The first few minutes of White Plastic Sky, the animated feature from Hungarian directors Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó that debuted at the Berlin Film Festival 2023, sketch a future world with echoes of past cinematic dystopias.
The world has been stripped of life, the soil poisoned, and all animals driven to extinction. Humanity survives under a huge geodesic dome (the plastic sky of the title) and has learned to feed on itself. At the age of 50, every citizen gets a special implant that turns them into a food source for the next generation. In a scene resembling the pod farms of the Matrix films, we see how implanted humans are transmogrified into a hybrid plant species, becoming trees that provide oxygen and food for those under the dome.
“There are similarities in our story to Soylent Green or Logan’s Run, similar motifs to other high-concept, or hardcore science fiction,” admits Bánóczki,...
The world has been stripped of life, the soil poisoned, and all animals driven to extinction. Humanity survives under a huge geodesic dome (the plastic sky of the title) and has learned to feed on itself. At the age of 50, every citizen gets a special implant that turns them into a food source for the next generation. In a scene resembling the pod farms of the Matrix films, we see how implanted humans are transmogrified into a hybrid plant species, becoming trees that provide oxygen and food for those under the dome.
“There are similarities in our story to Soylent Green or Logan’s Run, similar motifs to other high-concept, or hardcore science fiction,” admits Bánóczki,...
- 2/17/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards: ‘The Lost Daughter’ Takes the Top Prize (Complete Winners List)
The 37th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out Sunday at the Santa Monica Pier, with comedy power couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally serving as hosts.
There weren’t too many surprises throughout the night. Troy Kotsur won the first award of the evening, Best Supporting Male Actor for “Coda,” very much as predicted. Taylour Paige took home Best Female Lead Actor, for “Zola,” while Simon Rex, of “Red Rocket,” walked away with Best Male Lead. Ruth Negga won Best Supporting Female Actor for “Passing,” beating out Jessie Buckley from “The Lost Daughter.”
But Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of the Elena Ferrante book won the three other categories in which it was nominated — Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Feature — and was the night’s biggest victor. Gyllenhaal gave three effusive thank you speeches, spreading her appreciation around to her cast, crew, financiers, publicist, husband and mother. “Women in film!
There weren’t too many surprises throughout the night. Troy Kotsur won the first award of the evening, Best Supporting Male Actor for “Coda,” very much as predicted. Taylour Paige took home Best Female Lead Actor, for “Zola,” while Simon Rex, of “Red Rocket,” walked away with Best Male Lead. Ruth Negga won Best Supporting Female Actor for “Passing,” beating out Jessie Buckley from “The Lost Daughter.”
But Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of the Elena Ferrante book won the three other categories in which it was nominated — Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Feature — and was the night’s biggest victor. Gyllenhaal gave three effusive thank you speeches, spreading her appreciation around to her cast, crew, financiers, publicist, husband and mother. “Women in film!
- 3/6/2022
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
Competition(Jury: M. Night Shyamalan, Karim Aïnouz, Saïd Ben Saïd, Anne Zohra Berrached, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Connie Nielsen)Golden BearAlcarràs (Carla Simón)Silver Bear — Grand Jury PrizeThe Novelist’s Film (Hong Sang-soo)Silver Bear — Jury PrizeRobe of Gems (Natalia Lopez Gallardo)Silver Bear for Best DirectorClaire Denis (Both Sides of the Blade)Silver Bear for Best Leading PerformanceMeltem Kaptan (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush)Silver Bear for Best Supporting PerformanceLaura Basuki (Nana)Silver Bear for Best ScreenplayLaila Stieler (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush)Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic ContributionRithy Panh (Everything Will Be Ok)Silver Bear — Special MentionA Piece of Sky (Michael Koch)Encounters(Jury: Chiara Marañón, Ben Rivers, Silvan Zürcher)Award for Best FilmMUTZENBACHER (Ruth Beckermann)Special Jury AwardSee You Friday, Robinson (Mitra Farahani)Award for Best DirectorCyril Schäublin (Unrest)Generation — Kplus(Jury: Daniela Cajías, Nicola Jones, Samuel Kishi Leopo)Grand Prix for Best Film The Quiet Girl...
- 2/16/2022
- MUBI
“Drive My Car” filmmaker Hamaguchi Ryusuke, director Karim Ainouz (Berlin-winner “Central Airport Thf”) and actor Connie Nielsen (“Wonder Woman”) will join president M. Night Shyamalan on the international jury of the Berlin Film Festival.
Also serving on the international jury are producer Saïd Ben Saïd (“Benedetta”) and filmmakers Anne Zohra Berrached (“24 Weeeks”) and writer-director Tsitsi Dangarembga (“I Want a Wedding Dress”). The international jury decides the Golden and the Silver Bear winners.
The jury for the festival’s Encounters strand includes Mubi director of content Chiara Marañón and filmmakers Ben Rivers (Venice Fipresci prize winner “Two Years at Sea”) and Silvan Zürcher (Berlin Fipresci prize winner “The Girl and the Spider”). They will choose the winners for the strand’s best film, best director and the special jury awards.
The jury for the Gwff Best First Feature Award includes Gaia Furrer, artistic director of the Venice Film Festival’s Venice...
Also serving on the international jury are producer Saïd Ben Saïd (“Benedetta”) and filmmakers Anne Zohra Berrached (“24 Weeeks”) and writer-director Tsitsi Dangarembga (“I Want a Wedding Dress”). The international jury decides the Golden and the Silver Bear winners.
The jury for the festival’s Encounters strand includes Mubi director of content Chiara Marañón and filmmakers Ben Rivers (Venice Fipresci prize winner “Two Years at Sea”) and Silvan Zürcher (Berlin Fipresci prize winner “The Girl and the Spider”). They will choose the winners for the strand’s best film, best director and the special jury awards.
The jury for the Gwff Best First Feature Award includes Gaia Furrer, artistic director of the Venice Film Festival’s Venice...
- 1/26/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The International jury will be headed by US director M. Night Shyamalan.
The Berlin International Film Festival has confirmed its full juries for the 2022 edition, with Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Brazil’s Karim Ainouz joining president M. Night Shyamalan on the main international jury.
Also on the seven-person international jury are German director Anne Zohra Berrached; Tunisian-French producer Said Ben Said; Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangaremba; and Danish actress Connie Nielsen.
The international jury will select the winners of the Golden and Silver Bears from the 18 films playing in Competition. Shyamalan was selected as jury president in October last year.
The Berlin International Film Festival has confirmed its full juries for the 2022 edition, with Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Brazil’s Karim Ainouz joining president M. Night Shyamalan on the main international jury.
Also on the seven-person international jury are German director Anne Zohra Berrached; Tunisian-French producer Said Ben Said; Zimbabwean writer Tsitsi Dangaremba; and Danish actress Connie Nielsen.
The international jury will select the winners of the Golden and Silver Bears from the 18 films playing in Competition. Shyamalan was selected as jury president in October last year.
- 1/26/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The 72nd Berlin International Film Festival has confirmed its various juries, including who will be joining M. Night Shyamalan to award the International Competition prizes.
Alongside International Jury president Shyamalan will be Karim Aïnouz (Brazil / Algeria), Anne Zohra Berrached (Germany), Saïd Ben Saïd (France / Tunisia), Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Japan), and Connie Nielsen (Denmark / USA).
