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Challengers

Smart, seductive and bristling with sexual tension, this is Luca Guadagnino’s most purely pleasurable film to date. As dynamic as the many tennis matches it depicts, the love-triangle drama pits the rivalry on the court of two former BFFs against their competing desire for a self-possessed woman whose hunger to win is not diminished by an injury that cuts short her own career. It helps that the chemistry of stars Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist is off the charts. — David Rooney

La Chimera

Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s invigoratingly strange and lyrical film revolves around a fascinating pocket community: the tombaroli, illegal grave-robbers who dig up Etruscan relics and make their money selling those antiquities to fences, who in turn sell them to museums and collectors for vastly larger sums. Josh O’Connor is superb in the central role of a haunted Englishman whom the tombaroli regard as a kind of mystic,...

Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired international rights of Alireza Khatami’s “The Things You Kill.” The film is in post-production.

Khatami is already known for Cannes 2023 Un Certain Regard title “Terrestrial Verses” and “Oblivion Verses,” which was awarded best screenplay in Venice Horizons competition 2017 and won the Fipresci Prize.

Le Pacte will release “The Things You Kill” in France.

In the film, Ali, a university professor, is haunted by the suspicious death of his ailing mother, and coerces his enigmatic gardener to execute a cold-blooded act of vengeance. As long-buried family secrets resurface, the police tighten their noose, and doubts begin eroding his conscience, Ali has no choice but to look into the abyss of his own soul.

The star-studded Turkish cast includes Ekin Koç (“Burning Days”), Erkan Kolçakköstendil, Hazar Ergüçlü (“The Wild Pear Tree”) and Ercan Kesal (“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia”).

Khatami said: “‘The Things...

The first vignette in the Tehran-set Terrestrial Verses observes a man (Bahram Ark) in a hospital trying to register the name of his newborn child. Another shows a rideshare driver, Sadaf (Sadaf Asgari), trying to reclaim her impounded car. The film, written and directed by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami, is an assemblage of nine such sequences with no overarching plot or recurring characters. They are all, instead, united by a purposefully minimalist style as they traverse a broader subject matter: Each one unfolds in a lengthy static shot centered on an Iranian citizen arguing with an off-screen authority figure.

The level of conflict differs between each vignette, with some people in a better position to argue than others. But in every scenario, the focal characters are told that their desires are unreasonable or that their behaviors are aberrant, sometimes both. The man in the hospital, for one, submits a name for his child,...

Iran continues to be a site of unrest among dissident filmmakers protesting leadership and government under the country’s current president, Ebrahim Raisi. In 2022, Iranian filmmakers such as Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof, and Mostafa Al-Ahmad were arrested over their responses to Iran’s censorship of events including a building collapse that killed at least 41, and later the death of Mahsa Amini, killed by Islamic police for allegedly not wearing her hijab.

The only Iranian film to premiere at Cannes 2023, the omnibus satire “Terrestrial Verses” also saw one of its directors, Ali Asgari, banned from leaving his country. You can understand why after you see this probing film about life under the eye of a controlling government.

IndieWire understands the travel ban on Asgari has since been lifted, though freedom of expression remains an issue in Iran for filmmakers querying the status quo. “Terrestrial Verses,” the film Asgari co-directed with Alireza Khatami,...

Following the October parliamentary election that saw the defeat of the right-wing Law and Justice party and appointment of leader of the opposition party Donald Tusk as prime minister, Polish filmmakers are cautiously readying for change.

“So far, our cinema authorities have not changed. It remains to be seen whether they will change their approach to funding more topical or controversial projects. Recent years have been very difficult in this regard,” says acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland.

Holland’s latest film, refugee drama “Green Border,” had been attacked by the right-wing government last year. Her next film, “Franz,” about Franz Kafka, is a Czech-German-Polish co-production to be sold at EFM by Films Boutique.

“We know everything and nothing about Kafka. There are dozens of detailed biographies and the reasons for his growing importance remain a mystery. I am trying to put this film together like a scattered jigsaw puzzle,” she adds.

Resistance can have many shapes and forms, but so does control and oppression. Oftentimes we go about our daily lives and do not notice the subtle ways with which people are being observed. Even though some of us may live in a culture supporting democratic values, there are aspects of our lives that are observed and closely controlled, and those may not be necessarily areas where we think this kind of control is needed. Standing in front of an official, trying to move into a different country (or perhaps just city) or talking to a perhaps future boss about your possible prospects in a position at his/her company could be such an episode where control and even observation become transparent. In a culture such as Iran, these two aspects are evidently omnipresent, but so are instances of resistance, which is a theme directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami explore...

