Exclusive: Jane Widdop (Yellowjackets), Joel McHale (Community) and Justin Long (Barbarian) have been set to lead under-the-radar slasher horror It’s A Wonderful Knife, which is now in post-production.
Here’s the official synopsis: “Set in idyllic Angel Falls. A year after saving her town from a psychotic killer on Christmas Eve, Winnie Carruthers’ life is less than wonderful — but when she wishes she’d never been born, she finds herself in a nightmare parallel universe and discovers that without her, things could be much, much worse. Now the killer is back, and she must team up with the town misfit to identify the killer and get back to her own reality.” Below is a first look image from the movie.
Widdop, one of the young breakouts from Showtime’s hit series Yellowjackets, stars in the lead role of Winnie Carruthers. McHale plays Winnie’s father David and Long plays the town patron Mr Waters.
Here’s the official synopsis: “Set in idyllic Angel Falls. A year after saving her town from a psychotic killer on Christmas Eve, Winnie Carruthers’ life is less than wonderful — but when she wishes she’d never been born, she finds herself in a nightmare parallel universe and discovers that without her, things could be much, much worse. Now the killer is back, and she must team up with the town misfit to identify the killer and get back to her own reality.” Below is a first look image from the movie.
Widdop, one of the young breakouts from Showtime’s hit series Yellowjackets, stars in the lead role of Winnie Carruthers. McHale plays Winnie’s father David and Long plays the town patron Mr Waters.
- 4/27/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
“How Harry Styles Became the World’s Most Wanted Man: is the headline of Rolling Stones’ new Harry Styles cover story.
It could also translate to Hollywood where the global pop superstar has been in-demand and on a big-screen run since his debut in Christopher Nolan’s WWII epic Dunkirk in 2017. He segued from that small, supporting role to leading man work by way of Olivia Wilde’s anticipated psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling and Michael Grandage’s My Policeman. He also snagged a major Marvel cameo as Eros in the end credits of Chloe Zhao’s The Eternals.
But don’t expect it to continue. Ahead of world premieres for Darling and Policeman at both the Venice and Toronto film festivals, Styles tells Rolling Stone, “I don’t imagine I’d do a movie for a while.”
“I think there’ll be...
“How Harry Styles Became the World’s Most Wanted Man: is the headline of Rolling Stones’ new Harry Styles cover story.
It could also translate to Hollywood where the global pop superstar has been in-demand and on a big-screen run since his debut in Christopher Nolan’s WWII epic Dunkirk in 2017. He segued from that small, supporting role to leading man work by way of Olivia Wilde’s anticipated psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling and Michael Grandage’s My Policeman. He also snagged a major Marvel cameo as Eros in the end credits of Chloe Zhao’s The Eternals.
But don’t expect it to continue. Ahead of world premieres for Darling and Policeman at both the Venice and Toronto film festivals, Styles tells Rolling Stone, “I don’t imagine I’d do a movie for a while.”
“I think there’ll be...
- 8/22/2022
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Fighting with My Family (Stephen Merchant)
A crowdpleaser down to its bones, Fighting with My Family shows the importance of bringing an entertaining perspective to a true story. This tale of a British underdog with major wrestling dreams is thoroughly elevated by the participation of writer-director Stephen Merchant. His brand of dry, off-kilter comedy surges through what is an otherwise inspiring, but by-the-numbers tale of childhood aspirations come true. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: Hulu
Ford v Ferrari (James Mangold)
James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari is, in a word, sturdy. It’s the kind of airtight drama that could never be called groundbreaking or even original.
Fighting with My Family (Stephen Merchant)
A crowdpleaser down to its bones, Fighting with My Family shows the importance of bringing an entertaining perspective to a true story. This tale of a British underdog with major wrestling dreams is thoroughly elevated by the participation of writer-director Stephen Merchant. His brand of dry, off-kilter comedy surges through what is an otherwise inspiring, but by-the-numbers tale of childhood aspirations come true. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: Hulu
Ford v Ferrari (James Mangold)
James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari is, in a word, sturdy. It’s the kind of airtight drama that could never be called groundbreaking or even original.
- 1/31/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In his third feature, “Synonyms,” Israeli writer-director Nadav Lapid proves he has a fascination with people who take things too far, whether extremists, romantics, or some inextricable mesh of the two. His first film, “Policeman” follows anti-terrorist agents and the young radicals they clash with. His second, “The Kindergarten Teacher”—remade in English with Maggie Gyllenhaal in the titular role—traces the life of a poetry-obsessed elementary school teacher who finds deranged hope in an unlikely prodigy.
Continue reading ‘Synonyms’: Nadav Lapid Makes A Sensational Statement About Identity & Nationality With Furious & Chaotic Energy [Nyff Review] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Synonyms’: Nadav Lapid Makes A Sensational Statement About Identity & Nationality With Furious & Chaotic Energy [Nyff Review] at The Playlist.
- 10/4/2019
- by Luke Hicks
- The Playlist
Exclusive: The Gersh Agency has signed acclaimed Israeli writer-director Nadav Lapid, whose latest feature Synonyms (Synonymes) won Berlin’s Golden Bear for Best Film earlier this year.
Well-received French and Hebrew-language drama Synonyms, which had its North American premiere at Tiff last night, follows a young Israeli man who absconds to Paris to flee his nationality, aided by his trusty Franco-Israeli dictionary. The film has already played at a host of international festivals.
Pic is being released by Kino Lorber in the U.S. in late October and will also play the New York Film Festival.
Lapid is well known on the arthouse circuit for Israeli movies including Policeman, which won the Locarno Festival Special Jury Prize in 2011 and Cannes critical hit The Kindergarten Teacher, released by Kino Lorber and later remade in English with Maggie Gyllenhaal.
He was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and studied philosophy at Tel Aviv University.
Well-received French and Hebrew-language drama Synonyms, which had its North American premiere at Tiff last night, follows a young Israeli man who absconds to Paris to flee his nationality, aided by his trusty Franco-Israeli dictionary. The film has already played at a host of international festivals.
Pic is being released by Kino Lorber in the U.S. in late October and will also play the New York Film Festival.
Lapid is well known on the arthouse circuit for Israeli movies including Policeman, which won the Locarno Festival Special Jury Prize in 2011 and Cannes critical hit The Kindergarten Teacher, released by Kino Lorber and later remade in English with Maggie Gyllenhaal.
He was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and studied philosophy at Tel Aviv University.
- 9/10/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
John Cena and Nickelodeon’s “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” are back for a new season on Friday evening, but you won’t have to wait until 7 o’clock to get a few chuckles over an adult struggling with basic math.
Not only is Alfred the assistant dean at Yale, he is a former Princeton professor. Both are Ivy League schools.
Here is Nick’s enjoyable logline for the “College Dean” episode:
In the episode, an Ivy League professor aims to prove his years of schooling haven’t gone to waste. But when his big brain starts to overthink, he considers cheating off a 5th grader!
