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Emmy Rossum, Dove Cameron, Nicole Scherzinger and Chloe Fineman sat in the front row of the Carolina Herrera fashion show during New York Fashion Week in Manhattan.

Wes Gordon took over as creative director of the company from Herrera when she retired. Herrera attended the event with her family.

Models strutted down the runway embellished with 3,000 burgundy wine-colored flowers while Gordon’s handpicked assortment of songs played in the background, which included Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.”

The backdrop was a gorgeous, 360-degree view of New York City through floor-to-ceiling windows on the 48th floor.

For his 2025 collection, Gordon pushed the envelope with 66 daring looks including a tweed ultrafeminine mini dress and a tailored trouser.

There were delicate floral lace sets along with a series of embroidered sheer gowns. Several of the looks were accessorized with gold buttons, earrings or rose adornments. Gordon’s inspiration for the collection was his favorite film and book,...

Getting a film made is far easier said than done. That's why most Hollywood movies are based on pre-existing material -- both to try and speed up the process of generating a story itself, and to have some assurance that there's an audience for the story. This mentality has led to truly original movies becoming something of a rarity. Truth is, Hollywood has always looked to existing IP (intellectual property).What's new about today's situation is that the IP they're generally tapping tends to be of a short-form or experiential variety: either remakes, reboots, and legacy sequels to older movies, or TV shows, comic books, and video games.

In the early decades of cinema, however, the main source for adaptations was literature. Where comics, games, TV and other movies are all visual mediums and come pre-loaded with their own imagery, books are a covenant between the author and reader's imagination,...

Simone Cleary (Kate Hudson) greets Shriver (Michael Shannon) in Michael Maren’s whimsical A Little White Lie

Michael Maren’s whimsical A Little White Lie (adapted from Chris Belden’s book Shriver) stars Michael Shannon (also a producer), Kate Hudson (executive producer), Don Johnson, and M Emmet Walsh with Kate Linder, Romy Byrne, Mark Boone Junior, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Jimmi Simpson, Wendie Malick, and Zach Braff.

Honoré de Balzac, Jerzy Kosinski and Hal Ashby’s Being There, starring Peter Sellers (shown to Olivia Colman by Toby Jones in Sam Mendes’s Empire Of Light), The Landlord, Harold And Maude, Linda Lavin and Harris Yulin in A Short History Of Decay, Max Frisch’s I’m Not Stiller and Call Me Gantenbein, John Barth’s Giles Goat-Boy, James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake and Ulysses, Marcel Proust’s Remembrance Of Lost Time, Robert Musil’s The Man Without Qualities, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper,...

Poland’s Oscar© 2023 Entry for Best International Feature: ‘Eo’ directed by Jerzy Skolimowski'Eo' is the first motion picture to turn the spotlight onto the plight of animals as victims of persecution going as far as setting up an analogy to the genocide of the Jewish people.

Twice this is alluded to. First when Eo wanders into the woods and visits ancient gravestones which are marked by Hebrew letters. The second time is at the end after his endless odyssey on earth searching for the one who loved him most and lost him. “Like sheep to the slaughter” is a phase often associated with the Jews who were herded into conditions worse than those of animals, into boxcars and into gas chambers. So we see cattle herded into slaughter.

This is no Bambi. No Disneyification for this Burro. The animal is lovable and one senses its view of the outside world from its actions, one even senses its emotions.

The world is a mysterious place as seen through the eyes of an animal.

On his journey, Eo, a gray donkey with melancholic eyes, meets good

and bad people, experiences joy and sorrow as the wheel of fortune at every turn transforms his luck into disaster and his despair into

unexpected happiness. But never, at any instant, does he lose his innocence.

Watch the trailer here.

The telling of Eo’s story is also particularly Polish featuring the woods of of Jerzy Kosinski’s novel and feature The Painted Bird, the woods of Polansky’s childhood and of countless others who as as children, women and partisans during the war took to the woods as a means of escape. But here the victim has no voice and humans are only the willing and unwilling accessories to his plight as he tries to avoid the pitfalls of the world.

And we feel deeply for Eo who never says a word. What is the magic Skolimowski employs to make this movie so moving?

Jerzy Skolimowski and Eo, played by Taco, Ola, Marietta, Ettore, Rocco and Mela

This is the first movie that the 84-year-old Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski has made in seven years.

His wish was to pay homage to the cinema of Robert Bresson who inspired him to write this modern tale, whose main character is a Sardinian donkey:

“Several decades ago, I said in an interview (I think it was Cahiers du Cinéma) that the only film that moved me to tears was Au Hasard Balthazar (1966). I think I discovered it right after it came out. Since then, I haven’t shed a single tear at the cinema. Thus, what I owe to Robert Bresson is to have acquired a strong conviction that making an animal a character in the film is not only possible, but can also be a source of emotion."

Eo is a poetic work, a metaphorical vision of the world.

“I wanted above all to make an emotional film, to base the narration on emotions, much more than in all my previous films.”

During his career Jerzy Skolimowski has directed very great actors like Robert Duvall, or Jeremy Irons —” two of the most generous with whom I have worked, wonderful beings — but, directing a donkey on the screen, calls for any obviously other springs.”

