Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2023 Oscars Predictions:
Best Original Screenplay Past Lives, from left: Teo Yoo, Greta Lee, John Magro, 2023. © A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
Weekly Commentary: Following its victories at the Golden Globes for best screenplay and the BAFTA for original screenplay, it appears almost inevitable that “Anatomy of a Fall” will secure the Oscar for its co-writers,...
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2023 Oscars Predictions:
Best Original Screenplay Past Lives, from left: Teo Yoo, Greta Lee, John Magro, 2023. © A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
Weekly Commentary: Following its victories at the Golden Globes for best screenplay and the BAFTA for original screenplay, it appears almost inevitable that “Anatomy of a Fall” will secure the Oscar for its co-writers,...
- 3/7/2024
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best Achievement in Directing The Zone Of Interest, 2023. © A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
Weekly Commentary: Christopher Nolan… in a walk. It’s not really worth going over any other potential upsets, but if you prefer — Jonathan Glazer for “The Zone of Interest.”
After a year hit with Hollywood...
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best Achievement in Directing The Zone Of Interest, 2023. © A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
Weekly Commentary: Christopher Nolan… in a walk. It’s not really worth going over any other potential upsets, but if you prefer — Jonathan Glazer for “The Zone of Interest.”
After a year hit with Hollywood...
- 3/7/2024
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlinale has revealed the lineup of its Co-Production Market and we’ve got some projects we’ll be keeping a close eye on. At the top of our interest list, we find Italian filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro, Stonewalling tandem Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka and Andreas Fontana who gave us Azor will benefit from the special Rotterdam-Berlinale Express backing for his next project: The Diplomats. 34 film projects from 27 countries will be pitching. Here they are:
Official Selection:
“Antonivka” (director: Kateryna Gornostai), Moon Man, Ukraine & Just a Moment, Lithuania
“Burnings” (director: Jerry Carlsson), Verket Produktion, Sweden
“Divorce During the War” (director: Andrius Blaževičius), M-Films, Lithuania
“Folk Play” (director: Mirjana Karanović), This and That Productions, Serbia
“Fragments of This Beauty” (director: Burak Çevik), Vayka Film, Turkey & Fol Films, Turkey
“The Girl With the Leica” (director: Alina Marazzi), Vivo Film, Italy
“Ich bin Marika” (director: Hajni Kis), Proton Cinema, Hungary
“Idda’s Breath” (director: Irene Dionisio), Kino Produzioni,...
Official Selection:
“Antonivka” (director: Kateryna Gornostai), Moon Man, Ukraine & Just a Moment, Lithuania
“Burnings” (director: Jerry Carlsson), Verket Produktion, Sweden
“Divorce During the War” (director: Andrius Blaževičius), M-Films, Lithuania
“Folk Play” (director: Mirjana Karanović), This and That Productions, Serbia
“Fragments of This Beauty” (director: Burak Çevik), Vayka Film, Turkey & Fol Films, Turkey
“The Girl With the Leica” (director: Alina Marazzi), Vivo Film, Italy
“Ich bin Marika” (director: Hajni Kis), Proton Cinema, Hungary
“Idda’s Breath” (director: Irene Dionisio), Kino Produzioni,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
The Berlin Film Festival, which runs Feb. 15-25, has revealed the lineup of its Berlinale Co-Production Market.
Producers of 34 film projects from 27 countries will be pitching to potential financing and co-production partners at the 21st Berlinale Co-Production Market, which runs Feb. 17-21. Seventeen projects are directed by women. There were 318 submissions, a slight increase from last year.
Eighteen of the projects are already partly financed with budgets ranging between Euros 600,000 and Euros 5 million ($5.47 million). Among the directors whose new works are likely to spark interest are Ukrainian filmmakers Kateryna Gornostai, who won a Crystal Bear for “Stop-Zemlia” in 2021, and Antonio Lukich, the director of “Luxembourg, Luxembourg,” which played in Venice in 2022, Italy’s Andrea Pallaoro, Serbian director and actor Mirjana Karanović, and the Chinese-Japanese directing duo Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka.
The Berlinale Directors section features three brand-new projects by directors who have had films at the Berlinale in the past: “Alma” from Sally Potter,...
Producers of 34 film projects from 27 countries will be pitching to potential financing and co-production partners at the 21st Berlinale Co-Production Market, which runs Feb. 17-21. Seventeen projects are directed by women. There were 318 submissions, a slight increase from last year.
Eighteen of the projects are already partly financed with budgets ranging between Euros 600,000 and Euros 5 million ($5.47 million). Among the directors whose new works are likely to spark interest are Ukrainian filmmakers Kateryna Gornostai, who won a Crystal Bear for “Stop-Zemlia” in 2021, and Antonio Lukich, the director of “Luxembourg, Luxembourg,” which played in Venice in 2022, Italy’s Andrea Pallaoro, Serbian director and actor Mirjana Karanović, and the Chinese-Japanese directing duo Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka.
The Berlinale Directors section features three brand-new projects by directors who have had films at the Berlinale in the past: “Alma” from Sally Potter,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Co-Production Market will support 34 feature film projects from around the world.
The 2024 Berlinale has selected 34 feature film projects for its Co-Production Market, including Sally Potter’s Alma.
The festival has also chosen 202 Berlinale Talents, and 14 titles for its Forum Special strand.
Scroll down for the full list of Co-Production Market projects
The 34 feature projects in the Co-Production Market hail from 27 countries, and were selected from 318 submissions – a slight increase on 2023.
Potter’s Alma follows a family battling survivor guilt and sibling rivalries while on an expedition to scatter the ashes of an archaeologist. It will be produced by Christopher Sheppard...
The 2024 Berlinale has selected 34 feature film projects for its Co-Production Market, including Sally Potter’s Alma.
The festival has also chosen 202 Berlinale Talents, and 14 titles for its Forum Special strand.
Scroll down for the full list of Co-Production Market projects
The 34 feature projects in the Co-Production Market hail from 27 countries, and were selected from 318 submissions – a slight increase on 2023.
Potter’s Alma follows a family battling survivor guilt and sibling rivalries while on an expedition to scatter the ashes of an archaeologist. It will be produced by Christopher Sheppard...
- 1/9/2024
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the 34 projects, hailing from 27 countries and selected from 318 submissions, that will be showcased at its Berlinale Co-Production Market, running from February 17 to 21. (scroll down for full list)
The 18 projects in the official selection include upcoming works from Ukrainian directors Kateryna Gornostai (Stop-Zemila) and Antonio Lukich as well as Italian filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro (Monica), Turkey’s Burak Çevik (Hesitation Wound), Serb director and actor Mirjana Karanović (A Good Wife) and Chinese-Japanese directing duo Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka (Stonewalling).
The Official Selection projects are already partly financed and have budgets between 600,000 and five million euros.
The Berlinale Directors section showcasing new projects from festival habitués in the early funding stages includes Sally Potter’s upcoming production Alma about a family on an expedition to scatter the ashes of an archaeologist.
Two projects by Andreas Fontana and Fradique have also been selected as part of the Rotterdam-Berlinale Express initiative,...
The 18 projects in the official selection include upcoming works from Ukrainian directors Kateryna Gornostai (Stop-Zemila) and Antonio Lukich as well as Italian filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro (Monica), Turkey’s Burak Çevik (Hesitation Wound), Serb director and actor Mirjana Karanović (A Good Wife) and Chinese-Japanese directing duo Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka (Stonewalling).
The Official Selection projects are already partly financed and have budgets between 600,000 and five million euros.
The Berlinale Directors section showcasing new projects from festival habitués in the early funding stages includes Sally Potter’s upcoming production Alma about a family on an expedition to scatter the ashes of an archaeologist.
Two projects by Andreas Fontana and Fradique have also been selected as part of the Rotterdam-Berlinale Express initiative,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
“That was an amazing feeling, when we got that news,” remembers Trace Lysette about hearing that she had been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her leading performance in the film “Monica.” Although she has been acting for a long time, the Andrea Pallaoro film afforded her the “first shot at a lead in a feature,” as she plays the title role, and the actress sees the recognition as a sign that she “didn’t drop the ball.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
Lysette, who also executive produced the movie, describes “Monica” as a “labor of love” that took a very long time to bring to fruition, but also one in which she had an active voice. She stresses that director Pallaoro and his cowriter Orlando Tirado were “collaborative” on the character, especially because “they understood that I probably knew Monica better than anyone on set.” “Monica” centers...
Lysette, who also executive produced the movie, describes “Monica” as a “labor of love” that took a very long time to bring to fruition, but also one in which she had an active voice. She stresses that director Pallaoro and his cowriter Orlando Tirado were “collaborative” on the character, especially because “they understood that I probably knew Monica better than anyone on set.” “Monica” centers...
- 1/5/2024
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
When “Monica” premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2022, the response was immediate: The movie received a standing ovation that clocked in at 11-and-a-half minutes. Andrea Pallaoro’s powerful tale of a woman returning home to care for her ailing mother who hasn’t seen her since before her gender transition had already made history by being the first film to feature a trans lead to play the fest. Praise was heaped on star Trace Lysette in the title role and Patricia Clarkson, who portrays her mother, Eugenia.
Still, it wasn’t until November when IFC Films, whose parent company is AMC Networks, picked up North American distribution rights. “‘Monica’ is a terrifically textured film anchored by multiple riveting performances,” says Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks Film Group. “We really responded to Andrea’s vision and felt that it is the type of boundary-pushing, auteur filmmaking we always seek to be associated with.
Still, it wasn’t until November when IFC Films, whose parent company is AMC Networks, picked up North American distribution rights. “‘Monica’ is a terrifically textured film anchored by multiple riveting performances,” says Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks Film Group. “We really responded to Andrea’s vision and felt that it is the type of boundary-pushing, auteur filmmaking we always seek to be associated with.
- 1/4/2024
- by Jenelle Riley
- Variety Film + TV
If there’s one takeaway from the LGBTQ narrative films that came into the world and across our screens this year, it’s the sheer variety of the stories there are to tell.
From real-world historical biopics and inspirational sports dramas, to tender love stories and raunchy comedies, there really was something for everyone this year. Captivating characters, fearless performances and narrative tapestries that defy convention and troublesome tropes all reigned supreme. As such, here are some of the best we got.
All of Us Strangers “All of Us Strangers” (Credit: Searchlight Pictures)
A new movie from the director of “Weekend” starring the Hot Priest from “Fleabag” and everyone’s favorite internet boyfriend should be enough to catch the interest of anyone listening — and “All of Us Strangers” lives up to that potential and then some. This equal parts sexy and emotionally devastating romance stars Andrew Scott as an isolated writer who,...
From real-world historical biopics and inspirational sports dramas, to tender love stories and raunchy comedies, there really was something for everyone this year. Captivating characters, fearless performances and narrative tapestries that defy convention and troublesome tropes all reigned supreme. As such, here are some of the best we got.
All of Us Strangers “All of Us Strangers” (Credit: Searchlight Pictures)
A new movie from the director of “Weekend” starring the Hot Priest from “Fleabag” and everyone’s favorite internet boyfriend should be enough to catch the interest of anyone listening — and “All of Us Strangers” lives up to that potential and then some. This equal parts sexy and emotionally devastating romance stars Andrew Scott as an isolated writer who,...
- 12/29/2023
- by Benjamin Lindsay
- The Wrap
‘The Hunger Games’ prequel, ‘Saltburn’ continue to play well after five weekends.
Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Dec 15-17) Total gross to date Week 1. Wonka (Warner Bros) £6.4m £18.5m 2 2. Godzilla Minus One (All The Anime) £785,532 £816,891 1 3. The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (Lionsgate) £612,529 £15.9m 5 4. Wish (Disney) £587,429 £6.6m 4 5. Napoleon (Sony) £499,028 £12.5m 4
Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.27
Wonka starring Timothee Chalamet posted a strong hold on its second weekend at the UK-Ireland box office, falling just 28.5% with a further £6.4m.
Paul King’s chocolatier prequel is now up to £18.5m from just two sessions for Warner Bros, sitting just outside...
Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (Dec 15-17) Total gross to date Week 1. Wonka (Warner Bros) £6.4m £18.5m 2 2. Godzilla Minus One (All The Anime) £785,532 £816,891 1 3. The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes (Lionsgate) £612,529 £15.9m 5 4. Wish (Disney) £587,429 £6.6m 4 5. Napoleon (Sony) £499,028 £12.5m 4
Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.27
Wonka starring Timothee Chalamet posted a strong hold on its second weekend at the UK-Ireland box office, falling just 28.5% with a further £6.4m.
