How can the filmmakers of low-budget independent films formulate sales and distribution strategies at a global level when they don’t have the same resources wielded by the larger production companies? As part of this week’s IFFR Pro Days, the industry program at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, experts gave their opinions.
Kyle Greenberg, head of marketing and distribution at U.S. company Utopia, said that filmmakers, especially ones helming independent and guerrilla productions, should be “the biggest advocates of their movies” and actively involved in the promotion, marketing and sales strategy of their titles.
“If you’re not advocating for yourself, you’re already losing. Filmmakers need to be thinking about marketing and audiences. If you are making a film in isolation, it could be art, but you are not thinking of where the movie lives,” he said.
“When we acquire movies, we are thinking about potential audiences,...
Kyle Greenberg, head of marketing and distribution at U.S. company Utopia, said that filmmakers, especially ones helming independent and guerrilla productions, should be “the biggest advocates of their movies” and actively involved in the promotion, marketing and sales strategy of their titles.
“If you’re not advocating for yourself, you’re already losing. Filmmakers need to be thinking about marketing and audiences. If you are making a film in isolation, it could be art, but you are not thinking of where the movie lives,” he said.
“When we acquire movies, we are thinking about potential audiences,...
- 2/2/2024
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- 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
Deadline on Monday launched the streaming site for its Contenders Film: International, featuring the full panel videos from Saturday’s award-season showcase of 12 movies submitted by their countries to this year’s Oscar International Feature race.
Click here to launch the streaming site.
Actors who took part in the discussions included South Korean entry Concrete Utopia‘s Lee Byung-hun, Renée Soutendijk from Netherlands’ Sweet Dreams, Eli Skorcheva from Bulgaria’s Blaga’s Lessons and Eliane Umuhire from Belgium’s Omen.
They were joined among others by directors including J.A. Bayona from Netflix’s Society of the Snow, Hugh Welchman from Poland’s The Peasants, Noora Niasari from Australia’s Shayda, llker Çatak from Germany’s The Teachers’ Lounge, Concrete Utopia‘s Um Tae-hwa, Ena Sendijarević from Sweet Dreams, Stephan Komandarev from Blaga’s Lessons, Omar Hilal from Egypt’s Voy! Voy! Voy!, Jude Anthany Joseph from India’s 2018 – Everyone Is a Hero,...
Click here to launch the streaming site.
Actors who took part in the discussions included South Korean entry Concrete Utopia‘s Lee Byung-hun, Renée Soutendijk from Netherlands’ Sweet Dreams, Eli Skorcheva from Bulgaria’s Blaga’s Lessons and Eliane Umuhire from Belgium’s Omen.
They were joined among others by directors including J.A. Bayona from Netflix’s Society of the Snow, Hugh Welchman from Poland’s The Peasants, Noora Niasari from Australia’s Shayda, llker Çatak from Germany’s The Teachers’ Lounge, Concrete Utopia‘s Um Tae-hwa, Ena Sendijarević from Sweet Dreams, Stephan Komandarev from Blaga’s Lessons, Omar Hilal from Egypt’s Voy! Voy! Voy!, Jude Anthany Joseph from India’s 2018 – Everyone Is a Hero,...
- 12/11/2023
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
After stumbling upon a story through a link on Facebook about a team of blind footballers from Egypt who arrived in Warsaw and disappeared into thin air after it turned out they could actually see, writer-director
“They literally disappeared into thin air and it turned out they could all see,” Hilal said during a conversation about the movie at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International. “I was laughing and everyone in Egypt was laughing.”
Hilal decided to use the premise of this true-life event for his directorial debut Voy! Voy! Voy!, which has not only topped the Egyptian box office since its September release in Cairo, but is also Egypt’s official submission into the Best International Feature Oscar category for 2024.
“It was such a perfect vessel to tell this story about illegal immigration, which is a huge problem, the whole social issue of poverty and the lack of opportunity, which...
“They literally disappeared into thin air and it turned out they could all see,” Hilal said during a conversation about the movie at Deadline’s Contenders Film: International. “I was laughing and everyone in Egypt was laughing.”