Also Read: Inside WWE's 'SmackDown' and 'Raw' Creative Team Shakeup (Exclusive)
Watch Alfred fret his way through a third-grad subtraction question via the sneak peek video above, which is exclusive to TheWrap.
And yes, he was correct. We hope your backwards counting concurs.
Not only is Alfred the assistant dean at Yale, he is a former Princeton professor. Both are Ivy League schools.
Here is Nick’s enjoyable logline for the “College Dean” episode:
In the episode, an Ivy League professor aims to prove his years of schooling haven’t gone to waste. But when his big brain starts to overthink, he considers cheating off a 5th grader!
Also Read: Inside WWE's 'SmackDown' and 'Raw' Creative Team Shakeup (Exclusive)
Watch Alfred fret his way through a third-grad subtraction question via the sneak peek video above, which is exclusive to TheWrap.
And yes, he was correct. We hope your backwards counting concurs.
- 9/6/2019
- by Tony Maglio
- The Wrap
Israeli writer-director Nadav Lapid made a splash with both his gripping debut Policeman and his follow-up The Kindergarten Teacher, but he earned his highest accolade yet with Synonyms, which picked up the Golden Bear at Berlinale. Telling the story of an Israeli man who moves to Paris and is caught adrift as he wrestles with identity, it’s a thoroughly riveting character study that consistently catches one off guard in evolving ways. Ahead of a U.S. release in October via Kino Lorber and stops at Tiff and Nyff, the new trailer has arrived.
Ed Frankl said in our review, “Relocation becomes dislocation in director Nadav Lapid’s intense, beguiling Synonyms. Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, the story follows a young Israeli man who moves to Paris in the hope of shedding his past and remolding his identity, yet instead finds his sense of self chipped away at.
Ed Frankl said in our review, “Relocation becomes dislocation in director Nadav Lapid’s intense, beguiling Synonyms. Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, the story follows a young Israeli man who moves to Paris in the hope of shedding his past and remolding his identity, yet instead finds his sense of self chipped away at.
- 8/22/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival — and a bonafide masterpiece that deserves to be mentioned alongside “Parasite,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “The Irishman,” and the rest of the major new releases this fall — Nadav Lapid’s “Synonyms” is destined to go down as one of the most thrilling, infuriating, and essential movies of 2019. And thanks to distributor Kino Lorber, American audiences won’t have to wait much longer to see it.
A sui generis work of tormented genius from the Israeli auteur behind “Policeman” and the original version of “The Kindergarten Teacher,” Lapid’s disorienting third feature is a strange and utterly singular tale about the violence of a man trying to replace one identity with another. That man, extrapolated from the director’s personal experience of fleeing to Paris because he believed that he was born in the Middle East by mistake,...
A sui generis work of tormented genius from the Israeli auteur behind “Policeman” and the original version of “The Kindergarten Teacher,” Lapid’s disorienting third feature is a strange and utterly singular tale about the violence of a man trying to replace one identity with another. That man, extrapolated from the director’s personal experience of fleeing to Paris because he believed that he was born in the Middle East by mistake,...
- 8/21/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Nadav Lapid’s feature drama “Synonyms,” which had its world premiere at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year and won the top prize Golden Bear for best film.
“Synonyms,” co-produced by director Maren Ade (“Toni Erdmann”) amongst others, is loosely based on Lapid’s own experience as a young man who rejects his Israeli heritage and flees to Paris. It is Lapid’s third feature following his “Policeman” and “The Kindergarten Teacher.”
“Synonyms” will have its theatrical premiere this fall and will be available on VOD and home video this winter.
Last year Kino Lorber also picked up rights for the Golden Bear winner, Adina Pintilie’s sexually intimate odyssey “Touch Me Not.” Kino Lorber also released Lapid’s “The Kindergarten Teacher” stateside, which saw an English-language remake in 2018 written and directed by Sara Colangelo which debuted at the...
“Synonyms,” co-produced by director Maren Ade (“Toni Erdmann”) amongst others, is loosely based on Lapid’s own experience as a young man who rejects his Israeli heritage and flees to Paris. It is Lapid’s third feature following his “Policeman” and “The Kindergarten Teacher.”
“Synonyms” will have its theatrical premiere this fall and will be available on VOD and home video this winter.
Last year Kino Lorber also picked up rights for the Golden Bear winner, Adina Pintilie’s sexually intimate odyssey “Touch Me Not.” Kino Lorber also released Lapid’s “The Kindergarten Teacher” stateside, which saw an English-language remake in 2018 written and directed by Sara Colangelo which debuted at the...
- 5/16/2019
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
For a second year in a row, Kino Lorber has inked a deal for Berlin’s Golden Bear winner. The indie distributor said Thursday it has acquired North American rights to Synonyms, Nadav Lapid’s drama that won Berlin’s top prize after it world premiered there in February. The pic will now get a U.S. theatrical release in the fall before hitting VOD and digital.
Synonyms is loosely based on Lapid’s own experience and stars Tom Mercier as Yoav, a young Israeli expat and ex-soldier who refuses to speak Hebrew and goes to Paris with nothing but his French-Hebrew dictionary and a backpack that eventually gets stolen. He develops a relationship with Emile and Caroline, a young bourgeois couple living below him, who aid him on his search for rebirth and a new identity. Lapid co-wrote the script with Haim Lapid.
Producers are Sbs Productions’ Saïd Ben Saïd and Michel Merkt.
Synonyms is loosely based on Lapid’s own experience and stars Tom Mercier as Yoav, a young Israeli expat and ex-soldier who refuses to speak Hebrew and goes to Paris with nothing but his French-Hebrew dictionary and a backpack that eventually gets stolen. He develops a relationship with Emile and Caroline, a young bourgeois couple living below him, who aid him on his search for rebirth and a new identity. Lapid co-wrote the script with Haim Lapid.
Producers are Sbs Productions’ Saïd Ben Saïd and Michel Merkt.
- 5/16/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Kino Lorber has acquired the North American rights to “Synonyms,” which won the Golden Bear for Best Film at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, the distributor announced Thursday.
Nadav Lapid directed the feature loosely based on Lapid’s own experience as a young man who rejects his Israeli heritage and flees to Paris. This is Lapid’s third feature following his critically acclaimed “Policeman” and “The Kindergarten Teacher,” which Kino Lorber also released stateside.
Kino Lorber plans to release the film theatrically this fall, followed by a VOD and home video release this winter.
Also Read: 'Studio 54' Acquired by Kino Lorber, Zeitgeist Films
“Synonyms” stars Tom Mercier as Yoav, a young Israeli expat and ex-soldier who refuses to speak Hebrew and goes to Paris with nothing but his French-Hebrew dictionary and a backpack that eventually gets stolen. He develops a relationship with Emile and Caroline,...
Nadav Lapid directed the feature loosely based on Lapid’s own experience as a young man who rejects his Israeli heritage and flees to Paris. This is Lapid’s third feature following his critically acclaimed “Policeman” and “The Kindergarten Teacher,” which Kino Lorber also released stateside.
Kino Lorber plans to release the film theatrically this fall, followed by a VOD and home video release this winter.