Paul King’s chocolatier prequel is now up to £18.5m from just two sessions for Warner Bros, sitting just outside...
- 12/18/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Also opening is Meg Ryan’s ‘What Happens Later’ and ’The Three Musketeers – Milady’.
Toho Studios’ Godzilla Minus One is aiming to scare away the competition at the UK and Ireland box office this weekend as the Japanese monster epic opens in 469 cinemas for Anime Ltd.
It is an impressively wide opening for a non-English language film and is the widest opening for Anime Ltd, which specialises in distributing Japanese titles. The film was originally reported to be opening in 200-250 sites but was expanded due to critical acclaim, including a recent Critics Choice award nomination, and box office success...
Toho Studios’ Godzilla Minus One is aiming to scare away the competition at the UK and Ireland box office this weekend as the Japanese monster epic opens in 469 cinemas for Anime Ltd.
It is an impressively wide opening for a non-English language film and is the widest opening for Anime Ltd, which specialises in distributing Japanese titles. The film was originally reported to be opening in 200-250 sites but was expanded due to critical acclaim, including a recent Critics Choice award nomination, and box office success...
- 12/15/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
From the heavenly heights of Bowen Yang as God in “Dicks: The Musical” to Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri beating the hell out of each other for “Bottoms,” 2023 was a near-biblical year for queer entertainment. Sure, LGBTQ film and TV had its fair share of sins — what with the “Red, White, and Royal Blue” butt prep scene and “Saltburn” bathtub of it all. Not to mention, we lost a handful of beloved TV series with the cancelations of “A League of Their Own” and the full-blown streaming removal of “The L Word: Generation Q” (among others). But all things created equal, it was a pretty fantastic year to be queer in Hollywood, with a slew of great new titles arriving in theaters and across platforms as diverse voices continued to break through to LGBTQ audiences.
The aforementioned song-and-dance/raunchy sex comedies were just the tip of the iceberg on a...
The aforementioned song-and-dance/raunchy sex comedies were just the tip of the iceberg on a...
- 12/14/2023
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Lysette is excellent as a young woman returning home to care for her dying mother in Andrea Pallaoro’s intelligently crafted film
A mysterious miracle is at the heart of this absorbing and superbly acted film from the Italian director Andrea Pallaoro, which refuses the cliched “issue movie” beats of confrontation, catharsis and resolution. Like his previous work Hannah, which starred Charlotte Rampling as the haunted, troubled woman of that name, Monica is marked by its cool compositional rigour: scenes from a life are evoked with studied, often wordless vignettes and middle-distance shots from fixed camera positions, combined occasionally with looming, asymmetrical closeups.
Trans performer Trace Lysette plays Monica, who has an income from sex work and who, perhaps for professional reasons, has cultivated a coolly resonant, pleasingly modulated voice, which nonetheless rises to anger in various phone conversations of which we hear just one side: conversations with her partner...
A mysterious miracle is at the heart of this absorbing and superbly acted film from the Italian director Andrea Pallaoro, which refuses the cliched “issue movie” beats of confrontation, catharsis and resolution. Like his previous work Hannah, which starred Charlotte Rampling as the haunted, troubled woman of that name, Monica is marked by its cool compositional rigour: scenes from a life are evoked with studied, often wordless vignettes and middle-distance shots from fixed camera positions, combined occasionally with looming, asymmetrical closeups.
Trans performer Trace Lysette plays Monica, who has an income from sex work and who, perhaps for professional reasons, has cultivated a coolly resonant, pleasingly modulated voice, which nonetheless rises to anger in various phone conversations of which we hear just one side: conversations with her partner...
- 12/12/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
‘Monica’ is a first US title buy for 606.
UK-Ireland distributor 606 Distribution has acquired its first US film, picking up distribution rights to Andrea Pallaoro’s Monica as one of two new titles on its slate.
The film, which premiered in Competition at Venice Film Festival last year, is a drama which delves into the life of a trans woman, who returns home after years of estrangement to care for her dying mother.
606 bought the film from US-based sales agent The Exchange; the film was released in the US in May this year by IFC Films.
Trace Lysette leads the cast,...
UK-Ireland distributor 606 Distribution has acquired its first US film, picking up distribution rights to Andrea Pallaoro’s Monica as one of two new titles on its slate.
The film, which premiered in Competition at Venice Film Festival last year, is a drama which delves into the life of a trans woman, who returns home after years of estrangement to care for her dying mother.
606 bought the film from US-based sales agent The Exchange; the film was released in the US in May this year by IFC Films.
Trace Lysette leads the cast,...
- 9/25/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Outfest has found the headliners for its upcoming Legacy Awards: Shirley MacLaine and Trace Lysette.
The pair will be feted at the organization’s gala fundraiser which will be held at NeueHouse Hollywood on Oct. 22. MacLaine will receive the James Schamus Ally Award while Lysette will take home the Trailblazer Award during the Genesis Motor America-presented event.
The Schamus trophy was created to recognize “an ally’s efforts to foster LGBTQ+ moving images and to promote the communities’ stories to a broader audience.” Lysette’s honor is given to someone who has contributed to the history of the community, shedding light on the core of the LGBTQ+ identity and experience.
“Shirley’s illustrious career has not only enthralled generations but her unwavering allegiance to the LGBTQ+ community has been a beacon of hope. Trace, with her groundbreaking performances, is courageously highlighting the essence of the trans journey,” said Outfest executive director Damien S.
The pair will be feted at the organization’s gala fundraiser which will be held at NeueHouse Hollywood on Oct. 22. MacLaine will receive the James Schamus Ally Award while Lysette will take home the Trailblazer Award during the Genesis Motor America-presented event.
The Schamus trophy was created to recognize “an ally’s efforts to foster LGBTQ+ moving images and to promote the communities’ stories to a broader audience.” Lysette’s honor is given to someone who has contributed to the history of the community, shedding light on the core of the LGBTQ+ identity and experience.
“Shirley’s illustrious career has not only enthralled generations but her unwavering allegiance to the LGBTQ+ community has been a beacon of hope. Trace, with her groundbreaking performances, is courageously highlighting the essence of the trans journey,” said Outfest executive director Damien S.
- 9/21/2023
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Outfest on Thursday announced Academy Award winner Shirley MacLaine and Transparent breakout Trace Lysette as the recipients of its 2023 Legacy Awards, which will be presented at NeueHouse in Hollywood on Sunday, October 22nd.
MacLaine will be bestowed with the James Schamus Ally Award, recognizing an ally’s efforts to foster LGBTQ+ moving images and to promote the communities’ stories to a broader audience. Lysette, meanwhile, is set for the Trailblazer Award, recognizing an artist who has contributed to the history of the community, shedding light on the core of the LGBTQ+ identity and experience.
The pair joins a list of Outfest Legacy Award recipients that includes Janelle Monáe, Billy Porter, Tom Hanks, Judith Light, Rita Moreno, Lee Daniels, Hilary Swank, Sean Hayes, Laverne Cox, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Bruce Cohen, Lisa Cholodenko, Craig Zadan & Neil Meron, Tanya Saracho, Victoria Alonso, and Rain Valdez, among others.
Said Outfest’s Executive Director Damien S.
MacLaine will be bestowed with the James Schamus Ally Award, recognizing an ally’s efforts to foster LGBTQ+ moving images and to promote the communities’ stories to a broader audience. Lysette, meanwhile, is set for the Trailblazer Award, recognizing an artist who has contributed to the history of the community, shedding light on the core of the LGBTQ+ identity and experience.
The pair joins a list of Outfest Legacy Award recipients that includes Janelle Monáe, Billy Porter, Tom Hanks, Judith Light, Rita Moreno, Lee Daniels, Hilary Swank, Sean Hayes, Laverne Cox, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Bruce Cohen, Lisa Cholodenko, Craig Zadan & Neil Meron, Tanya Saracho, Victoria Alonso, and Rain Valdez, among others.
Said Outfest’s Executive Director Damien S.
- 9/21/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
For more on Venice's standout films, read our dispatch coverage: "Biopics Reloaded" and "Hitmen, A.I., and Dangerous Women."Poor Things.Main Competition(Jury: Damien Chazelle (chair), Saleh Bakri, Jane Campion, Mia Hansen-Løve, Gabriele Mainetti, Martin McDonagh, Santiago Mitre, Laura Poitras, and Shu Qi)Golden Lion: Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize: Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)Silver Lion Best Director: Matteo Garrone (Io Capitano)Special Jury Prize: Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)Best Screenplay: Pablo Larraín and Guillermo Calderón (El Conde)Best Actress: Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)Best Actor: Peter Sarsgaard (Memory)Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Seydou Sarr (Io Capitano)Explanation For Everything.HORIZONSJury: Jonas Carpignano (chair), Kaouther Ben Hania, Kahlil Joseph, Jean-Paul Salomé, and Tricia Truttle)Best Film: Explanation For Everything (Gábor Reisz)Best Director: Mika Gustafson (Paradise Is Burning)Special Jury Prize: Una Sterminata Domenica (Alain Parroni)Best Actress:...
- 9/12/2023
- MUBI
Veteran actor Patricia Clarkson thinks it’s time for her “Monica” co-star Trace Lysette to play the love interest of the “hot guys in Hollywood.”
“The next big step is to play opposite Brad Pitt,” she tells Variety. “It’s time for her to be the love interest of these stars. It’s where she belongs.”
The two actors are both on the awards circuit for the critically acclaimed drama which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival last year, resulting in Lysette receiving an 11-minute standing ovation. The “Transparent” actor was the first openly transgender performer to headline a film in competition at the oldest running festival in the world. After acquiring the movie in December, IFC Films released it in theaters on May 12, 10 days after the start of the WGA strike.
Now, the poignant drama is among the first movies previously released in theaters to receive...
“The next big step is to play opposite Brad Pitt,” she tells Variety. “It’s time for her to be the love interest of these stars. It’s where she belongs.”
The two actors are both on the awards circuit for the critically acclaimed drama which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival last year, resulting in Lysette receiving an 11-minute standing ovation. The “Transparent” actor was the first openly transgender performer to headline a film in competition at the oldest running festival in the world. After acquiring the movie in December, IFC Films released it in theaters on May 12, 10 days after the start of the WGA strike.
Now, the poignant drama is among the first movies previously released in theaters to receive...
- 8/25/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
The first screening of the uncensored version of ’Andrei Rublev’ by Andrei Tarkovsky has also been programmed.
Venice Classics will include a screening of ‘The Exorcist’ and tributes to late filmmakers Ruggero Deodato and Carlos Saura as part of its line-up of restored features for the 2023 edition.
The Exorcist, by William Friedkin, returns in a restored version, to mark the 100th anniversary of its distributor, Warner Bros.
Italian genre master Deodato passed away last year. One of his most extreme films, Ultimo Mondo Cannibale, has been programmed in tribute. This edition also pays homage to Italian actor Gina Lollobrigida, who died in January,...
Venice Classics will include a screening of ‘The Exorcist’ and tributes to late filmmakers Ruggero Deodato and Carlos Saura as part of its line-up of restored features for the 2023 edition.
The Exorcist, by William Friedkin, returns in a restored version, to mark the 100th anniversary of its distributor, Warner Bros.
Italian genre master Deodato passed away last year. One of his most extreme films, Ultimo Mondo Cannibale, has been programmed in tribute. This edition also pays homage to Italian actor Gina Lollobrigida, who died in January,...
- 7/21/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The love is mutual between Patricia Clarkson and the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary.
In 2019, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival honored the actress with its Crystal Globe lifetime achievement award. After a warm reception from the fest and local film fans, Clarkson is back this year as a member of the main competition jury.
When she introduced a screening of Monica, the drama starring transgender actress Trace Lysette and her, at the Karlovy Vary Municipal Theatre on Sunday, she again was welcomed with a wave of applause and appreciation. “I’m thinking of moving to Karlovy Vary so we can all hang out here together,” Clarkson then told the audience.
The festival underlined the special relationship with Clarkson, saying: “The Karlovy Vary Festival has traditionally fostered a cordial relationship with its stars, yet it is a rare and special occurrence when a celebrity also cherishes the bonds with...
In 2019, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival honored the actress with its Crystal Globe lifetime achievement award. After a warm reception from the fest and local film fans, Clarkson is back this year as a member of the main competition jury.
When she introduced a screening of Monica, the drama starring transgender actress Trace Lysette and her, at the Karlovy Vary Municipal Theatre on Sunday, she again was welcomed with a wave of applause and appreciation. “I’m thinking of moving to Karlovy Vary so we can all hang out here together,” Clarkson then told the audience.
