Dany Boon and Audrey Fleurot are setting sail for See The Sea, Emmanuel Poulain-Arnaud’s family comedy-drama adapted from hit Mexican film Ya Veremos, and Snd will kick off sales in Cannes.
Actor-director Boon, known for box office hits Welcome To The Sticks and Driving Madeleine, and Fleurot play a divorced couple forced to put aside their differences on an oceanside trip when their son begins to go blind.
Currently shooting in southwestern France, the film is the latest in what has been a boom in local language remakes that will take centre stage at the Cannes market. Pedro Pablo Ibarra...
Actor-director Boon, known for box office hits Welcome To The Sticks and Driving Madeleine, and Fleurot play a divorced couple forced to put aside their differences on an oceanside trip when their son begins to go blind.
Currently shooting in southwestern France, the film is the latest in what has been a boom in local language remakes that will take centre stage at the Cannes market. Pedro Pablo Ibarra...
- 5/3/2024
- ScreenDaily
Hengameh Panahi, the French-Iranian producer and sales agent who founded Celluloid Dreams and was a pivotal figure in bringing works from such auteurs as Jacques Audiard, Jafar Panahi (no relation), François Ozon, Marjane Satrapi and Todd Haynes to the world, has died. She was 67.
Viviana Andriani, a press attaché who had worked with Panahi for many years, confirmed Thursday that Panahi died on November 5 after battling a long illness.
Celluloid Dreams, which Panahi launched in 1985, was a groundbreaking sales and production company that helped build the global market for international arthouse films. Over the course of three decades, Paris-based Celluloid helped package and sell more than 800 films, including the first works from François Ozon (See The Sea), Gaspar Noé (I Stand Alone), Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) and Bruno Dumont (The Life of Jesus), among many others.
Alongside many European talents, Panahi, who was born in Iran but moved to Europe aged...
Viviana Andriani, a press attaché who had worked with Panahi for many years, confirmed Thursday that Panahi died on November 5 after battling a long illness.
Celluloid Dreams, which Panahi launched in 1985, was a groundbreaking sales and production company that helped build the global market for international arthouse films. Over the course of three decades, Paris-based Celluloid helped package and sell more than 800 films, including the first works from François Ozon (See The Sea), Gaspar Noé (I Stand Alone), Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) and Bruno Dumont (The Life of Jesus), among many others.
Alongside many European talents, Panahi, who was born in Iran but moved to Europe aged...
- 11/9/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Groundbreaking French-Iranian sales agent and producer Hengameh Panahi, who represented a myriad of renowned Cannes and Venice prize-winning auteur directors, has died at the age of 67.
Paris-based press attaché Viviana Andriani, who handled press campaigns for a number of Panahi’s films, announced the news in a short communiqué.
She said Panahi had died on November 5 after bravely battling a long illness.
Panahi was a force to be reckoned with on the international film industry circuit, who launched dozens of renowned arthouse directors at the beginning of their careers and accompanied them as they won awards and fame.
Born in Iran, Panahi was sent to Belgium to complete her education as teenager.
She got her first big break in the film industry as head of international at Brussels-based animation studio Graphoui.
In an early sign of her flare for scouting promising talent, Panahi connected with John Lasseter and Tim Burton...
Paris-based press attaché Viviana Andriani, who handled press campaigns for a number of Panahi’s films, announced the news in a short communiqué.
She said Panahi had died on November 5 after bravely battling a long illness.
Panahi was a force to be reckoned with on the international film industry circuit, who launched dozens of renowned arthouse directors at the beginning of their careers and accompanied them as they won awards and fame.
Born in Iran, Panahi was sent to Belgium to complete her education as teenager.
She got her first big break in the film industry as head of international at Brussels-based animation studio Graphoui.
In an early sign of her flare for scouting promising talent, Panahi connected with John Lasseter and Tim Burton...
- 11/9/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
This month’s installment of Deep Cuts Rising features a variety of horror movies. Some selections reflect a specific day or event in August, and others were chosen at random.
Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.
This month’s offerings feature folk horror, killer animals, and more.
Dark August (1976)
Directed by Martin Goldman.
With August 22 being World Folklore Day, horror fans don’t ever have to look too far to find mysticism and superstitions. Right in their backyards are plenty of homegrown horrors that showcase the extraordinary. Martin Goldman’s Vermont-shot regional horror Dark August centers on the man who accidentally runs over and kills a little girl. While J.J. Barry‘s difficult character is found innocent in court, he still suspects the victim’s grandfather has cursed him. Now the protagonist...
Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.
This month’s offerings feature folk horror, killer animals, and more.
Dark August (1976)
Directed by Martin Goldman.
With August 22 being World Folklore Day, horror fans don’t ever have to look too far to find mysticism and superstitions. Right in their backyards are plenty of homegrown horrors that showcase the extraordinary. Martin Goldman’s Vermont-shot regional horror Dark August centers on the man who accidentally runs over and kills a little girl. While J.J. Barry‘s difficult character is found innocent in court, he still suspects the victim’s grandfather has cursed him. Now the protagonist...
- 8/1/2023
- by Paul Lê
- bloody-disgusting.com
“Awards are like hemorrhoids. Sooner or later every asshole gets one,” François Ozon, one of France's most prolific director/screenwriters, has noted.
With Frantz, his pacifistic, feminist, and slightly homoerotic chronicling of a post-World War I love affair of sorts opening Stateside this week, he can say that with a smile. After all, this feature has already garnered eleven Cécar nominations, including one for best film, and a dozen more from various international film festivals.
For many folks, that’s no surprise. All they have to hear is that a new Ozon is unspooling at their local art house, and they’re hotfooting it to the ticket booth. Why? Few other directors have the ability to depict the psychosexual permutations of our fellow man better, at times accompanied with an unexpected Hitchcockian twist or a good dose of Almodóvarian tongue-in-cheek perversity.
In his 1996 short, "A Summer Dress," a young gay man,...
With Frantz, his pacifistic, feminist, and slightly homoerotic chronicling of a post-World War I love affair of sorts opening Stateside this week, he can say that with a smile. After all, this feature has already garnered eleven Cécar nominations, including one for best film, and a dozen more from various international film festivals.
For many folks, that’s no surprise. All they have to hear is that a new Ozon is unspooling at their local art house, and they’re hotfooting it to the ticket booth. Why? Few other directors have the ability to depict the psychosexual permutations of our fellow man better, at times accompanied with an unexpected Hitchcockian twist or a good dose of Almodóvarian tongue-in-cheek perversity.
In his 1996 short, "A Summer Dress," a young gay man,...
- 3/20/2017
- by Brandon Judell
- www.culturecatch.com
Here’s your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress, as presented by the creators themselves. At the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.
In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.
Seaside
Logline: A revenge thriller about Daphne, who moves to the Coast with her boyfriend, Roger, to start a new life. But when they run into Susanna, Daphne learns Roger hasn’t been totally honest about his past.
Elevator Pitch:
“Seaside” is a microbudget, female-driven revenge thriller set among the dramatic landscape of the Oregon Coast. Daphne realizes that Roger hasn’t been entirely honest about his past and she’ll have to fight to save her relationship and maybe even her life. We have four lead actors who are all New York actors with significant credits,...
In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.
Seaside
Logline: A revenge thriller about Daphne, who moves to the Coast with her boyfriend, Roger, to start a new life. But when they run into Susanna, Daphne learns Roger hasn’t been totally honest about his past.
Elevator Pitch:
“Seaside” is a microbudget, female-driven revenge thriller set among the dramatic landscape of the Oregon Coast. Daphne realizes that Roger hasn’t been entirely honest about his past and she’ll have to fight to save her relationship and maybe even her life. We have four lead actors who are all New York actors with significant credits,...
- 12/5/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Uberto Pasolini’s second feature [pictured] wins at fifth edition of Russian showcase for young European cinema.
Uberto Pasolini’s Still Life was the big winner at the fifth edition of Voices, the Russian showcase for young European cinema, which came to a close on Tuesday evening [July 8] in Vologda.
Pasolini’s second feature as director won the Grand Prix and the award for best actor went to the film’s male lead Eddie Marsan in an “absolutely wonderful performance”.
Jury president Svetlana Proskurina said that the decision for the Grand Prix had been “absolutely unanimous”, while Voices art director Korinna Danielou recalled that having Still Life at the festival had been “a dream come true” for her.
She accepted the award on behalf of Pasolini who had left Vologda on the midnight train to Moscow last Sunday [July 6] on the way to present his film at the festival in Karlovy Vary.
The jury’s award for best cinematography went to...
Uberto Pasolini’s Still Life was the big winner at the fifth edition of Voices, the Russian showcase for young European cinema, which came to a close on Tuesday evening [July 8] in Vologda.
Pasolini’s second feature as director won the Grand Prix and the award for best actor went to the film’s male lead Eddie Marsan in an “absolutely wonderful performance”.
