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The 50th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, presented by Rogers, is scheduled to take place from September 4th through the 14th, and today the festival (known as TIFF) announced this year’s Centrepiece programme, their global showcase of compelling cinema from around the world. As a press release notes, “his year, there are 55 titles from filmmakers representing nearly fifty countries including Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chad, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Iraq, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, reflecting TIFF’s commitment to global cinema. Centrepiece provides a platform for internationally recognized films, acclaimed titles from other festivals around the globe, and highly anticipated premieres from Canadian and international talents.” Centrepiece has been programmed by Jason Anderson, Kelly Boutsalis, Diana Cadavid, Robyn Citizen, Claire Diao, Giovanna Fulvi, June Kim, Dorota Lech, Anita Lee, Peter Kuplowsky, Andréa Picard, and Jason Ryle – and one of the standouts among...

The Toronto International Film Festival has selected 55 movies for its Centrepiece programme of the 50th fest, movies which are a “global showcase of compelling cinema from around the world” per this Am’s release. TIFF, presented by Rogers, runs from Sept. 4-14.

Titles from close to 50 countries including Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chad, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Iraq, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand are reflected in the curation.

Those filmmakers with works in this part of the lineup, and that also includes North American premieres, are Hubert Davis, Mathieu Denis, Hasan Hadi, Chie Hayakawa, Anders Thomas Jensen, Jan Komasa, Richard Linklater, Sergei Loznitsa, Pietro Marcello, Christian Petzold, Potsy Poncirol and Álvaro Olmos Torrico.

Centrepiece has 19 world premieres including:

Blood Lines, Gail Maurice’s sophomore feature, a pastoral drama of family and reconnection.

Carolina Caroline, directed by Adam Carter Rehmeier, an outlaw romance starring Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner.

The Toronto Film Festival on Tuesday unveiled 55 new film titles for its global-film focused Centerpiece program, including titles from Richard Linklater, Christian Petzold, Anders Thomas Jensen, Pietro Marcello and Álvaro Olmos Torrico.

There’s world premieres for the “Brat” singer Charli xcx-starrer Erupcja from director Peter Ohs; the Stephen Graham, Andrea Riseborough and Anson Boon starring thriller Good Boy, from director Jan Komasa and co-producer Jeremy Thomas; Adam Carter Rehmeier’s romantic crime thriller Carolina Caroline, starring Samara Weaving; and Kirk Jones’ Tourette Syndrome drama I Swear, which stars Robert Aramayo as John Davidson, the trailblazing campaigner.

The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo. Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival

There’s also first looks for Gail Maurice’s indigenous drama Blood Lines, where the director stars alongside Tamara Podemski, Dana Solomon and Melanie Bray; Nomad Shadow, Eimi Imanishi’s debut feature about a refugee to Europe forced to return to Western Sahara; The Cost of Heaven,...

On Tuesday, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) announced the highly anticipated lineup for its 2025 Centerpiece program.

This year's festival features a total of 55 titles from filmmakers representing nearly 50 countries, including works from Bolivia, France, Iraq, and Kenya. This wide-ranging selection shines a spotlight on TIFF's enduring commitment to presenting interesting stories from every corner of the globe. The Centerpiece program serves as a platform for internationally recognized films, acclaimed selections from other prestigious festivals, and premieres from both Canadian and international talents.

This year, cinephiles can look forward to the latest projects from a host of influential directors, including Mathieu Denis' Cost of Heaven, Hasan Hadi's The President’s Cake, Jan Komasa's Good Boy, Anders Thomas Jensen's The Last Viking, Richard Linklater's Blue Moon, Pietro Marcello's Duse, Christian Petzold's Miroirs No. 3, and Álvaro Olmos Torrico's The Condor Daughter.

Another notable name at TIFF will be Sean Baker,...

At the Cannes halfway mark, talk is turning to the Venice Film Festival line-up.

Benny Safdie’s A24 title The Smashing Machine starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, and films from Chloe Zhao, Edward Berger, Alice Winocour and Yorgos Lanthimos are all being tipped to debut on the Lido.

After a quiet 2024 in Venice, Netflix may be back with Berger’s Macao-set The Ballad Of A Small Player starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton. Focus Features has two major possibilities: Zhao’s Hamnet, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal (although the Nov 27 US release date may suggest a later festival...

Dublin-based Keeper Pictures, formerly known as Blinder Films, has a strong presence in Cannes, with producer Evan Horan participating in Efp’s Producers On The Move, and Cara Holmes’ documentary Lesbian Lines highlighted as part of Cannes Docs.

The latter is about a network of underground telephone helplines set up by a community of Irish lesbians.

Keeper’s eclectic international co-production slate also includes Nanouk Leopold’s drama Whitetail, with the Netherlands’ Circe Films and Kaap Holland Films and Belgium’s Savage Films, now in post and Sophie Fiennes’ third documentary collaboration with philosopher Slavoj Žižek The Pervert’s Guide To Utopias,...

The International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) opens this evening with New Zealand director Jonathan Olgilvie’s coming-of-age tale Head South set against the late 1970s, post-punk music culture of his home city of Christchurch.

IFFR previously selected Olgilvie’s sci-fi thriller Lone Wolf for its Big Screen Competition in 2021.

“It’s the first time we’re going to meet him in person because it was during Corona,” says IFFR Artistic Director Vanja Kaludjercic of the first selection.

“When you put the two films side by side, you ask how can one filmmaker make two such different films,” she adds. “We really admire his creativity and ingenuity.”

Over the course of the next 10 days, Rotterdam will screen some 440 works.

The Main Competition for this 53rd edition is characteristically diverse.

The 14 features in the running for the main Tiger Award include Brooklyn-based filmmaker Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich’s The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire, exploring the life of the titular,...

Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) took place as a hybrid event from November 4-14.