Hilal decided to use the premise of this true-life event for his directorial debut Voy! Voy! Voy!, which has not only topped the Egyptian box office since its September release in Cairo, but is also Egypt’s official submission into the Best International Feature Oscar category for 2024.
“It was such a perfect vessel to tell this story about illegal immigration, which is a huge problem, the whole social issue of poverty and the lack of opportunity, which...
- 12/9/2023
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Deadline’s Contenders Film: International award-season event launches Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. Pt, the latest in our series of showcases that this time turns the focus toward global cinema via discussions with the casts and creatives of 12 movies submitted by their countries for the 2024 Academy Awards’ International Feature race.
Click to sign up for and watch today’s livestream.
The 2023 Oscar ceremony was a triumph for international film. Going into the ceremony, Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front was a winner already, having earned a spectacular seven nominations. If that wasn’t enough, it came away with four statuettes: one for International Feature, and three for Cinematography, Music and Production Design. Clearly this can’t happen every year, but, like Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite before it, Berger’s World War I epic proved that boundaries are being broken down, and international film, once synonymous with arthouse,...
Click to sign up for and watch today’s livestream.
The 2023 Oscar ceremony was a triumph for international film. Going into the ceremony, Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front was a winner already, having earned a spectacular seven nominations. If that wasn’t enough, it came away with four statuettes: one for International Feature, and three for Cinematography, Music and Production Design. Clearly this can’t happen every year, but, like Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite before it, Berger’s World War I epic proved that boundaries are being broken down, and international film, once synonymous with arthouse,...
- 12/9/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Shortlist of 15 films to be announced December 21, nominations out on January 23, 2024.
The Academy has announced eligible features in the categories of international feature film, animation, and documentary for the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, 2024.
The shortlist of 15 films will be announced on December 21, and the nominations announcement is January 23, 2024.
International
Eighty-eight countries or regions have submitted films eligible for consideration in the international feature film category. An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes long) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track. Namibia is a first-time entrant.
Academy members...
The Academy has announced eligible features in the categories of international feature film, animation, and documentary for the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, 2024.
The shortlist of 15 films will be announced on December 21, and the nominations announcement is January 23, 2024.
International
Eighty-eight countries or regions have submitted films eligible for consideration in the international feature film category. An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (more than 40 minutes long) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track. Namibia is a first-time entrant.
Academy members...
- 12/7/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
CEO Stuart Ford says market has potential to evolve along path of South Korea and be ‘prolific exporter’ of content
AGC Studios is mulling the opening of a Middle East office as it increases its activity in the region, according to chairman and CEO Stuart Ford.
The LA-based film financing and sales company, whose slate includes Richard Linklater’s Hit Man and Anna Kendrick’s Red Sea title Woman Of The Hour, has been active in the Mena region since Ford founded the company in 2018 with Image Nation Abu Dhabi as one its cornerstone investors.
Asked if AGC will open...
AGC Studios is mulling the opening of a Middle East office as it increases its activity in the region, according to chairman and CEO Stuart Ford.
The LA-based film financing and sales company, whose slate includes Richard Linklater’s Hit Man and Anna Kendrick’s Red Sea title Woman Of The Hour, has been active in the Mena region since Ford founded the company in 2018 with Image Nation Abu Dhabi as one its cornerstone investors.
Asked if AGC will open...
- 12/4/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Egypt’s Oscar submission “Voy! Voy! Voy!,” from director-writer-producer Omar Hilal, is a blackly comic look at migration viewed through the lens of a conman pretending to be visually impaired in order to play in the Blind Football World Cup. The fast-paced, entertaining film makes its Moroccan debut in the Special Screenings section of the Marrakech Film Festival. Following its September premiere in Egypt, it held the top box-office spot for two months and did remarkably well in the Gulf states.
The title translates as “Here I Come” in Spanish and is what the blind football players call out on the field to avoid collisions. But “Here I Come” could equally be the motto of its cheerily amoral protagonist Hassan (Mohamed Farrag), who is willing to try anything to escape his financially-challenged, dead-end life as a security guard.
Multi-hyphenate Hilal always wanted to make a film about migration. When he...
