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The executive producer of anthology film “Berlin, I Love You” is engaged in a war of words with Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, whose contribution to the movie was left on the cutting-room floor.

Ai contends that the segment he shot for “Berlin, I Love You” was axed by the producers for political reasons, out of fear of upsetting Chinese officials. But Emmanuel Benbihy, the film’s Shanghai-based executive producer, says that Ai’s segment did not meet the requirements for inclusion and that the award-winning artist is obsessed with criticizing China.

“Berlin, I Love You,” whose short takes feature such stars as Helen Mirren and Keira Knightley, was submitted to the Berlin Film Festival but failed to land a slot, even out of competition or in one of the fest’s sidebars. Instead, it began its commercial career with a Feb. 8 theatrical release, handled by Saban Films, in the U.

A segment of the ensemble drama Berlin, I Love You, directed by and starring Chinese dissent artist Ai Weiwei, was cut from the final version of the movie because some of the producers and financiers of the film feared a backlash from China.

The romantic drama — featuring 10 short films from 10 different directors all set in the German capital and centered on the subject of love — was released Feb. 8 in the U.S. by Saban Films. Berlin, I Love You is the latest installment in the City of Love series created by Emmanuel Benbihy, which also features Paris, je t'...

A segment of the ensemble drama Berlin, I Love You, directed by and starring Chinese dissent artist Ai Weiwei, was cut from the final version of the movie because some of the producers and financiers of the film feared a backlash from China.

The romantic drama — featuring 10 short films from 10 different directors all set in the German capital and centered on the subject of love — was released Feb. 8 in the U.S. by Saban Films. Berlin, I Love You is the latest installment in the City of Love series created by Emmanuel Benbihy, which also features Paris, je t'...

Emily Beecham has taken a leading role in one of the segments in “Berlin, I Love You,” the anthology feature that will consist of 10 romance-themed stories set in the German capital. She joins a stellar cast in the picture, including Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jim Sturgess.

Beecham is known for playing the Widow in AMC’s hit martial-arts action series “Into the Badlands” and for her starring role in “Daphne.” She landed best actress awards at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Turin Film Festival for that part, as well as Bifa and Empire Award nominations. She was also in the Coen brothers’ movie “Hail, Caesar!”

In “Berlin, I Love You,” Beecham appears in a segment called “Me Three,” directed by Stephanie Martin (“Wild Horses”) and Claus Clausen. She plays Hannah, a woman in an abusive relationship, who by chance meets another woman in a colorful Berlin launderette and strikes up a friendship.

Saban Films is stamping its passport for Germany, as the distributor has acquired “Berlin, I Love You” out of the Cannes Film Festival.

Part of the indie franchise that includes “New York, I Love You” and “Paris, je t’aime,” the film focuses on short romantic vignettes and tapestry of character that populate the city.

Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jim Sturgess are among the ensemble cast. The acquisition price is unknown.

Directors on the 10 shorts include Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel, Massy Tadjedin, Peter Chelsom, Til Schweiger, Justin Franklin, Dani Levy and Dianna Agron.

Also Read: Cannes Report, Day 5: Salma Hayek Sounds Off, Gaspar Noé Redeemed

The film was produced by Claus Clausen and Edda Reiser with Galleon Films’ Alice de Sousa and Skady Lis as co-producers. Emmanuel Benbihy is executive producer. The film was financed by VX119 Media Capital, on behalf of managing partners Jeff Geoffray and Jeff Konvitz.

Highland Film Group is handling worldwide sales together with Disrupting Influence’s Glenn Kendrick Ackermann and Jason Piette. CAA Media Finance co-repping the deal with Highland and Disrupting Influence.

Bill Bromiley and Jonathan Saba negotiated on behalf of Saban Films, who are planning a theatrical release.

Read original story Helen Mirren’s ‘Berlin, I Love You’ Sells to Saban Films At TheWrap...

Highland Film Group handles worldwide sales.

Saban Films has acquired North American rights to Berlin, I Love You, its fourth acquisition announced in Cannes after Siberia, Keeper, and Viking Destiny.

Berlin, I Love You is the latest in the Cities Of Love portmanteau series and comprises 10 love stories set in the German capital. The cast includes Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Jim Sturgess.

Saban Films plans a theatrical release. Highland Film Group handles worldwide sales with Disrupting Influence’s Glenn Kendrick Ackermann and Jason Piette, and jointly represents Us rights with CAA Media Finance.

The directors are Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel,...

Saban Films has acquired the North American rights to “Berlin, I Love You,” whose cast includes Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jim Sturgess. The movie is an anthology feature containing 10 romantic stories set in the German capital.

The deal marks Saban’s fourth acquisition out of the Cannes Film Festival, after it picked up Matthew Ross’ “Siberia,” starring Keanu Reeves, the Gerard Butler starrer “Keepers,” and David L.G. Hughes’ “Viking Destiny.”

Directors Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel, Massy Tadjedin, Peter Chelsom, Til Schweiger, Justin Franklin, Dani Levy and Dianna Agron will each helm different segments of “Berlin, I Love You,” with Josef Rusnak directing the transition sequence tying up all the episodes.

The film is produced by Claus Clausen and Edda Reiser of Walk on Water Films; Alice De Sousa of Galleon Films, and Skady Lis of Getaway Pictures are co-producers. Emmanuel Benbihy is executive producing, and the film was financed by VX119 Media Capital.

Helen Mirren and Keira Knightley’s Berlin, I Love You is heading to the U.S. after Saban Films has acquired the North American rights.

The anthology feature, which also stars Jim Sturgess, tells ten stories of romance set in the German capital with directors including Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel, Massy Tadjedin, Peter Chelsom, Til Schweiger, Justin Franklin, Dani Levy and Dianna Agron helming different segments with Josef Rusnak directing the transition sequences.

The film is produced by Claus Clausen and Edda Reiser (Walk on Water Films) alongside Alice De Sousa (Galleon Films) and Skady Lis (Getaway Pictures) as co-producers.

Emmanuel Benbihy is executive producing, and the film was financed by VX119 Media Capital, whose managing partners are Jeff Geoffray and Jeff Konvitz. Highland Film Group is handling worldwide sales together with Disrupting Influence’s Glenn Kendrick Ackermann and Jason Piette, with CAA Media Finance co-repping the U.S. rights.

Marking its fourth acquisition of the Cannes market, Saban Films has acquired North American rights to Berlin, I Love You.

Told as an anthology of 10 romantic stories set in the German capital, directors Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel, Massy Tadjedin, Peter Chelsom, Til Schweiger, Justin Franklin, Dani Levy and Dianna Agron each helm different segments. Josef Rusnak directs the transition sequence tying up all the episodes. The cast includes Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jim Sturgess.

Berlin, I Love You marks the latest chapter in the Cities of Love franchise, founded by Emmanuel Benbihy, following Paris Je T'aime in 2006...

Marking its fourth acquisition of the Cannes market, Saban Films has acquired North American rights to <em>Berlin, I Love You</em>.

Directors Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel, Massy Tadjedin, Peter Chelsom, Til Schweiger, Justin Franklin, Dani Levy and Dianna Agron each helmed different segments of the film, which is an anthology of 10 romantic stories set in the German capital. Josef Rusnak directed the transition sequence tying up all the episodes. The cast includes Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jim Sturgess.

<em>Berlin, I Love You</em> marks the latest chapter in the <em>Cities of Love</em> franchise, founded by Emmanuel Benbihy, following <em>Paris Je T'aime</em> in 2006 ...