In the competitive Encounters program, a three-member jury will choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award: Director of Content Chiara Marañón (Spain), artist and filmmaker Ben Rivers (United Kingdom) as well as producer, screenwriter and director Silvan Zürcher (Switzerland).
Elsewhere, the Gff Best First Feature will be awarded to one debut film across Berlin’s various sections, and will be decided by a three-person jury: Gaia Furrer (Italy), Vimukthi Jayasundara (Sri Lanka) and Shahrbanoo Sadat (Afghanistan).
The Berlin Documentary Award jury this year are: Wang Bing (People’s...
Alongside International Jury president Shyamalan will be Karim Aïnouz (Brazil / Algeria), Anne Zohra Berrached (Germany), Saïd Ben Saïd (France / Tunisia), Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Japan), and Connie Nielsen (Denmark / USA).
In the competitive Encounters program, a three-member jury will choose the winners for Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award: Director of Content Chiara Marañón (Spain), artist and filmmaker Ben Rivers (United Kingdom) as well as producer, screenwriter and director Silvan Zürcher (Switzerland).
Elsewhere, the Gff Best First Feature will be awarded to one debut film across Berlin’s various sections, and will be decided by a three-person jury: Gaia Furrer (Italy), Vimukthi Jayasundara (Sri Lanka) and Shahrbanoo Sadat (Afghanistan).
The Berlin Documentary Award jury this year are: Wang Bing (People’s...
- 1/26/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
In most Oscar categories, it’s clear what “best” means. Not so the annual animated feature race, in which the ballot presents perhaps the greatest range of any category every year — certainly, in terms of budget, subject matter, artistic style and formal innovation. Where else can you see a pair of superhero movies competing against an ultra-personal Japanese anime and stop-motion Wes Anderson movie, to use 2018 as an example?
Consider this year’s crop: Among the 26 films that qualified, you’ll find everything from a splashy studio hit (“Sing 2”) to a cult-interest Sundance indie (Dash Shaw’s hand-drawn “Cryptozoo”), from a Sony-animated pop-culture phenom (“The Mitchells vs. the Machines”) to a highly targeted, “Heavy Metal”-esque midnight movie (“The Spine of Night”).
Many of the more eccentric submissions will be eliminated in the next phase — including perhaps anime entry “The Laws of the Universe: The Age of Elohim,...
Consider this year’s crop: Among the 26 films that qualified, you’ll find everything from a splashy studio hit (“Sing 2”) to a cult-interest Sundance indie (Dash Shaw’s hand-drawn “Cryptozoo”), from a Sony-animated pop-culture phenom (“The Mitchells vs. the Machines”) to a highly targeted, “Heavy Metal”-esque midnight movie (“The Spine of Night”).
Many of the more eccentric submissions will be eliminated in the next phase — including perhaps anime entry “The Laws of the Universe: The Age of Elohim,...
- 1/11/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Antlers (Scott Cooper)
Scott Cooper is comfortable in the mud. The American director routinely finds himself in the confines of the lowdown and dirty, in gritty landscapes with working-class characters overcoming their shortcomings and often turning to violence to solve their problems. While his previous two features Black Mass and Hostiles failed to find tension in their deliberately tedious pacing, Antlers strikes the balance between methodology, terror, and blue-collar dynamics. – Erik N. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Arrebato (Iván Zulueta)
That Arrebato has waited more than 40 years to receive a bona fide U.S. theatrical run is wild; it lives up to the cult-classic status it’s held since 1979. (The marketing push highlights it being Pedro Almodóvar’s favorite horror film.
Antlers (Scott Cooper)
Scott Cooper is comfortable in the mud. The American director routinely finds himself in the confines of the lowdown and dirty, in gritty landscapes with working-class characters overcoming their shortcomings and often turning to violence to solve their problems. While his previous two features Black Mass and Hostiles failed to find tension in their deliberately tedious pacing, Antlers strikes the balance between methodology, terror, and blue-collar dynamics. – Erik N. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Arrebato (Iván Zulueta)
That Arrebato has waited more than 40 years to receive a bona fide U.S. theatrical run is wild; it lives up to the cult-classic status it’s held since 1979. (The marketing push highlights it being Pedro Almodóvar’s favorite horror film.
- 12/24/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Distributor A24 and Zola led nominations as the Film Independent Spirit Awards revealed their 37th annual nods in a pre-taped presentation hosted by Beanie Feldstein, Regina Hall and Naomi Watts. The Spirit Awards are skedded for Sunday, March 6, 2022 — live and in-person this year back on the beach in Santa Monica, and broadcast on IFC.
A24’s Zola, by Janicza Bravo and based on a Twitter chain from a riotous road trip, was recognized for Best Feature Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Female Lead and Supporting Male. Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon with Joaquin Phoenix took four nods including feature, director and screenplay. Accolades were rounded out by two nominations for Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, for Best Male Lead, Simon Rex ,and Best Supporting Female, Suzanna Son. The Humans, directed by Stephen Karam based on his one-act play, was nominated in cinematography.
Netflix and Neon took nine nods each, with...
A24’s Zola, by Janicza Bravo and based on a Twitter chain from a riotous road trip, was recognized for Best Feature Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Female Lead and Supporting Male. Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon with Joaquin Phoenix took four nods including feature, director and screenplay. Accolades were rounded out by two nominations for Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, for Best Male Lead, Simon Rex ,and Best Supporting Female, Suzanna Son. The Humans, directed by Stephen Karam based on his one-act play, was nominated in cinematography.
Netflix and Neon took nine nods each, with...
- 12/14/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Writer, artist, and director Dash Shaw’s adult animated fantasy film Cryptozoo is a morality play masquerading as a dark reflection of Jurassic Park. In that film, dinosaurs were brought back to life through DNA and put on display. Cryptozoo does the same with cryptids, which are mythological creatures who have teased mankind’s imagination since the dawn of civilization.
Cryptozoo is set in 1967 San Francisco, a time of civil unrest, disobedience and oppression, and the cryptids are facing the same kind of suppression as hippies like Amber (Louisa Krause) and Matthew (Michael Cera), but on a far more mythic level. Military minds want to weaponize the cryptids, putting them in a prison camp, while they study what makes these things tick. Well-meaning and animal loving zookeeper Joan (Grace Zabriskie) and her assistant Lauren Gray (Lake Bell), prefer they are kept in what they see as a Garden of Eden.
Cryptozoo is set in 1967 San Francisco, a time of civil unrest, disobedience and oppression, and the cryptids are facing the same kind of suppression as hippies like Amber (Louisa Krause) and Matthew (Michael Cera), but on a far more mythic level. Military minds want to weaponize the cryptids, putting them in a prison camp, while they study what makes these things tick. Well-meaning and animal loving zookeeper Joan (Grace Zabriskie) and her assistant Lauren Gray (Lake Bell), prefer they are kept in what they see as a Garden of Eden.
- 12/11/2021
- by Mike Cecchini
- Den of Geek
Russia’s premiere animation studio, Soyuzmultfilm has recently hit headlines. Rumors say that the state-funded studio will transition into a private company open to commercial industry. While some fear the studio will break its infamous experimental streak, Nadia Goldman’s “I Wish” is a testament that this won’t go away anytime soon.
