Now in theaters and VOD, thanks to Magnet Releasing, we have an exclusive clip from Amelia's Children that you can watch right now!
"When Edward’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend Ryley to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal, he is full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother. Finally, he will discover who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is as it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is linked to them by a monstrous secret."
Written and directed by Gabriel Abrantes, Amelia's Children stars Brigette Lundy-Paine, Alba Baptista, and Carloto Cotta.
The post Watch an Exclusive Clip from Amelia’S Children appeared first on Daily Dead.
"When Edward’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend Ryley to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal, he is full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother. Finally, he will discover who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is as it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is linked to them by a monstrous secret."
Written and directed by Gabriel Abrantes, Amelia's Children stars Brigette Lundy-Paine, Alba Baptista, and Carloto Cotta.
The post Watch an Exclusive Clip from Amelia’S Children appeared first on Daily Dead.
- 3/1/2024
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Two well-reviewed indies are taking a bow in limited release in the shadow of Dune, A24’s Problemista by Julio Torres, and Shayda from Sony Pictures Classics, the feature debut of Noora Niasari.
Torres, the comedian, actor and writer, in his directorial debut, stars with Tilda Swinton as Problemista gets its release at last after being bumped from August due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. He also penned the screenplay, and produced alongside Fruit Tree’s Dave McCary, Ali Herting and Emma Stone. Premiered at SXSW last year, see Deadline review, and sits at 91% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
This surreal comedy adventure amid the treacherous worlds of New York City and the U.S. Immigration system follows Torres’ Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador trying to land a spot at Hasbro’s incubator program. When he’s fired from the cryogenic center where he tends...
Torres, the comedian, actor and writer, in his directorial debut, stars with Tilda Swinton as Problemista gets its release at last after being bumped from August due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. He also penned the screenplay, and produced alongside Fruit Tree’s Dave McCary, Ali Herting and Emma Stone. Premiered at SXSW last year, see Deadline review, and sits at 91% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
This surreal comedy adventure amid the treacherous worlds of New York City and the U.S. Immigration system follows Torres’ Alejandro, an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador trying to land a spot at Hasbro’s incubator program. When he’s fired from the cryogenic center where he tends...
- 3/1/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Family isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be in Amelia’s Children, the brand new supernatural horror movie from Magnet Releasing and writer/director/producer Gabriel Abrantes.
Amelia’s Children is Now Playing in select theaters, and it’s also available on VOD outlets beginning today. Whet your appetite with an exclusive clip from the film below.
The clip invites you to meet mother, and you can also watch the official trailer underneath.
In Amelia’s Children, a young man’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal. Full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother, he’s eager to will learn about who he is and where he comes from.
But nothing is as it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is linked to them by a monstrous secret.
The horror film stars Brigette Lundy-Paine,...
Amelia’s Children is Now Playing in select theaters, and it’s also available on VOD outlets beginning today. Whet your appetite with an exclusive clip from the film below.
The clip invites you to meet mother, and you can also watch the official trailer underneath.
In Amelia’s Children, a young man’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal. Full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother, he’s eager to will learn about who he is and where he comes from.
But nothing is as it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is linked to them by a monstrous secret.
The horror film stars Brigette Lundy-Paine,...
- 3/1/2024
- by Sponsored
- bloody-disgusting.com
A gloriously demented fairy tale about a guileless soccer phenom who reacts to his World Cup loss by adopting a Mozambican who turns out to be an adult lesbian spy in disguise, Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt’s “Diamantino” is one of the most original movies of the 21st century. “Amelia’s Children,” which Abrantes has directed on his own, is not. And yet, this comparatively straightforward psychological horror movie — which adheres to genre convention whenever it can, and has even fewer surprises in store than its premise would seem to suggest — is still playful and perverse enough in its details to indicate a unique talent behind the camera.
Case in point: “Attractive people in a creepy house” might be the single most basic setup a horror movie could possibly have, but Abrantes’ script comes up with a novel way of putting those pieces in place. In a way, “Amelia’s Children...
Case in point: “Attractive people in a creepy house” might be the single most basic setup a horror movie could possibly have, but Abrantes’ script comes up with a novel way of putting those pieces in place. In a way, “Amelia’s Children...
- 2/29/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
A Portuguese production, the psychological thriller horror movie Amelia’s Children had its premiere at the MOTELx Lisbon Horror Film Festival last year, then received a theatrical release in Portugal last month. Now Magnolia Pictures is gearing up to give the film a VOD and limited theatrical release in the US on March 1st – and with that date just one month away, we’ve got a trailer for Amelia’s Children embedded above.
Written and directed by Gabriel Abrantes, who previously made the comedy Diamantino with Daniel Schmidt, the film has the following synopsis: When Edward’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend Ryley to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal, he is full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother. Finally, he will discover who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is as it seems, and Edward...
Written and directed by Gabriel Abrantes, who previously made the comedy Diamantino with Daniel Schmidt, the film has the following synopsis: When Edward’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend Ryley to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal, he is full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother. Finally, he will discover who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is as it seems, and Edward...
- 2/1/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Family isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be in the haunting new trailer and poster that debuted today for Amelia’s Children, a supernatural horror film from writer/director/producer Gabriel Abrantes.
Magnet Releasing will release the psychological, ghostly horror movie in theaters and on VOD on March 1, 2024.
In Amelia’s Children: “When Edward’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend Ryley to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal, he is full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother. Finally, he will discover who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is as it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is linked to them by a monstrous secret.”
The horror film stars Brigette Lundy-Paine, Alba Baptista, and Carloto Cotta.
All three actors have a background in horror, with Brigette Lundy-Paine recently starring in...
Magnet Releasing will release the psychological, ghostly horror movie in theaters and on VOD on March 1, 2024.
In Amelia’s Children: “When Edward’s search for his biological family leads him and his girlfriend Ryley to a magnificent villa high in the mountains of Northern Portugal, he is full of excitement at meeting his long-lost mother and twin brother. Finally, he will discover who he is and where he comes from. But nothing is as it seems, and Edward will soon learn that he is linked to them by a monstrous secret.”
The horror film stars Brigette Lundy-Paine, Alba Baptista, and Carloto Cotta.
All three actors have a background in horror, with Brigette Lundy-Paine recently starring in...
- 1/31/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
More than 200 international filmmakers have rallied in support of ousted Berlinale artistic director Carlo Chatrian, pledging their names to an open letter imploring the cultural organization to keep the artist director in place. Among the first signatories were Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, Joanna Hogg, “Corsage” director Marie Kreutzer, Andrew Ross Perry, and Olivier Assayas. Over the course of the day on Wednesday, another 130 directors joined them, the list swelling to include M. Night Shyamalan, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Tilda Swinton, and Claire Denis. 260 filmmakers have now signed the open letter.
“We, a diverse group of filmmakers from all over the world, who have deep respect for Berlin International Film Festival as a place for great cinema of all kinds, protest the harmful, unprofessional, and immoral behavior of state minister Claudia Roth in forcing the esteemed Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian to step down despite promises to prolong his contract,” says the letter.
Chatrian...
“We, a diverse group of filmmakers from all over the world, who have deep respect for Berlin International Film Festival as a place for great cinema of all kinds, protest the harmful, unprofessional, and immoral behavior of state minister Claudia Roth in forcing the esteemed Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian to step down despite promises to prolong his contract,” says the letter.
Chatrian...
- 9/6/2023
- by Ben Croll
- The Wrap
On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: Sad Puppy-Seeing Soccer Himbo Seeks Refugee Son
For lovers of soccer and movies about hot guys being dumb, it’s been the highest of highs and the lowest of lows lately.
