News

French actor Laetitia Casta will be feted by Locarno Film Festival with its 2021 Excellence Award Davide Campari, which pays tribute to film personalities who have left their personal stamp on contemporary cinema.

The prominent Swiss fest dedicated to global indie cinema, headed by new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, has chosen to honor Casta in recognition of a career in which, after making the transition from the sphere of high fashion to the theater and film milieu, she’s risen to become “one of the most versatile acting talents of the new millennium,” the fest said in a statement.

Casta, who began her acting career in 1999 playing the beautiful young villager Falbalà in “Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar,” directed by Claude Zidi, has subsequently appeared in “Savage Souls” by Raùl Ruiz in 2001, in “Love Street” by Patrice Leconte in 2002, and in Tsai Ming-liang’s “Face” in 2009, to name just a...

France's Cnc is throwing its weight behind the new opus by the director of Coming Home, as well as films being helmed by Brigitte Sy, Isild Le Besco and Sonia Kronlund. Four projects have been accepted during the fourth 2019 session of the Cnc’s second advance on receipts committee. Standing out among them is Selon la police by Frédéric Videau, which will be the director’s third feature, following Variété Française (unveiled in the Venice International Film Critics’ Week in 2003) and Coming Home (first revealed in competition at the Berlinale in 2012). Featuring among the cast are Patrick d'Assumçao, Lætitia Casta (nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2011 for Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, popular in such titles as A Faithful Man and Beyond...

14th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff) announced its complete lineup today in a press conference. Mff will be held from October 18th to 25th at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Ncpa) and Inox, Nariman Point, Liberty Cinemas, Marine Lines as the main festival venues and Cinemax, Andheri and Cinemax Sion as the satellite venues. Click here to watch trailers and highlights from the festival.

Here is the complete list of films to be screened during the festival (October 18-25)

International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors

1. From Tuesday To Tuesday (De Martes A Martes)

Dir.: Gustavo Fernandez Triviño (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 111′)

2. The Last Elvis (El Último Elvis)

Dir.: Armando Bo (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 91′)

3. The Sapphires

Dir.: Wayne Blair (Australia / 2012 / Col. / 103′)

4. The Wall (Die Wand)

Dir.: Julian Pölsler (Austria-Germany / 2012 / Col. / 108′)

5. Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis)

Dir.: Mads Matthiesen (Denmark / 2012 / Col. / 93′)

6. Augustine

Dir.: Alice Winccour (France / 2012 / Col.

Revision

There'll be more notes and roundups over the next few days, but before tonight's presentation of the Bears, I thought I'd rank the films I managed to see at this year's Berlinale. Note that these are not awards predictions but rather personal preferences, for what they're worth. In order (for the moment):

Outstanding

1. Barbara (Christian Petzold), Competition (see the notes and roundup).

2. Tabu (Miguel Gomes), Competition (notes and roundup).

3. Revision (Philip Scheffner), Forum.

Very Good

4. Bestiaire (Denis Côté), Forum (notes and roundup).

Good

5. Sister (Ursula Meier), Competition.

6. Death Row (Werner Herzog), Berlinale Special.

7. War Witch (Kim Nguyen), Competition.

8. Aujourd'hui (Alain Gomis), Competition.

9. Everybody in Our Family (Radu Jude), Forum.

10. Marina Abramović The Artist Is Present (Matthew Akers), Panorama Dokumente.

11. Golden Slumbers (Davy Chou), Forum.

Just Above The Middle Line

12. Mercy (Matthias Glasner), Competition.

13. Captive (Brillante Mendoza), Competition (notes and roundup).

14. Francine (Brian M Cassidy and Melani Shatzky), Forum.

Trace it to the 2006 Natascha Kampusch case or the even more terrible 2008 Elisabeth Fritzl one reverberating through into fiction, but longterm kidnapping is having a moment. Despite apparently opening with a card that claims otherwise, the incidents seem unavoidable inspirations for Frédéric Videau’s "A Moi Seule," which just had its premiere in Berlin, a film that tracks through the eight-year relationship between an man and the girl he kidnaps and hides in his basement. Emma Donoghue's acclaimed 2010 novel "Room" is narrated by a five-year-old kid who's lived his entire life in the claustrophobic space in which he and his mother have been imprisoned. And Markus Schleinzer's "Michael," which opens in New York this week after bowing at Cannes last year, gazes impassively at five months in the life of the title character, played by Michael Fuith, who's been holding a 10-year-old boy named Wolfgang (David Rauchenberger)...

