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Actors Stellan Skarsgård, Vicky Krieps, Peter Sarsgaard and Dakota Johnson will be honored at the 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, which runs July 4-12.

Sweden’s Skarsgård will be presented with the Crystal Globe for outstanding artistic contribution to world cinema, and will present his latest film “Sentimental Value,” which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Skarsgård appeared primarily in European films. His performance as the lead in Hans Alfredson’s “The Simple-Minded Murderer” (1982) earned him a Silver Bear for best actor at the Berlinale. He also played the lead in the drama “The Ox” (1991), directed by cinematographer Sven Nykvist, which was nominated for the Academy Award for best foreign language film.

After appearing in several international productions – including an adaptation of Milan Kundera’s “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” and the action film “The Hunt for Red October...

Scandinavia’s heavyweight sales outfit TrustNordisk has picked up international rights to the “The Last Resort” by Maria Sødahl. The Norwegian writer-director’s previous drama “Hope,” starring Stellan Skarsgård and Andrea Bræin Hovig, earned her an Oscar shortlist berth in 2021.

In her first Danish pic, co-penned with Eske Troelstrup (“Shadow of Victory”) and Therese Hasman, top actors Danica Curcic” and Esben Smed” star as a couple, holidaying in an exclusive resort on a Spanish Island with their daughters. When a stranger suddenly approaches them and asks for help, they agree to assist him, but as he asks for more, they start fearing for their own safety.

“My previous films are shamelessly autobiographical,” Sødahl said. “The Last Resort” opens for a larger story with a more complex universe. A story where our Scandinavian protagonists start out as diplomatic humanists, until xenophobia leads them to act in full paranoia, primal and violence.

New projects from Lone Scherfig and Hlynur Palmason are among the 55 projects selected for Goteborg Film Festival’s Nordic Film Market (January 29-31).

Scherfig will present Honeytrap in the Discovery - Films In Development strand. The film is produced by Rebecka Hamberger for Sweden’s Art & Bob, with few details currently available on the project. Scherfig’s last feature was 2023’s The Movie Teller, with 2019 Berlinale opener The Kindness Of Strangers prior to that.

Scroll down for the full list of projects

Icelandic director Palmason will present The Love That Remains in the Works in Progress strand. The film is...

Göteborg’s prime Nordic Film Market where last year’s Cannes sensations “The Girl with the Needle,” “Armand” and “When the Light Breaks” were first showcased as works in progress, has announced exclusively to Variety its full 2025 program.

Over Jan. 29-31, more than 60 completed films, titles in development and post-production will be showcased to 500-plus industry delegates from 38 countries.

As always, several acclaimed-directors will share the spotlight with promising newcomers, as reflected in the centre-piece 15-title Works in Progress lineup.

Five years after his Cannes selection with “Godland,” Iceland’s festival darling Hlynur Pálmason makes a comeback with “The Love that Remains,” a vignette-driven family drama toplining Sverrir Guðnason and Saga Garðarsdóttir (“Balls”).

A Cannes Directors’ Fortnight habitué, Afghan-born Shahrbanoo Sadat (“The Orphanage”) will bring “No Good Men,” her first romcom, set inside a Kabul newsroom in 2021 pre-Taliban ruled-Afghanistan.

Sweden’s Lisa Langseth (“Pure”) returns to feature length after her...

Norway’s heavyweight producer Thomas Robsahm, credited for more than 50 films, including Joachim Trier’s double Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person in the World,” is gearing up for his busiest film slate ever.

After the delivery of Lilja Ingolfsdotttir’s Karlovy Vary’s multiple-winner “Loveable” and Yenni Lee’s “Explosions in My Heart,” which both screened at the New Nordic Films market in Haugesund, Robsahm is gearing up for four film shoots.

First up is “Dancing Queen in Hollywood,” Aurora Gossé’s sequel to her 2023 family hit “Dancing Queen,” which snagged multiple awards in 2023, including best children’s film in Zurich, Seattle, and distribution deals in more than 30 territories. Produced for his outfit Amarcord, the feelgood children’s film is currently in post-production, with a release set for 2025. LevelK handles sales.

The producer who joined Nordisk Film Production Norway in 2022 has three titles fully financed, lined up for the Scandinavian studio.

The Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2024 will celebrate its 21st edition from July 13th (Sat) to 21st (Sun), 2024 for 9 days at Skip City, which is an integrated institution for digital cinema production.

(See: https://www.skipcity-dcf.jp/en/)

Submission period: January 31st, 2024 (Wed) – March 1st, 2024 (Fri)

Skip City International D-Cinema Festival remains committed to discovering and nurturing new talent, with the aim of helping these filmmakers seize new business opportunities that have arisen in the changing landscape of the film industry. Now calling for works (60 min. or longer) that have been shot digitally and must be the director's 1st, 2nd, or 3rd feature film from all over the world for the International Competition section.

Call for entries for the International Competition!!