Also Read: 'Studio 54' Acquired by Kino Lorber, Zeitgeist Films
“Synonyms” stars Tom Mercier as Yoav, a young Israeli expat and ex-soldier who refuses to speak Hebrew and goes to Paris with nothing but his French-Hebrew dictionary and a backpack that eventually gets stolen. He develops a relationship with Emile and Caroline,...
- 5/16/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Company distributed Nadav Lapid’s previous films, Policeman and The Kindergarten Teacher.
Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to this year’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms by Nadav Lapid and will distribute theatrically and on VOD in the winter.
Tom Mercier stars as a young former Israeli soldier who moves to France in a bid to start a new life and put his military life behind him. Refusing to speak Hebrew and armed only with a French-Hebrew dictionary, he befriends a young bourgeois couple in his search for redemption.
Toni Erdmann director Maren Ade served as co-producer on Synonyms,...
Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to this year’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms by Nadav Lapid and will distribute theatrically and on VOD in the winter.
Tom Mercier stars as a young former Israeli soldier who moves to France in a bid to start a new life and put his military life behind him. Refusing to speak Hebrew and armed only with a French-Hebrew dictionary, he befriends a young bourgeois couple in his search for redemption.
Toni Erdmann director Maren Ade served as co-producer on Synonyms,...
- 5/16/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Company distributed Nadav Lapid’s previous films, Policeman and The Kindergarten Teacher.
Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to this year’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms by Nadav Lapid and will distribute theatrically and on VOD in the winter.
Tom Mercier stars as a young former Israeli soldier who moves to France in a bid to start a new life and put his military life behind him. Refusing to speak Hebrew and armed only with a French-Hebrew dictionary, he befriends a young bourgeois couple in his search for redemption.
Toni Erdmann director Maren Ade served as co-producer on Synonyms,...
Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to this year’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Synonyms by Nadav Lapid and will distribute theatrically and on VOD in the winter.
Tom Mercier stars as a young former Israeli soldier who moves to France in a bid to start a new life and put his military life behind him. Refusing to speak Hebrew and armed only with a French-Hebrew dictionary, he befriends a young bourgeois couple in his search for redemption.
Toni Erdmann director Maren Ade served as co-producer on Synonyms,...
- 5/16/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Tom Mercier in SynonymsNow that the 69th Berlin International Film Festival has concluded it is even easier to see that startlingly few films in the centerpiece competition were able to escape the doldrums of average, straightforward and unsurprising cinema. There was a chance, in the lead-up to the closing ceremony, that the awards would double down on an unforgivably mediocre selection, yet as the festival ended there was a blast of hope that symbolically bodes well for next year, the 70th edition, to be newly headed by Locarno Festival’s former Artistic Director, Carlo Chatrian. German director Angela Schanalec, whose last film The Dreamed Path was at Locarno in 2016, took home the prize for best director for one of the festival’s best films, I Was at Home, But..., in a remarkable gesture of support for an approach to filmmaking that is far away from commercial concerns. And the Golden Bear went to Synonyms,...
- 2/19/2019
- MUBI
Nadav Lapid’s two previous films have all had elements of autobiography and political critique, but neither framed those traits in a vehicle as deliriously unpredictable and enthrallingly impenetrable as “Synonyms.” Breathtaking in the way it careens from one scene to the next in a whirlwind of personal and political meaning all but impossible to grasp in full measure, the film is an excoriation of Israel’s militant machismo and a self-teasing parody of Parisian stereotypes, embodied by actor Tom Mercier in this astonishingly audacious debut. Based partly on Lapid’s own past as an Israeli who moved to Paris and refused to speak Hebrew, this uncategorizable cinematic trip will polarize critics and audiences alike, with some reading it as indulgent, disjointed excess and others admiring the sheer fearlessness of it all.
Among those most likely to be scandalized, the nationalists controlling Israel’s Ministry of Culture may be surprised...
Among those most likely to be scandalized, the nationalists controlling Israel’s Ministry of Culture may be surprised...
- 2/13/2019
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Producer talks Lapid’s latest; further projects with Mendonça Filho, Verhoeven, Jaoui and Sachs.
Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid [pictured] is gearing up for the shoot of his long-gestating Paris-set feature Synonyms in Paris this autumn with emerging compatriot actor Tom Mercier in the lead role.
“It will film this November and December,” said lead producer Saïd Ben Saïd of Paris-based Sbs Productions.
Ben Saïd is at Jerusalem Film Festival as a member of the Israeli Feature Competition jury and with Philippe Garrel’s Lover For A Day, which is playing in the International Competition.
He took over as lead producer of the project from Anne-Dominique Toussaint of Les Films des Tournelles in late 2016.
“We’re friends, it was an amicable deal. Anne-Dominique was tied up in other projects so I took over the production,” explained Ben Saïd, who will also handle international sales and French distribution.
The project, which originally had the working title Micro Robert after the...
Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid [pictured] is gearing up for the shoot of his long-gestating Paris-set feature Synonyms in Paris this autumn with emerging compatriot actor Tom Mercier in the lead role.
“It will film this November and December,” said lead producer Saïd Ben Saïd of Paris-based Sbs Productions.
Ben Saïd is at Jerusalem Film Festival as a member of the Israeli Feature Competition jury and with Philippe Garrel’s Lover For A Day, which is playing in the International Competition.
He took over as lead producer of the project from Anne-Dominique Toussaint of Les Films des Tournelles in late 2016.
“We’re friends, it was an amicable deal. Anne-Dominique was tied up in other projects so I took over the production,” explained Ben Saïd, who will also handle international sales and French distribution.
The project, which originally had the working title Micro Robert after the...
- 7/17/2017
- ScreenDaily
Micro Robert
Director: Nadav Lapid
Writer: Nadav Lapid
Israeli director Nadav Lapid is set to make his third film, Micro Robert, in France. Following his 2011 debut Policeman and 2014’s The Kindergarten Teacher (read review), which premiered out of competition at Critics’ Week in Cannes (and was distributed by Kino Lorber in the Us mid-2015), Lapid has become one of the most notable new auteurs out of Israel. His next project is described as a long gestating project based on the filmmaker’s own experiences in Paris a decade ago, and is said to be a departure in tone from his last film. The Us trades advertised Lapid as being ‘set’ to film in August of 2015, but the current production status is unclear.
Cast: Tba.
Production Co./Producers: Les Films des Tournelles’ Anne-Dominique Toussaint, Pie Films
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. Tbd (domestic/international).
Release Date: Depending on when filming wraps,...
Director: Nadav Lapid
Writer: Nadav Lapid
Israeli director Nadav Lapid is set to make his third film, Micro Robert, in France. Following his 2011 debut Policeman and 2014’s The Kindergarten Teacher (read review), which premiered out of competition at Critics’ Week in Cannes (and was distributed by Kino Lorber in the Us mid-2015), Lapid has become one of the most notable new auteurs out of Israel. His next project is described as a long gestating project based on the filmmaker’s own experiences in Paris a decade ago, and is said to be a departure in tone from his last film. The Us trades advertised Lapid as being ‘set’ to film in August of 2015, but the current production status is unclear.
