ChaiFlicks, the prime streaming service for Jewish storytelling, has acquired the rights to premium Austrian limited series “Kafka” from Orf Enterprise, the global distribution arm of Austrian pubcaster Orf.
The six-part series is due to launch June 6 in North America for ChaiFlicks, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the death of the world celebrated Bohemian author Franz Kafka.
Lending his features to the Prague-born author of “The Metamorphosis” is Swish actor Joel Basman. The Orf original series is helmed by David Schalko (“Braunschlag”) who co-wrote the script with German-Austrian novelist and playwright Daniel Kehmann, based on the definitive Kafka biography by Reiner Stach.
The show chronicles the life, love affairs, and friendships of the German-speaking Kafka viewed as one of the most influential writers of all time, whose name led to the familiar term ‘Kafkaesque,’ referring to the surreal, confusing and almost nightmarish situations described in Kafka’s novels.
The six-part series is due to launch June 6 in North America for ChaiFlicks, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the death of the world celebrated Bohemian author Franz Kafka.
Lending his features to the Prague-born author of “The Metamorphosis” is Swish actor Joel Basman. The Orf original series is helmed by David Schalko (“Braunschlag”) who co-wrote the script with German-Austrian novelist and playwright Daniel Kehmann, based on the definitive Kafka biography by Reiner Stach.
The show chronicles the life, love affairs, and friendships of the German-speaking Kafka viewed as one of the most influential writers of all time, whose name led to the familiar term ‘Kafkaesque,’ referring to the surreal, confusing and almost nightmarish situations described in Kafka’s novels.
- 4/30/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is set to present a retrospective on Franz Kafka and his influence on cinema, dubbed The Wish To Be A Red Indian: Kafka and Cinema. It will examine how the influential Czech writer has impacted filmmakers from Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese, Ousmane Sembene, Jan Nemec and Steven Soderbergh.
This June will mark the centenary of the final moments of Kafka, who passed away at a sanatorium in the Austrian town of Kierling. Kviff, which kicks off on June 28, will launch this strand in honor of the writer featuring films such as Soderberg’s noir mystery Kafka, Welles’ The Trial, Scorsese’s After Hours as well as Roman Polanski’s The Tenant among others.
The festival will also be honoring casting director Francine Maisler, who has worked with directors such as Denis Villeneuve, Terrence Malick and Alejandro González Iñárritu and whose credits include The Revenant,...
This June will mark the centenary of the final moments of Kafka, who passed away at a sanatorium in the Austrian town of Kierling. Kviff, which kicks off on June 28, will launch this strand in honor of the writer featuring films such as Soderberg’s noir mystery Kafka, Welles’ The Trial, Scorsese’s After Hours as well as Roman Polanski’s The Tenant among others.
The festival will also be honoring casting director Francine Maisler, who has worked with directors such as Denis Villeneuve, Terrence Malick and Alejandro González Iñárritu and whose credits include The Revenant,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
The Karlovy Vary Film Festival and Variety have teamed up to honor Francine Maisler, one of the world’s most respected casting directors, whose recent credits include “Dune: Part Two,” “The Bikeriders,” “Challengers,” “Civil War” and “Joker: Folie à Deux.”
Maisler has worked on more than 70 feature films and is a recipient of 15 Artios Awards from the Casting Society of America, including for “Marriage Story” in 2020 and “Don’t Look Up” in 2021. As well as working with director Denis Villeneuve on “Dune: Part Two,” “Dune,” “Arrival” and “Sicario,” her other films include Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” and “Knight of Cups,” and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “The Revenant” and “Birdman.” In 2022, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on HBO’s “Succession.”
As part of its homage, Karlovy Vary will hold a special screening of one of the films which Maisler worked on. Maisler will also give a public master class,...
Maisler has worked on more than 70 feature films and is a recipient of 15 Artios Awards from the Casting Society of America, including for “Marriage Story” in 2020 and “Don’t Look Up” in 2021. As well as working with director Denis Villeneuve on “Dune: Part Two,” “Dune,” “Arrival” and “Sicario,” her other films include Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” and “Knight of Cups,” and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “The Revenant” and “Birdman.” In 2022, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for her work on HBO’s “Succession.”
As part of its homage, Karlovy Vary will hold a special screening of one of the films which Maisler worked on. Maisler will also give a public master class,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Karlovy Vary Festival will pay tribute to one of the Czech Republic’s most famous sons with a retrospective of film adaptations of the work of Franz Kafka from some of the greatest names in cinema. To mark the centenary of Kafka’s death, the festival will screen a series of films directly adapted from, or inspired by, the literary master of angst.
The retrospective will include such classics as Orson Welles’s The Trial (1962), Martin Scorsese’s Kafkaesque New York dramedy After Hours (1985) and Federico Fellini’s Intervista; Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka (1991) and its 2021 re-edit Mr. Kneff — both starring Jeremy Irons as a set-upon insurance man and writer — alongside lesser-known adaptations, including Jan Němec’s Metamorphosis, a German TV movie version of Kafka’s famous short story. Other highlights include Ousmane Sembene’s Senegalese feature The Money Order (1968) and Kôji Yamamura’s animated short Franz Kafka’s a Country Doctor (2007).
“For decades,...
The retrospective will include such classics as Orson Welles’s The Trial (1962), Martin Scorsese’s Kafkaesque New York dramedy After Hours (1985) and Federico Fellini’s Intervista; Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka (1991) and its 2021 re-edit Mr. Kneff — both starring Jeremy Irons as a set-upon insurance man and writer — alongside lesser-known adaptations, including Jan Němec’s Metamorphosis, a German TV movie version of Kafka’s famous short story. Other highlights include Ousmane Sembene’s Senegalese feature The Money Order (1968) and Kôji Yamamura’s animated short Franz Kafka’s a Country Doctor (2007).
“For decades,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Renowned comedian Richard Lewis, famous for his stand-up performances and memorable role on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, died on Tuesday night at his Los Angeles home after he suffered a heart attack. He was 76 years old.
The news of Lewis’s death was confirmed by his publicist, Jeff Abraham. Lewis had been living with Parkinson’s disease, a diagnosis he revealed in April 2023. In a statement, Lewis’s wife, Joyce Lapinsky, expressed gratitude for the love, friendship and support people had extended, and asked for privacy at this difficult time.
Born as Richard Philip Lewis on June 29, 1947, in Brooklyn and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, Lewis went on to graduate from Ohio State University. He emerged in the 1970s comedy scenes of New York and Los Angeles alongside future stars like Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer and Elayne Boosler. Lewis quickly gained popularity and made appearances on late-night shows such...
The news of Lewis’s death was confirmed by his publicist, Jeff Abraham. Lewis had been living with Parkinson’s disease, a diagnosis he revealed in April 2023. In a statement, Lewis’s wife, Joyce Lapinsky, expressed gratitude for the love, friendship and support people had extended, and asked for privacy at this difficult time.
Born as Richard Philip Lewis on June 29, 1947, in Brooklyn and raised in Englewood, New Jersey, Lewis went on to graduate from Ohio State University. He emerged in the 1970s comedy scenes of New York and Los Angeles alongside future stars like Andy Kaufman, Richard Belzer and Elayne Boosler. Lewis quickly gained popularity and made appearances on late-night shows such...
- 2/29/2024
- by Baila Eve Zisman
- Uinterview
Richard Lewis, one of America’s most beloved and revered stand-up comics who also played a fictionalized version of himself on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, died Tuesday night at his home in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack. He was 76.
His death was confirmed by his publicist Jeff Abraham. Lewis had been living with Parkinson’s disease, a diagnosis he revealed in April 2023.
“His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time,” Abraham said.
Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.
