Veteran auteur Mario Martone, whose Naples-set drama “Nostalgia” launched last year from Cannes, has quite a lot in common with Massimo Troisi, Italy’s beloved late comic actor-director who is best known internationally as the star of Oscar-winning film “Il Postino.”
Which is why Martone was well-suited to direct the multi-layered doc about Troisi’s legacy “Somebody Down There Likes Me” that is screening in the Berlinale Special sidebar.
For starters, they are both Neapolitan, and were born only a few years a part. Troisi – who in “Il Postino” played the simple postman who rides his bicycle on a sandy Italian island to deliver mail to his sole client, the Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda – died tragically of congenital heart failure at age 41 in June 1994, the day after “Il Postino” finished shooting at Rome’s Cinecittà studios.
Martone in Berlin spoke to Variety about capturing Troisi’s combination of humor,...
Which is why Martone was well-suited to direct the multi-layered doc about Troisi’s legacy “Somebody Down There Likes Me” that is screening in the Berlinale Special sidebar.
For starters, they are both Neapolitan, and were born only a few years a part. Troisi – who in “Il Postino” played the simple postman who rides his bicycle on a sandy Italian island to deliver mail to his sole client, the Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda – died tragically of congenital heart failure at age 41 in June 1994, the day after “Il Postino” finished shooting at Rome’s Cinecittà studios.
Martone in Berlin spoke to Variety about capturing Troisi’s combination of humor,...
- 2/22/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Master documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, whose “Sacro Gra” won the Venice Golden Lion in 2013, is back on the Lido with “In Viaggio,” a doc about Pope Francis’ travels in which the director creates a counterpoint between archival footage and images that Rosi shot himself.
In the first nine years of his pontificate, Pope Francis made 37 trips visiting 53 countries, focusing on his key issues: poverty, migration, the environment, solidarity and war.
Intrigued by the fact that two of Francis’ trips – the first to the refugees landing in the Sicilian island of Lampedusa; the second in 2021 to the Middle East – so closely mirrored the itineraries of the director’s “Fire at Sea” (2016) and “Notturno” (2020), Rosi decided to delve into hundreds of hours of footage of papal travels with the intention of providing through them a “map of the human condition,” he says.
How did you first intersect with Pope Francis?
My first...
In the first nine years of his pontificate, Pope Francis made 37 trips visiting 53 countries, focusing on his key issues: poverty, migration, the environment, solidarity and war.
Intrigued by the fact that two of Francis’ trips – the first to the refugees landing in the Sicilian island of Lampedusa; the second in 2021 to the Middle East – so closely mirrored the itineraries of the director’s “Fire at Sea” (2016) and “Notturno” (2020), Rosi decided to delve into hundreds of hours of footage of papal travels with the intention of providing through them a “map of the human condition,” he says.
How did you first intersect with Pope Francis?
My first...
- 9/8/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Wissam Charaf’s Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous will open the Venice sidebar.
Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio, Steve Buscemi’s The Listener and rising UK director Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean are among the world premieres in this year’s Giornate degli Autori (GdA) , the independent sidebar of the Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).
Lebanese director Wissam Charaf’s Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous will open the programme in competition. The film entwines multiple love stories against the backdrop of Lebanon’s near collapse.
UK director Fyzal Boulifa’s The Damned Don’t Cry is also playing in competition. The film is a...
Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio, Steve Buscemi’s The Listener and rising UK director Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean are among the world premieres in this year’s Giornate degli Autori (GdA) , the independent sidebar of the Venice Film Festival (August 31 - September 10).
Lebanese director Wissam Charaf’s Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous will open the programme in competition. The film entwines multiple love stories against the backdrop of Lebanon’s near collapse.
UK director Fyzal Boulifa’s The Damned Don’t Cry is also playing in competition. The film is a...
- 7/28/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
White NoiseCOMPETITIONWhite Noise (Noah Baumbach)Il Signore Delle Formiche (Gianni Amelio)The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)L’Immensita (Emanuele Crialese)Saint Omer (Alice Diop)Blonde (Andrew Dominik)Tár (Todd Field)Love Life (Koji Fukada)Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths (Alejandro G. Inarritu)Athena (Romain Gavras)Bones & All (Luca Guadagnino)The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)Beyond The Wall (Vahid Jalilvand)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)Chiara (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Monica (Andrea Pallaoro)No Bears (Jafar Panahi)All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)The Son (Florian Zeller)Our Ties (Roschdy Zem)Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionThe Hanging Sun (Francesco Carrozzini)When The Waves Are Gone (Lav Diaz)Living (Oliver Hermanus)Dead For A Dollar (Walter Hill)Call Of God (Kim Ki-duk)Dreamin’ Wild (Bill Pohlad)Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)Siccità (Paolo Virzi)Pearl (Ti West)Don’t Worry Darling...