Entry Deadline: Must be received by March 1st, 2024 (Fri)

Submit via FilmFreeway

https://filmfreeway.com/Skipcityinternationald-CinemaFESTIVAL (Online registration / Free)

All nominated films in competition categories are eligible for the Festival Organizers awards.

We are happy to announce that the Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2023 will celebrate its 20th anniversary edition from July 15th (Sat) to 23th (Sun), 2023 for 9 days at Skip City, which is an integrated institution for digital cinema production

(See: https://www.skipcity-dcf.jp/en/)

Submission period: January 25th, 2023 (Wed) – March 1st, 2023 (Wed)

We remain committed to discovering and nurturing new talent, with the aim of helping these filmmakers seize new business opportunities that have arisen in the changing landscape of the film industry. Now we call for works (60 min. or longer) that have been shot digitally and must be the director’s 1st, 2nd, or 3rd feature film from all over the world for the International Competition section.

Call for entries for the International Competition!!

Entry Deadline: Must be received by March 1st, 2023 (Wed)

Submit via FilmFreeway

https://filmfreeway.com/Skipcityinternationald-CinemaFESTIVAL (Online registration / Free)

Our International Competition welcomes you!

Acclaimed Norwegian helmer Dag Johan Haugerud (“Beware of Children”) has attached actors Thorbjørn Harr as well as Jan Gunnar Røise for the title roles in “Sex,” one of three pics with “Dream” and “Love” that form part of a trilogy about sexuality, longing and transgression.

The project is being produced by Yngve Sæther and Hege Hauff Hvattum for Motlys, in association with Viaplay and the local theatrical distributor Arthaus.

“Sex Dreams Love” will be pitched as a works in progress at the forthcoming Göteborg Film Festival’s parallel Nordic Film Market, which runs Feb. 2-5.

Harr and Røise earned respectively a Norwegian Amanda film award for best supporting actor and best actor for Haugerud’s “Beware of Children,” which snagged a 2020 Dragon Award for best Nordic film at Göteborg.

In “Sex,” set to start shooting this spring, the actors play two colleagues who in different ways are struggling with their sexuality.

The Worst Person in the World a Norwegian saga of a young willy-nilly woman who finds peace with herself directed by Joachim Trier,

The final film in Trier’s Oslo trilogy, The Worst Person In The World earned its star Renate Reinsve the best actress prize in Cannes, and she went on to a European Film Awards nomination. Reinsve stars as a young woman navigating the troubled waters of her love life and her struggles to find a career path. Trier’s Reprise and Thelma were both submitted for this category — but neither made the shortlist. Norway did make the shortlist last year with Maria Sødahl’s Hope, and was last nominated in 2012 with Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg’s Kon-Tiki.

After its Cannes premiere it went on to play in Serbia at the European Film Festival Palic),Karlovy Vary, Jerusalem, Deauville American Film Festival), Toronto, New York Film, Hamptons, Woodstock and BFI London Film Festivals.

This was emotionally complex and satisfying but in that it was more personal vs. universal I don’t think it will win the Oscar, though it deserves to be nominated and in a different line-up would win.

Watch the trailer here.

Isa MK2 has licensed the movie to Neon for USA, Madman for Australia/ Nz, Cineart for Benelux, Camera for Denmark, Memento for France, Mozinet for Hungary, Gaga for Japan, Front Row for Middle East and Africa, Sf Studios for Norway, M2 for Poland, Alambique for Portugal, Independenta for Romania, Anticipate for Singapore, Elastica for Spain, Triart for Sweden, Frenetic for Switzerland, Hooray for Taiwan, Arthouse Traffic for Ukraine, Mubi for France, Germany, Latin America, Turkey, India.

HanWay Boards UK Debut

HanWay Films has picked up world sales rights to Sweet Sue, the debut feature from Leo Leigh, son of filmmaker Mike Leigh. Starring Maggie O’Neill, Tony Pitts and Harry Trevaldwyn, the pic is a comedy-drama following a woman back on the dating scene who meets a mysterious biker at her brother’s funeral. It is produced by Somesuch, Sums Film & Media with BBC Film. HanWay will screen footage to buyers at the virtual European Film Market. A first look at the film is at the top of this post.

Nordisk Film Norway Hire

Nordisk Film Production has hired Thomas Robsahm, the experienced producer who has worked on more than 50 films including with directors Joachim Trier (The Worst Person In The World), Margreth Olin (Self Portrait), and Maria Sødahl (Hope). He will be based in Nordisk’s Norway office.

ITV Hires Former UKTV Commissioner

ITV has reshuffled its entertainment division,...

Other new releases include Icelandic drama ‘Lamb’ and Aaron Sorkin’s ‘Being The Ricardos’.

Steven Spielberg will be hoping to make moves at the box office with his version of West Side Story, which goes up against a top five packed with resilient holdovers.

At last week’s UK-Ireland box office, House Of Gucci, Encanto, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Eternals all stayed put in the top five, with the only new entry being filmed concert performance Christmas With André, which came in at number four, and knocked No Time To Die out of the chart for the first time in its 10-week run.

