According to 85% of Gold Derby’s 2024 Golden Globes predictors, former Best Film Comedy/Musical Actress champion Emma Stone (2016’s “La La Land”) is practically assured a repeat victory thanks to her work in the fantasy epic “Poor Things.” Assuming this decisive opinion is truly reflective of those of Golden Globes voters, it would only make sense for her to leverage that love into a same-year Best TV Comedy Actress notice for her performance on the buzzy new Showtime series “The Curse.”
Were she to prevail on her potential bids for said big screen and small screen projects, she would make history as the youngest individual to simultaneously achieve both types of acting Golden Globe wins.
SEEOscar predictions update: ‘Poor Things’ still rising in all major categories including Best Picture, Best Director …
Based on the novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray, “Poor Things” stars Stone as a deceased woman named Bella who,...
Were she to prevail on her potential bids for said big screen and small screen projects, she would make history as the youngest individual to simultaneously achieve both types of acting Golden Globe wins.
SEEOscar predictions update: ‘Poor Things’ still rising in all major categories including Best Picture, Best Director …
Based on the novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray, “Poor Things” stars Stone as a deceased woman named Bella who,...
- 9/29/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Due to historical reasons, and some economic reasons preceding and following the historical ones, we should know by now that Iranian diaspora in the so-called Western World is large. Also, it is often well-educated and active in arts and culture, sometimes even on the both sides, in both homelands, old and new. Cinema is not an exception, but this list is not about, for instance, Asghar Farhadi working in the context of the French or Spanish cinema, nor is touching some well-established common places of greatness, such as Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. We bring you five relatively recent films made by the filmmakers coming from the Iranian diaspora that might have flown under the radar somehow, in order of quality.
5. At Any Price
Ramin Bahrani reached greater success both with critics and audiences both before and after this film, either by touching the subjects from the (immigrants') margin, like in...
5. At Any Price
Ramin Bahrani reached greater success both with critics and audiences both before and after this film, either by touching the subjects from the (immigrants') margin, like in...
- 6/23/2023
- by Marko Stojiljković
- AsianMoviePulse
Tl;Dr:
Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson goofed around during a 1987 photocall in Switzerland. It “prompted a very old-fashioned look” from King Charles III, according to a body language expert. A photographer recalled the incident in a documentary, saying: “It upset Charles like you wouldn’t believe!” Princess Diana and King Charles III | David Levenson/Getty Images
Apparently, King Charles III wasn’t in a joking mood when Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson hammed it up for cameras during a 1987 ski vacation. Ahead, what a body language expert and photographer had to say about the incident that left King Charles and his brother, Prince Andrew, “horrified.”
Diana and Sarah Ferguson livened up a ‘far too tame’ photocall by trying to knock each other down
Photocalls are part of royal life but a 1987 Swiss ski vacation alongside their then-husbands had Diana and Sarah shaking things up. King Charles, Diana, Sarah, and...
Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson goofed around during a 1987 photocall in Switzerland. It “prompted a very old-fashioned look” from King Charles III, according to a body language expert. A photographer recalled the incident in a documentary, saying: “It upset Charles like you wouldn’t believe!” Princess Diana and King Charles III | David Levenson/Getty Images
Apparently, King Charles III wasn’t in a joking mood when Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson hammed it up for cameras during a 1987 ski vacation. Ahead, what a body language expert and photographer had to say about the incident that left King Charles and his brother, Prince Andrew, “horrified.”
Diana and Sarah Ferguson livened up a ‘far too tame’ photocall by trying to knock each other down
Photocalls are part of royal life but a 1987 Swiss ski vacation alongside their then-husbands had Diana and Sarah shaking things up. King Charles, Diana, Sarah, and...
- 5/30/2023
- by Mandi Kerr
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
While Sweden’s Ruben Östlund grabbed some Oscar nominations and took home Cannes’ Palmed’Or last year, two other Scandinavian filmmakers basked in the international spotlight following their Cannes competition premieres: Ali Abbasi with “Holy Spider” and Tarik Saleh with “Cairo Conspiracy” (previously titled “Boy From Heaven”).
Abbasi, an Iranian-born Danish helmer, and Saleh, a Swedish director whose father is Egyptian, are part of an exciting new generation of Nordic helmers who are shaking up traditional Scandinavian cinema.
These filmmakers are delivering singular and timely movies shot abroad or in different languages, weaving together genres and political elements.
“Holy Spider” was based on the true story of a family man who became a serial killer and murdered sex workers in the Iranian holy city of Mashhad, while “Cairo Conspiracy” is set against the backdrop of a ruthless struggle between Egypt’s religious and political elite.
Breaking away from the longentrenched trend of so-called Nordic Noir,...
Abbasi, an Iranian-born Danish helmer, and Saleh, a Swedish director whose father is Egyptian, are part of an exciting new generation of Nordic helmers who are shaking up traditional Scandinavian cinema.
These filmmakers are delivering singular and timely movies shot abroad or in different languages, weaving together genres and political elements.
“Holy Spider” was based on the true story of a family man who became a serial killer and murdered sex workers in the Iranian holy city of Mashhad, while “Cairo Conspiracy” is set against the backdrop of a ruthless struggle between Egypt’s religious and political elite.
Breaking away from the longentrenched trend of so-called Nordic Noir,...
- 2/19/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Denmark’s Oscar© 2023 Entry for Best International Feature: ‘Holy Spider’ directed by Ali AbbasiThis crime genre drama labeled “Persian Noir” is based on a 20 year old case but is shockingly relevant, as is noted in this interview with producer Sol Bondy conducted by Marina Dallarosa.
US Theatrical Release October 28, 2022.
Producer Sol Bondy’s explanation of Holy Spider’s genesis and progress through the Covid infected era details the difficulties this film met at every step. However, once finished, it premiered in Cannes Competition and went on to play in the Jerusalem Film Festival, and in Toronto International Film Festival. He noted that the audience in Toronto; was 30–40% Iranians. Their ability to understand nuances and “code words” brought an element of laughter to an otherwise bloody crime film, labeled “Persian noir”.
The filmmaker Ali Abbasi is Iranian and lives in Denmark, the country submitting the film to the Motion Picture Academy for Oscar nomination. It could never have been shot in Iran due to its subject matter, though they did try, as they did in Turkey as well before shooting in Jordan. The production faced years of Covid‑19 surges, shooting delays, location changes and government resistance.
Holy Spider is based upon a true story of the infamous “spider killings” which took place while the director, Ali Abbasi, was living in the country between 2000 and 2001. It is produced by Germany’s Sol Bondy whose previous film Persian Lessons was also based on a provocative story and was Belarus’ 2020 submission for Oscars. Abbasi’s film Border was a Cannes winner of Un Certain Regard and 2018 Oscar nominated film.
A coproduction of Denmark, Germany, France, and Sweden, Holy Spider tells the story of Saeed Hanaei, a family man who embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission. In all, he murdered 16 women.
This genre film, with misogyny being the core theme, comes at a time where massive protests in Iran, following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini have unified the country in an unprecedented manner. While more and more protesters, many underage, are being killed by the regime, Holy Spider has met Iranian diaspora audiences with cheers.
During Cannes, film and TV funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburgcelebrated the six films that it funded running in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival. These were Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider in Competition, Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness in Competition, Emily Atef’s More Than Ever in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Un beau matin in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History of Destruction in Special Screenings, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ Mariupolis 2, in Special Screenings. Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding these films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.”
At their celebration, I spoke with one of the most outstanding young actresses who played Zinab, a sex worker in the Holy Spider. German-based, Iran-born Sara Fazilat is also German Film’s Face To Face ambassador 2022. She is also the lead cast in Nico by Eline Gehring that was shown almost worldwide at numerous film festivals. Unfortunately Nico is not available online in the U.S…yet. It is about Nico who is enjoying the summer in Berlin with her best friend Rosa until a racist attack pulls her out of her carefree everyday life. Traumatized by the crime, the geriatric nurse decides never to be a victim again and begins to train with a karate world champion.
I also saw Sol Bondy of One Two Films, one of the lead producers of Holy Spider. Produced along with Jacob Jarek of Denmark’s Profile Pictures, coproducers were Nordisk Film Production, Wild Bunch International, Film i Väst, Why Not Productions, Zdf/Arte and Arte France Cinéma.
Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek also stand out as alumni of Berlinale Talents. They both co-produced Icelandic films The County and Under The Tree previously.
Jarek, who went to the National Film School of Denmark with Abbasi and was one of the producers of his debut feature Shelley, says the director “had this story in his mind for a long time but we officially started developing it in 2016”. After Abbasi’s second feature Border was an international success at Cannes and beyond in 2018, the filmmaker was in demand. He told Jarek, “Now’s our chance to make Holy Spider,” a project always close to his heart.
An Interview with Sol Bondy by Marina Dalarossa
Marina: So the first question is just about you and the producer Jakob Jarek. Could you talk a bit about how you actually came to work together?
Sol: We didn’t do the Berlinale Talents the same year. I did it relatively late in my career, and truthfully, mainly because of the woman who runs the program, she urged me to do it. I had worked for the talents for many, many years and quite a few of my friends had done it during film school and by the time I did it, I’d been out of film school running my company for 6 years already.
But we didn’t meet there. Jakob and I were both minor coproducers on an Icelandic film called Under the Tree. That’s how we met. And then we also were both minor coproducers on another Icelandic film called The County.
We knew of each other before, I knew some people that he worked with and thought they were doing really interesting films. And then in Cannes 2018, Border had just premiered a couple of days before, everybody was talking about it and Jakob asked me if I wanted to join the next film of Ali? I didn’t read a script or ask any questions; I also didn’t know what I was getting myself into but I said yes immediately. I sensed this could be a great opportunity.
And that instinct was right. The film was financed relatively quickly and within a year we had most of the budget together. But then Covid came. I’m sure we’ll get into that later!
Marina: Yes thanks. I want to know if you think being in Talents helped your career at all?
Sol: Well, given the very specific timing of it, I think it would have helped my career much more if I had done it earlier. But there are also other great intiatives out there, postgraduate training for producers. Before Talents, I did a program called Transatlantic Partners in 2013. That was really helpful and actually generated two big projects for me. One was Angry Indian Goddessesand the other was The Tale.
A couple of years later I did a program called Inside Pictures. It was also extremely valuable and really helped me make some really important business decisions going forward. Jacob also did this program but again, in another year. There are many great initiatives. Also I’ve always loved going to festivals. They make your network bigger and stronger.
Marina: You talked about how you came on board to produce Holy Spider, but what do you think made Jakob decide you should come in at that point?
Sol: He had a hard task producing and financing a film set in the Middle East without any Middle Eastern money. Also, with this topic it was clear you can’t just roll into Iran and make a film there.
On top of that, there had been a shift in the Danish government. Suddenly, to reach a certain amount of financing from the Danish Film Institute, the film had to be culturally relevant to Denmark. So I believe that halved the financing opportunities for Jacob in Denmark. He needed money from outside Denmark to make this film; he needed coproducers.
He’s well versed in international coproductions, so he knew when is a good time to attach coproducing partners and also how much time it can take. For instance, we often get approached with projects and they tell us they will be shooting in three months. We have to tell them that when we coproduce in Germany, we have deadlines and a lot of bureaucracy, so while we can do a lot — we’re very lucky with that — it still takes time.
To get back to the first question: We were ready to go, we had the budget we thought we needed to make the film and when Covid came and then Jakob found himself in a situation where two of his projects, a series and a feature film, were hit by Covid. And it was unclear how these massive losses were going to be covered. The world was in turmoil and Jakob’s projects in limbo.
It became clear, he could currently not commit to the project — such a challenging production by a very demanding director. Ali (the director) on the other hand, who could have chosen any project after his widely successful and much loved Border, was saying, “Guys, I get it, but I don’t care about circumstances. If you guys can’t figure out how we can make this film now, then it’s over, I’m out.”
