News

Exclusive: Paris-based The Party Film Sales has acquired international sales rights for Dutch director Sven Bresser’s first feature Reedland ahead of its premiere in competition in Cannes Critics’ Week in May.

The film tells the story of reed cutter Johan who discovers the lifeless body of a girl on his land and is overcome by an ambiguous sense of guilt. While he takes care of his granddaughter, he sets out on a quest to track down evil. But darkness can thrive in unexpected places.

Non-professional actor Gerrit Knobbe makes his big screen debut as Johan, alongside young newcomer Loïs Reinders.

The drama is among 11 first and second feature films, seven in competition, selected out of 1,000 submitted films for the upcoming edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, running from May 14 to 22.

Reedland is the first feature by a Dutch director to premiere in Critics’ Week since Karim Traïdia’s The Polish...

Belgian director Laura Wandel’s child custody drama Adam’s Interest, starring Anamaria Vartolomei and Léa Drucker, will open the 64th Cannes Critics’ Week, which unveiled its 2025 selection today.

The second feature from Wandal after gritty childhood bullying drama Playground, the handheld camera-shot feature follows three characters in a paediatric ward: a helpless mother (Vartolomei), her malnourished son, and a nurse (Drucker).

The film, which premieres out of competition, is one of 11 first and second feature films, seven in competition, selected out of 1,000 submitted film for the upcoming edition running from May 14 to 22.

Another 13 short films selected from 2,340 submissions will be announced on April 17.

Competition

Competition seven titles include Taiwanese director Shih-Ching Tsou’s Taipei-set urban melodrama Left-Handed Girl. It marks a first solo feature for Tsou, a long-time collaborator of Sean Baker, who co-wrote and edited the work.

The tragicomedy follows the odyssey of a single mother and her...

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Speak No Evil (2022)

Speak No Evil's 2024 remake with James McAvoy loses impact due to major plot spoilers in trailers. Cultural discord between Danish and Dutch families is crucial in the original movie, but replaced in the remake. The trend of horror movie trailers revealing their entire plots was previously in Alien: Romulus, Immaculate, and Abigail.

While 2024s Speak No Evil remake might prove to be a good star vehicle for James McAvoy, the upcoming horror movie has already fallen victim to 2024s worst genre trend. 2022s Speak No Evil was a bleak European horror movie that earned shocked reactions and largely positive reviews upon release. Speak No Evils plot centers on a Danish family who befriend a Dutch family on vacation in Italy and visit them afterward. For its opening half, Speak No Evil plays out like a Ruben Ostlund movie, leaning into...

Warning: This article contains Spoilers for Speak No Evil (2022)

The original ending of Speak No Evil is too dark for a mainstream Hollywood horror movie, posing a challenge for the upcoming 2024 remake. The shockingly bleak conclusion of Speak No Evil was what made the film a viral hit, but replicating it in the remake may be problematic. The remake risks redundancy if it sticks to a shot-for-shot redo without changing the original ending, which is no longer a surprise for audiences.

This article contains potentially distressing discussions of murder, including violence against children.

Although Speak No Evil's 2024 remake looks promising, the movie has an almost impossible ending problem. 2022’s Speak No Evil became a viral hit upon release thanks in part to its brutal ending. At first, the Danish psychological thriller plays out like a cringe comedy. A Danish family befriends a Dutch family while on holiday and visits their isolated countryside home,...

"Close your eyes. Do you hear it?" Listen attentively to the ways of the woods... An atmospheric horror short from the Netherlands is now available to watch online - it's worth a watch even if you're not that into horror. Darker is made by a Dutch filmmaker named Frank van den Bogaart, and it premiered at many film festivals last year. It won Best International Short at HorrorFest Intl. in Utah, and the young girl who stars also won Best Performance at the Brooklyn Horror Fest. Here's the intro: Rhena's father tells a story about Atlas, a forest entity that whispers stories of the dead to its trees. That same night he disappears into this forest. Rhena does everything she can to get her father back... This has the same kind of dark, creepy vibes as Pan's Labyrinth or The Green Knight. Starring Adriana Bakker as Rhena and the great...

Exclusive: Drafthouse Films has acquired North American rights to the documentary Chop & Steele, about the creators of the Found Footage Festival, announcing plans to release the film in April at Alamo Drafthouse theaters as part of a double bill with another newly-acquired doc, A Life on the Farm.

Chop & Steele premiered at Tribeca in 2022 and went on to a robust North American festival run that encompassed Calgary, Philadelphia, Seattle, Denver, the Heartland International Film Festival in Indianapolis, the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham, Ala., and the San Francisco Independent Film Festival.

In Chop & Steele, Found Footage Festival principals Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, “lifelong friends who tour the country with their popular VHS oddities festival, are slapped with a federal lawsuit after pranking a local news station as ‘strong men’ Chop and Steele. Many notables are featured in the doc, including David Cross, Bobcat Goldthwait, Reggie Watts, and Howie Mandel.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

The Alex van Warmerdam Collection

If you only know the work of Alex van Warmerdam as it pertains to his breakout psychological thriller Borgman, one know has a chance to dive into five other films from the Dutch director. Abel, The Northerners, The Last Days of Emma Blank, Schneider vs. Bax, and his new re-edit of Grimm are now on Film Movement Plus. We said in our review of Schneider vs. Bax, “Hitman films tend to be action-packed and heavy with tropes familiar to that particular sub-genre of thrillers. Yet Dutch filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam hopes to subvert those expectations by crafting an almost absurdist, Beckett-style drama between two contract killers hired to take out the other.”

Where to Stream: Film Movement...

Digital Distributor Giant Pictures has acquired Drafthouse Films and announced its first two acquisitions, Nr. 10 and Masking Threshold.

Giant Pictures’ Gm Nick Savva will serve as the new Drafthouse Films CEO and Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League will be chairman. Financial terms of the transaction weren’t released.

Drafthouse Films, a genre and international specialist, was founded as the distribution arm of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in 2010 before being spun off from the exhibitor. As CEO, Savva is planning to expand the Drafthouse Films label.

“Giant Pictures’ investment enables Drafthouse Films to continue releasing the provocative, visionary, and artfully unusual genre films from around the world that have always defined the Drafthouse brand,” Savva says. “At the same time, this acquisition gives Giant new theatrical releasing capabilities which complement our existing digital distribution and streaming technology businesses.”

Giant Pictures will work closely with Alamo Drafthouse and its related media companies, such...

Digital distributor Giant Pictures has acquired Drafthouse Films, the genre movie label formed by Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League.

Giant Pictures general manager Nick Savva will serve as CEO of the company, which will continue to operate under the title Drafthouse Films. League will become the chairman of Drafthouse Films.

