Paris-based company Indie Sales has acquired “Happy Holidays,” the sophomore feature of Oscar-nominated Palestinian filmmaker Scandar Copti.
Copti’s feature debut, “Ajami,” co-directed by Yaron Shani, won the Camera d’Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and was nominated for an Oscar in the international feature category.
“Happy Holidays” takes place in contemporary Israel, where a minor accident in Jerusalem triggers a chain of events. “Lies and unspoken truths will sow division among a multi-faceted patriarchal society,” reads the synopsis.
Nicolas Eschbach, Indie Sales’ CEO and co-founder, described “Happy Holidays” as a “highly-expected second feature from Palestinian director Scandar Copti after his Cannes-selected critically-acclaimed debut.”
Currently in post-production, the film is expected to be delivered in the spring. “Happy Holidays” is produced by Red Balloon Film in Germany, together with Tessalit Productions in France, Intramovies in Italy and Fresco Films in Palestine.
Indie Sales will introduce the...
Copti’s feature debut, “Ajami,” co-directed by Yaron Shani, won the Camera d’Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and was nominated for an Oscar in the international feature category.
“Happy Holidays” takes place in contemporary Israel, where a minor accident in Jerusalem triggers a chain of events. “Lies and unspoken truths will sow division among a multi-faceted patriarchal society,” reads the synopsis.
Nicolas Eschbach, Indie Sales’ CEO and co-founder, described “Happy Holidays” as a “highly-expected second feature from Palestinian director Scandar Copti after his Cannes-selected critically-acclaimed debut.”
Currently in post-production, the film is expected to be delivered in the spring. “Happy Holidays” is produced by Red Balloon Film in Germany, together with Tessalit Productions in France, Intramovies in Italy and Fresco Films in Palestine.
Indie Sales will introduce the...
- 2/2/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Industry speakers at festival include ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’ director Jasmila Zbanic, former Marvel exec Karim Zreik.
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has selected 26 feature film projects for its Red Sea Souk Project Market; plus a Work-in-Progress showcase, and speakers for its 360° industry events programme.
The 26 Souk projects hail from Africa and the Arab region. Titles include Djeliya, Memory Of Manding, a documentary from Burkinabe filmmaker Boubacar Sangare, whose third film A Golden Life played at the Berlinale earlier this year.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
Also included is Scandar Copti’s animated documentary A Childhood,...
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has selected 26 feature film projects for its Red Sea Souk Project Market; plus a Work-in-Progress showcase, and speakers for its 360° industry events programme.
The 26 Souk projects hail from Africa and the Arab region. Titles include Djeliya, Memory Of Manding, a documentary from Burkinabe filmmaker Boubacar Sangare, whose third film A Golden Life played at the Berlinale earlier this year.
Scroll down for the full list of projects
Also included is Scandar Copti’s animated documentary A Childhood,...
- 11/7/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has revealed details of the Red Sea Souk, the fest’s industry market that will offer meeting and networking opportunities revolving around new Arab and African product.
The Souk will take place Dec. 2-5 alongside the Nov. 30-Dec. 9 fest in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore. The fest’s industry side will also comprise the Red Sea Talent Days on Dec. 6-7, which will give regional talents and young filmmakers a chance to connect with industry experts.
The Red Sea Souk Project Market will showcase 26 feature-length projects from across the Arab and African region. Of these, 12 are Red Sea Lodge projects that were developed in-house during the year through workshops and labs in partnership with Italy’s Torino Film Lab.
Four of these projects will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 selected projects in the...
The Souk will take place Dec. 2-5 alongside the Nov. 30-Dec. 9 fest in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore. The fest’s industry side will also comprise the Red Sea Talent Days on Dec. 6-7, which will give regional talents and young filmmakers a chance to connect with industry experts.
The Red Sea Souk Project Market will showcase 26 feature-length projects from across the Arab and African region. Of these, 12 are Red Sea Lodge projects that were developed in-house during the year through workshops and labs in partnership with Italy’s Torino Film Lab.
Four of these projects will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 selected projects in the...
- 11/7/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has revealed the 26 projects selected as part of this year’s Red Sea Souk Market, which will run Dec. 2-5.
“The Red Sea Souk Project Market will present 26 feature-length projects from across the Arab and African region, offering a first opportunity for the industry audience to connect and build future opportunities with these projects,” organizers said on Tuesday.
Part of the selection are 12 “Red Sea Lodge” projects which were developed during the year through workshops and in partnership with the Torino Film Lab. Four of them will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 projects in the market will compete for cash prizes offered by the Red Sea Fund, to be awarded by an international jury of producers. They are worth $35,000 for development, $25,000 for the jury special mention award and $100,000 for production.
Meanwhile, the...
“The Red Sea Souk Project Market will present 26 feature-length projects from across the Arab and African region, offering a first opportunity for the industry audience to connect and build future opportunities with these projects,” organizers said on Tuesday.
Part of the selection are 12 “Red Sea Lodge” projects which were developed during the year through workshops and in partnership with the Torino Film Lab. Four of them will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 projects in the market will compete for cash prizes offered by the Red Sea Fund, to be awarded by an international jury of producers. They are worth $35,000 for development, $25,000 for the jury special mention award and $100,000 for production.
Meanwhile, the...
- 11/7/2023
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Red Sea International Film Festival, has unveiled the 26 projects selected as part of its industry-focused Red Sea Souk Market, running from December 2 to 5.
Projects in development include Palestinian director Scandar Copti’s A Childhood, Lebanese-French filmmaker Danielle Arbid’s Love Conquers All and Madness And Honey Days by Iraq’s Ahmed Yassin Al-Daradji.
Within the Market selection are twelve Red Sea Lodge projects which were developed during the year through intensive workshops and in partnership with the Torino Film Lab. Four of these projects will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 selected projects will compete for cash prizes offered by the Red Sea Fund, to be awarded by an international jury of producers: $35,000 for development, $25,000 for the Jury Special Mention Award and $100,000 for production
Another six projects will be showcased in Works-In-Progress section including Men In The Sun by Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel,...
Projects in development include Palestinian director Scandar Copti’s A Childhood, Lebanese-French filmmaker Danielle Arbid’s Love Conquers All and Madness And Honey Days by Iraq’s Ahmed Yassin Al-Daradji.
Within the Market selection are twelve Red Sea Lodge projects which were developed during the year through intensive workshops and in partnership with the Torino Film Lab. Four of these projects will be awarded the annual Red Sea Lodge production prizes of $50,000 each.
All 26 selected projects will compete for cash prizes offered by the Red Sea Fund, to be awarded by an international jury of producers: $35,000 for development, $25,000 for the Jury Special Mention Award and $100,000 for production
Another six projects will be showcased in Works-In-Progress section including Men In The Sun by Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel,...
- 11/7/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
“High seven figures, eight figures – this is crazy money that they make, and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
- 7/15/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
“High seven figures, eight figures – this is crazy money that they make, and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
- 7/15/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
“High seven figures, eight figures – this is crazy money that they make, and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
SAG-AFTRA head Fran Drescher has made it clear over the past couple of days that she is not afraid of speaking her mind and lambasted Disney CEO Bob Iger on Friday over his remarks on the strike.
Asked on the picket lines on Friday what she thought of Iger’s comments that strike action was “very disturbing” Drescher, who delivered an impassioned tirade against corporate greed when she announced the strike yesterday, did not hold back.