And that put me under maximum pressure because making films is squarey our only source of income. I had three employees to pay, was expecting my second child, and at that pont, we didn’t know that the German government would be helping out companies like ours. Without this film, it seemed I would have to close my shop. So Jacob and I looked at what options we had and decided I would go for it. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, but I said, Ok, I’ll do it.
What was unfortunate at that time is that Jordan, during the first wave, basically closed the borders and would not let anyone in. So the country that we had scouted and wanted to shoot in was essentially shut down. We couldn’t really plan a production there because nobody knew when the borders would open again or if they might close again at some point.
So it was decided to go to Turkey. It didn’t look like Erdogan was going to close Turkey. So we went into Turkey and we scouted for weeks with a big crew, the cinematographer, the production designer, the line producers from Germany, the Turkish line producer who we hired to service the production. There was a big gang scouting different cities in Turkey. And although it was harder to match Iran, we found the right locations a couple of weeks later.
The crew was growing; we were exploring how to bring period cars over the border. Pre-production was basically in full swing, at the same time, we were waiting for a shooting permit, and this shooting permit never came. So I decided to do some more digging because this was making me very uncomfortable. I knew I couldn’t shoot without the permit. I was about to spend a significant amount of more money and I’d already spent around €50,000. Not being able to shoot the film in Turkey would mean that money would just be down the drain. Plus the entire production plan. You can imagine, with everything there, where we came from, the delays that we had already encountered, it was nerve-wracking.
We then basically found out behind the scenes that our application had gone from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Turkish Ambassador and he got the feedback that this film should not be supported.
I then took Ali and my two line producers and we flew to Ankara to meet with the Ministry of Culture. And they told us to speak to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The next day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us that to get shooting permits we hd to speak with the Ministry of Culture. They basically used us like a pinball. We realiaed that we had been censored in Turkey. And it was a huge blow. I fet so hepless. Everyone was upset. Ali was furious.
It took some time to get the whole demoralized team back into the mental state to give it another go back in Jordan, where the borders had re-opened but which was logistically much more complicated.
And we went for it. We found new locations, hired local crews, got visas for our Iranian players and even managed to import Iranian cars to Jordan. You could make a documentary feature about just this aspect of the production of importing these cars. They arrived after a huge delay, when we were already shooting, but we managed to make it work.
Marina: This sounds intense. Were there other significant issues?
One of the most challenging aspects of the film was the casting, which was very complex, as we were mainly looking for Iranians who didn’t live in Iran. We knew participating in this film would be challenging for their future in the country. But Ali was adamant that his two main roles needed to be perfect in terms of their body language and the dialect. So we essentially needed people from Iran. We had found two who were willing to take the risk with all the consequences even potentially relocating after the shoot. The lead actress finally came for the makeup and hair test about 10 days before shooting. Couple days later she came to my hotel room crying and said, “I can’t do it. It’s too much.”
So we were a week before shooting and we didn’t have a lead actress. It was another massive blow. And this is when it was decided after bit of back and forth and deliberation that our casting director Zar Amir-Ebrahimi would step in and play the role. And she was rewarded in Cannes with the Best Actress Golden Palm. It’s a pretty crazy story.
And then, just two days before we were Finally going to shoot the film, Covid hit us in a way where couldn’t start shooting. I felt like I didn’t know if I was making a film or if I was in “Lost in La Mancha — Part 2”. My wife for months kept telling me I should have a documentary crew filming all this madness. I told her I was going to murder someone if I had a documentary crew around.
Marina: Wow! And after the film was completed, Denmark’s decided to submit your film to the Academy Awards. Do you know what went into their decision?
Sol: Well, the Danes may have one of the best track records in recent years when it comes to choosing the film and then being nominated or even winning. I think in the last 11 years they won twice. They got 7 nominations and I think 9 made the shortlist.
So this speaks to two things: First of all, the quality of the films they make in this small country. And then, they really look carefully at which films has the biggest chances. In our case: no other Danish film had been to Cannes competition. No other film had US distribution and played Telluride and TIFF. And already in Cannes, we had the fantastic PR of past successes like Drive My Car and Flee, so it made a lot of sense for them to choose Holy Spider. It’s still a very brave choice because it’s not a very Danish film on the outside. On the inside it looks different, you know the composer is Danish, the editor is Danish, the production designer, ok she’s Swedish, but Ali also has a Danish passport. Jakob is like me, a delegate producer and is Danish. So it has a strong Danish footprint.
Many outlets, like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter included the film in their predictions to get the nomination. So I guess all this helped the Danes come to this decision.
Marina: How does it feel to be chosen by the Danes and also to be chosen for Cannes and have gotten so many prizes already?
Sol: What can I say? It feels great! At the same time, it’s also a lot of hard work. And it’s something that we always had our eyes upon, also because Border won the Un Certain Regard. So after that, the next step is to be in Cannes Competition. Now I’ve seen this go both ways, The Icelandic film where Jacob and I were minority producers together: the filmmaker had previously done the film Rams, which had also won Un Certain Regard. We all hoped to go to Cannes Competition with this new film, The County. But we didn’t get into Cannes at all. We premiered in Toronto, which is good, but it’s not the same So looking coldly at that, you could say we failed.
Another example would be a finished film, that I was happy to be a coproducer on, called The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki . It won Un Certain Regard the year after Rams did. And so the director wanted his next film, Compartment No. 6, to go to Cannes Competition — and it did. It even won the Jury Prize! Sadly, I wasn’t involved in that production.
This is something we were discussing throughout this entire production. We were always saying the film was our chance to show the world Ali was not a one-hit wonder. You know, many people refer to Border as Ali’s first film, which it’s not. It’s his second film, his first film Shelley did well, but it wasn’t a massive breakout hit like Border was. It’s hard to follow up on a success like that.
So that fact that we succeeded in following up the Certain Regard win with getting into Competition was very exciting and rewarding. I also have to give credit to our French co-producers Wild Bunch and Why Not Productions. While they didn’t really have a lot to do with the physical production, they really helped in securing the world premiere. They gave us invaluable advice in the last stretch.
I can say that until now, we have achieved every goal that we had, and there are a few exciting steps ahead. The US release had a great limited opening weekend, the nominations at the European Film Awards are coming up and then there’s of course the Oscar shortlist of 15 films just before Christmas. We’re crossing our fingers!
Marina: I also have to ask, with the recent events in Iran, was this something you were thinking of making the film?
Sol: Well no, of course not! But the fact that our film is based on a 20 year old case — and has become so shockingly timely is incredible. Showing the film at festivals where many Iranians attend has been such an intense experience. People have thanked us for our courage to finally make a film that shows a (big) portion of their reality, one they don’t get to see in Iranian cinema. And of course the film’s main theme, misogyny, is squarely what is firing up this revolution in Iran. It really feels like the days of the Islamic Republic will be over, the different groups withing the Iranian society are more united then ever before, men are supporting women on the street and the next generation isn’t willing to give up. It’s insane what is happening there and honestly, more people should be talking about this. They are killing teenagers in the street.
Marina: The next couple questions I want to ask you are more general about your career. What did you think when you chose your career?
Sol: My parents are both filmmakers, but I never really cared too much about their work. I was quite oblivious to what was what was going on right in front of me.
But through my parents connections, I was cast as a child actor and did quite a bit of acting, so I always thought that after high school I would become an actor. But then I realized maybe I should also look for something behind the camera, because I remembered as a child actor, people were so nice and the jobs seemed fun and interesting and so I did an internship. And it became clear to me that I needed to become a director! I thought this would be the perfect way to combine all my talents.
It took three or four years and a lot of failed applications for directing to realize that I would not be studying film directing at any film school. But Reinhad Hauff, the head of the dffb, the Berlin Film School, said at some point after my second failed application that he thought I might be good for his producing class. And that’s how I got into producing after never having given it a thought before.
And I really came to terms with my profession the end of my second year while working with this one director, Grzegorz Muskala, I realized if I could find people like him, with an exceptional level of talent and tenacity and foresight I could be the right person to support them. I just needed to be very picky about who I chose to work with.
On the other hand, I also realized I have a real knack for distribution, because many producing students in my film school would just produce a film and then they would just produce the next film. And this was always crazy for me, because when the film is finished, finding distribution for your film is the most exciting moment. Like now we can do something, even for shorts! We can take the film to festivals, we can sell it to TV, this is the fun part. Of course you need to have the right film.
But I quickly earned a reputation of being somebody who took very good care of his films. All my films went to many festivals and won awards and did well. So at the end of my studies I graduated with a 1.2 million feature, which was a big achievement at that time, this was 2010. I also launched my company more or less at the same time. Since then we’ve produced or coproduced 16 films.
Marina: What do you think drives you now to continue?
Sol: There was a moment, a couple of years ago where I realized I needed to shift gears. I separated from my previous business partner with whom I had had set up the company. We built the company together, but I realized our visions weren’t really aligned anymore. I had this urge to do slightly bigger films and my little family was growing and I simply needed to make more money — while staying true to the films that I love.
So rather than diversifying with many small projects, I wanted to make fewer films but larger ones. That is also a bigger risk in a way. I wanted to take it a bit slower than the previous 10 years. Maybe also because my wife is a filmmaker. We’ve had two kids, and now it’s also her turn to go to the forefront and make more films.
Marina: And so now I guess one could say you’ve kind of made it to the top or at least you’ve checked off all those goals that you wanted to reach.
Sol: Everything that has happened with Holy Spider is really great. And having a film in Cannes Competition is quite special — who knows if it’s going to happen again? So maybe, maybe this is the top.
Marina: Do you have different kinds of goals now?
Sol: No I think I have similar goals. I like to aim high. I’m ambitious. But I also know what’s within reach. I wouldn’t set goals that are completely unrealistic in that sense.
Marina: And can you talk about what you are working on right now, so that we can start tracking it?
Sol: Yeah, so Northern Comfort is a is a fear of flying comedy by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, the same Icelandic director of Under the Tree. And this is his English language debut because his previous films have been remade in the US. We thought, why not just shoot in English language in the first place?
A diverse group of people with a chronic fear of flying are stranded in the wintry north. That film is a lot of fun for a change! And I know there’s appetite in the market for comedies. We’re in the final stages of postproduction and hoping to show the film sometime early next year.
Köln 75 is our real passion project. It’s set in Germany. The story came to us through Oren Moverman who approached us because we had worked on The Tale together. He felt that we would be the right people to be producing this. It’s a beautiful and inspiring great true story about a 17 year old school girl who organizes one of the the world’s most famous concerts on German soil, the Cologne concert from Keith Jarrett in 1975 which is widely regarded as his masterpiece and sold nearly 5 mil. copies worldwide. It really was the soundtrack of an entire generation. So it’s really exciting. An uplifting and fun story with a fantastic script by Ido Fluk. We already have amazing partners to work on this film.
Marina: Is it different now working on German soil?
Sol: Well it’s not the first time, but it’s the first time in a couple years and it is different, yes. Production has exploded across the world with the arrival of the streamers. In Germany we really feel it. All the actors, all the crews, everybody is just like working like crazy. So you could say of course it’s a great time to be a producer. But for us it’s always hard to make a film. Always has been, always will be, there are really no free rides if you’re producing independent films.
Marina: And last question, what advice do you have for young filmmakers?
Sol: The most simple and striking advice that I received myself at some point, though at first I nearly missed it, was from Katriel Schory who ran the film fund in Israel for a long time.
Sydney knows him well I’m sure.
He gave this one inspirational speech at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2006, when I was a film student. He said the most important thing for a producer is you always have to be nice, open and friendly. And I was like, well yeah… But the way that he explained it got to me. He said that everybody who’s in a certain position of power has a free choice who he wants to work with.
And these people are always going to choose to work with the people who are nice, open and friendly and if you are that person and if you are nice, open and friendly all the time, then you’re just more likely to climb the steps of your career. And at the same time you will make this industry a better place to work in.
I found it very compelling and striking and I’ve realized that that really is what brings you forward. And so I always tried to be that person. I haven’t thought about it in a long time, so I wonder if maybe I’ve lost it a little bit on the way. Producing Holy Spider was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and has surely made me very cynical at times, but that is definitely a good piece of advice for young filmmaker, I think.