“Giant Pictures’ investment enables Drafthouse Films to continue releasing the provocative, visionary, and artfully unusual genre films from around the world that have always defined the Drafthouse brand,” Savva said. “At the same time, this acquisition gives Giant new theatrical releasing capabilities which complement our existing digital distribution and streaming technology businesses.”

Drafthouse Films was created as the distribution arm of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in 2010 before being spun off from the exhibitor. Past titles on Drafthouse Films’ slate were “Bullhead,” “The Act of Killing,” “Spring” and “Cheap Thrills.” Giant Pictures partners with studios and filmmakers to release movies and TV shows across major streaming platforms,...

Holland Film Meeting is the industry strand of the Netherlands Film Festival.

Paula van der Oest’s €9m English-language drama Mata Hari is among the films being presented during the Holland Film Meeting’s projects programme, the industry side of this year’s Netherlands Film Festival, which begins today (September 24) in Utrecht. It will run until October 2.

Van der Oest, promised a ”feminist approach” to the subject matter. “Most of the existing Mata Hari films are told from a male perspec­tive,” she told Screen. “They focus on Mata Hari being a glam­orous and exotic spy. A dangerous temptress,...

We know, we know. August hearkens the mid point of Summer and though there may still be an air of uncertainty around the end of Summer holidays one thing is for sure, Shudder will be there to help you get through it all.    Though the programming seems a little lighter than previous months there are still some very good titles coming to the AMC Network streaming service. The three main additions next month is the French werewolf horror flick, Teddy, Travis Stevens' SXSW midnighter, Jakob's Wife, starring Barbara Crampton and Larry Fessenden, and body horror flick Mosquito State.    Throughout the month look forward to additions of classic Vincent Price flick, Witchfinder General, Gareth Edwards' Monsters, Ben Wheatley's A Field in England, Borgman, cult fave...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Jeroen Perceval reveals what happened when an actor tested positive for coronavirus.

Screen can reveal a first-look image of Veerle Baetens in Dealer, the feature directorial debut of Belgian actor Jeroen Perceval, which completed shooting in Antwerp during the coronavirus pandemic.

Perceval, best known for his performances in Bullhead, Borgman and The Ardennes, also wrote the feature, which centres on a 14-year-old drug dealer (Sverre Rous) who forms a bond with a successful actor (Ben Segers). Baetens plays the mother of the young dealer.

Perceval began shooting the drama in Antwerp earlier this year with an initial plan to release this month.

“Motel Acacia” takes place in America, but not any version of America that Americans will recognize. “Re-elect Roberts!” announces a garish campaign billboard bearing the face of a generic white politician. “We are great again!” Well, it’s easy to guess who that’s referring to and to extrapolate what alternate reality “Motel Acacia” has in mind. This is America as seen from abroad, America as a scary place where ugly white racists don’t just build walls to keep undocumented aliens out; they sacrifice oblivious immigrants to a menacing tree demon.

A what? Tree demons aren’t really a thing in the United States, but they’re a fertile part of Filipino folklore, and given that “Motel Acacia” is actually an Asian co-production from Philippines-based director Bradley Liew (“Singing in Graveyards”), that explains how such a monster would find its way into a movie set in the Northern U.

He will take over from Doreen Boonekamp in March 2020.

Bero Beyer, director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, is to leave the festival to succeed Doreen Boonekamp as CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund in March 2020.

The role is the most important public film post in the Netherlands.

Beyer will join the Fund on March 1, 2020 after overseeing the 49th edition of Iffr which will run from January 22-February 2 next year.

A successful independent producer before taking the helm at Iffr, Beyer has been involved in such projects as Hany Abu-Assad’s Oscar-nominated Paradise Now and Annemarie Jacir’s Salt Of This Sea.

Editor’s note: This article is presented in partnership with the Holland Marketing Alliance and their award-winning “Holland. The Original Cool” travel series. You can watch their new short film, “The Tale of Kat & Dog: A Holland Cool Movie,” below.

Try as some filmmakers might, it’s impossible for a single movie to represent an entire country. With all the different perspectives and geographical locations that a nation has to offer, it’s difficult to pinpoint all of those diverse experiences in a neat package.

Luckily, the Netherlands has decades of history and cinematic depictions to dive into, from Dutch filmmakers and those telling their stories far from home. The short film that got us thinking about this? “The Tale of Kat & Dog: A Holland Cool Movie,” a 17-minute tour across Amsterdam with an adorable canine as a guide:

Now that you’ve seen a bit of the country through...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Captain America: Civil War (Russos)

In seeking to create an expansive multi-film universe, Marvel has managed to both bless and curse each of its subsequent films. The blessing comes in the form of a character development that takes place over the course of films and phases instead of scenes and acts. Characters who we met eight years ago have grown and changed before our eyes, and...

This is a reprint of our review from the 2015 Cannes Directors' Fortnight. A few minutes into Colombian director Ciro Guerra's "Embrace of the Serpent" we have met three of its four main characters, and they have encountered each other. In black and white, period-set images of the Amazonian jungle reminiscent of Miguel Gomes' "Tabu," a canoe carrying a gravely ill white man, Theo ("Borgman" star Jan Bijvoet), is punted onto the bank by the loyal native tribesman who serves as his traveling companion. On the bank stands a lone tribal shaman, Karamakate (Nilbio Torres), whose painted face, loin cloth, feathered armbands, phallic-looking necklace and erect, impassive stance seem an unspoken rebuke to the western-clothed native who has come to plead with Karamakate to save his white friend's life. That rebuke is soon spoken, however, in no uncertain terms: Karamakate has nothing but loathing for the white man who wiped out his tribe,...

Hearts of Darkness: Guerra’s Exceptional Exploration of Ruinous Colonialization

Colombian director Ciro Guerra charts an enigmatic narrative of parallel odysseys through the Amazon with his third feature, Embrace of the Serpent is no less intimate in its rendering of human interaction than previous films The Wandering Shadows (2004) and The Wind Journeys (2009), Guerra’s stark allegory of the extinction of indigenous cultures at the hands of well-meaning but ignorant white Europeans is powerfully resonant in this gorgeously shot film, touted as the first feature to be shot in the Colombian jungle in over three decades.

In 1909, ailing German explorer Theodor Koch–Grunberg (Jan Bijvoet) scours the Colombian jungle for isolated shaman Karamakate (Nilbio Torres), a guide he believes will lead him to an exotic plant known as yakruna, and thus restore his health. Karamakate, the last surviving member of his tribe, is incredibly wary of white men, and seems only...