Related: Remembering Richard Lewis: A Career In Photos
Richard Lewis on ‘The Tonight Show’ in late-’70s
Born Richard Philip Lewis on June 29, 1947, in Brooklyn and raised in Englewood, NJ, Lewis — after a childhood he would describe as difficult — graduated from Ohio State University before landing in the New York and Los Angeles comedy scenes of the 1970s.
His death was confirmed by his publicist Jeff Abraham. Lewis had been living with Parkinson’s disease, a diagnosis he revealed in April 2023.
“His wife, Joyce Lapinsky, thanks everyone for all the love, friendship and support and asks for privacy at this time,” Abraham said.
Complete information on survivors was not immediately available.
Related: Remembering Richard Lewis: A Career In Photos
Richard Lewis on ‘The Tonight Show’ in late-’70s
Born Richard Philip Lewis on June 29, 1947, in Brooklyn and raised in Englewood, NJ, Lewis — after a childhood he would describe as difficult — graduated from Ohio State University before landing in the New York and Los Angeles comedy scenes of the 1970s.
- 2/28/2024
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The city of Split has long been a tourist magnet, famous for the churches and flagstones of its picturesque Old Town, and for the beauty of the rocky, sparkling Croatian coastline. But not all visitors come for the culture. Some seek the trashier pleasures of rowdy bars and cheap drinks, and all they know of the area’s history is that the spectacular medieval fortress clinging to a nearby cliffside was a “Game of Thrones” location.
Split is also where US filmmaker Travis Wilkerson (“Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?”) recently lived for a stretch, having resolved — and then failing — to make a movie about the dissolution of Yugoslavia. This he tells us on camera, at the beginning of “Through the Graves the Wind is Blowing,” the film he made instead of that one, and it’s an admission of compromise that somehow never compromises the integrity of what follows: a witty,...
Split is also where US filmmaker Travis Wilkerson (“Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?”) recently lived for a stretch, having resolved — and then failing — to make a movie about the dissolution of Yugoslavia. This he tells us on camera, at the beginning of “Through the Graves the Wind is Blowing,” the film he made instead of that one, and it’s an admission of compromise that somehow never compromises the integrity of what follows: a witty,...
- 2/27/2024
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Following the October parliamentary election that saw the defeat of the right-wing Law and Justice party and appointment of leader of the opposition party Donald Tusk as prime minister, Polish filmmakers are cautiously readying for change.
“So far, our cinema authorities have not changed. It remains to be seen whether they will change their approach to funding more topical or controversial projects. Recent years have been very difficult in this regard,” says acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland.
Holland’s latest film, refugee drama “Green Border,” had been attacked by the right-wing government last year. Her next film, “Franz,” about Franz Kafka, is a Czech-German-Polish co-production to be sold at EFM by Films Boutique.
“We know everything and nothing about Kafka. There are dozens of detailed biographies and the reasons for his growing importance remain a mystery. I am trying to put this film together like a scattered jigsaw puzzle,” she adds.
“So far, our cinema authorities have not changed. It remains to be seen whether they will change their approach to funding more topical or controversial projects. Recent years have been very difficult in this regard,” says acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland.
Holland’s latest film, refugee drama “Green Border,” had been attacked by the right-wing government last year. Her next film, “Franz,” about Franz Kafka, is a Czech-German-Polish co-production to be sold at EFM by Films Boutique.
“We know everything and nothing about Kafka. There are dozens of detailed biographies and the reasons for his growing importance remain a mystery. I am trying to put this film together like a scattered jigsaw puzzle,” she adds.
- 2/17/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
“Presence,” a twisty haunted house thriller, marks the second collaboration between Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp. The duo, who are longtime friends, also partnered on 2022’s “Kimi,” which featured Zoë Kravitz as an agoraphobic tech wiz.
But Soderergh and Koepp entered each other’s orbit long before “Kimi” debuted. Koepp wrote the screenplay for the 1992 black comedy “Death Becomes Her,” a cult favorite that was also a pioneer in its use of computer graphics.
“I want to preface this by saying I hate it when people talk about things that they passed on,” Soderbergh told Variety in an interview for a recent profile. “For whatever reason, I just feel like I am not convinced it’s good form to do that.”
But Soderbergh did acknowledge that he was offered a chance to direct “Death Becomes Her,” which would have happened shortly after he scored a breakout hit with 1989’s “Sex, Lies, and Videotape.
But Soderergh and Koepp entered each other’s orbit long before “Kimi” debuted. Koepp wrote the screenplay for the 1992 black comedy “Death Becomes Her,” a cult favorite that was also a pioneer in its use of computer graphics.
“I want to preface this by saying I hate it when people talk about things that they passed on,” Soderbergh told Variety in an interview for a recent profile. “For whatever reason, I just feel like I am not convinced it’s good form to do that.”
But Soderbergh did acknowledge that he was offered a chance to direct “Death Becomes Her,” which would have happened shortly after he scored a breakout hit with 1989’s “Sex, Lies, and Videotape.
- 1/26/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Hot on the heels of her historic Oscar nomination, Killers of the Flower Moon breakout Lily Gladstone has found her next starring role, one that reteams her with filmmaker Martin Scorsese.
Gladstone is attached to star in The Memory Police, a hot package that is coming together. It will adapt of the acclaimed 1994 science fiction novel by Yoko Ogawa. Reed Morano, who helmed episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale as well as indie I Think We’re Alone Now, is on board to direct the feature whose story has tones of Franz Kafka and George Orwell, and fittingly comes armed with a script by Charlie Kaufman, the writer of such mind-tripping movies as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Morano and Margot Hand of Picture Films will produce. Scorsese will executive produce along with Ogawa.
Ogawa’s novel is a parable taking place on an unnamed island...
Gladstone is attached to star in The Memory Police, a hot package that is coming together. It will adapt of the acclaimed 1994 science fiction novel by Yoko Ogawa. Reed Morano, who helmed episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale as well as indie I Think We’re Alone Now, is on board to direct the feature whose story has tones of Franz Kafka and George Orwell, and fittingly comes armed with a script by Charlie Kaufman, the writer of such mind-tripping movies as Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Morano and Margot Hand of Picture Films will produce. Scorsese will executive produce along with Ogawa.
Ogawa’s novel is a parable taking place on an unnamed island...
- 1/25/2024
- by Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Martin Scorsese is going down as one of the most consistent directors ever, for no matter how you receive a movie of his, he still maintains his vision and his passion for the craft. The director has cemented himself in film culture with movies like Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Raging Bull, etc. At 81 years old, Scorsese is still garnering acclaim and accolades for his latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, which is also featuring a breakout performance by Golden Globe-winner Lily Gladstone. Scorsese would recently receive a special Best Director Award from the National Board of Review, which would bring his former Gangs of New York star, Daniel Day-Lewis, into the public spotlight.
Variety is reporting that Scorsese is set to be honored at the Berlin Film Festival next month with a Golden Bear Award. His ceremony will also be screening his film The Departed. Interestingly, The Departed is also...
Variety is reporting that Scorsese is set to be honored at the Berlin Film Festival next month with a Golden Bear Award. His ceremony will also be screening his film The Departed. Interestingly, The Departed is also...
- 1/17/2024
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
When Martin Scorsese is lauded with Berlin Film Festival’s Honorary Golden Bear next month, the awards ceremony will be accompanied by a screening of his 2006 film “The Departed.”
The crime thriller, which won four Oscars including best picture and director, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg. The film tells the story of an Irish mob boss who plants a spy within the Massachusetts State Police just as the police assign an undercover cop to infiltrate the gang. What follows is a race to expose the other’s identity first.
The Berlinale on Wednesday also announced that Levan Akin’s “Crossing” will open this year’s Panorama section, which will focus on “bridges between lived experiences and cinematic possibilities.” “Crossing” follows an unlikely duo who travel “from Batumi, Georgia to the urban, labyrinthine Istanbul in search of a young trans woman named Tekla,” according to the fest’s description.
