The title of Girish Kasaravalli's 1977 film "Ghatashraddha" is directly translated as "The Ritual," although the on-screen English title is "Ritual of Excommunication." Both titles reflect the bleak circumstances of the film's protagonist, even though "The Ritual" implies that women are abused and discarded as a matter of course. "Ghatashraddha" is a bleak tragedy about a woman named Yamuna (Meena Kuttappa) who lives with her religious schoolteacher father (Ramaswamy Iyengar) and who is already a widow at a young age. Yamuna is already seeing another man, also a schoolteacher, although their affair is secret ... as is her pregnancy. The only person who treats Yamuna with any friendliness is a young boy named Naani (Ajith Kumar), who serves as a witness to the story.
When her father goes out of town to raise money for his school, everything falls apart. The school deteriorates, gossip begins to spread, and Yamuna becomes an outcast.
When her father goes out of town to raise money for his school, everything falls apart. The school deteriorates, gossip begins to spread, and Yamuna becomes an outcast.
- 2/28/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
“The clouds lifted” for cinema’s future recently. At least that was how Martin Scorsese felt after he saw “TÁR,” on which he lavished praise at the New York Film Critics Circle awards dinner in early January 2023.
That kind of praise means a lot. Scorsese is not just one of the greatest filmmakers of all time: he’s one of its greatest cinephiles. In recent years, he’s become known for the movies — or, as he might say of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “theme parks” — he doesn’t enjoy. But the Oscar-winning director’s favorite films are as wide-ranging in genre, year of release, and national origin as you might imagine, from Ti West’s “Pearl” to the horror flicks of Val Lewton and the works of Senegalese master Djibril Diop Mambety. He’s such an avid-moving watching buff that, in a recent interview with Time Magazine, he admitted he...
That kind of praise means a lot. Scorsese is not just one of the greatest filmmakers of all time: he’s one of its greatest cinephiles. In recent years, he’s become known for the movies — or, as he might say of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “theme parks” — he doesn’t enjoy. But the Oscar-winning director’s favorite films are as wide-ranging in genre, year of release, and national origin as you might imagine, from Ti West’s “Pearl” to the horror flicks of Val Lewton and the works of Senegalese master Djibril Diop Mambety. He’s such an avid-moving watching buff that, in a recent interview with Time Magazine, he admitted he...
- 9/13/2023
- by Alison Foreman and Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
The Toronto Film Festival has unveiled its Wavelengths program for artist-driven experimental work that includes films by avant garde directors Denis Côté, Radu Jude, the late Chantal Akerman and Wang Bing.
There’s selections for Isiah Medina’s He Thought He Died, an experimental heist film; Angela Schanelec’s Music, a retelling of the Oedipus myth; and Denis Côté’s Mademoiselle Kenopsia, which stars Larissa Corriveau and will first bow at the Locarno Film Festival.
Wavelengths also booked fiction debuts with Rosine Mbakam’s Mambar Pierrette, a portrait of a Cameroonian seamstress; and Phạm Thiên Ân’s Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, the Vietnamese director’s hypnotic first feature about a man haunted by past memories when returning to his hometown that picked up the Caméra d’Or in Cannes.
“The increasing necessity to support artists willing to take risks, break rules and challenge the status quo — especially in our over-saturated media landscape — bears repeating,...
There’s selections for Isiah Medina’s He Thought He Died, an experimental heist film; Angela Schanelec’s Music, a retelling of the Oedipus myth; and Denis Côté’s Mademoiselle Kenopsia, which stars Larissa Corriveau and will first bow at the Locarno Film Festival.
Wavelengths also booked fiction debuts with Rosine Mbakam’s Mambar Pierrette, a portrait of a Cameroonian seamstress; and Phạm Thiên Ân’s Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, the Vietnamese director’s hypnotic first feature about a man haunted by past memories when returning to his hometown that picked up the Caméra d’Or in Cannes.
“The increasing necessity to support artists willing to take risks, break rules and challenge the status quo — especially in our over-saturated media landscape — bears repeating,...
- 8/11/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A 4K uncut restoration of Chen Kaige’s 1993 Palme d’Or winner “Farewell My Concubine” is a highlight of the Toronto International Film Festival’s (TIFF) Classics strand while Jean-Luc Godard’s last film will feature in Wavelengths.
The Classics strand also includes Canadian producer-director Brigitte Berman’s Oscar-winning feature documentary “Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got” (1985), portraying the life of the clarinettist and bandleader, and, after decades of oblivion Jacques Rivette’s New Wave classic “L’amour fou” (1969), whose original celluloid elements were damaged in a fire. A 50th anniversary screening of “Touki Bouki” (1973), from Sengal’s Djibril Diop Mambéty and Ousmane Sembène’s “Xala” (1975), presented in 4K, complete the program. Classics is curated by Robyn Citizen, director of programming and platform lead, with contributions from Andréa Picard.
The Wavelengths strand has 12 feature films and 19 shorts, as well as a suite of four restored early films by...
The Classics strand also includes Canadian producer-director Brigitte Berman’s Oscar-winning feature documentary “Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got” (1985), portraying the life of the clarinettist and bandleader, and, after decades of oblivion Jacques Rivette’s New Wave classic “L’amour fou” (1969), whose original celluloid elements were damaged in a fire. A 50th anniversary screening of “Touki Bouki” (1973), from Sengal’s Djibril Diop Mambéty and Ousmane Sembène’s “Xala” (1975), presented in 4K, complete the program. Classics is curated by Robyn Citizen, director of programming and platform lead, with contributions from Andréa Picard.
The Wavelengths strand has 12 feature films and 19 shorts, as well as a suite of four restored early films by...
- 8/11/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month, including a Béla Tarr double bill, with new 4K restorations of Damnation and Sátántangó, Léa Mysius’ The Five Devils, Radu Jude’s short The Potemkinists, and Kira Kovalenko’s Unclenching the Fists.
They will also present a series on past Cannes Film Festival selections with films by Abderrahmane Sissako, Alice Rohrwacher, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Jeremy Saulnier, and more. Ana Vaz’s The Age of Stone and most recent work It is Night in America will arrive on the service, plus a Merchant Ivory series.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
May 1 – Blind Spot, directed by Claudia von Alemann | What Sets Us Free? German Feminist Cinema
May 2 – Heat and Dust, directed by James Ivory | Gilded Passions: Films by Merchant Ivory
May 3 – Damnation, directed by Béla Tarr | Béla Tarr: A Double Bill
May 4 – The Bostonians, directed by...
They will also present a series on past Cannes Film Festival selections with films by Abderrahmane Sissako, Alice Rohrwacher, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Jeremy Saulnier, and more. Ana Vaz’s The Age of Stone and most recent work It is Night in America will arrive on the service, plus a Merchant Ivory series.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
May 1 – Blind Spot, directed by Claudia von Alemann | What Sets Us Free? German Feminist Cinema
May 2 – Heat and Dust, directed by James Ivory | Gilded Passions: Films by Merchant Ivory
May 3 – Damnation, directed by Béla Tarr | Béla Tarr: A Double Bill
May 4 – The Bostonians, directed by...
