Plaion Pictures have announced the release of the highly anticipated Restore Point. The Czech Sci-Fi Noir is available now on Digital Download including to rent/buy on Amazon Prime Video in the UK. Directed by Robert Hloz, Restore Point stars Andrea Mohylová, Matěj Hádek, Václav Neužil, Milan Ondrík and Karel Dobrý. Featuring stunning retro-futuristic design, this extremely stylish sci-fi thriller explores mankind’s fascination with mortality is reminiscent of Blade Runner and Minority Report.
Short Synopsis:
Set in central Europe during 2041, a female detective investigates the case of a murdered couple where a restoration team is able to bring one of them back to life.
Imagine you’re living in the year 2041, when you have the right to be brought back to life if you die in an accident or suffer an otherwise unnatural death. All you need to do is regularly make a digital backup of your personality – a Restore Point.
Short Synopsis:
Set in central Europe during 2041, a female detective investigates the case of a murdered couple where a restoration team is able to bring one of them back to life.
Imagine you’re living in the year 2041, when you have the right to be brought back to life if you die in an accident or suffer an otherwise unnatural death. All you need to do is regularly make a digital backup of your personality – a Restore Point.
- 4/18/2024
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
Robert Hloz’s debut is a competent copy of Hollywood sci-fi, but it’s too heavily indebted to its influences to develop its own philosophy
Apparently the first sci-fi film from the Czech Republic in 40 years, this so-called Czech Blade Runner is actually equally indebted to Minority Report (whose domestic futurism continues to be quietly influential). Like Tom Cruise’s character in Steven Spielberg’s film, detective Em Trochinowska (Andrea Mohylová) is a cop prone to brooding over clips of an absent loved one. Her concert pianist husband was murdered by members of the Rivers of Life terrorist group, who are outraged by the nature-flouting “restoration” technology that allows any recently snuffed person to be resurrected.
Bad news for those who don’t clear out their inboxes regularly: the technology only works if you have bothered to upload your memories within the last 48 hours. Where Minority Report riffed on the notion of pre-crime,...
Apparently the first sci-fi film from the Czech Republic in 40 years, this so-called Czech Blade Runner is actually equally indebted to Minority Report (whose domestic futurism continues to be quietly influential). Like Tom Cruise’s character in Steven Spielberg’s film, detective Em Trochinowska (Andrea Mohylová) is a cop prone to brooding over clips of an absent loved one. Her concert pianist husband was murdered by members of the Rivers of Life terrorist group, who are outraged by the nature-flouting “restoration” technology that allows any recently snuffed person to be resurrected.
Bad news for those who don’t clear out their inboxes regularly: the technology only works if you have bothered to upload your memories within the last 48 hours. Where Minority Report riffed on the notion of pre-crime,...
- 3/26/2024
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
When it comes to tackling sci-fi you do so at your own peril and for Robert Hloz’s, Restore Point, it is stylistically bold but falls victim to its own complicated ideas.
Part of the Czech, Please! strand this year at the Glasgow Film Festival it showcases a variety of Czech cinema and includes a diverse range of films. In what is its Scottish Premiere, Restore Point appears in the line-up as a sci-fi crime thriller set in 2041 in a society where unnatural deaths can be remedied.
You instantly get Blade Runner vibes with its aesthetics and it is visually impressive with small details making a big difference. Some shots of a sprawling skyline with distinct futuristic buildings look great and helps to immerse you in this world.
The social commentary throughout is particular relevant especially the notion of society’s ever-increasing reliance on technology. It touches on how the...
Part of the Czech, Please! strand this year at the Glasgow Film Festival it showcases a variety of Czech cinema and includes a diverse range of films. In what is its Scottish Premiere, Restore Point appears in the line-up as a sci-fi crime thriller set in 2041 in a society where unnatural deaths can be remedied.
You instantly get Blade Runner vibes with its aesthetics and it is visually impressive with small details making a big difference. Some shots of a sprawling skyline with distinct futuristic buildings look great and helps to immerse you in this world.
The social commentary throughout is particular relevant especially the notion of society’s ever-increasing reliance on technology. It touches on how the...
- 3/5/2024
- by Thomas Alexander
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
2024 marks the 20th edition of the festival.
Glasgow Film Festival (Gff) has set the first titles and events for its upcoming 20th edition, that will run from February 28 to March 10, 2024, as well as the team with which Allison Gardner will programme the festival, after her long-standing co-director Allan Hunter stepped down following the 2023 edition.
This year’s country in focus will be Czechia, also known as Czech Republic, under the banner ’Czech, please!’
Titles include Is There Any Place For Me, Please? a debut feature documentary and UK premiere from Jarmila Štuková, that showcases an intimate portrayal of one woman...
Glasgow Film Festival (Gff) has set the first titles and events for its upcoming 20th edition, that will run from February 28 to March 10, 2024, as well as the team with which Allison Gardner will programme the festival, after her long-standing co-director Allan Hunter stepped down following the 2023 edition.
This year’s country in focus will be Czechia, also known as Czech Republic, under the banner ’Czech, please!’
Titles include Is There Any Place For Me, Please? a debut feature documentary and UK premiere from Jarmila Štuková, that showcases an intimate portrayal of one woman...