“Barbie” became a bona fide cultural phenomenon by giving us something we never knew we needed: Ryan Gosling running around as a sexy Beach professional who does a shockingly decent Rob Thomas impression despite having nothing going on behind his eyes. The performance was a reminder that men are just as capable of playing the ditzy sidekick as...
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: Sad Puppy-Seeing Soccer Himbo Seeks Refugee Son
For lovers of soccer and movies about hot guys being dumb, it’s been the highest of highs and the lowest of lows lately.
“Barbie” became a bona fide cultural phenomenon by giving us something we never knew we needed: Ryan Gosling running around as a sexy Beach professional who does a shockingly decent Rob Thomas impression despite having nothing going on behind his eyes. The performance was a reminder that men are just as capable of playing the ditzy sidekick as...
- 8/12/2023
- by Christian Zilko and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
I honestly never expected Steven Spielberg in a Criterion Channel series––certainly not one that pairs him with Kogonada, anime, and Johnny Mnemonic––but so’s the power of artificial intelligence. Perhaps his greatest film (at this point I don’t need to tell you the title) plays with After Yang, Ghost in the Shell, and pre-Matrix Keanu in July’s aptly titled “AI” boasting also Spike Jonze’s Her, Carpenter’s Dark Star, and Computer Chess. Much more analog is a British Noir collection obviously carrying the likes of Odd Man Out, Night and the City, and The Small Back Room, further filled by Joseph Losey’s Time Without Pity and Basil Dearden’s It Always Rains on Sunday. (No two ways about it: these movies have great titles.) An Elvis retrospective brings six features, and the consensus best (Don Siegel’s Flaming Star) comes September 1.
While Isabella Rossellini...
While Isabella Rossellini...
- 6/22/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
In May, the Cannes Film Festival injects a jolt of international cinema into year ahead, and expectations are even greater than usual this time around. In 2022, Cannes was the starting point for everything from future commercial hits “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Elvis” to arthouse successes like “Decision to Leave” and “Eo.” With less pandemic-era stagnation on productions, there are more newly finished (or almost finished) Cannes hopefuls in the mix than anytime in recent memory.
Some of the bigger ones have been widely reported: We already know that Martin Scorsese’s sprawling Osage Nation crime drama “Killers of the Flower Moon” will bring the revered director back to the festival with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in tow, while “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is poised to premiere in an out-of-competition slot 15 years after the last entry did the same thing. There’s also a lot of...
Some of the bigger ones have been widely reported: We already know that Martin Scorsese’s sprawling Osage Nation crime drama “Killers of the Flower Moon” will bring the revered director back to the festival with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in tow, while “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is poised to premiere in an out-of-competition slot 15 years after the last entry did the same thing. There’s also a lot of...
- 3/23/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The independent film business is again showing signs of rude health as the global film industry struggles to recover post-pandemic. Sundance is often taken as the pace-setter, and distribution deals were plentiful this year, with seven- and eight-figure sales for the likes of Theater Camp (to Searchlight for an estimated 8 million), Flora and Son (Apple TV+, 20 million) and Fair Play (Netflix, 20 million), just the biggest of around a dozen 2023 Park City pickups. But Berlin’s European Film Market will be the industry’s true acid test.
“Sundance is more U.S.-focused in general,” says Alice Laffillé, vp sales at FilmNation, which did the Apple TV+ deal for Flora and Son. “There are always some big, splashy deals with streamers and U.S. buyers like Neon, A24 or Magnolia. Berlin is the first real international market, where we see where things stand.”
Berlin deals, which often involve the entire world,...
“Sundance is more U.S.-focused in general,” says Alice Laffillé, vp sales at FilmNation, which did the Apple TV+ deal for Flora and Son. “There are always some big, splashy deals with streamers and U.S. buyers like Neon, A24 or Magnolia. Berlin is the first real international market, where we see where things stand.”
Berlin deals, which often involve the entire world,...
- 2/13/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Wild Bunch International (Wbi) has boarded sales on buzzy Portuguese director, artist and producer Gabriel Abrantes’ upcoming English-language feature Amelia’s Children.
The film is among half a dozen new titles being launched by Wbi at the EFM, alongside a raft of previously announced upcoming films, including Cannes hopefuls such as Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s Monster.
The company is also handling Berlinale Competition selections, Philippe Garrel’s The Plough and Makoto Shinkai’s hotly awaited anime Suzume, and the Panorama title Heroic, which world premiered at Sundance.
Abrante’s psychological thriller Amelia’s Children is his solo feature debut and his first feature since his 2018 Cannes Critics’ Week winner Diamantino (co-directed with Daniel Schmidt).
The film reunites him with its star Carloto Cotta. Other key cast members are Brigette Lundy-Paine (Atypical) and Alba Baptiste (Warrior Nun).
Cotta plays a man whose search for his biological family leads him and his...
The film is among half a dozen new titles being launched by Wbi at the EFM, alongside a raft of previously announced upcoming films, including Cannes hopefuls such as Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s Monster.
The company is also handling Berlinale Competition selections, Philippe Garrel’s The Plough and Makoto Shinkai’s hotly awaited anime Suzume, and the Panorama title Heroic, which world premiered at Sundance.
Abrante’s psychological thriller Amelia’s Children is his solo feature debut and his first feature since his 2018 Cannes Critics’ Week winner Diamantino (co-directed with Daniel Schmidt).
The film reunites him with its star Carloto Cotta. Other key cast members are Brigette Lundy-Paine (Atypical) and Alba Baptiste (Warrior Nun).
Cotta plays a man whose search for his biological family leads him and his...
- 2/2/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month, including a series on first films featuring David Cronenberg’s Stereo, Kelly Reichardt’s River of Grass, Jerzy Skolimowski’s Identification Marks: None, Fatih Akın’s Short Sharp Shock, Panos Cosmatos’ Beyond the Black Rainbow, and, with Mubi’s theatrical release of her new film Alcarràs, Carla Simón’s Summer 1993.
Additional highlights include Mathieu Amalric’s Hold Me Tight starring Vicky Krieps, Sundance favorites with films from Sean Baker, Lynn Shelton, Tom Noonan, and Andrew Bujalski, plus works from Nicolas Roeg, Claude Chabrol, and Aftersun director Charlotte Wells.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
January 1 – Stereo, directed by David Cronenberg | First Films First
January 2 – Short Sharp Shock, directed by Fatih Akın | First Films First
January 3 – River of Grass, directed by Kelly Reichardt | First Films First
January 4 – Identification Marks: None, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski | First Films...
Additional highlights include Mathieu Amalric’s Hold Me Tight starring Vicky Krieps, Sundance favorites with films from Sean Baker, Lynn Shelton, Tom Noonan, and Andrew Bujalski, plus works from Nicolas Roeg, Claude Chabrol, and Aftersun director Charlotte Wells.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
January 1 – Stereo, directed by David Cronenberg | First Films First
January 2 – Short Sharp Shock, directed by Fatih Akın | First Films First
January 3 – River of Grass, directed by Kelly Reichardt | First Films First
January 4 – Identification Marks: None, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski | First Films...
- 12/19/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Holidays loom, but don’t fear TBS marathons of A Christmas Story. If, like me, you once enacted some good and let studio classics stream on Criterion during family Christmas, you know the trip home will be easier with December’s additions. (People at Criterion: please don’t report me for logging into multiple devices.) As family arrives, drinks are downed, and questions about what you’ve been up to are stumbled through it’ll be nice to stream their “Screwball Comedy Classics” series—25 titles meeting some deep cuts (10 via Venmo if you’ve recently watched It Happens Every Spring).
