Brussels-based sales agency Best Friend Forever has closed a deal for France with ambitious distributor Wayna Pitch on Anita Rocha da Silveira’s “Medusa,” which plays in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
The drama, set in contemporary Brazil, centers on 21-year-old Mariana, who belongs to a world where she must do her utmost to keep up the appearance of a perfect woman. In order to resist temptation, she and her girlfriends try their best to control everything and everyone around them, including those they see as sinners. At night, their girl squad put on masks, hunt and beat up women who they believe have deviated from the righteous path.
Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Rocha da Silveira has written, directed and edited three short films: “The Noon Vampire” (2008), “Handball”, and “The Living Dead”.
Her first feature “Mate-Me Por Favor” (Kill Me Please) (2015) was screened in the...
The drama, set in contemporary Brazil, centers on 21-year-old Mariana, who belongs to a world where she must do her utmost to keep up the appearance of a perfect woman. In order to resist temptation, she and her girlfriends try their best to control everything and everyone around them, including those they see as sinners. At night, their girl squad put on masks, hunt and beat up women who they believe have deviated from the righteous path.
Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Rocha da Silveira has written, directed and edited three short films: “The Noon Vampire” (2008), “Handball”, and “The Living Dead”.
Her first feature “Mate-Me Por Favor” (Kill Me Please) (2015) was screened in the...
- 7/14/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
O Kill, All Ye Faithful: Da Silveira Kills the Teen Dream in Capricious Sophomore Film
If there’s anything for certain in approaching Medusa, the extravagantly administered sophomore film from Brazil’s Anita Rocha da Silveira, it’s the director’s delightful penchant for giallo flourishes. Following her similarly dreamy take on young women and violence with 2015’s Kill Me Please, Da Silveira turns on an interesting reversal of “Take Back the Night” with her latest exercise, which is as much a social satire as it is a horror film concerned with the ills of religion and nationalism. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "ioncinema03-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_design = "enhanced_links"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B07RGMR8RH"; amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "0e1abb00ab4010943ce8120ab0c598d8";
Referencing a bevy...
If there’s anything for certain in approaching Medusa, the extravagantly administered sophomore film from Brazil’s Anita Rocha da Silveira, it’s the director’s delightful penchant for giallo flourishes. Following her similarly dreamy take on young women and violence with 2015’s Kill Me Please, Da Silveira turns on an interesting reversal of “Take Back the Night” with her latest exercise, which is as much a social satire as it is a horror film concerned with the ills of religion and nationalism. amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "ioncinema03-20"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "manual"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_design = "enhanced_links"; amzn_assoc_asins = "B07RGMR8RH"; amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "0e1abb00ab4010943ce8120ab0c598d8";
Referencing a bevy...
- 7/12/2021
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week […]
The post This Week In Trailers: Life and Nothing More, Kill Me Please, Brimstone and Glory, You Were Never Really Here, Foxtrot, Long Shot appeared first on /Film.
The post This Week In Trailers: Life and Nothing More, Kill Me Please, Brimstone and Glory, You Were Never Really Here, Foxtrot, Long Shot appeared first on /Film.
- 9/9/2017
- by Christopher Stipp
- Slash Film
Being a teenager is difficult enough when there isn’t a serial killer on the loose. Not making things easier in “Kill Me Please” is the fact that, for 15-year-old Bia (Valentina Herszage), the recent string of murders is perversely fascinating — the kind of thing she’d post on Facebook or like on Instagram, not least because one of the victims bears a striking resemblance to her.
Read More:‘Tulip Fever’ Review: This Bizarre, Long-Delayed Historical Romance Was Not Worth the Wait
A kind of “Virgin Homicides,” Anita Rocha da Silveira’s debut feature takes place in a well-to-do Rio de Janeiro struggling to understand the violence that’s invaded its neighborhood. Bia and her three besties talk about boys, parties, and the ghost that may or may not haunt their school — all of it ubiquitous yet unknowable. Bia’s conception of such adolescent milestones has been so filtered through...
Read More:‘Tulip Fever’ Review: This Bizarre, Long-Delayed Historical Romance Was Not Worth the Wait
A kind of “Virgin Homicides,” Anita Rocha da Silveira’s debut feature takes place in a well-to-do Rio de Janeiro struggling to understand the violence that’s invaded its neighborhood. Bia and her three besties talk about boys, parties, and the ghost that may or may not haunt their school — all of it ubiquitous yet unknowable. Bia’s conception of such adolescent milestones has been so filtered through...
- 9/1/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
“Sorry I can’t give you more.” Ray (Travis Fimmel) doesn’t speak much — it’s hard to talk with a can of beer pressed to your lips — so everything he says in his unplaceable twang carries a kind of double weight. His words might be the only thing in his life that he’s ever chosen carefully. So when he sits on the porch of his rundown Portland house, holds out a wad of cash, and apologizes to his towheaded teenage son that he only has $20 to spare, it’s easy to understand that Ray’s not just talking about the money.
It’s not that he’s a bad guy, necessarily, he’s just weak. A screw-up. He loves Charley (Charlie Plummer), and he’s raised the kid by himself after his ex-wife skipped out on them both, but he can’t hold down on a job to save his life,...
It’s not that he’s a bad guy, necessarily, he’s just weak. A screw-up. He loves Charley (Charlie Plummer), and he’s raised the kid by himself after his ex-wife skipped out on them both, but he can’t hold down on a job to save his life,...