Andrea Bræin Hovig and Stellan Skarsgard in Hope. Maria Sødahl: 'Stellan was there very early, because I couldn't think about any other Scandinavian actor who could defend this character in a good way' Writer/director Maria Sødahl's auto-fiction film Hope finally comes to UK cinemas this week, more than two years after it premiered at Toronto Film Festival back in 2019. Sødahl draws on her own experience of being diagnosed with a brain tumour to tell the story of Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) and Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård) - a couple with a blended family, as their relationship and world shifts on their axes as a result. As Sødahl explained in this interview - taken back when the film screened at Berlin Film Festival in 2020 - this is a film that is about love and life rather than cancer and death. It is being released with perfect timing to coincide with...

Stellan Skarsgård plays a man whose attention has been more focused on his career than his family wrestles with accepting his wife’s terminal illness

Here is an intelligent and civilised film from Norway with two outstanding actors; directed by Maria Sødahl, it’s about love, grief and intimacy and it is conceived at a high creative standard. Yet for me it never quite ignites with the real passion or the real anger that it seems to be gesturing towards.

Andrea Bræin Hovig plays Anja, a successful fortysomething choreographer with an international career, in a relationship with Tomas, played by Stellan Skarsgård, and together they have a large and loving stepfamily. The previous Christmas, Anja had been given the all-clear from lung cancer, but one year on it has grimly returned with a metastasis in her brain; she has to have surgery but with a poor prognosis.

"I've been such a coward. I should've left you ages ago!" Picturehouse in the UK has debuted anther new official UK trailer for a Norwegian indie drama titled Hope, which originally premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival a few years ago. This already opened in the US this spring and we featured a trailer earlier in the year, but another reminder that it's out is good for this one. Hope is an award-winning film written & directed by Maria Sødahl, starring Stellan Skarsgård and Andrea Bræin Hovig. Norway's selection for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards earlier this year, though it didn't end up with a nom. Hope is based on the true story and experiences of director Maria Sødahl whose terminal cancer diagnosis led to a nine-year hiatus from filmmaking. All about the relationship between artist-partners Tomas & Anja. It looks like such a deeply emotional film,...

Alternativet Produksjon, the Norwegian film banner behind Guro Bruusgaard’s “Him,” has more thought-provoking projects in the pipeline, including Mariken Halle’s pandemic-themed film “The Outdoor School” and Katja Eyde Jacobsen’s feminist movie “The Second Sex.”

The company was launched in 2017 by four filmmakers, including Halle, Jacobsen, Bruusgaard and Magnus Mork to produce their movies collectively, with a special interest in politically or socially engaged projets. The banner’s latest film credit, “Him,” revolves around three males of different ages who experience some form of social humiliation. The buzzed-about film had its international premiere last month at the Moscow Festival, where it competed.

“The Second Sex,” which seems to be the female counterpart to “Him,” follows three generations of Norwegian women in different social settings. Weaving documentary and fictional elements, the film revolves around a grandmother, a mother and a daughter, and their relationship with one another. “The Second...

Hope (Håp) Vertical Entertainment Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Maria Sødahl Writer: Maria Sødahl Cast: Andrea Bræin Hovig, Stellan Skarsgård, Elli Müller Osborne, Alfred Vatne Brean Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 2/14/21 Opens: 93Rd Academy Awards Candidate Best International Film. Spring 2021 Tbd. Don’t expect a miraculous […]

The post Hope Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

M is for Metastasis: Sødahl Returns with Emotional Portrait of Terminal Illness

Portraits of terminal illness have created a cinematic subgenre staple unto itself, and as such, we’ve come to expect the slings and arrows such melodramas provide. The universality of cancer allows such films the semblance of templates, generating survivor’s pathos or a wan representative guide for an elongated grappling in facing one’s physical decay.

Either calibrated for the benefit of loved ones or to showcase the agonizing predicament of the incurable victim, there’s been no stone unturned in the inevitable finality of a terminal prognosis. With carefully moderated grace thanks to a compelling performance from lead Andrea Bræin Hovig, Maria Sødahl’s third film in twenty years of narrative filmmaking remains a potent example of how such despairing realities still reveal the necessity and importance of the innately human titular emotion.…

Continue reading.

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 past round-ups here.

The Courier (Dominic Cooke)

Early on in The Courier, directed by Dominic Cooke, British salesman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) realizes he’s sitting at a table with both a MI6 officer (Angus Wright) and a CIA officer (Rachel Brosnahan). Excited, he admits: “I can’t believe I’m having lunch with spies!” It’s a moment of brevity that speaks to the interesting tonal dance the filmmakers are trying at. – Dan M. (full review)

Where to Stream: VOD

Hope (Maria Sødahl)

While writer/director Maria Sødahl never really leaves Anja’s side to focus on what Tomas is feeling, her film Hope makes certain we know. It’s in...

