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Dos presencias españolas, ‘Extraño Río’ y ‘Calle Málaga’, en la programación de la Biennale.

© Biennale

Ayer se desveló la impresionante programación de la 82 edición del Festival Internacional de Cine de Venecia, que se celebra del 27 de agosto al 6 de septiembre. Una selección potente, con claro protagonismo del cine en lengua inglesa, que busca posicionar a Venecia como la antesala decisiva de la temporada de premios. No es un gesto gratuito: Anora, ganadora en Cannes el año pasado, acabó llevándose el Óscar a la Mejor Película. Y ahora, todos miran a la Mostra como el próximo trampolín. Así, en la competición por el León de Oro hay nombres de peso como Guillermo del Toro, Yorgos Lanthimos, Jim Jarmusch, Noah Baumbach, Park Chan-wook, o Benny Safdie. La riqueza de la programación se extiende también a las secciones paralelas y fuera de competición. En ellas se presentarán, entre otros, los nuevos trabajos de...

Teona Strugar Mitevska‘s Mother, the Macedonian’s sixth feature film (which promises to shake up the mythical figure of Mother Teresa played by Noomi Rapace) is the opening film in Orizzonti Competition. Venice Film Festival topper Alberto Barbera made several return invites this year. Mitevska was previously in the section with The Happiest Man in the World. Interesting side note – the filmmaker and her subject were both born in Skopje in North Macedonia. The drama is said to focus on a few weeks after the end of World War II, before the nun founded her own congregation, the Missionaries of Charity.…...

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite,” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” are heading to the Lido for their world premieres at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival.

At a press conference in Venice on Tuesday morning, the announcement of those and other titles was made by Alberto Barbera, Director of the Cinema Department and Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, president of La Biennale di Venezia.

Other films in the Venice main competition include new work from Paolo Sorrentino (“La Grazia”), Jim Jarmusch (“Father Mother Sister Brother”), Laszlo Nemes (“Orphan”), Park Chan-wook

“Sermon to the Void,” Hilal Baydarov

“L’Isola di Andrea,” Antonio Capuano

“Il Maestro,” Andrea Di Stefano

“After the Hunt,” Luca Guadagnino

“Hateshinaki Scarlet,” Mamoru Hosoda

“The Last Viking,” Anders Thomas Jensen

“In the Hand of Dante,” Julian Schnabel

“Dead Man’s Wire,” Gus Van Sant

“Orfeo,” Virgilio Villoresi

Out of Competition – Non Fiction

“Kabul,...

Bill Nighy (“Living”) is among the stars recruited to join Prime Video’s upcoming action-adventure series starring Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham. That show also now has a title — “Ride or Die” — while Matt Miller (“Lethal Weapon”) has joined as showrunner and Peyton Reed (“Ant-Man”) has been tapped to direct the first two episodes.

Based on an idea by creator Tessa Coates (“Feel Good”), the eight-episode “Ride or Die” stars Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”) as Judith, who has secretly been working as a highly trained assassin. That’s a double life that Judith’s best friend Debbie (played by Spencer) knows nothing about — until a hit goes wrong. Now Judith and Debbie are on the run, aiming to stay one step ahead of a mysterious enemy.

Nighy will play “The Director” in “Ride or Die.” Also joining the cast: Ed Skrein as “Billy Donovan”; Sylvia Hoeks as “Ana”; Calam Lynch as...

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s Oscar hopeful The Seed of the Sacred Fig has won the sixth edition of the Arab Critics‘ Award for European Films, a joint initiative between European Film Promotion (Efp) and the Arab Cinema Center (Acc).

The drama, produced by Germany’s Run Way Pictures in co-production with Parallel45, Arte France Cinéma, was among 22 European-produced films in the running for the award, voted on by 89 critics from 15 Arab countries,

Taking inspiration from Iran’s Woman Life Freedom protests, the film revolves around a devout man who is promoted to the position of investigating judge at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, just as his daughters become swept up in the pro-equal rights and democracy movement.

The award was announced on the fringes of Egypt’s El Gouna International Film Festival. Rasoulof could not attend in person, but sent greetings via a video message, while producer Mani Tilgner...

Noomi Rapace, who is serving on the Sarajevo competition jury, visited the Variety Lounge presented by the Sarajevo Film Festival and Bh Telecom to share her history with the Balkan region.