- 7/28/2022
- MUBI
Abel Ferrara’s “Padre Pio,” starring Shia Labeouf as an Italian monk who gained rock-star status among the Catholic faithful, is among the titles set to launch from the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori.
The section, also known as Venice Days, will see Labeouf back on the big screen after the actor — best known for his roles in the Transformers and Indiana Jones franchises — took a break from acting in 2020 following allegations made by his ex-girlfriend Tahliah Debrett Barnett. The singer, known as FKA twigs, sued the actor for sexual battery, assault and emotional distress.
It is not yet known whether Labeouf will be on the Lido to promote “Padre Pio.”
In the latest film by Ferrara, who is known for cult classics such as “Bad Lieutenant,” Labeouf puts in what Giornate chief Gaia Furrer called an “extraordinary” performance as the “mystic and feverish” Capuchin monk...
The section, also known as Venice Days, will see Labeouf back on the big screen after the actor — best known for his roles in the Transformers and Indiana Jones franchises — took a break from acting in 2020 following allegations made by his ex-girlfriend Tahliah Debrett Barnett. The singer, known as FKA twigs, sued the actor for sexual battery, assault and emotional distress.
It is not yet known whether Labeouf will be on the Lido to promote “Padre Pio.”
In the latest film by Ferrara, who is known for cult classics such as “Bad Lieutenant,” Labeouf puts in what Giornate chief Gaia Furrer called an “extraordinary” performance as the “mystic and feverish” Capuchin monk...
- 7/28/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Hometowns forget us quickly when we leave them, even if some of the people left behind do not. Architecture, infrastructure and whole communities can change with scant warning or regard for our memories, or our bearings when we return. When you go home again — and you can, contrary to the popular adage — even what you remember has to be reintroduced to you; sidewalks once accustomed to your footprints have to be broken in again, like a new pair of shoes. For Felice, an unmoored Italian expat visiting Naples after a four-decade absence, it’s not what he recognizes of his home city that brings him comfort, but the new, younger life surging past the ghosts that kept him away so long. “Nostalgia” is thus a barbed title for Mario Martone’s gruffly lyrical urban portrait: Sometimes you need to go back, the film says, but it’s best to keep looking forward as you do.
- 5/24/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” and Gabriele Mainetti’s “Freaks Out” lead the pack at the David di Donatello Awards this year with 16 nominations each.
Here’s the complete list of nominees:
Picture
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino
“Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore
“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti
“Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario Martone
Director
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino
“Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore
“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti
“Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario Martone
Debut Director
“The Bad Poet,” Gianluca Jodice
“Maternal,” Maura Delpero
“Small Body,” Laura Samani
“Re Granchio” (The Legend of King Crab), Alessio Rigo De Righi, Matteo Zoppis
“Una Femmina” (The Code of Silence), Francesco Constabile
Producer
“A Chiara,” Jon Coplon, Paolo Carpignano, Ryan Zacarias, Jonas Carpignano (Stayblack Productions) — Rai Cinema
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Carlo Cresto...
Here’s the complete list of nominees:
Picture
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino
“Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore
“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti
“Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario Martone
Director
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino
“Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore
“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti
“Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario Martone
Debut Director
“The Bad Poet,” Gianluca Jodice
“Maternal,” Maura Delpero
“Small Body,” Laura Samani
“Re Granchio” (The Legend of King Crab), Alessio Rigo De Righi, Matteo Zoppis
“Una Femmina” (The Code of Silence), Francesco Constabile
Producer
“A Chiara,” Jon Coplon, Paolo Carpignano, Ryan Zacarias, Jonas Carpignano (Stayblack Productions) — Rai Cinema
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Carlo Cresto...
- 4/30/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
London-based Taskovski Films has acquired worldwide rights outside Italy to Jacopo Quadri’s “Ultimina,” which world premieres on Nov. 21 at Amsterdam’s IDFA documentary festival.