Personally I’m most excited about the 11 movies in “Snow Westerns,” going as far back as The Secret of Convict Lake, as recently as Ravenous, with the likes of Wellman, Peckinpah, and Corbucci in-between. I personally cannot stand soccer but I appreciate the World Cup giving occasion for a series...
Personally I’m most excited about the 11 movies in “Snow Westerns,” going as far back as The Secret of Convict Lake, as recently as Ravenous, with the likes of Wellman, Peckinpah, and Corbucci in-between. I personally cannot stand soccer but I appreciate the World Cup giving occasion for a series...
- 11/22/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Critics Week (or La Semaine de la Critique), the selection dedicated to first and second films running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, will boast a jury presided over by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania (“The Man who Sold his Skin”).
Ben Hania has directed four features, including “Beauty and the Dogs” which competed in Un Certain Regard in 2017, and “The Man who Sold his Skin” which played at Venice in 2020 and was the first Tunisian film nominated for the Oscars’ international feature film race.
The jury of the 61st edition will be completed by French-Greek actress and director Ariane Labed, Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson (“Woman at War”), Belgian cinematographer Benoît Debie, and South Korean journalist and Busan Festival’s topper Huh Moon yung.
Four prizes will be handed out by Ben Hania’s jury, the La Semaine de la Critique Grand Prize, the French Touch Prize of the Jury, the...
Ben Hania has directed four features, including “Beauty and the Dogs” which competed in Un Certain Regard in 2017, and “The Man who Sold his Skin” which played at Venice in 2020 and was the first Tunisian film nominated for the Oscars’ international feature film race.
The jury of the 61st edition will be completed by French-Greek actress and director Ariane Labed, Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson (“Woman at War”), Belgian cinematographer Benoît Debie, and South Korean journalist and Busan Festival’s topper Huh Moon yung.
Four prizes will be handed out by Ben Hania’s jury, the La Semaine de la Critique Grand Prize, the French Touch Prize of the Jury, the...
- 4/18/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Next month’s lineup at The Criterion Channel has been unveiled, featuring no shortage of excellent offerings. Leading the pack is a massive, 20-film retrospective dedicated to John Huston, featuring a mix of greatest and lesser-appreciated works, including Fat City, The Dead, Wise Blood, The Man Who Would Be King, and Key Largo. (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre will join the series on October 1.)
Also in the lineup is series on the works of Budd Boetticher (specifically his Randolph Scott-starring Ranown westerns), Ephraim Asili, Josephine Baker, Nikos Papatakis, Jean Harlow, Lee Isaac Chung (pre-Minari), Mani Kaul, and Michelle Parkerson.
The sparkling new restoration of La Piscine will also debut, along with Amores perros, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To the Ends of the Earth, Cate Shortland’s Lore, both Oxhide films, Moonstruck, and much more.
See the full list of August titles below and more on The Criterion Channel.
Abigail Harm,...
Also in the lineup is series on the works of Budd Boetticher (specifically his Randolph Scott-starring Ranown westerns), Ephraim Asili, Josephine Baker, Nikos Papatakis, Jean Harlow, Lee Isaac Chung (pre-Minari), Mani Kaul, and Michelle Parkerson.
The sparkling new restoration of La Piscine will also debut, along with Amores perros, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To the Ends of the Earth, Cate Shortland’s Lore, both Oxhide films, Moonstruck, and much more.
See the full list of August titles below and more on The Criterion Channel.
Abigail Harm,...
- 7/26/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Leopards of Tomorrow section marks its 30th anniversary this year.
The Locarno Film Festival will showcase the shorts component of its Leopards of Tomorrow (Pardi di Domani) programme online as part of the 2020 digital iteration.
The festival was forced to cancel its physical 73rd edition which had been due to take place from August 5-15 in Switzerland due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is instead running a series of initiatives under the banner of ‘Locarno 2020 - For the Future of Films’, aimed at continuing its work and support for the independent cinema industry.
The Leopards of Tomorrow section, which...
The Locarno Film Festival will showcase the shorts component of its Leopards of Tomorrow (Pardi di Domani) programme online as part of the 2020 digital iteration.
The festival was forced to cancel its physical 73rd edition which had been due to take place from August 5-15 in Switzerland due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is instead running a series of initiatives under the banner of ‘Locarno 2020 - For the Future of Films’, aimed at continuing its work and support for the independent cinema industry.
The Leopards of Tomorrow section, which...
- 5/19/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
While we aim to discuss a wide breadth of films each year, few things give us more pleasure than the arrival of bold, new voices. It’s why we venture to festivals and pore over a variety of different features that might bring to light some emerging talent. This year was an especially notable time for new directors making their stamp, and we’re highlighting the handful of 2019 debuts that most impressed us.
Below, one can check out a list spanning a variety of different genres and many are available to stream here. In years to come, take note as these helmers (hopefully) ascend.
Aniara (Pella Kågerman & Hugo Lilja)
The title shares its name with a city-size spacecraft ferrying humans from Earth to Mars in barely three weeks. It’s a routine trip that’s never run into problems with many passengers already having family on the red planet to greet them upon arrival.
Below, one can check out a list spanning a variety of different genres and many are available to stream here. In years to come, take note as these helmers (hopefully) ascend.
Aniara (Pella Kågerman & Hugo Lilja)
The title shares its name with a city-size spacecraft ferrying humans from Earth to Mars in barely three weeks. It’s a routine trip that’s never run into problems with many passengers already having family on the red planet to greet them upon arrival.
- 12/10/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Before we get to our weekly streaming picks, check out our annual feature: Where to Stream the Best Films of 2019.
Ad Astra (James Gray)
With Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and The Irishman, it’s been a strong year for big-budget, auteur-driven cinema, but my pick for the best of the bunch in that regard is James Gray’s Brad Pitt-led adventure Ad Astra. A space epic of immense scale that still contains a personal, beating heart, if you didn’t get a chance to experience this on the biggest screen possible, it’s now available to stream. For more, listen to our podcast discussion.
Before we get to our weekly streaming picks, check out our annual feature: Where to Stream the Best Films of 2019.
Ad Astra (James Gray)
With Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and The Irishman, it’s been a strong year for big-budget, auteur-driven cinema, but my pick for the best of the bunch in that regard is James Gray’s Brad Pitt-led adventure Ad Astra. A space epic of immense scale that still contains a personal, beating heart, if you didn’t get a chance to experience this on the biggest screen possible, it’s now available to stream. For more, listen to our podcast discussion.
- 12/6/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Other winners include ’Ghost Tropic’, ‘The Fourth Wall’ and ’A Certain Kind of Silence’.
Immigrant drama I Am No Longer Here, from Mexican director Fernando Frias, has won the Golden Pyramid for best film at the 41st Cairo International Film Festival.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Frias’ timely drama centres on a Mexican teenager forced to move to the Us after getting on the wrong side of a drugs cartel. Its young star, Juan Daniel Garcia Trevino, was feted with best actor.
Also in the international competition, Belgian director Bas Devos won the Silver Pyramid for urban night-time odyssey tale Ghost Tropic.
Immigrant drama I Am No Longer Here, from Mexican director Fernando Frias, has won the Golden Pyramid for best film at the 41st Cairo International Film Festival.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Frias’ timely drama centres on a Mexican teenager forced to move to the Us after getting on the wrong side of a drugs cartel. Its young star, Juan Daniel Garcia Trevino, was feted with best actor.
Also in the international competition, Belgian director Bas Devos won the Silver Pyramid for urban night-time odyssey tale Ghost Tropic.