Although it is her first time in Sarajevo, Rapace grew up with films from the Balkan region and praises their bravery and passion. She noted that the Sarajevo Film Festival, “might be one of the most important film festivals because the power of films and what art can do to people and how you can discover stories and characters and look into situations and hearts that you would never know of.”

She reminisced about her role in Macedonian-Australian helmer Goran Stolevski’s “You Are Never Alone,” describing how he made her feel safe despite the fact that she had scenes where she was completely nude. She noted that Goran “is a fascinating and very gentle director but with a very strong vision.

Noomi Rapace teased elements of her upcoming project Mother, in which she will play the revered and “complex” Catholic saint. The Swedish star, who is currently serving as a jury member at the Sarajevo Film Festival, has been prepping for the indie project with director Teona Strugar Mitevska and remarked that in between watching films at the festival, she’s also “reading a lot about” Mother Teresa.

“I’ve been reading her letters, listening to her and doing research,” Rapace told Deadline. “There’s also a lot of negativity written about her so I’m filling myself with everything I can and trying to find who she is for me and, in conversations with Teona, we’re finding our Mother Teresa.”

Rapace stressed the film, which is the English language debut from Strugar Mitevska, will not be a biopic, but will rather examine seven...

Noomi Rapace is set to have big shoes to fill or perhaps a white sari with blue stripes as she will take on a one-week portrait as Mother Teresa before she became the Mother Teresa we all know. Variety reported that production is set for this coming September on North Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska’s Mother – making for what will be one of our most anticipated biopics to look out for next year. This depicts five days in the life of a 44-year-old ambitious woman, just at the moment when she is to leave St. Mary’s convent and create her own religious order.…...

Noomi Rapace is teasing her portrayal of Mother Teresa in the upcoming film “Mother,” in which the multi-faceted Swedish talent tackles the role of the Catholic saint when she was just an ordinary woman.

Speaking at the Sarajevo Film Festival this week, where she’s part of a competition jury headed by Paul Schrader, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and “Prometheus” star said she was drawn to the offbeat portrait of Teresa because she wasn’t interested in doing a conventional biopic. “She was no saint,” Rapace said. “She’s a quite complex character.”

“Mother,” which marks the English-language debut of North Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska, will follow seven days during a pivotal moment in the life of the revered saint, when she decides to leave the Loreto Entally convent in Calcutta and launch her own order.

“She’s waiting for permission from the Vatican to go out on her calling,...

CineLink Industry Days, the industry platform of Sarajevo Film Festival, has selected nine projects for its 2024 edition; and appointed Ishak Jalimam as its new head.

Jalimam will work with Masa Markovic, who continues as head of industry for the third year. He replaces Amra Baksic Camo, who had run CineLink since its inception in 2003, and will now focus on developing new projects under the Sarajevo Film Festival umbrella.

Scroll down for the full list of CineLink projects

A graduate of the Sarajevo Academy of Performing Arts, Jalimam is founder and president of Bosnian production company Realstage Productions, through which he...

Sarajevo Film Festival has selected 15 emerging producers from Southeast Europe for its CineLink Producers’ Lab.

The selected producers include Aleksandar Arsovski from North Macedonia, who has credits in production roles on Teona Strugar Mitevska’s God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija and Filip Herakovic’s Pelican. Arsovski works at Wolfgang i Dolly.

Scroll down for the full list of producers

Also selected is Greek producer Maria Laskaridou, who was an associate producer on David Cronenberg’s 2022 Crimes Of The Future, and who works at Argonauts Productions.

The selected producers each have between two-to-five years of experience, and will participate in masterclasses,...

Noomi Rapace is set to play Mother Teresa in a new biopic.The 44-year-old actress will play the Catholic saint in 'Mother', an upcomig biopic film that will focus on seven pivotal days in the life of Mother Teresa.The Teona Strugar Mitevska-directed movie will center on the saint's decision to leave the Loreto Entally convent in Kolkata, India, and launch her own order, according to The Hollywood Reporter.'Mother' will be Teona's English-language debut and the director feels she can relate to the Catholic saint, who died in September 1997, aged 87.Teona said: "I absolutely related to her as a woman and I saw a lot of myself in her."Noomi has been identified as the perfect candidate for the role.Noomi has previously starred in movies such as 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows'.Although she's enjoyed...