The crime thriller, which won four Oscars including best picture and director, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg. The film tells the story of an Irish mob boss who plants a spy within the Massachusetts State Police just as the police assign an undercover cop to infiltrate the gang. What follows is a race to expose the other’s identity first.
The Berlinale on Wednesday also announced that Levan Akin’s “Crossing” will open this year’s Panorama section, which will focus on “bridges between lived experiences and cinematic possibilities.” “Crossing” follows an unlikely duo who travel “from Batumi, Georgia to the urban, labyrinthine Istanbul in search of a young trans woman named Tekla,” according to the fest’s description.
- 1/17/2024
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Regardless of any perceived quality when it comes to individual entries, you have to hand it to the Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise. It kicked off with a demented killer Santa story that created immense controversy, cementing it as a piece of hallowed horror history. Since then, it has produced a series of movies that each stand out for any number of memorable reasons (my personal favorite). You can certainly argue the successful and not-so-successful elements of a Silent Night, Deadly Night entry, but it’s tough to say any one of them is “normal.” They all offer such unique quirks and oddities that it’s hard not to find them attractive from the right angles.
And Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation is the weirdest one of the bunch and so much better for it.
As a franchise entry, we do need to establish some important context. Long story short,...
And Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation is the weirdest one of the bunch and so much better for it.
As a franchise entry, we do need to establish some important context. Long story short,...
- 12/20/2023
- by Drew Dietsch
- bloody-disgusting.com
For Franz Kafka, it was The Kid. For Stanley Kubrick, it was the trailer to Eyes Wide Shut. But what about Cobain, Presley and Kennedy? Artist Stanley Schtinter talks us through his revelatory new project
Clad in black and wearing a cheeky-chappie grin, the artist and author Stanley Schtinter resembles Damon Albarn dressed as an undertaker. That suits his new book, Last Movies, which refracts cultural history through the prism of films watched by notable figures soon before their deaths. Stocking-fillers such as 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die are 10 a penny, but this is a more profound proposition: 28 Movies They Saw Before They Died. Bette Davis, Charlie Parker and Steve Jobs are among the cinema-goers attending this last picture show, which mixes fact with scintillating speculation. What parallels might Kurt Cobain have drawn, for instance, between the life he was about to leave and The Piano, the last film he saw,...
Clad in black and wearing a cheeky-chappie grin, the artist and author Stanley Schtinter resembles Damon Albarn dressed as an undertaker. That suits his new book, Last Movies, which refracts cultural history through the prism of films watched by notable figures soon before their deaths. Stocking-fillers such as 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die are 10 a penny, but this is a more profound proposition: 28 Movies They Saw Before They Died. Bette Davis, Charlie Parker and Steve Jobs are among the cinema-goers attending this last picture show, which mixes fact with scintillating speculation. What parallels might Kurt Cobain have drawn, for instance, between the life he was about to leave and The Piano, the last film he saw,...
- 11/28/2023
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Cho Kyu-jun started his filmmaking career about a decade ago with “Your Paradise”,a 15-minute drama that premiered in the Panorama section of 14th Seoul International Newmedia festival. He continued making independent shorts and one feature called “Somehow” (2014), about a single, teenage mother and her hardships. Cho took a lengthy break after his 6th short “The Rite of Spring” and started working as a production manager in the domain of film funding. He admits that it is hard to make a new movie and write a solid story, which is why he decided to promote ideas. When he started working for a small production company, he couldn't see that there was a pandemic coming our way, the same that has stopped the whole film industry for two long years: “Many projects were held back, and Korea was not an exception. So, I had no choice but to start making my...
- 11/19/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
(Welcome to Did They Get It Right?, a series where we look at Oscars categories from yesteryear and examine whether the Academy's winners stand the test of time.)
Making a movie is hard. A shocking statement, I know. When you direct a film, you are utilizing a tremendous amount of your time and energy to devote to a project that more often than not takes years of your life. So, when a director releases two films in the same year, I'm always impressed that they had the bandwidth to turn these films around so quickly. The rarest of the rare, though, is when the director gets nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Director for multiple films within the same year.
The first was at the 2nd ceremony, when Frank Lloyd received three of the seven nominations for "Drag," "Weary River," and "The Divine Lady," for which he won. The...
Making a movie is hard. A shocking statement, I know. When you direct a film, you are utilizing a tremendous amount of your time and energy to devote to a project that more often than not takes years of your life. So, when a director releases two films in the same year, I'm always impressed that they had the bandwidth to turn these films around so quickly. The rarest of the rare, though, is when the director gets nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Director for multiple films within the same year.
The first was at the 2nd ceremony, when Frank Lloyd received three of the seven nominations for "Drag," "Weary River," and "The Divine Lady," for which he won. The...
- 10/29/2023
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland needed bodyguards following the “Green Border” backlash in her native Poland.
“I planned to be there during the election, so the Polish Filmmakers Association arranged bodyguards for me. I was traveling with two, both wonderful and very kind. But it’s quite costly, so I just rearranged my schedule,” she said at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, answering Variety’s question during her masterclass.
“I think I can be safe now, going back, but of course you never know if some crazy man won’t attack you on the street, believing you are the enemy of the nation.”
Criticized by rightwing politicians for her Venice-winning film about the refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, the acclaimed director decided to “limit her presence” in the country.
“It wasn’t just the Minister of Justice [who compared her film to ‘Nazi propaganda’]. It was the president, [Deputy Prime Minister] Mr. Kaczyński and others. It created a hysteria and...
“I planned to be there during the election, so the Polish Filmmakers Association arranged bodyguards for me. I was traveling with two, both wonderful and very kind. But it’s quite costly, so I just rearranged my schedule,” she said at Ji.hlava Documentary Film Festival, answering Variety’s question during her masterclass.
“I think I can be safe now, going back, but of course you never know if some crazy man won’t attack you on the street, believing you are the enemy of the nation.”
Criticized by rightwing politicians for her Venice-winning film about the refugee crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border, the acclaimed director decided to “limit her presence” in the country.
“It wasn’t just the Minister of Justice [who compared her film to ‘Nazi propaganda’]. It was the president, [Deputy Prime Minister] Mr. Kaczyński and others. It created a hysteria and...
- 10/27/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
The founders are producers Roshanak “Rosh” Khodabakhsh and Jorgo Narje.
Netflix and Amazon Studios are among the backers of a new German programme entitled NewMotion to promote greater diversity in the nation’s film industry. It was officially launched at the Explorer Conference at Filmfest Hamburg this month.
The programme is the brainchild of producers Roshanak “Rosh” Khodabakhsh (Port au Prince Film und Kultur Produktion) and Jorgo Narjes (X Filme Creative Pool) in cooperation with the Producers Alliance Initiative for Qualification (Paiq).
“A central element of this initiative is a shadowing programme giving on-the-job training where you follow one person...
Netflix and Amazon Studios are among the backers of a new German programme entitled NewMotion to promote greater diversity in the nation’s film industry. It was officially launched at the Explorer Conference at Filmfest Hamburg this month.
The programme is the brainchild of producers Roshanak “Rosh” Khodabakhsh (Port au Prince Film und Kultur Produktion) and Jorgo Narjes (X Filme Creative Pool) in cooperation with the Producers Alliance Initiative for Qualification (Paiq).
“A central element of this initiative is a shadowing programme giving on-the-job training where you follow one person...
- 10/9/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
German regional fund Medenboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Mbb) has made its latest funding decisions.
Films directed by Wes Anderson, Agnieszka Holland, Emily Atef, Pablo Larrain and Karim Ainouz are among 14 projects to receive more than €5.2m in total production support from the German regional fund Medenboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Mbb) in its latest funding decision.
