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Tribeca Film Festival Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer with Taís Augusto, Lucas Coelho, Guto Parente and Ticiana Augusto Lima from A Strange Path accepting the Best Cinematography Award for Linga Acácio Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

At yesterday’s Tribeca Festival Awards ceremony at Racket, Artistic Director Frédéric Boyer announced the winners of the International Narrative Competition Feature Awards. Best Cinematography went to Linga Acácio for Guto Parente’s A Strange Path (Brazil); Screenplay to Guto Parente for A Strange Path; Performance to Carlos Francisco for A Strange Path, and for a Tribeca record of four honours the Best Film went to A Strange Path, produced by Ticiana Augusto Lima, and starring Lucas Limeira and Carlos Francisco with Tarzia Firmino, Rita Cabaço, Renan Capivara, and Ana Marlene.

Guto Parente’s A Strange Path took home four honours at the Tribeca Festival Awards Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Levan Koguashvili’s Brighton 4th (Georgia) had won an impressive three awards,...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Apollo 10 ½ A Space Age Childhood (Richard Linklater)

A delightful meditation on childhood in the summer of 1969 set literally in the shadows of NASA’s central operations in Houston, Richard Linklater’s contemplative and vividly animated Apollo 10 ½ A Space Age Childhood reflects on the filmmaker’s own experiences. It captures the joy and wonder of childhood through the eyes of Stan, a ten-year-old who fantasizes about being recruited for “space camp” by NASA. His father (Bill Wise), a frugal but caring man, has uprooted his family from the city to a newly built suburban development in the shadow of the Astrodome and Astroworld amusement parks. Black’s adult narrator fills in the blanks for us with whimsical, nostalgic details that highlight just how...

Women From Georgia, Blind Dates, and Brighton 4th director Levan Koguashvili on chaos being cinematic: “I remember reading a book about one of my favourite directors, Robert Altman. It talked about why he likes making these group movies with separate stories.” Photo: Ed Bahlman

On December 21, 2021 the 94th Academy Awards Oscar Best International Feature Film shortlist was revealed with some notable omissions. Nora Martirosyan’s Should The Wind Drop (Si Le Vent Tombe) from Armenia; Julia Ducournau’s Titane from France; Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria from Colombia; Zhang Yimou’s Cliff Walkers from China; Kira Kovalenko’s Unclenching The Fists from Russia, and Levan Koguashvili's Brighton 4th from Georgia were among those.

Levan Koguashvili with Anne-Katrin Titze: “The main concern is the cinematic quality of the story.”

The Tribeca Film Festival International Narrative Competition jury comprised of Alexander Payne, Melissa Leo, Delroy Lindo, Peter Scarlet, and Lesli Klainberg awarded Best...

Levan Koguashvili’s Brighton 4th, winner of three awards in the International Narrative Competition of the 20th anniversary edition of the Tribeca Film Festival was a 2021 highlight. Brighton 4th (Georgia’s Oscar submission) captures more than a former wrestling champion’s journey to the west. Every face we see, in Tbilisi or New York’s Brighton Beach, every movement of a passer-by, every crumbling high-rise and cloud formation opens up the possibility of story. Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael’s compositions of reality are exquisite; the scenes make you think and feel and often laugh at the same time.

When we first drop in on an unruly crowd of Georgian men watching soccer in a sports betting parlour in Tbilisi, it is still unclear which one of them we will be allowed to follow, as though the camera...

We don’t want to overwhelm you, but while you’re catching up with our top 50 films of 2021, more cinematic greatness awaits in 2022. Ahead of our 100 most-anticipated films (all of which have yet to premiere), we’re highlighting 30 titles we’ve enjoyed on the festival circuit this last year (and beyond) that either have confirmed 2022 release dates or await a debut date from its distributor. There’s also a handful of films seeking distribution that we hope will arrive in the next 12 months, as can be seen here.

As an additional note, a number of 2021 films that had one-week qualifying runs will also get expanded releases in 2022, including A Hero (Jan. 7), Cyrano (Jan. 28), The Worst Person in the World (Feb. 4), Mothering Sunday (Feb. 25), Petite Maman, and A Chiara.

The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs (Pushpendra Singh; Jan. 12)

Northwest India’s Jammu and Kashmir region resides at the center of a...

In Brighton 4th, the Georgian diaspora of Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach (an area known colloquially as “Little Odessa” for its largely East European and Russian communities) provide backdrop to a touching story of father (a former champion wrestler) and son (a decent man with an indecent gambling habit). Equally warm and melancholic with a rich vein of tragicomedy, Brighton is just the second narrative from Levan Koguashvili, a Georgian filmmaker who became toast of this year’s Tribeca Film Festival when Brighton 4th took home the award for Best Film in their “International” selection, as well as Best Actor and Best Screenplay

Brighton 4th was recently announced as Georgia’s submission to the Oscars, selected over more challenging and poetic works from Alexandre Koberidze (What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?) and Déa Kulumbegashvili (Beginning). Koguashvili’s film is clearly the easiest sell, but it is good...

