The relationship drama premiered in competition at the 2022 Berlinale.
Michael Koch’s second feature A Piece Of Sky was named best feature film at this year’s Swiss Film Awards which were held at a gala ceremony in Geneva at the weekend.
The Alpine love story premiered in competition at the 2022 Berlinale and was Switzerland’s entry for the International Feature Film category of the Academy Awards this year.
Members of the Swiss Film Academy voted Elena Avdija’s Stuntwomen (Cascadeuses) as best documentary, while Ursula Meier’s The Line - which premiered at the Berlinale in the main competition...
Michael Koch’s second feature A Piece Of Sky was named best feature film at this year’s Swiss Film Awards which were held at a gala ceremony in Geneva at the weekend.
The Alpine love story premiered in competition at the 2022 Berlinale and was Switzerland’s entry for the International Feature Film category of the Academy Awards this year.
Members of the Swiss Film Academy voted Elena Avdija’s Stuntwomen (Cascadeuses) as best documentary, while Ursula Meier’s The Line - which premiered at the Berlinale in the main competition...
- 3/28/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
A critical hit at this year’s Berlinale, Michael Koch’s second feature A Piece of Sky is a sober relationship drama with a difference: It takes place in a picturesque Alpine idyll, with its sections interspersed by a folk choir that acts as an unorthodox Greek chorus. Speaking at Deadline’s Contenders International award-season event Saturday, Koch explained: “It’s a story about a couple in a remote mountain village who meet and then are put to the test due to a brain cancer that the man has. The film is about how she deals with it, how the couple deal with it, and how strong love can be.”
Related: The Contenders International – Deadline’s Full Coverage
What’s immediately clear from the film is how authentic it is, with a supporting cast of non-professionals who inhabit their roles without the slightest whiff of artifice. Which is not surprising given Koch’s patience.
Related: The Contenders International – Deadline’s Full Coverage
What’s immediately clear from the film is how authentic it is, with a supporting cast of non-professionals who inhabit their roles without the slightest whiff of artifice. Which is not surprising given Koch’s patience.
- 12/3/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
The first calendar year to see the physical return of almost every major film festival since the pandemic, 2022 has been a huge morale booster for filmmakers from all around the globe. And now, with the third edition of Deadline’s Contenders Film: International kicking off Saturday at 8 a.m. Pt, that outreach expands even further: leaving a carbon-free footprint, our online event will showcase the myriad films that soared at Sundance, beguiled Berlin, captivated Cannes, thrilled Telluride, vitalized Venice and touched Toronto, all the while shining a spotlight on the must-see movies that might have flown under your radar.
Click her to register for and watch today’s Contenders livestream.
Since submissions accepted for the Best International Feature Film Oscar category continue to grow — up by something like 30 from just 10 years ago, buoyed no doubt by the boundary-breaking success of 2019’s Parasite — it is harder than ever before to see...
Click her to register for and watch today’s Contenders livestream.
Since submissions accepted for the Best International Feature Film Oscar category continue to grow — up by something like 30 from just 10 years ago, buoyed no doubt by the boundary-breaking success of 2019’s Parasite — it is harder than ever before to see...
- 12/3/2022
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
There is a moment early on in Michael Koch’s film, Switzerland’s submission to the 2023 Academy Awards, when Marco (Simon Wisler) is ordered to take a cow, Olga, to slaughter because, after several attempts, she has failed to conceive. They don’t have the resources to care for those who can’t be productive, even if they like them, explains the farmer. Marco complies, unhappily. Wisler is a farmer in real life and his empathy with the animal is clear. The farmer’s sentiment will echo throughout the film.
It begins with little things. Marco suffers from persistent, debilitating headaches. He’s impulsive, especially with Anna (Michèle Brand), whom he marries in a terribly Swiss ceremony at which red-clad men play tubas and Anna’s daughter Julia (Elin Zgraggen) serves as a bridesmaid. He makes odd little mistakes. When he has an accident, doctors take a look, and he...
It begins with little things. Marco suffers from persistent, debilitating headaches. He’s impulsive, especially with Anna (Michèle Brand), whom he marries in a terribly Swiss ceremony at which red-clad men play tubas and Anna’s daughter Julia (Elin Zgraggen) serves as a bridesmaid. He makes odd little mistakes. When he has an accident, doctors take a look, and he...
- 11/25/2022
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
250 industry execs set to attend market this week.
The TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) kicks off the 15th edition of its international co-production market Tfl Meeting Event this week, showcasing 30 feature film projects between November 24-26.
Tfl Meeting Event will present 20 titles that have taken part in Tfl’s nine-month scriptwriting programme ScriptLab, comprising 14 debut scripts, two sophomore titles and four mature projects. Each participant has been guided on the development of their scripts through five online and residential workshops. The ScriptLab titles were revealed in March.
Another 10 projects will be presented from Tfl’s FeatureLab strand for films at a more advanced stage.
The TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) kicks off the 15th edition of its international co-production market Tfl Meeting Event this week, showcasing 30 feature film projects between November 24-26.
Tfl Meeting Event will present 20 titles that have taken part in Tfl’s nine-month scriptwriting programme ScriptLab, comprising 14 debut scripts, two sophomore titles and four mature projects. Each participant has been guided on the development of their scripts through five online and residential workshops. The ScriptLab titles were revealed in March.
Another 10 projects will be presented from Tfl’s FeatureLab strand for films at a more advanced stage.
- 11/23/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Greek prime minister attends festival to highlight incentives for international projects.
Costa Rican director Valentina Maurel’s I Have Electric Dreams has won the €10,000 Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos prize for best film at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which took place from November 3-13.
The film’s lead actor Reinaldo Amien Gutierrez also won the best actor award at the festival.
The French, Belgian and Costa Rican co-production, which premiered in Locarno, follows a young girl’s coming of age and her relationship with her estranged father. World sales are handled by Greece’s Heretic.
The international competition jury...
Costa Rican director Valentina Maurel’s I Have Electric Dreams has won the €10,000 Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos prize for best film at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which took place from November 3-13.
The film’s lead actor Reinaldo Amien Gutierrez also won the best actor award at the festival.
The French, Belgian and Costa Rican co-production, which premiered in Locarno, follows a young girl’s coming of age and her relationship with her estranged father. World sales are handled by Greece’s Heretic.
The international competition jury...
- 11/16/2022
- by Alexis Grivas
- ScreenDaily
Valentina Maurel’s “I Have Electric Dreams” continued its winning streak this week at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, where the Costa Rican director’s coming-of-age drama took home the Golden Alexander for best feature film.