Opening with a bit of a historic snooze fest yet also offering greatness… While costumes and pictures of opening film Les Adieux à la Reine (Farewell My Queen) by Benoït Jacquot were absolutely stunning the story itself was more on the boring side. The film focuses on Léa Seydoux as Sidonie Laborde, Queen Marie Antoinette’s (Diane Krüger) reader, during the days of the French Revolution. The director however is clearly more interested in his female protagonists’ shapes and an overall composed aesthetic than in actually constructing an engaging story; when the camera isn’t busy resting on mademoiselle Sydoux well-shaped breasts there is a lot of slow rushing through Versailles and very little story development going on. In a way it feels like everyone’s hurrying to get off the Titanic, except Versaille is a much more impressive set.

Frédéric Videau’s A Moi Seule (Coming Home) – also in...

The festival circus of Germany‘s big A-film festival is little less then a week away and it‘s been four days since the whole programme of this year‘s Berlinale was released. With almost 400 films the list of title‘s comprises of about as many films as the studio system blasted out annually during its golden age. For ten days Berlin‘s movie theatres will host films from around the globe, and since it is an absolute impossibility to get a grip on everything that will be shown I‘ve decided to be more than happy if by the end of the festival I‘ve gotten the gist of this list.

While some might welcome the sudden start of winter in Berlin I am already dreading the freezing cold while waiting in line at the accreditation’s counter only to find out that the films I‘ve carefully selected to watch are already out.

Shadow Dancer

It's been a good week for festival news junkies. Sundance has opened, Rotterdam's full schedule is now online, Cannes has named Nanni Moretti as President of the Jury for the 65th edition in May, and the Berlinale's been rolling out lineup after lineup. Today's addition: "With seven more films, the Competition program of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival is nearing completion. To date it includes 22 films, of which 17 are vying for the Golden and Silver Bears. 18 films will celebrate their world premieres in the Competition of the Berlinale 2012."

So, the story so far:

À moi seule (Coming Home). France. By Frédéric Videau (Le fils de Jean-Claude Videau, Variéte Francaise). With Agathe Bonitzer and Reda Kateb. World premiere.

Bel Ami. Great Britain. By Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod (feature debut). With Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Christina Ricci. World premiere / Out of Competition.

En kongelig affære...

Andrea Riseborough in James Marsh's Shadow Dancer Robert Pattinson/Bel Ami, Michael Fassbender/Haywire: Berlin Film Festival 2012 Below is the list of the latest movie additions to the Berlin Film Festival's Official Competition line-up: À moi seule (Coming Home). France. By Frédéric Videau (Le fils de Jean-Claude Videau, Varieté Française). With Agathe Bonitzer, Reda Kateb. World premiere. Bel Ami, Great Britain. By Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod (feature debut). With Robert Pattinson (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, Breaking Dawn Part 2, Eclipse, New Moon, Twilight, Remember Me, Water for Elephants, Cosmopolis), Uma Thurman (Henry & June, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, Gattaca, Playing the Field), Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient, Dans la maison, Sarah's Key, Love Crime, Nowhere Boy, Tell No One, Gosford Park, The Horse Whisperer, Mission: Impossible), Christina Ricci (Speed Racer, Fear and the Loathing in Las Vegas, The Opposite of Sex,...

Robert Pattinson, Bel Ami A week or so ago, we wondered if the Robert Pattinson period drama Bel Ami would be screened at the 2012 Berlin Film Festival. If so, would it be listed as a Word Premiere? The issue revolved around the fact that earlier this month Bel Ami had a few "special" screenings in various Belgian cities. Anyhow, the answer was given today, as Berlinale organizers have released a list of seven more movies to be screened as part of the festival's Official Competition line-up. [Watch Bel Ami trailer.] In Bel Ami, the latest film adaptation of Guy de Maupassant's novel, Pattinson plays the ambitious ex-soldier Georges Duroy, who uses his various skills to climb his way up the Parisian social ladder. Directed by stage veterans Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, Bel Ami co-stars Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Christina Ricci. Now, first of all bear in mind that some films...