Philippa Kowarsky to ”pursue other ventures outside of the BBC”.
Philippa Kowarsky has stepped down as commissioning editor of BBC Storyville, the UK broadcaster’s documentary brand, after less than a year in the role.
Kowarsky, who joined from international sales and advisory firm Cinephil in October, has departed ”to pursue other ventures outside of the BBC”.
Newly-appointed BBC Film director Eva Yates becomes the interim lead for the factual strand.
In an internal note to BBC staff, Yates said: “I would like to personally thank Philippa for her contribution to the success of Storyville over the past year, during...
Philippa Kowarsky has stepped down as commissioning editor of BBC Storyville, the UK broadcaster’s documentary brand, after less than a year in the role.
Kowarsky, who joined from international sales and advisory firm Cinephil in October, has departed ”to pursue other ventures outside of the BBC”.
Newly-appointed BBC Film director Eva Yates becomes the interim lead for the factual strand.
In an internal note to BBC staff, Yates said: “I would like to personally thank Philippa for her contribution to the success of Storyville over the past year, during...
- 8/4/2022
- by Alex Farber Broadcast
- ScreenDaily
Further Christmas releases include ‘Silent Night’, ‘CBeebies Christmas Show’.
Aml Ameen’s romantic comedy Boxing Day heads the new titles at the UK-Ireland box office, as one of six Christmas-themed releases this weekend.
Released in 439 sites through Warner Bros, Boxing Day is inspired by Ameen’s own experiences, and follows a UK author who returns home from Los Angeles to introduce his US fiancée to his eccentric British-Caribbean family at Christmas.
The film is produced by Screen Star of Tomorrow 2020 Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, alongside Damian Jones of DJ Films, plus Ameen, Dominique Telson and Matthew G. Zamias; backing came from the BFI Film Fund and Film4.
Aml Ameen’s romantic comedy Boxing Day heads the new titles at the UK-Ireland box office, as one of six Christmas-themed releases this weekend.
Released in 439 sites through Warner Bros, Boxing Day is inspired by Ameen’s own experiences, and follows a UK author who returns home from Los Angeles to introduce his US fiancée to his eccentric British-Caribbean family at Christmas.
The film is produced by Screen Star of Tomorrow 2020 Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, alongside Damian Jones of DJ Films, plus Ameen, Dominique Telson and Matthew G. Zamias; backing came from the BFI Film Fund and Film4.
- 12/3/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The USC Shoah Foundation has partnered with Participant and Focus Features to unveil a new initiative for university and upper-level high school educators, aimed at combatting antisemitism, and promoting education surrounding the Holocaust.
The initiative coming to USC’s IWitness education platform centers on Final Account, a 2020 documentary brought to life for Participant and Focus by the late Luke Holland over the course of 10 years, making its premiere at the Venice Film Festival last year. The doc offers up a collection of never-before-seen interviews with men and women ranging from former SS officials to civilians as they reckon, in very different ways, with their memories, perceptions and personal appraisals of their roles in the Holocaust.
The documentary raising timely questions about authority, conformity, national identity, and responsibility does not aim to retell the history of the Nazi era, but rather to depict how these people relate to this history and...
The initiative coming to USC’s IWitness education platform centers on Final Account, a 2020 documentary brought to life for Participant and Focus by the late Luke Holland over the course of 10 years, making its premiere at the Venice Film Festival last year. The doc offers up a collection of never-before-seen interviews with men and women ranging from former SS officials to civilians as they reckon, in very different ways, with their memories, perceptions and personal appraisals of their roles in the Holocaust.
The documentary raising timely questions about authority, conformity, national identity, and responsibility does not aim to retell the history of the Nazi era, but rather to depict how these people relate to this history and...
- 11/15/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
(Interactive chart with estimates below)
Three different premieres led the specialty box office this weekend with each film breaking a 100K weekend gross.
First, Focus Features’ Final Account splashed in at $150K this opening weekend. Over a decade in the making, the timely documentary offers a portrait of the last living generation of everyday people to participate in Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. The Luke Holland-directed film raises questions about authority, conformity, complicity, perpetration, national identity, and responsibility, as men and women ranging from former SS members to civilians in never-before-seen interviews reckon with – in very different ways – their memories, perceptions, and personal appraisals of their own roles in the greatest human crimes in history.