Maurel’s debut follows a restless 16-year-old girl experiencing her sexual awakening. Desperate to leave the house she shares with her mother and younger sister, she opts to move in with her estranged father, a troubled artist.
The film won the prizes for best director, actress and actor at the Locarno Film Festival, where it bowed in the main competition, as well as the San Sebastián Film Festival’s Horizons Award.
The jury in Thessaloniki, which was comprised of Mexican producer and Pimienta Films founder Nicolas Selis, Polish writer-director Tomasz Wasilewski and Greek filmmaker Penny Panagiotopoulou, praised the film for its “beautiful and gentle portrait on how to love the flaws in a person you love.
Maurel’s debut follows a restless 16-year-old girl experiencing her sexual awakening. Desperate to leave the house she shares with her mother and younger sister, she opts to move in with her estranged father, a troubled artist.
The film won the prizes for best director, actress and actor at the Locarno Film Festival, where it bowed in the main competition, as well as the San Sebastián Film Festival’s Horizons Award.
The jury in Thessaloniki, which was comprised of Mexican producer and Pimienta Films founder Nicolas Selis, Polish writer-director Tomasz Wasilewski and Greek filmmaker Penny Panagiotopoulou, praised the film for its “beautiful and gentle portrait on how to love the flaws in a person you love.
- 11/14/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
A Piece Of Sky Photo: Armin Dierolf, courtesy of Hugo Film
Sometimes small scale films have a much bigger impact than anybody expected. That’s the case with Michael Koch’s A Piece Of Sky (aka Drii Winter), which is currently screening at the Leeds International Film Festival and has been named Switzerland’s official submission for the 2023 Oscars. It’s the story of farmhand Marco (Simon Wisler), who undergoes a process of mental and physical disintegration as a result of an inoperable brain tumour, and of Anna (Michèle Brand), the wife who chooses to stand by him although she also has a daughter to look after and the initial sympathy of her community gradually gives way to approbation.
Meeting up with Michael and Michèle to discuss the film, I began by congratulating them on the incredibly powerful sense of place which it conjures up, and asking Michael if his...
Sometimes small scale films have a much bigger impact than anybody expected. That’s the case with Michael Koch’s A Piece Of Sky (aka Drii Winter), which is currently screening at the Leeds International Film Festival and has been named Switzerland’s official submission for the 2023 Oscars. It’s the story of farmhand Marco (Simon Wisler), who undergoes a process of mental and physical disintegration as a result of an inoperable brain tumour, and of Anna (Michèle Brand), the wife who chooses to stand by him although she also has a daughter to look after and the initial sympathy of her community gradually gives way to approbation.
Meeting up with Michael and Michèle to discuss the film, I began by congratulating them on the incredibly powerful sense of place which it conjures up, and asking Michael if his...
- 11/12/2022
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Chicago – The 58th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) announced its award winners on October 21st, 2022, and the recipient of The Gold Hugo in the International Feature Film Competition – the festival’s top honor – is Hiynu Pålmason’s ‘Godland”, a multi-layered critique of colonialist destruction.
Picking up the Festival’s Silver Hugo in the International Feature Film competition is “Close” (directed by Lucas Dhant), which also receives the Gold Hugo-q in the OutLook competition. In the New Directors Competition, Charlotte Le Bon’s “Falcon Lake” takes the Gold Hugo and Ann Oren’s “Piaffe” takes the Silver Hugo. The complete list of honorees is below.
“The Chicago International Film Festival has a 58-year history of honoring the most exciting, most original talent, and this year’s winners reflect a diversity of storytelling and filmmaking in remarkable and timely ways,” said Chicago International Film Festival Artistic Director Mimi Plauché. “With visual languages bold and subtle,...
Picking up the Festival’s Silver Hugo in the International Feature Film competition is “Close” (directed by Lucas Dhant), which also receives the Gold Hugo-q in the OutLook competition. In the New Directors Competition, Charlotte Le Bon’s “Falcon Lake” takes the Gold Hugo and Ann Oren’s “Piaffe” takes the Silver Hugo. The complete list of honorees is below.
“The Chicago International Film Festival has a 58-year history of honoring the most exciting, most original talent, and this year’s winners reflect a diversity of storytelling and filmmaking in remarkable and timely ways,” said Chicago International Film Festival Artistic Director Mimi Plauché. “With visual languages bold and subtle,...
- 10/22/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Writer-director Michael Koch returns with his second feature film, A Piece of Sky, which is set in a remote village in Switzerland and follows Anna (Michèle Brand), who meets a new arrival, Marco (Simon Wisler), who is diagnosed with a brain tumor shortly after their wedding. Their romance is tested by Marco’s worsening condition and […]
The post Interview: Director Michael Koch on Switzerland’s Oscar Submission ‘A Piece of Sky’ (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Interview: Director Michael Koch on Switzerland’s Oscar Submission ‘A Piece of Sky’ (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 10/11/2022
- by Abe Friedtanzer
- ShockYa
A Piece of Sky (Drii Winter) Switzerland’s Entry to the Academy Awards Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net, linked from Rotten Tomatoes by Harvey Karten Director: Michael Koch Screenwriter: Michael Koch Cast: Michèle Brand, Simon Wisler, Elin Zgraggen, Daniela Barmettler, Josef Aschwanden Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 10/4/22 Switzerland must be as close to Utopia as […]
The post A Piece of Sky Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post A Piece of Sky Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 10/4/2022
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
This article contains IndieWire’s preliminary Best International Feature predictions for the 2023 Oscars. We regularly update our predictions throughout awards season, and republish previous versions (like this one) for readers to track changes in how the Oscar race has changed. For the latest update on the frontrunners for the 95th Academy Awards, see our 2023 Oscars predictions hub.
Nominations voting is from January 12-17, 2023, with official Oscar nominations announced January 24, 2023. Final voting is March 2-7, 2023. And finally, the 95th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 12 and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. Et/ 5:00 p.m. Pt. We update predictions through awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2023 Oscar picks.
The Oscar submission deadline (October 3) has returned to its pre-pandemic place on the awards calendar, with the Best International Feature Film shortlist announced on December 21.
As always, film festivals are the gatekeepers for the Best International Feature Oscar race,...
Nominations voting is from January 12-17, 2023, with official Oscar nominations announced January 24, 2023. Final voting is March 2-7, 2023. And finally, the 95th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 12 and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. Et/ 5:00 p.m. Pt. We update predictions through awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2023 Oscar picks.