- 7/15/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The programme supports work-in-progress films from Africa and the Middle East
Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays is among the seven selected projects for the 11th edition of Venice Final Cut, supporting work-in-progress films from Africa and the Middle East.
The programme, which runs as part of Venice Film Festival’s production bridge, has selected four fiction and three documentary projects to be screened to producers, distributors, buyers, post-production companies and programmers during the three-day workshop in Venice (September 3-5).
Happy Holidays follows a student whose double life is exposed when she gets involved in a minor accident. It’s a co-production between Palestine,...
Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays is among the seven selected projects for the 11th edition of Venice Final Cut, supporting work-in-progress films from Africa and the Middle East.
The programme, which runs as part of Venice Film Festival’s production bridge, has selected four fiction and three documentary projects to be screened to producers, distributors, buyers, post-production companies and programmers during the three-day workshop in Venice (September 3-5).
Happy Holidays follows a student whose double life is exposed when she gets involved in a minor accident. It’s a co-production between Palestine,...
- 7/14/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Seven films have been selected for the 11th edition of Final Cut in Venice, the works-in-progress section of the 80th Venice Film Festival.
Final Cut in Venice, which runs Sept. 3-5, provides support for the completion of films from Africa and five Middle Eastern countries: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. It is one of the programs run by the festival’s industry section, Venice Production Bridge.
Over three days, the working copies of the selected films will be presented to producers, buyers, distributors, post-production companies and film festival programmers. The first two days are devoted to screenings, and then one-to-one meetings between the producers of the projects and the professionals attending the Venice Production Bridge will take place on the third day. The program will conclude with the awarding of prizes in kind or in cash, the purpose of which is to provide support for the films’ post-production.
Within...
Final Cut in Venice, which runs Sept. 3-5, provides support for the completion of films from Africa and five Middle Eastern countries: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. It is one of the programs run by the festival’s industry section, Venice Production Bridge.
Over three days, the working copies of the selected films will be presented to producers, buyers, distributors, post-production companies and film festival programmers. The first two days are devoted to screenings, and then one-to-one meetings between the producers of the projects and the professionals attending the Venice Production Bridge will take place on the third day. The program will conclude with the awarding of prizes in kind or in cash, the purpose of which is to provide support for the films’ post-production.
Within...
- 7/14/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Saudi Arabian director talks filming a tale of survival in Neom.
One of only two Saudi titles in Competition at this year’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff), Mohammed “Moe” Alatawi’s feature debut Within Sand combines aspects of a road movie with the futuristic landscapes found in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, where it was shot.
It is ultimately a tale of survival for its lead character, a young man named Snam, played by newcomer Ra’ed Alshammari, who is ambushed by thieves in the deserted terrain and left with only a knife to fend for himself.
Within Sand...
One of only two Saudi titles in Competition at this year’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff), Mohammed “Moe” Alatawi’s feature debut Within Sand combines aspects of a road movie with the futuristic landscapes found in the northwest of Saudi Arabia, where it was shot.
It is ultimately a tale of survival for its lead character, a young man named Snam, played by newcomer Ra’ed Alshammari, who is ambushed by thieves in the deserted terrain and left with only a knife to fend for himself.
Within Sand...
- 12/9/2022
- by E. Nina Rothe
- ScreenDaily
Germany’s Red Balloon Film and Palestine’s Fresco Films have boarded director Ameer Fakher Eldin’s second film “Nothing of Nothing Remains.” The film is part of a trilogy building on his first film, “The Stranger” (pictured), which premiered in Venice and represents Palestine at the Oscars in the International Feature Film category.
“Nothing of Nothing Remains” has received development and script funding from German regional funder Moin Film Fund in Hamburg. Fresco and Red Balloon are now moving into the financing phase for the film.
“It’s part of a trilogy,” Eldin tells Variety, speaking from Berlin. “The first film, ‘The Stranger,’ is about a stranger amongst his own people. The second one is about a stranger amongst strangers. I do not want to give too much away but it’s a story set in Germany. The third one will be set in France. All three films are about the theme of home.
“Nothing of Nothing Remains” has received development and script funding from German regional funder Moin Film Fund in Hamburg. Fresco and Red Balloon are now moving into the financing phase for the film.
“It’s part of a trilogy,” Eldin tells Variety, speaking from Berlin. “The first film, ‘The Stranger,’ is about a stranger amongst his own people. The second one is about a stranger amongst strangers. I do not want to give too much away but it’s a story set in Germany. The third one will be set in France. All three films are about the theme of home.
- 12/5/2021
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
The Eurimages Fund is supporting 28 features.
European support body Eurimages has selected 28 features for a total of €6.1m ($6.9m) funding, including new works by Robert Guédiguian and Jim Sheridan.
French filmmaker Guédiguian – who has directed 21 features since 1981 including his most recent, Venice 2019 selection Gloria Mundi – receives €470,000 for France-Canada co-production Bamako Twist.
Ireland’s Sheridan, who has been nominated for six Oscars across his career since his breakthrough debut feature My Left Foot, receives €280,000 for Ireland-uk-France documentary In Absentia, co-directed with Colm Quinn. The documentary looks into the murder of French producer Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in Ireland, in December 1996.
Other...
European support body Eurimages has selected 28 features for a total of €6.1m ($6.9m) funding, including new works by Robert Guédiguian and Jim Sheridan.
French filmmaker Guédiguian – who has directed 21 features since 1981 including his most recent, Venice 2019 selection Gloria Mundi – receives €470,000 for France-Canada co-production Bamako Twist.
Ireland’s Sheridan, who has been nominated for six Oscars across his career since his breakthrough debut feature My Left Foot, receives €280,000 for Ireland-uk-France documentary In Absentia, co-directed with Colm Quinn. The documentary looks into the murder of French producer Sophie Toscan Du Plantier in Ireland, in December 1996.
Other...
- 6/5/2020
- by 1101321¦Ben Dalton¦26¦
- ScreenDaily
Qatar gives grants to TV and two web series for the first time.
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has announced the latest round of 38 projects to be supported under its autumn 2018 grants cycle.
Among the grantees is Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl who won Dfi funding for her upcoming film Costa Brava Lebanon about a family whose idyllic mountain retreat home is blighted when the government decides to build a landfill by their home. It was one of seven projects hailing from Lebanon.
Other grantees included Palestinian director Laila Abbas’s comedy-drama Barzakh about two sisters who hide their father’s...
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has announced the latest round of 38 projects to be supported under its autumn 2018 grants cycle.
Among the grantees is Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl who won Dfi funding for her upcoming film Costa Brava Lebanon about a family whose idyllic mountain retreat home is blighted when the government decides to build a landfill by their home. It was one of seven projects hailing from Lebanon.
Other grantees included Palestinian director Laila Abbas’s comedy-drama Barzakh about two sisters who hide their father’s...
- 12/21/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
One of four Israeli films making their bow in Venice this year, Stripped (Erom) in the Horizons section marks the long-awaited return of Yaron Shani, who co-directed the foreign-language Academy Award contender Ajami with Palestinian director Scandar Copti. His first solo feature feels a little disappointing: sometimes touchingly on target and engrossing, at other times tripped up by labored storytelling, narrative inconsistencies and the bizarre faux-censorship of nude scenes. However, the non-pro cast is engaging and believable, reinforcing the cinema verite feeling conveyed by the realistically detailed scenes and preference for close-ups. The film’s exploration of intimacy has a peculiarly ...