Essie Davis and Leah Purcell will battle it out in the best performance by an actress category at next month’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards, while Nitram lead Caleb Landry Jones and Australian/Afghan film When Pomegranates Howl are also among the nominees.

Films from Japan and the Islamic Republic of Iran lead the field for this year’s awards with six nominations each. Two films, both winners at Cannes this year, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car and Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero (Ghahreman), have garnered the most nominations, with both films up for the same four categories – Best Feature Film, Achievement in Directing, Best Screenplay and Best Performance by an Actor.

Purcell gets the nod for The Drovers Wife The Legend of Molly Johnson, for which she was also director and writer, with Davis recognised for her role in Gaysorn Thavat’s debut feature The Justice of Bunny King.

Kakhi (Levan Tediashvili) with his son Soso (Giorgi Tabidze) at Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach in Levan Koguashvili’s Brighton 4th, a Tribeca Film Festival highlight Photo: Kino Iberica

The Tribeca Film Festival International Narrative Competition jury comprised of Alexander Payne, Melissa Leo, Delroy Lindo, Peter Scarlet, and Lesli Klainberg awarded Best Film to Levan Koguashvili’s Brighton 4th, produced by Irakli Rodonaya, Olena Yershova, Michel Merkt, Kateryna Merkt. Best Screenplay went to Boris Frumin, and Best Actor to Levan Tediashvili.

In the first instalment of my conversation with Levan Koguashvili, we discussed his love of Italian Neorealism, working with the amazing Phedon Papamichael, Women from Georgia, Georgian painter Niko Pirosmani, Frédéric Boyer, Sophia Loren in Lady Liberty, Kakhi Kavsadze and when Georgian men sing, and the comedy of cheese.

Levan Koguashvili with Anne-Katrin Titze: “My heart for sure belongs to Italian Neorealism and all those great movies.”

When we first...

Updated with audience award winners. The Tribeca Festival has announced its Audience Award winners: Catch the Fair One for Best Narrative Feature, Blind Ambition for Best Documentary Feature and Ferguson Rises for Best Online Feature. The winners of the narrative and documentary categories will receive a cash prize of $10,000.

Tribeca’s 20th edition wrapped up on Sunday.

Previously: Lauren Hadaway’s The Novice, about a queer college freshman who joins her university’s rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top boat, has won the Best U.S. Narrative Feature Film prize at the Tribeca Festival.

Star Isabelle Furman won the best actress prize, and Todd Martin took cinematography honors for the film, the first feature for Hadaway, a former competitive rower.

Brighton 4th, directed by Levan Koguashvili, won the fest’s Best International Narrative Feature Film prize, taking that honor as...

“Brighton 4th” tells a gentle, naturalistic story of parental devotion and sacrifice, unfolding mostly in the former Soviet émigré enclave of Brighton Beach, N.Y. The tragicomedy nabbed a trifecta of awards at the recent Tribeca Festival, including best international narrative feature, screenplay and actor. It marks the third fiction outing by Georgian helmer Levan Koguashvili (“Blind Dates”) and follows a former Olympic wrestling champ from Tbilisi who goes to New York to help his adult son get his life back on track. The tender screenplay by Boris Frumin captures characters living in the new world in much the same fashion as they did in the old. It also offers a touching showcase for Levan Tediashvili, a non-professional actor and real-life wrestler. Boutique art-house distributors should take a look at this festival favorite.

A preamble in Tbilisi establishes the main character, Kakhi (Tediashvili), as a kind, even-tempered, nonjudgmental problem solver...

Ambre (Aurore Déon) and Blanche (Noémie Schmidt) discuss Anish Kapoor’s black in Elisabeth Vogler’s hypnotic and momentous Roaring 20s (Années 20)

The Tribeca Film Festival International Narrative Competition jury comprised of Alexander Payne, Melissa Leo, Delroy Lindo, Peter Scarlet, and Lesli Klainberg, awarded Best Cinematography in an International Narrative Feature Film to Elisabeth Vogler for Roaring 20s (Années 20) and the film, a highlight of the festival, received a Special Jury Mention for the ensemble cast “for their characters and dialogue both written and improvised seamlessly that provide a portrait timeless and true.” Levan Koguashvili’s Brighton 4th, produced by Irakli Rodonaya, Olena Yershova, Michel Merkt, Kateryna Merkt won Best Film, Best Screenplay to Boris Frumin, and Best Actor to Levan Tediashvili. Best Actress...