- 9/1/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
As summer cools down, we’re entering perhaps the best time of year for cinephiles, with a variety of festivals — some of which will hold premieres of our most-anticipated 2017 features — gearing up. As we do each year, after highlighting the best films offered thus far, we’ve set out to provide a comprehensive preview of the fall titles that should be on your radar, and we’ll first take a look at selections whose quality we can attest to. These acclaimed 25 films from Sundance, Cannes, Berlinale and more will arrive between September and December (in the U.S.) and are all well worth seeking out.
Kill Me Please (Anita Rocha da Silveira; Sept. 1)
Following in a wave of cerebral psychological horror films such as The Witch, It Follows, and The Babadook, Anita Rocha da Silveira’s debut Kill Me Please is the latest art-horror film that’s concerned with the internal repercussions of trauma.
Kill Me Please (Anita Rocha da Silveira; Sept. 1)
Following in a wave of cerebral psychological horror films such as The Witch, It Follows, and The Babadook, Anita Rocha da Silveira’s debut Kill Me Please is the latest art-horror film that’s concerned with the internal repercussions of trauma.
- 8/23/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
"Remember what the pastor said: 'Blood is life.'" Cinema Slate has revealed an official Us trailer for an indie horror film from Brazil titled Kill Me Please (also just Mate-me por favor in Portuguese). The film is about a group of high school girls who waste their days wandering through the neighbor of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro. When a series of murders begins to "terrorize the neighborhood" they develop a morbid curiosity with the victims, leading them to some dangerous places. Starring Valentina Herszage, Júlia Roliz, Mariana Oliveira, and Dora Freind as the four leading ladies. Kill Me Please is "partly inspired by the 1980s teen slasher genre" and is described as a "disturbing and funny dive into teenage sexuality, spirituality, loneliness and fragility." This actually looks damn good, I'm looking forward to checking it out. Here's the official trailer (+ posters) for Anita Rocha da Silveira's Kill Me Please,...
- 8/22/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
After stopping by festivals such as SXSW, Venice, and New Directors/New Films, Anita Rocha da Silveira’s Kill Me Please will finally be hitting U.S. theaters next month. The Brazilian coming-of-age meets slow-burning horror film follows a group of high school girls who start to become obsessed with the victims of recent murders in their area. Ahead of a release, a new trailer has now landed.
“With its inky, stalking sense of darkness and warped surrealism, David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr. is an obvious touchstone for Silveira’s sensibility, but her visual milieu feels just as evocative of disparate directors such as Carlos Reygadas, Céline Sciamma, and Harmony Korine,” we said in our review. “Her camerawork doesn’t so much follow as glide, and Silveira isn’t shy about starbursts of color (e.g. a refracting neon purple prism from a headlight). The sequences are carefully composed but not immune to playful tricks,...
“With its inky, stalking sense of darkness and warped surrealism, David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr. is an obvious touchstone for Silveira’s sensibility, but her visual milieu feels just as evocative of disparate directors such as Carlos Reygadas, Céline Sciamma, and Harmony Korine,” we said in our review. “Her camerawork doesn’t so much follow as glide, and Silveira isn’t shy about starbursts of color (e.g. a refracting neon purple prism from a headlight). The sequences are carefully composed but not immune to playful tricks,...
- 8/21/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Over the last few years, Brazil has emerged as a producer of really interesting genre fare. One of the titles that may have been slightly ahead of it's time is Anita Rocha da Silveira's Kill Me Please which was selected to a number of festivals in 2015 but has been languishing until recently when Cinema Slate picked it up.
Silveira's film looks like part high-school drama and part slasher film as it follows a group of well-to-do teenage girls who go about their daily lives with little parental supervision. When a number of murders terrorizes their neighbourhood, the girls develop an unhealthy obsession with the victims.
Beyond tackling the familiar high-school drama tropes, Kill Me Please also seems to be digging into teens' relationship with technology [Continued ...]...
Silveira's film looks like part high-school drama and part slasher film as it follows a group of well-to-do teenage girls who go about their daily lives with little parental supervision. When a number of murders terrorizes their neighbourhood, the girls develop an unhealthy obsession with the victims.
Beyond tackling the familiar high-school drama tropes, Kill Me Please also seems to be digging into teens' relationship with technology [Continued ...]...
- 8/16/2017
- QuietEarth.us
Premiering at the 2015 Venice Film Festival (with subsequent important pitstops at SXSW and New Directors / New Films fests) Anita Rocha da Silveira’s much lauded feature debut will finally be making its theatrical run and Cinema Slate folks have provided us with the exclusive first look at the pair of theatrical one-sheets, and the first look at the trailer for Kill Me Please.
Continue reading...
Continue reading...
- 8/15/2017
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
There are many paradoxes to being an indie filmmaker in 2016. Never has it been easier to make a quality movie, while at the same time it’s never been harder to maintain a stable career as a movie director. Equipment, viewing habit and the world are all rapidly changing, resulting in both opening and narrowing the opportunities for creative expression.
IndieWire checked in with the indie directors behind the “New Auteurs” and “American Independent” feature films at this year’s AFI Fest and asked: What is the most exciting and discouraging thing happening in filmmaking today?
