Israel’s largest film fund, the Rabinovitz Foundation’s Israel Cinema Project, has bowed to pressure from the country’s director’s guild to drop a requirement that filmmakers submitting projects for funding agree to what has been termed a “loyalty pledge” that their films does not “harm the good name of the State of Israel.”
The clause has been part of funding agreements from the Israel Cinema Project since 2017 and refers to a 2011 amendment to Israeli legislation called the “foundations of the budget law.” The law gives Israel’s finance ministry the authority to cut state funding for an institution if it supports activities judged to deny the “existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,” that mark “[Israeli] Independence Day or the day of the establishment of the state as a day of mourning” or that “harm the honor of the country’s flag” among other criteria.
The clause has been part of funding agreements from the Israel Cinema Project since 2017 and refers to a 2011 amendment to Israeli legislation called the “foundations of the budget law.” The law gives Israel’s finance ministry the authority to cut state funding for an institution if it supports activities judged to deny the “existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,” that mark “[Israeli] Independence Day or the day of the establishment of the state as a day of mourning” or that “harm the honor of the country’s flag” among other criteria.
- 3/8/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Art
1341 Frames of Love and War (Yes Docu)
In celebrating the work of acclaimed Israeli war photographer Micha Bar-Am, director Ran Tal’s 1341 Frames of Love and War offers a meditation on photography, political violence and identity through an exclusive (and exhaustive) deep dive into Bar-Am’s expansive artistic archives over the past five decades.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Neon)
Laura Poitras (an Oscar winner for 2014’s Citizenfour) directs this portrait of renowned photographer Nan Goldin, one that offers intimate access to her suburban upbringing and experiences living among marginalized communities and artistic scenes in New York City. It also depicts the downfall of the Sackler family, a target of Goldin’s activism and whose company Purdue Pharma created and marketed OxyContin — the root cause of the American opioid epidemic.
Art & Krimes by Krimes (MTV Documentary Films)
While serving a six-year prison sentence for drug possession,...
Art
1341 Frames of Love and War (Yes Docu)
In celebrating the work of acclaimed Israeli war photographer Micha Bar-Am, director Ran Tal’s 1341 Frames of Love and War offers a meditation on photography, political violence and identity through an exclusive (and exhaustive) deep dive into Bar-Am’s expansive artistic archives over the past five decades.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Neon)
Laura Poitras (an Oscar winner for 2014’s Citizenfour) directs this portrait of renowned photographer Nan Goldin, one that offers intimate access to her suburban upbringing and experiences living among marginalized communities and artistic scenes in New York City. It also depicts the downfall of the Sackler family, a target of Goldin’s activism and whose company Purdue Pharma created and marketed OxyContin — the root cause of the American opioid epidemic.
Art & Krimes by Krimes (MTV Documentary Films)
While serving a six-year prison sentence for drug possession,...
- 12/8/2022
- by Tyler Coates, Beatrice Verhoeven and Hilton Dresden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field star in ’80 For Brady’ from Paramount Pictures.
The world premiere of 80 for Brady starring Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin will open the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Festival on Friday, January 6, 2023, and The Lost King from director Stephen Frears will close the festival on Sunday, January 15th. In between, Psiff will screen 132 films including the world premiere of the documentary Shot in the Arm.
“We are beyond excited to welcome back our beloved audience and filmmakers in Palm Springs. We’re especially thrilled to be joined by all four leads of 80 For Brady. The film is brimming with joy and heart, and it’s a perfect film to kick off our 34th edition,” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez. “Our programmers have dedicated almost a year to scouting the world for the films that make up this edition.
The world premiere of 80 for Brady starring Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin will open the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Festival on Friday, January 6, 2023, and The Lost King from director Stephen Frears will close the festival on Sunday, January 15th. In between, Psiff will screen 132 films including the world premiere of the documentary Shot in the Arm.
“We are beyond excited to welcome back our beloved audience and filmmakers in Palm Springs. We’re especially thrilled to be joined by all four leads of 80 For Brady. The film is brimming with joy and heart, and it’s a perfect film to kick off our 34th edition,” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez. “Our programmers have dedicated almost a year to scouting the world for the films that make up this edition.
- 12/6/2022
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Philippe Le Guay’s “The Man in the Basement” scooped the top prize at the U.K. Jewish Film Festival on Sunday evening.
The 2021 film, which stars François Cluzet, Jérémie Renier and Bérénice Bejo, was awarded the prize for best film.
Runner-up “Karaoke,” from director Moshe Rosenthal, which had opened the festival earlier this month, was given a special mention.
The best film winner was selected by a jury comprised of “Made of Honor” director Paul Weiland, Kefi Chadwick, Liraz Chamami, producer Dominique Green, Sharon Levi and Michael Samuels.