“Directors use intellectual arguments to get actors the desired effect, use language to provoke their emotions. With my donkey, the only way to persuade him to do anything was tenderness: words whispered in his ear and a few friendly caresses. Raising your voice, showing impatience or nervousness would have been the shortest path to disaster.”

“In Poland we have an animal protection law. Everyone, including the donkeys, can work up to 8 hours on a set. When they shoot, we are responsible for them, they are our actors. We make sure that they do not feel stress during the shots, that they enjoy the work and the contact with the film crew. We also ensure their comfort throughout their presence on set. In this specific case, they were also under the permanent supervision of a veterinarian, which gave us additional assurance for their good health and well-being. During the preparations and during the realization, we ensured that the breaks and the night rest conditions were respected.”

Watch the trailer here.

Eo, in the words of NY Times review by Manohla Dargis, “adheres to the hero’s journey only to deviate drastically from that template. In short, Eo sets off on an adventure, enters a realm of near-supernatural wonder, encounters fabulous and less so forces, experiences challenges and temptations (including a wreath of carrots). He also meets Isabelle Huppert in an Italian villa, though she ignores him. His journey is strange, absurd, exhilarating and terrifying.”

We pity the poor animal and in our pity we should recognize our own cruelty to animals as well as to other human beings who are treated like animals within our own society and in front of our own eyes.

Jerzy Skolimowski worked with Ewa Piaskowska on writing the screenplay, following a now well-established method: “Eo is the third screenplay we have written together. The method is simple: one of us has an idea (in the case of Eo, it was Ewa, in the case of Essential Killing, it was me), then we give ourselves a good session of brainstorming. Then it’s Ewa who takes care of most of the writing, with me making adjustments, whether it’s additions or cuts. We usually write in Polish, then it’s always Ewa who takes

in charge of the English translation.”

The Directors’ Fortnight has shown the films of Skolimowski starting in 1965 with Walkover, his second feature film, acclaimed for its innovative form. “At the time, a young American filmmaker came to congratulate me after the screening of Walkover, and although my English was limited at the time, we instantly became friends. It was Jack Nicholson, who was also discovering Cannes. Smoking a joint with him on the beach that night remains one of my fondest memories from Cannes.”

This is the seventh time in his career that Jerzy Skolimowski has been invited in Competition to Cannes. “Coming back is a bittersweet experience. Many people I have met at the Festival over the years are no longer of this world, others cannot come. I myself have become a bit of a recluse and I feel better in my house in the forest in the middle of nowhere. The world today does not inspire much optimism — a war is raging in Europe. It seems absurd to celebrate the premiere of a movie, with the tragedy unfolding every day in Ukraine.”

Despite its dramatic nature, Eo is also a film rich in funny moments. What makes Jerzy Skolimowski laugh? “I don’t think I’ve laughed heartily in a long time. But I do smile sometimes — especially at my dog, Bufon, for his playfulness, or for the way he tilts his head when he listens to men’s conversations, as if he doesn’t want miss a word.”

International sales agent, Hanway, was founded by Jeremy Thomas who announced his own retirement this year in Cannes. Skolimowski and Thomas have a long-standing relationship that began when Thomas produced his second film Le Cri, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 1978. They also collaborated on Essential Killing, which won the Special Prize of the Jury and the Best Actor Prize at the Venice Film Festival, as well as 11 Minutes, also screened in Competition in Venice.

Says Skolimowski, “Jeremy is a production icon. It’s always been a real privilege to see how he thinks, what he prioritizes, how he makes decisions or works with directors. He is in a separate class.”

Jeremy Thomas was born into a film family — his father and uncle were directors. He started in film laboratories and graduated as an editor, working on many films and eventually editing Family Life by Ken Loach. In 1974, Thomas produced his first film, Mad Dog Morgan by Philippe Mora with Dennis Hopper, then founded Recorded Picture Company. Thomas then produced numerous personal films, including Investigaton of a Passion, Eureka and Insignificance by Nicolas Roeg, and Furyo by Nagisa Ôshima with David Bowie. He eventually founded Hanway as the nternational sales agent for his films.

Hanway and its distributors did not stint on giving the film plenty of festival exposure, a good way to create word of mouth actively as it rolls out theatrically. After debuting in Cannes where Skolimowski won the Jury Prize and the Best Composer Award went to Pawel Mykietyn, it went on to a list of festivals that reads like a a primer for filmmakers to try to follow themselves: Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Hungary’s Miskolc International Film Festival, Toronto, Gdynia, Vancouver, Hamburg, Busan, Rio, London, New York, Mill Valley, Hamptons, Grand Lyon in France, Bergen, Santa Fe, Cologne, Philadelphia, Valladolid, Montclair, Vienna, Geneva, Seville, AFI Fest, Hawaii, Belfast, Tallinn, Ljubljana, MoMa, Taipei’s Golden Horseshoe.

Isa Hanway has licensed the film to Sideshow for US (the new kid on the block who is working with Janus on the theatrical release as they did with Oscar Winner Drive My Car. Founded by longtime IFC President Jonathan Sehring and his acquisitions chief Jason Hellerstein, Sideshow is also distributing Cannes films The Eight Mountains, Tori and Lokita, and All That Breathes. Other distriutors include Films We Like for Canada, Arp Selection for France, Soda for Peru and Colombia, Nitrato for Portugal, Rapid Eye for Germany, Applause for Taiwan, DDDream for China, Fine Films for Japan, Front Row for Mena and Iran, Odeon for Greece and The Searchers for Belgium.