- 12/7/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Quebec festival wrapped on August 9.
Talk To Me, the horror hit from Danny and Michael Philippou which has grossed more than $31m in North America and close to $50m worldwide, has been named best international feature in the 2023 Fantasia audience awards.
In other key awards Lee Sang-yong’s South Korean title The Roundup: No Way Out was named best Asian feature, while Shigeyoshi Tsukahara’s Japanese entry Kurayukaba earned best animated feature, and
Satan Wants You from Steve J. Adams and Sean Horlor took the inaugural Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (narrative or documentary).
The full list of audience award winners appears below.
Talk To Me, the horror hit from Danny and Michael Philippou which has grossed more than $31m in North America and close to $50m worldwide, has been named best international feature in the 2023 Fantasia audience awards.
In other key awards Lee Sang-yong’s South Korean title The Roundup: No Way Out was named best Asian feature, while Shigeyoshi Tsukahara’s Japanese entry Kurayukaba earned best animated feature, and
Satan Wants You from Steve J. Adams and Sean Horlor took the inaugural Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (narrative or documentary).
The full list of audience award winners appears below.
- 8/14/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
A couple weeks ago, the Fantasia International Film Festival announced the films that won jury prizes at the 27th edition of the show, which recently came to a close. Yesterday, our own Tyler Nichols shared his list of favorite films from this year’s Fantasia festival. Now Fantasia has unveiled the list of audience award winners, with wins going to films like Talk to Me, The Roundup: No Way Out, Kurayukaba, and Satan Wants You, among others. The full list can be seen below:
Best International Feature
Gold: Talk To Me
Silver: Late Night With The Devil
Bronze: Hundreds Of Beavers
Best Asian Feature
Gold: The Roundup: No Way Out
Silver: River
Bronze: Phantom (South Korea d. Lee Hae-young)
Best Animated Feature
Gold: Kurayukaba
Silver: The Concierge
Bronze: The First Slam Dunk
The Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (Narrative or Documentary)
Satan Wants You – This year’s...
Best International Feature
Gold: Talk To Me
Silver: Late Night With The Devil
Bronze: Hundreds Of Beavers
Best Asian Feature
Gold: The Roundup: No Way Out
Silver: River
Bronze: Phantom (South Korea d. Lee Hae-young)
Best Animated Feature
Gold: Kurayukaba
Silver: The Concierge
Bronze: The First Slam Dunk
The Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (Narrative or Documentary)
Satan Wants You – This year’s...
- 8/14/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
In discussions about defeating death, there is a tendency for views to be polarised between those who see it as a natural extension of the millennia-long fight to cure disease and those who fear that it would usher in a dystopia by leading to massive overpopulation or further entrenching power in the hands of a tiny minority. There is very little talk of how it might be used in contexts other than providing immortality. Robert Hloz’s Restore Point, written by Tomislav Cecka and Zdenek Jecelin, presents a scenario which in the short term at least seems far more likely: that such technology might be used to distribute life more fairly by providing a recovery option for those who died before their time.
There is a vast wealth of material which might be explored here. We are privy to no discussion over what constitutes an ‘unnatural death’. The pressure for legalisation of.
There is a vast wealth of material which might be explored here. We are privy to no discussion over what constitutes an ‘unnatural death’. The pressure for legalisation of.
- 7/25/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
You have to admire the moxie of authors and filmmakers who set their science-fiction spectaculars in the very near future, essentially confronting viewers with what may seem a pretty outlandish forecast for their own lives. Those that pull it off present us with possibilities resonant enough to ponder, even when they’re too far-fetched to actively fear: So it proves in “Restore Point,” a sharp, high-shine sci-fi outing from the Czech Republic, in which earthly life after death is routine, a cellular rather than spiritual matter.
Set in an unspecified (though Czech-speaking) central Europe in the year 2041, director Robert Hloz’s whopper of a calling-card debut may offer a more credibly subdued, budget-constrained visual of the mid-21st century than the lavishly built “Blade Runner 2049” — unless we’re in for a drastic design (r)evolution over the course of the 2040s — but its ideas are sky-high in concept. Marrying...
Set in an unspecified (though Czech-speaking) central Europe in the year 2041, director Robert Hloz’s whopper of a calling-card debut may offer a more credibly subdued, budget-constrained visual of the mid-21st century than the lavishly built “Blade Runner 2049” — unless we’re in for a drastic design (r)evolution over the course of the 2040s — but its ideas are sky-high in concept. Marrying...
- 7/7/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Our technology-saturated future does not look like it's going to be a good place. Yet another dystopian vision of the world that awaits us is found within the science fiction film Restore Point, originally known as Bod Obnovy in Czech. The ambitious Czech project just premiered at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in Czechia, and it's also featured at this summer's Neuchâtel Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland and the Bucheon Fantastic Film Festival in Korea. The Czech filmmaker Robert Hloz is making his first feature and many of the talent involved on the filmmaking side are also all making their first feature, which is exciting because it means they're passionate and driven and worked very hard to create something iconic and major. While the film certainly looks damn good throughout, unfortunately the story doesn't amount to much in the end. It's a confusing jumble of intriguing ideas, with a couple...
- 7/6/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
In Robert Hloz’s sci-fi feature debut “Restore Point,” second chances are big business.
