Hundreds of fish lie dead on a riverbed. A lone (lonely?) cow ambles around late at night in a forest. A flock of birds fly in discordant unison up above. The arresting images of nature gone awry in Francisca Alegría’s “The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future” are but the first clues that this rural-set Chilean feature has a distinct ecological interest. This hypnotic tale about how hard it can be to heal earthly and familial wounds marks a singular feature debut from the director of 2016 short “And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow’s Eye.”
Aptly matching its dizzying and obfuscating title, the film opens with a premise that owes much to Latin America’s most treasured literary genre: magical realism. A young woman, with a motorcycle helmet in tow, emerges from the river where she presumably committed suicide decades ago. She washes ashore only slightly disoriented,...
Aptly matching its dizzying and obfuscating title, the film opens with a premise that owes much to Latin America’s most treasured literary genre: magical realism. A young woman, with a motorcycle helmet in tow, emerges from the river where she presumably committed suicide decades ago. She washes ashore only slightly disoriented,...
- 5/18/2023
- by Manuel Betancourt
- Variety Film + TV
Leonor Varela with Anne-Katrin Titze on The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future: “For me the stories that came to mind to build my character had to do with familiar echoes in the disconnect …”
Francisca Alegría’s The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future (La Vaca Que Cantó Una Canción Hacia El Futuro), co-written with Fernanda Urrejola, Manuela Infante and shot by Inti Briones, stars Leonor Varela with Mia Maestro, Alfredo Castro, Marcial Tagle, Enzo Ferrada Rosati, Laura Del Rio Rios, María Velasquez, and 2222, the cow.
Leonor Varela as Cecilia with a calf: “it’s so sad, they’re separated from their mother very early on, but their instinct is to suck.” Photo: Inti Briones
In recent years, a number of outstanding films brought to the forefront an issue society at large is all too willing to ignore, namely the treatment of farm animals and...
Francisca Alegría’s The Cow Who Sang A Song Into The Future (La Vaca Que Cantó Una Canción Hacia El Futuro), co-written with Fernanda Urrejola, Manuela Infante and shot by Inti Briones, stars Leonor Varela with Mia Maestro, Alfredo Castro, Marcial Tagle, Enzo Ferrada Rosati, Laura Del Rio Rios, María Velasquez, and 2222, the cow.
Leonor Varela as Cecilia with a calf: “it’s so sad, they’re separated from their mother very early on, but their instinct is to suck.” Photo: Inti Briones
In recent years, a number of outstanding films brought to the forefront an issue society at large is all too willing to ignore, namely the treatment of farm animals and...
- 5/14/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Barba ensopada de sangue
For his sixth feature film, Brazilian filmmaker Aly Muritiba tackled the book-to-film adaptation of Daniel Galera‘s Blood-Drenched Beard – a 2015 novel (read the Times review) that is set in a Brazilian beach town and sees its central character confront his family’s past while suffering from a rare neurological condition that is commonly known as face blindness. On the cusp of breaking out internationally, actor Gabriel Leone (spitting image of a young Brando) toplines Barba ensopada de sangue which took place between October and December of last year. Cinematographer Inti Briones teamed with Muritiba on a project that is produced by veteran Rodrigo Teixeira.…...
For his sixth feature film, Brazilian filmmaker Aly Muritiba tackled the book-to-film adaptation of Daniel Galera‘s Blood-Drenched Beard – a 2015 novel (read the Times review) that is set in a Brazilian beach town and sees its central character confront his family’s past while suffering from a rare neurological condition that is commonly known as face blindness. On the cusp of breaking out internationally, actor Gabriel Leone (spitting image of a young Brando) toplines Barba ensopada de sangue which took place between October and December of last year. Cinematographer Inti Briones teamed with Muritiba on a project that is produced by veteran Rodrigo Teixeira.…...
- 1/5/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
In a new deal secured at this week’s San Sebastian Festival, Birgit Kemner’s Manny Films has partnered with Chile’s Storyboard Media to co-produce “Un Buen Día Para Morir” (“A Good Day to Die”), the third feature by Marcelo Ferrari.
