion’s decision to retire from the sport, and Dawn Porter’s Power of the Dream, about the WNBA’s fights for fair pay, better airtime and social justice. Both docs are set to stream on Amazon’s Prime Video.
And it’s adding the North American premiere of Nanette Burstein’s Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes as well as the world premiere of Sabrina Van Tassel’s Missing From Fire Trail Road, about the efforts to find out what happened to missing Native American woman Mary Ellen Johnson-Davis, who disappeared more than two years ago from the Tulalip Indian reservation near Seattle.
- 5/14/2024
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
New York’s Tribeca Festival has added eight world premieres to its 2024 line-up, including Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia’s Federer: Twelve Final Days.
The behind-the-scenes sports documentary, which will screen in Tribeca’s Spotlight Documentary section, is about tennis champion Roger Federer and his decision to retire from the sport.
Also set for the festival, which runs June 5-16, is the world premiere, in the International Narrative Competition, of The Freshly Cut Grass, a dramedy directed by Celina Murga and executive produced by Martin Scorsese.
Other world premieres joining the programme are: Power of the Dream, a documentary about women’s professional basketball,...
The behind-the-scenes sports documentary, which will screen in Tribeca’s Spotlight Documentary section, is about tennis champion Roger Federer and his decision to retire from the sport.
Also set for the festival, which runs June 5-16, is the world premiere, in the International Narrative Competition, of The Freshly Cut Grass, a dramedy directed by Celina Murga and executive produced by Martin Scorsese.
Other world premieres joining the programme are: Power of the Dream, a documentary about women’s professional basketball,...
- 5/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
The 2024 Tribeca Festival has added 11 new feature films to its lineup — including a Hannah Einbinder standup special from Max — and has also set a world premiere of Michael Sarnoski’s A Quiet Place: Day One on June 26 in partnership with Paramount Pictures and Imax just ahead of the film’s theatrical release. The red carpet event is for Tribeca members as part of the organization’s push into year-round programming. It’s after the festival, which runs June 5-16.
Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go, features the actress and comedian best known for her role as Ava Daniels in the HBO hit Hacks with Jean Smart.
Other new word premieres include sports documentaries Federer: Twelve Final Days, directed by Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia — a behind-the-scenes film of the 20-time Grand Slam tennis champion Roger Federer and his emotional decision to retire from the sport — as well as Power of the Dream,...
Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go, features the actress and comedian best known for her role as Ava Daniels in the HBO hit Hacks with Jean Smart.
Other new word premieres include sports documentaries Federer: Twelve Final Days, directed by Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia — a behind-the-scenes film of the 20-time Grand Slam tennis champion Roger Federer and his emotional decision to retire from the sport — as well as Power of the Dream,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Two new Australian films, both enjoying their world premiere, are among the first titles confirmed to play at the Sydney Film Festival in June.
“In Vitro,” a sci-fi mystery thriller set on a remote cattle farm in the near future, hails from directors Will Howarth and Tom McKeith (“Beast”) and stars Ashley Zukerman (“Succession”).
With “The Pool,” director Ian Darling (“The Final Quarter”) paints a cinematic portrait of a year in the life of the iconic Bondi Icebergs, the pool and the people who cherish it.
They will be joined by New Zealand actor Rachel House (“Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), who makes her feature directorial debut with “The Mountain,” which centers on three children discovering friendship’s healing power through the spirit of adventure as they trek through spectacular New Zealand landscapes. It is executive produced by Taika Waititi and will be eligible for Sydney’s recently announced First Nations Award,...
“In Vitro,” a sci-fi mystery thriller set on a remote cattle farm in the near future, hails from directors Will Howarth and Tom McKeith (“Beast”) and stars Ashley Zukerman (“Succession”).
With “The Pool,” director Ian Darling (“The Final Quarter”) paints a cinematic portrait of a year in the life of the iconic Bondi Icebergs, the pool and the people who cherish it.
They will be joined by New Zealand actor Rachel House (“Hunt for the Wilderpeople”), who makes her feature directorial debut with “The Mountain,” which centers on three children discovering friendship’s healing power through the spirit of adventure as they trek through spectacular New Zealand landscapes. It is executive produced by Taika Waititi and will be eligible for Sydney’s recently announced First Nations Award,...
- 4/2/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Picturehouse Entertainment has acquired UK and Ireland rights to Matthias Glasner’s Berlinale Competition Dying from The Match Factory.
The melodrama follows a woman secretly enjoying her husband’s deteriorating health before death knocks on her door as well, causing estranged family members to reconnect.
Corinna Harfouch, Lars Eidinger, Lilith Stangenberg, Ronald Zehrfeld, Robert Gwisdek and Anna Bederke lead the cast.
Dying picked up several prizes in Berlin including the silver bear in best screenplay. It scored a solid 2.8 on Screen’s critics jury grid.
‘Dying’: Berlin Review
The feature is written by Glasner who also produces with Jan Krüger and Ulf Israel.
The melodrama follows a woman secretly enjoying her husband’s deteriorating health before death knocks on her door as well, causing estranged family members to reconnect.
Corinna Harfouch, Lars Eidinger, Lilith Stangenberg, Ronald Zehrfeld, Robert Gwisdek and Anna Bederke lead the cast.
Dying picked up several prizes in Berlin including the silver bear in best screenplay. It scored a solid 2.8 on Screen’s critics jury grid.
‘Dying’: Berlin Review
The feature is written by Glasner who also produces with Jan Krüger and Ulf Israel.
- 3/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
Dublin-based outfit Wildcard Distribution has picked up’s Dublin world premiere King Frankie for release in UK and Irish cinemas.
It is the feature debut of writer-director Dermot Malone and stars Bad Sisters actor Peter Coonan as a Dublin taxi driver, who runs his own taxi firm. While coming to terms with his father’s recent death and going through the associated rituals, the taxi driver comes face to face with something that happened 10 years ago. The filmmakers describe the film as “a “Celtic Tiger tale you have not seen”.
Read Screen’s King Franke review here
Dublin-based Malone has previously worked predominantly in commercials.
It is the feature debut of writer-director Dermot Malone and stars Bad Sisters actor Peter Coonan as a Dublin taxi driver, who runs his own taxi firm. While coming to terms with his father’s recent death and going through the associated rituals, the taxi driver comes face to face with something that happened 10 years ago. The filmmakers describe the film as “a “Celtic Tiger tale you have not seen”.
Read Screen’s King Franke review here
Dublin-based Malone has previously worked predominantly in commercials.
- 2/27/2024
- ScreenDaily
Screen can reveal the exclusive first trailer for Johatsu – Into Thin Air, Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori’s documentary about Japan’s disappearing people.
The film will have its world premiere in the international competition at Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, which runs from March 7-17.
It will then head to Denmark’s Cph:dox for its international premiere on March 14.
Directed by Hartmann and Mori and produced by Hartmann for Ossa Film, Johatsu depicts a few of the thousands who disappear every year in Japan. Known as the Johatsu – ‘evaporated’ – they abandon their lives to start anew, sometimes with professional assistance and leaving others behind.
The film will have its world premiere in the international competition at Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, which runs from March 7-17.
It will then head to Denmark’s Cph:dox for its international premiere on March 14.
Directed by Hartmann and Mori and produced by Hartmann for Ossa Film, Johatsu depicts a few of the thousands who disappear every year in Japan. Known as the Johatsu – ‘evaporated’ – they abandon their lives to start anew, sometimes with professional assistance and leaving others behind.
