A few weeks ago, as The Sweet East started gracing theatres across the States, Reverse Shot ran a sprawling conversation between critic K. Austin Collins and critic-turned-screenwriter Nick Pinkerton. It’s a delightful exchange I can’t recommend enough, both for all it has to uncover about Sean Price Williams’ film––which Pinkerton wrote and which, in my book, was one of last year’s finest––but also for what it sponges of our depressingly shortsighted, quid-pro-quo relationship with the films we watch, what we expect to receive in return for the time we invest in them. “If I wanted to say something,” Pinkerton reflects on the okay-but-what’s-the-message response Sweet East routinely encountered in the months since its Cannes premiere, “I would open my mouth and the words would come out. That’s not what one makes a movie for. You make a movie to go beyond the expression of simple concepts.
- 2/8/2024
- by Leonardo Goi
- The Film Stage
Exclusive:f David Laub, a longtime distribution executive at A24, is joining Metrograph to build a new slate of theatrical releases as head of Metrograph Pictures, a label that’s been focused mainly on restorations of classic films.
Laub will consider American independent, international and documentary features, both finished films and earlier stage projects to potentially provide financing. The company is aiming to get to 10 releases a year.
“We are excited to work with a wide range of films and filmmakers, and be a robust new presence in the distribution landscape,” said Laub, who will hit the ground for Metrograph at the upcoming Berlinale and European Film Market next week.
It’s not an easy time for indie film distribution. Metrograph in is announcement said the industry “in dire need of fresh thinking and inventive distribution options.”
Laub will report to and work closely with Metrograph CEO Christian Grass, who joined...
Laub will consider American independent, international and documentary features, both finished films and earlier stage projects to potentially provide financing. The company is aiming to get to 10 releases a year.
“We are excited to work with a wide range of films and filmmakers, and be a robust new presence in the distribution landscape,” said Laub, who will hit the ground for Metrograph at the upcoming Berlinale and European Film Market next week.
It’s not an easy time for indie film distribution. Metrograph in is announcement said the industry “in dire need of fresh thinking and inventive distribution options.”
Laub will report to and work closely with Metrograph CEO Christian Grass, who joined...
- 2/6/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2023, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
From an industry standpoint, 2023 was eventful. We witnessed concurrent strikes, widespread film festival upheaval, Universal besting Disney at the box office, and much more. (I recommend Matt Belloni’s The Town podcast to keep up with this side of town.) On the indie biz side, this was a year in which I saw two small films succeed utilizing a method I long thought dead (or at least on life support): that being good old-fashioned four-walling. Al Warren’s Dogleg and Case Esparros’ The Absence of Milk in the Mouths of the Lost both captured the momentum of cross-country film touring with in-person Q&As. Distributor Utopia has mounted a similar touring strategy for Sean Price Williams’ directorial debut The Sweet East.
When it comes to the films themselves,...
From an industry standpoint, 2023 was eventful. We witnessed concurrent strikes, widespread film festival upheaval, Universal besting Disney at the box office, and much more. (I recommend Matt Belloni’s The Town podcast to keep up with this side of town.) On the indie biz side, this was a year in which I saw two small films succeed utilizing a method I long thought dead (or at least on life support): that being good old-fashioned four-walling. Al Warren’s Dogleg and Case Esparros’ The Absence of Milk in the Mouths of the Lost both captured the momentum of cross-country film touring with in-person Q&As. Distributor Utopia has mounted a similar touring strategy for Sean Price Williams’ directorial debut The Sweet East.
When it comes to the films themselves,...
- 1/9/2024
- by Caleb Hammond
- The Film Stage
Art can be taken in (or, from a more mercenary point of view, consumed) as something abstract, enlightening, subtextual, subversive, thought-provoking, transcendental. The actual making of it, however, depends on a very specific inspiration-to-perspiration ratio. Showing Up is all about putting the work into artwork, what it takes to marshal the blood, sweat, and tears to produce something personally expressive and profoundly moving. Or even something pretentious and self-involved and elitist to a fault — those sculptures and paintings and, yes, motion pictures can’t all be masterpieces. Anything creative requires labor,...
- 4/7/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Production has got underway in Germany and Poland on “Oderbruch,” a major thriller series produced by Paramount Global’s CBS Studios, Syrreal Entertainment and Ard Degeto, part of German public broadcast group Ard.