In the year 2041, anyone who has an unnatural death has the right to be brought back to life, provided they’ve dutifully created a backup of their personality called a “restore point.”
Naturally, some object to the notion of artificially extending life ad infinitum, wherein the story begins to get complicated.
“I wanted to make a sci-fi film since I was a little kid,” Hloz says, “but I would never guess that it will happen to be my debut. I thought maybe third, fourth film.”
But, as the Czech director recalls, he found himself going through notes for film ideas from screenwriter Tomislav Cecka and one of them began to loom large.
“He came up with an idea for a very realistic sci-fi about our society in the near future, where people can be restored if something bad happens to them,...
In the year 2041, anyone who has an unnatural death has the right to be brought back to life, provided they’ve dutifully created a backup of their personality called a “restore point.”
Naturally, some object to the notion of artificially extending life ad infinitum, wherein the story begins to get complicated.
“I wanted to make a sci-fi film since I was a little kid,” Hloz says, “but I would never guess that it will happen to be my debut. I thought maybe third, fourth film.”
But, as the Czech director recalls, he found himself going through notes for film ideas from screenwriter Tomislav Cecka and one of them began to loom large.
“He came up with an idea for a very realistic sci-fi about our society in the near future, where people can be restored if something bad happens to them,...
- 7/3/2023
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
For more than two decades, the Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival (Nifff) has been a draw for genre filmmakers from across the globe and a pull for Swiss youth. Heading into its 22nd edition, which runs June 30 – July 8, the lakeside event will once again showcase the kind outré and audacious fare that Neuchatel’s reliable and devoted young public has come to expect, while continuing to bridge outward, welcoming more unfamiliar faces into the fold.
“By instinct, influence, and mutual attraction, genre cinema will always appeal to the young,” says Nifff director Pierre-Yves Walder. “In fact, Nifff attracts one of the youngest publics of any Swiss festival, but I’d like to convert different audiences of perhaps different ages as well. And not just for commercial reasons; I find it so interesting and essential to mix things up.”
Showcasing 124 films, including eight world premieres and seven international launches, this year...
“By instinct, influence, and mutual attraction, genre cinema will always appeal to the young,” says Nifff director Pierre-Yves Walder. “In fact, Nifff attracts one of the youngest publics of any Swiss festival, but I’d like to convert different audiences of perhaps different ages as well. And not just for commercial reasons; I find it so interesting and essential to mix things up.”
Showcasing 124 films, including eight world premieres and seven international launches, this year...
- 6/23/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Montreal fest runs July 20-August 9.
The 27th edition of Fantasia International Film Festival (July 20-August 9) in Montreal will open with the North American premiere of Pascal Plante’s cyber thriller Red Rooms (Chambres Rouges).
The film will get its world premiere in Karlovy Vary and follows a tech-savvy overachiever who becomes obsessed with the high-profile trial of a serial killer.
As reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path in search of the final piece in the puzzle, the missing video of a murdered 13-year-old girl. Sphere Films International recently launched sales in Cannes.
Second wave...
The 27th edition of Fantasia International Film Festival (July 20-August 9) in Montreal will open with the North American premiere of Pascal Plante’s cyber thriller Red Rooms (Chambres Rouges).
The film will get its world premiere in Karlovy Vary and follows a tech-savvy overachiever who becomes obsessed with the high-profile trial of a serial killer.
As reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path in search of the final piece in the puzzle, the missing video of a murdered 13-year-old girl. Sphere Films International recently launched sales in Cannes.
Second wave...
- 6/8/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Quebec’s Fantasia International Film Festival will open its 27th edition with the North American premiere of Pascal Plante’s latest pic Red Rooms (Les chambres rouges).
Plante will bring the pic to his native Quebec following a Competition bow at Karlovy Vary in June. The film, Plante’s third, follows the high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier, which has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the case’s puzzle.
The Nicolas Cage-starrer Sympathy for the Devil will have its international premiere at Fantasia. Written by Luke Paradise, the pic follows “The Driver” (Joel Kinnaman), who finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse after being forced to drive a mysterious man, “The Passenger” (Cage). As their white-knuckle ride progresses, it becomes clear that...
Plante will bring the pic to his native Quebec following a Competition bow at Karlovy Vary in June. The film, Plante’s third, follows the high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier, which has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the case’s puzzle.
The Nicolas Cage-starrer Sympathy for the Devil will have its international premiere at Fantasia. Written by Luke Paradise, the pic follows “The Driver” (Joel Kinnaman), who finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse after being forced to drive a mysterious man, “The Passenger” (Cage). As their white-knuckle ride progresses, it becomes clear that...
- 6/8/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Competition titles include Cannes Critics’ Week winner ‘Tiger Stripes’.
South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Bifan) is set to open its 27th edition with Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid, starring Joaquin Phoenix, and close with the world premiere of Takashi Shimizu’s Sana.
The festival will run June 29 - July 9 with its award ceremony on July 7, followed by the screening of Sana.
Best known for The Grudge, J-horror master Shimizu’s latest film follows the disappearance of an idol group’s members and an eccentric private detective’s investigation into the matter. Shimizu received the Screen International...