- 2/27/2024
- ScreenDaily
Picturehouse Entertainment has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Berlinale Competition title La Cocina.
Picturehouse’s newly-announced acquisitions team James Brown and Julia Trawinska acquired the film from sales agent HanWay Films in Berlin.
La Cocina had its world premiere on Friday, February 16 in Berlin.
The black-and-white drama follows a Mexican cook in a New York tourist trap restaurant, who is in love with an American waitress who cannot commit to a relationship with an undocumented alien.
Rooney Mara stars alongside Raul Briones Carmona. The film is co-financed by Fifth Season, which co-represents North America rights with WME Independent.
Picturehouse’s newly-announced acquisitions team James Brown and Julia Trawinska acquired the film from sales agent HanWay Films in Berlin.
La Cocina had its world premiere on Friday, February 16 in Berlin.
The black-and-white drama follows a Mexican cook in a New York tourist trap restaurant, who is in love with an American waitress who cannot commit to a relationship with an undocumented alien.
Rooney Mara stars alongside Raul Briones Carmona. The film is co-financed by Fifth Season, which co-represents North America rights with WME Independent.
- 2/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
“La Cocina,” the Rooney Mara-starring drama that recently bowed in competition at the Berlinale, has been acquired for most international territories.
HanWay Films has closed sales for France (Originals Factory), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Spain (Avalon), Italy (Teodora Film), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Scandinavia (Mis. Label), Poland (Monolith), Romania (Bad Unicorn), Baltics (Acme), Czech Republic (Film Europe), South Korea (The Coup Inc.), Japan (Sundae), Taiwan (Filmware International), China (HiShow), Greece (Tfg), the Middle East (Front Row), Israel (Forum Film), Singapore (Shaw), Ukraine (Arthouse Traffic), Indonesia (Falcon Pictures) and Ships and Airlines (Cinesky). Before the Berlin Film Festival began, a key deal with Germany and Austria was closed with Square One Entertainment.
Variety understands that a U.K. and Ireland deal is very close to being finalized, while Fifth Season — which co-financed the film — is co-representing the North American sale with WME.
The fourth feature from one of...
HanWay Films has closed sales for France (Originals Factory), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Spain (Avalon), Italy (Teodora Film), Benelux (Cherry Pickers), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Scandinavia (Mis. Label), Poland (Monolith), Romania (Bad Unicorn), Baltics (Acme), Czech Republic (Film Europe), South Korea (The Coup Inc.), Japan (Sundae), Taiwan (Filmware International), China (HiShow), Greece (Tfg), the Middle East (Front Row), Israel (Forum Film), Singapore (Shaw), Ukraine (Arthouse Traffic), Indonesia (Falcon Pictures) and Ships and Airlines (Cinesky). Before the Berlin Film Festival began, a key deal with Germany and Austria was closed with Square One Entertainment.
Variety understands that a U.K. and Ireland deal is very close to being finalized, while Fifth Season — which co-financed the film — is co-representing the North American sale with WME.
The fourth feature from one of...
- 2/26/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
After two weeks of new cinema, the Berlin Film Festival comes to a close this Sunday, February 25, with its annual awards ceremony. This year’s event marks one of change, as festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian, at his post since 2018, steps down to make way for Tricia Tuttle, who will take over for next year’s outing.
This year’s Berlinale has already stirred plenty of buzz for films like Alonso Ruizpalacios’s “La Cocina,” a drama set in a New York City kitchen and starring Rooney Mara, and Tim Mielants’ opener “Small Things Like These,” starring likely Oscar winner Cillian Murphy. Both films are eligible for awards, along with “Timbuktu” director Abderrahmane Sissako’s “Black Tea,” “Goodnight Mommy” filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s “The Devil’s Bath,” “The Guilty” director Gustav Möller’s “Sons,” Olivier Assayas’ “Suspended Time,” plus Aaron Schimberg’s Sundance hit “A Different Man,” and many more.
This year’s Berlinale has already stirred plenty of buzz for films like Alonso Ruizpalacios’s “La Cocina,” a drama set in a New York City kitchen and starring Rooney Mara, and Tim Mielants’ opener “Small Things Like These,” starring likely Oscar winner Cillian Murphy. Both films are eligible for awards, along with “Timbuktu” director Abderrahmane Sissako’s “Black Tea,” “Goodnight Mommy” filmmakers Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s “The Devil’s Bath,” “The Guilty” director Gustav Möller’s “Sons,” Olivier Assayas’ “Suspended Time,” plus Aaron Schimberg’s Sundance hit “A Different Man,” and many more.
- 2/24/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Berlin Film Festival kicked off its 74th edition February 15 with the opening-night world premiere screening of Small Things Like These, the Irish drama starring Oscar-nominated Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy. It started 10 days of debuts including for movies starring Rooney Mara, Isabelle Huppert, Gael García Bernal, Kristen Stewart and more.
This year’s Competition lineup features films from a swath of international filmmakers including Olivier Assayas, Mati Diop, Hong Sangsoo, Bruno Dumont and Abderrahmane Sissako.
The Berlinale runs through February 25.
Keep checking back below as Deadline reviews the best and buzziest movies of the festival. Click on the titles to read the full reviews.
Another End ‘Another End’
Section: Competition
Director: Piero Messina
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Renate Reinsve, Bérénice Bejo, Olivia Williams, Pal Aron
Deadline’s takeaway: The script, while ambitious, is laden with philosophical musings that often feel detached from the emotional core of the story. Another End...
This year’s Competition lineup features films from a swath of international filmmakers including Olivier Assayas, Mati Diop, Hong Sangsoo, Bruno Dumont and Abderrahmane Sissako.
The Berlinale runs through February 25.
Keep checking back below as Deadline reviews the best and buzziest movies of the festival. Click on the titles to read the full reviews.
Another End ‘Another End’
Section: Competition
Director: Piero Messina
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Renate Reinsve, Bérénice Bejo, Olivia Williams, Pal Aron
Deadline’s takeaway: The script, while ambitious, is laden with philosophical musings that often feel detached from the emotional core of the story. Another End...
- 2/24/2024
- by Stephanie Bunbury, Damon Wise, Pete Hammond and Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
The awards ceremony for the 74th Berlin International Film Festival kicks off Saturday night, where this year’s jury, headed by 12 Years a Slave and Black Panther actress Lupita Nyong’o, will hand out the coveted Gold and Silver Bears.
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Iranian drama My Favourite Cake is being given good odds for an award this year. The drama, about a 70-year-old widow and her tentative attempts at romance with an age-appropriate taxi driver, was a critical fave. A win for the film would also send a political message after the Iranian government banned the directors from attending Berlin. If the jury picks out Cake for the Golden Bear it would be the third time in 10 years —following Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (2015) and There Is No Evil (2020) from Mohammad Rasoulof —that Berlin has given its top honor to Iranian directors in absentia. World sales for My...
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Iranian drama My Favourite Cake is being given good odds for an award this year. The drama, about a 70-year-old widow and her tentative attempts at romance with an age-appropriate taxi driver, was a critical fave. A win for the film would also send a political message after the Iranian government banned the directors from attending Berlin. If the jury picks out Cake for the Golden Bear it would be the third time in 10 years —following Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (2015) and There Is No Evil (2020) from Mohammad Rasoulof —that Berlin has given its top honor to Iranian directors in absentia. World sales for My...