French director Samuel Theis’ Softie has won the Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos for best film at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which took place as a hybrid event from November 4-14. The award is a cash prize of €10,000.

The French production, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics Week, follows Johnny, a sensitive and intelligent 10-year-old boy living with his single mother, as he searches for a father figure in his new school teacher.

The international competition jury headed by Belgian film maker Nanouk Leopold...

Samuel Theis’ “Softie” won the top prize at the 62nd Thessaloniki Film Festival, which wrapped Sunday night with a ceremony in Greece’s second city.

The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Critics’ Week section, was awarded the Golden Alexander and a €10,000 cash prize by a jury comprised of writer-director Nanouk Leopold, sound designer Roland Vajs and actor Michelle Valley.

The Special Jury Award was given to “Clara Sola,” by Natalie Álvarez Mesén, while the Special Jury Award for best director went to Lorenzo Vigas for “The Box.”

The award for best actress went to Sofia Kokkali for her performance in “Moon, 66 Questions,” by director Jacqueline Lentzou. Aliocha Reinert won the prize for best actor for his role in Golden Alexander winner “Softie.” The award for best screenplay went to Laurynas Bareiša for his film “Pilgrims,” while a special mention was given to Alexandre Koberidze for “What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?...

Thuthuka is launching today in Cannes.

Netherlands-South Africa co-development fund Thuthuka is launching today in Cannes, to enhance collaboration between the two countries.

The new fund will provide selective script and co-development support for film and documentary projects with South African- and Dutch-related content.

“Thuthuka stands for growth and development,” explained Bero Beyer, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund. “We are trying to foster creative collaborations between the South African and Netherlands film teams to develop their ideas.”

A 2016 co-production treaty between the countries is already perceived to be working well, with at least one project produced per year since...

A host of international filmmakers are now taking part in the leading Greek gathering’s Spaces #3 project. Update (14 May 2020): Spaces #3 is now available on YouTube here, featuring shorts by Yung Chang, Ildikó Enyedi, Annemarie Jacir, Nanouk Leopold, Teona Strugar Mitevska, Victor Moreno and Albert Serra. Update (22 April 2020): Spaces #2 is now available on YouTube here, featuring shorts by Tarik Aktas, Mateo Bendesky, Denis Côté, Rachel Leah Jones, Radu Jude, John C Lynch and Jia Zhang-Ke. Previously, Spaces #1 had been made available here, featuring shorts by Giorgos Georgopoulos, Rinio Dragasaki, Zacharias Mavroeidis, Minos Nikolakakis, Marianna Economou, Stavros Pamballis, Syllas Tzoumerkas and Stavros Psillakis. Update (7 April 2020): The Thessaloniki International Film Festival has extended its call for creativity via its “Species of Spaces” project. While all of the short films created by 11 Greek filmmakers and Hellenic Film Academy Award nominees have already been completed...

Among the first fests to suffer the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival has also been one of the most proactive in adapting to the lockdown mode. Earlier this March, Tiff’s docs-only spinoff, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, turned its 22nd edition into a digital-only gathering scheduled to go live between May 19-28. And in early April, Tiff announced the launch of “Spaces,” a new online series showcasing short films by world renowned auteurs inspired by—and made during—the quarantine. Borrowing from Species of Spaces, a collection of essays from French author Georges Péréc, Tiff reached out to 8 Greek and 14 international filmmakers to commission short films grappling with the pandemic-induced confinement, all shot from the confines of home. In the words of Tiff artistic director Orestis Andreadakis, the project “was meant to remind us that art, and film, can fill any space with meaning, and disperse our solitude.

Several international directors join the leading Greek film festival’s lockdown-inspired initiative.

Award-winning filmmakers Jia Zhangke, Radu Jude, Denis Côté and Ildiko Enyedi have joined a lockdown-inspired film series launched by Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Tiff).

The directors, who have all previously attended the leading Greek film festival, will each make a three-minute short on the theme of confinement. The series, titled Spaces, is inspired by the coronavirus quarantine that has seen a third of the world’s population placed under some form of restriction.

Other filmmakers set to participate include Us actor and director John C. Lynch, Dutch filmmaker Nanouk Leopold,...

Line-up includes The Ornithologist director Joao Pedro Rodrigues and Xx’s Nanouk Leopold.

Joao Pedro Rodrigues, who won the best director award at Locarno for The Ornithologist, and Xx’s Nanouk Leopold, are among the guest mentors of the 11 filmmakers selected for the FeatureLab at the TorinoFilmLab this year.

The FeatureLab is dedicated to first and second-time filmmakers with projects at an advanced stage. The workshop will take place in Bordeaux in June in partnership with Alca (Agence Livre Cinéma et Audiovisuel en Nouvelle-Aquitaine).

Rodrigues and Leopold will be joined by: producers Nadia Turincev of Rouge International, and documentary specialist...

International Film Festival RotterdamReality Check report

The 2019 Iffr Reality Check conference tackled the thorny subject of development, and how filmmakers can better exploit their own content, the plethora of new platforms and the end-user to the benefit of all. The day was divided into four parts, comprising three-panel debates and a series of intensive break-out discussions on the questions raised throughout the day. A closing session presented conclusions drawn from these deliberations.

Opening the day, Iffr director Bero Beyer described how the wide spectrum of content that we see across all platforms is developed within generally narrow constraints and that it is therefore imperative that the industry offers/creates/allows for a “wide space” for ideas to develop, mature and ultimately be realised. Great talent can turn to compete for media to tell their stories, he warned, and they could, therefore, be lost to the film world.

Reality Check Program...

Berlin crowdpleasers House of Hummingbird, from Korean director Kim Bo-ra, and Stupid Young Heart, from Finnish filmmaker Selma Vilhunen, scooped up the top prizes at the Berlin International Film Festival's Generation 14plus sidebar for youth-oriented films.