“I Wish” will play in Cartoons Underground from 20-27 November.
“I Wish” follows a dream-poem of an unnamed girl. Everything in this world is defined in a deceptively simple cloak of black or white; singular lines define trees and veins contour outlines of feet. French and Russian utterances ease through the film, threading each disparate thread. Do not be fooled, however. This confusing dreamscape is quick to erupt however, jolting our dreamer – and us – awake.
Since the film is only three-minutes long, “I Wish” feels almost like a hallucination. It seems to blend the accruing horrors of...
“I Wish” will play in Cartoons Underground from 20-27 November.
“I Wish” follows a dream-poem of an unnamed girl. Everything in this world is defined in a deceptively simple cloak of black or white; singular lines define trees and veins contour outlines of feet. French and Russian utterances ease through the film, threading each disparate thread. Do not be fooled, however. This confusing dreamscape is quick to erupt however, jolting our dreamer – and us – awake.
Since the film is only three-minutes long, “I Wish” feels almost like a hallucination. It seems to blend the accruing horrors of...
- 11/20/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Five Inspirations is a series in which we ask directors to share five things that shaped and informed their film. Dash Shaw's Cryptozoo is playing exclusively on Mubi starting October 22, 2021 in many countries in the series The New Auteurs.I decided to highlight five books that inspired Cryptozoo:Inspiration #1Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art by Susan Aberth
I got the Carrington Nyrb prose books too, but this art book stayed on a close shelf in my studio during the years of making Cryptozoo. Each picture is its own world, orchestrating a network of relationships. Their incomplete areas activate the imagination. To say something is "dream-like" is overused, but it applies here.Inspiration #2Walt Disney Imagineering by the ImagineersI got this when it first came out. If you're a kid growing up loving comics and cartoons, everyone really shoves Disney down your throat. My childhood dream job was to be an Imagineer.
I got the Carrington Nyrb prose books too, but this art book stayed on a close shelf in my studio during the years of making Cryptozoo. Each picture is its own world, orchestrating a network of relationships. Their incomplete areas activate the imagination. To say something is "dream-like" is overused, but it applies here.Inspiration #2Walt Disney Imagineering by the ImagineersI got this when it first came out. If you're a kid growing up loving comics and cartoons, everyone really shoves Disney down your throat. My childhood dream job was to be an Imagineer.
- 10/21/2021
- MUBI
Dash Shaw’s counterfactual fantasy, a 1960s-set, nudity-filled sprawl about ‘cryptids’ and shady US agencies, is unique
Utterly bizarre in the best possible way, this lovingly handmade animated feature by writer-director Dash Shaw (originally a comic book/graphic novelist) isn’t like anything you’ve seen before. Unless, that is, you’ve seen Dash’s previous feature, My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea, a wacky work of wonder that does just what it says on the tin. Dash’s followup dives deeper into a world of counterfactual fantasy, one drenched in a nostalgia for the hippy values of the 1960s that could only come from someone too young to have actually lived through the era. But while a certain disarming naivety infuses the work, it nevertheless packs an evocative punch, with a moral message about intolerance and the need to protect more vulnerable species. It’s also one...
Utterly bizarre in the best possible way, this lovingly handmade animated feature by writer-director Dash Shaw (originally a comic book/graphic novelist) isn’t like anything you’ve seen before. Unless, that is, you’ve seen Dash’s previous feature, My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea, a wacky work of wonder that does just what it says on the tin. Dash’s followup dives deeper into a world of counterfactual fantasy, one drenched in a nostalgia for the hippy values of the 1960s that could only come from someone too young to have actually lived through the era. But while a certain disarming naivety infuses the work, it nevertheless packs an evocative punch, with a moral message about intolerance and the need to protect more vulnerable species. It’s also one...
- 10/19/2021
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
Valdimar Jóhannsson’s Icelandic-Swedish-Polish drama “Lamb,” starring Noomi Rapace was awarded best film and actress for Rapace at the 54th edition of Sitges’ International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, which wrapped Sunday.
The prizes add to an Originality Prize which the film received when competing at July’s Cannes Un Certain Regard.
“Lamb,” a horror-comedy combo, follows protagonist Maria, played by Rapace, a woman living with her husband in the total loneliness of the Icelandic countryside. According to a Variety review, “creepy-funny-weird-sad ‘Lamb’ proves just how far disbelief can be suspended if you’re in the hands of a director — and a cast, and a SFX/puppetry department — who really commit to the bit.” Lamb is produced by Go to Sheep, Black Spark Film & TV and Madants with New Europe Film Sales and A24 attached.
Rapace shared best actress honors with Susanne Jensen in Peter Brunner’s “Luzifer.” Justin Kurzel...
The prizes add to an Originality Prize which the film received when competing at July’s Cannes Un Certain Regard.
“Lamb,” a horror-comedy combo, follows protagonist Maria, played by Rapace, a woman living with her husband in the total loneliness of the Icelandic countryside. According to a Variety review, “creepy-funny-weird-sad ‘Lamb’ proves just how far disbelief can be suspended if you’re in the hands of a director — and a cast, and a SFX/puppetry department — who really commit to the bit.” Lamb is produced by Go to Sheep, Black Spark Film & TV and Madants with New Europe Film Sales and A24 attached.
Rapace shared best actress honors with Susanne Jensen in Peter Brunner’s “Luzifer.” Justin Kurzel...
- 10/18/2021
- by Emilio Mayorga
- Variety Film + TV
When it comes to painting outside the box, so to speak, this year has been a promising one for animation. While the Pixars and Dreamworks of the world often get the biggest budgets both on the production and marketing side, we are thankful to get such delightfully inventive works like Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo, Hideaki Anno’s Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, and Mamoru Hosoda’s Belle. Premiering at SXSW earlier this year, Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King’s The Spine of the Night deserves to be part of the conversation.
With a voice cast of Richard E. Grant, Lucy Lawless, Patton Oswalt, Betty Gabriel, and Joe Manganiello, the film is described as an “ultra-violent fantasy epic” in which “ancient dark magic falls into sinister hands and unleashes ages of suffering onto mankind. A group of heroes from different eras and cultures must...
With a voice cast of Richard E. Grant, Lucy Lawless, Patton Oswalt, Betty Gabriel, and Joe Manganiello, the film is described as an “ultra-violent fantasy epic” in which “ancient dark magic falls into sinister hands and unleashes ages of suffering onto mankind. A group of heroes from different eras and cultures must...
- 10/11/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Melvin Van Peebles. (Courtesy of Shadow & Act)We're deeply saddened by the news that the great Melvin Van Peebles has died. A filmmaker, director, novelist, playwright, and composer, Van Peebles was a pioneer of independent cinema, best known for his films Watermelon Man (1970) and Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971). In an official statement, Van Peebles' son, filmmaker Mario Van Peebles, states: "He was a pioneer, a maverick and one cool cat." Exiled Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi has published an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, discussing the struggles faced by refugees whose films are censored, banned, and restricted from being shown to the Academy. Ghobadi proposes "a refugee team of filmmakers; they can have their works viewed by a jury and eventually one movie can be chosen from the refugee team.