South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (Bifan) is set to open its 27th edition with Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid, starring Joaquin Phoenix, and close with the world premiere of Takashi Shimizu’s Sana.
The festival will run June 29 - July 9 with its award ceremony on July 7, followed by the screening of Sana.
Best known for The Grudge, J-horror master Shimizu’s latest film follows the disappearance of an idol group’s members and an eccentric private detective’s investigation into the matter. Shimizu received the Screen International...
- 6/7/2023
- by Jean Noh
- ScreenDaily
The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, Eastern and Central Europe’s leading cinema event, has unveiled its lineup, which includes new works by Pascal Plante, Stephan Komandarev, Tinatin Kajrishvili and Babak Jalali in the Crystal Globes Competition. They will vie against films by up-and-comers Ernst De Geer, Itsaso Arana and Cyril Aris. The section has nine world and two international premieres. Oscar-nominated actor Patricia Clarkson is one of the jury members.
The Proxima Competition, which made its debut at last year’s Kviff, presents what the festival defines as “bold works,” directed by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike. The section comprises of 10 world and two international premieres. The festival says “playfulness, courage and freshness can be found” in the new films by Swiss auteur Thomas Imbach, Poland’s Olga Chajdas, Cyprus-born Kyros Papavassiliou, French filmmaker Émilie Brisavoine and Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon, among others.
Eight films will play in the Special Screenings section,...
The Proxima Competition, which made its debut at last year’s Kviff, presents what the festival defines as “bold works,” directed by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike. The section comprises of 10 world and two international premieres. The festival says “playfulness, courage and freshness can be found” in the new films by Swiss auteur Thomas Imbach, Poland’s Olga Chajdas, Cyprus-born Kyros Papavassiliou, French filmmaker Émilie Brisavoine and Romanian documentarist Alexandru Solomon, among others.
Eight films will play in the Special Screenings section,...
- 5/30/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival has unveiled its competition lineup for its 57th edition, set to run in the bucolic Czech spa town from June 30 to July 8.
Among this year’s competition highlights are Fremont, from Iranian-born, London-based director Babak Jalali, a dramedy based around Donya, a former Afghan translator for U.S. troops who now works in a fortune cookie factory in Fremont, USA. Empty Nets, from Iranian filmmaker Behrooz Karamizade, a love story set in a small fishing village in contemporary Iran, is also in the running for the festival’s Crystal Globe honor for best competition film.
Outside the competition, Karlovy Vary this year has put a focus on independent Iranian cinema, with a selection of recent works by directors working outside the Tehran regime.
Other 2023 competition highlights include Red Rooms, a Canadian darknet thriller from director Pascal Plante, Itsaso Arana’s Spanish drama The Girls Are Alright...
Among this year’s competition highlights are Fremont, from Iranian-born, London-based director Babak Jalali, a dramedy based around Donya, a former Afghan translator for U.S. troops who now works in a fortune cookie factory in Fremont, USA. Empty Nets, from Iranian filmmaker Behrooz Karamizade, a love story set in a small fishing village in contemporary Iran, is also in the running for the festival’s Crystal Globe honor for best competition film.
Outside the competition, Karlovy Vary this year has put a focus on independent Iranian cinema, with a selection of recent works by directors working outside the Tehran regime.
Other 2023 competition highlights include Red Rooms, a Canadian darknet thriller from director Pascal Plante, Itsaso Arana’s Spanish drama The Girls Are Alright...
- 5/30/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
XYZ Films has closed a raft of deals for Czech filmmaker Robert Hloz’s science-fiction feature “Restore Point,” which is part of the company’s recently launched New Visions slate of genre films.
The film has been sold to Germany and Switzerland (Plaion); Scandinavia (NonStop); France (The Jokers); and Australia/New Zealand (Umbrella). Several other territories are in active negotiations, while XYZ is also confirmed to handle the U.S. release of the film.
“Restore Point” is set in the year 2041, when the gaps in social and economic inequality have left the world on the brink. A breakthrough in science has given humanity the ability to bring victims of a violent crime back to life by backing up their brain every two days. This affords an ambitious young detective the opportunity to solve a case of a murdered couple when the restoration team is able to bring one of them back.
The film has been sold to Germany and Switzerland (Plaion); Scandinavia (NonStop); France (The Jokers); and Australia/New Zealand (Umbrella). Several other territories are in active negotiations, while XYZ is also confirmed to handle the U.S. release of the film.
“Restore Point” is set in the year 2041, when the gaps in social and economic inequality have left the world on the brink. A breakthrough in science has given humanity the ability to bring victims of a violent crime back to life by backing up their brain every two days. This affords an ambitious young detective the opportunity to solve a case of a murdered couple when the restoration team is able to bring one of them back.
- 5/26/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
XYZ Films has acquired North American sales rights to “StayOnline,” from Ukrainian director Anton Skrypets, which uses the innovative Screenlife format to tell the story of a young Kyiv woman who risks her life to help a boy whose parents have gone missing after the Russian invasion.
“StayOnline” was co-written by Skrypets and Eva Strelnikova, who also served as director of photography. It was produced by Marina Kvasova and Alla Lypovetska of the Organization of Ukrainian Producers (Oup) together with Anatoly Dudinsky of Amo Pictures. The film begins when a young woman volunteering in Kyiv is given one of the thousands of laptops donated by ordinary Ukrainians to support the war effort. She’s asked to install a sensitive military application and deliver the laptop to her brother serving on the frontline.