Get an email whenever SydneysBuzz comes out, about movies you do not read about everyday.

SydneysBuzz by Sydney Levine is about the international film circuit, films from places far and near that you may not hear about often, like Cannes or the newly launched Red Sea Film Festival.

Click here to read the full article.

The Toronto Film Festival will rally in solidarity with Ukrainian film producers amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war by holding two industry panels at the Canadian festival’s 47th edition.

The first Sept. 12 panel will feature six Ukrainian filmmakers behind recent festival circuit hits, including Butterfly Vision producer Darya Bassel, whose film was the only Ukrainian feature in Cannes’ official selection this year; Luxembourg, Luxembourg producer Volodymyr Yatsenko, whose film will screen in Toronto after bowing in Venice; and Ihor Savychenko, who produced the 2019 film The Painted Bird, Vaclav Marhoul’s grim Holocaust drama adapted from Jerzy Kosinski’s novel.

Also in Toronto on the panel to discuss current and future film projects is Valeria Sochyvets, producer of the 2020 film Blindfold, and Egor Olesov, who produced the 2019 Ukrainian film Mr. Jones.

The second Sept. 13 panel will discuss possible co-production opportunities for Ukrainian productions and...

Robert C. Jones, the acclaimed film editor behind 1960s and ’70s classics “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and “Love Story” who garnered a screenplay Academy Award for the war drama “Coming Home,” has died. He was 84.

His daughter, Leslie Jones — who is also an Oscar-nominated film editor — confirmed to Variety that Jones died on Feb. 1 following a long illness.

“My Dad had a tremendous impact on my own editing career with whom I worked on several films as his assistant,” Leslie said in a statement. “Like Bob I did not go to film school and had no formal training in editing. But what I learned was that editing does not always require a specific skill set. He taught me that talent instead is guided by a sense of compassion, and integrity, and the search for truth and authenticity. He had all that and more.”

Throughout his career, Jones collaborated with...

Based on Jerzy Kosinski’s novel and directed by Václav Marhoul, is a 169 minute epic that centers on a young boy’s (Petr Kotlár) attempts to survive during the waning days of World War II. The black and white picture, shot on 35mm, is a tough picture to watch, as the boy suffers his share of [...]

The post CinemAddicts Podcast Spotlights Critically Acclaimed Epic ‘The Painted Bird’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Adapted from Jerzy Kosiński’s novel, “The Painted Bird” comes to life through Vàclav Marhoul’s lens. Shot in black and white, the film tells the story of The Boy as he wanders around Eastern European villages during World War II struggling for survival.

As he suffers through the devastating brutality and horrors of war, it’s Vladimir Smutney’s stunning cinematography and images that sear into our minds — being buried up to his neck, being kicked and punched by bullies as he watches his pet die and watching eyes being gouged out — and those are just some of the wartime horrors he witnesses.

Smutney breaks down what it was like to frame his first film in black and white. “The Painted Bird” premieres on VOD and streaming services on July 17.

What was the first thing Vaclav told you about the film?

The first time, Václav Marhoul told me about...

The Painted Bird IFC Films Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Vàclav Marhoul Screenwriter: Vàclav Marhoul, from the novel by Jerzy Kosinski Cast: Petr Kotlár Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel, Barry Pepper, Julian Sands, Udo Kier, Lech Dyblik Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 6/26/20 Opens: July 17, 2020 In […]

The post The Painted Bird Review: An epic drama in sharp black-and-white appeared first on Shockya.com.

There’s always one film that stirs up controversy on its way through the festival circuit, and last year, that film was Václav Marhoul’s ambitious “The Painted Bird.” The black-and-white foreign-language drama, finally out later this summer, is adapted from a Jerzy Kosinski novel and tells the story of a boy who travels across Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, all while witnessing (and often enduring) both the horror and beauty of his changed homeland.

The film screened at Toronto and Venice last year, where it reportedly caused walkouts throughout its screenings due to scenes of graphic violence, including one moment in which someone has their eyeballs gouged out. “The Painted Bird” was the Czech Republic’s entry for Best International Film at this year’s Oscars (where it made the official shortlist), and also won both the Bronze Frog and the Fipresci Award at the 2019 EnergaCAMERIMAGE International Film Festival.

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the United States, the entertainment industry is entering uncharted waters. On Tuesday, AMC Theatres, the largest cinema chain in the United States, announced that it would be closing its doors for the next six to 12 weeks, joining Regal Cinemas in its decision to cease operations in response to the coronavirus crisis. AMC’s announcement came in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new guideline recommending limiting gatherings to just 10 individuals. Many other theater chains are also ceasing operations for the foreseeable future.

The extremely precautionary and extended duration of these ordinances are unprecedented for the theatrical distribution landscape. Many studios have taken upcoming films off of release calendars, delaying them indefinitely. Others are testing out an early jump to video-on-demand and digital markets for films that had been playing in theaters, some with openings as recent as a week ago.