Holy Spider, 115 minutes
Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Screenplay: Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Cast: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Nima Akbarpour, Sara Fazilat, Sina Parvaneh, Alice Rahimi, Mesbah Taleb
Cinematography by: Nadim Carlsen
Film Editing: Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Production Designer: Lina Nordqvist
Costumes Cesigner: Hanadi Khurma
Music: Martin Dirkov
Produced by: Sol Bondy, Jacob Jarek
Co-producers: Fred Burle, Eva Åkergren, Vincent Maraval, Calle Marthin, Peter Possne, Olivier Père, Rémi Burah
Production Cos: Profile Pictures, One Two Films, Why Not Productions, Nordisk Film Production Ab
Backing: Danish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Moin Filmförderung, Dfff, Ffa, Nordisk Film + TV Fund, Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, Film I Väst, Zdf, Arte, Arte France Cinéma
Isa Wild Bunch has thus far sold Holy Spider to Utopia for U.S., Cinéart for Benelux, A-One Films Baltic for Baltics, Academy 2 ror Italy, Alamode Filmsfor Germany, BTeam Pictures for Spain, Bir Film for Turkey, Camera Film for Denmark, Canibal for Mexico, Cinobo for Greece, Edko Films for Hong Kong, Falcon Pictures for Indonesia, Film Europe for Czechia and Slovakia, Fivia/Cenex for Yugoslavia, Gaga for Japan, Gutek Film for Poland, Independenta Film for Romania, Karma for Spain, Metropolitan Filmexportfor France, Mubi for UK Ireland, Malaysia, India; Nordisk and Mer for Norway, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, Pancinema for South Korea, United King Films for Israel, Vertigo for Hungary, Xenix for Switzerland, Front Row for Mena.
US Theatrical Release October 28, 2022.
Producer Sol Bondy’s explanation of Holy Spider’s genesis and progress through the Covid infected era details the difficulties this film met at every step. However, once finished, it premiered in Cannes Competition and went on to play in the Jerusalem Film Festival, and in Toronto International Film Festival. He noted that the audience in Toronto; was 30–40% Iranians. Their ability to understand nuances and “code words” brought an element of laughter to an otherwise bloody crime film, labeled “Persian noir”.
The filmmaker Ali Abbasi is Iranian and lives in Denmark, the country submitting the film to the Motion Picture Academy for Oscar nomination. It could never have been shot in Iran due to its subject matter, though they did try, as they did in Turkey as well before shooting in Jordan. The production faced years of Covid‑19 surges, shooting delays, location changes and government resistance.
Holy Spider is based upon a true story of the infamous “spider killings” which took place while the director, Ali Abbasi, was living in the country between 2000 and 2001. It is produced by Germany’s Sol Bondy whose previous film Persian Lessons was also based on a provocative story and was Belarus’ 2020 submission for Oscars. Abbasi’s film Border was a Cannes winner of Un Certain Regard and 2018 Oscar nominated film.
A coproduction of Denmark, Germany, France, and Sweden, Holy Spider tells the story of Saeed Hanaei, a family man who embarks on his own religious quest to “cleanse” the holy Iranian city of Mashhad of immoral and corrupt street prostitutes. After murdering several women, he grows ever more desperate about the lack of public interest in his divine mission. In all, he murdered 16 women.
This genre film, with misogyny being the core theme, comes at a time where massive protests in Iran, following the death of Jina Mahsa Amini have unified the country in an unprecedented manner. While more and more protesters, many underage, are being killed by the regime, Holy Spider has met Iranian diaspora audiences with cheers.
During Cannes, film and TV funder Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburgcelebrated the six films that it funded running in the official program of the Cannes Film Festival. These were Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider in Competition, Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness in Competition, Emily Atef’s More Than Ever in Un Certain Regard, Mia Hansen-Løve’s Un beau matin in Directors’ Fortnight, Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History of Destruction in Special Screenings, and Mantas Kvedaravicius’ Mariupolis 2, in Special Screenings. Commenting on the role Medienboard played in funding these films in Cannes, the organization’s chief Kirsten Niehuus said: “Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and other film funds play an important role in sustaining high quality cinema in Europe and in international co-productions around the world.”
At their celebration, I spoke with one of the most outstanding young actresses who played Zinab, a sex worker in the Holy Spider. German-based, Iran-born Sara Fazilat is also German Film’s Face To Face ambassador 2022. She is also the lead cast in Nico by Eline Gehring that was shown almost worldwide at numerous film festivals. Unfortunately Nico is not available online in the U.S…yet. It is about Nico who is enjoying the summer in Berlin with her best friend Rosa until a racist attack pulls her out of her carefree everyday life. Traumatized by the crime, the geriatric nurse decides never to be a victim again and begins to train with a karate world champion.
I also saw Sol Bondy of One Two Films, one of the lead producers of Holy Spider. Produced along with Jacob Jarek of Denmark’s Profile Pictures, coproducers were Nordisk Film Production, Wild Bunch International, Film i Väst, Why Not Productions, Zdf/Arte and Arte France Cinéma.
Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek also stand out as alumni of Berlinale Talents. They both co-produced Icelandic films The County and Under The Tree previously.
Jarek, who went to the National Film School of Denmark with Abbasi and was one of the producers of his debut feature Shelley, says the director “had this story in his mind for a long time but we officially started developing it in 2016”. After Abbasi’s second feature Border was an international success at Cannes and beyond in 2018, the filmmaker was in demand. He told Jarek, “Now’s our chance to make Holy Spider,” a project always close to his heart.
An Interview with Sol Bondy by Marina Dalarossa
Marina: So the first question is just about you and the producer Jakob Jarek. Could you talk a bit about how you actually came to work together?
Sol: We didn’t do the Berlinale Talents the same year. I did it relatively late in my career, and truthfully, mainly because of the woman who runs the program, she urged me to do it. I had worked for the talents for many, many years and quite a few of my friends had done it during film school and by the time I did it, I’d been out of film school running my company for 6 years already.
But we didn’t meet there. Jakob and I were both minor coproducers on an Icelandic film called Under the Tree. That’s how we met. And then we also were both minor coproducers on another Icelandic film called The County.
We knew of each other before, I knew some people that he worked with and thought they were doing really interesting films. And then in Cannes 2018, Border had just premiered a couple of days before, everybody was talking about it and Jakob asked me if I wanted to join the next film of Ali? I didn’t read a script or ask any questions; I also didn’t know what I was getting myself into but I said yes immediately. I sensed this could be a great opportunity.
And that instinct was right. The film was financed relatively quickly and within a year we had most of the budget together. But then Covid came. I’m sure we’ll get into that later!
Marina: Yes thanks. I want to know if you think being in Talents helped your career at all?
Sol: Well, given the very specific timing of it, I think it would have helped my career much more if I had done it earlier. But there are also other great intiatives out there, postgraduate training for producers. Before Talents, I did a program called Transatlantic Partners in 2013. That was really helpful and actually generated two big projects for me. One was Angry Indian Goddessesand the other was The Tale.
A couple of years later I did a program called Inside Pictures. It was also extremely valuable and really helped me make some really important business decisions going forward. Jacob also did this program but again, in another year. There are many great initiatives. Also I’ve always loved going to festivals. They make your network bigger and stronger.
Marina: You talked about how you came on board to produce Holy Spider, but what do you think made Jakob decide you should come in at that point?
Sol: He had a hard task producing and financing a film set in the Middle East without any Middle Eastern money. Also, with this topic it was clear you can’t just roll into Iran and make a film there.
On top of that, there had been a shift in the Danish government. Suddenly, to reach a certain amount of financing from the Danish Film Institute, the film had to be culturally relevant to Denmark. So I believe that halved the financing opportunities for Jacob in Denmark. He needed money from outside Denmark to make this film; he needed coproducers.
He’s well versed in international coproductions, so he knew when is a good time to attach coproducing partners and also how much time it can take. For instance, we often get approached with projects and they tell us they will be shooting in three months. We have to tell them that when we coproduce in Germany, we have deadlines and a lot of bureaucracy, so while we can do a lot — we’re very lucky with that — it still takes time.
To get back to the first question: We were ready to go, we had the budget we thought we needed to make the film and when Covid came and then Jakob found himself in a situation where two of his projects, a series and a feature film, were hit by Covid. And it was unclear how these massive losses were going to be covered. The world was in turmoil and Jakob’s projects in limbo.
It became clear, he could currently not commit to the project — such a challenging production by a very demanding director. Ali (the director) on the other hand, who could have chosen any project after his widely successful and much loved Border, was saying, “Guys, I get it, but I don’t care about circumstances. If you guys can’t figure out how we can make this film now, then it’s over, I’m out.”
And that put me under maximum pressure because making films is squarey our only source of income. I had three employees to pay, was expecting my second child, and at that pont, we didn’t know that the German government would be helping out companies like ours. Without this film, it seemed I would have to close my shop. So Jacob and I looked at what options we had and decided I would go for it. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, but I said, Ok, I’ll do it.
What was unfortunate at that time is that Jordan, during the first wave, basically closed the borders and would not let anyone in. So the country that we had scouted and wanted to shoot in was essentially shut down. We couldn’t really plan a production there because nobody knew when the borders would open again or if they might close again at some point.
So it was decided to go to Turkey. It didn’t look like Erdogan was going to close Turkey. So we went into Turkey and we scouted for weeks with a big crew, the cinematographer, the production designer, the line producers from Germany, the Turkish line producer who we hired to service the production. There was a big gang scouting different cities in Turkey. And although it was harder to match Iran, we found the right locations a couple of weeks later.
The crew was growing; we were exploring how to bring period cars over the border. Pre-production was basically in full swing, at the same time, we were waiting for a shooting permit, and this shooting permit never came. So I decided to do some more digging because this was making me very uncomfortable. I knew I couldn’t shoot without the permit. I was about to spend a significant amount of more money and I’d already spent around €50,000. Not being able to shoot the film in Turkey would mean that money would just be down the drain. Plus the entire production plan. You can imagine, with everything there, where we came from, the delays that we had already encountered, it was nerve-wracking.
We then basically found out behind the scenes that our application had gone from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Turkish Ambassador and he got the feedback that this film should not be supported.
I then took Ali and my two line producers and we flew to Ankara to meet with the Ministry of Culture. And they told us to speak to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The next day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told us that to get shooting permits we hd to speak with the Ministry of Culture. They basically used us like a pinball. We realiaed that we had been censored in Turkey. And it was a huge blow. I fet so hepless. Everyone was upset. Ali was furious.
It took some time to get the whole demoralized team back into the mental state to give it another go back in Jordan, where the borders had re-opened but which was logistically much more complicated.
And we went for it. We found new locations, hired local crews, got visas for our Iranian players and even managed to import Iranian cars to Jordan. You could make a documentary feature about just this aspect of the production of importing these cars. They arrived after a huge delay, when we were already shooting, but we managed to make it work.
Marina: This sounds intense. Were there other significant issues?
One of the most challenging aspects of the film was the casting, which was very complex, as we were mainly looking for Iranians who didn’t live in Iran. We knew participating in this film would be challenging for their future in the country. But Ali was adamant that his two main roles needed to be perfect in terms of their body language and the dialect. So we essentially needed people from Iran. We had found two who were willing to take the risk with all the consequences even potentially relocating after the shoot. The lead actress finally came for the makeup and hair test about 10 days before shooting. Couple days later she came to my hotel room crying and said, “I can’t do it. It’s too much.”
So we were a week before shooting and we didn’t have a lead actress. It was another massive blow. And this is when it was decided after bit of back and forth and deliberation that our casting director Zar Amir-Ebrahimi would step in and play the role. And she was rewarded in Cannes with the Best Actress Golden Palm. It’s a pretty crazy story.
And then, just two days before we were Finally going to shoot the film, Covid hit us in a way where couldn’t start shooting. I felt like I didn’t know if I was making a film or if I was in “Lost in La Mancha — Part 2”. My wife for months kept telling me I should have a documentary crew filming all this madness. I told her I was going to murder someone if I had a documentary crew around.
