News

The Rome Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 19th edition, which takes place from October 16-27.

Rome will present a lifetime achievement award to Johnny Depp, who will present Modi - Three Days on the Wing of Madness, about Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, at the festival.

Viggo Mortensen will also receive a lifetime achievement award, and will present The Dead Don’t Hurt, which he wrote, directed and stars in.

Francis Ford Coppola will also be in Rome for a special ‘pre-opening’ festival presentation of the Italian premiere of Megalopolis at Cinecittà Studios – the Rome studio that hosted him...

The Berlinale usually offers fertile ground for the Jewish Film Festival programmers. At the informal gathering around Nicola Galliner, the founder and director of the Jewish Film Festival of Berlin Brandenburg, programmers trade information and impressions as they meet with old and new friends. This year seems rather slim in programming although the good was great.

This was very best film with Jewish content at the Berlinale 2020 !!!

Persian Lessons by Vadim Perelman was a Special Gala. Why it was not in Competition I do not know but it could have won…It can still win next year’s Academy Award for Best International Film. It brought raves from everyone. “A fantastic performance by Lars Eidinger — best Nazi ever !!!” said one fan.

Persian Lessons’ world premiere came days after the racially motivated, right-wing extremist mass shooting in the German city of Hanau which left nine dead.

This Russian-German-Belarus feature, set in...

Olivier Delbosc’s Paris-based company Curiosa Films is partnering with Wild Bunch Germany on “Charlotte,” a WWII-set film about the short and prolific life of the German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon, who died in Auschwitz in 1943 at the age of 26.

“Charlotte” will be directed by Gilles Bourdos. His film “Renoir” played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and represented France in the foreign-language Oscar race in 2014. The film will mark the first adaptation of David Foenkinos’ 2015 prize-winning novel “Charlotte.”

Bourdos penned the script with his frequent collaborator Michel Spinosa, as well as Foenkinos.

The ambitious period film will tell the story of Salomon, a young prodigy who left her mark on the world of arts with “Life? Or Theatre?” — an autobiographical series of 769 paintings that she created between 1941 and 1943 in the south of France, where she lived before she was captured by the Gestapo and deported to Auschwitz.

“Charlotte Salomon’s...

To the Edge of Sorrow

Michel Spinosa is helming his highest profile project to date with his fifth feature, To the Edge of Sorrow, produced by Sylvie Pialat and director Cristian Mungiu. The title will star Cosmina Stratan, who won Best Actress at Cannes for her role in Mungiu’s 2012 drama Beyond the Hills. Spinosa’s last title was 2014’s Son epouse with Charlotte Gainsbourg, but he may be most recognizable as a director for his 2007 drama Anna M., which featured Isabelle Carre in a Cesar nominated performance. His 1994 directorial debut Emmene-moi competed in Locarno but Spinosa has written several features for director Gilles Bourdos, including Afterwards (2008), Renoir (2012) and Endangered Species (2017).…...

Playtime, the leading international sales and co-production companies behind Olivier Assayas’s “Non-Fiction” and Laszlo Nemes’s “Sunset,” is rolling into Mipcom with its first TV drama slate.

Headed by former Fox executive Virginie Boireaux, Playtime’s TV division has boarded a pair of high-concept shows with female protagonists — “Mental” (“Hp”), a comedy-drama series about Sheila, a twenty-something intern in psychiatry who discovers the burlesque and tragic world of madness; and “Helvetica,” a political thriller mini-series about Tina, a native of Albania in her forties who works as a maid in government offices in Switzerland, and turns into a double agent for the Balkan mob and the Swiss counter-terrorism agency.

“‘Mental’ and ‘Helvetica’ represent perfectly what Playtime is about regarding our international TV ambitions: strong scripts with high concepts,” said Boireaux, who is head of TV sales and acquisitions at Playtime.

“While ‘Mental’ brings out comedy and drama from off-beat situations in a unique setting,...

Two of France’s major film companies, Curiosa and Playtime, are teaming up to launch Curious Times, a production label dedicated to premium scripted drama. Under this label, the two Paris-based companies will produce French and European TV projects.

The first project to be developed under the Curious Times banner is “War Photographer,” a mini-series based on the life of the legendary photographer Robert Capa, who lived through three wars and was a witness to all key events of the 20th century.

“War Photographer” was created by French director Gilles Bourdos (“Renoir”) and Israeli screenwriter Yaron Seelig (“Matter Of Time”).

Curious Times is currently developing a slate of high-profile projects with well-established filmmakers, in line with the auteur-driven approach of both Curiosa Films and Playtime.

The two companies previously collaborated on several films, including Claire Denis’s critically-acclaimed “Let the Sunshine In” with Juliette Binoche which opened Cannes’s Directors’ Fortnight last year.

The many layers of feeling captured in Mathieu Amalric's Barbara is cinema at its best Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

New York's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema opens with Mathieu Amalric's spellbinding Barbara, starring César Best Actress winner Jeanne Balibar. They will present the film on March 8. Bruno Dumont, Vincent Macaigne, Xavier Beauvois, Marine Francen, Emmanuel Finkiel, Léonor Serraille with Julie Roué, Rachid Hami, Jean-Paul Civeyrac, Laurent Cantet, Gilles Bourdos with Richard Bausch, Xavier Legrand, Raymond Depardon with Claudine Nougaret, Tonie Marshall, and Eugène Green are also are expected to attend.

Civeyrac's A Paris Education (Mes provincials), starring Andranic Manet; Serraille's Montparnasse Bienvenüe (Jeune femme) with Laetitia Dosch; Dumont's Jeannette, The Childhood of Joan of Arc (Jeannette, l'enfance de Jeanne d’Arc), and Barbara - are four of the early bird highlights.

Mathieu Amalric also can be seen during the festival in Noémie Lvovsky's Tomorrow and Thereafter (Demain et tous les...

The 2017 Venice Film Festival kicked off on August 30, and for anyone who can’t make it all the way to Italy this year, IndieWire has a solution for you. Between now and Thursday, September 7 at noon Et, IndieWire readers can register using this form to win one of 5 online festival passes, which will give you the opportunity to stream five Venice titles for free online. All of the streaming titles will be from this year’s Orizzonti competition (Horizons), Biennale College and a few other sections. The movies include the following titles:

Endangered Species, by Gilles Bourdos – Online on August 31

Under The Tree, by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson – Online on August 31

Strange Colours, by Alena Lodkina – Online on August 31

West Of Sunshine, by Jason Raftopoulos – Online on September 1

Martyr, by Mazen Khaled – Online on September 1

Nato A Casal Di Principe, by Bruno Oliviero – Online on September 1

Beautiful Things, by Giorgio Ferrero – Online on September 2

No Date,...

Three stories set in Nice, on the French Riviera, in winter weave in and out of each other in Endangered Species (Especes menacees), French director Gilles Bourdos’ ambitious adaptation of material from The Stories of Richard Bausch. The overarching narrative here centers on Josephine, a young bride, and the problems she has with her potentially aggressive groom; the other two main story threads involve Josephine’s new neighbor, his pregnant daughter, her future husband and the latter’s PhD student, whose mother ends up in a mental institution.

This gorgeously shot exploration of power relationships and broken families has several very incisive...

ZamaThe programme for the 2017 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Darren Aronofsky, Lucrecia Martel, Frederick Wiseman, Alexander Payne, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Abdellatif Kechiche, Takeshi Kitano and many more.COMPETITIONmother! (Darren Aronofsky)First Reformed (Paul Schrader)Sweet Country (Warwick Thornton)The Leisure Seeker (Paolo Virzi)Una Famiglia (Sebastiano Riso)Ex Libris - The New York Public Library (Frederick Wiseman)Angels Wear White (Vivian Qu)The Whale (Andrea Pallaoro)Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh)Foxtrot (Samuel Maoz)Ammore e malavita (Manetti Brothers)Jusqu'a la garde (Xavier Legrand)The Third Murder (Hirokazu Kore-eda)Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno (Abdellatif Kechiche)Lean on Pete (Andrew Haigh)L'insulte (Ziad Doueiri)La Villa (Robert Guediguian)The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro)Suburbicon (George Clooney)Human Flow (Ai Weiwei)Downsizing (Alexander Payne)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesOur Souls at Night (Ritesh Batra)Il Signor Rotpeter (Antonietta de Lillo)Victoria...