- 9/29/2021
- MUBI
A young couple go for a walk in a forest, make love, and encounter a gigantic fence. On impulse they decide to climb over it, curious about what could be on the other side. Anyone who has seen a Jurassic Park film will know that this might not be a good idea... and wonder if these people have any braincells whatsoever. It's a powerful beginning though, preparing audiences a bit for what to expect from Cryptozoo, an animated feature film from director Dash Shaw. Made with the help of a veritable army of artists, it contains an eclectic mix of styles, ranging from beautifully painted mythical creatures to paper cut-out caricatures. And if you're fond of mythical creatures, this film invites you to eat your...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 9/24/2021
- Screen Anarchy
Korean director Hong Eui-jeong’s debut feature “Voice of Silence” stood out at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival as the year’s best film from its Cheval Noir main competition section. The film, about two men who clean up after an organized crime organization, has enjoyed an impressive international festival run, having built up strong buzz as a project when it was selected to Venice’s Biennale College Cinema program in 2016.
“In a film festival that’s known as a melting pot of genres, ‘Voice of Silence’ feels like an excellent representative for the top prize in the Cheval Noir section. It’s earnest and sincere in tone but also unpredictable and experimental, impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic,” said the jury in a statement accompanying the announcement.
Basque filmmaker Igor Legarreta was honored as the year’s best director for his sophomore effort “All the Moons,” a 19th...
“In a film festival that’s known as a melting pot of genres, ‘Voice of Silence’ feels like an excellent representative for the top prize in the Cheval Noir section. It’s earnest and sincere in tone but also unpredictable and experimental, impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic,” said the jury in a statement accompanying the announcement.
Basque filmmaker Igor Legarreta was honored as the year’s best director for his sophomore effort “All the Moons,” a 19th...
- 8/26/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Yoo Ah-in (Voice Of Silence), Zelda Adams (Hellbender) win acting prizes.
EuiJeong Hong’s South Korean thriller Voice Of Silence has won the 25th anniversary edition Fantasia International Film Festival’s Cheval Noir award for best film.
Hong’s film follows a mute low-level gangster tasked with taking charge of an 11-year-old kidnapped girl from a wealthy family. The jury described Voice Of Silence as “impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic. Put simply, it’s unlike anything we’d seen before”.
Juried awards
In other Cheval Noir awards Yoo Ah-in who plays the mute man won best actor while...
EuiJeong Hong’s South Korean thriller Voice Of Silence has won the 25th anniversary edition Fantasia International Film Festival’s Cheval Noir award for best film.
Hong’s film follows a mute low-level gangster tasked with taking charge of an 11-year-old kidnapped girl from a wealthy family. The jury described Voice Of Silence as “impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic. Put simply, it’s unlike anything we’d seen before”.
Juried awards
In other Cheval Noir awards Yoo Ah-in who plays the mute man won best actor while...
- 8/26/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Sonny Chiba in Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003). Sonny Chiba, the prolific and singular actor, martial artist and choreographer, has died at the age of 82.New York Film Festival has unveiled its Currents section, featuring a strong slate that includes Artavazd Peleshian, Ted Fendt, Shengze Zhu, Christopher Harris, Shireen Seno, Matías Piñeiro and more. NYFF will also be screening seven programs dedicated to the centenary of the late film programmer and festival co-founder Amos Vogel. The retrospective includes works by Glauber Rocher, Oskar Fischinger, and Dušan Makavejev. The Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival has announced its lineup. This year's Focus program will showcase the works of Cambodian production company Anti-Archive, Nguyễn Trinh Thí, Rajee Samarasinghe, and Sps Community Media. Organized by Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art, Archival Assembly #1 will take place from...
- 8/25/2021
- MUBI
Comic book writer-turned-director Dash Shaw (“My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea”) has conjured the wildest, most surreal animated feature of the year with the 2D “Cryptozoo.” It’s about a group of cryptozookeepers in the late ’60s who create a utopia safe haven for rare, fantastic beasts to protect them from becoming weaponized by the U.S. military. However, the search for the most revered creature — the nightmare-sucking Baku — by cryptid hunter Lauren Grey (Lake Bell) reveals the harmful implications of such an idealistic pursuit.
Shaw, who collaborated with his animator wife Jane Samborski, described “Cryptozoo” as a counter-culture version of “Jurassic Park.”
“When the movie starts, your mind goes to ‘Jurassic Park’ and you’re thinking how it’s going to fail in ‘Cryptozoo,'” Shaw said. “But whereas ‘Jurassic Park’ has a cleaner, allegorical space that’s defined by Spielberg, ‘Cryptozoo’ makes more unusual associations and a collage of different tones.
Shaw, who collaborated with his animator wife Jane Samborski, described “Cryptozoo” as a counter-culture version of “Jurassic Park.”
“When the movie starts, your mind goes to ‘Jurassic Park’ and you’re thinking how it’s going to fail in ‘Cryptozoo,'” Shaw said. “But whereas ‘Jurassic Park’ has a cleaner, allegorical space that’s defined by Spielberg, ‘Cryptozoo’ makes more unusual associations and a collage of different tones.
- 8/23/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
“Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo
Cryptozoo, Dash Shaw’s beautifully animated follow-up to 2016’s My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea, begins with a stark, colorless prologue in which a couple, Amber and Matthew (voiced by Luisa Krause and Michael Cera), scale a fence that seems to be randomly placed in the middle of the woods and find themselves staring at an honest-to-God unicorn. The ensuing scene is delicately handled, conveying both the beauty and fright of the encounter and, eventually, its tragicness unflinchingly, without sentimentality. It’s a wonderful introduction to the weird world of the film, where not only unicorns but also gorgons, griffins, […]
The post “Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 8/20/2021
- by Forrest Cardamenis
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo
Cryptozoo, Dash Shaw’s beautifully animated follow-up to 2016’s My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea, begins with a stark, colorless prologue in which a couple, Amber and Matthew (voiced by Luisa Krause and Michael Cera), scale a fence that seems to be randomly placed in the middle of the woods and find themselves staring at an honest-to-God unicorn. The ensuing scene is delicately handled, conveying both the beauty and fright of the encounter and, eventually, its tragicness unflinchingly, without sentimentality. It’s a wonderful introduction to the weird world of the film, where not only unicorns but also gorgons, griffins, […]
The post “Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Spreadsheets Are the Best Things in the World”: Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski on Animating Cryptozoo first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 8/20/2021
- by Forrest Cardamenis
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
United Artists Releasing opens Flag Day, directed and starring Sean Penn, in a uneven specialty market where the Delta Variant spike has theaters in key cities requiring proof of vaccination, theaters are hard to book, and hits have been rare since the industry reopened.
Eventually “We’ll crack the code, because good movie and good stories win out.” said Erik Lomis, President, Distribution at Uar. Older demos — the meat-and-potatoes of arthouse — “are less comfortable coming back than we all hoped. It’s a tough, tough market to crack… but there’s nothing like seeing it in a movie theater.”
The film from MGM Studios premiered at Cannes and debuts in 24 theaters in 10 markets. It expands next weekend to 24 markets and 50 theaters. “We’ll continue to roll out like that until we really step on the gas depending upon market conditions,...
Eventually “We’ll crack the code, because good movie and good stories win out.” said Erik Lomis, President, Distribution at Uar. Older demos — the meat-and-potatoes of arthouse — “are less comfortable coming back than we all hoped. It’s a tough, tough market to crack… but there’s nothing like seeing it in a movie theater.”