But the woman receives a mysterious video call from a young boy searching for his father, the laptop’s previous owner,...
“StayOnline” was co-written by Skrypets and Eva Strelnikova, who also served as director of photography. It was produced by Marina Kvasova and Alla Lypovetska of the Organization of Ukrainian Producers (Oup) together with Anatoly Dudinsky of Amo Pictures. The film begins when a young woman volunteering in Kyiv is given one of the thousands of laptops donated by ordinary Ukrainians to support the war effort. She’s asked to install a sensitive military application and deliver the laptop to her brother serving on the frontline.
But the woman receives a mysterious video call from a young boy searching for his father, the laptop’s previous owner,...
- 5/21/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Renowned photographer Kourtney Roy makes feature film debut.
XYZ Films has added the psychothriller Krypto to the sales slate of its New Visions label launching in Cannes to champion bold cinematic voices and has released the first two first-looks.
Paris-based Canadian photographer Kourtney Roy makes her feature film debut on the Canadian-uk co-production about a woman’s search for a missing monster hunter and her growing realisation that she is inescapably linked to the creature being pursued. Chloe Pirrie stars and Paul Bromley wrote the screenplay.
Amber Ripley of Goodbye Productions produced Krypto alongside Sophie Venner of the UK’s Taletime Pictures and Josh Huculiak,...
XYZ Films has added the psychothriller Krypto to the sales slate of its New Visions label launching in Cannes to champion bold cinematic voices and has released the first two first-looks.
Paris-based Canadian photographer Kourtney Roy makes her feature film debut on the Canadian-uk co-production about a woman’s search for a missing monster hunter and her growing realisation that she is inescapably linked to the creature being pursued. Chloe Pirrie stars and Paul Bromley wrote the screenplay.
Amber Ripley of Goodbye Productions produced Krypto alongside Sophie Venner of the UK’s Taletime Pictures and Josh Huculiak,...
- 5/15/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Christina Hendricks will lead the psychological thriller “Reckoner,” which will be sold at the Cannes Film Festival this month.
The project is written and directed by Nissar Modi (“Z for Zacharian”), who will be making his big screen directorial debut.
In the film, an affluent woman’s carefully constructed life is disrupted by a young man connected to a tightly-held secret from her past.
The film is based on a short story by late writer Rachel Ingalls and will be produced by XYZ Films and Two & Two Pictures, with XYZ Films financing. XYZ Films has also added “Reckoner” to its New Visions slate of films, with world sales launching in Cannes.
The recently launched New Visions is designed to spotlight new voices alongside established talent that are striking a new path in the international space. “Reckoner” will be the first package in pre-production to run through the new slate.
The project is written and directed by Nissar Modi (“Z for Zacharian”), who will be making his big screen directorial debut.
In the film, an affluent woman’s carefully constructed life is disrupted by a young man connected to a tightly-held secret from her past.
The film is based on a short story by late writer Rachel Ingalls and will be produced by XYZ Films and Two & Two Pictures, with XYZ Films financing. XYZ Films has also added “Reckoner” to its New Visions slate of films, with world sales launching in Cannes.
The recently launched New Visions is designed to spotlight new voices alongside established talent that are striking a new path in the international space. “Reckoner” will be the first package in pre-production to run through the new slate.
- 5/2/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Mad Man star Christina Hendricks is attached to play the lead in Reckoner, an upcoming psychological thriller based on a short story by the late Rachel Ingalls.
Screenwriter Nissar Modi (Z for Zachariah) will adapt the Ingalls story and step behind the camera for his directorial debut. XYZ Films and Two & Two Pictures are producing, with XYZ preselling the project to buyers at the Cannes Film Market later this month. Reckoner will be released under XYZ’s New Visions label, a recently launched state of elevated genre films from new and up-and-coming filmmakers.
Hendricks, whose indie film credits include Sally Potter’s Ginger & Rosa, and Drive and The Neon Demon from Nicolas Winding Refn, will play an affluent woman whose carefully constructed life is threatened by a young man with a connection to a tightly held secret from her past. Modi called it a “haunting tale of guilt,...
Screenwriter Nissar Modi (Z for Zachariah) will adapt the Ingalls story and step behind the camera for his directorial debut. XYZ Films and Two & Two Pictures are producing, with XYZ preselling the project to buyers at the Cannes Film Market later this month. Reckoner will be released under XYZ’s New Visions label, a recently launched state of elevated genre films from new and up-and-coming filmmakers.
Hendricks, whose indie film credits include Sally Potter’s Ginger & Rosa, and Drive and The Neon Demon from Nicolas Winding Refn, will play an affluent woman whose carefully constructed life is threatened by a young man with a connection to a tightly held secret from her past. Modi called it a “haunting tale of guilt,...
- 5/2/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Psychological thriller joins In Flames, The Seeding, Restore Point, All You Need Is Death on slate of
Christina Hendricks has been cast in the lead on the psychological thriller Reckoner, which becomes the first package to join XYZ Films’ New Visions Cannes initiative championing bold global voices.
