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“Paradises of Diane,” which premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival, came out of an exploration of the “dark side of maternity” and the role of the mother in society, director Carmen Jaquier tells Variety.

The film, which was directed with Jan Gassmann, starts with Diane abandoning her new-born baby at a maternity clinic in Zurich, and heading to the seedy Spanish seaside resort Benidorm, without telling anyone. Here she befriends an elderly woman, Rose, and the two of them form a tentative bond.

Jaquier says the idea for the film came from a conversation with a friend, who confessed that she had become very depressed after the birth of her daughter. The woman hadn’t spoken about this to her friends or family. After Jaquier had written the first draft of the script, Gassmann joined the project and the two of them started to talk to...

A Different Man.The Berlinale have begun to announce the first few titles selected for the 74th edition of their festival, set to take place from February 15 through 21, 2024. This page will be updated as further sections are announced.COMPETITIONAnother End (Piero Messina)Architecton (Victor Kossakovsky)Black Tea (Abderrahmane Sissako)La Cocina (Alonso Ruiz Palacios) Dahomey (Mati Diop)A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg)The Empire (Bruno Dumont)Gloria! (Margherita Vicario)Suspended Time (Olivier Assayas)From Hilde, With Love (Andreas Dresen)My Favourite CakeLangue Etrangère (Claire Berger)Small Things Like These (Tim Mielants)Who Do I Belong To (Meryam Joobeur)Pepe (Nelson Carlos De Los Santos Arias)Shambhala (Min Bahadur Bham)Sterben (Matthias Glasner)Small Things Like These (Tim Mielants)A Traveler’s Needs (Hong Sang-soo)Sleep With Your Eyes Open. ENCOUNTERSArcadia (Yorgos Zois)Cidade; Campo (Juliana Rojas)Demba (Mamadou Dia)Direct ActionSleep With Your Eyes Open (Nele Wohlatz)The Fable (Raam Reddy...

Berlinale co-directors Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek are going out with a bang in their final year, with a lineup unveiled today featuring the latest works by Olivier Assayas, Bruno Dumont, Mati Diop, Hong Sang-soo, Abderrahmane Sissako, Jane Schoenbrun, Alonso Ruizpalacios, Matias Pineiro, Travis Wilkerson, Kazik Radwanski, Annie Baker, and more.

When the co-directors were asked by Screen Daily about their departure, Chatrian said, “It’s quite simple. Mariette and I had a mandate of five years. It is true that at the beginning I said that I was willing to go on because there was a shared will with the [German] Ministry [of Culture] to go on. But then the people who have the responsibility to see the future of the Berlinale thought this structure of two leaders was not the right one and I don’t consider myself able to run the festival alone. And that was the decision of the Ministry.

The Berlinale has completed the lineup for its Panorama, Generation, Forum and Forum expanded sections, with new films from Levan Akin and Andre Techine, plus the debut feature of US playwright Annie Baker.

Swedish filmmaker Akin, who scored an international hit in 2019 with And Then We Danced, will open the Panorama strand with Crossing, about two people travelling from Georgia to Istanbul in search of a young transgender woman.

Scroll down for the full list of Panorama, Generation and Forum features

Also among the 31 films in Panorama are My New Friends from French filmmaker Techine, starring Isabelle Hupert, Hafsia Herzi...

Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun, a Scotland-set drama starring Saoirse Ronan, will have its world premiere at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival, screening in Berlin’s Panorama section.

The drama is adapted from Amy Liptrot’s best-selling memoir about a recovering alcoholic — played by four-time Oscar nominee Ronan — who returns to her home on the windswept wilderness of Scotland’s Orkney Islands. Fingscheidt made her debut with System Crasher at the 2019 Berlinale. Her English-language follow-up was 2021’s The Unforgivable, a Netflix drama starring Sandra Bullock.

The Outrun is among the first 11 titles picked by Panorama for its 2024 lineup.

