Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
A Compassionate Spy (Steve James)
See an exclusive clip above.
The latest film from acclaimed documentarian Steve James, A Compassionate Spy, comes with a fascinating subject: the spy who leaked nuclear information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union, therefore ensuring that America could not establish a nuclear monopoly on the world. It’s easy to see why James would be drawn to the spy, Theodore “Ted” Hall, and his wife Joan as he has often been interested in using individuals as the framework to explore larger societal issues. Utilizing a hybrid of recreations, archival footage, and modern-day interviews, James crafts a portrait of a man, a relationship, and the sheer weight of the decision to betray your country to save the world.
A Compassionate Spy (Steve James)
See an exclusive clip above.
The latest film from acclaimed documentarian Steve James, A Compassionate Spy, comes with a fascinating subject: the spy who leaked nuclear information from the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union, therefore ensuring that America could not establish a nuclear monopoly on the world. It’s easy to see why James would be drawn to the spy, Theodore “Ted” Hall, and his wife Joan as he has often been interested in using individuals as the framework to explore larger societal issues. Utilizing a hybrid of recreations, archival footage, and modern-day interviews, James crafts a portrait of a man, a relationship, and the sheer weight of the decision to betray your country to save the world.
- 8/4/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Sergei Loznitsa, the Ukrainian director who resigned from the European Film Academy over its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has been expelled from the Ukrainian Film Academy for expressing his support for Russian filmmakers. In a statement released on Saturday, March 19, Loznitsa wrote that he had been expelled for being, in the Academy’s words, “a cosmopolite,” accused of being insufficiently loyal to his home country.
Loznitsa, best known for directing the films “Donbass” and “A Gentle Creature,” originally made waves for slamming the European Film Academy’s tepid response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The Academy had issued a bland statement offering its support to Ukrainians without denouncing Russia.
“What a shameful text has been generated by the European Film Academy,” Loznitsa wrote in response. “You state in your address that there are 61 Ukrainian members among your ranks. Well, as of today, there are only 60 of them.
Loznitsa, best known for directing the films “Donbass” and “A Gentle Creature,” originally made waves for slamming the European Film Academy’s tepid response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The Academy had issued a bland statement offering its support to Ukrainians without denouncing Russia.
“What a shameful text has been generated by the European Film Academy,” Loznitsa wrote in response. “You state in your address that there are 61 Ukrainian members among your ranks. Well, as of today, there are only 60 of them.
- 3/19/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
The French director’s 1969 spectacle about the wife of a pawnbroker who kills herself is still difficult, devastating and captivating 50 years on
Robert Bresson’s Une Femme Douce (A Gentle Woman), is now revived in UK cinemas 50 years after its original release – although this stark, austere, forbidding spectacle could just as well have been made in 1959 or 1949. This was his adaptation of the Dostoevsky short story Krotkaya, or A Gentle Creature (the inspiration for a quite different film of the same name by Sergei Loznitsa in 2017). It was his first colour film, and the colours themselves appear muted and darkened, as if from a neglected church tapestry.
Dominique Sanda plays Elle, the delicate young wife of a pawnbroker (that ominous Dostoevskian trope) who takes her own life by jumping from the balcony of their handsome Paris apartment, leaving no suicide note or explanation. The eerily calm widower Luc (Guy Frangin...
Robert Bresson’s Une Femme Douce (A Gentle Woman), is now revived in UK cinemas 50 years after its original release – although this stark, austere, forbidding spectacle could just as well have been made in 1959 or 1949. This was his adaptation of the Dostoevsky short story Krotkaya, or A Gentle Creature (the inspiration for a quite different film of the same name by Sergei Loznitsa in 2017). It was his first colour film, and the colours themselves appear muted and darkened, as if from a neglected church tapestry.
Dominique Sanda plays Elle, the delicate young wife of a pawnbroker (that ominous Dostoevskian trope) who takes her own life by jumping from the balcony of their handsome Paris apartment, leaving no suicide note or explanation. The eerily calm widower Luc (Guy Frangin...
- 8/2/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The Ukrainian director was talking at the goEast Festival in Germany.
Prolific Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa has revealed details of his new documentary film State Funeral, about the “grandiose, terrifying and grotesque” spectacle of the funeral of Joseph Stalin.
It will be the latest of Loznitsa’s montage films based on archive footage following Blockade, Revue, The Event and The Trial. He is readying it for completion later this year.
“I have been working with footage which was shot between March 5-8, 1953 for a film called The Great Farewell by directors including Sergei Gerasimov and Ilya Kopalin,” Loznitsa explained. “But...
Prolific Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa has revealed details of his new documentary film State Funeral, about the “grandiose, terrifying and grotesque” spectacle of the funeral of Joseph Stalin.
It will be the latest of Loznitsa’s montage films based on archive footage following Blockade, Revue, The Event and The Trial. He is readying it for completion later this year.
“I have been working with footage which was shot between March 5-8, 1953 for a film called The Great Farewell by directors including Sergei Gerasimov and Ilya Kopalin,” Loznitsa explained. “But...
- 4/18/2019
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
“Every week, we have received 5-8 letters from Oleg. He is involved in everything - in the cast, costumes, props, and set construction.”
Final preparations are now underway for the start of prinicpal photography on Numbers, the feature film based on the 2011 play of the same name by the imprisoned Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov. It will be directed by Ukrainian actor-director Akhtem Seitablaev on Sentsov’s recommendation.
Sentsov is in a remote Arctic prison camp in protest at his detention and that of some 70 compatriots in Russia. He was on hunger strike for 145 days, which ended in October.
He had...
Final preparations are now underway for the start of prinicpal photography on Numbers, the feature film based on the 2011 play of the same name by the imprisoned Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov. It will be directed by Ukrainian actor-director Akhtem Seitablaev on Sentsov’s recommendation.
Sentsov is in a remote Arctic prison camp in protest at his detention and that of some 70 compatriots in Russia. He was on hunger strike for 145 days, which ended in October.
He had...
- 12/12/2018
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
by Nathaniel R
Four more official entries to the Foreign Language Film Oscar race.
Birds of Passage -Colombia
This is from the director Ciro Guerra (who has a co-director this time) the man behind Colombia's only Oscar nominee and Tfe favorite Embrace of the Serpent. The new film is a crime/family drama.
Opening in the Us in February. Orchard distributing Border -Sweden
Un Certain Regard winner at Cannes this year. It's based on a novella by the author of Let the Right One In (!) and is a reportedly strange tale of a woman with the ability to sense and smell how people feel.
Opening in the Us October 26th. Neon distributing. Donbass -Ukraine
From the acclaimed Sergey Loznitsa. This one is a cheerful tale (he said sarcastically given Loznitsa's filmography) about the degradation of Ukranian society in our post-truth world La Familia -Venezuela
A father son drama about a violent neighborhood.
Four more official entries to the Foreign Language Film Oscar race.
Birds of Passage -Colombia
This is from the director Ciro Guerra (who has a co-director this time) the man behind Colombia's only Oscar nominee and Tfe favorite Embrace of the Serpent. The new film is a crime/family drama.
Opening in the Us in February. Orchard distributing Border -Sweden
Un Certain Regard winner at Cannes this year. It's based on a novella by the author of Let the Right One In (!) and is a reportedly strange tale of a woman with the ability to sense and smell how people feel.
Opening in the Us October 26th. Neon distributing. Donbass -Ukraine
From the acclaimed Sergey Loznitsa. This one is a cheerful tale (he said sarcastically given Loznitsa's filmography) about the degradation of Ukranian society in our post-truth world La Familia -Venezuela
A father son drama about a violent neighborhood.
- 8/29/2018
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Event will open with Joern Utkilen’s Norwegian debut feature Lake Over Fire.
The second edition of Oslo Pix (June 4-10) will open with Joern Utkilen’s Norwegian debut feature Lake Over Fire and close with Gustav Moller’s Danish festival hit The Guilty.
The festival has three competition programmes: Nordic fiction, Nordic documentary and international competition.
The international competition is comprised of: A Gentle Creature, Daughter of Mine, Disobedience, Faces Places, Golden Exits, Soldiers. Story From Ferentari, Summer 1993, The Tale and Aga.
The Nordic fiction competition includes: Amateurs, Jimmie, Lake Over Fire, Team Hurricane, The Real Estate, Thick Lashes of Lauri Mantyvaara,...
The second edition of Oslo Pix (June 4-10) will open with Joern Utkilen’s Norwegian debut feature Lake Over Fire and close with Gustav Moller’s Danish festival hit The Guilty.
The festival has three competition programmes: Nordic fiction, Nordic documentary and international competition.
The international competition is comprised of: A Gentle Creature, Daughter of Mine, Disobedience, Faces Places, Golden Exits, Soldiers. Story From Ferentari, Summer 1993, The Tale and Aga.