The Oscar submission deadline (October 3) has returned to its pre-pandemic place on the awards calendar, with the Best International Feature Film shortlist announced on December 21.
As always, film festivals are the gatekeepers for the Best International Feature Oscar race,...
- 9/24/2022
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The 18th Zurich Film Festival kicks off Sept. 22 with a muscular lineup that includes some of the year’s most anticipated international pics while also putting the spotlight on Swiss and German-language cinema.
In addition to a strong selection of U.S. films, including Oscar-winning writer-director Florian Zeller’s “The Son” and Neil Jordan’s “Marlowe,” Zurich is also honoring Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker and Tom Bernard for their contribution to cinema.
“We are very proud that this year about one-fourth of our program are world or European premieres, which – especially when it comes to American films – are quite hard to get because there’s a lot of competition,” says Zff artistic director Christian Jungen.
Other big titles unspooling in Zurich include Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,” with Viola Davis; Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan; and Tobias Lindholm’s “The Good Nurse,...
In addition to a strong selection of U.S. films, including Oscar-winning writer-director Florian Zeller’s “The Son” and Neil Jordan’s “Marlowe,” Zurich is also honoring Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker and Tom Bernard for their contribution to cinema.
“We are very proud that this year about one-fourth of our program are world or European premieres, which – especially when it comes to American films – are quite hard to get because there’s a lot of competition,” says Zff artistic director Christian Jungen.
Other big titles unspooling in Zurich include Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,” with Viola Davis; Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan; and Tobias Lindholm’s “The Good Nurse,...
- 9/20/2022
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Festival runs October 12-23.
Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History Of Destruction are among the international competitions line-up at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival next month.
This year’s competitions include 10 films receiving their North American premiere and 17 getting their US premiere as the entries vie for the festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of international feature, international documentary, and new directors.
The festival runs October 12-23. The full international competition line-ups are below.
Playing in International Feature Competition are: The Beasts (Sp-Fr), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, US premiere; Before,...
Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History Of Destruction are among the international competitions line-up at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival next month.
This year’s competitions include 10 films receiving their North American premiere and 17 getting their US premiere as the entries vie for the festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of international feature, international documentary, and new directors.
The festival runs October 12-23. The full international competition line-ups are below.
Playing in International Feature Competition are: The Beasts (Sp-Fr), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, US premiere; Before,...
- 9/16/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Ewip industry event takes place October 17-19.
European Work In Progress Cologne (Ewip) has announced a new partnership with TorinoFilmLab ahead of the industry event’s 5th edition (October 17-19)
Five projects now in post-production that have been developed or supported by Torino’s FeatureLab, ScriptLab or the Tfl Fund programme will be presented in official selection at Ewip which takes place in Cologne ahead of the 32nd Film Festival Cologne (October 20-27)
The projects will compete with 25 other selected European co-productions, to be announced at the end of the month, for various prizes worth a total of €52,500.
New...
European Work In Progress Cologne (Ewip) has announced a new partnership with TorinoFilmLab ahead of the industry event’s 5th edition (October 17-19)
Five projects now in post-production that have been developed or supported by Torino’s FeatureLab, ScriptLab or the Tfl Fund programme will be presented in official selection at Ewip which takes place in Cologne ahead of the 32nd Film Festival Cologne (October 20-27)
The projects will compete with 25 other selected European co-productions, to be announced at the end of the month, for various prizes worth a total of €52,500.
New...
- 9/1/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 8/30/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 8/22/2022
- by Ben Dalton¬Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 8/15/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 8/11/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 8/8/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Tfl has also unveiled the 10 writers picked for the inaugural edition of its SeriesLab – Talents scheme.
The TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) has unveiled the 20 new projects selected for its 2022 ScriptLab, and the 10 writers picked for the inaugural edition of its SeriesLab – Talents scheme.
The ScriptLab is a nine-month scriptwriting programme involving feature films at an early stage of development. This year’s iteration focused on comedies, with eight of the 20 projects written by women.
Composed of two week-long residential workshops, one in Turin and one in Finland, as well as three online modules, the ScriptLab also feeds in to TorinoFilmLab annual industry event the Tfl Meeting.
The TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) has unveiled the 20 new projects selected for its 2022 ScriptLab, and the 10 writers picked for the inaugural edition of its SeriesLab – Talents scheme.
The ScriptLab is a nine-month scriptwriting programme involving feature films at an early stage of development. This year’s iteration focused on comedies, with eight of the 20 projects written by women.
Composed of two week-long residential workshops, one in Turin and one in Finland, as well as three online modules, the ScriptLab also feeds in to TorinoFilmLab annual industry event the Tfl Meeting.
- 3/10/2022
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
FireFollowing a successful but necessarily impersonal virtual edition in 2021, the Berlin International Film Festival returned to in-person activities this year, drawing skepticism in some quarters but ultimately quieting the naysayers with a safe and efficient event that put the movies back where they belong: on the big screen. With mandatory daily Covid tests, 2G plus vaccination protocols, ticket reservations, assigned seating, and half-capacity venues, the Berlinale’s typically convivial vibe was sterilized and regimented in a way that’s already become familiar in an era of masks and social distancing. But no matter: the program, overseen by Carlo Chatrian in his third year as artistic director, while never quite reaching the skyscraping heights of recent editions (in which films like Days and What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? confirmed the new regime’s dedication to auteur-driven art cinema), provided a deep and rewarding wellspring of work...
- 2/25/2022
- MUBI
‘A Piece of Sky’ Review: Things Fall Apart as a Choir Sings in an Impressive, Austere Alpine Tragedy
The hills are indeed alive with the sound of music in Swiss filmmaker Michael Koch’s intimate Alpine epic “A Piece of Sky,” but if you go in expecting twirling frolics, expect to be harshly disappointed. Acting as a kind of distinctly non-Greek chorus, a full Helvetian choir pops up between the acts of this small-scale domestic tragedy, their solemn folk songs lending a mournful running commentary to this story of a mountain family undone by medical misfortune and psychological upheaval. It’s a quasi-absurdist flourish in an otherwise austere slab of rural realism — cast with non-professional locals — and emblematic of the arresting formal grandeur that Koch brings to ostensibly modest material.
That combination of downbeat storytelling and rigorously mannered styling makes “A Piece of Sky” a challenging proposition for arthouse distributors, though a special mention from this year’s Berlinale Competition jury is indicative of the rarefied but rapt following it ought to find.