On the heels of the Toronto International Film Festival announcement earlier this week, Venice Film Festival have now delivered their full lineup and while there’s no Terrence Malick as rumored, there’s a plethora of highly-anticipated titles. Along with the previously-announced opener Downsizing and the expected Suburbicon, mother!, The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, there’s Lucrecia Martel’s Zama, Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete, Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue is the Warmest Color follow-up Mektoub, My Love: Canto Uno, and Brawl In Cell Block 99, the latest film from Bone Tomahawk director S. Craig Zahler.

Also in the lineup is Errol Morris’s Netflix crime drama Wormwood, Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, Frederick Wiseman’s Ex Libris – New York Public Library, Hirokazu Koreeda’s The Third Murder, Takeshi Kitano’s closing night film Outrage Coda, Michaël R. Roskam’s Racer and The Jailbird, the Kirsten Dunst-led Woodshock,...

Will 2017 be the year that Venice gets its king-making mojo back? After a steady run of debuting recent best picture winners — from “Spotlight” to “Birdman” — the festival missed out on last year’s big winner, “Moonlight,” which bowed at Telluride. This year’s lineup is a promising one, and while it’s still very early in the process, it’s difficult not to pick through today’s announcement of the festival’s slate and not search for the big contenders.

As was previously announced, the festival will open with Alexander Payne’s social satire “Downsizing,” starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig. The festival will also play home to the premiere of the Netflix original “Our Souls at Night,” as part of their planned tribute to stars Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Annette Bening will lead the competition jury, ending an 11-year succession of male jury chiefs.

Read MoreIndieWire Fall Film...

A kidnapper gets more than he bargained for in Pet. Starring Dominic Monaghan, Ksenia Solo, and Jennette McCurdy, the psychological horror film has been acquired by Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films, with Us theatrical, VOD, and DVD release dates slated for December.

Press Release: Los Angeles, CA (October 4, 2016) – Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films announced today that they have acquired the psychological thriller Pet, directed by Carles Torrens and written by Jeremy Slater. The film stars Dominic Monaghan (Lost, The Lord Of The Rings Series), Ksenia Solo (Black Swan, Lost Girl), and Jennette McCurdy (iCarly, Sam & Cat). Pet had its World Premiere at the 2016 South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin. Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films will release the film in U.S. theaters and on demand on December 2, 2016, and it will be available on DVD on December 27.

In the vein of Hard Candy and Gone Girl, Pet...

First time France submits film by non-French national since 1977.

Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven’s revenge thriller Elle will represent France as the country’s submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards next year.

France’s National Cinema Centre (Cnc), which oversees the selection process, made the announcement on Monday (Sept 26).

Verhoeven’s French-language debut stars Isabelle Huppert as a video game company boss who seeks revenge on a brutal rapist.

The film generated considerable buzz at Cannes, where it world premiered in Competition, for its subject matter and Huppert’s strong performance.

Read: Paul Verhoeven talks returning to Cannes with ‘Elle’

It is the first time France has submitted a film by a non-French national since Israeli director Moshé Mizrahi’s Madame Rosa, starring Simone Signoret as a retired prostitute, in 1977. It went on to win the Foreign Language category.

Verhoeven’s films have been submitted for the Foreign Language category...

Exclusive: Slate includes films starring Louis Garrel, Marion Cotillard,

Wild Bunch will kick-off pre-sales at Cannes on Oscar-winner Michel Hazanavicius’s [pictured] new project Redoubtable revolving around the relationship between Jean-Luc Godard and actress Anne Wiazemsky in the late 1960s.

Based on Wiazemsky’s autobiographical account Un An Après, the production will star Louis Garrel as Jean-Luc Godard and Stacy Martin, last seen in High-Rise, as the director’s young muse.

The script kicks off with the 1967 shoot of La Chinoise – about a group of students who try to live by Maoists principles - and follows the couple through the late 1960s when Godard went through his so-called “revolutionary period”.

Wiazemsky – who met Godard when she was just 17-years-old and he was on the rebound from Anna Karina – was married to the filmmaker for more than a decade.

Like Hazanavicius’s Oscar-winning The Artist, the aesthetics and style of Redoubtable will take inspiration from the films around which the...

Exclusive: Slate also includes new films by Alain Guiraudie and Raymond Depardon.

Wild Bunch will launch a new biopic of legendary sculptor Auguste Rodin at Unifrance’s January event Rendez-vous with French Cinema in Paris.

Vincent Lindon (The Measure Of A Man) will star in the film entitled Rodin, which will shoot in 2016 for a 2017 release to coincide with the centenary of the sculptor’s death in November 1917.

French director Jacques Doillon (Love Battles) will direct from his own screenplay.

It is Lindon’s first major role since his Palme d’Or-winning performance in social drama The Measure Of A Man at Cannes last May.

Casting is currently underway for the role of Rodin’s tragic collaborator and lover Camille Claudel and his long-suffering, life-long companion Rose Beuret.

The picture will start as Rodin turns 40 and enters one of the most productive periods of his artistic career in which he created works such as The Thinker and The...

Though there are many issues regarding the problematic process in deciding the roster of nominees for the annual onslaught known as the Academy Awards, the selecting of the nominations for Best Foreign Language film remains an easy target to critique. With specific guidelines regarding theatrical release to qualify and only one sole entry allowed for each ‘competing’ country, by the time a list of titles is announced for Academy voters, who’s to say every voter gets a chance to sample even half the selections? This year, 81 countries provided submissions (which is actually a lower number from the past two years, with 2014 holding the record of 83 entries), and much like other categories, titles arriving with a higher degree of critical buzz are likely to reach a broader range of voters.

This year’s offering includes an exciting range of titles, and at least twenty of these are worthy of the...

Painter Man: Mitta’s Return to Filmmaking a Lofty, Honeycombed History Lesson

Ungainly and distractingly saccharine, Russian auteur Aleksandr Mitta returns with Chagall-Malevich, a whimsical biopic of politically opposed painters Marc Chagall and Kazimir Malevich. Considering the filmmaker is now in his eighties, there’s potential to be impressed with this technically proficient undertaking. However, as evidenced by a recent trend in sanctioned Russian cinema, this feels like the kind of watered down inconsequentiality resulting from interference of the Ministry of Culture. Perhaps more meaningful as a patriotic reenactment for those within its native climes, the film feels like a bright eyed and bushy tailed bit of propaganda, its political rhetoric washed down with an easy elixir of colorful hues.

Narrating his own birth near Vitebsk, Belarus, amidst a chaotic, fiery backdrop we come to understand as taking place during a pogrom, Marc Chagall (Leonid Bichevin) spends the next three...

Erran

Director: Jacques Audiard // Writer: Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Noé Debré

French auteur Jacques Audiard has enjoyed considerable acclaim with his last two features. 2009’s A Prophet snagged the Jury Prize at Cannes and nine Cesars (including Best Director), while 2012’s Rust and Bone (see production pic above) snagged Marion Cotillard a Golden Globe nod for Best Actress in a Drama and was awarded four Cesars out of its nine nominations. He’s also won Best Screenplay at Cannes in 1996 for A Self Made Hero, while 2005’ s The Beat That My Heart Skipped won Best Director and Film at the Cesars. Needless to say, Audiard is a heavy hitter at home and abroad, and expectations are high for his seventh feature, Erran, which is in production but being kept under wraps. Starring Vincent Rottiers (he was Jean Renoir in Gilles Bourdos’ 2012 Renoir), the film will revolve around a Sri-Lankan Tamil...

The selection of the Foreign Language Oscar entry from France has been one of the more interesting to follow this year given all the controversy surrounding 2013’s ultimate decision. The committee that chooses the picture that will represent France has gone with Bertrand Bonello’s biopic Saint Laurent, which will premiere next week in the U.S. at the New York Film Festival.