“The jury was impressed by this tense thriller, with its strong performances and direction, and bristling with symbolism that intelligently explores France’s hidden history and contemporary issues around antisemitism,” they said in a statement. “‘The Man in the Basement’ confronts Jewish identity, Holocaust denial and attitudes to France’s Jewish minority, but yet the film still works effectively as compelling and suspenseful storytelling.
The 2021 film, which stars François Cluzet, Jérémie Renier and Bérénice Bejo, was awarded the prize for best film.
Runner-up “Karaoke,” from director Moshe Rosenthal, which had opened the festival earlier this month, was given a special mention.
The best film winner was selected by a jury comprised of “Made of Honor” director Paul Weiland, Kefi Chadwick, Liraz Chamami, producer Dominique Green, Sharon Levi and Michael Samuels.
“The jury was impressed by this tense thriller, with its strong performances and direction, and bristling with symbolism that intelligently explores France’s hidden history and contemporary issues around antisemitism,” they said in a statement. “‘The Man in the Basement’ confronts Jewish identity, Holocaust denial and attitudes to France’s Jewish minority, but yet the film still works effectively as compelling and suspenseful storytelling.
- 11/20/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
A handful of awards season frontrunners is starting to emerge with the announcement today of the IDA Documentary Awards Shortlists.
All That Breathes, directed by Shaunak Sen, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, from Laura Poitras, and The Territory, from Alex Pritz, made the 25-film shortlist of features, a day after securing nominations for the Gotham Awards. Three other strong contenders – Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love, Brett Morgen’s David Bowie doc Moonage Daydream, and Daniel Roher’s Navalny also made the IDA shortlist. See the complete features and shorts shortlists below.
‘Fire of Love’
The shortlisted films will be culled to a maximum of 10 nominees for Best Documentary Feature and 10 max for Best Short Documentary. Nominees in those and a variety of additional categories – including Best Director,...
All That Breathes, directed by Shaunak Sen, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, from Laura Poitras, and The Territory, from Alex Pritz, made the 25-film shortlist of features, a day after securing nominations for the Gotham Awards. Three other strong contenders – Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love, Brett Morgen’s David Bowie doc Moonage Daydream, and Daniel Roher’s Navalny also made the IDA shortlist. See the complete features and shorts shortlists below.
‘Fire of Love’
The shortlisted films will be culled to a maximum of 10 nominees for Best Documentary Feature and 10 max for Best Short Documentary. Nominees in those and a variety of additional categories – including Best Director,...
- 10/26/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
More than 250 of Israel’s top filmmakers have signed an open letter, saying they will not seek funding from, nor cooperate with the recently–established Shomron (Samaria/West Bank) Film Fund, following the fund’s inaugural film festival in the occupied West Bank.
The filmmakers call on the Israeli Academy of Film and Television not to partake in “whitewashing the Occupation” ahead of the Ophir Awards — Israel’s Academy Awards — later this month. Read the full text of the letter below.
Among the signatories are multiple Academy Award winners and nominees. They have signed a public letter in which they state that they will not receive grants and will not participate in “lectura” (selection of films for development and production) or in professional events held by the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund. The goal of the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund, write the filmmakers, is “to invite Israeli filmmakers to actively participate...
The filmmakers call on the Israeli Academy of Film and Television not to partake in “whitewashing the Occupation” ahead of the Ophir Awards — Israel’s Academy Awards — later this month. Read the full text of the letter below.
Among the signatories are multiple Academy Award winners and nominees. They have signed a public letter in which they state that they will not receive grants and will not participate in “lectura” (selection of films for development and production) or in professional events held by the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund. The goal of the Shomron (Samaria) Film Fund, write the filmmakers, is “to invite Israeli filmmakers to actively participate...
- 9/3/2022
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Ran Tal’s moving documentary “1341 Frames of Love and War” has won three key awards at DocAviv and been sold to seven territories by sales company Reservoir Docs.
Tal took home the best director prize while Nilli Feller snagged the editor award. In addition, the doc won the Kedar Foundation Award for a film inspired by Israel’s history and society, which includes a 15,000 cash prize.
Since its world premiere at the Berlinale Special sidebar of the Berlin Film Festival, Reservoir Docs, which handles world sales excluding North America, Israel, Greece and Portugal, has sold the doc to several territories, including Non Stop (Nordic), Tanweer Films (Greece) and Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais (Portugal).
A collage of stills taken by Israel’s most renowned war photographer Micha Bar-Am, the doc is produced by Tal and Sarig Peker. Made up almost entirely of archival images taken by Bar-Am over five decades, the doc...
Tal took home the best director prize while Nilli Feller snagged the editor award. In addition, the doc won the Kedar Foundation Award for a film inspired by Israel’s history and society, which includes a 15,000 cash prize.