The previously announced drama stars Karoline Schuch (“Dark Woods”), Felix Kramer (“Dogs of Berlin”) and Lucas Gregorowicz and is a tale which begins with the discovery of multiple murder victims in a remote area near the German-Polish border.
The eight-part series is directed by Adolfo J. Kolmerer and Christian Alvart. Series creator and head writer Arend Remmers developed the series concept with Kolmerer.
Siegfried Kamml, Christian Alvart and Timm Oberwelland from Syrreal serve as producers. The executives overseeing the project are: Christoph Pellander, editor-in-chief of Ard Degeto; Sebastian Lückel, head of acquisitions and co-productions at Ard Degeto; Patrick Noel Simon, commissioning editor at Ard Degeto; and Meghan Lyvers, senior VP of international co-productions and development at CBS Studios.
The previously announced drama stars Karoline Schuch (“Dark Woods”), Felix Kramer (“Dogs of Berlin”) and Lucas Gregorowicz and is a tale which begins with the discovery of multiple murder victims in a remote area near the German-Polish border.
The eight-part series is directed by Adolfo J. Kolmerer and Christian Alvart. Series creator and head writer Arend Remmers developed the series concept with Kolmerer.
Siegfried Kamml, Christian Alvart and Timm Oberwelland from Syrreal serve as producers. The executives overseeing the project are: Christoph Pellander, editor-in-chief of Ard Degeto; Sebastian Lückel, head of acquisitions and co-productions at Ard Degeto; Patrick Noel Simon, commissioning editor at Ard Degeto; and Meghan Lyvers, senior VP of international co-productions and development at CBS Studios.
- 5/5/2022
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Now with the month of June pretty much in our rearview, it’s time to look forward to a new month of VOD and Digital releases headed our way throughout the month of July. There’s a lot of great content coming out over the next few weeks, so even though most movie theaters won’t be open, you’ll still have plenty of stuff to keep you entertained from the comfort of your own home.
Some of the highlights for July’s Digital and VOD releases include Homewrecker and Belzebuth on July 7th (the latter had previously been streaming exclusively on Shudder until now), The Beach House on July 9th, Relic on July 10th (this debut from Natalie Erika James was one of my favorite films out of Sundance 2020), the cult classic Rad, which has several digital release dates in July, Joko Anwar’s Impetigore on July 23rd (another...
Some of the highlights for July’s Digital and VOD releases include Homewrecker and Belzebuth on July 7th (the latter had previously been streaming exclusively on Shudder until now), The Beach House on July 9th, Relic on July 10th (this debut from Natalie Erika James was one of my favorite films out of Sundance 2020), the cult classic Rad, which has several digital release dates in July, Joko Anwar’s Impetigore on July 23rd (another...
- 6/30/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
‘Happy Times’ will be released by Artsploitation Films in Q1 2020.
M-Appeal has closed North American deals on two of the most prominent titles on its virtual Marché slate.
The Berlin-based sales outfit confirmed that Artsploitation Films has acquired Michael Mayer’s Happy Times, a horror comedy set over the course of a Shabbat dinner in a luxurious Hollywood mansion. Mixing satire and genre elements, the film stars Israeli actor Michael Aloni (Shtisel) and Stéfi Celma.
Happy Times is produced by Mayer, Paola Porrini Bisson and Tomer Almagor. Executive producers are Gabrielle Almagor, Richard Bisson and Erri De Luca. Artsploitation plans...
M-Appeal has closed North American deals on two of the most prominent titles on its virtual Marché slate.
The Berlin-based sales outfit confirmed that Artsploitation Films has acquired Michael Mayer’s Happy Times, a horror comedy set over the course of a Shabbat dinner in a luxurious Hollywood mansion. Mixing satire and genre elements, the film stars Israeli actor Michael Aloni (Shtisel) and Stéfi Celma.
Happy Times is produced by Mayer, Paola Porrini Bisson and Tomer Almagor. Executive producers are Gabrielle Almagor, Richard Bisson and Erri De Luca. Artsploitation plans...
- 6/23/2020
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
In his latest Arrow Video Frightfest preview podcasts, host Stuart Wright talks Cut Off (aka Abgeschnitten) with director Christian Alvart.