- 2/23/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Everyone knows that most big restaurant kitchens are a mess. Everyone also knows that restaurant workers are overworked, underpaid, usually some of the most stressed out people on the planet, who work tirelessly where we can't see them to prepare our food and keep the restaurant running at full speed. There have been a number of good films made about kitchens and restaurant workers recently (Boiling Point and "The Bear" are two of the most prominent) and now there's another new one to add to that growing subgenre. La Cocina is the latest feature film made by a Mexican filmmaker named Alonso Ruizpalacios, who directs this B&w drama based on the acclaimed stage play by Arnold Wesker. Alas, La Cocina is unfortunately a messy, tiresomely chaotic, frustrating film that is so obsessed with its own chaos that it becomes annoying to sit through, especially the final 30 minutes. Check, please! I don't want a desert today,...
- 2/23/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The 74th Berlin International Film Festival announced the winners of the fest at the awards ceremony held at the Berlinale Palast on February 24.
20 films competed for the awards in this year’s competition with Lupita Nyong’o heading the International Jury alongside Ann Hui, Christian Petzold, Albert Serra, Jasmine Trinca and Oksana Zabuzhko. The Encounters Jury, Lisandro Alonso, Denis Côté and Tizza Covi choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and the Special Jury Award.
The Golden Bear for Best Film was awarded to Dahomey by Mati Diop. Emily Watson won The Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance for her role in Small Things Like These, while Sebastian Stan received The Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance in A Different Man. Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias was honored with The Silver Bear for Best Director for his film Pepe, and the Silver Bear Jury Prize went to Bruno Dumont for Empire.
20 films competed for the awards in this year’s competition with Lupita Nyong’o heading the International Jury alongside Ann Hui, Christian Petzold, Albert Serra, Jasmine Trinca and Oksana Zabuzhko. The Encounters Jury, Lisandro Alonso, Denis Côté and Tizza Covi choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and the Special Jury Award.
The Golden Bear for Best Film was awarded to Dahomey by Mati Diop. Emily Watson won The Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance for her role in Small Things Like These, while Sebastian Stan received The Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance in A Different Man. Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias was honored with The Silver Bear for Best Director for his film Pepe, and the Silver Bear Jury Prize went to Bruno Dumont for Empire.
- 2/22/2024
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
As the European Film Market starts to unwind, the verdict is already in: Even if global economics are rocky, buyers are back and on the lookout. This week, dealmaking has been happening on both star-driven packages as well as arthouse and foreign-language movies.
In a sign that the theatrical business is rebounding, Sony just scooped a pair of splashy packages: “Materialists,” Celine Song’s follow up to “Past Lives,” and “Big Bold Beautiful Journey” starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell. Another hot package, David Mackenzie’s heist thriller “Fuze,” headlined by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, is also close to selling. Movies competing at the Berlin Film Festival are also expected to secure U.S. deals, notably “La Cocina” starring Rooney Mara, and opening night movie “Small Things Like These” with Cillian Murphy.
Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks, which encompasses IFC Films, says he’s seen the mood of sales agents brighten...
In a sign that the theatrical business is rebounding, Sony just scooped a pair of splashy packages: “Materialists,” Celine Song’s follow up to “Past Lives,” and “Big Bold Beautiful Journey” starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell. Another hot package, David Mackenzie’s heist thriller “Fuze,” headlined by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, is also close to selling. Movies competing at the Berlin Film Festival are also expected to secure U.S. deals, notably “La Cocina” starring Rooney Mara, and opening night movie “Small Things Like These” with Cillian Murphy.
Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks, which encompasses IFC Films, says he’s seen the mood of sales agents brighten...
- 2/19/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Rooney Mara is pregnant!
The 38-year-old La Cocina star is expecting her second baby with fiancé Joaquin Phoenix, People reports.
The actress attended the premiere of La Cocina at the Berlin Film Festival in Germany on Friday evening (February 16), where she cradled her growing baby bump under a long black dress.
Keep reading to find out more…
The couple quietly got engaged in 2019 after first meeting in 2012 on the set of the sci-fi drama Her. The two have a son River, who was born in 2020.
Their son’s name honors Phoenix‘s older brother, who died at age 23 in 1993, and starred in movies like Stand By Me, Running on Empty and My Own Private Idaho.
Congratulations to the happy family! Find out who else is expecting in 2024.
The 38-year-old La Cocina star is expecting her second baby with fiancé Joaquin Phoenix, People reports.
The actress attended the premiere of La Cocina at the Berlin Film Festival in Germany on Friday evening (February 16), where she cradled her growing baby bump under a long black dress.
Keep reading to find out more…
The couple quietly got engaged in 2019 after first meeting in 2012 on the set of the sci-fi drama Her. The two have a son River, who was born in 2020.
Their son’s name honors Phoenix‘s older brother, who died at age 23 in 1993, and starred in movies like Stand By Me, Running on Empty and My Own Private Idaho.
Congratulations to the happy family! Find out who else is expecting in 2024.
- 2/18/2024
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
Rooney Mara is a renowned actress known for her excellent work in selective projects. She picks her roles wisely and never misses a chance to nail them. She has been nominated for several top awards, like the Oscars, BAFTA, and Golden Globes.
Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mara wasn’t well-known at the start of her career, but everything changed in 2010. She grabbed headlines when she got cast in David Fincher’s remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in 2011.
She has also starred in some standout films like Her (2013), Carol (2015), Lion (2016), and Nightmare Alley (2021). The actress has learned from tough experiences that it’s best not to clash with directors. She values collaborating with them and trusts their vision for the project.
Suggested“I’m just not going to act anymore”: Rooney Mara Almost Quit Acting Before She Met David Fincher,...
Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Mara wasn’t well-known at the start of her career, but everything changed in 2010. She grabbed headlines when she got cast in David Fincher’s remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in 2011.
She has also starred in some standout films like Her (2013), Carol (2015), Lion (2016), and Nightmare Alley (2021). The actress has learned from tough experiences that it’s best not to clash with directors. She values collaborating with them and trusts their vision for the project.
Suggested“I’m just not going to act anymore”: Rooney Mara Almost Quit Acting Before She Met David Fincher,...
- 2/18/2024
- by Shreya Jha
- FandomWire
It was when Alonso Ruizpalacios was in London working as a dishwasher at the (now-extinct) Rainforest Cafe that he came up with the idea for La Cocina.
“I was a drama student and I’d just read the [1957] play The Kitchen by Arnold Wesker and to make the work — which is tough, monotonous and very, very hard — bearable, I’d look at it through the creative lens of the play. If you see how a kitchen works, you realize it is much like the world, like [how] society works. Wesker says for Shakespeare all the world is a stage, whereas for him all the world is a kitchen.”
It was decades later, after success with Mexican films like Museo and A Cop Movie, that Ruizpalacios came back to the idea, taking The Kitchen as the jumping-off point for his English-language debut, transferring the action from late-’50s London to modern-day New York.
“I was a drama student and I’d just read the [1957] play The Kitchen by Arnold Wesker and to make the work — which is tough, monotonous and very, very hard — bearable, I’d look at it through the creative lens of the play. If you see how a kitchen works, you realize it is much like the world, like [how] society works. Wesker says for Shakespeare all the world is a stage, whereas for him all the world is a kitchen.”