Chicago – Going both ways … in-person screenings in New York City and virtual/online for at-home enjoyment proved a success for the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. The 20th Fest announced their Jury Competition Award Winners on June 17th, with honorees that included Games and Podcasts for the first time.

The top prizes went to “The Novice,” directed by Lauren Hadaway (Best U.S. Narrative), “Brighton 4th,” directed by Levan Koguashivili (Best International Narrative) and “Ascension,” Directed by Jessica Kingdon (Best Documentary).

Best U.S. Narrative Feature for 2021 is ‘The Novice,’ directed by Lauren Hadaway

Photo credit: Tribeca Film Festival

Awards were distributed in the following feature film competition categories – U.S. Narrative, International Narrative, Documentary, New Narrative Director, and the Nora Ephron Prize, honoring a woman writer or director. Awards were also given in the short film categories – Narrative, Documentary, Student Visionary and Animation. New Directors were also honored with Narrative Awards,...

Audience award winners to be announced next week.

The Novice, Brighton 4th, and Ascension have triumphed in the juried awards categories at 2021 Tribeca Festival.

Lauren Hadaway’s The Novice was named best US narrative feature at 2021 Tribeca Festival, while Levan Koguashvili’s Brighton 4th won best international film.

Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension (2014)[/link]Ascension was named best documentary feature in the juried awards. Visit Films holds worldwide rights and is launching sales at the virtual Cannes market next week.

In other awards announced on Thursday (June 17), Isabelle Furman won best actress for The Novice and Matthew Leone was named best actor for...

The Tribeca Festival 2021 has announced the full list of winners for each of its competition categories. Lauren Hadaway’s “The Novice” won for narrative feature, Levan Koguashvili’s “Brighton 4th” won for international feature and Jessica Kingdon’s “Ascension” won for documentary feature.

Awards were given out for the following competition categories: U.S. narrative, international narrative, documentary, short films, immersive, the Nora Ephron award and the first-ever podcast and games categories.

“It’s been a challenging time for filmmakers, storytellers, and actors, and we’re so proud to honor the perseverance and dedication many of them displayed while working through the many obstacles that arose as a result of Covid-19,” Cara Cusumano, festival director and vice president of programming, said in a statement. “Each of these recipients truly embody the spirit of our creative community.”

The winners of the audience awards, which are determined by audience votes throughout the festival,...

The 20th annual Tribeca Festival has announced the winners in the competition categories at this year’s awards ceremony out of Spring Studios in New York City. Awards were given in the following competition categories: U.S. Narrative, International Narrative, Documentary; Short Films, Immersive, the Nora Ephron Award, and the first-ever Podcast and Games categories. For the first time ever, Italian eyewear brand Persol presented the award to the 2021 Best Actor, U.S. Narrative, recipient.

The Festival, which had the honor of welcoming back in-person audiences, concludes on June 20.

The top honors in feature films went to “The Novice,” “Brighton 4th,” and “Ascension.”

Chanel James and Taylor Garron won the Nora Ephron Award and a $25,000 prize for “As of Yet.” The award, created nine years ago, honors a female writer or director embodying the late filmmaker.

“It’s been a challenging time for filmmakers, storytellers, and actors, and we’re...

A naïve teenager comes of age amid the carnage of World War I’s Eastern Front in this propulsive adaptation of Aleksandrs Grins’ 1934 patriotic classic “Blizzard of Souls.” With its muscular direction by former documentarian Dzintars Dreibergs, atmospheric cinematography and careful attention to period detail, this account of a troop of Latvian Riflemen fighting first for the Russian Imperial Army against invading German forces and then for an independent Latvia should appeal to WWI buffs and fans of Sam Mendes’ “1917.” While not quite in the same league as Liviu Ciulei’s “Forest of the Hanged” or Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory,” Latvia’s Oscar submission — which set box office records in its native country — does contain a strong message about the futility of war.

After German forces kill his mother on the family farm, the not-quite-17-year-old schoolboy Arturs and his aging father (Martins Vilsons), a sharp-shooting former sergeant,...

Atsuko Hirayanagi on Oh Lucy! executive producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay: "I started warning people. Because I don't want them to feel betrayed." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Atsuko Hirayanagi's wanderlust-y debut feature Oh Lucy!, co-written with Boris Frumin and based on her short film, stars Shinobu Terajima (Kôji Wakamatsu's Caterpillar) with Josh Hartnett (John Logan's Penny Dreadful), Kaho Minami (Zhuangzhuang Tian's The Go Master), Shioli Kutsuna (Masatoshi Kurakata's Neko Atsume House), and Kôji Yakusho (Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel).

Executive produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay with terrific work by costume designer Masae Miyamoto (Abbas Kiarostami's Like Someone In Love), Oh Lucy!, which had its world premiere at last year's Cannes Film Festival and received the Sundance Institute Nhk award in 2016, takes us on an unexpected road trip which made me recall a line from Jean Renoir's The Rules Of The Game (La...