U.S. sales banner TriCoast Worldwide has launched Rock Salt Releasing, a new independent sales and distribution label spearheaded by its acquisitions exec Daisy Hamilton.

Aimed at auteur-driven festival titles, Rock Salt will distribute films in the U.S., starting with Susanne Bier’s A Second Chance, and sell high-level packages in the foreign marketplace.

In Berlin, it launched sales on Rotterdam, I Love You, the next installment in the Cities of Love franchise, overseen by Emmanuel Benbihy, and Kazuhiro Soda’s black and white observational documentary Inland Sea, which is also competing in the Berlinale official selection.

"At TriCoast, we’re creating a brand...

Exclusive: Game Of Thrones alum and Marvel’s Inhumans star Iwan Rheon has joined the cast of Berlin I Love You. The anthology feature is the latest in the Cities of Love series launched by Emmanuel Benbihy in 2006 with the release of Paris, Je T'Aime, followed by New York, I Love You (2008) and Rio, I Love You (2014). Rheon joins an ensemble cast that includes Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Jim Sturgess, Mickey Rourke, Diego Luna, Orlando Bloom, Sophie Turner, Jack…...

Actor Nolan Gerard Funk is set to appear in Berlin, I Love You, the next installment in the Cities of Love anthology film series created by Emmanuel Benbihy. He joins the ensemble cast that includes Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Jim Sturgess, Mickey Rourke, Diego Luna, Orlando Bloom, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Sophie Turner, Jack Huston, Patrick Dempsey and Renee Zellweger. Set in the German capital and featuring short stories of romance, the film is written by Neil La Bute and…...

Jenna Dewan Tatum is set to co-star in the anthology film Berlin, I Love You, the latest feature in the Cities of Love series launched by Emmanuel Benbihy in 2006 with the release of Paris, je t’aime (Paris, I love you), followed by New York, I Love You (2008) and Rio, I Love You (2014). Tatum joins an ensemble cast that includes Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley, Jim Sturgess, Mickey Rourke, Diego Luna, Orlando Bloom, Sophie Turner, Jack Huston, Jared Leto, Patrick Dempsey…...

Love is in the air for Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Jim Sturgess.

The trio have joined the cast of Berlin, I Love You, which marks the latest film in the Cities of Love anthology series launched by Emmanuel Benbihy that already has tackled tales of romance in Paris and New York.

Written by Neil La Bute and David Vernon, Berlin, I Love You segments are being directed by Fernando Eimbcke, Dennis Gansel, Massy Tadjedin, Peter Chelsom, Til Schweiger, Justin Franklin, Dani Levy and Dianna Agron. Josef Rusnak will helm the transition sequence that ties all the episodes together.

Mirren,...

The film “Rotterdam, I Love You”, like the previous entries in the ‘Cities of Love’ series, will be a kaleidoscope of stories about love in all kinds of interpretations. Every single segment has its own perspective and its own personal style, woven into the rhythm of this unique city by 11 different directors.

The creative team consists of 11 directors, 20 to 30 wonderful actors in main roles, top producers and screenwriters. The 11 directors will range from Dutch up-and-coming talents to internationally acclaimed directors from all over the world, including Koen Mortier, Paula van der Oest (“Zeus and Zo”), Barry Atsma, Shariff Nasr (“Oblivion”) and Atom Egoyan (“The Sweet Hereafter”). The Cities of Love family of directors already includes people like The Coen Brothers, Brett Ratner, Wes Craven, Guillermo Arriaga, Alexander Payne, as well as Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and more.

“Rotterdam, I Love You” will show the real Rotterdam, in all its rough beauty,...

Brimstone director Martin Koolhoven also signs on for portmanteau project.

Blade Runner star Rutger Hauer and Brimstone director Martin Koolhoven are among the latest figures to join $7.5mn new portmanteau picture, Rotterdam, I Love You. Their participation was announced at a press conference in Rotterdam this weekend.

Hauer is to direct a segment of the film based on a story by celebrated Dutch novelist Tommy Wieringa.

Details haven’t been revealed of Koolhoven’s segment but the producers have confirmed it is to be based on a story by an international author and will be “quite a lot lighter” than his very bloody revenge western from last year, Brimstone.

Also joining the project is another Dutch director, Joost van Ginkel, best known for The Paradise Suite. His section will be set in the port of Rotterdam, one of the biggest facilities of its kind in the world.

Joeri Pruys, who will be producing alongside Matt Jaems, has confirmed...

Other directors announced for portmanteau film include Paula van der Oest and Koen Mortier.

Atom Egoyan, Paula van der Oest and Koen Mortier are three of the directors who will soon be Rotterdam-bound to shoot episodes of $7.5mn new portmanteau picture, Rotterdam, I Love You. They are due to be announced at a press conference in Rotterdam today (Wednesday.)

This is the latest feature in the Cities Of Love franchise overseen by Emmanuel Benbihy, following on from Paris, New York and Rio. Young Rotterdam director Shariff Nasr is directing the framing story which will link the episodes.

There will be 10 other directors, each helming an episode lasting from 7 to 10 minutes.

The project is produced by Matt Jaems and Joeri Pruys in association with September Film Productions and producer Jeroen Beker. Belgian production company Czar will also be involved as will a number of big name brands. The British coproducer is Gass Man Films.

Further names of...

Film franchises aren’t just for the multiplexes anymore, or for movies featuring the likes of Batman, Superman, and the Fast and the Furious road racing crew. The arthouse has them too, and one of the highest-profile ones is the “Cities of Love” series of omnibus films, the brainchild of French producer Emmanuel Benbihy. The series started, naturally, in Benbihy’s home base, with Paris, je t’aime (2006), a very strong collection, and continued with New York, I Love You (2008), which was decidedly less strong. Now, after a considerable gap, comes the third in the series, Rio, I Love You, completed in 2014 but only now being released, presumably to coincide with this year’s Rio summer Olympics. As with the other two films, Rio...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

One of the most accomplished, sure-handed films of the Sundance Film Festival, "The Second Mother" is straightforward, socially aware and deeply rooted, not only in Brazilian but in world society class structures. That it It is also deeply rooted within the psyches of the actors and the director is what makes it so powerfully effective upon the audience.

Writer-director Anna Muylaert wrote the first version of this movie twenty years ago when she had her first child. It was called "The Kitchen Door" and was a magical realism story of a domestic servant who was a magician in her own village who could read the future of people

Twenty years ago when she had her first child, "normal" meant you brought in a nanny to care for your child and do all the housework. Anna was working and her boss assured her she would barely be able to manage three months at home when Anna informed her that she planned to take a year off to care for her child.

Her circle of friends was also aghast at the idea of her doing everything for her child And cooking dinner for them as guests. They persuaded her to bring in help at least twice a week. When the help came and told her to go relax, and closed the door on her, she began to write this script. For a year she had stayed at home to care for her child and during that time she had written books for television which earned her enough money to buy the house next door which became her office.

For herself, the idea of having a full time caretaker was confusing. When she was seven, her family hired a nanny. Anna recalled that at her school she was told to draw a picture of her family and she didn't know whether or not to include the nanny in the picture. Her younger sister was three and was so attached to the nanny that she is now the nanny of her children.

When Anna was 20 and moved out of her home, she realized she didn't know how to keep house, to clean, to cook, to do anything on her own. How stupid the middle and upper classes were, knowing nothing about life. She realized the power of the poor who knew how to cope with their own as well as their employers' lives.