The Nordic fiction competition includes: Amateurs, Jimmie, Lake Over Fire, Team Hurricane, The Real Estate, Thick Lashes of Lauri Mantyvaara,...
- 5/29/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Sergei Loznitsa’s Donbass forms a rough trilogy with two of his previous features, My Joy (2010) and A Gentle Creature (2017), offering another social allegory that functions as a bitter criticism of Russia’s contemporary politics. This time, instead of an unidentified Russian setting, the action takes place in the eastern Ukrainian region that gives the film its title, where a Russian-supported war has been ongoing since 2014. Given that Loznitsa is Ukrainian, this change of scenery might explain the added ferocity of his critique, which is extreme enough to make for an acutely oppressive viewing experience.
Donbass‘s world is very similar to the other chapters in this trilogy. The social contract has been so worn away by the invisible powers that be, society has regressed to a state of nature ruled by violence and corruption. That a war is raging doesn’t actually change much, except provide a convenient excuse for abuse,...
Donbass‘s world is very similar to the other chapters in this trilogy. The social contract has been so worn away by the invisible powers that be, society has regressed to a state of nature ruled by violence and corruption. That a war is raging doesn’t actually change much, except provide a convenient excuse for abuse,...
- 5/19/2018
- by Giovanni Marchini Camia
- The Film Stage
Ali Abbasi’s genre-bending Nordic puzzler “Border” won the top prize in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard competition. It emerged victorious in a varied international field of 18 titles from newcomers and established festival favorites alike, with Sergei Loznitsa’s “Donbass,” Meryem Benm’Barek’s “Sofia,” João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora’s “The Dead and the Others” and Lukas Dhont’s “Girl” completing the list of prizewinners.
The second feature by Iranian-born, Danish-based Abbasi, the classification-defying film — based on a short story by “Let the Right One In” author John Ajvide Lindqvist — centres on a Swedish customs officer with an uncanny sense of smell, thrown into a moral and personal quandary over a suspicious traveler that upends the world as she knows it. Screening early in the festival, it swiftly became one of the buzziest titles in the section with critics and audiences alike. Variety critic Alissa Simon was among the yay-sayers,...
The second feature by Iranian-born, Danish-based Abbasi, the classification-defying film — based on a short story by “Let the Right One In” author John Ajvide Lindqvist — centres on a Swedish customs officer with an uncanny sense of smell, thrown into a moral and personal quandary over a suspicious traveler that upends the world as she knows it. Screening early in the festival, it swiftly became one of the buzziest titles in the section with critics and audiences alike. Variety critic Alissa Simon was among the yay-sayers,...
- 5/18/2018
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The Notebook is covering Cannes with an on-going correspondence between critics Lawrence Garcia and Daniel Kasman.Dear Lawrence,I also saw two opening films myself: Birds of Passage, by the filmmakers of Embrace of the Serpent, launching the 50th Directors’ Fortnight, and Donbass, which opened the official selection’s Un Certain Regard. One of these feels an obvious opener, yet proved self-conflicted; the other is quite a provocative choice, and all the better for it.Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, the Colombian filmmakers of Birds of Passage, have chosen an ambitious but deliberately middle-lane approach for their tale of the emergence of the marijuana trade in rural Colombia in the 1960s and ‘70s. The film hedges itself between the genre cinema of rags-to-riches crime sagas familiar to film-goers since Howard Hawks’ Scarface, and the art cinema that explories traditional customs withering before the force of modernity. These two approaches meet...
- 5/12/2018
- MUBI
After stirring up the Cannes crowd last year with A Gentle Creature, which told the story of a woman in search of the truth about her husband’s fate in a Russian prison, Sergei Loznitsa returns to Croisette in the Un Certain Regard section with Donbass.
Donbass is an area in Eastern Ukraine. Set in the winter of 2013-14, the film is about an internal conflict between fighting factions: whether they are old-school Communists, separatists or nationalists, predominantly they are criminals and thugs. The setting could be about pretty much any conflict in almost any region. There but for the grace of God go we… If A Gentle Creature was all about a woman searching for truth, then this film is all about men creating lies and fake news. We see pseudo bombings with locals used as extras, we see a bizarre wedding that is more a farce than an act of love,...
Donbass is an area in Eastern Ukraine. Set in the winter of 2013-14, the film is about an internal conflict between fighting factions: whether they are old-school Communists, separatists or nationalists, predominantly they are criminals and thugs. The setting could be about pretty much any conflict in almost any region. There but for the grace of God go we… If A Gentle Creature was all about a woman searching for truth, then this film is all about men creating lies and fake news. We see pseudo bombings with locals used as extras, we see a bizarre wedding that is more a farce than an act of love,...
- 5/11/2018
- by Jo-Ann Titmarsh
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
No one is spared in “Donbass,” director Sergei Loznitsa’s scathing look at the (still ongoing) war in eastern Ukraine. The film is just as harsh on us the viewers as it is any of its venal characters — who get saddled with names like “Fat Woman” and “Ugly Man” in the end credits.
No is one is spared — and no one is safe. And as if to make that point crystal clear, the director sometimes repeats whole sequences and introduces jarring bouts of violence that hadn’t happened the first time through, as if to remind us that no gets out of this bloody conflict alive.
Now don’t go harping about spoilers – there is, simply put, no real way to spoil what is essentially a narrative-free travelogue through a bruised and bloodied corner of the world. The only recurring character is the war; the script’s conflict is the real-world conflict itself, and the so the movie functions as a series of interlocking vignettes inspired by real-life amateur videos from the warzone.
Also Read: 'Everybody Knows' Film Review: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem in Strongest Cannes Opener in Years
Here’s a bunch of soldiers raiding a poor granny’s bag for sausages; there’s a well-off government employee trying to convince her mother to leave a refugee shelter; watch out for the German journalist trying to report while under heavy fire.
Loznitsa and his band of both amateur and professional actors find different tones and registers for the various sequences, with some playing as dark comedy and other as battlefield horror shows. One memorable interlude plays like the director’s 2017 Cannes entry “A Gentle Creature” in miniature, following a poor sap as he goes to reclaim his stolen car and falls deeper and deeper into a bureaucratic black hole. With that one, the film wants to prime us for outrage.
Though this film and its predecessor share certain thematic similarities, what’s most striking is how utterly different they look and feel from one another. While “A Gentle Creature” had a dreamy, almost hallucinatory visual style, “Donbass” is bathed in the harsh light of inexpensive digital cameras. Such an aesthetic U-turn is par the course for Loznitsa, who seems to have a film ready for every major festival and often toggles between genres and styles, working just as much in documentary as he does in narrative fiction.
Also Read: Terry Gilliam's 'Don Quixote' Loses Amazon as Us Distributor, Wins Court Fight to Screen as Cannes Closer
While much ink has been spilled about what director was and wasn’t chosen for Cannes this year and who would or wouldn’t show up, Loznitsa makes for an interesting case. The director played in the main competition last year but opens Un Certain Regard this year, a move that to some would seem like a step down.
But it doesn’t come across as a demotion or any kind of slight. “Donbass” is a more challenging, perhaps less fully rounded work, but it remains the uncompromised vision of a high-level international auteur. There’s always room that in Cannes.
Read original story ‘Donbass’ Review: Jarring War Film Reminds Us That No One Is Safe At TheWrap...
No is one is spared — and no one is safe. And as if to make that point crystal clear, the director sometimes repeats whole sequences and introduces jarring bouts of violence that hadn’t happened the first time through, as if to remind us that no gets out of this bloody conflict alive.
Now don’t go harping about spoilers – there is, simply put, no real way to spoil what is essentially a narrative-free travelogue through a bruised and bloodied corner of the world. The only recurring character is the war; the script’s conflict is the real-world conflict itself, and the so the movie functions as a series of interlocking vignettes inspired by real-life amateur videos from the warzone.
Also Read: 'Everybody Knows' Film Review: Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem in Strongest Cannes Opener in Years
Here’s a bunch of soldiers raiding a poor granny’s bag for sausages; there’s a well-off government employee trying to convince her mother to leave a refugee shelter; watch out for the German journalist trying to report while under heavy fire.
Loznitsa and his band of both amateur and professional actors find different tones and registers for the various sequences, with some playing as dark comedy and other as battlefield horror shows. One memorable interlude plays like the director’s 2017 Cannes entry “A Gentle Creature” in miniature, following a poor sap as he goes to reclaim his stolen car and falls deeper and deeper into a bureaucratic black hole. With that one, the film wants to prime us for outrage.