“Auto-bio Pamphlet,” a Marathi-language film that is both a love story and a rage against class divisions, will open the 18th edition of the Jogja-netpac Asian Film Festival later this month. The festival will close with the world premiere of spy thriller “13 Bombs in Jakarta.”

Jaff run Nov. 25 – Dec. 2 and include 205 films from 25 countries and territories across Asia-Pacific.

Directed by Angga Dwimas Sasongko, “13 Bombs in Jakarta” (aka “13 Bom di Jakarta”) tells of a group of terrorists who launch their attack with the threat of bombs scattered throughout the Indonesian capital. Sasongko is also the founder of local studio Visenema, which has four films at the festival.

“As the opening film for this year’s edition, we choose something light-hearted, which is ‘Autobio Pamphlet’ from India. Its coming-of-age story will be perfect to set the festival’s spirited and entertaining mood,” said Alexander Matius, Jaff program director. The film had...

Festival has programmed 75 films from 36 countries.

The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the full line-up for its 20th edition, which runs from November 24-December 2.

The festival is opening with Richard Linklater’s action comedy Hit Man, starring Glen Powell, and is screening 75 films in total from 36 countries.

Marrakech’s official competition, which comprises first and second feature films, includes Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s Cannes Competition title Banel & Adama, Lina Soualem’s Venice Giornate degli Autori documentary Bye Bye Tiberias and Moroccan director Kamal Lazraq’s feature debut Hounds, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

Scroll down for full line-up

Johnny Barrington,...

Richard Linklater’s action comedy “Hit Man” is set to open the Marrakech International Film Festival, which has announced its lineup of more than 70 films mixing known titles and fresh fare.

The fest is forging ahead with its 20th edition, which will run Nov. 24- Dec.2 in the ancient Moroccan city despite the Israel-Hamas conflict that has caused cancellations of several other fests in the region, as well as the earthquake that hit the country in September.

“Hit Man,” for which organizers declined to specify whether talent will attend, will screen as part of Marrakech’s red carpet gala screenings. Italian director Matteo Garrone is expected to make the trek for the gala of his Venice prizewinning immigration drama “Io Capitano” and Michel Franco will be coming to present another Venice prizewinner, “Memory,” starring Jessica Chastain, who is presiding over the fest’s main jury.

Also expected on hand for...

The 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival has announced its selection, opening with Richard Linklater’s comedy Hit Man.

The event, running from November 24 to December 24, will unfold two months after the devastating earthquake in the nearby Atlas Mountains in September, which killed more than 2,000 people.

The management team has decided to push on with the event to support Marrakech, which suffered very little damage and relies heavily on tourism for its livelihood.

Hit Man will play as part of the festival’s six picture red carpet Gala selection which also includes Matteo Garrone’s Italian Oscar entry Me Captain and Michel Franco’s Memory.

Previously announced high-profile guests due to attend this year include Martin Scorsese, who will act as a mentor to emerging filmmakers attending the industry-focused Atlas Workshops, and Jessica Chastain as president of the jury.

She will be joined by Iranian actress and director Zar Amir,...

Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari‘s “Terrestrial Verses,” the sole Iranian film which premiered in Cannes’ official selection, has been acquired by KimStim for North American distribution. The movie, represented in international markets by Films Boutique, will soon play at U.S. festivals, including Chicago, Mill Valley and AFI Fest.

A satire of the Iranian regime, “Terrestrial Verses” follows everyday people from all walks of life as they navigate the cultural, religious and institutional constraints imposed on them by various social authorities, from school teachers to bureaucrats.

“We were struck by the film’s intelligence, thought-provoking ideas and elegant commentary on the experiences of ordinary citizens in Iran,” said Ian Stimmler, KimStim’s co-president. “The film will surely provoke spirited conversations with its dark sense of humor and its depiction of the cultural and religious constraints placed on everyday people there, especially women,” Stimmler continued.

Asgari, who attended the Cannes...

Iranian filmmaker Ali Asgari, whose latest film “Terrestrial Verses” (co-directed by Alireza Khatami) world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, has been banned by the Iranian authorities from leaving the country and directing movies until further notice.

The sole Iranian movie to play in Cannes Official Selection this year, “Terrestrial Verses” earned a warm critical response at the festival, where it played in Un Certain Regard, and was sold by Films Boutique around the world. But when Asgari returned to Iran after the premiere, he had his passport confiscated by the local authorities to prevent him from attending further international festivals. In an attempt to silence him, the Iranian regime also threatened to send him to prison as has happened to other outspoken Iranian directors. Just a couple weeks ago, Saeed Roustaee and his producer were sentenced to six months to prison for showing their film “Leila’s Brothers” at last...

Alireza Khatami, the Iranian director who co-helmed “Terrestrial Verses” — which denounced the country’s authority and was the only film from Iran at Cannes this year — is directing “Things That You Kill,” a political drama about the patriarchy set in Turkey and featuring a starry cast.