Jury president Svetlana Proskurina said that the decision for the Grand Prix had been “absolutely unanimous”, while Voices art director Korinna Danielou recalled that having Still Life at the festival had been “a dream come true” for her.
She accepted the award on behalf of Pasolini who had left Vologda on the midnight train to Moscow last Sunday [July 6] on the way to present his film at the festival in Karlovy Vary.
The jury’s award for best cinematography went to...
- 7/9/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
UK film-makers are in the spotlight at the fifth edition of Vologda’s Voices festival (July 4-8), which will open with Ken Loach’s Cannes Competition film Jimmy’s Hall.
British actress Justine Waddell, who learnt Russian for her role in Alexander Zeldovich’s Target (Mishen), will join the competition’s international jury, including Moscow Film Festival programme director Kirill Razlogov, Russian actress Olga Sutulova, and Armenian-French actor-director-producer Serge Avedikian, with writer-director Svetlana Proskurina as jury chairperson.
The competition line-up of 10 first and second features are as follows:
Life Feels Good, dir: Maciej Pieprzyca, PolandStill Life, dir: Uberto Pasolini, UKClass Enemy, dir: Rok Bicek, SloveniaBlind, dir: Eskil Vogt, NorwayStereo, dir: Maximilian Erlenwein, GermanyThe Art Of Happiness, dir: Alessandro Rak, ItalyWolf, dir: Jim Taihuttu, The NetherlandsTo See The Sea, dir: Jirí Mádl, Czech RepublicWhen Animals Dream, dir: Jonas Alexander Arnby, DenmarkSkinless, dir: Vladimir Beck, Russia.
Sidebars include the out-of-competition European section with such films as The Great Beauty...
British actress Justine Waddell, who learnt Russian for her role in Alexander Zeldovich’s Target (Mishen), will join the competition’s international jury, including Moscow Film Festival programme director Kirill Razlogov, Russian actress Olga Sutulova, and Armenian-French actor-director-producer Serge Avedikian, with writer-director Svetlana Proskurina as jury chairperson.
The competition line-up of 10 first and second features are as follows:
Life Feels Good, dir: Maciej Pieprzyca, PolandStill Life, dir: Uberto Pasolini, UKClass Enemy, dir: Rok Bicek, SloveniaBlind, dir: Eskil Vogt, NorwayStereo, dir: Maximilian Erlenwein, GermanyThe Art Of Happiness, dir: Alessandro Rak, ItalyWolf, dir: Jim Taihuttu, The NetherlandsTo See The Sea, dir: Jirí Mádl, Czech RepublicWhen Animals Dream, dir: Jonas Alexander Arnby, DenmarkSkinless, dir: Vladimir Beck, Russia.
Sidebars include the out-of-competition European section with such films as The Great Beauty...
- 7/1/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Ted is a personal friend, one of the best U.S. (indie) producers (look him up IMDb and be amazed) and the recent newly appointed Executive Director San Francisco Film Society.
The following article from Ted’s website is funny, frightening and, in the end, right on.
He explains rather cogently how the ‘new world’ we are all hurtling into regarding the new, different and constantly changing ways the digital internet world is affecting the cinema watching experience. His thesis is about the somewhat bizarre ‘studio mentality’ and how ‘they’ are trying to co-opt the new means of connecting with cinema as they exist now and are still (and always will be!!) rising.
And, as he hilariously points out here, how they are trying to kill off the indies (and especially him!! – personally and figuratively) in an hilarious aside…
His conclusion that despite their money, power and demented means ‘they’ will fail and ‘we’ will ultimately win.
Thank you Ted.
They Found A Way To Kill Indie… But….
By Ted Hope
From his Blog Hope For Film, the Truly Free Film section, July 4th, 2013
Was it for Independence Day specifically that Hollywood wanted to find a way to kill indie? Or is it just a symptom of a greater dis-ease?
Hollywood once was a city of dreams, but they have been making a different bed for some time now — and everyone knows it is draped in spreadsheets. Yet, as evidenced by some recent statements, they too can still dream, and sometimes even of slaying the beast and recognizing what they really want.
Conspiracies are such a pleasure, because real or imagined, they demonstrate the great lengths we go to to connect the dots and fill in the blanks. The hard things to remember is not all dots want to be connected and the blanks are so named because nothing is actually there. I got a few notes recently making hay over my name check in White House Down. Apparently, noted conservative James Woods’ character confesses early on something to the effect of “Killing Ted Hope was the second hardest thing I ever had to do.” Yikes, nut jobs have sent death threats before, but did someone have a bone to pick with me — or was it something bigger?
