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A European river cruise is less a vacation and more a cultural artifact. It represents a specific kind of American pilgrimage, a journey back to an Old World that exists now mostly in the imagination, promising a temporary escape from the relentless newness of the present.

Love on the Danube: Love Song floats directly into this stream of consciousness, presenting a ship gliding through the historical heart of the former Habsburg Empire as a stage for modern romantic negotiation. We meet Sarah (Nazneen Contractor), a woman so tethered to her professional obligations that her phone appears as a biological extension.

She embodies the contemporary crisis of perpetual productivity. Her foil is Jack (Wes Brown), a man who advocates for the radical act of simply being. They are, of course, on this floating sanctuary with their widowed parents, setting the scene for a multi-generational examination of connection in a place meticulously designed for it.

In the predictable machinery of professional life, Savannah is a competent cog, a publicist anticipating the upward momentum of a promotion. When that mechanism grinds to a halt and ejects her, the narrative deposits her into a world far removed from corporate structures. Her friend Teddy, a cruise director, extends an offer: a temporary job aboard a ship gliding down the Danube.

This is no ordinary voyage. The vessel hosts “KissCon,” a floating convention for devotees of the romantic comedy, a self-contained universe where fans can brush shoulders with the stars who enact their favorite fantasies. Into this strange ecosystem walks Tripp Nelson, a rising actor burdened by the very fame the convention celebrates.

His discomfort with the spotlight is palpable. Savannah’s task is to manage this reluctant star, to polish his public image. Their first encounter is a sharp clash of his guarded celebrity and her professional purpose,...

Photo: David Elsendoorn, Laci J Mailey

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Steve Wilkie

Airing as part of the Winter Escape 2025 programming event on Hallmark Channel is The Perfect Setting. The movie stars Laci J. Mailey and David Elsendoorn, filmed on the set in Antwerp, Belgium. Read on to learn more about the rom-com, its cast and its premiere date.

The Perfect Setting is an unexpected romance on Hallmark Channel Photo: Laci J Mailey

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Vinciane Pierart

Filmed on set in beautiful Antwerp, Belgium, The Perfect Setting stars Laci J. Mailey and David Elsendoorn. According to the official synopsis, Abby (Mailey) is an American who works in a luxury jewelry store doing repairs, and keeps getting looked over for her true passion – jewelry design.

Feeling defeated, Abby takes a two-week trip to her ancestral home, Antwerp, Belgium. Here, she visits her recently widowed grandfather and the quaint family shop where she developed her craft.

Photo: Sarah Power, Brendan Penny Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Nelly Kiss

Hallmark+ has announced details of the third installment in its new, original movie series, Love on the Danube. Titled Kissing Stars, the new movie premieres on September 26 and stars Sarah Power and Brendan Penny. Read on to find out more about the movie and its cast and enjoy some images taken on the film set.

Love On The Danube: Kissing Stars on Hallmark+ Photo: Brendan Penny Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Nelly Kiss

According to the official synopsis, Savannah (Power) is a PR professional who works with non-profits. She is expecting a promotion but unexpectedly gets laid off. Meanwhile, her best friend, Teddy (Kathryn Drysdale), the director of a riverboat cruise that is hosting a Rom-Com fan convention called KissCon, invites her to work with talent while on the cruise.

Photo: Katie Sheridan, Brendan Penny, Jonny Weldon Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media...

Photo: Dan Jeannotte, Jessica Sipos Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Nelly Kiss

Airing on Thursday, September 19 on Hallmark’s revitalized streaming channel, Hallmark+, Love on the Danube: Royal Getaway is the second in an exciting trilogy.

The movie tells the story of two people on a riverboat getaway in Europe and how shared interests can bring love. Read on to find out more about the plot and cast of the movie, and see images taken on the film set.

Love on the Danube: Royal Getaway on Hallmark+ Photo: Daniel Fraser, Roy McCrerey, Lesley Molony, Dan Jeannotte Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Nelly Kiss

According to the official synopsis, Ava (Sipos), an art gallery manager, decides to take her honeymoon riverboat cruise alone after her wedding was canceled a year before. On the cruise, she meets Joe (Jeannotte), a handsome fellow passenger she finds intriguing.

Unbeknownst to her, Joe is concealing his identity as the Prince of Baldonia.

Photo: Wes Brown, Nazeen Contractor Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Nelly Kiss

The feel-good channel’s reinvented streaming channel Hallmark+ has announced the first of a new movie trilogy, Love On The Danube: Love Song.

Filmed on an iconic river cruise boat, with spectacular views of Europe, this first movie sees Nazreen Contractor and Wes Brown falling in love while attempting to match-make their parents. Read on to find out more about the plot of the movie and its cast and see beautiful images taken on the film set.

Love On the Danube: Love Song on Hallmark+ Photo: Mark Holden, Kathryn Drysdale Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Nelly Kiss

According to the official synopsis, Sarah (Contractor) is traveling with her mother on a European Riverboat Cruise. Onboard, she meets Jack (Brown), who is cruising with his father.