Shooting recently wrapped in Turkey on Khatami’s new film, which stars Turkish A-listers Ekin Koç (“Burning Days”), Erkan Kolçakköstendil, Hazar Ergüçlü (“The Protector”) and Ercan Kesal.

The Canada-based Khatami’s first feature, “Oblivion Verses,” won the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti award for best screenplay in 2017. “Terrestrial Verses,” which Khatami co-directed with Tehran-based Ali Asgari, recently premiered in Un Certain Regard in Cannes. Shot in Tehran after the Mahsa Amini movement started, “Verses” consists of nine tableaus depicting the increasingly absurd and tragic plight that Iranians face in their everyday life with a scathingly ironic deadpan tone.

Khatami describes “Things That You Kill...

The 57th edition of Karlovy Vary International film festival has a number of focuses and one special titled “Another Birth. Iranian Cinema Here and Now”, but Behrooz Karamizade's debut feature “Empty Nets” was selected to compete for The Crystal Globe. This muliti-layered drama is set on the northern Caspian Sea coast, and stars the brilliant Sadaf Asgai as Narges (recently seen in Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami's Un Certain Regard contender “Terrestrial Verses”) and the charismatic Hamid Reza-Abbasi as Amir.

Karamizade's script revolves around a young man from a working class family whose wish to propose to his big love becomes sabotaged by a number of impediments. Narges comes from a wealthy, influential family with high expectations of a future son-in-law. He should be successfull, respected and cultured, none of which the simple and good-hearted Amir is. At the beginning, the young couple's encounters are unburdened by class differences,...

This year's edition of Cannes film festival offered a number of high quality titles from Asia, both in competiton(s) and side bar programmes. One of the most awaited films was Takeshi Kitano's “Kubi” screened in Premiere section, in director's presence. Back to the samurai genre, 20 years after the critically acclaimed “Zatoichi” and with a period piece based on his own historic novel published in 2019, Kitano struggled to bring his characters close to the audience, but stayed faithful to the title by making many heads roll. “Kubi” (which was also the title of his novel) means “neck”, a beloved target of the samurai sword. This is allegedly the last film by “Beat”, if we take his statement before the festival kicked off seriously.

A year after his drama “Broker” brought Palme D'Or for Best Actor to Song Kang-ho, and five after he was awarded Palme D'Or for “Shoplifters”, Hirokazu Koreeda...

A locked-off camera can convey many things — watchfulness, stealthiness, clinical remove or elegant restraint — but seldom is it as evocatively accusatory as in Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari’s “Terrestrial Verses.” Here, its use over a series of stationary vignettes, bookended by dramatic images of urban collapse, becomes an increasingly inspired choice even as the themes start to repeat and the resonances with the ongoing Women Life Freedom movement in Iran become more apparent. Putting the viewer in the uncomfortable position of interviewer/interrogator in nine encounters between everyday Iranians and some manner of authority figure, this is punchy first-person filmmaking, from the point of view of the last person you want to be.

Some of the stories are mildly comedic in tone, especially early on. In the first of cinematographer Adib Sobhani’s crisp, boxed-in 4:3 compositions, we are introduced to a father (Bahram Ark) being chastised for not...

Text written on June 6, 2023 by Jean-Marc Thérouanne

Asia in the juries :

Franco-Afghan writer and director Atiq Rahimi was the only Asian member of the prestigious jury at the 76th Cannes Film Festival

Fench-Cambodian director Davy Chou was the only Asia-related member of the Un Certain Regard jury

Davy Chou

Shlomi Elkabetz was the only member of the short film jury and the Cinef with a connection to geographical Asia.

Asia in the selections:

Asia, from the Near to the Far East, was present with 31 features and 13 shorts in all the official and parallel sections of the 76th Cannes Film Festival.

In compétition :

– China: Youth (Spring) by Wang Bing

– Japan: Monster by Kore-eda Hirokazu,

Kim Dong-ho, Hirokazu Koreeda

– Turkey: About Dry Grasses by Nuri Bilge Ceylan,

and The Pot-au-feu by French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung and Wim Wenders' Perfect Days, set in Japan.

Out of compétition :

– Korea: Cobweb by Kim Jee-won,...

Iranian filmmaking’s reliance on formal restrictions and secrecy are given new variations in Terrestrial Verses, co-directed by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami, who’ve both enjoyed previous festival success with their solo features. Chiming indirectly with the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests last year––the largest civil unrest in Iran for a generation––Asgari and Khatami take a panoramic view of its urban citizenry through nine vignettes, observing confrontations with state brass behaving at their most paranoid and arbitrary.