The members of the Generation 14plus international Jury — Nanouk Leopold, Pascal Plante and Maria Solrun — gave House of Hummingbird the Crystal Bear for best film, saying the directional debut, a feminist coming-of-age story about an isolated, lonely 14-year-old girl living in mid-1990s Seoul, showed “the maturity of an enduring artist.”

Another female coming-of-age tale — Rima Das' Bulbul Can Sing — received ...

Berlin crowdpleasers House of Hummingbird, from Korean director Kim Bo-ra, and Stupid Young Heart, from Finnish filmmaker Selma Vilhunen, scooped up the top prizes at the Berlin International Film Festival's Generation 14plus sidebar for youth-oriented films.

The members of the Generation 14plus international Jury — Nanouk Leopold, Pascal Plante and Maria Solrun — gave House of Hummingbird the Crystal Bear for best film, saying the directional debut, a feminist coming-of-age story about an isolated, lonely 14-year-old girl living in mid-1990s Seoul, showed “the maturity of an enduring artist.”

Another female coming-of-age tale — Rima Das' Bulbul Can Sing — received ...

Iffr panel discuss the need for diverse voices and adversity to risk.

At yesterday’s Reality Check conference at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), two panels of film professionals discussed how their careers are changing as the business undergoes radical change.

Moderator Wendy Mitchell / Akua Gyamfi / Nanouk Leopold

Speaking on the day’s first panel, which focused on the increasing popularity of “new” stories, and how these original ideas were unearthing new audiences, Akua Gyamfi took the opportunity to highlight how the industry is now waking up to the benefits of promoting diverse voices.

Gyamfi is the founder of the British Blacklist,...

Vasan Bala’s “The Man Who Feels No Pain,” and Qiu Sheng’s “Suburban Birds” are among 11 films set for competition at the third edition of the International Film Festival & Awards Macao. Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” will open the festival in an out of competition slot.

Other films in competition include: “Aga” by Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria); “All Good,” by Eva Trobisch (Germany); “Clean Up,” by Kwon Man-ki (South Korea); “Jesus,” by Hiroshi Okuyama (Japan); “Scarborough,” by Barnaby Southcombe (U.K.) “School’s Out” by Sebastien Marnier (France); “The Good Girls,” by Alejandra Marquez (Mexico); “The Guilty,” by Gustav Moller (Denmark); and “White Blood” by Barbara Sarasola – Day (Argentina). The competition is only open to first or second time feature directors.

The lineup was announced Thursday in Macau by artistic director Mike Goodridge. The jury which will select the prize-winners includes Chen Kaige as president, alongside Mabel Cheung (Hong Kong...

Radu Jude’s latest film won the Grand Prix - Crystal Globe, whilst Robert Pattinson and Barry Levinson also collected awards.

The 53rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 29 - July 7) closed today with its annual awards ceremony.

Radu Jude’s latest film “I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians” won the Grand Prix - Crystal Globe, whilst Robert Pattinson and Barry Levinson also collected awards.

Scroll down for full list of winners

“Barbarians” was selected by grand jury comprising Mark Cousins, Zrinka Cvitešić, Marta Donzelli, Zdeněk Holý and Nanouk Leopold. The Crystal Globe comes with $25,000 prize money.

The festival has also unveiled its international juries.

Tim Robbins will receive the Crystal Globe for outstanding contribution to world cinema at the 53rd edition of Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

The actor, director, producer and screenwriter will also present two of his films at the festival – Bob Roberts (1992) and Cradle Will Rock (1999), both of which take in the crossover of politics and music in the United States.

Robbins will also give a concert at the festival, as part of his group Tim Robbins and The Rogues Gallery Band.

Kviff has also announced the international juries for this year’s event.

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the leading movie event in Central and Eastern Europe, will honor Tim Robbins with its award for outstanding contribution to world cinema, the fest announced Tuesday, and the actor will screen two pics he directed and wrote, the acerbic polemic “Bob Roberts” and the tribute to pre-wwii music and politics “Cradle Will Rock.”

Robbins, who also wrote music for several of his films, including “Bob Roberts” with brother David, will perform with The Rogues Gallery Band. Terry Gilliam will also roll into the Czech Republic spa town for the fest, running June 29 to July 7, to screen “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” his disaster-prone take on the Cervantes classic that took 18 years to complete and premiered in Cannes.

Anna Paquin will also be feted, screening the family grief road movie “The Parting Glass” along with the film’s director, her husband Stephen Moyer, screenwriter and...

This year’s 53rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 29 – July 7) will present a Crystal Globe for Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema to actor and director Tim Robbins.

Oscar-winner Robbins, known for a string of memorable performances including in Mystic River and The Shawshank Redemption and for directing movies including Dead Man Walking, will present two of his directorial efforts at the Czech festival: Bob Roberts and Cradle Will Rock. He will also appear on stage for a special concert performance with his band Tim Robbins And The Rogues Gallery Band.

As previously revealed, the festival will also present a Crystal Globe — its highest award — to Rain Man director Barry Levinson. Among festival guests this year will be Terry Gilliam, who will present his labor of love The Man Who Killed Don Quixote; Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, who will present Parting Glass; actor Rory Cochrane and producer John Lesher,...

‘Europe! Voices Of Women In Film’ will show the work of 10 directors across different genres.

Sydney Film Festival is working again with European Film Promotion (Efp) to present ‘Europe! Voices Of Women In Film’, a strand as part of this year’s event that will highlight ten European women filmmakers.

For the third year of the initiative, festival director Nashen Moodley made the final selection of 10 from 37 films submitted by 23 Efp member organisations. They include feature debuts as well as more established directors.

Emily Atef will bring her award-winning 3 Days In Quiberon to Sydney, while Dutch director Nanouk Leopold will present her latest feature Cobain,...