Marina: Wow! And after the film was completed, Denmark’s decided to submit your film to the Academy Awards. Do you know what went into their decision?
Sol: Well, the Danes may have one of the best track records in recent years when it comes to choosing the film and then being nominated or even winning. I think in the last 11 years they won twice. They got 7 nominations and I think 9 made the shortlist.
So this speaks to two things: First of all, the quality of the films they make in this small country. And then, they really look carefully at which films has the biggest chances. In our case: no other Danish film had been to Cannes competition. No other film had US distribution and played Telluride and TIFF. And already in Cannes, we had the fantastic PR of past successes like Drive My Car and Flee, so it made a lot of sense for them to choose Holy Spider. It’s still a very brave choice because it’s not a very Danish film on the outside. On the inside it looks different, you know the composer is Danish, the editor is Danish, the production designer, ok she’s Swedish, but Ali also has a Danish passport. Jakob is like me, a delegate producer and is Danish. So it has a strong Danish footprint.
Many outlets, like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter included the film in their predictions to get the nomination. So I guess all this helped the Danes come to this decision.
Marina: How does it feel to be chosen by the Danes and also to be chosen for Cannes and have gotten so many prizes already?
Sol: What can I say? It feels great! At the same time, it’s also a lot of hard work. And it’s something that we always had our eyes upon, also because Border won the Un Certain Regard. So after that, the next step is to be in Cannes Competition. Now I’ve seen this go both ways, The Icelandic film where Jacob and I were minority producers together: the filmmaker had previously done the film Rams, which had also won Un Certain Regard. We all hoped to go to Cannes Competition with this new film, The County. But we didn’t get into Cannes at all. We premiered in Toronto, which is good, but it’s not the same So looking coldly at that, you could say we failed.
Another example would be a finished film, that I was happy to be a coproducer on, called The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki . It won Un Certain Regard the year after Rams did. And so the director wanted his next film, Compartment No. 6, to go to Cannes Competition — and it did. It even won the Jury Prize! Sadly, I wasn’t involved in that production.
This is something we were discussing throughout this entire production. We were always saying the film was our chance to show the world Ali was not a one-hit wonder. You know, many people refer to Border as Ali’s first film, which it’s not. It’s his second film, his first film Shelley did well, but it wasn’t a massive breakout hit like Border was. It’s hard to follow up on a success like that.
So that fact that we succeeded in following up the Certain Regard win with getting into Competition was very exciting and rewarding. I also have to give credit to our French co-producers Wild Bunch and Why Not Productions. While they didn’t really have a lot to do with the physical production, they really helped in securing the world premiere. They gave us invaluable advice in the last stretch.
I can say that until now, we have achieved every goal that we had, and there are a few exciting steps ahead. The US release had a great limited opening weekend, the nominations at the European Film Awards are coming up and then there’s of course the Oscar shortlist of 15 films just before Christmas. We’re crossing our fingers!
Marina: I also have to ask, with the recent events in Iran, was this something you were thinking of making the film?
Sol: Well no, of course not! But the fact that our film is based on a 20 year old case — and has become so shockingly timely is incredible. Showing the film at festivals where many Iranians attend has been such an intense experience. People have thanked us for our courage to finally make a film that shows a (big) portion of their reality, one they don’t get to see in Iranian cinema. And of course the film’s main theme, misogyny, is squarely what is firing up this revolution in Iran. It really feels like the days of the Islamic Republic will be over, the different groups withing the Iranian society are more united then ever before, men are supporting women on the street and the next generation isn’t willing to give up. It’s insane what is happening there and honestly, more people should be talking about this. They are killing teenagers in the street.
Marina: The next couple questions I want to ask you are more general about your career. What did you think when you chose your career?
Sol: My parents are both filmmakers, but I never really cared too much about their work. I was quite oblivious to what was what was going on right in front of me.
But through my parents connections, I was cast as a child actor and did quite a bit of acting, so I always thought that after high school I would become an actor. But then I realized maybe I should also look for something behind the camera, because I remembered as a child actor, people were so nice and the jobs seemed fun and interesting and so I did an internship. And it became clear to me that I needed to become a director! I thought this would be the perfect way to combine all my talents.
It took three or four years and a lot of failed applications for directing to realize that I would not be studying film directing at any film school. But Reinhad Hauff, the head of the dffb, the Berlin Film School, said at some point after my second failed application that he thought I might be good for his producing class. And that’s how I got into producing after never having given it a thought before.
And I really came to terms with my profession the end of my second year while working with this one director, Grzegorz Muskala, I realized if I could find people like him, with an exceptional level of talent and tenacity and foresight I could be the right person to support them. I just needed to be very picky about who I chose to work with.
On the other hand, I also realized I have a real knack for distribution, because many producing students in my film school would just produce a film and then they would just produce the next film. And this was always crazy for me, because when the film is finished, finding distribution for your film is the most exciting moment. Like now we can do something, even for shorts! We can take the film to festivals, we can sell it to TV, this is the fun part. Of course you need to have the right film.
But I quickly earned a reputation of being somebody who took very good care of his films. All my films went to many festivals and won awards and did well. So at the end of my studies I graduated with a 1.2 million feature, which was a big achievement at that time, this was 2010. I also launched my company more or less at the same time. Since then we’ve produced or coproduced 16 films.
Marina: What do you think drives you now to continue?
Sol: There was a moment, a couple of years ago where I realized I needed to shift gears. I separated from my previous business partner with whom I had had set up the company. We built the company together, but I realized our visions weren’t really aligned anymore. I had this urge to do slightly bigger films and my little family was growing and I simply needed to make more money — while staying true to the films that I love.
So rather than diversifying with many small projects, I wanted to make fewer films but larger ones. That is also a bigger risk in a way. I wanted to take it a bit slower than the previous 10 years. Maybe also because my wife is a filmmaker. We’ve had two kids, and now it’s also her turn to go to the forefront and make more films.
Marina: And so now I guess one could say you’ve kind of made it to the top or at least you’ve checked off all those goals that you wanted to reach.
Sol: Everything that has happened with Holy Spider is really great. And having a film in Cannes Competition is quite special — who knows if it’s going to happen again? So maybe, maybe this is the top.
Marina: Do you have different kinds of goals now?
Sol: No I think I have similar goals. I like to aim high. I’m ambitious. But I also know what’s within reach. I wouldn’t set goals that are completely unrealistic in that sense.
Marina: And can you talk about what you are working on right now, so that we can start tracking it?
Sol: Yeah, so Northern Comfort is a is a fear of flying comedy by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, the same Icelandic director of Under the Tree. And this is his English language debut because his previous films have been remade in the US. We thought, why not just shoot in English language in the first place?
A diverse group of people with a chronic fear of flying are stranded in the wintry north. That film is a lot of fun for a change! And I know there’s appetite in the market for comedies. We’re in the final stages of postproduction and hoping to show the film sometime early next year.
Köln 75 is our real passion project. It’s set in Germany. The story came to us through Oren Moverman who approached us because we had worked on The Tale together. He felt that we would be the right people to be producing this. It’s a beautiful and inspiring great true story about a 17 year old school girl who organizes one of the the world’s most famous concerts on German soil, the Cologne concert from Keith Jarrett in 1975 which is widely regarded as his masterpiece and sold nearly 5 mil. copies worldwide. It really was the soundtrack of an entire generation. So it’s really exciting. An uplifting and fun story with a fantastic script by Ido Fluk. We already have amazing partners to work on this film.
Marina: Is it different now working on German soil?
Sol: Well it’s not the first time, but it’s the first time in a couple years and it is different, yes. Production has exploded across the world with the arrival of the streamers. In Germany we really feel it. All the actors, all the crews, everybody is just like working like crazy. So you could say of course it’s a great time to be a producer. But for us it’s always hard to make a film. Always has been, always will be, there are really no free rides if you’re producing independent films.
Marina: And last question, what advice do you have for young filmmakers?
Sol: The most simple and striking advice that I received myself at some point, though at first I nearly missed it, was from Katriel Schory who ran the film fund in Israel for a long time.
Sydney knows him well I’m sure.
He gave this one inspirational speech at the Thessaloniki Film Festival in 2006, when I was a film student. He said the most important thing for a producer is you always have to be nice, open and friendly. And I was like, well yeah… But the way that he explained it got to me. He said that everybody who’s in a certain position of power has a free choice who he wants to work with.
And these people are always going to choose to work with the people who are nice, open and friendly and if you are that person and if you are nice, open and friendly all the time, then you’re just more likely to climb the steps of your career. And at the same time you will make this industry a better place to work in.
I found it very compelling and striking and I’ve realized that that really is what brings you forward. And so I always tried to be that person. I haven’t thought about it in a long time, so I wonder if maybe I’ve lost it a little bit on the way. Producing Holy Spider was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and has surely made me very cynical at times, but that is definitely a good piece of advice for young filmmaker, I think.
Holy Spider, 115 minutes
Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Screenplay: Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Cast: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad, Nima Akbarpour, Sara Fazilat, Sina Parvaneh, Alice Rahimi, Mesbah Taleb
Cinematography by: Nadim Carlsen
Film Editing: Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Production Designer: Lina Nordqvist
Costumes Cesigner: Hanadi Khurma
Music: Martin Dirkov
Produced by: Sol Bondy, Jacob Jarek
Co-producers: Fred Burle, Eva Åkergren, Vincent Maraval, Calle Marthin, Peter Possne, Olivier Père, Rémi Burah
Production Cos: Profile Pictures, One Two Films, Why Not Productions, Nordisk Film Production Ab
Backing: Danish Film Institute, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Moin Filmförderung, Dfff, Ffa, Nordisk Film + TV Fund, Swedish Film Institute, Eurimages, Film I Väst, Zdf, Arte, Arte France Cinéma
Isa Wild Bunch has thus far sold Holy Spider to Utopia for U.S., Cinéart for Benelux, A-One Films Baltic for Baltics, Academy 2 ror Italy, Alamode Filmsfor Germany, BTeam Pictures for Spain, Bir Film for Turkey, Camera Film for Denmark, Canibal for Mexico, Cinobo for Greece, Edko Films for Hong Kong, Falcon Pictures for Indonesia, Film Europe for Czechia and Slovakia, Fivia/Cenex for Yugoslavia, Gaga for Japan, Gutek Film for Poland, Independenta Film for Romania, Karma for Spain, Metropolitan Filmexportfor France, Mubi for UK Ireland, Malaysia, India; Nordisk and Mer for Norway, Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais for Portugal, Pancinema for South Korea, United King Films for Israel, Vertigo for Hungary, Xenix for Switzerland, Front Row for Mena.
- 12/18/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
British veteran comedy actress Josephine Tewson, who found her biggest success in her sixties starring in one of the 1990s’ biggest TV sitcoms, has died aged 91.
Tewson was best known for playing Elizabeth, the living-on-her-nerves neighbour of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances, from 1990 to 1995.
But she appeared in a string of other shows too, such as Shelley with Hywel Bennet and No Appointment Necessary with Roy Kinnear. Following the success of Keeping Up Appearances, the show’s writer Roy Clarke gave Tewson the role of Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine, which she played from 2003 to 2010.
In a statement, her agent Jean Diamond said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Josephine Tewson.”
The actress died on Thursday at Denville Hall, a care home for actors and other members of the entertainment industry in north London.
Several decades before she enjoyed sitcom stardom,...
Tewson was best known for playing Elizabeth, the living-on-her-nerves neighbour of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances, from 1990 to 1995.
But she appeared in a string of other shows too, such as Shelley with Hywel Bennet and No Appointment Necessary with Roy Kinnear. Following the success of Keeping Up Appearances, the show’s writer Roy Clarke gave Tewson the role of Miss Davenport in Last of the Summer Wine, which she played from 2003 to 2010.
In a statement, her agent Jean Diamond said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Josephine Tewson.”
The actress died on Thursday at Denville Hall, a care home for actors and other members of the entertainment industry in north London.