Though this film and its predecessor share certain thematic similarities, what’s most striking is how utterly different they look and feel from one another. While “A Gentle Creature” had a dreamy, almost hallucinatory visual style, “Donbass” is bathed in the harsh light of inexpensive digital cameras. Such an aesthetic U-turn is par the course for Loznitsa, who seems to have a film ready for every major festival and often toggles between genres and styles, working just as much in documentary as he does in narrative fiction.
Also Read: Terry Gilliam's 'Don Quixote' Loses Amazon as Us Distributor, Wins Court Fight to Screen as Cannes Closer
While much ink has been spilled about what director was and wasn’t chosen for Cannes this year and who would or wouldn’t show up, Loznitsa makes for an interesting case. The director played in the main competition last year but opens Un Certain Regard this year, a move that to some would seem like a step down.
But it doesn’t come across as a demotion or any kind of slight. “Donbass” is a more challenging, perhaps less fully rounded work, but it remains the uncompromised vision of a high-level international auteur. There’s always room that in Cannes.
Read original story ‘Donbass’ Review: Jarring War Film Reminds Us That No One Is Safe At TheWrap...
- 5/9/2018
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
There is no job more thankless than the prophet of doom, nor one more necessary. Prescient commentators rant about the degradation of civil society, yet in an age when every conflict can be accessed or flicked away with the swipe of a finger on a smartphone, such cries of injustice generally constitute just another shout in the wind. The compunction to tell the truth remains, which is why Sergei Loznitsa’s body of work is so indispensable: It refuses to be complacent. The Ukrainian director’s “Donbass” is a natural follow-up to “A Gentle Creature”: Though the two have little in common stylistically, they’re both screams against a society that’s lost its humanity and can’t be bothered to care.
Seamlessly divided into 13 segments, “Donbass” recounts the corrosive nature of the conflict pitting Ukrainian nationalists against supporters of Russia’s proxy Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.
Seamlessly divided into 13 segments, “Donbass” recounts the corrosive nature of the conflict pitting Ukrainian nationalists against supporters of Russia’s proxy Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.
- 5/9/2018
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
The film follows three dancers who reunite 25 years after they split up.
Veteran Russian director and screenwriter Aleksandr Mindadze is plotting English-language drama Parquet.
The film is the story of three dancers, the creators of the tango à trois, who reunite for an encore performance 25 years after breaking up.
Mindadze’s credits include 2011 drama Innocent Saturday, which premiered in Berlin, and 2007 drama Soaring, which premiered in Venice. He has previously written the screenplays for Vadim Abdrashitov’s Plumbum, which was in competition in Venice in 1987, and Vadim Abdrashitov’s A Play For A Passenger, which won a Silver Bear in...
Veteran Russian director and screenwriter Aleksandr Mindadze is plotting English-language drama Parquet.
The film is the story of three dancers, the creators of the tango à trois, who reunite for an encore performance 25 years after breaking up.
Mindadze’s credits include 2011 drama Innocent Saturday, which premiered in Berlin, and 2007 drama Soaring, which premiered in Venice. He has previously written the screenplays for Vadim Abdrashitov’s Plumbum, which was in competition in Venice in 1987, and Vadim Abdrashitov’s A Play For A Passenger, which won a Silver Bear in...
- 5/8/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
This is the Pure Movies review of A Gentle Creature, directed by Sergei Loznitsa, and starring Vasilina Makovtseva, Liya Akhedzhakova, Valeriu Andriutã and Boris Kamorzin. It’s difficult to write about A Gentle Creature. This is partly by design, of course, with writer/director Sergei Loznitsa refashioning a Dostoyevsky short story into a sprawling, elusive, beguiling epic. What quickly becomes apparent during Loznitsa’s two-and-a-half-hour opus is that it’s a film of ravishing ambition, mounting a complex allegory for life in modern Russia that confounds narrative sense at every turn. In its place is an intricate framework of signs and signifiers, vignettes of dreamlike absurdity that flow with hazy indifference towards somewhere, well, let’s just say ‘bleak’.
- 5/7/2018
- by Joshua Glenn
- Pure Movies
Substantial drops across the top 10 recorded as good weather hits the UK.
Rank Film / Distributor Weekend Gross (Fri-Sun) Running Total Week 1 Rampage (Warner Bros) £1.4m £6.5m 2 2 A Quiet Place (Paramount) £1m £8.3m 3 3 The Guernsey Literary And… (Studiocanal) £824,847 £824,847 1 4 Ready Player One (Warner Bros) £502,000 £15.4m 4 5 Peter Rabbit (Sony) £486,000 £38.9m 6
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate - 1.40
Warner Bros
The UK basked in the country’s first spell of warm weather of 2018 and it wasn’t good news for the box office this weekend.
Rampage stayed top despite falling a substantial 55%, a drop that was consistent across the majority of titles on releases this weekend.
Rank Film / Distributor Weekend Gross (Fri-Sun) Running Total Week 1 Rampage (Warner Bros) £1.4m £6.5m 2 2 A Quiet Place (Paramount) £1m £8.3m 3 3 The Guernsey Literary And… (Studiocanal) £824,847 £824,847 1 4 Ready Player One (Warner Bros) £502,000 £15.4m 4 5 Peter Rabbit (Sony) £486,000 £38.9m 6
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate - 1.40
Warner Bros
The UK basked in the country’s first spell of warm weather of 2018 and it wasn’t good news for the box office this weekend.
Rampage stayed top despite falling a substantial 55%, a drop that was consistent across the majority of titles on releases this weekend.
- 4/23/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Ceylan, Dvortsevoy and Gonzalez films added to competition.
The Cannes Film Festival has announced several additions to its 2018 line-up, including the new Lars von Trier project, Terry Gilliam’s long-awaited The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and three new competition films.
Competition
Firstly Yann Gonzalez makes his competition debut with Un Couteau Dans Le Cœur (Knife + Heart) starring Vanessa Paradis
So does director Sergey Dvortsevoy with Ayka. His Tulpan won the Prize Un Certain Regard in 2008.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, winner of the Palme d’or 2014 for Winter Sleep, returns with Ahlat Agaci (The Wild Pear Tree / Le Poirier Sauvage).
The...
The Cannes Film Festival has announced several additions to its 2018 line-up, including the new Lars von Trier project, Terry Gilliam’s long-awaited The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and three new competition films.
Competition
Firstly Yann Gonzalez makes his competition debut with Un Couteau Dans Le Cœur (Knife + Heart) starring Vanessa Paradis
So does director Sergey Dvortsevoy with Ayka. His Tulpan won the Prize Un Certain Regard in 2008.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, winner of the Palme d’or 2014 for Winter Sleep, returns with Ahlat Agaci (The Wild Pear Tree / Le Poirier Sauvage).
The...
- 4/19/2018
- ScreenDaily
Danish director Lars von Trier is returning to the Cannes fold with his serial-killer drama “The House That Jack Built” after seven years of banishment from the festival, while Terry Gilliam’s long-gestating, problem-plagued “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” is set to close the event, organizers announced Thursday. Both films will screen out of competition.
Cannes also added two sophomore outings to the competition lineup – Yann Gonzalez’s “Knife + Heart” and Sergei Dvortsevoy’s “The Little One” – plus Palme d’Or winning filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “The Wild Pear Tree.” “Whitney,” Kevin Macdonald’s documentary on singer Whitney Houston, has been set as a Midnight Screening, as has HBO’s new adaptation of “Fahrenheit 451,” directed by Ramin Bahrani and starring Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon – the latest television project to screen at Cannes.
Artistic director Thierry Fremaux had hinted that von Trier would return to the...
Cannes also added two sophomore outings to the competition lineup – Yann Gonzalez’s “Knife + Heart” and Sergei Dvortsevoy’s “The Little One” – plus Palme d’Or winning filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “The Wild Pear Tree.” “Whitney,” Kevin Macdonald’s documentary on singer Whitney Houston, has been set as a Midnight Screening, as has HBO’s new adaptation of “Fahrenheit 451,” directed by Ramin Bahrani and starring Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon – the latest television project to screen at Cannes.
Artistic director Thierry Fremaux had hinted that von Trier would return to the...
- 4/19/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Action film starring Dwayne Johnson dethrones Peter Rabbit with £3.1m debut.
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate - 1.43
RankFilm / DistributorWeekend Gross (Fri-Sun)Running TotalWeek 1 Rampage (Warner Bros) £3.1m £4.1m 1 2 Peter Rabbit (Sony) £2m £38.1m 5 3 A Quiet Place (Paramount) £1.9m £6.4m 2 4 Ready Player One (Warner Bros) £1.2m £14.5m 3 5 Truth Or Dare (Universal) £922,664 £922,664 1 Warner Bros
Rampage, the latest Dwayne Johnson star vehicle, stormed to the top of the UK box office this weekend with a three-day debut of £3.1m from 559 sites, an average of £5,617. The video-game adaptation has grossed £4.1m, including previews on Wednesday and Thursday.