Since its world premiere at the Berlinale Special sidebar of the Berlin Film Festival, Reservoir Docs, which handles world sales excluding North America, Israel, Greece and Portugal, has sold the doc to several territories, including Non Stop (Nordic), Tanweer Films (Greece) and Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais (Portugal).
A collage of stills taken by Israel’s most renowned war photographer Micha Bar-Am, the doc is produced by Tal and Sarig Peker. Made up almost entirely of archival images taken by Bar-Am over five decades, the doc...
- 6/9/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
The documentary festival will include 38 world premieres.
The UK’s Sheffield DocFest (June 23-28) has unveiled its 2022 line-up, including the world premiere of Werner Herzog’s The Fire Within: Requiem For Katia And Maurice Krafft.
The documentary festival will host 38 world premieres, 22 international premieres and 11 European premieres.
The Fire Within, which is written, narrated and directed by Herzog, will feature in DocFest’s Memories strand. It chronicles the French volcanologists who died in a volcanic eruption on Japan’s Mount Uzen in 1991, leaving an archive of more than 200 hours of footage that makes up the film.
Herzog previously explored the...
The UK’s Sheffield DocFest (June 23-28) has unveiled its 2022 line-up, including the world premiere of Werner Herzog’s The Fire Within: Requiem For Katia And Maurice Krafft.
The documentary festival will host 38 world premieres, 22 international premieres and 11 European premieres.
The Fire Within, which is written, narrated and directed by Herzog, will feature in DocFest’s Memories strand. It chronicles the French volcanologists who died in a volcanic eruption on Japan’s Mount Uzen in 1991, leaving an archive of more than 200 hours of footage that makes up the film.
Herzog previously explored the...
- 5/31/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
“Samuel’s Travels,” directed by Latvian/Armenian filmmaker Aik Karapetian, has been acquired by HBO Central Europe. The deal was signed by the Copenhagen-based LevelK, who picked up international sales rights on the film in September, according to Film New Europe.
The acquisition by HBO Central Europe, with a license period set to start in the autumn, will cover Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
“Samuels Travels,” a darkly humorous story of a lone traveller’s journey gone terribly wrong, is Karapetian’s fourth feature film. The leading roles are played by Belgian actor Kevin Janssens and Latvian actress Laura Siliņa, among a largely Latvian cast.
The film was produced by Mistrus Media of Latvia in coproduction with Polar Bear of Belgium, and it was funded by the National Film Center of Latvia, the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia,...
The acquisition by HBO Central Europe, with a license period set to start in the autumn, will cover Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
“Samuels Travels,” a darkly humorous story of a lone traveller’s journey gone terribly wrong, is Karapetian’s fourth feature film. The leading roles are played by Belgian actor Kevin Janssens and Latvian actress Laura Siliņa, among a largely Latvian cast.
The film was produced by Mistrus Media of Latvia in coproduction with Polar Bear of Belgium, and it was funded by the National Film Center of Latvia, the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia,...
- 4/27/2022
- by Kristine Simsone
- Variety Film + TV
MGM Worldwide Television Distribution has boarded “The Devil Speaks – Eichmann’s Lost Confession,” a riveting documentary revealing a long-hidden, bombshell interview conducted by a Nazi journalist with Adolf Eichmann in Argentina.
Produced by Israel’s leading outfit Tadmor Entertainment and Steve Stark’s Toluca Pictures, “The Devil Speaks – Eichmann’s Lost Confession” will world premiere on opening night of Docaviv, the Tel Aviv-based documentary film festival, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Eichmann trial.
Yariv Mozer, a well-respected investigative documentary filmmakers whose credits include “Ben-Gurion, Epilogue,” was able to track down the original recording reels which had mysteriously disappeared for several decades. In the interview, Eichmann speaks candidly about his operational role during the holocaust, therefore contradicting the claims he made during his trial that was just a bureaucrat who fulfilled orders. The documentary also sheds light on the hidden motives that acted to conceal these recordings.
“The...
Produced by Israel’s leading outfit Tadmor Entertainment and Steve Stark’s Toluca Pictures, “The Devil Speaks – Eichmann’s Lost Confession” will world premiere on opening night of Docaviv, the Tel Aviv-based documentary film festival, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Eichmann trial.
Yariv Mozer, a well-respected investigative documentary filmmakers whose credits include “Ben-Gurion, Epilogue,” was able to track down the original recording reels which had mysteriously disappeared for several decades. In the interview, Eichmann speaks candidly about his operational role during the holocaust, therefore contradicting the claims he made during his trial that was just a bureaucrat who fulfilled orders. The documentary also sheds light on the hidden motives that acted to conceal these recordings.
“The...