One of the stars of Apple TV's most mind-bending series of 2024 has inked a deal to star in an intriguing new project. A new report from THR announced that Noomi Rapace will play the legendary Catholic saint Mother Teresa in the upcoming biopic titled Mother. Teona Strugar Mitevska, known for previously directing 21 Days Until the End of the World and The Happiest Man in the World, will helm the film. Mother will follow seven consecutive days in Mother Teresa's life during a crucial moment when she decided to leave behind her family at Loreto Entally convent in Calcutta and start a new order.

Noomi Rapace is set to play Mother Teresa in a new film from Teona Strugar Mitevska, director of 2019’s God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya.

Rapace will play the legendary Catholic saint in the biopic Mother, which will follow seven consecutive days at a pivotal moment in Mother Teresa’s life, the period where she decides to leave the Loreto Entally convent in Calcutta and launch her own order.

Mother will be Mitevska’s English-language debut. She called Rapace, the star of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, ‘” a perfect fit” for her depiction of Mother Teresa, which will be imagined as a rebellious, almost punk figure fighting against the structures of the Catholic church.

Born in Northern Macedonia, where Teresa is from, Mitevska said she “grew up with the myth of Mother Teresa” but “as an existentialist” wasn’t that interested in the religious...

Anne-Cécile Rolland has been appointed to the role and start in February.

Anne-Cécile Rolland has been named head of acquisitions for France’s Pyramide Distribution and Pyramide International, taking over for Christine Ravet who will step down from her position at the end of the year.

Ravet is retiring after a more than 40-year career in auteur cinema. Before joining Pyramide, she was director of acquisitions at mk2 Films and a member of the selection committee for Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.

She was notably behind Pyramide’s acquisitions of Laura Poitras’ Venice-winning All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, Amjad Al Rasheed...

The selections for the first edition of MyMetaStories – The Innovative European Film Festival were announced and among the seven feature films selected we find Cedric Ido’s Gravity, Teona Strugar Mitevska’s The Happiest Man in the World and Clara Roquet’s Libertad. Along with those selections we find a baker’s dozen of thirteen shorts all presented at prestigious international festivals and from filmmakers who we’ve recently seen at this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week with Raphaël Balboni & Ann Sirot or Marie Amachoukeli. MyMetaStories will take place from October 6 to 29th on online, on digital platforms and from the 13th-16th on the Minecraft platform.…...

Some 18 producers from 17 countries will attend workshops throughout 2023 and 2024.

Eve Gabereau of the UK’s Modern Films and Denmark’s Monica Hellstrom are among 18 independent producers selected for Ace 33, the latest intake for the Ace Producers Network.

The 18 producers from 17 different countries will attend three workshops throughout 2023 and 2024 with independent feature projects. The workshops will take place in Norway in October, on content development; in Warsaw, Poland in November, on financing strategies; and finally in France, looking at business strategies.

Scroll down for the Ace 33 selection

The producers will then join the Ace Network following the 2024 Ace meeting in Bordeaux,...

18 producers from 17 countries will attend workshops throughout 2023 and 2024.

Eve Gabereau of UK company Modern Films and Danish producer Monica Hellstrom are among 18 independent producers selected for Ace 33, the latest intake for the Ace Producers Network.

The 18 producers from 17 different countries will attend three workshops throughout 2023 and 2024 with independent feature projects. The workshops will take place in Norway in October, on content development; in Warsaw, Poland in November, on financing strategies; and finally in France, looking at business strategies.

Scroll down for the Ace 33 selection

The producers will then join the Ace Network following the 2024 Ace meeting in Bordeaux, France.

London-based...

Further Cannes titles to be selected include ’Firebrand’ and ’The Old Oak’.

The first titles in the running for the 2023 European Film Awards have been revealed by the European Academy, including Cannes premieres Anatomy Of A Fall, How To Have Sex, The Old Oak and Firebrand.

Anatomy Of A Fall won the Palme D’Or for French director Justine Triet at Cannes. The Hitchcockian mystery thriller is about a woman, played by Sandra Hüller, accused of murder when her husband dies of suspicious causes. Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion produce.

How To Have Sex won the top Un Certain Regard...