More than a few felt the use of my easy to type seven letter moniker was evidence of a bigger plot. What were they trying to say? Yeah, Indie dies hard. We get that and we have quite a lot of fight still left in us. And as evidenced by the limp box-office performance of that flick, the public does not appreciate such sacrificial fantasy, even when Channing Tatum gets down to his tank top in the process.
Okay, I haven’t seen the movie, but I do look forward to the plane ride I find myself on that may one day feature it. Yet, I have had the great pleasure of having a center seat to other sideways attempts to slaughter the indie horde in the past. My son knows one as the story of how when the little guy stands up to the big man he discovers the love of his life — but for most that tale was called The Screener Ban (and we can save the love story part for a future post).
In 2003, the MPAA convinced The Studios to stop sending out “screeners”. Jack Valenti, the MPAA head at the time, claimed it was an effort to stymie “piracy”, but it was eventually recognized by the courts to harm competition, particularly of indie films vs. Hollywood product, and particularly in terms of end of the year Oscar campaigns — which where the Indies have consistently triumphed. Trade organizations can not dictate policy to their members without violating anti-trust law, and there was no argument that it was what happened there in The Screen Ban. It was a difficult effort to organize as many card-carrying indie soldiers feared that if they mounted a court effort, they would be penalized for biting the hand that feeds them. But then nonetheless the true indies rose up, and we won.
The question that remains is why did Jack do it? Was it really about piracy? Or was it an early effort to kill hope for (indie) film? Was it the result of back room strategy session where the big wigs said let’s lasso the long hairs and get ‘em away from our gold?
In my testimony in that court case I mapped out how my livelihood was dependent on producing a consistent level of quality films, that despite low production and marketing budgets had a good chance at Oscar play. The Oscar attention brought the real gift though, and that was the overhead deal. If one got enough invites to possibly hold that little golden guy, others were willing to risk a few ducats to get to come along to the dance. Without the consistent cash flow of an overhead deal to smooth out the bumps, indie producing was close to an impossible task for those not born of the manor. The judge understood the chain: Oscar competition gave me a path to participation; without it, indies would struggle to survive. But the little guy won that round. Indie could not be killed, at least not yet…
That was then. This is now. And there has been a great deal of friction in the in between. The good news is I have borne witness far more often to arrogance and ignorance as the elixir for action, than ever any effort of big picture strategy. Sure that is a humble victory, but at least on our deathbed we can all rejoice that is just our fault, and not the hand of an alien demon. The bad news came in the whittling away of respect for the producer and the encouragement of quantity over quality. Indie became infected by a “just get it done” attitude of desperation. When you are forced to just pay the bills, it becomes hard of dreaming a glorious alternative.
Yet if we’ve learned anything from our diet of Hollywood snacks, it that the best plots come from outside the box. Let’s toss logic and experience aside as they only lead to base rate neglect. Let’s dream the big conspiracy; it makes for a better movie and maybe through it we can see a better future. Let’s say there is a conspiracy by Hollywood to kill off indie. How would that story go?
Let’s say you were a big powerful force, high on your own supply, and your vision grew so blurred that you started to pull a King Lear and not recognize those who truly love and support you as the ally they truly are. Let’s say you had the ability to see some of the future and you knew it wasn’t pretty. It looked like your control may be threatened, and that the value you hoarded might be losing its luster. And let’s say that the past had revealed that you had a tendency to underestimate the challenges that you and your kind so often face. You had learned that when you have a formidable enemy, you can’t just do a half-ass assassination attempt again. So faced with possible extinction, what would you do? For the sake of ease, let’s just call this character of ours Hollywood. Or perhaps it is The Vast Global Film Industry.
Possibly the two best battle strategies, tried and tested, are either to win with overt and supreme fire power, or to more clandestinely divide and conquer. And if you were born from a culture that rarely rewarded subtlety or grace, you’d probably pursue the path of pure excess… and try do both. Which is precisely where find ourselves now in our story.
Let’s look at where we are in this Epic Battle. DVDs were once akin to the working classes, supplying the army of Hollywood with the necessary fodder of flesh to fuel the juggernaut — predictable revenue making up half the bottom line. The rich need not enlist as long as there were plenty of “noble young man” ready to sacrifice for the cause, convinced it was an honor and not recognizing they were given little choice. And like our country’s history of war, Hollywood could use the security the physical disc delivered to draft the cream of the crop into the executive suite — or well-funded set. The point being that although DVDs were not necessarily as great an equalizer as a military draft, they were predictable and allowed for more diversified slates which in term allowed for some migration from the indie sector into the studio ranks. And now they are virtually gone. It is a different battle, fought by unmanned drones.