Saint Laurent, which Sony Pictures Classics acquired ahead of its Cannes premiere in competition this year, stars Gaspard Ulliel as the fashion icon and Jérémie Renier as his lifelong partner Pierre Bergé. The film is set during the period 1965-1976 and EuropaCorp and Mandarin Cinema are producers. It is the second Saint Laurent biopic to hit screens this year after The Weinstein Co’s Yves Saint Laurent, which had Pierre Niney starring and Jalil Lespert directing. That one premiered in June in the U.S. and has made $20.3M worldwide.

His Wife

Director: Michel Spinosa

Writers: Agnes de Sacy, Michel Spinosa

Producer: Patrick Sobelman

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Yvan Attal, Charlotte Gainsbourg

English speaking audiences perhaps know French director Michel Spinosa better for his screenwriting credits, which include two films directed by Gilles Bourdos, the rather awkward Afterwards (2008), and the celebrated Renoir (2012). However, Spinosa has a trio of his own directorial efforts under his belt, including the excellent 2007 psychological thriller/character study, Anna M., which features a stupendous performance from Isabelle Carre. We’re thrilled to see him back with his return to the director’s seat and starring real life couple Attal and Gainsbourg.

Gist: Gracie, a young Tamil woman living near Madras, has been having behavioural disorders since the day she was married. The memory of her French friend Catherine, who died in unresolved circumstances, seems to be haunting her. Catherine’s grieving ex-husband, Joseph, decides...

As this year's Academy Awards nominations approach, and after the shocking selection of films conforming the Academy's shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Film Award, audiences will get the opportunity to see some of the films that were dismissed but which are absolutely deserving of attention. Rather than including all of the 76 Submissions the Palm Spring Film Festival decided to shorten their program to 45 of what they considered the best representation of the extensive amount of films.

Included in the program are all of the 9 shortlisted films, all the other major omissions, and many more obscure titles that showcase some of the most interesting voices in World Cinema today. Most of these films have been awarded prizes and received praise at major festivals from Sundance to Cannes and Toronto, and will give the viewer a broader view of the category beyond the assumed frontrunners.

Below is a list with more information on each of the films that will be screening at Palm Springs with reviews and interviews with the filmmakers for the majority of them. Read more about the complete list of 76 Foreign Language Oscar Submissions visit Here

For more information on the Palm Springs International Film Festival visit Here

Argentina

The German Doctor (Wakolda)

Dir: Lucia Puenzo

Language: Spanish, German, Hebrew

U.S Release: Samuel Goldwyn Films

Isa: Pyramide

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Un Certain Regard

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Case Study by Sydney Levine

Australia

The Rocket

Dir: Kim Mordaunt

Language: Lao

U.S Release: Kino Lorber

Isa: Level K

Festivals: Berlin 2013: Best First Feature Film ,Tribeca 2013: World Narrative Competition

Trailer

Austria

The Wall

Dir: Julian Polsler

Language: German

U.S Release: Music Box Films - May 31, 2013

Isa: The Match Factory

Festivals: Sitges Ff 2012 Official Fantastic, Mumbai Ff 2012 Int'l Competition

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Belgium

The Broken Circle Breakdown

Dir: Felix van Groeningen

Language: Flemish

U.S Release: Tribeca Film - November 1, 2013

Isa: The Match Factory

Festivals: Berlinale - Efm 2013 - Panorama

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Interview by Carlos Aguilar

Bosnia And Herzegovina

An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker

Dir: Danis Tanović

Language: Bosnian, Romani

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: The Match Factory

Festivals: Berlinale Competition,Efm Tiff 2013 Contemporary World Cinema

Trailer

Cambodia

The Missing Picture

Dir: Rithy Panh

Language: French

U.S Release: Acquired by Strand Releasing for U.S Distribution

Festivals: Cannes 2013 - Un Certain Regard Prix, San Sebastian 2013 Pearls

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Canada

Gabrielle

Dir: Louise Archambault

Language: French

U.S Release: eOne

Isa: eOne

Festivals: Toronto- Tiff 2013, Locarno International Film Festival 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Interview by Carlos Aguilar

Chile

Gloria

Dir: Sebastian Lelio

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Roadside Attractions

Isa: Funny Balloons

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2013, Toronto - Tiff 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Interview by Sydney Levine

China

Back to 1942

Dir: Feng Xiaogang

Language: Mandarin, English

U.S Release: Well Go USA - May 14, 2013

Isa: Huayi Brothers

Festivals: Rome Film Festival 2012, Dubai International Film Festival 2012

Trailer

Croatia

Halima's Path

Dir: Arsen Anton Ostojić

Language: Bosnian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2013, Tallinn Black Nights Iff 2012 - EurAsia (Special Jury Prize)

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Denmark

The Hunt

Dir: Thomas Vinterberg

Language: Danish

U.S Release: Magnolia Pictures - July 12, 2013

Isa: TrustNordisk

Festivals: Cannes 2012 Competition, Toronto - Tiff 2012, AFI Fest 2012

Trailer

Egypt

Winter of Discontent

Dir: Ibrahim el-Batout

Language: Arabic

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Venice International Film Festival, Cairo International Film Festival, Dubai Film Festival

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Finland

Disciple

Dir: Ulrika Bengts

Language: Finnish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Helsinki Ff 2012, Montréal World Ff 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Interview by Carlos Aguilar

France

Renoir

Dir: Gilles Bourdos

Language: French

U.S Release: Samuel Goldwyn Films - March 29, 2013

Isa: Wild Bunch

Festivals: Cannes 2012 Un Certain Regard

Trailer

Georgia

In Bloom

Dir: Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß

Language: Georgian

U.S Release: Big World Pictures

Isa: Memento

Festivals: Cicae award Berlinale Forum 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Germany

Two Lives

Dir: Georg Maas

Language: German

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Beta Cinema

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2013, Toronto-tiff 2013, Busan 2013

Trailer

Hong Kong

The Grandmaster

Dir: Wong Kar-wai

Language: Cantonese, Mandarin

U.S Release: The Weinstein Company - August 23, 2013

Isa: Fortissimo

Festivals: Berlinale -Efm 2013

Trailer

Hungary

The Notebook

Dir: Janosz Szasz

Language: Hungarian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Tiff 2013 Contemporary World Cinema

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Iceland

Of Horses and Men

Dir: Benedikt Erlingsson

Language: Icelandic

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Icelandic Film Centre

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2013, Sundance 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

India

The Good Road

Dir: Gyan Correa

Language: Gujarati

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: National Film Board of India

Festivals: London Indian Film Festival in 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Iran

The Past

Dir: Asghar Farhadi

Language: French, Persian

U.S Release: Sony Pictures Classics - December 20, 2013

Isa: Memento

Festivals:Cannes 2013 Competition-Won Best Actress, Toronto - Tiff 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Interview by Carlos Aguilar

Israel

Bethlehem

Dir: Yuval Adler

Language: Hebrew

U.S Release: Adopt

Isa: Westend

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2013 Discovery, Telluride Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival

Trailer

Italy

The Great Beauty

Dir: Paolo Sorrentino

Language: Italian

U.S Release: AJanus Films

Isa: Pathe

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Competition, Berlin Efm 2013,

Trailer

Interview by Sydney Levine

Japan

The Great Passage

Dir: Yuya Ishii

Language: Japanese

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Shochiku

Festivals: Fantasia Ff 2013 Official Selection

Trailer

Kazakhstan

Shal (The Old Man)

Dir: Yermek Tursunov

Language: Russian, Kazakh

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: N/A

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Latvia

Mother, I Love You

Dir: Janis Nords

Language: Latvian

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: New Europe Film Sales

Festivals: Los Angeles Film Festival 2013, Berlinale Generation KPlus (Grand Prix of the International Jury for the best feature film)

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Mexico

Heli

Dir: Amat Escalante

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Ndm

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Competition-Winner Best Director, San Sebastian 2013 Horizontes Latinos,

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Interview by Carlos Aguilar

Morocco

Horses of God

Dir: Nabil Ayouch

Language: Arabic

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2012, Bif London Film Festival 2012

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

The Netherlands

Borgman

Dir: Alex van Warmerdam

Language: Dutch

U.S Release: Drafthouse Films

Isa: Fortissimo

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Competition, Busan 2013, Toronto-tiff 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