Read More: 13 Lessons From Making a Film Festival Breakout: AFI Fest Directors Share Their Tips
Asaph Polonsky, “One Week and a Day”
Encouraging: That the miniseries “Olive Kitteridge” exists.
Discouraging: In Israel, where I made “One Week and a Day,” the Prime Minster, Bibi Netanyahu is now trying to shut down (before it even...
IndieWire checked in with the indie directors behind the “New Auteurs” and “American Independent” feature films at this year’s AFI Fest and asked: What is the most exciting and discouraging thing happening in filmmaking today?
Read More: 13 Lessons From Making a Film Festival Breakout: AFI Fest Directors Share Their Tips
Asaph Polonsky, “One Week and a Day”
Encouraging: That the miniseries “Olive Kitteridge” exists.
Discouraging: In Israel, where I made “One Week and a Day,” the Prime Minster, Bibi Netanyahu is now trying to shut down (before it even...
- 11/15/2016
- by Chris O'Falt and Casey Coit
- Indiewire
For many people, filmmaking is a process of ongoing education. The filmmakers who succeed are often the ones willing to learn from their mistakes and taking advice. IndieWire recently checked in with the up-and-coming indie directors behind the exciting films playing in the “New Auteurs” and “American Independent” categories at this year’s AFI Fest to find out what they learned while making their festival breakout.
Read More: AFI Fest 2016 – What Cameras Were Used to Shoot This Year’s Films
Kris Avedisian, “Donald Cried”: There was a time while shooting that I got lost in the process. I started to see the movie take shape but it was in a very deformed state. There are times when you have to make decisions, changes and adjust because of what you’re seeing. But it could be hard to know sometimes if I was only reacting to seeing scenes out of order,...
Read More: AFI Fest 2016 – What Cameras Were Used to Shoot This Year’s Films
Kris Avedisian, “Donald Cried”: There was a time while shooting that I got lost in the process. I started to see the movie take shape but it was in a very deformed state. There are times when you have to make decisions, changes and adjust because of what you’re seeing. But it could be hard to know sometimes if I was only reacting to seeing scenes out of order,...
- 11/14/2016
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
The invincible feeling of adolescence, the hormonal pull of sex, the chastising hand of religion, and the grim reminder of mortality that comes when faced with death are just some of the ideas director Anita Rocha da Silveira grapples with in “Kill Me Please.” An ambitious film that aims to be as provocative as its title, Silveira’s feature debut is high on atmosphere but struggles to find a conclusion to tie together its various narrative strands, which all spring from a serial killer tale at its core.
Continue reading Anita Rocha da Silveira’s ‘Kill Me Please’ Is An Enigmatic, Unsatisfying Look At Adolescence, Sex & Death [AFI Fest Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading Anita Rocha da Silveira’s ‘Kill Me Please’ Is An Enigmatic, Unsatisfying Look At Adolescence, Sex & Death [AFI Fest Review] at The Playlist.
- 11/14/2016
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Indiewire reached out to the filmmakers with films in the “New Auteurs” and “American Independent” sections of this year’s AFI Fest to find out what cameras they used and why they chose them.
Read More: AFI Fest 2016: 14 Movies We Can’t Wait to See at the Festival
“One Week and a Day”
Arri Alexa Xt
Dir. Asaph Polonsky: “It allowed scenes in long takes and the use of zoom lenses, sticks, dolly, Steadicam and handheld, were the tools that served the D.P., Moshe Mishali, and I the most as we tried to be subtle about reflecting the characters journeys visually.”
“Dark Night”
Arri Amira with Cooke lenses
Dir. Tim Sutton: “Good combination.”
“Divine”
Red Dragon
Dir. Houda Benyamin: “We wanted to work on the idea of focus — getting to details from the big picture, getting to things from a distance, which in a way symbolizes...
Read More: AFI Fest 2016: 14 Movies We Can’t Wait to See at the Festival
“One Week and a Day”
Arri Alexa Xt
Dir. Asaph Polonsky: “It allowed scenes in long takes and the use of zoom lenses, sticks, dolly, Steadicam and handheld, were the tools that served the D.P., Moshe Mishali, and I the most as we tried to be subtle about reflecting the characters journeys visually.”
“Dark Night”
Arri Amira with Cooke lenses
Dir. Tim Sutton: “Good combination.”
“Divine”
Red Dragon
Dir. Houda Benyamin: “We wanted to work on the idea of focus — getting to details from the big picture, getting to things from a distance, which in a way symbolizes...
- 11/11/2016
- by Casey Coit and Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
AFI Fest has announced the selections for its New Auteurs, American Independents, Midnights and Shorts sections. Already announced as part of the weeklong festival, which runs in Hollywood from November 10 – 17, are “Elle,” “20th Century Women” and the world premieres of both “The Comedian” and “Rules Don’t Apply.” Read the full announcement here, and see the New Auteurs, American Independents and Midnight selections below.
Read More: Warren Beatty’s ‘Rules Don’t Apply’ Will Open AFI Fest 2016
New Auteurs
“Always Shine” (dir. Sophia Takal)
“Buster’s Mal Heart” (dir. Sarah Adina Smith)
“Divines” (dir. Houda Benyamina)
“The Future Perfect” (dir. Nele Wohlatz)
“Godless” (dir. Ralitza Petrova)
“Kati Kati” (dir. Mbithi Masya)
“Kill Me Please” (dir. Anita Rocha da Silveira)
“One Week and a Day” (dir. Asaph Polonsky)
“Oscuro Animal” (dir. Felipe Guerrero)
“Still Life” (dir. Maud Alpi)
Read More: Watch: Lola Kirke Takes Us Inside the Mind of an Epileptic...