"I want to go home!" IFC Films has debuted an official Us trailer for the extra-bleak Czech war drama The Painted Bird, originally titled Nabarvené ptáce in Czechia. This originally premiered at both the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals last fall, and earned mixed reviews, praising the raw intensity of this harrowing war-is-hell feature. Written & directed by Czech filmmaker Václav Marhoul, and adapted from Jerzy Kosinski's novel of the same name, it's about a young Jewish boy wandering around Eastern Europe alone during WWII. The B&w 35mm film is described as an "evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II." The Painted Bird is a dramatic story examining the immediate relationship between terror and cruelty on one side and innocence and love on the other. The film stars Petr Kotlár as The Boy, plus Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kier, Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands,...

If there was one movie that made the most headlines among international cinephiles at last year’s Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival it was Václav Marhoul’s “The Painted Bird.” The black-and-white foreign-language drama is adapted from the novel of Jerzy Kosinski and tells the story of a boy who travels across Eastern Europe at the end of World War II and witnesses the horror and beauty of his changed homeland. The film is said to have caused walkouts at its festival screenings due to scenes of graphic violence, including one moment in which someone has their eyeballs gouged out. “The Painted Bird” was the Czech Republic’s official Oscar submission this year in the Best International Feature Film but missed out on a nomination.

Per IFC Films’ official synopsis, “The Painted Bird” follows “the journey of The Boy, entrusted by his persecuted parents to an elderly foster mother.

Exclusive: The Painted Bird director Vaclav Marhoul is set to make his English-language debut on McCarthy, a biopic of notorious former U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Ironbark scribe Tom O’Connor has scripted the intriguing package, which will take a personal look at the influential former politician who rose to fame as a driving force behind anti-communist and anti-homosexual U.S. political sentiment during the Cold War but whose smear tactics and unfounded allegations ultimately led to censure and condemnation.

We hear the script will be a deep dive on the dangerously enigmatic but popular character and how he came to be at the center of one of America’s darkest chapters.

O’Connor, who also wrote The Hitman’s Bodyguard and that movie’s upcoming sequel, will produce with former Lava Bear, Lionsgate and John Wells Productions exec Zach Studin of Veri Media. CAA Media Finance is arranging financing for the...

The revenge road-dramedy has won three awards, while the chamber comedy Owners followed close behind. The Czech film critics gathered for their tenth annual awards ceremony on 1 February in order to celebrate the best domestic movies of 2019. The Czech Film Critics’ Awards had two front-runners, based on the number of nominations they had notched up: the revenge road-dramedy Old-Timers (co-directed by Ondřej Provazník and Martin Dušek), about two World War II veterans pursuing a very cold and arthritic vendetta against a former communist prosecutor; and a literal chamber comedy that occasionally looks like a hostage drama, Owners (the feature-length directorial outing by actor and theatre director Jiří Havelka), which sees a society of flat co-owners failing to agree on a single item on their agenda. Both films had five chances to net an award, while the adaptation of the controversial Jerzy Kosinski novel The Painted Bird (directed by...

"He endured iniquity from many people." Eureka Entertainment has unveiled an official UK trailer for the Czech war drama The Painted Bird, originally titled Nabarvené ptáce in Czechia. This premiered at both the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals last fall, and is Czechia's official submission to this year's Academy Awards (for last year). Written & directed by Czech filmmaker Václav Marhoul, adapted from Jerzy Kosinski's classic novel of the same name, it's about a young Jewish boy wandering around Eastern Europe alone during WWII. The raw B&w 35mm film is described as an "evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II." The Painted Bird is a deeply dramatic story examining the immediate relationship between terror and cruelty on one side and innocence and love on the other. The film stars Petr Kotlár as The Boy, along with Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kier, Harvey Keitel,...

Specialty label of genre specialist Raven Banner to release at same time as IFC Films in Us.

Toronto-based Northern Banner Releasing has picked up Canadian rights from Celluloid Dreams to the Czech Republic’s shortlisted best international feature film Oscar hopeful The Painted Bird.

Vaclav Marhoul’s adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’s controversial novel about an unnamed boy wandering around Eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War will open theatrically in 2020 through genre ace Raven Banner’s specialty label alongside the Us release via IFC Films.

The black and white drama received its world premiere at Venice...

Updated, with more detail: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pulled back the curtain on its shortlist for the International Feature Film Oscar race. Not surprisingly, the expanded field of 10 includes Bong Joon Ho’s Palme d’Or winner Parasite, which already has been making waves this awards season, and Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain And Glory, whose star Antonio Banderas won Best Actor at Cannes and is up for a Golden Globe Award. Also on the list is France’s Les Misérables from Ladj Ly, one of the breakout filmmakers of this year’s Cannes. Each of those titles received Golden Globe nominations last week in the comparable Foreign Language category.

As expected, Russia’s Beanpole from Kantemir Bagalov, Barnabas Toth’s Hungarian pic Those Who Remained and Mati Diop’s Atlantics from Senegal further made the Oscar shortlist cut today. The four films that round it...

Western Europe traditionally gets the lion’s share of attention in the international film category, with France and Italy still leading the record books in terms of nominations and wins. But a number of the most exciting contenders among this year’s submissions hail from a little further east: in a bumper year for cinema from Central and Eastern Europe, a few titles stand out.