Inspired by the real story of pianist María Paz Santibáñez whose life took a dramatic turn during a protest against General Pinochet’s dictatorship in 1987, the drama turns on 24-year-old piano student Pachi who is shot in the head during a protest against the military regime. Seriously injured and pregnant, she manages to survive and give birth to her daughter. Escaping Chile, she settles in Paris where – against all odds – she fulfills her dream to become a concert pianist.
“This very singular and delicate story intrigued me from the start. I am sure that the strong chemistry between the international producers and the artistic team will allow us...
Inspired by the real story of pianist María Paz Santibáñez whose life took a dramatic turn during a protest against General Pinochet’s dictatorship in 1987, the drama turns on 24-year-old piano student Pachi who is shot in the head during a protest against the military regime. Seriously injured and pregnant, she manages to survive and give birth to her daughter. Escaping Chile, she settles in Paris where – against all odds – she fulfills her dream to become a concert pianist.
“This very singular and delicate story intrigued me from the start. I am sure that the strong chemistry between the international producers and the artistic team will allow us...
- 9/20/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Kino Lorber releases the film in theaters on Friday, May 19.
“The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future” uses magical realism to blend the story of a family deeply scarred by a suicide decades ago, and a fable of Mother Nature crying out for help. Thankfully, Francisca Alegría’s feature debut manages to be hauntingly moving and hopeful instead of angry and pessimistic, like Adam McKay’s recent doomsday satire “Don’t Look Up.”
The fish are dying from pollution, the bees are disappearing, and the milking cows are not far behind, not unlike the beginning of Douglas Adam’s “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” And like the 2005 adaptation of the book, the lamentations of the animals is presented in song form, with the fish and cows singing woes of death and despair, begging for their...
“The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future” uses magical realism to blend the story of a family deeply scarred by a suicide decades ago, and a fable of Mother Nature crying out for help. Thankfully, Francisca Alegría’s feature debut manages to be hauntingly moving and hopeful instead of angry and pessimistic, like Adam McKay’s recent doomsday satire “Don’t Look Up.”
The fish are dying from pollution, the bees are disappearing, and the milking cows are not far behind, not unlike the beginning of Douglas Adam’s “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” And like the 2005 adaptation of the book, the lamentations of the animals is presented in song form, with the fish and cows singing woes of death and despair, begging for their...
- 1/28/2022
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Indiewire
Chilean filmmaker Francisca Alegria’s The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future opens on pensive shots of the river and its inhabitants, most of whom are dead. As the dying and already passed fish sing a song of sadness, a woman, motorcycle helmet in tow, rises from the water. She walks aimlessly, hopping on a local bus and appearing outside a story, scaring her ex-husband into enough anxiety to land him in the hospital. The next 90 minutes of Alegria’s meditative drama exist largely in silence or one-sided conversation––people confronting their past like a monster that grows with each passing day.
It follows a straightforward structure: the woman who supposedly committed suicide decades early, Magdalena (Mía Maestro), revisits the members of her family one-by-one, appearing like a waking ghost, a mirror allowing them to reckon with whatever might be on their minds. Without speaking, Magdalena inhabits her family’s property,...
It follows a straightforward structure: the woman who supposedly committed suicide decades early, Magdalena (Mía Maestro), revisits the members of her family one-by-one, appearing like a waking ghost, a mirror allowing them to reckon with whatever might be on their minds. Without speaking, Magdalena inhabits her family’s property,...
- 1/28/2022
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
Anthology films like The Year of the Everlasting Storm, wherein a flurry of esteemed directors create short segments tethered to a common theme, lack a strong track record. Take the Cities of Love series, September 11, or To Each His Own Cinema. All have memorable, if not masterful, pieces. But it doesn’t matter how many noteworthy names are involved or how great some shorts might be—the collective feature experience often falls prey to a certain disjointedness endemic to the territory.
It doesn’t help that the joint theme is pandemic isolation––a topic so few filmmakers have been able to tackle effectively in the immediate aftermath of quarantine living. Though this concept has inspired more cringe-worthy art than any thematic culprit, The Year of the Everlasting Storm offers hope.
It shows pandemic art is maturing and substantiates the idea that the more time we have to process, the more...
It doesn’t help that the joint theme is pandemic isolation––a topic so few filmmakers have been able to tackle effectively in the immediate aftermath of quarantine living. Though this concept has inspired more cringe-worthy art than any thematic culprit, The Year of the Everlasting Storm offers hope.