It was decades later, after success with Mexican films like Museo and A Cop Movie, that Ruizpalacios came back to the idea, taking The Kitchen as the jumping-off point for his English-language debut, transferring the action from late-’50s London to modern-day New York.
- 2/18/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Iranian tragicomedy My Favourite Cake has taken the early lead on Screen international’ s 2024 Berlin competition jury grid, with scores for seven titles now in.
The latest from Iranian duo Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha follows a 70-year-old woman who breaks out of her solitary routine by trying to invigorate her love life. It scored a strong 3.1 average, including three fours (excellent) from Ahmed Shawkey (Egypt’s filfan.com), Rita Di Santo (UK’s Morning Star) and Screen’s own critic.
Click on the jury grid above for the most up-to-date version.
Currently in joint second on the grid with...
The latest from Iranian duo Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha follows a 70-year-old woman who breaks out of her solitary routine by trying to invigorate her love life. It scored a strong 3.1 average, including three fours (excellent) from Ahmed Shawkey (Egypt’s filfan.com), Rita Di Santo (UK’s Morning Star) and Screen’s own critic.
Click on the jury grid above for the most up-to-date version.
Currently in joint second on the grid with...
- 2/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Rooney Mara is hard at work promoting her new movie La Cocina at the 74th Berlinale International Film Festival on Friday (February 16) in Berlin, Germany.
The 38-year-old actress attended a photocall for the movie at the Grand Hyatt Hotel before changing into a new look for the premiere at the Berlinale Palast.
At the photocall, Rooney wore a black suit over a matching shirt and slicked her hair back into a sleek bun.
Keep reading to find out more…
She changed into a strapless, floor-length gown with an empire waist while posing for photos on the red carpet.
This marks the first time that we’ve seen Rooney on the red carpet since November when she attended the premiere of her partner Joaquin Phoenix‘s movie Napoleon.
The couple met on the set of Her in 2013 and have been together since. They welcomed their first child – a son named River...
The 38-year-old actress attended a photocall for the movie at the Grand Hyatt Hotel before changing into a new look for the premiere at the Berlinale Palast.
At the photocall, Rooney wore a black suit over a matching shirt and slicked her hair back into a sleek bun.
Keep reading to find out more…
She changed into a strapless, floor-length gown with an empire waist while posing for photos on the red carpet.
This marks the first time that we’ve seen Rooney on the red carpet since November when she attended the premiere of her partner Joaquin Phoenix‘s movie Napoleon.
The couple met on the set of Her in 2013 and have been together since. They welcomed their first child – a son named River...
- 2/18/2024
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
Actress Rooney Mara says some “bad experiences” made her choose projects based on the director. “I really go by the director. I learned that pretty early,” Rooney said, when asked about her process for selecting films, reports variety.com.
Rooney was having a conversation at the Berlin Film Festival press conference for her new film ‘La Cocina’.
“I had some bad experiences as an actor. And then I think it was probably after the first time I worked with David Fincher that I was like, ‘Oh, follow the director.’ So I really make my choices based on the filmmaker and who I want to work with because at the end of the day, it’s all them.”
Rooney stars in ‘La Cocina’, directed and written by Alonso Ruizpalacios, which follows the staff of a New York City restaurant as their kitchen descends into chaos. Ruizpalacios was on hand on Friday for the press conference,...
Rooney was having a conversation at the Berlin Film Festival press conference for her new film ‘La Cocina’.
“I had some bad experiences as an actor. And then I think it was probably after the first time I worked with David Fincher that I was like, ‘Oh, follow the director.’ So I really make my choices based on the filmmaker and who I want to work with because at the end of the day, it’s all them.”
Rooney stars in ‘La Cocina’, directed and written by Alonso Ruizpalacios, which follows the staff of a New York City restaurant as their kitchen descends into chaos. Ruizpalacios was on hand on Friday for the press conference,...
- 2/17/2024
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
Soap Kitchen: Ruizpalacios Underwhelms & Over Bakes Food Drama
Making his English language debut with fourth feature La Cocina, based on the notable stage play by Arnold Wesker, Alonso Ruizpalacios presents an absurd, impulsive microcosm of oft invisible experiences. Taking place behind-the-scenes in what appears to be a mediocre tourist mainstay in Times Square (set in an era before cellphones), a teeming community of workers tossed together like a makeshift family goes about the daily grind. As circumstances dictate, the focus is one particularly grueling lunch shift in which various coinciding dilemmas come to a show stopping head.
Much like his exceptional 2018 title Museo, Ruizpalacios gravitates towards the power of process, drifting into tangentiality of the narrative to collect the milk of human experiences.…...
Making his English language debut with fourth feature La Cocina, based on the notable stage play by Arnold Wesker, Alonso Ruizpalacios presents an absurd, impulsive microcosm of oft invisible experiences. Taking place behind-the-scenes in what appears to be a mediocre tourist mainstay in Times Square (set in an era before cellphones), a teeming community of workers tossed together like a makeshift family goes about the daily grind. As circumstances dictate, the focus is one particularly grueling lunch shift in which various coinciding dilemmas come to a show stopping head.
Much like his exceptional 2018 title Museo, Ruizpalacios gravitates towards the power of process, drifting into tangentiality of the narrative to collect the milk of human experiences.…...
- 2/16/2024
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Egos are charred and tempers seared in La Cocina, a kitchen nightmare set in the engine rooms of a vast Times Square eatery where the staff have more pressing things to worry about than rising temperatures. Take Pedro, a hardened and still-undocumented line cook whose outbursts of ideology can only mask his resentments and vulnerability for so long. Then there’s Julia (Rooney Mara), who is carrying Pedro’s unborn child, hiding her morning sickness in the staff room and planning to sneak out on break to get an abortion. And then there’s Estela (Anna Diaz), our eyes and ears: fresh off the proverbial boat, with barely a word of English, asking strangers on the subway how to get to 45th street before being unceremoniously tossed into a lunch shift that soon resembles The Raft of the Medusa, adrift on a sea of Cherry Coke.
The director of this lively tableaux is Alonso Ruizpalacios,...
The director of this lively tableaux is Alonso Ruizpalacios,...
- 2/16/2024
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Labyrinthine corridors connect the sprawling worlds within The Grill, a traditional eatery by the hustle and bustle of Times Square in “La Cocina.” Open one door, and you are in the kitchen, a boiler room of rage and frustration tamed only by the often frail bonds of camaraderie; turn a corner, and you’re spat straight onto the busy restaurant floor, where waitresses in matching outfits move like a ballet between tables occupied with birthday boys and men as foreign to politeness as hawks are to the sea.
Continue reading ‘La Cocina’ Review: ‘The Bear’ Meets Romeo & Juliet In Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Sharp Migration Drama Starring Rooney Mara [Berlinale] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘La Cocina’ Review: ‘The Bear’ Meets Romeo & Juliet In Alonso Ruizpalacios’ Sharp Migration Drama Starring Rooney Mara [Berlinale] at The Playlist.
- 2/16/2024
- by Rafaela Sales Ross
- The Playlist
If “the kitchen as war zone” has become a veritable sub-genre unto itself, Alonso Ruizpalacios’ “La Cocina” is the closest thing it has to its own “Gallipoli.” The trenches are made out of stainless steel instead of rotten wood, and the steady bombardment of orders comes with a greater threat of deportation than it does that of immediate death, but a job at The Grill just outside of Times Square is no less dehumanizing than a deployment along the frontlines at Suvla Bay, and it comes without any of the same hope for glory.