The European Film Academy has fired the starting gun in the race for the European Film Awards. It has recommended 19 films to its members who will then select the nominees from this list, as well as some additional titles from the summer festivals, which will be announced next month.

Among the selected films are Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall,” and the winner of its Jury Prize, “Fallen Leaves,” along with fellow Palme d’Or contenders “Kidnapped,” “Firebrand,” “La Chimera” and “The Old Oak.”

Other titles include “How to Have Sex,” which won the Un Certain Regard Award in Cannes, “The Animal Kingdom,” which also played in Un Certain Regard, Cannes Directors’ Fortnight titles “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry” and “The Goldman Case,” and “Close Your Eyes,” which played in the Cannes Premiere section.

Also selected are “Afire,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlinale,...

Cannes Competition titles Anatomy Of A Fall, The Old Oak, and La Chimera are among the first set of titles recommended for nominations at this year’s European Film Awards.

Overall, 19 titles have been selected for the first stage of nominations by the European Film Academy Board. The selection includes films from seventeen countries. In the coming weeks, the 4,600 members of the European Film Academy will watch and vote for the selected films. The winners will be announced at the European Film Awards ceremony in Berlin on December 9.

Films eligible for the European Film Awards must be deemed European features, and have had their first official screening between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023. Eligible films must also have a European director. The rules state that if the director is not European, “provided they have a European refugee or similar status or have lived in Europe and worked in the European film industry...

Every film festival has a history, but at the Sarajevo Film Festival, the past, as Faulkner might say, is never dead. It’s not even past. Launched during the Bosnian War, in the middle of the nearly four-year siege of the city, the event is inextricably linked to its origin story.

“I don’t know of another festival that was founded in a city under siege, in a city without running water and electricity,” says fest director Jovan Marjanović. “I think the story of the founding of the festival is something that is really in our DNA, it very much informs everything that we’re doing today”

Nearly three decades on — the 29th Sarajevo Film Festival kicked off August 11 and runs through August 18 — Sarajevo remains a sanctuary for cosmopolitan culture in a region still torn by nationalist politics.

This applies to the international line-up, which this year features such festival...

La BêteCOMPETITIONComandante (Edoardo De Angelis)The Promised Land (Nikolaj Arcel)Dogman (Luc Besson) La Bête (Bertrand Bonello) Hors-Saison (Stéphane Brizé) Enea (Pietro Castellitto) Maestro (Bradley Cooper)Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)Finalmente L’Alba (Saverio Costanzo)Lubo (Giorgio Diritti) Origin (Ava DuVernay) The Killer (David Fincher)Memory (Michel Franco)Io capitano (Matteo Garrone)Evil Does Not Exist (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)The Green Border (Agnieszka Holland)The Theory of Everything (Timm Kröger)Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)El conde (Pablo Larrain)Ferrari (Michael Mann)Adagio (Stefano Sollima)Woman OfHolly (Fien Troch)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionSociety of the Snow (J.A. Bayona)Coup de Chance (Woody Allen)The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wes Anderson)The Penitent (Luca Barbareschi)L’Ordine Del Tempo (Liliana Cavani)Vivants (Alix Delaporte)Welcome to Paradise (Leonardo di Constanzo)Daaaaaali! (Quentin Dupieux)The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (William Friedkin)Making of (Cedric Kahn)Aggro Dr1ft (Harmony Korine)Hitman (Richard Linklater)The Palace (Roman Polanski...

The Giornate Degli Autori — the independently run event that takes place alongside the Venice Film Festival and is often referred to simply as Venice Days — has unveiled the lineup for its 2023 edition (also it’s 20th).

Among the 10 titles world premiering in competition is Elise Girard’s drama Sidonie in Japan, starring Isabelle Huppert as a French writer mourning her husband’s death while on a book tour. Out of competition, Coup! — a satire set during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic and starring Peter Sarsgaard and Billy Magnussen — will bow, while special events include the world premiere of This Is How a Child Becomes a Poet, a short from Portrait of a Lady on Fire director Céline Sciamma (who was previously president of the Venice Days jury). There will also be a special daylong event in honor of late Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée, including a screening of his 2005 drama C.R.A.Z.Y.

Venice...