New Zealand

White Lies

Dir: Dana Rotberg

Language: Maori

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Film Sales Company

Festivals: N/A

Trailer

Norway

I Am Yours

Dir: Iram Haq

Language: Norwegian, Urdu

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto-tiff 2013

Trailer

Palestine

Omar

Dir: Hany Abu-Assad

Language: Arabic

U.S Release: Adopt FilmsIsa: The Match Factory

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Un Certain Regard, Toronto-tiff 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Interview by Carlos Aguilar

Philippines

Transit

Dir: Hannah Espia

Language: Filipino, Tagalog, Hebrew

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cinemalaya Film Festival 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Poland

Walesa

Dir: Andrzej Wajda

Language: Polish

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Films Boutique

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2013, Venice- Biennale 2013

Trailer

Romania

Child's Pose

Dir: Calin Peter Netzer

Language: Romanian

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Beta Cinema

Festivals: Berlinale - Efm 2013 - Competition (Golden Bear for the Best Film), Toronto - Tiff 2013 Contemporary World Cinema

Trailer

Articles by Sydney Levine, Berlin Diary #2

Russia

Stalingrad

Dir: Fedor Bondarchuk

Language: Russian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: N/A

Trailer

Saudi Arabia

Wadjda

Dir: Haifaa al-Mansour

Language: Arabic

U.S Release: Sony Pictures Classics - September 13, 2013

Isa: The Match Factory

Festivals: Cannes 2012, Venice International Film Festival 2012, Los Angeles Film Festival, Toronto-tiff 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Serbia

Circles

Dir: Srdan Golubovic

Language: Serbian

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Memento

Festivals: Sundance 2013 World Dramatic, Berlinale - Efm 2013 Forum

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Interview by Sydney Levine

Singapore

Ilo Ilo

Dir: Anthony Chen

Language: Mandarin, Hokkien, English, Tagalog

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Memento

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Directors Fortnight, Toronto - Tiff 2013 Discovery

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Slovenia

Class Enemy

Dir: Rok Biček

Language: Slovene

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto-tiff 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

South Korea

Juvenile Offender

Dir: Kang Yi-kwan

Language: Korean

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Finecut

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2012 Contemporary World Cinema,

Trailer

Spain

15 Years and One Day

Dir: Gracia Querejeta

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Latido

Festivals: San Sebastian 2013 Made in Spain, Berlin Efm 2013

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

Interview by Carlos Aguilar

Switzerland

More Than Honey

Dir: Markus Imhoof

Language: German, Mandarin

U.S Release: Tba

Isa: Films Boutique

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2012 Tiff Docs, Berlin Efm 2013

Trailer

Turkey

The Butterfly's Dream

Dir: Yılmaz Erdoğan

Language: Turkish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Istanbul Film Festival, Los Angeles Turkish Film Festival

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar

United Kingdom

Metro Manila

Dir: Sean Elllis

Language: Filipino, Tagalog

U.S Release: Paladin/108 Media

Isa:

Festivals: Sundance 2013 World Dramatic, Berlin Efm 2012, Cannes 2012, Afm 2012, Berlin Efm 2013

Trailer

Uruguay

Anina

Dir: Alfredo Soderguit

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlin International Film Festival, Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema

Trailer

Review by Carlos Aguilar...

Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2014 submissions (photo: Ziyi Zhang in ‘The Grandmaster’) (See previous post: Best Foreign Language Film Oscar: ‘The Past,’ ‘Wadjda,’ Andrzej Wajda Among Omissions) In case you missed it, here’s the full list of submissions (in alphabetical order, per country) for the 2014 Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award. The list of contenders was originally announced on October 7, 2013. Of note: Saudi Arabia and Moldova were first-timers; Montenegro was a first-timer as an independent country. Afghanistan, Wajma — An Afghan Love Story, Barmak Akram, director; Albania, Agon, Robert Budina, director; Argentina, The German Doctor, Lucía Puenzo, director; Australia, The Rocket, Kim Mordaunt, director; Austria, The Wall, Julian Pölsler, director; Azerbaijan, Steppe Man, Shamil Aliyev, director; Bangladesh, Television, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director; Belgium, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen, director; Bosnia and Herzegovina, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, Danis Tanovic, director; Brazil, Neighboring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho,...

Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2014: ‘The Past,’ Berlin winner ‘Child’s Pose,’ Andrzej Wajda among notable omissions (photo: Asghar Farhadi’s ‘The Past,’ with Bérénice Bejo) (See previous post: "Best Foreign Language Film Oscar 2014 semi-finalists: Liv Ullmann, Mads Mikkelsen, Ziyi Zhang star vehicles.") The previous post focused on the nine semi-finalists for the 2014 Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category. This post focuses on the surprising omissions from that list. ‘The Past’ The most glaring omission from the Academy’s list of Best Foreign Language Film semi-finalists is Asghar Farhadi’s Sony Pictures Classics-distributed (in the U.S.) The Past / Le Passé, starring Tahar Rahim and 2013 Cannes Film Festival Best Actress winner Bérénice Bejo. Iran’s official Oscar 2014 entry, The Past was considered a shoo-in following overwhelmingly positive notices — e.g., 93% approval rating and 8.6/10 average among Rotten Tomatoes‘ top critics — the fact that both Rahim (A Prophet...

Top brass at the 25th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (Psiff) have announced a new programme on Canadian Cinema as well as the traditionally strong roster of foreign-language films eligible for the Fipresci Award in the Awards Buzz section, and Modern Masters.

The festival will screen 45 of the 76 official foreign-language Oscar submissions under the umbrella of Awards Buzz.

“We’ve selected Canadian films for a special focus at this year’s festival for many reasons, not the least of which is the wealth of talent emerging from its relatively small, indigenous film industry, and the depth and richness of story and character portrayal its films exemplify,” said festival director Darryl Macdonald.

“Whether it’s established auteurs like Denis Coté, Denis Villenueve and Atom Egoyan, gifted actor-directors like Don McKellar and Sarah Polley or newly emerging talents like Chloé Robichaud, Craig Goodwill and Sébastien Pilote, Canadian creative ingenuity is on abundant display in its films. All of this...

Golden Globes 2014 predictions (image: Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale in ‘American Hustle’ movie poster) They may be ridiculed, derided, and dismissed, but the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Golden Globes ceremony remains the second most important awards-season event — in terms of international public awareness — trailing only the Academy Awards. The nominations for the 2014 Golden Globes ("2013 Golden Globes," if you want to be technical about it) will be announced by Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde, and Aziz Ansari (very, very early) on Thursday morning, December 12, 2013. Who will be the nominees? Which movies and performances will Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members want to check out after they hear the names and/or titles of this year’s nominees? Well, below are our 2014 Golden Globes predictions. Like the Academy Awards, Hollywood guilds, and most critics’ groups, quality is an important element in the HFPA members’ selections; but then again,...

Adèle Exarchopoulos (‘Blue Is the Warmest Color’) and Cate Blanchett (‘Blue Jasmine’): Best Actress tie two years in a row at Los Angeles Film Critics Awards (photo: Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos in ‘Blue Is the Warmest Color’) (See previous post: "James Franco Tattoos, Gold Teeth: Lafca Winners." Another non-Hollywood Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s selection was Best Actress co-winner Adèle Exarchopoulos, cited for her performance as a young woman who falls in love with blue-haired Léa Seydoux in Abdellatif Kechiche’s controversial Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Blue Is the Warmest Color. The lesbian romantic drama also took home the Lafca’s Best Foreign Language Film Award. Blue was also the luckiest color, at least in the Best Actress category: Cate Blanchett was Exarchopoulos’ co-winner, for her performance in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, in which she plays a character somewhat similar to A Streetcar Named Desire...

Los Angeles Film Critics Awards winners 2013 (photo: Sandra Bullock in ‘Gravity’) The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (Lafca), which has been around since the early ’70s, announced earlier today, December 8, 2013, their list of 2013 winners and runners-up. Although there were a handful of offbeat choices, what’s most surprising is how mainstream were most of the Los Angeles Film Critics’ picks this year — Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity was the top film, with a total of four wins — and that there were no less than three ties, including one for Best Picture: Gravity and Spike Jonze’s Her. See below. (See also: Full list of Boston Society of Film Critics 2013 winners.) Best Picture (tie): Gravity and Her. Best Foreign-Language Film: Blue Is the Warmest Color, directed by Abdellatif Kechiche. Runner-up: The Great Beauty, directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Best Documentary: Stories We Tell, directed by Sarah Polley Runner-up: The Act of Killing,...