One of four Israeli films making their bow in Venice this year, Stripped (Erom) in the Horizons section marks the long-awaited return of Yaron Shani, who co-directed the foreign-language Academy Award contender Ajami with Palestinian director Scandar Copti. His first solo feature feels a little disappointing: sometimes touchingly on target and engrossing, at other times tripped up by labored storytelling, narrative inconsistencies and the bizarre faux-censorship of nude scenes. However, the non-pro cast is engaging and believable, reinforcing the cinema verite feeling conveyed by the realistically detailed scenes and preference for close-ups. The film’s exploration of intimacy has a peculiarly ...
The first of Shani’s ‘The Love Trilogy’ premieres on August 29.
Celluloid Dreams has unveiled the first trailer for Israeli director Yaron Shani’s emotional drama Stripped ahead of its premiere in Venice’s Horizons sidebar this evening (Aug 29).
The film revolves around the life-changing relationship between successful 34-year-old novelist Alice, who is suffering from acute anxiety, and 17-year-old Ziv, a talented classical musician who is forced to put his passion on hold while he completes compulsory military service.
Stripped is Shani’s debut solo feature, after the award-winning 2009 drama Ajami, which he co-directed with Scandar Copti, and is also...
Celluloid Dreams has unveiled the first trailer for Israeli director Yaron Shani’s emotional drama Stripped ahead of its premiere in Venice’s Horizons sidebar this evening (Aug 29).
The film revolves around the life-changing relationship between successful 34-year-old novelist Alice, who is suffering from acute anxiety, and 17-year-old Ziv, a talented classical musician who is forced to put his passion on hold while he completes compulsory military service.
Stripped is Shani’s debut solo feature, after the award-winning 2009 drama Ajami, which he co-directed with Scandar Copti, and is also...
- 8/29/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
First look at project mostly non-professional actors who were were asked to live the lives of their fictional characters for a shooting period of over a year.
Paris-based sales company Celluloid Dreams has taken world rights sales to The Love Trilogy by Israeli director Yaron Shani.
It is Shani’s solo debut feature, after Ajami, which he co-directed with Scandar Copti. That film was Oscar-nominated in the Best Foreign Film category and also won a Caméra d’Or special mention at Cannes Film Festival in 2009.
The first film Stripped is currently ending post-production. Screen is able to reveal an exclusive first look image,...
Paris-based sales company Celluloid Dreams has taken world rights sales to The Love Trilogy by Israeli director Yaron Shani.
It is Shani’s solo debut feature, after Ajami, which he co-directed with Scandar Copti. That film was Oscar-nominated in the Best Foreign Film category and also won a Caméra d’Or special mention at Cannes Film Festival in 2009.
The first film Stripped is currently ending post-production. Screen is able to reveal an exclusive first look image,...
- 5/7/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Producer of Rafi Pitts’ Berlinale Competition title is lining up several new projects.
Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion, the German producer of Rafi Pitts’ Berlinale Competition title Soy Nero [pictured], is lining up projects from Israel and Cyprus.
Twenty Twenty’s managing director Thanassis Karathanos told Screen that principal photography on Israeli filmmaker Veronica Kedar’s Family began at locations in the German city of Halle last week.
Although the film’s story is set in Israel, Family will be shot completely in Germany. It marks another collaboration for Karathanos with Mosh Danon’s Inosan Productions after working together on Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s 2009 film Ajami.
Kedar’s second feature had been pitched at the 2014 edition of the Berlinale Co-Production Market where Twenty Twenty’s second project, Christos Georgiou’s Happy Birthday, was also presented to potential co-producers.
A March start is planned for the shooting of Georgiou’s first feature since the 2008 comedy Small Crime and...
Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion, the German producer of Rafi Pitts’ Berlinale Competition title Soy Nero [pictured], is lining up projects from Israel and Cyprus.
Twenty Twenty’s managing director Thanassis Karathanos told Screen that principal photography on Israeli filmmaker Veronica Kedar’s Family began at locations in the German city of Halle last week.
Although the film’s story is set in Israel, Family will be shot completely in Germany. It marks another collaboration for Karathanos with Mosh Danon’s Inosan Productions after working together on Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s 2009 film Ajami.
Kedar’s second feature had been pitched at the 2014 edition of the Berlinale Co-Production Market where Twenty Twenty’s second project, Christos Georgiou’s Happy Birthday, was also presented to potential co-producers.
A March start is planned for the shooting of Georgiou’s first feature since the 2008 comedy Small Crime and...
- 2/14/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
People are still talking about that unfortunate year at the Oscars when Paul Haggis' "Crash" won Best Picture over "Brokeback Mountain." The 2004 winner is here on our list (check the bottom portion), but this week, Paul Haggis returns to the same form with "Third Person," which jumps from Paris to Rome to New York as it traces the hidden connections between three very different men played by Liam Neeson, Adrien Brody and James Franco. That got us thinking about our favorite films that have multiple story lines that either run simultaneously, or are interconnected in some way. Here's our list of nine of the best indies that use hyperlinked narratives, and four that aren't so memorable. Let us know your favorites in the comments. "Third Person" opens June 20. "Ajami" Dir. Scandar Copti, Yaron Shandi (2009) "Ajami" is the result of an astonishing collaboration between Palestinian Scandar Copti and Israeli Yaron Shani.
- 6/19/2014
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
In Doha, there was once a buzzing festival and schemes to nurture local talent, but now much of the the money in the Qatari film business goes to projects elsewhere – such as the $55m co-production Black Gold
• Black Gold: Jean-Jacques Annaud's Arabian frights
A video appearing to show Omar Sharif slapping a woman was not supposed to be the biggest story to come out of the 2011 Doha Tribeca film festival. The focus should have been on Black Gold, a $55m Qatari co-production – and arguably the most ambitious film shot in the Middle East since Lawrence of Arabia – which had had its world premiere just days earlier. To the irritation of the organisers, however, it was the right arm of the 1962 epic's octogenarian breakout star, incensed by a persistent fan, which stole the headlines.
Landing less than a year after this diminutive, gas-rich Gulf state contentiously won the right to host the 2022 World Cup,...
• Black Gold: Jean-Jacques Annaud's Arabian frights
A video appearing to show Omar Sharif slapping a woman was not supposed to be the biggest story to come out of the 2011 Doha Tribeca film festival. The focus should have been on Black Gold, a $55m Qatari co-production – and arguably the most ambitious film shot in the Middle East since Lawrence of Arabia – which had had its world premiere just days earlier. To the irritation of the organisers, however, it was the right arm of the 1962 epic's octogenarian breakout star, incensed by a persistent fan, which stole the headlines.
Landing less than a year after this diminutive, gas-rich Gulf state contentiously won the right to host the 2022 World Cup,...
- 3/7/2014
- The Guardian - Film News
If you are attending the Berlinale, there's still time to register for Scandar Copti's two day workshop on directing actors. The intensive workshop, limited to 25 participants, takes place February 16-17 and will focus on Copti's method to elicit natural performances from actors. It is intended for directors, actors and film students. Copti's 2009 film "Ajami" won the Camera d'Or Special Mention at Cannes, and was also nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar (watch the trailer below). More info on the workshop is below and here. Workshop info: Filmmakers often use the element of surprise to direct actors for certain scenes to get authentic emotional responses. The directors of Ajami based their film entirely on this principal. Unlike other forays into improvisation, Ajami had a very precise screenplay and a well-constructed plot that demanded precise emotional responses from its actors. The actors ended up acting out a...