That combination of downbeat storytelling and rigorously mannered styling makes “A Piece of Sky” a challenging proposition for arthouse distributors, though a special mention from this year’s Berlinale Competition jury is indicative of the rarefied but rapt following it ought to find.
- 2/23/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Top prizes for Hong Sangsoo’s ‘The Novelist’s Film’, Claire Denis’ ‘Fire’.
Carla Simon’s Alcarras won the Golden Bear at the 72nd Berlinale, in a ceremony held at the Berlinale Palast this evening (Wednesday 16).
“I feel like I should just move here, because every time I come here something amazing happens,” said Simon on accepting the award.
Alcarras: Berlin review
The award was presented by Competition jury president M. Night Shyamalan, who praised the film “for its extraordinary performances from the child actors to the actors in their 80s and for the ability to show the tenderness and comedy...
Carla Simon’s Alcarras won the Golden Bear at the 72nd Berlinale, in a ceremony held at the Berlinale Palast this evening (Wednesday 16).
“I feel like I should just move here, because every time I come here something amazing happens,” said Simon on accepting the award.
Alcarras: Berlin review
The award was presented by Competition jury president M. Night Shyamalan, who praised the film “for its extraordinary performances from the child actors to the actors in their 80s and for the ability to show the tenderness and comedy...
- 2/16/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The winners for the 2022 Berlin Film Festival have been revealed. The in-person event took place this year February 10–20. The competition jury, led by president M. Night Shyamalan, included filmmaker Karim Aïnouz, producer Saïd Ben Saïd, filmmaker Anne Zohra Berrached, filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga, Oscar-nominated “Drive My Car” director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and actor Connie Nielsen.
The festival’s top prize, the Golden Bear for Best Film, was presented by Shyamalan. “For its extraordinary performances, from the child actors to the actors in their 80s, for the ability to show the tenderness and comedy and struggle,” he awarded Spanish drama “Alcarras,” from director Carla Simon.
The festival did away with gendered acting awards once again, instead offering Silver Bears for Best Supporting and Best Lead Performance. Beloved auteur Claire Denis won best director for her romantic psychodrama “Both Sides of the Blade” — or “Fire,” as it’s known in the United States. (IFC Films has stateside rights.
The festival’s top prize, the Golden Bear for Best Film, was presented by Shyamalan. “For its extraordinary performances, from the child actors to the actors in their 80s, for the ability to show the tenderness and comedy and struggle,” he awarded Spanish drama “Alcarras,” from director Carla Simon.
The festival did away with gendered acting awards once again, instead offering Silver Bears for Best Supporting and Best Lead Performance. Beloved auteur Claire Denis won best director for her romantic psychodrama “Both Sides of the Blade” — or “Fire,” as it’s known in the United States. (IFC Films has stateside rights.
- 2/16/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Competition(Jury: M. Night Shyamalan, Karim Aïnouz, Saïd Ben Saïd, Anne Zohra Berrached, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Connie Nielsen)Golden BearAlcarràs (Carla Simón)Silver Bear — Grand Jury PrizeThe Novelist’s Film (Hong Sang-soo)Silver Bear — Jury PrizeRobe of Gems (Natalia Lopez Gallardo)Silver Bear for Best DirectorClaire Denis (Both Sides of the Blade)Silver Bear for Best Leading PerformanceMeltem Kaptan (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush)Silver Bear for Best Supporting PerformanceLaura Basuki (Nana)Silver Bear for Best ScreenplayLaila Stieler (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush)Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic ContributionRithy Panh (Everything Will Be Ok)Silver Bear — Special MentionA Piece of Sky (Michael Koch)Encounters(Jury: Chiara Marañón, Ben Rivers, Silvan Zürcher)Award for Best FilmMUTZENBACHER (Ruth Beckermann)Special Jury AwardSee You Friday, Robinson (Mitra Farahani)Award for Best DirectorCyril Schäublin (Unrest)Generation — Kplus(Jury: Daniela Cajías, Nicola Jones, Samuel Kishi Leopo)Grand Prix for Best Film The Quiet Girl...
- 2/16/2022
- MUBI
Winners have been announced at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival, with Carla Simon’s Alcarràs scooping the coveted Golden Bear prize as the best film of the festival’s International Competition. Scroll down for the full list of winners, which were revealed Wednesday night at the Berlinale Palast.
Alcarràs follows the life of a family of peach farmers in a small village in Catalonia, whose world changes when the owner of their large estate dies and his lifetime heir decides to sell the land, suddenly threatening their livelihood.
Simon previously picked up Berlin’s Best First Feature Award in 2017 for her debut Summer 1993.
Other winners in the International Competition included Hong Sang-soo’s The Novelist’s Film, which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize (read Deadline’s review here); Natalia Lopez Gallardo, who picked up the Silver Bear Jury Prize for Robe of Gems (review here); and Claire Denis, who...
Alcarràs follows the life of a family of peach farmers in a small village in Catalonia, whose world changes when the owner of their large estate dies and his lifetime heir decides to sell the land, suddenly threatening their livelihood.
Simon previously picked up Berlin’s Best First Feature Award in 2017 for her debut Summer 1993.
Other winners in the International Competition included Hong Sang-soo’s The Novelist’s Film, which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize (read Deadline’s review here); Natalia Lopez Gallardo, who picked up the Silver Bear Jury Prize for Robe of Gems (review here); and Claire Denis, who...
- 2/16/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Spanish director Carla Simón has won the Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin Film Festival, for her second feature “Alcarràs,” a moving drama about a Catalan farming family facing eviction from their land. She received the prize from jury president M. Night Shyamalan, capping a strong night for female filmmakers. Full report to follow.
Official Competition
Golden Bear for Best Film: “Alcarràs,” Carla Simón
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: “The Novelist’s Film,” Hong Sangsoo
Silver Bear Jury Prize: “Robe of Gem,” Natalia Lopez Gallardo
Silver Bear for Best Director: “Fire,” Claire Denis
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush,” Meltem Kaptan
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: “Before, Now and Then (Nana),” Laura Basuki
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush,” Laila Stieler
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: “Everything Will Be Ok,” Rithy Panh
Special Mention: “A Piece of Sky,...