That figure is roughly equitable...
Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate - 1.43
RankFilm / DistributorWeekend Gross (Fri-Sun)Running TotalWeek 1 Rampage (Warner Bros) £3.1m £4.1m 1 2 Peter Rabbit (Sony) £2m £38.1m 5 3 A Quiet Place (Paramount) £1.9m £6.4m 2 4 Ready Player One (Warner Bros) £1.2m £14.5m 3 5 Truth Or Dare (Universal) £922,664 £922,664 1 Warner Bros
Rampage, the latest Dwayne Johnson star vehicle, stormed to the top of the UK box office this weekend with a three-day debut of £3.1m from 559 sites, an average of £5,617. The video-game adaptation has grossed £4.1m, including previews on Wednesday and Thursday.
That figure is roughly equitable...
- 4/16/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
wide
Truth or Dare [my review]
Lucy Hale, Violett Beane, and Sophia Taylor Ali costar in this horror movie about a college drinking game that goes wrong. Cowritten by Jillian Jacobs. (male director)
Rampage [my review]
Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, and Marley Shelton costar in this sci-fi action movie about genetically engineered monsters. (male writers and director)
limited
Even When I Fall [my review]
Kate McLarnon and Sky Neal direct this documentary about two young Nepalese women rescued from slavery in Indian circuses who establish and perform in their own ethical circus.
Western [IMDb]
Valeska Grisebach writes and directs this German drama about (male) construction workers.
Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts [IMDb]
Mouly Surya cowrites and directs this Indonesian dramatic thriller about a woman (Marsha Timothy) who takes revenge against a gang that attacks her.
October [IMDb]
Juhi Chaturvedi writes this Indian romance, costarring Banita Sandhu. (male director)
A Gentle Creature [IMDb] pictured
Vasilina Makovtseva stars in this...
Truth or Dare [my review]
Lucy Hale, Violett Beane, and Sophia Taylor Ali costar in this horror movie about a college drinking game that goes wrong. Cowritten by Jillian Jacobs. (male director)
Rampage [my review]
Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, and Marley Shelton costar in this sci-fi action movie about genetically engineered monsters. (male writers and director)
limited
Even When I Fall [my review]
Kate McLarnon and Sky Neal direct this documentary about two young Nepalese women rescued from slavery in Indian circuses who establish and perform in their own ethical circus.
Western [IMDb]
Valeska Grisebach writes and directs this German drama about (male) construction workers.
Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts [IMDb]
Mouly Surya cowrites and directs this Indonesian dramatic thriller about a woman (Marsha Timothy) who takes revenge against a gang that attacks her.
October [IMDb]
Juhi Chaturvedi writes this Indian romance, costarring Banita Sandhu. (male director)
A Gentle Creature [IMDb] pictured
Vasilina Makovtseva stars in this...
- 4/13/2018
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
The acclaimed Ukrainian director discusses his latest drama A Gentle Creature, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and the ‘hell’ of Russian history
Sergei Loznitsa is enjoying a rare day off, ahead of the last day of shooting of his new feature, about the war between Ukraine and Russia. His hotel room in the provincial town of Krivoy Rog is decorated wall to wall with pictures, storylines and notes.
Filming has been a challenge, the Ukrainian director says, not least because of Ukraine’s lousy transport network. “The roads are very bad. You never understand this when you live in Europe,” he says.
Sergei Loznitsa is enjoying a rare day off, ahead of the last day of shooting of his new feature, about the war between Ukraine and Russia. His hotel room in the provincial town of Krivoy Rog is decorated wall to wall with pictures, storylines and notes.
Filming has been a challenge, the Ukrainian director says, not least because of Ukraine’s lousy transport network. “The roads are very bad. You never understand this when you live in Europe,” he says.
- 4/13/2018
- by Luke Harding
- The Guardian - Film News
Often a film filled with overwhelming drudgery can be cured of its sickening length by re-writes or skilled editing. One of the greatest aspects of the filmmaking process is the drive, from everyone involved, to refine and improve the product. But this appears to be absent from A Gentle Creature, the second dip into fiction-filmmaking from documentarian Sergei Loznitsa.
The film follows an unnamed Russian woman (Vasilina Makovtseva), whose husband is locked up in a Siberian jail for reasons never made entirely clear. She sends a care package to him, which is promptly sent back without explanation. Thus begins her stretched odyssey into the bureaucratic alleyways of a weird Russian society, deeply listening to other people’s harrowing experiences and plunging into strange and troubling nightmares – all to deliver the package, and to maybe even see her husband.
The film starts in the slow, picturesque manner that many great Russian...
The film follows an unnamed Russian woman (Vasilina Makovtseva), whose husband is locked up in a Siberian jail for reasons never made entirely clear. She sends a care package to him, which is promptly sent back without explanation. Thus begins her stretched odyssey into the bureaucratic alleyways of a weird Russian society, deeply listening to other people’s harrowing experiences and plunging into strange and troubling nightmares – all to deliver the package, and to maybe even see her husband.
The film starts in the slow, picturesque manner that many great Russian...
- 3/29/2018
- by Euan Franklin
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Earlier today the folks at the Northwest Film Center announced the full line-up for this year’s Portland International Film Festival, and have published a Pdf for all to read online. The printed copies will be making their way around town this week.
The Northwest Film Center is proud to reveal the 41st Portland International Film Festival (Piff 41) lineup. This year’s Festival begins on Thursday, February 15th and runs through Thursday, March 1st. Our Opening Night selection is the new comedy The Death of Stalin from writer/director Armando Iannucci (Veep, In the Loop). The film, adapted from the graphic novel by Fabien Nury, stars Steve Buscemi, Olga Kurylenko, Jason Isaacs, and Michael Palin. The Death of Stalin will screen simultaneously on Opening Night at the Whitsell Auditorium, located in the Portland Art Museum (1219 Sw Park Ave) and on two screens at Regal Fox Tower 10 (846 Sw Park Ave).
Check...
The Northwest Film Center is proud to reveal the 41st Portland International Film Festival (Piff 41) lineup. This year’s Festival begins on Thursday, February 15th and runs through Thursday, March 1st. Our Opening Night selection is the new comedy The Death of Stalin from writer/director Armando Iannucci (Veep, In the Loop). The film, adapted from the graphic novel by Fabien Nury, stars Steve Buscemi, Olga Kurylenko, Jason Isaacs, and Michael Palin. The Death of Stalin will screen simultaneously on Opening Night at the Whitsell Auditorium, located in the Portland Art Museum (1219 Sw Park Ave) and on two screens at Regal Fox Tower 10 (846 Sw Park Ave).
Check...
- 1/30/2018
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Every year, new films premiere at festivals around the world with the hopes of obtaining distribution so they can be seen by general audiences. Of course, not every film ends up with that fate: some don’t get accepted to festivals, others screen at smaller festivals with less publicity, and even the ones that do end up premiering at a major fest aren’t guaranteed a deal. This results in great films falling through the cracks, ignored and/or forgotten because of their perceived profitability rather than their quality.
Here are ten films from 2017 that (to the best of my knowledge) have yet to find a Us distributor, films that will hopefully get the chance to be viewed by general audiences sooner rather than later, if at all.
Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)
Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White is a film about women, or more specifically the way women...
Here are ten films from 2017 that (to the best of my knowledge) have yet to find a Us distributor, films that will hopefully get the chance to be viewed by general audiences sooner rather than later, if at all.
Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)
Vivian Qu’s Angels Wear White is a film about women, or more specifically the way women...
- 12/31/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Let the Sunshine InBelow you will find our favorite films of Cannes 2017, as well as a complete index of our coverage. Awardstop Picksdaniel Kasman(1) Western (2) Jeanette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc (3) Closeness (4) The Day After (5) Lover for a Day (6) The Nothing Factory (7) Before We Vanish (8) The Florida Project (9) Claire's Camera (10) Blade of the Immortal (11) Good Time (12) Farpões, baldios (13) I Am Not a Witch (14) You Were Never Really Here (15) Napalm (?) Let the Sunshine InLAWRENCE Garcia(1) The Square (2) 120 Beats Per Minute (3) Closeness (4) Good Time (5) 24 Frames (6) You Were Never Really Here (7) Let the Sunshine In (8) The Summit (9)Western (10) I Am Not a WitchKURT Walker(1) Let the Sunshine In (2) Twin Peaks, S03E01 & S03E02 (3) Radiance (5) I Am Not a Witch (5) The Beguiled and Closeness***Coveragedaniel KASMANLoveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev)Wonderstruck (Todd Haynes)Western (Valeska Grisebach)Blade of the Immortal (Takashi Miike)Lover for a Day (Philippe Garrel)Claire's Camera (Hong Sang-soo)The Day...