- 4/21/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.NEWSLandscape Suicide, included on Benning's Sight & Sound ballot.Sight & Sound has made individual ballots available for their Greatest Films of All Time poll. You can browse the full, alphabetical list of critics and filmmakers here, along with voters’ comments and accompanying essays. Some favorites of ours so far: James Benning on self-referentiality, Genevieve Yue on the wind.Eight years after The Intern, Nancy Meyers has a new romantic comedy in the works at Netflix, reportedly budgeted at $130 million. Scarlett Johansson, Penélope Cruz, Owen Wilson, and Michael Fassbender are all in early talks, according to The Hollywood Reporter.Author and curator Barbara Wurm has been appointed the new head of the Berlinale Forum program, succeeding Cristina Nord.Recommended VIEWINGIf it's too bad to be true,...
- 3/8/2023
- MUBI
The Berlin Film Festival has revealed a raft of titles across strands and also 33 film projects vying for coin at the coproduction market.
Selections for the topical Perspektive Deutsches Kino strand from emerging German talent include “Seven Winters in Tehran” by Steffi Niederzoll, “Elaha” by Milena Aboyan, “Ararat” by Engin Kundag, “The Kidnapping of the Bride” by Sophia Mocorrea, Fabian Stumm’s “Bones and Names,” “Long Long Kiss” by Lukas Röder, Tanja Egen’s “On Mothers and Daughters,” “Ash Wednesday,” by João Pedro Prado and Bárbara Santos, “Nuclear Nomads” by Kilian Armando Friedrich and Tizian Stromp Zargari and “Lonely Oaks” by Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl and Jens Mühlhoff.
All the selected films in the strand will compete for the Heiner Carow Prize and the Compass-Perspektive-Award, both of which are endowed with €5,000.
A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” will open the Berlinale Classics section, which also includes Oliver Schmitz’ “Mapantsula,...
Selections for the topical Perspektive Deutsches Kino strand from emerging German talent include “Seven Winters in Tehran” by Steffi Niederzoll, “Elaha” by Milena Aboyan, “Ararat” by Engin Kundag, “The Kidnapping of the Bride” by Sophia Mocorrea, Fabian Stumm’s “Bones and Names,” “Long Long Kiss” by Lukas Röder, Tanja Egen’s “On Mothers and Daughters,” “Ash Wednesday,” by João Pedro Prado and Bárbara Santos, “Nuclear Nomads” by Kilian Armando Friedrich and Tizian Stromp Zargari and “Lonely Oaks” by Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl and Jens Mühlhoff.
All the selected films in the strand will compete for the Heiner Carow Prize and the Compass-Perspektive-Award, both of which are endowed with €5,000.
A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” will open the Berlinale Classics section, which also includes Oliver Schmitz’ “Mapantsula,...
- 1/9/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
I have been breathlessly awaiting the release of Sight and Sound's once-a-decade poll on the 100 greatest films of all time. Even though the makeup of the list has absolutely no bearing on my own feelings about the films I love, I am always curious to get a lay of the land and see what kind of filmgoing consensus is out there, especially in a corner of the film community that isn't constantly obsessed with superheroes and the box office. This only comes around every 10 years, so it's important for us to treasure this celebration of Hollywood classics, art-house favorites, and international landmarks.
In this new 2022 update of the poll, 25 of the films that appeared on the previous list in 2012 are completely gone. This isn't a case of 25 films released in the last 10 years — or, actually, 24 new films, as the 2012 list featured 101 titles due to a tie — joining the list since it was last published.
In this new 2022 update of the poll, 25 of the films that appeared on the previous list in 2012 are completely gone. This isn't a case of 25 films released in the last 10 years — or, actually, 24 new films, as the 2012 list featured 101 titles due to a tie — joining the list since it was last published.
- 12/2/2022
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Every decade, the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound Magazine has asked film critics and directors to vote for what they believed were the greatest films of all time. The last time that the poll was held back in 2012, Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" was given the prestigious title. However, a new best film ever has been crowned, and it might not be one you'd expect.
According to more than 1,600 film professionals, Chantal Akerman's "Jeanne Dielman 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" is the greatest film of all time as of 2022. Just to put how unexpected this new placement is into perspective, the slice-of-life epic previously secured merely the 35th ranking, and that was the first time the film itself had even been on the final list. "Jeanne Dielman" becomes the fourth movie to top the Sight & Sound list, and it's in very prestigious company; not only does it share the distinction with "Vertigo,...
According to more than 1,600 film professionals, Chantal Akerman's "Jeanne Dielman 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" is the greatest film of all time as of 2022. Just to put how unexpected this new placement is into perspective, the slice-of-life epic previously secured merely the 35th ranking, and that was the first time the film itself had even been on the final list. "Jeanne Dielman" becomes the fourth movie to top the Sight & Sound list, and it's in very prestigious company; not only does it share the distinction with "Vertigo,...
- 12/1/2022
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
Chantal Akerman’s ’Jeanne Dielman 23, Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles’ previously sat at number 36 on the poll
Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman 23, Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles has topped Sight & Sound magazine’s Greatest Film of All Time Critics’ poll 2022, becoming the first woman director to do so.
Akerman’s 1975 French-language film was previously 36th place when the poll was last conducted in 2012.
The number one spot at the time, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, has now fallen to second place with Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane - which was previously number one for 50 years - at number three.
Sight & Sound’s ’Greatest Film...
Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman 23, Quai Du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles has topped Sight & Sound magazine’s Greatest Film of All Time Critics’ poll 2022, becoming the first woman director to do so.
Akerman’s 1975 French-language film was previously 36th place when the poll was last conducted in 2012.
The number one spot at the time, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, has now fallen to second place with Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane - which was previously number one for 50 years - at number three.
Sight & Sound’s ’Greatest Film...
- 12/1/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Another decade, another Sight & Sound poll. On Thursday, the British magazine unveiled the 2022 edition of its long-running critics’ poll on the greatest films of all time, with “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” taking the top spot — the first film from a female director to achieve the honor since the poll began in 1952.
Directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman and released in 1975, “Jeanne Dielman” is a three-hour, 20-minute film following the title character (Delphine Seyrig), a single mother and prostitute, as she carries out a monotonous daily routine that slowly breaks apart and collapses. Since its premiere, the film has been highly acclaimed as a landmark of feminist cinema. Previously, it ranked 36 on Sight & Sound’s 2012 edition of the poll, where it was one of only two films in the top 100 from a female filmmaker; the other, “Beau Travail” by Claire Denis, is now ranked at number seven.
In celebration...
Directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman and released in 1975, “Jeanne Dielman” is a three-hour, 20-minute film following the title character (Delphine Seyrig), a single mother and prostitute, as she carries out a monotonous daily routine that slowly breaks apart and collapses. Since its premiere, the film has been highly acclaimed as a landmark of feminist cinema. Previously, it ranked 36 on Sight & Sound’s 2012 edition of the poll, where it was one of only two films in the top 100 from a female filmmaker; the other, “Beau Travail” by Claire Denis, is now ranked at number seven.
In celebration...
- 12/1/2022
- by Wilson Chapman and Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
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.
Elvis (Baz Luhrmann)
Few filmmakers embrace artistic dichotomy like Baz Luhrmann. The Australian writer-director known for epic, ornate, long-gestating projects has become synonymous with both extravagant innovation and chaotic fluff. He is a walking, talking, directing state of creative contrast. “Six films into his career” might make it seem like he’s a relative newcomer, but Luhrmann’s been helming giant features since his 1996 tropical Ed Hardy rendition of Romeo + Juliet, which pales in scintillation to Elvis. – Luke H. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
I Love My Dad (James Morosini)
Inspired by actual events, I Love My Dad contains a cringe-worthy premise that should easily fall apart, as Franklin (James Morosini), a young-ish man, should have grown up with an awareness of the term “catfishing.