It shows pandemic art is maturing and substantiates the idea that the more time we have to process, the more...
- 7/21/2021
- by Luke Hicks
- The Film Stage
Netflix unveils new Nordic deals at Stockholm’s Industry Days.
Peruvian director Melina Leon’s debut feature Song Without A Name won the bronze horse for best film at the 30th Stockholm International Film Festival. The film, about baby trafficking in 1980s Peru, also won for best cinematography by Inti Briones.
The jury said Song Without A Name (which premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight) is “a visual and challenging portrayal of society characterized by both a low and impactful intensity. A quiet and untamable anger can be sensed below the surface. In this film we meet a director with a sharp,...
Peruvian director Melina Leon’s debut feature Song Without A Name won the bronze horse for best film at the 30th Stockholm International Film Festival. The film, about baby trafficking in 1980s Peru, also won for best cinematography by Inti Briones.
The jury said Song Without A Name (which premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight) is “a visual and challenging portrayal of society characterized by both a low and impactful intensity. A quiet and untamable anger can be sensed below the surface. In this film we meet a director with a sharp,...
- 11/18/2019
- by 1100142¦Wendy Mitchell¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Santiago, Chile — The much anticipated feature debut of Chilean Francisca Alegria, renowned for her magical short “And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow’s Eye,” has firmed up its cast and shooting dates.
Argentine thesp Mia Maestro (“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”), Chile’s Leonor Varela, Alfredo Castro and rising talent Lucas Balmaceda (“The Prince”) lead the cast.
Inspired by her short, a Sundance sensation where it snagged the Short Film Jury Award in 2017, Alegria’s upcoming feature, “The Cow that Sang a Song About the Future” adapts a similar magical realist tone in a family drama set in the verdant countryside of Valdivia, southern Chile.
Varela plays a single mother, Cecilia, who returns to her childhood home with her 19-year-old son (Balmaceda) where she faces a series of surreal events, including the deaths of hundreds of cows and the reappearance of her long dead mother (Maestro), whose suicide profoundly marked the family.
Argentine thesp Mia Maestro (“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”), Chile’s Leonor Varela, Alfredo Castro and rising talent Lucas Balmaceda (“The Prince”) lead the cast.
Inspired by her short, a Sundance sensation where it snagged the Short Film Jury Award in 2017, Alegria’s upcoming feature, “The Cow that Sang a Song About the Future” adapts a similar magical realist tone in a family drama set in the verdant countryside of Valdivia, southern Chile.
Varela plays a single mother, Cecilia, who returns to her childhood home with her 19-year-old son (Balmaceda) where she faces a series of surreal events, including the deaths of hundreds of cows and the reappearance of her long dead mother (Maestro), whose suicide profoundly marked the family.
- 8/23/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
In a dingy clinic, a newborn child is whisked away from her exhausted mother, supposedly for routine health checks, and is never returned; in short order, the clinic vanishes into thin air too, leaving the stolen baby’s bewildered, impoverished parents with no recourse. The premise of “Song Without a Name” is at once fact-based and the stuff of shadowed, surreal nightmares, and Peruvian writer-director Melina León’s artfully affecting debut feature splits the difference: Earthy with social detail from a despairing period of Peru’s recent history, it’s also shot, scored and styled like the most beautiful of bad dreams.
The film’s wistful, elegiac tone, immaculate monochrome cinematography and compassionate focus on disenfranchised indigenous women will inevitably prompt surface-level comparisons to Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” — which can hardly hurt “Song Without a Name’s” distribution prospects as it embarks upon what will likely be a gilded festival run,...
The film’s wistful, elegiac tone, immaculate monochrome cinematography and compassionate focus on disenfranchised indigenous women will inevitably prompt surface-level comparisons to Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” — which can hardly hurt “Song Without a Name’s” distribution prospects as it embarks upon what will likely be a gilded festival run,...
- 5/18/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Peru’s La Vida Misma and Paris-based sales agent Luxbox have dropped the first trailer and poster of Melina Leon’s “Canción sin nombre” (“Song Without a Name”), selected this week for the Cannes Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight.