Inspired by Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes, the first explorers of the Colombian Amazon, Embrace of the Serpent is a spiritual quest with a political regret. We follow two stories of German explorers (one of them is Jan Bijvoet of Borgman) meeting with an Amazonian shaman and searching for a healing plant. Director Ciro Guerra's third feature bears witness to the consequences of the European invasion that changed and destroyed culture and landscape of this stunning area of the world forever. But even more, it is a search for something beyond reach, something cosmic, maybe something that is not supposed to die. Like so many films it follows a clash between cultures, juxtapositions which always have to deal with otherness and in this case...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

After garnering the most wide spread acclaim of his career with his previous picture, Borgman, director Alex van Warmerdam is back with what may be not only his most accessible film, but also the prototypical black comedy that he has been striving to make his entire career.

Ostensibly a hit man story in the mold of a Spy vs. Spy comic tale, Schneider Vs. Bax is a pitch black comedy that introduces us to our two titular lead characters, Schneider (a suburban father played wonderfully on edge by Tom Dewisplaere) and Bax (who is a writer with a penchant for booze and hard drugs and is played by van Warmerdam himself). Where the humor truly comes in is the picture’s almost farce-style narrative, which sees these two have to deal with their respective hits (which may or may not be born out of less than ideal intentions) as well as their families,...

Hitman films tend to be action-packed and heavy with tropes familiar to that particular sub-genre of thrillers. Yet Dutch filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam hopes to subvert those expectations by crafting an almost absurdist, Beckett-style drama between two contract killers hired to take out the other. Such is the premise of Schneider vs Bax, where two seemingly normal individuals reveal their true colors when put to the test of trying to kill one another. Director van Warmerdam, who brought us the devilishly delightful Borgman a few years prior, also stars as one of the titular leads, Bax, adding a compelling layer of personal subtext to his conflicted on-screen persona. Yet despite being able to create an enticing mood with beautiful cinematography and a deliberately methodical pace, Schneider vs Bax does little to deliver on its auspicious prospects, and all that remains in the end are fragmented concepts that fall to the wayside.

Relentlessly paced, with the volatile ferocity of a rabid pitbull, "Schneider vs. Bax" is, above all else, pretty damn funny. That's if you're into Alex van Warmerdam's distinctive brand of humor. He strikes me as the kind of surgeon who would wear a clown nose while preforming a life-or-death operation, just to lighten up the mood in the room. It's this kind of dark, caustic drollness that takes center stage in the Dutch director's absurd comedy of errors about two hitmen pitted against one another. More playful, but less compelling, than his previous film — the endlessly engrossing "Borgman" — this latest picture won't make too many lasting impressions, but it's a helluva ride in the moment. It's Tuesday, and Schneider (Tom Dewispelaere) is awakened by his lovely wife Lucy (Loes Haverkort) and two young adorable daughters singing him "Happy Birthday." He barely gets a word in edgewise before his handler Mertens (Gene Bervoets) calls.

One thing I love, that is apparent from this wave announcement, is that Fantastic Fest not only celebrates new genre cinema but relishes in repertory genre cinema! We have some awesome martial arts films and a 35mm screening of Evilspeak to coincide with Kier-La Jannise & Paul Corupe’s Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980’s. We are also getting the new horror anthology from V/H/S alumni (Producer Roxanne Benjamin, director David Bruckner and directing team Radio Silence) with Southbound! Read on fiends, read on.

Fantastic Fest announces its final wave of highly anticipated features and epic events for the annual celebration of all things genre. With signature smackdown Fantastic Debates and Comedy Central’s The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, this year’s Fantastic Fest promises more thrills than ever before as it rages through Austin from September 24 – October 1st. Joining Fantastic Fest for the first time, Charlie Kaufman...

Austin, TX – Wednesday, September 9, 2015 – Fantastic Fest announces its final wave of highly anticipated features and epic events for the annual celebration of all things genre. With signature smackdown Fantastic Debates and Comedy Central’s The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, this year’s Fantastic Fest promises more thrills than ever before as it rages through Austin from September 24 – October 1st. Joining Fantastic Fest for the first time, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson will be in attendance to share their wildly inventive world of stop motion animation Anomalisa, Cannes Grand Prix winner Son Of Saul is screening in glorious 35mm, the stunning adult fairytale from Gomorrah director Matteo Garrone Tale Of Tales will unfurl, Jerusalem Film Festival’s top prize winner Tikkun, and we welcome the World Premiere of the action-thriller Camino with Zoe Bell and Fantastic Fest veteran / mayor Nacho Vigalondo as a religious psychopath — a prospect that should fill...

The final wave of Fantastic Fest 2015 has finally been announced and it features a crop of festival darlings along with Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s highly anticipated stop-motion animation film Anomalisa. The Cannes Grand Prix winner Son of Saul joins the list as well as the new film from director Matteo Garrone, Tale of Tales. PopOptiq will be present once again this year so be sure to check out our coverage in the upcoming weeks. Check out the full list below.

****

Anomalisa

United States, 2015

Regional Premiere, 90 min

Directors – Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson

Charlie Kaufman’s newest story, a revolutionary and emotional stop-motion animation, follows an unhappy customer service guru looking for an escape from the monotony of his life.

The Assassin

Taiwan, 2015

Us Premiere, 104 min

Director – Hou Hsiao-hsien

After failing to dispatch a corrupt government official, an assassin is disciplined by her master with a mission to...

Read More: Indiewire's Coverage of the 2015 Locarno Film Festival Dutch filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam's movies tend to take the form of black comedies where doomed characters are trapped by bizarre circumstances. His last feature, the Cannes-acclaimed "Borgman," took this tendency into the realm of abstraction, with the unsettling tale of a devilish presence who inserts himself into an upper class home and destroys it from the inside. Van Warmerdam's latest effort, the riveting and very funny "Schneider vs. Bax," takes a comparatively more traditional approach to turning domestic problems into a warped farce. The plot is fairly straightforward: A pair of killers cope with their families and their targets at once. While more readily accessible, "Schneider vs. Bax" delivers the rare joy ride in which everything going wrong feels exactly right. On the one hand, the premise unfolds in fairly basic terms, with the majority  of the running time.