The couple immediately forms a connection and realizes their parents are also making friends. Sarah...

European producers to trial AI software aimed at enhancing outcomes for features at script, rough-cut and fine cut stages.

The Paris-based European Producers Club (Epc) and Swiss artificial intelligence start-up Largo have pacted on an experiment to trial how artificial intelligence technology could be applied to European independent film productions, to support their development, financing and distribution.

“The studios have been using AI for a while but the technology has yet to be widely explored by Europe’s independent film production scene,” explained Alexandra Lebret, managing director of the Epc which gathers some 100 top producers from across Europe.

Under the initiative,...

Alliance for Development projects include Isis thriller and comic book story.

The Locarno Industry Days’ Alliance for Development wrapped its third edition today with a handful of potential co-productions catching the eye.

The initiative aims to help foster development and co-production between France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland with projects backed by European funds including France’s Cnc, Italy’s MiBACT and Germany’s Ffa.

Among the nine projects in the programme this year was Gigi Roccati’s (Babylon Sisters) Isis-themed thriller My Kin, which has been boarded in Locarno by Belgian producer Hubert Toint (Gangsters).

Italy’s Pilar Saavedra is the main producer alongside Antoine de Clermont Tonnere of MacT productions in France. The team is aiming for a 2019 shoot on the project, which is in the €2m range.

Also catching the eye was romantic-comedy Comic Book Souls, the project with the biggest estimated budget (€4.5m), about a young man who finds life inspiration through his passion...

Exclusive: Northern Soul sub-distributor boards drama following the true story of Irish artist Eileen Gray.

Distribution outfit Munro Films - the company which sub-distributed Northern Soul and Cobain: Montage Of Heck - has taken rights to Mary McGuckian’s biographical drama The Price Of Desire for the UK and Ireland.

The films tells the story of how Irish artist and designer Eileen Gray was virtually erased from history due to an ongoing conflict with revered architect Le Corbusier.

Orla Brady (A Love Divided) plays Gray, while Vincent Perez (Cyrano De Bergerac) plays Le Corbusier, with musician Alanis Morissette also amongst the cast.

Director McGuckian also wrote the film’s screenplay and produced, along with Jean-Jacques Neira and Hubert Toint.

The project was an English-Belgian co-production, shot on location in Belgium and the south of France in a villa designed by Gray. Eg Film Productions were the primary production outfit.

The Little Film Company is handling sales on the...

Exclusive: Northern Soul sub-distributor boards drama following the true story of Irish artist Eileen Gray.

Distribution outfit Munro Films - the company which sub-distributed Northern Soul and Cobain: Montage Of Heck - has taken rights to Mary McGuckian’s biographical drama The Price Of Desire for the UK and Ireland.

The films tells the story of how Irish artist and designer Eileen Gray was virtually erased from history due to an ongoing conflict with revered architect Le Corbusier.

Orla Brady (A Love Divided) plays Gray [pictured], while Vincent Perez (Cyrano De Bergerac) plays Le Corbusier, with musician Alanis Morissette also amongst the cast.

Director McGuckian also wrote the film’s screenplay and produced, along with Jean-Jacques Neira and Hubert Toint.

The project was an English-Belgian co-production, shot on location in Belgium and the south of France in a villa designed by Gray. Eg Film Productions were the primary production outfit.

The Little Film Company is handling sales on the...

See images from 2 Days in New York, starring Julie Delpy and Chris Rock Ju;ly Delpy directs the Magnolia Pictures release which already opened on VOD on July 6th prior to its upcoming August 10th theatrical run. Also in the cast of the comedy are Albert Delpy, Alexia Landeau, Alexandre Nahon, Kate Burton, Dylan Baker and Daniel Brühl. 2 Days in New York is produced by Scott Franklin, Ulf Israel, Christophe Mazodier, Jean-Jacques Neira and Hubert Toint. Marion and Mingus live cozily—perhaps too cozily—with their cat and two young children from previous relationships. However, when Marion’s jolly father (played by director Delpy’s real-life dad), her oversexed sister, and her sister’s outrageous boyfriend unceremoniously descend upon them for a visit, it initiates two unforgettable days that will test Marion and Mingus.

See images from 2 Days in New York, starring Julie Delpy and Chris Rock Ju;ly Delpy directs the Magnolia Pictures release which already opened on VOD on July 6th prior to its upcoming August 10th theatrical run. Also in the cast of the comedy are Albert Delpy, Alexia Landeau, Alexandre Nahon, Kate Burton, Dylan Baker and Daniel Brühl. 2 Days in New York is produced by Scott Franklin, Ulf Israel, Christophe Mazodier, Jean-Jacques Neira and Hubert Toint. Marion and Mingus live cozily—perhaps too cozily—with their cat and two young children from previous relationships. However, when Marion’s jolly father (played by director Delpy’s real-life dad), her oversexed sister, and her sister’s outrageous boyfriend unceremoniously descend upon them for a visit, it initiates two unforgettable days that will test Marion and Mingus.