The festival underlined the special relationship with Clarkson, saying: “The Karlovy Vary Festival has traditionally fostered a cordial relationship with its stars, yet it is a rare and special occurrence when a celebrity also cherishes the bonds with...
- 7/5/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For several years now, Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program has supported a wide variety of projects: shorts, features, both narrative and nonfiction. Not to mention the occasional new media project, special event or advocacy initiative. Each month’s Fiscal Spotlight column announces three new projects taking part in the program.
But maybe you’re curious how some of those prior subjects have turned out. Well hey, you’re in luck! Once again it’s time for another FiSpo Update highlighting the recent achievements of previous Fiscal Spotlight subjects.
Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists. The projects and makers participating in the program express a uniqueness of vision, celebrate diversity and advance the craft of filmmaking through the creation of these special works. To see the full range of projects that are part of our program, visit our Sponsored Projects page.
But maybe you’re curious how some of those prior subjects have turned out. Well hey, you’re in luck! Once again it’s time for another FiSpo Update highlighting the recent achievements of previous Fiscal Spotlight subjects.
Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists. The projects and makers participating in the program express a uniqueness of vision, celebrate diversity and advance the craft of filmmaking through the creation of these special works. To see the full range of projects that are part of our program, visit our Sponsored Projects page.
- 5/31/2023
- by Film Independent
- Film Independent News & More
Matt Johnson’s film BlackBerry about the rise and fall of the world’s first smartphone passed $1.7 million its second week out with an estimated three-day gross of $525k in 595 theaters.
The Canadian number — $250k from 200 theaters — was only a 13% drop from opening weekend. Stateside, the indie crossed $1 million with a estimated $257k at 375 locations and really popped on Saturday, outperforming the week earlier in a handful of theaters in top markets including New York, LA, and Boston.
It’s being handled by IFC Films in the U.S. and Elevation Pictures in Canada, where BlackBerry was launched and grew to near world dominance before being abruptly unseated by Apple and the touch screen. Starring Jay Baruchel as brainy Mike Lazaridus, who co-founded BlackBerry with his best friend Douglas Fregin, played by Johnson. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Glenn Howerton is Jim Balsillie, the aggressive executive who propelled...
The Canadian number — $250k from 200 theaters — was only a 13% drop from opening weekend. Stateside, the indie crossed $1 million with a estimated $257k at 375 locations and really popped on Saturday, outperforming the week earlier in a handful of theaters in top markets including New York, LA, and Boston.
It’s being handled by IFC Films in the U.S. and Elevation Pictures in Canada, where BlackBerry was launched and grew to near world dominance before being abruptly unseated by Apple and the touch screen. Starring Jay Baruchel as brainy Mike Lazaridus, who co-founded BlackBerry with his best friend Douglas Fregin, played by Johnson. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia‘s Glenn Howerton is Jim Balsillie, the aggressive executive who propelled...
- 5/21/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
In a rare weekend with fewer new studio wide releases, IFC Films had a one-two punch at the box office with Matt Johnson’s film BlackBerry grossing $473k nationwide in 450 theaters, for a U.S. per theater average of $1.05k and cracking the top ten on Friday. It will gross an estimated $740k in North America this weekend, with Elevation Pictures handling Canada.
This is the End’s Jay Baruchel is Mike Lazaridus, the brains behind BlackBerry with his laid back best friend and co-founder Douglas Fregin, played by Johnson. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Glenn Howerton is Jim Balsillie, the aggressive executive who catapulted the device to global domination for decades until is was abruptly unseated by the iPhone in 2007.
Premiering in Berlin and SXSW, certified Fresh at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s based on the book Losing the Signal by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff.
The...
This is the End’s Jay Baruchel is Mike Lazaridus, the brains behind BlackBerry with his laid back best friend and co-founder Douglas Fregin, played by Johnson. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Glenn Howerton is Jim Balsillie, the aggressive executive who catapulted the device to global domination for decades until is was abruptly unseated by the iPhone in 2007.
Premiering in Berlin and SXSW, certified Fresh at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s based on the book Losing the Signal by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff.
The...
- 5/14/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Trace Lysette is in a hotel room on 8th Street in New York City when she jumps on a Zoom video call with Variety to talk about her new movie, “Monica.”
In just a couple of hours, she’s set to walk the red carpet at the indie drama’s premiere at the IFC Center.
“I used to turn tricks a few blocks from there,” Lysette says.
Like so many trans women, Lysette once turned to sex work as a means of survival. “I was a young person alone in New York doing God knows what to survive,” says Lysette, who was raised in Ohio. “Last night we had a screening at The [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community] Center here. That was so heavy for me because I got my gender identity therapy there 20 years ago.”
Over the last few years, Lysette has been building a career in Hollywood. She is most known for her...
In just a couple of hours, she’s set to walk the red carpet at the indie drama’s premiere at the IFC Center.
“I used to turn tricks a few blocks from there,” Lysette says.
Like so many trans women, Lysette once turned to sex work as a means of survival. “I was a young person alone in New York doing God knows what to survive,” says Lysette, who was raised in Ohio. “Last night we had a screening at The [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community] Center here. That was so heavy for me because I got my gender identity therapy there 20 years ago.”
Over the last few years, Lysette has been building a career in Hollywood. She is most known for her...
- 5/12/2023
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Isabelle Huppert (Elle) and Finn Wittrock (Luckiest Girl Alive) have closed deals to star in Free Radicals, an English-language home invasion thriller based on the same-name short story originally published in The New Yorker by Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro.
With psychological twists and a Hitchockian flair, Free Radicals revolves around the harrowing encounter between an ailing woman (Huppert) and a young killer on the run (Wittrock). Xia Magnus (Sanzaru) is set to direct from his script written with Alyssa Polk. Pic’s producers are Academy Award nominee Alexandra Milchan (Tár) and Theo Vieljeux (Monica).
Charades will handle international sales for the film, following its success with a number of other titles from emerging filmmakers, including Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ Swallow starring Haley Bennett; Zachary Wigon’s Sanctuary with Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley, which Neon will release in the U.S on May 19; Charlotte Regan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize...
With psychological twists and a Hitchockian flair, Free Radicals revolves around the harrowing encounter between an ailing woman (Huppert) and a young killer on the run (Wittrock). Xia Magnus (Sanzaru) is set to direct from his script written with Alyssa Polk. Pic’s producers are Academy Award nominee Alexandra Milchan (Tár) and Theo Vieljeux (Monica).
Charades will handle international sales for the film, following its success with a number of other titles from emerging filmmakers, including Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ Swallow starring Haley Bennett; Zachary Wigon’s Sanctuary with Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley, which Neon will release in the U.S on May 19; Charlotte Regan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize...
- 5/12/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The poignant family drama “Monica” is full of artful mirror shots, serving striking visual reminders of the many angles that shape a life. There’s also something poetic about the sidelong coverage when you consider the film’s luminous star has spent her career as a supporting act — when she’s clearly meant to be a leading lady. Whether she’s seen in a sleek compact, a glancing rearview, or a profile in patina, there’s no such thing as too much Trace Lysette. Delivering both gravitas and levity as the central character in “Monica,” she’s finally given the chance to shine.
Most audiences will recognize Lysette from her breakthrough role as Shea in the groundbreaking series “Transparent,” or opposite Jennifer Lopez in “Hustlers,” where her casting was a major boon for trans representation in a studio movie. Even with such high profile gigs, it’s been a long...
Most audiences will recognize Lysette from her breakthrough role as Shea in the groundbreaking series “Transparent,” or opposite Jennifer Lopez in “Hustlers,” where her casting was a major boon for trans representation in a studio movie. Even with such high profile gigs, it’s been a long...
- 5/10/2023
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Portrait of a Lady: Pallaoro Quietly Searches for Grace in Profound Reconciliation
There’s a relentless, nearly crushing sense of heartache girding Andrea Pallaoro’s Monica, his second film in a thematic trilogy centered on a titular woman grappling with less than ideal circumstances. It follows 2017’s Hannah, which featured a sublime Charlotte Rampling as a woman left to her own devices after her husband is imprisoned. Whereas that film was all about the essence of an absence, Pallaoro’s followup is concerned with the opposite paradigm shift through an unexpected return.
Trace Lysette leads a quiet narrative of barely whispered remonstrances in a performance balanced on intricate interiority.…...
There’s a relentless, nearly crushing sense of heartache girding Andrea Pallaoro’s Monica, his second film in a thematic trilogy centered on a titular woman grappling with less than ideal circumstances. It follows 2017’s Hannah, which featured a sublime Charlotte Rampling as a woman left to her own devices after her husband is imprisoned. Whereas that film was all about the essence of an absence, Pallaoro’s followup is concerned with the opposite paradigm shift through an unexpected return.
Trace Lysette leads a quiet narrative of barely whispered remonstrances in a performance balanced on intricate interiority.…...
- 5/9/2023
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Patricia Clarkson is no stranger to playing a mother in turmoil.
She earned an Oscar nomination for her performance as a woman perhaps oxymoronically named Joy and dealing with breast cancer in “Pieces of April” (2003). On the small screen, she earned an Emmy nomination for portraying Adora, a bitterly faded Southern belle with Munchausen by proxy syndrome in “Sharp Objects” (2018). Now, in director/co-writer Andrea Pallaoro’s “Monica,” she plays Eugenia, a Midwestern mother dying of brain cancer and now getting reacquainted as best she can with her estranged daughter (Trace Lysette), who is trans.
In “Pieces of April,” “I was a very present, very feisty woman. [With ‘Monica’], I’m considerably older. I’m 20 years older. She really is on borrowed time,” Clarkson said in a recent interview with IndieWire. As for preparing to play a woman physically and psychologically succumbing to the terminal illness, she added, “I’ll tell you this: the preparation,...
She earned an Oscar nomination for her performance as a woman perhaps oxymoronically named Joy and dealing with breast cancer in “Pieces of April” (2003). On the small screen, she earned an Emmy nomination for portraying Adora, a bitterly faded Southern belle with Munchausen by proxy syndrome in “Sharp Objects” (2018). Now, in director/co-writer Andrea Pallaoro’s “Monica,” she plays Eugenia, a Midwestern mother dying of brain cancer and now getting reacquainted as best she can with her estranged daughter (Trace Lysette), who is trans.
In “Pieces of April,” “I was a very present, very feisty woman. [With ‘Monica’], I’m considerably older. I’m 20 years older. She really is on borrowed time,” Clarkson said in a recent interview with IndieWire. As for preparing to play a woman physically and psychologically succumbing to the terminal illness, she added, “I’ll tell you this: the preparation,...
- 5/9/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Trace Lysette in Monica Photo: courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films release.
In Andrea Pallaoro’s striking third feature, Monica, Trace Lysette plays the title character, a trans webcam performer, who returns home and tries to reconnect with her ailing mother, Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson). Continuing the director’s exploration of family and relationships in an effort to understand human nature, it refrains from offering answers, instead borrowing from Michelangelo Antonioni’s non-intrusive and observational approach, Pallaoro invites his audience to embrace and understand the fractured family at the heart of his film.
Lysette spoke with Eye For Film about the collaborative relationship she shared with Pallaoro, and the film’s contribution to conversations about representation for trans people.
Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson in Monica Photo: courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films release.
Paul Risker: When you first read the script, what drew your interest in the character of Monica?...
In Andrea Pallaoro’s striking third feature, Monica, Trace Lysette plays the title character, a trans webcam performer, who returns home and tries to reconnect with her ailing mother, Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson). Continuing the director’s exploration of family and relationships in an effort to understand human nature, it refrains from offering answers, instead borrowing from Michelangelo Antonioni’s non-intrusive and observational approach, Pallaoro invites his audience to embrace and understand the fractured family at the heart of his film.
Lysette spoke with Eye For Film about the collaborative relationship she shared with Pallaoro, and the film’s contribution to conversations about representation for trans people.
Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson in Monica Photo: courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films release.
Paul Risker: When you first read the script, what drew your interest in the character of Monica?...
- 5/7/2023
- by Paul Risker
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Andrea Pallaoro’s Monica bursts out of the gate with a shot that announces its distinctive style: a protracted close-up of the eponymous character (Trace Lysette) in a tanning bed, throbbing music playing in the background. Before a word is even uttered, Pallaoro’s film, which was shot in full frame, articulates how stifled Monica is by the world. But the observational nature of the shot also signals Pallaoro’s approach to the narrative, as Monica’s painterly compositions and intricate blocking invite viewers to study the body language of its reticent characters in order to understand them and their mysterious pasts.