Well, this isn't exactly a vote of confidence in France's submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Eyebrows were raised when Gilles Bourdos' attractive but not notably acclaimed period biopic "Renoir" was selected to represent the country at the Academy Awards, and those same skeptics will feel vindicated by today's shortlist for the most prestigious individual award in French cinema, the Louis Delluc Prize: eight films have been nominated, and "Renoir" is not among them.  Established in 1937, the Delluc is awarded to a single film every year, and boasts about the loftiest list of recipients you can imagine: Jean...

★★★☆☆ Renoir (2012), Gilles Bourdos' sumptuous portrait of the French master's final years and his filmmaker son Jean's first creative stirrings, is big on atmosphere but lacks dramatic tension. Father (Michel Bouquet) and son (Vincent Rottiers) fall for the same woman, Andrée Heuschling (Christa Theret), who becomes Jean's wife and the leading actress in his early films. Set on the Cote d'Azur, Renoir opens with Andrée arriving on the elderly artist's doorstep claiming to be his next model. Suffering from advanced arthritis and mourning the recent loss of his wife, Renoir also employs a household of women to look after him.

The women cook and clean, tenderly dress the French artist's ravaged hands, mix his paints and ferry him between house and terrace or from riverbank to orchard. Revitalised by Andrée's sensuality, Renoir starts painting nudes again. By contrast his young son, Coco (Thomas Doret), is largely ignored. He wanders aimlessly...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its shortlist for the 2014 Foreign Language Film Oscar — totaling a not-so-short 76 submitted films.

The number, up from 71 films last year, sets a new record for the category and includes frontrunners such as Asghar Farhadi’s The Past from Iran, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt from Denmark, and Wong Kar-Wai’s The Grandmaster from Hong Kong. Abdellatif Kechiche’s festival favorite lesbian drama Blue Is the Warmest Color from France, however, failed to make the cut-off date for eligibility, while India controversially submitted Gyan Correa’s The Good Road over Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox.

The Academy officially announced today that a record 76 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 2014 Oscars. Among those submitting, Moldova and Saudi Arabia are first-time entrants and this is the first time Montenegro has submitted a film as an independent country. Based solely on name recognition alone I'd say Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt (Denmark) and Asghar Farhadi's The Past (Iran) will be looked at as front-runners. However, I haven't only seen a few of the titles on this list, another of which is Mexico's entry, Heli from Amat Escalante. I have heard good things about Borgman (Netherlands) and it will be interesting to see how Haifaa al-Mansour's Wadjda is treated as it is a story unto itself, not to mention it seems to be receiving high marks from those that have seen it. I'm personally hoping to catch it soon...

A record 76 countries have submitted films for consideration in the foreign language film category for the 86th Academy Awards.

Moldova and Saudi Arabia are first-time entrants while Montenegro is submitting for the first time as an independent country.

Earlier this year the Academy changed its rule allowing all voting members to vote on the shortlist.

The nominations will be announced on January 16 2014 and the Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on March 2 2014 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

The 2013 submissions are:

Afghanistan, Wajma: An Afghan Love Story, Barmak Akram

Albania, Agon, Robert Budina

Argentina, Wakolda, Lucía Puenzo

Australia, The Rocket, Kim Mordaunt

Austria, The Wall, Julian Pölsler

Azerbaijan, Steppe Man, Shamil Aliyev

Bangladesh, Television, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki

Belgium, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen

Bosnia and Herzegovina, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, Danis Tanović

Brazil, Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho

Bulgaria, The Colour of the Chameleon, Emil Hristov

Cambodia...

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has released the list of the 76 countries and their submissions officially competing for the 2014 Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Amongst the high profile entries this year are Australia's "The Rocket," Denmark's "The Hunt," France's "Renoir," Wong Kar-wai's "The Grandmaster," Iran's "The Past," and Saudi Arabia's "Wadjda".

The nominations will be announced on January 16th 2014 ahead of the ceremony on March 2nd. Here is the complete list:

Afghanistan, "Wajma – An Afghan Love Story," Barmak Akram

Albania, "Agon," Robert Budina

Argentina, "The German Doctor," Lucía Puenzo

Australia, "The Rocket," Kim Mordaunt

Austria, "The Wall," Julian Pölsler

Azerbaijan, "Steppe Man," Shamil Aliyev

Bangladesh, "Television," Mostofa Sarwar Farooki

Belgium, "The Broken Circle Breakdown," Felix van Groeningen

Bosnia and Herzegovina, "An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker," Danis Tanovic

Brazil, "Neighboring Sounds," Kleber Mendonça Filho

Bulgaria, "The Color of the Chameleon," Emil Hristov

Cambodia, "The Missing Picture,...

A record 76 countries have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 86th Academy Awards®.

Moldova and Saudi Arabia are first-time entrants; Montenegro is submitting for the first time as an independent country.

The 2013 submissions are:

Afghanistan, “Wajma – An Afghan Love Story,” Barmak Akram, director;

Albania, “Agon,” Robert Budina, director;

Argentina, “The German Doctor,” Lucía Puenzo, director;

Australia, “The Rocket,” Kim Mordaunt, director;

Austria, “The Wall,” Julian Pölsler, director;

Azerbaijan, “Steppe Man,” Shamil Aliyev, director;

Bangladesh, “Television,” Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, director;

Belgium, “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” Felix van Groeningen, director;

Bosnia and Herzegovina, “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker,” Danis Tanovic, director;

Brazil, “Neighboring Sounds,” Kleber Mendonça Filho, director;

Bulgaria, “The Color of the Chameleon,” Emil Hristov, director;

Cambodia, “The Missing Picture,” Rithy Panh, director;

Canada, “Gabrielle,” Louise Archambault, director;

Chad, “GriGris,” Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, director;

Chile, “Gloria,” Sebastián Lelio, director;

China, “Back to 1942,” Feng Xiaogang,...

The submission list for the 86th Annual Academy Awards' foreign-language category is complete, with a record 76 countries selecting (last year, a then-record 71 countries submitted in the end). Among them are several high profile films from the international film festival circuit: Iran (which after much speculation they wouldn't submit, decided to go for it with Ashgar Farhadi's mostly France-set "The Past," two years after Farhadi won for "A Separation"), France (which selected Gilles Bourdos' "Renoir" after Abdellatif Kechiche’s Palme d’Or winner "Blue is the Warmest Color didn't meet the release date eligibility requirements), Chile (submitting Berlinale favorite "Gloria"), Canada (going for four in a row with Louise Archambault's Locarno Film Fest favourite "Gabrielle"), Japan (controversially submitting "The Great Passage" over heavy favorite and Cannes prize winner "Like Father, Like Son), Italy (Cannes favorite "The Great Beauty"), Belgium (Felix van Groeningen's "The...

All entries for the Best Foreign-Language Film at the Academy Awards 2014.

Submissions for the Best Foreign-Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards are coming in and will continue until October, when the full list of eligible submissions will be revealed.

Last year, a record 71 countries submitted features and the eventual winner was Austrian entry Amour, directed by Michael Haneke.

An initial nine finalists will be shortlisted, which will be whittled down to five nominees that will be announced on Jan 16, 2014.

Submissions

Afghanistan, Wajma: An Afghan Love Story, Barmak Akram

Albania, Agon, Robert Budina

Argentina, Wakolda, Lucía Puenzo

Australia, The Rocket, Kim Mordaunt

Austria, The Wall, Julian Pölsler

Azerbaijan, Steppe Man, Shamil Aliyev

Bangladesh, Television, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki

Belgium, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen

Bosnia and Herzegovina, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, Danis Tanović

Brazil, Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho

Bulgaria, The Colour of the Chameleon, Emil Hristov

Cambodia...