"Life's not... it's not perfect." KimStim has released an official US trailer for a Norwegian indie drama titled Hope, which originally premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival a few years ago and it already open in Norway that same year. It then played at the 2020 Palm Springs and Berlin Film Festivals, and is arriving in theaters starting this April in the US. KimStim is proud to present the US theatrical release of Hope, the award-winning film written & directed by Maria Sødahl, starring Stellan Skarsgård and Andrea Bræin Hovig. Norway's Official Selection and Shortlisted Entry for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. Hope is based on the true story and experiences of director Maria Sødahl whose terminal cancer diagnosis led to a nine-year hiatus from filmmaking. The relationship between artist-partners Tomas and Anja is put to the test. This looks like an incredibly affecting story about, of course,...

After naming it one of the best films we saw on the fall festival circuit over 18 months ago––when it premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival––Maria Sødahl’s acclaimed drama Hope will now finally arrive in the U.S. next month. Norway’s Oscar entry, and among the initial shortlist for Best International Feature Film, the film follows Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) and Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård) as a couple whose marriage is tested when the former receives a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Ahead of an April 16 release in Virtual Cinemas, courtesy of KimStim Films, we’re pleased to debut the new trailer, which introduces the powerful drama. It won’t be the last time we see this story, either, as the rights to the film have also been acquired by Nicole Kidman, who will star in a series adaptation for Amazon Studios.

Jared Mobarak said in his review, “While...

Jayro Bustamante on La Llorona, co-written with Lisandro Sanchez: “I wanted to give women that honor to be in the center of looking for justice in the film.”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Monday, March 15, the nominations for the 93rd Oscars. Best International Feature Film nominees are from Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round; From Hong Kong, Derek Tsang’s Better Days; From Romania, Alexander Nanau’s Collective; from Tunisia, Kaouther Ben Hania’s The Man Who Sold His Skin, and from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jasmila Žbanic’s Quo Vadis, Aida?.

Jayro Bustamante: “I can understand victims. And I can feel empathy with them.”

The Oscar-shortlisted film from Chile, Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent snared a Best Documentary nomination. From Norway, Maria Sødahl’s Hope...

The Santa Barbara Film Festival will open with the world premiere of Aaron Maurer’s documentary Invisible Valley, which profiles the stories of the disparate people that make up the Coachella Valley. It kicks off a festival that will run March 31-April 10 with a hybrid edition that includes online elements and screenings at a pair of pop-up beachside drive-in venues.

The full lineup revealed Tuesday features 47 world premieres and 37 U.S. premieres from 45 countries alongside the fest’s annual tributes featuring the likes of Bill Murray, Carey Mulligan, Sacha Baron Cohen and Amanda Seyfried which will be livestreamed online.

Every film screening will be offered for free this year, with a ticketed online component that will showcase the entire film lineup along with the tributes, industry panels and filmmaker Q&As.

The fest will close with a series of short documentaries by local filmmakers.

Here’s the trailer for Invisible Valley,...

Andrea Bræin Hovig as Anja with Ada (Dina Enoksen Elvehaug), her father (Einar Økland), Henrik (Eirik Hallert), Julie (Elli Rhiannon Müller Osbourne), Isak (Daniel Storm Forthun Sandbye), Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård), Erlend (Alfred Vatne), and Simon (Steinar Klouman Hallert) in Maria Sødahl’s Hope (Håp)

The performances in Maria Sødahl’s stunning piece of auto-fiction are superb. Hope (Håp), which is Oscar-shortlisted, couples Andrea Bræin Hovig as Anja and Stellan Skarsgård as Tomas. When the worst is confirmed, namely that the lung cancer Anja overcame the previous year may have spread to the brain, nothing in their world stays the same.

Andrea Bræin Hovig in her writing and sewing studio in Oslo

Tomas, whose mind, we learn, had been mainly occupied with his work producing in the theatre, will have to make a choice to either fully support Anja or withdraw into the escape of the regions he seems to be so familiar with.

Stellan Skarsgård on Maria Sødahl’s Oscar shortlisted Hope (Håp): “Many directors just put the camera on the person talking but she records the reactions from every character in the film.”

Stellan Skarsgård starred in Hans Petter Moland’s Out Stealing Horses, In Order Of Disappearance, A Somewhat Gentle Man, Zero Kelvin, and Aberdeen. When he was approached to portray Tomas, a rendition of Moland, in Maria Sødahl’s stunning piece of auto-fiction, Hope (Håp), Stellan told me: “When I first considered I’m actually going to play one of my best friends, I was thinking, but I cannot imitate him … But then of course I just cut loose and did the material from the script."

Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård) with Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) in Hope (Håp) Photo: Manuel Alberto Claro

In Hope, Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) returning home to Oslo from directing a successful stage production abroad, is greeted by her youngest child,...

Could this be Norway’s year at the Oscars? An unprecedented number of Norwegian productions and co-productions are on this year’s shortlists, exciting the domestic media, industry and audiences.