- 12/2/2019
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Organised by the Delegation of the European Union with the support of Cineuropa, this year’s edition included panels, master classes and a diverse range of movies. The Chaplin Mega Park theatre in Almaty hosted the fourth edition of the European Film Festival, organised by the European Union Delegation to Kazakhstan with the support of Cineuropa. The festival ran from 5-7 November and presented 16 films produced by the European Union member states, as well as organising exclusive master classes led by European filmmakers. The goal of the festival was to present the premieres of films that best represented European cultural heritage, to increase the general public's interest in cinematographic art and to enhance international cooperation. All of the movies selected have been the winners of high-level international film awards, including Hubert Charuel’s Bloody Milk, Jonas Carpignano’s A Ciambra, Edoardo De Angelis’ The Vice of Hope, Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt’s.
- 11/14/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
Marco Bellocchio’s “The Traitor,” Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy” and Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory” lead the race for the 32nd European Film Awards with four nominations apiece in the major categories. The awards, voted on by more than 3,600 members of the European Film Academy, will be presented at the awards ceremony on Dec. 7 in Berlin.
Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” followed with three nominations in the top categories each, while Ladj Ly’s “Les Misérables” and Nora Fingscheidt’s “System Crasher” were both short-listed in two major categories.
“The Favourite” picked up an additional nomination in the comedy category, while “Les Misérables” received a further nomination in the Discovery section for newcomers.
A single nomination each went to “A White, White Day,” “And Then We Danced,” “Beanpole,” “Gundermann” and “Queen of Hearts.”
Competing for best documentary are “For Sama,...
Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” followed with three nominations in the top categories each, while Ladj Ly’s “Les Misérables” and Nora Fingscheidt’s “System Crasher” were both short-listed in two major categories.
“The Favourite” picked up an additional nomination in the comedy category, while “Les Misérables” received a further nomination in the Discovery section for newcomers.
A single nomination each went to “A White, White Day,” “And Then We Danced,” “Beanpole,” “Gundermann” and “Queen of Hearts.”
Competing for best documentary are “For Sama,...
- 11/9/2019
- by Leo Barraclough and Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Guillaume Nicloux, the French director of “Valley of Love,” is set to preside over the jury of the Arcs Film Festival, while the iconic French actress Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”) will be the patron of the second edition of the Talent Village.
Created last year, the Talent Village is a development workshop and platform for emerging talents aimed at helping them make their feature debut. Huppert will succeed to Danish director Thomas Vinterberg (“The Hunt”) who was the patron of the inaugural edition.
The festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, will also launch the Cinema Green Lab. Along the lines of its workshop program and award for women filmmakers, the Arcs festival will be hosting screenings of environment-themed movies, workshops discussing eco-friendly initiatives in the film industry, as well as panel discussions about ways to tackle these topics in fiction.
The Arcs fest will also hand out an award...
Created last year, the Talent Village is a development workshop and platform for emerging talents aimed at helping them make their feature debut. Huppert will succeed to Danish director Thomas Vinterberg (“The Hunt”) who was the patron of the inaugural edition.
The festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, will also launch the Cinema Green Lab. Along the lines of its workshop program and award for women filmmakers, the Arcs festival will be hosting screenings of environment-themed movies, workshops discussing eco-friendly initiatives in the film industry, as well as panel discussions about ways to tackle these topics in fiction.
The Arcs fest will also hand out an award...
- 10/22/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: U.S. art house distributor Kino Lorber is launching film and TV VOD streaming platform Kino Now, we can reveal. The service, which includes options to rent and buy, currently hosts 600 titles from the company’s catalog and includes early access to new releases. The number of titles is set to double by the end of the year.
Kino Lorber, which will unveil the platform at a stateside event this evening, tells us the service will be annually refreshed with more than 50 new theatrical releases from Kino Lorber’s first-run and repertory divisions and more than 500 yearly additional titles as “festival direct” exclusives and indie art house digital premieres.
Movies will be generally available around 30-90 days after their theatrical release but some will also get day-and-date releases. Most titles will be $9.99 or less. New releases and certain films that are considered premium will be $14.99 or $19.99 if they are day-and-date releases.
Kino Lorber, which will unveil the platform at a stateside event this evening, tells us the service will be annually refreshed with more than 50 new theatrical releases from Kino Lorber’s first-run and repertory divisions and more than 500 yearly additional titles as “festival direct” exclusives and indie art house digital premieres.
Movies will be generally available around 30-90 days after their theatrical release but some will also get day-and-date releases. Most titles will be $9.99 or less. New releases and certain films that are considered premium will be $14.99 or $19.99 if they are day-and-date releases.
- 9/30/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The Slovakian film festival will honour Portugal’s João Pedro Rodrigues with its Respect Award when it unspools from 10-15 September. One of the younger Slovakian international film festivals, Cinematik, will soon unspool for the 14th time in the spa town of Piešťany. The line-up traditionally includes the Meeting Point Europe section, which rounds up intriguing European productions from the 2018-2019 season, including Yorgos Lanthimos’ much-celebrated royal affair The Favourite, François Ozon’s latest drama By the Grace of God, the disarmingly absurd comedy Diamantino by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt, Sacha Polak’s Dirty God, Bertrant Bonello’s Cannes-premiered Zombi Child and Julian Schnabel’s van Gogh drama starring Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate. Cinematik regularly hosts a competition for Slovakian documentaries in the Cinematik.doc section. The titles that will vie for the award this year are Tomáš Krupa’s award-winning intimate doc examining the taboo topic of death and assisted suicide,...
A soccer star weaving through giant puppies on a stadium pitch clouded by cosmic cotton candy is the wildest and most memorable image from Gabriel Abrantes’s and Daniel Schmidt’s screwball satire, Diamantino, which opens its theatrical run in La today. Debuting at Cannes in 2018, where it won both the Critics’ Week Grand Prize and the Palm Dog Jury Prize for best canine performance, the roving comedy weaves together a wacky plot with hyper-topical subjects like rising neo-facism, genetic modification and the refugee crisis. Named for its protagonist soccer stud loosely inspired by Christian Ronaldo, Diamantino begins with a fall […]...
- 6/28/2019
- by Whitney Mallett
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
A soccer star weaving through giant puppies on a stadium pitch clouded by cosmic cotton candy is the wildest and most memorable image from Gabriel Abrantes’s and Daniel Schmidt’s screwball satire, Diamantino, which opens its theatrical run in La today. Debuting at Cannes in 2018, where it won both the Critics’ Week Grand Prize and the Palm Dog Jury Prize for best canine performance, the roving comedy weaves together a wacky plot with hyper-topical subjects like rising neo-facism, genetic modification and the refugee crisis. Named for its protagonist soccer stud loosely inspired by Christian Ronaldo, Diamantino begins with a fall […]...
- 6/28/2019
- by Whitney Mallett
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
From “Avengers: Endgame” to “Game of Thrones” and the Mueller report, much about 2019 has been about endings — and debates about new beginnings. Major tentpole events have consumed the public sphere with the expectation of dramatic conclusions and the intrigue of mysterious next chapters.
The best movies, however, don’t need to cling to some larger timeline to prove their worth: They deliver memorable experiences on their own terms, illustrating why the feature-length format remains an essential vessel for creativity. While entertainment pundits continue to muse on whether “film is dead,” the movies keep proving that they most definitely are not.
Here are the very best of them that 2019 has delivered so far.
“Diane”
An intimate story about a woman staring death in the face and struggling to see its reflection in her own life, “Diane” is as depressing as it sounds. On the other hand, Kent Jones’ Tribeca-winning narrative debut...