Written by Leon and Michael J. White, “Song Without a Name” sums up some of ambitions and focus of the section under first-time artistic director Paolo Moretti: A first feature, a movie with a strong auteurist voice, and elements of genre in its slow-boiling thriller thrust and dashes of film noir.
“Song Without a Name” is lead produced by La Vida Misma, in co-production with Spain’s Mgc, Peru’s La Mula Producciones and Switzerland’s Bord Cadre, co-producers of “Monos” and “Divine Love,” well received at this year’s Sundance festival, and 2018 Directors’ Fortnight standout “Birds of Passage.”
Sophie Dulac Distribution, the French distributor of Whit Stillman’s “Love & Friendship...
Written by Leon and Michael J. White, “Song Without a Name” sums up some of ambitions and focus of the section under first-time artistic director Paolo Moretti: A first feature, a movie with a strong auteurist voice, and elements of genre in its slow-boiling thriller thrust and dashes of film noir.
“Song Without a Name” is lead produced by La Vida Misma, in co-production with Spain’s Mgc, Peru’s La Mula Producciones and Switzerland’s Bord Cadre, co-producers of “Monos” and “Divine Love,” well received at this year’s Sundance festival, and 2018 Directors’ Fortnight standout “Birds of Passage.”
Sophie Dulac Distribution, the French distributor of Whit Stillman’s “Love & Friendship...
- 4/26/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Women fighting back. Three of the six titles in Ventana Sur’s Copia Final this year picture women confronting outrage or tragedy – gender violence (“Do You Like Me?”), the abduction of a new born baby (“Song Without a Name”) or the death of a husband (“Venezia”) – and reacting, in multifarious fashions.
“Do You Like Me?” has a thriller edge. Three more, underscoring Latin American cinema’s current broad range, show Latin American filmmakers enrolling mainstream beats to appeal beyond traditional arthouse audiences in more accessible titles, whether in an unusual immigration drama (“Marionette”), or via empathy with a challenged protagonist (“The Friendly Man”) or a straight-up coming of age tale (“This Is Not Berlin”).
Set in Buenos Aires’ housing projects, “Do You Like Me?” starts as a crime thriller, then bucks generic commonplaces as it delivers a numbing gender violence and revenge drama. Authentic in setting, observance of daily...
“Do You Like Me?” has a thriller edge. Three more, underscoring Latin American cinema’s current broad range, show Latin American filmmakers enrolling mainstream beats to appeal beyond traditional arthouse audiences in more accessible titles, whether in an unusual immigration drama (“Marionette”), or via empathy with a challenged protagonist (“The Friendly Man”) or a straight-up coming of age tale (“This Is Not Berlin”).
Set in Buenos Aires’ housing projects, “Do You Like Me?” starts as a crime thriller, then bucks generic commonplaces as it delivers a numbing gender violence and revenge drama. Authentic in setting, observance of daily...
- 11/26/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
In one of the key deals in the run-up to next week’s Locarno Festival, Paris-based Stray Dogs has closed international sales rights on “Tarde para morir joven” (Too Late to Die Young), the anticipated second feature from Chile’s double Rotterdam winner Dominga Sotomayor.
Reprising some of the issues of her debut, “Thursday Till Sunday,” but on a far larger and novel canvas, “Too Late” is produced by Sotomayor’s Chile-based Cinestación and Rodrigo Teixeira’s Rt Features in Sao Paulo, whose current slate features films by Robert Eggers, James Gray and Olivier Assayas and a joint production alliance for emerging filmmakers with Martin Scorsese.
Backed by Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund and the Doha Film Institute, “Too Late” is co-produced by Argentina’s Ruda Cine and the Netherlands’ Circe Films.
Holding world sales rights outside Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Benelux, Stray Dogs Nathan Fischer will introduce “Too Late...
Reprising some of the issues of her debut, “Thursday Till Sunday,” but on a far larger and novel canvas, “Too Late” is produced by Sotomayor’s Chile-based Cinestación and Rodrigo Teixeira’s Rt Features in Sao Paulo, whose current slate features films by Robert Eggers, James Gray and Olivier Assayas and a joint production alliance for emerging filmmakers with Martin Scorsese.
Backed by Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund and the Doha Film Institute, “Too Late” is co-produced by Argentina’s Ruda Cine and the Netherlands’ Circe Films.