The film from MGM Studios premiered at Cannes and debuts in 24 theaters in 10 markets. It expands next weekend to 24 markets and 50 theaters. “We’ll continue to roll out like that until we really step on the gas depending upon market conditions,...
- 8/20/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Andrzej Munk Retrospective
An influence on the likes of Krzysztof Kieślowski, Roman Polanski, and Jerzy Skolimowski, and more, Andrzej Munk’s filmography is quite unspoken of here in the United States. Hopefully that will change with the arrival of new restorations, featuring his early political documentaries and his subsequent features including Bad Luck, Eroica, Man on the Tracks, and Passenger, which was finished after his untimely death in 1961.
Where to Stream: Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema
Annette (Leos Carax)
In Annette, a provocative comedian (Adam Driver) and renowned opera singer (Marion Cotillard) fall in love and have a gifted child. Written and composed by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, the singular rock band that formed in the early 1970s,...
Andrzej Munk Retrospective
An influence on the likes of Krzysztof Kieślowski, Roman Polanski, and Jerzy Skolimowski, and more, Andrzej Munk’s filmography is quite unspoken of here in the United States. Hopefully that will change with the arrival of new restorations, featuring his early political documentaries and his subsequent features including Bad Luck, Eroica, Man on the Tracks, and Passenger, which was finished after his untimely death in 1961.
Where to Stream: Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema
Annette (Leos Carax)
In Annette, a provocative comedian (Adam Driver) and renowned opera singer (Marion Cotillard) fall in love and have a gifted child. Written and composed by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks, the singular rock band that formed in the early 1970s,...
- 8/20/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
This review of “Cryptozoo” was first published after the film’s premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.
If you ever talk to an animator, they are likely to share two opinions very quickly: one, “Animation is not a genre.” And two, “Animation isn’t exclusively for children.” Dash Shaw is one of many contemporary artists expanding the idea of what animation can do, and who it can be for, and with his second feature, “Cryptozoo,” his well of imagination is matched only by his precision at executing his ideas.
“Cryptozoo” delivers on the promise of Shaw’s first feature, “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea.” This time out, the writer-director (in collaboration with animation director Jane Samborski) is even more assured as both a storyteller and as a crafter of images, be they outrageous or gorgeous, haunting or hilarious.
Underneath it all, Shaw seems to revel in genre,...
If you ever talk to an animator, they are likely to share two opinions very quickly: one, “Animation is not a genre.” And two, “Animation isn’t exclusively for children.” Dash Shaw is one of many contemporary artists expanding the idea of what animation can do, and who it can be for, and with his second feature, “Cryptozoo,” his well of imagination is matched only by his precision at executing his ideas.
“Cryptozoo” delivers on the promise of Shaw’s first feature, “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea.” This time out, the writer-director (in collaboration with animation director Jane Samborski) is even more assured as both a storyteller and as a crafter of images, be they outrageous or gorgeous, haunting or hilarious.
Underneath it all, Shaw seems to revel in genre,...
- 8/18/2021
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
After taking a Covid hiatus last year, MoMI (Museum of Moving Image)'s annual new film showcase First Look is back! Celebrating its tenth year, First Look takes a peak at innovative new international cinema. Opening Night is the New York premiere of Claire Simon’s The Grocer’s Son, the Mayor, the Village, and the World… and Closing Night is the New York premiere of Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo. First Look 20/21 presents 22 features and more than two dozen mid-length and short works from around the world, plus its signature “Working on It” sessions, which focus on the creative process. The festival runs from July 22 through August 1. A special kick-off event for First Look 20/21 takes place at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn on July 19, with...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 7/22/2021
- Screen Anarchy
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.Closeup of Fay Wray from Doctor X after restoration work. Image from https://www.cinema.ucla.eduNEWSAfter working together in the film Rojo (2018), director Benjamin Naishtat and actor Alfredo Castro reunite to talk about the terror, pleasure and mystery involved in the process of creating a film. They agree that for both director and actor, the seed of creation is the irrationality of madness, and that uncertainty is an essential factor in filmmaking. Castro and Naishtat call for a subversive cinema that cannot be domesticated by current narrative paradigms and that is also capable of using the imagination as a means and a catalyst to reinterpret our history. To listen to this episode and subscribe on your favorite podcast app, click here.The great French film director Jacques Rozier is being evicted from his...
- 7/14/2021
- MUBI
Comic book illustrator, writer, and filmmaker Dash Shaw recently created a visually stunning film about cryptids called Cryptozoo. The animated feature from Magnolia Pictures innovates the creature feature subgenre while exploring artistic methods that creatively capture an array of mythological beasts. There are hundreds of cryptids, or mythological animals, that span centuries of folklore across the […]
The post ‘Cryptozoo’ Trailer: A Hand-Drawn Animated Movie About Monsters and the People Who Capture Them appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Cryptozoo’ Trailer: A Hand-Drawn Animated Movie About Monsters and the People Who Capture Them appeared first on /Film.
- 7/14/2021
- by Marisa Mirabal
- Slash Film
In the sea (one might say glut) of contemporary animation—a form that, by its very nature, is most often supported by the ever-watchful eye of major studios—breaths of fresh air are desperately needed. Directed by Dash Shaw, with animation direction from Jane Samborski, the sui generis Cryptozoo truly galvanized us at Sundance, our critic calling it “one of the most gorgeous works of American animation in ages.”
You’ll find that quote in the trailer Magnolia have released ahead of Cryptozoo‘s August 20 release. Having not seen the film myself, I’m rather jazzed by what’s here—ever shot offering something new to observe, a gorgeous score to boot. As Juan Barquin said, “With John Carroll Kirby’s haunting and seductive original music still playing in my head long after the credits have rolled, Cryptozoo has embedded itself into my mind. Every fascinating creature has been brought...
You’ll find that quote in the trailer Magnolia have released ahead of Cryptozoo‘s August 20 release. Having not seen the film myself, I’m rather jazzed by what’s here—ever shot offering something new to observe, a gorgeous score to boot. As Juan Barquin said, “With John Carroll Kirby’s haunting and seductive original music still playing in my head long after the credits have rolled, Cryptozoo has embedded itself into my mind. Every fascinating creature has been brought...
- 7/13/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Earlier this year, comic book writer/artist and filmmaker Dash Shaw presented his latest animated film, “Cryptozoo” at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival to much acclaim. Shaw was primarily known for his inventive comic book work but then quickly moved into animated filmmaking with “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea,” which was critically acclaimed and had its world premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.
Continue reading ‘Cryptozoo’ Trailer: Dash Shaw’s Fantastical Sundance Animated Film Features Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera & More at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Cryptozoo’ Trailer: Dash Shaw’s Fantastical Sundance Animated Film Features Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera & More at The Playlist.
- 7/13/2021
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
“Cryptozoo” broke out of the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year as one of the most innovative animated features of the year. Animator turned director Dash Shaw (“My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea”) builds a psychedelic world like you’ve never seen, envisioning hallucinatory creatures and casting voice talents Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, and Grace Zabriskie. Watch the exclusive official trailer for the film below.