Cast: Tba.
Production Co./Producers: Les Films des Tournelles’ Anne-Dominique Toussaint, Pie Films
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. Tbd (domestic/international).
Release Date: Depending on when filming wraps,...
- 1/11/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Released at the end of July in a limited theatrical run via Kino Lorber, a bit over a year after premiering out of competition in the 2014 Cannes Critics’ Week, Israeli director Nadav Lapid’s evasive The Kindergarten Teacher managed to net a little under forty thousand dollars after playing four venues. Less topically divisive than Lapid’s 2011 debut, Policeman (which took over two years to see a theatrical release in the Us), his sophomore narrative’s curious, and increasingly disturbing narrative, has helped secure his reputation as one of the most notable Israeli auteurs in recent memory.
Lapid once again conveys a knack for presenting us with unsettling behavior, this time around with such gradual displacement we feel uncomfortably complicit in our close observation of what plays out like a tranquil psychotic break. Intimate and at times quite pointedly critical as concerns the lavish worship and inaccurate interpretation of artistic intention,...
Lapid once again conveys a knack for presenting us with unsettling behavior, this time around with such gradual displacement we feel uncomfortably complicit in our close observation of what plays out like a tranquil psychotic break. Intimate and at times quite pointedly critical as concerns the lavish worship and inaccurate interpretation of artistic intention,...
- 12/8/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Following his Jury Prize at Locarno 2011 for Policeman, Israeli director Nadav Lapid returns with The Kindergarten Teacher, a quiet story about talent, exploitation, and responsibility. Kindergarten teacher Nira (Sarit Larry) can’t quite rise over her own mediocre abilities as a poet, but when she takes five-year-old Yoav’s (Avi Shnaidman) inspired poetry as her own, her fellow poets react with jealousy and awe. Nira feels as if society at large will not support Yoav’s prodigy, so she takes it upon herself to squeeze more poems out of him—no matter the cost.Lapid and director of photography Shai Goldman shoot the film with equal amounts of distance and intimacy, landing on a distinct look that empathizes with teacher and student, but never spells out what they may be thinking. Nira’s obsessive behavior remains a spiritual pull to the boy’s Dionysian words. Yoav’s interiority may be probed through close-ups,...
- 8/15/2015
- by Zach Lewis
- MUBI
Nadav Lapid will dig into his own Parisian experience from over a decade back with his third feature film, the mini format dictionary referenced title of Micro Robert. Variety reports that French producer Anne-Dominique Toussaint (her most recent items via outfitter Les Films des Tournelles include Riad Sattouf’s Jacky au royaume des filles Louis Garrel’s Les deux amis) is producing. Israel’s Pie Films will be co-producing.
Gist: This follows the journey of an Israel man who moves to Paris. A philosophical exploration of self-identity, the movie will ponder on what remains of our core identity and world views when we become expats and switch languages.
Worth Noting: Lapid told the trade that with “‘Policeman,’ there are ghosts of terrorists, in ‘The Kindergarten Teacher,’ there are ghosts of 5-year olds, and in ‘Micro Robert’ our character will be haunted by ghosts of Paris”.
Do We Care?: With...
Gist: This follows the journey of an Israel man who moves to Paris. A philosophical exploration of self-identity, the movie will ponder on what remains of our core identity and world views when we become expats and switch languages.
Worth Noting: Lapid told the trade that with “‘Policeman,’ there are ghosts of terrorists, in ‘The Kindergarten Teacher,’ there are ghosts of 5-year olds, and in ‘Micro Robert’ our character will be haunted by ghosts of Paris”.
Do We Care?: With...
- 8/12/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Dangerous Minds: Lapid’s Sophomore Film a Bizarre, Engrossing Character Study
Repressed desires find an unexpected outlet in Israeli director Nadav Lapid’s sophomore film, The Kindergarten Teacher, a sometimes mystifying character study. The director’s 2011 debut, Policeman, was a topical glance at social unrest in Israel and took three years before it saw a theatrical release in the Us, nearly a month after his second title saw a premiere outside of competition in the 2014 Cannes Critics’ Week. Lapid once again conveys a knack for presenting us with unsettling behavior, this time around with such gradual displacement we feel uncomfortably complicit in our close observation of what plays out like a tranquil psychotic break. Intimate and at times quite pointedly critical as concerns the lavish worship and inaccurate interpretation of artistic intention, Lapid continues to assert an idiosyncratic perspective as offbeat as it is potentially off-putting.
Nira (Sarit Larry...
Repressed desires find an unexpected outlet in Israeli director Nadav Lapid’s sophomore film, The Kindergarten Teacher, a sometimes mystifying character study. The director’s 2011 debut, Policeman, was a topical glance at social unrest in Israel and took three years before it saw a theatrical release in the Us, nearly a month after his second title saw a premiere outside of competition in the 2014 Cannes Critics’ Week. Lapid once again conveys a knack for presenting us with unsettling behavior, this time around with such gradual displacement we feel uncomfortably complicit in our close observation of what plays out like a tranquil psychotic break. Intimate and at times quite pointedly critical as concerns the lavish worship and inaccurate interpretation of artistic intention, Lapid continues to assert an idiosyncratic perspective as offbeat as it is potentially off-putting.
Nira (Sarit Larry...
- 7/31/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Teaching, that most noble of professions, gets a twisted makeover in writer-director Nadav Lapid’s latest slice of contemporary Israeli life. Dedicated arthouse fans will recall “Policeman,” Lapid’s directorial debut from a few years back, which saw him weigh the dangers of ideological action on the scales of justice via the machismo of Israeli Defense Ministry’s Anti-Terrorism unit. Now, for his sophomore effort, he chooses to present his version of contemporary society through the Pov of a wholly different profession (dangerous ideologies and scales in tow.) “The Kindergarten Teacher” is a quiet, melancholic piece of work. Methodical in the way it tiptoes towards its disturbing climax, but also in its constant reminder that something’s off. If “Policeman” is more excavation than slice, then “The Kindergarten Teacher” is merely a scratch. It probes into some fascinating territories and leaves plenty of room for intellectual discussions, but it’s ultimately founded upon a forgettable.
- 7/30/2015
- by Nikola Grozdanovic
- The Playlist
The verse may be reminiscent of Monty Python, but this Israeli film about a woman trying to rescue a poetry-spouting child from the world’s corrupting influence is still fascinating and perplexing
Rare is the movie where you are rooting for someone to kidnap a five-year-old child. Yet The Kindergarten Teacher, Nadav Lapid’s follow-up to his extraordinary film Policeman, slowly lays down bricks for this strangely logical path.
Nira (Sarit Larry) is a kindergarten teacher and empty-nest mother with an intellectual/artistic itch. One day she notices something curious about one of her young pupils. Yoav (Avi Schnaidman), a boy with ragamuffin’s hair but a somewhat weary, pained look on his face, will sometimes begin pacing back and forth. “I have a poem,” he’ll announce, and then burst with non-rhyming verse of a vocabulary and syntax well beyond his years.