In line with SydneysBuzz’s focus on the international film business we have put together the most complete list on the 67 national submissions to compete for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This list showcases films that have been the centerpieces of the most renowned festivals and that represent the best in the cinematic landscape from across the globe. Last year, at this point in the race the clear favorite was Palm d'Or winner Amour, which went on to win the award with no significant competition and scoring 4 other nominations including Best Picture, an outstanding feat for a foreign film about love at the end of life, by Michael Haneke.

This time around the story could have repeated almost identically with the most recent winner of Cannes’ biggest prize Blue is the Warmest Color. However, the film became one more victim of the Academy's rules, which rendered it unqualified to compete because of the late release date in France. With Blue out of the race the award is fair game for virtually anyone on the list, although there are certainly some favorites.

Saudi Arabia's first ever submission, the charming Wadjda might turn into beginners luck and score the Kingdom, in which movie theaters are banned, a nomination or even a win. Iran's audacious decision to submit the French-language The Past caused uproar among conservatives, but might certainly score the nation another nomination after their win in 2012 with the masterful A Separation. Other strong contenders are Denmark's The Hunt starring Mads Mikkelsen, and which would continue the countries streak of 3 consecutive nominations winning in 2011 with In A Better World, as well as Canada's Gabrielle about the romantic relationship of a handicapped couple, and Hong Kong’s The Grandmaster by famous director Wong Kar-wai.

Italy’s The Great Beauty, Australia’s The Rocket, Romania’s Child’s Pose, and Chile’s Gloria are among other titles that might score a nomination given their success and prominence during their festivals rounds. Some countries decided to take a chance and send audacious choices as their representation to the Academy, so is the case Mexico, a country that chose the more violent and artistically daring Cannes winner Heli, over the hit comedy Instructions Not Included, or Greece’s Boy Eating The Bird’s Food, which includes grotesque imagery that might not sit well with academy members.

The African continent is minimally represented with only 3 entries, South Africa’s Four Corners, and the Arabic-language works God’s Horses from Morocco, and Winter of Discontent from Egypt. Algeria, which has submitted regularly and even scored several nominations, is absent in this occasion. Another big omission is China who did not submit an entry but whose language is represented by Taiwan and the above-mentioned Hong Kong; equally strange is France’s decision to enter Renoir over tons of other films that could have substituted Abdellatif Kechiche.

Less surprising is Russia’s decision to submit a blockbuster-style production with a very nationalistic message in lieu of a more intimate film. On the other hand, Cambodia, Lithuania, and Switzerland decided to go with a documentary, a choice that has never been very fruitful in this category. Lastly, Israel and Palestine both entered strong candidate with Bethlehem and Omar respectively, adding with that to the great year the region has seen in the cinematic realm.

The rest of the films are a mixture of obscure titles with not much exposure outside their homelands, and a others with great premise but equally unknown quality. Thankfully for SydneysBuzz readers, the list below compiles all 67 Foreign Submissions and includes links to more information and a link to the trailer of every single one of them. For the most part the clips are subtitled; the ones that are not will at least give the reader a sense of what the film is about. As the Awards Season develops, we will have updates on predicted nominees and other developments in the race for the Best Foreign Language Film.

Argentina

The German Doctor (Wakolda)

Dir: Lucia Puenzo

Language: Spanish, German, Hebrew

U.S Release: Acquired by Samuel Goldwyn Films

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Un Certain Regard

Trailer

Australia

The Rocket

Dir: Kim Mordaunt

Language: Lao

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlin 2013: Best First Feature Film ,Tribeca 2013: World Narrative Competition

Trailer

Austria

The Wall

Dir: Julian Polsler

Language: German

U.S Release: Released by Music Box Films on May 31st, 2013

Festivals: Sitges Ff 2012 Oficial Fantastic, Mumbai Ff 2012 Int'l Competition

Trailer

Bangladesh

Television

Dir: Mostofa Sarwar Farooki

Language: Bengali

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Dubai Diff 2012 (Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature Special Mention)

Trailer

Belgium

The Broken Circle Breakdown

Dir: Felix van Groeningen

Language: Flemish

U.S Release: Tribeca Film Will Release the Film on November 1st, 2013

Festivals: Berlinale - Efm 2013 - Panorama

Trailer

Bosnia And Herzegovina

An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker

Dir: Danis Tanović

Language: Bosnian, Romani

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlinale - Efm 2013 Competition, Tiff 2013 Contemporary World Cinema

Trailer

Brazil

Neighboring Sounds

Dir: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Language: Portuguese, Mandarin

U.S Release: Released by Cinema Guild, Now Available on Netflix streaming

Festivals:Mar Del Plata Ff 2012 Competencia Int'l, Bafici (Buenos Aires) 2013 Panorama

Trailer

Bulgaria

The Color of the Chameleon

Dir: Emil Hristov

Language: Bulgarian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2012 Discovery, Thessaloniki Iff 2012 Int'l Competition

Trailer

Cambodia

The Missing Picture

Dir: Rithy Panh

Language: French

U.S Release: Acquired by Strand Releasing for U.S Distribution

Festivals: Cannes 2013 - Un Certain Regard Prix, San Sebastian 2013 Pearls

Trailer

Canada

Gabrielle

Dir: Louise Archambault

Language: French

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2013, Toronto- Tiff 2013, Locarno International Film Festival 2013

Trailer

Chile

Gloria

Dir: Sebastian Lelio

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Acquired by Roadside Attractions for U.S Distribution

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2013, Cannes 2013, Toronto - Tiff 2013

Trailer

Colombia

La Playa DC

Dir: Juan Andrés Arango

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Released by Artmattan Productions on July 19th, 2013

Festivals:Official Selection Cannes 2012 Un Certain Regard, Chicago Iff 2012 New Directors Competition

Trailer

Croatia

Halima's Path

Dir: Arsen Anton Ostojić

Language: Bosnian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2013, Tallinn Black Nights Iff 2012 - EurAsia (Special Jury Prize)

Trailer

Czech Republic

Burning Bush

Dir: Agnieszka Holland

Language: Czech

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2013

Trailer

Denmark

The Hunt

Dir: Thomas Vinterberg

Language: Danish

U.S Release: Released by Magnolia Pictures on July 12th

Festivals: Cannes 2012 Competition, Toronto - Tiff 2012, AFI Fest

Trailer

Dominican Republic

Who's the Boss?

Dir: Ronni Castillo

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: N/A

Trailer

Egypt

Winter of Discontent

Dir: Ibrahim el-Batout

Language: Arabic

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2013

Trailer

Estonia

Free Range

Dir: Veiko Õunpuu

Language: Estonian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2012

Trailer

Finland

The Disciple

Dir: Ulrika Bengts

Language: Finnish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals:Helsinki International Film Festival, Montréal World Film Festival

Trailer

France

Renoir

Dir: Gilles Bourdos

Language: French

U.S Release: Released by Samuel Goldwyn Films on March 29th, 2013

Festivals: Cannes 2012 Un Certain Regard

Trailer

Georgia

In Bloom

Dir: Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß

Language: Georgian

U.S Release: Acquired by Big World Pictures for U.S Distribution

Festivals: Cannes 2013, Cicae award Berlinale Forum 2013

Trailer

Germany

Two Lives

Dir: Georg Maas

Language: German

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2013, Cannes 2013, Toronto-tiff 2013, Busan 2013

Trailer

Greece

Boy Eating The Bird's Food

Dir: Ektoras Lygizos

Language: Greek

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2012 Discovery

Trailer

Hong Kong

The Grandmaster

Dir: Wong Kar-wai

Language: Cantonese, Mandarin

U.S Release: Released by The Weinstein Company on August 23rd, 2013

Festivals: Berlinale - Efm 2013, Cannes 2013

Trailer

Hungary

The Notebook

Dir: Janosz Szasz

Language: Hungarian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2013 Contemporary World Cinema

Trailer

Iceland

Of Horses and Men

Dir: Benedikt Erlingsson

Language: Icelandic

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2013, Sundance 2013

Trailer

India

The Good Road

Dir: Gyan Correa

Language: Gujarati

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: London Indian Film Festival in 2013

