It is both much too big and way too small to describe Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s gorgeously allusive “The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire” as a biopic. The impulse behind the film — to re-write this remarkable woman back into the French and Caribbean cultural histories that have long neglected her in favor of her famous politician husband, Aimé Césaire — is standard-issue biopic fuel. But Hunt-Ehrlich complicates and prevaricates on that impulse in increasingly provocative and hypnotic ways, delivering a woozily metatextual essay that lives inside the mystery of Césaire’s tiny but influential corpus of work, rather than trying to solve it.
“Here we are, making a film about an artist who didn’t want to be remembered,” says Zita Hanrot, boldly breaking the fourth wall. She plays Suzanne — a beautiful woman in red lipstick, smoking and swaying to swing records playing on the gramophone — but she also plays a riff on herself,...
“Here we are, making a film about an artist who didn’t want to be remembered,” says Zita Hanrot, boldly breaking the fourth wall. She plays Suzanne — a beautiful woman in red lipstick, smoking and swaying to swing records playing on the gramophone — but she also plays a riff on herself,...
- 1/31/2024
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) opens this evening with New Zealand director Jonathan Olgilvie’s coming-of-age tale Head South set against the late 1970s, post-punk music culture of his home city of Christchurch.
IFFR previously selected Olgilvie’s sci-fi thriller Lone Wolf for its Big Screen Competition in 2021.
“It’s the first time we’re going to meet him in person because it was during Corona,” says IFFR Artistic Director Vanja Kaludjercic of the first selection.
“When you put the two films side by side, you ask how can one filmmaker make two such different films,” she adds. “We really admire his creativity and ingenuity.”
Over the course of the next 10 days, Rotterdam will screen some 440 works.
The Main Competition for this 53rd edition is characteristically diverse.
The 14 features in the running for the main Tiger Award include Brooklyn-based filmmaker Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, exploring the life of the titular,...
IFFR previously selected Olgilvie’s sci-fi thriller Lone Wolf for its Big Screen Competition in 2021.
“It’s the first time we’re going to meet him in person because it was during Corona,” says IFFR Artistic Director Vanja Kaludjercic of the first selection.
“When you put the two films side by side, you ask how can one filmmaker make two such different films,” she adds. “We really admire his creativity and ingenuity.”
Over the course of the next 10 days, Rotterdam will screen some 440 works.
The Main Competition for this 53rd edition is characteristically diverse.
The 14 features in the running for the main Tiger Award include Brooklyn-based filmmaker Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, exploring the life of the titular,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For regular updates, sign up for our weekly email newsletter and follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSBreak no.1 & Break no.2..The lineups for select sections of the 2024 editions of the Berlinale and International Film Festival Rotterdam have been unveiled, with films from Panorama, Forum, Forum Expanded, Generation, and Berlinale Special announced for the former, and the Tiger and Big Screen competitions at the latter. In Berlin, so far, we are excited by the prospect of new films by Jane Schoenbrun (We’re All Going to the World’s Fair) and Jérémy Clapin (I Lost My Body), whereas in Rotterdam, we have our eye on new work by Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich and Lei Lei. As the year comes to a close, the Best of 2023 lists keep coming. Sight & Sound shared the seventh edition of their always-interesting poll of the best video essays of the year,...
- 12/20/2023
- MUBI
M. Raihan Halim’s “La Luna” will close the 53rd edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam, which has also revealed the lineup of its Tiger competition section, a platform for up-and-coming filmmakers, and Big Screen Competition, a program for more established talent.
“La Luna,” which has its European premiere at the festival, is a comedy about a conservative Malaysian village shaken by the arrival of a lingerie store.
Among the Tiger competition films is British director Justin Anderson’s “Swimming Home,” starring Mackenzie Davis, Christopher Abbott and Ariane Labed. Adapted from Deborah Levy’s novel, it centers on Joe and Isabel, whose marriage is dying when Kitti, a naked stranger found floating in the pool at their holiday villa, is invited to stay. Kitti collects and eats poisonous plants, and Nina their teenage daughter is enthralled by her. The film, which is being sold by Bankside Films, is described as...
“La Luna,” which has its European premiere at the festival, is a comedy about a conservative Malaysian village shaken by the arrival of a lingerie store.
Among the Tiger competition films is British director Justin Anderson’s “Swimming Home,” starring Mackenzie Davis, Christopher Abbott and Ariane Labed. Adapted from Deborah Levy’s novel, it centers on Joe and Isabel, whose marriage is dying when Kitti, a naked stranger found floating in the pool at their holiday villa, is invited to stay. Kitti collects and eats poisonous plants, and Nina their teenage daughter is enthralled by her. The film, which is being sold by Bankside Films, is described as...
- 12/18/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
International Film Festival Rotterdam has revealed its lineup for the Tiger, Big Screen and Tiger Short competitions. The festival runs from January 25-February 4. Scroll down for the full lists.
Head South by Jonathan Ogilvie will open the proceedings with M. Raihan Halim’s comedy La Luna on closing duties. The Tiger Competition jury will be comprised of Marco Müller, Ena Sendijarević, Nadia Turincev, Herman Yau and Billy Woodberry.
Also confirmed are the first names for the Talks lineup including Marco Bellocchio, Anne Fontaine, Alexander Kluge and Rachel Maclean.
Festival director Vanja Kaludjercic said today, “For over half a century, IFFR has stood as a haven for diverse voices – a convergence where artists share perspectives. Our program celebrates the resilience and creativity of global filmmakers, a testament to cinema’s power to transcend borders. From Indian to Japanese epics, a Kazakh thriller, Finnish Freudian reinterpretations, Dominican sci-fi and underground Iranian cinema,...