Dutch helmer Alex van Warmerdam has won a loyal audience around the globe with his delightfully dark creations and fans of the Borgman director will soon have a new treat to feast upon with his upcoming hitman comedy Schneider vs Bax.On his birthday, hit man Schneider's target is Ramon Bax, a writer. It's an easy job. It'll be over before noon. Schneider reluctantly accepts. Bax is recovering from a night of drugs and alcohol. When his daughter Francisca arrives, depressed and unhappy, they quarrel and she starts to cry. Bax suppresses his discomfort with vodka, a joint and some haphazardly chosen pills. What seems a simple hit job for Schneider turns out to be a lot more complicated...The first teaser for this one - really...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Inspired by Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes, the first explorers of the Colombian Amazon, Embrace of the Serpent is a spiritual quest with a political regret. We follow two stories of German explorers (one of them is Jan Bijvoet of Borgman) meeting with an Amazonian shaman and searching for a healing plant. The film won the top prize at a very strong edition of Director's Fortnight in Cannes. Director Ciro Guerra's third feature bears witness to the consequences of the European invasion that changed and destroyed culture and landscape of this stunning area of the world forever. But even more, it is a search for something beyond reach, something cosmic, maybe something that is not supposed to die. Like so many films it...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Academy invitee Eddie Redmayne in 'The Theory of Everything.' Academy invites 322 new members: 'More diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before' The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has offered membership to 322 individuals "who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures." According to the Academy's press release, "those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2015." In case all 322 potential new members say an enthusiastic Yes, that means an injection of new blood representing about 5 percent of the Academy's current membership. In the words of Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs (as quoted in the press release), in 2015 "our branches have recognized a more diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before, and we look forward to adding their creativity, ideas and experience to our organization." In recent years, the Academy membership has...

©Renzo Piano Building Workshop/©Studio Pali Fekete architects/©A.M.P.A.S.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this week that the Los Angeles City Council, in a unanimous vote, approved plans for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Construction will begin this summer, and ceremonial groundbreaking festivities will occur this fall.

“I am thrilled that Los Angeles is gaining another architectural and cultural icon,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “My office of economic development has worked directly with the museum’s development team to ensure that the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will create jobs, support tourism, and pay homage to the industry that helped define our identity as the creative capital of the world.”

“We are grateful to our incredible community of supporters who have helped make this museum a reality,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “Building this museum has been an Academy...

Strangely dropping a press release on a historic day where the nation's attention is elsewhere, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their annual list of new member invitees this morning. For those who criticize the makeup of the Academy there was some good news and the stark realization the organization still has a long way to go. The Academy has spent the last eight to 10 years attempting to diversify its membership and this year's class mostly reflects that. There are significantly more invitees of Asian and African-American descent, but the male to female disparity is still depressing. Out of the 25 potential new members of the Actor's Branch only seven are women. And, no, there isn't really an acceptable way for the Academy to spin that sad fact. Additionally, It's important to realize the 322 people noted in the release have only been invited to join Hollywood's most exclusive club.

Thierry Frémaux to provide live commentary on restored films by Louis Lumière.

Cannes Film Festival general delegate Thierry Frémaux is to present a screening of Lumière! - and will provide live commentary himself - at the 6th Odessa International Film Festival (July 10-18).

The selection of 98 restored films, directed by movie pioneer Louis Lumière and his cameramen, will be screened internationally for the first time following its Cannes premiere.

It forms part of the line-up of the festival, which also announced the 12 films in the international competition and six features (and 18 shorts) in the national competition.

Two Ukrainian films will participate in both competitions.

Oiff president Viktoriya Tigipko said there had been a trend this year for submissions by female directors.

“During this year’s selection we have noticed an interesting trend: 30% of the entries submitted to the International Competition were from female directors,” said Tigipko.

“As a result, four out of the 12 films selected are directed...

A few minutes into Colombian director Ciro Guerra's "Embrace of the Serpent" we have met three of its four main characters, and they have encountered each other. In black and white, with period images of the Amazonian jungle reminiscent of Miguel Gomes' "Tabu," a canoe carrying a gravely ill white man, Theo ("Borgman" star Jan Bijvoet), is punted onto the bank by the loyal native tribesman who serves as his traveling companion. And on the bank stands a lone tribal shaman, Karamakate (Nilbio Torres), whose painted face, loin cloth, feathered armbands, phallic-looking necklace and erect, impassive stance seem an unspoken rebuke to the western-clothed native who has come to plead with Karamakate to save his white friend's life. That rebuke is soon spoken, however, in no uncertain terms: Karamakate has nothing but loathing for the white man who wiped out his tribe, and nothing but contempt for a...

After his last film Borgman premieres in Cannes competition, we expected to see Alex van Warmerdam‘s follow-up Schneider vs. Bax among the slate, or at least a sidebar, but that doesn’t look to be the case. Nonetheless, it’ll arrive in the Netherlands in late May and we’re greatly looking forward to news of a U.S. […]...

Following the international success of his most recent effort, Borgman, expectations are running high for Dutch director Alex van Warmerdam's upcoming Schneider vs Bax. the veteran helmer has fused arthouse impulses with a wickedly dark sense of humor throughout his career and that love of the absurd appears to be very much in effect with this new effort.On his birthday, hit man Schneider's target is Ramon Bax, a writer. It's an easy job. It'll be over before noon. Schneider reluctantly accepts. Bax is recovering from a night of drugs and alcohol. When his daughter Francisca arrives, depressed and unhappy, they quarrel and she starts to cry. Bax suppresses his discomfort with vodka, a joint and some haphazardly chosen pills. What seems a simple hit job...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Following up one of his greatest critical successes with Borgman is no simple take for Dutch helmer Alex van Warmerdam as that picture may very well prove to be his masterpiece but the Netherlands' reigning Crown Prince Of The Darkly Absurd is giving it the good old college try with the upcoming Schneider vs Bax.On his birthday, hit man Schneider's target is Ramon Bax, a writer. It's an easy job. It'll be over before noon. Schneider reluctantly accepts. Bax is recovering from a night of drugs and alcohol. When his daughter Francisca arrives, depressed and unhappy, they quarrel and she starts to cry. Bax suppresses his discomfort with vodka, a joint and some haphazardly chosen pills. What seems a simple hit job for Schneider turns...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Speaking in Rotterdam, Netherlands Film Fund director Doreen Boonekamp has delivered an upbeat assessment of the state of the Dutch film industry.

Boonekamp has also revealed details of how the country’s new cash rebate system, introduced last year, is driving up production levels.

Some €78m was spent on Dutch production last year, a considerable hike on production investment in 2013, which was around €14m less.

Boonekamp said, as a result of the new incentive, “a lot of post production work is going back to the Netherlands”.

The incentive offers a cash rebate of 30% on the eligible Dutch spend.

Since the incentive was launched in June 2014, 51 film projects have received a total of €13.6m from the scheme.

These have included high profile projects such as Mike van Diem’s De Surprise, Alex van Warmerdam’s Schneider vs. Bax, Polish feature Math Sucks, Austrian movie The Night Of A Thousand Hours, and Roel Reiné’s epic seafaring yarn Michiel de Ruyter...