A moving collage of rich, hand-drawn animation, where nearly every frame is a visual stunner, the film follows “cryptozookeepers through a richly drawn hallucinatory world as they struggle to capture a baku (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) and begin to wonder if they should display these rare beasts in the confines of a zoo, or if these mythical creatures should remain hidden and unknown,” according to the synopsis.
IndieWire’s Eric Kohn wrote that...
A moving collage of rich, hand-drawn animation, where nearly every frame is a visual stunner, the film follows “cryptozookeepers through a richly drawn hallucinatory world as they struggle to capture a baku (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) and begin to wonder if they should display these rare beasts in the confines of a zoo, or if these mythical creatures should remain hidden and unknown,” according to the synopsis.
IndieWire’s Eric Kohn wrote that...
- 7/13/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival got an early 25th birthday present in the form of James Gunn’s “Suicide Squad,” which will receive a special screening on Aug. 4, the day before Fantasia officially kicks off with the world premiere of Julien Knafo’s zombie thriller “Brain Freeze.” Gunn is a long-time friend of the fest, having first attended in 1997 before later returning for the Canadian premiere of his Marvel blockbuster “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Fantasia also unveiled its second wave of features participating at this year’s festival, joining a raft of titles announced in May, and will announce the rest of its slate in late July along with details on several virtual events and this year’s juries.
New world premieres, joining the a six-pack announced last month, include Ruth Platt’s “Martyrs Lane,” Anna Zaytseva’s feature debut “#Blue_Whale,” Jonathan Rhys Meyers-starrer “Yakuza Princes” from filmmaker Vicente Amorim,...
Fantasia also unveiled its second wave of features participating at this year’s festival, joining a raft of titles announced in May, and will announce the rest of its slate in late July along with details on several virtual events and this year’s juries.
New world premieres, joining the a six-pack announced last month, include Ruth Platt’s “Martyrs Lane,” Anna Zaytseva’s feature debut “#Blue_Whale,” Jonathan Rhys Meyers-starrer “Yakuza Princes” from filmmaker Vicente Amorim,...
- 6/23/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Ben Wheatley’s ‘In The Earth’ is playing in the main competition of the Swiss festival.
UK director Ben Wheatley’s in The Earth is among the competition contenders in this year’s 20th Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival which will take place as a hybrid edition from July 2-10 in Switzerland.
It is taking place under the interim directorship of Loïc Valceschini before a new head, Pierre-Yves Walder, takes up the reins in July.
The event includes 55 films, eight short films, eight immersive installations and two TV productions. Among the special guests will be legendary VFX artist Volker Engel,...
UK director Ben Wheatley’s in The Earth is among the competition contenders in this year’s 20th Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival which will take place as a hybrid edition from July 2-10 in Switzerland.
It is taking place under the interim directorship of Loïc Valceschini before a new head, Pierre-Yves Walder, takes up the reins in July.
The event includes 55 films, eight short films, eight immersive installations and two TV productions. Among the special guests will be legendary VFX artist Volker Engel,...
- 6/17/2021
- ScreenDaily
With a slimmer lineup and much of the action taking place online rather than in Park City, the 2021 Sundance Film Festival will be anything but normal. But if early sales activity is any indication, the hybrid virtual/in-person festival will still serve as a key acquisitions market for distributors.
News of the first deals broke on December 16, the day after Sundance revealed its full slate of 72 features. That’s when Bleecker Street announced it has acquired North American rights to Nikole Beckwith’s “Together Together” and Magnolia Pictures revealed it has nabbed Rodney Ascher’s Midnight section pick “A Glitch in the Matrix.”
While those two movies come from established filmmakers, over half of the festival lineup comes from first-time feature directors. Over 90 percent of the slate are world premieres.
That suggests there is plenty of opportunity for the discovery of hidden gems. But with streaming — coupled with satellite screenings...
News of the first deals broke on December 16, the day after Sundance revealed its full slate of 72 features. That’s when Bleecker Street announced it has acquired North American rights to Nikole Beckwith’s “Together Together” and Magnolia Pictures revealed it has nabbed Rodney Ascher’s Midnight section pick “A Glitch in the Matrix.”
While those two movies come from established filmmakers, over half of the festival lineup comes from first-time feature directors. Over 90 percent of the slate are world premieres.
That suggests there is plenty of opportunity for the discovery of hidden gems. But with streaming — coupled with satellite screenings...
- 6/8/2021
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
Sundance Film Festival: London has revealed that “Zola” and “Coda” will be among the 2021 lineup, when the festival returns to Picturehouse Central next month.
“Coda” — an acronym meaning “Child of Deaf Adults” — features Marlee Matlin (“The West Wing”) and 19-year-old Emilia Jones (“Locke & Key”) navigating their relationship, while “Zola” is based on a 148-tweet viral Twitter thread from 2015 by Aziah “Zola” Wells. It stars Taylor Paige (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Riley Keough (“Max Max: Fury Road”) and will close the 4-day festival.
Edgar Wright’s rockumentary “The Sparks Brothers,” described as a “musical odyssey,” opens the festival on July 29.
Other feature film offerings, which have been selected from the longer line-up shown at the Sundance Film Festival, include “The Nest,” starring Jude Law (“Sherlock Holmes”), animation “Cryptozoo,” which features Lake Bell (“BoJack Horseman”) and Michael Cera (“Arrested Development”), and documentary “Writing With Fire,” about a female-run Indian newspaper, which...
“Coda” — an acronym meaning “Child of Deaf Adults” — features Marlee Matlin (“The West Wing”) and 19-year-old Emilia Jones (“Locke & Key”) navigating their relationship, while “Zola” is based on a 148-tweet viral Twitter thread from 2015 by Aziah “Zola” Wells. It stars Taylor Paige (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Riley Keough (“Max Max: Fury Road”) and will close the 4-day festival.
Edgar Wright’s rockumentary “The Sparks Brothers,” described as a “musical odyssey,” opens the festival on July 29.
Other feature film offerings, which have been selected from the longer line-up shown at the Sundance Film Festival, include “The Nest,” starring Jude Law (“Sherlock Holmes”), animation “Cryptozoo,” which features Lake Bell (“BoJack Horseman”) and Michael Cera (“Arrested Development”), and documentary “Writing With Fire,” about a female-run Indian newspaper, which...
- 6/2/2021
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmakers set to travel to Berlin for screenings of award-winning features.
Tracey Deer’s Canadian drama Beans and Kateryna Gornostai’s Ukrainian feature Stop-Zemlia are to receive Crystal Bear awards at the Berlin International Film Festival’s Summer Special event (June 9-20).
The winners were decided by two young juries who viewed films from the Berlinale’s two competition programmes in the Generation strand – Kplus and 14plus. These juries were inactive during the festival’s online, industry-only event in March due to the pandemic.
Beans was named best film by the Generation Kplus jury. Inspired by true events, the story...
Tracey Deer’s Canadian drama Beans and Kateryna Gornostai’s Ukrainian feature Stop-Zemlia are to receive Crystal Bear awards at the Berlin International Film Festival’s Summer Special event (June 9-20).
The winners were decided by two young juries who viewed films from the Berlinale’s two competition programmes in the Generation strand – Kplus and 14plus. These juries were inactive during the festival’s online, industry-only event in March due to the pandemic.