Several decades before she enjoyed sitcom stardom,...
- 8/20/2022
- by Caroline Frost
- Deadline Film + TV
Peter Bowles, the British star of shows including “To The Manor Born” and “Rumpole of the Bailey,” has died. He was 85.
Bowles died from cancer, according to his agency Gavin Barker Associates.
The agency said in a statement: “The actor Peter Bowles has sadly passed away at the age of 85 from cancer. Starting his career at the Old Vice Theatre in 1956, he starred in 45 theatrical productions ending at the age of 81 in ‘The Exorcist’ at the Phoenix Theatre. He worked consistently on stage and screen, becoming a household name on TV as the archetypal English gent in ‘To The Manor Born,’ ‘Only When I Laugh,’ ‘The Bounder’ and ‘Lytton’s Diary,’ which he devised himself. He leaves his wife of over 60 years, Sue, and their three children Guy, Adam and Sash.”
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Bowles was best known for his...
Bowles died from cancer, according to his agency Gavin Barker Associates.
The agency said in a statement: “The actor Peter Bowles has sadly passed away at the age of 85 from cancer. Starting his career at the Old Vice Theatre in 1956, he starred in 45 theatrical productions ending at the age of 81 in ‘The Exorcist’ at the Phoenix Theatre. He worked consistently on stage and screen, becoming a household name on TV as the archetypal English gent in ‘To The Manor Born,’ ‘Only When I Laugh,’ ‘The Bounder’ and ‘Lytton’s Diary,’ which he devised himself. He leaves his wife of over 60 years, Sue, and their three children Guy, Adam and Sash.”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Gavin Barker Associates (@gavinbarkerassociates)
Bowles was best known for his...
- 3/17/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer (below) for Danish horror film “Speak No Evil,” which has its world premiere at Sundance. Sales are being handled by TrustNordisk.
The film follows a Danish family on vacation in Tuscany, where they befriend a Dutch family. Months later the Danish couple receive an invitation to visit the Dutch and decide to go for the weekend. However, it doesn’t take long before the joy of reunion is replaced by misunderstandings. Things gradually get out of hand, as the Dutch turn out to be something different than what they have pretended to be.
The film was directed by Christian Tafdrup, and written by Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup.
Christian Tafdrup describes “Speak No Evil” as a satirical horror movie. “Satirical, because it revolves around ordinary people’s absurdly recognizable ways of behaving. A horror movie, because the film is dark, evil and willingly foul.
The film follows a Danish family on vacation in Tuscany, where they befriend a Dutch family. Months later the Danish couple receive an invitation to visit the Dutch and decide to go for the weekend. However, it doesn’t take long before the joy of reunion is replaced by misunderstandings. Things gradually get out of hand, as the Dutch turn out to be something different than what they have pretended to be.
The film was directed by Christian Tafdrup, and written by Christian Tafdrup and Mads Tafdrup.
Christian Tafdrup describes “Speak No Evil” as a satirical horror movie. “Satirical, because it revolves around ordinary people’s absurdly recognizable ways of behaving. A horror movie, because the film is dark, evil and willingly foul.
- 1/13/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
It’s summer, everyone! And with its relatively sparse list of new releases for July 2021, Hulu seems to be subtlety imploring its subscribers to go outside.
Don’t get us wrong: Hulu’s library offerings get a big upgrade this month. July 1 sees the arrival of great films like Galaxy Quest, Fargo, and Caddyshack. Bill and Ted Face the Music premieres on July 2 and its followed by Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar on July 9. Not bad stuff! It’s just that, outside of the library titles, there isn’t much to go off of.
Hulu’s only major original release this month is the FX on Hulu production American Horror Stories on July 15. As its name implies, the show is a spinoff of American Horror Story and will feature self-contained horror episodes rather than a season-long arc. If you’ll allow this geriatric millennial to deploy one truly ancient meme: “Yo dawg,...
Don’t get us wrong: Hulu’s library offerings get a big upgrade this month. July 1 sees the arrival of great films like Galaxy Quest, Fargo, and Caddyshack. Bill and Ted Face the Music premieres on July 2 and its followed by Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar on July 9. Not bad stuff! It’s just that, outside of the library titles, there isn’t much to go off of.
Hulu’s only major original release this month is the FX on Hulu production American Horror Stories on July 15. As its name implies, the show is a spinoff of American Horror Story and will feature self-contained horror episodes rather than a season-long arc. If you’ll allow this geriatric millennial to deploy one truly ancient meme: “Yo dawg,...
- 7/1/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Noomi Rapace, who shot to global prominence as Lisbeth Salander in the “Millennium” trilogy, will lead the cast of acclaimed “Border” director Ali Abbasi’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”
Swedish-Danish-Iranian filmmaker Abbasi made his feature debut in 2018 with “Shelley,” which was selected for the Panorama competition at the Berlin Film Festival. “Border” won Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival the same year.
The “Hamlet” adaptation will reunite Abbasi with “Border” producers, Denmark’s Meta Film. Iceland’s Sjón is writing the project, with Stine Meldgaard Madsen producing for Meta Film. The film will be produced in collaboration with Boom Films, with principal photography scheduled for fall 2021.
Rapace said, “’Hamlet’ is a dream project in its purest and most explosive way. I’ve been hoping, dreaming, wishing for this as long as I’ve been an actress.
“I base this as much on the material as...
Swedish-Danish-Iranian filmmaker Abbasi made his feature debut in 2018 with “Shelley,” which was selected for the Panorama competition at the Berlin Film Festival. “Border” won Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival the same year.
The “Hamlet” adaptation will reunite Abbasi with “Border” producers, Denmark’s Meta Film. Iceland’s Sjón is writing the project, with Stine Meldgaard Madsen producing for Meta Film. The film will be produced in collaboration with Boom Films, with principal photography scheduled for fall 2021.
Rapace said, “’Hamlet’ is a dream project in its purest and most explosive way. I’ve been hoping, dreaming, wishing for this as long as I’ve been an actress.
“I base this as much on the material as...
- 12/17/2020
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Aacta has unveiled the final set of nominees for its upcoming awards, including the craft categories in television and documentary, as well as those up for the VFX, casting and the Best Asian Film awards.
Leading the charge in television is Matchbox Pictures/Dirty Films’ Stateless, which notched another 11 nominations today, taking its overall tally to 18.
Fellow ABC series Mystery Road, produced by Bunya Productions, follows with a total of 14 nominations.
Stateless helmers Emma Freeman and Jocelyn Moorhouse are both nominated for Best Direction in A Television Drama or Comedy. They will vie against Mystery Road‘s Wayne Blair and Warwick Thornton, and Simon Francis, who shot Anne Edmond’s Amazon stand-up special.
Thornton is a double nominee, also garnering recognition for his cinematography on Mystery Road, up against Marden Dean for The Commons; Martin McGrath for Operation Buffalo, and Bonnie Elliott for Stateless.
Nominated in the TV screenplay category...
Leading the charge in television is Matchbox Pictures/Dirty Films’ Stateless, which notched another 11 nominations today, taking its overall tally to 18.
Fellow ABC series Mystery Road, produced by Bunya Productions, follows with a total of 14 nominations.
Stateless helmers Emma Freeman and Jocelyn Moorhouse are both nominated for Best Direction in A Television Drama or Comedy. They will vie against Mystery Road‘s Wayne Blair and Warwick Thornton, and Simon Francis, who shot Anne Edmond’s Amazon stand-up special.
Thornton is a double nominee, also garnering recognition for his cinematography on Mystery Road, up against Marden Dean for The Commons; Martin McGrath for Operation Buffalo, and Bonnie Elliott for Stateless.
Nominated in the TV screenplay category...
- 11/18/2020
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
‘Jumanji: the Next Level’ star Awkwafina and Karen Gillan are set to star in action-comedy ‘Shelley’
Jude Weng is directing the film that takes place a decade after an embarrassing prom prank ran Shelly Wheeler (Awkwafina) out of town and so hardened her heart that she became an ice-cold hit-woman. Revenge threatens to be sweet when she learns her next target is her former high school tormentor, Dianna Park (Gillan). But when Dianna unexpectedly befriends Shelly, the assassin finds herself in with the cool crowd, protecting her old nemesis against another hit crew hired to kill them both.
Michael Doneger penned the story. ‘6 Underground’ Ian Bryce is producing, with Will McCance executive producing and Katie Malott co-producing.
Also in news – Henry Cavill in talks to return as ‘Superman’ in DC Movie
Awkwafina was last seen in ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’, ‘Between Two Ferns: The Movie’ and ‘The Farewell’. She...
Jude Weng is directing the film that takes place a decade after an embarrassing prom prank ran Shelly Wheeler (Awkwafina) out of town and so hardened her heart that she became an ice-cold hit-woman. Revenge threatens to be sweet when she learns her next target is her former high school tormentor, Dianna Park (Gillan). But when Dianna unexpectedly befriends Shelly, the assassin finds herself in with the cool crowd, protecting her old nemesis against another hit crew hired to kill them both.
Michael Doneger penned the story. ‘6 Underground’ Ian Bryce is producing, with Will McCance executive producing and Katie Malott co-producing.
Also in news – Henry Cavill in talks to return as ‘Superman’ in DC Movie
Awkwafina was last seen in ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’, ‘Between Two Ferns: The Movie’ and ‘The Farewell’. She...
- 5/29/2020
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Ali Abbasi's Border (2018) is having its exclusive online premiere on Mubi in the United Kingdom. It is showing from July 12 – August 10, 2019.Behind the scenes of Border. Photo by Christian Geisnæs.Border is a film you will never forget. Not only because it’s a mythology-drenched love story, nor on the sole basis that Tina (Eva Melander) can literally smell people’s feelings; but because the film will leave a solid mark in imagery you cannot unsee, while enchanting you with the magic of interpersonal connection. A modern-day fairy tale, Ali Abbasi’s third project after the short film M for Markus (2011) and the feature Shelley (2016) is based on a short story by acclaimed writer John Ajvide Lindqvist, yet the director explores cinema’s dimensions in adapting the script, exquisite cinematography, and gradual character development that all make Border a cohesive world of its own. Set on the political border of Sweden,...
- 7/11/2019
- MUBI
The New York Film Festival kicks off later this week, launching the second half of a very busy fall festival season. Each year, the New York gathering loads up on the some of the buzziest titles of an awards season in the making, but it also plays home to never-before-seen narratives and new documentaries that go beyond the usual fare. Alongside all those previously-screened features looking to capitalize on strong word-of-mouth coming out of fellow festivals Venice, Telluride, and Toronto — including “The Favourite,” “Roma,” and “If Beale Street Could Talk” — there are a variety of gems worth seeking out at this year’s festival.
Consider this your roadmap to the best of the festival. The 2018 New York Film Festival runs September 28 – October 14, and you check out the main slate right here. Ahead, 10 essential titles — from instant cult classics to highlights from the 2018 circuit and everything in between.
“Asako I & II...
Consider this your roadmap to the best of the festival. The 2018 New York Film Festival runs September 28 – October 14, and you check out the main slate right here. Ahead, 10 essential titles — from instant cult classics to highlights from the 2018 circuit and everything in between.
“Asako I & II...
- 9/25/2018
- by Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn, David Ehrlich, Chris O'Falt, Jude Dry and Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
At first, “Border” is the story of an ostracized woman named Tina (Eva Melander), who works at a remote Danish port where she sniffs out contraband, and long ago accepted that she was ostracized because of her unusual appearance. But this is not your average ugly duckling story. As the movie charts a path to her burgeoning self-confidence, it arrives at a sex scene so unexpected and ludicrous it instantly transforms the movie into a dark fairy tale.
Iranian-born director Ali Abbasi’s sophomore effort (following 2016’s “Shelley”), co-written by the author of the Swedish vampire novel “Let the Right One In,” builds out such an unusual premise that it risks devolving into quirky inanity, but Abbasi grounds the narrative in an emotional foundation even as it flies off the rails.
While Tina possesses unique abilities, she has sagged into a mundane routine. A short, bulky woman with a gnarly overbite and exaggerated snout,...