- 6/5/2017
- MUBI
After nearly two weeks of viewing some of the best that cinema will have to offer this year, the 70th Cannes Film Festival has concluded. With Ruben Östlund‘s Force Majeure follow-up The Square taking the top jury prize of Palme d’Or (full list of winners here), we’ve set out to wrap up our experience with our favorite films from the festival, which extends to the Un Certain Regard and Directors’ Fortnight side bars. Check out our favorites below, followed by the rest of the reviews. One can also return in the coming months as we learn of distribution news.
120 Beats Per Minute (Robin Campillo)
Sometimes a movie doesn’t need much character development to make an impact. The ensemble cast that comprise Robin Campillo’s AIDS activists in 120 Beats Per Minute all work together to be the same voice. Through this group, the director captures a force...
120 Beats Per Minute (Robin Campillo)
Sometimes a movie doesn’t need much character development to make an impact. The ensemble cast that comprise Robin Campillo’s AIDS activists in 120 Beats Per Minute all work together to be the same voice. Through this group, the director captures a force...
- 5/29/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Deftly weaving between politically ambitious documentary projects and brooding, chunky dramas exploring the malignant side of Russian society, Ukraianian director Sergei Loznitsa follows Austerlitz, last year’s documentary on concentration camp tourism, with the fictional A Gentle Creature, an impressively morose, dense, and totalizing immersion into the dehumanizing absurdity of the Russian prison system. But in fact we don’t see anything of the inside of a prison in A Gentle Creature, for while the goal of the unnamed, middle-aged heroine (Vasilina Makovtseva) is to visit her incarcerated husband—a visit inspired mainly because a care package was sent back to her with no explanation as to its rejection—her fruitless journey to the prison town is a Hogarthian roundelay of indifferent, dismissive or abusive personnel and exploitative locals. Makovtseva’s maze-like path through a social microcosm (and ecosystem) of functionaries, leeches and profiteers is an ordeal that begins about...
- 5/29/2017
- MUBI
There were also wins for Sofia Coppola, Joaquin Phoenix and Diane Kruger.
The Competition prizes for the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival have been handed out tonight (28 May) in the Lumiere Theatre, with Ruben Östlund’s The Square winning the coveted Palme d’Or.
Pedro Almodóvar presided over this year’s jury that also included Will Smith, Maren Ade, Park Chan-wook, Paolo Sorrentino, Jessica Chastain, Fan Bingbing, Agnès Jaoui and Gabriel Yared.
Full list of winners below:
Palme D’Or
The Square (Ruben Östlund)
Grand Prix
120 Beats Per Minute (Robin Campillo)
Best Director
Sofia Coppola (The Beguiled)
Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix (You Were Never Really Here)
Best Actress
Diane Kruger (In the Fade)
Jury Prize
Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Best Screenplay
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer and You Were Never Really Here
Camera D’Or
Jeune Femme (Léonor Sérraille)
Best Short Film
A Gentle Night (Qui Yang)
Short Film Special Mention
Katto (Teppo Airaksinen)
70th Anniversary...
The Competition prizes for the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival have been handed out tonight (28 May) in the Lumiere Theatre, with Ruben Östlund’s The Square winning the coveted Palme d’Or.
Pedro Almodóvar presided over this year’s jury that also included Will Smith, Maren Ade, Park Chan-wook, Paolo Sorrentino, Jessica Chastain, Fan Bingbing, Agnès Jaoui and Gabriel Yared.
Full list of winners below:
Palme D’Or
The Square (Ruben Östlund)
Grand Prix
120 Beats Per Minute (Robin Campillo)
Best Director
Sofia Coppola (The Beguiled)
Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix (You Were Never Really Here)
Best Actress
Diane Kruger (In the Fade)
Jury Prize
Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Best Screenplay
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer and You Were Never Really Here
Camera D’Or
Jeune Femme (Léonor Sérraille)
Best Short Film
A Gentle Night (Qui Yang)
Short Film Special Mention
Katto (Teppo Airaksinen)
70th Anniversary...
- 5/28/2017
- by orlando.parfitt@screendaily.com (Orlando Parfitt)
- ScreenDaily
19 films are competing for the Palme d’Or.
The Competition prizes for the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will be handed out this evening (28 May) in the Lumiere Theatre, including the coveted Palme d’Or.
Pedro Almodóvar presided over this year’s jury that also included Will Smith, Maren Ade, Park Chan-wook, Paolo Sorrentino, Jessica Chastain, Fan Bingbing, Agnès Jaoui and Gabriel Yared.
The ceremony begins at around 6:15pm GMT. Watch the red carpet coverage below or Here on mobile.
Full list of winners, as they happen, below:
Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix (You Were Never Really Here)
Best Actress
Diane Kruger (In the Fade)
Jury Prize
Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Best Screenplay
The Killing Of Sacred Deer and You Were Never Really Here
Camera D’Or
Jeune Femme (Léonor Sérraille)
Best Short Film
A Gentle Night (Qui Yang)
Short Film Special Mention
Katto (Teppo Airaksinen)
Palme D’Orgrand Prixbest DIRECTORCannes 70 Competition filmsIn the Fade (Fatih Akin...
The Competition prizes for the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will be handed out this evening (28 May) in the Lumiere Theatre, including the coveted Palme d’Or.
Pedro Almodóvar presided over this year’s jury that also included Will Smith, Maren Ade, Park Chan-wook, Paolo Sorrentino, Jessica Chastain, Fan Bingbing, Agnès Jaoui and Gabriel Yared.
The ceremony begins at around 6:15pm GMT. Watch the red carpet coverage below or Here on mobile.
Full list of winners, as they happen, below:
Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix (You Were Never Really Here)
Best Actress
Diane Kruger (In the Fade)
Jury Prize
Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Best Screenplay
The Killing Of Sacred Deer and You Were Never Really Here
Camera D’Or
Jeune Femme (Léonor Sérraille)
Best Short Film
A Gentle Night (Qui Yang)
Short Film Special Mention
Katto (Teppo Airaksinen)
Palme D’Orgrand Prixbest DIRECTORCannes 70 Competition filmsIn the Fade (Fatih Akin...
- 5/28/2017
- by orlando.parfitt@screendaily.com (Orlando Parfitt)
- ScreenDaily
Like an endless, 200-degree Fahrenheit fever dream, Sergei Loznitsa’s “A Gentle Creature” disorients your frame of mind with the force of a thousand demons shredding it apart. In systematic and cinematically dazzling fashion, Loznitsa’s nihilistic riff will drag you to a circle of hell that makes Dante’s “Inferno” look like a love sonnet, and you’ll walk out of the film feeling woozy, defeated and utterly destroyed, in that order.
Continue reading Sergei Loznitsa’s ‘A Gentle Creature’ Is An Astonishing, Incendiary & Brutal Indictment Of Modern Russia [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading Sergei Loznitsa’s ‘A Gentle Creature’ Is An Astonishing, Incendiary & Brutal Indictment Of Modern Russia [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.
- 5/25/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
A Gentle Creature, The Beguiled also make debuts.
As the 2017 Cannes Film Festival’s Competition enters its final stretch, the new entrants saw polarising reactions from Screen’s jury of critics.
Good Time, the Robert Pattinson-starring heist film directed by Benny and Josh Safdie, impressed the critics, scoring seven three-star ratings and a maximum four-stars from Screen’s own critic.
The film clocked 2.6 in total (with one score to be counted), the fourth best score on the grid behind Ruben Ostlund’s The Square, Todd Haynes’ Wondertstruck and table-topper Loveless from Andrey Zvyagintsev.
Jacques Doilon’s artist biopic Rodin was less successful, clocking four no-star X ratings and four one-star ratings on its way to an overall score of 0.8, the lowest on this year’s grid to-date. There is one score still yet to be collected, meaning it could receive a late boost.
The day’s other new entrants were Sergei Loznitsa’s A Gentle Creature, which...
As the 2017 Cannes Film Festival’s Competition enters its final stretch, the new entrants saw polarising reactions from Screen’s jury of critics.
Good Time, the Robert Pattinson-starring heist film directed by Benny and Josh Safdie, impressed the critics, scoring seven three-star ratings and a maximum four-stars from Screen’s own critic.
The film clocked 2.6 in total (with one score to be counted), the fourth best score on the grid behind Ruben Ostlund’s The Square, Todd Haynes’ Wondertstruck and table-topper Loveless from Andrey Zvyagintsev.
Jacques Doilon’s artist biopic Rodin was less successful, clocking four no-star X ratings and four one-star ratings on its way to an overall score of 0.8, the lowest on this year’s grid to-date. There is one score still yet to be collected, meaning it could receive a late boost.