Continue reading...
Rare is the movie where you are rooting for someone to kidnap a five-year-old child. Yet The Kindergarten Teacher, Nadav Lapid’s follow-up to his extraordinary film Policeman, slowly lays down bricks for this strangely logical path.
Nira (Sarit Larry) is a kindergarten teacher and empty-nest mother with an intellectual/artistic itch. One day she notices something curious about one of her young pupils. Yoav (Avi Schnaidman), a boy with ragamuffin’s hair but a somewhat weary, pained look on his face, will sometimes begin pacing back and forth. “I have a poem,” he’ll announce, and then burst with non-rhyming verse of a vocabulary and syntax well beyond his years.
Continue reading...
- 7/29/2015
- by Jordan Hoffman
- The Guardian - Film News
His allegorical, dense and at times discomforting sophomore film received a Special Screening slot during Cannes Film Fest’s 2014 Critics’ Week (see our video coverage below), and to my surprise was bypassed during film festival season with no-shows at Tiff and Nyff. He might only be two features in, but Nadav Lapid is batting 1000 and the Kino Lorber folks agree. IndieWIRE reports that The Kindergarten Teacher has been picked up and has been set up with a July 31st date at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City, before a national expansion in August and September.
Gist: A teacher discovers in a five year-old child a prodigious gift for poetry. Amazed and inspired by this young boy, she decides to protect his talent in spite of everyone.
Worth Noting: Lapid studied cinema at the Sam Spiegel school in Jerusalem and saw his first film receive early support...
Gist: A teacher discovers in a five year-old child a prodigious gift for poetry. Amazed and inspired by this young boy, she decides to protect his talent in spite of everyone.
Worth Noting: Lapid studied cinema at the Sam Spiegel school in Jerusalem and saw his first film receive early support...
- 4/9/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Kino Lorber has acquired all Us and Canadian rights from Le Pacte to Israeli film-maker Nadav Lapid’s The Kindergarten Teacher.
Lapid’s Franco-Israeli follow-up to Locarno 2011 Silver Leopard winner Policeman premiered in Cannes last year and screened recently at New Directors / New Films in New York.
The Kindergarten Teacher (pictured) centres on a fortysomething teacher in Tel Aviv who becomes obsessed with a five-year-old poetry prodigy.
The film will open at the Film Society of Lincoln Center on July 31 prior to nationwide roll-out in August and September
Zeitgeist Films has picked up all Us rights excluding TV from Cinetic Media to Image Nation Abu Dhabi’s documentary Every Last Child.
Director Tom Roberts explores the ongoing polio crisis in Pakistan and premiered recently at Doc NYC. Zeitgeist plans to release in select cities this summer. Cercamon handles international sales.
Lapid’s Franco-Israeli follow-up to Locarno 2011 Silver Leopard winner Policeman premiered in Cannes last year and screened recently at New Directors / New Films in New York.
The Kindergarten Teacher (pictured) centres on a fortysomething teacher in Tel Aviv who becomes obsessed with a five-year-old poetry prodigy.
The film will open at the Film Society of Lincoln Center on July 31 prior to nationwide roll-out in August and September
Zeitgeist Films has picked up all Us rights excluding TV from Cinetic Media to Image Nation Abu Dhabi’s documentary Every Last Child.
Director Tom Roberts explores the ongoing polio crisis in Pakistan and premiered recently at Doc NYC. Zeitgeist plans to release in select cities this summer. Cercamon handles international sales.
- 4/9/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The first of the “new” modifiers in Fslc and MoMA’s always solid showcase New Directors/New Films has taken on a somewhat amorphous application as of late. A handful of this year’s standouts, for instance, are the fourth (Rick Alverson’s Entertainment) or third (Stephane Lafleur’s Tu Dors Nicole; Bill and Turner Ross’ Western) films from their respective directors, while Nadav Lapid, whose Policeman bowed at Nyff in 2011, seems to be making a reverse trip down the Fslc ladder with his third film, The Kindergarten Teacher, which premiered last May in Cannes. Nevertheless, there’s much to look forward to here, especially the inclusion of Britni West’s Tired Moonlight — a...
- 2/23/2015
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The first of the “new” modifiers in Fslc and MoMA’s always solid showcase New Directors/New Films has taken on a somewhat amorphous application as of late. A handful of this year’s standouts, for instance, are the fourth (Rick Alverson’s Entertainment) or third (Stephane Lafleur’s Tu Dors Nicole; Bill and Turner Ross’ Western) films from their respective directors, while Nadav Lapid, whose Policeman bowed at Nyff in 2011, seems to be making a reverse trip down the Fslc ladder with his third film, The Kindergarten Teacher, which premiered last May in Cannes. Nevertheless, there’s much to look forward to here, especially the inclusion of Britni West’s Tired Moonlight — a micro-budget, Montana-set film that […]...
- 2/23/2015
- by Sarah Salovaara
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Corinth Films will distribute Edgar Reitz's "Home From Home," the struggle of 19th century German villagers trying to escape the hardships of home by emigrating to South America. Jan Dieter Schneider stars as Jakob, who longs for a new life for himself and troubled family in Brazil and whose dreams may be shattered by his devious brother, Gustav, played by Maximilian Scheidt. But Jakob refuses to let his hard work and studies go to waste and rebels against the tired labor system. After being thrown in prison and brought to near death, Jakob must reunite with his family and love, Henriette. "Home From Home" is planned for a limited theatrical release in July. Read More: Review: Nadav Lapid's 'Policeman' Is Not Your Typical Tale of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict...
- 2/17/2015
- by Travis Clark
- Indiewire
The Museum Of Modern Art and the Film Society Of Lincoln Center announced the first nine films in the long-lived showcase for new work. They include Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s winner of the Critics’ Week grand prize at Cannes, which is set in a Ukrainian school for deaf and mute coeds and is told entirely in sign language, with no subtitles. The Tribe is one of four films that will make their way to Manhattan from Park City, Utah, where they’re also on the Sundance roster: Charles Poekel’s Christmas, Again, about a heartbroken Christmas-tree salesman; Rick Alverson’s Entertainment, a follow-up to The Comedy, about a broken-down comedian doing stand-up across the Mojave Desert and Kornél Mundruczó’s White God, winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes about a dog’s journey back to its owner after being abandoned in the city.
Representing 11 countries from around the world,...
Representing 11 countries from around the world,...
- 1/21/2015
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline
The institution of marriage, and therefore divorce, in Israel is regulated exclusively religiously, with rabbinical consent needed to sanction both marriage and divorce. In Fill the Void, rabbinical authorisation is first denied, then granted to an arranged marriage, while Gett tracks a woman’s Kafkaesque divorce proceedings as the years go by.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival in 2012 and currently showing at The London Israeli Film & Television Festival, Fill the Void was billed as the first fiction film by a Hassidic filmmaker intended for general release, with head-scarfed writer/director Rama Burshtein and her Orthodox-garbed husband an unwonted red-carpet scene. At Venice, it won a Best Actress award for newcomer Hadas Yaron, while Asaf Sudry’s cinematography was rewarded at the European Film Awards.