On the surface, the film follows Monica, a trans woman, as she returns home after a very long absence in order to reconnect with her estranged and dying mother, Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson), who had disowned Monica for, generally speaking, failing to accept her sexuality. But Pallaoro and co-writer...
On the surface, the film follows Monica, a trans woman, as she returns home after a very long absence in order to reconnect with her estranged and dying mother, Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson), who had disowned Monica for, generally speaking, failing to accept her sexuality. But Pallaoro and co-writer...
- 5/7/2023
- by Wes Greene
- Slant Magazine
Clockwise from top left: They Cloned Tyrone (Photo: Netflix); Master Gardener (Photo: Magnolia Pictures); War Pony (Photo: Momentum Pictures); Theater Camp (Photo: Searchlight Pictures), Past Lives (Photo: A24)Graphic: Karl Gustafson
By this point in the year, we already know what summer blockbusters to expect in 2023. Sure, there are a few superhero flicks,...
By this point in the year, we already know what summer blockbusters to expect in 2023. Sure, there are a few superhero flicks,...
- 4/28/2023
- by Jen Lennon, Mark Keizer, and Cindy White
- avclub.com
IFC Films on Tuesday announced their promotion of longtime company executive Harris Dew to the role of Senior Vice President and General Manager of IFC Center.
Dew, who most recently served as IFC Center’s Vice President of Programs and Promotions, will now oversee all operations and programming for the NYC arthouse theater, reporting to IFC Films’ Interim President, Scott Shooman. He takes over his role from John Vanco, another longtime veteran of IFC Center who departed in April to head up film programming for Netflix-owned cinemas including NYC’s Paris Theatre, and the Egyptian and Bay Theatre in Los Angeles.
“Harris has played a key role establishing IFC Center as a beloved cultural institution for the independent and documentary film communities, particularly in bringing to life our hugely successful Doc NYC festival and ensuring a diverse and inclusive line-up of films and events,” said Shooman in a statement.
Dew, who most recently served as IFC Center’s Vice President of Programs and Promotions, will now oversee all operations and programming for the NYC arthouse theater, reporting to IFC Films’ Interim President, Scott Shooman. He takes over his role from John Vanco, another longtime veteran of IFC Center who departed in April to head up film programming for Netflix-owned cinemas including NYC’s Paris Theatre, and the Egyptian and Bay Theatre in Los Angeles.
“Harris has played a key role establishing IFC Center as a beloved cultural institution for the independent and documentary film communities, particularly in bringing to life our hugely successful Doc NYC festival and ensuring a diverse and inclusive line-up of films and events,” said Shooman in a statement.
- 4/25/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
"I don't know what I would do if I couldn't be with my own mom at a moment like this..." IFC has revealed an official US trailer for Monica, which they will be releasing exclusively in art house theaters starting this May - right at the beginning of the summer movie season. It premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival last year in the main competition. The film is an intimate portrait of a trans woman who returns home to care for her dying mother. A delicate and nuanced story of a fractured family, the story explores universal themes of abandonment, aging, acceptance, and redemption. Andrea Pallaoro's film delves into Monica's internal world & state of mind, her pain & fears, her needs & desires, to explore universal themes of abandonment and forgiveness. The very talented Trace Lysette stars as Monica, along with Patricia Clarkson, Emily Browning, Adriana Barraza, and Joshua Close. This is a very quiet,...
- 3/23/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Italian filmmaker Andrea Pallaoro has good luck at the Venice Film Festival. His feature debut, “Medeas,” won the Best Innovative Budget Award at the Lido in 2013. And his two follow-ups since then, 2021’s “Hannah” with Charlotte Rampling and last year’s “Monica,” had solid world premieres at Venice in each of those years.
Read More: ‘Monica’ Review: Trace Lysette Stuns In Andrea Pallaoro’s Quiet Family Drama [Venice]
Now it’s time for US audiences to see what all the fuss about “Monica” is about.
Continue reading ‘Monica’ Trailer: IFC Brings Andrea Pallaoro’s Latest Venice Hit To Theaters On May 12 at The Playlist.
Read More: ‘Monica’ Review: Trace Lysette Stuns In Andrea Pallaoro’s Quiet Family Drama [Venice]
Now it’s time for US audiences to see what all the fuss about “Monica” is about.
Continue reading ‘Monica’ Trailer: IFC Brings Andrea Pallaoro’s Latest Venice Hit To Theaters On May 12 at The Playlist.
- 3/23/2023
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
Los Angeles-based Italian director Andrea Pallaoro’s delicate drama “Monica” is finally set to open in U.S. theaters via IFC following its world premiere at last year’s Venice Film Festival.
The film starring transgender actor Trace Lysette (“Transparent”) as a woman who returns home to the Midwest to care for her dying mother, played by Patricia Clarkson, marked the first time an openly-transgender actress headlined a Venice competition title.
In “Monica” Lysette plays a woman who from Los Angeles goes back to her suburban midwest home for the first time since she was a teenager to care for her mom who had rejected her when she transitioned.
“For me, it was always crucial that Monica was an expression of a woman who returns home and really connects,” Pallaoro told Variety when the film launched from the Lido.
“Who forgives, and finds a connection with the world that she...
The film starring transgender actor Trace Lysette (“Transparent”) as a woman who returns home to the Midwest to care for her dying mother, played by Patricia Clarkson, marked the first time an openly-transgender actress headlined a Venice competition title.
In “Monica” Lysette plays a woman who from Los Angeles goes back to her suburban midwest home for the first time since she was a teenager to care for her mom who had rejected her when she transitioned.
“For me, it was always crucial that Monica was an expression of a woman who returns home and really connects,” Pallaoro told Variety when the film launched from the Lido.
“Who forgives, and finds a connection with the world that she...
- 3/23/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Stephen Fry-led doc ‘Willem & Frieda’ to world premiere at BFI Flare; full festival line-up unveiled
The Lgbtqia+ festival takes place March 15-26.
The BFI Flare: London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 37th edition which takes place March 15 – 26.
The programme features 58 features, six of which are world premieres, spread across three thematic strands – Hearts, Bodies and Minds.
Scroll down for full line-up
World premiering at the festival is John Hay’s documentary Willem & Frieda which is presented by Stephen Fry and explores how a gay man and a lesbian woman led the anti-Nazi resistance in Holland.
The other world premieres are Timothy Harris’ documentary Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn about the...
The BFI Flare: London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 37th edition which takes place March 15 – 26.
The programme features 58 features, six of which are world premieres, spread across three thematic strands – Hearts, Bodies and Minds.
Scroll down for full line-up
World premiering at the festival is John Hay’s documentary Willem & Frieda which is presented by Stephen Fry and explores how a gay man and a lesbian woman led the anti-Nazi resistance in Holland.
The other world premieres are Timothy Harris’ documentary Kenyatta: Do Not Wait Your Turn about the...
- 2/15/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
“Are you going to tell her?”
That’s the question hanging over Andrea Pallaoro’s gently unfolding tale of a trans woman returning to her family home to care for her ailing mother, and yet it’s a question which the film refuses to be defined by. An opening scene in which Monica (Trace Lysette) sits in her car trying to deal with the breakdown of a romantic relationship, and is forced to fend off the attentions of a persistently flirtatious stranger, makes it clear that Pallaoro has no time for familiar clichés. Monica’s gender history is not an issue here, though it helps to define the film’s parameters. The writer/director is much more interested in familial love and how it can persist even in the most trying of circumstances.
That Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson) has previously rejected Monica does not need to be spelled out early on.
That’s the question hanging over Andrea Pallaoro’s gently unfolding tale of a trans woman returning to her family home to care for her ailing mother, and yet it’s a question which the film refuses to be defined by. An opening scene in which Monica (Trace Lysette) sits in her car trying to deal with the breakdown of a romantic relationship, and is forced to fend off the attentions of a persistently flirtatious stranger, makes it clear that Pallaoro has no time for familiar clichés. Monica’s gender history is not an issue here, though it helps to define the film’s parameters. The writer/director is much more interested in familial love and how it can persist even in the most trying of circumstances.
That Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson) has previously rejected Monica does not need to be spelled out early on.
- 2/3/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Lee’S Legacy Lauded
Lee Jung-jae, star of hit series “Squid Game,” and the show’s director Hwang Dong-hyuk were awarded the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit, South Korea’s highest cultural medal at a ceremony last week held at the office of Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol. Hwang was honored for his career efforts that included “Miss Granny” and “Silenced.” Lee was noted for being the first Asian the US critics’ Choice Award for best actor, the first Asian to win an Emmy for best actor in a drama series and for his SAG Award.
In a separate Korean honors list Lee, director Park Chan-wook, “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” star Park Eun-bin and star Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) were named on a list of 10 cultural icons who received 2023 Visionary Awards from Cj Enm. In addition to his “Squid Game” success, Lee last year also made his feature directing debut “Hunt.
Lee Jung-jae, star of hit series “Squid Game,” and the show’s director Hwang Dong-hyuk were awarded the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit, South Korea’s highest cultural medal at a ceremony last week held at the office of Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol. Hwang was honored for his career efforts that included “Miss Granny” and “Silenced.” Lee was noted for being the first Asian the US critics’ Choice Award for best actor, the first Asian to win an Emmy for best actor in a drama series and for his SAG Award.
In a separate Korean honors list Lee, director Park Chan-wook, “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” star Park Eun-bin and star Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok) were named on a list of 10 cultural icons who received 2023 Visionary Awards from Cj Enm. In addition to his “Squid Game” success, Lee last year also made his feature directing debut “Hunt.
- 1/4/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Polak’s drama pitched in the work-in-progress strand of Les Arcs 2021.
Poland-based sales agent New Europe Film Sales has acquired worldwide rights to Silver Haze, the new feature from Dirty God director Sacha Polak.
New Europe has sold the film to The Jokers for distribution in France and Cineart in Benelux. The film will debut at a festival in 2023.
The film has completed post-production, having shot in 2021 in Dagenham and Southend in the UK. It participated in the prestigious Les Arcs work-in-progress selection last year, winning a special mention from the jury.
Silver Haze follows a young woman who seeks...
Poland-based sales agent New Europe Film Sales has acquired worldwide rights to Silver Haze, the new feature from Dirty God director Sacha Polak.
New Europe has sold the film to The Jokers for distribution in France and Cineart in Benelux. The film will debut at a festival in 2023.
The film has completed post-production, having shot in 2021 in Dagenham and Southend in the UK. It participated in the prestigious Les Arcs work-in-progress selection last year, winning a special mention from the jury.
Silver Haze follows a young woman who seeks...
- 12/9/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Lotfy Nathan receives best director award for ‘Harka’.
Iraqi director Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji’s Baghdad-set feature Hanging Gardens took home the best film award at the 2022 Red Sea International Film Festival, which announced its Yusr award winners on Thursday, December 8.
Hanging Gardens follows a young boy living as a rubbish picker in the dumps of Baghdad, nicknamed the ‘hanging gardens’, who hits the jackpot when he finds discarded US sex doll.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
The Arabic-language film is a Iraq-Palestine-Egypt-uk-Saudi Arabia co-production. The UK producer is Margaret Glover, who also wrote the script with...
Iraqi director Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji’s Baghdad-set feature Hanging Gardens took home the best film award at the 2022 Red Sea International Film Festival, which announced its Yusr award winners on Thursday, December 8.
Hanging Gardens follows a young boy living as a rubbish picker in the dumps of Baghdad, nicknamed the ‘hanging gardens’, who hits the jackpot when he finds discarded US sex doll.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
The Arabic-language film is a Iraq-Palestine-Egypt-uk-Saudi Arabia co-production. The UK producer is Margaret Glover, who also wrote the script with...
- 12/9/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson star in the family drama.
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Andrea Pallaoro’s family drama Monica, starring Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson.
The film will receive a theatrical and VOD release at a yet-to-be-determined date, with exclusive streaming on AMC+ to follow.
It is a portrait of a woman returning home for the first time since she was a teenager, where she attempts to reconnect with her mother and heal the wounds of the past.
Lysette became the first openly-transgender actress to headline a Venice Competition film when it debuted on the Lido in September.
IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Andrea Pallaoro’s family drama Monica, starring Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson.
The film will receive a theatrical and VOD release at a yet-to-be-determined date, with exclusive streaming on AMC+ to follow.
It is a portrait of a woman returning home for the first time since she was a teenager, where she attempts to reconnect with her mother and heal the wounds of the past.
Lysette became the first openly-transgender actress to headline a Venice Competition film when it debuted on the Lido in September.