The largest single amount of €1.5m went to an as-yet untitled project by Wes Anderson which will see the US director continuing his long-standing collaboration with Studio Babelsberg with whom he has partnered on five previous films including The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch, and Asteroid City.
The...
Films directed by Wes Anderson, Agnieszka Holland, Emily Atef, Pablo Larrain and Karim Ainouz are among 14 projects to receive more than €5.2m in total production support from the German regional fund Medenboard Berlin-Brandenburg (Mbb) in its latest funding decision.
The largest single amount of €1.5m went to an as-yet untitled project by Wes Anderson which will see the US director continuing his long-standing collaboration with Studio Babelsberg with whom he has partnered on five previous films including The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch, and Asteroid City.
The...
- 9/29/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Long awaited by cinephiles and Orson Welles fans, it took longer than it should for The Trial to be restored. At last, Welles' favourite of his own films has been given the Criterion treatment. It's often neglected in discussions on Welles' work (likely because for years it was hard to see), and deserves this new attention and care, not only because of its importance in the filmmaker's history, but in how it is both of its time and yet still understandable to a contemporary audience. Based on the novel by Franz Kafka - a novel that was published posthumously, arguably not completed, and at first compiled by his publisher as opposed to the author himself - it's Kafka's arguably strangest work (which is saying something),...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 9/25/2023
- Screen Anarchy
Franz Kafka’s The Trial seems straightforward enough as you read it, and yet the words don’t quite seem to take you anywhere. There’s an effect in the novel of dense nothingness: Kafka’s brilliance was for a pared-down prose with complex resonances that deliberately strand the reader. In a 1998 English translation issued by Schocken Books Inc., the translator in his preface discusses the thorniness of recreating in English from German how the word “assault” is used in various tenses to link the protagonist’s slander, his arrest, and his relationship to a typist. One could spend years attempting to parse the bottomless intricacies of The Trial, and people have. Kafka achieved a prose that deconstructs the convoluted legalese that societies adapt in an effort to divorce situations from common sense and decency via labyrinths of language, and thus controlling the populace.
Orson Welles is a counterintuitive fit for The Trial,...
Orson Welles is a counterintuitive fit for The Trial,...
- 9/20/2023
- by Chuck Bowen
- Slant Magazine
Fisa+ and ÖFI+ schemes have paid out €40m in grants since launch in January.
Austria’s new film and TV incentive schemes Fisa+ and ÖFI+ have already surpassed expectations since being introduced at the beginning of this year, with more than €40m paid out in grants and over €120m generated as “Austrian spend”.
The Fisa+ and ÖFI schemes offer a 30% grant on Austrian spend plus a 5% green filming bonus, with the maximum amount paid per project pegged at €5m for films and €7.5m for series.
ÖFI+ grants
Producer Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, chairman of trade association Film & Music Austria, told Screen that...
Austria’s new film and TV incentive schemes Fisa+ and ÖFI+ have already surpassed expectations since being introduced at the beginning of this year, with more than €40m paid out in grants and over €120m generated as “Austrian spend”.
The Fisa+ and ÖFI schemes offer a 30% grant on Austrian spend plus a 5% green filming bonus, with the maximum amount paid per project pegged at €5m for films and €7.5m for series.
ÖFI+ grants
Producer Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, chairman of trade association Film & Music Austria, told Screen that...
- 8/11/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Having impressed with Peter Hengl’s “Family Dinner,” a 2022 Tribeca world premiere, Vienna-based Capra Film is developing an ever expanding slate of movies and series which establishes it as a growing genre force to keep track of in Europe.
Founded in 2015 by producer Lola Basara and writer-director Hengl, Capra Film was the only production-house to have two titles at October’s Sitges Fanpitch, where Hengl’s “Krampusnacht” won a Fantasia-Frontières Award, consisting of an invitation to Frontières, Fantasia’s vibrant industry platform, running July 26-29.
As a potential follow-up, Hengl is developing “Bug Boy,” a teenage body horror creature feature. Also in the Capra hopper are period horror film “Dracu,” from Schlegel, horror film “In the Moorland,” by Michael Winiecki, TV series “Newfall,” from Stefano Nurra, and vampire film “Thirst,” by Paul Ertl.
“Krampusnacht”
“We are a young Austrian production company committed to creating high quality genre feature films with...
Founded in 2015 by producer Lola Basara and writer-director Hengl, Capra Film was the only production-house to have two titles at October’s Sitges Fanpitch, where Hengl’s “Krampusnacht” won a Fantasia-Frontières Award, consisting of an invitation to Frontières, Fantasia’s vibrant industry platform, running July 26-29.
As a potential follow-up, Hengl is developing “Bug Boy,” a teenage body horror creature feature. Also in the Capra hopper are period horror film “Dracu,” from Schlegel, horror film “In the Moorland,” by Michael Winiecki, TV series “Newfall,” from Stefano Nurra, and vampire film “Thirst,” by Paul Ertl.
“Krampusnacht”
“We are a young Austrian production company committed to creating high quality genre feature films with...
- 7/17/2023
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Ambiguous, Kafkaesque and with a deadpan wit, Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy’s debut feature explores a woman’s place in a man’s world
Egyptian film-maker Omar El Zohairy is a brilliant emerging talent with an impressive professional pedigree; he is a former assistant to Yousry Nasrallah (who himself started out as assistant to the celebrated Youssef Chahine) and has won festival prizes with this, his debut feature. It’s a comedy with a little of Woody Allen or Franz Kafka – though with not much of the famous Emily Dickinson quote about what hope is. It is also a social-surrealist parable about a woman’s place in a man’s world. Higher than the animals? Lower than the animals? El Zohairy conjures something elegant and mysterious with a deadpan wit, which coolly encases its compassion. He frames his shots with superb compositional flair – this film actually reminded me of another Egyptian film,...
Egyptian film-maker Omar El Zohairy is a brilliant emerging talent with an impressive professional pedigree; he is a former assistant to Yousry Nasrallah (who himself started out as assistant to the celebrated Youssef Chahine) and has won festival prizes with this, his debut feature. It’s a comedy with a little of Woody Allen or Franz Kafka – though with not much of the famous Emily Dickinson quote about what hope is. It is also a social-surrealist parable about a woman’s place in a man’s world. Higher than the animals? Lower than the animals? El Zohairy conjures something elegant and mysterious with a deadpan wit, which coolly encases its compassion. He frames his shots with superb compositional flair – this film actually reminded me of another Egyptian film,...
- 7/3/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Former enlisted U.S. Air Force member and Nsa translator Reality Winner, who was arrested by federal authorities in 2017 for leaking classified information, has a fortuitous first name for a dramatist looking to interrogate both the state of our world and the lines between fiction and document, between script and transcript. Hence the straightforward title of Tina Satter’s Reality, the resonances of which hardly need further explanation.
The dialogue in Satter and James Paul Dallas’s screenplay is drawn directly from recordings the F.B.I. made as they executed a search warrant on Reality’s home in Augusta, Georgia, and interviewed the young woman about her illegal leak of intelligence on Russian interference in the 2016 election to online news publication The Intercept. This would seem to include all the awkward pauses, the uncomfortable small talk, and the sudden coughs and throat clears that become such unsettling features of Satter’s portrait of Winner’s ordeal.
The dialogue in Satter and James Paul Dallas’s screenplay is drawn directly from recordings the F.B.I. made as they executed a search warrant on Reality’s home in Augusta, Georgia, and interviewed the young woman about her illegal leak of intelligence on Russian interference in the 2016 election to online news publication The Intercept. This would seem to include all the awkward pauses, the uncomfortable small talk, and the sudden coughs and throat clears that become such unsettling features of Satter’s portrait of Winner’s ordeal.