Nineteen years after having her first child she returned to this script. Brazil had changed by this time. Brazil elected a president from the Workers Party. Labor laws were enacted that practically eradicated live-in labor. Maids no longer lived at their bosses' home because labor laws required paying them overtime.

Anna sat down and rewrote the script just as it was going into production. She made the nanny's daughter Jennifer, noble and strong enough to stand up to separatist social rules, throwbacks to the colonial past. She is full of curiosity and force of will, and she demands her due, her citizen rights. She offers a character model, a role model to be discussed after watching the movie. Anna considers her a super hero.

Val is a live-in housekeeper who takes her work seriously. She wears a crisp maid's uniform while serving perfect canapés; she serves her wealthy Sao Paolo employers day in and day out while lovingly nannying their teenage son whom she raised since toddlerhood. In order to do this to earn a living, she had to leave her own child in others' hands.

Everyone and everything in the elegant house has its place until one day, Val's ambitious, clever daughter Jessica arrives from Val's hometown to take the college entrance exams. Jessica's confident, youthful presence upsets the unspoken yet strict balance of power in the household; Val must decide where her allegiances lie and what she's willing to sacrifice.

Val herself has an inner strength which reveals itself in the course of the movie. In real life, this actress, Regina Case, is very strong, very influential, famous and wealthy. With a career of more than forty years, she is known for her work on stage, film and television. She is one of the most important artistic talents in Brazil today. She will soon be seen in the upcoming Emmanuel Benbihy franchise, "Rio, I Love You."

She produces For television and has a huge television following on TV Globo's "Esquenta!" which brings popular cultural personalities to the public. As an actress, she is like an anthropological museum, says Anna. She can display the characteristics of every sort of human being, recreating their gestures and personae exactly from a lifetime of research and re-creation.

When Anna directs, she likes the actors to suggest variations to the scripted words. Shooting digitally makes this even easier, and in this regard, the actors help write the script. Regina, with her broad range of experience and her own great reservoir of talent was a great resource.

I asked Anna what were her favorite films that she had directed. After some thought she said her first film, "Durval Discos" (2002) and this one. "The Second Mother" is more mature and a result of years of struggle. It has great actors and the cinematography by Uruguayan Dp, Barbara Alvarez_ ("Whisky") has created a particular look. The songs are also special. The crew worked very well together and the producers, brothers Caio and Fabiano Gullane, Débora Ivanov and Gabriel Lacerda were great. Caio worked with her on her last film, "Chomado a cobrar," as well. Gullane produced "A Wolf at the Door" and "Amazonia 3D".

It was not at all easy making this film. The star was so big; she is very critical and very forceful. But everyone was giving their best. She herself was totally devoted to the film for nine months, from July 2013 when she rewrote it to its completion in March 2014.

Anna's next film has been shot in November and December of 2014. She will go to the Berlinale where The Match Factory will offer it in the market and then home to rest for ten days before editing it. Its title, coincidentally is "There's Only One Mother". It's about two teenagers who don't know each other...the same actress plays both their mothers.

Perhaps we will see the new film in Cannes 2015.

Directors of Oh Boy, Persepolis and Cinema Paradiso among those to join omnibus film; Ai Weiwei shooting remotely this weekend from Beijing.

Jan Ole Gerster (Oh Boy), Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis), Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Pardiso) and Oren Moverman (The Messenger) are among the filmmakers attached to direct episodes for the Berlin I Love You omnibus film.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei will shoot his eight-minute segment via distance directing from Beijing this weekend.

Speaking by Skype from his studio in Beijing, the world renowned artist explained that his contribution is “based on the experiences of a newcomer - my son Ai Lao - coming to Berlin [the six-year-old and his mother have been living there for the past six months] and the way we communicate these days through virtual digital reality”.

“I am not using the film to help myself,” he stressed. “It is more about people being apart, a similar condition for so many in the world because of wars, political or economic reasons. But they can still communicate through art, film...

Films by Todd Solondz, Ralph Fiennes and Andrei Konchalovsky as well as an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s White Nights, starring Daniel Brühl, are among 12 projects to be supported by Russia’s Ministry of Culture this year.

Solondz, Fiennes and Bekmambetov are set to join director colleagues Avdotya Smirnova, Bakur Bakuradze, Cedric Klapisch, Igor Voloshin, Ilmar Raag and Sam Rockwell in shooting episodes of the omnibus film Petersburg: A Category Of Feelings.

The project, which is to be produced by Lenfilm Studio in cooperation with Sergey Selyanov’s St Petersburg-based production powerhouse Ctb Company, will invite the filmmakers to present their views of the “Venice of the North” through emotions or qualities whose first letters make up the city’s name: Pleasure, Effort, Trust, Envy, Repose, Shrewdness, Bravery, Uncertainty, Refuge and Glee.

The idea for the project originates from Selyanov, and one of the episodes will be directed by actor-director-producer Fedor Bondarchuk who is also serving as the...

Greetings from Paradise. My blessed good fortune -- actually Steven Raphael, founder of Required Viewing.net (producer rep, publicist, theatrical distributor) -- invited me to join a small group going Costa Careyes, Mexico where the fourth edition of Infiniti ArteCareyes Film & Arts is taking place March 5th through 9th.

Situated on the Pacific coast of Mexico, a lush tropical forest in the state of Jalisco (a four hour drive from Guadalajara where the Guadalajara Film Festival will soon be held), about an hour and a half north of Manzanilla and south of Puerta Vallarta, Costa Careyes’ beauty defies description. But I am going to try to describe all that happens in the four days we spent here: nightly open air feature film screenings, contemporary art exhibitions, a charity auction, a live music program, matinee screenings and workshops held in venues sharing the land with huge permanent art installations in a tropical mountain terrain by artists including Retna and Jeffrey Sharf, two muralists whose West Hollywood Library murals illustrate an extraordinary coincidental synchronicity which continued throughout this long weekend.

In our little group, John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, here for the second time, is on the board of Arte Careyes. His husband Paul Louis Maillard, an executive of Kaiser Permanente, spent hours studying for his Harvard Leadership Course where he will spend the next two weeks. The documentary filmmaking and married team Jarrett Engle and Cort Tramontin and David Zellner, half of the Zellner Brothers filmmaking team whom John invited to present Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, the sleeper of Sundance which went on to show in the Forum of the Berlinale, were also part of our little group which shared a stunning four bedroom house, built in an extravagant Mexican style incorporating inside and outside living. David and I were consigned to our own little guest houses just down a flight of stairs. All our windows looked out onto the ocean which at night was domed by stars in an equatorial splendor, bright and disconcerting, different because we are so much closer to the equator. I was reminded of that marvelous Ray Bradbury short story, Nightfall.

Our late evening talks and early morning breakfasts together with Steven and John telling great stories were such fun and also deepened my appreciation and knowledge of the special part of “the biz” we are in.

John Cooper has been a member of the Sundance Film Festival programming staff since 1989 and assumed the role of Festival Director in April of 2009 after serving as the Sundance Film Festival's Director of Programming since 2003. Parenthetically, he is the only gay head of a major film festival, an achievement no woman can claim…yet.

His early work in theater, ranging from performance to design, took him to New York City. By chance, he volunteered at the Institute's Summer Labs in 1989 and fell in love with the process and energy of Sundance (and with his future husband). He returned to California to become part of the Festival programming team, which at that time consisted of two people. In the Festival's early years, Cooper created the short film program and quickly transitioned into programming documentaries and feature films.