“Recognition from the Oscars is a great inspiration for all of us who have an ambition to reach outside our own borders,” says Yngve Saether of Motlys, who served as executive producer of Norway’s shortlisted international feature submission “Hope.” “And it builds confidence. Even though it’s a long way to four nominations, the shortlistings are welcome reminders that our films have something to do out there.”

Likewise, Anita Larsen, producer of the documentary “Gunda,” about the life cycle of a majestic Norwegian sow, through her company Sant og Usant, says: “I believe this will create a broader interest both for Norwegian stories, filmmakers and new co-productions opportunities.”

“Hope,” an intense and well-liked personal drama from helmer Maria Sødahl,...

When the Academy announced that this year’s pre-nomination shortlist in the international feature category would be expanded from 10 places to 15, many Oscar pundits voiced hope that this change would allow for more diversity in the selection — in terms of the stories being told, the cultures represented, and the individual artists behind them. The eventual shortlist largely lives up to these expectations: the final 15 are healthily spread across five continents, seven of them are by directors of color, while the subjects being tackled range from LGBTQ discrimination to indigenous trauma.

When it comes to gender representation, the shortlist is record-breaking. In the 15 years the Academy’s international committee has practiced the shortlisting process, no more than three films from female directors have previously made the cut. This year, five did, making up one-third of the field. That ratio reflects the number of women among the initial submissions in the race:...

The performances in Maria Sødahl’s stunning piece of auto-fiction are superb. Oscar-shortlisted Hope (Håp) hopes to become the sixth film from Norway (joining Arne Skouen’s Nine Lives; Nils Gaup’s Pathfinder; Berit Nesheim’s The Other Side of Sunday; Petter Næss’s Elling; Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg’s Kon-Tiki) to be nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in what is now called Best International Feature Film. Nicole Kidman recently bought the rights for Hope to star in a series adaptation of the director’s story.

Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) returning home to Oslo from directing a successful stage production abroad, is greeted by her youngest child, 10-year-old Isak (Daniel Storm Forthun Sandbye), on the staircase of their building. He is wearing a pig...

“The Undoing” has now surpassed 12.3 million viewers, with 48% coming from digital viewing, Variety has learned. This makes the HBO miniseries headlined by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant the premium cable network’s most-watched show of 2020, surpassing the audience for both seasons of “Big Little Lies.”

The psychological thriller and mystery drama, written and produced by David E. Kelley, directed by Susanne Bier, and featuring Donald Sutherland, Lily Rabe and Noma Dumezweni, was a ratings success for HBO from its Oct. 25 debut to its finale on Nov. 29.

According to the network, the six-parter’s finale drew a total of 3 million viewers across all platforms, a 43% boost from the penultimate episode and more than double the premiere’s tally. The whodunnit’s finale also performed strongly on WarnerMedia’s streamer HBO Max, as numbers were up more than 80% from the penultimate episode and were nearly five times higher than the debut’s first night on the platform.

Another Round, Quo Vadis, Aïda?, Two of Us, Charlatan, Hope, Collective and Dear Comrades are vying for a nomination. This year’s Oscar shortlists, unveiled yesterday, feature a bunch of European titles across every category – and, as expected, the International Feature Film selection is spearheaded by them. In a line-up that has been expanded to 15 titles this year, Academy voters have picked seven submissions from European countries, as well as four European co-productions submitted by non-European countries. The frontrunner, Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg’s European Film Award-winning Danish submission, is found on the shortlist, alongside France’s Two of Us, the first feature by Filippo Meneghetti (also nominated for a Golden Globe), Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Quo Vadis, Aïda?, the latest film by Jasmila Žbanić (also in the mix for the Spirit Award), Norway’s Hope by Maria Sødahl, Romania’s documentary Collective by Alexander Nanau and the latest efforts by two veteran filmmakers.

Barbara Sukowa, Martine Chevallier, and Léa Drucker star in Filippo Meneghetti’s Oscar shortlisted Two of Us (Deux)

The 93rd Academy Awards Oscar Best International Film shortlist has been revealed with the number increased from ten to 15 films for this year.

From Chile, The Mole Agent (El Agente Topo), Maite Alberdi, director; Czech Republic, Charlatan, Agnieszka Holland, director; Denmark, Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg, director; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Quo Vadis, Aida?, Jasmila Žbanić, director; Guatemala, La Llorona, Jayro Bustamante, director; Hong Kong, Better Days, Derek Tsang, director; Iran, Sun Children, Majid Majidi, director; Ivory Coast, Night Of The Kings, Philippe Lacôte, director; Mexico, I’m No Longer Here, Fernando Frías de la Parra, director; Norway, Hope, Maria Sødahl, director; Romania, Collective, Alexander Nanau, director; Russia, Dear Comrades!, Andrei Konchalovsky, director; Taiwan, A Sun, Chung Mong-hong, director; Tunisia, The Man Who Sold His Skin, Kaouther Ben Hania, director, and France, Two Of Us (Deux), Filippo Meneghetti,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the shortlists for nine categories for the upcoming Oscars. The categories and number of films include documentary feature (15), documentary short subject (10), international feature (15), makeup and hairstyling (10), original score (15), original song (15), animated short film (10), live action short film (10) and visual effects (10).