Terrestrial Verses immediately impresses with its sense of focus and minimalism, yet struggles to generate a more complex thesis as it develops, falling into repetition and overstatement. Abbas Kiarostami and Mania Akbari’s Ten (a film now mired in retrospective accusations over the former’s alleged misconduct) is a notable precursor to its method, consigning ten sequences to its car interior and letting insights emerge organically, at least when we were...

Persian helmers Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami have teamed again to make a movie about what they call “one step forward”. Built in the form of 12 short, completely separated stories that bare the names of their main protagonists, “Terrestrial Verses” shows different situations of oppression, some of them completely absurd and some uncomfortable, with most of them handled with a great dose of deadpan humor.

At the international premiere of their movie in the Uncertain Regard competition program of the festival, Alireza Kathami addressed the packed Debussy theatre with words about the current situation in Iran.

Asian Movie Pulse met the directors to ask them about their idea to make a film out of twelve tableaux, about the inspiration found in old Persian form of poetry, about the importance of humor to battle one's rights and taking that actual one step forward.

Terrestrial Verses is screening at Cannes Official poster...

A woman with a lost dog, a small girl performing a TikTok dance in a chador, and a worn-out filmmaker trying to get his movie project off the ground are just three of the characters populating the omnibus of single-take vignettes in writer-directors Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari’s “Terrestrial Verses.” Combined, these nine stories give off a powerful cumulative effect as we see the petty bureaucracies and paper-pushing quotidian blocks to working-class life unfold and whittle these people down. Cultural, religious, and institutional constraints wear down everyday citizens in Tehran in stories that may lack a beginning, middle, or end but still arrive at a well-drawn if eerie and ambiguous conclusion that would feel dystopic if the events weren’t so ordinary.

The sole Iranian entry in the 2023 Cannes Official Selection, “Terrestrial Verses” opens with a panoramic, widescreen shot of the Tehran cityscape. At first gently and then overwhelmingly,...

Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari‘s “Terrestrial Verses,” the sole Iranian film premiering in Cannes’ Official Selection, has been acquired for distribution in key European territories.

Represented by Films Boutique, “Terrestrial Verses” has been acquired for France (Arp Selection), Benelux (September Films) and Germany/Austria (Neue Visionen). All three banners are leading distributors in their respective territories. Those deals were closed following the film’s well-received world premiere.

“Terrestrial Verses” marks the first collaboration between Khatami and Asgari, who are both acclaimed directors.

Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.

The film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad. When describing the film, Gabor Greiner,...

In “Terrestrial Verses,” the first collaboration between co-directors Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari that was met with applause throughout the entirety of its premiere screening in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, observes life under Iranian theocracy through the mundane experiences of 12 ordinary people across various ages that are bookended by a prologue and epilogue. As we watch them navigate complex situations related to social repression, the swift 77-minute runtime never misses a beat.

Continue reading ‘Terrestrial Verses’ Review: Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami’s Collection of Vignettes Is A Thoughtful Examination Of Injustices Faced In Iran [Cannes] at The Playlist.

A daunting task faces the protagonists in Terrestrial Verses (Ayeh haye zamini): Each of them is trying to reason with a government bureaucrat or other self-important authority figure. They’re all residents of Tehran, and there’s something specific to Iran in the oppressive regulations and catch-22s that hinder them, but there’s universal resonance, too, in the escalating lunacy and bleak implications.

In 10 of the feature’s 11 subtly interlocking segments, a single character faces an offscreen interlocutor. The fixed camera holds each one in an unwavering embrace as they try to make sense of arbitrary rules and demands. Inspired by the intricate rhymes of ghazal, a classic form of Persian poetry, writer-directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami have constructed a thoroughly modern work of bracing concision, elegance and blistering deadpan humor, one that pulses with sorrow and outrage over the absurdity of authoritarian dictates that aim to crush souls.

This year at Cannes Iran is being repped by just one film, the timely underground drama “Terrestrial Verses,” co-directed by Canada-based Alireza Khatami and Iran-based Ali Asgari, premiering in Un Certain Regard. Shot after the Mahsa Amini movement started, “Verses” consists of 12 tableaus depicting the increasingly absurd and tragic plight that Iranians face in their everyday life with a scathingly ironic deadpan tone.

Variety spoke to the directors about how they teamed up and decided to capture the zeitgeist in turbulent Tehran.

How did the project germinate?

Alireza Khatami

Well, I was in Iran trying to shoot a film and Ali was by my side every day helping me. And then my film was shut down. In Iran you have to get shooting permission in order to shoot, and I was shut down. And at night we were going on this long walk through the alleys and reading classic Iranian poetry.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the momentous burst of rebellion against the Iranian regime prompted by the death of Mahsa Amini are reverberating profoundly at the Cannes Film Festival.