Elvis (Baz Luhrmann)
Few filmmakers embrace artistic dichotomy like Baz Luhrmann. The Australian writer-director known for epic, ornate, long-gestating projects has become synonymous with both extravagant innovation and chaotic fluff. He is a walking, talking, directing state of creative contrast. “Six films into his career” might make it seem like he’s a relative newcomer, but Luhrmann’s been helming giant features since his 1996 tropical Ed Hardy rendition of Romeo + Juliet, which pales in scintillation to Elvis. – Luke H. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
I Love My Dad (James Morosini)
Inspired by actual events, I Love My Dad contains a cringe-worthy premise that should easily fall apart, as Franklin (James Morosini), a young-ish man, should have grown up with an awareness of the term “catfishing.
- 8/12/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Impeccably dressed, eyes shielded by sunglasses and arms dangling from the windows of their Nissan pickup, Ama (Briggitte Appiah) and Sadiq (David Klu) breeze through Ghana like twenty-first century cousins of Anta and Mory, the Bonnie and Clyde couple in Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki. They’re the two young people at the heart of Kofi Ofosu-Yeboah’s Public Toilet Africa, a picaresque, irreverent journey where a model seeks revenge for her childhood traumas. Or at least that’s one of the many films tucked inside writer-director Ofosu-Yeboah’s feature debut. Public Toilet Africa is several things—a revenge tale, a road trip, a tale of a city and a remote village; a courtroom drama—and if the ride isn’t always smooth, the end result is a rebellious and oneiric portrait of a country wrestling with the specters of colonialism.
Anchoring this protean creature is Ofosu-Yeboah’s knack for satire.
Anchoring this protean creature is Ofosu-Yeboah’s knack for satire.
- 8/21/2021
- by Leonardo Goi
- The Film Stage
Filmmaker Dee Rees made history on June 29 when her debut feature “Pariah” joined the Criterion Collection, making the Oscar and Emmy nominee the first Black American woman to have her work included. Before Rees, Euzhan Palcy, who is from Martinique, was the lone Black woman to have a film (1989’s “A Dry White Season”) selected.
“It feels like a formal acknowledgment of the film’s impact to the canon and being a part of the culture,” Rees tells Variety of having her movie chosen. “Even though artists have to try to find your validation from inside, it’s nice to be seen.”
And as a Black filmmaker in particular, Rees adds, “it’s important to be included for future generations of filmmakers, if [Criterion] is the thing that’s being taught in schools.”
“When they’re absent, then the assumption is there’s none in existence,” she explains. “There’s no Black filmmakers here,...
“It feels like a formal acknowledgment of the film’s impact to the canon and being a part of the culture,” Rees tells Variety of having her movie chosen. “Even though artists have to try to find your validation from inside, it’s nice to be seen.”
And as a Black filmmaker in particular, Rees adds, “it’s important to be included for future generations of filmmakers, if [Criterion] is the thing that’s being taught in schools.”
“When they’re absent, then the assumption is there’s none in existence,” she explains. “There’s no Black filmmakers here,...
- 7/2/2021
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
African cinema may, for most, be top of the blindspot list. The history of filmmaking, distribution, and access to cinema in African countries is contentious: for most of the 20th century Africa as a whole was represented exclusively through the eyes of the nations and kingdoms who colonized it, western filmmakers from Europe and the Americas shaping the world’s opinions of this continent and its artistic contents with their colonialist perspectives. Even ethnographic films (e.g. Jean Rouch), while depicting a more realistic version of various nations such as Nigeria or Cote d’Ivore, bore the outsider’s gaze. That all changed in the 1960s. In his 1983 documentary Camera d’Afrique, Férid Boughedir states that with the release of Ousmane Sembène’s debut short film Borom Sarret in 1963, “for the first time, the image of Africa had come from within.”
Camera d’Afrique, which was presented in a new...
Camera d’Afrique, which was presented in a new...
- 5/6/2021
- by Soham Gadre
- The Film Stage
“The Vanishing” is, as its name would suggest, a documentary film about a disappearance. Not just anyone’s disappearance, this project pitched at Visions du Réel (VdR)’s Industry platform is about the disappearance of the filmmaker’s own mother.
Senegalese director Rama Thiaw won the Fipresci Critics Prize at the 2016 Berlinale for her documentary “The Revolution Won’t Be Televised,” earning her a name for producing politically-conscious documentaries. Now, Thiaw is embarking on her most personal project yet.
Over August 10-15 2012, Thiaw’s mother Mariama flew from Paris to Dakar. She then allegedly traveled to a farm she owned, and then possibly went to Guinea. Nobody knows for certain. Mariama had disappeared, and no-one has heard of her since.
In Oct. 2012, when many of her family members thought that Mariama was just traveling or resting somewhere, Rama Thiaw had a dream, a dream that her mother was gone and...
Senegalese director Rama Thiaw won the Fipresci Critics Prize at the 2016 Berlinale for her documentary “The Revolution Won’t Be Televised,” earning her a name for producing politically-conscious documentaries. Now, Thiaw is embarking on her most personal project yet.
Over August 10-15 2012, Thiaw’s mother Mariama flew from Paris to Dakar. She then allegedly traveled to a farm she owned, and then possibly went to Guinea. Nobody knows for certain. Mariama had disappeared, and no-one has heard of her since.
In Oct. 2012, when many of her family members thought that Mariama was just traveling or resting somewhere, Rama Thiaw had a dream, a dream that her mother was gone and...
- 4/16/2021
- by Alexander Durie
- Variety Film + TV
The Criterion Collection’s March 2020 lineup has been unveiled, and it’s an epic one. Along with their previously announced Wong Kar Wai box set, they will also release Jacques Rivette’s masterpiece Céline and Julie Go Boating, which was long unavailable in good quality and recently debuted on The Criterion Channel.
Also arriving in March is Mike Leigh’s Palme d’Or winner Secrets & Lies, Albert Brooks’ Defending Your Life (with a new essay by Ari Aster), and, getting a solo release after its inclusion in a World Cinema Project box set, Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki, which we discussed on The Film Stage Show below.
Check out the lineup and special features below, with more details on their official site.
New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-rayAudio commentary from 2017 featuring critic Adrian MartinJacques Rivette: Le veilleur, a 1994 two-part feature documentary by Claire Denis,...
Also arriving in March is Mike Leigh’s Palme d’Or winner Secrets & Lies, Albert Brooks’ Defending Your Life (with a new essay by Ari Aster), and, getting a solo release after its inclusion in a World Cinema Project box set, Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki, which we discussed on The Film Stage Show below.
Check out the lineup and special features below, with more details on their official site.
New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-rayAudio commentary from 2017 featuring critic Adrian MartinJacques Rivette: Le veilleur, a 1994 two-part feature documentary by Claire Denis,...
- 12/16/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
“I think canons end up being defined as much by what they leave out as by what they let in,” Criterion president Peter Becker tells The New York Times in an interview in which he admits the film collection has not done right by Black filmmakers. The Times reports that of the 1,034 films currently in the Criterion Collection, there are only 9 titles directed by Black filmmakers. Of the Black directors that have made the Criterion cut, four are from America and four are from outside the U.S..
“There’s nothing I can say about it that will make it Ok,” Becker said about the lack of Black directors in the Criterion Collection. “The fact that things are missing, and specifically that Black voices are missing, is harmful, and that’s clear. We have to fix that.”