I think the best stories always make you feel for the other side, and I only wish that the studios cared enough about film culture and our governments cared enough about the people to organize vast conspiracies against them. Maybe we should see both our government’s spying and their misbranding of whistle-blowing patriots as agents of espionage as a misguided cry of love and appreciation — they are deciding we the people matter and they are now making greater efforts than ever before to notice us, albeit for all the wrong things. It’s an interesting riddle though, right? When the big spy is discovered by the little guy and the spy shouts loudly at the little discoverer, “No! You’re the spy — and I won’t let you fly”, how does the story end? And where does liberty, freedom, opportunity, and solidarity get to stand then? We are only as good as the stories we tell. Yep, happy true independence day.
I digress, but only to point out If the bifurcation of film culture into tentpole multi-headed behemoths of brand-delivered insta-global recognition serials on one hand, and the scrappy bands of passionate freedom fighters on the other is the result of Strangelovian strategy to once again gather the most gold, boy have the Titans Of Industry shot themselves in the foot bigtime this time (or at least riddled the face of their closest allies with buckshot). The White House may be down, but Hope isn’t down. At least not in the true indie sector. As all the wise sages have screamed, Hollywood is imploding. We don’t need to a Deep Throat to tell you it was an inside job. Sure they are bringing most of us down with them, but someone always learns how to surf the wake.
It’s about standing on the board, seeing the see. Indie means you don’t need everybody. We have never been free to walk that walk before. We have new weapons, or is it armor? Distribution was a tool of the few, but platforms are op for the many. Let Them just go ahead and try to make everyone join hands. Let Them yell to the nation and let’s see if they all come along. There is great business in letting everyone dance to a different drummer. Make that: there are great businessES. That is where we all can stand. That’s our wave to ride. It may look like unruly nature, but chaos is a gloriously ordered thing: step back far enough or leap in deep enough and the fractals are revealed. You have got to admit they are beautiful. See the sea for what it is.
The happy ending of the story is we recognize that the more we are connected the more we can be apart. The great liberation of our age is specialization. Explosions and implosions all make waves and we need to ride ripples. Let others gamble bucketloads on mindless drivel and we can be free to deliver emotional truth, ambitious artistry, & heartfelt empathy to the few that still hope that there is a good machine that can consistently produce quality and diversity. We know that there is because it is us.
You thought you killed hope but in this damn dream factory we always make sequels. Happy independence day. The battle is just beginning… And this time it is for the win.
The following article from Ted’s website is funny, frightening and, in the end, right on.
He explains rather cogently how the ‘new world’ we are all hurtling into regarding the new, different and constantly changing ways the digital internet world is affecting the cinema watching experience. His thesis is about the somewhat bizarre ‘studio mentality’ and how ‘they’ are trying to co-opt the new means of connecting with cinema as they exist now and are still (and always will be!!) rising.
And, as he hilariously points out here, how they are trying to kill off the indies (and especially him!! – personally and figuratively) in an hilarious aside…
His conclusion that despite their money, power and demented means ‘they’ will fail and ‘we’ will ultimately win.
Thank you Ted.
They Found A Way To Kill Indie… But….
By Ted Hope
From his Blog Hope For Film, the Truly Free Film section, July 4th, 2013
Was it for Independence Day specifically that Hollywood wanted to find a way to kill indie? Or is it just a symptom of a greater dis-ease?
Hollywood once was a city of dreams, but they have been making a different bed for some time now — and everyone knows it is draped in spreadsheets. Yet, as evidenced by some recent statements, they too can still dream, and sometimes even of slaying the beast and recognizing what they really want.
Conspiracies are such a pleasure, because real or imagined, they demonstrate the great lengths we go to to connect the dots and fill in the blanks. The hard things to remember is not all dots want to be connected and the blanks are so named because nothing is actually there. I got a few notes recently making hay over my name check in White House Down. Apparently, noted conservative James Woods’ character confesses early on something to the effect of “Killing Ted Hope was the second hardest thing I ever had to do.” Yikes, nut jobs have sent death threats before, but did someone have a bone to pick with me — or was it something bigger?
More than a few felt the use of my easy to type seven letter moniker was evidence of a bigger plot. What were they trying to say? Yeah, Indie dies hard. We get that and we have quite a lot of fight still left in us. And as evidenced by the limp box-office performance of that flick, the public does not appreciate such sacrificial fantasy, even when Channing Tatum gets down to his tank top in the process.