- 1/2/2013
- by Sophia Savage
- Thompson on Hollywood
Last week's Doha Tribeca film festival showcased an uprising of Arab films shot straight from the streets
Last week, delegates from across the Arab world met in Doha to discuss the future of a liberated Libya. Meanwhile, across town, Tarak Ben Ammar was launching his new movie. Black Gold is an epic spun from the discovery of oil on the Arabian peninsula, and as its producer, Ben Ammar was keen to keen to play up its timeliness. "We were shooting in Tunisia just as Ben Ali fell," he told a sweaty crowd in a small air-conditioned room at the Doha Tribeca film festival. "Those events became history not only for Tunisia but for the world. Let's hope this is a new age for Arab cinema too."
Across from Ben Ammar sit some of his cast: Freida Pinto, Tahar Rahim and Mark Strong. They echo his sentiments, project their belief that,...
Last week, delegates from across the Arab world met in Doha to discuss the future of a liberated Libya. Meanwhile, across town, Tarak Ben Ammar was launching his new movie. Black Gold is an epic spun from the discovery of oil on the Arabian peninsula, and as its producer, Ben Ammar was keen to keen to play up its timeliness. "We were shooting in Tunisia just as Ben Ali fell," he told a sweaty crowd in a small air-conditioned room at the Doha Tribeca film festival. "Those events became history not only for Tunisia but for the world. Let's hope this is a new age for Arab cinema too."
Across from Ben Ammar sit some of his cast: Freida Pinto, Tahar Rahim and Mark Strong. They echo his sentiments, project their belief that,...
- 11/3/2011
- by Paul MacInnes
- The Guardian - Film News
When Fifa awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, there was widespread disbelief. But the bid was just another step in the ambitious emirate's plan to become a global player – not just in sport, but culturally, with events such as a Robert De Niro-endorsed film festival. Welcome to the Gulf's latest Brave New World
"Rich is good, obviously," an eminent Qatari tells me. Obviously. "But to be cultured, well, that's something else…" He's talking less about individuals than states, in particular his own which is now – on a per-capita basis – the richest country in the world, a status chiefly explained by Qatar possessing plenty of what the world most wants: oil and gas.
It also now has the World Cup – or will have in 2022, after Fifa's decision late last year to award the tournament to the Gulf state. The decision provoked plenty of commentary, little of it entirely complimentary.
A...
"Rich is good, obviously," an eminent Qatari tells me. Obviously. "But to be cultured, well, that's something else…" He's talking less about individuals than states, in particular his own which is now – on a per-capita basis – the richest country in the world, a status chiefly explained by Qatar possessing plenty of what the world most wants: oil and gas.
It also now has the World Cup – or will have in 2022, after Fifa's decision late last year to award the tournament to the Gulf state. The decision provoked plenty of commentary, little of it entirely complimentary.
A...
- 1/23/2011
- by Robert Yates
- The Guardian - Film News
Rachid Bouchareb, Amanda Palmer, H. E. Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousuf Al Thani © 2010 Getty Images, Credit: Sean Gallup A spectacular outdoor film screening is fast becoming a Doha Tribeca Film Festival trademark, and award-winning French-Algerian director, Rachid Bouchareb, was proud to present his Outside the Law as the opening night screening. "Outside the Law is not just about the Algerian struggle for independence," said Bouchareb, "it also explores how an individual's culture is integral to their sense of identity and belonging in the world, a universal theme which I am sure Dtff audiences will be able to connect with." From left to right: Chadi Zeneddine (Dfi Mentor), Amanda Palmer (Dfi Executive Director), Scandar Copti (Dfi Head of Education and Film Programmer), Maggie Kim (Dfi Managing Director), David Kwok (Tribeca Film Festival (Tff) Director of Programming), Genna Terranova (Tribeca Film Festival (Tff) Senior Programmer) The excitment and glamour of Dtff's Opening Gala...
- 10/26/2010
- TribecaFilm.com
Going into any year’s respective Oscar season, one area of Academy Awards is often unknown to the general public: the foreign film category.
With most of the film’s not getting the chance to screen outside of places like New York or La, many of the films that are nominated for the Best Foreign Film award seem to come out of nowhere, particularly knowing the process behind getting nominated (each country can submit only one film for consideration).
Well, with nominated films like A Prophet and The White Ribbon both hitting DVD earlier this year, and the award winner The Secret In Their Eyes still making its way throughout theaters stateside, Israel’s submission and subsequent nominated film, Ajami, has finally been released on DVD.
And I have to say, it was well worth the wait.
Ajami, named after an area of Jaffa where Jews, Christians, Palestinians and Arabs attempt to live together,...
With most of the film’s not getting the chance to screen outside of places like New York or La, many of the films that are nominated for the Best Foreign Film award seem to come out of nowhere, particularly knowing the process behind getting nominated (each country can submit only one film for consideration).
Well, with nominated films like A Prophet and The White Ribbon both hitting DVD earlier this year, and the award winner The Secret In Their Eyes still making its way throughout theaters stateside, Israel’s submission and subsequent nominated film, Ajami, has finally been released on DVD.
And I have to say, it was well worth the wait.
Ajami, named after an area of Jaffa where Jews, Christians, Palestinians and Arabs attempt to live together,...
- 9/5/2010
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): ***
Scandar Copti, a Palestinian, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew, teamed up to direct the crime drama Ajami. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film, which seems more a result of that behind-the-scenes achievement than anything that occurs onscreen. Indeed, comparing it to some of Amos Gitai's better films (Yom Yom, Kadosh, etc.) it feels rather graceless, and compared to something like City of God,Ajami feels practically inert.
And yet the film is still effective in its own, small way. It follows several characters in five overlapping chapters, all set in one multi-ethnic section of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv. It begins as a man working on a car is gunned down in the street. It turns out that the real target was the neighbor who sold him the car, Omar (Shahir Kabaha), an Arab Israeli. Worse, Omar...
Rating (out of 5): ***
Scandar Copti, a Palestinian, and Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew, teamed up to direct the crime drama Ajami. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film, which seems more a result of that behind-the-scenes achievement than anything that occurs onscreen. Indeed, comparing it to some of Amos Gitai's better films (Yom Yom, Kadosh, etc.) it feels rather graceless, and compared to something like City of God,Ajami feels practically inert.
And yet the film is still effective in its own, small way. It follows several characters in five overlapping chapters, all set in one multi-ethnic section of Jaffa, near Tel Aviv. It begins as a man working on a car is gunned down in the street. It turns out that the real target was the neighbor who sold him the car, Omar (Shahir Kabaha), an Arab Israeli. Worse, Omar...
- 8/27/2010
- by underdog
- GreenCine
A look at what's new on DVD today:
"$5 a Day" (2008)
Directed by Nigel Cole
Released by Image Entertainment
A refugee of the bankrupt Capitol Films, this dramedy starring Christopher Walken as a raconteur who claims he's able to live a full life on the titular Lincoln bill is finally seeing the light of day after premiering at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. Alessandro Nivola co-stars as his son who drives him to New Mexico when he falls ill. Sharon Stone and Amanda Peet are along for the ride.
"2:22" (2008)
Directed by Phillip Guzman
Released by Inception Media Group
A quartet of thieves scheme to rob a boutique hotel on New Year's Eve, but find out that what's waiting for them on the inside is even colder than the snow-caked streets outside. Just as he did for his 2006 crime thriller "Played," star/co-writer Rossi called upon famous pals Gabriel Byrne and Val Kilmer...