Beans was named best film by the Generation Kplus jury. Inspired by true events, the story...
- 5/26/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Recent winners of prestigious Critstal award include I Lost My Body and My Life As A Courgette.
The Annecy International Film Festival has unveiled its main feature competition selections for its upcoming hybrid edition which is due to take place from June 14 to 19 in its lakeside home at the foot of the French Alps.
Danish-French filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary Flee and Netflix-acquired adult rom-com You Animal! by Philippine director Avid Liongoren will be among 10 titles competing in the main feature competition for the Cristal award.
The tale of an Afghan man forced to escape his homeland and Mujahadeen as a child,...
The Annecy International Film Festival has unveiled its main feature competition selections for its upcoming hybrid edition which is due to take place from June 14 to 19 in its lakeside home at the foot of the French Alps.
Danish-French filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary Flee and Netflix-acquired adult rom-com You Animal! by Philippine director Avid Liongoren will be among 10 titles competing in the main feature competition for the Cristal award.
The tale of an Afghan man forced to escape his homeland and Mujahadeen as a child,...
- 5/21/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
“Naked Singularity,” starring John Boyega, “Socks on Fire” and “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street” are among the selections announced for the 2021 San Francisco International Film Festival, which will take place in an all-new hybrid format.
Running April 9-18, the 64th edition of the festival will incorporate both online and in-person elements. Through the Sffilm website, audiences will be able to purchase tickets for digital screenings, Q&As with filmmakers, film parties and industry networking events. Additionally, there will be live screenings and performances held at the Fort Mason Flix drive-in theater.
Featuring 103 films from 41 countries around the world, the festival lineup consists of 42 feature films, 56 short films and five mid-length films. Not quite feature-length and not quite a short, mid-length films will run between 30 and 50 minutes. 13 films will be making their world premiere with an additional 15 making their North American premiere. Among the full lineup, 57% of the...
Running April 9-18, the 64th edition of the festival will incorporate both online and in-person elements. Through the Sffilm website, audiences will be able to purchase tickets for digital screenings, Q&As with filmmakers, film parties and industry networking events. Additionally, there will be live screenings and performances held at the Fort Mason Flix drive-in theater.
Featuring 103 films from 41 countries around the world, the festival lineup consists of 42 feature films, 56 short films and five mid-length films. Not quite feature-length and not quite a short, mid-length films will run between 30 and 50 minutes. 13 films will be making their world premiere with an additional 15 making their North American premiere. Among the full lineup, 57% of the...
- 3/24/2021
- by Antonio Ferme
- Variety Film + TV
The San Francisco International Film Festival (Sffilm) has today announced the full lineup of this year’s festival, which includes both online and in-person events taking place at the Fort Mason Flix drive-in theater. The opening night selection will be the world premiere of Chase Palmer’s “Naked Singularity,” which stars John Boyega as a public defender wrapped up in a drug heist. The full lineup includes buzzy festival titles like “Cryptozoo,” “The Dry,” “Strawberry Mansion,” “Son of Monarchs,” “Homeroom,” “Lily Topples the World,” and “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It.”
This year’s complete program includes 42 feature films, 56 short films, and, new to the festival this year, five mid-length films. 13 films will be making their world premiere with an additional 15 making their North American premiere. The lineup includes films from 41 countries around the world. Among the full festival lineup, 57% of the films were helmed...
This year’s complete program includes 42 feature films, 56 short films, and, new to the festival this year, five mid-length films. 13 films will be making their world premiere with an additional 15 making their North American premiere. The lineup includes films from 41 countries around the world. Among the full festival lineup, 57% of the films were helmed...
- 3/24/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Trafalgar Releasing’s Ollie Charles also joining as senior communications manager.
Global distributor, producer and streamer Mubi has appointed former Netflix manager Ibtisam Omer as director of marketing, global.
The newly-created role is based in Berlin and Omer will report into Lilly Riber, global vice president of marketing, to lead Mubi’s worldwide marketing strategy, with a particular focus on brand development and growth across Europe and the UK.
Omer was most recently at Netflix, where she spent more than 18 months in Los Angeles as manager of global creative marketing, working on series including Messiah and Snowpiercer.
Mubi, which has offices in the UK,...
Global distributor, producer and streamer Mubi has appointed former Netflix manager Ibtisam Omer as director of marketing, global.
The newly-created role is based in Berlin and Omer will report into Lilly Riber, global vice president of marketing, to lead Mubi’s worldwide marketing strategy, with a particular focus on brand development and growth across Europe and the UK.
Omer was most recently at Netflix, where she spent more than 18 months in Los Angeles as manager of global creative marketing, working on series including Messiah and Snowpiercer.
Mubi, which has offices in the UK,...
- 3/19/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Bad Luck Banging or Loony PornCOMPETITIONGolden BearBad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Radu Jude) (Review)Silver Bear — Grand Jury PrizeWheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryusuke Hamaguchi) (Review)Silver Bear — Jury PrizeMr. Bachmann and His Class (Maria Speth) (Review)Silver Bear for Best DirectorNatural Light (Dénes Nagy)Silver Bear for Best Leading PerformanceMaren Eggert (I'm Your Man)Silver Bear for Best Supporting PerformanceLilla Kizlinger (Forest — I See You Everywhere)Silver Bear for Best ScreenplayIntroduction (Hong Sang-soo)Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic ContributionYibrán Asuad (A Cop Movie)ENCOUNTERSAward for Best FilmWe (Alice Diop) (Review)Special Jury AwardTaste (Lê Bảo) (Review)Award for Best DirectorRamon and Silvan Zürcher (The Girl and the Spider) (Review)Denis Côté (Social Hygiene)Special MentionRock Bottom Riser (Fern Silva)GENERATIONGrand Prix for Best Film (Kplus)Summer Blur (Han Shuai)Special Mention (Kplus) A School in Cerro Hueso (Betania Cappato)Grand Prix for Best Film (14Plus)The Fam (Fred Baillif...
- 3/5/2021
- MUBI
Dan Shaw’s animated feature debuted at Sundance and scored a special mention in Berlin’s Generation competition.
Global distributor, producer and streamer Mubi has swooped on key European territory rights for Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo, which scored a special mention in Berlin’s Generation competition this week.
In a deal with The Match Factory, Mubi has acquired all rights to the adult animation for the UK, Ireland, Germany and Turkey. The film premiered at Sundance, where it won the Next Innovator Award, and played in the Generation 14plus competition of the Berlinale.
The hand-drawn animation marks the second feature...
Global distributor, producer and streamer Mubi has swooped on key European territory rights for Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo, which scored a special mention in Berlin’s Generation competition this week.
In a deal with The Match Factory, Mubi has acquired all rights to the adult animation for the UK, Ireland, Germany and Turkey. The film premiered at Sundance, where it won the Next Innovator Award, and played in the Generation 14plus competition of the Berlinale.
The hand-drawn animation marks the second feature...
- 3/5/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin International Film Festival has crowned winners from its youth-focused Generation and Shorts programs. In Generation Kplus, the Grand Prix for Best Film went to Han Shuai’s Summer Blur, with a special mention for Betania Cappato’s A School in Cerro Hueso. In the Generation 14plus competition, Fred Baillif’s The Farm won the Grand Prix and Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo received a special mention. Elsewhere, the International Short Film Jury named Olga Lucovnicova’s My Uncle Tudor as the Golden Bear winner for Best Short Film, and the Silver Bear Jury Prize went to Zhang Dalei’s Day Is Done. Finally, the Berlin Short Film Candidate for the European Film Awards was named as Nicolas Keppens’ Easter Eggs.