Read More: Warren Beatty’s ‘Rules Don’t Apply’ Will Open AFI Fest 2016
New Auteurs
“Always Shine” (dir. Sophia Takal)
“Buster’s Mal Heart” (dir. Sarah Adina Smith)
“Divines” (dir. Houda Benyamina)
“The Future Perfect” (dir. Nele Wohlatz)
“Godless” (dir. Ralitza Petrova)
“Kati Kati” (dir. Mbithi Masya)
“Kill Me Please” (dir. Anita Rocha da Silveira)
“One Week and a Day” (dir. Asaph Polonsky)
“Oscuro Animal” (dir. Felipe Guerrero)
“Still Life” (dir. Maud Alpi)
Read More: Watch: Lola Kirke Takes Us Inside the Mind of an Epileptic...
- 10/18/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
12 Unique Visions We Are Excited to See at the 35th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival
Numerous sections that range from those that focus on particular geographical regions, to one that highlights features crafted by homegrown talent, another formed by stories about people who have left their hometowns to find a better life elsewhere, and even one that honors Minnesota’s Scandinavian heritage, are some of the blocks that build the extensive and boldly curated program of the 35th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (Mspiff).
Discerning which films to watch from the couple hundred that will play in the Midwestern city during the next two weeks is a colossal task and one that is directed by taste and interests; however, there are plenty of options for adventurous audiences looking to watch a unique cinematic vision outside of their comfort zone.
The most audacious offers include a French animated featured focused on a war-torn African country, Joel Potrykus follow-up to “Buzzard,” a subversive Lgbt drama about skaters in Mexico City, the story of a Somali man in Minneapolis who finds friendship in a lonely dog, a dark Swedish comedy that resembles the humor of celebrated Nordic masters, or a Brazilian coming-of-ager centered on a girl obsessed with the recent murders of local women. Just from the premises is easy to predict that these will not be your typical experience at the movies, but that's not to say they won't be exponentially more entertaining and eye-opening.
Here is a list with 12 unconventional choices, including those mentioned above, playing at Mspiff that we can't wait to see.
Synopses courtesy of the festival.
The 35th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival takes place runs April 7-23. For the full program and tickets visit Here.
"Adama"
Dir. Simon Rouby
France
12 year-old Adama, voiced by French-Malian child actor Azize Abdoulaye Diabaté, lives in an idyllic village sheltered by cliffs. When his brother Samba defies their elders and flees to join the ‘Nassara’ (colonialist French army), Adama follows in an attempt to bring Samba home. Experimental animation combining laser-scanned sculptures of clay and sand with painterly animated scenes bring magical realism to Adama’s journey north from West Africa to Europe’s Western Front in 1914. A heroic odyssey mixes elements of mysticism and allegory with action, adventure, and a little known historical African narrative
Screens April 20 at 2:30 Pm and April 16 at 3:45
"The Alchemist Cookbook"
Dir. Joel Potrykus
U.S.
Sean is a young hermit, living in near total isolation and obsessed with a mysterious alchemic and somewhat manic pursuit that challenges the laws of nature. Off the grid and turning his back on civilization, his days play out inside an old trailer in the swamps, conducting experiments. When a demonic entity appears in the shadows, Sean’s self-induced seclusion is shattered by a true force of evil. Joel Potrykus delivers another meditation on the idiosyncratic side of the male psyche that feels like a dark and demented modern-day folk tale.
Screens April 14 at 9:50 Pm and April 21 at 10:00 Pm
"The Ardennes"
Dir. Robin Pront
Belgium
Robin Pront's feature-film debut opens with a powerful punch and continues with a slow burn downward spiral of brotherly betrayal and brutal retribution. After a robbery goes hopelessly wrong, Dave escapes the scene leaving his brother Kenny behind to take the rap. Flash forward four years and Dave has been able to turn his life around while time has stood still for Kenny, now out on parole, who was left simmering in jail. The palpable tension between Dave and Kenny builds to brutal and thrilling crescendo in the shadows of Belgium's Ardennes forest.
Screens April 10 at 9:40 Pm and April 22 at 9:45 Pm
"A Decent Man"
Dir. Micha Lewinsky
Switzerland
This provocative drama chronicles a family vacation that turns into every parent’s nightmare. Thomas, an amiable man in his mid-forties, resolves that his family will take their annual skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps even though neither his wife or daughter are interested. But things soon become more complicated when his manipulative boss pressures him to include his difficult daughter, Sarah. A convincing portrait of an insecure man whose failure to be a beloved father, brilliant journalist and understanding husband is sending him over the edge.
Screens April 8 at 4:45 Pm and April 19 at 9:40 Pm
"Dragonfly"
Dir. Maribeth Romslo and Cara Greene Epstein
U.S.
Told with heart, humor, and a little bit of magic, "Dragonfly" is a film about homecoming and healing for a Midwestern family divided by divorce and illness. When Anna’s mom is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, Anna returns home to help but not without some reluctance tied to her emotional family baggage. As she unpacks her past, Anna rediscovers a mysterious mailbox from her childhood and embarks on a search to solve its mystery. What she learns along the way may be the key to her own reconciliation.