Nissar Modi, the writer on writer of Z For Zachariah, will make his feature directorial debut based on his screenplay about an affluent woman whose carefully constructed life is disrupted by a young man connected to a secret from her past.
The film is based on a short story by Rachel Ingalls and...
Christina Hendricks has been cast in the lead on the psychological thriller Reckoner, which becomes the first package to join XYZ Films’ New Visions Cannes initiative championing bold global voices.
Nissar Modi, the writer on writer of Z For Zachariah, will make his feature directorial debut based on his screenplay about an affluent woman whose carefully constructed life is disrupted by a young man connected to a secret from her past.
The film is based on a short story by Rachel Ingalls and...
- 5/2/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Horror will screen in Cannes market ahead of world premiere in New York in June.
XYZ Films has boarded worldwide sales on Tribeca Festival entry The Seeding for its New Visions roster and will screen the film for buyers in Cannes ahead of the world premiere in New York in June.
Barnaby Clay directed the horror about a man trapped in a desert canyon with a woman living off-grid who is captive to a pack of sadistic boys. Kate Lyn Sheil and Scott Haze star.
XYZ Films serves as executive producer and co-financier on The Seeding and its fund partner Ipr.Vc provided investment funding.
XYZ Films has boarded worldwide sales on Tribeca Festival entry The Seeding for its New Visions roster and will screen the film for buyers in Cannes ahead of the world premiere in New York in June.
Barnaby Clay directed the horror about a man trapped in a desert canyon with a woman living off-grid who is captive to a pack of sadistic boys. Kate Lyn Sheil and Scott Haze star.
XYZ Films serves as executive producer and co-financier on The Seeding and its fund partner Ipr.Vc provided investment funding.
- 4/26/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Fantastic 7 is the showcase of international genre projects at an advanced stage of production.
Carlota Pereda’s second film The Chapel, her follow-up to Sundance hit Piggy, is among the seven films selected for Fantastic 7, the showcase of international genre projects at various stages of production to be showcased at the Cannes market this year.
Fantastic 7 is a joint initiative of the Cannes Marche du Film, Sitges’ International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia and Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur co-director Bernardo Bergeret. Each film has been selected by a different genre-focused festival
The Chapel, which is in post, is the selection of Sitges.
Carlota Pereda’s second film The Chapel, her follow-up to Sundance hit Piggy, is among the seven films selected for Fantastic 7, the showcase of international genre projects at various stages of production to be showcased at the Cannes market this year.
Fantastic 7 is a joint initiative of the Cannes Marche du Film, Sitges’ International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia and Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur co-director Bernardo Bergeret. Each film has been selected by a different genre-focused festival
The Chapel, which is in post, is the selection of Sitges.
- 4/25/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
Former Film Factory executive Manon Barat joins company as dedicated sales executive.
Heading into Cannes XYZ Films has launched New Visions, an initiative to champion bold global voices, kicking off with Directors’ Fortnight entry In Flames.
Former Film Factory executive Manon Barat has joined the company as a dedicated sales executive and will work alongside longtime head of international acquisitions Todd Brown to oversee the slate.
The highly curated New Visions will discover and support the next generation of filmmakers and give established talents room to make smaller, more intimate and challenging work.
Besides Zarrar Kahn’s Pakistani-Canadian horror In Flames,...
Heading into Cannes XYZ Films has launched New Visions, an initiative to champion bold global voices, kicking off with Directors’ Fortnight entry In Flames.
Former Film Factory executive Manon Barat has joined the company as a dedicated sales executive and will work alongside longtime head of international acquisitions Todd Brown to oversee the slate.
The highly curated New Visions will discover and support the next generation of filmmakers and give established talents room to make smaller, more intimate and challenging work.
Besides Zarrar Kahn’s Pakistani-Canadian horror In Flames,...
- 4/19/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
XYZ Films has unveiled New Visions, an initiative designed to spotlight bold new voices alongside established talent striking a new path in the international cinema space.
The initiative will serve as a curated collection of films that “exists to discover and support the next generation of great filmmakers at the inception of their career, and to give established talents room to do something smaller, more intimate, or challenging outside of the usual box of independent filmmaking,” XYZ said in a statement.
The slate will launch in Cannes with Directors’ Fortnight selection “In Flames,” a Pakistani-Canadian horror film directed by Zarrar Kahn and executive produced by Shant Joshi. As revealed by Variety, XYZ had boarded the title last year. In the Karachi-set film, after the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter’s precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their past – both real and phantasmal. They must...
The initiative will serve as a curated collection of films that “exists to discover and support the next generation of great filmmakers at the inception of their career, and to give established talents room to do something smaller, more intimate, or challenging outside of the usual box of independent filmmaking,” XYZ said in a statement.
The slate will launch in Cannes with Directors’ Fortnight selection “In Flames,” a Pakistani-Canadian horror film directed by Zarrar Kahn and executive produced by Shant Joshi. As revealed by Variety, XYZ had boarded the title last year. In the Karachi-set film, after the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter’s precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their past – both real and phantasmal. They must...
- 4/19/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
XYZ Films have launched a new label for low-budget international genre films, called New Visions.