Language has been a subject of significant controversy in this year’s Oscar race. Yet, the Academy has moved the needle on this front in recent years: not so long ago, films that weren’t in an official language of the submitting country were ineligible. That would have ruled out this year’s submission from the Czech Republic, “The Painted Bird.” Aiming to be the first Czech film to score a nomination since 2003’s “Zelary,” Václav Marhoul’s film is a linguistic anomaly in all...

The venerable sales company changed its strategy before Berlin.

Celluloid Dreams has unveiled a slew of deals on its Venice competition titles The Painted Bird and Babyteeth and Cannes selection The Swallows Of Kabul, in a sign that the rationalised, targeted sales and acquisition strategy it adopted earlier this year is yielding results.

Panahi announced in February that she and company vice-president Charlotte Mickie were rationalising Celluloid Dreams’s operations and rethinking the way they did sales to take a more targeted approach.

“Our strategy, to acquire films selectively for theatrical potential and maximise results, has proven to be a winner for us,...

If there is one film in the international feature race guaranteed to cause controversy, it's The Painted Bird. The official Czech Republic entry, from director Václav Marhoul, triggered mass walkouts at its festival screenings in Venice and Toronto — with even hardened film critics unable to stomach the unflinching depictions of wartime horror in Marhoul's three-hour, black-and-white epic, adapted from Jerzy Kosinski's controversial novel from 1956.

The World War II-set film follows a young Jewish boy who wanders from village to village across Eastern Europe, facing one brutal violation after another. The book's title comes from ...

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If there is one film in the international feature race guaranteed to cause controversy, it's The Painted Bird. The official Czech Republic entry, from director Václav Marhoul, triggered mass walkouts at its festival screenings in Venice and Toronto — with even hardened film critics unable to stomach the unflinching depictions of wartime horror in Marhoul's three-hour, black-and-white epic, adapted from Jerzy Kosinski's controversial novel from 1956.

The World War II-set film follows a young Jewish boy who wanders from village to village across Eastern Europe, facing one brutal violation after another. The book's title comes from ...

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It’s impossible to address the challenge of Nazi satire without considering “The Day the Clown Cried.” Jerry Lewis’ misbegotten 1972 production found the comedian directing himself as a Jewish entertainer at a concentration camp. To date, the completed work (if it exists at all) has never been seen. Lewis was reportedly ashamed of the project and managed to hide the footage from the world for the remainder of his life. “Jojo Rabbit” is some indication of why Lewis wanted to bury it: It’s no easy task to turn the Holocaust into a punchline.

There’s a difference between confronting evil and actually dismantling its assumptions. For all the good intentions of “Jojo Rabbit,” Taika Waititi’s “anti-hate satire” never contends with the Nazism at its core. It would be a different story if the movie, in the grand subversive tradition of “The Producers,” appropriated Nazi iconography by positioning it...

IFC Films has acquired the U.S. rights to “The Painted Bird,” a Holocaust drama starring Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel and Udo Kier that played at Venice and Toronto earlier this year, the distributor announced Tuesday.

“The Painted Bird” is directed, written, and produced by Václav Marhoul and is based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski. The foreign language drama will be the official Oscar submission from the Czech Republic. IFC Films is planning a theatrical release for 2020.

The film was praised on the festival circuit for its bleak, unsparing look at Holocaust atrocities and evil, but the nearly three-hour saga, all in black and white on 35mm film, also prompted walkouts among moviegoers and split some critics.

Also Read: 'The Painted Bird' Film Review: Jerzy Kosiński Adaptation Is Gruesome, Poetic Epic of Inhumanity

“Marhoul’s film isn’t shy about the steady stream of ugliness, and that...

IFC Films is no stranger to controversial films or awards contenders, and the distributor’s latest acquisition handily ticks both of those boxes. The home of such films as “Boyhood” and “Phoenix” has picked up the U.S. rights to Václav Marhoul’s controversial Holocaust drama, which recently prompted mass audience walkouts during its screenings at both Venice and Tiff. The film, the first ever made in the “invented” Interslavic language, has already been selected as the Czech Republic’s Oscar selection for the Best International Feature Film.

Based on the acclaimed novel by Jerzy Kosinski, the film took Marhoul over a decade to make and is billed as “a meticulous 35mm black and white evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II. The film follows the journey of The Boy, entrusted by his persecuted parents to an elderly foster mother. The old woman soon dies,...

IFC Films has acquired U.S. rights to “The Painted Bird,” the critically acclaimed and controversial adaptation of the Jerzy Kosinski novel. The film will be the Czech Republic’s Oscar entry for the foreign language category at the upcoming Academy Awards.

Directed, written and produced by Václav Marhoul (“Smart Philip”), the film is an unsparing look at the horrors of the Holocaust. Its violence reportedly prompted audience walkouts at the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival, but also drew rave reviews for its uncompromising depiction of evil.

In a five star review, the Guardian’s Xan Brooks acknowledged the movie was a tough sit, but added, “I can state without hesitation that this is a monumental piece of work and one I’m deeply glad to have seen. I can also say that I hope to never cross its path again.”

Variety‘s Guy Lodge also praised the film,...

IFC Films has picked up the U.S. rights to Czech director Vaclav Marhoul's The Painted Bird, a movie adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’s controversial novel about an unnamed boy wandering around Eastern Europe at the end of World War II.