"$5 a Day" (2008)
Directed by Nigel Cole
Released by Image Entertainment
A refugee of the bankrupt Capitol Films, this dramedy starring Christopher Walken as a raconteur who claims he's able to live a full life on the titular Lincoln bill is finally seeing the light of day after premiering at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. Alessandro Nivola co-stars as his son who drives him to New Mexico when he falls ill. Sharon Stone and Amanda Peet are along for the ride.
"2:22" (2008)
Directed by Phillip Guzman
Released by Inception Media Group
A quartet of thieves scheme to rob a boutique hotel on New Year's Eve, but find out that what's waiting for them on the inside is even colder than the snow-caked streets outside. Just as he did for his 2006 crime thriller "Played," star/co-writer Rossi called upon famous pals Gabriel Byrne and Val Kilmer...
- 8/24/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
The Secret In Their Eyes scooped the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s award ceremony, beating other nominees Ajami (Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani), The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke), A Prophet (Jacques Audiard) and The Milk of Sorrow(Claudia Llosa). Now, after month’s of waiting, the film is being released in the UK.
Synopsis: In 1999, retired Argentinian federal justice agent Benjamín Espósito is writing a novel, using an old closed case as the source material. That case is the brutal rape and murder of Liliana Coloto. In addition to seeing the extreme grief of the victim’s husband Ricardo Morales, Benjamín, his assistant Pablo Sandoval, and newly hired department chief Irene Menéndez-Hastings were personally affected by the case as Benjamín and Pablo tracked the killer, hence the reason why the unsatisfactory ending to the case has always bothered him. Despite the department already having two other suspects,...
Synopsis: In 1999, retired Argentinian federal justice agent Benjamín Espósito is writing a novel, using an old closed case as the source material. That case is the brutal rape and murder of Liliana Coloto. In addition to seeing the extreme grief of the victim’s husband Ricardo Morales, Benjamín, his assistant Pablo Sandoval, and newly hired department chief Irene Menéndez-Hastings were personally affected by the case as Benjamín and Pablo tracked the killer, hence the reason why the unsatisfactory ending to the case has always bothered him. Despite the department already having two other suspects,...
- 8/4/2010
- by Jamie Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Taking its name from a benighted neighbourhood of the ancient coastal city of Jaffa, Ajami represented Israel with a nomination in the foreign language category at the Academy Awards earlier this year. It is, however, co-directed and co-scripted by Yaron Shani, an Israeli Jew, and Scandar Copti, who carefully calls himself a "Palestinian citizen of the Israeli state". As their film shows, what you are and where you're from ultimately defines your destiny in Ajami.
The film borrows from the techniques of Gomorrah and the Mexican new wave as typified by, say, Amores Perros, in weaving characters and storylines to create a tapestry of lives. The drama is kickstarted by a drive-by shooting that kills an innocent boy, mistaken for one of the main characters, Omar (Shahir Kabaha). It's the result of a vendetta between two crime clans and revenge for the shooting of a Bedouin weeks earlier.
Terrorised, Omar's...
The film borrows from the techniques of Gomorrah and the Mexican new wave as typified by, say, Amores Perros, in weaving characters and storylines to create a tapestry of lives. The drama is kickstarted by a drive-by shooting that kills an innocent boy, mistaken for one of the main characters, Omar (Shahir Kabaha). It's the result of a vendetta between two crime clans and revenge for the shooting of a Bedouin weeks earlier.
Terrorised, Omar's...
- 6/19/2010
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Ajami (15)
(Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, 2009, Isr/Ger) Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim. 125 mins.
If any situation justifies the multi-angled Crash/Amores Perros-style treatment, it's modern-day Israel. Co-written and directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian, mostly using non-professional actors, this is more hip, streetwise and even-handed than we're used to. Set in a mixed neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, the plot skilfully juggles intertwined stories of feuds, families, drugs and violence involving characters from all faiths.
Trash Humpers (18)
(Harmony Korine, 2009, Us/UK) Brian Kotzue, Travis Nicholson, Rachel Korine. 78 mins.
Korine preserves his enfant terrible reputation with a scrappy, seedy home video following a group of masked delinquents around. It's a vaudeville of depravity (they literally hump dustbins) that manages to be grimy without being explicit.
Wild Grass (12A)
(Alain Resnais, 2009, Fra/Ita) André Dussolier, Sabine Azéma. 104 mins.
Veteran Resnais crafts a silky, genre-hopping middle-aged romance that's full of wonders and mysteries.
(Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, 2009, Isr/Ger) Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim. 125 mins.
If any situation justifies the multi-angled Crash/Amores Perros-style treatment, it's modern-day Israel. Co-written and directed by an Israeli and a Palestinian, mostly using non-professional actors, this is more hip, streetwise and even-handed than we're used to. Set in a mixed neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, the plot skilfully juggles intertwined stories of feuds, families, drugs and violence involving characters from all faiths.
Trash Humpers (18)
(Harmony Korine, 2009, Us/UK) Brian Kotzue, Travis Nicholson, Rachel Korine. 78 mins.
Korine preserves his enfant terrible reputation with a scrappy, seedy home video following a group of masked delinquents around. It's a vaudeville of depravity (they literally hump dustbins) that manages to be grimy without being explicit.
Wild Grass (12A)
(Alain Resnais, 2009, Fra/Ita) André Dussolier, Sabine Azéma. 104 mins.
Veteran Resnais crafts a silky, genre-hopping middle-aged romance that's full of wonders and mysteries.
- 6/18/2010
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
This week Jason Solomons meets the master of French animation, Sylvain Chomet, best known for Belleville Rendez-Vous. Chomet's The Illusionist, an animated reinvention of Jacques Tati's classic, opened this year's Edinburgh film festival – and that's where Jason caught up with Chomet to discuss his love of Scotland, where he set the film.
Jason also meets Scandar Copti, co-director of Oscar-nominated Israeli film Ajami. Scandar discusses the real characters and situations that were the inspiration for this tale of low-level drug dealing and communal violence.
Finally, we review the week's big releases, including Rebecca Hall in Please Give, Ashton Kutcher in Killers, and Wild Grass from veteran director Alain Resnais.
Jason SolomonsJason PhippsXan Brooks...
Jason also meets Scandar Copti, co-director of Oscar-nominated Israeli film Ajami. Scandar discusses the real characters and situations that were the inspiration for this tale of low-level drug dealing and communal violence.
Finally, we review the week's big releases, including Rebecca Hall in Please Give, Ashton Kutcher in Killers, and Wild Grass from veteran director Alain Resnais.
Jason SolomonsJason PhippsXan Brooks...
- 6/18/2010
- by Jason Solomons, Jason Phipps, Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Ajami was a labour of love for its two directors Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani. It took them seven years to get into production and shot for a mere 23 days using non professional actors, real locations, no scripted dialogue and without rehearsals. Such dedication to experimental techniques is exemplary.
What Copti and Shani decided to do was develop storylines that were true to every day life in the multi-faith, multi-cultural neighbourhood of Ajami, which gives the film its title. This quest for unrelenting realism and authenticity recalls the post-WW2 cinema of Italy.
There’s the sense the directors wanted to free themselves of certain contrivances and rules so cast ex-police officers and real neighbourhood kids putting them through a ten-week workshop, and pointedly, shooting in chronological order.
Ajami follows the lives of several, seemingly disparate, characters and moves between individual plotlines. At first it appears slightly confusing until finding its rhythm.