“You always wanted as a filmmaker to be part of the Criterion Collection,...
“There’s nothing I can say about it that will make it Ok,” Becker said about the lack of Black directors in the Criterion Collection. “The fact that things are missing, and specifically that Black voices are missing, is harmful, and that’s clear. We have to fix that.”
“You always wanted as a filmmaker to be part of the Criterion Collection,...
- 8/20/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Amulet (Romola Garai)
Trust is earned, not given. Just because you believe you’re a just person who’d do everything in your power to protect the less fortunate doesn’t mean they should blindly provide their allegiance. They need to know for sure that what you say and do is true. They need to know that you aren’t acting one way via deception in order to act another way later out of some warped notion of entitlement. There are too many people in this world who believe that the bare minimum is worth both material spoils and sainthood to want for nothing in this life and the next.
Amulet (Romola Garai)
Trust is earned, not given. Just because you believe you’re a just person who’d do everything in your power to protect the less fortunate doesn’t mean they should blindly provide their allegiance. They need to know for sure that what you say and do is true. They need to know that you aren’t acting one way via deception in order to act another way later out of some warped notion of entitlement. There are too many people in this world who believe that the bare minimum is worth both material spoils and sainthood to want for nothing in this life and the next.
- 7/24/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Opening four years ago in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Metrograph has been a bastion for cinephiles. Since the pandemic hit in mid-March, causing all movie theaters in the city and beyond to shut down and rethink their plans, this specific theater had been relatively quiet in what lies on the road ahead. Well, it turns out they were planning something quite exciting.
Metrograph has now launched Metrograph Digital, premiering this Friday, July 24. Available nationwide, it’s a membership-based program for $5 a month or $50 annually, with previous NYC-based members already included at no cost. The first initiative is Metrograph Live Screenings, “a celebration of communal movie watching” which features a specific time where films will screen digitally, and also include intros, pre-show material, and Q&As. These presentations will be available on a live stream player, watchable on any computer and mobile device, and connectable to TVs. If you miss the initial broadcast,...
Metrograph has now launched Metrograph Digital, premiering this Friday, July 24. Available nationwide, it’s a membership-based program for $5 a month or $50 annually, with previous NYC-based members already included at no cost. The first initiative is Metrograph Live Screenings, “a celebration of communal movie watching” which features a specific time where films will screen digitally, and also include intros, pre-show material, and Q&As. These presentations will be available on a live stream player, watchable on any computer and mobile device, and connectable to TVs. If you miss the initial broadcast,...
- 7/21/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Metrograph, the four-year old New York City arthouse that established itself as a tastemaking film venue before being knocked sideways by Covid-19, has launched an ambitious online expansion.
Metrograph Digital will debut on Friday and will be available to anyone nationwide through an online membership program. For existing Metrograph members, there is no extra charge. New members will pay $5 a month or $50 a year. Viewers can access the streaming player through laptops or mobile devices and can “cast” the films to TV sets.
The first Metrograph Digital offering is Metrograph Live Screenings, a lineup developed and curated by the theater’s programming team. An official announcement promises “a celebration of communal movie watching,” with a rotating selection of new releases and repertory titles each week, opening at set showtimes. As is the case at the Ludlow Street location, the screenings will be accompanied by introductions, pre-show material and Q&As.
Metrograph Digital will debut on Friday and will be available to anyone nationwide through an online membership program. For existing Metrograph members, there is no extra charge. New members will pay $5 a month or $50 a year. Viewers can access the streaming player through laptops or mobile devices and can “cast” the films to TV sets.
The first Metrograph Digital offering is Metrograph Live Screenings, a lineup developed and curated by the theater’s programming team. An official announcement promises “a celebration of communal movie watching,” with a rotating selection of new releases and repertory titles each week, opening at set showtimes. As is the case at the Ludlow Street location, the screenings will be accompanied by introductions, pre-show material and Q&As.
- 7/20/2020
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
As a “normal” moviegoing world continues remains uncertain, quick-thinking adaptation has become the name of the name. New York City’s Metrograph, both a beloved boutique theater and growing distribution label, is leaning into that ethos with the July 24 launch of its Metrograph Digital, a platform that seeks to combine the joy of in-person moviegoing with the safety of at-home viewing.
The first Metrograph Digital initiative set to roll out is Metrograph Live Screenings, which will unspool this week with “a rotating selection of new releases and repertory titles, opening at set showtimes, with introductions, pre-show material, and Q&As specific to every show.” The program will include works by Claire Denis, Éric Rohmer, St. Clair Bourne, Ulrike Ottinger, Alain Resnais, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Satoshi Kon, Laurie Anderson, and Manfred Kirchheimer. Starting July 31, photographer and activist Nan Goldin will become the first guest programmer with a new series crafted to accompany her latest film,...
The first Metrograph Digital initiative set to roll out is Metrograph Live Screenings, which will unspool this week with “a rotating selection of new releases and repertory titles, opening at set showtimes, with introductions, pre-show material, and Q&As specific to every show.” The program will include works by Claire Denis, Éric Rohmer, St. Clair Bourne, Ulrike Ottinger, Alain Resnais, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Satoshi Kon, Laurie Anderson, and Manfred Kirchheimer. Starting July 31, photographer and activist Nan Goldin will become the first guest programmer with a new series crafted to accompany her latest film,...
- 7/20/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Diop, winner of the Grand Prix at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, grew up in a creative and inspiring family. She was born in Paris to a French mother and a Senegalese father. Her mother was a photographer, her father a musician and her uncle the legendary Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambéty. Although she dreamed of becoming a musician and singer, Diop soon realized that cinema would allow her to be at the crossroads of image, sound, acting and writing.
A sophisticated step up from her acclaimed short-film work, Diop’s acclaimed long-form debut, “Atlantics,” allowed her to explore her Senegalese heritage. She says, “It is important for me to put my cinema at the service of underrepresented territories, stories we have not yet heard.” Acquired by Netflix at Cannes, the much-awarded, Academy-shortlisted “Atlantics” is also Senegal’s candidate for the international feature Oscar.
Diop has a parallel career as a film actor,...
A sophisticated step up from her acclaimed short-film work, Diop’s acclaimed long-form debut, “Atlantics,” allowed her to explore her Senegalese heritage. She says, “It is important for me to put my cinema at the service of underrepresented territories, stories we have not yet heard.” Acquired by Netflix at Cannes, the much-awarded, Academy-shortlisted “Atlantics” is also Senegal’s candidate for the international feature Oscar.
Diop has a parallel career as a film actor,...
- 1/3/2020
- by Alissa Simon
- Variety Film + TV
The decision by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in November to disqualify Genevieve Nnaji’s “Lionheart” from the international feature Oscar race marred an otherwise promising awards season for Africa, which still saw its total number of submissions reach a record-breaking nine. The ensuing controversy brought filmmakers, including Ava DuVernay, into the fray, and prompted the Academy to defend its decision on the grounds that entries must be mostly filmed in a language other than English, Nigeria’s official language.
But the dust-up also served to underscore broader structural challenges for African filmmakers dreaming of Oscar glory. Production across the continent has been steadily rising, with such debutantes as Niger, Malawi and Mozambique recently entering the awards race. Yet most countries lack either the financial resources to mobilize a selection committee — an often expensive proposition — or the political resolve to pursue an award that many perceive as...