Other Panorama highlights include Andrea Gets a Divorce, an Austrian drama from famed actor and comedian Josef Hader, starring Birgit Minichmayr (Everyone Else) as policewoman Andrea trying to escape the confines of her provincial town; Paradises of Diane from Swiss directing duo Carmen Jaquier and Jan Gassmann, about the antihero Diane, who...

The first batch of titles for the Panorama sidebar section for the 2024 Berlin Film Festival were revealed today and we’ve got a Sundance Film Festival pair of international premieres in Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun and Jane Schoenbrun‘s I Saw the TV Glow. We also find Les Paradis de Diane by Carmen Jaquier and Jan Gassmann and world premiere status for Jérémy Clapin‘s Pendant ce temps sur with Megan Northam, Catherine Salée and Sam Louwyck. Here are the selections. The competition titles will be announced next month.

All Shall Be Well by Ray Yeung | with Patra Au Ga Man, Maggie Li Lin Lin, Tai Bo, Leung Chung Hang, Fish Liew Chi Yu

Hong Kong, China 2024

World premiere

When her partner Pat unexpectedly dies, Angie is left to worry about the flat in which the couple lived together for over 30 years.…...

Films starring Saoirse Ronan and Justice Smith are set for Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section.

Panorama announced its first 11 titles on Thursday, seven of which are world premieres. The lineup includes Nora Fingscheidt’s “The Outrun,” which stars Ronan as an antihero who must embark on a journey to find herself. “After years of excess in London, she seeks silence and self-reflection in her Scottish homeland,” the film’s logline reads.

Directed by Jane Schoenbrun, “I Saw the TV Glow” — which stars Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine and Danielle Deadwyler, among others — is also part of the program. In a press release, the festival called the film “one of the most idiosyncratic and fascinating works of the year, effortlessly crossing boundaries of genre, gender and trauma in this eye- and soul-opening trip.”

The annual Panorama Audience Award will be presented on Feb. 25. Berlin Film Festival is set to take place beginning Feb.

Eleven titles revealed including Panorama returnees Ray Yeung and Aslı Özge

The Berlin Film Festival has unveiled the first 11 titles to play in its Panorama section, seven of which are world premieres.

The line-up includes Josef Hader’s second film Andrea Gets a Divorce, following on from his 2017 Berlinale competition film Wild Mouse. The Austrian feature centres on a rural policewoman Andrea who commits a hit-and-run after her drunken soon-to-be ex-husband runs out in front of her car.

Ray Yeung returns to Panorama with Hong Kong-China production All Shall Be Well, having world premiered Suk Suk in the section in...

The Berlin Film Festival today unveiled the first titles set for the 2024 edition of its Panorama sidebar section. Scroll down for the full list of titles announced today.

The lineup includes eleven titles, seven of which are world premieres. A total of 16 countries have been involved in their production. The fest said the topics connecting the titles are rebellion and antiheroes.

Among the set is Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun, centered around antihero Rona, played by Saoirse Ronan, who has to go on a long journey to find herself: after years of excess in London, she seeks silence and self-reflection in her Scottish homeland. The film also stars Paapa Essiedu.

Danielle Deadwyler stars in I Saw the TV Glow from Jane Schoenbrun. The pic follows a teenager called Owen who is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night...

Swiss Films previewed four films to industry guests at a special event hosted by Locarno Pro, the industry section of Locarno Film Festival, showcasing generational range and genre diversity. The selection included the new film by Carmen Jaquier, the director of “Thunder,” which was announced this week as the Swiss entry in the international feature film category of the Academy Awards.

Talking to Variety, Jaquier said: “I’m very honored about this news and excited to imagine how to work on the Oscar campaign for ‘Thunder.’ Then I’m also thrilled to prepare the release of the next project “Les Paradis des Diane” with my co-director Jan Gassmann. We are looking forward to having some interesting and maybe controversial discussions about the movie.”

“Les Paradis des Diane” tells the story of a woman who, suffering from postpartum depression, leaves her home, her new baby and family, and flees to Portugal.

Carmen Jaquier’s debut is the first title to be announced for the international category of the Academy Awards.