IFC Films plans a theatrical release next year. The Painted Bird provoked festival theater walkouts when debuting in Venice and then shifting to Toronto for a North American premiere.

Directed, written and produced by Marhoul, The Painted Bird stars Petr Kotlar, Udo Kier, Stellan Skarsgard, Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands and Barry Pepper.

"I deeply believe the movie’s advocacy ...

IFC Films has picked up the U.S. rights to Czech director Vaclav Marhoul's The Painted Bird, a movie adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’s controversial novel about an unnamed boy wandering around Eastern Europe at the end of World War II.

IFC Films plans a theatrical release next year. The Painted Bird provoked festival theater walkouts when debuting in Venice and then shifting to Toronto for a North American premiere.

Directed, written and produced by Marhoul, The Painted Bird stars Petr Kotlar, Udo Kier, Stellan Skarsgard, Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands and Barry Pepper.

"I deeply believe the movie’s advocacy ...

Hard-hitting Venice Film Festival competition movie The Painted Bird has been selected by the Czech Film and Television Academy as the Czech Republic’s international Oscar entry.

Described as an “evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II,” director-producer Václav Marhoul’s black-and-white 35mm Holocaust feature follows the journey of The Boy, entrusted by his persecuted parents to an elderly foster mother. The old woman soon dies and The Boy is on his own, wandering through the countryside, from village to farmhouse. As he struggles for survival, The Boy suffers through extraordinary brutality meted out by the ignorant, superstitious peasants and he witnesses the terrifying violence of the efficient, ruthless soldiers, both Russian and German.

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosinski (Being There), the dark drama prompted a number of walk-outs at Toronto and Venice due to its tough subject matter.

Maybe, when you were growing up, you had an imaginary friend. Someone who only you could see, who counseled you and kept you company. It might have been a 10-foot rabbit, or a brown, furry mastodon-like creature, or a boy named Tony who talked to you through your finger. Or maybe, if you’re Jojo Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis), a 10-year-old boy living in Vienna in the final days of World War II, your imaginary best bud is a failed Austrian painter who became radicalized, was appointed chancellor of Germany,...

Vaclav Marhoul's grim and violent adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski's novel The Painted Bird lived up to its controversial billing at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival after a notorious Venice bow by prompting a mass walkout at Bell Lightbox on Wednesday night.

The audience exodus started soon after the black-and-white epic Holocaust movie began its North American premiere in the Bell Lightbox 1 auditorium. By the one-hour mark, around 30 viewers had departed, and another dozen had left by the end of the movie.

Tiff programmer Dorota Lech earlier introduced Marhoul's film as "very masterful, yet very challenging,...

Vaclav Marhoul's grim and violent adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski's novel The Painted Bird lived up to its controversial billing at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival after a notorious Venice bow by prompting a mass walkout at Bell Lightbox on Wednesday night.

The audience exodus started soon after the black-and-white epic Holocaust movie began its North American premiere in the Bell Lightbox 1 auditorium. By the one-hour mark, around 30 viewers had departed, and another dozen had left by the end of the movie.

Tiff programmer Dorota Lech earlier introduced Marhoul's film as "very masterful, yet very challenging,...

The Venice Film Festival draws to a close this evening, when prizes will be handed out by Lucrecia Martel’s jury. It’s been a hot 10 days on the Lido, and not just because the mercury was stifling throughout. We expected controversy coming in, and certainly the inclusion of Roman Polanski’s An Officer And A Spy in competition caused a stir at the outset — Martel on opening day seemed to suggest she might not give the film a fair shake, only to clarify her remarks 24 hours later.

It was relatively smooth sailing from then on, with pictures vying for the Golden Lion generally well-received. Much attention focused on Warner Bros’ Joker and Netflix’s Marriage Story which both got extended standing ovations.

It ain’t over til it’s over, however, and early this morning a protest broke out on the red carpet. About 200 people from the No Large...

The Venice Film Festival seems to have found the most controversial film of the year.

The Painted Bird prompted walkouts from audience members at the festival after graphic scenes of violence, sexual assault, bestiality and mutilation, according to review by Xan Brooks for The Guardian.

Starring Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgård and Udo Kier, the film follows a nameless Jewish boy (Petr Kotlar) left in the care of an elderly lady by his parents during World War II.

When the woman dies, the boy is left to wander from village to village where he inevitably ends up encountering different malevolent characters throughout the film.

Adapted from Jerzy Kosinski’s 1965 novel of the same title, The Painted Bird receives its ideal film treatment in Vaclav Marhoul’s heart-wrenching Czech Republic-Ukraine-Slovakia co-production. Making explicit the young protagonist’s Jewish background, Marhoul’s screenplay witnesses the horrors of the Holocaust through the dark, somber eyes of newcomer Petr Kotlar, who plays a boy wandering from village to village and from one brutality to another.

As in the book, the shock effect of coldly detailed incest, bestiality and sexual abuse, beatings, killings and mutilation is furiously nonstop in a film of nearly three hours. Rather than numbing ...