The best movies, however, don’t need to cling to some larger timeline to prove their worth: They deliver memorable experiences on their own terms, illustrating why the feature-length format remains an essential vessel for creativity. While entertainment pundits continue to muse on whether “film is dead,” the movies keep proving that they most definitely are not.
Here are the very best of them that 2019 has delivered so far.
“Diane”
An intimate story about a woman staring death in the face and struggling to see its reflection in her own life, “Diane” is as depressing as it sounds. On the other hand, Kent Jones’ Tribeca-winning narrative debut...
- 6/3/2019
- by Eric Kohn, David Ehrlich and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
by Murtada Elfadl
The balancing of many different tones differentiates Diamantino, which just opened in theaters after a hit run at Cannes last year. It's a satire, an allegory, a rom-com and a fantasy -- all of those things in one yet it all jells. Co-directors Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt kept all these different balls in the air. The story is absolutely bonkers. Let’s see if we can get it straight with the help of the official synopsis:
Portuguese soccer hunk Diamantino blows it in the World Cup finals, he goes from superstar to laughing stock overnight. His sheltered worldview is further shattered after learning about the European refugee crisis and he resolves to make amends by adopting an African refugee – only to find that his new “son” is actually an undercover lesbian tax auditor investigating him on the suspicion of corruption. From there, Diamantino gets swept up...
The balancing of many different tones differentiates Diamantino, which just opened in theaters after a hit run at Cannes last year. It's a satire, an allegory, a rom-com and a fantasy -- all of those things in one yet it all jells. Co-directors Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt kept all these different balls in the air. The story is absolutely bonkers. Let’s see if we can get it straight with the help of the official synopsis:
Portuguese soccer hunk Diamantino blows it in the World Cup finals, he goes from superstar to laughing stock overnight. His sheltered worldview is further shattered after learning about the European refugee crisis and he resolves to make amends by adopting an African refugee – only to find that his new “son” is actually an undercover lesbian tax auditor investigating him on the suspicion of corruption. From there, Diamantino gets swept up...
- 5/31/2019
- by Murtada Elfadl
- FilmExperience
Politicizing Camp: Abrantes & Schmidt Post a Win with Imaginative Soccer Satire
After a decade decade working in the short experimental form, festival faves Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt provide a love story that would outrage admirers of all things classic. Diamantino is stuck between science fiction and a politically self-aware comedy, this is a fine contemporary piece of camp cinema. Borrowing from pop culture and its ready-made clichés, this is a satirical reinterpretation of soccer megastar Cristiano Ronaldo, the incredibly naive and ignorant world-class player and Portugal’s darling.
During a reenacted 2018 FIFA World Cup, Diamantino misses a penalty which means disgrace to his country, and a career-threatening blow for himself.…...
After a decade decade working in the short experimental form, festival faves Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt provide a love story that would outrage admirers of all things classic. Diamantino is stuck between science fiction and a politically self-aware comedy, this is a fine contemporary piece of camp cinema. Borrowing from pop culture and its ready-made clichés, this is a satirical reinterpretation of soccer megastar Cristiano Ronaldo, the incredibly naive and ignorant world-class player and Portugal’s darling.
During a reenacted 2018 FIFA World Cup, Diamantino misses a penalty which means disgrace to his country, and a career-threatening blow for himself.…...
- 5/29/2019
- by Călin Boto
- IONCINEMA.com
If co-directors Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt have done their job correctly, audiences will walk out of their new film Diamantino feeling they were impregnated (to use Iñárritu’s lexicon) with “candy that doesn’t make you sick.”
Diamantino (played by Carloto Cotta) has Cristiano Ronaldo-like fame, but makes a fatal error on the soccer field and loses his superstar status. Left with nothing but his good looks, Diamantino is revealed to be a bewildered and wide-eyed Forrest Gump for the 21st century; a century plagued with right-wing machinations for which the former athlete is duped into lending his image.
We sat down with Abrantes and Schmidt at the 56th New York Film Festival to discuss the political power of mass entertainment, how Diamantino defies categories by playing in Midnight and Avant-garde sections of film festivals, and how the comedy of Lubitsch and crude special effects of Cocteau shaped their modern fairytale.
Diamantino (played by Carloto Cotta) has Cristiano Ronaldo-like fame, but makes a fatal error on the soccer field and loses his superstar status. Left with nothing but his good looks, Diamantino is revealed to be a bewildered and wide-eyed Forrest Gump for the 21st century; a century plagued with right-wing machinations for which the former athlete is duped into lending his image.
We sat down with Abrantes and Schmidt at the 56th New York Film Festival to discuss the political power of mass entertainment, how Diamantino defies categories by playing in Midnight and Avant-garde sections of film festivals, and how the comedy of Lubitsch and crude special effects of Cocteau shaped their modern fairytale.
- 5/23/2019
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Gabriel Abrantes returned to the Croisette this year to attend the screening of his 20-minute fantasy short, Directors’ Fortnight “The Marvelous Misadventures of The Stone Lady.” about a female statue that escapes from the Louvre and ventures into the streets of Paris.
The U.S.-born Portuguese director wowed audiences at Cannes last year with his wacky soccer-themed feature, “Diamantino,” co-directed with Daniel Schmidt.
“Diamantino’”s deranged mixture of queer sci-fi, romantic reverie, fairytale pastiche and CGI spectacle won the duo the Grand Prix in Cannes Critics Week, followed by major success on the festival circuit, and sales to over a dozen territories.
“Stone Lady” was earmarked by several critics as a key title to watch at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and received strong applause at its screening on Sunday.
In an interview with Variety, Abrantes explains how he came to choose this follow-up project to “Diamantino” and...
The U.S.-born Portuguese director wowed audiences at Cannes last year with his wacky soccer-themed feature, “Diamantino,” co-directed with Daniel Schmidt.
“Diamantino’”s deranged mixture of queer sci-fi, romantic reverie, fairytale pastiche and CGI spectacle won the duo the Grand Prix in Cannes Critics Week, followed by major success on the festival circuit, and sales to over a dozen territories.
“Stone Lady” was earmarked by several critics as a key title to watch at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and received strong applause at its screening on Sunday.
In an interview with Variety, Abrantes explains how he came to choose this follow-up project to “Diamantino” and...
- 5/23/2019
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Points for originality should go to “Diamantino,” an amusing but scattershot comedy that revolves around a world-famous Portuguese soccer star patterned in part on Cristiano Ronaldo. Co-directed and written by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt, this is a film that takes a lot of chances with its tone as it moves from farcical moments to scenes with earnest political messages.
Diamantino (Carloto Cotta) is a national idol on the soccer field, and whenever he scores a goal he sees enormous fluffy puppies surrounding him. This imagery of the giant puppies is funny because they’re so obviously meant to be small and harmless pets, and here they’re seen stomping around like dinosaurs. These giant fluffy puppies are an apt symbol of Diamantino himself, a sports God who is so absurdly innocent that he can be used by anyone around him for either good or bad purposes.
Diamantino is inspired...
Diamantino (Carloto Cotta) is a national idol on the soccer field, and whenever he scores a goal he sees enormous fluffy puppies surrounding him. This imagery of the giant puppies is funny because they’re so obviously meant to be small and harmless pets, and here they’re seen stomping around like dinosaurs. These giant fluffy puppies are an apt symbol of Diamantino himself, a sports God who is so absurdly innocent that he can be used by anyone around him for either good or bad purposes.
Diamantino is inspired...
- 5/21/2019
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
There will be no film precisely like Diamantino this year, a dazzlingly imaginative experience involving shaggy puppy-filled soccer game dreams, nefarious twins, the refugee crisis, and gender fluidity. Directed by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt, following a healthy festival run–which included Cannes (where it picked up the top Critics’ Week prize), Tiff, and Nyff–it’ll now arrive this month via Kino Lorber and the trailer and poster have landed.