The Giornate degli Autori folks will be celebrating the twentieth edition of the section and a pair of auteurs in Céline Sciamma and Teona Strugar Mitevska will be gifting them with specially made (insubordination-friendly) new cinema. The spirit and memory of Quebecois filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée will be honored with a special screening of C.R.A.Z.Y and we’ve got some buzz-worthy titles in the shape of Élise Girard (Isabelle Huppert is front and center in Sidonie au Japon), Delphine Girard‘s Quitter la nuit (with Selma Alaoui and Veerle Baetens), Chong Keat Aun‘s Snow in Midsummer, and sticking with the French Canadian theme we got Ariane Louis-Seize‘s feature debut coming-of-ager comedy Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant among the dozen plus features (ten comp films) and trimmings — including world cinema’s new shinning filmmaker stars in Lila Avilés and Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović packing their Miu Miu Women’S Tales shorts.

Venice parallel section Giornate degli Autori (GdA) has unveiled the selection for its 20th edition running from August 30 to September 9, featuring a surprise short by Céline Sciamma, a new feature by Teona Strugar Mitevska as well as a tribute to late Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallée.

The line-up spans 10 films in competition, seven special events, eight titles in Venetian Nights as well as a special day-long event devoted Vallée and the cinema of Québec, featuring a screening of his 2005 coming of age drama C.R.A.Z.Y.

Highlights of the competition include Canadian filmmaker Ariane Louis-Seize’s quirky vampire tale Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person; Atlas Mountains-set ensemble theatre group road movie Backstage by directorial debut Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane; Through The Night, in which Belgian director Delphine Girard expands her Oscar-nominated short A Sister, and Sidonie In Paris, starring Isabelle Huppert as a writer mourning the...

French director Élise Girard’s “Sidonie in Japan,” starring Isabelle Huppert as a French writer mourning her husband’s death while on a book tour of Japan, is among titles set to launch from the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori.

The section, also known as Venice Days, has unveiled its lineup comprising 10 titles world premiering in competition – six of which are first works – and in other sections displaying a wide range of genres and visual styles, but tied together by “a common discourse,” said the section’s artistic director Gaia Furrer.

The selected films “with all their thematic or formal eclecticism, still dialogue with each other,” Furrer said in a statement.

Opening the section in competition is Italian director Tommaso Santambrogio’s black-and-white drama “Oceans Are the Real Continents,” set and shot in decadent contemporary Cuba (see image below). This is Santambrogio’s first feature, but...

It’s not a coincidence that Volker Schlöndorff’s latest film The Forest Maker, the environmental essay documentary about Australian agronomist Tony Rinaudo, who found a way to grow trees in the most barren areas of Africa, is opening the 27th Sofia International Film Festival kicking off Thursday in the Bulgarian capital.

One of the major film festivals in Eastern Europe is going green, and the veteran German filmmaker, winner of the Palme d’Or and what was then called the best foreign language Oscar for The Tin Drum (1979), will plant the first tree of the future Sofia Film Festival Forest.

“We wanted to remind ourselves of our deep connection to the land and our power to be agents of change together. We wish to engage the public in the global vision of sustainable development of society and a responsible attitude towards nature”, the festival organizers said about the green...

Goteborg will screen nearly 250 films in 700 screenings, making it the largest film festival in Scandinavia.

The 46th Goteborg Film Festival (Jan 27-Feb 5) will kick off with the world premiere of Exodus, directed by Abbe Hassan, about a smuggler who tries to save a Syrian girl; the closing film will be Camino, directed by Birgitte Stærmose, about a 30-year-old woman on a long hike with her father to honour her mother’s last wish.

Goteborg will screen nearly 250 films in 700 screenings, making it the largest film festival in Scandinavia.

About 50 of the films – including all in the International Competition – will be...

The Göteborg Film Festival has unveiled the competition titles selected for its 46th edition, which runs from January 27 – February 5. (Scroll down for the full list).

Göteborg is split into four competition strands. The main strand is the Nordic Competition, which features nine films from the Nordic region. The competition’s winner takes home the Dragon Award and a Sek 400 000 cash prize. The rest of the festival comprises the Nordic Documentary Competition, the Ingmar Bergman Competition for first-time filmmakers, and the International Competition.

Among the Nordic highlights is Swedish filmmaker Isabella Carbonell’s thriller Dogborn, starring Swedish rap star Silvana Imam. The pic debuted at Venice last year and follows two homeless twins and their struggle to survive. Hlynur Pálmason’s well-received period piece Godland also screens in competition. Set in the late 19th Century, the drama revolves around a young Danish priest who travels to a remote part of...