- 4/6/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Ahead of Sunday’s world premiere of documentary “1341 Frames of Love and War,” which plays in Berlinale Special, Variety spoke to the film’s writer-director Ran Tal, and Israeli war photographer Micha Bar-Am, who is the subject of the film.
In some ways “Frames” continues Tal’s interest in Israeli history evident in his previous work, “What If? Ehud Barak on War and Peace,” which centered on the former prime minister of Israel. Bar-Am was born in Berlin in 1930, but grew up in what became Israel, and across a five decade-long career as a photographer he documented many of the major episodes – in particular the wars – in the life of the young country, founded in 1948.
“I wanted to do two films: one about a player in history […] and the second one should be about the witness,” Tal says. The filmmaker got in touch with Bar-Am, who showed him his archive...
In some ways “Frames” continues Tal’s interest in Israeli history evident in his previous work, “What If? Ehud Barak on War and Peace,” which centered on the former prime minister of Israel. Bar-Am was born in Berlin in 1930, but grew up in what became Israel, and across a five decade-long career as a photographer he documented many of the major episodes – in particular the wars – in the life of the young country, founded in 1948.
“I wanted to do two films: one about a player in history […] and the second one should be about the witness,” Tal says. The filmmaker got in touch with Bar-Am, who showed him his archive...
- 2/13/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
“1341 Frames of Love and War,” which world premieres in the Berlinale Special section of the Berlin Film Festival, has debuted its trailer with Variety. World sales are being handled by Reservoir Docs, excluding North America, Israel, Greece and Portugal, which are being sold by the filmmakers.
The film is a documentary portrait of one of the world’s leading war photographers, Israel’s Micha Bar-Am. It is written and directed by Israeli filmmaker Ran Tal. The producers are Sarig Peker and Tal.
Born in Berlin in 1930, Bar-Am found his lifelong career as a new immigrant in Israel in the early 1950s. His photographs depict diverse images of the struggles of a new nation and its ongoing wars and conflicts and much more, including personal images of his family in the most private moments.
The events and wars he doggedly pursued with his Leica camera have become internationally known, iconic images.
The film is a documentary portrait of one of the world’s leading war photographers, Israel’s Micha Bar-Am. It is written and directed by Israeli filmmaker Ran Tal. The producers are Sarig Peker and Tal.
Born in Berlin in 1930, Bar-Am found his lifelong career as a new immigrant in Israel in the early 1950s. His photographs depict diverse images of the struggles of a new nation and its ongoing wars and conflicts and much more, including personal images of his family in the most private moments.
The events and wars he doggedly pursued with his Leica camera have become internationally known, iconic images.
- 2/7/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Films by auteurs Claire Denis, Hong Sangsoo and Rithy Panh are part of the lineup in competition at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival.
Berlin’s 2022 selection spans 18 movies, seven directed by women, which will compete for the Golden and Silver Bears. The films originate from 15 countries, with 17 serving as world premieres. Two of the films are first features, both from women.
Artistic director Carlo Chatrian discussed the thematic throughline of “human and emotional bonds” across the selection, with the family unit serving as a key focal point in a number of movies. More than half are set in the present time, and two are within the pandemic era.
The festival hosts 12 returning filmmakers, eight of whom are in competition and five of whom already hold a Bear from Berlin.
The festival will go ahead as an in-person event, albeit with seating capacity in movie theaters reduced to 50% and without any parties or receptions.
Berlin’s 2022 selection spans 18 movies, seven directed by women, which will compete for the Golden and Silver Bears. The films originate from 15 countries, with 17 serving as world premieres. Two of the films are first features, both from women.
Artistic director Carlo Chatrian discussed the thematic throughline of “human and emotional bonds” across the selection, with the family unit serving as a key focal point in a number of movies. More than half are set in the present time, and two are within the pandemic era.
The festival hosts 12 returning filmmakers, eight of whom are in competition and five of whom already hold a Bear from Berlin.
The festival will go ahead as an in-person event, albeit with seating capacity in movie theaters reduced to 50% and without any parties or receptions.
- 1/19/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
PoetBerlinale have announced the first 62 titles selected for the 72nd edition of their festival, set to take place physically from February 10 — 20.FORUMAfterwater (Dane Komljen)Poet (Darezhan Omirbayev)The Middle AgesEurope (Philip Scheffner)A Flower in the Mouth (Éric Baudelaire)Memoryland (Kim Quy Bui)My Two Voices (Lina Rodriguez)Nuclear Family (Erin Wilkerson, Travis Wilkerson)Super Natural (Jorge Jácome)The United States of America (James Benning)Forum EXPANDEDDragon Tooth (Rafael Castanheira Parrode)Home When You Return (Carl Elsaesser)Jail Bird in a Peacock Chair (James Gregory Atkinson)Sol in the Dark (Mawena Yehouessi)vs (Lydia Nsiah)PANORAMATalking About the Weather (Annika Pinske)The Apartment with Two Women (Kim Se-in)Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (Nina Menkes)Swing Ride (Chiara Bellosi)Dreaming WallsKlondike (Maryna Er Gorbach)A Love Song (Max Walker-Silverman)Myanmar Diaries (The Myanmar Film Collective)Into My Name (Nicolò Bassetti)Nelly & Nadine (Magnus Gertten)We, Students! (Rafiki Fariala)Until Tomorrow (Ali Asgari...