Rory O’Connor said in his review, “In their first full feature as co-directors, Abrantes and Schmidt are nothing if not ambitious and have jam-packed this screenplay with enough conspiracy, femme fatales, and bio-domes to suggest Ian Fleming was on board as script supervisor. Unlike the real-life Ronaldo (fair is fair), Diamantino is not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer and, regardless of whatever debt it may owe to Derek Zoolander, Cotta’s perfectly dim performance will provide...
Rory O’Connor said in his review, “In their first full feature as co-directors, Abrantes and Schmidt are nothing if not ambitious and have jam-packed this screenplay with enough conspiracy, femme fatales, and bio-domes to suggest Ian Fleming was on board as script supervisor. Unlike the real-life Ronaldo (fair is fair), Diamantino is not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer and, regardless of whatever debt it may owe to Derek Zoolander, Cotta’s perfectly dim performance will provide...
- 5/8/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"Something magical happened when I played." Kino Lorber has debuted an official Us trailer for the wacky, brilliant, one-of-a-kind "high camp" indie comedy Diamantino, from directors Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt. This Portuguese film premiered in the Critics' Week sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and stopped by a bunch of major film festivals throughout the film. "Tabu's Carloto Cotta gives the finest comic performance in recent memory as the dimwitted Portuguese soccer superstar of the title, a burlesqued version of Cristiano Ronaldo, swept up in a complicated comic conundrum involving the refugee crisis, Secret Service skullduggery, mad science genetic modification, and a right-wing anti-EU conspiracy." This is easily one of the most creative, original, and hilarious films I saw last year and I definitely recommend it - a "high-camp" international discovery that will be a cult classic very soon. Also stars Cleo Tavares, Anabela Moreira, Margarida Moreira,...
- 5/6/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
“Diamantino” is nothing less (and so much more) than the movie the world needs right now. A hit from the moment it premiered at Cannes last year, this winningly demented 21st century fairy tale centers on a beautiful, child-like soccer phenom named Diamantino, who reacts to a devastating World Cup loss by adopting a Mozambican refugee. The refugee claims to be a teen boy, but is actually an adult lesbian on an undercover mission from the Portuguese government to investigate a money-laundering operation run by the athlete’s evil twin sisters. Also, there’s a mad scientist who’s trying to clone Diamantino in order to create an invincible super team capable of stoking national pride and “Making Portugal Great Again.” Also, there are giant puppies. A lot of them. A litter of Pekingese the size of double-decker buses. And that’s just the basic set-up.
Co-directed by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt,...
Co-directed by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt,...
- 5/6/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
For those that have gone through our massive summer preview, our monthly breakdowns may not bring a great deal of new surprises, but as we take a more granular look at the offerings, there’s certainly more to spotlight. Of course, much of the month will be dedicated to our Cannes coverage, but there’s also a wealth of excellent films coming to theaters and streaming, so check out our picks below.
Matinees to See: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (May 3), Long Shot (May 3), The Wandering Earth (May 5), The Silence of Others (May 8), Detective Pikachu (May 10), Charlie Says (May 10), Perfect (May 17), Photograph (May 17), Echo in the Canyon (May 24), Joy (May 24), The Perfection (May 24), The Fall of the American Empire (May 31), The Image You Missed (May 31), and Leto (May 31)
15. Knock Down the House (Rachel Lears; May 1)
Winner of the top festival favorite prize at Sundance Film Festival, Rachel Lears’ Knock Down the House...
Matinees to See: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (May 3), Long Shot (May 3), The Wandering Earth (May 5), The Silence of Others (May 8), Detective Pikachu (May 10), Charlie Says (May 10), Perfect (May 17), Photograph (May 17), Echo in the Canyon (May 24), Joy (May 24), The Perfection (May 24), The Fall of the American Empire (May 31), The Image You Missed (May 31), and Leto (May 31)
15. Knock Down the House (Rachel Lears; May 1)
Winner of the top festival favorite prize at Sundance Film Festival, Rachel Lears’ Knock Down the House...
- 5/1/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Following the first batches of Cannes Film Festival lineup announcements, the slate has now been unveiled for the sidebar Directors’ Fortnight. Once again a stellar-looking lineup, it includes Robert Eggers’ The Witch follow-up The Lighthouse, starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, Bertrand Bonello’s Zombi Child, plus new films from Takashi Miike, Lav Diaz, Bas Devo, and Rebecca Zlotowski (pictured above).
There’s also two Sundance films we’ve already reviewed: Wounds and Give Me Liberty. Premiering as a Special Screening is Luca Guadagnino’s new short The Staggering Girl starring Julianne Moore, Mia Goth, KiKi Layne, Alba Rohrwacher, Marthe Keller, and Kyle MacLachlan. See the lineup below, along with the Acid slate.
Directors’ Fortnight Lineup
Feature Films
Deerskin (Quentin Dupieux) – Opening Film
Yves (Benoît Forgeard) – Closing
Alice and the Mayor (Nicolas Pariser)
And Then We Danced (Levan Akin)
The Halt (Lav Diaz)
Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää...
There’s also two Sundance films we’ve already reviewed: Wounds and Give Me Liberty. Premiering as a Special Screening is Luca Guadagnino’s new short The Staggering Girl starring Julianne Moore, Mia Goth, KiKi Layne, Alba Rohrwacher, Marthe Keller, and Kyle MacLachlan. See the lineup below, along with the Acid slate.
Directors’ Fortnight Lineup
Feature Films
Deerskin (Quentin Dupieux) – Opening Film
Yves (Benoît Forgeard) – Closing
Alice and the Mayor (Nicolas Pariser)
And Then We Danced (Levan Akin)
The Halt (Lav Diaz)
Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää...
- 4/23/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The 2019 Driectors’ Fortnight lineup has been revealed, bringing with it new works from “The Witch” director Robert Eggers, Bertrand Bonello, Rebecca Zlotowski, and Takashi Miike. Fortnight is closely associated with the Cannes Film Festival although it is technically its own event that runs parallel to Cannes. Fortnight is celebrating its 51st year in 2019. The festival sidebar has been a launching pad for directors such as Spike Lee, Jim Jarmsuch, and more over the years.
One of the biggest titles set to world premiere is “The Lighthouse,” writer-director Eggers’ first feature since his Sundance horror breakout “The Witch.” For his latest directorial effort, Eggers has cast Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe for a fantasy horror based on old seafarer myths. The movie was shot in black and white and is backed by A24, who picked up last year’s Directors’ Fortnight favorite “Climax.” Another high profile premiere is “The Staggering Girl,...
One of the biggest titles set to world premiere is “The Lighthouse,” writer-director Eggers’ first feature since his Sundance horror breakout “The Witch.” For his latest directorial effort, Eggers has cast Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe for a fantasy horror based on old seafarer myths. The movie was shot in black and white and is backed by A24, who picked up last year’s Directors’ Fortnight favorite “Climax.” Another high profile premiere is “The Staggering Girl,...
- 4/23/2019
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
New films by Robert Eggers, Takashi Miike, Luca Guadagnino and Rebecca Zlotowski to premiere.
Cannes Directors’ Fortnight has unveiled the line-up for its 51st edition, running May 15-25, overseen for the first time by artistic director Paolo Moretti.
Scroll down for full line-up
For his debut edition, Moretti and his programming team have pulled together an auteur-driven selection, mixing established and emerging filmmakers, genre fare and a dash of star power.