Iranian-born director Ali Abbasi’s sophomore effort (following 2016’s “Shelley”), co-written by the author of the Swedish vampire novel “Let the Right One In,” builds out such an unusual premise that it risks devolving into quirky inanity, but Abbasi grounds the narrative in an emotional foundation even as it flies off the rails.
While Tina possesses unique abilities, she has sagged into a mundane routine. A short, bulky woman with a gnarly overbite and exaggerated snout,...
- 5/10/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Every year, a couple of films at the Cannes Film Festival push the boundaries in a way that finds viewers laughing nervously and staring at the screen slack-jawed, either struggling to comprehend what they’re seeing or simply embracing the weirdness of it.
Master provocateurs like Lars von Trier and Gaspar Noe have yet to show their hands at this year’s Cannes, but Iranian director Ali Abbasi dropped an impressive pile of Wtf on Thursday with the premiere of his film “Border” (“Grans”), in which the first of the weird mega-shocker moments came with some hairy, sweaty and distinctly unusual troll sex.
Let’s just say that gender is apparently a fluid concept in the troll world and leave it at that.
Also Read: Terry Gilliam's Epically Troubled 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote:' A Brief History
It drew uneasy laughter in the Salle Debussy on Thursday, and then a robust round of applause when the film ended. “Border” is a quintessential midnight movie for the artiest of art-houses, though its prospects for any kind of wide distribution in the U.S. are likely slim.
(Surprisingly, perhaps, it’s playing not in Cannes’ Midnight Screenings section, but in the tonier Un Certain Regard section.)
If you want, this is a horror film in which strange beast people eat maggots, based on a novella by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindquist, who also wrote the spooky classic “Let the Right One In.” But it’s also an allegory of how we treat outsiders, from migrants to those who don’t love the same way we do. Either way, it’s creepy and disturbing and freaky, with enough room to find whatever subtext you’re looking for.
The central character is Tina (Eva Melander), a rough-looking customs agent in Sweden who has an uncanny knack of sniffing out travelers who are trying to bring in contraband. But she’s not the human version of a drug-sniffing dog, because Tina actually smells feelings.
Also Read: Sony Classics Picks Up Lebanese Director Nadine Labaki's 'Capernaum'
“I can just sense these things: shame, guilt rage,” Tina tells an investigator who’s enlisted her to stop a child-pornography ring.
“Is it really possible to smell what people are feeling?” the investigator asks.
“Yes,” says Tina. And we know she’s telling the truth, because we’ve seen it happen.
Of course, it takes us a while for us (and Tina) to know why it happens, and what that means for Tina. It’s all tied in to the scars on her body and the hair in unexpected places and the hint of a tail, and the appearance of a man named Vore with some unusual appetites and a familiar look to him.
Also Read: Terry Gilliam's Epically Troubled 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote:' A Brief History
Oh, and what the guy keeps in his refrigerator might give David Lynch the willies, or at least a shock of recognition.
Abbasi, whose only previous film was the 2016 horror movie “Shelley,” takes us on a wild ride, with black comedy bringing laughs that catch in the throat when Tina’s professional and personal lives unexpectedly collide. “Border” is dark and unsettling and proudly deranged; it’s the kind of shocker that may not survive too well outside the festival environment, but seems to be a necessary part of every Cannes.
Read original story ‘Border’ Film Review: Are Moviegoers Ready for Hot, Hairy Troll Sex? At TheWrap...
Master provocateurs like Lars von Trier and Gaspar Noe have yet to show their hands at this year’s Cannes, but Iranian director Ali Abbasi dropped an impressive pile of Wtf on Thursday with the premiere of his film “Border” (“Grans”), in which the first of the weird mega-shocker moments came with some hairy, sweaty and distinctly unusual troll sex.
Let’s just say that gender is apparently a fluid concept in the troll world and leave it at that.
Also Read: Terry Gilliam's Epically Troubled 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote:' A Brief History
It drew uneasy laughter in the Salle Debussy on Thursday, and then a robust round of applause when the film ended. “Border” is a quintessential midnight movie for the artiest of art-houses, though its prospects for any kind of wide distribution in the U.S. are likely slim.
(Surprisingly, perhaps, it’s playing not in Cannes’ Midnight Screenings section, but in the tonier Un Certain Regard section.)
If you want, this is a horror film in which strange beast people eat maggots, based on a novella by Swedish writer John Ajvide Lindquist, who also wrote the spooky classic “Let the Right One In.” But it’s also an allegory of how we treat outsiders, from migrants to those who don’t love the same way we do. Either way, it’s creepy and disturbing and freaky, with enough room to find whatever subtext you’re looking for.
The central character is Tina (Eva Melander), a rough-looking customs agent in Sweden who has an uncanny knack of sniffing out travelers who are trying to bring in contraband. But she’s not the human version of a drug-sniffing dog, because Tina actually smells feelings.
Also Read: Sony Classics Picks Up Lebanese Director Nadine Labaki's 'Capernaum'
“I can just sense these things: shame, guilt rage,” Tina tells an investigator who’s enlisted her to stop a child-pornography ring.
“Is it really possible to smell what people are feeling?” the investigator asks.
“Yes,” says Tina. And we know she’s telling the truth, because we’ve seen it happen.
Of course, it takes us a while for us (and Tina) to know why it happens, and what that means for Tina. It’s all tied in to the scars on her body and the hair in unexpected places and the hint of a tail, and the appearance of a man named Vore with some unusual appetites and a familiar look to him.
Also Read: Terry Gilliam's Epically Troubled 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote:' A Brief History
Oh, and what the guy keeps in his refrigerator might give David Lynch the willies, or at least a shock of recognition.
Abbasi, whose only previous film was the 2016 horror movie “Shelley,” takes us on a wild ride, with black comedy bringing laughs that catch in the throat when Tina’s professional and personal lives unexpectedly collide. “Border” is dark and unsettling and proudly deranged; it’s the kind of shocker that may not survive too well outside the festival environment, but seems to be a necessary part of every Cannes.
Read original story ‘Border’ Film Review: Are Moviegoers Ready for Hot, Hairy Troll Sex? At TheWrap...
- 5/10/2018
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Danish cinematographer Nadim Carlsen has shot more than 20 music videos, commercials, shorts and features since 2009. In recent years she served as Dp on the horror film Shelley, which screened at Berlin and Cph:Pix, and What Will People Say, which played at Tiff and Iffr. Carlsen went to film school with Isabella Eklöf, the director and cowriter of the provocative Holiday. Ahead of the film’s five screenings at Sundance, Carlsen spoke with Filmmaker about her use of static long takes and why she and Eklöf sought to create glossy images that “contradict the dark and dramatic content” of the […]...
- 1/27/2018
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Danish filmmaker Olivia Neergaard-Holm was one of three directors on last year’s Criterion-anointed documentary David Lynch: The Art Life. Neergaard-Holm has edited a dozen shorts and features since 2010, including the single-take German thriller Victoria and the Danish horror drama Shelley. She most recently edited Holiday, the debut feature from director Isabella Eklöf, which appears in competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Neergaard-Holm spoke with Filmmaker about Holiday‘s tricky gender politics and why it was important for the film to maintain a “cold, cynical and misogynistic vibe.” Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the […]...
- 1/24/2018
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Film i Vast launches title at Cannes slate presentation.
Christoffer Boe, who won the Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2003 with Reconstruction, will direct Zentropa’s fourth and final instalment in the Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Department Q thriller series.
The Purity Of Vengeance starts shooting in December and will again star Nikolai Lie Kass and Fares Fares as the mismatched detectives.
Nikolai Arcel, Bo Hr. Hansen and Mikkel Norgaard wrote the script. Nordisk will release theatrically in autumn 2018 and TrustNordisk handles sales.
The previous three films in the series – starting with The Keeper Of Lost Causes [pictured] – have been record-setting hits in Denmark. Producer Louise Vesth of Zentropa said, “there have been 2.2m million tickets sold for these films in Denmark, I hope the fourth one will be an ever greater success.”
The story centres on the discovery of a series of corpses connected to an old women’s institution that carried out medical experiments.
Boe, speaking...
Christoffer Boe, who won the Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2003 with Reconstruction, will direct Zentropa’s fourth and final instalment in the Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Department Q thriller series.
The Purity Of Vengeance starts shooting in December and will again star Nikolai Lie Kass and Fares Fares as the mismatched detectives.
Nikolai Arcel, Bo Hr. Hansen and Mikkel Norgaard wrote the script. Nordisk will release theatrically in autumn 2018 and TrustNordisk handles sales.
The previous three films in the series – starting with The Keeper Of Lost Causes [pictured] – have been record-setting hits in Denmark. Producer Louise Vesth of Zentropa said, “there have been 2.2m million tickets sold for these films in Denmark, I hope the fourth one will be an ever greater success.”
The story centres on the discovery of a series of corpses connected to an old women’s institution that carried out medical experiments.
Boe, speaking...
- 5/21/2017
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Other winners included Parents; The Commune; In The Blood and The Neon Demon.Scroll down for full list of winners
The winners of the Danish film academy’s 2017 Robert awards were announced on Sunday (5 February).
Jesper W. Nielsen’s orphanage drama The Day Will Come triumphed on the night, picking up six prizes including best film, best original screenplay for Søren Sveistrup and best supporting actor and actress for Lars Mikkelsen and Sofie Gråbøl.
Christian Tafdrup won best director for his debut film Parents with star Søren Malling also picking up best actor.
Best actress went to Trine Dyrholm, who won her ninth Robert for The Commune. Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm also won best adapted screenplay for the film.
Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon dominated the technical categories, winning 5 Roberts including best cinematography, sound editing and score.
The Revenant won best American film, with Son Of Saul winning best foreign film.
The annual...
The winners of the Danish film academy’s 2017 Robert awards were announced on Sunday (5 February).
Jesper W. Nielsen’s orphanage drama The Day Will Come triumphed on the night, picking up six prizes including best film, best original screenplay for Søren Sveistrup and best supporting actor and actress for Lars Mikkelsen and Sofie Gråbøl.
Christian Tafdrup won best director for his debut film Parents with star Søren Malling also picking up best actor.
Best actress went to Trine Dyrholm, who won her ninth Robert for The Commune. Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm also won best adapted screenplay for the film.
Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon dominated the technical categories, winning 5 Roberts including best cinematography, sound editing and score.
The Revenant won best American film, with Son Of Saul winning best foreign film.
The annual...
- 2/6/2017
- ScreenDaily
Milad Alami makes feature debut on film whose DoP Sophia Olsson previously shot Sparrows and Volcano.
Swedish-Iranian director Milad Alami has started principal photography on his debut feature The Charmer in Copenhagen.
The film will also shoot at undisclosed locations in the Middle East with a second unit.
The feature is “an intense psychological drama” about a young Iranian man who wants to meet women who can help him stay in Denmark; he falls in love with one woman while another woman’s husband seeks revenge on him.
After a five-week shoot, The Charmer will be delivered in spring 2017.
Alami, who graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2011, won the Danish Robert award for his short Mommy; and his previous short Void starring Lars Mikkelsen played at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes.
The script is co-written by Alami with Ingeborg Topsøe, an Nfts graduate who previously wrote Sundance-selected Volume.
“I’ve always...
Swedish-Iranian director Milad Alami has started principal photography on his debut feature The Charmer in Copenhagen.
The film will also shoot at undisclosed locations in the Middle East with a second unit.
The feature is “an intense psychological drama” about a young Iranian man who wants to meet women who can help him stay in Denmark; he falls in love with one woman while another woman’s husband seeks revenge on him.
After a five-week shoot, The Charmer will be delivered in spring 2017.
Alami, who graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 2011, won the Danish Robert award for his short Mommy; and his previous short Void starring Lars Mikkelsen played at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes.
The script is co-written by Alami with Ingeborg Topsøe, an Nfts graduate who previously wrote Sundance-selected Volume.
“I’ve always...