- 12/6/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” Roman Polanski’s “The Palace,” “The Son” with Anthony Hopkins, and “Golda” with Helen Mirren are among the theatrical releases lined up for the rest of this year and next year for Italy’s 01 Distribution. Paolo Del Brocco, CEO of the distributor’s parent company, Rai Cinema, presented the lineup at the Torino Film Festival on Friday, and discussed an adjustment in his company’s production strategy in favor of bigger budget Italian films.
As well as the stellar international titles, there is also a strong Italian contingent on the 01 Distribution slate, including Marco Bellocchio’s “La Conversione,” Matteo Garrone’s “Io capitano,” “Il ritorno de Casanova,” starring Toni Servillo, and Saverio Costanzo’s “Finalmente l’alba,” starring Lily James.
“It is a luminous list because cinema in theaters illuminates cities, urban spaces,...
As well as the stellar international titles, there is also a strong Italian contingent on the 01 Distribution slate, including Marco Bellocchio’s “La Conversione,” Matteo Garrone’s “Io capitano,” “Il ritorno de Casanova,” starring Toni Servillo, and Saverio Costanzo’s “Finalmente l’alba,” starring Lily James.
“It is a luminous list because cinema in theaters illuminates cities, urban spaces,...
- 11/27/2022
- by Trinidad Barleycorn
- Variety Film + TV
Variety sat down with TorinoFilmLab’s managing director, Mercedes Fernandez Alonso, to talk through this year’s rich program of industry initiatives and its commitment to support new and established creative talents through Tfl Italia and Tfl Meeting.
“Tfl Italia aims to create a bridge between Italian and international professionals. […] This year, we are offering two main programs. The Alpi Film Lab focuses on Italian-French co-productions wherein, thorough several workshop held throughout the year, the participating teams could draft their co-production plans for their projects. We’ve put together each Italian project with a French producer, as well as the other way around. Last year, six projects out of eight became real co-productions,” explained Fernandez Alonzo.
“Meanwhile, Up & Coming Italia is open to Italian producers who want to take their first steps in the field of international co-productions. In these days, they worked with us and met with experts,” she added.
“Tfl Italia aims to create a bridge between Italian and international professionals. […] This year, we are offering two main programs. The Alpi Film Lab focuses on Italian-French co-productions wherein, thorough several workshop held throughout the year, the participating teams could draft their co-production plans for their projects. We’ve put together each Italian project with a French producer, as well as the other way around. Last year, six projects out of eight became real co-productions,” explained Fernandez Alonzo.
“Meanwhile, Up & Coming Italia is open to Italian producers who want to take their first steps in the field of international co-productions. In these days, they worked with us and met with experts,” she added.
- 11/25/2022
- by Davide Abbatescianni
- Variety Film + TV
Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated actress Adriana Barraza (“Blue Beetle”) has joined Jean Reno in the family film “The Penguin and the Fisherman,” TheWrap has exclusively learned.
“The Penguin and the Fisherman,” directed by David Schurmann, and co-written by Kristen Lazarain & Paulina Lagudi Ulrich and cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle is based on the incredible true story of Joao Perei de Souza (Jean Reno), a Brazilian fisherman, who rescues a penguin (DinDim) covered in oil, near death and washed up on a remote island beach off of Brazil, far from his Patagonian home.
After DinDim returns to the wild, Joao is heartbroken — until a year later when DinDim returns. The story of their transcendent friendship and its impact on their little village is one for the ages.
Barraza joins Reno in the co-lead role playing Joao’s resolute wife Maria, who finds new love with her husband, through the spirit...
“The Penguin and the Fisherman,” directed by David Schurmann, and co-written by Kristen Lazarain & Paulina Lagudi Ulrich and cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle is based on the incredible true story of Joao Perei de Souza (Jean Reno), a Brazilian fisherman, who rescues a penguin (DinDim) covered in oil, near death and washed up on a remote island beach off of Brazil, far from his Patagonian home.
After DinDim returns to the wild, Joao is heartbroken — until a year later when DinDim returns. The story of their transcendent friendship and its impact on their little village is one for the ages.
Barraza joins Reno in the co-lead role playing Joao’s resolute wife Maria, who finds new love with her husband, through the spirit...
- 10/14/2022
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
The Oscar-nominated screenwriter Alessandro Camon (The Messenger) has signed on to adapt the Italian psychological thriller You Will Find the Words (Le parole lo sanno) for the screen.
British director Peter Webber (Girl With a Pearl Earring, Hannibal Rising) is attached to direct the film, which Rome-based Fenix Entertainment are producing.
Franzoso’s novel centers around a man with a terminal illness who has a chance encounter with a woman on a park bench, an encounter that leads to an extreme act of violence.
Camon told The Hollywood Reporter Fenix approached him about the adaptation and introduced him to Webber.
“We immediately hit it off,” he notes, calling Webber a “Renaissance man. He’s a cosmopolitan, he loves many genres and languages, and he’s truly into what he does.”
The film version of Franzoso’s novel will, like the book, be set...
The Oscar-nominated screenwriter Alessandro Camon (The Messenger) has signed on to adapt the Italian psychological thriller You Will Find the Words (Le parole lo sanno) for the screen.
British director Peter Webber (Girl With a Pearl Earring, Hannibal Rising) is attached to direct the film, which Rome-based Fenix Entertainment are producing.
Franzoso’s novel centers around a man with a terminal illness who has a chance encounter with a woman on a park bench, an encounter that leads to an extreme act of violence.
Camon told The Hollywood Reporter Fenix approached him about the adaptation and introduced him to Webber.
“We immediately hit it off,” he notes, calling Webber a “Renaissance man. He’s a cosmopolitan, he loves many genres and languages, and he’s truly into what he does.”
The film version of Franzoso’s novel will, like the book, be set...
- 9/26/2022
- by Gianmaria Tammaro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
While we’re in the middle of the fall festival season, with Telluride, Venice, and TIFF in the rearview, and NYFF, BFI London, and AFI Fest on the horizon, it’s time to round up some of our early favorites. We’ve polled our contributors from Venice and TIFF to share their top picks, which one can see below along with our ongoing coverage here.
David Katz (@davidfabiankatz)
1. Saint Omer (Alice Diop)
2. Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
4. Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)
5. The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)
6. Love Life (Kôji Fukada)
7. Blonde (Andrew Dominik)
8. A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)
9. In Viaggio (Gianfranco Rosi)
10. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)
Luke Hicks (@lou_kicks)
1. Bones and All (Luca Guadagnino)
2. Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
4. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)
5. Athena (Romain Gavras)
6. White Noise (Noah Baumbach)
7. The Banshees of Inisherin...
David Katz (@davidfabiankatz)
1. Saint Omer (Alice Diop)
2. Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
4. Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)
5. The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)
6. Love Life (Kôji Fukada)
7. Blonde (Andrew Dominik)
8. A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)
9. In Viaggio (Gianfranco Rosi)
10. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)
Luke Hicks (@lou_kicks)
1. Bones and All (Luca Guadagnino)
2. Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)
4. The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)
5. Athena (Romain Gavras)
6. White Noise (Noah Baumbach)
7. The Banshees of Inisherin...
- 9/21/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Festival runs October 12-23.
Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History Of Destruction are among the international competitions line-up at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival next month.
This year’s competitions include 10 films receiving their North American premiere and 17 getting their US premiere as the entries vie for the festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of international feature, international documentary, and new directors.
The festival runs October 12-23. The full international competition line-ups are below.
Playing in International Feature Competition are: The Beasts (Sp-Fr), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, US premiere; Before,...
Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History Of Destruction are among the international competitions line-up at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival next month.
This year’s competitions include 10 films receiving their North American premiere and 17 getting their US premiere as the entries vie for the festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of international feature, international documentary, and new directors.
The festival runs October 12-23. The full international competition line-ups are below.
Playing in International Feature Competition are: The Beasts (Sp-Fr), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, US premiere; Before,...
- 9/16/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Film Circuit begins with Telluride, a small but perfect film festival in the mountains of Colorado as simultaneously Venice unfurls the films that will soon be released in the wonderful arthouse cinemas of Europe, followed closely by Toronto whose films foretell the coming year’s Oscars nominees. It is a very exciting time to be on the festival circuit.
And simultaneously with these great screenings are sidebars, panel discussions, workshops, master classes and all around great networking for filmmakers around the world.
Venezia 79 Competition
Il Signore Delle Formiche
Director Gianni Amelio
Main Cast Luigi Lo Cascio, Elio Germano, Leonardo Maltese, Sara Serraiocco / Italy / 134’
The Whale
Director Darren Aronofsky
Main Cast Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, Ty Simpkins / USA / 117’
White Noise
Director Noah Baumbach
Main Cast Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, André L. Benjamin and Lars Eidinger / USA / 136’
L’IMMENSITÀ
Director Emanuele Crialese
Main Cast Penélope Cruz, Luana Giuliani, Vincenzo Amato, Patrizio Francioni / Italy, France / 97’
Saint Omer
Director Alice Diop
Main Cast Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville, Aurélia Petit / France / 123’
Blonde
Director Andrew Dominik
Main Cast Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Xavier Samuel, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Fisher / USA / 166’
TÁR
Director Todd Field
Main Cast Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Mark Strong / USA / 158’
Love Life
Director Kôji Fukada
Main Cast Fumino Kimura, Kento Nagayama, Atom Sunada / Japan, France / 123’
Bardo, Falsa CRÓNICA De Unas Cuantas Verdades
Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Main Cast Daniel Giménez Cacho, Griselda Siciliani, Ximena Lamadrid, Iker Sanchez Solano, Andrés Almeida, Francisco Rubio / Mexico / 174’
Athena
Director Romain Gavras
Main Cast Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek, Alexis Manenti / France / 97’
Bones And All
Director Luca Guadagnino
Main Cast Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, Jessica Harper, David Gordon Green, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jake Horowitz / USA / 130’
The Eternal Daughter
Director Joanna Hogg
Main Cast Tilda Swinton, Joseph Mydell, Carly-Sophia Davies / UK, USA / 96’
Shab, Dakheli, Divar (Beyond The Wall)
Director Vahid Jalilvand
Main Cast Navid Mohammadzadeh, Diana Habibi, Amir Aghaee / Iran / 126’
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Director Martin McDonagh
Main Cast Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan / Ireland, UK, USA / 109’
Argentina, 1985
Director Santiago Mitre
Main Cast Ricardo Darín, Peter Lanzani, Alejandra Flechner, Norman Briski / Argentina, USA / 140’
Chiara
Director Susanna Nicchiarelli
Main Cast Margherita Mazzucco, Andrea Carpenzano, Carlotta Natoli, Paola Tiziana Cruciani, Luigi Lo Cascio / Italy, Belgium / 106’
Monica
Director Andrea Pallaoro
Main Cast Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Adriana Barraza, Emily Browning, Joshua Close / USA, Italy / 113’
Khers Nist (No Bears)
Director Jafar Panahi
Main Cast Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobaseri, Bakhtiar Panjeei, Mina Kavani, Reza Heydari / Iran / 107’
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Director Laura Poitras
USA / 117’
Un Couple
Director Frederick Wiseman
Main Cast Nathalie Boutefeu / France, USA / 64’
The Son
Director Florian Zeller
Main Cast Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Quarshie / UK / 124’
Les Miens
Director Roschdy Zem
Main Cast Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem, Meriem Serbah, Maïwenn, Rachid Bouchareb, Abel Jafrei, Nina Zem / France / 85’
Les Enfants Des Autres
Director Rebecca Zlotowski
Main Cast Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, Chiara Mastroianni, Callie Ferreira / France / 104’
Toronto is in spite of itself in a civilized sort of way in competition for the premieres with Venice, though the sequential festivals are serving different constituencies. Still, The Whale, for example is premiering in Venice and then traveling to TIFF.
TIFF Gala Presentations:
The Whale directed by Darren Aronofsky, produced and to be distributed in U.S. and actng as international sales agent A24.
TIFF says: “Brendan Fraser gives a career-defining performance in Darren Aronofsky’s arrestingly intimate drama about a reclusive English professor struggling with personal relationships and self-acceptance, adapted from the stage play by Samuel D. Hunter.”
Alice, Darling by Mary Nighy
Also playing are Alice, Darling (Mary Nighy) in which Anna Kendrick captures the anxious psychology of a woman in an abusive relationship as her friends try to reconnect with her while on a cottage getaway.
Black Ice(Hubert Davis) about Black hockey players facing systemic racism in the sport.
The Greatest Beer Run Ever (Peter Farrelly) about man’s story of leaving New York in 1967 to bring beer to his childhood buddies in the Army while they are fighting in Vietnam. An Apple TV+ production.