The day’s other new entrants were Sergei Loznitsa’s A Gentle Creature, which...
- 5/25/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
“Man is a wolf to his fellow man,” quotes a character early in Sergei Loznitsa’s A Gentle Creature. The ordeal suffered by its protagonist will indeed be solitary, poor, nasty, and brutish – it won’t be short, however. Powerful though bloated, A Gentle Creature is a companion to Loznitsa’s phenomenal first narrative feature, My Joy, once again following a person’s nightmarish odyssey through an allegorical rendition of post-Communist Russia. Though not as successful as its predecessor, Loznitsa’s latest nonetheless confirms the director’s place of honor amongst cinema’s most vociferous critics of Putin’s kingdom.
A Gentle Creature might borrow its title from a short story by Dostoevsky, but the relation between the two is even less apparent than between Loznitsa’s last outing, Austerlitz, and the W.G. Sebald novel of the same name. A much more obvious literary influence is Kafka. In lieu of an impenetrable castle,...
A Gentle Creature might borrow its title from a short story by Dostoevsky, but the relation between the two is even less apparent than between Loznitsa’s last outing, Austerlitz, and the W.G. Sebald novel of the same name. A much more obvious literary influence is Kafka. In lieu of an impenetrable castle,...
- 5/25/2017
- by Giovanni Marchini Camia
- The Film Stage
All kinds of grim, including both the good and the bad kinds, A Gentle Creature (Krotkaya) from Belarus-born director Sergei Loznitsa peers deep into the Russian soul and finds there an unfathomable blackness. Only tenuously related to the Dostoyevsky story of the same name and the 1969 film adaptation of that source material by Robert Bresson, this harrowing tale revolves around a stoical unnamed woman (Vasilina Makovtseva) stuck in a nightmarish Siberian prison town. Although there are piercing echoes here of absurdist fiction by Nikolai Gogol, Franz Kafka and others, as well as mythical journeys to the underworld, Loznitsa’s approach...
- 5/25/2017
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In recent years, the Cannes film festival has been uniquely receptive to films about innocent saps falling into bureaucratic black holes. Directors like Cristi Puiu and Ken Loach tapped that very formula for their respective Un Certain Regard and Palme d’Or winners “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” and “I, Daniel Blake.” And if Sergei Loznitsa’s “A Gentle Creature” offers another riff on a familiar nightmare, it does so with a dream-like approach and a feverish style that makes the subject feel bracingly vital. Actress Vasilina Makovtseva is that titular creature, an unnamed woman with a husband in prison and a.
- 5/24/2017
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
A nightmare journey to a Siberian prison provides the backdrop to Sergei Loznitsa’s powerful and severe film
At an early stage in Sergei Loznitsa’s A Gentle Creature, one minor character proposes a toast: “To our enormous suffering!” And the whole film is in some sense pledged or consecrated to this Russian pain, unknowable and unassuageable, that makes its devotees drunk with fear and dismay. A Gentle Creature is a brutally realist movie – at least at first – that takes its heroine on a pilgrimage into the vast, trackless forest of national suffering. Yet it does this with an unsettling, accelerating pattern of eerie coincidences and echoes, which finally mutates into a kind of satirical expressionism – a set-piece flourish which some might consider a bit of a narrative evasion or even an undermining of that basis of authenticity on which we had understood the movie. But it certainly provides a convulsive,...
At an early stage in Sergei Loznitsa’s A Gentle Creature, one minor character proposes a toast: “To our enormous suffering!” And the whole film is in some sense pledged or consecrated to this Russian pain, unknowable and unassuageable, that makes its devotees drunk with fear and dismay. A Gentle Creature is a brutally realist movie – at least at first – that takes its heroine on a pilgrimage into the vast, trackless forest of national suffering. Yet it does this with an unsettling, accelerating pattern of eerie coincidences and echoes, which finally mutates into a kind of satirical expressionism – a set-piece flourish which some might consider a bit of a narrative evasion or even an undermining of that basis of authenticity on which we had understood the movie. But it certainly provides a convulsive,...
- 5/24/2017
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
IndieWire reached out to the filmmakers whose films (and TV shows!) are premiering at the Cannes Film Festival to find out what cameras they used and, more importantly, why they were the right tools to create their projects.
Read More: Cannes 2017 – 22 Films We Can’t Wait to See at This Year’s Festival
Before we dive into the details, here’s three big trends that we saw in their answers:
1. Shooting on film continues its comeback around the globe.
2. Arri continues its digital dominance in the narrative feature film space. We saw this at Sundance as well: Increasingly, smaller productions with the need to be flexible and mobile are turning to the small-bodied Alexa Mini.
3. Filmmakers are applying unique techniques to create different looks. From the Safdie Brothers adapting the 2-perf method of the old spaghetti westerns, to “Wonderstruck” mirroring the shooting style of the ’20s and ’70s, to Sean Baker...
Read More: Cannes 2017 – 22 Films We Can’t Wait to See at This Year’s Festival
Before we dive into the details, here’s three big trends that we saw in their answers:
1. Shooting on film continues its comeback around the globe.
2. Arri continues its digital dominance in the narrative feature film space. We saw this at Sundance as well: Increasingly, smaller productions with the need to be flexible and mobile are turning to the small-bodied Alexa Mini.
3. Filmmakers are applying unique techniques to create different looks. From the Safdie Brothers adapting the 2-perf method of the old spaghetti westerns, to “Wonderstruck” mirroring the shooting style of the ’20s and ’70s, to Sean Baker...
- 5/17/2017
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
Kornél Mundruczó’s film “White God” earned rave reviews and won the Un Certain Regard prize in Cannes in 2014. Now, the Hungarian filmmaker is returning to the festival with “Jupiter’s Moon” (originally titled “Jupiter holdja”), which will premiere at competition this Friday, May 19.
Read More: The 2017 IndieWire Cannes Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
“Jupiter’s Moon” follows Aryan, a young immigrant who gets shot while attempting to cross the border. He gets thrown into a refugee camp where he mysteriously heals his wounds and discovers that he can levitate. He escapes the camp with the help of a doctor, and embarks on a search for his father, while on the run from the authorities.
Read More: Cannes 2017: 9 Hot Acquisition Titles That Will Have Buyers Chasing Foreign Films
There are 19 films competing for the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, including Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled,...
Read More: The 2017 IndieWire Cannes Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
“Jupiter’s Moon” follows Aryan, a young immigrant who gets shot while attempting to cross the border. He gets thrown into a refugee camp where he mysteriously heals his wounds and discovers that he can levitate. He escapes the camp with the help of a doctor, and embarks on a search for his father, while on the run from the authorities.
Read More: Cannes 2017: 9 Hot Acquisition Titles That Will Have Buyers Chasing Foreign Films
There are 19 films competing for the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, including Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled,...
- 5/17/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
Above: Redoubtable by Michel Hazanavicius (France)It’s that time of year again: time for those of us who are not in Cannes for the next two weeks to live vicariously through Twitter (and of course Mubi’s always insightful coverage). For me, the first glimpse of the films that I am missing on the Croisette are the posters. Often rushed out as an afterthought to a film that is itself barely out of the editing room, Cannes posters are sometimes slapdash, often just serviceable. But there are always standouts, like The Handmaiden last year and The Lobster the year before that, both of which ended up among my favorite posters of the year.Say what you will about his previous foray into film history, but Michel Hazanavicius’s Redoubtable—about Jean-Luc Godard’s relationship with Anne Wiazemsky, set during the making of La chinoise and with Louis Garrel playing...
- 5/17/2017
- MUBI
A heightened sense of anticipation pervades the days leading up to the 70th anniversary of Cannes Film Festival as we arrange screenings and parties and meetings for an adrenaline filled ten days. May 17 to 28 will be full of surprises as this unique high energy mix of glamour, work, fun and stress unfolds. A broad range of distinctive films in Competition, Un Certain Regard, Directors Fortnight (Quainzaine des realisateurs) and Critics Week (La Semaine de la critique), L’Acid compete with parties from cocktails sponsored by all the countries that are here (60+ including Armenia, Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Singapore) and with late night extravanzas on yachts and at villas in the hills.Claudia Dances! Claudia Laughs! Claudia Lives!
This year’s poster portrays Claudia Cardinale dancing on a fiery red background. The Italian actress moved to Paris a long time ago. As the Cannes Muse this year, her musings illuminate the terrific...
This year’s poster portrays Claudia Cardinale dancing on a fiery red background. The Italian actress moved to Paris a long time ago. As the Cannes Muse this year, her musings illuminate the terrific...
- 5/12/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
New Cinema Law offers incentives to foreign producers and will be showcased in Cannes.