What Copti and Shani decided to do was develop storylines that were true to every day life in the multi-faith, multi-cultural neighbourhood of Ajami, which gives the film its title. This quest for unrelenting realism and authenticity recalls the post-WW2 cinema of Italy.
There’s the sense the directors wanted to free themselves of certain contrivances and rules so cast ex-police officers and real neighbourhood kids putting them through a ten-week workshop, and pointedly, shooting in chronological order.
Ajami follows the lives of several, seemingly disparate, characters and moves between individual plotlines. At first it appears slightly confusing until finding its rhythm.
- 6/18/2010
- by Martyn Conterio
- FilmShaft.com
The tensions between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East are interestingly exposed in this multi-linear Israeli film, set in a mixed neighbourhood in Jaffa, writes Peter Bradshaw
This interesting Israeli film by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani could be seen as a Middle-Eastern Short Cuts. It is a tense mosaic-anthology of embattled lives in the district of Ajami in Jaffa, Israel – a neighbourhood known for having Jewish and Arab populations living in close proximity. The brutal drive-by shooting of a teenage boy is the starting point: it appears to be a gang-grudge hit, but a further disclosure shows the killing is related to another matter entirely, involving an illegal worker from the Occupied Territories and the killing of an Israeli soldier. The pattern of connections and coincidences is a little overschematic, but the movie has energy, especially in the grippingly real shooting scene at the beginning.
Rating: 3/5
World cinemaThrillerPeter Bradshaw
guardian.
This interesting Israeli film by Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani could be seen as a Middle-Eastern Short Cuts. It is a tense mosaic-anthology of embattled lives in the district of Ajami in Jaffa, Israel – a neighbourhood known for having Jewish and Arab populations living in close proximity. The brutal drive-by shooting of a teenage boy is the starting point: it appears to be a gang-grudge hit, but a further disclosure shows the killing is related to another matter entirely, involving an illegal worker from the Occupied Territories and the killing of an Israeli soldier. The pattern of connections and coincidences is a little overschematic, but the movie has energy, especially in the grippingly real shooting scene at the beginning.
Rating: 3/5
World cinemaThrillerPeter Bradshaw
guardian.
- 6/17/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Arab-Israeli Scandar Copti and Jewish-Israeli Yaron Shani co-directed Ajami, a powerful film intertwining five stories of everyday life in the religiously mixed community of the Ajami neighbourhood in Jaffa, Tel Aviv. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, Copti caused controversy earlier this year when he renounced his connection to Israel, saying that 'the film technically represents Israel, but I don't represent Israel". Screenrush caught up with the provocative director to learn more about his explosive directorial debut...
How did you and your co-director Yaron first meet?
In 2001 I finished school - I graduated as a mechanical engineer but I decided not to practice engineering, so I was waiting for something to happen. Yaron had just finished film school at Tel Aviv university and he had this project where they gave cameras to five people to make movies, and I was one of those people.
How did you develop the story for Ajami?...
How did you and your co-director Yaron first meet?
In 2001 I finished school - I graduated as a mechanical engineer but I decided not to practice engineering, so I was waiting for something to happen. Yaron had just finished film school at Tel Aviv university and he had this project where they gave cameras to five people to make movies, and I was one of those people.
How did you develop the story for Ajami?...
- 6/17/2010
- Screenrush
Ajami and Lebanon, two new acclaimed films, put different faces of Israel up on show. But can they really change anything – or are they being championed for the wrong reasons?
On the one hand, you have a claustrophobic, clapped-out Israeli army tank stuck on enemy soil; on the other, a suffocating, dead-end Arab ghetto that bleeds racial tension. Two locations, two new Israeli films. Both have won multiple awards, both have been praised as the brave new face of Israeli cinema – yet each is built on entirely different foundations, seemingly symbolising the struggle for the soul of the country.
The tank film is Lebanon, the winner of the Golden Lion at last year's Venice film festival, and the work of Samuel Maoz, who was an Israeli soldier during the 1982 Lebanon war. The army sent Maoz into combat as a tank gunner, an experience that left him emotionally crippled, in shock but unable to articulate why.
On the one hand, you have a claustrophobic, clapped-out Israeli army tank stuck on enemy soil; on the other, a suffocating, dead-end Arab ghetto that bleeds racial tension. Two locations, two new Israeli films. Both have won multiple awards, both have been praised as the brave new face of Israeli cinema – yet each is built on entirely different foundations, seemingly symbolising the struggle for the soul of the country.
The tank film is Lebanon, the winner of the Golden Lion at last year's Venice film festival, and the work of Samuel Maoz, who was an Israeli soldier during the 1982 Lebanon war. The army sent Maoz into combat as a tank gunner, an experience that left him emotionally crippled, in shock but unable to articulate why.
- 5/6/2010
- by Rachel Shabi
- The Guardian - Film News
2010 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Awards
* * *
When We Leave (Die Fremde), Dog Pound, Monica & David, And The Arbor Win Top Awards In Juried World Competitions
* * *
More Than $150,000 Handed Out In Cash Prizes
[April 29, 2010 – New York, NY] –The ninth annual Tribeca Film Festival, co-founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, and presented by founding sponsor American Express, announced the winners of its world competition categories tonight at a ceremony hosted at the W Union Square in New York City.
The world competition winners for narrative and documentary films were chosen from 12 narrative and 12 documentary features from 20 countries. Two awards were given to honor New York films, which were chosen from seven narrative and six documentary features. Awards were also given for the best narrative, best documentary and student visionary films in the short film competitions. This year’s Festival included 85 features and 47 short films from 38 countries.
Also announced at the awards were the...
* * *
When We Leave (Die Fremde), Dog Pound, Monica & David, And The Arbor Win Top Awards In Juried World Competitions
* * *
More Than $150,000 Handed Out In Cash Prizes
[April 29, 2010 – New York, NY] –The ninth annual Tribeca Film Festival, co-founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff, and presented by founding sponsor American Express, announced the winners of its world competition categories tonight at a ceremony hosted at the W Union Square in New York City.
The world competition winners for narrative and documentary films were chosen from 12 narrative and 12 documentary features from 20 countries. Two awards were given to honor New York films, which were chosen from seven narrative and six documentary features. Awards were also given for the best narrative, best documentary and student visionary films in the short film competitions. This year’s Festival included 85 features and 47 short films from 38 countries.
Also announced at the awards were the...
- 4/30/2010
- Makingof.com
Istanbul is enjoying its year as the European Capital of Culture, with cultural and arts events taking place in the city from one end to the other, inaugurated with a series of ceremonies held in January. The 29th International Istanbul Film Festival took place in the city’s vibrant cultural atmosphere this year from the 3rd of April through the 18th.
Having been conceived as the Istanbul Cinema Days in 1982, the festival eventually became one of Europe’s most important film festivals thanks to the extraordinary work of the organizer, Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (Iksv), led by its charismatic chairman Şakir Eczacıbaşı. This year’s festival was marked by the absence of this important figure, as he passed away in January 24, 2010. Another absent friend of the festival was the Emek Movie Theatre, an beautiful old movie theatre which has been the host venue of the festival from the beginning,...
Having been conceived as the Istanbul Cinema Days in 1982, the festival eventually became one of Europe’s most important film festivals thanks to the extraordinary work of the organizer, Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (Iksv), led by its charismatic chairman Şakir Eczacıbaşı. This year’s festival was marked by the absence of this important figure, as he passed away in January 24, 2010. Another absent friend of the festival was the Emek Movie Theatre, an beautiful old movie theatre which has been the host venue of the festival from the beginning,...