Final Account was well-received by critics and minted $488 per screen at 308 locations.
Neon released the drama New Order this weekend to 236 screens. Directed by Michel Franco, the film sees a high-society wedding...
Three different premieres led the specialty box office this weekend with each film breaking a 100K weekend gross.
First, Focus Features’ Final Account splashed in at $150K this opening weekend. Over a decade in the making, the timely documentary offers a portrait of the last living generation of everyday people to participate in Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. The Luke Holland-directed film raises questions about authority, conformity, complicity, perpetration, national identity, and responsibility, as men and women ranging from former SS members to civilians in never-before-seen interviews reckon with – in very different ways – their memories, perceptions, and personal appraisals of their own roles in the greatest human crimes in history.
Final Account was well-received by critics and minted $488 per screen at 308 locations.
Neon released the drama New Order this weekend to 236 screens. Directed by Michel Franco, the film sees a high-society wedding...
- 5/24/2021
- by Brandon Choe
- Deadline Film + TV
The end is near.
No, not of theaters. The end of minuscule grosses and reports laying out numbers in which the total for all films is less (by far) of what the number-one film alone normally would gross in late May.
It was, with no new studio wide openings (with a unique asterisk), the lowest turnout at theaters since March after getting as high as $58 million. This weekend will come in around $21 million ($17 million of that in the top 10). The results for the equivalent three days in 2019? $181 million.
Next weekend with “A Quiet Place Part II” (Paramount) and “Cruella” (Disney) opening, the three-day figure could approach that number from those two alone. And there’s another reason to put aside the current results as a last gasp of the worst of the pandemic.
“F9” (Universal) is why. Even though its domestic release is a month away, the latest edition of...
No, not of theaters. The end of minuscule grosses and reports laying out numbers in which the total for all films is less (by far) of what the number-one film alone normally would gross in late May.
It was, with no new studio wide openings (with a unique asterisk), the lowest turnout at theaters since March after getting as high as $58 million. This weekend will come in around $21 million ($17 million of that in the top 10). The results for the equivalent three days in 2019? $181 million.
Next weekend with “A Quiet Place Part II” (Paramount) and “Cruella” (Disney) opening, the three-day figure could approach that number from those two alone. And there’s another reason to put aside the current results as a last gasp of the worst of the pandemic.
“F9” (Universal) is why. Even though its domestic release is a month away, the latest edition of...
- 5/23/2021
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Chicago – Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on Wbgr-fm on May 20th, 2021, reviewing the new World War II documentary “Final Account” in theaters beginning May 21st.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
“Final Account” took a decade to produce, as men and women ranging from former SS members to civilians of the Nazi era, in never-before-seen interviews, reckon with their memories, perceptions and personal appraisals of their participation back then. From the 1920s to the 1940s, the survivors who were dutiful children, bureaucrats, soldiers and ordinary citizens reconcile with, or in one case support, their role in history.
“Final Account” opened in theaters on May 21st. See local listings for theaters and show times. Written and directed by Luke Holland. Rated “PG-13”
Click here for Patrick McDonald’s full on-air review of “Final Account”
Final Account
Photo credit: Focus Features
Click here for Patrick McDonald’s full...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
“Final Account” took a decade to produce, as men and women ranging from former SS members to civilians of the Nazi era, in never-before-seen interviews, reckon with their memories, perceptions and personal appraisals of their participation back then. From the 1920s to the 1940s, the survivors who were dutiful children, bureaucrats, soldiers and ordinary citizens reconcile with, or in one case support, their role in history.
“Final Account” opened in theaters on May 21st. See local listings for theaters and show times. Written and directed by Luke Holland. Rated “PG-13”
Click here for Patrick McDonald’s full on-air review of “Final Account”
Final Account
Photo credit: Focus Features
Click here for Patrick McDonald’s full...
- 5/23/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The domestic box office isn’t going to get interesting until next weekend when Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II and Disney’s Cruella launch the summer season. From that point on, we largely won’t have any weekends where the major studios are taking a break from releasing wide entries, which is the case this weekend as Lionsgate’s Spiral: From the Book of Saw repeats in its second frame with $1.38M yesterday, -63%, and an expected 3-day of $4.7M, -46% (actually a pretty good hold for a horror film which typically drops -60% or greater) and a running total of $15.9M. Spiral is booked at 2,997 theaters (+186). All the action is overseas where Universal’s F9 is heading to $160M this weekend in 8 markets, charged by China where it’s set to become the second biggest opener for the studio and the Fast franchise, already counting $105M. F9 parks itself at U.