In recent years, he took the lead in developing the Institute's online presence, which has garnered two Webby Awards. As Festival Director, he oversees creative direction of the Festival and has final decision on all films and events.

Other work includes guest curator or juror at major film festivals around the world. From 1995-1998 Cooper served as Programming Director of Outfest, a Los Angeles festival held annually in July, and until 2002 served on the Outfest Board of Directors.

John Cooper was a dancer before he became director of Sundance and though he did not dance for us, his performance skills are top. Watching him navigate as our “house father” was worth the trip.

The purpose of this art, music and film event as described by its founder Filippo Brignone and the film curator, Marina Stavenhagen, is to link creative people across disciplines – pictorial and plastic arts, music, design, literature and filmmakers in dialogues that will result in greater creativity for the good of the community and beyond.

Our host Filippo Brignone, who has been working and reworking this event for four years is intent as well about preserving the nature of the area along with incorporating the most progressive education in science and math as well as the liberal arts in a system which includes the interactions between the 100 + families who are creating a community and the children of the families in the town who have been here since time immemorial.

Our conversations around all these subjects flowed freely among the guests over the past four days.

The patriarch of the family, Gian Franco Brignone, the 86+year-old Italian onetime banker with an artistic sensibility and a love of nature, bought eight miles of coastline with more than 5,000 hectares of coastal forestland in 1968 and began inviting friends like Bill and Melinda Gates and Paris Hilton to visit.

Bignone père and his two sons, Filippo and Georgio, have continued to build Careyes into a glamorous residential community and resort with accommodations ranging from cozy beach bungalows to “castles,” like the six-bedroom, sunshine-yellow aerie Casa Oriente where we stayed. Filippo also took us to his home, equally beautiful and mystic in its nature.

There’s also a small hotel, a contemporary art gallery, – curated by Los Angeles’s Hammer Museum Los Angeles Hammer Museum curators Ann Philbin and Laurie Firstenburg, who is also creating a tropical Marfa, were instrumental in organizing both Pacific Standard Time, a citywide showcase of Los Angeles art of the 1950s and 60s and Laxart are curating the art side of this community. More on the art of Careyes can be read here.

This community also contains a world class polo club overseen by Giorgio, five restaurants, and 8 glorious miles of coastline which Felippo plans to allow families and individuals to build on if they fit certain qualifications.

Filippo, his brother Giorgio and PR and Communications executive Viviana Dean operate this entire enterprise under the auspices of The ?! Careyes Foundation. Btw, the Foundation is looking for a general manager who will know how to share the vision of what they are building here. Filippo himself is a bon vivant with an enormous curiosity and the executive ability to develop his vision. From speaking with him, my perception of whom they would grant residency to would be those the ability to enjoy the life that is here in all its aspects. Not only partying (which is extraordinary) and conversational abilities, but intelligence, an excellence in achievement, originality, a compassion which includes curiosity and the wish to include, discuss and implement all aspects of what makes life better for all.

The ?! Careyes Foundation's mission is to catalyze innovative programs related to education, health, sport, ecology and art in order to improve the well-being of local communities along the coast. Over 30 years of individual philanthropic efforts in Careyes, Mexico, and the surrounding villages along the Mexican Pacific Coast are consolidated in The ?! Careyes Foundation. From Perula to Agua Caliente, the region of initial concentration includes a population of approximately 6,000 people. In 2013, The ?! Careyes Foundation registered as a non-profit public charity with 501(c)3 tax designation in the United States in order to make its efforts in the region more accessible and impactful. The Foundation is in the process of obtaining a similar status in Mexico and in other countries over time.

The Foundation is overseen by a an Executive Board over which our host Filippo presides and a Board of Trustees and Advisors with expertise in each of the Foundation’s concentrated areas — community, sea, land, and arts. The Executive Committees determine the scope of projects, initiating proposed ideas that prove to be transformational, scalable, and sustainable. Members of the international Honorary Board serve as global ambassadors for the Foundation and its work, supporting programmatic and philanthropic efforts.

On the Executive Board:

Executive Board Secretary, Emanuela Brignone Cattaneo, is an architect who has spent most of her life travelling to Careyes, and lending her design vision to create a large new urban space, the Plaza Caballeros del Sol, including a Sanctuary and the Contemporary Art Space of Careyes. She is also dedicating herself in the restoration of many historical Italian buildings from the Xii century transforming them into Museums such as the Modern Art Gallery of Genova or Palazzo Lomellino listed as a Unesco world heritage. Emanuela holds a Ma from Colombia University in NY and serves as a Trustee of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, the Wolfsonian Foundation in Miami and Genoa. Emanuela is an Advisor of Airc , the Italian Association for Cancer Research.

Board Treasurer, Isabel SantoTomás, is Vice President of Investments for Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management focusing on portfolio management for ultra high net worth individuals, family offices, and endowments. She joined Morgan Stanley in 2008 and has 26 years of industry experience. Isabel received her Bachelors degree at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has spent the last 25 years in New York City and is relocating to Miami, Florida with her two children. She has been a part of the Careyes community for over 20 years.

Jonathan Congdon, co-founder of Beachbody LLC, has been instrumental in shaping the mission of the company, expanding its vision and growth, and overseeing media distribution channels and International business to increase the Beachbody market worldwide. After starting his career at Procter & Gamble, Jon traveled the world “on walkabout” before teaching science for more than three years in California. In 1995, he launched an educational consulting firm, but soon felt the call back to the world of marketing entrepreneurship. Jon was a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year on two boards, including his second term on the Electronic Retailing Association (Era) Board of Directors. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, and holds a degree in political science with dual emphases in American Constitutional Law and International Relations. Jon has been part of the Careyes community for over 10 years.

The fifth member of the Executive Board, Guillermo Barnetche Davison, is also Chairman of Grupo Profesional Planeacion y Proyectos, S.A. de C.V. (Pypsa) where he is in charge of the leadership and operating direction of multiple projects in the industrial, agricultural, sea, infrastructure, and building sectors. Guillermo received his Civil Engineering certification at the National Autonomous University of Mexico before getting a Masters in Hydraulic Resource Planning at Georgia Technology Institute and studying Economy and Systems Engineering at Stanford University. He has more than 40 years of professional experience in civil engineering and is a long-standing member of the Careyes community.

On the Honorary Board (a list in progress):

Ann Philbin, Director of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, Daniela Michel, Director of the Morelia Film Festival, Gian Franco Brignone the Founder & Visionary of Costa Careyes, Johan Van Lengen, The “Barefoot Architect”, Founder of Tiba School Brazil and our own John Cooper, the Director of the Sundance Film Festival.

The Advisory Board is made up of:

Jennifer Arcenaux, Director, External Relations Sundance Film Festival, Arceneaux previously served as Director of Development for The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (Moca). During her seven-year tenure at Moca, Arceneaux cultivated philanthropic relationships and fostered the careers of artists and curators in the Los Angeles art community. Arceneaux also launched the successful Moca Now communications and development campaign to increase grassroots engagement in fundraising and create transparent communication with Moca members and patrons. The campaign evolved into the Moca New initiative raising more than $70 million in operating and endowment support. Prior to joining Moca, Arceneaux served as Director of Development at the Accelerated School in Los Angeles where she executed a $60 million capital campaign for a new campus and community center. Her professional experience spans over ten years working with non-profits and community-based arts organizations including Rand Corporation, Inner-City Arts, CityLife, A.R.T.S. Inc., The Housing Rights Center and more recently in a board and advisory capacity with the Watts House Project, and Laxart.