#65. 2 Days in New York Director/Writer: Julie DelpyProducers: Scott Franklin, Ulf Israel, Christophe Mazodier, Jean-Jacques Neira, Hubert Toint Distributor: Rights Available The Gist: This centers again Marion (Delpy), who has broken up with Jack and now lives in New York with their children. Her Parisian family come to visit her, but the cultural differences between her eccentric father and new American boyfriend will turn out to be explosive. Meanwhile, her sister has had the "good" idea of bringing an ex-boyfriend from Paris and there is the pressure of an upcoming photography exhibition...(more) Cast: Julie Delpy, Chris Rock and Dylan Baker List Worthy Reasons...: The notion of sequels are made more magical whenever Julie Delpy is involved. Her writing and character development in Linklater's Before Sunrise/Sunset makes us especially hopeful for her 2 Days transatlantic gigs. We expect nutty cast of characters and a nuttier premise this time out.

#02. 2 Days in New York - Julie Delpy 2 Days in Paris premiered at the Berlin Int. Film Festival in 2007 and we think there is no reason why 2 Days in New York won't be presented there as well. Technically out of the way is her 2011 film Skylab, which was shown at San Sebastián, so my thinking is this shot in the U.S sequel without a North American distributor might want to logically make a first pitstop in Park City. Part one grossed just over 4 million in art-house box office receipts for Samuel Goldwyn, with a NYC-backdrop, zany cast of chracters from different backgrounds including Chris Rock in the line-up this rom com could easily grab a Premieres section showing. Gist: Scripted by Delpy, 2 Days in New York centres again on French woman Marion (Delpy), who has broken up with Jack and now lives in New York with their children. Her Parisian family come to visit her,...

Berlinale Competition

PARIS -- Erick Zonca, the acclaimed director of "The Dreamlife of Angels" and "The Little Thief", spent seven years on this American project, "Julia", an homage to John Cassavetes' "Gloria" as well as a nod to the late director's "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie."

Although directed, written and photographed by French filmmakers, this is an American movie, shot in California and Mexico with American and British actors. The commercial prospects are therefore those of a U.S. indie film. The presence of Tilda Swinton, following her Oscar nomination, could further attract a significant number of viewers. The film opens in France on March 12.

The opening sequences focus on Julia's nightlife: repeated drinking, occasional sex with strangers, quarrels. What starts out as a portrait of an alcoholic suddenly takes a turn with the intrusion of another woman. At an AA meeting, Julia (Swinton) meets Elena (Kate Del Castillo), who seeks her help. She claims she has been separated from her son, who lives with his grandfather. She asks Julia to help kidnap the boy and offers to split the ransom from the grandfather, a millionaire.

"Julia" naturally turns into a thriller, full of suspense, which will bring Julia and the boy to the California desert and all the way to Mexico. Getting involved in a kidnapping and having to face Mexican criminals allow Julia to better understand herself. So in 140 minutes, which move faster than many 90-minute movies, Zonca manages to change genres, change styles and make his character evolve.

Visually, the film evokes the American cinema of the 1970s. The immersion in Julia's drunk life is deliberately filmed in a Cassavetes style: short shots, close focal distance, blurred colors, dialogues that seem improvised. The thriller is first a road movie that uses the immensity of the desert as a narrative resource. Then the sequences in Tijuana pivot around the most vehement cliches Americans have on this border town.

As Julia, Swinton belongs to that league of great cinematic alcoholics such as Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick in "Days of Wine and Roses" and Ray Milland in "The Lost Weekend". As an action character, she naturally evokes Gena Rowlands without ever trying to resemble her. She doesn't hesitate to show her imperfect body -- some cellulite, a little potbelly. The braveness to take on such an unsexy behavior is not common. Opposite her, in some of the film's most compelling sequences, Saul Rubinek shows again that he is the essence of the supporting actor.

JULIA

Les Productions Bagheera, Le Bureau, StudioCanal, the 7th Floor, Saga Film

Credits:

Director: Erick Zonca

Screenwriters: Aude Py, Erick Zonca

Artistic collaborator: Camille Natta

Producers: Francois Marquis, Bertrand Faivre

Co-producers: Allen Bain, Jesse Scolaro, Hubert Toint, Jean-Jacques Neira

Director of photography: Yorick Le Saux

Production designer: Francois-Renaud Labarthe

Costume designer: April Napier

Editor: Philippe Kotlarski

Cast:

Julia: Tilda Swinton

Mitch: Saul Rubinek

Elena: Kate del Castillo

Tom: Aidan Gould

Nick: Jude Cicolella

Diego: Bruno Bichir

Santos: Horacio Garcia Rojas

Miguel: Gaston Peterson

Running time -- 140 minutes

No MPAA rating...