Okay, I haven’t seen the movie, but I do look forward to the plane ride I find myself on that may one day feature it. Yet, I have had the great pleasure of having a center seat to other sideways attempts to slaughter the indie horde in the past. My son knows one as the story of how when the little guy stands up to the big man he discovers the love of his life — but for most that tale was called The Screener Ban (and we can save the love story part for a future post).
In 2003, the MPAA convinced The Studios to stop sending out “screeners”. Jack Valenti, the MPAA head at the time, claimed it was an effort to stymie “piracy”, but it was eventually recognized by the courts to harm competition, particularly of indie films vs. Hollywood product, and particularly in terms of end of the year Oscar campaigns — which where the Indies have consistently triumphed. Trade organizations can not dictate policy to their members without violating anti-trust law, and there was no argument that it was what happened there in The Screen Ban. It was a difficult effort to organize as many card-carrying indie soldiers feared that if they mounted a court effort, they would be penalized for biting the hand that feeds them. But then nonetheless the true indies rose up, and we won.
The question that remains is why did Jack do it? Was it really about piracy? Or was it an early effort to kill hope for (indie) film? Was it the result of back room strategy session where the big wigs said let’s lasso the long hairs and get ‘em away from our gold?
In my testimony in that court case I mapped out how my livelihood was dependent on producing a consistent level of quality films, that despite low production and marketing budgets had a good chance at Oscar play. The Oscar attention brought the real gift though, and that was the overhead deal. If one got enough invites to possibly hold that little golden guy, others were willing to risk a few ducats to get to come along to the dance. Without the consistent cash flow of an overhead deal to smooth out the bumps, indie producing was close to an impossible task for those not born of the manor. The judge understood the chain: Oscar competition gave me a path to participation; without it, indies would struggle to survive. But the little guy won that round. Indie could not be killed, at least not yet…
That was then. This is now. And there has been a great deal of friction in the in between. The good news is I have borne witness far more often to arrogance and ignorance as the elixir for action, than ever any effort of big picture strategy. Sure that is a humble victory, but at least on our deathbed we can all rejoice that is just our fault, and not the hand of an alien demon. The bad news came in the whittling away of respect for the producer and the encouragement of quantity over quality. Indie became infected by a “just get it done” attitude of desperation. When you are forced to just pay the bills, it becomes hard of dreaming a glorious alternative.
Yet if we’ve learned anything from our diet of Hollywood snacks, it that the best plots come from outside the box. Let’s toss logic and experience aside as they only lead to base rate neglect. Let’s dream the big conspiracy; it makes for a better movie and maybe through it we can see a better future. Let’s say there is a conspiracy by Hollywood to kill off indie. How would that story go?
Let’s say you were a big powerful force, high on your own supply, and your vision grew so blurred that you started to pull a King Lear and not recognize those who truly love and support you as the ally they truly are. Let’s say you had the ability to see some of the future and you knew it wasn’t pretty. It looked like your control may be threatened, and that the value you hoarded might be losing its luster. And let’s say that the past had revealed that you had a tendency to underestimate the challenges that you and your kind so often face. You had learned that when you have a formidable enemy, you can’t just do a half-ass assassination attempt again. So faced with possible extinction, what would you do? For the sake of ease, let’s just call this character of ours Hollywood. Or perhaps it is The Vast Global Film Industry.
Possibly the two best battle strategies, tried and tested, are either to win with overt and supreme fire power, or to more clandestinely divide and conquer. And if you were born from a culture that rarely rewarded subtlety or grace, you’d probably pursue the path of pure excess… and try do both. Which is precisely where find ourselves now in our story.
Let’s look at where we are in this Epic Battle. DVDs were once akin to the working classes, supplying the army of Hollywood with the necessary fodder of flesh to fuel the juggernaut — predictable revenue making up half the bottom line. The rich need not enlist as long as there were plenty of “noble young man” ready to sacrifice for the cause, convinced it was an honor and not recognizing they were given little choice. And like our country’s history of war, Hollywood could use the security the physical disc delivered to draft the cream of the crop into the executive suite — or well-funded set. The point being that although DVDs were not necessarily as great an equalizer as a military draft, they were predictable and allowed for more diversified slates which in term allowed for some migration from the indie sector into the studio ranks. And now they are virtually gone. It is a different battle, fought by unmanned drones.