Screens: April 10 at 7:10 Pm and April 16 at 4:40 Pm
"Endorphine"
Dir. André Turpin
Canada
What’s the connection between trauma, memory and the relativity of space and time? Endorphine sends you down a rabbit hole where time and existence are scrambled into a Lynchian fever dream. After 12-year-old Simone helplessly witnesses the murder of her mother, she is thrust into an endless loop that explores alternate realities and parallel lives, including what may or may not be adult versions of herself. Expertly crafted by André Turpin (cinematographer on Xavier Dolan’s Mommy and Tom at the Farm and Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies), "Endorphine" is a dark and visually arresting head trip.
Screens April 10 at 9:15 Pm and April 18 at 9:30 Pm
"The Garbage Helicopter"
Dir. Jonas Selberg Augustsén
Sweden
An old Roma woman is seized by a sudden urge to reclaim her antique clock, sending her three grandchildren on an odyssey across the lonesome, big-sky highways of northern Sweden (captured in beautifully bleak black-and-white). The action takes place in the deadpan absurdist territory pioneered by Jarmusch, Kaurismäki, and Andersson. Here, crosswords are completed (including the mysterious entry, "garbage helicopter"), a speed-trap camera is demolished, a Holocaust museum is visited, the world’s second-biggest chair is solemnly viewed, and a gang of art thieves is encountered.
Screens April 21 at 9:40 Pm and April 23 at 7:05 Pm
"Kill Me Please"
Dir. Anita Rocha da Silveira
Brazil/Argentina
Anita Rocha da Silveira’s stunning debut drops us directly into the psyche of a middle-class teenage girl, piqued by raging hormones and fueled with fearless curiosity. A string of grisly neighborhood murders of women captures the imagination of a clique of girls, but especially Bia who feels more and more connected to the dead women than her high school friends. The incident ignites something in Bia, causing her to embrace fantasy and openly explore her sexuality. Built on a unique atmosphere devoid of adults, Kill Me Please is a dark yet pop-infused coming-of-age story.
Screens April 9 at 3:15 Pm and April 14 at 9:45 Pm
"I Promise Anarchy"
Dir. Julio Hernández Cordón
Mexico
Miguel and Johnny are friends from opposite sides of the tracks, but that doesn’t inhibit their romance with one another that revolves around sex, drugs and skateboarding. To support their devil-may-care lifestyle, the boys sell their own blood—and occasionally the blood of their friends and whomever they can find—to an underground network run by the drug cartel. When one such arrangement goes wrong, Miguel and Johnny find themselves way over their head. Director Julio Hernandez Cordon’s stylishly blends a breezy romance of wayward youth with a gritty nior thriller on the streets of Mexico City.
Screens April 8 at 9:15 Pm and April 11 at 9:50 Pm
"Schneider vs. Bax"
Dir. Alex van Warmerdam
Netherlands/Belgium
This black comedy makes a point of turning the hitman genre on its head with unconventional setups that spiral into absurdism. Schneider wakes to his adoring wife and two young daughters planning his birthday party only to have it interrupted by a call from his boss with a job that must be done right away: an easy hit on an isolated novelist named Bax that he can finish by noon. Needless to say, things do not go as planned. Schneider vs. Bax is as much about the contrast and comparison of these two men and their families, as it is the nascent yet ineffective real-world cage match.
Screens April 10 at 9:35 Pm and April 14 at 9:40 Pm
"A Stray"
Dir. Musa Syeed
U.S.
In the microcosm of Minneapolis’ large Somali community, Adan has run out of options. Looking to turn his life around, he finds solace, friendship and a job as a janitor at the mosque. Finding an even better job driving a taxi, Adan unexpectedly finds a new friend in a stray dog. But the mosque sees the dog as impure, and Adan finds himself on the streets again. Director Musa Syeed brings the streets of Riverside and the struggles of young Somalis to the big screen in this vivid and moving drama.
Screens April 15 at 7:20 Pm and April 17 at 3: 50 Pm
"Wednesday, May 9"
Dir. Vahid Jalilvand
Iran
Leila works in a chicken packing factory to support her family, but still has no money left over to save for a much-needed operation for her disabled husband. Setareh secretly married against her family’s wishes, and when her tyrannical cousin finds out, an altercation lands her young husband in jail, requiring 30 million tomans in “blood money” for his release. The two tragic stories of these women are connected to a potential benefactor who could help them in Vahid Jalilvand’s incredible debut feature of carefully drawn characters and bold statements of humanism.
Screens April 8 at 4:50 Pm and April 19 at 4:30 Pm...
Discerning which films to watch from the couple hundred that will play in the Midwestern city during the next two weeks is a colossal task and one that is directed by taste and interests; however, there are plenty of options for adventurous audiences looking to watch a unique cinematic vision outside of their comfort zone.
The most audacious offers include a French animated featured focused on a war-torn African country, Joel Potrykus follow-up to “Buzzard,” a subversive Lgbt drama about skaters in Mexico City, the story of a Somali man in Minneapolis who finds friendship in a lonely dog, a dark Swedish comedy that resembles the humor of celebrated Nordic masters, or a Brazilian coming-of-ager centered on a girl obsessed with the recent murders of local women. Just from the premises is easy to predict that these will not be your typical experience at the movies, but that's not to say they won't be exponentially more entertaining and eye-opening.