“Ultimina” is co-produced by Quadri’s Rome-based outfit Ubulibri with Rai Cinema and the deal takes in streaming rights on the Taskovski Films Vimeo VOD platform.
The documentary follows a 86-year-old woman living alone on a Tuscany farm, who looks back on a tough life in which men have always been the boss.
“The film is presented in a unique auteurist language and it touches on an important topic for us, which is women’s rights, speaking not only about the older days and generations in Italy, but the whole of European women rights over the last 70 years,” Taskovski Films CEO, Irena Taskovski, told Variety.
She added: “We were captivated by the character of Ultimina, a cheerful and joyous 80-year-old lady full of enthusiasm and energy,...
“Ultimina” is co-produced by Quadri’s Rome-based outfit Ubulibri with Rai Cinema and the deal takes in streaming rights on the Taskovski Films Vimeo VOD platform.
The documentary follows a 86-year-old woman living alone on a Tuscany farm, who looks back on a tough life in which men have always been the boss.
“The film is presented in a unique auteurist language and it touches on an important topic for us, which is women’s rights, speaking not only about the older days and generations in Italy, but the whole of European women rights over the last 70 years,” Taskovski Films CEO, Irena Taskovski, told Variety.
She added: “We were captivated by the character of Ultimina, a cheerful and joyous 80-year-old lady full of enthusiasm and energy,...
- 11/20/2020
- by Emiliano De Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
Ali is Gianfranco Rosi’s silent anchor in Notturno (Nocturne)
Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno (Nocturne), screening in the Main Slate of the New York Film Festival and the Journey section in London, comes nestled at the abyss. The chaotic, unstable border regions of Lebanon, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Syria are where this arresting important documentary was shot by Rosi during the past three years. He has had a longtime collaboration with editor Jacopo Quadri that began with his first documentary, Boatman (1993) and continued successfully on to Below Sea Level (2008), the frightening El Sicario, Room 164 (2010), his vigilant Sacro Gra (2013), and the masterful Fire At Sea (2016). Fabrizio Federico is the third member of the brilliant editing team for Notturno. Federico is also the editor for Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden (opening virtually at Film at Lincoln Center on October 16). Quadri has edited Laura Bispuri’s Sworn Virgin and <a...
Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno (Nocturne), screening in the Main Slate of the New York Film Festival and the Journey section in London, comes nestled at the abyss. The chaotic, unstable border regions of Lebanon, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Syria are where this arresting important documentary was shot by Rosi during the past three years. He has had a longtime collaboration with editor Jacopo Quadri that began with his first documentary, Boatman (1993) and continued successfully on to Below Sea Level (2008), the frightening El Sicario, Room 164 (2010), his vigilant Sacro Gra (2013), and the masterful Fire At Sea (2016). Fabrizio Federico is the third member of the brilliant editing team for Notturno. Federico is also the editor for Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden (opening virtually at Film at Lincoln Center on October 16). Quadri has edited Laura Bispuri’s Sworn Virgin and <a...
- 10/9/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Italian sales company True Colours is launching sales in Berlin on new pics by Italian auteurs Mario Martone (“Capri Revolution”) and Guido Lombardi (“La-bas: A Criminal Education”). Both pics have ties to the city of Naples and are produced by Indigo film, the shingle behind Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-winning “The Great Beauty.”
Martone (pictured) is a veteran of both stage and screen whose “Capri, Revolution” competed in Venice last year. He has now finished shooting “The Mayor of Rione Sanità” a contemporary adaptation of the eponymous play by late Neapolitan playwright Eduardo De Filippo that delves into the complexities of the Camorra, as Neapolitan organized crime is known. Shot in crime-riddled areas of the city, the film is performed by a mix of professional and non-professional actors. Martone’s regular editor Jacopo Quadri, who is also known for his work with Gianfranco Rosi and Bernardo Bertolucci, is currently in final stages on the project.
Martone (pictured) is a veteran of both stage and screen whose “Capri, Revolution” competed in Venice last year. He has now finished shooting “The Mayor of Rione Sanità” a contemporary adaptation of the eponymous play by late Neapolitan playwright Eduardo De Filippo that delves into the complexities of the Camorra, as Neapolitan organized crime is known. Shot in crime-riddled areas of the city, the film is performed by a mix of professional and non-professional actors. Martone’s regular editor Jacopo Quadri, who is also known for his work with Gianfranco Rosi and Bernardo Bertolucci, is currently in final stages on the project.