Adapted from Jerzy Kosinski’s 1965 novel of the same title, The Painted Bird receives its ideal film treatment in Vaclav Marhoul’s heart-wrenching Czech Republic-Ukraine-Slovakia co-production. Making explicit the young protagonist’s Jewish background, Marhoul’s screenplay witnesses the horrors of the Holocaust through the dark, somber eyes of newcomer Petr Kotlar, who plays a boy wandering from village to village and from one brutality to another.

As in the book, the shock effect of coldly detailed incest, bestiality and sexual abuse, beatings, killings and mutilation is furiously nonstop in a film of nearly three hours. Rather than numbing ...

No stranger to the world of prestigious film festivals, Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard drew notice almost from the very beginning of his film career when he won the best actor award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1982 for his role in Hans Alfredson’s “Simple-Minded Murderer.” Next stop for the Emmy-nominated star of HBO’s “Chernobyl” is the Venice Film Festival, where Skarsgard co-stars with Harvey Keitel, Barry Pepper, Julian Sands and Udo Kier in Czech writer-director Vaclav Marhoul’s adaptation of the classic Jerzy Kosinski novel “The Painted Bird.”

“The Painted Bird” was an unusual production as Vaclav Marhoul shot across Eastern Europe for several years. Did you know the unorthodox filming plan when you signed on?

Yes and perhaps it’s an even longer project than you realize. Vaclav called me nine years ago when he obtained the rights and told me about his plans and I knew...

He was addicted to his television set. He never read because he didn’t really know how. He held forth on issues because everyone seemed eager to listen. And when he found he could walk on water, his followers were positively thrilled. He wasn’t.

The legendary traits of Chauncey Gardner, protagonist of Being There, seem weirdly relevant today since they mirror those of our present national leader; indeed, the presidency was the career path Chauncey was destined to pursue, albeit hesitantly. The movie, starring Peter Sellers as Chauncey, was released exactly 40 years ago, and went on to join that small pantheon of movies that achieved their own semi-immortality.

“Being There is a vivid reminder of how ignorance and illiteracy, mixed with attitude, can lead to fame and riches,” commented the New York Times in its 1979 review – one that holds up under scrutiny today.

A bestseller written by Jerzy Kosinski,...

On the Lido, the French company will be selling The Painted Bird by Václav Marhoul and Babyteeth by Shannon Murphy, spearheading a rich line-up of projects. French international sales company Celluloid Dreams is heading back to the Lido with a bang, counting two films up for the Golden Lion of the 76th Venice International Film Festival (28 August-7 September) in its line-up: The Painted Bird by Czech director Václav Marhoul, and Babyteeth by Australian director Shannon Murphy. A situation similar to that of 2017, when Celluloid Dreams was betting on two features in competition (Custody and Lean on Pete). Venice has often smiled on the Parisian company. Adapted from the famous Jerzy Kosinski novel of the same name and telling the terrible adventures of a young man travelling through Eastern Europe during World War Two, The Painted Bird...

"Come and fetch me." Celluloid Dreams has debuted a promo trailer for an indie film titled The Painted Bird, which is premiering at the Venice Film Festival this fall playing in competition. Written & directed by Czech filmmaker Václav Marhoul, the film is adapted from Jerzy Kosinski's classic novel of the same name, about a young Jewish boy wandering around Eastern Europe alone during WWII. The B&w 35mm film is described as an "evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II." The Painted Bird is a deeply dramatic story examining the immediate relationship between terror and cruelty on one side and innocence and love on the other. Starring Petr Kotlár as The Boy, with a cast including Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kier, Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands, Lech Dyblik, Aleksey Kravchenko, Petr Vaněk, and Barry Pepper. This looks intense and evocative, a work of cinematic art.

Variety has been given exclusive access to the international trailer for Vaclav Marhoul’s “The Painted Bird,” which world premieres in competition at the Venice Film Festival, and screens at the Toronto Film Festival in the Special Presentations section.

The cast, led by Petr Kotlar, includes Udo Kier, Stellan Skarsgard, Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands, Barry Pepper, Lech Dyblik, Jitka Cvancarova and Aleksey Kravchenko. Celluloid Dreams has world rights to the film, with Celluloid Dreams and CAA Media Finance co-representing the U.S. rights.

The black-and-white 35mm film, based on Jerzy Kosinski’s novel, is described as an “evocation of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II.”

It follows the journey of The Boy, entrusted by his persecuted parents to an elderly foster mother. The old woman soon dies and The Boy is on his own, wandering through the country-side, from village to farmhouse.

As he struggles for survival,...

A robust roster of awards contenders, including Brad Pitt space odyssey “Ad Astra” and Steven Soderbergh’s star-studded financial thriller “The Laundromat,” will launch from the Venice Film Festival, which features a bit less high-wattage Hollywood fare this year but no shortage of hotly anticipated world premieres and stars.

The four U.S. pics in the Lido’s 21-title competition are all high-profile entries, starting with Fox’s “Ad Astra,” directed by James Grey, which features Pitt as an astronaut on a mission to save the solar system from imminent destruction. Netflix continues its strong track record on the Lido (where “Roma” debuted last year) with Noah Baumbach’s intimate divorce drama, “Marriage Story,” with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a couple in conflict, and “The Laundromat,” which stars Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas in a tale based on the Panama Papers exposé. Warner Bros. is launching “Joker,...

