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9/11 drama The Reluctant Fundamentalist got the Venice film festival off to a strong start this week. Peter Bradshaw praised the film's "bold and muscular storytelling" in his review. If video's more your thing you can see what both he and Xan Brooks thought of it over here.

Elsewhere at the festival we learned that Terrence Malick has excluded a number of big names from the final edit of To the Wonder, his follow–up to 2011's Palme d'Or–winning The Tree of Life. Rachel Weisz and Michael Sheen are among those who've been cut out of the project entirely.

Those of us not fortunate enough to be over in Venice can get a flavour of the festival with our picture galleries, watch Xan Brooks detail his pick of the programme over here, or just keep...

'The director wanted everything to seem real: we spoke patois – and the ganja was real, too'

Jimmy Cliff, songwriter and actor

I was in the studio recording You Can Get It If You Really Want when the director Perry Henzell came in and asked if I could write some music for a film he was about to make. The next thing I knew, he was sending me the script and asking me to play the lead. I think he was taken aback by my self-confidence. I'd never acted before, and I was doing well as a singer, but I jumped at the opportunity.

My character, Ivanhoe Martin, was based on a 1940s Jamaican gangster, Rhyging, whose name struck terror into everybody. To play him, I drew on my experiences of living in Kingston and people I knew. And I loved the bad guys in the movies, which helped, too.

The...

Variety is reporting the 1972 Jamaican classic “The Harder They Come” will be remade the production companies of United Kingdom-base Xingu Films, Canada-based Conquering Lion and with producer Justine Henzell (“Ghett’a Life,” “No Place Like Home”). The original film was written and directed by Henzells father Perry Henzell. Conquering Lion’s producer Damon D’Oliveira described the remake as “a re-imagining that will move to contemporary reggae and reggae-influenced grooves. “Next year is the 50th anniversary of Jamaica and the 40th anniversary of the original film, so the timing is perfect,” said D’Oliveira to Variety. “’The Harder They Come’ was the first film to bring the real Jamaica to the world, and that spirit informs this new version.” The original film starred Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley and Carl Bradshaw. Its plot involved a Reggae singer pushing his singing career in the city, but finds it harder than he thought.

The 1972 drama The Harder They Come, which starred reggae musician Jimmy Cliff, will be remade as a joint production by U.K.-based Xingu Films, the Canadian company Conquering Lion, and Jamaican producer Justine Henzell.

The original movie centered on an up-and-coming reggae musician who gets dragged into the criminal underworld. This new take will be modernized to reflect the current reggae culture. The Harder They Come was directed by Justine Henzell's father, Perry Henzell, who passed away in 2006.

Chris Salewicz (Third World Cop) is writing the screenplay, which will be set in Jamaica and London. Justine Henzell will produce with Trudie Styler, Alex Francis, and Damon D'Oliveira. Here's what Damon D'Oliveira had to say about the project.

"Next year is the 50th anniversary of Jamaica and the 40th anniversary of the original film, so the timing is perfect. The Harder They Come was the first film to bring the real Jamaica to the world,...

Directors: Ben Chace, Sam Fleischner Writers: Ben Chace, Sam Fleischner Starring: Sean Bones, Norah Jones, Carl Bradshaw, Kevin Bewersdorf, Mark Gibbs The story -- not of the film itself but of its conception -- goes that Ben Chace won a cruise to Jamaica in a raffle and he invited his childhood friend Sam Fleischner along for the vacation. Chace and Fleischner, both young filmmakers, decided to turn the trip into their next film project. Two additional cruise tickets were purchased for their actor Sean Bones and audio guy/actor Kevin Bewersdorf. The foursome sailed for one week; then, once in Jamaica, they were joined by producer Katina Hubbard for two weeks of production. The narrative of Wah Do Dem starts off quite similarly. Brooklyn hipster Max (Sean Bones) recently won a cruise for two to Jamaica. His plan was to take his girlfriend Willow (Norah Jones, in an all too brief cameo) along with him.

The Maid (15)

(Sebastián Silva, 2009, Chile) Catalina Saavedra, Claudia Celedón, Mariana Loyola. 96 mins

Less a slice of upstairs-downstairs realism than a black comedy that threatens to turn into a horror movie, this Chilean drama has been scooping awards across the globe, mostly for Saavedra's acting. She's a bravely monstrous creation, a long-suffering help whose resentments rise to the boil, particularly when a younger assistant is foisted on her. But just when we're ready to write her off, this agile, low-budget drama turns it round and confronts us with our own heartlessness. That's us served.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (12A)

(Edgar Wright, 2010 Us) Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong. 112 mins

This tireless tale of modern loserdom, filtered through pop-culture consciousness, will push the buttons of younger fans, with its onslaught of music/comic book/videogame tricks and hipster humour. Older viewers may need a lie down.

The Girl Who Played With Fire (15)

(Daniel Alfredson,...

If you’re a budding filmmaker with the good fortune to have won a cruise ticket what do you do? The answer is Wah Do Dem, a mumblecore odyssey written and directed by Ben Chace and Sam Fleischner.

We follow Max, played by Sean Bones, as he boards a cruise after his girlfriend (his intended cruisemate) dumps him and the film tracks his journey all the way to Jamaica, where things go wrong. That’s pretty much it. What the film gets right are some beautifully captured moments of emotional angst, though these are almost lost between the languid trawl of characters and locations, all pointing to some deeper meaning, but rarely attaining it.

Bones does nothing (deliberately I’m sure) to engage the audience and there is a tangible void between Max and us, something which the film suffers from as the tumultuous events, and Max’s trials to overcome them,...

The 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival just wrapped up on June 28 and the Independent Film Alliance has announced the award-winners at this year's festival. Take a look at the full list of award winners below.

Target Filmmaker Award (for Best Narrative Feature)

Winner: Wah Do Dem (What They Do) written and directed by Sam Fleischner & Ben Chace

Producers: Sam Fleischner, Katina Hubbard, Ben Chace, Martha Lapham, Henry Kasdon

Cast: Sean Bones, Norah Jones, Kevin Bewersdorf, Carl Bradshaw

Film Description: Max's dream Caribbean cruise becomes a solitary odyssey after his girlfriend dumps him days before their departure. Now, he'll have to go with the Jamaican flow in this disarming and incisive debut feature.

The Target Filmmaker Award carries an unrestricted cash prize of $50,000 funded by Target, offering the financial means to help filmmakers transfer their vision to the screen. The award recognizes the finest narrative film in competition, and is given to the director.

Poor country boy Ivan Martin (Jimmy Cliff) leaves the countryside and heads to the city (Kingston) in search of fame and fortune. Ivan finds the promise that the streets of the big city are laden with opportunity a myth but refuses to give up on his dream and, although having recorded a hit record, he finds himself drawn into the ganja trade and the rude boy lifestyle.

A lot of films get given the tag’s “Cult Classic”, “Independent film Classic” and similar, and while to varying degree’s they may or may not deserve the titles, “The Harder They Come” is almost the definition of both. Working on commercials and for the BBC in Jamaica, director Perry Henzell always dreamed of making a feature film, and not just any feature film, but one with its roots firmly in his homeland of Jamaica. Perry had told people he not only...