Event ran December 10-17.

Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel’s Austrian Vera has won the Crystal Arrow award at the 14th Les Arcs Film Festival which wrapped on Friday night in the French mountain resort.

A jury presided over by prolific French actor-director Roschdy Zem gave its great jury prize to Teona Strugar Mitevska’s The Happiest Man In The World. Acting prizes went to Yothin Clavenzani for Ghost Night and Annabelle Lengronne for Léonor Serraille’s Mother And Son, which also won a prize for best photography for Helene Louvart. The film is distributed by Diaphana in France and sold by MK2 Films.

Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field star in ’80 For Brady’ from Paramount Pictures.

The world premiere of 80 for Brady starring Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin will open the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Festival on Friday, January 6, 2023, and The Lost King from director Stephen Frears will close the festival on Sunday, January 15th. In between, Psiff will screen 132 films including the world premiere of the documentary Shot in the Arm.

“We are beyond excited to welcome back our beloved audience and filmmakers in Palm Springs. We’re especially thrilled to be joined by all four leads of 80 For Brady. The film is brimming with joy and heart, and it’s a perfect film to kick off our 34th edition,” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez. “Our programmers have dedicated almost a year to scouting the world for the films that make up this edition.

The Palm Springs Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 34th annual edition, announcing that Paramount Pictures’ 80 for Brady will world premiere as its opening night film on January 6, with IFC Films’ The Lost King closing it out on January 15.

Directed by Kyle Marvin, 80 for Brady is inspired by the true story of four best friends living life to the fullest when they take a wild trip to the 2017 Super Bowl Li to see their hero Tom Brady play. Cast members including Academy Award nominee Lily Tomlin, Academy Award winner Jane Fonda, Academy Award winner Rita Moreno and Academy Award winner Sally Field are expected to be among those in attendance at the fest to rep the film slated for release in theaters on February 3, 2023.

Related Story Palm Springs Film Festival Awards: Austin Butler Latest Honoree For January Gala Related Story '80 For Brady' Trailer: Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda,...

Click here to read the full article.

Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo, Poland’s contender for the 2023 Oscars in the best international feature category, has won this year’s Arab Critics’ Awards for European Films at the Cairo International Film Festival.

The award was unveiled at a gala ceremony at the Cairo Opera house on Thursday night.

The Polish drama, which follows the trials of a donkey traveling through modern Europe, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the jury prize. Skolimowski picked up a best European director nomination for next month’s European Film Awards, and Eo is considered a front-runner in the international Oscar race.

Skolimowski accepted his Arab Critics’ honor via video link from Los Angeles, where he is promoting Eo to the Academy.

“I am incredibly happy that Eo has been appreciated by the Arab Critics’ Circle as it must mean that my simple story...

Greek prime minister attends festival to highlight incentives for international projects.

Costa Rican director Valentina Maurel’s I Have Electric Dreams has won the €10,000 Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos prize for best film at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which took place from November 3-13.

The film’s lead actor Reinaldo Amien Gutierrez also won the best actor award at the festival.

The French, Belgian and Costa Rican co-production, which premiered in Locarno, follows a young girl’s coming of age and her relationship with her estranged father. World sales are handled by Greece’s Heretic.

The international competition jury...

The 11th edition of Arras Days (part of the The Arras Film Festival) is one more source for Euro projects still at the script phase to find some early coin support. Naturally there are some names here from some heavyweights including two filmmakers who were at the Venice Film Festival (Orizzonti section) in Teona Strugar Mitevska (The Happiest Man in the World) and Michal Blasko (Victim). We also have the creative tandem in Romanian scribe Alexandru Baciu and actress Maria Popistasu with a project that would become Baciu’s directorial fiction debut. Here are the projects vying for development grants.…...

The Les Arcs Film Festival will launch a new sidebar showcasing this year’s European entries to the Best International Feature Film Oscar category at its 14th edition, running December 10 to 17 in its namesake French Alps skiing resort home of Les Arcs.

The dates of the European cinema-focused festival overlap with voting for the Oscar Shortlists, running December 12 to 15 ahead of the Shortlists announcement on December 21.