A massive success at FrightFest 2005 was the serial killer thriller Antibodies which put director Christian Alvart firmly on the rising star map. Since then Alvart has become one of Germany’s most commercially viable directors and he returns to his triumphant roots with this compelling, gripping and twisted blockbuster adaptation of the worldwide best selling novel set in the world of Forensic Pathology. Coroner Paul Herzfeld finds a capsule buried deep in the head of a heavily mutilated corpse, containing a phone number and single word: the name of his daughter. And soon the nerve-jangling suspense never stops….
Catch Cut Off (aka Abgeschnitten) at Arrow Video Frightfest
22th to 26th August 2019
Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7Na.
Programme listings and film details www.frightfest.co.uk/2019films/index.html...
A massive success at FrightFest 2005 was the serial killer thriller Antibodies which put director Christian Alvart firmly on the rising star map. Since then Alvart has become one of Germany’s most commercially viable directors and he returns to his triumphant roots with this compelling, gripping and twisted blockbuster adaptation of the worldwide best selling novel set in the world of Forensic Pathology. Coroner Paul Herzfeld finds a capsule buried deep in the head of a heavily mutilated corpse, containing a phone number and single word: the name of his daughter. And soon the nerve-jangling suspense never stops….
Catch Cut Off (aka Abgeschnitten) at Arrow Video Frightfest
22th to 26th August 2019
Leicester Square, London, WC2H 7Na.
Programme listings and film details www.frightfest.co.uk/2019films/index.html...
- 8/23/2019
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
Christian Alvart’s Berlin-based Syrreal Entertainment enters agreement with Jiabo Culture.
Producer-director Christian Alvart’s Berlin-based production company Syrreal Entertainment has entered a working partnership with the Chinese production house Jiabo Culture to produce the $20m fantasy adventure film Fox Mission as the first of a slate of joint projects.
Steeped in Chinese mythology, the fantasy fairytale will be directed by Alvart at locations in Beijing and Berlin from this autumn.
Canadian executive producer May He, who will be liaising between the German and Chinese production partners on the project, pointed out that fantasy action films have “great potential“ in China and said that having Alvart on board as director for the Chinese story increased the probability of international success.
The partnership on Fox Mission is the latest of a number of alliances sealed between Germany and China in recent weeks following the announcement in April that Sam Raimi and Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck had received backing...
Producer-director Christian Alvart’s Berlin-based production company Syrreal Entertainment has entered a working partnership with the Chinese production house Jiabo Culture to produce the $20m fantasy adventure film Fox Mission as the first of a slate of joint projects.
Steeped in Chinese mythology, the fantasy fairytale will be directed by Alvart at locations in Beijing and Berlin from this autumn.
Canadian executive producer May He, who will be liaising between the German and Chinese production partners on the project, pointed out that fantasy action films have “great potential“ in China and said that having Alvart on board as director for the Chinese story increased the probability of international success.
The partnership on Fox Mission is the latest of a number of alliances sealed between Germany and China in recent weeks following the announcement in April that Sam Raimi and Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck had received backing...
- 6/23/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
New Roy Andersson feature About Endlessness also gets backing from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.
Terrence Malick is lining up WWII drama Radegund (aka Jägerstätter), about the life of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II who was executed by the Nazis in 1943 aged 36.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI declared Jägerstätter a martyr and he was beatified by the Catholic Church.
Set to play Jägerstätter is August Diehl (Inglourious Basterds, The Counterfeiters), while Valerie Pachner (Jack) is also due to join.
The project was announced by the German funding body the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, which is backing it with €400,000.
The drama is reportedly set to shoot at Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, Germany, this summer and marks Malick’s return to the WWII era following acclaimed 1998 title The Thin Red Line.
The title Radegund refers to the Thuringian princess and Frankish queen from the 6th century who found protection under the Church after fleeing her marriage when her husband had her...
Terrence Malick is lining up WWII drama Radegund (aka Jägerstätter), about the life of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II who was executed by the Nazis in 1943 aged 36.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI declared Jägerstätter a martyr and he was beatified by the Catholic Church.
Set to play Jägerstätter is August Diehl (Inglourious Basterds, The Counterfeiters), while Valerie Pachner (Jack) is also due to join.
The project was announced by the German funding body the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, which is backing it with €400,000.
The drama is reportedly set to shoot at Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, Germany, this summer and marks Malick’s return to the WWII era following acclaimed 1998 title The Thin Red Line.
The title Radegund refers to the Thuringian princess and Frankish queen from the 6th century who found protection under the Church after fleeing her marriage when her husband had her...
- 6/22/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
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