The title translates as “Here I Come” in Spanish and is what the blind football players call out on the field to avoid collisions. But “Here I Come” could equally be the motto of its cheerily amoral protagonist Hassan (Mohamed Farrag), who is willing to try anything to escape his financially-challenged, dead-end life as a security guard.
Multi-hyphenate Hilal always wanted to make a film about migration. When he...
- 12/2/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
From its jaunty animated credits to its absurdly satisfying conclusion, “Voy! Voy! Voy!” is a saucy and blackly comic look at immigration. An entertaining first feature inspired by stranger-than-fiction actual events from seasoned adman Omar Hilal, here serving as director, writer and producer, Egypt’s official Oscar submission nabbed the top spot at the local box office for two months following its mid-September domestic release and also played well in the Gulf states. Boasting a smart screenplay with serious undertones and a powerhouse cast with impeccable timing, it’s an audience-friendly affair that could score some distribution in the west.
The action is set in 2013, a time of political turmoil in Egypt, although that is not overly stressed. Cheerfully amoral chief protagonist Hassan (Mohamed Farrag) is willing to try almost anything to escape his financially challenged, dead-end life as a security guard and head to Europe. When his opportunity to...
The action is set in 2013, a time of political turmoil in Egypt, although that is not overly stressed. Cheerfully amoral chief protagonist Hassan (Mohamed Farrag) is willing to try almost anything to escape his financially challenged, dead-end life as a security guard and head to Europe. When his opportunity to...
- 12/1/2023
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
AGC Intl., the international sales and distribution arm of Stuart Ford’s fast-growing independent content studio AGC Studios, has picked up world rights from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Mbc Studios and Vox Studios on Yasir Al Yasiri’s “Hwjn,” and from O3 Medya and Dhafer L’Abidine’s Double A Productions on L’Abidine’s “To My Son.”
Saudi fantasy romance ‘Hwjn’ will open the Red Sea Film Festival on Nov. 30, while the emotional family drama “To My Son” will premiere in Red Sea’s Arab Spectacular section.
The deals mark another significant step in AGC Studios’ drive to bringing theatrical features from the Middle East and North Africa region to global audiences. AGC has partnered with Image Nation Abu Dhabi on Arabic blockbusters “Al Kameen” and “Voy! Voy! Voy!” (with Vox), Egypt’s box-office juggernaut and selection for Academy Award consideration for best international feature. AGC is also partnered...
Saudi fantasy romance ‘Hwjn’ will open the Red Sea Film Festival on Nov. 30, while the emotional family drama “To My Son” will premiere in Red Sea’s Arab Spectacular section.
The deals mark another significant step in AGC Studios’ drive to bringing theatrical features from the Middle East and North Africa region to global audiences. AGC has partnered with Image Nation Abu Dhabi on Arabic blockbusters “Al Kameen” and “Voy! Voy! Voy!” (with Vox), Egypt’s box-office juggernaut and selection for Academy Award consideration for best international feature. AGC is also partnered...
- 11/30/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Deal furthers AGC Studios’ commitment to championing Mena region theatrical features.
AGC International has acquired world sales rights to Hwjn and To My Son on the eve of their world premieres at Red Sea International Film Festival.
Iraqi filmmaker Yasir Al Yasiri’s Saudi fantasy romance Hwjn from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Mbc Studios and Vox Studios will open the festival today (November 30) and is adapted from the YA novel by Ibraheem Abbas.
The feature combines Arabian folklore elements with contemporary themes and takes place in modern-day Jeddah as the kind-hearted titular jinn (Baraa Alem) discovers the truth about his...
AGC International has acquired world sales rights to Hwjn and To My Son on the eve of their world premieres at Red Sea International Film Festival.
Iraqi filmmaker Yasir Al Yasiri’s Saudi fantasy romance Hwjn from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Mbc Studios and Vox Studios will open the festival today (November 30) and is adapted from the YA novel by Ibraheem Abbas.
The feature combines Arabian folklore elements with contemporary themes and takes place in modern-day Jeddah as the kind-hearted titular jinn (Baraa Alem) discovers the truth about his...