Sarah Ezzy is a Director of the Global Philanthropy Group. As a Director at Global Philanthropy Group, Sarah has advised a range of high-profile individuals and corporate clients on their philanthropic strategies. She has worked on a variety of issues including global education for girls, poverty alleviation, domestic homelessness, youth and fitness, and sustainable agriculture. She was previously with Booz Allen Hamilton’s Strategy and Organization Practice where she worked with international organizations, developing country governments, and domestic policymakers and NGOs on a range of development issues. Sarah holds a BA in French Studies and Geography from Dartmouth College and a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She speaks fluent French and is co-founder of Sadiq, a non-profit organization created to support Iraqi refugees in the Middle East.

Douglas K. Freeman, J.D., LL.M. the Senior Managing Director of First Foundation Advisors, Director of First Foundation Inc. and Director of the First Foundation Bank. First Foundation provides strategic planning and organizational management advice for business, nonprofit, foundation, and family clients. He brings to First Foundation clients his experience gained as a consultant to nearly 300 family foundations, support organizations and public charities throughout the United States. Mr. Freeman is a noted retired tax attorney and founder of the Los Angeles based law firm, Freeman, Freeman & Smiley, Llp. From 2005 through 2008, he was recognized by Worth magazine as among the 100 top attorneys in the United States. In 1999, he was featured by Bloomberg Financial as one of the nation’s leading estate planning attorneys. He is the founder of National Philanthropy Day, proclaimed by Congress and celebrated throughout the United States since 1986. Mr. Freeman serves as a director of family foundations, independent foundations, and public charities. He is the past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of California, Irvine Foundation and chairman of its $1 billion campaign. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of Orange County’s Pacific Symphony and a member of the Board of Advisors of the University of Southern California Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy.

Mr. Freeman is the author of three books and over 30 articles and treatises on philanthropy and wealth planning. His new book, published in 2009, co-authored with Dr. Lee Hausner, Ph.D., is entitled “The Legacy Family… The Definitive Guide to Creating a Successful Multigenerational Family“. He is the co-author with Dr. Hausner of a leading treatise for family foundations, entitled “A Founder’s Guide to the Family Foundation“. He speaks throughout the country on behalf of professional associations, such as the Council on Foundations, the Association of Small Foundations, and the American Bar Association. He is a graduate of Stanford University (B.A. with Distinction, 1967), University of California at Los Angeles (J.D., 1970), and the University of San Diego (LL.M. in Taxation, 1984). Until retirement, Mr. Freeman was designated a Certified Specialist in Taxation under the State Bar of California.

Members of the Board of Trustees includes members like (list in progress):

Adam Lindemann – Art Collector & Advisor ; Alejandro Ramirez Magaña – CEO of Cinepolis ; Eric Goode – Founder & President of Turtle Conservancy; Esthella Provas – Art Advisor, Careyes ArtCommittee for special projects ; Eugenio Lopez – Collector, Jumex Collection; Patricia Marshall- Art Advisor, Careyes Art Committee; Piero Golia – Artist ; Serena Cattaneo Adorno – Director, Gagosian Gallery Paris, CareyesArtCommittee.

Continuing a trend of coincidences occurring for me on this incredible journey, out of the blue, at the first cocktail party held at this event, there appeared Christian Halsey Solomon, the son of a twenty-plus-year resident of Careyes, Michael Jay Solomon, whom I have known since the days when we were in our 20s when he set up McA Television in Latin America and personally bought prize winning shorts from the company where I was the acquisitions person. Years later, when I was buying feature films for Lorimar, his company Telepictures bought Lorimar. Christian and I also go way back to the days when he was 23, and I was working for the first time in independent international sales. We worked together in Milan, Italy at the Mifed film market with someone who has long since left the film scene. As if that were not enough of coincidences, my own brother Barry was the photographer for his first wedding.

Michael and Luciana had bought land here twenty years ago where they built their dream house. It is now home to Christian, his wife and two beautiful children who attend the incredible school here. Cuixmala School is a private non-profit school teaching core academic subjects in a bilingual environment while it emphasizes experiential learning about nature and the world; the students ride horses, raise their own food and have guests from every field from buddhists to biologists from the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve nearby. Christian showed me his home which was two doors down from our own Casa Oriente (next door to Seal) and he and his wife invited me back to visit and stay a while to write.

After each screening we were served delicious locally grown lunches and dinners. One wonderful night at the "ranchito", there was an art show of the old bones of animals who have died in this area where they are left out for the buzzards to pick clean. These bones, as if they were a precious as the fur and leather of beasts were decorated like Versace luxury items and showcased as art in the former stables of this former ranch. The best was the unicorn, a cow skeleton, whose short ribs look like they must have been really delicious before they were cleaned of all meat. This unicorn however, was missing its single horn. What a funny art show. The first two stalls looked like rooms where people were living, only the inhabitants were selling the furniture as art. Little stools made in traditional simple peasant style, were recreated in heavy marble. You can sit on them, or use them as little side tables. And shipping them home is not a problem.

Elegant community meals put us at the table one night where I sat next to Guillermo Arriaga, his wife, son and daughter. He was being honored with a tribute and he showed his short film The Blood of God (La Sangre de Dios) from the anthology which he produced as well, Words with Gods. Another coincidence is that he had just finished his short film Texas from Rio, I Love You, the franchise of our good friend Emmanuel Benbihy with whom we worked on Paris, Je t’aime and New York, I Love You. The Arriagas’ son and daughter are students at Mexico's private Ibero-American University’s School of Communications where Arriagas himself was a student and then a professor for twenty years and where is wife was a student of his. Coincidently that is also where he met his future partner Alejandro González Iñárritu with whom he worked on Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel, and where Marina Stavenhagen and her sisters and brothers are alumni as well as the 2013 Academy Award Winner for Cinematography, Emmanuel Lubezki.

Sr. Arriaga and I spoke quite a while - first about hunting which was not a topic I could speak much about beyond expressing surprise on hearing he was a hunter. But when we spoke about my Spanish and then about words and their derivations and meanings in Spanish and English, I became more actively interested. What I only realized afterward was that the conversation about words could have developed into the issue over words that ruptured his relationship with Iñárritu. The word for screenwriter in Spanish is objectionable to him because the word "guionista" means a tour guide or a writer of travel books and so a screenwriter accredited as “guionista” is merely a tour guide, putting up signposts for the director aka "The Auteur" in French parlance. I agree that the director alone is not the “auteur” of the film. Not only is a superbly written screenplay (which Arriagas writes often in close collaboration with his brother-in-law) an absolute necessity if a film is to have any chance to excel, but the producer who turns on the lights and turns them off and produces the money both before shooting and after shooting via distribution deals is required for a film’s success. Personally we think the producer and writer are the "Auteurs". The Auteur Theory proposed by Francois Truffaut in Cahiers de Cinema and promulgated in the U.S. by Peter Bogdanovich is merely a theory and not etched in marble. Pity about their falling out after their collaboraton on three greatest films in new Mexican cinema. But we did not get into all that.

The curator of the ArteCareyes film program, Marina Stavenhagen, also graduated from the Ibero-American University. Marina and I spoke the next day more about this event, which by its location and by design must stay small (around 300 - 400 people). Her thoughts concern creating an artist residency program, perhaps a think tank on a different topic every year such as music for film or producing along with two or three master classes, mentorships and inviting young filmmakers with shorts who can benefit from the intimate setting.