On the contrary, the soul-crushing system that compels undocumented immigrants to do this kind of work depends upon keeping them out of sight; not only from Ice, but also from the tourists who can only enjoy their rubber-fried lunch because they don’t have to look at the labor that went into making it. Capitalism is...
On the contrary, the soul-crushing system that compels undocumented immigrants to do this kind of work depends upon keeping them out of sight; not only from Ice, but also from the tourists who can only enjoy their rubber-fried lunch because they don’t have to look at the labor that went into making it. Capitalism is...
- 2/16/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios has had a winning record coming to the Berlin Film Festival since 2013, when his film Gueros took the Best First Feature prize. Five years later he was back with his second, the sensational museum-heist film Museo, and deservedly won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay. His third, A Cop Movie, which plays with the traditional docu form by using actors, won Best Documentary at Mexico’s Golden Ariel Awards.
Ruizpalacios belongs in the same league as iconic current Mexican directors Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón and particularly Alejandro González Iñárritu, whose cinematic style seems closest to what Ruizpalacios has been doing. His latest trip to Berlin, La Cocina, reinforces the thrilling talent of this singular filmmaker who for the first time has shot a film using both Spanish and English. It features American star Rooney Mara as well as a stunning, uninhibited, shoot-for-the-stars turn from Raul Briones,...
Ruizpalacios belongs in the same league as iconic current Mexican directors Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón and particularly Alejandro González Iñárritu, whose cinematic style seems closest to what Ruizpalacios has been doing. His latest trip to Berlin, La Cocina, reinforces the thrilling talent of this singular filmmaker who for the first time has shot a film using both Spanish and English. It features American star Rooney Mara as well as a stunning, uninhibited, shoot-for-the-stars turn from Raul Briones,...
- 2/16/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Before demonstrating himself to be one of Mexico’s most original and exciting new filmmaking talents, Alonso Ruizpalacios washed dishes in a bustling big-city kitchen. That experience informs every second of the “Museo” director’s fourth feature, “La Cocina,” a thrilling in-spirit adaptation of Arnold Wesker’s 1957 play “The Kitchen,” transposed from midcentury London to modern-day New York.
A chaotic symphony of nearly two dozen characters, this black-and-white indie confection (garnished with sparing touches of color) mixes biting social critique with stylistic bravura. The setting is in the guts of a high-volume midtown Manhattan restaurant called The Grill — a hectic pressure cooker where personal and professional concerns come to a boil.
The food looks edible at best, and a lot less enticing after we’ve witnessed the commotion that goes into preparing it. In Ruizpalacios’ version, practically the entire staff — not Rooney Mara’s pregnant waitress, but the ones touching the food,...
A chaotic symphony of nearly two dozen characters, this black-and-white indie confection (garnished with sparing touches of color) mixes biting social critique with stylistic bravura. The setting is in the guts of a high-volume midtown Manhattan restaurant called The Grill — a hectic pressure cooker where personal and professional concerns come to a boil.
The food looks edible at best, and a lot less enticing after we’ve witnessed the commotion that goes into preparing it. In Ruizpalacios’ version, practically the entire staff — not Rooney Mara’s pregnant waitress, but the ones touching the food,...
- 2/16/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Rooney Mara has become increasingly selective with her roles, often prioritizing projects from A-list auteurs and taking long hiatuses when the right films don’t materialize. At the Berlin Film Festival press conference for her new film “La Cocina” (via Variety), Mara attributed some of her choosiness to her insistence on working with directors she trusts.
“I really go by the director. I learned that pretty early,” Mara said when asked about her criteria for selecting roles. “I had some bad experiences as an actor. And then I think it was probably after the first time I worked with David Fincher that I was like, ‘Oh, follow the director.’ So I really make my choices based on the filmmaker and who I want to work with because at the end of the day, it’s all them.”
“La Cocina” is directed by “A Cop Movie” filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios, whom Mara...
“I really go by the director. I learned that pretty early,” Mara said when asked about her criteria for selecting roles. “I had some bad experiences as an actor. And then I think it was probably after the first time I worked with David Fincher that I was like, ‘Oh, follow the director.’ So I really make my choices based on the filmmaker and who I want to work with because at the end of the day, it’s all them.”
“La Cocina” is directed by “A Cop Movie” filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios, whom Mara...
- 2/16/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Rooney Mara is in London this weekend to promote her new film “La Cocina,” Alonso Ruizpalacios‘ restaurant drama that has its world premiere at the Berlinale today. And during an audience Q&a, the actress had updates on a couple of other upcoming projects she’s involved in. Bad news for one of those, as Deadline reports that Luca Guadagnino is no longer attached to direct an Aubrey Hepburn biopic for Apple starring Mara as the iconic actress.
Continue reading Rooney Mara Says Luca Guadagnino Won’t Direct Aubrey Hepburn Biopic, But Project Not Dead at The Playlist.
Continue reading Rooney Mara Says Luca Guadagnino Won’t Direct Aubrey Hepburn Biopic, But Project Not Dead at The Playlist.
- 2/16/2024
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
Rooney Mara says she chooses movie projects these days based on who is seated in the director’s chair and has been doing so for some time.
“For me, I really go by the director. I learned that pretty early,” the Women Talking and Girl With a Dragon Tattoo actor said Friday when explaining how she ended up starring in director Alonso Ruizpalacios’ English-language debut, La Cocina, which bowed at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday.
The two-time Oscar nominee plays a waitress at a high-stress Manhattan restaurant where she strikes up a relationship with a backroom cook, played by Raúl Briones. “I had some bad experiences as an actor,” Mara continued.
So it took her role in David Fincher’s The Social Network, where she played Erica Albright, to restore her faith in acting. “It was the first time I worked with David Fincher and I realized follow the director.
“For me, I really go by the director. I learned that pretty early,” the Women Talking and Girl With a Dragon Tattoo actor said Friday when explaining how she ended up starring in director Alonso Ruizpalacios’ English-language debut, La Cocina, which bowed at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday.
The two-time Oscar nominee plays a waitress at a high-stress Manhattan restaurant where she strikes up a relationship with a backroom cook, played by Raúl Briones. “I had some bad experiences as an actor,” Mara continued.
So it took her role in David Fincher’s The Social Network, where she played Erica Albright, to restore her faith in acting. “It was the first time I worked with David Fincher and I realized follow the director.
- 2/16/2024
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
After some “bad experiences,” Rooney Mara chooses her projects based on the director, she said at the Berlin Film Festival press conference for her new film “La Cocina.”
“I really go by the director. I learned that pretty early,” Mara said when asked her process for selecting films. “I had some bad experiences as an actor. And then I think it was probably after the first time I worked with David Fincher that I was like, ‘Oh, follow the director.’ So I really make my choices based on the filmmaker and who I want to work with because at the end of the day, it’s all them.”
Mara stars in “La Cocina,” directed and written by Alonso Ruizpalacios, which follows the staff of a New York City restaurant as their kitchen descends into chaos. Ruizpalacios was on hand on Friday for the press conference, in addition to actors Raúl Briones Carmona...