Holding world sales rights outside Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Benelux, Stray Dogs Nathan Fischer will introduce “Too Late...
- 7/25/2018
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
One of 2018’s most anticipated films is director Lucrecia Martel’s return to the big screen, Zama. A brilliant film about a myriad of things from class to colonialism, Martel’s picture is one of great cinematic experimentation, a period piece of expert craftsmanship and deep thematic resonance. And many of these same things can be said for a film very much in conversation (albeit coincidental) with it and Martel’s work broadly, Daniela Thomas’ Vazante.
After years of working in shorts and alongside director Walter Salles, Thomas marks her feature directorial debut with this breathtaking piece of filmmaking, a widescreen period piece shot in contrast-heavy black and white and with some top tier performances at her disposal. Vazante tells the story of Antonio, a trader in 1820’s Brazil who returns home to discover that his wife lost her life while giving birth. This sends Antonio’s life into a spiral,...
After years of working in shorts and alongside director Walter Salles, Thomas marks her feature directorial debut with this breathtaking piece of filmmaking, a widescreen period piece shot in contrast-heavy black and white and with some top tier performances at her disposal. Vazante tells the story of Antonio, a trader in 1820’s Brazil who returns home to discover that his wife lost her life while giving birth. This sends Antonio’s life into a spiral,...
- 1/12/2018
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Academy Award Submission for Nomination Best Foreign Language Film from Brazil: ‘Little Secret’ Interview with David SchurmannThe touching and engaging “Little Secrets”/ “Pequeno Segredo” opens like a flower. In fact, flowers and butterflies are metaphors for the fleeting but beautiful and bright life of a young girl whose secret, shared with three women becomes a beacon of love for the audience.Based on a true story lived by the director David Schurmann himself, who, for two-and-a-half years lived on a sailboat with parents, his two brothers, and his adoped sister Kat, I was most curious to know more about his life.DS: I grew up on a boat sailing around the world. With the opportunity to see and experience incredible moments, such a life also made me aware of one important fact: how chance encounters can change our lives.My first contact with filmmaking occurred practically by chance, when I...
- 11/3/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Written by Kate Lyra, Director, Latc — Latin American Training CenterAmidst the flurry of controversy surrounding its selection, “Little Secret” (“Pequeno Segredo”) screened for the press in Rio de Janeiro.
“Some people are afraid of the ocean,” says Heloisa, (Julia Lemmertz in a perfect pitch performance). “But I feel safer on the water than on dry land.”
Marcos Bernstein’s masterful narrative, directed by David Schurmann, sets the ocean as symbol and metaphor, weaving it through the interlocking stories of three families — and three mothers — forever joined by a secret and a child.
It is the ocean that both separates and connects places as exotic and unlikely as the Amazon and New Zealand, an ocean that protects and sustains us like amniotic fluid.
“Kiwi” (as New Zealanders are endearingly known) Robert Lockett (Errol Shand) has crossed the ocean to find work as a petrochemical engineer in Manaus, capital city of the...
“Some people are afraid of the ocean,” says Heloisa, (Julia Lemmertz in a perfect pitch performance). “But I feel safer on the water than on dry land.”
Marcos Bernstein’s masterful narrative, directed by David Schurmann, sets the ocean as symbol and metaphor, weaving it through the interlocking stories of three families — and three mothers — forever joined by a secret and a child.
It is the ocean that both separates and connects places as exotic and unlikely as the Amazon and New Zealand, an ocean that protects and sustains us like amniotic fluid.
“Kiwi” (as New Zealanders are endearingly known) Robert Lockett (Errol Shand) has crossed the ocean to find work as a petrochemical engineer in Manaus, capital city of the...
- 10/14/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Brazilian director David Schurmann’s film was selected over Aquarius by one vote, prompting some social media protests.
On the morning after the gala screening of Little Secret at the 18th edition of Rio de Janeiro Int’l Film Festival, the Brazilian director David Schurmann packed his bags to travel to Los Angeles. Schurmann is to meet awards consultant Steven Raphael, who has been hired (via Skype) to help him with his film campaign for the 89th Academy Awards.