Schneider Vs. Bax

Director: Alex van Warmerdam // Writer: Alex van Warmerdam

Steadily working Dutch auteur Alex van Warmerdam has been systematically making bizarre, offbeat features since 1986’s Voyeur (aka Abel), with titles like 1992’s The Northerners or 2003’s Grimm reaching a wider international audience. But at Cannes 2013, Warmerdam’s eighth feature, Borgman, was a breakout success. Though it went home empty handed, it certainly increased Warmerdam’s profile with a delightfully strange film. His latest, Schneider Vs. Bax, sees the director with his usual set cast of returning characters, including Pierre Bokma and his wife, Annet Malherbe, who starred in nearly all his features. A hitman is assigned the simple task of killing a solitary writer before the night is through. Of course, things don’t go as planned.

Cast: Alex van Warmerdam, Annet Malherbe, Pierre Bokma

Production Co.: Graniet Film Bv, Czar, Verenigde Arbeiders Radio Amateurs (Vara)

U.

Looking for more highbrow fare to supplement your holiday binge-streaming of "Friends" on Netflix? While several of 2014's best films now on Amazon Prime are also up on Netflix—including Pawel Pawlikowski's Oscar-shortlisted beauty "Ida" and Roger Michell's underseen autumn-years romance "Le Week-End"—Amazon Prime subscribers can enjoy even more this weekend. We've rounded up the best of the best: "Borgman" (dir. Alex van Warmerdam) A dark suburban fairytale that takes cues from Yorgos Lanthimos ("Dogtooth") and Michael Haneke ("Funny Games"), while firmly remaining its own strange beast, "Borgman" hovers perilously over a stiff upper-class family whose bearings are unmoored by the appearance of a mysterious vagrant fellow (Jan Bijvoet). A creepy blast from beginning to end. "Coherence" (dir. James Ward Byrkit) "Coherence" is not just smart science fiction: it's a triumph of crafty...

Colombian filmmaker, Ciro Guerra announced that his next film,"Embrace of the Serpent”, due out next year, will star U.S. actor Brionne Davis (“Savaged”) and Belgium’s Jan Bijvoet, the lead in Cannes Competition entry “Borgman” a really creepy dark comedy. Two other stars are non-pro actors, Nilbio Torres, from the Cubeo Vaupes people, and Antonio Bolivar, one of the last of the Ocainas. Both are from tribes living in the Amazon where this film will shoot in Mitu, San Jose del Guaviare and Puerto Inirida. As in his previous film “The Wind Journeys”, landscape will play a major role. “Embrace of the Serpent” draws inspiration from the travel journals of German ethnologist Theodor Koch-Grunberg and American Richard Evans Schultes, a celebrated pioneer researcher into indigenous peoples’ use of plants.

His "The Wind Journeys" was produced by our German friends Roman Paul and Gerhard Meixner at Razor Film Production, by Burning Blue's prolific Diana Bustamente -- who is now also heading the Carthagena Film Festival. It received some funds from Films From the South in Norway. It premiered in 2009 Cannes Un Certain Regard and was sold by Paris’ Elle Driver to 19 countries including Film Movement for North America, Madman for Australia, Eye, Film 1 and Sundance Channel for The Netherlands, Interior 13 Cine for Mexico, Cine Ojo for Argentina, Rcn CIne and Cineplex for Colombia, Camera for Denmark, Arthaus for Norway.

Guerra's next project "Taganga” was chosen to be in the Coproduction Forum in Los Cabos this past November. "Taganga" is about a fisherman from a small village by the Colombian coast where many foreign-owned scuba diving centers have been established. A new law requiring local fisherman to change the motors of their boats forces him to earn quick money, so he chooses to dynamite to fish. The owner of the largest scuba diving center opposes this use of explosives. When the fisherman receives a death threat if he continues the dynamiting of fish, he assumes the center's owner is behind the threat. In order to prove it, he begins a series of fateful actions.

Here is the official image of "Embrace of the Serpent"...

We here at Sound On Sight like to release our list as late as possible in the year. The way I look at it, the list is meant to represent what our writers have watched and championed throughout the year, and so we allow our writers until the 28th of December to submit votes for their 15 favourite films in the hope of coming up with a list that truly represents the wide spectrum of movies we cover year-round. This late in the game, it is safe to assume that just about every other website has released their top picks, but we believe our list holds value, if only because it is comprised of over 50 hardcore cinephiles worldwide. That said, since our writers are spread out across the globe, it makes it difficult for a movie like Inherent Vice (which was released in only two North American cities during 2014 itself) to crack our year-end list.

Titles include Schneider vs. Bax from Borgman director Alex van Warmerdam.

New films from directors Stijn Coninx, Alex van Warmerdam and Arthur Harari are among eight projects to receive support from the Screen Flanders Economic Fund.

In the Fund’s second round of 2014, a total of €1.57m ($1.93m) is to be distributed. The eight projects account for more than €7.5m ($9.2m) of spend in the Flanders region.

The films include Schneider vs. Bax from writer-director Alex van Warmerdam. The project is Van Warmerdam’s first since Borgman, which screened In Competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Fortissimo Films has worldwide rights, outside Benelux and Scandinavia. The thriller centres on a contract killer and a writer, battling each other for survival.

The Flanders government provides financial support to productions that spend part or all of their budgets within the region. Belgian producers can apply for up to €400,000 (just under $500,000). Foreign producers can tap into the fund by co-producing...

We here at Sound On Sight believe horror transcends explicit gore, jump scares or supernatural content, which is why you’ll soon notice our list ranges from independent art films to psychological thrillers to parodies, satire and more. Surprisingly, vampires lead the pack this year, along with found footage flicks, but there are a few comedies, one remake and even some strange love stories as well.

Every other year, I’ve published the list of best horror films based solely on my picks, but this year, Sound On Sight editor Justine Smith and Sos contributor Felix Vasquez Jr. also participated. Since we couldn’t agree with what is the best horror film of 2014, we decided to publish the list in alphabetical order. That said, here are our individual picks:

Ricky D- Under the Skin

Justine Smith – Cybernatural

Felix Vasquez Jr. - The Babadook

****

This list is in alphabetical order

Animal...

Los Cabos International Film Festival took place this month of November. It was a brave move to keep it going after Cabo had been so hard hit by Hurricane Odile with winds of 125mph less than a month earlier. The vast destruction in our part of town was quickly being repaired though traces remained visible and repairs still to be done necessitated cutting the normal invitation list by half and doubling up hotel rooms for a few unlucky journalists. That being said, there were 15,000 attending the festival. Volunteers wore the worthy words on their t-shirts: #Unstoppable, and they were that.