- 2/7/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Echo Chamber,” the final project the acclaimed director was worked on prior to his death last month, will be coming to the big screen.
Indigo Film, an Italian production company behind several Paolo Sorrentino films including “The Great Beauty” and “Youth,” is working to finish the film as a tribute to Bertolucci, one of Indigo Film’s founding partners Nicola Giuliano told TheWrap.
“The Echo Chamber” would’ve been Bertolucci’s first film as a director since 2012’s “Me and You.” No director has yet been selected to direct the picture in his stead. Bertolucci was wheelchair bound for much of the end of his life and died on Nov. 26 at age 77 after a short fight with cancer.
Also Read: Martin Scorsese Says Bernardo Bertolucci 'Inspired' and 'Opened Many Doors' for Him
Bertolucci wrote the first draft of the screenplay along with Ludovica Rampoldi, a writer for the Italian series “Gomorrah,...
Indigo Film, an Italian production company behind several Paolo Sorrentino films including “The Great Beauty” and “Youth,” is working to finish the film as a tribute to Bertolucci, one of Indigo Film’s founding partners Nicola Giuliano told TheWrap.
“The Echo Chamber” would’ve been Bertolucci’s first film as a director since 2012’s “Me and You.” No director has yet been selected to direct the picture in his stead. Bertolucci was wheelchair bound for much of the end of his life and died on Nov. 26 at age 77 after a short fight with cancer.
Also Read: Martin Scorsese Says Bernardo Bertolucci 'Inspired' and 'Opened Many Doors' for Him
Bertolucci wrote the first draft of the screenplay along with Ludovica Rampoldi, a writer for the Italian series “Gomorrah,...
- 12/6/2018
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
“The Echo Chamber,” the unfinished project that Italian great Bernardo Bertolucci was working on before his unexpected death last month, is to be brought to the big screen by Italy’s Indigo Film.
Nicola Giuliano, a founding partner of Indigo (“The Great Beauty”), confirmed that the chamber piece would be produced as a tribute to Bertolucci’s artistic vitality. The project would have marked Bertolucci’s first time back in the director’s chair since his 2012 coming-of-age drama, “Me and You.” Giuliano said that a new helmer for the film had not yet been chosen.
Bertolucci, who died on Nov. 26 in Rome after a short bout with cancer, had completed a first draft of the screenplay, which he co-wrote with two young Italian writers: Ludovica Rampoldi, whose credits include hit series “Gomorrah,” and Ilaria Bernardini, a novelist who has worked on the Italian adaptation of “In Treatment.”
Very little is...
Nicola Giuliano, a founding partner of Indigo (“The Great Beauty”), confirmed that the chamber piece would be produced as a tribute to Bertolucci’s artistic vitality. The project would have marked Bertolucci’s first time back in the director’s chair since his 2012 coming-of-age drama, “Me and You.” Giuliano said that a new helmer for the film had not yet been chosen.
Bertolucci, who died on Nov. 26 in Rome after a short bout with cancer, had completed a first draft of the screenplay, which he co-wrote with two young Italian writers: Ludovica Rampoldi, whose credits include hit series “Gomorrah,” and Ilaria Bernardini, a novelist who has worked on the Italian adaptation of “In Treatment.”
Very little is...
- 12/5/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
My Own Private HellThe titles for the 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam are being announced in anticipation of the event running January 24 - February 4, 2018. We will update the program as new films are revealed.SIGNATURESInsect (Jan Švankmajer)Asino (Anatoly Vasiliev)Lek and the Dogs (Andrew Kötting)The Bottomless Bag (Rustam Khamdamov)Mrs. Fang (Wang Bing)Readers (James Benning)The Wandering Soap Opera (Valeria Sarmiento, Raúl Ruiz)Lover for a Day (Philippe Garrel)Bright FUTUREThe Flower Shop (Ruben Desiere)Look Up (Fulvio Risoleo)My Friend the Polish Girl (Ewa Banaszkiewicz)Rabot (Christina Vandekerckhove)Respeto (Alberto Monteras II)The Return (Malene Choi Jensen)Windspiel (Peyman Ghalambor)All You Can Eat Buddha (Ian Lagarde)Azougue Nazareth (Tiago Melo)My Own Private Hell (Guto Parente)Ordinary Time (Susana Nobre)3/4 (Ilian Metev)Cocote (Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias)Drift (Helena Wittmann)The Wild Boys (Bertrand Mandico)Gutland (Govinda Van Maele)The Watchman (Alejandro Andújar...