“I really go by the director. I learned that pretty early,” Mara said when asked her process for selecting films. “I had some bad experiences as an actor. And then I think it was probably after the first time I worked with David Fincher that I was like, ‘Oh, follow the director.’ So I really make my choices based on the filmmaker and who I want to work with because at the end of the day, it’s all them.”
Mara stars in “La Cocina,” directed and written by Alonso Ruizpalacios, which follows the staff of a New York City restaurant as their kitchen descends into chaos. Ruizpalacios was on hand on Friday for the press conference, in addition to actors Raúl Briones Carmona...
- 2/16/2024
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
“It’s about a whole bunch of things,” Mexican filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios says when quizzed on the subject of his latest feature, La Cocina, debuting this evening at the Berlin Film Festival. “In equal parts, it explores the topic of work, the American dream, the failure of the American dream, and abortion rights. That’s a really tough question as a director.”
Ruizpalacios has a point. Starring Rooney Mara and shot in a crisp digital black-and-white, La Cocina is hard to define. Running just short of two-and-a-half hours, the pic is a complex and formally ambitious tale, perhaps best described as a tragicomedy, set in a deathly busy New York City restaurant called The Grill.
The film opens during the lunch rush at The Grill, where, to the fury of the restaurant management, money has gone missing from the till. As a result, all the undocumented cooks are now subject...
Ruizpalacios has a point. Starring Rooney Mara and shot in a crisp digital black-and-white, La Cocina is hard to define. Running just short of two-and-a-half hours, the pic is a complex and formally ambitious tale, perhaps best described as a tragicomedy, set in a deathly busy New York City restaurant called The Grill.
The film opens during the lunch rush at The Grill, where, to the fury of the restaurant management, money has gone missing from the till. As a result, all the undocumented cooks are now subject...
- 2/16/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Inspired by Arnold Wesker’s 1957 stage play, “The Kitchen,” Alonso Ruizpalacios’ “La Cocina” dives deep into the bowels of the industrial-size kitchen of a restaurant in New York City’s Times Square where food is churned out to serve throngs of diners, mostly tourists.
For Ruizpalacios, whose feature debut, “Güeros,” won the best first feature award at the Berlinale nearly 10 years ago, “La Cocina” (“The Kitchen”) is basically an anti-food-porn movie. “I wanted to show the other side of the food industry where expediency is more important than the quality of the food. It’s a metaphor for corporate capitalism,” he says.
The story takes place at the fictional The Grill in Manhattan, where cash has gone missing from the register. All the undocumented cooks, hailing from a diversity of countries, are placed under scrutiny, particularly Pedro (Raúl Briones), who is already on the line for his troublemaking.
Pedro is...
For Ruizpalacios, whose feature debut, “Güeros,” won the best first feature award at the Berlinale nearly 10 years ago, “La Cocina” (“The Kitchen”) is basically an anti-food-porn movie. “I wanted to show the other side of the food industry where expediency is more important than the quality of the food. It’s a metaphor for corporate capitalism,” he says.
The story takes place at the fictional The Grill in Manhattan, where cash has gone missing from the register. All the undocumented cooks, hailing from a diversity of countries, are placed under scrutiny, particularly Pedro (Raúl Briones), who is already on the line for his troublemaking.
Pedro is...
- 2/16/2024
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
The build-up to the 74th Berlin Film Festival has been highly politicized, and the international jury press conference Thursday morning was no different.
Lupita Nyong’o presides over the International Competition jury, whose members include American actor and filmmaker Brady Corbet, Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui, German director Christian Petzold, Spanish filmmaker Albert Serra, Italian actress Jasmine Trinca and Ukrainian novelist and poet Oksana Zabuzhko.
This wasn’t like most jury press conferences, however, with members drawn into multiple — occasionally testy — discussions about their own political stances on events in Ukraine, Gaza and Germany.
Russia’s war in Ukraine was a central topic, with multiple journalists asking Serra about a 2018 interview in which he supposedly expressed admiration for Vladimir Putin. Serra was asked whether he had changed his mind on Putin since the war:
“I don’t know,” said the director. “This is a political question. Everyone is upset with Russia right now.
Lupita Nyong’o presides over the International Competition jury, whose members include American actor and filmmaker Brady Corbet, Hong Kong filmmaker Ann Hui, German director Christian Petzold, Spanish filmmaker Albert Serra, Italian actress Jasmine Trinca and Ukrainian novelist and poet Oksana Zabuzhko.
This wasn’t like most jury press conferences, however, with members drawn into multiple — occasionally testy — discussions about their own political stances on events in Ukraine, Gaza and Germany.
Russia’s war in Ukraine was a central topic, with multiple journalists asking Serra about a 2018 interview in which he supposedly expressed admiration for Vladimir Putin. Serra was asked whether he had changed his mind on Putin since the war:
“I don’t know,” said the director. “This is a political question. Everyone is upset with Russia right now.
- 2/15/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman and Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: HanWay Films has closed a Germany & Austria pre-sale on Berlinale competition title La Cocina with SquareOne Entertainment.
From Mexican filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios (A Cop Movie), and starring two-time Oscar nominee Rooney Mara (The Girl with Dragon Tattoo) and Mexican star Raúl Briones (A Cop Movie), the love story is set over one day in a Times Square kitchen.
The deal was negotiated by SquareOne Entertainment‘s Head of Acquisitions Thomas Sierk with Vinh-Minh Nguyen and CEO Al Munteanu, and Nicole Mackey, Head of Sales at HanWay Films.
Fifth Season has co-financed the film and is co-representing North America with WME.
The film’s synopsis reads: “It’s the lunch rush at The Grill in Manhattan, and money has gone missing from the till. All the undocumented cooks are being investigated, and Pedro (Briones) is the prime suspect. He’s a dreamer and a troublemaker, and in love with...
From Mexican filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios (A Cop Movie), and starring two-time Oscar nominee Rooney Mara (The Girl with Dragon Tattoo) and Mexican star Raúl Briones (A Cop Movie), the love story is set over one day in a Times Square kitchen.
The deal was negotiated by SquareOne Entertainment‘s Head of Acquisitions Thomas Sierk with Vinh-Minh Nguyen and CEO Al Munteanu, and Nicole Mackey, Head of Sales at HanWay Films.
Fifth Season has co-financed the film and is co-representing North America with WME.
The film’s synopsis reads: “It’s the lunch rush at The Grill in Manhattan, and money has gone missing from the till. All the undocumented cooks are being investigated, and Pedro (Briones) is the prime suspect. He’s a dreamer and a troublemaker, and in love with...
- 2/14/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Battered by disappointing markets at Toronto and AFM, both of which were held under the shadow of the actors strike, buyers and sellers are looking to Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM), which runs Feb. 15-21, to re-energize the indie business. The outlook, coming out of Sundance, is good.
“The difference in Sundance from last year to this was extreme, there were a lot more deals being down, both by distributors and streamers,” says Janina Vislmaier, head of sales at Protagonist Pictures, which screened The Outrun with Saoirse Ronan and Sasquatch Sunset with Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg in Park City, both of which will screen at the EFM. “Everyone is really excited ahead of Berlin, especially because all the buyers are back, including from Asia, which is a really good sign.”
The end of the SAG and WGA strikes hasn’t, yet, delivered the flood of new projects and packages many had predicted,...