- 11/15/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Touted as something of a Rosemary’s Baby for the 21st century, debut director Ali Abbasi’s artsy Shelley landed on UK DVD this week. In celebration of the new arrival, we’ve grabbed an exclusive clip for you to get all gooey… Continue Reading →
The post Exclusive Shelley Video Says Hello to a Little Friend appeared first on Dread Central.
The post Exclusive Shelley Video Says Hello to a Little Friend appeared first on Dread Central.
- 10/13/2016
- by Gareth Jones
- DreadCentral.com
Exclusive: Copenhagen’s festival, in new autumn dates, will show a record 226 features kicking off with Doctor Strange.
Copenhagen’s Cph Pix festival, now in its new autumn dates, has revealed a record 226 feature films in its lineup.
The 14-day festival (Oct 27 - Nov 9), which now also includes kids and family festival Buster, will show 46 features for young people in its daytime programmes and 180 films for teenagers and adults in the evenings.
As previously reported, the eighth edition of festival will open with a gala premiere of Marvel’s Doctor Strange (Mads Mikkelsen will attend).
There will be four main awards at Pix: the New Talent Grand Pix for a debut feature (with $11,200 (€10,000)); the Politiken Audience Award that comes with Danish distribution support, and the Nordisk Film Fond prizes for best children’s feature and best children’s short.
Terence Davies [pictured] will be given a full retrospective as well as showing his latest film A Quiet Passion and participating...
Copenhagen’s Cph Pix festival, now in its new autumn dates, has revealed a record 226 feature films in its lineup.
The 14-day festival (Oct 27 - Nov 9), which now also includes kids and family festival Buster, will show 46 features for young people in its daytime programmes and 180 films for teenagers and adults in the evenings.
As previously reported, the eighth edition of festival will open with a gala premiere of Marvel’s Doctor Strange (Mads Mikkelsen will attend).
There will be four main awards at Pix: the New Talent Grand Pix for a debut feature (with $11,200 (€10,000)); the Politiken Audience Award that comes with Danish distribution support, and the Nordisk Film Fond prizes for best children’s feature and best children’s short.
Terence Davies [pictured] will be given a full retrospective as well as showing his latest film A Quiet Passion and participating...
- 10/3/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
To celebrate the UK DVD release of creepy horror film Shelley, we are giving you the chance to win a copy.
A moody, haunting Rosemary’s Baby for the 21st century, Shelley is an arty, atmospheric horror film that blends the shocks of Inside with the surreal, unsettling worldview of David Lynch.
When Elena arrives in the countryside to work as a housekeeper for Louise and Kasper, she finds the isolated cottage deep in a dense, eerie forest, cut off from modern society. Soon, Louise approaches Elena with a lucrative deal: begging her to carry a baby for her as she is unable to conceive, and desperately yearns for a child. Elena’s pregnancy brings joy into the cold, dark home, but it isn’t long until strange events, sensations and hallucinations lead the household to believe that something is terribly wrong. The life growing inside Elena is taking shape too fast,...
A moody, haunting Rosemary’s Baby for the 21st century, Shelley is an arty, atmospheric horror film that blends the shocks of Inside with the surreal, unsettling worldview of David Lynch.
When Elena arrives in the countryside to work as a housekeeper for Louise and Kasper, she finds the isolated cottage deep in a dense, eerie forest, cut off from modern society. Soon, Louise approaches Elena with a lucrative deal: begging her to carry a baby for her as she is unable to conceive, and desperately yearns for a child. Elena’s pregnancy brings joy into the cold, dark home, but it isn’t long until strange events, sensations and hallucinations lead the household to believe that something is terribly wrong. The life growing inside Elena is taking shape too fast,...
- 9/27/2016
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Scream Factory is decking the halls with horror this December with four new Blu-ray releases of IFC Midnight movies: I Am Not a Serial Killer, Let's Be Evil, The Devil's Dolls, and Shelley.
From Scream Factory: "We are proud to announce that we have Four new IFC Midnight films planned for release on Blu-ray & DVD this Dec!
The Devil’S Dolls - A serial killer's curse unleashes a season of slaughter in the backwoods of Mississippi. According to an ancient Guatemalan tradition, parents teach their children to allay their troubles by giving them handmade "worry dolls" just before bedtime. But when several of these talismans — which once belonged to a notorious mass murderer — find their way into the hands of unsuspecting residents of a small Southern town, it sets off a grisly wave of bloodshed. The latest from Rites of Spring director Padraig Reynolds is a voodoo-slasher shocker bursting with scarily inventive kills.
From Scream Factory: "We are proud to announce that we have Four new IFC Midnight films planned for release on Blu-ray & DVD this Dec!
The Devil’S Dolls - A serial killer's curse unleashes a season of slaughter in the backwoods of Mississippi. According to an ancient Guatemalan tradition, parents teach their children to allay their troubles by giving them handmade "worry dolls" just before bedtime. But when several of these talismans — which once belonged to a notorious mass murderer — find their way into the hands of unsuspecting residents of a small Southern town, it sets off a grisly wave of bloodshed. The latest from Rites of Spring director Padraig Reynolds is a voodoo-slasher shocker bursting with scarily inventive kills.
- 9/21/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
★★★★☆ Ali Abbasi's striking debut Shelley is a Gothic horror that uses degeneration of the body to explore the exploitation of migrant workers and the individualist ideology that accompanies society's growing obsession with 'organic' living. A young Romanian woman, Elena (Cosmina Stratan), arrives in the Danish countryside to work as a housekeeper for Louise (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) and Kasper (Peter Christoffersen). She used to be an accountant in Bucharest but has moved to Denmark to save enough money to buy a house for her and her son. Her hosts live deep inside a dense forest, far removed from the amenities of modern life, living a self-sufficient life without electricity or running water.
- 8/26/2016
- by CineVue
- CineVue
Everything starts so innocently that you’d be hard-pressed to realize Ali Abbasi‘s Shelley is a horror film besides the score’s dread-inducing soundscape rising to a deafening level of static. Sure the setting’s weird with Louise (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) and Kasper (Peter Christoffersen) living in the Danish woods without electricity or running water far-removed from civilization, but the world’s fill of eccentrics. They’re actually quite nice, bringing in a new maid (Cosmina Stratan‘s Romanian single mother Elena) with open arms and warm smiles. It takes some getting used to, but the newcomer is quite content after a while. She adjusts to the quiet, regularly calls home to speak with her mother and son, and resigns herself to the prospect of returning after two to three years accumulating salary abroad.
In a moment of bonding Elena and Louise speak about motherhood to reveal the tragedy of the Dane’s past.
In a moment of bonding Elena and Louise speak about motherhood to reveal the tragedy of the Dane’s past.
- 7/28/2016
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
There’s a nasty little genre horror swelling in the belly of Iranian director Ali Abbasi‘s “Shelley,” but the film is far more effective for largely being set before those elements come squealing into the world. Containing not one single jump scare, but building a disquieting atmosphere of dread that leads us to make some brilliantly […]
The post ‘Shelley’ Is A Classy Take On The Often Trashy Pregnancy Horror Genre [Review] appeared first on The Playlist.
The post ‘Shelley’ Is A Classy Take On The Often Trashy Pregnancy Horror Genre [Review] appeared first on The Playlist.
- 7/26/2016
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
The first trailer has been released for Shelley, the feature directorial debut of Pakistani filmmaker Ali Abbasi and a horror film that looks to be extremely unsettling and unshakeable. It concerns Elena (Cosmina Stratan), a maid who works for an older couple desperate to have a child, but who cannot due to the wife’s (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) inability. As an act of kindness, Elena agrees to bear the child for them. Everything is peachy until things start to go awry for the once-so-seemingly-happy “family.”
Shown at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best First Feature, Abbasi’s debut has been called “Rosemary’s Baby by way of David Lynch,” an extremely exciting conceptual prospect for fans of true genre fare. The trailer supports this praise, featuring beautiful and disconcerting cinematography with filmic grain and low-light imagery of flickering candles and ominous wood-chopping (never a good...
Shown at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best First Feature, Abbasi’s debut has been called “Rosemary’s Baby by way of David Lynch,” an extremely exciting conceptual prospect for fans of true genre fare. The trailer supports this praise, featuring beautiful and disconcerting cinematography with filmic grain and low-light imagery of flickering candles and ominous wood-chopping (never a good...
- 7/25/2016
- by Mike Mazzanti
- The Film Stage
A classy, atmospheric take on the hysteria of new parenthood, Ali Abbasi's Shelley wears its influences boldly on its sleeve (and right there in the title), only the Frankenstein's monster here is a baby born by way of our modern medical miracles. Louise and Kaspar are a thirty-something couple well along in their successful twentyfirst century careers. They have chosen to live in the pleasant isolation of a picturesque lake (pregnant with islands) in the Danish countryside. Enabled by their wealth and privilege, they grow their own food and even forgo using electricity for the sake of simpler, slower living. The only thing missing from their life is that they cannot biologically have children. When a young Romanian housekeeper, Elena, arrives on their dime and quickly...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 7/24/2016
- Screen Anarchy
Shelley gets a pass for its obvious Rosemary’s Baby poster homage, because Ali Abbasi’s parental nightmare is truly Polanski by way of Danish seclusion. Not to say the first-time filmmaker challenges a genre classic (he doesn’t), but there’s still an approvable amount of raw tension in this demonic tale of baby-mama-drama. Characters are sparse and plotting is sparser, because pregnancy can be scary enough without any genre additives. Health issues, paranoia, constant questioning – women will forever be stronger then men simply because of the motherly task they’re asked embrace. Carrying a baby is one thing, but what if that baby turned against you…in the womb?
Cosmina Stratan stars as Elena, a house maid who one day hopes of returning home to Romania and providing for her son. Her latest employers live in the Danish countryside, where they don’t use electricity, eat meat or...
Cosmina Stratan stars as Elena, a house maid who one day hopes of returning home to Romania and providing for her son. Her latest employers live in the Danish countryside, where they don’t use electricity, eat meat or...
- 7/23/2016
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
Dark supernatural shocker Shelley drops new trailer. One look at the trailer – and the baroque poster – for director Ali Abbasi’s Shelley and we know that this is the sort of sick, slow, strange horror movie that we like. A movie about adults made for adults, dark and leaking menace from every orifice. IFC…
The post Fetal Fright Fest Shelley Births Official Trailer appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
The post Fetal Fright Fest Shelley Births Official Trailer appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
- 7/18/2016
- by Chris Alexander
- shocktillyoudrop.com
The non-competitive strand will also feature Pablo Larrain’s Neruda and Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson.Scroll down for full line-up
This year’s Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20) will feature 17 titles in its Kinoscope programme, including festival hits such as Toni Erdmann and Cameraperson
First launched in 2012, the non-competitive strand selects titles from around the world, excluding territories featured in the festival’s main competition.
This year’s line-up includes titles that have received plaudits at major festivals, including three Palme d’Or nominated films from this year’s Cannes Film Festival: Kleber Mendonca Filho’s Aquarius, Alain Guiraudie’s Staying Vetical, and Maren Ade’s crowd favourite Toni Erdmann, which clocked the highest ever score on Screen’s Cannes Jury Grid.
Also from Cannes is Pablo Larrain’s Neruda, which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight, while the programme includes Kirsten Johnson’s documentary Cameraperson, which recently won the top prize at Sheffield Doc/Fest.
Titles that premiered...
This year’s Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20) will feature 17 titles in its Kinoscope programme, including festival hits such as Toni Erdmann and Cameraperson
First launched in 2012, the non-competitive strand selects titles from around the world, excluding territories featured in the festival’s main competition.
This year’s line-up includes titles that have received plaudits at major festivals, including three Palme d’Or nominated films from this year’s Cannes Film Festival: Kleber Mendonca Filho’s Aquarius, Alain Guiraudie’s Staying Vetical, and Maren Ade’s crowd favourite Toni Erdmann, which clocked the highest ever score on Screen’s Cannes Jury Grid.
Also from Cannes is Pablo Larrain’s Neruda, which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight, while the programme includes Kirsten Johnson’s documentary Cameraperson, which recently won the top prize at Sheffield Doc/Fest.