The shortlist voting concluded on Feb. 5, and the remaining will move on to the official phase one voting, which will take place on March 5-9. The Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15, with the show scheduled to take place on April 25.

The full lists are below with snubs and surprises:

Documentary Feature

Fifteen films will advance in the documentary feature category out of 238 films eligible films. Members of the documentary branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.

“76 Days” (MTV Documentary Films) – directed by Weixi Chen, Hao Wu, Anonymous “All In: The Fight for Democracy” (Amazon Studios) – directed by Lisa Cortes,...

Believe the accolades: Maria Sødahl’s perceptive, heartfelt “Hope” richly deserves all the attention it’s gotten at festivals and award ceremonies since premiering in Toronto in 2019. Naturally, any movie with such a title dealing with a terminal cancer diagnosis will have some kind of sting, but “Limbo” director Sødahl, who mined her own brush with cancer when writing the film, teases out the unexpected byways where hope is not just crushed but nurtured. , not just for the multi-layered screenplay but the impeccable performances by Andrea Bræin Hovig and Stellan Skarsgård. As Norway’s Oscar submission, “Hope” prompts high expectations.

Boosting attention will be the announcement that Nicole Kidman is executive producing a television series with her Blossom Films company based on the feature (rights had been purchased by Amazon Studios), with the star in the lead role. Given the plot’s extended family dynamics, there’s certainly material enough...

Amazon Studios has acquired the rights to Norwegian film Hope for series adaptation, with Nicole Kidman attached to star and be executive produced under her Blossom Films banner. Kidman most recently received rave reviews for her performance in the hit HBO limited series The Undoing.Per Saari is also exec producing.

Hope has been selected as the Norwegian entry for Best International Feature Film category at the 2021 Academy Awards. With suspense, mystery, tragedy and humor, the series Hope will chronicle twelve days of a family’s Christmas together, the unravelling of a marriage, with six children between them, in this large complicated blended family drama. Hope is a falling in love again story.

The award-winning Norwegian film on which the series is based was written and directed by Maria Sødahl and stars Andrea Bræin Hovig and Stellan Skarsgård. The pic won the European Cinemas Label award for best film in...

Academy Award and Emmy-winner Nicole Kidman will executive produce a television series based on Maria Sødahl’s European Cinemas Label-winning “Hope” under her Blossom Films banner. “Hope” is currently in the running as the Norweigan entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards.

The rights to the film’s adaptation were acquired by Amazon Studios. The script is being penned by Alice Bell, who will also serve as an executive producer alongside Kidman. The original “Hope” film, released in 2019, stars Andrea Bræin Hovig and Stellan Skarsgård. The romance and family drama was nominated for best director and best actress at the 2020 European Academy Awards. Not much is being divulged yet about “Hope” (the show), but we do know that the narrative will chronicle over the twelve days of Christmas for a couple in a tenuous marriage and six children between them.

Blossom Films, founded by...

A version of this story about “Hope” first appeared in the International Film Issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

Nine years elapsed between Norwegian director Maria Sødahl’s first film, 2010’s “Limbo,” and her new one, “Hope.” But the long hiatus was never part of the plan for Sødahl, who was forced to put her film career on hold when she was diagnosed with brain cancer and told she only had a few months to live.

That experience became the basis for “Hope,” an understated drama deals with the strain on a family when a wife and mother receives the same diagnosis that Sødahl did. Obviously, she survived to make “Hope,” which stars Andrea Bræin Hovig as Anja, the woman who receives the diagnosis, and Stellan Skarsgård as her husband, Tomas. Skarsgård is also close friends with Sødahl and her husband, director Hans Petter Moland, and starred in Moland’s...

Sean Durkin’s drama stars Jude Law and Carrie Coon.

Picturehouse Entertainment has secured UK distribution rights to Sean Durkin’s The Nest from US outfit FilmNation Entertainment, strengthening its slate of upcoming awards buzz titles.

The romantic drama, starring Jude Law and Carrie Coon, debuted at Sundance and went on to pick up a hat-trick of awards at the Deauville Film Festival. Picturehouse plans to release in 2021 but has yet to set a date.

Durkin’s second feature, after Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2011, explores how life for an entrepreneur and his American family begins to take a twisted...

Bookmark this page for all the latest international feature submissions.

Submissions for the best international feature film award at the 2021 Academy Awards have started to come in, and Screen is keeping a running list of each film below.