- 12/15/2017
- MUBI
Luis Tosar thriller to open strand; Laurent Cantet to chair jury; programme includes Agnès Varda, Alice Rohrwacher shorts.Scroll down for full line-up
Dani de la Torre’s debut thriller Retribution, starring Luis Tosar, will open the 2015 Venice Days strand, which announced its line-up today.
The Venice Film Festival’s (September 2 - 12) independently run section will host 21 titles including 18 world premieres in its official selection.
The ten-title competition includes Matias Bize’s The Memory of Water, a drama about a young couple trying to rekindle their relationship after the death of their 4-year-old son, Vincenzo Marra’s fourth feature La Prima Luce, which stars Riccardo Scamarcio as an Italian lawyer tracking down his young son in Chile after an acrimonious divorce; Ascanio Celestini’s drama Long Live The Bride, starring Alba Rohrwacher, and Australian director Michael Rowe’s love drama Early Winter, featuring Suzanne Clement.
Geoffrey Rush, Miranda Otto, Sam Neill and Paul Schneider star in [link...
Dani de la Torre’s debut thriller Retribution, starring Luis Tosar, will open the 2015 Venice Days strand, which announced its line-up today.
The Venice Film Festival’s (September 2 - 12) independently run section will host 21 titles including 18 world premieres in its official selection.
The ten-title competition includes Matias Bize’s The Memory of Water, a drama about a young couple trying to rekindle their relationship after the death of their 4-year-old son, Vincenzo Marra’s fourth feature La Prima Luce, which stars Riccardo Scamarcio as an Italian lawyer tracking down his young son in Chile after an acrimonious divorce; Ascanio Celestini’s drama Long Live The Bride, starring Alba Rohrwacher, and Australian director Michael Rowe’s love drama Early Winter, featuring Suzanne Clement.
Geoffrey Rush, Miranda Otto, Sam Neill and Paul Schneider star in [link...
- 7/24/2015
- ScreenDaily
Iffr reveals Big Screen Awards nominees and the complete line-up for its Bright Future and Spectrum strands, including world premieres from the Us, China and the Netherlands.
Second Coming, starring Idris Elba and Nadine Marshall, has been named as one of 10 films up for the Big Screen Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) (Jan 21 - Feb 1).
The UK film, written and directed by Debbie Tucker Green, will be vying for a prize of €10,000 ($12,000) awarded specifically to support theatrical distribution of the film in The Netherlands
The 10 nominees are from Iffr’s Bright Future and Spectrum programmes with the winner chosen by a specially selected audience jury. Other titles include Lisandro Alonso’s Cannes Fipresci winner Jauja and Carlos Vermut’s San Sebastian winner Magical Girl.
The nominees are:
I Swear I’ll Leave This Town, Danial AragãoJauja, Lisandro AlonsoKey House Mirror, Michael NoerThe Lesson, Kristina Grozeva, Petar ValchanovMagical Girl, Carlos VermutA...
Second Coming, starring Idris Elba and Nadine Marshall, has been named as one of 10 films up for the Big Screen Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) (Jan 21 - Feb 1).
The UK film, written and directed by Debbie Tucker Green, will be vying for a prize of €10,000 ($12,000) awarded specifically to support theatrical distribution of the film in The Netherlands
The 10 nominees are from Iffr’s Bright Future and Spectrum programmes with the winner chosen by a specially selected audience jury. Other titles include Lisandro Alonso’s Cannes Fipresci winner Jauja and Carlos Vermut’s San Sebastian winner Magical Girl.
The nominees are:
I Swear I’ll Leave This Town, Danial AragãoJauja, Lisandro AlonsoKey House Mirror, Michael NoerThe Lesson, Kristina Grozeva, Petar ValchanovMagical Girl, Carlos VermutA...