- 12/15/2021
- MUBI
The 2022 Berlin International Film Festival has revealed its first titles, including seven films that have been invited to the Berlinale Special program. You can see the full list of confirmed films below.
Those seven include Peter Flinth’s Against The Ice, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole, Heida Reed and Charles Dance, and Laurent Larivière’s About Joan, starring Isabelle Huppert, which both play as Berlinale Special Galas.
The Panorama program has unveiled 13 titles, with Generation confirming eight features, and further films set for Forum and Forum Expanded.
The Panorama strand includes Myanmar Diaries, a doc/feature hybrid from the Myanmar Film Collective that highlights violence suffered by Burmese citizens.
“The pandemic has created distances – not only between people but also the way we see the world. Amongst the 2022 selection are films shot during the pandemic, reflecting on how it feels to be disconnected from others. It is with this first...
Those seven include Peter Flinth’s Against The Ice, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole, Heida Reed and Charles Dance, and Laurent Larivière’s About Joan, starring Isabelle Huppert, which both play as Berlinale Special Galas.
The Panorama program has unveiled 13 titles, with Generation confirming eight features, and further films set for Forum and Forum Expanded.
The Panorama strand includes Myanmar Diaries, a doc/feature hybrid from the Myanmar Film Collective that highlights violence suffered by Burmese citizens.
“The pandemic has created distances – not only between people but also the way we see the world. Amongst the 2022 selection are films shot during the pandemic, reflecting on how it feels to be disconnected from others. It is with this first...
- 12/15/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
The Jewish Film Institute has selected six projects for its second cycle of Completion Grants Program, Variety has learned.
Jfi, the Bay Area curatorial voice for Jewish film and media, announced the grants at the virtual awards ceremony for the 41st San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
This year, Jfi has awarded $100,000 in film completion grants, ranging from $5,000 to $30,000, to filmmakers who are expanding and evolving the Jewish story for audiences “everywhere in every genre — narrative, documentary, short, episodic program and web series.”
Recipients include “Remember This,” “1341 Frames of Love and War,” “The Liegnitz Plot,” “Sons of Detroit,” “A Reel War: Shalaal” and “I Will Take Your Shadow.”
Directed by Jeff Hutchens and Derek Goldman, “Remember This” stars David Strathairn as Jan Karski in a true story of a reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witness.
Ran Tal’s “1341 Frames of Love and War” documentary follows Israel’s celebrated war photographer,...
Jfi, the Bay Area curatorial voice for Jewish film and media, announced the grants at the virtual awards ceremony for the 41st San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
This year, Jfi has awarded $100,000 in film completion grants, ranging from $5,000 to $30,000, to filmmakers who are expanding and evolving the Jewish story for audiences “everywhere in every genre — narrative, documentary, short, episodic program and web series.”
Recipients include “Remember This,” “1341 Frames of Love and War,” “The Liegnitz Plot,” “Sons of Detroit,” “A Reel War: Shalaal” and “I Will Take Your Shadow.”
Directed by Jeff Hutchens and Derek Goldman, “Remember This” stars David Strathairn as Jan Karski in a true story of a reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witness.
Ran Tal’s “1341 Frames of Love and War” documentary follows Israel’s celebrated war photographer,...
- 8/2/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Festival selects 12 titles for second edition of competitive strand.
Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, the Safdie Brothers’ Good Time, and François Ozon’s Amant Double (The Double Lover) all of which played in competition at Cannes, have been selected for this year’s international competition at the Jerusalem Film Festival (July 13-17).
Returning for a second time after launching in 2016, the festival’s international competition has picked a total of 12 titles and will again award a prize of $20,000 to the winning film.
Joining the aforementioned are: Hong Sang-soo’s On The Beach At Night Alone, Cãlin Peter Netzer’s Ana, Mon Amour, Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß’s My Happy Family, Ferenc Török’s 1945, Valeska Grisebach’s Western, Fellipe Barbosa’s Gabriel And The Mountain, Mohammad Rasoulof’s A Man Of Integrity, Stéphane Brizé’s A Woman’s Life, and Lav Diaz’s The Woman Who Left.
As previously announced, the festival...
Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, the Safdie Brothers’ Good Time, and François Ozon’s Amant Double (The Double Lover) all of which played in competition at Cannes, have been selected for this year’s international competition at the Jerusalem Film Festival (July 13-17).
Returning for a second time after launching in 2016, the festival’s international competition has picked a total of 12 titles and will again award a prize of $20,000 to the winning film.
Joining the aforementioned are: Hong Sang-soo’s On The Beach At Night Alone, Cãlin Peter Netzer’s Ana, Mon Amour, Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß’s My Happy Family, Ferenc Török’s 1945, Valeska Grisebach’s Western, Fellipe Barbosa’s Gabriel And The Mountain, Mohammad Rasoulof’s A Man Of Integrity, Stéphane Brizé’s A Woman’s Life, and Lav Diaz’s The Woman Who Left.
As previously announced, the festival...
- 6/28/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
TORONTO -- As the Toronto International Film Festival gets underway, upstart Canadian distributor Maximum Films on Thursday said it has signed a pact with Fortissimo Films that will see its films sold in Asia in return for releasing Fortissimo titles in Canada.
The two-year agreement will see Maximum -- launched in August by veteran producer Robert Lantos -- acquire the Canadian distribution rights to Fortissimo's lineup. The deal will kick off with Alexi Tan's "Blood Brothers", Australian director Peter Duncan's "Unfinished Sky", German filmmaker Jan Schuette's "Love Come Lately" and the Ran Tal documentary "Children of the Sun".
In turn, Amsterdam- and Hong Kong-based Fortissimo will shop Maximum titles in Asia, including Toronto opener "Fugitive Pieces" from Jeremy Podeswa, Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg" and Atom Egoyan's "Adoration".
The deal helps strengthen weak spots for both parties.
Fortissimo co-chairman Michael Werner said his company has traditionally relied on U.S. distributors to sub-license its titles to Canadian distributors. The Maximum deal, he said, will give Fortissimo more control in the market during a period of growth.
The two-year agreement will see Maximum -- launched in August by veteran producer Robert Lantos -- acquire the Canadian distribution rights to Fortissimo's lineup. The deal will kick off with Alexi Tan's "Blood Brothers", Australian director Peter Duncan's "Unfinished Sky", German filmmaker Jan Schuette's "Love Come Lately" and the Ran Tal documentary "Children of the Sun".
In turn, Amsterdam- and Hong Kong-based Fortissimo will shop Maximum titles in Asia, including Toronto opener "Fugitive Pieces" from Jeremy Podeswa, Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg" and Atom Egoyan's "Adoration".
The deal helps strengthen weak spots for both parties.
Fortissimo co-chairman Michael Werner said his company has traditionally relied on U.S. distributors to sub-license its titles to Canadian distributors. The Maximum deal, he said, will give Fortissimo more control in the market during a period of growth.
Related story: Three at fest headed to IFC
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TORONTO -- The Toronto International Film Festival on Wednesday unveiled its most American-friendly lineup in years, capped off with new titles from Renny Harlin, Paul Schrader and Robin Swicord.
Toronto boasts no official competition. But the Hollywood contingent booked for the twice-nightly gala screenings at Roy Thomson Hall looks set to turn the high-profile venue into an industry shindig.
Among the six new gala titles are Harlin's "Cleaner", a Sony Pictures Entertainment thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson as a cop-turned-crime scene cleaner; the Richard Attenborough-directed love story "Closing the Ring", starring Shirley MacLaine, Mischa Barton and Neve Campbell; and Schrader's "The Walker", a ThinkFilm release starring Woody Harrelson and Lauren Bacall that comes to Toronto by way of Berlin, Cannes and Sydney.
Also joining the Roy Thomson Hall party are two Sony Pictures Classics releases: Kenneth Branagh's Michael Caine-Jude Law starrer "Sleuth", which first bowed in Venice, and Swicord's "The Jane Austen Book Club", starring Jimmy Smits, Amy Brenneman and Maria Bello. Also booked for a gala is French director Alain Corneau's "Le Deuxieme Souffle", starring Daniel Auteuil and Monica Bellucci.
Those titles join such earlier Roy Thomson Hall entries as Julie Taymor's "Across the Universe", Woody Allen's "Cassandra's Dream", Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton", Gavin Hood's "Rendition", Terry George's "Reservation Road" and Aristomenis Tsirbas' "Terra".
Toronto, which in recent years has stepped up efforts to make its festival more Hollywood friendly, also has included 28 U.S.-produced films in its 50-strong Special Presentations sidebar.
The latest Special Presentations titles include the Michael Moore documentary "Captain Mike Across America", Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," Melisa Wallack and Bernie Goldmann's "Bill", Gillian Armstrong's "Death Defying Acts" and Jason Reitman's "Juno", the follow-up to "Thank You for Smoking", which was a Toronto festival breakout hit two years ago.