But the dust-up also served to underscore broader structural challenges for African filmmakers dreaming of Oscar glory. Production across the continent has been steadily rising, with such debutantes as Niger, Malawi and Mozambique recently entering the awards race. Yet most countries lack either the financial resources to mobilize a selection committee — an often expensive proposition — or the political resolve to pursue an award that many perceive as...
- 12/5/2019
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
There may not be a more potent cinegeek buzz than discovering a new filmmaker with a fully formed voice and vision right out of the gate. France’s Mati Diop has ties to African-cinema royalty — her uncle is Djibril Diop Mambéty, the man who gave the world the 1973 landmark Touki Bouki (a film with its share of famous fans). Lovers of French movies and the type of family dramas that leave you both joyous and quietly sobbing in your seat know her as an actor, specifically the young woman slowly...
- 11/15/2019
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
There have been several films chronicling on African migration — specifically, undertaking the treacherous journey over the Atlantic in search of better lives — and they’re almost always male-centric and grounded in stark realism. Mati Diop’s “Atlantics” upends that tradition. The Cannes-winning feature debut harnesses fantasy to tell a haunting story about the women who are often left behind. And although Diop hasn’t directly lost loved ones at sea, the story is also a symbolic representation of her own journey as she comes to terms with her identity.
The film, which was selected as Senegal’s entry for Best International Film Oscar consideration, made history when “Atlantics” premiered at Cannes this year and won the Grand Prix. Diop became the first black woman to direct a film featured in the festival’s Competition section; Netflix acquired the title before the end of the festival, solidifying Diop’s breakthrough status.
The film, which was selected as Senegal’s entry for Best International Film Oscar consideration, made history when “Atlantics” premiered at Cannes this year and won the Grand Prix. Diop became the first black woman to direct a film featured in the festival’s Competition section; Netflix acquired the title before the end of the festival, solidifying Diop’s breakthrough status.
- 11/8/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Niece to the great Djibril Diop Mambéty, Mati Diop has been on our radar for a while, with excellent short films and performances in 35 Shots of Rum, Simon Killer, and more. She finally embarked on her feature directorial debut with Atlantics, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival in competition earlier this year and picked up the Grand Prix. Now set for a Netflix release next month, the first trailer has arrived.
Leonardo Goi said in his Cannes review, “Somewhere along the stretch of Senegalese coastline where Mati Diop’s feature-length directorial debut Atlantics takes place, a futuristic tower stands tall and spectral above the ocean–a sinister crossbreed between a stalagmite and a lighthouse, its lights thrusting red and warm blobs into the night. It’s a fictional place in a story of magical, mysterious elements–a love story that crisscrosses between social commentaries and ghastly apparitions, addressing the global...
Leonardo Goi said in his Cannes review, “Somewhere along the stretch of Senegalese coastline where Mati Diop’s feature-length directorial debut Atlantics takes place, a futuristic tower stands tall and spectral above the ocean–a sinister crossbreed between a stalagmite and a lighthouse, its lights thrusting red and warm blobs into the night. It’s a fictional place in a story of magical, mysterious elements–a love story that crisscrosses between social commentaries and ghastly apparitions, addressing the global...
- 10/9/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The first trailer for French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop’s feature directorial debut, “Atlantics,” offers a bewitching look at the filmmaker’s already-lauded “ghost love story.” “Atlantics” premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Grand Prix. The film’s Cannes premiere earned Diop a spot in the history books: She became the first woman of African descent with a film screening in the 72-year-old festival’s Competition section, and has proven to be one of the biggest breakouts this year.
Netflix acquired “Atlantics” at the festival, representing the streaming giant’s ongoing push into the African continent — a still relatively untapped source of talent and content. Last week, the film was selected by Senegal as the country’s submission for Best International Feature Film Oscar consideration.
With “Atlantics,” Diop has crafted a fantastical blend of romance, socio-political commentary, and surreal dreamscape all in one, resulting in what is,...
Netflix acquired “Atlantics” at the festival, representing the streaming giant’s ongoing push into the African continent — a still relatively untapped source of talent and content. Last week, the film was selected by Senegal as the country’s submission for Best International Feature Film Oscar consideration.
With “Atlantics,” Diop has crafted a fantastical blend of romance, socio-political commentary, and surreal dreamscape all in one, resulting in what is,...
- 10/8/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Nearly a decade since Ava DuVernay launched Array, what was initially a small distribution company has grown to become a multimedia empire that now sits on a sprawling Los Angeles campus. The gated property in Historic Filipinotown contains, among several things, post-production facilities and a recently completed state-of-the-art, 50-seat theater that will screen Array titles, work by local artists, and an annual film series, which was announced today, curated and funded by DuVernay’s non-profit Array Alliance. Titled Array 360, the program will bring together award-winning filmmakers and emerging artists for six weekends of cinema, community, and conversation.
Array 360 will run from September 27 – November 2 at the all-new Amanda Theater, as the new screening space will be called. The inaugural slate features a celebration of women filmmakers including Agnès Varda, Euzhan Palcy, Barbara Loden, Suzana Amaral, Kathleen Collins, Shirin Neshat, Garrett Bradley, and Mati Diop, among others; a John Singleton retrospective; a...
Array 360 will run from September 27 – November 2 at the all-new Amanda Theater, as the new screening space will be called. The inaugural slate features a celebration of women filmmakers including Agnès Varda, Euzhan Palcy, Barbara Loden, Suzana Amaral, Kathleen Collins, Shirin Neshat, Garrett Bradley, and Mati Diop, among others; a John Singleton retrospective; a...
- 9/13/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Ava DuVernay continues to champion inclusivity and global film perspectives with Array 360 film series to mark the completion of the Array Creative Campus and the brand-spankin’ new, state-of-the-art Amanda Theater. The series will kick off September 27 and continue through November 2.
Located in the Historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles, the Amanda Theater will host the inaugural film series created and funded by DuVernay’s non-profit Array Alliance. For six weekends, Array 360 will feature award-winning filmmakers and emerging artists.
“As a model, Array does steep itself in inclusion models to correct long-held absences. We believe in balance from the beginning,” said DuVernay. “Our Array Creative Campus was built with this belonging in mind from the first day and Array 360 is a reflection of our mantra that everyone has a place in true cinema.”
“In addition to paying tribute to exquisite filmmakers, some of whose work has gone underappreciated, our Array 360 series strives...
Located in the Historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles, the Amanda Theater will host the inaugural film series created and funded by DuVernay’s non-profit Array Alliance. For six weekends, Array 360 will feature award-winning filmmakers and emerging artists.
“As a model, Array does steep itself in inclusion models to correct long-held absences. We believe in balance from the beginning,” said DuVernay. “Our Array Creative Campus was built with this belonging in mind from the first day and Array 360 is a reflection of our mantra that everyone has a place in true cinema.”
“In addition to paying tribute to exquisite filmmakers, some of whose work has gone underappreciated, our Array 360 series strives...
- 9/13/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Ava DuVernay is launching a curated film series in Los Angeles showcasing emerging artists, female filmmakers and directors from underrepresented backgrounds, DuVernay’s non-profit organization Array Alliance announced Friday.
Array 360 will be six weeks of cinema, community and conversation hosted in La’s historic Filipinotown starting on Sept. 27 and running through Nov. 2. The screening space for the films, including work by Agnès Varda, Euzhan Palcy, Barbara Loden, Suzana Amaral, Kathleen Collins, Shirin Neshat, Garrett Bradley and Mati Diop, among others, will be hosted on the Array Creative Campus at the Amanda Theater.