“Directors’ Fortnight was born out of a collective and this collective spirit is still alive. The support of the team that I found in place has really touched me,...
Cannes Directors’ Fortnight has unveiled the line-up for its 51st edition, running May 15-25, overseen for the first time by artistic director Paolo Moretti.
Scroll down for full line-up
For his debut edition, Moretti and his programming team have pulled together an auteur-driven selection, mixing established and emerging filmmakers, genre fare and a dash of star power.
“Directors’ Fortnight was born out of a collective and this collective spirit is still alive. The support of the team that I found in place has really touched me,...
- 4/23/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Despite producing only around 15 feature films per year, Portuguese cinema has consistently won significant festival prizes.
In 2018, awards for Portuguese films included Cannes’ Critics’ Week winner, “Diamantino” by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt, and “The Dead and the Others” by João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora, which took a Special Jury Prize at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Portuguese filmmakers have survived through a mixture of dedication, creative ingenuity and co-productions. Amid economic crisis, in 2012, the situation seemed dire, with Portugal’s National Film and Audiovisual Institute (Ica) unable to open any funding lines.
However a 2012 film law, revised in 2014, provided new revenues for the Ica by introducing levies on subscription TV services. As a result, the Ica has been able to channel significant additional funding into the domestic industry, including new support programs for TV series and animation features.
Investment obligations for domestic broadcasters have also been upped including reinforced commitments for public broadcaster,...
In 2018, awards for Portuguese films included Cannes’ Critics’ Week winner, “Diamantino” by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt, and “The Dead and the Others” by João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora, which took a Special Jury Prize at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
Portuguese filmmakers have survived through a mixture of dedication, creative ingenuity and co-productions. Amid economic crisis, in 2012, the situation seemed dire, with Portugal’s National Film and Audiovisual Institute (Ica) unable to open any funding lines.
However a 2012 film law, revised in 2014, provided new revenues for the Ica by introducing levies on subscription TV services. As a result, the Ica has been able to channel significant additional funding into the domestic industry, including new support programs for TV series and animation features.
Investment obligations for domestic broadcasters have also been upped including reinforced commitments for public broadcaster,...
- 2/9/2019
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSJonas Mekas (1922 — 2019)"I have never been able, really, to figure out where my life begins and where it ends. I have never, never been able to figure it all out, what's all about." We're sad to say that Jonas Mekas, considered the "godfather of avant-garde cinema," has passed away today at the age of 96. The Lithuanian filmmaker leaves behind a legacy of film criticism, programming, and lovingly, meticulously crafted cinema, often confronting and splicing through his own biography as a refugee and artist. In April of last year, Mekas was "rediscovering Virginia Woolf," and working on a compilation of 50 years' worth of diaries. After a number of health scares in the summer, he informed The New York Times that death is a "normal transition [...] It’s where the mystery begins, where it becomes interesting.
- 1/23/2019
- MUBI
Review by Peter BelsitoPortuguese soccer icon Diamantino is the most famous person in the world.
So the film begins. And gets crazier as it moves along but in a very funny way.
After blowing his team’s chances at the 2018 World Cup, Portuguese soccer icon Diamantino retreats in shame to his amazing palatial home. Bereft of purpose, confused and desperate to atone for his act of national humiliation, he is convinced to adopt an African refugee youth in a naive attempt to reinject meaning into his shattered life.
While awaiting the arrival of his new son, he becomes the unwitting victim of a government tax investigation, a neo-fascist plot to seize power, and the daily machinations of his cartoonishly villainous twin sisters.
It doesn’t happen that often that when you see something that takes you completely by surprise.
Diamantino, from the directorial duo of Gabriel Abrantes from Portugal and U.
So the film begins. And gets crazier as it moves along but in a very funny way.
After blowing his team’s chances at the 2018 World Cup, Portuguese soccer icon Diamantino retreats in shame to his amazing palatial home. Bereft of purpose, confused and desperate to atone for his act of national humiliation, he is convinced to adopt an African refugee youth in a naive attempt to reinject meaning into his shattered life.
While awaiting the arrival of his new son, he becomes the unwitting victim of a government tax investigation, a neo-fascist plot to seize power, and the daily machinations of his cartoonishly villainous twin sisters.
It doesn’t happen that often that when you see something that takes you completely by surprise.
Diamantino, from the directorial duo of Gabriel Abrantes from Portugal and U.
- 1/20/2019
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
In 2018 we've published 70 interviews whose subjects have ranged from old masters to emerging new voices, and including some unexpected conversations, including those with curators (Dave Kehr of the Museum of Modern Art), as well as archival finds (a 1971 talk with Jerry Lewis).Below you will find an index of our conversations throughout the year, listed in order of publication date.Blake Williams (Prototype)Samira Elagoz (Craigslist Allstars)F.J. Ossang (9 Fingers)Jerry LewisAndré Gil Mata (The Tree)Christian Petzold (Transit)Raoul Peck (Young Karl Marx)Ashley McKenzie (Werewolf)Penelope SpheerisTed Fendt (Classical Period)Dominik Graf (The Red Shadow)Blake Williams ("Stereo Visions")Arnaud Desplechin (Ismael's Ghosts)Ruth Beckermann (The Waldheim Waltz)Nelson Carlos de los Santos Arias (Cocote)Esther GarrelPhilippe Garrel (Lover for a Day)Jonas MekasJohann Lurf (★)Karim Aïnouz (Central Airport Thf)Juliana Antunes (Baronesa)Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra (Birds of Passage)Wang Bing (Dead Souls)Donal Foreman...
- 12/27/2018
- MUBI
Aleksandra Terpinska’s “Other People” and Peter Dourountzis’s “Rascal” won the inaugural Arte Kino International Prize at the 10th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival’s Co-Production Village.
The award was given by Remi Burah, who runs Arte France Cinéma and launched in 2016 ArteKino Festival, a European online festival in partnership with the digital service Festival Scope. Each “Other People” and “Rascal” will receive 2000 Euros.
Mixing comedy, drama and musical, “Other People” tells the story of a man who lives with his mum and teenage sister who starts a romance with Iwona, a woman in her early 40’s who cannot cope with her marriage. “Other People” was selected as part of this year’s focus on Poland. Terpinska’s last short “The Best Fireworks Ever” premiered at Cannes’s Critics’ Week and won two awards.
Meanwhile, “Rascal” in a French-language thriller following a charming young man who arrives in...
The award was given by Remi Burah, who runs Arte France Cinéma and launched in 2016 ArteKino Festival, a European online festival in partnership with the digital service Festival Scope. Each “Other People” and “Rascal” will receive 2000 Euros.
Mixing comedy, drama and musical, “Other People” tells the story of a man who lives with his mum and teenage sister who starts a romance with Iwona, a woman in her early 40’s who cannot cope with her marriage. “Other People” was selected as part of this year’s focus on Poland. Terpinska’s last short “The Best Fireworks Ever” premiered at Cannes’s Critics’ Week and won two awards.
Meanwhile, “Rascal” in a French-language thriller following a charming young man who arrives in...
- 12/19/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
“Cold War” was the big winner at the European Film Awards, picking up the prizes for Best European Film, Actress (Joanna Kulig), Director, and Screenwriter (both Paweł Pawlikowski). Best actor went to Marcello Fonte of “Dogman,” while Armando Iannucci’s “The Death of Stalin” was named Best European Comedy.
“Cold War” also led all films with five nominations, continuing a strong year for the black-and-white drama — Pawlikowski, whose “Ida” won the Foreign-Language Oscar, also took home Best Director laurels from Cannes.