Marina Stavenhagen is a screenwriter and film developer with over 20 years of professional work in Mexico. Her work as a writer includes several short film and feature film scripts and has obtained several awards and recognitions. Marina has been a teacher, counselor and script consultant with many public and private Mexican institutions, and a jury in various national and international film festivals.

As a promoter of film, she has actively participated in the organization of exhibitions and film festivals in Mexico. She has been president of the Association of Women in Film and Television (Wift-Mexico), and was Director General of the Mexican Institute of Cinematography (Imcine). She is Member of the Board of Advisors of the Phoenix Film Ibero American Award and the Academic Council of the Bergman Cathedra, of the Unam University. For her work in promoting quality films and cultural exchange, Marina was honored by the Government of the French Republic with the Order of Arts and Letters in France.

After leaving her six year term as the head of Imcine, Marina was invited to create an interesting film program by Filippo Brignone while she returns to screenwriting.

Coincidently (again!), Marina’s sister is Andrea Stavenhagen, who was the head of the Iberoamerican Coproduction Meeting and Director of Industry at Ficg (Guadalajara Film Festival) until August 2013. She also co-directed the Morelia Lab Workshop for Young Producers in Latin America at the Morelia Film Festival and is now the San Sebastian Film Festival's new delegate for Latin America. All three of her siblings are in film, as is her husband.

Marina has invited other creative thinkers here, surprisingly my good friend Gary Meyer, Artistic Director of Telluride, Ivan Trujillo, Director of Ficg and Daniela Michel, General Director of Morelia Film Festival, with her husband, an educator, who is also renovating a jewel of an art deco theater just outside of Morelia.

Filippo took us on a tour of the land his father bought in 1968. We saw La Copa (The Cup) a folie his father built where the sun at the solar equinox beams a ray into the pyramid inside the mountain several miles away.

Rio, I Love You

Director: Stephan Elliott, Fernando Meirelles, José Padilha, Paolo Sorrentino, Vicente Amorim, Guillermo Arriaga, Im Sang-soo, Nadine Labaki, Carlos Saldanha, Andrucha Waddington

Writer(s): Fellipe Barbosa, Im Sang-soo, Nadine Labaki, Khaled Mouzannar, Carlos Saldanha, Andrucha Waddington

Producer: Emmanuel Benbihy

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Rodrigo Santoro, Emily Mortimer, Jason Isaacs, Vincent Cassel, Harvey Keitel, Wagner Moura, Nadine Labaki

While we’re generally weary of anthology film, we can’t help but be impressed by the collection of talented filmmakers who’ve participated on the project namely those who aren’t actual residents from Brazil.

Gist: This is the third in a series following Paris, je t’aime and New York, I Love You.

Release Date: Not impossible for Brazil to splash in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar.

More Top 200 Most Anticipated Films of 2014 Top 200 Most Anticipated Films for 2014: #139. Jean Baptiste Leonetti’s The ReachTop...

Colombia Paging ‘ER’ With 60-Episode Order ER is going Latino. Warner Bros International Television Production today announced the first Latin American format deal for the seminal medical series. Rcn, Fox International Channels and Tc have commissioned a local-language version for Colombia with a 60-episode order. Colombia’s Resonant is producing for air this spring. Originally produced in the U.S. by Constant c Productions and Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros Television, the series premiered on NBC in 1994 and ran for 15 seasons. It is the most Emmy-nominated series in history with 124 and notably helped kickstart the careers of George Clooney and Julianna Margulies. “Even though ER is a fundamental American series, its characters and situations are so strong, moving and universal that will surely find a place in the hearts of Latin American audiences,” said Fernando Gaitan, Rcn’s VP Content and Production. “We are eager to have it on our screen.

Way back in 2009, somehow we missed that Emmanuel Benbihy was producing another anthology film in the same vein as Paris, je t'aime and New York, I Love You. This time, the project is Rio, I Love You (or Rio, eu te amo), and the title clearly indicates where we are headed this time. At the time, a roster of directors wasn't revealed, but in the THR report about Jason Isaacs joining Fury, it also states that he will star in one of the segments in Rio, I Love You. Specifically, he will star in the segment from Guillermo Arriaga, writer and producer of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's films Babel, 21 Grams and Amores Perros. In addition, the report also lists Fernando Meirelles (City of God, Blindness), South Korean filmmaker Im Sangsoo, Stephan Elliot (Easy Virtue), Paolo Sorrentino (This Must Be the Place), and José Padilha (the remake of RoboCop). Meanwhile, IMDb lists Andrucha Waddington,...

Russia’s St Petersburg, the “Venice of the North”, is set to join Paris, New York and Berlin celebrated in the Cities of Love omnibus franchise.

Speaking exclusively to ScreenDaily in St Petersburg during the city’s famous White Nights this week, producers Vitaly Eroshenya and Ilya Zofin of Lyceum Production explained that shooting on Saint Petersburg, I Love You is slated to begin in autumn 2014.

Although the producers stress they have not yet signed any concrete deals, initial interest in directing one of the planned 12 short love stories has been expressed by such film-makers as Jaco van Dormael, Sophie Lellouche, Anne Fontaine, Til Schweiger and Dito Tsintsadze.

Eroshenya had made contact with some of the film-makers as the programmer of closed screenings called ¨Cinema With Taste¨ where around 20 people are invited to see interesting new foreign films with the directors attending.

In the case of Schweiger, the German actor-director-producer had shown interest in being involved when asked...

Production is due to start in Australia later this year on The Water Diviner, an historical drama which will star and be directed by Russell Crowe.

Set just after WW1, the plot follows an Australian man who journeys to Turkey to search for his two sons who disappeared after the battle of Gallipoli.

The news was broken by Deadline.com, which reported the film will be produced by Troy Lum and Andrew Mason for Hopscotch Features and Keith Rodger of Crowe.s Fear Of God Films.

The original screenplay is by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios. If understands the project has been submitted to this month.s Screen Australia board meeting.

Hopscotch Features has a first-look deal with Universal Pictures for Australia and New Zealand, a relationship which is yet to bear fruit.

Crowe was scheduled to direct a segment of Sydney Unplugged, an omnibus movie to be produced by...

In Day 4 of THR's Berlin Festival Dailies, Mumbai gets the I Love You treatment, Sony Classics buys Ralph Fiennes' drama about Charles Dickens' secret love affair and former ICM boss Jeff Berg takes on worldwide sales for a British comedy. Mumbai Gets the I Love You Treatment Mumbai will now follow Paris and New York to become the latest city to be given the urban-romance omnibus-film makeover, with the I Love You franchise owner Emmanuel Benbihy licensing India’s Blazing Door Films to produce Mumbai, I Love You. The film, with an estimated maximum budget of $3 million,

read more...

Exclusive: Impact Artist Management has hung up a new shingle in the movie and television business. Led by Ed Gerrard and Peter Himberger, the veteran music management company today announced the formation of Impact Artist Productions to produce films and TV series. “After music supervising for many years and working closely with some of the industry’s most revered directors, making the transition to producing both film and television is a natural progression for Impact. We are also thrilled to launch our production division with several projects that highlight arts and culture,” said Gerrard in a statement Friday. “We are excited to take our successful experience in the music industry and parlay that into our passion for film. We are pleased to now have our own banner under which to do that,” added Himberger. As well as working with the likes of Dr. John, Gipsy Kings, Cassandra Wilson, and Teddy Pendergrass,...

With 7 Days in Havana comes yet another portmanteau project. But if they don't excite the box office, what is their purpose?