As part of the series, DuVernay is also hosting a weekend marathon of the films of the late John Singleton, who passed away earlier this year. Array 360 will also feature a showcase of Filipinx cinema from the neighborhood and a conversation between DuVernay and director Michael Mann. His appearance will also include a centerpiece screening of his 2004 film...
Array 360 will be six weeks of cinema, community and conversation hosted in La’s historic Filipinotown starting on Sept. 27 and running through Nov. 2. The screening space for the films, including work by Agnès Varda, Euzhan Palcy, Barbara Loden, Suzana Amaral, Kathleen Collins, Shirin Neshat, Garrett Bradley and Mati Diop, among others, will be hosted on the Array Creative Campus at the Amanda Theater.
As part of the series, DuVernay is also hosting a weekend marathon of the films of the late John Singleton, who passed away earlier this year. Array 360 will also feature a showcase of Filipinx cinema from the neighborhood and a conversation between DuVernay and director Michael Mann. His appearance will also include a centerpiece screening of his 2004 film...
- 9/13/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Hyenas (1992) screens at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood) Thursday August 29th, The screening begin at 7:30. Facebook invite can be found Here.
Alongside fellow countryman Ousmane Sembène, director Djibril Diop Mambéty put Senegalese films on the world cinema map in the 1960s and beyond. Perhaps best known for his 1973 work Touki Bouki but making great short and feature films right up until his last one (1999’s The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun), Hyenas still manages to stand out as one of his best. An adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play The Visit, in Hyenas we find the return of a woman named Linguere Ramatou to her hometown, for she has a score to settle that has haunted her since her teenage years.
In Wolof with English subtitles.
Admission is:
$7 for the general public
$6 for seniors, Webster alumni and students from other schools
$5 for...
Alongside fellow countryman Ousmane Sembène, director Djibril Diop Mambéty put Senegalese films on the world cinema map in the 1960s and beyond. Perhaps best known for his 1973 work Touki Bouki but making great short and feature films right up until his last one (1999’s The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun), Hyenas still manages to stand out as one of his best. An adaptation of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play The Visit, in Hyenas we find the return of a woman named Linguere Ramatou to her hometown, for she has a score to settle that has haunted her since her teenage years.
In Wolof with English subtitles.
Admission is:
$7 for the general public
$6 for seniors, Webster alumni and students from other schools
$5 for...
- 8/25/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Film at Lincoln Center has set its main slate of 29 films for the 57th New York Film Festival, running September 27-October 13. The festival already announced it will get underway with the Martin Scorsese-directed The Irishman, with the Noah Baumbach-directed Marriage Story its centerpiece, and the Edward Norton-directed Motherless Brooklyn its closing-night film. Several of the films have played other festivals, including Bong Joon-ho’s Palme d’Or winner Parasite and Pain and Glory by Pedro Almodovar, who designed the Nyff poster this year.
Here is how the whole slate looks, with films from 17 countries:
Opening Night
The Irishman
Director: Martin Scorsese
Centerpiece
Marriage Story
Director: Noah Baumbach
Closing Night
Motherless Brooklyn
Director: Edward Norton
Atlantics: A Ghost Love Story
Director: Mati Diop, Us Premiere
Building on the promise—and then some—of her acclaimed shorts, the Diop-directed drama that skirts the line between realism and fantasy, romance and horror,...
Here is how the whole slate looks, with films from 17 countries:
Opening Night
The Irishman
Director: Martin Scorsese
Centerpiece
Marriage Story
Director: Noah Baumbach
Closing Night
Motherless Brooklyn
Director: Edward Norton
Atlantics: A Ghost Love Story
Director: Mati Diop, Us Premiere
Building on the promise—and then some—of her acclaimed shorts, the Diop-directed drama that skirts the line between realism and fantasy, romance and horror,...
- 8/6/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Atlantics’: Netflix’s Aggressive Africa Push Continues With Acquisition of Cannes Grand Prix Winner
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop’s feature debut, the award winning “Atlantics,” which premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Grand Prix.
The film’s Cannes premiere earned Diop, niece of the late, great Senegalese cinema pioneer Djibril Diop Mambéty, a spot in the history books: she became the first woman of African descent with a film in the 72-year-old festival’s Competition section, and has proven to be one of the biggest breakouts at Cannes this year.
Previously titled “Fire Next Time” (although not based on James Baldwin’s famous essay collection of the same name), the film was in rare company. Diop and French-Malian Ladj Ly were the only filmmakers of African descent represented in Competition at the world’s most prestigious film festival this year.
The acquisition represents Netflix’s ongoing aggressive push into the African continent — a...
The film’s Cannes premiere earned Diop, niece of the late, great Senegalese cinema pioneer Djibril Diop Mambéty, a spot in the history books: she became the first woman of African descent with a film in the 72-year-old festival’s Competition section, and has proven to be one of the biggest breakouts at Cannes this year.
Previously titled “Fire Next Time” (although not based on James Baldwin’s famous essay collection of the same name), the film was in rare company. Diop and French-Malian Ladj Ly were the only filmmakers of African descent represented in Competition at the world’s most prestigious film festival this year.
The acquisition represents Netflix’s ongoing aggressive push into the African continent — a...
- 5/25/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Variety is teaming with Unifrance, an agency that promotes French cinema around the world, to focus attention on four emerging talents in the French movie industry as part of Unifrance’s “New Faces of French Cinema” program. Here Variety profiles the rising filmmakers: Justine Triet, Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec, Hafsia Herzi and Mati Diop.
Mati Diop
Born to a family of musicians and filmmakers, raised in France, and trained at the Le Fresnoy National Studio of Contemporary Arts, Diop has already built an impressive track record on the international circuit.
She’s taken her short- and medium-length films to festivals in Marseille, Venice and Montreal, collecting prizes left, right and center, and has starred in acclaimed works from directors including Claire Denis and Antonio Campos.
This year she’ll make history as the first black female filmmaker to compete for the Palme d’Or with her feature debut, “Atlantics.” She said she...
Mati Diop
Born to a family of musicians and filmmakers, raised in France, and trained at the Le Fresnoy National Studio of Contemporary Arts, Diop has already built an impressive track record on the international circuit.
She’s taken her short- and medium-length films to festivals in Marseille, Venice and Montreal, collecting prizes left, right and center, and has starred in acclaimed works from directors including Claire Denis and Antonio Campos.
This year she’ll make history as the first black female filmmaker to compete for the Palme d’Or with her feature debut, “Atlantics.” She said she...
- 5/19/2019
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Quad Cinema
“Fighting Mad: German Genre Films from the Margins” breaks open a long-sealed side of the nation’s cinema. See the trailer here.
Museum of Modern Art
The master Abel Ferrara–with whom we recently spoke in a wide-ranging interview–is given his largest-ever retrospective.
Metrograph
Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki follow-up Hyenas continues screening.
Quad Cinema
“Fighting Mad: German Genre Films from the Margins” breaks open a long-sealed side of the nation’s cinema. See the trailer here.
Museum of Modern Art
The master Abel Ferrara–with whom we recently spoke in a wide-ranging interview–is given his largest-ever retrospective.
Metrograph
Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki follow-up Hyenas continues screening.
- 5/17/2019
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Metrograph
Before Asako I & II opens next week, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi is given his first U.S. retrospective.
Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki follow-up Hyenas continues screening.
Lilya 4-Ever and Sidney Lumet’s King play on 35mm, while an Antonioni-Loach double-bill is presented by Rachel Kushner this Sunday.