- 5/28/2023
- by Pat Brown
- Slant Magazine
Ghanaian-Australian vocalist Genesis Owusu has announced his sophomore album Struggler, out August 18th via Ourness/Awal. He’s offering a preview of the record with its lead single and opening track “Leaving the Light,” which comes with a dramatic accompanying music video.
Owusu’s follow-up to his 2021 album Smiling with No Teeth was recorded with a small army of producers between the US and Australia, and was inspired in part by Samuel Beckett’s tragicomic play Waiting for Godot and Franz Kafka’s magical realism novella Metamorphosis. It’s billed as “an imminent exploration of the chaos and absurdity of life,” with inspirational undertones of endurance and perseverance.
“The struggler runs through an absurd world with no ‘where’ or ‘why’ at hand,” Owusu explains in a statement. “Just an instinctual inner rhythm, yelling at them to survive the pestilence and lighting bolts coming from above. A roach just keeps roaching.
Owusu’s follow-up to his 2021 album Smiling with No Teeth was recorded with a small army of producers between the US and Australia, and was inspired in part by Samuel Beckett’s tragicomic play Waiting for Godot and Franz Kafka’s magical realism novella Metamorphosis. It’s billed as “an imminent exploration of the chaos and absurdity of life,” with inspirational undertones of endurance and perseverance.
“The struggler runs through an absurd world with no ‘where’ or ‘why’ at hand,” Owusu explains in a statement. “Just an instinctual inner rhythm, yelling at them to survive the pestilence and lighting bolts coming from above. A roach just keeps roaching.
- 5/18/2023
- by Abby Jones
- Consequence - Music
“Killers of the Flower Moon” executive producer Niels Juul is in Cannes with several projects based on IP from the vault of Italy’s storied Cecchi Gori movie company that include a remake of the Dino Risi-directed classic “Il Sorpasso” and “Kafka,” a script about the turbulent love life of Franz Kafka by John Briley (“Gandhi”).
The IP and some other assets of the movie company that once dominated Italy’s film industry and collapsed in the mid-1990s were acquired late last year by a group of Italian investors under the new management of Rome-based CEO Federico Canfora and U.S-based Javier Balliero Madrid. Madrid is president of the new company, which is backing a partial relaunch of the Cecchi Gori brand, which is behind such Oscar-winners as “Life Is Beautiful,” “Mediterraneo” and “Il Postino.”
They have a producing agreement with Los Angeles-based Juul, who is a former Cecchi Gori Pictures CEO.
The IP and some other assets of the movie company that once dominated Italy’s film industry and collapsed in the mid-1990s were acquired late last year by a group of Italian investors under the new management of Rome-based CEO Federico Canfora and U.S-based Javier Balliero Madrid. Madrid is president of the new company, which is backing a partial relaunch of the Cecchi Gori brand, which is behind such Oscar-winners as “Life Is Beautiful,” “Mediterraneo” and “Il Postino.”
They have a producing agreement with Los Angeles-based Juul, who is a former Cecchi Gori Pictures CEO.
- 5/17/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The last love of Franz Kafka, the celebrated Czech author of “Metamorphosis,” will be portrayed in romantic drama “The Glory of Life.” TrustNordisk has boarded international sales ahead of Cannes, while Majestic is handling the domestic rights.
Currently shooting, “The Glory of Life” is directed by Georg Maas (“Two Lives”) and is inspired by the love story between Kafka and Dora Diamant.
The period drama was penned by Michael Gutmann and Maas. Producers are Helge Sasse and Solveig Fina for Tempest Film and Tommy Pridnig for Lotus Film.
Kafka and Diamant met in 1923 on the Baltic Sea coast, a year before the author died from tuberculosis. The worldly wise Diamant, who was working in a Jewish community, took him to Berlin, and as Kafka’s health deteriorates rapidly, they traveled together to a sanatorium in Austria. The memory of their time together will shape Diamant for the rest of her life.
Currently shooting, “The Glory of Life” is directed by Georg Maas (“Two Lives”) and is inspired by the love story between Kafka and Dora Diamant.
The period drama was penned by Michael Gutmann and Maas. Producers are Helge Sasse and Solveig Fina for Tempest Film and Tommy Pridnig for Lotus Film.
Kafka and Diamant met in 1923 on the Baltic Sea coast, a year before the author died from tuberculosis. The worldly wise Diamant, who was working in a Jewish community, took him to Berlin, and as Kafka’s health deteriorates rapidly, they traveled together to a sanatorium in Austria. The memory of their time together will shape Diamant for the rest of her life.
- 5/16/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Prolific German director Jo Baier has officially signed on to write and direct the thriller “Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes,” about an aging Nazi war criminal on the run from prosecution.
The film, produced by Berlin-based Films In Motion in co-production with Banijay’s Nl Film in Amsterdam, tells the haunting story of a former Nazi SS death camp guard who tries to evade prosecution by U.S. authorities. In the face of death, he finds himself falling ever deeper into a nightmare that exceeds his worst fears.
“Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes” is set to star Matthias Habich (“Narcissus and Goldmund”) as the former SS henchman and Herbert Knaup (“Sarah Kohr”) as the Nazi hunter on his trail. Also attached is Silke Bodenbender (“One Day We’ll Tell Each Other Everything”).
Speaking to Variety, Baier says the dark historical aspect of the tale in particular piqued his interest.
The film, produced by Berlin-based Films In Motion in co-production with Banijay’s Nl Film in Amsterdam, tells the haunting story of a former Nazi SS death camp guard who tries to evade prosecution by U.S. authorities. In the face of death, he finds himself falling ever deeper into a nightmare that exceeds his worst fears.
“Life Through a Dead Man’s Eyes” is set to star Matthias Habich (“Narcissus and Goldmund”) as the former SS henchman and Herbert Knaup (“Sarah Kohr”) as the Nazi hunter on his trail. Also attached is Silke Bodenbender (“One Day We’ll Tell Each Other Everything”).
Speaking to Variety, Baier says the dark historical aspect of the tale in particular piqued his interest.
- 5/15/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Austrian television is awash with crime, mystery and historical drama, and the country’s biggest hits and new productions are heading to MipTV.
Among this year’s most anticipated titles is the upcoming “Kafka,” starring Swiss actor Joel Basman as the famed Bohemian writer.
The six-part series is currently shooting in Vienna and Salzburg and is set to premiere on Austrian pubcaster Orf and Germany’s Ard early next year, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death.
“Kafka” is produced by Ard, Orf and John Lueftner and David Schalko’s Vienna-based Superfilm. Schalko is directing and co-writing the series with bestselling author and screenplay writer Daniel Kehlmann (“Measuring the World”), based on the Kafka biography by Reiner Stach, who is also
advising the production.
Sold internationally by Orf-Enterprise, the public broadcaster’s commercial subsidiary, the series’ ensemble cast includes David Kross (“Davos”), Nicholas Ofczarek (“Pagan Peak”) and Liv Lisa Fries...
Among this year’s most anticipated titles is the upcoming “Kafka,” starring Swiss actor Joel Basman as the famed Bohemian writer.
The six-part series is currently shooting in Vienna and Salzburg and is set to premiere on Austrian pubcaster Orf and Germany’s Ard early next year, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death.
“Kafka” is produced by Ard, Orf and John Lueftner and David Schalko’s Vienna-based Superfilm. Schalko is directing and co-writing the series with bestselling author and screenplay writer Daniel Kehlmann (“Measuring the World”), based on the Kafka biography by Reiner Stach, who is also
advising the production.
Sold internationally by Orf-Enterprise, the public broadcaster’s commercial subsidiary, the series’ ensemble cast includes David Kross (“Davos”), Nicholas Ofczarek (“Pagan Peak”) and Liv Lisa Fries...
- 4/17/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Few literary figures have achieved the same kind of pop culture afterlife as Edgar Allan Poe. Much like Franz Kafka, the idea of Poe has become conflated with the writer's most famous works: The tragic, haunted figure, scribbling away feverishly by candlelight, only pausing occasionally to fling open the shutters of his window and gaze out into the night beyond with fear and trepidation.