Family and offspring, the core prerogative of Hassidic womenfolk (and a staple of the Jane Austen novels that inspired the film) are at the centre...
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival in 2012 and currently showing at The London Israeli Film & Television Festival, Fill the Void was billed as the first fiction film by a Hassidic filmmaker intended for general release, with head-scarfed writer/director Rama Burshtein and her Orthodox-garbed husband an unwonted red-carpet scene. At Venice, it won a Best Actress award for newcomer Hadas Yaron, while Asaf Sudry’s cinematography was rewarded at the European Film Awards.
Family and offspring, the core prerogative of Hassidic womenfolk (and a staple of the Jane Austen novels that inspired the film) are at the centre...
- 11/20/2014
- by Zornitsa
- SoundOnSight
Exclusive: Dudu Tassa, Sason Gabai, Gaya Traob among cast.
Dudu Tassa, Sasson Gabai and Gaya Traub are attached to star alongside Nony Geffen in the actor-writer-director’s upcoming drama Why Elephant.
The Hebrew-language drama, aiming for a November 2014 shoot, will see Geffen play a man who reinvents himself as 80s rock star Yossi Elephant after he is left traumatised by the Third Lebanon War.
Supporting cast is due to include Julia Levy Boeken, Kabi Farag, Yossi Marshak, Sandra Sade and Tzahi Grad.
The production reunites Geffen with Laila Films producer Itai Tamir who also produced Geffen’s 2012 debut Not in Tel Aviv, which won the Special Jury Prize at Locarno.
European co-producers on the project will include Frédéric Niedermayer of Moby Dick films (France), Philipp Homberg and Hans Eddy Schreiber of KaribuFilm (Germany) and Keren Cogan Galjé (Holland).
$100,000 of the $600,000 budget has been secured from the Israel Film Fund.
Producer Tamir told Screen: “This film is more...
Dudu Tassa, Sasson Gabai and Gaya Traub are attached to star alongside Nony Geffen in the actor-writer-director’s upcoming drama Why Elephant.
The Hebrew-language drama, aiming for a November 2014 shoot, will see Geffen play a man who reinvents himself as 80s rock star Yossi Elephant after he is left traumatised by the Third Lebanon War.
Supporting cast is due to include Julia Levy Boeken, Kabi Farag, Yossi Marshak, Sandra Sade and Tzahi Grad.
The production reunites Geffen with Laila Films producer Itai Tamir who also produced Geffen’s 2012 debut Not in Tel Aviv, which won the Special Jury Prize at Locarno.
European co-producers on the project will include Frédéric Niedermayer of Moby Dick films (France), Philipp Homberg and Hans Eddy Schreiber of KaribuFilm (Germany) and Keren Cogan Galjé (Holland).
$100,000 of the $600,000 budget has been secured from the Israel Film Fund.
Producer Tamir told Screen: “This film is more...
- 7/11/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Israeli film-maker to develop Micro Robert (working title) with Les Films des Tornelles.
Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid is joining forces with Paris-based production house Les Films des Tournelles to develop a feature about a young Israeli man getting to grips with life in the French capital, provisionally entitled Micro Robert.
“I’m still writing the script but it’s at a relatively advanced stage,” Lapid told Screen. “I’m very excited about the challenge of filming in Paris and putting my own look to a city that has been shot thousands of times before…it could shoot next year.”
“It’s an existentialist comedy about a young Israeli man living in Paris,” added Les Films des Tournelles founding chief Anne-Dominique Toussaint.
The French-language feature is provisionally entitled Micro Robert after the pocket version of one of France’s best-known dictionary brands.
“We won’t set a budget or start trying to finance until we’ve signed...
Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid is joining forces with Paris-based production house Les Films des Tournelles to develop a feature about a young Israeli man getting to grips with life in the French capital, provisionally entitled Micro Robert.
“I’m still writing the script but it’s at a relatively advanced stage,” Lapid told Screen. “I’m very excited about the challenge of filming in Paris and putting my own look to a city that has been shot thousands of times before…it could shoot next year.”
“It’s an existentialist comedy about a young Israeli man living in Paris,” added Les Films des Tournelles founding chief Anne-Dominique Toussaint.
The French-language feature is provisionally entitled Micro Robert after the pocket version of one of France’s best-known dictionary brands.
“We won’t set a budget or start trying to finance until we’ve signed...
- 7/10/2014
- ScreenDaily
Wrinkles
Nr, 1 Hr., 20 Mins.
Directed by Ignacio Ferreras, a disciple of Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville), and dubbed into English from Spanish, this animated gem tells a story of friendship in an old folks’ home. Emilio (Martin Sheen) is dumped there by his son after one too many senior moments, while Miguel (George Coe), a white-haired Randle McMurphy, cuts deals and runs the joint. The animation artfully transitions between what is real and what the aging residents think is real. Rare is the “cartoon” that penetrates and even haunts; Wrinkles is not easily forgotten. (Available on iTunes and VOD...
Nr, 1 Hr., 20 Mins.
Directed by Ignacio Ferreras, a disciple of Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville), and dubbed into English from Spanish, this animated gem tells a story of friendship in an old folks’ home. Emilio (Martin Sheen) is dumped there by his son after one too many senior moments, while Miguel (George Coe), a white-haired Randle McMurphy, cuts deals and runs the joint. The animation artfully transitions between what is real and what the aging residents think is real. Rare is the “cartoon” that penetrates and even haunts; Wrinkles is not easily forgotten. (Available on iTunes and VOD...
- 7/3/2014
- by EW staff
- EW - Inside Movies
Israeli vs. Israeli terrorist drama is a timely, thrilling provocation
The opening scene of Israeli writer-director Nadav Lapid’s subversive, original terrorist drama Policeman is a precise snapshot of nationalistic delusion. A group of macho cops are pushing one another’s limits on a demanding bike training ride. They stop at a highway overlook for a breather. Lined up in a muscle-bound, spandex-ed row, they gaze out at an open landscape near Jerusalem: dullish brown, desiccated, dead. With prideful awe, the leader intones, “This is the most beautiful country in the world.”
The leader is Yaron (Yiftach Klein is well-cast as a doer, not a thinker), one of the movie’s dual protagonists, a member of an elite Israeli counter-terrorist squad. The first half of Policeman takes an almost ethnographic approach to following Yaron’s daily life. At work, he hides in the backseat of a car and shoots an...
The opening scene of Israeli writer-director Nadav Lapid’s subversive, original terrorist drama Policeman is a precise snapshot of nationalistic delusion. A group of macho cops are pushing one another’s limits on a demanding bike training ride. They stop at a highway overlook for a breather. Lined up in a muscle-bound, spandex-ed row, they gaze out at an open landscape near Jerusalem: dullish brown, desiccated, dead. With prideful awe, the leader intones, “This is the most beautiful country in the world.”
The leader is Yaron (Yiftach Klein is well-cast as a doer, not a thinker), one of the movie’s dual protagonists, a member of an elite Israeli counter-terrorist squad. The first half of Policeman takes an almost ethnographic approach to following Yaron’s daily life. At work, he hides in the backseat of a car and shoots an...