Here is a list with 12 unconventional choices, including those mentioned above, playing at Mspiff that we can't wait to see.
Synopses courtesy of the festival.
The 35th Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival takes place runs April 7-23. For the full program and tickets visit Here.
"Adama"
Dir. Simon Rouby
France
12 year-old Adama, voiced by French-Malian child actor Azize Abdoulaye Diabaté, lives in an idyllic village sheltered by cliffs. When his brother Samba defies their elders and flees to join the ‘Nassara’ (colonialist French army), Adama follows in an attempt to bring Samba home. Experimental animation combining laser-scanned sculptures of clay and sand with painterly animated scenes bring magical realism to Adama’s journey north from West Africa to Europe’s Western Front in 1914. A heroic odyssey mixes elements of mysticism and allegory with action, adventure, and a little known historical African narrative
Screens April 20 at 2:30 Pm and April 16 at 3:45
"The Alchemist Cookbook"
Dir. Joel Potrykus
U.S.
Sean is a young hermit, living in near total isolation and obsessed with a mysterious alchemic and somewhat manic pursuit that challenges the laws of nature. Off the grid and turning his back on civilization, his days play out inside an old trailer in the swamps, conducting experiments. When a demonic entity appears in the shadows, Sean’s self-induced seclusion is shattered by a true force of evil. Joel Potrykus delivers another meditation on the idiosyncratic side of the male psyche that feels like a dark and demented modern-day folk tale.
Screens April 14 at 9:50 Pm and April 21 at 10:00 Pm
"The Ardennes"
Dir. Robin Pront
Belgium
Robin Pront's feature-film debut opens with a powerful punch and continues with a slow burn downward spiral of brotherly betrayal and brutal retribution. After a robbery goes hopelessly wrong, Dave escapes the scene leaving his brother Kenny behind to take the rap. Flash forward four years and Dave has been able to turn his life around while time has stood still for Kenny, now out on parole, who was left simmering in jail. The palpable tension between Dave and Kenny builds to brutal and thrilling crescendo in the shadows of Belgium's Ardennes forest.
Screens April 10 at 9:40 Pm and April 22 at 9:45 Pm
"A Decent Man"
Dir. Micha Lewinsky
Switzerland
This provocative drama chronicles a family vacation that turns into every parent’s nightmare. Thomas, an amiable man in his mid-forties, resolves that his family will take their annual skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps even though neither his wife or daughter are interested. But things soon become more complicated when his manipulative boss pressures him to include his difficult daughter, Sarah. A convincing portrait of an insecure man whose failure to be a beloved father, brilliant journalist and understanding husband is sending him over the edge.
Screens April 8 at 4:45 Pm and April 19 at 9:40 Pm
"Dragonfly"
Dir. Maribeth Romslo and Cara Greene Epstein
U.S.
Told with heart, humor, and a little bit of magic, "Dragonfly" is a film about homecoming and healing for a Midwestern family divided by divorce and illness. When Anna’s mom is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s, Anna returns home to help but not without some reluctance tied to her emotional family baggage. As she unpacks her past, Anna rediscovers a mysterious mailbox from her childhood and embarks on a search to solve its mystery. What she learns along the way may be the key to her own reconciliation.
Screens: April 10 at 7:10 Pm and April 16 at 4:40 Pm
"Endorphine"
Dir. André Turpin
Canada
What’s the connection between trauma, memory and the relativity of space and time? Endorphine sends you down a rabbit hole where time and existence are scrambled into a Lynchian fever dream. After 12-year-old Simone helplessly witnesses the murder of her mother, she is thrust into an endless loop that explores alternate realities and parallel lives, including what may or may not be adult versions of herself. Expertly crafted by André Turpin (cinematographer on Xavier Dolan’s Mommy and Tom at the Farm and Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies), "Endorphine" is a dark and visually arresting head trip.
Screens April 10 at 9:15 Pm and April 18 at 9:30 Pm
"The Garbage Helicopter"
Dir. Jonas Selberg Augustsén
Sweden
An old Roma woman is seized by a sudden urge to reclaim her antique clock, sending her three grandchildren on an odyssey across the lonesome, big-sky highways of northern Sweden (captured in beautifully bleak black-and-white). The action takes place in the deadpan absurdist territory pioneered by Jarmusch, Kaurismäki, and Andersson. Here, crosswords are completed (including the mysterious entry, "garbage helicopter"), a speed-trap camera is demolished, a Holocaust museum is visited, the world’s second-biggest chair is solemnly viewed, and a gang of art thieves is encountered.
Screens April 21 at 9:40 Pm and April 23 at 7:05 Pm
"Kill Me Please"
Dir. Anita Rocha da Silveira
Brazil/Argentina
Anita Rocha da Silveira’s stunning debut drops us directly into the psyche of a middle-class teenage girl, piqued by raging hormones and fueled with fearless curiosity. A string of grisly neighborhood murders of women captures the imagination of a clique of girls, but especially Bia who feels more and more connected to the dead women than her high school friends. The incident ignites something in Bia, causing her to embrace fantasy and openly explore her sexuality. Built on a unique atmosphere devoid of adults, Kill Me Please is a dark yet pop-infused coming-of-age story.