Oh Lucy! Film Movement Reviewed by: Harvey Karten Director: Atsuko Hirayanagi Screenwriter: Atsuko Hirayanagi, Boris Frumin Cast: Shinobu Terajima, Josh Hartnett, Kaho Minami, Koji Yakusho, Shioli Kutsuna, Megan Mullally, Reiko Aylesworth Screened at: Critics’ Link, NYC, 1/18/18 Opens: February 23, 2018 In Japan where suicide is not looked upon as an entrance to an eternity […]

The post Oh Lucy! Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Berlin premiere clocks deals for UK sales outfit WestEnd.

London-based sales agent WestEnd Films has inked a raft of deals on its hijack thriller Hostages.

The Georgia-Russia-Poland co-production has sold to France (Kinovista), Scandinavia (Lucky Dogs), Italy (Merlino), Spain (Karma), Eastern Europe pay TV (HBO) and China (Jushi).

WestEnd picked up the film ahead of this year’s Berlinale, where it premiered in the festival’s Panorama strand.

Screen’s review called it “a breathlessly tense piece of work” and it was picked as one of the festival’s top movies by Screen’s critics.

Directed by Georgian-born filmmaker Rezo Gigineishvili, the film tells the real-life story of a botched aircraft hijacking perpetrated by a group of privileged youngsters in Soviet-Georgia in 1983.

It was produced by Gigineishvili through Nebo Film Company, alongside Mikhail Fenogenov from Russia, independent Georgian producer Tamara Tatishvili, and Vladimer Katcharava through Georgia’s 20 Steps Productions,

Oscar-winning Ida producer Ewa Puszczynska is a co-producer...

Exclusive: Oscar-winning Ida producer Ewa Puszczynska is a co-producer on the Georgian-Russian drama.

London-based sales agent WestEnd Films has acquired world rights to Rezo Gigineishvili’s drama Hostages ahead of the film’s premiere in the Panorama strand of the Berlin Film Festival (Feb 9-19).

Screen can also reveal an exclusive first image from the film [pictured top], which is based on a true story about a young couple who enact a dangerous plot to escape the Soviet Union. Irakli Kvirikadze and Tina Dalakishvili star, they both previously appeared in Georgia-set anthology feature Tbilisi, I Love You.

The film, a Georgia-Russia co-production, was also produced by Gigineishvili through Nebo Film Company, alongside Mikhail Fenogenov from Russia, independent Georgian producer Tamara Tatishvili, and Vladimer Katcharava through Georgia’s 20 Steps Productions,

Oscar-winning Ida producer Ewa Puszczynska is a co-producer on the project through Polish outfit Extreme Emotions. Boris Frumin is also a co-producer.

The film was selected for the Sarajevo Film Festival...

This year’s European Film Awards are officially out of the gates with a not so lean 50 film submissions to select from. The 27th edition collects titles that date back to last year’s Venice and Toronto Int. Film Festivals moving into Sundance-Rotterdam-Berlin and finally Cannes of ’14. Among the 31 European countries represented, we’ve got likes of the Palme d’Or winner Nuri Bilge Ceylan leading the huge pack of contenders including Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin and Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida. Here’s the complete list of 50!:

Alienation

ОТЧУЖДЕНИЕ (Otchujdenie)

Bulgaria

Directed By: Milko Lazarov

Written By: Milko Lazarov, Kitodar Todorov & Georgi Tenev

Produced By: Veselka Kiryakova

Amour Fou

Austria/Luxembourg/Germany

Written & Directed By: Jessica Hausner

Produced By: Martin Gschlacht, Antonin Svoboda, Bruno Wagner, Bady Minck, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu & Philippe Bober

Beautiful Youth

Hermosa Juventud

Spain/France

Directed By: Jaime Rosales

Written By: Jaime Rosales & Enric Rufas

Produced By: Jaime Rosales,...

Debra Granik, director of Winter's Bone, is putting her true feelings about Hollywood aside

There's a scene in Winter's Bone, Debra Granik's award-winning "country noir" thriller, in which the teenage heroine, Ree Dolly, teaches her younger siblings how to skin a squirrel. It only takes a minute, from Ree asking, "You guys want these fried or stewed?", to her brother Sonny tugging out the intestines and wondering if they're good to eat.

Granik is an authenticity freak, so it troubled her when people from the Ozark forests in southern Missouri, where the film is set, complained the scene misrepresented their way of life. One blogger pointed out that no one goes to a supermarket in the movie, as if people in this insular community only eat animals they've killed themselves. Others griped that the incision was too small and the skinning too quick.

"There's a family up the street from where we shot,...