Museum of Modern Art
The master...
Metrograph
Before Asako I & II opens next week, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi is given his first U.S. retrospective.
Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki follow-up Hyenas continues screening.
Lilya 4-Ever and Sidney Lumet’s King play on 35mm, while an Antonioni-Loach double-bill is presented by Rachel Kushner this Sunday.
Museum of Modern Art
The master...
- 5/10/2019
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Museum of Modern Art
The master Abel Ferrara–with whom we spoke this week in a wide-ranging interview–is given his largest-ever retrospective.
Film Forum
Films by Pasolini, Hou Hsiao-hsien, John Ford, Rossellini and more screen in “Trilogies.”
King Kong vs. Godzilla plays on Saturday and Sunday.
Quad Cinema
A restoration of James Ivory’s Quartet,...
Museum of Modern Art
The master Abel Ferrara–with whom we spoke this week in a wide-ranging interview–is given his largest-ever retrospective.
Film Forum
Films by Pasolini, Hou Hsiao-hsien, John Ford, Rossellini and more screen in “Trilogies.”
King Kong vs. Godzilla plays on Saturday and Sunday.
Quad Cinema
A restoration of James Ivory’s Quartet,...
- 5/3/2019
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSDirector John Singleton on the set of his Boyz in the HoodJohn Singleton has died at the age of 51 after suffering a stroke. In an essential overview of the filmmaker's groundbreaking career, K. Austin Collins writes "[Singleton's] black characters were flawed, often failures; his films detailed the extent to which these failures were personal, and made clear when they were systemic. Singleton’s black people were human." I was discovered by a master filmmaker by the name of John Singleton. He not only made me a movie star but made me a filmmaker. There are no words to express how sad I am to lose my brother, friend & mentor. He loved bring the black experience to the world. ..Us at Cannes ‘90 pic.twitter.com/CaRKjZtjgB— Ice Cube (@icecube) April 29, 2019A newly discovered sequel to A Clockwork Orange...
- 5/1/2019
- MUBI
Ami Diakhate in Hyenas, a film by Djibril Diop Mambéty. A Metrograph Pictures release.In more ways than one, Senegal is exactly like Iceland. Everyone is connected. All the Icelandic people I have ever met somehow know each other from high school, and have had some connection to Björk, like bringing their children to the same swimming pool as hers or being a distant relative. Every Icelander also has written and published a book—or so it seems. Similarly, if you are Senegalese, every single one of your compatriots somehow is your distant cousin. If not, then you will have to spend all the time it will take to figure out how you are related, even if you have to go back several generations to find that link. This is because so much of Senegalese culture is about bonding with people like siblings, and looking out for one another, even...
- 4/26/2019
- MUBI
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Museum of the Moving Image
“See It Big! Action,” one of the finest genre retrospectives in recent memory, continues with screenings of The French Connection, Fury Road, and Bullitt.
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit plays throughout the weekend as part of an Earth Day celebration.
A series on 21st-century Latin American cinema continues with Third World this Sunday.
Museum of the Moving Image
“See It Big! Action,” one of the finest genre retrospectives in recent memory, continues with screenings of The French Connection, Fury Road, and Bullitt.
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit plays throughout the weekend as part of an Earth Day celebration.
A series on 21st-century Latin American cinema continues with Third World this Sunday.
- 4/26/2019
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSTerrence Malick's A Hidden Life.The various lineups for Cannes 2019 have been announced: the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival, and the separate but simultaneous events, the Directors' Fortnight, Critics' Week, and Acid.Stephen Chow has confirmed that he will be directing the follow-up to his 2004 film Kung Fu Hustle, in which he also starred as the lead character. Recommended Viewinga tense and harrowing trailer for Ava Duvernay's When They See Us, a miniseries that follows the plight of the Central Park Five, five boys falsely accused of brutally raping a jogger. The series, which spans from 1989 to 2014, also marks another collaboration between Duvernay and cinematographer Bradford Young.Flying Lotus and David Lynch come together for the song "Fire is Coming," off of Flying Lotus's new album Flamagra. The music video, which...
- 4/24/2019
- MUBI
Mati Diop, niece of the late, great Senegalese cinema pioneer Djibril Diop Mambéty — director of African cinema classics “Touki Bouki” and “Hyènes” — makes her feature film directorial debut with “Atlantiques,” which will world premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. She is the first black woman with a film in the 72-year-old festival’s Competition section, and stands to be one of the biggest breakouts at Cannes this year.
Previously titled “Fire Next Time” (although not based on James Baldwin’s famous essay collection of the same name), the film is in rare company. Currently, Diop and Malian filmmaker Ladj Ly are the only filmmakers of African descent represented in competition at Cannes this year.
Diop is the daughter of Senegalese jazz musician Wasis Diop, but cinephiles will likely be more familiar with her filmmaker uncle. She first received attention from international critics and cinema enthusiasts for her work as an...
Previously titled “Fire Next Time” (although not based on James Baldwin’s famous essay collection of the same name), the film is in rare company. Currently, Diop and Malian filmmaker Ladj Ly are the only filmmakers of African descent represented in competition at Cannes this year.
Diop is the daughter of Senegalese jazz musician Wasis Diop, but cinephiles will likely be more familiar with her filmmaker uncle. She first received attention from international critics and cinema enthusiasts for her work as an...
- 4/18/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Senegalese filmmaker Djibril Diop Mambéty made his mark on international cinema with his very first feature, “Touki Bouki,” which picked up the International Critics Award at 1973 Cannes Film Festival. Together with “Hyenas” (1992), Mambéty’s oeuvre — which comprises of those two features and five shorts — has come to be recognized as one of the most important in the history of African film.
Both “Touki Bouki” and “Hyenas” were to be completed by a third film, as part of a trilogy on colonization and corruption, but Mambéty died in 1998 without being able to finish the triptych.
Now, “Hyenas,” the long-delayed follow-up to his canonical “Touki Bouki,” will enjoy a revival following a new restoration from the original negative, that is set for a nationwide theatrical run, starting on April 26 at the Metrograph in New York City.
Distributed by Metrograph Pictures, IndieWire has the exclusive new trailer for the film.
A fantastical and...
Both “Touki Bouki” and “Hyenas” were to be completed by a third film, as part of a trilogy on colonization and corruption, but Mambéty died in 1998 without being able to finish the triptych.
Now, “Hyenas,” the long-delayed follow-up to his canonical “Touki Bouki,” will enjoy a revival following a new restoration from the original negative, that is set for a nationwide theatrical run, starting on April 26 at the Metrograph in New York City.
Distributed by Metrograph Pictures, IndieWire has the exclusive new trailer for the film.
A fantastical and...
- 4/12/2019
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
In today’s film news roundup, the “Just Dance” video game is in development as a movie; Capstone Entertainment hires a key exec; the Writers Guild Initiative promotes an exec; and Metrograph Pictures launches.
Project Launch
Sony’s Screen Gems has acquired the motion picture rights for a film based on Ubisoft’s video game “Just Dance.”
Ubisoft Film and Television and Olive Bridge Entertainment will develop and produce the project. Jason Altman and Margaret Boykin will produce for Ubisoft Film and Television alongside Jodi Hildebrand and Will Gluck for Olive Bridge Entertainment.
The “Just Dance” franchise is touted as the best-selling music video game of all time with more than 120 million players worldwide. The video game is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and includes songs by Shakira, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, Camila Cabello, the Chainsmokers, Jennifer Lopez, and Calvin Harris.