After months of delays when he vetoed the new Cinema Law despite it having been adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament, President Petro Poroshenko has finally put his signature to the decree introducing the new legislative framework for the film industry, including the creation of a cash rebate scheme for international film and television producers shooting in Ukraine.
According to the legislation ‘On the State Support of the Cinematography in Ukraine’, foreign producers will be able to get a rebate of up to 16.6% of the production costs spent on the territory of Ukraine and receive an additional 10% for the labour costs in Kiev and Sevastopol and 4.5% of labour costs incurred in the rest of Ukraine.
Poroshenko’s timing was highly fortuitous: his signature came on the eve of the first national awards staged by the newly created Ukrainian Film Academy, giving a great...
After months of delays when he vetoed the new Cinema Law despite it having been adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament, President Petro Poroshenko has finally put his signature to the decree introducing the new legislative framework for the film industry, including the creation of a cash rebate scheme for international film and television producers shooting in Ukraine.
According to the legislation ‘On the State Support of the Cinematography in Ukraine’, foreign producers will be able to get a rebate of up to 16.6% of the production costs spent on the territory of Ukraine and receive an additional 10% for the labour costs in Kiev and Sevastopol and 4.5% of labour costs incurred in the rest of Ukraine.
Poroshenko’s timing was highly fortuitous: his signature came on the eve of the first national awards staged by the newly created Ukrainian Film Academy, giving a great...
- 5/4/2017
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
The Festival de Cannes has announced the lineup for the official selection, including the Competition and Un Certain Regard sections, as well as special screenings, for the 70th edition of the festival:
COMPETITIONHappy End (Michael Haneke)Wonderstruck (Todd Haynes)Le Redoutable (Michel Hazanavicius)The Beguiled (Sofia Coppola)Rodin (Jaques Doillon)120 Beats Per Minute (Robin Campillo)Okja (Bong Joon-Ho)In The Fade (Fatih Akin)The Day After (Hong Sang-soo)Radiance (Naomi Kawase)The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos)A Gentle Creature (Sergei Loznitsa)Jupiter's Moon (Kornél Mandruczó)Good Time (Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie)Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev) L'Amant Double (François Ozon)You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay)The Meyerowitz Stories (Noah Baumbach)The Square (Ruben Östlund)Un Certain REGARDOpening Night: Barbara (Mathieu Amalric)The Desert Bride (Cecilia Atan & Valeria Pivato)Lucky (Sergio Castellitto)Closeness (Kantemir Balagov)Before We Vanish (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)Beauty and the Dogs (Kaouther Ben Hania)L...
COMPETITIONHappy End (Michael Haneke)Wonderstruck (Todd Haynes)Le Redoutable (Michel Hazanavicius)The Beguiled (Sofia Coppola)Rodin (Jaques Doillon)120 Beats Per Minute (Robin Campillo)Okja (Bong Joon-Ho)In The Fade (Fatih Akin)The Day After (Hong Sang-soo)Radiance (Naomi Kawase)The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos)A Gentle Creature (Sergei Loznitsa)Jupiter's Moon (Kornél Mandruczó)Good Time (Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie)Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev) L'Amant Double (François Ozon)You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay)The Meyerowitz Stories (Noah Baumbach)The Square (Ruben Östlund)Un Certain REGARDOpening Night: Barbara (Mathieu Amalric)The Desert Bride (Cecilia Atan & Valeria Pivato)Lucky (Sergio Castellitto)Closeness (Kantemir Balagov)Before We Vanish (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)Beauty and the Dogs (Kaouther Ben Hania)L...
- 4/27/2017
- MUBI
Sophia Coppola, Yorgos Lanthimos, Noah Baumbach, ‘Twin Peaks,’ and more…2017 Official Poster © Bronx (Paris). Photo: Claudia Cardinale © Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche/Getty Images
The official lineup for the 70th Cannes Film Festival, which will run from May 18–28, was announced April 13. While a few more screenings will undoubtably be added as we creep nearer to the festival, the selections announced feature a lot worth getting excited over — including, for the first time, two television shows (Twin Peaks and Top of the Lake) and a virtual reality film (Carne y Arena). Also, considering that The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Beguiled are both in the main competition, there is, assuming equal probability, an 11.1% chance that a film starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell will take home the top prize. Considering
This year, the festival jury will be headed by acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, with French actress Sandrine Kiberlain presiding over the Camera d’Or jury and Romanian...
The official lineup for the 70th Cannes Film Festival, which will run from May 18–28, was announced April 13. While a few more screenings will undoubtably be added as we creep nearer to the festival, the selections announced feature a lot worth getting excited over — including, for the first time, two television shows (Twin Peaks and Top of the Lake) and a virtual reality film (Carne y Arena). Also, considering that The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Beguiled are both in the main competition, there is, assuming equal probability, an 11.1% chance that a film starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell will take home the top prize. Considering
This year, the festival jury will be headed by acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, with French actress Sandrine Kiberlain presiding over the Camera d’Or jury and Romanian...
- 4/15/2017
- by Ciara Wardlow
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The 2017 Cannes official selection is a mix of brainy competition auteurs, red-carpet star power, and the rarest breed — a handful of players who could return to North America as Oscar contenders.
Nicole Kidman will be stuffing her trunks with evening gowns, as she will need to walk the Palais steps at least four times: twice with Colin Farrell, for Cannes favorite Sofia Coppola‘s Civil War potboiler “The Beguiled” (Focus Features) and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” (A24), both in Competition, and again for John Cameron Mitchell‘s midnighter “How to Talk with Girls at Parties” (A24) and a preview of Jane Campion‘s returning Sundance Channel series, “Top of the Lake: China Girl.” How the three films play in Cannes will determine if the Oscar perennial returns for another go-round.
Isabelle Huppert won the Cesar and was close — we think — to winning the Oscar for “Elle.
Nicole Kidman will be stuffing her trunks with evening gowns, as she will need to walk the Palais steps at least four times: twice with Colin Farrell, for Cannes favorite Sofia Coppola‘s Civil War potboiler “The Beguiled” (Focus Features) and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” (A24), both in Competition, and again for John Cameron Mitchell‘s midnighter “How to Talk with Girls at Parties” (A24) and a preview of Jane Campion‘s returning Sundance Channel series, “Top of the Lake: China Girl.” How the three films play in Cannes will determine if the Oscar perennial returns for another go-round.
Isabelle Huppert won the Cesar and was close — we think — to winning the Oscar for “Elle.
- 4/13/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The 2017 Cannes official selection is a mix of brainy competition auteurs, red-carpet star power, and the rarest breed — a handful of players who could return to North America as Oscar contenders.
Nicole Kidman will be stuffing her trunks with evening gowns, as she will need to walk the Palais steps at least four times: twice with Colin Farrell, for Cannes favorite Sofia Coppola‘s Civil War potboiler “The Beguiled” (Focus Features) and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” (A24), both in Competition, and again for John Cameron Mitchell‘s midnighter “How to Talk with Girls at Parties” (A24) and a preview of Jane Campion‘s returning Sundance Channel series, “Top of the Lake: China Girl.”
Isabelle Huppert won the Cesar and was close — we think — to winning the Oscar for “Elle.” She’s back in two movies, “Happy End” (Sony Pictures Classics) by Michael Haneke, rejoining “Amour” co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant,...
Nicole Kidman will be stuffing her trunks with evening gowns, as she will need to walk the Palais steps at least four times: twice with Colin Farrell, for Cannes favorite Sofia Coppola‘s Civil War potboiler “The Beguiled” (Focus Features) and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” (A24), both in Competition, and again for John Cameron Mitchell‘s midnighter “How to Talk with Girls at Parties” (A24) and a preview of Jane Campion‘s returning Sundance Channel series, “Top of the Lake: China Girl.”
Isabelle Huppert won the Cesar and was close — we think — to winning the Oscar for “Elle.” She’s back in two movies, “Happy End” (Sony Pictures Classics) by Michael Haneke, rejoining “Amour” co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant,...
- 4/13/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Author: Scott Davis
As one award season closes another creeps up behind us and we start all over again as the 2017 Cannes Film Festival has announced its eagerly anticipated line-up for the festival which begins in May and as ever it is a diverse and exciting list of talents and films.
There are many incredible treats in store but here are some of our initial picks of what to look out for: Michel Hazanavicius, the director of Oscar Winner The Artist, returns with Redoubtable, his film about legendary filmmaker Jean Luc Godard; Michael Haneke’s latest, Happy End, makes an apperance, as does The Beguiled, the anticipated new film from Sofia Coppola which stars Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, Kirsten Dunst and Colin Farrell. Farrell and Kidman also feature in The Killing of A Sacred Deer, the new film from Yorgos Lanthimas (The Lobster) which also stars Alicia Silverstone.