This romantic notion makes Poe an intriguing character who has carried well into other mediums. There are hundreds of comics based on the author and/or his works (even teaming up with the Dark Knight in "Batman: Nevermore"), as well as stage plays, radio shows, books, and, of course, movies. The controversial master of silent cinema, D.W. Griffith, directed the first film based on the author, "Edgar Allan Poe," back in 1909, and actors including Joseph Cotton, Klaus Kinski, and Ben Chaplin have all played the gloomy author on screen.
This romantic notion makes Poe an intriguing character who has carried well into other mediums. There are hundreds of comics based on the author and/or his works (even teaming up with the Dark Knight in "Batman: Nevermore"), as well as stage plays, radio shows, books, and, of course, movies. The controversial master of silent cinema, D.W. Griffith, directed the first film based on the author, "Edgar Allan Poe," back in 1909, and actors including Joseph Cotton, Klaus Kinski, and Ben Chaplin have all played the gloomy author on screen.
- 4/8/2023
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
Foster took part in the Reykjavik festival’s panel discussion about women’s progress in the film industry.
Iceland’s ninth Stockfish Film Festival got a high-profile boost with Jodie Foster participating in the Reykjavik festival’s panel discussion about women’s progress in the film industry.
Foster, the US actress, producer and director, is in Iceland shooting the fourth season of True Detective, and she joined producer Marianne Slot and actress Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir in the discussion, led by the new artistic director of Stockfish, Lamb producer Hrönn Kristinsdóttir. Kristinsdóttir started the panel started by stating, “In year 2000 a study...
Iceland’s ninth Stockfish Film Festival got a high-profile boost with Jodie Foster participating in the Reykjavik festival’s panel discussion about women’s progress in the film industry.
Foster, the US actress, producer and director, is in Iceland shooting the fourth season of True Detective, and she joined producer Marianne Slot and actress Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir in the discussion, led by the new artistic director of Stockfish, Lamb producer Hrönn Kristinsdóttir. Kristinsdóttir started the panel started by stating, “In year 2000 a study...
- 4/4/2023
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Irish producer and film industry activist Mike Downey has received the inaugural lifetime achievement award of the Stockfish Film Festival in Iceland for his contributions to the international film industry.
The award, presented at a private ceremony Wednesday night, recognizes achievement from professionals in the “academe, production, distribution, film festival and market scenes.”
Downey, founder of Film and Music Entertainment (F&me), has production credits on more than 100 feature films, including Dome Karukoski’s Tom of Finland, Volker Schlöndorff’s Return to Montauk, Agnieszka Holland’s Charlatan and Adrian Sibley’s documentary The Ghost of Richard Harris. He is currently working on Holland’s highly-anticipated upcoming Franz Kafka biopic Kafka. He’s a member of the BAFTA Council, the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
But Downey is arguably better known within the film industry for his tireless activism on behalf of filmmakers in crisis.
The award, presented at a private ceremony Wednesday night, recognizes achievement from professionals in the “academe, production, distribution, film festival and market scenes.”
Downey, founder of Film and Music Entertainment (F&me), has production credits on more than 100 feature films, including Dome Karukoski’s Tom of Finland, Volker Schlöndorff’s Return to Montauk, Agnieszka Holland’s Charlatan and Adrian Sibley’s documentary The Ghost of Richard Harris. He is currently working on Holland’s highly-anticipated upcoming Franz Kafka biopic Kafka. He’s a member of the BAFTA Council, the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
But Downey is arguably better known within the film industry for his tireless activism on behalf of filmmakers in crisis.
- 3/29/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
David Cronenberg has been exploring the flesh-mind dichotomy ever since his 1969 sci-fi debut, "Shivers," where mutations in the flesh lead to new stages of consciousness. Body horror is a gateway to thematic realms that reveal deep-seated psychological urges, and Cronenberg uses this element to deeply electrifying and repulsive ends. But what makes his 1986 sci-fi horror film, "The Fly," so poignant is that it blends body horror with a tragic central love story that is so moving that it intensifies the terrifying aspects of the narrative. A freak accident leads to the forbidden fusion of DNA, and the aftereffects are life-altering: The ecstasies of newfound life and love slowly devolve into the grotesqueness of change, loss, and the inevitability of death.
Love is infused with suffering in "The Fly," in the same way Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) finds himself infused with the baser instincts of a housefly and morphs into something unrecognizable.
Love is infused with suffering in "The Fly," in the same way Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) finds himself infused with the baser instincts of a housefly and morphs into something unrecognizable.
- 2/19/2023
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
For fans of “Weekend,” “Before Sunrise” and other regret-tinged romances about what-might-have-beens and what-were-nots, “Of an Age” just might be the devastating cinematic kick you need — and a reason to rue the one who’ll never get away.
Its director, Goran Stolevski, made a modest splash at Sundance and in theaters last year with his directorial debut, the witchy, body-jumping folk horror tale “You Might Be Alone” for Focus Features. He reteams with the prestige distributor for “Of an Age,” which finds the director switching up genres but still laying down a throughline: The sexy Aussie-set gay romance is about bodies, after all, and the way they bend toward time and desire.
“All my films could really be called ‘You Won’t Be Alone,’” the Macedonian-born, Australian-based filmmaker told IndieWire over a recent Zoom interview. “It’s just that I’ve already used that title.” The out-gay director is charmingly self-effacing.
Its director, Goran Stolevski, made a modest splash at Sundance and in theaters last year with his directorial debut, the witchy, body-jumping folk horror tale “You Might Be Alone” for Focus Features. He reteams with the prestige distributor for “Of an Age,” which finds the director switching up genres but still laying down a throughline: The sexy Aussie-set gay romance is about bodies, after all, and the way they bend toward time and desire.
“All my films could really be called ‘You Won’t Be Alone,’” the Macedonian-born, Australian-based filmmaker told IndieWire over a recent Zoom interview. “It’s just that I’ve already used that title.” The out-gay director is charmingly self-effacing.
- 2/17/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Harry Lime in "The Third Man" is one of cinema's greatest villains and certainly not the kind of person you'd want to spend much time with in real life. He's a sociopathic black marketeer whose cynical line in diluted penicillin causes untold suffering and death to his many child victims. Yet, played with typical charm and devilment by Orson Welles, he is simply irresistible. Even on repeat viewing with full knowledge of his heinous activities, it's impossible not to be captivated by him from the moment he first appears in a doorway with an incorrigible smirk spread across that big moon of a face.
Lime is onscreen for less than 10 minutes but he may be Welles' greatest performance as an actor, tapping into the elusive enigma of the multi-faceted artist and self-proclaimed charlatan. After leaving the U.S. for self-imposed exile in Europe in 1947, he took the role for money,...
Lime is onscreen for less than 10 minutes but he may be Welles' greatest performance as an actor, tapping into the elusive enigma of the multi-faceted artist and self-proclaimed charlatan. After leaving the U.S. for self-imposed exile in Europe in 1947, he took the role for money,...
- 2/12/2023
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
There's something liberating about watching an actor who's spent years working almost exclusively on a single major franchise take advantage of all the clout they've amassed to go off and tackle whatever wild role or bizarre project strikes their fancy. (Call it pulling a Daniel Radcliffe.) It seems Robert Downey Jr. was similarly eager to get his weird on after bidding adieu to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2019's "Avengers: Endgame." His first post-"Endgame" film, "Dolittle," was more ill-conceived than inspired, but after more than a decade of shooting countless heads-up display (Hud) shots and acting against green screens, perhaps Downey just needed to let off some steam by extracting a pair of bagpipes from a dragon's nether regions.