Official Competition
Golden Bear for Best Film: “Alcarràs,” Carla Simón
Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: “The Novelist’s Film,” Hong Sangsoo
Silver Bear Jury Prize: “Robe of Gem,” Natalia Lopez Gallardo
Silver Bear for Best Director: “Fire,” Claire Denis
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush,” Meltem Kaptan
Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: “Before, Now and Then (Nana),” Laura Basuki
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: “Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush,” Laila Stieler
Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: “Everything Will Be Ok,” Rithy Panh
Special Mention: “A Piece of Sky,...
- 2/16/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
To follow-up his 2016 debut “Marija,” Swiss filmmaker Michael Koch set his sight skyward, fixing his vision on a remote Alpine farming community both untouched and victim to time. The filmmaker immersed himself in that world, working with village locals, collecting stories and living off the land, and would then channel those experiences into his sophomore feature.
Now premiering in competition in Berlin, “A Piece of Sky” follows a taciturn farmhand, Marco (Simon Wisler), and a single mother, Anna (Michèle Brand), who find strength in each other as they build a life in the punishing Alpine range. But when Marco falls ill with a brain tumor everything changes, up and to including the way he interacts with the world. Far from an illness-melodrama, “A Piece of Sky” instead offers a measured study of change, comparing the seasonal cycles – where warm days may vanish with the promise to return – with the more unidirectional trajectory of physical decline.
Now premiering in competition in Berlin, “A Piece of Sky” follows a taciturn farmhand, Marco (Simon Wisler), and a single mother, Anna (Michèle Brand), who find strength in each other as they build a life in the punishing Alpine range. But when Marco falls ill with a brain tumor everything changes, up and to including the way he interacts with the world. Far from an illness-melodrama, “A Piece of Sky” instead offers a measured study of change, comparing the seasonal cycles – where warm days may vanish with the promise to return – with the more unidirectional trajectory of physical decline.
- 2/15/2022
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Poor Cow: Koch Devises Solemn Melodrama of a Tortured Romance
Delivering a steady handed narrative as full of sincerity as it is austerity, Swiss director Michael Koch blends nature metaphors with human suffering in his sophomore film A Piece of Sky (Drii Winter). The Swiss German title perhaps more effectively conjures the passage of time, in which a love blossoms, fades and dies between two villagers in a Swiss alpine village unequipped to deal with a fatal health issue tearing them apart. On paper, it sounds like any number of films we’ve seen before, but Koch takes a more estranged and distilled approach, boiling his narrative down to gestures rather than the significant emotional turnout generally mined in these scenarios.…...
Delivering a steady handed narrative as full of sincerity as it is austerity, Swiss director Michael Koch blends nature metaphors with human suffering in his sophomore film A Piece of Sky (Drii Winter). The Swiss German title perhaps more effectively conjures the passage of time, in which a love blossoms, fades and dies between two villagers in a Swiss alpine village unequipped to deal with a fatal health issue tearing them apart. On paper, it sounds like any number of films we’ve seen before, but Koch takes a more estranged and distilled approach, boiling his narrative down to gestures rather than the significant emotional turnout generally mined in these scenarios.…...
- 2/15/2022
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
“Do you believe in God?” Julia asks her stepfather on his sickbed. He looks down at her little face. Not much captures his interest these days. “I think so,” he mumbles. Julia continues, undeterred. “I believe in something else,” she says firmly. “The sun, mountains, animals, trees. And snow.” Marco says nothing — he never said much, even at his most hale and hearty — but his big body seems to soften in acceptance. She’s talking his language.
She is also speaking the language of this film. Michael Koch’s Berlin Film Festival competition entry A Piece of Sky (Drii Winter) is both beautifully made and a thing of beauty in itself. Every lovely thing you have ever seen on a box of Lindt is here: old chalets and timber barns, snow-capped Alps, grizzled Swiss farmers in jerkins embroidered with edelweiss. The clouds that mass in the sky over the green crags.
She is also speaking the language of this film. Michael Koch’s Berlin Film Festival competition entry A Piece of Sky (Drii Winter) is both beautifully made and a thing of beauty in itself. Every lovely thing you have ever seen on a box of Lindt is here: old chalets and timber barns, snow-capped Alps, grizzled Swiss farmers in jerkins embroidered with edelweiss. The clouds that mass in the sky over the green crags.
- 2/14/2022
- by Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
Spanish outfit scooped up rights to Aga Woszczyńska’s Toronto title Silent Land and Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych’s Reflection.
Spain’s Reverso Films has scooped up rights to Aga Woszczyńska’s Toronto title Silent Land and Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych’s Reflection, both being sold by Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales at the EFM.
New Europe is also reporting a Romanian pre-sale to Follow Art Distribution for Dorota Kobiela’s hand-painted animated feature. The Peasants. The ambitiousu film will be Kobiela’s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent.
Meanwhile Japan’s Skouil and the former Yugoslav...
Spain’s Reverso Films has scooped up rights to Aga Woszczyńska’s Toronto title Silent Land and Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych’s Reflection, both being sold by Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales at the EFM.
New Europe is also reporting a Romanian pre-sale to Follow Art Distribution for Dorota Kobiela’s hand-painted animated feature. The Peasants. The ambitiousu film will be Kobiela’s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent.
Meanwhile Japan’s Skouil and the former Yugoslav...
- 2/12/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Spanish outfit scooped up rights to Aga Woszczyńska’s Toronto title Silent Land and Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych’s Reflection.
Spain’s Reverso Films has scooped up rights to Aga Woszczyńska’s Toronto title Silent Land and Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych’s Reflection, both being sold by Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales at the EFM.
New Europe is also reporting a Romanian pre-sale to Follow Art Distribution for Dorota Kobiela’s hand-painted animated feature. The Peasants. The ambitiousu film will be Kobiela’s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent.
Meanwhile Japan’s Skouil and the former Yugoslav...
Spain’s Reverso Films has scooped up rights to Aga Woszczyńska’s Toronto title Silent Land and Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych’s Reflection, both being sold by Jan Naszewski’s Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales at the EFM.
New Europe is also reporting a Romanian pre-sale to Follow Art Distribution for Dorota Kobiela’s hand-painted animated feature. The Peasants. The ambitiousu film will be Kobiela’s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent.
Meanwhile Japan’s Skouil and the former Yugoslav...
- 2/12/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Undeterred by the pandemic, the wheels of Switzerland’s film production machine kept on spinning in 2021, churning out the meticulously made multicultural co-productions the country is known for that scored slots at top festivals.