Titles that premiered...
- 7/18/2016
- ScreenDaily
"Would you consider carrying my child?" IFC Films has unveiled a trailer for a psychological horror film called Shelley, about a woman who convinces her maid to get pregnant since she can't but there's obviously a dark side to the story. The baby seems to be growing faster than usual and their seems to be a creepy evil something growing inside of her. This premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, and is playing at Fantasia this month. Starring Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Cosmina Stratan, Peter Christoffersen, Bjorn Andresen, and Marianne Mortensen. There have been a many baby-related horror films (from Rosemary's Baby to Proxy recently to Species II) but this one seems to be particularly unsettling. If you're into this, take a look. Here's the official Us trailer (+ a poster) for Ali Abbasi's Shelley, found direct from YouTube: Louise and Kasper, a Danish couple, live in an isolated villa in...
- 7/18/2016
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
London-based genre festival to feature 19 world premieres and 35 UK & European premieres.
Horror Channel FrightFest has unveiled the line-up for its upcoming 17th edition, taking place at its new home of the Vue Shepherd’s Bush from Aug 25-29.
Sean Brosnan’s revenge thriller My Father Die [pictured] receives its European premiere as the opening film, while the UK premiere of Sang-ho Yeon’s Cannes title Train To Busan closes this year’s festival.
In total, the 62-strong feature line-up includes 19 world premieres and 35 UK & European premieres. Ivan Silvestrini’s Monolith, Tricia Lee’s creepy chiller Blood Hunters and Nick Jongerius’ gory The Windmill Massacre are among the world premieres.
Meanwhile, Adam Wingard’s eagerly anticipated The Woods will receive its European premiere in the Main Screen strand, playing alongside the likes of Stephen King adaptation Cell, Italian box office hit They Call Me Jeeg Robot and Cody Calahan’s Let Her Out.
Other Main Screen...
Horror Channel FrightFest has unveiled the line-up for its upcoming 17th edition, taking place at its new home of the Vue Shepherd’s Bush from Aug 25-29.
Sean Brosnan’s revenge thriller My Father Die [pictured] receives its European premiere as the opening film, while the UK premiere of Sang-ho Yeon’s Cannes title Train To Busan closes this year’s festival.
In total, the 62-strong feature line-up includes 19 world premieres and 35 UK & European premieres. Ivan Silvestrini’s Monolith, Tricia Lee’s creepy chiller Blood Hunters and Nick Jongerius’ gory The Windmill Massacre are among the world premieres.
Meanwhile, Adam Wingard’s eagerly anticipated The Woods will receive its European premiere in the Main Screen strand, playing alongside the likes of Stephen King adaptation Cell, Italian box office hit They Call Me Jeeg Robot and Cody Calahan’s Let Her Out.
Other Main Screen...
- 7/1/2016
- by ian.sandwell@screendaily.com (Ian Sandwell)
- ScreenDaily
The festival will also honour Mad Max: Fury Road producer Iain Smith.
Legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren and Mad Max: Fury Road producer Iain Smith will be guests of honour at the 15th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff, May 27 – June 5).
The festival kicks off this evening with the world premiere of Romanian director Nae Caranfil’s comedy 6.9. On The Richter Scale.
The festival’s closing gala on June 4 will see Loren [pictured in 2014 short Human Voice] – who is visiting Romania for the first time - receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, while Smith – who came to Romania to produce Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain in 2003 - will be presented with the Transilvania Trophy for Special Contribution to World Cinema on the same evening in Cluj’s National Theatre.
Competition
This year’s 12-strong Competition includes nine first features such as Bogdan Mirică’s Balkan anti-Western Dogs, Iranian director Ali Abbasi’s horror film Shelley, and [link=nm...
Legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren and Mad Max: Fury Road producer Iain Smith will be guests of honour at the 15th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff, May 27 – June 5).
The festival kicks off this evening with the world premiere of Romanian director Nae Caranfil’s comedy 6.9. On The Richter Scale.
The festival’s closing gala on June 4 will see Loren [pictured in 2014 short Human Voice] – who is visiting Romania for the first time - receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, while Smith – who came to Romania to produce Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain in 2003 - will be presented with the Transilvania Trophy for Special Contribution to World Cinema on the same evening in Cluj’s National Theatre.
Competition
This year’s 12-strong Competition includes nine first features such as Bogdan Mirică’s Balkan anti-Western Dogs, Iranian director Ali Abbasi’s horror film Shelley, and [link=nm...
- 5/27/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Company also takes Cannes titles Cafe Society, The Neon Demon, The Salesman.
Scandinavian distributor Scanbox has acquired several new hot Cannes titles: Paolo Virzì’s Like Crazy [pictured] from Bac Films, Mohamed Diab’s Clash from Pyramide, and Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake from Wild Bunch.
At Cannes 2016, Scanbox has set a new personal best with its number of titles in the festival – it boasts Scandinavian rights to Woody Allen’s Café Society, Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only The End of the World, Asghar Farhadi’s The Salesman, Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon, Matt Ross’ Captain Fantastic and David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water.
“It marks our 12th movie with Woody Allen and our fifth with Refn. We have strong relationships with talent,” said Scanbox chairman Joni Sighvatsson. “We do anything from a small film like Clash to a big film like The Hateful Eight, we’re talent...
Scandinavian distributor Scanbox has acquired several new hot Cannes titles: Paolo Virzì’s Like Crazy [pictured] from Bac Films, Mohamed Diab’s Clash from Pyramide, and Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake from Wild Bunch.
At Cannes 2016, Scanbox has set a new personal best with its number of titles in the festival – it boasts Scandinavian rights to Woody Allen’s Café Society, Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only The End of the World, Asghar Farhadi’s The Salesman, Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon, Matt Ross’ Captain Fantastic and David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water.
“It marks our 12th movie with Woody Allen and our fifth with Refn. We have strong relationships with talent,” said Scanbox chairman Joni Sighvatsson. “We do anything from a small film like Clash to a big film like The Hateful Eight, we’re talent...
- 5/17/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
There's a nasty little genre horror swelling in the belly of Iranian director Ali Abbasi's "Shelley," but the film is far more effective for largely being set before those elements come squealing into the world. Containing not one single jump scare, but building a disquieting atmosphere of dread that leads us to make some brilliantly gruesome inferences, it's a classy take on the often trashy pregnancy horror category, with a subtle social critique underlying its neo-gothic texture. Immaculately photographed by cinematographers Nadim Carlson and Sturla Brandth Grøvlen, whose virtuosic work on one-take wonder "Victoria" is about as far removed from the chilly formalism of "Shelley" as is possible, the film is also flattered by its careful sound design, which mixes the ambient noises of water and forest and wind with Martin Dirkov's amniotic score to almost subliminally unsettling effect. Add to all this two perfectly pitched central female.
- 2/20/2016
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
Denmark’s Profile Pictures, which launches its debut feature Shelley [pictured] at Berlin, will next month begin shooting Darkland - a masked avenger story set in a gang environment in Copenhagen.
The action thriller is the second feature for Fenar Ahmad. “It’s an updated Pusher, very gritty and real,” said Profile producer and partner Jacob Jarek.
The company has two further features now in post, both feature directorial debuts from experienced writers.
The first is In The Blood, a story of twentysomething friends in Copenhagen that marks the directorial debut of A Royal Affair writer Rasmus Heisterberg.
The other is 3 Things, a “contained thriller” with Game Of Thrones stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Birgitte Hort Sorensen from Pusher writer Jens Dahl.
Profile Pictures was founded by Jarek alongside his fellow National Film School of Denmark alumni Caroline Schlüter Bingestam, Ditte Milsted and Thor Sigurjonsson.
“We’re interested in elevated genre films,” said Jarek. “What...
The action thriller is the second feature for Fenar Ahmad. “It’s an updated Pusher, very gritty and real,” said Profile producer and partner Jacob Jarek.
The company has two further features now in post, both feature directorial debuts from experienced writers.
The first is In The Blood, a story of twentysomething friends in Copenhagen that marks the directorial debut of A Royal Affair writer Rasmus Heisterberg.
The other is 3 Things, a “contained thriller” with Game Of Thrones stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Birgitte Hort Sorensen from Pusher writer Jens Dahl.
Profile Pictures was founded by Jarek alongside his fellow National Film School of Denmark alumni Caroline Schlüter Bingestam, Ditte Milsted and Thor Sigurjonsson.
“We’re interested in elevated genre films,” said Jarek. “What...
- 2/14/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Buzzy pitches from rising Nordic talents include Iranian serial killer story and documentary about con man Waleed Ahmed [pictured], once described as the Mark Zuckerberg of Norway.
A diverse crop of projects were pitched in Goteborg today [Feb 5] as part of the Nordic Film Lab, including an Iranian serial killer story and documentary about con man Waleed Ahmed [pictured], once described as the Mark Zuckerberg of Norway.
The projects, which are pitched at development stage and need financiers or co-producers, are listed below.
The pitches are the culmination of a year-long programme and included Finnish participants for the first time this year, alongside those from Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Projects:
The Holy Spider (Den), dir Ali Abbasi, prod Jonas Wagner
Iran-born, Denmark-based Abbasi will direct this feature inspired by the true story of Saeed Hanaei, who he calls “the most infamous serial killer in Iran’s recent history.” Abbasi added, “We’ll see the world through his eyes and try...
A diverse crop of projects were pitched in Goteborg today [Feb 5] as part of the Nordic Film Lab, including an Iranian serial killer story and documentary about con man Waleed Ahmed [pictured], once described as the Mark Zuckerberg of Norway.
The projects, which are pitched at development stage and need financiers or co-producers, are listed below.
The pitches are the culmination of a year-long programme and included Finnish participants for the first time this year, alongside those from Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Projects:
The Holy Spider (Den), dir Ali Abbasi, prod Jonas Wagner
Iran-born, Denmark-based Abbasi will direct this feature inspired by the true story of Saeed Hanaei, who he calls “the most infamous serial killer in Iran’s recent history.” Abbasi added, “We’ll see the world through his eyes and try...
- 2/5/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Nordic Film Market includes debut films by Force Majeure actress, the screenwriter of A Royal Affair and director of viral hit Las Palmas; CAA, UTA and ICM agents among attending industry.Scroll down for full list
More than 40 Nordic films and works in progress will be presented at the fruitful Nordic Film Market in Goteborg, which runs Feb 4-7 during to the Goteborg Film Festival (Jan 29 - Feb 8).
Often a productive staging post for impressive upcoming regional features and emerging talent, the 2016 lineup includes 17 finished features and 20 works in progress, plus eight titles presented as part of the Nordic Film Lab Discovery programme.
The works-in-progress presentations (see full list below) include ten debut films from the likes of A Royal Affair screenwriter Rasmus Heisterberg, viral hit Las Palmas director Johannes Nyholm, Force Majeure actress Fanni Metelius and Cannes Cinefondation alumni Juho Kuosmanen and Shahrbanoo Sadat.
Other works in progress will be presented from directors Mads Brugger ([link...
More than 40 Nordic films and works in progress will be presented at the fruitful Nordic Film Market in Goteborg, which runs Feb 4-7 during to the Goteborg Film Festival (Jan 29 - Feb 8).
Often a productive staging post for impressive upcoming regional features and emerging talent, the 2016 lineup includes 17 finished features and 20 works in progress, plus eight titles presented as part of the Nordic Film Lab Discovery programme.
The works-in-progress presentations (see full list below) include ten debut films from the likes of A Royal Affair screenwriter Rasmus Heisterberg, viral hit Las Palmas director Johannes Nyholm, Force Majeure actress Fanni Metelius and Cannes Cinefondation alumni Juho Kuosmanen and Shahrbanoo Sadat.
Other works in progress will be presented from directors Mads Brugger ([link...
- 1/27/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Films include Shepherds and Butchers with Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il.
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...
- 1/21/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Films include Shepherds and Butchers, starring Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films.
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...
- 1/21/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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