- 5/22/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Oscar nominee Toni Collette, Damian Lewis, and Owen Teale star in horse racing drama, Dream Horse, from Bleecker Street and Topic Studios.
Directed by Euros Lyn, the film tells the true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town Welsh bartender, Jan Vokes (Collette). With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream in the hopes he can compete with the racing elites. The group’s investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks with grit and determination and goes on to race in the Welsh Grand National showing the heart of a true champion.
Rounding out the cast are Joanna Page, Karl Johnson, Steffan Rhodri, Anthony O’Donnell, Nicholas Farrell and Sian Phillips
The film, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, gallops into limited theaters today followed by an on-demand release on...
Directed by Euros Lyn, the film tells the true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town Welsh bartender, Jan Vokes (Collette). With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream in the hopes he can compete with the racing elites. The group’s investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks with grit and determination and goes on to race in the Welsh Grand National showing the heart of a true champion.
Rounding out the cast are Joanna Page, Karl Johnson, Steffan Rhodri, Anthony O’Donnell, Nicholas Farrell and Sian Phillips
The film, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, gallops into limited theaters today followed by an on-demand release on...
- 5/21/2021
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
"Do not let yourself be blinded!" Focus Features has released an official trailer for Final Account, a eye-opening and frightening look back at Nazi Germany. And oh yes it definitely has an important connection to the events of nowadays. "Everyone knew, but no one said anything." Filmmaker Luke Holland (who sadly passed away last year) interviews nearly 300 elderly perpetrators and witnesses of the Holocaust from the Nazi side. His goal was to create an urgent and definitive portrait of the last living generation of everyday people who participated in Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. Presenting a film that "raises vital, timely questions about authority, conformity, complicity and perpetration, national identity, and responsibility." Indeed. We need to be hit hard with this honesty, because everyone always likes to ask that cliche "how did all those Germans let it happen?" question. So let's ask them and find out. Oooh this documentary looks damn good.
- 4/12/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
We all know that knee-jerk racism and willful ignorance are the handmaidens of evil: Without these all-too-common traits, heinous acts are difficult to perpetrate on a large scale. Documentary maker Luke Holland’s “Final Account” is the first product of an ambitious undertaking to interview the now elderly helpers and handmaidens whose tacit acceptance of the Nazi regime enabled the Final Solution. The film is a distillation of roughly 300 interviews with men and women, some of whom were literally cogs in the machine, like the governess of a Nazi family, while others, such as SS men, were directly involved. Their willingness to appear before the camera is surprising, but not the range of responses, varying from unconvincing ignorance to pride and, just occasionally, a recognition that atrocities took place literally under their noses. Clocking in at a swift 90 minutes, “Final Account” is like a teenager-friendly approach to “Shoah,” designed as...
- 9/12/2020
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
While the coronavirus pandemic has canceled major festivals such as Cannes and Telluride, the 2020 Venice Film Festival is moving ahead as planned and will be the world’s first major film festival since Sundance and Berlin at the start of the year. Venice 2020’s main selection will be split into three sections: Venezia 77 (aka the main competition), Out of Competition, and Horizons. The titles selected for the main competition will compete for the Golden Lion, which was awarded last year to Todd Phillips’ “Joker.”
As previously announced, Daniele Luchetti’s drama “Lacci” will open the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 2. The movie is the first Italian title to open Venice in 11 years. The last Italian opener was Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baarìa” at the 2009 festival. “Lacci” is included in this year’s Out of Competition section. Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” follow-up “Nomadland” was also confirmed for a world premiere...
As previously announced, Daniele Luchetti’s drama “Lacci” will open the 77th Venice Film Festival on September 2. The movie is the first Italian title to open Venice in 11 years. The last Italian opener was Giuseppe Tornatore’s “Baarìa” at the 2009 festival. “Lacci” is included in this year’s Out of Competition section. Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” follow-up “Nomadland” was also confirmed for a world premiere...
- 7/28/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
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