Screens April 9 at 3:15 Pm and April 14 at 9:45 Pm
"I Promise Anarchy"
Dir. Julio Hernández Cordón
Mexico
Miguel and Johnny are friends from opposite sides of the tracks, but that doesn’t inhibit their romance with one another that revolves around sex, drugs and skateboarding. To support their devil-may-care lifestyle, the boys sell their own blood—and occasionally the blood of their friends and whomever they can find—to an underground network run by the drug cartel. When one such arrangement goes wrong, Miguel and Johnny find themselves way over their head. Director Julio Hernandez Cordon’s stylishly blends a breezy romance of wayward youth with a gritty nior thriller on the streets of Mexico City.
Screens April 8 at 9:15 Pm and April 11 at 9:50 Pm
"Schneider vs. Bax"
Dir. Alex van Warmerdam
Netherlands/Belgium
This black comedy makes a point of turning the hitman genre on its head with unconventional setups that spiral into absurdism. Schneider wakes to his adoring wife and two young daughters planning his birthday party only to have it interrupted by a call from his boss with a job that must be done right away: an easy hit on an isolated novelist named Bax that he can finish by noon. Needless to say, things do not go as planned. Schneider vs. Bax is as much about the contrast and comparison of these two men and their families, as it is the nascent yet ineffective real-world cage match.
Screens April 10 at 9:35 Pm and April 14 at 9:40 Pm
"A Stray"
Dir. Musa Syeed
U.S.
In the microcosm of Minneapolis’ large Somali community, Adan has run out of options. Looking to turn his life around, he finds solace, friendship and a job as a janitor at the mosque. Finding an even better job driving a taxi, Adan unexpectedly finds a new friend in a stray dog. But the mosque sees the dog as impure, and Adan finds himself on the streets again. Director Musa Syeed brings the streets of Riverside and the struggles of young Somalis to the big screen in this vivid and moving drama.
Screens April 15 at 7:20 Pm and April 17 at 3: 50 Pm
"Wednesday, May 9"
Dir. Vahid Jalilvand
Iran
Leila works in a chicken packing factory to support her family, but still has no money left over to save for a much-needed operation for her disabled husband. Setareh secretly married against her family’s wishes, and when her tyrannical cousin finds out, an altercation lands her young husband in jail, requiring 30 million tomans in “blood money” for his release. The two tragic stories of these women are connected to a potential benefactor who could help them in Vahid Jalilvand’s incredible debut feature of carefully drawn characters and bold statements of humanism.
Screens April 8 at 4:50 Pm and April 19 at 4:30 Pm...
- 4/7/2016
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Following in a wave of cerebral psychological horror films such as The Witch, It Follows, and The Babadook, Anita Rocha da Silveira’s debut Kill Me Please is the latest art-horror film that’s concerned with the internal repercussions of trauma. But unlike that series of films, Kill Me Please may be more effectively identified as a film about the end of the world.
Set in Rio de Janeiro’s paranoia-soaked Barra de Tijuca, it follows a series of tight-knit high-school girls against the backdrop of a series of young women’s murders. The murdered women are mostly anonymous, but their deaths loom over these girls like present-day, sexually charged ghost stories. These women all worry that each day will be their last, unable to stop a perpetual personal apocalypse.
And while this premise has the possibility to feel gratuitous, it remains grounded thanks to a perspective that always places the girls’ lives first.
Set in Rio de Janeiro’s paranoia-soaked Barra de Tijuca, it follows a series of tight-knit high-school girls against the backdrop of a series of young women’s murders. The murdered women are mostly anonymous, but their deaths loom over these girls like present-day, sexually charged ghost stories. These women all worry that each day will be their last, unable to stop a perpetual personal apocalypse.
And while this premise has the possibility to feel gratuitous, it remains grounded thanks to a perspective that always places the girls’ lives first.
- 3/26/2016
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
BehemothAs more prominent film festivals gear up for spring, a smaller though by no means slighter affair begins in New York. New Directors/New Films, curated by Museum of the Modern Art and Film Society of Lincoln Center, unfurls its carefully considered program of 27 features and 10 shorts, with its premise and draw on emerging voices in cinema. Indeed, the festival may very well be a last stop for filmmakers on the rise before they are introduced to wider audiences. Nd/Nf has brought us in the recent past Fort Buchanan and Diary of a Teenage Girl, and longer ago films by Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Chantal Akerman. Most of this year’s selection has premiered at festivals, many have been covered by this very site, and all are compelling. Here are several highlights.***With a narrative rooted loosely on Dante’s Divine Comedy, Zhao Liang’s documentary Behemoth depicts the...
- 3/17/2016
- by Elissa Suh
- MUBI
The sensorial cinema of Gabriel Mascaro, who turned the life of a group of cowhands into a poetic experience in Neon Bull (Boi Neon), was the big winner at the 17th edition of Rio de Janeiro’s International Film Festival.
The allegory of the recent economic transformations in Brazil received four Redentor awards on Tuesday night: best film, best screenplay, best cinematography and best supporting actress for Alyne Santana.
Previously the film screened in Venice, where it won the Orizzonti special jury prize, and Toronto.
The best director prize was shared between Ives Rosenfeld’s Hopefuls (Aspirantes), a journey of a young amateur football player, and Anita Rocha da Silveira’s Kill Me Please (Mate-Me Por Favor), a teen horror film set at a school in Barra de Tijuca. Both works are first features.