At the festival’s opening ceremony on Tuesday night, legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve paid tribute to the war’s victims by reciting a poem from Ukrainian poet Lessia Oukraïnka, solemnly declaring: “I no longer have either happiness or freedom, only one hope remains to me: to return one day to my beautiful Ukraine.” One year ago, Cannes got off to an emotional start with remarks from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On the industry side, official Russian delegations and companies with ties to the government are again banned from participating in the Cannes Marché du Film. And Iran’s Farabi Film Foundation, the top national film entity which has been attending the market for years, has not been allowed to book a stand,...

Films Boutique, the Berlin-based company behind “Pacifiction” and “The Burdened,” has come on board three international movies slated for the Cannes Film Festival. These include a pair of films set for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, “Terrestrial Verses” and “The Buriti Flower,” as well as “Tiger Stripes” which will bow at Critics’ Week.

“Terrestrial Verses,” directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, is the sole Iranian film premiering in the Official Selection. The movie marks the first collaboration between these two critically acclaimed directors.

Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.

While the plot remains under wrap, the film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad.

Stars are getting ready to walk the Croisette.

On Thursday, the Cannes Film Festival announced its full 2023 lineup, including some heavy hitters like Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City”.

Read More: Scorsese’s Long-Awaited ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’ To Premiere At Cannes In May

The festival had been teasing Scorsese’s film, which stars Leonard DiCaprio, for weeks ahead of the official announcement.

“Killers” will be playing out of competition, alongside the hotly anticipated sequel “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”, as well as Sam Levinson’s TV show with The Weeknd “The Idol”, and the Johnny Depp-starring “Jeanne du Barry”, which will open the festival.

“Asteroid City”, which features an all-star cast including Jason Schwartzman, Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton, will be vying for the Palme D’Or in competition.

Other films in competition...

Discover the list of feature films selected in Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Midnight Screenings, Cannes Premiere and Special Screenings.

In Competition

Jeanne Du Barry by MAÏWENN – Opening Film Out of Competition

Club Zero by Jessica Hausner

The Zone Of Interest by Jonathan Glazer

Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismaki

Les Filles D’Olfa by Kaouther Ben Hania

(Four Daughters)

Asteroid City by Wes Anderson

Anatomie D’Une Chute by Justine Triet

Monster by Kore-eda Hirokazu

Il Sol Dell’ Avvenire by Nanni Moretti

L’ÉTÉ Dernier by Catherine Breillat

Kuru Otlar Ustune by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

(About Dry Grasses)

LA Chimera by Alice Rohrwacher

LA Passion De Dodin Bouffant by Tran Anh Hun

Rapito by Marco Bellocchio

May December by Todd Haynes

Jeunesse by Wang Bing

The Old Oak by Ken Loach

Banel E Adama by Ramata-Toulaye Sy | 1st film

Perfect Days by Wim Wenders

Firebrand by Karim AÏNOUZ

Un...

Get your tux out of the mothballs and brush up on your French phrasebook: After feverish speculation about what might premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the lineup has finally been announced.

Thierry Frémaux’s annual press conference, which you can watch below, has wrapped and we now know what will debut on the Croisette when Cannes takes place May 16-27. We already knew there’d be a spot for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” that Harrison Ford and James Mangold would be bringing fedora couture with “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (filling this year’s blockbuster spot reserved by “Top Gun: Maverick” last year), and that, controversially, the Johnny Depp-starring film “Jeanne du Barry” by Maïwenn would open the festival.

Among the titles now confirmed to appear at Cannes are Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” Todd Haynes’ “May/December,...

It’s Christmas morning for cinephiles. As per tradition, the Cannes Film Festival unveiled its 2023 selections in a press conference early this morning––at least for those of us stateside. Now in its 76th edition, this year’s event will take place May 16-27.

With Killers of the Flower Moon and Indiana Jones’ fifth and supposedly final outing previously confirmed, both out of competition, new highlights in competition include Todd Haynes‘ May December, Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, Alice Rohrwacher’s La chimera, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses, and Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves. Additional selections include Víctor Erice’s long-awaiting return to filmmaking Cerrar los ojos, Steve McQueen’s documentary Occupied City, Takeshi Kitano’s Kubi, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Pictures of Ghosts, plus two films from both Wang Bing and Wim Wenders.

While more announcements will be made in the coming weeks, and there...

The anticipation is running high at the Cannes Film Festival’s packed annual press conference on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where festival chief Thierry Fremaux is expected to unveil the bulk of the Official Selection for the 76th edition.

The festival has been teasing cinephiles with splashy announcements about Martin Scorsese returning to the Croisette with “Killers of the Flower Moon,” 38 years after winning best director with “After Hour,” as well as Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and Pedro Almodóvar’s short film, “Strange Way of Life.”