Butcher’s Crossing (Gabe Polsky) is a frontier epic about an Ivy League drop-out as he travels to the Colorado wilderness, where he joins a team of buffalo hunters on a journey that puts his life and sanity at risk. Based on the highly acclaimed novel by John Williams. Isa Altitude
The Hummingbird (Francesca Archibugi)Hunt (Jung-jae Lee)A Jazzman’s Blues (Tyler Perry)Kacchey Limbu (Shubham Yogi)Moving On (Paul Weitz)Paris Memories (Alice Winocour)Prisoner’s Daughter (Catherine Hardwicke)Raymond & Ray (Rodrigo García)Roost (Amy Redford)Sidney (Reginald Hudlin)The Son (Florian Zeller)The Swimmers (Sally El Hosaini)What’s Love Got to Do With It? (Shekhar Kapur)The Woman King(Gina Prince-Bythewood)
Special PRESENTATIONSAllelujah (Sir Richard Eyre)All Quiet on the Western Front (Edward Berger)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Blueback (Robert Connolly)The Blue Caftan (Maryam Touzani)Broker (Hirokazu Kore-eda)Brother (Clement Virgo)Bros (Nicholas Stoller)Catherine Called Birdy (Lena Dunham)Causeway (Lila Neugebauer)Chevalier (Stephen Williams)Corsage (Marie Kreutzer)Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook)Devotion (Jd Dillard)Driving (Madeleine Christian Carion)El Suplente (Diego Lerman)Empire of Light...
And simultaneously with these great screenings are sidebars, panel discussions, workshops, master classes and all around great networking for filmmakers around the world.
Venezia 79 Competition
Il Signore Delle Formiche
Director Gianni Amelio
Main Cast Luigi Lo Cascio, Elio Germano, Leonardo Maltese, Sara Serraiocco / Italy / 134’
The Whale
Director Darren Aronofsky
Main Cast Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, Ty Simpkins / USA / 117’
White Noise
Director Noah Baumbach
Main Cast Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, André L. Benjamin and Lars Eidinger / USA / 136’
L’IMMENSITÀ
Director Emanuele Crialese
Main Cast Penélope Cruz, Luana Giuliani, Vincenzo Amato, Patrizio Francioni / Italy, France / 97’
Saint Omer
Director Alice Diop
Main Cast Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville, Aurélia Petit / France / 123’
Blonde
Director Andrew Dominik
Main Cast Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Xavier Samuel, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Fisher / USA / 166’
TÁR
Director Todd Field
Main Cast Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Mark Strong / USA / 158’
Love Life
Director Kôji Fukada
Main Cast Fumino Kimura, Kento Nagayama, Atom Sunada / Japan, France / 123’
Bardo, Falsa CRÓNICA De Unas Cuantas Verdades
Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Main Cast Daniel Giménez Cacho, Griselda Siciliani, Ximena Lamadrid, Iker Sanchez Solano, Andrés Almeida, Francisco Rubio / Mexico / 174’
Athena
Director Romain Gavras
Main Cast Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek, Alexis Manenti / France / 97’
Bones And All
Director Luca Guadagnino
Main Cast Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, Jessica Harper, David Gordon Green, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jake Horowitz / USA / 130’
The Eternal Daughter
Director Joanna Hogg
Main Cast Tilda Swinton, Joseph Mydell, Carly-Sophia Davies / UK, USA / 96’
Shab, Dakheli, Divar (Beyond The Wall)
Director Vahid Jalilvand
Main Cast Navid Mohammadzadeh, Diana Habibi, Amir Aghaee / Iran / 126’
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Director Martin McDonagh
Main Cast Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan / Ireland, UK, USA / 109’
Argentina, 1985
Director Santiago Mitre
Main Cast Ricardo Darín, Peter Lanzani, Alejandra Flechner, Norman Briski / Argentina, USA / 140’
Chiara
Director Susanna Nicchiarelli
Main Cast Margherita Mazzucco, Andrea Carpenzano, Carlotta Natoli, Paola Tiziana Cruciani, Luigi Lo Cascio / Italy, Belgium / 106’
Monica
Director Andrea Pallaoro
Main Cast Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Adriana Barraza, Emily Browning, Joshua Close / USA, Italy / 113’
Khers Nist (No Bears)
Director Jafar Panahi
Main Cast Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobaseri, Bakhtiar Panjeei, Mina Kavani, Reza Heydari / Iran / 107’
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Director Laura Poitras
USA / 117’
Un Couple
Director Frederick Wiseman
Main Cast Nathalie Boutefeu / France, USA / 64’
The Son
Director Florian Zeller
Main Cast Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Quarshie / UK / 124’
Les Miens
Director Roschdy Zem
Main Cast Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem, Meriem Serbah, Maïwenn, Rachid Bouchareb, Abel Jafrei, Nina Zem / France / 85’
Les Enfants Des Autres
Director Rebecca Zlotowski
Main Cast Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, Chiara Mastroianni, Callie Ferreira / France / 104’
Toronto is in spite of itself in a civilized sort of way in competition for the premieres with Venice, though the sequential festivals are serving different constituencies. Still, The Whale, for example is premiering in Venice and then traveling to TIFF.
TIFF Gala Presentations:
The Whale directed by Darren Aronofsky, produced and to be distributed in U.S. and actng as international sales agent A24.
TIFF says: “Brendan Fraser gives a career-defining performance in Darren Aronofsky’s arrestingly intimate drama about a reclusive English professor struggling with personal relationships and self-acceptance, adapted from the stage play by Samuel D. Hunter.”
Alice, Darling by Mary Nighy
Also playing are Alice, Darling (Mary Nighy) in which Anna Kendrick captures the anxious psychology of a woman in an abusive relationship as her friends try to reconnect with her while on a cottage getaway.
Black Ice(Hubert Davis) about Black hockey players facing systemic racism in the sport.
The Greatest Beer Run Ever (Peter Farrelly) about man’s story of leaving New York in 1967 to bring beer to his childhood buddies in the Army while they are fighting in Vietnam. An Apple TV+ production.
Butcher’s Crossing (Gabe Polsky) is a frontier epic about an Ivy League drop-out as he travels to the Colorado wilderness, where he joins a team of buffalo hunters on a journey that puts his life and sanity at risk. Based on the highly acclaimed novel by John Williams. Isa Altitude
The Hummingbird (Francesca Archibugi)Hunt (Jung-jae Lee)A Jazzman’s Blues (Tyler Perry)Kacchey Limbu (Shubham Yogi)Moving On (Paul Weitz)Paris Memories (Alice Winocour)Prisoner’s Daughter (Catherine Hardwicke)Raymond & Ray (Rodrigo García)Roost (Amy Redford)Sidney (Reginald Hudlin)The Son (Florian Zeller)The Swimmers (Sally El Hosaini)What’s Love Got to Do With It? (Shekhar Kapur)The Woman King(Gina Prince-Bythewood)
Special PRESENTATIONSAllelujah (Sir Richard Eyre)All Quiet on the Western Front (Edward Berger)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Blueback (Robert Connolly)The Blue Caftan (Maryam Touzani)Broker (Hirokazu Kore-eda)Brother (Clement Virgo)Bros (Nicholas Stoller)Catherine Called Birdy (Lena Dunham)Causeway (Lila Neugebauer)Chevalier (Stephen Williams)Corsage (Marie Kreutzer)Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook)Devotion (Jd Dillard)Driving (Madeleine Christian Carion)El Suplente (Diego Lerman)Empire of Light...
- 9/10/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
‘Monica’ Premieres at the Venice Film Festival
‘Monica’ begins in extreme closeup of a beautiful but unhappy woman. We do not know what makes her so unhappy; she is quiet, uncommunicative and lives in a sort of darkness, using her cel phone to call and to talk to people who do not answer her calls.
Opening as she is in a sun-tanning machine, the cinematography promotes the physical aspects of her life as her reality. She goes to her red convertible in a palmy sun-soaked Los Angeles and drives into middle America, her dyed red hair blowing in the breeze.
The film’s stillness, its low tenor dialogue when there is any, and the near lack of action make us gather pieces of the story more by induction than by its narrative. The moodiness of the story sets us into a receptive state to understand Monica is returning home to a world she has long left behind. She has a brother with a young wife and three young children. She has a mother who is dying. She also has a numbness to her that makes us feel numb ourselves.
We see her world and learn that she left home when a teenager and her mother left her off at the bus station and told her she could no longer be her mother. She returns not knowing if her mother will acknowledge her or even recognize her. But in the course of returning and connecting to her brother’s family, she finds a healing and the family finds a reconciliation of the sort we would all wish to make before our parents or siblings die. Solace comes from the everyday moments, normalcy in a time of despondency for all as the mother is dying but still living.
Trace Lysette is Monica
Andrea Pallaoro, the film’s director has a quiet and very sophisticated subtle way of delivering what we see as normal details in a way that delves into Monica’s internal world and state of mind. His earlier two films Medeas and Hannah, also have a feeling of not going anywhere as stillness and quiet predominate; but in the end, we know we have arrived at a different place.
He delivers an Italian arthouse feel to stories of almost normal, prosaic people leading lives of quiet desperation. This tattooed woman in a sun machine with her dyed red hair and red convertible, calling an estranged lover perhaps, calling people who do not return her calls, speaking with strangers and asking how they got her number, her massaging a man in her apartment, Is she a prostitute? She is a masseause but what sort…that is when the call comes from a sister-in-law she didn’t know she had, asking her to please come as her mother is dying and they need help with her and their own children.
Andreas has this to say about this particular film: During the past few years my mother’s illness has compelled me to confront my past and the psychological effects of abandonment. Treading between the interior and exterior, the emotional and physical, Monica explores the complexities of self-worth, the deep-rooted consequences of rejection and the lengths we go to heal our wounds. Through a cinematic language that stems from the juxtaposition of the aesthetics of intimacy and alienation, my creative team and I delved into the emotional and psychological landscape of Monica to reflect the precarious nature of self-identity when challenged by the need to survive and ultimately transform.
Andrea Pallaoro is no stranger to Venice. His first feature film, Medeas, premiered at the 70th Venice Film Festival in Orozzonti, the section for first and second time directors. It has won several awards at prestigious international film festivals including Marrakech, Tbilisi, Palm Springs, and CamerImage. And it has received positive reviews by serious critics and opinion makers. The New York Times’ Jeannette Catsoulis: “Capturing the poetry of bodies at rest and a landscape frozen in time,” in many ways describes Monica as well.
Hannah, Pallaoro’s second feature film, starring Charlotte Rampling, also world premiered in the Official Competition of the 74th Venice Film Festival where Ms. Rampling won the Coppa Volpi for best actress. Hannah went on to receive many prestigious international awards and recognition including a César nomination for best foreign film.
Born in Trento, Italy in 1982, Andrea Pallaoro holds an Mfa in Film Directing from the California Institute of the Arts and a BA from Hampshire College. He splits his time between Los Angeles and New York City.
What is as interesting to me as the film itself, is how the producer, Eleonora Granata-Jenkinson come to make this film and how everyone worked together. It is even more interesting because I am a close friend of Eleonora. We met in a line to a movie at her first Sundance Film Festival and I later visited her in Italy when she was a buyer for Rai Cinema. She moved to LA and married one of the finest acquisitions persons in the business and had two sons. She works very closely with the producer Gina Resnick, another “long-timer”, one of the first women in the film business and like us, still at it. Eleonora and Gina produced Andrea’s first film as well.
That is what I wanted to talk to her about and what follows is here:
I know you produced Andrea’s first film Medeas. You told me to see it when we were at the Palm Springs Film Festival. How did you meet Andrea, and did you know immediately that he was so gifted?
Eleonora: Because I am one of the few Italian producers living in Los Angeles, I get to see a lot of amazing young people coming over with their dream and with a film, and friends of friends who say “You gotta watch this, you gotta watch that”. So a dear friend of mine, Laura Zumiani of Trentino Film Commission, though they didn’t have a Trentino Film Commission then, said to me, “There’s a guy that you need to to see, he’s living here in LA and he’s from Trento, and he’s a good friend of mine, and he’s really talented. And I said, “Oh my god, one more…ok…” So I watched his short, it was called Wunderkammer.
Andrea was studying at Cal Arts; it was his last year, and this was his graduate film. I said, “Ok let’s watch this”. I was blown away. I had never seen such an incredible composition of photography; the camera moved in a swift and an incredibly crafted way. The story set was dark and I said ‘Omg, well maybe I’m overreacting’…I got so excited. You know when you find something, you say, ‘This is the thing!’…I call my friend Alessandra Venezia, the journalist, and I said, ‘Hey Alexandra’ (she’s my best friend) and I say, ‘am I crazy or is this guy got…’ I had a DVD because at that time it was what we had and I brought it to her. And she calls me back and says, ‘I watched it, oh my god, he’s incredible. Oh my god, Eleonora let’s go meet this guy’.