Paris-based Federation Entertainment has joined forces with Fred Fougea’s Boreales to launch Boreales Federation, a label dedicated to the production of documentary series and films addressing the global crisis impacting the natural world,...
Paris-based Federation Entertainment has joined forces with Fred Fougea’s Boreales to launch Boreales Federation, a label dedicated to the production of documentary series and films addressing the global crisis impacting the natural world,...
- 3/4/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Special mentions went to ‘Cryptozoo’ and ‘A School In Cerro Heuso’.
Fred Baillif’s Swiss feature The Fam and Han Shuai’s Chinese drama Summer Blur have won the grand prix awards in the Berlinale’s Generation strand.
Special mentions were given to Dash Shaw’s US animation Cryptozoo and Betania Cappato’s Argentinian autism drama A School in Cerro Hueso.
The Fam won the grand prix for best film, which includes a cash prize of €7,500, in the Generation 14plus competition.
The drama centres on the residents and staff of a Geneva residental care home for teenage girls, and director...
Fred Baillif’s Swiss feature The Fam and Han Shuai’s Chinese drama Summer Blur have won the grand prix awards in the Berlinale’s Generation strand.
Special mentions were given to Dash Shaw’s US animation Cryptozoo and Betania Cappato’s Argentinian autism drama A School in Cerro Hueso.
The Fam won the grand prix for best film, which includes a cash prize of €7,500, in the Generation 14plus competition.
The drama centres on the residents and staff of a Geneva residental care home for teenage girls, and director...
- 3/4/2021
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
“The Fam” (“La Mif”), Swiss filmmaker Fred Baillif’s bruising, raw portrait of the residents and staff of a Geneva, Switzerland, teen girl care home, has won the Berlinale’s Generation 14plus Grand Prix
“Like a rushing, energetic, pulsing heartbeat, this film pushes its characters and viewers in brutal honesty through different stories and incidents. Carried by captivating and strong acting performances, it never loses its balance between power and vulnerability. The film pulls you in, never lets go and hits straight to the heart,” the jurors said in their praise of the pic.
“The Fam,” which features remarkable performances for non-pro actors, is produced by the director’s own outfit, Freshprod, and Rts, the Swiss French-language public television. It is sold by Latido Films.
A Special Mention in the category Feature Film Generation 14plus went to U.S. director Dash Shaw’s animated fantasy “Cryptozoo,” which premiered at Sundance.
“Like a rushing, energetic, pulsing heartbeat, this film pushes its characters and viewers in brutal honesty through different stories and incidents. Carried by captivating and strong acting performances, it never loses its balance between power and vulnerability. The film pulls you in, never lets go and hits straight to the heart,” the jurors said in their praise of the pic.
“The Fam,” which features remarkable performances for non-pro actors, is produced by the director’s own outfit, Freshprod, and Rts, the Swiss French-language public television. It is sold by Latido Films.
A Special Mention in the category Feature Film Generation 14plus went to U.S. director Dash Shaw’s animated fantasy “Cryptozoo,” which premiered at Sundance.
- 3/4/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
La Mif (The Fam), a coming-of-age drama from Swiss director Fred Bailif, has won the top prize for best film in the Generation 14Plus sidebar of the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival.
Bailif’s fictional look inside a residential care facility housing teenage girls “pulls you in, never lets you go, and hits straight to the heart,” according to the Generation jury.
The jury gave a special mention in the 14Plus category to Dash Shaw’s psychedelic animated feature Cryptozoo, which premiered in Sundance. The jury called the movie, an action thriller about the fight to save a utopian sanctuary for mythological ...
Bailif’s fictional look inside a residential care facility housing teenage girls “pulls you in, never lets you go, and hits straight to the heart,” according to the Generation jury.
The jury gave a special mention in the 14Plus category to Dash Shaw’s psychedelic animated feature Cryptozoo, which premiered in Sundance. The jury called the movie, an action thriller about the fight to save a utopian sanctuary for mythological ...
La Mif (The Fam), a coming-of-age drama from Swiss director Fred Bailif, has won the top prize for best film in the Generation 14Plus sidebar of the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival.
Bailif’s fictional look inside a residential care facility housing teenage girls “pulls you in, never lets you go, and hits straight to the heart,” according to the Generation jury.
The jury gave a special mention in the 14Plus category to Dash Shaw’s psychedelic animated feature Cryptozoo, which premiered in Sundance. The jury called the movie, an action thriller about the fight to save a utopian sanctuary for mythological ...
Bailif’s fictional look inside a residential care facility housing teenage girls “pulls you in, never lets you go, and hits straight to the heart,” according to the Generation jury.
The jury gave a special mention in the 14Plus category to Dash Shaw’s psychedelic animated feature Cryptozoo, which premiered in Sundance. The jury called the movie, an action thriller about the fight to save a utopian sanctuary for mythological ...
Dash Shaw’s animation won the Next Innovator award at Sundance.
The Match Factory has scored further deals on its Sundance hit Cryptozoo. The animated feature by Dash Shaw, which won the US festival’s Next Innovator Award, has gone to Spain (Filmin), Benelux (September Films) and Cis (Russian Report), with deals pending in the UK, Australia and Germany.
Magnolia Pictures acquired the US rights following its Sundance debut.
The film is Dash Shaw’s second feature after My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea, which debuted at the 2016 AFI Fest and made its international premiere in Berlin’s Generation 14plus section,...
The Match Factory has scored further deals on its Sundance hit Cryptozoo. The animated feature by Dash Shaw, which won the US festival’s Next Innovator Award, has gone to Spain (Filmin), Benelux (September Films) and Cis (Russian Report), with deals pending in the UK, Australia and Germany.
Magnolia Pictures acquired the US rights following its Sundance debut.
The film is Dash Shaw’s second feature after My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea, which debuted at the 2016 AFI Fest and made its international premiere in Berlin’s Generation 14plus section,...
- 3/1/2021
- by Matt Mueller
- ScreenDaily
Some 820 films are screening in the market’s online edition, up from 732 in 2020.
This year’s online edition of the European Film Market (EFM), running March 1-5, officially opens next Monday but many sales agents have already got down to business this week.
“We’ve started our meetings. Buyers have a two-hour window to access their screenings and with all the films that are there, I felt it could help,” says The Match Factory head of sales Thania Dimitrakopoulou.
According to the latest EFM figures on Friday (Feb 26), 503 companies from 60 territories have signed up for this year’s online edition...
This year’s online edition of the European Film Market (EFM), running March 1-5, officially opens next Monday but many sales agents have already got down to business this week.
“We’ve started our meetings. Buyers have a two-hour window to access their screenings and with all the films that are there, I felt it could help,” says The Match Factory head of sales Thania Dimitrakopoulou.
According to the latest EFM figures on Friday (Feb 26), 503 companies from 60 territories have signed up for this year’s online edition...
- 2/26/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow¬Louise Tutt
- ScreenDaily
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