Be that the case or not, he's since worked on Chris Smith's acclaimed documentary about Downey's father, "Sr.," snagged a key role in Christopher Nolan's much-hyped historical drama "Oppenheimer,...
Be that the case or not, he's since worked on Chris Smith's acclaimed documentary about Downey's father, "Sr.," snagged a key role in Christopher Nolan's much-hyped historical drama "Oppenheimer,...
- 1/20/2023
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Within the Japanese independent film scene, there are certain titles which stand out, not necessarily for their quality, but for the impact they had on future generations of filmmakers and other projects. While some of these features are still buried in some obscure locations, tapes and other places, Akira Ogata’s highly influential “Tokyo Cabbageman K” is out there and has already been screened at a few festivals in the last couple of years. Ogata, who also wrote the script, had been directing commercial features previously, but this story, heavily inspired by the works of author Franz Kafka, will perhaps be known for its importance for the works of directors such as Shinya Tsukamoto and Sion Sono.
Toyko Cabbageman K is screening at Hachimiri Madness: Japanese Indies from the Punk Years
One morning, as he is visited by one of his friends, who originally wanted to take him gambling, K...
Toyko Cabbageman K is screening at Hachimiri Madness: Japanese Indies from the Punk Years
One morning, as he is visited by one of his friends, who originally wanted to take him gambling, K...
- 12/16/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our email newsletter by clicking here.NEWSJeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.At last, Sight & Sound have released the results of the 2022 Greatest Films of All Time critics’ poll. 1,639 ballots later, Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) has risen to the number-one spot, accompanied by a new piece from Laura Mulvey. The New York Times offers a useful interactive feature to unpack how the rankings have evolved over time.The American documentarian Julia Reichert—best known for Growing Up Female (1971), Union Maids (1976), and the Oscar-winning American Factory (2019)—died last week of cancer at age 76. Eric Hynes wrote an elegant appreciation of her work in a 2020 piece for Crosscuts, published by the Walker Art Center: Consistently through half a century of filmmaking, Reichert spends time with people.
- 12/6/2022
- MUBI
“Cinema is not pages and it’s not minutes: it’s the way you look at the minute that passes,” Syrian director Ameer Fakher Eldin is talking about the 55-page script of “Yunan,” his follow up to “The Stranger” (Al Garib), which played at Venice Days in 2021. Eldin knows from the experience of editing his first film that one page doesn’t equal one minute. “It’s a two hour film,” he says.
Eldin’s second feature is due to film in the first half of 2023 and is currently being presented at this week’s Red Sea Souk Project Market of the Red Sea Film Festival. Iconic figure of New German Cinema Hanna Schygulla and Syrian actor Bassem Yakhour have both been cast in the production. They join Lebanese actor Georges Khabbaz (“Capernaum”), and German actor Sibel Kekilli, from “Game of Thrones” and Fatih Akin’s “Head On.”
Filming will...
Eldin’s second feature is due to film in the first half of 2023 and is currently being presented at this week’s Red Sea Souk Project Market of the Red Sea Film Festival. Iconic figure of New German Cinema Hanna Schygulla and Syrian actor Bassem Yakhour have both been cast in the production. They join Lebanese actor Georges Khabbaz (“Capernaum”), and German actor Sibel Kekilli, from “Game of Thrones” and Fatih Akin’s “Head On.”
Filming will...
- 12/5/2022
- by John Bleasdale
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Sylvester Stallone is going back to Oklahoma.
Paramount+ has renewed its series Tulsa King for a second season.
The latest series from producer Taylor Sheridan scored big ratings after it was given a special Paramount Network preview after an episode of Yellowstone.
According to Nielsen numbers provided by Paramount, the numbers bested HBO’s House of the Dragon as cable’s highest-rated series debut this year, scoring 3.7 million viewers, including delayed viewing (and, obviously, a lead-in of 8 million viewers from Yellowstone helped).
“Tulsa King scored as the number one new series of the year, topping all others including the Game of Thrones sequel House of the Dragon,” said Paramount Media Networks and MTV Entertainment Studios president and CEO Chris McCarthy. “With its preview on Paramount Network, and on Paramount+, it shattered records, driving us to our biggest new signup day in history — which...
Sylvester Stallone is going back to Oklahoma.
Paramount+ has renewed its series Tulsa King for a second season.
The latest series from producer Taylor Sheridan scored big ratings after it was given a special Paramount Network preview after an episode of Yellowstone.
According to Nielsen numbers provided by Paramount, the numbers bested HBO’s House of the Dragon as cable’s highest-rated series debut this year, scoring 3.7 million viewers, including delayed viewing (and, obviously, a lead-in of 8 million viewers from Yellowstone helped).
“Tulsa King scored as the number one new series of the year, topping all others including the Game of Thrones sequel House of the Dragon,” said Paramount Media Networks and MTV Entertainment Studios president and CEO Chris McCarthy. “With its preview on Paramount Network, and on Paramount+, it shattered records, driving us to our biggest new signup day in history — which...
- 11/30/2022
- by James Hibberd
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
To mark the release of the restored 60th anniversary edition of The Trial, out now, we’ve been given a 4K Ultra HD copy to give away to one winner.
Based on the novel by Franz Kafka, The Trial is a masterclass in tension building and avant-garde filmmaking featuring outstanding performances from a stellar cast – Anthony Perkins, Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau and Romy Schneider.
One morning, Josef K. (Perkins) is arrested but has no idea what crime he is accused of. Completely stunned, K. slowly finds himself trapped in a dehumanised nightmare and realizes he is the victim of a grotesque plot. He is accused by everyone, friends and enemies, until, worn down, he ends up doubting his own innocence.
Welles brilliantly captured the oppressive and nightmarish qualities of Kafka’s fictional world. Using the cracked labyrinthine corridors of Paris’ ruined Gare D’Orsay as his set, with icy black...
Based on the novel by Franz Kafka, The Trial is a masterclass in tension building and avant-garde filmmaking featuring outstanding performances from a stellar cast – Anthony Perkins, Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau and Romy Schneider.
One morning, Josef K. (Perkins) is arrested but has no idea what crime he is accused of. Completely stunned, K. slowly finds himself trapped in a dehumanised nightmare and realizes he is the victim of a grotesque plot. He is accused by everyone, friends and enemies, until, worn down, he ends up doubting his own innocence.
Welles brilliantly captured the oppressive and nightmarish qualities of Kafka’s fictional world. Using the cracked labyrinthine corridors of Paris’ ruined Gare D’Orsay as his set, with icy black...
- 11/23/2022
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Jean-Marie Straub, the French director who created an influential body of rigorous political films with his late partner Danièle Huillet, died Saturday evening in Rolle, Switzerland. He was 89.
Straub’s death was confirmed by the French publication Le Monde.
In 1954, Straub met Huillet in Paris when she was a member of Cahiers du Cinema alongside Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette and François Truffaut. The two emigrated to Germany so Straub could avoid military service during the Algerian War.
The directing duo drew from literature and musical works by figures such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Bertolt Brecht, Franz Kafka and Elio Vittorini to hone an uncompromising form across a diverse body of work that committed to exploring historical fragmentation and Marxist analysis of class struggle. The pair formed a sentimental, fiercely creative partnership that has made its mark on global political filmmaking, with directors such as Pedro Costa and Thom Andersen citing the two as major influences.
Straub’s death was confirmed by the French publication Le Monde.
In 1954, Straub met Huillet in Paris when she was a member of Cahiers du Cinema alongside Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette and François Truffaut. The two emigrated to Germany so Straub could avoid military service during the Algerian War.
The directing duo drew from literature and musical works by figures such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Bertolt Brecht, Franz Kafka and Elio Vittorini to hone an uncompromising form across a diverse body of work that committed to exploring historical fragmentation and Marxist analysis of class struggle. The pair formed a sentimental, fiercely creative partnership that has made its mark on global political filmmaking, with directors such as Pedro Costa and Thom Andersen citing the two as major influences.