Ali Abbasi’s “Border” and Alice Rohrwacher’s “Happy as Lazzaro” left the ceremony empty-handed despite picking up four nominations apiece.
The full list of winners:
Best European Film
“Border,” Ali Abbasi
“Cold War,” Pawel Pawlikowski
“Dogman,” Matteo Garrone
“Girl,” Lukas Dhont
“Happy as Lazzaro,” Alice Rorhwacher
European Comedy
“C’est La Vie,” Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano
“Diamantino,” Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt
“The Death of Stalin,” Armando Iannucci
European Director
Ali Abbasi,...
“Cold War” also led all films with five nominations, continuing a strong year for the black-and-white drama — Pawlikowski, whose “Ida” won the Foreign-Language Oscar, also took home Best Director laurels from Cannes.
Ali Abbasi’s “Border” and Alice Rohrwacher’s “Happy as Lazzaro” left the ceremony empty-handed despite picking up four nominations apiece.
The full list of winners:
Best European Film
“Border,” Ali Abbasi
“Cold War,” Pawel Pawlikowski
“Dogman,” Matteo Garrone
“Girl,” Lukas Dhont
“Happy as Lazzaro,” Alice Rorhwacher
European Comedy
“C’est La Vie,” Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano
“Diamantino,” Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt
“The Death of Stalin,” Armando Iannucci
European Director
Ali Abbasi,...
- 12/15/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
“Cold War,” Pawel Pawlikowski’s black-and-white romance set in the 1950s, scooped the prizes for best film, director and screenplay at the 31st edition of the European Film Awards on Saturday.
“Cold War” star Joanna Kulig also won the award for best actress. Marcello Fonte, the star of Matteo Garrone’s “Dogman,” won for best actor.
Armando Iannucci’s political satire “The Death of Stalin” won for best European comedy. Adapted from the French graphic novel by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, “The Death of Stalin” is a comic look at how Joseph Stalin’s stroke in 1953 threw the U.S.S.R. into chaos and inspired a mad power grab among his top advisors.
“This is very brave of you. This movie was banned in Russia,” Iannucci said upon picking up his award onstage. The British writer-director added that he loved Europe and made a joke about Brexit.
Lukas Dhont’s “Girl,...
“Cold War” star Joanna Kulig also won the award for best actress. Marcello Fonte, the star of Matteo Garrone’s “Dogman,” won for best actor.
Armando Iannucci’s political satire “The Death of Stalin” won for best European comedy. Adapted from the French graphic novel by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, “The Death of Stalin” is a comic look at how Joseph Stalin’s stroke in 1953 threw the U.S.S.R. into chaos and inspired a mad power grab among his top advisors.
“This is very brave of you. This movie was banned in Russia,” Iannucci said upon picking up his award onstage. The British writer-director added that he loved Europe and made a joke about Brexit.
Lukas Dhont’s “Girl,...
- 12/15/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Marylise Dumont’s “Black Dog,” Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen’s “Ashes and Snow” and “Each of Us” are among the 20 projects which will be pitched at the 10th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival’s Co-Production Village.
The Co-Production Village will run alongside the festival which will be presided by Ruben Ostlund, the Swedish helmer of Palme d’Or-winning and Oscar-nominated “The Square,” and will open on Dec. 15 with Louis Garrel’s “A Faithful Man.” The movie will compete along with nine films selected by Frederic Boyer, the artistic director of both Les Arcs and Tribeca festivals.
Besides Ostlund, a flurry of high-profile European filmmakers, industry figures and talent are expected to attend the festival, notably Laetitia Casta (“A Faitful Man”), Alex Lutz (“Guy”), Lukas Dhont (“Girl”), Charlotte Le Bon (“The Promise”), Jeremie Renier (“Double Lover”), Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (“Les estivants”), Romain Duris (“Heartbreaker”), Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!), and Thomas Vinterberg...
The Co-Production Village will run alongside the festival which will be presided by Ruben Ostlund, the Swedish helmer of Palme d’Or-winning and Oscar-nominated “The Square,” and will open on Dec. 15 with Louis Garrel’s “A Faithful Man.” The movie will compete along with nine films selected by Frederic Boyer, the artistic director of both Les Arcs and Tribeca festivals.
Besides Ostlund, a flurry of high-profile European filmmakers, industry figures and talent are expected to attend the festival, notably Laetitia Casta (“A Faitful Man”), Alex Lutz (“Guy”), Lukas Dhont (“Girl”), Charlotte Le Bon (“The Promise”), Jeremie Renier (“Double Lover”), Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (“Les estivants”), Romain Duris (“Heartbreaker”), Camille Cottin (“Call My Agent!), and Thomas Vinterberg...
- 12/14/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Paweł Pawlikowski’s “Cold War” leads the pack in this year’s European Film Awards, picking up five nominations after winning Best Director laurels earlier this year at Cannes. The black-and-white romance is followed closely by Matteo Garrone’s “Dogman,” Alice Rohrwacher’s “Happy as Lazzaro,” and Ali Abassi’s “Border,” all of which also picked up awards on the Croisette and now find themselves with four nods apiece.
This year’s ceremony takes place on December 15 in Seville, Spain. Here’s the full list of nominations:
European Film 2018
Border, dir: Ali Abbasi
Cold War, dir: Pawel Pawlikowski
Dogman, dir: Matteo Garrone
Girl dir: Lukas Dhont
Happy As Lazzaro, dir: Alice Rohrwacher
European Documentary 2018
A Woman Captured, dir: Bernadett Tuza-Ritter
Bergman – A Year In A Life, dir: Jane Magnusson
Of Fathers And Sons, dir: Talal Derki
The Distant Barking Of Dogs, dir: Simon Lering Wilmont
The Silence Of Others, dirs:...
This year’s ceremony takes place on December 15 in Seville, Spain. Here’s the full list of nominations:
European Film 2018
Border, dir: Ali Abbasi
Cold War, dir: Pawel Pawlikowski
Dogman, dir: Matteo Garrone
Girl dir: Lukas Dhont
Happy As Lazzaro, dir: Alice Rohrwacher
European Documentary 2018
A Woman Captured, dir: Bernadett Tuza-Ritter
Bergman – A Year In A Life, dir: Jane Magnusson
Of Fathers And Sons, dir: Talal Derki
The Distant Barking Of Dogs, dir: Simon Lering Wilmont
The Silence Of Others, dirs:...
- 11/10/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Nominations are in for the 31st European Film Awards with previous winner Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War leading the pack. The romance drama won the Best Director prize in Cannes and Pawlikowski is up here for the same nod. Cold War, Poland’s Oscar hopeful this year, is also mentioned in the Best Film, Screenwriting, Actress and Actor categories.
Joining Cold War in the main race are a series of Oscar entries for the Best Foreign Language Film statue. They include Sweden’s wild Border from Ali Abbasi, Italy’s Dogman from Matteo Garrone and Belgium’s Girl by Lukas Dhont. The latter won the Camera d’Or in Cannes for best first film, and also scored the Best Performance nod in the Un Certain Regard section for lead Victor Polster who received a nomination today from the European Film Academy. Netflix acquired Girl for North and Latin America out of the festival.
Joining Cold War in the main race are a series of Oscar entries for the Best Foreign Language Film statue. They include Sweden’s wild Border from Ali Abbasi, Italy’s Dogman from Matteo Garrone and Belgium’s Girl by Lukas Dhont. The latter won the Camera d’Or in Cannes for best first film, and also scored the Best Performance nod in the Un Certain Regard section for lead Victor Polster who received a nomination today from the European Film Academy. Netflix acquired Girl for North and Latin America out of the festival.
- 11/10/2018
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
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