Carmen Jaquier’s Thunder has been selected to represent Switzerland in the best international feature film category of the 2024 Oscars.

The announcement was made by Switzerland’s Federal Office of Culture at Locarno Film Festival this afternoon (August 4), where the film screens in the Panorama Suisse strand, and is the first title to be announced for the international feature film category of the Academy Awards.

Set in 1900, it follows a 17-year-old girl who is preparing to take her vows at a...

Strand Releasing has acquired U.S. distribution rights to San Sebastián competition title “Pornomelancolia,” sales agent Luxbox announced during this week’s Ventana Sur film-tv market in Buenos Aires.

Strand plans a late Spring, early Summer U.S. theatrical release.

As previously announced, Filmin will handle distribution in Spain. The film has also been picked up by Epicentre Films Distribution for France.

Directed by Argentina’s, Manuel Abramovich who won the 2019 Silver Bear at Berlin with his short “Blue Boy,” the Spanish-language picture follows a sex influencer who posts naked photos and homemade porn videos for his social media following.

Despite his success, he feels melancholic when alone. Questions the film raises is how we reacts to others’ gaze, and what happens when intimacy becomes so public as to be almost pornographic.

“We’re looking forward to introducing this very bold, inventive, character study of a young man navigating the...

10 films were competing for the Powell and Pressburger award.

Scottish animators Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson’s 60-minutes documentary A Cat Called Dom has won the inaugural Powell and Pressburger Award for best film at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Anderson and Henderson star in and co-direct the inventive documentary, which had its world premiere at Eiff. The film explores how Will deals with his mother’s cancer diagnosis and also the frustrations of trying to make a film.

The jury, comprised of president Gaylene Gould (founder of creative lab The Space to Come), producer Rosie Crerar and author Sarah Winman,...

Click here to read the full article.

Strand Releasing has picked up rights in North America for 99 Moons, an intense love story from Swiss director Jan Gassmann, which premiered in Cannes’ Acid sidebar.

Berlin-based sales group M-Appeal inked the deal with Strand, also closing deals for for the film with distributors in Israel (Shoval Film Production) and Hong Kong (Edko Films Ltd).

99 Moons tells the story of Bigna, a 28-year-old scientist, used to having everything under control, and Frank, a 33-year-old druggie who feeds on other people’s affection. Their different worlds collide, and they become obsessively entwined in a passionate and turbulent erotic love affair. The film stars first-time actors Valentina Di Pace and Dominik Fellmann.

With 99 Moons, Strand adds to its upcoming slate of European art house features. Recent acquisitions by the New York-based distributor include Francois Ozon’s Peter Von Kant and Ursula Meier’s The Line,...

The Edinburgh International Film Festival has unveiled the complete line-up for its 75th Anniversary edition (August 12-17) as it gears up for its first full-scale roll-out since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Palestinian director Maha Haj’s drama Mediterranean Fever, US musician and filmmaker Amanda Kramer’s musical queer thriller Please Please Me, and Peter Strickland’s Flux Gourmet will be among the 10 feature films competing in the rebooted competition strand for the new Powell and Pressburger Award.

There will be gala screenings for previously announced opening film Aftersun by Edinburgh-born filmmaker Charlotte Wells and closing film After Yang by South Korean-us director Kogonada, as well as New Zealand director Armağan Ballantyne’s comedy Nude Tuesday, which will play mid-way through the festival.

Kogonada, who has been invited to curate a selection of films under the Eiff’s Carte Blanche sidebar, has chosen Kor-eda Hirokazu’s After Life,...

Armağan Ballantyne’s gibberish comedy “Nude Tuesday” will be the central gala at the 75th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff).

In the film, which has previously played at Tribeca and Sydney, 40-somethings Laura (Jackie van Beek) and Bruno (Damon Herriman) head to a three day couples’ retreat run by relationship and sexual healing guru Bjorg Rasmussen (Jemaine Clement) in an effort to rekindle the spark in their troubled marriage. Upon arrival, the path to their reconnection is met with increasingly absurd farce. The film is spoken entirely in an improvised, gibberish-esque language with subtitles created by Julia Davis.