Acclaimed filmmakers Lynne Ramsey,...
As one award season closes another creeps up behind us and we start all over again as the 2017 Cannes Film Festival has announced its eagerly anticipated line-up for the festival which begins in May and as ever it is a diverse and exciting list of talents and films.
There are many incredible treats in store but here are some of our initial picks of what to look out for: Michel Hazanavicius, the director of Oscar Winner The Artist, returns with Redoubtable, his film about legendary filmmaker Jean Luc Godard; Michael Haneke’s latest, Happy End, makes an apperance, as does The Beguiled, the anticipated new film from Sofia Coppola which stars Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, Kirsten Dunst and Colin Farrell. Farrell and Kidman also feature in The Killing of A Sacred Deer, the new film from Yorgos Lanthimas (The Lobster) which also stars Alicia Silverstone.
Acclaimed filmmakers Lynne Ramsey,...
- 4/13/2017
- by Scott Davis
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Screen’s chief critic and reviews editor Fionnuala Halligan dissects this year’s Competition films.
Welcome to the “huge party” of Cannes 70. If the Official Selection this year is a “lab”, the formula isn’t quite complete - Thierry Fremaux announced 18 films which will compete for the Palme D’Or today, implying that three have yet to arrive (he also hinted that a glaring absence, that of a film from China for the second consecutive year, may yet be rectified; nothing was said however about the absence of a major Hollywood studio thus far).
Read more:
Cannes 2017: Official Selection in full
A total of 1,930 films viewed, the selection process running through to 3am: Cannes 70 will be a “meeting, a vision of the world, and a promise of a better life together”. No small ambition, but the line-up has been warmly greeted by cineastes. Clearly, it isn’t a same-old-names Cannes habitues Competition, although [link=nm...
Welcome to the “huge party” of Cannes 70. If the Official Selection this year is a “lab”, the formula isn’t quite complete - Thierry Fremaux announced 18 films which will compete for the Palme D’Or today, implying that three have yet to arrive (he also hinted that a glaring absence, that of a film from China for the second consecutive year, may yet be rectified; nothing was said however about the absence of a major Hollywood studio thus far).
Read more:
Cannes 2017: Official Selection in full
A total of 1,930 films viewed, the selection process running through to 3am: Cannes 70 will be a “meeting, a vision of the world, and a promise of a better life together”. No small ambition, but the line-up has been warmly greeted by cineastes. Clearly, it isn’t a same-old-names Cannes habitues Competition, although [link=nm...
- 4/13/2017
- by finn.halligan@screendaily.com (Fionnuala Halligan)
- ScreenDaily
Every year, cinephiles wake up early to catch the announcement direct from France of the films playing at the Cannes Film Festival. For the 70th Cannes Film Festival taking place this May they've revealed a fascinating selection of films premiering. The selection includes new features from Todd Haynes, Michael Haneke, Sofia Coppola, two new films from Hong Sangsoo, François Ozon, Lynne Ramsay, Noah Baumbach, Bong Joon-ho, Takashi Miike, and Yorgos Lanthimos. I'm most excited to see Okja, the new creature feature from Bong Joon-ho, as well as John Cameron Mitchell's How to Talk to Girls At Parties. And of course it's all about discovering and experiencing whatever Thierry Frémaux has decided to play. Full list found below. Here's the complete selection of 2017 films directly from Cannes, including the director for easy reference. Competition (18 Films): 120 Beats Per Minute - dir. Robin Campillo The Beguiled - dir. Sofia Coppola The Day After - dir.
- 4/13/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The line-up for our most-anticipated cinema-related event of the year is here. With a jury headed up by Pedro Almodóvar, who came to the festival last year with Julieta, the slate for the 70th Cannes Film Festival has been unveiled live. Kicking off with Arnaud Desplechin‘s Marion Cotillard-led Ismael’s Ghosts, there’s new films from Lynne Ramsay, Yorgos Lanthimos, Todd Haynes, Michael Haneke, Sofia Coppola, Hong Sang-soo (x 2!), Bong Joon-ho, Noah Baumbach, the Safdies, the final work from Abbas Kiarostami, and much more. Check out the full line-up below.
Competition
Loveless – Andrey Zvyagintsev
Good Time – Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie
You Were Never Really Here – Lynne Ramsay
A Gentle Creature – Sergei Loznitsa
Jupiter’s Moon – Kornél Mundruczó
L’Amant Double – François Ozon
The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Yorgos Lanthimos
Radiance – Naomi Kawase
The Day After – Hong Sang-soo
Le Redoutable – Michel Hazanavicius
Wonderstruck – Todd Haynes
Rodin – Jacques Doillon...
Competition
Loveless – Andrey Zvyagintsev
Good Time – Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie
You Were Never Really Here – Lynne Ramsay
A Gentle Creature – Sergei Loznitsa
Jupiter’s Moon – Kornél Mundruczó
L’Amant Double – François Ozon
The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Yorgos Lanthimos
Radiance – Naomi Kawase
The Day After – Hong Sang-soo
Le Redoutable – Michel Hazanavicius
Wonderstruck – Todd Haynes
Rodin – Jacques Doillon...
- 4/13/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Cannes Film Festival has announced its lineup for the 70th edition, following its tradition of unveiling every competition film (along with Un Certain Regard titles and other assorted offerings) in a morning press conference taking place at 5 a.m. Est.
“Since every day we have another move from Donald Trump, I hope North Korea and Syria won’t cast a shadow on the 70th edition,” said journalist Pierre Lescure before the announcement.
See More17 Shocks and Surprises from the 2017 Cannes Lineup, From ‘Twin Peaks’ to Netflix and Vr
This year’s festival features 49 films from 29 countries, including nine feature debuts and 12 women directors.
Check out the full lineup below (refresh for latest updates):
Opening Night Film
“Ismael’s Ghost” directed by Arnaud Desplechin
Competition
“The Day After” directed by Hong Sangsoo
“Loveless” directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
“Good Time” directed by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie
“You Were Never Really Here...
“Since every day we have another move from Donald Trump, I hope North Korea and Syria won’t cast a shadow on the 70th edition,” said journalist Pierre Lescure before the announcement.
See More17 Shocks and Surprises from the 2017 Cannes Lineup, From ‘Twin Peaks’ to Netflix and Vr
This year’s festival features 49 films from 29 countries, including nine feature debuts and 12 women directors.
Check out the full lineup below (refresh for latest updates):
Opening Night Film
“Ismael’s Ghost” directed by Arnaud Desplechin
Competition
“The Day After” directed by Hong Sangsoo
“Loveless” directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev
“Good Time” directed by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie
“You Were Never Really Here...
- 4/13/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
All you need to know about Cannes 2017 line-up announcement.Scroll down for the line-up
The films chosen for the Cannes Official Selection will be announced on April 13 at 11am Cet (10am GMT).
Festival President Pierre Lescure and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux will reveal the line-up at a press conference, which you can watch below (or on mobile Here).
The 70th Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to run from May 17-28. The films as they are announced are below:
Competition
Wonderstruck, Todd Haynes
Le Redoutable, Michel Hazanavicius
Geu-Hu (The Day After), Hong Sangsoo
Hikari (Radiance), Naomi Kawase
The Killing Of The Sacred Deer, Yorgos Lanthimos
A Gentle Creature, Sergei Loznitsa
Jupiter’s Moon, Kornél Mundruczó
L’amant Double, François Ozon
You Were Never Really Here, Lynne Ramsay
Good Time, Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie
Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev
The Meyerowitz Stories, Noah Baumbach
Ismael’s Ghosts, Arnaud Desplechin (opening film)
In The Fade, Fatih Akin
[link...
The films chosen for the Cannes Official Selection will be announced on April 13 at 11am Cet (10am GMT).
Festival President Pierre Lescure and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux will reveal the line-up at a press conference, which you can watch below (or on mobile Here).
The 70th Cannes Film Festival is scheduled to run from May 17-28. The films as they are announced are below:
Competition
Wonderstruck, Todd Haynes
Le Redoutable, Michel Hazanavicius
Geu-Hu (The Day After), Hong Sangsoo
Hikari (Radiance), Naomi Kawase
The Killing Of The Sacred Deer, Yorgos Lanthimos
A Gentle Creature, Sergei Loznitsa
Jupiter’s Moon, Kornél Mundruczó
L’amant Double, François Ozon
You Were Never Really Here, Lynne Ramsay
Good Time, Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie
Loveless, Andrey Zvyagintsev
The Meyerowitz Stories, Noah Baumbach
Ismael’s Ghosts, Arnaud Desplechin (opening film)
In The Fade, Fatih Akin
[link...
- 4/12/2017
- ScreenDaily
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