Works by young directors such as Elie Grappe, whose coming-of-age drama “Olga” launched at Cannes; Niccolò Castelli’s terrorism-themed “Atlas,” which bowed at Locarno; and also the VR project “Caves” by Carlos Isabel Garcìa, which premiered at Venice; provided a preamble to the exceptionally strong Swiss presence at this year’s Berlinale.
Berlin sees a record-breaking two competition slots filled by new works from established Swiss directors, Ursula Meier’s “The Line” and Michael Koch’s “A Piece of Sky,” plus several more Swiss titles in other sections.
“In the worst year ever we shot three productions back-to-back during the pandemic; somehow we got used to it,” says Oscar-nominated Max Karli (“My Life as a Zucchini...
Works by young directors such as Elie Grappe, whose coming-of-age drama “Olga” launched at Cannes; Niccolò Castelli’s terrorism-themed “Atlas,” which bowed at Locarno; and also the VR project “Caves” by Carlos Isabel Garcìa, which premiered at Venice; provided a preamble to the exceptionally strong Swiss presence at this year’s Berlinale.
Berlin sees a record-breaking two competition slots filled by new works from established Swiss directors, Ursula Meier’s “The Line” and Michael Koch’s “A Piece of Sky,” plus several more Swiss titles in other sections.
“In the worst year ever we shot three productions back-to-back during the pandemic; somehow we got used to it,” says Oscar-nominated Max Karli (“My Life as a Zucchini...
- 2/11/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Switzerland, thanks to its prolific co-production activity, has a hand in a record-breaking 11 titles in the Berlinale’s official selection, including two films competing for the Golden Bear, and two more in Berlin’s cutting-edge Encounters section, as well as a Swiss talent selected for the fest’s Shooting Stars event, Souheila Yacoub.
Ursula Meier’s “The Line” (competition) — Following “Home” and “Sister,” Meier continues to pursue “this idea of family that is as much necessary, as it is toxic,” says the film’s producer Pauline Gygax. After a violent argument with her mother, Margaret, 35 (Stephanie Blanchoud), who has a long history of inflicting and suffering from violence, is subjected to a restraining order. She is not allowed to make contact with her mother (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) or come within 100 meters of the family home. But the separation exacerbates her desire to be closer to her family, so she returns...
Ursula Meier’s “The Line” (competition) — Following “Home” and “Sister,” Meier continues to pursue “this idea of family that is as much necessary, as it is toxic,” says the film’s producer Pauline Gygax. After a violent argument with her mother, Margaret, 35 (Stephanie Blanchoud), who has a long history of inflicting and suffering from violence, is subjected to a restraining order. She is not allowed to make contact with her mother (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) or come within 100 meters of the family home. But the separation exacerbates her desire to be closer to her family, so she returns...
- 2/11/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Lost In France and The Maurons at the O2 ABC Photo: Neil Thomas Douglas
Tuesday at the Glasgow Film Festival was an opportunity to catch up on some of the great films shown over the past week, and to enjoy some classic slices of cinema, including Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, one of several of his collaborations with Toshirô Mifune being shown this year. There was also a potent portrait of modern Japanese life in the form of troubling family drama Harmonium, winner of last year’s Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes, which attendees described as depressing and fascinating in equal measure, and which is part of an evolving trend in Japanese cinema focused on exploring the role of women, which critically acclaimed works like Creepy and Happy Hour have also contributed to.
Michael Koch Photo: Alyn J Smith
The evening saw two very different stories about refugees:...
Tuesday at the Glasgow Film Festival was an opportunity to catch up on some of the great films shown over the past week, and to enjoy some classic slices of cinema, including Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, one of several of his collaborations with Toshirô Mifune being shown this year. There was also a potent portrait of modern Japanese life in the form of troubling family drama Harmonium, winner of last year’s Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at Cannes, which attendees described as depressing and fascinating in equal measure, and which is part of an evolving trend in Japanese cinema focused on exploring the role of women, which critically acclaimed works like Creepy and Happy Hour have also contributed to.
Michael Koch Photo: Alyn J Smith
The evening saw two very different stories about refugees:...
- 2/23/2017
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The distribution landscape continues to evolve, with a healthy mixture of new players and stalwarts, and yet every year there are great movies that slip through the cracks. For the most part, movies that gain serious traction on the festival circuit find their way to various American buyers and usually wind up with some kind of home.
While ambitious newcomers like A24 and Amazon Studios continue to up their game while veterans such as Sony Pictures Classics keep rolling along, even they have limits to the kind of content they can gamble on.
Read More: The 25 Best Movie Moments of 2016, According to IndieWire Critic David Ehrlich
Usually, the movies that struggle to find homes aren’t ignored so much as they’re deemed non-commercial or risky. Distributors often shy away from the prospects of a “difficult” movie simply because they can’t imagine a trailer for it, or because it...
While ambitious newcomers like A24 and Amazon Studios continue to up their game while veterans such as Sony Pictures Classics keep rolling along, even they have limits to the kind of content they can gamble on.
Read More: The 25 Best Movie Moments of 2016, According to IndieWire Critic David Ehrlich
Usually, the movies that struggle to find homes aren’t ignored so much as they’re deemed non-commercial or risky. Distributors often shy away from the prospects of a “difficult” movie simply because they can’t imagine a trailer for it, or because it...
- 12/7/2016
- by David Ehrlich and Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
- 8/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Programmers at the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) announced that Isabelle Huppert, Kunle Afolayan and Genevieve Nnaji and Mark Wahlberg will be among the eight participants in the In Conversation With… series.
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
Moonlight, festival closing night screening The Edge Of Seventeen, Noces and Handsome Devil take their place in the youth-oriented Next Wave strand, while Discovery selections include The Empty Box, Godless, Hunting Flies and The Red Turtle.
A five-strong roster of virtual reality work brings new work from Canadian superstars Felix & Paul as well as Memesys Culture Lab in India.
Overall 397 films will play at the festival from September 8-18, comprising 296 features and 101 shorts, compared to 287 and 110 last year.
Festival organisers received 6,933 submissions (6,118 in 2015), of which 1,240 came from Canada (1,225) and the 5,693 balance from the rest of the world (4,893).
Festival Street
For the third consecutive year, King Street will close to traffic between Peter and University Streets over opening weekend from September 8-11.
“Festival Street brings great value...
- 8/23/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Next month’s Toronto International Film Festival has nearly completed its lineup announcements, and each one is more impressive than the last. Today’s Tiff picks feature a number of slate additions for sections as varied as the forward-focused Discovery, their burgeoning Pop Vr section and even a handful of last minute additions to the Tiff Docs list. New titles of note that have just been announced include the Cannes hit “The Red Turtle,” Wayne Roberts’ “Katie Says Goodbye” and the well-regarded “Sand Storm,” all of which will screen as part of Discovery.