There’s a scene in Nanouk Leopold’s Cobain where the titular fifteen year-old (Bas Keizer) tells his estranged, junkie mother Mia (Naomi Velissariou) that he wants to help. Her response is to ask whether she cares about what he does, the answer tragically understood before his mouth utters the word “No.” To watch her shrug her shoulders and say, “Why should you?” epitomizes love’s power and its strength in circumstances where you couldn’t be blamed for believing it didn’t exist at all. Mia has never been a mother to him and he calls her by her first name to prove it. (And don’t expect a manipulative “Mom” to be uttered either as Stienette Bosklopper’s script is uninterested in saccharine clichés). But he still can’t let her go.

Cobain is on the cusp of starting over having just been placed with a foster family...

The teenage son of a Flemish drug addict in the Netherlands has to grow up much faster than perhaps he’d like in Cobain, the latest feature from Dutch auteur Nanouk Leopold (Guernsey, Wolfsbergen). The director’s films have long been produced by Stienette Bosklopper through her outfit Circe Films — named after the Greek enchantress, natch — and that collaboration not only continues but is actually expanded, as Leopold here films Bosklopper’s first screenplay. But the story’s rhythm and tonal shifts aren’t always convincing, though astounding newcomer Bas Keizer, in the title role, is certainly a find.

After its premiere in the Berlinale...

Berlinale 2018: The Netherlands Has Six Titles Screening with Hubert Bals Funding or CineMart Backing‘The Seen and Unseen’

Six titles is a record number for a small country like The netherlands

Adina Pintilie’s Touch Me Not is in the running for the prestigious Golden and Silver Bears, as it will have its world premiere in the Berlinale Competition. The co-production between Romania, Germany, Czech Republic and Bulgaria was part of CineMart in 2011, where it won the Arte France Cinéma Award with a value of €10,000.

The Seen and Unseen is the second feature film by Kamila Andini. She received a contribution towards the development of this project from the Hubert Bals Fund in 2011. This Indonesian production was finished in 2017 and premiered in Platform Competition at Toronto International Film Festival, after which it had its Asian premiere in Busan. The European premiere of the film will take place in Berlin,...

German outfit rounds out Efm slate.

German powerhouse Beta Cinema has rounded out its Berlin slate with the acquisition of three competition premieres: Emily Atef’s 3 Days In Quiberon, Thomas Stuber’s In The Aisles, and Milko Lazarov’s programme closer Aga (which plays out of competition).

Screen can unveil an exclusive first trailer for Aga, director Lazarov’s second feature after his Venice 2013 debut Alienation. The film follows two Yakuts struggling to adapt to the changing world around them. When one falls ill, the other must journey to find their daughter.

It was produced by Red Carpet in co-production with 42film, Arizona Productions, Zdf/Arte and Bulgarian National Television.

Source: Beta Cinema

3 Days In Quiberon is Atef’s fifh feature. The director’s latest work sees her turn her attention to the enigmatic Austrian-born film star Romy Schneider, exploring what happened during Schneider’s last interview and photoshoot, which took place at a spa in Brittany...

The “talent drain” in the Dutch industry is coming to an end.

Source: Berlin Film Festival

My Giraffe

CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund Doreen Boonekamp has stated that the “talent drain” in the Dutch industry is coming to an end.

Thanks to the cash rebate system, now in its fourth year, Boonekamp believes that filmmakers are more easily able to pursue careers in the Netherlands while also managing collaboration with international partners.

Films including Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L. Jackson buddy thriller The Hitman’s Bodyguard are among big-canvas international films to shoot in the Netherlands in 2016 and other big-budget films are continuing to come to the country, among them John Crowley’s adaptation of Donna Tartt’s novel, The Goldfinch. Made through Warner Bros and Amazon Studios and starring Ansel Elgort, the project has received €565,945 in Dutch cash rebate funding in the last awards round in late December. The local production...

Youth-focused Berlinale sidebar will feature 65 short and feature films from from 39 production and co-production companies.

Source: Berlin Film Festival

‘303’

The Berlin Film Festival (15 - 25 Feb)has revealed the full list of titles that will play in this year’s Generation sidebar, which focuses on youth and children’s films.

In total there are 65 films, 30 of which are feature length in the Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus competitions. They hail from 39 production and co-production companies.

The first batch of Generation titles were announced in December.

Hans Weingartner’s 303 will open The Generation 14plus competition, with Weingartner and the cast attending. Danish animation Den Utrolige Historie Om Den Kæmpestore Pære (The Incredible Story Of The Giant Pear) will open the Generation Kplus competition.

Maryanne Redpath, Berlinale Generation section head, said: “Every single selection is an invitation to the audience to experience life from the perspective of youth. They are films with young people, as opposed to about...

Youth-focused Berlinale sidebar will feature 65 short and feature films from from 39 production and co-production companies.

Source: Berlin Film Festival

‘303’

The Berlin Film Festival (15 - 25 Feb)has revealed the full list of titles that will play in this year’s Generations sidebar, which focuses on youth and children’s films.

In total there are 65 films, 30 of which are feature length. They hail from 39 production and co-production companies.

The first batch of Generations titles were announced in December.

Hans Weingartner’s 303 will open The Generation 14plus competition, with Weingartner and the cast attending. Danish animation Den Utrolige Historie Om Den Kæmpestore Pære (The Incredible Story Of The Giant Pear) will open the Generation Kplus competition.

Maryanne Redpath, Berlinale Generations section head, said: “Every single selection is an invitation to the audience to experience life from the perspective of youth. They are films with young people, as opposed to about them. An impressive characteristic throughout the programme is not only the...