- 1/7/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Academy Awards
On December 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that they’d whittled down the 134 eligible documentary submissions to a 15 film shortlist. The chosen films include:
Art and Craft – Purple Parrot Films
The Case Against 8 – Day in Court
Citizen Koch – Elsewhere Films
Citizenfour – Praxis Films
Finding Vivian Maier – Ravine Pictures
The Internet’s Own Boy – Luminant Media
Jodorowsky’s Dune – City Film
Keep on Keepin’ On – Absolute Clay Productions
The Kill Team – f/8 filmworks
Last Days in Vietnam – Moxie Firecracker Films
Life Itself – Kartemquin Films and Film Rites
The Overnighters – Mile End Films West
The Salt of the Earth – Decia Films
Tales of the Grim Sleeper – Lafayette Film
Virunga – Grain Media
EntreVues Belfort International Film Festival - France - November 22nd – November 30th
The 29th edition of the Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival jury members announced the 2014 Awards, giving Anna Roussillon’s Je suis le peuple,...
On December 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that they’d whittled down the 134 eligible documentary submissions to a 15 film shortlist. The chosen films include:
Art and Craft – Purple Parrot Films
The Case Against 8 – Day in Court
Citizen Koch – Elsewhere Films
Citizenfour – Praxis Films
Finding Vivian Maier – Ravine Pictures
The Internet’s Own Boy – Luminant Media
Jodorowsky’s Dune – City Film
Keep on Keepin’ On – Absolute Clay Productions
The Kill Team – f/8 filmworks
Last Days in Vietnam – Moxie Firecracker Films
Life Itself – Kartemquin Films and Film Rites
The Overnighters – Mile End Films West
The Salt of the Earth – Decia Films
Tales of the Grim Sleeper – Lafayette Film
Virunga – Grain Media
EntreVues Belfort International Film Festival - France - November 22nd – November 30th
The 29th edition of the Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival jury members announced the 2014 Awards, giving Anna Roussillon’s Je suis le peuple,...
- 12/31/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Similar to the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes, or the Visions and Vanguard programmes at Tiff, Venice has their own special sidebar for the more experimental folk on the cinema stage, called Orizzonti (Horizons). Last year saw some pretty heavy titles in this section, including Catherine Breillat's dream fable Sleeping Beauty, José Luis Guerín's local colour doc Guest, Hong Sang-soo's quadrant-structured Oki's Movie, and Patrick Keiller's continuation of his heady essay films with Robinson in Ruins. The full announcement for this year's edition will be dropping in the coming weeks, but today saw the unveiling of the jury, as well as their opening film, which will be Iranian filmmaker Amir Nedari's Cut. Apichatpong Weerasethakul, whose masterful and lethargic Syndromes and Century played in the 2006 main competition, had already been crowned jury prez some four weeks ago, but has been forced to drop out for unspecified reasons (let's hope...
- 7/13/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Celluloid Dreams/Bambu and Archipel 35
PALM SPRINGS -- Screenwriter-director Veronica Chen and cinematographer Sabine Lancelin achieve a bracingly visceral cinematic language in "Agua", the stripped-down tale of two swimmers at different points in their careers. With spare use of dialogue, Chen's second feature (after 2001's "Smokers Only") homes in on matters of identity, purpose and will with striking originality. Her approach will be too oblique for some, but those ready to go with "Agua's" flow will find an affecting drama. The Argentine-French co-production recently received the Special Jury Prize in the Palm Springs International Film Festival's New Voices/New Visions competition.
A decade after he was disgraced in a doping scandal, champion swimmer Goyo (Rafael Ferro), a tense, self-contained man in his 30s, returns to the Argentine city of Santa Fe to redeem his good name in the Open Waters Marathon, a daunting river challenge. He becomes a coach to up-and-comer Chino (Nicolas Mateo), a more measured, less instinctual athlete who sees competitive swimming as a ticket out of poverty for himself and his pregnant girlfriend, Luisa Jimena Anganuzzi). The ambivalence of the young couple's relationship contrasts with Goyo's failed attempts to reconcile with his ex-wife, Maria (Gloria Carra), and the daughter who doesn't know he exists. Goyo is so cut off, he all but ignores the gentle but obvious advances of Ana (Leonora Balcarce), his daughter's swimming teacher; when they do get together, he's not capable of real contact. But with startling selflessness Goyo does ultimately break through his protective carapace.