Eric Paquette and Brian Dukes are overseeing for Screen Gems.
Project Launch
Sony’s Screen Gems has acquired the motion picture rights for a film based on Ubisoft’s video game “Just Dance.”
Ubisoft Film and Television and Olive Bridge Entertainment will develop and produce the project. Jason Altman and Margaret Boykin will produce for Ubisoft Film and Television alongside Jodi Hildebrand and Will Gluck for Olive Bridge Entertainment.
The “Just Dance” franchise is touted as the best-selling music video game of all time with more than 120 million players worldwide. The video game is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and includes songs by Shakira, Pharrell Williams, Alicia Keys, Camila Cabello, the Chainsmokers, Jennifer Lopez, and Calvin Harris.
Eric Paquette and Brian Dukes are overseeing for Screen Gems.
- 1/15/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Three years after successfully redrawing the cinema map of Manhattan with the opening of an influential arthouse theater on the Lower East Side, Metrograph is launching a distribution company.
Metrograph Pictures will put out both new releases and restored classics. It will be led by Head of Distribution George Schmalz, an industry vet who most recently curated AMC Networks’ Sundance Now streaming service. Schmalz will team with Jake Perlin, Artistic Director and Director of Programming of Metrograph, on acquisitions.
The distributor’s first title, The Competition (Le Concours), will open February 22. Claire Simon’s documentary portrait of the admissions process at French film school La Fémis screened in Venice as well as festivals in Vienna and London and got the True Vision award at the True/False Film Festival. After opening at the Metrograph, the film will expand nationally, the company said.
Restorations of several films are also on the release slate,...
Metrograph Pictures will put out both new releases and restored classics. It will be led by Head of Distribution George Schmalz, an industry vet who most recently curated AMC Networks’ Sundance Now streaming service. Schmalz will team with Jake Perlin, Artistic Director and Director of Programming of Metrograph, on acquisitions.
The distributor’s first title, The Competition (Le Concours), will open February 22. Claire Simon’s documentary portrait of the admissions process at French film school La Fémis screened in Venice as well as festivals in Vienna and London and got the True Vision award at the True/False Film Festival. After opening at the Metrograph, the film will expand nationally, the company said.
Restorations of several films are also on the release slate,...
- 1/14/2019
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
New York City’s fledgling independent cinema The Metrograph — which opened in March of 2016, the first indie arthouse to open in the city in over a decade — is getting into the distribution business. Metrograph Pictures will launch on February 22, and will focus on “standout new releases and restored classics.” The new distributor will be led by Head of Distribution George Schmalz, an industry veteran who most recently served as curator for AMC’s Sundance Now. Schmalz will work closely with Jake Perlin, Artistic Director and Director of Programming of Metrograph, on all acquisitions.
Its first planned title is Claire Simon’s “The Competition” (Le Concours), billed as “a sensational documentary portrait of the admission process at French film school La Fémis,” which previously screened at the Venice, Vienna, BFI-London film festivals. In keeping with the new distributor’s mission, the theatrical release will mark the U.S. theatrical debut of veteran filmmaker Simon.
Its first planned title is Claire Simon’s “The Competition” (Le Concours), billed as “a sensational documentary portrait of the admission process at French film school La Fémis,” which previously screened at the Venice, Vienna, BFI-London film festivals. In keeping with the new distributor’s mission, the theatrical release will mark the U.S. theatrical debut of veteran filmmaker Simon.
- 1/14/2019
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Rungano Nyoni wasn’t exactly surprised when her casting director vanished during pre-production in Zambia. Born in the southern African nation, but raised in Wales, she had girded herself for the challenges of shooting in a country whose film industry holds itself to different professional standards than those prevailing in the U.K.
“Using European sensibilities in Africa just doesn’t work. You have to adjust to the local [way of doing] things,” she says. “We were behind from the beginning. It was really an uphill climb.”
Shooting in Zambia was a calculated risk that paid off for Nyoni, whose feature directorial debut, “I Am Not a Witch,” world-premiered at the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight in 2017, and is this year’s U.K.’s foreign-language Oscar submission. Film Movement is the pic’s U.S. distributor. Nyoni was also named one of Variety’s 10 Brits to Watch and won a BAFTA...
“Using European sensibilities in Africa just doesn’t work. You have to adjust to the local [way of doing] things,” she says. “We were behind from the beginning. It was really an uphill climb.”
Shooting in Zambia was a calculated risk that paid off for Nyoni, whose feature directorial debut, “I Am Not a Witch,” world-premiered at the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight in 2017, and is this year’s U.K.’s foreign-language Oscar submission. Film Movement is the pic’s U.S. distributor. Nyoni was also named one of Variety’s 10 Brits to Watch and won a BAFTA...
- 11/16/2018
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Following their impressively varied Main Slate section and Projections lineup, the full slate for Retrospective and Revivals at the 56th New York Film Festival have been announced. After last year’s Robert Mitchum retrospective, this year’s edition is split into three parts, paying tributing to the late Dan Talbot and Pierre Rissient, as well as spotlighting a trio of documentaries that delve into cinema history.
“For Pierre and Dan, two genuine heroes, everything to do with cinema was urgent. This year’s retrospective section pays tribute to both men, who passed away within six months of each other,” Nyff Director and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones said.
Talbot, founder of New Yorker Films and longtime director of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, will be honored with personal favorites from Bernardo Bertolucci, Straub-Huillet, Nagisa Oshima, Jean-Luc Godard, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and more. Meanwhile, producer, publicist, distributor, curator, and cinema polymath Pierre Rissient...
“For Pierre and Dan, two genuine heroes, everything to do with cinema was urgent. This year’s retrospective section pays tribute to both men, who passed away within six months of each other,” Nyff Director and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones said.
Talbot, founder of New Yorker Films and longtime director of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, will be honored with personal favorites from Bernardo Bertolucci, Straub-Huillet, Nagisa Oshima, Jean-Luc Godard, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and more. Meanwhile, producer, publicist, distributor, curator, and cinema polymath Pierre Rissient...
- 8/21/2018
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Welcome, one and all, to another classic review from your friends here at The Film Stage Show. Today, Michael Snydel, Bill Graham and I are joined by Scout Tafoya to talk about Djibril Diop Mambéty’s classic French New Wave-inspired Senegalese film, Touki Bouki.
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M4A: The Film Stage Show Classic – Touki Bouki
The Film Stage is supported by Mubi, a curated online cinema streaming a selection of exceptional independent, classic, and award-winning films from around the world. Each day, Mubi hand-picks a new gem and you have one month to watch it. Try it for free at mubi.com/filmstage.
Subscribe below:
Support The Film Stage Show on Patreon. E-mail us or follow on Twitter and Facebook with any questions or comments.
Subscribe on iTunes or see below to stream/download. Enter our giveaways, get access to our private Slack channel, and support new episodes by becoming a Patreon contributor.
M4A: The Film Stage Show Classic – Touki Bouki
The Film Stage is supported by Mubi, a curated online cinema streaming a selection of exceptional independent, classic, and award-winning films from around the world. Each day, Mubi hand-picks a new gem and you have one month to watch it. Try it for free at mubi.com/filmstage.
Subscribe below:
Support The Film Stage Show on Patreon. E-mail us or follow on Twitter and Facebook with any questions or comments.
- 3/26/2018
- by Brian Roan
- The Film Stage
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