Little Secret was chosen last month as the Brazil’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film, after beating its rival, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Aquarius, by one vote only (the result was five to four). The choice made by Brazil’s Oscar selection committee further fuelled the controversy around Aquarius and led to protests on social media against Little Secret.
“Although at that time no one had seen our movie yet, we were attacked...
On the morning after the gala screening of Little Secret at the 18th edition of Rio de Janeiro Int’l Film Festival, the Brazilian director David Schurmann packed his bags to travel to Los Angeles. Schurmann is to meet awards consultant Steven Raphael, who has been hired (via Skype) to help him with his film campaign for the 89th Academy Awards.
Little Secret was chosen last month as the Brazil’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film, after beating its rival, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Aquarius, by one vote only (the result was five to four). The choice made by Brazil’s Oscar selection committee further fuelled the controversy around Aquarius and led to protests on social media against Little Secret.
“Although at that time no one had seen our movie yet, we were attacked...
- 10/12/2016
- by elaineguerini@terra.com.br (Elaine Guerini)
- ScreenDaily
The Case Against 8 won the top jury and audience documentary awards, while Ida prevailed in the narrative feature, screenplay and actress honours as the 16th annual RiverRun International Film Festival came to a close (13) in North Carolina.
“Films showcased at our festival this year reflected diverse stories from around the world, immense talent from directors and a host of passionate projects that are jewels of the independent filmmaking community,” said RiverRun executive director Andrew Rodgers.
All in all the festival screened 144 films from 33 countries and ran from April 4-13.
The winners are as follows:
Audience Awards
The Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Llp Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: Philippe Muyl’s Nightingale (China-France).
The Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Llp Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature: Ryan White, Ben Cotner’s The Case Against 8 (Us).
Altered States Award for Best Indie: James E Duff’s Hank And Asha (Us-Czech Republic).
Jury Awards – Narrative Competition
The Best Narrative Feature...
“Films showcased at our festival this year reflected diverse stories from around the world, immense talent from directors and a host of passionate projects that are jewels of the independent filmmaking community,” said RiverRun executive director Andrew Rodgers.
All in all the festival screened 144 films from 33 countries and ran from April 4-13.
The winners are as follows:
Audience Awards
The Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Llp Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: Philippe Muyl’s Nightingale (China-France).
The Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton Llp Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature: Ryan White, Ben Cotner’s The Case Against 8 (Us).
Altered States Award for Best Indie: James E Duff’s Hank And Asha (Us-Czech Republic).
Jury Awards – Narrative Competition
The Best Narrative Feature...
- 4/13/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
La Belle Vie gets special mention and wins Europa Cinemas Label.
Espionage drama Bethlehem, from Israel’s Yuval Adler, has picked up the top prize in the Venice Days section of the 70th Venice Film Festival.
The winner was announced by the Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean (Fedora).
It also selected Milko Lazarov as best young director for his Bulgarian film Alienation, while a special metntion was given to Jean Denizot’s La Belle Vie.
Europa winner
Denizot’s French film, about a father who has brought up his sons in hiding after losing a custody battle, also won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European Film in Venice Days.
La Belle Vie was chosen by a jury of four exhibitors from the network, which described it as “a highly poetic and moving version of an extraordinary true story”.
In receiving the Label, La Belle Vie will benefit from promotional support from Europa...
Espionage drama Bethlehem, from Israel’s Yuval Adler, has picked up the top prize in the Venice Days section of the 70th Venice Film Festival.
The winner was announced by the Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean (Fedora).
It also selected Milko Lazarov as best young director for his Bulgarian film Alienation, while a special metntion was given to Jean Denizot’s La Belle Vie.
Europa winner
Denizot’s French film, about a father who has brought up his sons in hiding after losing a custody battle, also won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European Film in Venice Days.
La Belle Vie was chosen by a jury of four exhibitors from the network, which described it as “a highly poetic and moving version of an extraordinary true story”.
In receiving the Label, La Belle Vie will benefit from promotional support from Europa...
- 9/6/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: English-language picture stars Gérard Depardieu, Sam Neill, Tim Roth and Jemima West.
TF1 International is launching sales on Frédéric Auburtin’s FIFA picture A Men’s Dream starring Gérard Depardieu as the soccer federation’s colourful co-founder and World Cup creator Jules Rimet.