- 6/22/2014
- by Ryan Brown
- IONCINEMA.com
For Filmmaker, Anthony Kaufman talks with Nadav Lapid about his "astoundingly assured two feature films" and notes in his introduction: After winning a jury prize at Locarno, Policeman [2011], the bifurcated story of an elite counterterrorism unit who confront a group of anti-capitalist Israeli revolutionaries, won 15 awards at festivals around the world. The film’s unique structure—the first half is about the police; the second about the terrorists—is just one of its many skillful constructions. The Kindergarten Teacher [2014], which premiered as a Special Screening in Cannes’ Critics Week sidebar, is another precisely conceived and intricately photographed film, about a young teacher who becomes obsessed with the poetry of a 5-year-old pupil and sets out to protect him from a father and society that are too superficial to appreciate him. » - David Hudson...
- 6/14/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
In Sergei Eisenstein’s seminal essay “A Dialectic Approach to Film Form,” the Russian filmmaker lays out the foundational theories for his radical political cinema. “Art is always conflict,” he famously writes. “(1) according to its social mission, (2) according to its nature, (3) according to its methodology. According to its social mission because: It is art’s task to make manifest the contradictions of Being.” Israeli auteur Nadav Lapid may not adhere to Eisenstein’s aesthetics of montage, but he appears to be directly influenced by the Russian’s dialectical philosophy of art. Lapid’s astoundingly assured two feature films, 2011’s Policeman (opening this […]...
- 6/12/2014
- by Anthony Kaufman
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In Sergei Eisenstein’s seminal essay “A Dialectic Approach to Film Form,” the Russian filmmaker lays out the foundational theories for his radical political cinema. “Art is always conflict,” he famously writes. “(1) according to its social mission, (2) according to its nature, (3) according to its methodology. According to its social mission because: It is art’s task to make manifest the contradictions of Being.” Israeli auteur Nadav Lapid may not adhere to Eisenstein’s aesthetics of montage, but he appears to be directly influenced by the Russian’s dialectical philosophy of art. Lapid’s astoundingly assured two feature films, 2011’s Policeman (opening this […]...
- 6/12/2014
- by Anthony Kaufman
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Arriving in theaters more than two years after being named the best undistributed film of 2011 by the Village Voice, Nadav Lapid's Policeman deftly examines the physical and spiritual fallout of ideology turning into action.
Yaron (Yiftach Klein) is the leader of an elite counter-terrorist squad in Israel, as well as husband to a wife whose pregnancy he doesn't want to jinx by discussing too openly; as they're often wont to, these two aspects of his life prove impossible to compartmentalize.
To say that the ensuing drama moves at a snail's pace runs the risk of offending any slugs who might be reading, but the incremental changes Yaron and his cohorts undergo are something of a slow-burning marvel to behold. Lapid is so unconcerned with crafting a convent...
Yaron (Yiftach Klein) is the leader of an elite counter-terrorist squad in Israel, as well as husband to a wife whose pregnancy he doesn't want to jinx by discussing too openly; as they're often wont to, these two aspects of his life prove impossible to compartmentalize.
To say that the ensuing drama moves at a snail's pace runs the risk of offending any slugs who might be reading, but the incremental changes Yaron and his cohorts undergo are something of a slow-burning marvel to behold. Lapid is so unconcerned with crafting a convent...
- 6/11/2014
- Village Voice
Everyone seems lost in Nadav Lapid's "Policeman" ("Ha-shoter"), an unsettling story of brawny Israeli anti-terrorist officers and the equally clueless activists they're eventually tasked with hunting down. While blatantly topical, this is not a political film of the moment, but rather a calculated meditation on self-defined purpose in the midst of societal confusion. Developed by first-time director Lapid at a Cannes Film Festival residency, the script for "Policeman" contains a persistently muted, disquieting tone that the director could expand upon in subsequent efforts. (His follow-up, "The Kindergarten Teacher," recently screened to acclaim in the latest Cannes lineup.) Despite its fragmented structure, "Policeman" is loaded with coherent insight into the nuances of contemporary Israeli society. Using a cerebral approach that calls to mind fellow Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai, Lapid follows tough-minded officer Yaron (Yiftach Klein), an ultra-confident man of the law and husband...
- 6/10/2014
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
As confusingy placed in Cannes as Ruben Östlund's Force Majeure is the “Special Screening” of Israeli director Nadav Lapid's The Kindergarten Teacher, his followup to 2011's Jury Prize winner at Locarno, Policeman. Confusing because here too is a strange and provocative film made with refreshing clarity, and yet it languishes aside of an aside of the Festival de Cannes. Regardless, on to the film.
It takes a Sundance/Euro-festival premise and applies what could only be described as sensible direction to it. A kindergarten teacher who is an amateur poet discovers that a 5-year old boy in her class is extemporaneously inspired to utter absolutely beautiful, completely adult poetry. In wonder, she tries to foster his talent in the face of, as she describes it, a world that has no use for poetry. She tries out his poems in an amateur poetry workshop as her own, and attempts...
It takes a Sundance/Euro-festival premise and applies what could only be described as sensible direction to it. A kindergarten teacher who is an amateur poet discovers that a 5-year old boy in her class is extemporaneously inspired to utter absolutely beautiful, completely adult poetry. In wonder, she tries to foster his talent in the face of, as she describes it, a world that has no use for poetry. She tries out his poems in an amateur poetry workshop as her own, and attempts...
- 5/22/2014
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
The last time we saw Nadav Lapid on the festival circuit was with his Israeli drama "Policeman" in 2011, which he workshopped at Cannes Atelier. Now his French feature "The Kindergarten Teacher" has come to Cannes 2014, and the trailer alone brims over with rainstorms, melancholy, and risk. When a kindergarten teacher notices that her exceptionally bright 5-year-old student writes advanced poetry, she wants his talent publicly recognized. But there's opposition and even peril in her way when she tries to encourage him beyond the boundaries of the classroom. Check out the trailer below.
- 5/19/2014
- by Taylor Lindsay
- Indiewire
Djinn Carrenard’s second feature to open selection; genre pictures When Animals Dream [pictured] and It Follows to compete in Cannes Critics’ Week.
Djinn Carrénard’s Faire L’Amour (Fla)], revolving around the relationship between a musician and woman on parole, will open the 53rd edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, running May 15-23
The respected parallel selection, focusing on first and second works, unveiled its 2014 line-up on Monday (April 20). In total, the selection committee screened 1,200 feature-length films and 1,770 shorts.
Haitian, France-based Carrénard won France’s prestigious Louis Delluc prize for best first film in 2011 for his buzzy, micro-budget Donoma, which premiered in Cannes in 2010 in the indie-focused Acid selection.
“The director of Donoma instils in his second feature all the energy of the previous one with a sense of drama and character development that really packs a punch,” commented Critics’ Week artistic director Charles Tesson, adding it revolved around, “how to construct love and how to really make love...