Eight submissions will screen in the new section entitled “Oscar Au Ski”: Cristèle Alves Meira’s Alma Viva (Portugal), Viesturs Kairišs’s January (Latvia), Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s BeautifuInt’l Critics Line: Iceland’s Oscar Entry Beautiful Beings (Iceland), Maryna Er Gorbach’s Klondike (Ukraine), Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage (Austria), Colm Bairéad’s The Quiet Girl (Ireland), Alli Haapasalo’s Girl Picture (Finland) and Carla Simón’s Alcarràs (Spain).

“The festival takes place in a period when the Oscar race is in full swing.

Alpine event runs December 10-17.

The in-person 14th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival returns to the French Alps from December 10-17 to celebrate European Cinema and present eight films in Official Competition as well as the industry programme.

Official Competition selections vying for the Crystal Arrow award include David Wagner’s Eismayer from Austria (Loco Films handles sales), Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska’s co-production The Happiest Man In The World (distributed by Pyramide Films), and Fulvio Risuleo’s Ghost Night from Italy (Vision Distribution), and Leonor Serraille’s French title Un Petit Frère (Diaphana Distribution).

Rounding out the...

The awards aim to promote European films to Arab audiences.

Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo and Mikko Myllylahti’s The Woodcutter Story are among the nominees for the 4th Arab Critics’ Awards for European Film.

The 23-strong list, which will be shortlisted to three and an eventual winner, includes 11 entries for best international feature at the Oscars.

Alongside Eo, which follows a donkey travelling from the Polish circus to an Italian slaughterhouse, other Oscar hopefuls on the list include Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson’s Beautiful Beings from Iceland and Juraj Lerotic’s Locarno winner Safe Place from Croatia.

A joint venture between...

Eagle Pictures Seals Italy Distribution & Production Deal With Sony

Tarak Ben Ammar’s Italian distribution and production house Eagle Pictures has sealed a distribution and production deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment which will take effect from 2023. “The deal with Sony represents an important step in consolidating the company as one of the biggest players in the sector alongside Disney, Universal and Warner Bros Italia,” said Ben Ammar in a release. Eagle Pictures was Italy’s top-performing distributor in the second quarter of 2022, thanks in part to its long-standing relationship with Paramount which saw it handle the Italian release of Top Gun: Maverick. Under the deal, Eagle Pictures will handle the Italian release of Spe features and the partners will also produce five Italian and European films together, which will then be distributed internationally via Sony’s worldwide distribution network. Ben Ammar is already collaborating with Sony on two international productions,...

Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is...

The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced the international arm of its festival. Taking place September 8 through 18, TIFF previously unveiled Sally El Hosaini’s opening night film “The Swimmers” as well as Special Presentations including the world premieres of Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans,” Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” and Nicholas Stoller’s “Bros.”

“The Woman King,” “Catherine Called Birdy,” “The Menu,” “Moonage Daydream,” and “My Policeman” additionally debut at the festival.

Now, the Contemporary World Cinema slate has been announced for 2022 TIFF. The lineup includes features from more than 50 countries spanning the globe. The respective world premieres for “Bones of Crows” and “The Swearing Jar” are among programming highlights, as well as the North American premieres for Koji Fukada’s “Love Life” and Jerzy Skolimowski’s “Eo.”

“We are so proud of the TIFF Docs and Contemporary World Cinema programs,” Anita Lee, chief programming officer,...

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When the Sarajevo Film Festival was launched, back in 1995, it was in defiance. Founded during the siege of the city during the Bosnian War, the festival stood as a symbol of the power and resilience of cinema even in the face of violence and war.

In 2002, when the fest launched its CineLink program, it was amidst a mood of hope, a hope for a better future for the film industry in the former Yugoslavia and or the entire region of Southeastern Europe.

What started as a modest co-production market to encourage production with and between filmmakers in the region has now, two decades on, expanded to include a rich and diverse program of conferences, panels, talks and masterclasses. The heart of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry program, CineLink now plays an essential role in scouting for new talents from the region, mentoring...