For all the infrastructure problems of the city in the midst of rebuilding itself, the festival seemed to thrive with all sorts of invitees showing up from all over the world. It seemed like gala events, panels, master classes, coproduction meetings, works in progress, screenings and interviews were constantly taking place. It was a great team and we all felt part of it.

The festival is overseen by the executive board members Eduardo Sánchez Navarro, Alfonso Pascal Barcenas, Scott Cross and Sean Cross (who also founded Vail Film Festival) and is organized by the festival team of Alonso Aguilar (General Director), Alejandra Paulin (General Coordinator) - who was a great market director in Guadajalara before coming here, Maru Garzon (Head of Programming), Ana Molinar Trujillo (Communication Manager), and Monica Herrera (Film Programmer). My friend from Guadalajara, normally an English teacher, Fabian Cruz was also there working for the festival.

When Eduardo Sánchez Navarro Redo remembers how he first came to Los Cabos, there is no doubt in his mind that destiny and luck played an important part. When he married his wife 30 years ago, he decided to travel along the entire Pacific Coast, from Acapulco to Mazatlan, where he crossed over to La Paz eventually driving to Los Cabos. The beauty of the area impressed him and it was during this trip that he and his wife decided to buy a vacation home in Los Cabos, thus beginning a distinguished career as a principal player and developer of what is Los Cabos today. Over the course of more than 20 years, his company, Grupo Questro, has emerged as one of the most highly respected developers in all of Mexico. He, together with Juan Gallardo Thurlow, Scott Cross, and Sean Cross, founded the festival in 2012.

My job as a journalist was to explore and write, hard to do when you are having such fun 24/7. We journalists were all in one hotel where we were given space and time to bond. Travel writers mixed with trade writers: from Film Journal David Noh, whose article is worth sharing here, my colleagues Peter Rainer from NPR and Christian Science Monitor, Anne Thompson from Thompson on Hollywood on Indiewire, Godfrey Cheshire of RogerEbert.com and many others met and mixed. Also Ira Deutchman of Colombia University Film School and Emerging Pictures and Robin Brock of Creative Coalition were there with time to share dinners.

The filmmakers, in another hotel, mixed by day and at the communal lunches and parties. I will write more on them in an upcoming blog! After all, filmmakers are the backbone of our industry. Without them, we have nothing!

The agents, mostly from CAA, were placed in another hotel, luxurious and far away. As someone said, Cabos is like Cannes, only in November. If so, perhaps they were at the Eden Roc in Cap d’Antibes. (Actually they were at Hacienda Beach Club & Residences) CAA has always been an honored part of this festival. I have heard that that is because someone with lots of money from Mexico invests it in cinema through CAA and even started the festival. That is, however, pure conjecture. Under the guidance of CAA agent, Micah Green, people can be assured that the directions he sees and the decisions he makes about investing private individuals' capital into filmed entertainment is priceless. I could think of no one I would trust more --in this untrustworthy business we are in-- than Micah.

At least two other agents – Bec Smith and Rena Ronson from UTA -- were also there. Rena and Micah were on the Film Financing Panel moderated by Variety’s expert in all things Iberoamerican and my idol, John Hopewell. Other participants on the Film Finance Panel were Jonathan King, Evp of Production at Jeff Skoll’s Participant Media whose partnership with Canana formed Participant PanAmerican production fund. “No” by Pablo Lorrain was their first investment. Pp also financed "El Ardor" which played in Cannes and “Cesar Chavez”, directed by Diego Luna. Also on the panel were Mark Musselman of Canada’s 10X2yinc, the exec producer of “Eastern Promises” and most recently of “Remember” by Atom Egoyan which was also produced by Robert Lantos and son, also in Los Cabos. It went into production in 2014 and is tipped for Cannes. Other panelists included Raul Del Alto of Mexico’s Ag Studios (Itaca Films Mexico, Itaca Films USA, Itaca Films Colombia and Itaca Filkms Brazil, and Rena Ronson of UTA who, like Micah Green of CAA focuses on global film finance, distribution and marketing strategies for Independents and co-financed features and is fluent in Spanish because of her long time experience with Latin America.

At one point I looked up and found the European fund chiefs there as well, Laufey Gudjonsdottir from Iceland (where Interstellar was filmed), Katriel Schory from Israel Film Fund and Edith Sepp-Dallas from the Estonian Film Institute. They were there for Bpx. Best Practice Exchange is an initiative that brings together the leaders of film funding agencies from across the world to take part in high-level-workshops – one or two each year – designed to promote new standards of excellence in the provision of public funding for the support of film production, development and distribution. The aim of Bpx is to ensure that policies and procedures adopted by film funding agencies will act together, positively and proactively, to stimulate and sustain practices of international coproduction and cofinancing worldwide.

Triggered by the situation in which filmmaking outside the main production centers of Hollywood and Bollywood now finds itself, Bpx was created by Simon Perry, president of Ace (Ateliers du Cinéma Européen), in collaboration with Katriel Schory, executive director of the Israel Film Fund. It held its first workshop in February 2013 in Israel, and two further workshops in Toronto (September 2013) and Berlin (February 2014) and this was the third! Bravo!

Among the Mexican, Canadian and U.S. films that showed, the winners were as follow:

Mexico First

Mexico First winning film was ¨Llevate mis amores” ("All of Me") by Arturo Gonzalez. The film narrates the story of the generosity of the women of Las Patronas who feed the immigrants who ride La Bestia. The director was awarded a cash Prize of Usd $15,000. This film made me cry. I thought of it again when reading the L.A. Times article about the murder of Adrian Rodriguez and his assistant, Mexican good Samaritans who dedicated their scarce resources to feeding Central American migrants passing by on La Bestia, which is what the women in this movie do. And one of the women was at the festival too.

Los Cabos Competition

The Los Cabos Competition winner was “Güeros” by Alonso Ruizpalacios, also a winner at the Berlinale, Jerusalem Film Festival, Tribeca, Toronto and San Sebastian. Being sold internationally by Mundial, the joint venture of Canana (again!) and Im Global, the film has sold to Kino Lorber for U.S., Cannibal for Mexico, Dreams Hill for Italy, Noori for So. Korea and Maison Motion for Taiwan … "Güeros" is the undeniable triumph of a nouveau director who dares to pay homage the French New Wave on a wild detective hunt through Mexico City. In light of the 43 murdered students, this film, about students on strike, strikes a chord within the watcher. The film´s producer won a Usd $15,000 cash prize.