Daughter of MineThe titles for the 68th Berlin International Film Festival are being announced in anticipation of the event running February 15 - 25, 2018. We will update the program as new films are revealed.COMPETITIONDon't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (Gus Van Sant)Dovlatov (Alexey German, Jr.)Eva (Benoît Jacquot)Daughter of Mine (Laura Bispuri)In the Aisles (Thomas Stuber)Mein Bruder heißt Robert und ist ein Idiot (Philip Gröning)Mug (Małgorzata Szumowska)Berlinale Special GALAThe Bookshop (Isabel Coixet)The Silent Revolution (Lars Kraume)Panoramal'Animale (Katharina Mückstein, Austria)Bixa Travesty (Tranny Fag) (Claudia Priscilla & Kiko Goifman, Brazil)Ex Pajé (Ex Shaman) (Luiz Bolognesi, Brazil)Malambo, el hombre bueno (Malambo, the Good Man) (Santiago Loza, Argentina)Obscuro Barroco (Evangelia Kranioti, France/Greece)La omisión (The Omission) (Sebastián Schjaer, Argentina/The Netherlands/Switzerland)Profile (Timur Bekmambetov, USA/UK/Cyprus)River's Edge (Isao Yukisada, Japan)That Summer (Göran Hugo Olsson, Sweden/Denmark/USA)Yocho (Foreboding) (Kiyoshi Kurosawa,...

Beta Cinema handles world sales.

Screen can reveal the first trailer (see above) for Berlin Film Festival Generation 14plus drama Cobain by Nanouk Leopold (Brownian Movement).

Beta Cinema handles world sales on the Dutch-German co-production which will be distirbuted by Cinemien in Benelux and W-Film in Germany.

Leopold’s sixth film follows teenager Cobain who tries to get his pregnant mother Mia to quit her self-destructive lifestyle. When she refuses to clean up her act, Cobain must take over.

Starring are Naomi Velissariou (Out Of Love), Wim Opbrouck (Cafe Derby), Dana Marineci (Toni Erdmann) and newcomer Bas Keizer in the lead role.

Written and produced by Stienette Bosklopper (Brownian Movement), Cobain is also produced by Fish Tank associate producer Lisette Kelder.

Beta Cinema handles world sales.

Screen can reveal the first trailer (see above) for Berlin Film Festival Generation 14plus drama Cobain by Nanouk Leopold (Brownian Movement).

Beta Cinema handles world sales on the Dutch-German co-production which will be distirbuted by Cinemien in Benelux and W-Film in Germany.

Leopold’s sixth film follows teenager Cobain who tries to get his pregnant mother Mia to quit her self-destructive lifestyle. When she refuses to clean up her act, Cobain must take over.

Starring are Naomi Velissariou (Out Of Love), Wim Opbrouck (Cafe Derby), Dana Marineci (Toni Erdmann) and newcomer Bas Keizer in the lead role.

Written and produced by Stienette Bosklopper (Brownian Movement), Cobain is also produced by Fish Tank associate producer Lisette Kelder.

16 films for youth strand announced.

Source: Zeca Miranda

‘Unicórnio’

The first batch of titles for the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival’s Generation strand have been released.

The sidebar focuses on youth and children’s films. The festival takes place from 15 - 25 February 2018.

The 16 films are equally split between the Generation 14plus and Generation Kplus categories. The complete Generations programme will be released mid-January.

The first batch of Berlin competition titles was announced earlier this week.

Full list of titles

Synopses provided by Berlinale press office.

Generation 14plus

303

Germany

By Hans Weingartner

World premiere

303 tells the story of two university students, Jule (Mala Emde) and Jan (Anton Spieker) who leave Berlin together in an old camper on a road trip south, but for different reasons. As they philosophise on the world and themselves in passionate discussions, director Hans Weingartner maintains a natural closeness to the two young people against breathtaking backgrounds.

16 films for youth strand announced.

Source: Zeca Miranda

‘Unicórnio’

The first batch of titles for the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival’s Generation strand have been released.

The sidebar focuses on youth and children’s films. The festival takes place from 15 - 25 February 2018.

The 16 films are equally split between the Generation 14plus and Generation Kplus categories. The complete Generations programme will be released mid-January.

The first batch of Berlin competition titles was announced earlier this week.

Full list of titles

Synopses provided by Berlinale press office.

Generation 14plus

303

Germany

By Hans Weingartner

World premiere

303 tells the story of two university students, Jule (Mala Emde) and Jan (Anton Spieker) who leave Berlin together in an old camper on a road trip south, but for different reasons. As they philosophise on the world and themselves in passionate discussions, director Hans Weingartner maintains a natural closeness to the two young people against breathtaking backgrounds. After his contribution...

The Berlin Film Festival has announced the first 16 titles to screen next year in its Generation sidebar of youth and children's films.

The lineup includes several world premieres, among them 303, a road movie from German director Hans Weingartner (The Edukators) and Cobain, the latest from Dutch director Nanouk Leopold (Brownian Movement), which follows a 15-year-old boy on his search for his self-destructive mother.

The 2018 Generation also includes several debuts, among them The Pigeon, from Turkish director Banu Sivaci; Denmark from director Kasper Rune Larsen; and Red Cow, the feature debut of Israeli filmmaker Tsivia Barkai.

The Generation...

In order to make accurate predictions about the potential Cannes Film Festival lineup, it’s first important to explore which films definitely won’t make the cut. The glamorous French gathering is notorious for waiting until the last minute before locking in every slot for its Official Selection. That includes competition titles, out of competition titles, a small midnight section and the Un Certain Regard sidebar. Cannes announces the bulk of its selections in Paris on April 13, but until then, there are plenty of ways to make educated guesses. Much of the reporting surrounding the upcoming festival selection is simply lists of films expected to come out this year. However, certain movies are definitely not going to the festival for various reasons.