- 11/21/2022
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
Unless you’re savvy with torrenting, Orson Welles’ trippy and disturbing 1962 film “The Trial” has been hard to find. Various restorations from 35mm negatives have popped up over the years, but Welles fans have long been resigned to inferior-quality rips on DVD, VHS, or the internet. That’s no longer so, as Rialto Pictures is releasing a long-overdue 4K restoration of the Franz Kafka adaptation starring Anthony Perkins as a man being persecuted for an unspecified crime. The 60th-anniversary 4K restoration opens at Film Forum December 9 before expanding nationally, and IndieWire has the exclusive trailer below.
“The Trial” also stars Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, and Elsa Martinelli as the women who become entangled with Josef K. (Perkins) and his trial. The film, which has occasionally played repertory houses in low-quality formats, was restored by Studiocanal and La Cinematheque Francaise. The image and sound restorations were carried out in 4K at...
“The Trial” also stars Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, and Elsa Martinelli as the women who become entangled with Josef K. (Perkins) and his trial. The film, which has occasionally played repertory houses in low-quality formats, was restored by Studiocanal and La Cinematheque Francaise. The image and sound restorations were carried out in 4K at...
- 11/17/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
After breaking out with a debut role in the film that ushered in the Greek Weird Wave and becoming one of his country’s most accomplished theater actors and directors, Christos Passalis makes his feature directorial debut with “Silence 6-9,” a haunting, melancholic love story that plays in competition this week at the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
Passalis’ first feature premiered in the Crystal Globe competition at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it earned rapturous praise from Variety’s Jessica Kiang, who described Passalis’ “absorbing, surreal, retro-futurist love story” as a “beautifully crafted solo debut.”
“After a beginning unmistakably located deep within the familiarly bizarro, alien reaches of the Greek Weird Wave aesthetic, Passalis’ solo directorial debut gradually distinguishes itself by moving to a more human and humane place,” she wrote.
The film begins one night with a stranger arriving in a strange town. As he walks down a deserted...
Passalis’ first feature premiered in the Crystal Globe competition at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it earned rapturous praise from Variety’s Jessica Kiang, who described Passalis’ “absorbing, surreal, retro-futurist love story” as a “beautifully crafted solo debut.”
“After a beginning unmistakably located deep within the familiarly bizarro, alien reaches of the Greek Weird Wave aesthetic, Passalis’ solo directorial debut gradually distinguishes itself by moving to a more human and humane place,” she wrote.
The film begins one night with a stranger arriving in a strange town. As he walks down a deserted...
- 11/7/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Premiering on Dn’s pages today Man in the Morgue from cross-cultural interdisciplinary architect-turned-filmmaker Omar Kakar, takes an urban gothic noir trip into the disorientating world of a NYC embalmer whose discovery of a mysterious memento mori on his mortuary table infuses him with a renewed sense of life. A mysterious black and white cross-genre film with minimal dialogue which intentionally embraced a ‘less is more’ ethos in its construction, Man in the Morgue brings its protagonist (and us along with him) to the terrifying yet perhaps ultimately comforting realisation that death is only ever just around the corner. Perhaps a sign of his architectural mindset, Kakar is able to craft a genre-straddling mystery which raises interesting questions in the mind of the audience, yet never leaves them adrift in a sea of confusion. You can discover this yourself below, after which we dig into Kakar’s detailed process of...
- 10/3/2022
- by Sarah Smith
- Directors Notes
Attorneys for Gunna have filed a third bond motion for the Atlanta artist, this time claiming that the Fulton County prosecutor’s office has modified the Ysl indictment to remove any reference to him being involved in violence. Rolling Stone has received a copy of the filing, which is the latest attempt at pretrial release for Gunna (given name Sergio Kitchens) while awaiting trial on a racketeering charge in a 56-count Ysl indictment handed down in May.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville has twice denied Kitchens’ bond motions,...
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville has twice denied Kitchens’ bond motions,...
- 9/28/2022
- by Andre Gee
- Rollingstone.com
A visually impaired contestant Aneri Arya shared with megastar Amitabh Bachchan that she is a big fan of his 2005 movie ‘Black’ starring Rani Mukerji on ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 14’.
Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali ‘Black’ released in 2005. It also stars Shernaz Patel and Dhritiman Chatterjee in supporting roles. The film narrates the story of Michelle, a deaf-and-blind woman, and her relationship with her teacher Debraj, an elderly alcoholic who himself later develops Alzheimer’s disease.
Arya also says that she connects with the story of the film as she herself is blind and there is huge support she gets from her teacher.
She mentions: “Sir, you have played the role of a teacher in the film (Black) and with your influence, Rani Mukerji’s character was able to express herself and grow. Just like that, even I have a teacher, my PhD guide, Dr Sunil Shah.”
For Aneri nothing was more...
Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali ‘Black’ released in 2005. It also stars Shernaz Patel and Dhritiman Chatterjee in supporting roles. The film narrates the story of Michelle, a deaf-and-blind woman, and her relationship with her teacher Debraj, an elderly alcoholic who himself later develops Alzheimer’s disease.
Arya also says that she connects with the story of the film as she herself is blind and there is huge support she gets from her teacher.
She mentions: “Sir, you have played the role of a teacher in the film (Black) and with your influence, Rani Mukerji’s character was able to express herself and grow. Just like that, even I have a teacher, my PhD guide, Dr Sunil Shah.”
For Aneri nothing was more...
- 9/12/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
In “Mad Men,” Jon Hamm had his corner office: the room with a view, overlooking Madison Avenue, where Don Draper could work, drink and brainstorm in peace. Maybe that’s why the actor was drawn to playing a lowly paper-pusher with a bad mustache and big dreams of occupying such a space in “Corner Office,” a low-key, screw-loose workplace satire that offers audiences a side of Hamm they’ve never seen before — and might not be in such a hurry to experience again, unless the toil-from-home blues of the pandemic have made them receptive to the call of cubicle life.
Premiering at the Tribeca Festival, “Corner Office” is director Joachim Back’s slightly taxing cinematic take on “The Room,” a slender novel by Swedish actor-cum-author Jonas Karlsson, unread by me, that bills itself as “a short, sharp and fiendish fable in the tradition of Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett and Charlie Kauffman.
Premiering at the Tribeca Festival, “Corner Office” is director Joachim Back’s slightly taxing cinematic take on “The Room,” a slender novel by Swedish actor-cum-author Jonas Karlsson, unread by me, that bills itself as “a short, sharp and fiendish fable in the tradition of Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett and Charlie Kauffman.
- 6/10/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
All is not well with the Vuillard clan and something’s gone rotten in Roubaix. While their matriarch lies ill, treading the line between the here and the hereafter, the paterfamilias is left to contend with his three headstrong children. Though the youngest, who lives a stable married life, more often than not serves as ballast between more electric older siblings, sparks fly when the other two meet — or at least they would, had the eldest daughter not banished her hard-drinking middle brother from the family.
Sound familiar? Sounds, perhaps, like another Arnaud Desplechin film that premiered once upon a time in Cannes (as nearly all his films do)? Sounds about right.
Though the French auteur has always freely recycled themes and plot points (with more than half the characters in his 14 features carrying the surnames Dedalus and Vuillard), “Brother and Sister” seems more like a retread (and a retreat...
Sound familiar? Sounds, perhaps, like another Arnaud Desplechin film that premiered once upon a time in Cannes (as nearly all his films do)? Sounds about right.
Though the French auteur has always freely recycled themes and plot points (with more than half the characters in his 14 features carrying the surnames Dedalus and Vuillard), “Brother and Sister” seems more like a retread (and a retreat...
- 5/20/2022
- by Ben Croll
- Indiewire
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