- 4/28/2010
- by N. Buket Cengiz
- The Moving Arts Journal
Ajami is a neighborhood in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa region of Israel where Arabs and Jews reside uncomfortably side-by-side. Ajami is also the name of a gripping new drama that plays like an Israeli Pulp Fiction from rookie co-directors Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti, respectively a Jew and an Arab. Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar last year, Ajami is proof of how far great storytelling can elevate a film that may lack Hollywood slickness and style. It’s bracing, must-see cinema.
Ajami is comprised of five interwoven tales, identified as chapters, and the story is set in motion when a teen is murdered in a drive-by shooting as he works on his car. We soon learn the bullets were not meant for him but for his young neighbor Omar, whose entire family has been targeted after his uncle shot a connected gangster in self-defense. Omar has to try...
Ajami is comprised of five interwoven tales, identified as chapters, and the story is set in motion when a teen is murdered in a drive-by shooting as he works on his car. We soon learn the bullets were not meant for him but for his young neighbor Omar, whose entire family has been targeted after his uncle shot a connected gangster in self-defense. Omar has to try...
- 4/23/2010
- by Tom
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The juror panel at the Tribeca Film Festival is going to look like the red carpet at a major Hollywood premiere.
Several celebrities, including Jessica Alba, Whoopi Goldberg, Aaron Eckhart and Brooke Shields, were asked to serve on the six competitive festival categories. They will announce the winning films, filmmakers and actors in their respective categories at the Tff Awards Night Party, which will be held on April 29. The 2010 Tribeca Festival runs from April 21 to May 2 in New York City.
“This year’s jury features the same impressive range and depth as our films playing in competition. They are distinctive and accomplished storytellers, artists and entrepreneurs from the worlds of film, theater, culture, fashion, television and new media – all of whom share a passion for film, a thirst for discovery and a spirit of independence,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival.
Here’s a list of all...
Several celebrities, including Jessica Alba, Whoopi Goldberg, Aaron Eckhart and Brooke Shields, were asked to serve on the six competitive festival categories. They will announce the winning films, filmmakers and actors in their respective categories at the Tff Awards Night Party, which will be held on April 29. The 2010 Tribeca Festival runs from April 21 to May 2 in New York City.
“This year’s jury features the same impressive range and depth as our films playing in competition. They are distinctive and accomplished storytellers, artists and entrepreneurs from the worlds of film, theater, culture, fashion, television and new media – all of whom share a passion for film, a thirst for discovery and a spirit of independence,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival.
Here’s a list of all...
- 4/13/2010
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
By Steve Pond
Actors Hope Davis, Aaron Echkart, Jessica Alba and Zach Braff will serve on the the Tribeca Film Festival’s juries, along with director Gary Ross, musician Alicia Keys and art dealer Larry Gagosian.
America Ferrera, Brooke Shields, Aidan Quinn, Selma Blair, Peter Facinelli, past Tribeca juror Whoopi Goldberg (below), Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and “Ajami” director Scandar Copti are also among the jurors who will award $130,000 in cash and prizes. <img alt="Whoopi Goldberg" style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 15px; hei...
Actors Hope Davis, Aaron Echkart, Jessica Alba and Zach Braff will serve on the the Tribeca Film Festival’s juries, along with director Gary Ross, musician Alicia Keys and art dealer Larry Gagosian.
America Ferrera, Brooke Shields, Aidan Quinn, Selma Blair, Peter Facinelli, past Tribeca juror Whoopi Goldberg (below), Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and “Ajami” director Scandar Copti are also among the jurors who will award $130,000 in cash and prizes. <img alt="Whoopi Goldberg" style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 15px; hei...
- 4/13/2010
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Tribeca Film Festival announced Tuesday morning the 35 jurors for its six competition categories.
Filmmakers, actors, screenwriters, journalists and media figures such as Aaron Eckhart, Jessica Alba, Cheryl Hines, America Ferrera, Alicia Keys, Zach Braff, Hope Davis, Gary Ross, Whoopi Goldberg and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey will participate on the juries.
"This year's jury features the same impressive range and depth as our films playing in competition," fest co-founder Jane Rosenthal said. "They are distinctive and accomplished storytellers, artists and entrepreneurs from the worlds of film, theater, culture, fashion, television and new media -- all of whom share a passion for film, a thirst for discovery and a spirit of independence."
Winners in the world narrative, world documentary, New York narrative, New York documentary, narrative short and documentary and student short film categories will be announced at the awards night party April 29. Together, the six juries will award $130,000 in cash and prizes,...
Filmmakers, actors, screenwriters, journalists and media figures such as Aaron Eckhart, Jessica Alba, Cheryl Hines, America Ferrera, Alicia Keys, Zach Braff, Hope Davis, Gary Ross, Whoopi Goldberg and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey will participate on the juries.
"This year's jury features the same impressive range and depth as our films playing in competition," fest co-founder Jane Rosenthal said. "They are distinctive and accomplished storytellers, artists and entrepreneurs from the worlds of film, theater, culture, fashion, television and new media -- all of whom share a passion for film, a thirst for discovery and a spirit of independence."
Winners in the world narrative, world documentary, New York narrative, New York documentary, narrative short and documentary and student short film categories will be announced at the awards night party April 29. Together, the six juries will award $130,000 in cash and prizes,...
- 4/13/2010
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The triumphant ones at the 82nd annual Academy Awards, in bold, alongside their fellow nominees
Actor in a supporting role
Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Matt Damon in Invictus
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Animated feature film
Up (Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)
The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker)
Coraline (Henry Selick)
Fantastic Mr Fox (Wes Anderson)
The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore)
Music (original song)
Almost There, from The Princess and the Frog, by Randy Newman
Down in New Orleans, from The Princess and the Frog, by Randy Newman
Loin de Paname, from Paris 36, by Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
Take It All, from Nine, by Maury Yeston
The Weary Kind, from Crazy Heart, by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Writing (original screenplay)
The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino...
Actor in a supporting role
Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Matt Damon in Invictus
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Animated feature film
Up (Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)
The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker)
Coraline (Henry Selick)
Fantastic Mr Fox (Wes Anderson)
The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore)
Music (original song)
Almost There, from The Princess and the Frog, by Randy Newman
Down in New Orleans, from The Princess and the Frog, by Randy Newman
Loin de Paname, from Paris 36, by Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
Take It All, from Nine, by Maury Yeston
The Weary Kind, from Crazy Heart, by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett
Writing (original screenplay)
The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino...
- 3/8/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
Here it is at last! The 2010 Academy Awards! Who’s bringing home the Oscars? James Cameron or Kathryn Bigelow, or will Tarantino stage an upset? Will The Dude Lebowski have a best actor win under his belt? The stars are crossing the Red Carpet right now and in a few hours Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin will be hosting 82nd Academy Awards.
Prior the main event, you can check out the AP staff picks for all of the winners and check back often as I’ll be updating all the wins with my own commentary as the evening progresses. Feel free to drop your own guesses and thoughts on the evening as it progresses.
Me, I’m pulling for District 9 for best screenplay!
See you at the Oscars!
Updated! The entire list of winners with my thoughts and earlier predictions below:
— Motion Picture: “The Hurt Locker.”
— Actor: Jeff Bridges,...