- 11/30/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- 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
Stuart Ford’s AGC International has taken global rights outside the Middle East and Pakistan to “Voy! Voy! Voy!,” the hit dramedy about a group of impoverished Egyptians who join a professional blind soccer team as a ploy to get to Europe. The film is Egypt’s candidate for the international film Oscar.
“Voy! Voy! Voy!,” which marks the directorial debut of hotshot Egyptian commercials director Omar Hilal, is the tale of a financially struggling security guard named Hassan, who dreams of a better life. One day he stumbles upon the professional sport of blind soccer and cunningly decides to pose as a visually impaired man to join a team that is close to playing a World Cup tournament in Europe. On this journey, Omar intersects with several characters, including a female journalist who begins to take an interest in the team.
The dramedy is inspired by true events. In...
“Voy! Voy! Voy!,” which marks the directorial debut of hotshot Egyptian commercials director Omar Hilal, is the tale of a financially struggling security guard named Hassan, who dreams of a better life. One day he stumbles upon the professional sport of blind soccer and cunningly decides to pose as a visually impaired man to join a team that is close to playing a World Cup tournament in Europe. On this journey, Omar intersects with several characters, including a female journalist who begins to take an interest in the team.
The dramedy is inspired by true events. In...
- 10/31/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Egypt has selected Omar Hilal’s comedy Voy! Voy! Voy! as its candidate for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Oscars.
Producers Vox Studios, Film Clinic and Image Nation Abu Dhabi announced the selection at the film’s glitzy UAE premiere ahead of its theatrical release across the Gulf on September 21.
Inspired by true events, Voy! Voy! Voy! tells the story of Hassan, a security guard living an impoverished life with his mother who dreams of traveling and living abroad.
One day, he stumbles on the sport of blind football and cunningly decides to pose as a visually impaired man to join a team close to playing a World Cup tournament in Europe. On this journey, he crosses paths with several characters including a rising female journalist following the team and a middle aged coach.
The ensemble cast is led by Mohamed Farrag and also features Bayoumi Fouad, Taha Desouki,...
Producers Vox Studios, Film Clinic and Image Nation Abu Dhabi announced the selection at the film’s glitzy UAE premiere ahead of its theatrical release across the Gulf on September 21.
Inspired by true events, Voy! Voy! Voy! tells the story of Hassan, a security guard living an impoverished life with his mother who dreams of traveling and living abroad.
One day, he stumbles on the sport of blind football and cunningly decides to pose as a visually impaired man to join a team close to playing a World Cup tournament in Europe. On this journey, he crosses paths with several characters including a rising female journalist following the team and a middle aged coach.
The ensemble cast is led by Mohamed Farrag and also features Bayoumi Fouad, Taha Desouki,...
- 9/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Leading Egyptian independent production company Film Clinic is gearing up for the shoot of The Inevitable Journey Of Finding The Wedding Dress by Jaylan Auf.
Yasmin Raeis (Looking for Oum Kulthum) and newcomer Asma Galal co-star as a bride-to-be and her best friend who embark on a mad dash across Cairo in search of a wedding dress after a mishap with the original gown on the eve of the ceremony.
“It’s a social drama about two best friends from a low-income neighborhood,” says Film Clinic founder and head Mohamed Hefzy. “The city is very much part of the story and a character in the film.”
Auf previously worked as assistant director on Egyptian features such as Excuse My French, Décor and The Cat Mouse, while her short film Turning Ten played in Competition at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2019.
“We’ve been trying to get...
Yasmin Raeis (Looking for Oum Kulthum) and newcomer Asma Galal co-star as a bride-to-be and her best friend who embark on a mad dash across Cairo in search of a wedding dress after a mishap with the original gown on the eve of the ceremony.
“It’s a social drama about two best friends from a low-income neighborhood,” says Film Clinic founder and head Mohamed Hefzy. “The city is very much part of the story and a character in the film.”
Auf previously worked as assistant director on Egyptian features such as Excuse My French, Décor and The Cat Mouse, while her short film Turning Ten played in Competition at the Clermont Ferrand International Short Film Festival in 2019.
“We’ve been trying to get...
- 5/23/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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