Also joining today are the latest works from Jonathan Demme, Alison Eastwood, Brian De Palma, Thomas McCarthy and Anand Tucker.
Toronto will unspool 352 films between Sept. 6 and 15 -- 261 features and 91 shorts. The lineup includes 101 world premieres and 108 North American premieres, many of which will bow in Venice before jumping the pond to Toronto. In addition, 71 of the films are directorial debuts.
The festival lineup promises a strong French contingent, including a dozen titles arriving in Toronto with U.S. distribution deals in hand.
High-profile French titles looking for U.S. distribution include Amos Gitai's "Disengagement", Claude Chabrol's "La Fille Coupee En Deux", which will bow in Venice, and Eric Rohmer's "Les Amours D'Astreet et De Celadon," another North American premiere by way of Venice.
John Kochman, executive director of Unifrance USA, said the strong French presence in Toronto is due primarily to festival co-directors Piers Handling and Noah Cowan remaining "unreconstructed Francophiles" eager to program French titles in their event.
Other new titles announced Wednesday include Wayne Wang's "The Princess of Nebraska" and "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers," both portraits of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. Wang will bring the two indie titles films to the festival's Masters program.
Toronto added eight more documentaries to its Real to Reel section, including films by Paul Crowder and Murray Lerner, Olga Konskaya and Andrea Nekrasov, Julian Schnabel, Ran Tal, Philippe Kholy and Grant Gee.
In addition, the previously announced "Body of War", co-directed by Ellen Spiro and talk show legend Phil Donahue, will see its premiere accompanied by a live performance by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, who wrote original songs for the Iraq documentary.
The festival has its usual complement of films about war and political protest that, according to festival co-director Noah Cowan, reflect a "seriousness of purpose and a real sense of drive to tell political stories."
"In many ways, the body of films recalls the American independent movie of the 1970s," he added.
American auteur films including Alan Ball's "Nothing Is Private", a drama about sexual politics and bigotry set against the backdrop of the 1991 Gulf War, De Palma's war drama "Redacted" and Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" reflect anti-war "provocation," Cowan said.
Toronto's lineup also includes a surprising number of crime-themed dramas, including Alexi Tan's "Blood Brothers", a drama about three friends taking on a life of big-city crime; Comeau's fugitive drama "Le Deuxieme Souffle"; Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," a thriller about a botched robbery; Brad Furman's "The Take", about the aftermath of an armored car heist; and Ira Sachs' "Married Life", a drama about a husband who kills his wife to spare her the shame of divorce.
Cowan said that the crime-themed movies this year recall the '70s-era vigilante movies that coincided with Vietnam.
"When the U.S. is faced with wars that are frustrating in their inability to be totally understood, that comes out in their films," Toronto's top programr said.
"Just as the 1970s, there's films that reflect paranoia about government and police corruption and which come from a frustration and rage about what's happening in the world," he added.
Other Toronto highlights announced Wednesday include talks by President Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, an update on Bill Maher and Larry Charles' anti-religion documentary and a briefing on the ongoing crisis in Darfur courtesy of International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and Don Cheadle.
Toronto is set to open Sept. 6 with Jeremy Podeswa's "Fugitive Pieces" and close 10 days later with another Canadian film, Paolo Barzman's "Emotional Arithmetic".
A complete list of titles screening at Toronto follows:
Galas:
"Across the Universe", Julie Taymor, U.S.
"L'Age Des Tenebres", Denys Arcand, Canada
"Blood Brothers", Alexi Tan, Taiwan/China/Hong Kong
"Caramel", Nadine Labaki, Lebanon/France
"Cassandra's Dream", Woody Allen, Britain
"Cleaner", Renny Harlin, U.S.
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TORONTO -- The Toronto International Film Festival on Wednesday unveiled its most American-friendly lineup in years, capped off with new titles from Renny Harlin, Paul Schrader and Robin Swicord.
Toronto boasts no official competition. But the Hollywood contingent booked for the twice-nightly gala screenings at Roy Thomson Hall looks set to turn the high-profile venue into an industry shindig.
Among the six new gala titles are Harlin's "Cleaner", a Sony Pictures Entertainment thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson as a cop-turned-crime scene cleaner; the Richard Attenborough-directed love story "Closing the Ring", starring Shirley MacLaine, Mischa Barton and Neve Campbell; and Schrader's "The Walker", a ThinkFilm release starring Woody Harrelson and Lauren Bacall that comes to Toronto by way of Berlin, Cannes and Sydney.