Trailer

Iran

The Past

Dir: Asghar Farhadi

Language: French, Persian

U.S Release: Sony Pictures Classics will release the film on December 20th, 2013

Festivals:Cannes 2013 Competition-Won Best Actress, Toronto - Tiff 2013

Trailer

Israel

Bethlehem

Dir: Yuval Adler

Language: Hebrew

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2013 Discovery, Cannes 2013 , Berlin Efm 2013

Trailer

Italy

The Great Beauty

Dir: Paolo Sorrentino

Language: Italian

U.S Release: Acquired by Janus Films for U.S Distribution

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Competition, Berlin Efm 2013,

Trailer

Japan

The Great Passage

Dir: Yuya Ishii

Language: Japanese

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Fantasia Ff 2013 Official Selection, Cannes 2013

Trailer

Kazakhstan

The Old Man

Dir: Ermek Tursunov

Language: Russian, Kazakh

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: N/A

Trailer

Latvia

Mother, I Love You

Dir: Janis Nords

Language: Latvian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2013, Los Angeles Film Festival 2013

Trailer

Lebanon

Ghadi

Dir: Amin Dora

Language: Arabic

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: N/A

Trailer

Lithuania

Conversations on Serious Topics

Dir: Giedrė Beinoriūtė

Language: Lithuanian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2013

Trailer

Luxembourg

Blind Spot

Dir: Christophe Wagner

Language: Luxembourgish, French

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2012

Trailer

Mexico

Heli

Dir: Amat Escalante

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Competition-Won Best Director, San Sebastian 2013 Horizontes Latinos,

Trailer

Montenegro

Bad Destiny

Dir: Draško Đurović

Language: Serbo-Croatian

U.S Release: Acquired by Princ Films for U.S Distribution

Festivals: Toronto- Tiff 2013, Busan 2013

Trailer

Morocco

God's Horses

Dir: Nabil Ayouch

Language: Arabic

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2012, Bif London Film Festival 2012

Trailer

Nepal

Soongava: Dance of the Orchids

Dir: Subarna Thapa

Language: Nepalese

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2012, Berlin Efm 2013

Trailer

The Netherlands

Borgman

Dir: Alex van Warmerdam

Language: Dutch

U.S Release: Acquired by Drafthouse Films for U.S Distribution

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Competition, Busan 2013, Toronto-tiff 2013

Trailer

New Zealand

White Lies

Dir: Dana Rotberg

Language: Maori

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: N/A

Trailer

Norway

I Am Yours

Dir: Iram Haq

Language: Norwegian, Urdu

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto-tiff 2013

Trailer

Pakistan

Zinda Bhaag

Dir: Meenu Gaur and Farjad Nabi

Language: Udu, Punjabi

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: N/A

Trailer

Palestine

Omar

Dir: Hany Abu-Assad

Language: Arabic

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Un Certain Regard, Toronto-tiff 2013

Trailer

Peru

The Cleaner

Dir: Adrian Saba

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Palm Springs Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival

Trailer

Philippines

Transit

Dir: Hannah Espia

Language: Filipino, Tagalog, Hebrew

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cinemalaya Film Festival 2013

Trailer

Poland

Walesa

Dir: Andrzej Wajda

Language: Polish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2013, Venice- Biennale 2013

Trailer

Portugal

Lines of Wellington

Dir: Valeria Sarmiento

Language: Portuguese, English, French

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Venice - Biennale 2012 Competition, Toronto - Tiff 2012

Trailer

Romania

Child's Pose

Dir: Calin Peter Netzer

Language: Romanian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlinale - Efm 2013 - Competition (Golden Bear for the Best Film), Toronto - Tiff 2013 Contemporary World Cinema

Trailer

Russia

Stalingrad

Dir: Fedor Bondarchuk

Language: Russian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: N/A

Trailer

Saudi Arabia

Wadjda

Dir: Haifaa al-Mansour

Language: Arabic

U.S Release: Released by Sony Pictures Classics on September 13th, 2013

Festivals: Cannes 2012, Venice International Film Festival 2012, Los Angeles Film Festival, Toronto-tiff 2013

Trailer

Serbia

Circles

Dir: Srdan Golubovic

Language: Serbian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Sundance 2013 World Dramatic, Berlinale - Efm 2013 Forum, Cannes 2013

Trailer

Singapore

Ilo Ilo

Dir: Anthony Chen

Language: Mandarin, Hokkien, English, Tagalog

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2013 Directors Fortnight, Toronto - Tiff 2013 Discovery

Trailer

Slovakia

My Dog Killer

Dir: Mira Fornay

Language: Slovak

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Berlin Efm 2013, Cannes 2013, Busan 2013

Trailer

Slovenia

Class Enemy

Dir: Rok Biček

Language: Slovene

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2013, Toronto-tiff 2013

Trailer

Spain

15 Years and One Day

Dir: Gracia Querejeta

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: San Sebastian 2013 Made in Spain, Berlin Efm 2013

Trailer

South Africa

Four Corners

Dir: Ian Gabriel

Language: Afrikaans, Tsotsitaal

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals:N/A

Trailer

South Korea

Juvenile Offender

Dir: Kang Yi-kwan

Language: Korean

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2012 Contemporary World Cinema,

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Sweden

Eat Sleep Die

Dir: Gabriela Pichler

Language: Swedish, Croatian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Venice International Film Festival 2012, Toronto - Tiff 2012

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Switzerland

More Than Honey

Dir: Markus Imhoof

Language: German, Mandarin

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto - Tiff 2012 Tiff Docs, Cannes 2013, Berlin Efm 2013

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Taiwan

Soul

Dir: Mong-Hong Chung

Language: Mandarin

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Cannes 2013, Toronto - Tiff 2013 Vanguard

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Thailand

Countdown

Dir: Nattawut Poonpiriya

Language: Thai

U.S Release: Acquired by Birch Tree Entertainment for U.S Distribution

Festivals: Cannes 2013, Far East Film Festival 2013

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Turkey

The Butterfly's Dream

Dir: Yılmaz Erdoğan

Language: Turkish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Istanbul Film Festival, Los Angeles Turkish Film Festival

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Ukraine

Paradjanov

Dir: Serge Avedikian and Olena Fetisova

Language: Russian

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Toronto 2013

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United Kingdom

Metro Manila

Dir: Sean Elllis

Language: Filipino, Tagalog

U.S Release: Acquired by Paladin/108 Media for U.S Distribution

Festivals: Sundance 2013 World Dramatic, Berlin Efm 2012, Cannes 2012, Afm 2012, Berlin Efm 2013

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Venezuela

Breach in the Silence

Dir: Luis and Andrés Rodríguez

Language: Spanish

U.S Release: Tba

Festivals: Ventana Sur 2012, Festival de Mar del Plata "Panorama Latinomaericano"

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New entries from Argentina, Denmark, Lebanon, Lithuania and Peru.

Submissions for the Best Foreign-Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards are coming in and will continue until October, when the full list of eligible submissions will be revealed.

Last year, a record 71 countries submitted features and the eventual winner was Austrian entry Amour, directed by Michael Haneke.

An initial nine finalists will be shortlisted, which will be whittled down to five nominees that will be announced on Jan 16, 2014.

Submissions

* = new additions

* Argentina, Wakolda, Lucía Puenzo

Australia, The Rocket, Kim Mordaunt

Austria, The Wall, Julian Pölsler

Bangladesh, Television, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki

Belgium, The Broken Circle Breakdown, Felix van Groeningen

Bosnia and Herzegovina, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, Danis Tanović

Brazil, Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonça Filho

Bulgaria, The Colour of the Chameleon, Emil Hristov

Canada, Gabrielle, Louise Archambault

Chile, Gloria, Sebastián Lelio

Colombia, La Playa DC, Juan Andrés Arango

Croatia, Halima’s Path...