Work In Progress Mexico

The second Work in Progress Mexico prize was awarded to "Los Herederos," by Jorge Hernandez, a film that describes adolescent effervescence and idleness through a group of friends who spend their vacations adrenaline-seeking through parties, sex and alcohol. The winner received a Usd $10,000 cash prize.

Mexico-usa-canada Co-production Forum

The winner of the first Mexico- USA- Canada Co-production Forum was also announced: "Afronauts" by Frances Bodomo, based on the real life story of the Academia Nacional de Ciencias, Investigación Espacial e Investigación Astronómica of Zambia. Writer- Director Frances Bodomo received a Usd $8,000 cash prize. It also received funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Mexico First: Fox +

In its second year running the México Primero: Fox+ chose one of the films that participated to have its distribution rights pre-bought for the Latin American and Caribbean (Except Brazil) markets. The México Primero: Fox+ prize consists of Usd $40,000 and was awarded to Isaac Ezban´s "El Incidente" ("The Incident"), two M.C. Escher-maze-like parallel stories about characters trapped in illogical endless spaces: two brothers and a detective locked on an infinite staircase, and a family locked on an infinite road… for a very long time. The international sales agent, Shoreline, will be showing the film at Ventana Sur December 3rd at 17:00 at Cinemark 3.

Work In Progress Mexico Fox +

In its second year running as well, Work in Progress México Fox+ selected a participating film to have its distribution rights pre-bought for the Latin American and Caribbean (Except Brazil) markets. The Usd $30,000 prize was awarded to Katina Medina Mora’s "Sabras que hacer conmigo" aka "En Contraluz", produced by Gerardo Gatica and Alberto Muffelmann.

Work In Progress Mexico Chemistry

This Third edition of the Festival also witnessed the first Work In Progress México –Chemistry award. Chemistry post-production studios granted the winner, Jorge Hernandez’s "Los Herederos", $45,000 Usd in color correction services.

Mexico – USA – Canada Splendor Omnia Mantarraya Co-production Forum

On its first year running, the Coproduction Forum Mexico- USA- Canada Splendor Omnia – MANTArraya will be granting a $30,000 Usd equivalent prize worth 40 hours of color correction, 40 hours of sound mixing, as well as a paid stay in Tepoztlan Morelos, site of their studios, to the winner "Afronauts" by Francez Bodomo (U.S.).

The key phrase to understanding Cabo is "Seeing what the neighbors do" as the festival and market connects Canada, U,S, and Mexico in showing of films and exploring coproduction. And the mixing of filmmakers and journalists from all three Americas was exciting in the possibilities it offered to everyone.

As for the hard-core business done there:

Mark Kassen will be directing "Criminal Empire for Dummies" written by Cliff Dorman. Kassen will also be producing the film along with James Gibb of Cutting Edge Group and Greg Hajdarowicz of Gremi Films. The deal took place at the exclusive resort Hacienda Beach Club & Residences and was reported by Variety.

Actor and producer Luis Gerardo Mendez ("Nosotros Los Nobles") signed a representation agreement with Paradigm. Reported by Variety. So I guess Paradigm also sent agents to Los Cabos.

Pat Saperstein of Variety also attended Los Cabos and scooped a story, that “Wolverine Hotel” from director Patricia Chica who was participating in the Coproduction Forum, is closing in on production with a "recent financing commitment from Jean-Guy Després, who will serve as exec producer. The edgy crime thriller is produced by Canada-based Byron Martin. Looking to cast a Latino actor as co-star, Chica met with rising Mexican thesp Luis Gerardo Mendez ('We Are the Nobles') during Afm though he has not yet been attached. 'A Latino star opens up a market', said Martin."

Celebrated producer Monica Lozano announced the launch of Alebrije Distribución. She has had her hand in 23 productions since her first film, "Amores Perros". "Instructions Not Included" the Us$ 5.5 million film that grossed Us$ 100 million worldwide was also her production. With this Pan-American initiative, the company will acquire distribution rights for the Latin and North American markets. Reported by Variety again!! You would think John was the only real reporter there. Pinske should be proud of him! Most of us got no scoops, but then, I guess we have to prove ourselves worthy - which I am not because at heart, I am not a reporter hunting for news, but rather a gatherer of information and a writer.

Speaking of Monica Lozano, the Germany-based international sales agent, Media Luna, acquired world rights to Internet Junkie, directed by Alexander Katzowicz and produced by Monica Lozano. Variety reports on this again!

"Yamaha 300", a participating project of the 1st Mexico – USA- Canada Coproduction Forum, produced by Valerium Arts (Mayra Espinosa y Jorge Michel Grau, producer and writer-director of the horror hit "Somos lo que hay" respectively, and Grau, the writer of the remake "We Are What We Are") and Uncorked Productions (Andrew Corkin, the producer of the horror film "What We Were"), will be one of the first projects to receive the development stage and postproduction support offered by The Good Film Fund, an initiative of Media Darling (Amy Darling) and The Chatanooga Film Festival. See Variety.

New York producer Dodgeville Films ("To Be Takei") will be joining Varios Lobos in Mexico to produce "Ya no estoy aquí", Fernando Frias’s second film, which was also a winner during Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund second edition. This film in the Coproduction Forum was reported on in Variety.

"Siete Horas" ("Seven Hours"), one of the winning projects of the second Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund edition, which will be directed by Chema Rodriguez and produced by Francisco Vargas, the renowned director of the film "El violin", made an alliance with the Spanish production companies Sin un Duro and Noodles Prods to co-produce the project. (Variety)

CineTren closed deals to handle Latin American distribution for Spring, a Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead film, whose Latin American Premiere was held at Los Cabos International Film Festival. Negotiations between Nate Bolotin and Marie Katz fromLos Angeles-based Xyz and Manuel Garcia from CineTren, took place at the Hotel Grand Solmar. Next time, I'll have to visit all the hotels!! See Variety article.

BH5 Group, which participates in the executive production of "Remember" by Atom Egoyan, will be working with Alonso Ruizpalacios, director of Güeros, in his second movie: Museo, a project that participated in the Ist Mexico- USA- Canada Co-production Forum. Even though Variety wrote about this, my blog on the three year old conglomerate of companies, BH5, was more complete:

BH5 Group Makes a Splash with Three Impressive Films at Los Cabos Int'l Film Fest

BH5, a conglomerate of five formerly independent production companies all run by various friends from the same film school, will be working the international markets much more. Besides the Toronto hit, Jodorowsky's "Dance of Reality", they are working with larger companies like Pathe now. Their work in progress, "You Will Know What To Do With Me" ("Sabras que hacer conmigo" aka "En Contraluz") which just won the The Usd $30,000 prize of Fox+, is seeking an international sales agent.