So I go, she couldn’t go, and I meet Andrea and Laura who’s Laura? Andrea is like one of the most sophisticated, amazing person you will meet. He’s kind, he’s funny, he’s gorgeous looking.
So I say Ok, so he has this idea and we develop a little bit of the idea on Medeashis first film and I became the producer. But I needed a hands on producer and I grab my other best friend…I have a few best friends, you are one too [thank you]. They are my support and my life and my joy, that’s why we are in this business…and I said, ‘Gina I have this project…she says, ‘oh no! not a first timer!,’ but then she saw his short and so we did Medeas. Then I developed with Andrea the second film, Hannah, starring Charlotte Rampling but I didn’t produce it for him. .. long sotry but it was better not to produce it and so we concentrated on this one and that’s how Monica came to be.
It sounds simple. Was it really so simple?
Eleonora: The journey for this film was a very long one because of the issue of the film and because of the nature of Andrea’s films which are absolutely accomplished but not for a wide audience. Monica is the biggest film that Andrea has done. It’s in English, it’s shot in the United States and we have a marvelous cast. The film turned out to be incredible.
What about Venice?…
Medeas showed at Venice Orizzonti, the festival’s section for first and second time directors. Then it went on to other festivals and received praise from very serious critics and opinion makers. New York Times called it a “ravishing first feature”.
His second film, Hannah, also premiered in Venice. Naturally we are in a good relationship with Venice and we would never consider anything else…though there is no guarantee that we would be chosen to go again. I think they will like the next one too however. So here we are in Competition, on the first weekend.
That is great placement — the first weekend.
Yes as the people start to migrate to Toronto after the first half…though any time, any day or night is a great achievement to be in Venice. There are other phenomenal films there that did not go to Cannes. I believe this is going to be one of the best Competitions of Venice. We’re so proud to be there…
Andrea is in great company: Gianni Amelio, Darren Aronofsky, Noah Baumbach, Alice Diop, Inarritu, Luca Guadigno, Jafar Panahi, Frederick Wiseman, Laura Poitras, Florian Zeller — just to name a few, fabulous experienced directors.
Let’s talk a bit about Monica. There’s so little dialogue and there’s so little visibly going on and yet that serves to puts you into this receptive state and you get it at the end…it is all so interior… Medeas was also quietly interior. And both are dealing with such American every day life and environment, the the protagonist is always quite special herself (and always a woman).
What is his connection to US?
Eleonora: He is an Italian-American director who, as every one of us who has come to Hollywood from outside of the USA, has an idea of America which is a very personal creative and cultural experience.
The story of Monica is based on a real friend of Andrea who was a neighbor when he first moved here. She was a beautiful transgender woman who was kicked out of her family when she was 16 and came to Los Angeles.
What’s trans about Monica?
She is a woman reconnecting with family that she was shut out from. She is going on an interior journey back to her roots from which she emerges from her loneliness and rejection and finds the value of loving each other for who we are.
What is edifying is the social commitment of the film. It is about injustice and understanding in portraying women in whatever shape they are as belonging to humankind…it’s a very human experience. We consider this a post-trangender film about a transgender person played by a transgender actor…
Is the actress trans?
Tracee Lysette worked in many non-transgender roles, but came out publicly as trans through her role as Shea on the Amazon series Transparent. On the show, she plays a transgender yoga teacher and friend of Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor). She also played in Hustlers alongside Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B and Constance Wu.
Tracee generated such an energy in a beautiful love story interrupted and disconnected that she is able to move forward. It is such a restrained, finely drawn role. I really believe the performance will go for a major award.
One wonders whether the mother will recognize her and accept her.
Director Andrea Pallaoro and Patricia Clarkson
What about the other actors?
It was an unbelievable performance by Patricia Clarkson as the mother. She carried the film and with her own sensibility and her own personal view which so beautifully coinceded with Andreas’ vision. She supported the film all the way from its first steps through completion. She was always there for us.
Joshua Close, who plays the brother of Monica is coming out in Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon playing opposite Leonardo di Caprio as his brother. He was great. Emily Browning is outstanding as the sister-in-law who calls Monica as she is giving the massage and tells her they need her to come back home where the mother is dying. And Adriana Barraza, one of the best actresses of Mexico, nominated for the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Babel was incredible on the set, she brought such harmony.
The film was made on a very small budget and everyone had to pitch in to help it get made. The actors were all so supportive and helpful and Andrea actually produced the film with us. You should note aside from him there are only three producers: myself, Gina Resnick and Christina Dow.
I am a woman producer strongly believing in women supporting one another. Gina Resnick is not only a great hands-on producer but she stays through thick and thin. We of course are the closest friends as well. We must speak 20 times a day.
Even though it was a small budget, it was shot in 35 by a brilliant beautiful amazing Dp, Katelin Arizmendi. Kate is just coming off of the 2nd unit forDune. She is a brilliant young woman — looks like a movie star and is working with a whole team of women, grip and everything . You will see them all when you come to Venice. They’re all coming, this crazy force of nature. Together they did a did a stunning film, stunning. You could take every frame of film and put it on the wall.
We’re very very excited about it.
What about distribution?
We have already been invited to a very significant film festival after this one. It will have a successful journey. Our sales agent is The Exchange. And UTA: I want to mention Rena Ronson — Rina, Gina and Eleonora…UTA did so much for us. We really joined forces. They set up all the screenings for finding a domestic US distributor who screened the film. After Venice and the reviews and others have weighed in, we will decide on our US plan.
I notice a huge number of coproducers and executive producers. There are 19. What is that about? It seems, actually to be a trend…Triangle of Sadnesshad 31 as do so many films these days…
The many executive and coproducers all believed in the script in spite of its difficult subject and they all significantly helped us put this film together. They were our best allies.
Our financial partner Felix and all the executive producers are worth mentioning. My own son, Matteo Jenkinson worked really closely with me to produce this film…
Andrea is a brilliant genius. Surrounded by such a cast and technical team, our Italian post-production help, the editor Paola Freddi; everyone went way above and beyond their designated roles with the film.
We even had help from the Italians with post-production by Propaganda Italia, Simone Gandolfo and a little financial support of the Ministero della Cultura (MiC) . And we have the best distributor in Italy today, I Wonder.
Credits
Directed by Andrea Pallaoro
Written by Andrea Pallaoro and Orlando Tirado
Cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi
Editor Paola Freddi
Production Designer Andrew Clark
Costume designer Patrik Milani
Sound supervisor Mirko Perri
Produced by Gina Resnick p.g.a., Christina Dow, Eleonora Granata Jenkinson,
Andrea Pallaoro
Co — produced by Marina Marzotto a.g.i.c.i., Mattia Oddone, Riccardo Di Pasquale, Gabriele Oricchio, Antonio Adinolfi, Giorgia Lo Savio
Executive Producer — Trace Lysette, Andrei Epifanov, David Schwarz, Steve Stanulis, Joana Henning, Stephanie Castagnier Dunn , Anthony Burns, Amy Gilliam, Eric Schnedecker, Christina Sibul , Karen Tenkhoff, Eric Cook , Matteo Jenkinson , Brian O’Shea, Nat McCormick, Dru Davis, Julien P Bourgon , Theo Vieljeux, Ali Jazayeri, Viviana Zarragoitia
Produced by Varient Entertainment, Solo Five Production, Melograno Films
Co-produced by Propaganda Italia, Fenix Entertainment with Rai Cinema and Alacran Pictures
In association with 039 Albedo, The Exchange, Cinetrain and Hudson Entertainment Group
Cast & Crew
Trace Lysette ⎜Monica
Patricia Clarkson ⎜Eugenia
Emily Browning ⎜ Laura
Joshua Close ⎜ Paul
Adriana Barraza ⎜ Leticia
Graham Caldwell ⎜Brody
Ruby Fraser ⎜Britney
Director Of Photography/ Camera Operator — Kate Arizmendi
1St Assistant Camera — Jasmine Chang
2nd Assistant Camera — Sam Storm
1St Assistant Director- Laura Klein
2Nd Assistant Director — Roger Mendoza
Line Producer — Chenney Chen
Upm — Eric Cook
Production Coordinator — Nick Avery, Cristina Arteaga
Production Secretary- Jessica Meek
Casting Director (NY/LA) — Emily Schweber
Local Casting Director — D. Lynn Meyers
Assistant Casting Director — Ali Raizin
Assistant Casting Director Cincinnati — Becca Schall
Costume Designer — Patrik Milani
Asst. Costume Designer/ Costume Supervisor — Margaux Solano
Chief Lighting Technician — Jake Lyon
Key Grip — Steve Forbes
Best Boy Grip — Christofer Moscoso
Grip — Rodney “Rock” Reed, Aria Brice, Thomas Vincent, Jake Storm, Paul Fierst, Nick Patten, Matthew Barnhart
Hair/Make-up Dept Head — Chelo Acosta-conley Location Manager — Alan Forbes
Music Consultant — Angela Asistio
Prop Master — Linnea Crabtree Production Designer — Andrew Clark Sound Mixer — Viktor Weiszhaupt, Johnathan Reece...
‘Monica’ begins in extreme closeup of a beautiful but unhappy woman. We do not know what makes her so unhappy; she is quiet, uncommunicative and lives in a sort of darkness, using her cel phone to call and to talk to people who do not answer her calls.
Opening as she is in a sun-tanning machine, the cinematography promotes the physical aspects of her life as her reality. She goes to her red convertible in a palmy sun-soaked Los Angeles and drives into middle America, her dyed red hair blowing in the breeze.
The film’s stillness, its low tenor dialogue when there is any, and the near lack of action make us gather pieces of the story more by induction than by its narrative. The moodiness of the story sets us into a receptive state to understand Monica is returning home to a world she has long left behind. She has a brother with a young wife and three young children. She has a mother who is dying. She also has a numbness to her that makes us feel numb ourselves.
We see her world and learn that she left home when a teenager and her mother left her off at the bus station and told her she could no longer be her mother. She returns not knowing if her mother will acknowledge her or even recognize her. But in the course of returning and connecting to her brother’s family, she finds a healing and the family finds a reconciliation of the sort we would all wish to make before our parents or siblings die. Solace comes from the everyday moments, normalcy in a time of despondency for all as the mother is dying but still living.
Trace Lysette is Monica
Andrea Pallaoro, the film’s director has a quiet and very sophisticated subtle way of delivering what we see as normal details in a way that delves into Monica’s internal world and state of mind. His earlier two films Medeas and Hannah, also have a feeling of not going anywhere as stillness and quiet predominate; but in the end, we know we have arrived at a different place.
He delivers an Italian arthouse feel to stories of almost normal, prosaic people leading lives of quiet desperation. This tattooed woman in a sun machine with her dyed red hair and red convertible, calling an estranged lover perhaps, calling people who do not return her calls, speaking with strangers and asking how they got her number, her massaging a man in her apartment, Is she a prostitute? She is a masseause but what sort…that is when the call comes from a sister-in-law she didn’t know she had, asking her to please come as her mother is dying and they need help with her and their own children.
Andreas has this to say about this particular film: During the past few years my mother’s illness has compelled me to confront my past and the psychological effects of abandonment. Treading between the interior and exterior, the emotional and physical, Monica explores the complexities of self-worth, the deep-rooted consequences of rejection and the lengths we go to heal our wounds. Through a cinematic language that stems from the juxtaposition of the aesthetics of intimacy and alienation, my creative team and I delved into the emotional and psychological landscape of Monica to reflect the precarious nature of self-identity when challenged by the need to survive and ultimately transform.
Andrea Pallaoro is no stranger to Venice. His first feature film, Medeas, premiered at the 70th Venice Film Festival in Orozzonti, the section for first and second time directors. It has won several awards at prestigious international film festivals including Marrakech, Tbilisi, Palm Springs, and CamerImage. And it has received positive reviews by serious critics and opinion makers. The New York Times’ Jeannette Catsoulis: “Capturing the poetry of bodies at rest and a landscape frozen in time,” in many ways describes Monica as well.
Hannah, Pallaoro’s second feature film, starring Charlotte Rampling, also world premiered in the Official Competition of the 74th Venice Film Festival where Ms. Rampling won the Coppa Volpi for best actress. Hannah went on to receive many prestigious international awards and recognition including a César nomination for best foreign film.