“The difference in Sundance from last year to this was extreme, there were a lot more deals being down, both by distributors and streamers,” says Janina Vislmaier, head of sales at Protagonist Pictures, which screened The Outrun with Saoirse Ronan and Sasquatch Sunset with Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg in Park City, both of which will screen at the EFM. “Everyone is really excited ahead of Berlin, especially because all the buyers are back, including from Asia, which is a really good sign.”
The end of the SAG and WGA strikes hasn’t, yet, delivered the flood of new projects and packages many had predicted,...
- 2/13/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Double Oscar-nominee Rooney Mara is all wrapped up, literally, with her co-star Raúl Briones in her new film, La Cocina. In it, the English-language debut of Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios (A Cop Movie, Museo), Mara plays Julia, an American waitress working the high-stress lunch rush in the Manhattan restaurant The Grill, whose relationship with undocumented Mexican grill cook Pedro (Briones) is about to be put to the test.
The official posters for the film, exclusively revealed to The Hollywood Reporter, show the Women Talking and Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actress back-to-back with Briones, bound together by a seemingly unending ticker tape of lunch orders. In the bottom corner, a loose lobster appears to be making a break for freedom.
A second poster shows Mara cleaning the glass of the lobster tank while Briones looks on. Submerged inside the tank is a mini Statute of Liberty, symbolic of the (broken?...
The official posters for the film, exclusively revealed to The Hollywood Reporter, show the Women Talking and Girl With the Dragon Tattoo actress back-to-back with Briones, bound together by a seemingly unending ticker tape of lunch orders. In the bottom corner, a loose lobster appears to be making a break for freedom.
A second poster shows Mara cleaning the glass of the lobster tank while Briones looks on. Submerged inside the tank is a mini Statute of Liberty, symbolic of the (broken?...
- 2/8/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A Different Man.The Berlinale have begun to announce the first few titles selected for the 74th edition of their festival, set to take place from February 15 through 21, 2024. This page will be updated as further sections are announced.COMPETITIONAnother End (Piero Messina)Architecton (Victor Kossakovsky)Black Tea (Abderrahmane Sissako)La Cocina (Alonso Ruiz Palacios) Dahomey (Mati Diop)A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg)The Empire (Bruno Dumont)Gloria! (Margherita Vicario)Suspended Time (Olivier Assayas)From Hilde, With Love (Andreas Dresen)My Favourite CakeLangue Etrangère (Claire Berger)Small Things Like These (Tim Mielants)Who Do I Belong To (Meryam Joobeur)Pepe (Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias)Shambhala (Min Bahadur Bham)Sterben (Matthias Glasner)Small Things Like These (Tim Mielants)A Traveler’s Needs (Hong Sang-soo)Sleep With Your Eyes Open. ENCOUNTERSArcadia (Yorgos Zois)Cidade; Campo (Juliana Rojas)Demba (Mamadou Dia)Direct ActionSleep With Your Eyes Open (Nele Wohlatz)The Fable (Raam Reddy...
- 1/23/2024
- MUBI
The upcoming 74th Berlin Film Festival looks set to be its starriest edition in years with Kristen Stewart, Adam Sandler, Cillian Murphy, Lena Dunham, Sebastian Stan, Amanda Seyfried and Rooney Mara among the talent due to attend this year.
Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian confirmed the actors’ presence in an interview with Deadline following the festival’s official press conference on Monday.
“Yes. All the stars we have invited are expected to be here and have confirmed their presence,” he said, when quizzed on the above names. “I think the glamor aspect on the red carpet is a good one this year.”
Most are attending in movies due to be showcased in the Berlinale Special Gala line-up.
Stewart, who was at the festival last year as jury president, returns for the Berlinale Special Gala screening of Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding alongside Katy O’Brian, Ed Harris, Dave Franco and Jena Malone.
Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian confirmed the actors’ presence in an interview with Deadline following the festival’s official press conference on Monday.
“Yes. All the stars we have invited are expected to be here and have confirmed their presence,” he said, when quizzed on the above names. “I think the glamor aspect on the red carpet is a good one this year.”
Most are attending in movies due to be showcased in the Berlinale Special Gala line-up.
Stewart, who was at the festival last year as jury president, returns for the Berlinale Special Gala screening of Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding alongside Katy O’Brian, Ed Harris, Dave Franco and Jena Malone.
- 1/23/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: HanWay Films will represent international sales at next month’s EFM on Berlinale Competition title La Cocina. Fifth Season co-financed the film and is co-representing North America with WME.
Two-time Oscar nominee Rooney Mara (Carol) stars in the movie which is set over one day in a Times Square kitchen. Mexican filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios (Güeros) directs and Raúl Briones (A Cop Movie) co-stars.
The film’s synopsis reads: “It’s the lunch rush at The Grill in Manhattan, and money has gone missing from the till. All the undocumented cooks are being investigated, and Pedro (Briones) is the prime suspect. He’s a dreamer and a troublemaker, and in love with Julia (Mara), an American waitress who cannot commit to a relationship. Rashid, The Grills owner, has promised to help Pedro with his papers so he can “become legal”. But a shocking revelation about Julia compels Pedro to spiral...
Two-time Oscar nominee Rooney Mara (Carol) stars in the movie which is set over one day in a Times Square kitchen. Mexican filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios (Güeros) directs and Raúl Briones (A Cop Movie) co-stars.
The film’s synopsis reads: “It’s the lunch rush at The Grill in Manhattan, and money has gone missing from the till. All the undocumented cooks are being investigated, and Pedro (Briones) is the prime suspect. He’s a dreamer and a troublemaker, and in love with Julia (Mara), an American waitress who cannot commit to a relationship. Rashid, The Grills owner, has promised to help Pedro with his papers so he can “become legal”. But a shocking revelation about Julia compels Pedro to spiral...
- 1/23/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
For his fifth and final edition, outgoing Berlin Film Festival artistic director Carlo Chatrian has assembled a promising lineup, rich in prestige, star-driven titles as well as more eclectic films containing the political elements intrinsic to the fest’s DNA.
“I am very happy and proud of this year’s lineup,” Chatrian tells Variety. “I think it achieved the balance between highly anticipated titles by filmmakers who are relevant in cinema history and, as always, films that you don’t expect to find in competition. At the same time I know that expectations can be a double-edged sword.”
The 74th annual Berlinale, held Feb. 15-25, will feature such films as “La Cocina” with Rooney Mara; sci-fi drama “Another End” with Gael García Bernal and Renate Reinsve; and the historical drama “Small Things Like These” starring “Oppenheimer’s” Cillian Murphy.
Chatrian spoke with Variety to break down the lineup that looks...
“I am very happy and proud of this year’s lineup,” Chatrian tells Variety. “I think it achieved the balance between highly anticipated titles by filmmakers who are relevant in cinema history and, as always, films that you don’t expect to find in competition. At the same time I know that expectations can be a double-edged sword.”
The 74th annual Berlinale, held Feb. 15-25, will feature such films as “La Cocina” with Rooney Mara; sci-fi drama “Another End” with Gael García Bernal and Renate Reinsve; and the historical drama “Small Things Like These” starring “Oppenheimer’s” Cillian Murphy.
Chatrian spoke with Variety to break down the lineup that looks...