The festival has reimagined its major award, the Michael Powell Award for best British feature. “With a renewed commitment to internationalism and cultural exchange, the principles on which the Edinburgh Festivals were founded, Eiff will present the Powell & Pressburger award for best feature film. This competition of 10 films is composed of a mix of U.

it’s time for cannes!Rays of promotional sunshine will highlight 46 European finished and unfinished films at this year’s Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival (17–28 May 2022).‘Triangle of Sadness’ by Ruben Östlund (Sweden, France, Germany, UK/ Coproduction Office)

21 international sales agents are drawing on Film Sales Support (Fss) - totalling €78,000 - to bolster and innovate promotion and marketing campaigns of brand-new films to trigger sales to countries outside of Europe at one of the most prestigious markets of the year. Overseas buyers on-site and off-site will have the fortune to catch sight of a number of new films from Europe premiering at the Croisette.

Amongst the many to be discovered at the Marché are Competition titles, Pacifiction by Albert Serra (Spain, Portugal, Germany/Films Boutique,France), Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund (Sweden, France, Germany, UK/Coproduction Office), Boy from Heaven by Tarik Saleh (Sweden, France, Finland, Denmark/Memento International), Un Certain Regard titles, Metronom by Alexandru Belc (Romania, France/Pyramide International) and Rodeo by Lola Quivoron (France/Les Films du Losange) as well as films in Directors’ Fortnight, Will-o'-the-wispby Joao Pedro Rodrigues (Portugal, France/ Films Boutique,Germany) and The Super 8 Years by Annie Ernaux & David Ernaux-Briot (France/Totem Films).

For the first time, Fss will also be awarded to a Ukrainian film in solidarity with the country. Indie Sales is the happy recpient for its film Pamfir by Ukrainian director, Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, a multi-coproduction between the Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, Chile and Luxembourg. By a lucky twist, 3 of Efp’s Producers on the Move and their films will benefit from the support indirectly: Sick of Myself by Kristoffer Borgli (producer Andrea Berentsen Ottmar from Norway/Memento International), The Woodcutter Story by Mikko Myllylahti (producer Derk-Jan Warrink from the Netherlands) and Tel Aviv Beirut by Michale Boganim (producer Janine Teerling from Cyprus/Wt Films).

13 European films in the companies’ line-ups are yet unfinished but ready to be announced and promoted.

**Click here for the full list**

Thanks to Swiss Films, 4 films from Switzerland will similarly receive Fss for the promotion in Cannes: Men Caves by Céline Pernet (Lightdox), Continental Drift by Lionel Baier (Switzerland, France/ Les Films du Losange), 99 Moons by Jan Gassmann (m-appeal world sales) and The Black Spider by Markus Fischer (Switzerland, Hungary/The Playmaker Munich).

Fss is supported by Creative Europe Media and part of Efp’s (European Film Promotion) many activities for the promotion of European films and talent around the world.

Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has closed further deals for Jan Gassmann’s “99 Moons” in Italy (Teodora Film), France (La Vingt-Cinquième Heure) and Japan (At Entertainment), following the film’s world premiere in the Cannes’ Acid sidebar.

“99 Moons” follows the passionate and turbulent relationship of Bigna and Frank, two people from different worlds who become entwined in an erotic love story. With raw and intimate cinematography, the film takes an unflinching look at the magnetism and power games of sexual attraction. The film is led by first-time actors Valentina Di Pace and Dominik Fellmann.

Teodora Film will distribute the film in Italy, with a theatrical release planned in major cities for 2023. Having recently distributed Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World,” Teodora has also acquired Italian distribution rights for Cannes Competition title “Triangle of Sadness” by Ruben Östlund.

Stefano Finesi, CEO of Teodora Film, said: “At first...

Erotic love story “99 Moons,” which has its world premiere in Cannes’ Acid sidebar today, has kicked off international sales. Berlin-based M-Appeal is handling the rights to the film, which is directed by Jan Gassmann.