Born in Trento, Italy in 1982, Andrea Pallaoro holds an Mfa in Film Directing from the California Institute of the Arts and a BA from Hampshire College. He splits his time between Los Angeles and New York City.
What is as interesting to me as the film itself, is how the producer, Eleonora Granata-Jenkinson come to make this film and how everyone worked together. It is even more interesting because I am a close friend of Eleonora. We met in a line to a movie at her first Sundance Film Festival and I later visited her in Italy when she was a buyer for Rai Cinema. She moved to LA and married one of the finest acquisitions persons in the business and had two sons. She works very closely with the producer Gina Resnick, another “long-timer”, one of the first women in the film business and like us, still at it. Eleonora and Gina produced Andrea’s first film as well.
That is what I wanted to talk to her about and what follows is here:
I know you produced Andrea’s first film Medeas. You told me to see it when we were at the Palm Springs Film Festival. How did you meet Andrea, and did you know immediately that he was so gifted?
Eleonora: Because I am one of the few Italian producers living in Los Angeles, I get to see a lot of amazing young people coming over with their dream and with a film, and friends of friends who say “You gotta watch this, you gotta watch that”. So a dear friend of mine, Laura Zumiani of Trentino Film Commission, though they didn’t have a Trentino Film Commission then, said to me, “There’s a guy that you need to to see, he’s living here in LA and he’s from Trento, and he’s a good friend of mine, and he’s really talented. And I said, “Oh my god, one more…ok…” So I watched his short, it was called Wunderkammer.
Andrea was studying at Cal Arts; it was his last year, and this was his graduate film. I said, “Ok let’s watch this”. I was blown away. I had never seen such an incredible composition of photography; the camera moved in a swift and an incredibly crafted way. The story set was dark and I said ‘Omg, well maybe I’m overreacting’…I got so excited. You know when you find something, you say, ‘This is the thing!’…I call my friend Alessandra Venezia, the journalist, and I said, ‘Hey Alexandra’ (she’s my best friend) and I say, ‘am I crazy or is this guy got…’ I had a DVD because at that time it was what we had and I brought it to her. And she calls me back and says, ‘I watched it, oh my god, he’s incredible. Oh my god, Eleonora let’s go meet this guy’.
So I go, she couldn’t go, and I meet Andrea and Laura who’s Laura? Andrea is like one of the most sophisticated, amazing person you will meet. He’s kind, he’s funny, he’s gorgeous looking.
So I say Ok, so he has this idea and we develop a little bit of the idea on Medeashis first film and I became the producer. But I needed a hands on producer and I grab my other best friend…I have a few best friends, you are one too [thank you]. They are my support and my life and my joy, that’s why we are in this business…and I said, ‘Gina I have this project…she says, ‘oh no! not a first timer!,’ but then she saw his short and so we did Medeas. Then I developed with Andrea the second film, Hannah, starring Charlotte Rampling but I didn’t produce it for him. .. long sotry but it was better not to produce it and so we concentrated on this one and that’s how Monica came to be.
It sounds simple. Was it really so simple?
Eleonora: The journey for this film was a very long one because of the issue of the film and because of the nature of Andrea’s films which are absolutely accomplished but not for a wide audience. Monica is the biggest film that Andrea has done. It’s in English, it’s shot in the United States and we have a marvelous cast. The film turned out to be incredible.
What about Venice?…
Medeas showed at Venice Orizzonti, the festival’s section for first and second time directors. Then it went on to other festivals and received praise from very serious critics and opinion makers. New York Times called it a “ravishing first feature”.
His second film, Hannah, also premiered in Venice. Naturally we are in a good relationship with Venice and we would never consider anything else…though there is no guarantee that we would be chosen to go again. I think they will like the next one too however. So here we are in Competition, on the first weekend.
That is great placement — the first weekend.
Yes as the people start to migrate to Toronto after the first half…though any time, any day or night is a great achievement to be in Venice. There are other phenomenal films there that did not go to Cannes. I believe this is going to be one of the best Competitions of Venice. We’re so proud to be there…
Andrea is in great company: Gianni Amelio, Darren Aronofsky, Noah Baumbach, Alice Diop, Inarritu, Luca Guadigno, Jafar Panahi, Frederick Wiseman, Laura Poitras, Florian Zeller — just to name a few, fabulous experienced directors.
Let’s talk a bit about Monica. There’s so little dialogue and there’s so little visibly going on and yet that serves to puts you into this receptive state and you get it at the end…it is all so interior… Medeas was also quietly interior. And both are dealing with such American every day life and environment, the the protagonist is always quite special herself (and always a woman).
What is his connection to US?
Eleonora: He is an Italian-American director who, as every one of us who has come to Hollywood from outside of the USA, has an idea of America which is a very personal creative and cultural experience.
The story of Monica is based on a real friend of Andrea who was a neighbor when he first moved here. She was a beautiful transgender woman who was kicked out of her family when she was 16 and came to Los Angeles.
What’s trans about Monica?
She is a woman reconnecting with family that she was shut out from. She is going on an interior journey back to her roots from which she emerges from her loneliness and rejection and finds the value of loving each other for who we are.
What is edifying is the social commitment of the film. It is about injustice and understanding in portraying women in whatever shape they are as belonging to humankind…it’s a very human experience. We consider this a post-trangender film about a transgender person played by a transgender actor…
Is the actress trans?
Tracee Lysette worked in many non-transgender roles, but came out publicly as trans through her role as Shea on the Amazon series Transparent. On the show, she plays a transgender yoga teacher and friend of Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor). She also played in Hustlers alongside Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B and Constance Wu.
Tracee generated such an energy in a beautiful love story interrupted and disconnected that she is able to move forward. It is such a restrained, finely drawn role. I really believe the performance will go for a major award.
One wonders whether the mother will recognize her and accept her.
Director Andrea Pallaoro and Patricia Clarkson
What about the other actors?
It was an unbelievable performance by Patricia Clarkson as the mother. She carried the film and with her own sensibility and her own personal view which so beautifully coinceded with Andreas’ vision. She supported the film all the way from its first steps through completion. She was always there for us.
Joshua Close, who plays the brother of Monica is coming out in Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon playing opposite Leonardo di Caprio as his brother. He was great. Emily Browning is outstanding as the sister-in-law who calls Monica as she is giving the massage and tells her they need her to come back home where the mother is dying. And Adriana Barraza, one of the best actresses of Mexico, nominated for the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for Babel was incredible on the set, she brought such harmony.
The film was made on a very small budget and everyone had to pitch in to help it get made. The actors were all so supportive and helpful and Andrea actually produced the film with us. You should note aside from him there are only three producers: myself, Gina Resnick and Christina Dow.
I am a woman producer strongly believing in women supporting one another. Gina Resnick is not only a great hands-on producer but she stays through thick and thin. We of course are the closest friends as well. We must speak 20 times a day.
Even though it was a small budget, it was shot in 35 by a brilliant beautiful amazing Dp, Katelin Arizmendi. Kate is just coming off of the 2nd unit forDune. She is a brilliant young woman — looks like a movie star and is working with a whole team of women, grip and everything . You will see them all when you come to Venice. They’re all coming, this crazy force of nature. Together they did a did a stunning film, stunning. You could take every frame of film and put it on the wall.
We’re very very excited about it.
What about distribution?
We have already been invited to a very significant film festival after this one. It will have a successful journey. Our sales agent is The Exchange. And UTA: I want to mention Rena Ronson — Rina, Gina and Eleonora…UTA did so much for us. We really joined forces. They set up all the screenings for finding a domestic US distributor who screened the film. After Venice and the reviews and others have weighed in, we will decide on our US plan.
I notice a huge number of coproducers and executive producers. There are 19. What is that about? It seems, actually to be a trend…Triangle of Sadnesshad 31 as do so many films these days…
The many executive and coproducers all believed in the script in spite of its difficult subject and they all significantly helped us put this film together. They were our best allies.
Our financial partner Felix and all the executive producers are worth mentioning. My own son, Matteo Jenkinson worked really closely with me to produce this film…
Andrea is a brilliant genius. Surrounded by such a cast and technical team, our Italian post-production help, the editor Paola Freddi; everyone went way above and beyond their designated roles with the film.
We even had help from the Italians with post-production by Propaganda Italia, Simone Gandolfo and a little financial support of the Ministero della Cultura (MiC) . And we have the best distributor in Italy today, I Wonder.
Credits
Directed by Andrea Pallaoro
Written by Andrea Pallaoro and Orlando Tirado
Cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi
Editor Paola Freddi
Production Designer Andrew Clark
Costume designer Patrik Milani
Sound supervisor Mirko Perri
Produced by Gina Resnick p.g.a., Christina Dow, Eleonora Granata Jenkinson,
Andrea Pallaoro
Co — produced by Marina Marzotto a.g.i.c.i., Mattia Oddone, Riccardo Di Pasquale, Gabriele Oricchio, Antonio Adinolfi, Giorgia Lo Savio
Executive Producer — Trace Lysette, Andrei Epifanov, David Schwarz, Steve Stanulis, Joana Henning, Stephanie Castagnier Dunn , Anthony Burns, Amy Gilliam, Eric Schnedecker, Christina Sibul , Karen Tenkhoff, Eric Cook , Matteo Jenkinson , Brian O’Shea, Nat McCormick, Dru Davis, Julien P Bourgon , Theo Vieljeux, Ali Jazayeri, Viviana Zarragoitia
Produced by Varient Entertainment, Solo Five Production, Melograno Films
Co-produced by Propaganda Italia, Fenix Entertainment with Rai Cinema and Alacran Pictures
In association with 039 Albedo, The Exchange, Cinetrain and Hudson Entertainment Group
Cast & Crew
Trace Lysette ⎜Monica
Patricia Clarkson ⎜Eugenia
Emily Browning ⎜ Laura
Joshua Close ⎜ Paul
Adriana Barraza ⎜ Leticia
Graham Caldwell ⎜Brody
Ruby Fraser ⎜Britney
Director Of Photography/ Camera Operator — Kate Arizmendi
1St Assistant Camera — Jasmine Chang
2nd Assistant Camera — Sam Storm
1St Assistant Director- Laura Klein
2Nd Assistant Director — Roger Mendoza
Line Producer — Chenney Chen
Upm — Eric Cook
Production Coordinator — Nick Avery, Cristina Arteaga
Production Secretary- Jessica Meek
Casting Director (NY/LA) — Emily Schweber
Local Casting Director — D. Lynn Meyers
Assistant Casting Director — Ali Raizin
Assistant Casting Director Cincinnati — Becca Schall
Costume Designer — Patrik Milani
Asst. Costume Designer/ Costume Supervisor — Margaux Solano
Chief Lighting Technician — Jake Lyon
Key Grip — Steve Forbes
Best Boy Grip — Christofer Moscoso
Grip — Rodney “Rock” Reed, Aria Brice, Thomas Vincent, Jake Storm, Paul Fierst, Nick Patten, Matthew Barnhart
Hair/Make-up Dept Head — Chelo Acosta-conley Location Manager — Alan Forbes
Music Consultant — Angela Asistio
Prop Master — Linnea Crabtree Production Designer — Andrew Clark Sound Mixer — Viktor Weiszhaupt, Johnathan Reece...
- 9/10/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: The Exchange has announced a licensing and partnership deal with Ddl Entertainment producers Daniele Di Lorenzo and Stefano Corti, who have optioned the rights to develop a TV series adapted from Federico Fellini’s 1960 Oscar-winning classic La Dolce Vita.
The series will be inspired by the themes of the beloved classic, starring Marcello Mastroianni as a tabloid journalist navigating the heady world of late 1950s Rome but will not be a remake.
The partners said the series will be rather a portrait of the state of contemporary media, culture, and celebrity, and the eternal pursuit of the “dream”.
They have yet to assign writers to the project but are expected to do so after a strategic development partnership is in place.
“La Dolce Vita is an instantly recognizable and beloved classic. We will bring the same daring, thoughtfulness, and beauty to this series,” said The Exchange CEO Brian O’Shea.
The series will be inspired by the themes of the beloved classic, starring Marcello Mastroianni as a tabloid journalist navigating the heady world of late 1950s Rome but will not be a remake.
The partners said the series will be rather a portrait of the state of contemporary media, culture, and celebrity, and the eternal pursuit of the “dream”.
They have yet to assign writers to the project but are expected to do so after a strategic development partnership is in place.
“La Dolce Vita is an instantly recognizable and beloved classic. We will bring the same daring, thoughtfulness, and beauty to this series,” said The Exchange CEO Brian O’Shea.
- 9/10/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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