Scroll down for the full list

The 93rd Academy Awards is set to take place on April 25, 2021. It was originally set to be held on February 28, before both the ceremony and eligibility period were postponed for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Submitted films must have been released in their respective countries between the expanded dates of October 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. (Last year it was October-September.

by Nathaniel R

The Norwegian Film Institute has selected Maria Sødahl's cancer drama Hope to represent them at the Oscars. The film stars Bræn Hovig and the ever-ubiquitous Stellan Skarsgård as the couple thrown by a terrible diagnosis. Hope was selected over two other finalists which were: Disco by Jorunn Myklebust Syversen about a young girl mixed up with a Christian cult (which we reviewed at TIFF last fall), and Margreth Olin's documentary The Self Portrait about an acclaimed photographer struggling with anorexia. (Olin was submitted 11 years ago for her second narrative feature Angel though she's primarily a documentarian.)

1987 Norwegian nominee "Pathfinder"Norway has been perpetually overshadowed by Sweden and Denmark in terms of the cinema. They have a smaller film industry than their Scandinavian neighbors but the other problem is a noticeable lack of internationally-adored auteurs. We hoped that the rise of Joachim Trier would change that but,...

Maria Sødahl’s “Hope” has been selected to represent Norway in the Oscar’s international feature film race.

The film was selected by the Norwegian Oscar Committee out of three candidates which included “Disco” by Jorunn Myklebust Syversen, and the documentary “Self Portrait” by Espen Wallin, Katja Høgset and Margreth Olin.

Represented in international markets by TrustNordisk, “Hope” won the European Cinemas Label Award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival after world premiering at Toronto. It was just nominated for a pair of European Film Awards and was released in Sweden across 90 theaters.

“Hope” marks Sødahl’s follow up to “Limbo” and is a personal film based on what she went through after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer years ago.

The heartfelt drama stars Stellan Skarsgard and Andrea Braein Hovig (“All the Beauty”) as a couple with a large blended family whose lives break down when the wife...

Bookmark this page for all the latest international feature submissions.

Submissions for the best international feature film award at the 2021 Academy Awards have started to come in, and Screen is keeping a running list of each film below.

Scroll down for the full list

The 93rd Academy Awards is set to take place on April 25, 2021. It was originally set to be held on February 28, before both the ceremony and eligibility period were postponed for two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Submitted films must have been released in their respective countries between the expanded dates of October 1, 2019, and December 31, 2020. (Last year it was October-September.

Thomas Vinterberg’s “Another Round,” starring Mads Mikkelsen, leads the race for the 33rd European Film Awards, alongside Jan Komasa’s Oscar nominated “Corpus Christi” and Pietro Marcello’s “Martin Eden.” Each film has four nominations.

“Another Round” took nominations for best film, director, actor for Mikkelsen, and screenwriter for Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm. The film won the Audience Award at London Film Festival, and best actor, jointly for the four male leads, at San Sebastian.

“Corpus Christi” will compete for best film, director, actor for Bartosz Bielenia, and screenwriter for Mateusz Pacewicz.

“Martin Eden” is short-listed in the best film category, as well as director, actor for Luca Marinelli (who won best actor with the film at Venice last year), and screenwriter for Marcello and Maurizio Braucci.

Three films scored two nominations each. Burhan Qurbani’s “Berlin Alexanderplatz” competes for best film, and screenwriter for Martin Behnke and Qurbani.

Nominations for feature film and documentary up from five to six.

The nominations for the 2020 European Film Awards have been unveiled, with the size of two key categories extended as a result of the virus crisis.

The categories for best feature and best documentary have each been increased from five to six to offer more exposure to titles and artists impacted by cinema closures and release delays during the pandemic.

Scroll down for full list of nominees

The films nominated in the best European Film category are Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round, Berhan Qurbani’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, Jan Komasa’s Corpus Christi,...

The European Film Academy has unveiled the nominations for its 2020 awards, which will take place virtually across a series of online events December 8-12.

Leading the way are Another Round, Corpus Christi, and Martin Eden which have four nominations apiece, including for European Film 2020. Joining them in that main category are Berlin Alexanderplatz, The Painted Bird, and Undine.

Nominated for European Documentary are: Acasa, My Home; Collective; Gunda; Little Girl; Saudi Runaway; and The Cave.

In the European Director category, joining Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round, Jan Komasa for Corpus Christi, and Pietro Marcello for Martin Eden are Agnieszka Holland for Charlatan, Francois Ozon for Summer Of 85, and Maria Sødahl for Hope.

The European Actress nominees are: Paula Beer (Udine); Natasha Berezhnaya (Dau. Natasha); Andrea Bræin Hovig (Hope); Ane Dahl Torp (Charter); Nina Hoss (My Little Sister); and Marta Nieto (Mother).

Up for European actor: Bartosz Bielenia (Corpus Christi...