Gotta go Borgman! With the awards season officially underway, Oscar buzz is heating up. Many countries submitting a film for the Best Foreign Language category are announcing their title. While many critics love Blue is the Warmest Color (Palme d'Or winner and my Cannes fave) France chose to submit Gilles Bourdos' Renoir starring Michel Bouquet. A number of other countries have chosen their films to submit, and two of them in particular (both of which first premiered in Cannes) are worth mentioning. The first is the film Borgman, submitted by The Netherlands, a twisted new take on home invasion that I just saw at Tiff and loved. The other is Heli, submitted by Mexico, a very bleak but affecting film from director Amat Escalante. Borgman (which the teaser photo above is from), directed by Alex van Warmerdam, stars Jan Bijvoet as "Borgman", a man who finagles his way into a wealthy family's house.

Last year's best foreign film award went to Michael Haneke's drama Amour

Renoir, a tale of sunshine, oils and decorative nudity, has been selected as France's official submission for next year's best foreign film Oscar. A French-language film took the top prize last year with Michael Haneke's shattering death-bed drama Amour (although it was in fact an entry for Haneke's native Austria). This time around, the French tongue appears to be talking a different language.

Directed by Gilles Bourdos, Renoir is a period biopic set in the French Riviera in 1915 and charting the relationship between the impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Michel Bouquet), his film-maker son Jean (Vincent Rottiers) and a model (Christa Theret) who becomes a muse for both men. The film played at the 2012 Cannes film festival and became a moderate art-house hit in the Us. But the reviews have been middling. "A syrupy drizzle of prettiness covers this cloying movie,...

More news on the Foreign-Language Oscar entry front. France has selected "Renoir," directed by Gilles Bourdos, for the race, while Taiwan has nominated psychological horror-thriller "Soul," helmed by Chung Mung-hong. "Renoir," which played in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section in 2012, centers on the life of painter Auguste Renoir (played by Michel Bouquet) during World War I on the French Riviera, and his young son, Jean, who would grow up to be renowned filmmaker Jean Renoir ("The Rules of the Game"). The film hit theaters stateside back in the spring. (French production "Blue Is the Warmest Color," which won this year's Palme d'Or, didn't meet the release date criteria to be eligible as France's official Oscar selection.) "Soul" centers on a sous chef (played by Joseph Chang) who is moved to his home town and into the care of his father (martial arts veteran Jimmy Wong) when he becomes ill. When...

Picture sold by Wild Bunch has enjoyed healthy international career, drawing 3 million cinemagoers worldwide.

Gilles Bourdos’ Renoir, revolving around the impressionist artist’s obsession with a young model who re-fired his passion for painting as an old man, has been selected as France’s 2014 Foreign Language Oscar candidate.

Based on the true story of the relationship between Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Andrée Heuschling, the sumptuously shot picture unfolds against the backdrop of the artist’s estate in the South of France during World War Two.

Heuschling would marry Renoir’s son, the film director Jean Renoir, appearing in a number of his early silent films but the picture mainly focuses on how the beautiful young woman enraptured the elderly artist.

The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2012, sold some 500,000 tickets at home and another 3 million internationally. It grossed more than $2m in the Us making it one of the most successful foreign language films there this...

The Act Of Killing | This Is The End | Despicable Me 2 | The East | Stories We Tell | Hummingbird | Stand Up Guys | Renoir | I Want Your Love | Night Of Silence | The Battle Of The Sexes | Venus And Serena

The Act Of Killing (15)

(Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012, Den/Nor/UK/Swe/Fin) 122 mins

This astounding documentary is so packed with surreal scenarios, casual corruption and inhumanity, it's difficult to believe it's actually true. It tracks down perpetrators of Indonesia's 60s anti-communist massacres, finding them openly unrepentant about their past atrocities; so much so, they're happy to re-enact them as cinematic scenarios. As well as illuminating modern Indonesia, the process says much about history, its representation and its victors.

This Is The End (15)

(Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen, 2013, Us) Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill. 107 mins

The apocalypse crashes James Franco's Hollywood house party, resulting in a enjoyably crude comedy that mixes stoner-buddy goofing...

Gilles Bourdos's film about the passion of the elderly impressionist for a young woman glows with the painter's own delight in the body and its pleasures

It's good to see a film about the private life of an artist that is not judgmental about his need for sex and beauty.

Renoir, directed by Gilles Bourdos and starring Michel Bouquet as the impressionist master, is the story of an old man's obsession with a young woman. It is set during the first world war, almost entirely on Pierre-Auguste Renoir's estate in the south of France. Renoir is old and ill, but his artistic fire burns bright, rekindled by a new model, Andrée, played by Christa Théret.

Cue a lot of nakedness in the golden light of Provence. Théret poses for Renoir in his studio, in a meadow, in a stream. The wizened, almost immobile old artist is unembarrassed. He knows what he likes.

“You can’t explain a painting, you have to feel it”, is a line uttered in Gilles Bourdos’s Renoir. Sadly, such a statement isn’t quite as exclusive to cinema, and here is an example of a film that, although certainly alluring and pleasing on the eye, has very little beneath the surface, in desperate need of some patent definition, as this biopic of two of France’s most renowned artistic talents doesn’t quite match up to the innovation and exceptional capabilities that our subjects had in abundance.

What with Renoir and Thérèse Desqueyroux, it seems that French filmmakers are tapping into the current trend of period dramas, that have proved to be so successful across Europe with the likes of Downton Abbey and A Royal Affair. This takes place on the French Riviera across the summer of 1915, at the picturesque abode of ageing Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir...

Kensington’s Cine Lumiere, part of the self-contained world that is the Institut Francais, is peaceful to the point of ambivalence as a lone journalist, only a few minutes ahead of schedule, pounds its grounds, keen to find the right room without expert guidance.

A neat woman at reception directs the compromised journalist upstairs to the ‘salon’, which turns out to be all antique elegance with high-ceilings and mismatched but regal furniture. The room holds an affable chap with shaggy blonde hair and an indiscreet mouth. He’s fiddling with a camera while a fine-boned brunette, his fiancée, sits in the chair, endearingly bashful at being a surrogate for the talents who will shortly be giving whatever insights 15 minutes can give into Renoir, Gilles Bourdos’ fourth feature.

A publicist arrives, yanks furniture around then leads the journalist down to the Marie Celeste of cafes. It’s out of primetime hours.

The final years of French Master Renoir prove to be dull in Gilles Bourdos’ bio-drama I lose count of the beautiful moments throughout co-writer/director Gilles Bourdos artist bio Renoir; an admiring story about French master Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Michel Bouquet) in his final years co-written by Bourdos, Michel Spinosa, Jérôme Tonnerre and based on the work of Jacques Renoir, the great-grandson of the famous painter. A paintbrush dips into a glass of water and adds a spinning swirl of red pigment. Water sprays from a garden hose and becomes a sparkler for light droplets. Renoir’s female servants take to the river alongside his country home in Cagnes-sur-Mer and swim. They are carefree, laughing, comfortable with their bodies and truly beautiful.

As the crème de la crème of the film industry begins invading the French Riviera for the 2013 Festival de Cannes, it is quite apropros for a movie about one of the Impressionist masters who spent his last days in the lush French countryside to open this week at the Regal Arbor here in Austin.

Based upon Jacques Renoir's work Le Tableau Amoureux, director and screenwriter Gilles Bourdos' drama Renoir paints a lush vignette of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Michel Bouquet) at the age of 74. Arthritis wreaks havoc on his body, and his middle son Jean (Vincent Rottiers) is dealing with his own combat wounds from his World War I mobilization.

The pair are both enamored and inspired by Renoir's latest model, the fiery headstrong young Andrée (Christa Theret). Pierre-Auguste's grief over the death of his wife Aline is lightened by Andrée's free-spirited nature and graceful body. Despite...

Review by Barbara Snitzer

While I highly recommend the new French movie Renoir, I feel obligated to caution that my recommendation might not apply to all Movie Geeks.

The most action-packed scene in this movie involves a paintbrush on canvas- no CGI, not even a montage to push the action along. This movie moves at the pace of Heinz ketchup being poured. If the mere description I’ve offered is making you fidget, watching this movie will feel like driving behind an elderly person going 45 mph with their blinker on. This is not the movie for you to go to impress a date; it won’t be long before a more appropriate French movie will be released.

For the rest of us, Renoir is an ambrosial two hour respite on the French Riviera, specifically Cagnes-sûr-Mer, generously offered by director Gilles Bourdos who is a native of nearby Nice. For those...