I think the best stories always make you feel for the other side, and I only wish that the studios cared enough about film culture and our governments cared enough about the people to organize vast conspiracies against them. Maybe we should see both our government’s spying and their misbranding of whistle-blowing patriots as agents of espionage as a misguided cry of love and appreciation — they are deciding we the people matter and they are now making greater efforts than ever before to notice us, albeit for all the wrong things. It’s an interesting riddle though, right? When the big spy is discovered by the little guy and the spy shouts loudly at the little discoverer, “No! You’re the spy — and I won’t let you fly”, how does the story end? And where does liberty, freedom, opportunity, and solidarity get to stand then? We are only as good as the stories we tell. Yep, happy true independence day.
I digress, but only to point out If the bifurcation of film culture into tentpole multi-headed behemoths of brand-delivered insta-global recognition serials on one hand, and the scrappy bands of passionate freedom fighters on the other is the result of Strangelovian strategy to once again gather the most gold, boy have the Titans Of Industry shot themselves in the foot bigtime this time (or at least riddled the face of their closest allies with buckshot). The White House may be down, but Hope isn’t down. At least not in the true indie sector. As all the wise sages have screamed, Hollywood is imploding. We don’t need to a Deep Throat to tell you it was an inside job. Sure they are bringing most of us down with them, but someone always learns how to surf the wake.
It’s about standing on the board, seeing the see. Indie means you don’t need everybody. We have never been free to walk that walk before. We have new weapons, or is it armor? Distribution was a tool of the few, but platforms are op for the many. Let Them just go ahead and try to make everyone join hands. Let Them yell to the nation and let’s see if they all come along. There is great business in letting everyone dance to a different drummer. Make that: there are great businessES. That is where we all can stand. That’s our wave to ride. It may look like unruly nature, but chaos is a gloriously ordered thing: step back far enough or leap in deep enough and the fractals are revealed. You have got to admit they are beautiful. See the sea for what it is.
The happy ending of the story is we recognize that the more we are connected the more we can be apart. The great liberation of our age is specialization. Explosions and implosions all make waves and we need to ride ripples. Let others gamble bucketloads on mindless drivel and we can be free to deliver emotional truth, ambitious artistry, & heartfelt empathy to the few that still hope that there is a good machine that can consistently produce quality and diversity. We know that there is because it is us.
You thought you killed hope but in this damn dream factory we always make sequels. Happy independence day. The battle is just beginning… And this time it is for the win.
- 7/7/2013
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
François Ozon's new film, In the House, looks set to be his international breakthrough. But has the erstwhile enfant terrible fallen for the bourgeois values he once satirised?
François Ozon has been knocking out roughly a film a year since the late 1990s: some camp and frivolous (Sitcom, Potiche), others intense (5x2, Time to Leave), each one zesty and provocative. Occasionally he will make something truly exceptional: Under the Sand, starring Charlotte Rampling as a woman falling apart after the disappearance of her husband, was rightly considered a masterpiece by the late Ingmar Bergman.
But though Ozon has had commercial success in France, he is still chasing the sort of career-changing international breakthrough on a par with, say, Pedro Almodóvar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown or Michael Haneke's Hidden. If there is any justice, his new film In the House will change that. It's a witty,...
François Ozon has been knocking out roughly a film a year since the late 1990s: some camp and frivolous (Sitcom, Potiche), others intense (5x2, Time to Leave), each one zesty and provocative. Occasionally he will make something truly exceptional: Under the Sand, starring Charlotte Rampling as a woman falling apart after the disappearance of her husband, was rightly considered a masterpiece by the late Ingmar Bergman.
But though Ozon has had commercial success in France, he is still chasing the sort of career-changing international breakthrough on a par with, say, Pedro Almodóvar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown or Michael Haneke's Hidden. If there is any justice, his new film In the House will change that. It's a witty,...
- 3/29/2013
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Write On: Ozon’s Latest an Exercise in Authorial Manipulation
The steadily working Francois Ozon continues with his playful dark comic streak in his latest, In the House, an adaptation of a play by Juan Mayorga. A thriller with literary machinations, not unlike Swimming Pool (2003), one of Ozon’s most well known features, his latest is a low key narrative, one that starts out as a broad caricature loosely criticizing class ideals but then coils tightly to an introspective finale on manipulation and a cheeky exploration of the truth.
French teacher Germain (Fabrice Luchini) is all set to start another school year after spending a leisurely summer reading. The new school year is beginning with some major changes, namely that all students will now be required to wear school uniforms, a concept Germain disagrees with, as this is seen as a move to make all the students equal when on the premises.