The jury headed by the director and cinematographer Walter Carvalho also celebrated Hopefuls with a best actor prize for Ariclenes Barroso and a...
The allegory of the recent economic transformations in Brazil received four Redentor awards on Tuesday night: best film, best screenplay, best cinematography and best supporting actress for Alyne Santana.
Previously the film screened in Venice, where it won the Orizzonti special jury prize, and Toronto.
The best director prize was shared between Ives Rosenfeld’s Hopefuls (Aspirantes), a journey of a young amateur football player, and Anita Rocha da Silveira’s Kill Me Please (Mate-Me Por Favor), a teen horror film set at a school in Barra de Tijuca. Both works are first features.
The jury headed by the director and cinematographer Walter Carvalho also celebrated Hopefuls with a best actor prize for Ariclenes Barroso and a...
- 10/13/2015
- by elaineguerini@terra.com.br (Elaine Guerini)
- ScreenDaily
Top brass at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival announced that 41 feature and 19 shorts from Brazilian filmmakers will screen in the 17th edition, set to run from October 1-14.
The Première Brasil competition section will screen 13 features, of which ten will receive world premieres. An additional two features and two documentaries will screen out of competition.
Other Brazilian productions such as a restoration of Walter Lima Jr’s 1965 classic Menino de Engenho (Plantation Boy) will screen in special Première Brasil sidebars such as New Trends, Panorama, Expectation and Fronteiras.
Première Brasil is the only competitive section of the festival and Redentors will be presented on closing night. The audience will vote on three awards for best Brazilian feature film, best documentary and best short film.
As part of this years commemoration of the 450 years of the founding of Rio, the festival will screen six films that have the city as its setting or reflect the theme of Rio...
The Première Brasil competition section will screen 13 features, of which ten will receive world premieres. An additional two features and two documentaries will screen out of competition.
Other Brazilian productions such as a restoration of Walter Lima Jr’s 1965 classic Menino de Engenho (Plantation Boy) will screen in special Première Brasil sidebars such as New Trends, Panorama, Expectation and Fronteiras.
Première Brasil is the only competitive section of the festival and Redentors will be presented on closing night. The audience will vote on three awards for best Brazilian feature film, best documentary and best short film.
As part of this years commemoration of the 450 years of the founding of Rio, the festival will screen six films that have the city as its setting or reflect the theme of Rio...
- 9/2/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Venice’s “virtual festival” will feature 15 world premieres this year.Scroll Down For Full List
The fourth edition of Sala Web, the “virtual festival” at the Venice Film Festival (September 2-12), has revealed it’s line-up for 2015.
This year’s selection of films includes 15 world premieres: 12 from the Orizzonti Competition and three features from the Biennale College, Venice’s laboratory that supports micro-budget films.
Directors having their films featured include Merzak Allouache (The Rooftops), Jake Mahaffy (Wellness) and Gabriel Mascaro (August Winds), as well as numerous first-time filmmakers.
The selected films will again be streaming on VOD platform Festival Scope and will be available for five days after the films have premiere screenings at the festival.
Full list:
Synopses provided by Venice Film Festival
Orizzonti Films
Neon Bull (Boi Neon) dir. Gabriel Mascaro
Brazil, Uruguay, Netherlands; 101’ Portuguese
(Available from September 3)
Iremar works at the Vaquejadas, a rodeo in the Northeast of Brazil, where two men...
The fourth edition of Sala Web, the “virtual festival” at the Venice Film Festival (September 2-12), has revealed it’s line-up for 2015.
This year’s selection of films includes 15 world premieres: 12 from the Orizzonti Competition and three features from the Biennale College, Venice’s laboratory that supports micro-budget films.
Directors having their films featured include Merzak Allouache (The Rooftops), Jake Mahaffy (Wellness) and Gabriel Mascaro (August Winds), as well as numerous first-time filmmakers.
The selected films will again be streaming on VOD platform Festival Scope and will be available for five days after the films have premiere screenings at the festival.
Full list:
Synopses provided by Venice Film Festival
Orizzonti Films
Neon Bull (Boi Neon) dir. Gabriel Mascaro
Brazil, Uruguay, Netherlands; 101’ Portuguese
(Available from September 3)
Iremar works at the Vaquejadas, a rodeo in the Northeast of Brazil, where two men...
- 8/18/2015
- ScreenDaily
Hovering around the twenty-one to twenty-four feature film mark with at least a quarter of those films belonging to first time filmmakers, the Quinzaine des Realisateurs (a.k.a Directors’ Fortnight) has in the past couple of years, counted on a healthy supply of French, Spanish and Belgium produced film items, and has been geared towards the offbeat genre items as with last year’s edition curated by Edouard Waintrop and co. To be unveiled on the 22nd, as we attempted with our Critics’ Week predix, Blake Williams, Nicholas Bell and I (Eric Lavallee) are thinking out loud and hedging our bets on what the section might look like or what the programmers might be looking at for 2014. Here is our predictions overview:
Alleluia
Six years after presenting Vinyan at the Venice Film Festival, Fabrice Du Welz finally returns with potentially not one, but a pair of works for the ’14 campaign.
Alleluia
Six years after presenting Vinyan at the Venice Film Festival, Fabrice Du Welz finally returns with potentially not one, but a pair of works for the ’14 campaign.
- 4/16/2014
- by IONCINEMA.com Contributing Writers
- IONCINEMA.com
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