Virtually every review I've ever read of an anthology film says something along the lines of "variable", "uneven" or "patchy" – and that seems to go double for the city anthology film, where the subject matter navigates the dinks, dips and cracks on the pavement of urban life. This week's release, 7 Days in Havana, a "contemporary portrait" of Cuba's capital in which Malibu-commercial cliches (Benicio del Toro's opening segment) sit alongside poker-faced pieces of absurdist excellence (Elia Suleiman's), is no exception.

Given the innate quality control issues and how laborious it must be to set up these portmanteau projects, why make them at all? Who exactly do they serve? Money doesn't seem to be the principal reason: they've only done tepid box office in the past. Think of 2006's Paris je t'aime.

Tropfest founder John Polson and collaborator Gary Hamilton have been accused of copyright infringement in their project to create a film about Sydney through a series of vignettes.

Emmanuel Benbihy, the creator of the similarly structured Paris Je T’aime, has been to court in France, claiming copyright and trademark infringement over Sydney Unplugged. He has won an order of seizure which orders the release of documents relating to the project.

Polson and Hamilton, who is MD of Sydney-based production company Arclight Films, were this week believed to be in Cannes attempting to sell rights to the film.

In 2006 Benbihy produced Paris Je T’aime, his first in a series of feature films based on vignettes compiled by different directors and set in a particular city. It was followed by New York, I Love You.

When the Sydney project was first revealed last June, Polson told Encore magazine it was called Sydney,...

Co-creator of love letter Sydney Unplugged, Gary Hamilton, who's at Cannes Film Festival to sell the international distribution rights to the film has been handed a cease-and-desist letter by Emmanuel Benbihy, proprietor of the polygamous Cities of Love franchise (Paris, Je T'aime and New York, I Love You).   Cities of Love is suing Hamilton's Arclight Films, and creative partner John Polson (founder of Tropfest), over the much-anticipated Sydney Unplugged for copyright of the idea.

One of our favorite clients, Emmanual Benbihy, who allowed us to help with Paris, Je T’aime (Isa:Celsius) and even New York, I Love You (Isa:qed International), has since moved to Shanghai to make Shanghai, I Love You (Isa:WestEnd) and during the Berlinale, Berlin, I Love You was announced. He sold the rights to Rio, I Love You (Isa:WestEnd) and now, The Hollywood Reporter announces directors are set for Jerusalem, I Love You (Isa:WestEnd). Congratuations Emmanuel on the Cities of Love franchise!

Jerusalem, I Love You, this "Cities of Love" episode takes us to one of the most venerated cities in the world. Jerusalem's shifting moods, varying colors and profound religious and historical significance makes people of all faiths long for this great city.

“Jerusalem” will feature ten short films and, true to form, each story will take place in a different neighborhood of the city. Three will be directed by Israelis, three by Americans and four by other international filmmakers. With a city as storied and contested as Jerusalem is, this sort of film seems destined for some sort of controversy. Producer Scott Berrie, is confident the film will unite, not divide. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he says, “The conflict will always be in the background, but won’t be the main focus of the film…we have to be representative of the people living in Jerusalem. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Ethiopians, Copts — everyone. Film is a beautiful way to understand what is happening over there today.”

“Jerusalem” is expected to premiere in early 2012. The cities featured were not chosen randomly. “Cities” founder Emmanuel Benbihy explains, “We picked Paris because it’s nicknamed the city of love. New York is the city of romantic comedies. Rio represents sensual love. Shanghai is the city of exotic love...Jerusalem represents spiritual love. Each of these cities has its own love myth.”

The “Cities” series is one of the only mainstream outlets for short filmmaking; it is wonderful Benbihy and Berrie are continuing the franchise. As an added treat, there is a strong possibility Natalie Portman, who starred in “Paris” and “New York” will be back for another round, in Israel, maybe even as a director this time.

Jerusalem -- Israel is tired of Hollywood filming Jesus' crucifixion in Italy and the Crusader invasion of the Holy Land in Morocco.

So Israeli officials are promising better tax breaks, terror attack insurance and handouts of up to $400,000 to lure international movie producers to the holy city of Jerusalem. They want to cash in on the multibillion-dollar industry, and want the real Jerusalem on the silver screen – not Mediterranean stand-ins.

"It's absurd. Movies set in Jerusalem are filmed in Malta, Morocco and Greece," said Yoram Honig, an Israeli film director and 10th-generation Jerusalemite. He heads the Jerusalem Film Fund, which was set up three years ago to encourage more moviemaking in the city.

According to conventional wisdom in Hollywood, Jerusalem is too volatile to ensure smooth filming on location. International insurance companies have traditionally refused to provide terrorism risk coverage, or offered it at exorbitant prices.

For a long time,...

John Polson seems to have found something to occupy his time in between running Tropfest, the largest short film festival in the world, and directing episodes of The Mentalist. In what is technically known as a no-brainer, Polson has partnered with Arclight Films' boss Gary Hamilton, to announce a feature film made from 12 smaller films called Sydney, I Love You. Cut in the mold of 2006 collection Paris, Je t'aime and 2009 follow-up New York, I Love You, the Sydney version will follow the format and appropriate the title from the two films cooked up by producer Emmanuel Benbihy, despite no formal connection. Each of the 12 films will be set in a different month, starting with January and ending with December. Polson has promised the feature will be more than just...

Anthology films composed of multiple shorts from a variety of directors seem to be all the rage as of late, and earlier this year we reported on an all-star sketch comedy compilation [1] from The Farrelly Brothers and also a new collaborative horror project from Adam Green called Chillerama [2]. Now it looks like the folks at Instinctive Film [3] are putting together another awesome horror omnibus featuring the work of veterans like Joe Dante (Gremlins) and relative newcomers like Paco Plaza ([Rec]). It is called Paris I'll Kill You, an obvious tongue-in-cheek reference to the 2006 film Paris Je T'aime. Check out the stellar line-up of filmmakers involved after the jump. Paris I'll Kill You will contain ten different horror segments, all loosely tied together by the fact that they take place in Paris, France. The directors for these short films include: Joe Dante (Gremlins, The Howling) Vincenzo Natali (Splice, Cube) Paco Plaza ([Rec], [Rec] 2) Xavier Gens (Hitman,...

At the beginning of every month, Ioncinema.com's "Tracking Shot" features a handful of projects that we feel are worth signaling out and that are moments away from lensing. This October we find the very last batch of titles that could be potentially ready for next May (I see a pair of films mentioned below that are possible Cannes birth qualifiers) and we find our usual mix of items: from mid-range indie budget flicks (4 million to 8 million range) to the pricey popcorn films. In the batch of seven, we have a pair of first time helmer Shawn Lawrence Otto. Otto wrote House of Sand and Fog (liked the themes, not the execution) and gets to work with a solid pairing in Brolin and Swank - what emotional depths will Dreams of a Dying Heart attain in the home from war storyline is my biggest concern. Speaking of home from war,...

Chicago – For film lovers unable to attend international film festivals, “Paris, je t’aime” provided an irresistible glimpse at world cinema. Eighteen celebrated filmmakers were each recruited to make a short subject set in the City of Love, thus allowing audiences to view the same town from different cultural perspectives. Some shorts worked better than others, but the resounding majority of them were utterly captivating.