The script by Chen and Pablo Lago offers no easy resolution to the existential dilemmas it presents. In what could have been banal symbolism, water becomes a character in its own right, life-giving and destructive. Sensuous photography underscores the precision, propulsion, suspension and grace of the swimmer's body, with essential contributions from editors Jacopo Quadri and Cesar D'Angiolillo. The effective, understated performances are in service to this very physical storytelling. Besides its compelling emotional twist, the climactic river sequence is as stunning as the scenes of a windswept desert landscape that open the film.
PALM SPRINGS -- Screenwriter-director Veronica Chen and cinematographer Sabine Lancelin achieve a bracingly visceral cinematic language in "Agua", the stripped-down tale of two swimmers at different points in their careers. With spare use of dialogue, Chen's second feature (after 2001's "Smokers Only") homes in on matters of identity, purpose and will with striking originality. Her approach will be too oblique for some, but those ready to go with "Agua's" flow will find an affecting drama. The Argentine-French co-production recently received the Special Jury Prize in the Palm Springs International Film Festival's New Voices/New Visions competition.
A decade after he was disgraced in a doping scandal, champion swimmer Goyo (Rafael Ferro), a tense, self-contained man in his 30s, returns to the Argentine city of Santa Fe to redeem his good name in the Open Waters Marathon, a daunting river challenge. He becomes a coach to up-and-comer Chino (Nicolas Mateo), a more measured, less instinctual athlete who sees competitive swimming as a ticket out of poverty for himself and his pregnant girlfriend, Luisa Jimena Anganuzzi). The ambivalence of the young couple's relationship contrasts with Goyo's failed attempts to reconcile with his ex-wife, Maria (Gloria Carra), and the daughter who doesn't know he exists. Goyo is so cut off, he all but ignores the gentle but obvious advances of Ana (Leonora Balcarce), his daughter's swimming teacher; when they do get together, he's not capable of real contact. But with startling selflessness Goyo does ultimately break through his protective carapace.
The script by Chen and Pablo Lago offers no easy resolution to the existential dilemmas it presents. In what could have been banal symbolism, water becomes a character in its own right, life-giving and destructive. Sensuous photography underscores the precision, propulsion, suspension and grace of the swimmer's body, with essential contributions from editors Jacopo Quadri and Cesar D'Angiolillo. The effective, understated performances are in service to this very physical storytelling. Besides its compelling emotional twist, the climactic river sequence is as stunning as the scenes of a windswept desert landscape that open the film.
While it doesn't quite reach the artistic heights of his best work, "Besieged" marks a return to the kind of intimate, fundamental filmmaking that Bernardo Bertolucci had abandoned for his more elaborate and not always successful epics.
The payoff is an intriguing if somewhat plot-deprived, lyrical pas de deux between a reclusive English pianist and a female African refugee who meet in Italy after crossing very different paths.
Accomplished performances by leads David Thewlis and Thandie Newton, combined with its will-they-or-won't-they percolating tease, could help this Fine Line Features release find an appreciative art house audience.
Collaborating on the screenplay with his wife, filmmaker Clare Peploe -- which was based on the James Lasdun short story, "The Siege" -- Bertolucci has created a vivid emotional landscape in a daunting Roman villa where the eccentric Mr. Kinsky (Thewlis) takes refuge behind his grand piano.
Enter Shandurai, a young woman who fled her politically oppressive African homeland to study medicine at night school while earning room and board by cleaning Mr. Kinsky's dusty, inherited home.
Gradually, he is smitten by the smart, beguiling Shandurai and one day blurts out his feelings for her. Not taking the revelation too well, she informs him that if he truly cares for her, he'll help free her incarcerated husband.
Reluctantly deciding to stay on despite the potentially awkward conditions, Shandurai soon finds herself becoming attracted to her rather odd employer and his haunting musical compositions. But as those feelings begin to crystallize, Mr. Kinsky's villa is steadily being depleted of its antique heirlooms as he quietly makes some considerable sacrifices to prove his unconditional love for her.
In some ways reminiscent of Bertolucci's notorious "Last Tango in Paris" minus the explicit carnal element, "Besieged" again finds a man and a woman alone together (and apart) in an imposing, ultimately empty house. Here, however, they're symbolically kept at a distance by a dramatic winding staircase that neatly reflects their own labyrinthian emotional states.
The film works best when it stays within the boundaries of those compelling interiors. Less successful are a series of flashbacks and/or dream sequences set in Shandurai's homeland accompanied by the constant presence of a shaman-like, wizened African storyteller. While undeniably exotic, the scenes ultimately distract from rather than adding anything significant to the proceedings.