Arthouse VOD platform Filmin has taken the rights in Spain, and arthouse distributor StraDa Films has taken the films for Greece. France and Latin America are in negotiation. Alamode Films has the rights to the film for Germany and Austria. The Swiss distributor is Filmcoopi Zürich Ag.

The film centers on Bigna, a 28-year-old scientist, and 33-year-old Frank. Bigna is used to having everything under control, even her erotic desires follow rules. Frank searches for meaning in a haze of drugs, feeding on other people’s affection. Their different worlds collide, and they become obsessively entwined in a passionate affair.

Filmin’s acquisitions manager and programmer Joan Sala said: ” ’99 Moons’ is the kind of title...

Zürich-born writer, director and burgeoning auteur Jan Gassmann will bring his newest film, “99 Moons,” to the Acid sidebar at Cannes, and with it a voyeuristic glimpse into the lives of lovers in head-on collision. Produced by Reto Schaerli and Lukas Hobi at Zodiac Pictures in co-production with Swiss public broadcaster Srf, the film follows Bigna, a 28-year-old disaster prevention scientist and her chance encounter turned love affair with Frank, a 33-year-old DJ. The film, which has been acquired by Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal, has already sold its German rights to Alamode Films.

Newcomers Valentina Di Pace and Dominik Fellmann star in the picture, and their on-screen chemistry is center stage. The film takes place over 99 months, or “moons,” and focuses on the ever-evolving relationship between Bigna and Frank as they navigate their own attraction. Battling the past for a chance at their future, both lovers engage in emotional and sexual warfare,...

Rays of promotional sunshine will highlight 46 European finished and unfinished films at this year’s Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival (17–28 May 2022).

‘Triangle of Sadness’ by Ruben Östlund (Sweden, France, Germany, UK/ Coproduction Office)

21 international sales agents are drawing on Film Sales Support (Fss) - totalling €78,000 - to bolster and innovate promotion and marketing campaigns of brand-new films to trigger sales to countries outside of Europe at one of the most prestigious markets of the year. Overseas buyers on-site and off-site will have the fortune to catch sight of a number of new films from Europe premiering at the Croisette.

Amongst the many to be discovered at the Marché are Competition titles, Pacifiction by Albert Serra (Spain, Portugal, Germany/Films Boutique,France), Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund (Sweden, France, Germany, UK/Coproduction Office), Boy from Heaven by Tarik Saleh (Sweden, France, Finland, Denmark/Memento International), Un Certain Regard titles, Metronom by Alexandru Belc (Romania, France/Pyramide International) and Rodeo by Lola Quivoron (France/Les Films du Losange) as well as films in Directors’ Fortnight, Will-o'-the-wisp by Joao Pedro Rodrigues (Portugal, France/ Films Boutique,Germany) and The Super 8 Years by Annie Ernaux & David Ernaux-Briot (France/Totem Films).

For the first time, Fss will also be awarded to a Ukrainian film in solidarity with the country. Indie Sales is the happy recpient for its film Pamfir by Ukrainian director, Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, a multi-coproduction between the Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, Chile and Luxembourg. By a lucky twist, 3 of Efp’s Producers on the Move and their films will benefit from the support indirectly: Sick of Myself by Kristoffer Borgli (producer Andrea Berentsen Ottmar from Norway/Memento International), The Woodcutter Story by Mikko Myllylahti (producer Derk-Jan Warrink from the Netherlands) and Tel Aviv Beirut by Michale Boganim (producer Janine Teerling from Cyprus/Wt Films).

13 European films in the companies’ line-ups are yet unfinished but ready to be announced and promoted.

**Click here for the full list**

Thanks to Swiss Films, 4 films from Switzerland will similarly receive Fss for the promotion in Cannes: Men Caves by Céline Pernet (Lightdox), Continental Drift by Lionel Baier (Switzerland, France/ Les Films du Losange), 99 Moons by Jan Gassmann (m-appeal world sales) and The Black Spider by Markus Fischer (Switzerland, Hungary/The Playmaker Munich).