Brad Pitt space odyssey “Ad Astra,” Noah Baumbach’s untitled new project, “Joker” with Joaquin Phoenix, Tom Harper’s “The Aeronauts,” Fernando Meirelles’ “The Pope,” the new “Rambo” installment, and heist thriller “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” starring Mick Jagger as a reclusive art dealer, all look bound for the Venice Film Festival, sources tell Variety.

The fest is scheduled to unveil its initial lineup July 25. With just six weeks before the festival kicks off, director Alberto Barbera is scrambling to firm up his official selection, a process more down to the wire than usual.

At the moment, this year’s U.S. studio presence on the Lido does not look as if it will be as dominant as in recent editions, possibly because the Disney-Fox merger has slowed down the Hollywood pipeline a bit. But where the majors might be pulling back, the streamers are stepping in.

Netflix looks set...

The Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival Honorees

Julianne Moore, Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema

An actress, author and activist, Moore has long earned accolades on her diverse career path.

The North Carolina native won a Daytime Emmy with her first major TV role on the soap opera “As the World Turns,” and a Golden Globe for one of her first big-screen performances, as part of an ensemble cast in Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts” (1993).

Her wide-ranging work has paired her with the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson, Alfonso Cuaron and the Coen brothers. She’s also had roles in the blockbuster “Jurassic Park” and “Hunger Games” franchises.

A five-time Academy Award nominee, she won her first Oscar for “Still Alice” (2014). Moore recently signed on to star in and executive produce the Apple series “Lisey’s Story,” from Stephen King and J.J. Abrams.

In Karlovy Vary, she and her husband,...

Ensemble cast features Stellan Skarsgard, Harvey Keitel, Barry Pepper, Julian Sands and Udo Kier.

Heading into Cannes, Celluloid Dreams has acquired international sales rights on Czech director Vaclav Marhoul’s holocaust tale The Painted Bird, an adaptation of late Polish writer Jerzy Kosinski’s classic novel about an orphaned Jewish boy fending for himself in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.

Stellan Skarsgard, Harvey Keitel, Barry Pepper, Julian Sands and Udo Kier feature in the ensemble cast in the roles of the various characters who cross the boy’s path. Child actor Petr Kotlar makes his big screen debut as “the boy”.

“I...

Czech cinematographer Vladimir Smutny, who lensed Jan Sverak's 1996 Oscar winning-film Kolya, will receive the President's Award at the 54th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this summer.

The festival also will screen a tribute to legendary Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, who died in 2008.

Smutny, who shot a host of other Sverak movies, including Dark Blue World and Empties, is a seven-time winner of the Czech Lion award for best cinematography; his latest credit is on Vaclav Marhoul's adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird. Kosinski is best known for his novel and screenplay ...

Czech cinematographer Vladimir Smutny, who lensed Jan Sverak's 1996 Oscar winning-film Kolya, will receive the President's Award at the 54th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this summer.

The festival also will screen a tribute to legendary Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, who died in 2008.

Smutny, who shot a host of other Sverak movies, including Dark Blue World and Empties, is a seven-time winner of the Czech Lion award for best cinematography; his latest credit is on Vaclav Marhoul's adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird. Kosinski is best known for his novel and screenplay ...

Directed by Alexey Fedorchenko, 2018, Russia, 75 min

Ukraine, 1941: a six-year-old girl regains consciousness under a layer of black earth. Close-ups of milky-white body parts reveal she is in a mass grave.

This story of a six-year-old child could be called Daughter of Saul. All that happens is seen through her eyes, with no dialogue. What she sees through the very limited holes in walls where she is hiding are bits and pieces of the Nazis occupying the building in the town where the mass murder of Jews included her mother.

Befriended by a cat, she eventually must even sacrifice it to the Nazis, and that is the only time she shows the emotional toll her life imposes upon her.

Anna is played by Marta Kozlova

Left alone at nights in the Nazi headquarters where she is hiding, she forages for food and supplies needed for survival. By day, she quietly...

Czech indie producer director Vaclav Marhoul says he knew from the moment he got his hands on Jerzy Kosinski’s Holocaust novel “The Painted Bird” that he had to adapt it for the screen.

Finding the book at all in Central Europe was not easy even a decade ago, when Marhoul took up the challenge of creating the mythic, war-torn land of the tragi-comic story by the author of “Being There”; it had long been banned during the communist era and copies were still rare, Marhoul says.

He credits below-the-line colleagues in Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic for much of the feat. To conjure the book’s dark and haunting world, the director brought in cinematographer Vladimir Smutny and production designer Jan Vlasak, two of the nation’s top creatives in their fields.

“The Painted Bird” spins a netherworld of Slavic wartime horrors intermixed, Marhoul says, with just the right measure of hope.

Harvey Keitel will play a Catholic priest in Czech director-producer Vaclav Marhoul's adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski's Holocaust story, The Painted Bird.

Keitel is the third top international star to sign up for a role in the film, which tells the story of a Jewish boy who wanders through Eastern Europe passing himself off as a Gentile to avoid death at the hands of the Nazis during World War II.

He joins Stellan Skarsgard and Udo Kier in playing characters the boy meets during his travels.

The actor is due to arrive in the Czech Republic in early November for five days...