- 1/22/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Berlinale co-directors Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek are going out with a bang in their final year, with a lineup unveiled today featuring the latest works by Olivier Assayas, Bruno Dumont, Mati Diop, Hong Sang-soo, Abderrahmane Sissako, Jane Schoenbrun, Alonso Ruizpalacios, Matias Pineiro, Travis Wilkerson, Kazik Radwanski, Annie Baker, and more.
When the co-directors were asked by Screen Daily about their departure, Chatrian said, “It’s quite simple. Mariette and I had a mandate of five years. It is true that at the beginning I said that I was willing to go on because there was a shared will with the [German] Ministry [of Culture] to go on. But then the people who have the responsibility to see the future of the Berlinale thought this structure of two leaders was not the right one and I don’t consider myself able to run the festival alone. And that was the decision of the Ministry.
When the co-directors were asked by Screen Daily about their departure, Chatrian said, “It’s quite simple. Mariette and I had a mandate of five years. It is true that at the beginning I said that I was willing to go on because there was a shared will with the [German] Ministry [of Culture] to go on. But then the people who have the responsibility to see the future of the Berlinale thought this structure of two leaders was not the right one and I don’t consider myself able to run the festival alone. And that was the decision of the Ministry.
- 1/22/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Berlin Film Festival on Monday unveiled the titles selected for its official competition and its sidebar Encounters competitive section.
A total of 20 films have been selected for the international competition, with highlights including La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruiz Palacios and starring Rooney Mara. The pic is described as a “kinetic and cinematic love story” set over a single day in a Times Square kitchen. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop returns with Dahomey, a 60-minute doc about art repatriation and Hong Sangsoo plays in competition with A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert. Scroll down for the full lineup.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 15-25.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon...
A total of 20 films have been selected for the international competition, with highlights including La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruiz Palacios and starring Rooney Mara. The pic is described as a “kinetic and cinematic love story” set over a single day in a Times Square kitchen. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop returns with Dahomey, a 60-minute doc about art repatriation and Hong Sangsoo plays in competition with A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert. Scroll down for the full lineup.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 15-25.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon...
- 1/22/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled a promising competition lineup for its upcoming edition, peppered with prestige star-driven titles such as the New York-set “La Cocina” with Rooney Mara, sci-fi drama “Another End” pairing Gael García Bernal and Renate Reinsve and its opening film “Small Things Like These” starring “Oppenheimer” protagonist Cillian Murphy.
As is customary, political elements play a prominent role. But the complete Berlinale roster revealed on Monday by artistic director Carlo Chatrian and executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeek – following previous announcements in past weeks – makes for the fest’s strongest selection in recent memory in terms of heft and ensures a rich red carpet following the Hollywood strikes hiatus.
Rissenbeek and Chatrain started the press conference with a statement on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. “Festivals provide a space for artistic expression and enable peaceful dialogue. They are places of encounter and exchange and contribute to international understanding.
As is customary, political elements play a prominent role. But the complete Berlinale roster revealed on Monday by artistic director Carlo Chatrian and executive director Mariëtte Rissenbeek – following previous announcements in past weeks – makes for the fest’s strongest selection in recent memory in terms of heft and ensures a rich red carpet following the Hollywood strikes hiatus.
Rissenbeek and Chatrain started the press conference with a statement on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. “Festivals provide a space for artistic expression and enable peaceful dialogue. They are places of encounter and exchange and contribute to international understanding.
- 1/22/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli and Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
The 74th Berlin International Film Festival unveiled its full lineup Monday at its official press conference in the House of World Cultures in Berlin. Berlinale managing director Mariëtte Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian presented the films that will compete for this year’s Golden and Silver Bears both in the competition and encounters sections.
Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios, a Berlinale regular and two-time Silver Bear winner — for A Cop Movie in 2022 and Museo in 2018 — returns to Berlin competition with his English-language feature debut La Cocina. Rooney Mara and The Cop Movie alum Raúl Briones star in the drama set over the course of a single day in a bustling New York City restaurant. Briones plays an undocumented cook in a relationship with Julia (Mara), an American waitress who cannot commit to their relationship. Fifth Season and WME are selling North American rights to La Cocina with HanWay handling international sales.
Mexican director Alonso Ruizpalacios, a Berlinale regular and two-time Silver Bear winner — for A Cop Movie in 2022 and Museo in 2018 — returns to Berlin competition with his English-language feature debut La Cocina. Rooney Mara and The Cop Movie alum Raúl Briones star in the drama set over the course of a single day in a bustling New York City restaurant. Briones plays an undocumented cook in a relationship with Julia (Mara), an American waitress who cannot commit to their relationship. Fifth Season and WME are selling North American rights to La Cocina with HanWay handling international sales.
- 1/22/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Digital media and entertainment company NGLmitú, the result of a merger last year between Ngl Collective and mitú, have launched the new Latino-focused streaming platform mitúTV. Targeting bilingual and English dominant U.S. Latinos, the service also announced three new shows: “Three Gs in a Pod,” hosted by Erik Rivera, Sasha Merci and Jesus Sepulveda; “Girl, Let Me Tell You,” hosted by Jessica Flores, Ivana Rojas and Glorelys Mora; and the game show “Spill the Chisme.”
“We were more of a business-to-business type of organization,” said Ngl Collective founder and CEO David Chitel, “which is why it made so much sense for us to merge with mitú, because they were the leading business-to-consumer entity connecting with we call ‘new generation Latinos.’ So the marriage of our two companies is sort of a big deal in our space.”
Chitel noted that mitú had already been producing a lot of content for the ‘new generation Latino’ market,...
“We were more of a business-to-business type of organization,” said Ngl Collective founder and CEO David Chitel, “which is why it made so much sense for us to merge with mitú, because they were the leading business-to-consumer entity connecting with we call ‘new generation Latinos.’ So the marriage of our two companies is sort of a big deal in our space.”
Chitel noted that mitú had already been producing a lot of content for the ‘new generation Latino’ market,...
- 5/2/2023
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Writer/director Sarah Polley peels back the layers of covered-up assaults in organized religion.
Adapted from Miriam Toews’ acclaimed novel of the same name, “Women Talking” stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, Ben Whishaw, and Judith Ivey. The film is set to make its international premiere at 2022 TIFF, followed by appearing in the NYFF Spotlight section.
“Women Talking” centers on a group of women in an isolated religious colony who reconcile with their faith after a string of sexual assaults are committed by the colony’s men. The generations of abuse come to light along with the hypocrisy of power in the name of Christ. Sheila McCarthy, August Winter, Michelle McLeod, Will Bowes, and Kira Guloien also star in the film, in theaters December 2.
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Polley, whose past features include “Away From Her” and “Stories We Tell,” previously opened up about her troubling experience as a...
Adapted from Miriam Toews’ acclaimed novel of the same name, “Women Talking” stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, Ben Whishaw, and Judith Ivey. The film is set to make its international premiere at 2022 TIFF, followed by appearing in the NYFF Spotlight section.
“Women Talking” centers on a group of women in an isolated religious colony who reconcile with their faith after a string of sexual assaults are committed by the colony’s men. The generations of abuse come to light along with the hypocrisy of power in the name of Christ. Sheila McCarthy, August Winter, Michelle McLeod, Will Bowes, and Kira Guloien also star in the film, in theaters December 2.
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Polley, whose past features include “Away From Her” and “Stories We Tell,” previously opened up about her troubling experience as a...
- 8/17/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
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