Djinn Carrénard’s Faire L’Amour (Fla)], revolving around the relationship between a musician and woman on parole, will open the 53rd edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, running May 15-23
The respected parallel selection, focusing on first and second works, unveiled its 2014 line-up on Monday (April 20). In total, the selection committee screened 1,200 feature-length films and 1,770 shorts.
Haitian, France-based Carrénard won France’s prestigious Louis Delluc prize for best first film in 2011 for his buzzy, micro-budget Donoma, which premiered in Cannes in 2010 in the indie-focused Acid selection.
“The director of Donoma instils in his second feature all the energy of the previous one with a sense of drama and character development that really packs a punch,” commented Critics’ Week artistic director Charles Tesson, adding it revolved around, “how to construct love and how to really make love...
- 4/21/2014
- ScreenDaily
Djinn Carrenard’s second feature to open selection; genre pictures When Animals Dream [pictured] and It Follows to compete in Cannes Critics’ Week.
Djinn Carrénard’s Faire L’Amour (Fla)], revolving around the relationship between a musician and woman on parole, will open the 53rd edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, running May 15-23
The respected parallel selection, focusing on first and second works, unveiled its 2014 line-up on Monday (April 20). In total, the selection committee screened 1,200 feature-length films and 1,770 shorts.
Haitian, France-based Carrénard won France’s prestigious Louis Delluc prize for best first film in 2011 for his buzzy, micro-budget Donoma, which premiered in Cannes in 2010 in the indie-focused Acid selection.
“The director of Donoma instils in his second feature all the energy of the previous one with a sense of drama and character development that really packs a punch,” commented Critics’ Week artistic director Charles Tesson, adding it revolved around, “how to construct love and how to really make love...
Djinn Carrénard’s Faire L’Amour (Fla)], revolving around the relationship between a musician and woman on parole, will open the 53rd edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, running May 15-23
The respected parallel selection, focusing on first and second works, unveiled its 2014 line-up on Monday (April 20). In total, the selection committee screened 1,200 feature-length films and 1,770 shorts.
Haitian, France-based Carrénard won France’s prestigious Louis Delluc prize for best first film in 2011 for his buzzy, micro-budget Donoma, which premiered in Cannes in 2010 in the indie-focused Acid selection.
“The director of Donoma instils in his second feature all the energy of the previous one with a sense of drama and character development that really packs a punch,” commented Critics’ Week artistic director Charles Tesson, adding it revolved around, “how to construct love and how to really make love...
- 4/21/2014
- ScreenDaily
"Admittedly, at 11 minutes, this most staggering of the three terrific new shorts [at the Locarno 2011 film festival] by uncompromising master Straub (one of them part of this year's Jeonju Digital Project)... no film this year has been so continually surprising and rich.
On repeated viewings, Straub's brilliant condensation of one of Kafka's more mysterious short stories has only become more mysterious itself, even as its point couldn't be clearer: As an acerbic look at the relationship of Western and Arab worlds this is one of the most timely films around. (It certainly would make an interesting double feature with the other competition notable: Nadav Lapid's muscular special jury prize winner Ha-shoter [Policeman].) Yet, Schakale und Araber couldn't be more timeless, making Kafka's ambiguous allegory even more complex by stripping away the "narrative" bridges and heightening the levels of transference. An invocation of the desert-set original etched into a European residence, presented with a singular sense...
On repeated viewings, Straub's brilliant condensation of one of Kafka's more mysterious short stories has only become more mysterious itself, even as its point couldn't be clearer: As an acerbic look at the relationship of Western and Arab worlds this is one of the most timely films around. (It certainly would make an interesting double feature with the other competition notable: Nadav Lapid's muscular special jury prize winner Ha-shoter [Policeman].) Yet, Schakale und Araber couldn't be more timeless, making Kafka's ambiguous allegory even more complex by stripping away the "narrative" bridges and heightening the levels of transference. An invocation of the desert-set original etched into a European residence, presented with a singular sense...
- 11/15/2012
- by Notebook
- MUBI
"At least you can see they're really trying to make a good festival," commented, with typical dry wit, one of the (very) few international colleagues the Brigade considers at least something of a crypto-Ferronian. Hard to argue with that, as Locarno's program still shows the signs of having to battle back and forth with the two heaviest lifters on the festival calendar, Cannes and Venice—yet mostly, the Ferroni Brigade had a grand time this year.
Of course, more often then not, when dispirited acquaintances met a merry Brigadier in between screenings, the answer to their inevitable question would be: "Coming from (and returning to) a retrospective, of course!"—but also among new films, we ended up with more truly interesting stuff than in the previous year. Not all of it true donkey material, for different reasons. Nevertheless, there were quite a few Ferronian pleasures out there, some of them more touching than others,...
Of course, more often then not, when dispirited acquaintances met a merry Brigadier in between screenings, the answer to their inevitable question would be: "Coming from (and returning to) a retrospective, of course!"—but also among new films, we ended up with more truly interesting stuff than in the previous year. Not all of it true donkey material, for different reasons. Nevertheless, there were quite a few Ferronian pleasures out there, some of them more touching than others,...
- 9/21/2011
- MUBI
Two more countries, neither of which have ever won the Foreign Film Prize in Hollywood, have announced their finalists lists.
We'll take Norway first since it's less popular with Oscar (5 nominations) and because I stand humbly before you to say I was wrong. My conjecture about what might be submitted -- other than the new Joachim Trier -- was quite wobbly. The three finalists are not the biggies from the Amanda awards but Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st (Oslo, 31. august) which we briefly discussed, Anne Sewitsky’s Happy, Happy (Sykt lykkelig) and Jens Lien’s Sons of Norway (Sønner av Norge). While Trier has the highest international profile, that doesn't always equate with submission choice. Happy Happy is a very frisky marital comedy (I ♥ the trailer) and Sons of Norway is a punk rock coming of age film that even features a cameo from Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten. Neither...
We'll take Norway first since it's less popular with Oscar (5 nominations) and because I stand humbly before you to say I was wrong. My conjecture about what might be submitted -- other than the new Joachim Trier -- was quite wobbly. The three finalists are not the biggies from the Amanda awards but Joachim Trier’s Oslo, August 31st (Oslo, 31. august) which we briefly discussed, Anne Sewitsky’s Happy, Happy (Sykt lykkelig) and Jens Lien’s Sons of Norway (Sønner av Norge). While Trier has the highest international profile, that doesn't always equate with submission choice. Happy Happy is a very frisky marital comedy (I ♥ the trailer) and Sons of Norway is a punk rock coming of age film that even features a cameo from Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten. Neither...
- 8/16/2011
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Everyone seems lost in Nadav Lapid "Policeman" ("Ha-shoter"), an unsettling story of brawny Israeli anti-terrorist officers and the equally clueless activists they're eventually tasked with hunting down. While blatantly topical, this is not a political film of the moment, but rather a calculated meditation on purpose. Developed by first-time director Lapid at a Cannes Film Festival residency, the script for "Policeman" contains a persistently muted, disquieting tone that the director ...
- 8/9/2011
- Indiewire
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