That’s why our own list of potentials doesn’t include “Image Et Parole,” Jean-Luc Godard’s followup to “Goodbye to Language,” which sales agent Wild Bunch now anticipates as a 2018 title.

Screen investigates which films from around the world could launch on the Croisette, including on opening night.

With just over a month to go before the line-up for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is unveiled in Paris, Croisette predictions and wish lists are hitting the web thick and fast.

Screen’s network of correspondents and contributors around the world have been putting out feelers to get a sense of what might or might not make it to the Palais du Cinéma or one of the parallel sections.

Just like the Oscars, this year’s festival is likely to unfold amid a politically-charged atmosphere. Beyond Trump and the rise of populism across the globe, France will be digesting the result of its own presidential election on May 7. Against this background, the festival will be feting its 70th edition.

Below, Screen reveals which titles might - and might not - be in the running for a place at the...

Other big winners were Home, Layla M, The Fixer and Lady Macbeth.

Glory won best film at the 8th Les Arcs European Film Festival, which finished Friday (December 16) in the French Alps.

The second feature by Bulgarian directorial tandem Kristina Groseva and Petar Valchanov, it was awarded the festival’s top prize by the jury headed by filmmaker Radu Mihaileanu.

Produced by Abraxas Film, Graal Sa, Screening Emotions and Aporia Filmworks (sales handled by Wide), this story about a railroad worker who accidentally finds a lot of money on the tracks and decides to give it back to the police also won the Press Prize.

Another big winner at the festival was the Belgian production Home (by Prime Time Entertainment and Communication Versus Production). Directed by Fien Troch, it picked up the grand jury prize. Troch is an experienced Flemish director in the international film festival circuit and former participant at the Cannes Cinéfondation.

The best actress...

Houda Benyamina [pictured], Jessica Hausner and Rebecca Daly among directors due to attend the festival.

The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.

A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.

Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up

The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.

Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.

The programme...

Houda Benyamina [pictured], Jessica Hausner and Rebecca Daly among directors due to attend the festival.

The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.

A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.

Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up

The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.

Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.

The programme...

It’s a thrill to see two out of three of the CineMart Awards are to filmmakers we are tracking: “Luxembourg” by Myroslav Slaboshptyskly from Ukraine and Cuba’s Claudia Calvino and Carlos Lechuga's “Santa y Delfin” won the inaugural Wouter Barendrecht Award. Best unpublished screenplay prize was awarded to the team this past December at Havana’s Festival de Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano. The Ukrainian-German production to be produced by Miff’s Business Square founder Anna Katchko, “Luxembourg”, was awarded the €7,000 Arte International Prize after winning the Sundance Aj+ sponsored Global Filmmaking Award of Us $10,000.

The project has a budget of €1.5 million and is half financed by the Ukrainean State Film Agency. It received a grant from Hubert Bals Fund earlier and will be at Berlin’s Efm Coproduction Market next week. This U.K.-German-French coproduction is being sold internationally by Ultra Violet who sold writer-director Myroslav Slaboshptyskly’s first film “The Tribe” to 35 territories. Myroslav and I spoke at Sundance and he gave me a link to his short “Nuclear Waste” which is a pilot for this film, shot in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and awarded the Silver Leopard of Tomorrow at the Locarno Film Festival and showed at many festivals.

CineMart 2015 awards were announced recently, marking the close of the 32nd edition of the co-production market. Dutch/French/Belgian production “Tonic Immobility” was awarded the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000, which is given to a project presented by a European producer.

CineMart selected 24 international projects to participate in the four day event which has been one of the most successful in recent years. A panel discussion to launch Iffr’s new VoD initiative, Tiger Release, was well attended with several filmmakers now in discussion with the Iffr team on releasing their new films via this platform. Multiple conferences and panels covering topics ranging from “Making the most of a film festival” to “The Director-Producer Partnership” were held in front of packed audiences who were invited to be involved in the debates and receive advice. The "Creative Europe Day" on Tuesday, January 27th which offered advice and guidance on creating beyond the boundaries of Europe proved one of the highlights of Iffr 2015.

On making the announcement Head of Industry & CineMart, Marit van den Elshout commented “The quality of our line-up this year is something the whole team is very proud of - so many standout projects with talented teams behind them, the award winners exemplify this. We hosted multiple extremely well attended panels and conversations, experienced great success with the launch of Tiger Release and the enthusiasm with which our Creative Europe day was received all adds up to one of the strongest CineMart’s in a long time. ”

This year’s Eurimages Co-Production Development Award winner, “Tonic Immobility” by Nathalie Teirlinck, (The Netherlands, France, Belgium), is a Bart van Langendonck, Xavier Rombaut, Savage Film production. It tells the story of Alice, an escort who abandons her baby son Robin. Unexpectedly, seven years later Alice is reunited with the boy and they must find a way to co-exist while Alice is confronted with the fact that true emotions can't be controlled and that intimacy can lead to vulnerability. On the Jury’s decision Dorien van de Pas commented “ The award is being given to a project from a multitalented first time feature director who will tell a very emotional, universal story. His short films demonstrate a strong visual style in combination with a great focus on sound. ”

The Arte International Prize winner “Luxembourg”, (Ukraine, Germany) by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, and produced by Anna Katchko with Tandem Production is a film noir with touches of a western. A great project by a very talented director, stunningly set up for a strong and cinematic story. On presenting the award Annamaria Lodato commented. “This year the Arte International Prize is awarded to a talented, daring and radical director. He is preparing a film that explores a world unknown to most of us: today’s Chernobyl. Far from being a ‘disaster film’, it is a story about living in the Chernobyl zone, a world with its own rules, an almost primitive community that the director knows from the inside. ”

The Wouter Barendrecht Award winner “Santa y Delfin” (Cuba), by Carlos Lechuga is produced by Claudia Calvino and Producciones de la 5ta Avenida. Cuba, homosexuality, censorship, working class and intellectuals, a young talented director and a real story - real potential for a hit project.