"Entrevero" by Max Zunino, also winner of the Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund second edition, was selected in the development project category by Ibermedia. See Variety.

And though Colombian Ciro Guerra, whose "The Wind Journeys" was produced by our German friends Roman Paul and Gerhard Meixner at Razor Film Production and by Burning Blue's prolific Diana Bustamente -- who is now also heading the Carthagena Film Festival -- showed in 2009 Cannes Un Certain Regard and was sold by Paris’ Elle Driver to 19 countries including Film Movement for U.S., announced to Variety's John Hopewell that his next film, "Embrace of the Serpent" will star U.S. actor Brionne Davis (“Savaged”) and Belgium’s Jan Bijvoet, the lead in Cannes Competition entry “Borgman” a really creepy dark comedy, he did not discuss his next project "Taganga" in the Coproduction Forum. "Taganga" is about a fisherman from a small village by the Colombian coast where many foreign-owned scuba diving centers have been established. A new law requiring local fisherman to change the motors of their boats forces him to earn quick money, so he chooses to dynamite to fish. The owner of the largest scuba diving center opposes this use of explosives. When the fisherman receives a death threat if he continues the dynamiting of fish, he assumes the center's owner is behind the threat. In order to prove it, he begins a series of fateful actions.

Finally, while it seems like Variety wrote all the news, I have one item which no one has reported on. Reese Witherspoon stated at her press conference in Los Cabos, where her film "Wild" premiered in a red carpet gala, that she is talking to Eugenio Derbez ("Instructions Not Included") to make a movie with him. I heard her say it and later spoke of this to Ben Odell (my next blog on Los Cabos features him). Ben (now partners with Eugenio at 3Pas Studios) said, Actually that would be a great idea but they had not spoken about it. However, they are both represented by CAA, so it would seem like a natural and really exciting pairing. After all, aren't "Legally Blond" and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" the same film? She is certainly on a role as a producer with "Wild" and David Fincher's "Gone Girl" as he is with his U.S. career. The studios are all courting her now, she said. More to come on this...

Ushered forth as the Netherlands’ submission for Best Foreign Language Film this year, Alex van Warmerdam’s hilarious Borgman may prove to be a bit too offbeat for the mainstream tastes of the Academy, at least if judging by its business at the Us box office bears any indication. Arriving on blu-ray from Drafthouse Films, word of mouth may continue to bolster its growing reputation, selected by a number of critics as a standout title for the first half of 2014. Whatever the case, it’s granted considerable attention to the underrated Dutch director whose next little bit of weirdness should arrive next year.

Alex van Warmerdam’s Borgman has to be the steadily working director’s most accomplished work to date. Known mostly for his droll, sometimes perverse films dealing with families or communities tested by strange situations that range anywhere from a maintained weirdness to potential violence, his latest...

The next few months will be filled with prestige pictures, serious dramas and other fare all looking to go the extra mile to the Oscars. It can create atmosphere that's a bit cinematically stifling. So if you need something to cleanse the palate, a picture that's a bit dangerous, bonkers and delightfully weird, check out "Borgman." Directed by Alex van Warmerdam, and featuring a committed, oddball and even scary turn by Jan Bijvoet, this dark fable follows an upper-class family who find their lives turned upside down the arrival of a vagrant. One part David Lynch, and another part Michael Haneke, the film uses the guise of domestic life to tell a story about deep-seated evil, with the film ratcheting up the surrealism with each passing moment. Didn't catch it in cinemas? Well, we have copies of "Borgman" on Blu-ray for some lucky readers. For a chance to win, follow...

On Demand DVD New Releases Sept. 8-14 Belle Inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, this powerful film stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the mixed-race daughter of a British Navy officer raised by her wealthy great-uncle (Tom Wilkinson) and his wife (Emily Watson). (PG, 1:44) 9/9 Borgman In this dark, surreal suburban fable, an enigmatic vagrant enters the lives of an upper-class family and quickly unravels their carefully curated lifestyle. Jan Bijvoet, Hadewych Minis (Tvma, 1:53) 9/9 Dutch, subtitled in English. Brick Mansions In the criminal underworld of Detroit, the streets are overrun with violence and drugs. The hand of corruption reaches into the lives … Continue reading →

The post On Demand DVD New Releases: Sept. 8-14 appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.

Borgman (review here) is a film we've been talking about for quite a while, and finally next month it's hitting Blu-ray/DVD courtesy of Drafthouse Films. We have all the info you need right here!

Borgman Release Details:

Drafthouse Films is releasing Alex van Warmerdam's creepy and surreal thriller Borgman on Blu-ray/DVD and Digital HD on Tuesday, September 9, 2014. Borgman will be distributed on home video at an Srp of $29.93 for Blu-ray and $24.99 for DVD.

The NY Times Critics' Pick will feature three deleted scenes in addition to reversible Mondo art and a 28-page booklet featuring cast and crew interviews and more.

Jan Bijvoet, Hadewych Minis, Jeroen Perceval, Sara Hjort Ditlevsen, Eva van de Wijdeven, Annet Malherbe, and Tom Dewispelaere star.

Synopsis:

Borgman, a dark suburban fable that explores the nature of evil in unexpected places, follows an enigmatic vagrant who enters the lives of an upper-class family and...

Borgman

Written and directed by Alex van Warmerdam

Netherlands/Belgium/Denmark, 2013

An odd and malevolent spell is cast over complacent suburban life in Dutch filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam’s latest. Borgman is a home invasion thriller about a bearded vagrant who takes on the mold of evil incarnate, with plans of invoking pitiless ruin upon a family of five who find themselves embedded in his cross-hairs. With a descriptor like ‘home invasion thriller,’ one might instantly refer to images of forced entry and stock brutality; the subversion and style seen here is the opposite, however, as the film develops slowly with its own signature and literal brand of poison and decay which spill out with mixed results. With its opening upside-down title card which quickly shapes itself into legibility, Borgman almost immediately announces itself as an unforgiving and lopsided affair. An ominous quote reading, “And they descended upon the earth to strengthen their ranks,...

Picking the best movies that come out in any given year is no easy feat. For film fans, a quality feature can come out at any time, from any one, and discovering an enjoyable and well-crafted feature is truly a pleasure. As we reach the halfway point of the year, many excellent films have already made their way to theatres, films that are well worth a watch. Below, you shall find the list of the top 30 films of 2014 to date, a list that ranges from science fiction thrillers to period dramas.

A few notes to keep in mind when reading our entry: Certain films from our 2013 list make a second appearance on this list. This is because the movies, while technically released this year, were seen by a select few in time for last year’s list, due to the benefit of film festivals and press screenings. The list itself is in no particular order,...