Read More: Tiff Lineup: 5 Reasons to Get Excited About the 2016 Program
Both the Next Wave and Tiff Kids section pull titles from other, previously announced sections to create an appealing lineup for the next generation of cinephiles. Standout titles include “Moonlight,” “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” and “The Eagle Huntress.”
Additionally, the festival has...
Read More: Tiff Lineup: 5 Reasons to Get Excited About the 2016 Program
Both the Next Wave and Tiff Kids section pull titles from other, previously announced sections to create an appealing lineup for the next generation of cinephiles. Standout titles include “Moonlight,” “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” and “The Eagle Huntress.”
Additionally, the festival has...
- 8/23/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Energy company Aet has been one of the festival’s four primary sponsors for 15 years.
The decision by the local energy concern Azienda Elettrica Ticinese (Aet) to pull the plug on its sponsorship after this year’s edition of the Locarno Film Festival (Aug 3-13) is “a disaster”, according to festival president Marco Solari.
A report by local news outlet Ticinonews suggested that, although the sponsors’ contributions are not made public, “a rapid calculation” would translate into a “weighty particpation” in the six digit range.
In a statement, Aet’s CEO Roberto Pronini explained that “the deep structural changes affecting Europe’s electric energy market and the ensuing difficulties based in Switzerland” had forced Aet into “a drastic downsizing“ of its sponsorship policy.
Aet had been one of Locarno’s four main sponsors for 15 consecutive editions since 2002.
The energy concern is also pulling out of sponsoring hockey clubs in Lugano and Ambri-Piotta and the annual JazzAscona festival...
The decision by the local energy concern Azienda Elettrica Ticinese (Aet) to pull the plug on its sponsorship after this year’s edition of the Locarno Film Festival (Aug 3-13) is “a disaster”, according to festival president Marco Solari.
A report by local news outlet Ticinonews suggested that, although the sponsors’ contributions are not made public, “a rapid calculation” would translate into a “weighty particpation” in the six digit range.
In a statement, Aet’s CEO Roberto Pronini explained that “the deep structural changes affecting Europe’s electric energy market and the ensuing difficulties based in Switzerland” had forced Aet into “a drastic downsizing“ of its sponsorship policy.
Aet had been one of Locarno’s four main sponsors for 15 consecutive editions since 2002.
The energy concern is also pulling out of sponsoring hockey clubs in Lugano and Ambri-Piotta and the annual JazzAscona festival...
- 8/12/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Matthew Byrd Jul 29, 2016
The terrific computer game Life Is Strange is to become a live action TV show...
Legendary Entertainment has announced that they have acquired the rights to Square Enix's 2015 adventure game series Life Is Strange and intend to turn it into a live-action television show.
Details are still emerging regarding the specifics of the agreement, but it is known that dj2 Entertainment (who are currently involved in a few video game-related projects including a Sonic The Hedgehog movie) will be lending a hand with the show's production. Currently, this adaptation does not have an estimated release date, but it will be made available for digital streaming services upon release.
IGN recently spoke with Michael Koch (the co-creator of Life is Strange) regarding this upcoming adaptation in an effort to understand how the show will fit in with the Life Is Strange games and how it will handle key...
The terrific computer game Life Is Strange is to become a live action TV show...
Legendary Entertainment has announced that they have acquired the rights to Square Enix's 2015 adventure game series Life Is Strange and intend to turn it into a live-action television show.
Details are still emerging regarding the specifics of the agreement, but it is known that dj2 Entertainment (who are currently involved in a few video game-related projects including a Sonic The Hedgehog movie) will be lending a hand with the show's production. Currently, this adaptation does not have an estimated release date, but it will be made available for digital streaming services upon release.
IGN recently spoke with Michael Koch (the co-creator of Life is Strange) regarding this upcoming adaptation in an effort to understand how the show will fit in with the Life Is Strange games and how it will handle key...
- 7/28/2016
- Den of Geek
Exclusive: Tale of Ukrainian woman’s struggle to build new life in Germany was produced by Pandora.
Paris-based Luxbox has picked up world sales rights to German director Michael Koch’s migrant drama Marija ahead of its premiere in competition at the Locarno Film Festival in August.
The debut feature revolves around a young Ukrainian woman who makes a living cleaning hotel rooms in the German city of Dortmund but dreams of owning her own hair salon.
Determined to achieve her ambitions, she is willing to compromise her body, personal relationships and even suppress her own feelings in the process. Russian-born, Germany-based actress Margarita Breitkreiz plays the titular role.
Cologne-based Pandora Film Produktion lead-produced the film with Swiss Hugofilm and Germany’s Little Shark Entertainment on board as co-producers.
“For Pandora, it is very important to continue producing artistic first films from Germany,” commented Pandora producer Christoph Friedel. “With Marija, Michael Koch achieves...
Paris-based Luxbox has picked up world sales rights to German director Michael Koch’s migrant drama Marija ahead of its premiere in competition at the Locarno Film Festival in August.
The debut feature revolves around a young Ukrainian woman who makes a living cleaning hotel rooms in the German city of Dortmund but dreams of owning her own hair salon.
Determined to achieve her ambitions, she is willing to compromise her body, personal relationships and even suppress her own feelings in the process. Russian-born, Germany-based actress Margarita Breitkreiz plays the titular role.
Cologne-based Pandora Film Produktion lead-produced the film with Swiss Hugofilm and Germany’s Little Shark Entertainment on board as co-producers.
“For Pandora, it is very important to continue producing artistic first films from Germany,” commented Pandora producer Christoph Friedel. “With Marija, Michael Koch achieves...
- 7/13/2016
- ScreenDaily
Michael E Rosenberg will depart his post as president of eOne Films Us on October 31 to pursue other interests. Subsequent changes to the Us leadership are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Rosenberg joined eOne in 2005 when the company acquired Koch Entertainment, where he had served as president.
During his tenure as preisdent he has operated eOne’s Us home entertainment division out of New York reporting to president of eOne Films North America David Reckziegel and held corresponding responsibilities with the group’s music distribution business under eOne Us CEO Michael Koch.
“After 26 years with Koch and eOne, it’s now time for me to take on other challenges,” said Rosenberg. “I am very proud of our team in the Us and the business we’ve built together, and I’ve really enjoyed my time as part of eOne.