But Fremaux, who is leading the presser with the festival’s new president Iris Knobloch, is expected to have saved a few high-profile surprises, including Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” starring an ensemble cast that includes Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton; Todd Haynes’ “May December” with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore; Karim Aïnouz’s Henry VIII...

The selection includes films by Wes Anderson, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Wim Wenders, Ken Loach, Todd Haynes and Steve McQueen.

The Official Selection of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival has been announced.

Scroll down for the line-up

The selection includes films by Wes Anderson, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Wim Wenders, Ken Loach, Todd Haynes and Steve McQueen.

As previously announced, ’s Jeanne du Barry, starring the director opposite Johnny Depp, will open the festival on May 16.

The festival’s longtime director Thierry Frémaux revealed the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Normandie theatre in Paris today alongside incoming festival president Iris Knobloch.

The press conference kicked off in central Paris at 11.10am local time (10.10am BST).

The Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27) is announcing the line-up for its 76th edition.

The festival’s longtime director Thierry Frémaux is revealing the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Normandie theatre in Paris alongside incoming festival president Iris Knobloch.

Two-time Palme d’Or-winning Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund will preside over the jury that will vote on the festival’s top prizes in the international competition.

As previously announced, Maiwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, starring the director opposite Johnny Depp, will open the...

Further funding awarded to new Bruno Dumont feature and ‘Niko’ franchise.

Joshua Oppenheimer’s upcoming musical The End starring Tilda Swinton is one of 23 features to receive a share of €5.5m ($6.1m) in the latest round of Eurimages co-production support funding.

The film, a co-production between Denmark, Germany and Ireland, receives €480,000 – the largest of the 23 awards in this selection.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

The End stars George MacKay and Stephen Graham alongside Swinton in the musical about the last human family. Neon has acquired North America rights.

The Empire, the latest film from French director Bruno Dumont,...

Ali Asgari started studying film directing when he moved to Italy, with experience already gathered in the field as an assistant producer and assistant director in Iran. He made his first short film “Tonight Is Not a Good Night For Dying” (2011) as a freshman, and stayed faithfull to the short format ever since. “Until Tomorrow“, his sophomore feature length drama that has just screened in Berlinale’s Panorama section, was also supposed to be a short drama, but the topic was of such importance for the Iranian director that he felt the urge to tell the story in more detail.

In the script co-written with Alireza Khatami, Asgari shows one afternoon in the life of a single mother Fereshteh (played by the fantastic Sadaf Asgari) who, after her parents announce their sudden arrival to Tehran, is frantically looking for a sleep-over for her out-of-the-wedlock baby daughter just for one night.

Fereshteh (Sadaf Asgari) needs help ‘only’ until the next day, but this will prove dificult since she is asking for a dangerous kind of favour. She is in a position no young woman in Iran would like to be in: a single mom with a baby out of wedlock that nobody but one person knows about. Asgari plots his story around the consequences of a love affair that, in certain societies, weigh heavy on women who are expected to do everything ‘by the book’: wait with sex until they get married and only then start a family.

Until Tomorrow screened at Berlin International Film Festival

In the opening couple of minutes, there is nothing strange about a young mother taking care of her baby. Fereshteh looks tired but happy, and also, she seems to be doing fine job-wise as a freelance graphic designer. So, when a phonecall from her...

Turkish director Selman Nacar’s “Between Two Dawns,” a taut moral thriller exploring ethical and familial responsibilities over the course of one 24-hour period, took home the top honor at the 39th edition of the Torino Film Festival, which ran from Nov. 26 – Dec. 4.

Chaired by director Ildikó Enyedi, and made up of actor Alessandro Gassmann, composer Evgueni Galperine and sales exec Isabel Ivars, this year’s jury commended Nacar’s filmmaking, calling the winning title “a mature film, directed with intelligent sobriety, which reveals a new, big talent.” The prize came with a purse of €18,000.

No doubt glad to return to in-person, restriction free screenings after last year’s online only edition, the jury spread the love around, offering special jury prizes to both Omar El Zohairy’s “Feathers” and Amalia Ulman’s “El Planeta.” Ulman’s film also won the Fipresci prize. Acting honors went to South Korea’s Gong Seung-yeon,...

The six-month programme kicks off with a workshop in May.

The TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) has unveiled the 10 projects at an advanced stage by first or second-time international directors selected for this year’s FeatureLab.

The prestigious six-month programme kicks off with a workshop in May – held online due to the pandemic - and will be followed by second one in September to be held physically in Austria, if possible. The Austrian Film Institute and the Comunidad de Madrid and Ayuntamiento de Madrid are partnering on this iteration of the Lab.

Scroll down for the list of projects

The FeatureLab is led...