The English-language picture captures the history of the 110-year-old International Federation of Association Football through the intertwining stories of Rimet, long-serving Brazilian FIFA president Joao Havelange and Swiss Sepp Blatter who is currently at the helm of the organisation.
Sam Neill plays Havelange and Tim Roth plays Blatter.
“We picked up the project because we think it will appeal to a large and wide audience… not just hardcore football fans. The film tells the human story behind this huge world body through the lives of these three passionate, emblematic figures,” said TF1 International sales chief Sabine Chemaly.
The film, produced by Paris-based Thelma Films and Leuviah Films, was shot this...
TF1 International is launching sales on Frédéric Auburtin’s FIFA picture A Men’s Dream starring Gérard Depardieu as the soccer federation’s colourful co-founder and World Cup creator Jules Rimet.
The English-language picture captures the history of the 110-year-old International Federation of Association Football through the intertwining stories of Rimet, long-serving Brazilian FIFA president Joao Havelange and Swiss Sepp Blatter who is currently at the helm of the organisation.
Sam Neill plays Havelange and Tim Roth plays Blatter.
“We picked up the project because we think it will appeal to a large and wide audience… not just hardcore football fans. The film tells the human story behind this huge world body through the lives of these three passionate, emblematic figures,” said TF1 International sales chief Sabine Chemaly.
The film, produced by Paris-based Thelma Films and Leuviah Films, was shot this...
- 9/6/2013
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: English-language picture stars Gérard Depardieu, Sam Neill, Tim Roth and Jemima West.
TF1 International is launching sales on Frédéric Auburtin’s FIFA picture A Men’s Dream starring Gérard Depardieu as the soccer federation’s colourful co-founder and World Cup creator Jules Rimet.
The English-language picture captures the history of the 110-year-old International Federation of Association Football through the intertwining stories of Rimet, long-serving Brazilian FIFA president Joao Havelange and Swiss Sepp Blatter who is currently at the helm of the organisation.
Sam Neill plays Havelange and Tim Roth plays Blatter.
“We picked up the project because we think it will appeal to a large and wide audience… not just hardcore football fans. The film tells the human story behind this huge world body through the lives of these three passionate, emblematic figures,” said TF1 International sales chief Sabine Chemaly.
The film, produced by Paris-based Thelma Films and Leuviah Films, was shot this...
TF1 International is launching sales on Frédéric Auburtin’s FIFA picture A Men’s Dream starring Gérard Depardieu as the soccer federation’s colourful co-founder and World Cup creator Jules Rimet.
The English-language picture captures the history of the 110-year-old International Federation of Association Football through the intertwining stories of Rimet, long-serving Brazilian FIFA president Joao Havelange and Swiss Sepp Blatter who is currently at the helm of the organisation.
Sam Neill plays Havelange and Tim Roth plays Blatter.
“We picked up the project because we think it will appeal to a large and wide audience… not just hardcore football fans. The film tells the human story behind this huge world body through the lives of these three passionate, emblematic figures,” said TF1 International sales chief Sabine Chemaly.
The film, produced by Paris-based Thelma Films and Leuviah Films, was shot this...
- 9/6/2013
- ScreenDaily
If you like your films fast-paced a la Michael Bay, then steer clear of "The Loneliest Planet," Julia Loktev's entrancing sophomore feature.
Glacially slow by mainstream standards, "The Loneliest Planet" is more concerned with making you think than hoodwinking you with zany plot developments. For cinemagoers seeking a challenging experience sure to rattle in your brain long after you leave the theater, you'd be advised to visit "The Loneliest Planet."
The drama pits Gael Garcia Bernal opposite fresh face Hani Furstenberg as Alex and Nica, a young, spirited couple backpacking across the Caucasus Mountain in Georgia a mere few months before their wedding date. And who can blame them? As captured gorgeously by cinematographer Inti Briones, the lush mountains make for an idyllic getaway for the vacationer with an adventurous spirit.
For the majority of the first half of Loktev's picture, Alex and Nica walk (a lot), and engage...
Glacially slow by mainstream standards, "The Loneliest Planet" is more concerned with making you think than hoodwinking you with zany plot developments. For cinemagoers seeking a challenging experience sure to rattle in your brain long after you leave the theater, you'd be advised to visit "The Loneliest Planet."