On presenting the award Managing Director of Fortissimo Films, Nelleke Driessen commented “The Wouter Barendrecht Foundation (Wbf) encourages the work of talented young filmmakers, we encourage daring films, films that oppose social conventions, with a large urgency. There were 8 films eligible for this award, but in the end only one can win and 'Santa y Delfin' stood out amongst all - if Wouter were here he would be thrilled with the choice. ”

CineMart Selected Projects

"A Shining Flaw" by Erwin Olaf

Eyeworks Film & TV Drama, Netherlands

"Cobain" by Nanouk Leopold

Circe Films/Waterland Film, Netherlands

"Vita & Virginia" by Sacha Polak

Mirror Productions/Viking Film, United Kingdom/Netherlands

"Tonic Immobility" by Nathalie Teirlinck

Savage Film/Ctm Pictures, Belgium/France/Netherlands

"The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea" by Syllas Tzoumerkas

Homemade Films/Prpl, Greece/Netherlands

"Angel" by Koen Mortier

Czar Film/Tobina Films/Anonymes Films, Belgium/Senegal/France

"Ceux qui travaillent" by Antoine Russbach

Box Productions, Switzerland

"Cunningham" by Alla Kovgan

Arsam International/Chance Operations, France/USA

"La Fille de l’Estuaire" by Gaëlle Denis

Life to Live Films, United Kingdom/France

"Holiday" by Isabella Eklöf

Dharmafilm/Beofilm, Denmark

"Luxembourg" by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy

Tandem Production/Garmata Film, Ukraine/Germany

"Bat, Butterfly, Moth" by Sergio Caballero

Corte y Confección de Películas/Am Films, Spain

"The Gray Beyond" by Alejandro Fernández Almendras

Jirafa Films/Wa Entertainment, Chile/Japan

"Only the Dead Have Seen the End of the War" by Khavn

Kamias Overground, Philippines

"Rojo" by Benjamin Naishtat

Pucará Cine, Argentina

"La Barracuda" by Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin

Small Drama/Hot Metal Films/Blue Suitcase Productions, USA

"Boyfriend" by Ashim Ahluwalia

Future East Film, India

"Gabriel and the Mountain" by Fellipe Barbosa

TvZero/Gamarosa Filmes, Brazil

"Los Delincuentes" by Rodrigo Moreno

Compañía Amateur/Rizoma, Argentina

"Santa y Delfín" by Carlos Lechuga

Producciones de la 5ta Avenida, Cuba

"Kodokushi" by Janus Victoria

Paperheart, Philippines/Malaysia/Japan

Art:Film projects "Cactus Flower" by Hala Elkoussy

Transit Films, Egypt

"Hurrah, Wir Leben Noch" by Agnieszka Polska

Kijora Anna Gawlita/Museum of Modern Art Poland, Poland/Germany

"Mr Sing Sing" by Phil Collins

Shady Lane Productions, Germany/USA

Audience Awards Winners

The awards, as voted for by the public audience attending the Festival, were announced this evening at the Iffr 2015 Closing Night Ceremony, hosted by Festival Director, Rutger Wolfson and Managing Director, Janneke Staarink. James Napier Robertson was awarded the Iffr Audience Award 2015 of €10,000 for his film "The Dark Horse." The award is Napier’s second of the Festival following the MovieZone Iffr Award which was presented on Friday, January 30th at the Iffr Awards Ceremony. The Hubert Bals Fund Dioraphte Award, also of €10,000, presented to the most popular film which received support from the Hubert Bals Fund (Hbf) went to Oscar Ruiz Navia for "Los Hongos," an autobiographical drama centering on the youth culture of Cali, Colombia.

Read More - Toronto Review: Cliff Curtis is a Fallen Champion Turned Mentor in "The Dark Horse"

On the announcement of the Iffr Audience Award 2015 Wolfson commented “The audiences who come from all over the Netherlands and around the world to participate in the Festival and explore our diverse, thought provoking programme are integral to Iffr. It would not be the special Festival it is without them so we would like to thank all who joined us in celebrating cinema this year and of course congratulations to James who created a wonderful, personal film.”

On the announcement of the Hubert Bals Fund Dioraphte Award, Manager of the Hubert Bals Fund, Iwana Chronis commented “I am thrilled with the reception the Hbf supported films received throughout the twelve days of the Festival. Oscar Ruiz Navia is a talented filmmaker with a long and successful career ahead of him, this recognition is fully deserved, we are so pleased to have been a part of helping getting this film to the big screen .”

A highly acclaimed drama, "The Dark Horse" tells the true and moving story of Genesis Potini, who fought for the future of disadvantaged children in New Zealand until his death in 2011. In spite of his own bipolar disorder, he taught them to play chess and fight for opportunities. "The Dark Horse" is both amusing and raw, and above all intensely moving. Born in New Zealand, director James Napier Robertson made a name for himself in the world of television before switching to cinema. He appeared as an actor in the series "The Tribe" and "Shortland Street." He directed his first feature film "I’m Not Harry Jenson" in 2009.

Directed by Oscar Ruiz Navia, "Los Hongos" is an autobiographically inspired drama based around two skater friends who are at the heart of the colorful, noisy street and youth culture of Cali, Colombia. With a warm heart, Ruiz tells the story of Ras and Calvin, who are looking for their own voice, a stage and of course freedom, love and fun. Born in Colombia, Oscar Ruiz Navia’s debut film "Crab Trap" won a Fipresci Award at the Berlinale in 2010. Prior to that he was focused on the development and production of independent cinema in Colombia and founded the production company Contravia Films having previously studied Social Communications and Journalism.