Prior the main event, you can check out the AP staff picks for all of the winners and check back often as I’ll be updating all the wins with my own commentary as the evening progresses. Feel free to drop your own guesses and thoughts on the evening as it progresses.
Me, I’m pulling for District 9 for best screenplay!
See you at the Oscars!
Updated! The entire list of winners with my thoughts and earlier predictions below:
— Motion Picture: “The Hurt Locker.”
— Actor: Jeff Bridges,...
- 3/7/2010
- by Nathan Bartlebaugh
- Atomic Popcorn
Forget the media-initiated battle between ex-husband and wife, the real face-off at this year's Oscars was between new technology and old-fashioned storytelling... and the victor, we're happy to report, is the latter.
As the dust settles on the gong-giving broo-ha-ha that was the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, it's Kathryn Bigelow's brilliant and brave The Hurt Locker that has emerged the big winner with golden baldies for Best Picture and Best Director among its five statuette haul, while former hubbie James Cameron's Avatar was left holding his rightful prizes for technical prowess in the Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects categories.
After the Academy made its big decision about which movie to put their weight behind (and we do think they went with the right one!), the rest of the big winners were fairly predictable with the likes of Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock walking away with Best Actor...
As the dust settles on the gong-giving broo-ha-ha that was the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, it's Kathryn Bigelow's brilliant and brave The Hurt Locker that has emerged the big winner with golden baldies for Best Picture and Best Director among its five statuette haul, while former hubbie James Cameron's Avatar was left holding his rightful prizes for technical prowess in the Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects categories.
After the Academy made its big decision about which movie to put their weight behind (and we do think they went with the right one!), the rest of the big winners were fairly predictable with the likes of Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock walking away with Best Actor...
- 3/7/2010
- Screenrush
The five Oscar-nominated directors in the Foreign Language Film Award category for the 82nd Academy Awards were on the Red Carpet at the Kodak Theatre on Friday. Pictured (from left to right): Jacques Audiard, “A Prophet (Une Prophete)”, Michael Haneke, “The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)”, Yaron Shani, “Ajami”, Foreign Language Film Award Committee Chair Mark Johnson, Claudia Llosa, “The Milk Of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)”, Scandar Copti, “Ajami”, Juan Jose Campanella, “The Secret In Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)”.
As you can see, the media was there in full force to hear from the directors and their respective actors and actresses.
Michael Haneke, The White Ribbon
Jacques Audiard, A Prophet
Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, Ajami
Claudia Llosa, The Milk Of Sorrow
Juan Jose Campanella, The Secret In Their Eyes
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center,...
As you can see, the media was there in full force to hear from the directors and their respective actors and actresses.
Michael Haneke, The White Ribbon
Jacques Audiard, A Prophet
Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, Ajami
Claudia Llosa, The Milk Of Sorrow
Juan Jose Campanella, The Secret In Their Eyes
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center,...
- 3/6/2010
- by Michelle
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The directors of the Oscar-nominated Foreign Language films paused for a photo-op along with Foreign Language Film Award Committee Chair Mark Johnson. Pictured (from left to right): Jacques Audiard ("A Prophet"), Michael Haneke ("The White Ribbon"), Yaron Shani ("Ajami"), Mark Johnson, Claudia Llosa ("The Milk of Sorrow"), Scandar Copti ("Ajami"), Juan Jose Campanella ("The Secret in Their Eyes"). The 82nd Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010. [Photo by Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.]...
- 3/5/2010
- Indiewire
Best Foreign Language Film: Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon Other nominees: Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani’s Ajami (Israel), Juan José Campanella’s The Secret of Her Eyes (Argentina), Claudia Llosa’s The Milk of Sorrow (Peru), Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet (France). Because only a relatively small group of Academy members vote in the special categories — short films, documentaries, foreign language films — winners often surprise and shock, e.g., last year’s Departures over shoo-in Waltz with Bashir. Compounding matters, oftentimes those voters tend to be (much) older than the average Academy member, and their tastes are usually much more conservative. They’re probably the people who placed The Blind Side at the top of their Best Film ballot, thus earning Sandra Bullock’s [...]...
- 2/12/2010
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Quickcard Review
Ajami
Directed by: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Cast: Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim
Running Time: 2 hrs
Rating: unrated
Complete Coverage – 33rd Portland International Film Festival
Country: Israel
Plot: Palestinians’ and Israelis’ lives intersect, usually in violent ways, in an interracial neighborhood in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Who’S It For? This nominee for the Best Foreign Feature Oscar is Israel’s answer to Pulp Fiction.
Overall
Ajami sort of confounded my expectations. I was expecting a more linear film, which this isn’t. First-time filmmakers Copti and Shani were definitely influenced by Tarantino to create their elliptical narrative. Like Pulp Fiction, the film is divided into chapters that focus on different characters, all of whom ebb and flow into one another’s lives. Also both films deal heavily with drugs and violence and the consequences of messing with either. But from there, the paths diverge as Ajami takes a much more serious turn,...
Ajami
Directed by: Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani
Cast: Shahir Kabaha, Ibrahim Frege, Eran Naim
Running Time: 2 hrs
Rating: unrated
Complete Coverage – 33rd Portland International Film Festival
Country: Israel
Plot: Palestinians’ and Israelis’ lives intersect, usually in violent ways, in an interracial neighborhood in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Who’S It For? This nominee for the Best Foreign Feature Oscar is Israel’s answer to Pulp Fiction.
Overall
Ajami sort of confounded my expectations. I was expecting a more linear film, which this isn’t. First-time filmmakers Copti and Shani were definitely influenced by Tarantino to create their elliptical narrative. Like Pulp Fiction, the film is divided into chapters that focus on different characters, all of whom ebb and flow into one another’s lives. Also both films deal heavily with drugs and violence and the consequences of messing with either. But from there, the paths diverge as Ajami takes a much more serious turn,...
- 2/11/2010
- by Megan Lehar
- The Scorecard Review
Two Oscar nominations - one for La teta asustada and one for Ajami - marks the Berlinale's World Cinema Fund as an early arbiter of the world's taste in the finest of international cinema.
Congratulations to directors Claudia Llosa, Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti on the Oscar nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film 2010. The winner of the Golden Bear 2009, La Teta Asustada (Milk of Sorrow) by Claudia Llosa from Peru, and Ajami by Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti (Israel) were both funded by the Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund.
World Cinema Fund Day at the Berlinale: Feb 17, 2010, 11am-2 pm at the Filmhaus, Potsdamer Str. 2, 4th floor
“Strategy makes sense, and passion does, too…”
The Wcf Day will once again provide an opportunity to learn more about the programme, successes, funding strategies, films, initiatives, and partners of the Wcf. On this occasion the World Cinema Fund will present its...
Congratulations to directors Claudia Llosa, Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti on the Oscar nomination for the Best Foreign Language Film 2010. The winner of the Golden Bear 2009, La Teta Asustada (Milk of Sorrow) by Claudia Llosa from Peru, and Ajami by Yaron Shani and Scandar Copti (Israel) were both funded by the Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund.
World Cinema Fund Day at the Berlinale: Feb 17, 2010, 11am-2 pm at the Filmhaus, Potsdamer Str. 2, 4th floor
“Strategy makes sense, and passion does, too…”
The Wcf Day will once again provide an opportunity to learn more about the programme, successes, funding strategies, films, initiatives, and partners of the Wcf. On this occasion the World Cinema Fund will present its...
- 2/10/2010
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.