Head South by Jonathan Ogilvie will open the proceedings with M. Raihan Halim’s comedy La Luna on closing duties. The Tiger Competition jury will be comprised of Marco Müller, Ena Sendijarević, Nadia Turincev, Herman Yau and Billy Woodberry.
Also confirmed are the first names for the Talks lineup including Marco Bellocchio, Anne Fontaine, Alexander Kluge and Rachel Maclean.
Festival director Vanja Kaludjercic said today, “For over half a century, IFFR has stood as a haven for diverse voices – a convergence where artists share perspectives. Our program celebrates the resilience and creativity of global filmmakers, a testament to cinema’s power to transcend borders. From Indian to Japanese epics, a Kazakh thriller, Finnish Freudian reinterpretations, Dominican sci-fi and underground Iranian cinema,...
- 12/18/2023
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Head South.International Film Festival Rotterdam have announced the lineup for their 53rd edition, which will take place between January 25 to February 4. Opening FILMHead South (Jonathan Ogilvie)The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire.Tiger COMPETITIONThe Ballad of Suzanne Césaire (Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich)Flathead (Jaydon Martin)Grey Bees (Dmytro Moiseiev)Kiss Wagon (Midhun Murali)Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others (Farshad Hashemi)MosesLa Parra (Alberto Gracia)Praia Formosa (Julia De Simone)Rei (Tanaka Toshihiko)Reise der Schatten (Yves Netzhammer)She Fell to Earth (Susie Au)sr (Lea Hartlaub)Swimming Home (Justin Anderson)Under a Blue Sun (Daniel Mann)Milk Teeth.Big Screen COMPETITIONAire: Just Breathe (Leticia Tonos Paniagua)Children of War and Peace (Ville Suhonen)Confidenza (Daniele Luchetti)Eternal (Ulaa Salim)Milk Teeth (Sophia Bösch)The Old Bachelor (Oktay Baraheni)Portrait of a Certain Orient (Marcelo Gomes)Seven Seas Seven Hills (Ram)Steppenwolf (Adilkhan Yerzhanov)TenementThe Worst Man in London (Rodrigo Areias...
- 12/18/2023
- MUBI
Exclusive: The PBS series Pov today announced the lineup of films for its historic 36th season, a diverse slate highlighted by documentaries with Oscar pedigree.
The season kicks off June 26 with Jon-Sesrie Goff’s acclaimed After Sherman, winner of best documentary prizes at the Atlanta Film Festival and Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The Academy Award-nominated A House Made of Splinters makes its Pov debut on July 17. Simon Lereng Wilmont’s film creates a deeply moving portrait of Ukrainian children sheltered in a temporary orphanage, where empathetic caregivers tend to their emotional needs as war with Russia rumbles around them.
‘Children of the Mist’
Children of the Mist, premiering on Pov on July 31, earned a spot on the Oscar shortlist. Hà Lệ Diễm’s film centers on a Hmong teenager living in rural Northern Vietnam who resists a cultural tradition that permits girls to be kidnapped and forced into marriage.
The season kicks off June 26 with Jon-Sesrie Goff’s acclaimed After Sherman, winner of best documentary prizes at the Atlanta Film Festival and Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The Academy Award-nominated A House Made of Splinters makes its Pov debut on July 17. Simon Lereng Wilmont’s film creates a deeply moving portrait of Ukrainian children sheltered in a temporary orphanage, where empathetic caregivers tend to their emotional needs as war with Russia rumbles around them.
‘Children of the Mist’
Children of the Mist, premiering on Pov on July 31, earned a spot on the Oscar shortlist. Hà Lệ Diễm’s film centers on a Hmong teenager living in rural Northern Vietnam who resists a cultural tradition that permits girls to be kidnapped and forced into marriage.
- 5/4/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Just one year ahead of its 30th anniversary, the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts has announced 11 winners — the most ever — of its annual prizes which recognize and fund risk-taking mid-career artists in the fields of dance, music, film/video, theater and visual arts.
The 2023 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts winners — each of whom receive $75,000 in unrestricted funding (with one duo sharing the payment) — include filmmakers Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich and Christopher Harris.
“I believe in the arts. I think the arts are the heart and soul of our country. Not just music. We’re talking about actors and poets and painters and sculptors — the whole gamut. We need the artists, especially in these times. They are creating through their passion and those people need to be supported and helped and nurtured. It’s a dire need out there. A lot of people are struggling. We’re just trying to do our part,...
The 2023 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts winners — each of whom receive $75,000 in unrestricted funding (with one duo sharing the payment) — include filmmakers Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich and Christopher Harris.
“I believe in the arts. I think the arts are the heart and soul of our country. Not just music. We’re talking about actors and poets and painters and sculptors — the whole gamut. We need the artists, especially in these times. They are creating through their passion and those people need to be supported and helped and nurtured. It’s a dire need out there. A lot of people are struggling. We’re just trying to do our part,...
- 5/1/2023
- by Degen Pener
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSMohammad Rasoulof's There Is No Evil (2020).Three prominent Iranian filmmakers have been arrested this week. After the arrests of Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Aleahmad last week, news comes that Jafar Panahi has also been detained (on his birthday) after visiting the prosecutor's office to inquire about his colleagues. "It's shocking that artists are taken into custody because of their peaceful endeavors against violence,” said Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, directors of the Berlinale, in a statement released following the initial arrests and the subsequent call for international support shared by Iranian producers Kaveh Farnam and Farzad Pak.James Caan has died, as announced in a post put out by his family on July 6. Alongside many moving tributes to the actor "best known for his explosive, unpredictable turn as Sonny Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola...
- 7/12/2022
- MUBI
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