Also joining the Roy Thomson Hall party are two Sony Pictures Classics releases: Kenneth Branagh's Michael Caine-Jude Law starrer "Sleuth", which first bowed in Venice, and Swicord's "The Jane Austen Book Club", starring Jimmy Smits, Amy Brenneman and Maria Bello. Also booked for a gala is French director Alain Corneau's "Le Deuxieme Souffle", starring Daniel Auteuil and Monica Bellucci.
Those titles join such earlier Roy Thomson Hall entries as Julie Taymor's "Across the Universe", Woody Allen's "Cassandra's Dream", Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton", Gavin Hood's "Rendition", Terry George's "Reservation Road" and Aristomenis Tsirbas' "Terra".
Toronto, which in recent years has stepped up efforts to make its festival more Hollywood friendly, also has included 28 U.S.-produced films in its 50-strong Special Presentations sidebar.
The latest Special Presentations titles include the Michael Moore documentary "Captain Mike Across America", Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," Melisa Wallack and Bernie Goldmann's "Bill", Gillian Armstrong's "Death Defying Acts" and Jason Reitman's "Juno", the follow-up to "Thank You for Smoking", which was a Toronto festival breakout hit two years ago.
Also joining today are the latest works from Jonathan Demme, Alison Eastwood, Brian De Palma, Thomas McCarthy and Anand Tucker.
Toronto will unspool 352 films between Sept. 6 and 15 -- 261 features and 91 shorts. The lineup includes 101 world premieres and 108 North American premieres, many of which will bow in Venice before jumping the pond to Toronto. In addition, 71 of the films are directorial debuts.
The festival lineup promises a strong French contingent, including a dozen titles arriving in Toronto with U.S. distribution deals in hand.
High-profile French titles looking for U.S. distribution include Amos Gitai's "Disengagement", Claude Chabrol's "La Fille Coupee En Deux", which will bow in Venice, and Eric Rohmer's "Les Amours D'Astreet et De Celadon," another North American premiere by way of Venice.
John Kochman, executive director of Unifrance USA, said the strong French presence in Toronto is due primarily to festival co-directors Piers Handling and Noah Cowan remaining "unreconstructed Francophiles" eager to program French titles in their event.
Other new titles announced Wednesday include Wayne Wang's "The Princess of Nebraska" and "A Thousand Years of Good Prayers," both portraits of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. Wang will bring the two indie titles films to the festival's Masters program.
Toronto added eight more documentaries to its Real to Reel section, including films by Paul Crowder and Murray Lerner, Olga Konskaya and Andrea Nekrasov, Julian Schnabel, Ran Tal, Philippe Kholy and Grant Gee.
In addition, the previously announced "Body of War", co-directed by Ellen Spiro and talk show legend Phil Donahue, will see its premiere accompanied by a live performance by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, who wrote original songs for the Iraq documentary.
The festival has its usual complement of films about war and political protest that, according to festival co-director Noah Cowan, reflect a "seriousness of purpose and a real sense of drive to tell political stories."
"In many ways, the body of films recalls the American independent movie of the 1970s," he added.
American auteur films including Alan Ball's "Nothing Is Private", a drama about sexual politics and bigotry set against the backdrop of the 1991 Gulf War, De Palma's war drama "Redacted" and Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" reflect anti-war "provocation," Cowan said.
Toronto's lineup also includes a surprising number of crime-themed dramas, including Alexi Tan's "Blood Brothers", a drama about three friends taking on a life of big-city crime; Comeau's fugitive drama "Le Deuxieme Souffle"; Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," a thriller about a botched robbery; Brad Furman's "The Take", about the aftermath of an armored car heist; and Ira Sachs' "Married Life", a drama about a husband who kills his wife to spare her the shame of divorce.
Cowan said that the crime-themed movies this year recall the '70s-era vigilante movies that coincided with Vietnam.
"When the U.S. is faced with wars that are frustrating in their inability to be totally understood, that comes out in their films," Toronto's top programr said.
"Just as the 1970s, there's films that reflect paranoia about government and police corruption and which come from a frustration and rage about what's happening in the world," he added.
Other Toronto highlights announced Wednesday include talks by President Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, an update on Bill Maher and Larry Charles' anti-religion documentary and a briefing on the ongoing crisis in Darfur courtesy of International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and Don Cheadle.
Toronto is set to open Sept. 6 with Jeremy Podeswa's "Fugitive Pieces" and close 10 days later with another Canadian film, Paolo Barzman's "Emotional Arithmetic".
A complete list of titles screening at Toronto follows:
Galas:
"Across the Universe", Julie Taymor, U.S.
"L'Age Des Tenebres", Denys Arcand, Canada
"Blood Brothers", Alexi Tan, Taiwan/China/Hong Kong
"Caramel", Nadine Labaki, Lebanon/France
"Cassandra's Dream", Woody Allen, Britain
"Cleaner", Renny Harlin, U.S.
- 8/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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