The company will launch its first New Visions slate at the Cannes Film Market next month with In Flames, the feature debut of Pakistani-Canadian director Zarrar Kahn. The Urdu-language horror movie, which was just picked for the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight lineup, follows a young woman who is tormented by vivid hallucinations after the death of her boyfriend. Other titles in the New Visions slate include the Czech science fiction title Restore Point from director Robert Hloz, and Irish folk horror All You Need Is Death from Very Extremely Dangerous helmer Paul Duane.
XYZ Films has hired Manon Barat, formerly a sales and marketing executive with Barcelona-based Film Factory Entertainment, as a dedicated sales executive overseeing the new slate, working alongside XYZ head of international acquisitions Todd Brown.
Brown framed the new label as a return to the roots for XYZ,...
The company will launch its first New Visions slate at the Cannes Film Market next month with In Flames, the feature debut of Pakistani-Canadian director Zarrar Kahn. The Urdu-language horror movie, which was just picked for the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight lineup, follows a young woman who is tormented by vivid hallucinations after the death of her boyfriend. Other titles in the New Visions slate include the Czech science fiction title Restore Point from director Robert Hloz, and Irish folk horror All You Need Is Death from Very Extremely Dangerous helmer Paul Duane.
XYZ Films has hired Manon Barat, formerly a sales and marketing executive with Barcelona-based Film Factory Entertainment, as a dedicated sales executive overseeing the new slate, working alongside XYZ head of international acquisitions Todd Brown.
Brown framed the new label as a return to the roots for XYZ,...
- 4/19/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
XYZ Films has hired Manon Barat, a former executive at the Spanish sales company Film Factory, to head a slate of titles that will fall under the company’s newly-launched global film initiative, New Visions.
Barat will work alongside XYZ Head of International Acquisitions Todd Brown to oversee the new slate, which the company has described as a “highly curated collection of films.”
XYZ will launch the new slate in Cannes with In Flames, a Pakistani-Canadian horror film directed by Zarrar Kahn and executive produced by Shant Joshi. The pic will screen as part of the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar. Check out a first-look image from the film below.
Other titles from the initial New Visions slate include the Czech sci-fi pic Restore Point, directed by Robert Hloz and produced by Jan Kallista, which will have footage screened at the Marché du Film as part of the Fantastic 7 lineup. Paul Duane...
Barat will work alongside XYZ Head of International Acquisitions Todd Brown to oversee the new slate, which the company has described as a “highly curated collection of films.”
XYZ will launch the new slate in Cannes with In Flames, a Pakistani-Canadian horror film directed by Zarrar Kahn and executive produced by Shant Joshi. The pic will screen as part of the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar. Check out a first-look image from the film below.
Other titles from the initial New Visions slate include the Czech sci-fi pic Restore Point, directed by Robert Hloz and produced by Jan Kallista, which will have footage screened at the Marché du Film as part of the Fantastic 7 lineup. Paul Duane...
- 4/19/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
It will be the third feature from director Jonas Karasek.
Slovakian project The File (Spis) has won Screen International’s Best Pitch Award at the Baltic Event Co-Production Market at the Tallin Black Nights International Film Festival.
Producer Wanda Adamik Hrycova of Bratislava-based Wandal production, director Jonas Karasek and the film’s Finnish co-producer Oskari Huttu of Lucy Loves accepted the award, which offers editorial coverage throughout the film’s life-cycle.
The €1.8m political thriller, based on real events surrounding one of the biggest corruption scandals in Eastern European history, will be the third feature directed by Karasek.
It continues...
Slovakian project The File (Spis) has won Screen International’s Best Pitch Award at the Baltic Event Co-Production Market at the Tallin Black Nights International Film Festival.
Producer Wanda Adamik Hrycova of Bratislava-based Wandal production, director Jonas Karasek and the film’s Finnish co-producer Oskari Huttu of Lucy Loves accepted the award, which offers editorial coverage throughout the film’s life-cycle.
The €1.8m political thriller, based on real events surrounding one of the biggest corruption scandals in Eastern European history, will be the third feature directed by Karasek.
It continues...
- 11/29/2019
- by 158¦Martin Blaney¦40¦
- ScreenDaily
Star of Pawel Pawlikowski’s ‘Cold War’ joins sci-fi detective feature.
Polish actor Tomasz Kot, best known for his starring role in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, will star in Czech director Robert Hloz’s Restore Point.
The sci-fi detective project won the Screen International Best Pitch Award at Tallinn’s Baltic Event co-production market in 2017.
It is set in Europe 2038 where everyone has the right of recovery in case of unnatural death and in this society, ‘absolute’ murder is nearly impossible. It is against this backdrop that an ambitious female detective takes on the case of a murdered married...
Polish actor Tomasz Kot, best known for his starring role in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, will star in Czech director Robert Hloz’s Restore Point.
The sci-fi detective project won the Screen International Best Pitch Award at Tallinn’s Baltic Event co-production market in 2017.
It is set in Europe 2038 where everyone has the right of recovery in case of unnatural death and in this society, ‘absolute’ murder is nearly impossible. It is against this backdrop that an ambitious female detective takes on the case of a murdered married...
- 11/28/2019
- by 158¦Martin Blaney¦40¦
- ScreenDaily
Robert Hloz’s Czech sci-fi thriller Restore Point aims to shoot in 2019.