White NoiseCOMPETITIONWhite Noise (Noah Baumbach)Il Signore Delle Formiche (Gianni Amelio)The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)L’Immensita (Emanuele Crialese)Saint Omer (Alice Diop)Blonde (Andrew Dominik)Tár (Todd Field)Love Life (Koji Fukada)Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths (Alejandro G. Inarritu)Athena (Romain Gavras)Bones & All (Luca Guadagnino)The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)Beyond The Wall (Vahid Jalilvand)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)Chiara (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Monica (Andrea Pallaoro)No Bears (Jafar Panahi)All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)The Son (Florian Zeller)Our Ties (Roschdy Zem)Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionThe Hanging Sun (Francesco Carrozzini)When The Waves Are Gone (Lav Diaz)Living (Oliver Hermanus)Dead For A Dollar (Walter Hill)Call Of God (Kim Ki-duk)Dreamin’ Wild (Bill Pohlad)Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)Siccità (Paolo Virzi)Pearl (Ti West)Don’t Worry Darling...

With opening night locked in––Noah Baumbach’s highly-anticipated Don DeLillo adaptation White Noise––Venice Film Festival has unveiled the rest of their lineup. Amongst the slate is Todd Field’s TÁR, Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, Paul Schrader’s Master Gardener, Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All, Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter, Frederick Wiseman’s A Couple, Laura Poitras’ All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, Walter Hill’s Dead for a Dollar, and more.

Check out the lineup below, with a hat tip to Deadline.

Venezia 79 Competiton

Il Signore Delle Formiche, dir: Gianni Amelio

The Whale, dir: Darren Aronofsky

L’Imensita, dir: Emanuel Crialese

Saint Omer, dir: Alice Diop

Blonde, dir: Andrew Dominik

TÁR, dir: Todd Field

Love Life, dir: Koji Fukada

Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths, dir: Alejandro G. Inarritu

Athena,...

Includes films by Alejandro G. Inarritu, Joanna Hogg, Olivia Wilde, Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Dominik, Luca Guadagnino and Florian Zeller.

The line-up of the 79th Venice Film Festival (August 31-September 10) has been announced by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.

Scroll down for full line-up

The heavyweight competition line-up includes films by Alejandro G. Inarritu, Joanna Hogg, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Dominik, Luca Guadagnino, Martin McDonagh and Florian Zeller. As with last year, five female directors were selected in the main competition. Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling is playing out of competition.

As previously announced, Noah Baumbach...

The line-up will be unveiled this morning at around 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST).

The line-up for the 79th Venice International Film Festival (August 31-September 10) will be unveiled this morning at around 11:00 Cest (10:00 BST) by festival president Roberto Cicutto and artistic director Alberto Barbera.

Scroll down for line-up

The press conference will be live-streamed below, and this page will be updated with the films as they are announced.

As previously announced, Noah Baumbach’s White Noise will open the festival in competition.

Julianne Moore will preside over the competition jury that also includes Audrey Diwan, Leonardo Di Costanzo, Mariano Cohn,...

Venice will announce its competition at the end of July.

Everyone hoping to go to the Venice Film Festival should sort their accommodation soon as Netflix is understood to be booking plenty of Lido digs in anticipation of another bumper festival.

Leading the Netflix charge are likely to be Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Mexico-set comedy Bardo and Noah Bambauch’s White Noise starring Greta Gerwig and Adam Driver. Sally El Hosaini’s Syrian refugee story The Swimmers, and Sebastian Lelio’s Ireland-set The Wonder, with Florence Pugh.

Pugh also stars in Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling with Harry Styles for Warner Bros,...

The film is a fictionalised version of how a nun became the religious icon.

Award-winning North Macedonian filmmaker Teona Strugar Mitevska has revealed her next project will be Mother, a story about the real person behind the myth of Mother Teresa.

The director describes the project as “not a biopic” but rather “a story depicting five days in the life of a 44-year-old ambitious woman, just at the moment when she is to leave St. Mary’s convent and create her own religious order.”

“We want to make a film about the real person, the woman behind the myth,” said Mitevska.

Paris-based company heads to first major international market since Cannes with slate of 2022 festival hopefuls.

Paris-based Pyramide International kicks off sales on French director Christophe Honoré coming of age drama Le Lycéen at this week’s European Film Market (February 10-17).

Set over the course of one winter, it revolves around a 17-year-old high school student struggling to get to grips with new challenges posed by death, life, the city and “the temptation of renouncement”. In a bid to regain his momentum, he decides to ditch the lies he has been feeding himself.

Rising French actor Paul Kircher, who made...