It’s great to see this cinematic experiment continue with “New York, I Love You,” despite the fact that it isn’t anywhere near as artistically stimulating or dramatically satisfying as its predecessor. There’s only ten filmmakers this time, excluding Randy Balsmeyer, who handles the transitions. While “Paris” included Gus Van Sant, Alfonso Cuaron and the Coen brothers, “New York” offers directors like Shekhar Kapur (“Elizabeth”), Allen Hughes (“The Book of Eli”) and Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”), whose very name inspires derisive laughter amongst film purists.

Genre: DramaDirectors: Jian Wen, Mira Nair, Shunji Iwai, Yvan Attal, Brett Ratner, Allen Hughes, Shekhar Kapur, Natalie Portman, Fatih Akin, Joshua Marston, Randy BalsmeyerCast: Bradley Cooper, Andy Garcia, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Irrfan Khan, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Ethan Hawke, Shia LeBoufSynopsis: Second in a series of “collective films” conceived by Emmanuel Benbihy, the producer of Paris, je t’aime, New York, I Love You features another anthology of short films, this time focusing on the stories of love in New York’s five boroughs. These 11 love stories are directed by a string of emerging directors from around the world. Together ...

Armed with a collection of the world's notable directors, Paris je t'aime hit screens with a good deal of impact and buzz. It was to be the first piece in producer Emmanuel Benbihy's "Cities of Love," a collection of films detailing romance and metropolitan life across the globe, a series planning to travel to the likes of New York, Rio, Shanghai, Jerusalem, and Mumbai.

Three years later, the second installment is finally upon us with New York, I Love You. With only minor changes, the film continues the tradition of joining many internationally diverse filmmakers for the journey through a popular city, but the buzz has diminished. The film is slowly making its way across screens in the U.S., and will break into Canada come November 27. But how could one of Hollywood's most beloved cities find its ode so woefully under the radar? It's not an easy question...

Shekhar Kapur’s segment in the film New York I Love You -a collection of short stories -is dedicated to the late Anthony Minghella, who wrote the script of this segment and had intended to direct it, but passed away before the movie was completed.

Producer Emmanuel Benbihy recalls, “They had a long conversation about life and death. Anthony only wanted Shekhar to do his segment because of his different approach and was sure Shekhar would be very true to his own vision. We were lucky that Shekhar was available and said yes.”

When Shekhar was asked what inspired him to do.

With eleven directors from around the world depicting varied interpretations of love over a quick ninety minutes, New York, I Love You is a veritable love letter to our fair city. (What other city, after all, has a heart at the center of its slogan?) 'A collective feature film,' New York, I Love You is the second in the Cities of Love series, conceived of by producer Emmanuel Benbihy and set in motion in 2006 with Paris, je t'aime. (Shanghai and Rio are the next two cities with films in development.) Mira Nair (The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding) was one of ten directors asked to contribute a short film to the project. The rules were simple: 1) the neighborhood(s) the story takes place in must be visually identifiable, 2) the story must have some broadly categorized element of love, 3) each shoot would be two days and two ...

Thanks to the surprise success of producer Emmanuel Benbihy’s “Paris, je t’aime,” we will now have to endure a series of planned omnibus-film tributes to cities around the world clunked together with submissions from various trendy directors. After Paris, New York is the brow-furrowing first of these. Call them glimpses, snapshots, whatever: the short films in “New York I Love You” are really just a bunch of undernourished anecdotes that together …...

Chicago – In our latest romance/drama edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 35 admit-two passes up for grabs to the Chicago screening of the new film “New York, I Love You” from an eclectic group of some of today’s most imaginative filmmakers. This film also features a powerhouse of today’s hottest stars!

“New York, I Love You” stars Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha, Andy Garcia, Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Natalie Portman, Irrfan Khan, Emilie Ohana, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Maggie Q, Ethan Hawke, Anton Yelchin, James Caan, Olivia Thilrlby, Blake Lively, Drea de Matteo, Julie Christie, John Hurt, Shia Labeouf, Ugur Yucel, Taylor Geare, Carlos Acosta, Jacinda Barrett, Shu Qi, Burt Young, Chris Cooper, Robin Wright Penn, Eva Ammuri, Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman.

The film is directed by Natalie Portman, Fatih Akin, Yvan Attal, Allen Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Wen Jiang, Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Marston, Mira Nair, Brett Ratner and Randall Balsmeyer.

Producer Emmanuel Benbihy's "Cities of Love" franchise will continue its world tour with a stop in the Holy Land for upcoming feature "Jerusalem, I Love You."...

Emmanuel Benbihy.s Cities of Love took us to The City of Lights in Paris, Je t.Aime, The Big Apple in New York, I Love You and now it.s on to the Holy Land. The Jerusalem edition will follow in its predecessors. footsteps by stringing together several segments created by well-known directors using the universal theme of encountering love. According to THR, the directorial roster will include three Israelis, three Americans and four from other countries. Scott Berrie of Creative Productions LLC, the company that attained the license and is co-producing the film noted, .The Israeli directors we choose will represent the population of Jerusalem whether they be Jewish or Palestinian.. The goal of the film is to portray the citizens of Jerusalem as accurately as possible and represent all religions and national objectives. Berrie explained he is aware that the war will be occurring in the background,...

Paris -- Producer Emmanuel Benbihy's "Cities of Love" franchise will continue its world tour with a stop in the Holy Land for upcoming feature "Jerusalem, I Love You," producers confirmed in an interview.

Like its predecessors "Paris, Je t'Aime" and "New York, I Love You," "Jerusalem" will feature several short segments from well-known directors about the Israeli capital strung together by a cohesive narrative.

Scott Berrie's Impulse Creative Productions LLC has snagged the "Jerusalem" license and will co-produce with Israeli partners the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund and the Jerusalem Development Authority, with Benbihy on board as exec producer and discussions in place with Israeli co-producers.

"Jerusalem is just a trove of stories from which top directors can do what they do best, which is to tell stories about humanity," Berrie said in an interview.

The film will feature an A-list cast starring in unique stories set in Jerusalem's...

Shia Labeouf, Natalie Portman, Orlando Bloom, Andy Garcia, and more star in the upcoming romantic film directed by a slew of helmers and written by a variety of writers. "New York, I Love You" features a collective work of 11 short films, all about finding love in New York.

Featuring an impressive ensemble cast, the film's stars include Bradley Cooper, Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson, Christina Ricci, Maggie Q, Ethan Hawke, James Caan, Robin Wright Penn, Blake Lively, and Cloris Leachman among many others.

Portman wrote and directed one of 10-minute long stories. Other directors include Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour"), Fatih Akin ("The Edge of Heaven"), Jiang Wen, Mira Nair ("Vanity Fair"), and Shunji Iwai.

The film is the latest installment of the Cities of Love franchise by producer Emmanuel Benbihy, who created the 2006 film "Paris, je t'aime," which also has an ensemble cast starring in 20 short films. Marina Grasic co-produces.

Once in a while, one has to try something new when it comes to films. Unlike Toronto Stories, which is another anthology movie I'd recommend, Paris, je t'aime uses a rather different approach while showing as much audacity as its Canadian counterpart. All in all, the film is a rather enjoyable gem.

First of all, to put it shortly, Paris, je t'aime uses 18 short segments directed by internationally acclaimed directors. Of course, each segment takes place in a different district of Paris. In each segment, the directors, through their own vision, offer their own interpretation of the meaning of love in none other than the most romantic city in the world.

Obviously, the first praise that you'd like to offer for this film is certainly its photography. Without looking like a postal card, Paris, je t'aime has no difficulty to capture the city's beauty in order to fit it into...