Czech actors Andrea Mohylová, Tomas Mastalir and Dama A Kral have signed to star in Robert Hloz’s €1.7m sci-fi film Restore Point, the winner of the Screen International Best Pitch award at the Baltic Event co-production market in 2017.
Producer Jan Kallista of Prague-based Film Kolektiv has confirmed the film is neaerly financed and principal photography is being lined up for early autumn 2019.
Restore Point is written by Tomislav Cecka and is set in a Europe of 2038.
After the pichng presentation in Tallinn last year, Kallista said production...
Czech actors Andrea Mohylová, Tomas Mastalir and Dama A Kral have signed to star in Robert Hloz’s €1.7m sci-fi film Restore Point, the winner of the Screen International Best Pitch award at the Baltic Event co-production market in 2017.
Producer Jan Kallista of Prague-based Film Kolektiv has confirmed the film is neaerly financed and principal photography is being lined up for early autumn 2019.
Restore Point is written by Tomislav Cecka and is set in a Europe of 2038.
After the pichng presentation in Tallinn last year, Kallista said production...
- 11/30/2018
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Robert Hloz’s Czech sci-fi thriller Restore Point aims to shoot in 2019.
Czech actors Andrea Mohylová, Tomas Mastalir and Dama A Kral have signed to star in Robert Hloz’s €1.7m sci-fi film Restore Point, the winner of the Screen International Best Pitch award at the Baltic Event co-production market in 2017.
Producer Jan Kallista of Prague-based Film Kolektiv has confirmed the film is neaerly financed and principal photography is being lined up for early autumn 2019.
Restore Point is written by Tomislav Cecka and is set in a Europe of 2038.
After the pichng presentation in Tallinn last year, Kallista said production...
Czech actors Andrea Mohylová, Tomas Mastalir and Dama A Kral have signed to star in Robert Hloz’s €1.7m sci-fi film Restore Point, the winner of the Screen International Best Pitch award at the Baltic Event co-production market in 2017.
Producer Jan Kallista of Prague-based Film Kolektiv has confirmed the film is neaerly financed and principal photography is being lined up for early autumn 2019.
Restore Point is written by Tomislav Cecka and is set in a Europe of 2038.
After the pichng presentation in Tallinn last year, Kallista said production...
- 11/30/2018
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Frontières, the Fantasia International Film Festival’s annual film co-production market, has announced its first wave of projects for the ninth edition, which takes place from July 20 to July 23 in Montreal. Among the projects that will participate in the co-production market is the zombie film “George A. Romero Presents: Road of the Dead.” The project was written by Romero and Matt Birman, who is attached to direct.
Cannes: Neon and Vice Buy U.S. Rights to Harmony Korine’s ‘The Beach Bum’
“Road of the Dead” is the next zombie film following Romero’s last three movies as a director: “Survival of the Dead,” “Diary of the Dead” and “Land of the Dead.” Birman served as second unit director on all three movies, and has worked as a stunt coordinator and stuntman for more than three decades.
“Road of the Dead” originated as an original pitch from Birman roughly 10 years ago.
Cannes: Neon and Vice Buy U.S. Rights to Harmony Korine’s ‘The Beach Bum’
“Road of the Dead” is the next zombie film following Romero’s last three movies as a director: “Survival of the Dead,” “Diary of the Dead” and “Land of the Dead.” Birman served as second unit director on all three movies, and has worked as a stunt coordinator and stuntman for more than three decades.
“Road of the Dead” originated as an original pitch from Birman roughly 10 years ago.
- 5/19/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
This year’s event features an unprecedented increase in women directors and a new work-in-progress lab.
The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Mar 13-15), which has its 15th edition this year, has revealed its lineup of 25 projects.
Unprecedentedly, nearly half of the projects are from female directors, about a third are by first-time directors and two rarely seen genres at Haf are included - science fiction and gothic thriller.
As with previous editions, Hong Kong has a strong presence with five projects, including Derek Chiu’s No.1 Chung Ying Street, a drama about the 1967 riots in Hong Kong; Sobel Chan’s The Goddess, a tribute to classic 1930s Chinese films; new director Sunny Chan’s Man On The Dragon, a comedy-drama about five middle-aged men who take part in a dragon boat competition; new director Tom Chung-sing’s Impossible Split, about a bowling athlete who becomes a world champion despite a fatal disease, produced by She...
The Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (Mar 13-15), which has its 15th edition this year, has revealed its lineup of 25 projects.
Unprecedentedly, nearly half of the projects are from female directors, about a third are by first-time directors and two rarely seen genres at Haf are included - science fiction and gothic thriller.
As with previous editions, Hong Kong has a strong presence with five projects, including Derek Chiu’s No.1 Chung Ying Street, a drama about the 1967 riots in Hong Kong; Sobel Chan’s The Goddess, a tribute to classic 1930s Chinese films; new director Sunny Chan’s Man On The Dragon, a comedy-drama about five middle-aged men who take part in a dragon boat competition; new director Tom Chung-sing’s Impossible Split, about a bowling athlete who becomes a world champion despite a fatal disease, produced by She...
- 1/18/2017
- by screenasia@yahoo.com (Silvia Wong)
- ScreenDaily
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