Funding sees a 50% boost on previous round to support projects “in times of crisis”.

The Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (Wcf) has awarded a combined €592,000 to 12 projects in its latest funding round.

The level of funding allocated is up nearly 50% on the previous round in July. Organisers said it intended to “support independent cinema even more strongly in times of crisis”.

Projects receiving support hail from Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Senegal and Turkey.

Selected directors that previously participated in Berlinale Talents include Melisa Önel (Aniden), Nelson Makengo (Rising Up At Night), Edwin,...

Gap financing event to present 56 feature film and Vr projects.

UK director Steve McQueen’s upcoming documentary The Occupied City is among 56 projects selected for the Venice Production Bridge, the gap financing event of the Venice Film Festival, which is due to take place from September 2-12.

The three-day industry event, running September 4-6, will unveil 28 feature-length fiction and documentary projects and 12 immersive story projects.

It will also present 13 Vr projects and three cinema projects developed under the auspices of the Biennale College Cinema programme aimed at supporting emerging talents.

More than 270 project were submitted in total.

The event, involving pitches and one-on-one meetings,...

The feature debut of Iranian director Alireza Khatami was a crowning success, with “Oblivion Verses” winning the Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay, the Fipresci Award for Best Debut Film and the Interfilm Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue in Venice, among a number of other international awards.

The story revolves around an elderly, nameless caretaker of a small, rundown morgue and its attached graveyard, both of which, just like the man, are nearing the end of their life span, since the government is about to close down the facility. The man lives a life of endless routine, doing almost the exact same things every day, which include talking to the hearse driver who brings him to work every day, and listening to the gravedigger flirting with widows, as the caretaker counts the people he has buried, who are closing up to a thousand. These are his two sole friends,...

Locarno, Switzerland — Asian Shadows has acquired international rights to Suba Sivakumaran’s feature debut “House of My Fathers,” a project presented at Locarno’s Open Doors in 2016.

It will be the first Sri Lankan film on the slate of Asian Shadows, the Hong Kong-based sales agency representing Asian talent such as Chinese Wang Bing’s “Mrs. Fang,” a Golden Leopard Winner in 2017, and Thai Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit’s “Die Tomorrow,” premiered in Berlin this year.

“House of My Fathers” is produced by Suba Sivakumaran’s Palmyrah Talkies which is based in London, in co-production with Dominique Welinski at Dw Productions, whose credits include Karim Aïnouz’ “Madame Satã” and Alireza Khatami’s “Oblivion Verses.” Welinski is co-producing Sanjeewa Pushpakumara’s new project “Mother,” which is being presented at this year 71st Locarno Open Doors Hub.

“We were amazed by the strength of the film, in both its style and message. Suba has...

On the radio that hums in the background, there’s a report of seven whales who, in an apparent act of mass suicide, have washed ashore not far from the sunbaked Chilean nowheresville where “Oblivion Verses” takes place. Rescue efforts are underway, but in the end, only one of the pod is successfully returned to the sea. So later, there’s a question hidden in the strikingly poetic image of a whale flying through the pale sky over the head of our old-man hero. Is it the one whale who lived, perhaps feeling an affinity for a man who has made it his late-life mission similarly to “save” one person from oblivion, amid so many others who were lost? Or is it one of the whales who died, beckoning the old man and all his razor-wire memories to his final rest?

As with so much in this beautiful and strange...

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival jury awarded the Special Jury Prize to

Sueño Florianópolis about four teenage kids who set out from Buenos Aires one sweltering day in a Renault to vacation in the Brazilian resort of Florianópolis. a tale of first love, past lovers, fateful encounters, and fleeting joys by Argentinian director Any Katz, a humorous and melancholic movie, for which also Mercedes Morán received the Best Actress Award.

Once again, Chile was present at Karlovy Vary, this time with two films participating in the festival. The film Cielo, directed by Alison McAlpine, was in the official selection of the Documentary Competition. The film was produced by the Canadian production company Second Sight Pictures, in association with the Documentary Channel, Argus Films, and in co-production with the Chilean company Errante Producciones through Paola Castillo.

The acclaimed co-production Los versos del olvido (Oblivion Verses) was screened out of competition, in the Another View section.