The steadily working Francois Ozon continues with his playful dark comic streak in his latest, In the House, an adaptation of a play by Juan Mayorga. A thriller with literary machinations, not unlike Swimming Pool (2003), one of Ozon’s most well known features, his latest is a low key narrative, one that starts out as a broad caricature loosely criticizing class ideals but then coils tightly to an introspective finale on manipulation and a cheeky exploration of the truth.
French teacher Germain (Fabrice Luchini) is all set to start another school year after spending a leisurely summer reading. The new school year is beginning with some major changes, namely that all students will now be required to wear school uniforms, a concept Germain disagrees with, as this is seen as a move to make all the students equal when on the premises.
- 9/21/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Today sees the opening of "The Cabin In The Woods," one of the freshest, most enjoyable horror movies in years, one that we can only urge you to go see (read our review here). To mark its release, Time Out have polled critics, programmers and filmmakers as to their favorite horror movies, and collated their finds in a mammoth list.
Topped by "The Exorcist," it's an excellent read, and one you'll want to sit down with over the weekend, and as a taste, below you can find the top ten picks of ten of the most notable filmmaker contributors. You can find the full list, as well as picks from many, many more interesting figures, from Antonio Campos and Joe Dante to Simon Pegg and Rob Zombie, over at Time Out's site. And why not weigh in with your own ten picks over in the comments below?
Roger Corman ("The Pit & The Pendulum,...
Topped by "The Exorcist," it's an excellent read, and one you'll want to sit down with over the weekend, and as a taste, below you can find the top ten picks of ten of the most notable filmmaker contributors. You can find the full list, as well as picks from many, many more interesting figures, from Antonio Campos and Joe Dante to Simon Pegg and Rob Zombie, over at Time Out's site. And why not weigh in with your own ten picks over in the comments below?
Roger Corman ("The Pit & The Pendulum,...
- 4/13/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
It’s time to spring forward, as the saying goes. What daylight savings actually saves is beyond me. Just another way of making me wake up earlier than sunrise. Twisting time has worked a whole lot better in crime cinema.
I’m not talking about the usual flashbacks mysteries throw in to pad their plot and shoehorn in some exposition. Plenty of crime film breaks the laws of quantum physics as blatantly as they do federal and state statutes. A handful manage to pull it off with style.
From crime movies that turn the clock on its head, rewind it and overlap it, or downright melt its face right off, these are 12 Time-Twisted Crime Films.
12. The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects were anything but when it first came out, using a shifty narrator to bend the audience’s perception of events. Told piecemeal by the sole survivor of a disastrous shipboard robbery,...
I’m not talking about the usual flashbacks mysteries throw in to pad their plot and shoehorn in some exposition. Plenty of crime film breaks the laws of quantum physics as blatantly as they do federal and state statutes. A handful manage to pull it off with style.
From crime movies that turn the clock on its head, rewind it and overlap it, or downright melt its face right off, these are 12 Time-Twisted Crime Films.
12. The Usual Suspects
The Usual Suspects were anything but when it first came out, using a shifty narrator to bend the audience’s perception of events. Told piecemeal by the sole survivor of a disastrous shipboard robbery,...
- 4/2/2012
- by Matthew C. Funk
- Boomtron
Though he’s lately been given to more muted (though structurally adventurous) relationship studies, prolific French director François Ozon was once celebrated for irreverent, feature-length homages to other movies: See The Sea and Swimming Pool to Alfred Hitchcock, Sitcom to John Waters, Water Drops On Burning Rocks to Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and 8 Women to Technicolor musicals. Inexplicably shuffled to OnDemand and now to DVD without getting its due in theaters first, Ozon’s 2007 lark Angel returns to that tradition with a cheeky nod in David O. Selznick’s direction. Like a Selznick film from the ’30s or ...
- 1/12/2011
- avclub.com
Ten years ago, François Ozon’s dark, Hitchcock-tinged melodrama See the Sea caught the attention of American film critics. The New York Times’ Janet Maslin marked him as “an impressive new filmmaker with a flair for implicit mayhem.” In the 12 features since then, Ozon has expressed his mayhem in various genres (musicals, fairy tales, magical realism, period romances, etc.), with different cinematic influences (Chabrol, Fassbinder, Renoir, Pasolini, etc.) and in a range of production scales. But central to all his films is a deep sense of the essentially conflicted nature of emotional relations, be it the comic sadomasochism of Water Drops On Burning Rocks, the perverse family values of Sitcom, or the life-affirming death wish of Time to...
- 9/8/2010
- by Peter Bowen
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
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