The drama pits Gael Garcia Bernal opposite fresh face Hani Furstenberg as Alex and Nica, a young, spirited couple backpacking across the Caucasus Mountain in Georgia a mere few months before their wedding date. And who can blame them? As captured gorgeously by cinematographer Inti Briones, the lush mountains make for an idyllic getaway for the vacationer with an adventurous spirit.
For the majority of the first half of Loktev's picture, Alex and Nica walk (a lot), and engage...
- 10/26/2012
- by Nigel Smith
- NextMovie
★★★★☆
Bonsái (2011), Chilean director and writer Cristián Jiménez's follow up to 2009's Optical Illusions realises the tale of a handsome and philosophical literary student, first love and fact vs. fiction. his latest effort still bears some of the postmodern leanings of his debut, but this precise and beautifully photographed (by cinematographer Inti Briones) adaptation of Alejandro Zambra's celebrated novella looks more wryly at the close bond between young lovers, saving face and creating alternate truths.
Read more »...
Bonsái (2011), Chilean director and writer Cristián Jiménez's follow up to 2009's Optical Illusions realises the tale of a handsome and philosophical literary student, first love and fact vs. fiction. his latest effort still bears some of the postmodern leanings of his debut, but this precise and beautifully photographed (by cinematographer Inti Briones) adaptation of Alejandro Zambra's celebrated novella looks more wryly at the close bond between young lovers, saving face and creating alternate truths.
Read more »...
- 3/29/2012
- by CineVue
- CineVue
Nadie Dijo Nada" />
Above: Nadie Dijo Nada (1971).
Over the next couple weeks, Notebook will be unfurling a series of tributes to Raúl Ruiz entitled Blind Man's Bluff: along with some previously published articles, here in English for the first time, the bulk a compilation of new, shorter pieces from a few generous critics and Ruizians on favorite moments from a vast, subterranean filmography. For more from Raúl Ruiz: Blind Man's Bluff see the Table of Contents.
Chilean Memories
Above: On Top of the Whale (1982).
I had recently arrived in New York in the late 90s and was completely lost, overwhelmed by the need to adapt, to no longer be just chileno, and to understand this multicultural, all-consuming city, when I found myself with a worn-out VHS tape of On Top of the Whale, an alien film that only left me feeling more displaced but crying with laughter for five minutes straight.
Above: Nadie Dijo Nada (1971).
Over the next couple weeks, Notebook will be unfurling a series of tributes to Raúl Ruiz entitled Blind Man's Bluff: along with some previously published articles, here in English for the first time, the bulk a compilation of new, shorter pieces from a few generous critics and Ruizians on favorite moments from a vast, subterranean filmography. For more from Raúl Ruiz: Blind Man's Bluff see the Table of Contents.
Chilean Memories
Above: On Top of the Whale (1982).
I had recently arrived in New York in the late 90s and was completely lost, overwhelmed by the need to adapt, to no longer be just chileno, and to understand this multicultural, all-consuming city, when I found myself with a worn-out VHS tape of On Top of the Whale, an alien film that only left me feeling more displaced but crying with laughter for five minutes straight.
- 9/27/2011
- MUBI
Let's start with New York's Logan Hill, who reminds us that "Brooklyn director Julia Loktev's Day Night Day Night was a taut, paranoiac Rorschach thriller about a mysterious woman with mysterious motivations who straps a suicide vest to her chest and takes the subway to Times Square. Her latest film is even more willfully abstruse but just as unsettling. Gael García Bernal and newcomer Hani Furstenberg play fiancées [Alex and Nica] on vacation in the harsh landscape of Georgia…. They're living the backpacker's dream, dancing in club's with strangers, grinning dumbly in response to foreign tongues. Then they meet up with a haggard tour guide of grizzled features and morbid humor (the magnetic and bizarre Bidzina Gujabidze), who takes them off into the mountains on an isolated hike."
"And then something shocking happens — it's not fair to say what this game-changing event is, but, then again, Loktev never makes it clear what it signifies,...
"And then something shocking happens — it's not fair to say what this game-changing event is, but, then again, Loktev never makes it clear what it signifies,...
- 9/15/2011
- MUBI
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