In CompetitionGolden Lion – The Shape of Water, directed by Guillermo del ToroSilver Lion (Grand Jury Prize) – Foxtrot, directed by Samuel MaozSilver Lion (Best Director) – Xavier Legrand, CustodyCoppa Volpi for Best Actress – Charlotte Rampling, HannahCoppa Volpi for Best Actor – Kamel El Basha, The InsultBest Screenplay – Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, MissouriSpecial Jury Prize – Sweet Country, directed by Warwick ThorntonMarcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress – Charlie Plummer, Lean on PeteOrizzontiOrizzonti Award for Best Film – Nico, 1988, directed by Susanna NicchiarelliOrizzonti Award for Best Director – Vahid Jalilvand, No Date, No SignatureSpecial Orizzonti Jury Prize – Caniba, directed by Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-TaylorOrizzonti Award for Best Actress – Lyna Khoudri, Les bienheureuxOrizzonti Award for Best Actor – Navid Mohammadzadeh, No Date, No SignatureOrizzonti Award for Best Screenplay – Alireza Khatami, Los Versos Del OlvidoOrizzonti Award for Best Short Film – Gros Chagrin, directed by Céline DevauxLion of the Future AwardCustody, directed by Xavier Legrand...

Blending elements of magical realism, political strife and Kafkaesque ennui to partially satisfying effect, Oblivion Verses (Los Versos del Olvido) marks an intriguing if rather elusive feature debut for Iranian writer-director Alireza Khatami.

Set in an unknown Latin American state (the film was presumably shot in Chile), there are moments that recall Pablo Lorrain’s second feature, Post Mortem, which also dealt with morgues, death squads and the trauma of unclaimed corpses in a corrupted land. But here, the narrative is much more opaque, pushing viewers to clutch at straws in order to follow Khatami’s different plot strands, which shuttle between...

The 2017 Venice Film Festival kicked off on August 30, and for anyone who can’t make it all the way to Italy this year, IndieWire has a solution for you. Between now and Thursday, September 7 at noon Et, IndieWire readers can register using this form to win one of 5 online festival passes, which will give you the opportunity to stream five Venice titles for free online. All of the streaming titles will be from this year’s Orizzonti competition (Horizons), Biennale College and a few other sections. The movies include the following titles:

Endangered Species, by Gilles Bourdos – Online on August 31

Under The Tree, by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson – Online on August 31

Strange Colours, by Alena Lodkina – Online on August 31

West Of Sunshine, by Jason Raftopoulos – Online on September 1

Martyr, by Mazen Khaled – Online on September 1

Nato A Casal Di Principe, by Bruno Oliviero – Online on September 1

Beautiful Things, by Giorgio Ferrero – Online on September 2

No Date,...

ZamaThe programme for the 2017 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Darren Aronofsky, Lucrecia Martel, Frederick Wiseman, Alexander Payne, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Abdellatif Kechiche, Takeshi Kitano and many more.COMPETITIONmother! (Darren Aronofsky)First Reformed (Paul Schrader)Sweet Country (Warwick Thornton)The Leisure Seeker (Paolo Virzi)Una Famiglia (Sebastiano Riso)Ex Libris - The New York Public Library (Frederick Wiseman)Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)The Whale (Andrea Pallaoro)Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh)Foxtrot (Samuel Maoz)Ammore e malavita (Manetti Brothers)Jusqu'a la garde (Xavier Legrand)The Third Murder (Hirokazu Kore-eda)Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno (Abdellatif Kechiche)Lean on Pete (Andrew Haigh)L'insulte (Ziad Doueiri)La Villa (Robert Guediguian)The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)Suburbicon (George Clooney)Human Flow (Ai Weiwei)Downsizing (Alexander Payne)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesOur Souls at Night (Ritesh Batra)Il Signor Rotpeter (Antonietta de Lillo)Victoria...

On the heels of the Toronto International Film Festival announcement earlier this week, Venice Film Festival have now delivered their full lineup and while there’s no Terrence Malick as rumored, there’s a plethora of highly-anticipated titles. Along with the previously-announced opener Downsizing and the expected Suburbicon, mother!, The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, there’s Lucrecia Martel’s Zama, Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete, Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Color follow-up Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno, and Brawl In Cell Block 99, the latest film from Bone Tomahawk director S. Craig Zahler.

Also in the lineup is Errol Morris’s Netflix crime drama Wormwood, Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, Frederick Wiseman’s Ex Libris – New York Public Library, Hirokazu Koreeda’s The Third Murder, Takeshi Kitano’s closing night film Outrage Coda, Michaël R. Roskam’s Racer and The Jailbird, the Kirsten Dunst-led Woodshock,...

Will 2017 be the year that Venice gets its king-making mojo back? After a steady run of debuting recent best picture winners — from “Spotlight” to “Birdman” — the festival missed out on last year’s big winner, “Moonlight,” which bowed at Telluride. This year’s lineup is a promising one, and while it’s still very early in the process, it’s difficult not to pick through today’s announcement of the festival’s slate and not search for the big contenders.

As was previously announced, the festival will open with Alexander Payne’s social satire “Downsizing,” starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig. The festival will also play home to the premiere of the Netflix original “Our Souls at Night,” as part of their planned tribute to stars Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Annette Bening will lead the competition jury, ending an 11-year succession of male jury chiefs.

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