In this viral times simply having a film festival feels increasingly like a win, but not only has Japan's Skip City International D-Cinema Festival wrapped up their 2020 edition - a digital edition of the digitally created cinema festival - but they have done so with an in person closing ceremony with actual winners. Here are all the details! Winners of Skip City International D-Cinema Festival 2020 announced!! “Hope” dir. Maria Sødahl: Grand Prize “The Pencil” dir. Natalya Nazarova: Best Director & Special Jury Prize For the first time, one film receives two of main prizes by the Jury “Woman of the Photographs” dir. Takeshi Kushida: Skip City Award selected from all Japanese films Launched in 2004 in Kawaguchi City of Saitama Prefecture as a...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The Swedish comedy Call Mom! by Lisa Aschan has come out on top in the Comedy Competition. The postponed Febiofest Prague 2020 (see the news) has announced the winners of its 27th edition. The Main Competition jury, comprising Czech filmmakers Beata Parkanová and Slávek Horák, and Czech actress Anna Polívková, stated: “Each of the films made an impact on us, affecting different parts of our personalities. That’s why we also decided to hand out a Special Mention. And it was precisely that award that represented the toughest choice, as it was hard to decide between these well-matched films. In the end, it went to Maria Sødahl’s Hope, which won us over with its sensitive telling of a story, with excellent acting performances.” The top prize went to the Slovak-Czech-Romanian-Irish drama Servants by Slovakian director-producer Ivan Ostrochovský, which premiered at this year’s Berlinale. “An extremely powerful story told by purely cinematic.

Picturehouse Entertainment has acquires U.K. distribution rights from FilmNation Entertainment for Justin Simien’s “Bad Hair,” which will be released in British movie theaters on Nov. 27.

The film received its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year, following in the footsteps of Simien’s directorial debut “Dear White People” in 2014.

A satirical horror movie set in 1989, “Bad Hair” follows an ambitious young woman (Elle Lorraine) who gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career comes at great cost when she realizes that her new hair may have a mind of its own.

In addition to Elle Lorraine’s breakout leading role, the ensemble cast includes Vanessa Williams (“Soul Food”), Lena Waithe (“Master of None”), Laverne Cox (“Orange Is the New Black”), Jay Pharoah, Kelly Rowland, Blair Underwood (“Set It Off”), James Van Der Beek (“Dawson’s Creek”), Chanté Adams (“The Photograph”) and Usher.

Nine wins out of ten nominations is the excellent result for Dag Johan Haugerud's film at the 2020 Amanda ceremony, held at Haugesund on Friday night. That is one more of the coveted statuettes in the shape of a feisty fisherwoman than was carried home in 2017 by former record-holder The King’s Choice, setting a tough bar for future contenders. Beware of Children, Dag Johan Haugerud’s intimate study (featuring mainly adults) of the accidental death of a child caused by another child brought wins for Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay (both Haugerud), Best Actor (Jan Gunnar Røise) and Best Supporting Actor (Thorbjørn Harr) as well as a handsome array of accolades for assorted technical achievements. A worthy grand slam winner, is the general consensus. Close to being just as worthy, and close in nominations — eight of them — was the exquisitely executed Hope, Maria Sødahl’s autobiographical...

This year’s selection will be announced over two waves to account for pandemic conditions.

The first 32 features up for the 2020 European Films Awards has been announced with a second wave of “pandemic year” titles due to be revealed in September.

Scroll down for first selection of films

The titles include Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History Of David Copperfield and Viggo Mortensen’s Falling as well as Berlinale award-winners Undine, by Christian Petzold; Hidden Away, by Giorgio Diritti; Bad Tales, by the D’Innocenzo Brothers; Dau. Natasha, by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy and Jekaterina Oertel; and Delete History, by Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern.

TrustNordisk has closed key international deals on “The Crossing,” its WWII-set Norwegian family drama. The company will be hosting a market screening at Cannes’ virtual Marché du Film on June 24.

After selling the film to the U.S. (Menemsha Entertainment) and Former Yugoslavia (Cinemania Group) during the European Film Market in Berlin, TrustNordisk has now closed Italy (Mediaset), Benelux (In the Air) and Czech Republic and Slovakia (Foxx Media).

Produced by Norwegian company Maipo, “The Crossing” tells the story of 10-year-old Gerda and her brother Otto, whose parents are arrested right before Christmas in 1942. Gerda and Otto, who are now left on their own, discover that two Jewish children, Sarah and Daniel, are hidden in a secret cupboard in their basement, and decide to help them flee from the Nazis and cross the border to reunite them with their parents in neutral Sweden.

Susan Wendt, managing director of TrustNordisk, said...

Dag Johan Haugerud’s drama has scooped four prizes, closely followed by Maria Sødahl’s Hope, the recipient of three awards. Last week, the recipients of the prestigious Kanon Awards, the Norwegian film industry’s most important prizes, were announced during Trondheim’s Kosmorama Film Festival (2-8 March 2020). Dag Johan Haugerud’s Beware of Children has emerged as this year’s big winner. Four prizes were bestowed upon this production – namely, Best Direction, Best Script, Best Actor and Best Editing. Haugerud’s film examines the dramatic aftermath of a tragic event in a middle-class suburb of Oslo. During a break at school, 13-year-old Lykke, the daughter of a prominent Labour Party member, seriously injures her classmate Jamie, the son of a high-profile right-wing politician. When Jamie later dies in hospital, contradictory versions of what actually happened risk making a difficult and traumatic situation even worse. Throughout the film, Liv, the...