“It’s been a pleasure to have been part of such a talented group during...
Rosenberg joined eOne in 2005 when the company acquired Koch Entertainment, where he had served as president.
During his tenure as preisdent he has operated eOne’s Us home entertainment division out of New York reporting to president of eOne Films North America David Reckziegel and held corresponding responsibilities with the group’s music distribution business under eOne Us CEO Michael Koch.
“After 26 years with Koch and eOne, it’s now time for me to take on other challenges,” said Rosenberg. “I am very proud of our team in the Us and the business we’ve built together, and I’ve really enjoyed my time as part of eOne.
“It’s been a pleasure to have been part of such a talented group during...
- 9/24/2013
- ScreenDaily
Michael Rosenberg joined Entertainment One in 2005 when the company acquired Koch Entertainment, where he served as president, and now he says he’s decided to leave the company to pursue other interests. The move is effective October 31. Based in eOne’s Port Washington, New York office, Rosenberg has been responsible for eOne’s U.S. Home Entertainment division under David Reckziegel, President, eOne Films North America, and held corresponding responsibilities with the group’s music distribution business under Michael Koch, CEO, eOne Us. “After 26 years with Koch and eOne, it’s now time for me to take on other challenges. I am very proud of our team in the U.S. and the business we’ve built together, and I’ve really enjoyed my time as part of eOne. It’s been a pleasure to have been part of such a talented group during what has been a transformational period...
- 9/24/2013
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Entertainment One Films U.S. president Michael E. Rosenberg has decided to leave the company Oct. 31 to pursue other interests, eOne announced today. Rosenberg joined eOne in 2005 when the company acquired Koch Entertainment, where he served as president. From eOne’s Port Washington, New York office, Rosenberg has since been responsible for eOne’s U.S. home entertainment division and the music distribution business. Also Read: eOne Inks Exclusive Distribution Deal With AMC Networks, Three New Series Announced He worked under eOne Films North America president David Reckziegel and eOne U.S. CEO Michael Koch. “After 26 years with Koch and eOne,...
- 9/24/2013
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
David of Victim of the Time reporting from the 54th BFI London Film Festival.
I'd like to stick some exciting star sightings into my little introduction here, but sadly the only famous body part I've laid eyes on (so far) is Freida Pinto's head. Before we get to the enticing capsules -two starkly different Foreign Film Oscar contenders and one harrowing prison drama that trumps them both - a bit on one of the highlights so far:
Meek’s Cutoff feels like the natural evolution of Reichardt’s attitude towards her filmmaking – it is broader than but not indistinct from her previous films, an experiment in how starkly different elements (of plot, of acting, of character) can be understood in the low-key shooting style many admire her for.More on Meek's here.
Now about that harrowing prison drama...
It’s part of the festival experience to overload your schedule,...
I'd like to stick some exciting star sightings into my little introduction here, but sadly the only famous body part I've laid eyes on (so far) is Freida Pinto's head. Before we get to the enticing capsules -two starkly different Foreign Film Oscar contenders and one harrowing prison drama that trumps them both - a bit on one of the highlights so far:
Meek’s Cutoff feels like the natural evolution of Reichardt’s attitude towards her filmmaking – it is broader than but not indistinct from her previous films, an experiment in how starkly different elements (of plot, of acting, of character) can be understood in the low-key shooting style many admire her for.More on Meek's here.
Now about that harrowing prison drama...
It’s part of the festival experience to overload your schedule,...
- 10/19/2010
- by Dave
- FilmExperience
Berlin -- Punks, killers and other upstanding citizens are the stars of the Berlin International Film Festival's 2009 Perspectives on German Cinema section.
Director Lars Jessen returns to his youth -- Germany of the 1980s -- for his Perspectives entry: "Dorfpunks." Based on the cult novel by Rocko Schamoni, it tells the story of a group a punk rockers who move to a tiny village in rural Switzerland. Jessen's tongue-in-cheek take on the '80s is familiar to fans of his debut, "The Day Bobby Ewing Died" (2005), which won the Max Ophuls Prize.
There's little to laugh about in Lars-Gunnar Lotz's psychodrama "For Miriam," which examines how a teacher is undone by an accident that results in the death of her best pupil's sister.
"Jedem das Seine" (Each to his Own) also looks at crime and punishment as two brothers meet up after years apart: one as a police officer, the...
Director Lars Jessen returns to his youth -- Germany of the 1980s -- for his Perspectives entry: "Dorfpunks." Based on the cult novel by Rocko Schamoni, it tells the story of a group a punk rockers who move to a tiny village in rural Switzerland. Jessen's tongue-in-cheek take on the '80s is familiar to fans of his debut, "The Day Bobby Ewing Died" (2005), which won the Max Ophuls Prize.
There's little to laugh about in Lars-Gunnar Lotz's psychodrama "For Miriam," which examines how a teacher is undone by an accident that results in the death of her best pupil's sister.
"Jedem das Seine" (Each to his Own) also looks at crime and punishment as two brothers meet up after years apart: one as a police officer, the...
- 1/13/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Berlin -- "Distance," a drama from first-timer Thomas Sieben, will open the Perspectives on German Cinema sidebar at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival.
The film, which features rising star Ken Duken as both star and co-producer, will bow Feb. 6. Duken is on set with Quentin Tarantino's World War II film "Inglorious Bastards," in which he has a bit part.
Alfred Holighaus, head of the Perspectives sidebar, has picked five more titles for 2009: Martin Busker's comedy "Roller Coaster," the drama "Polar" from Michael Koch, Abel Lindner's "In the Blink of an Eye" and two documentaries: "Gitti" from Anna Deutsch and "Generation Undecided" from director Elmar Szucs.
The remaining films in the Perspectives section will be announced in early January.
The 59th Berlinale is set for Feb. 5-15.
The film, which features rising star Ken Duken as both star and co-producer, will bow Feb. 6. Duken is on set with Quentin Tarantino's World War II film "Inglorious Bastards," in which he has a bit part.
Alfred Holighaus, head of the Perspectives sidebar, has picked five more titles for 2009: Martin Busker's comedy "Roller Coaster," the drama "Polar" from Michael Koch, Abel Lindner's "In the Blink of an Eye" and two documentaries: "Gitti" from Anna Deutsch and "Generation Undecided" from director Elmar Szucs.
The remaining films in the Perspectives section will be announced in early January.
The 59th Berlinale is set for Feb. 5-15.
- 12/18/2008
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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