Certainly little additional set dressing is required when you have two performances as delicately and intricately rendered as those of Newton and Thewlis, who excel at conveying intellectually contained vulnerability. They manage to keep things involving despite the occasional dips in dramatic tension.
Also putting in virtuoso performances are cinematographer Fabio Cianchetti, and frequent Bertolucci collaborators, production designer Gianni Silvestri and costume designer Metka Kosak, whose visual contributions are important characters in their own right.
Composer Jacopo Quadri does a nimble job reconciling the seemingly opposing strains of classical piano and African rhythms.
BESIEGED
Fine Line Features
A Fiction Films & Navert Film Production in association with Mediaset
Director:Bernardo Bertolucci
Screenwriters:Bernardo Bertolucci, Clare Peploe
Based on a story by:James Lasdun
Producer:Massimo Cortesi
Director of photography:Fabio Cianchetti
Production designer:Gianni Silvestri
Editor:Jacopo Quadri
Costume designer:Metka Kosak
Music:Alessio Vlad
Color/stereo
Cast:
Shandurai:Thandie Newton
Mr. Kinsky:David Thewlis
Agostino:Claudio Santamaria
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
The payoff is an intriguing if somewhat plot-deprived, lyrical pas de deux between a reclusive English pianist and a female African refugee who meet in Italy after crossing very different paths.
Accomplished performances by leads David Thewlis and Thandie Newton, combined with its will-they-or-won't-they percolating tease, could help this Fine Line Features release find an appreciative art house audience.
Collaborating on the screenplay with his wife, filmmaker Clare Peploe -- which was based on the James Lasdun short story, "The Siege" -- Bertolucci has created a vivid emotional landscape in a daunting Roman villa where the eccentric Mr. Kinsky (Thewlis) takes refuge behind his grand piano.
Enter Shandurai, a young woman who fled her politically oppressive African homeland to study medicine at night school while earning room and board by cleaning Mr. Kinsky's dusty, inherited home.
Gradually, he is smitten by the smart, beguiling Shandurai and one day blurts out his feelings for her. Not taking the revelation too well, she informs him that if he truly cares for her, he'll help free her incarcerated husband.
Reluctantly deciding to stay on despite the potentially awkward conditions, Shandurai soon finds herself becoming attracted to her rather odd employer and his haunting musical compositions. But as those feelings begin to crystallize, Mr. Kinsky's villa is steadily being depleted of its antique heirlooms as he quietly makes some considerable sacrifices to prove his unconditional love for her.
In some ways reminiscent of Bertolucci's notorious "Last Tango in Paris" minus the explicit carnal element, "Besieged" again finds a man and a woman alone together (and apart) in an imposing, ultimately empty house. Here, however, they're symbolically kept at a distance by a dramatic winding staircase that neatly reflects their own labyrinthian emotional states.
The film works best when it stays within the boundaries of those compelling interiors. Less successful are a series of flashbacks and/or dream sequences set in Shandurai's homeland accompanied by the constant presence of a shaman-like, wizened African storyteller. While undeniably exotic, the scenes ultimately distract from rather than adding anything significant to the proceedings.
Certainly little additional set dressing is required when you have two performances as delicately and intricately rendered as those of Newton and Thewlis, who excel at conveying intellectually contained vulnerability. They manage to keep things involving despite the occasional dips in dramatic tension.
Also putting in virtuoso performances are cinematographer Fabio Cianchetti, and frequent Bertolucci collaborators, production designer Gianni Silvestri and costume designer Metka Kosak, whose visual contributions are important characters in their own right.
Composer Jacopo Quadri does a nimble job reconciling the seemingly opposing strains of classical piano and African rhythms.
BESIEGED
Fine Line Features
A Fiction Films & Navert Film Production in association with Mediaset
Director:Bernardo Bertolucci
Screenwriters:Bernardo Bertolucci, Clare Peploe
Based on a story by:James Lasdun
Producer:Massimo Cortesi
Director of photography:Fabio Cianchetti
Production designer:Gianni Silvestri
Editor:Jacopo Quadri
Costume designer:Metka Kosak
Music:Alessio Vlad
Color/stereo
Cast:
Shandurai:Thandie Newton
Mr. Kinsky:David Thewlis
Agostino:Claudio Santamaria
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 5/20/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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