Top 5 Audience Award Iffr 2015

"The Dark Horse" "The Farewell Party" "Loin des Hommes" "La Vie de Jean-Marie" "Alice Cares" Top 5 Hbf Dioraphte Award 2015

"Los Hongos" "La Mujer de los Perros" (Dog Lady) "Nn" "Court" "The Tribe" The full list can be found on the Festival's website:

www.iffr.com/professionals/iffr-2015/iffr-audience-award-2015...

Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy’s Chernobyl-based drama wins one of three awards at International Film Festival Rotterdam’s co-production market.

Rotterdam co-production market CineMart closed last night (Jan 28) with a hat trick of awards.

Ukrainian-German production Luxembourg was awarded the €7,000 ($7,900) Arte International Prize.

Directed by Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy (The Tribe), the film tells a story of love and revenge based in the the area around Chernobyl - the city that was decimated during the notorious nuclear power plant disaster in 1986.

Slaboshpytskiy, who won Cannes’ Critics Week Grand Prize with deaf boarding school drama The Tribe, has based Luxembourg on his 2012 short, Nuclear Waste.

On presenting the award, producer Annamaria Lodato described Slaboshpytskiy as “a talented, daring and radical director”.

“He is preparing a film that explores a world unknown to most of us: today’s Chernobyl,” she added. “Far from being a ‘disaster film’, it is a story about living in the Chernobyl zone, a world with...

Veteran Dutch producer Stienette Bosklopper, owner and MD of Circe Film, is turning screenwriter and has written two projects already in advanced development.

Bosklopper, whose credits include Wolfsbergen and Brownian Movement, will be at this week’s Iffr CineMart in Rotterdam in a dual capacity - as screenwriter and producer of Nanouk Leopold’s new feature, Cobain.

The €1.6m film, which has already received backing from the Netherlands Film Fund, is being coproduced with Waterland Film.

“It’s part of a personal development you have at a certain stage in your career,” the producer says of her foray into screenwriting.

“I had been working with a lot of writers and directors. Somehow, there was an urge to contribute on a different level. To my own amazement, it is going very well. It comes quite naturally and I have the feeling that I will be continuing doing this.”

Cobain is the story of a teenage boy with a...

I Need a Lover with a Farmhand: Leopold’s Understated Portrait of Desire Deferred

Loneliness and resentment are the dueling, omnipresent emotions on screen in virtually every frame in Nanouk Leopold’s It’s All So Quiet. Premiering back at the 2013 Berlin Film Festival, Leopold adapts from the novel The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (who makes a small appearance in the film), and it seems to be aligned with a subject matter the Dutch filmmaker prizes—notions of secret desires. Those first being introduced to either Leopold’s work or that of the rather moving performance of its lead actor, Jeroen Williams, will be saddened to learn that he died suddenly at the end of 2012 at the age of 50, with this film’s dedication honoring his memory. It’s a reality that adds another layer to the film’s already sobering representation of lives caught in stilted familial histories.

With...

The best you can say for toil is that it can fill up enough of a life that you don't have to spend your days thinking about the things you'd rather not. So it goes in Dutch director Nanouk Leopold's It's All So Quiet, a penetrating slog that, perhaps cleverly, offers viewers the chance to participate in its protagonist's chief endeavor: finding a way to pass the time while waiting for a mean old man to die. To its credit — and perhaps to most viewers' slumping disinterest — this still, observant film stirs exactly the feelings it depicts. It's too bad porn has never achieved such verisimilitude.

The lead is Jeroen Willems, in his final film role, playing Helmer, a small-time farmer whose operation is poised awkwardly between business and hobby. As we watch him...

The Berlinale's tenth Forum Expanded program will feature new work by Kevin Jerome Everson, Pierre Huyghe, Ken Jacobs, Michael Snow and others. The International Film Festival Rotterdam’s co-production market, CineMart, has completed its line-up: Sergio Caballero, Nanouk Leopold, Benjamin Naishtat, Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy and more. Slated to attend Sundance's Screenwriters Lab are Eliza Hittman, Yung Chang, Brent Green and more. Selma director Ava DuVernay and RZA join Mark Duplass on SXSW's roster of keynote speakers. And the Edinburgh International Film Festival has got a new artistic director. » - David Hudson...

The Berlinale's tenth Forum Expanded program will feature new work by Kevin Jerome Everson, Pierre Huyghe, Ken Jacobs, Michael Snow and others. The International Film Festival Rotterdam’s co-production market, CineMart, has completed its line-up: Sergio Caballero, Nanouk Leopold, Benjamin Naishtat, Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy and more. Slated to attend Sundance's Screenwriters Lab are Eliza Hittman, Yung Chang, Brent Green and more. Selma director Ava DuVernay and RZA join Mark Duplass on SXSW's roster of keynote speakers. And the Edinburgh International Film Festival has got a new artistic director. » - David Hudson...

Co-production market has three prizes including new Wouter Barendrecht Award in conjunction with Fortissimo Films.

A host of global auteurs, along with new voices, have been selected for The International FIlm Festival Rotterdam’s famed CineMart co-production market.

Filmmakers who have projects selected include Miss Lovely director Ashim Ahluwalia from India; Ukranian director of multi-award-winning The Tribe Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy; Argentina’s Benjamin Naishtat (History of Fear); Fellipe Barbosa (Casa Grande); American duo Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin, whose previous film Now, Forager played at Rotterdam; Dutch director Nanouk Leopold [pictured]; and Sacha Polak (Hemel). Full list of selected projects below.

CineMart is one of the industry’s first co-production markets, now in its 32nd edition. There are three awards — The Eurimages Co-production Development Award of €20,000, The Arte International Price of €7,000 and the inaugural Wouter Barendrecht Award of €5,000 which is awarded by CineMart in conjunction with Fortissimo Films.

CineMart runs Jan 25-28 as part of Iffr which runs Jan...