Fss is supported by Creative Europe Media and part of Efp’s (European Film Promotion) many activities for the promotion of European films and talent around the world.

get in touch with °efp

Efp European Film Promotion

info@efp-online.com

www.efp-online.com

Efp (European Film Promotion) is an international network of film promotion institutes from 37 countries from throughout Europe, each representing their national films and talent abroad. Under the Efp flag, these organisations team up to jointly promote the diversity and spirit of European films and talent at key film festivals and markets, in particular outside of Europe.

Swiss erotic drama has its world premiere at the festival on Friday

Alamode Films has picked up German rights to Cannes Acid title 99 Moons from M-Appeal.

Directed by Switzerland’s Jan Gassmann, the erotic drama is the latest Cannes official selection film to be picked up by Alamode, following Triangle of Sadness, Holy Spider and Corsage.

99 Moons follows the passionate and turbulent relationship of Bigna and Frank, two people from different worlds who become drawn inexorably together. Shot by Yunus Roy Imer, who was also the cinematographer on Nora Fingscheidt’s System Crasher, the film explores the magnetism...

Erotic love story “99 Moons,” which will have its world premiere in Cannes’ Acid sidebar, has debuted its trailer (below). Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has acquired the world sales rights to the film, which is directed by Jan Gassmann.

The film centers on Bigna, a 28-year-old scientist, and 33-year-old Frank. Bigna is used to having everything under control, even her erotic desires follow rules. Frank searches for meaning in a haze of drugs, feeding on other people’s affection. Their different worlds collide, and they become obsessively entwined in a passionate affair.

Upending outmoded gender roles, Bigna is autonomous, dominant and takes what she wants. She defines her interactions with other people, always on her terms. But with Frank, it is different: what starts as a cold encounter sparks the beginning of a passionate attraction and power games that send their lives in a different direction.

First-time actors Valentina Di...

Competition titles ‘Pacification’, ‘Triangle Of Sadness’, ‘Boy From Heaven’ also backed.

Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk’s Ukrainian co-production Pamfir is one of 49 European films at this year’s Marché du Film to receive Film Sales Support (Fss) from the European Film Promotion (Efp) network.

Twenty-one sales companies are receiving a total of €78,000 for promotion and marketing campaigns of the 49 titles. Thirty-three of the films are completed, with a further 13 still in later stages of production.

Pamfir is Ukrainian director Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk’s debut feature, and plays in Directors’ Fortnight at the festival. A co-production between Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany, Chile and Luxembourg, it...

Berlin-based sales outfit M-Appeal has acquired the world sales rights to erotic love story “99 Moons,” directed by Jan Gassmann, which will have its world premiere in Cannes’ Acid sidebar.

The film centers on Bigna, a 28-year-old scientist, and 33-year-old Frank. Bigna is used to having everything under control, even her erotic desires follow rules. Frank searches for meaning in a haze of drugs, feeding on other people’s affection. Their different worlds collide, and they become obsessively entwined in a passionate affair.

Upending outmoded gender roles, Bigna is autonomous, dominant and takes what she wants. She defines her interactions with other people, always on her terms. But with Frank, it is different: what starts as a cold encounter sparks the beginning of a passionate attraction and power games that send their lives in a different direction.

First-time actors Valentina Di Pace and Dominik Fellmann lead this “amour fou” story “with a strong and visceral chemistry,...

Two more sidebars at this year’s Cannes Film Festival have unveiled their lineup. First up, Critics Week (aka La Semaine de la Critique), which brings together first and second features, has announced its 2022 slate, which includes a special screening of Jesse Eisenberg’s When You Finish Saving the World, which we reviewed at Sundance. While the festival is primarily geared towards discoveries, it also includes a new short by Yann Gonzalez.

Acid (Association for the Distribution of Independent Cinema) also unveiled its nine features, which notably includes a new film by Damien Manivel, who recently directed the acclaimed Isadora’s Children. Check out both lineups below.

Critics Week (hat tip to Screen Daily)

Special Screenings

When You Finish Saving The World (US) (Opening film)

Dir. Jesse Eisenberg

Sons Of Ramses (Fr)

Dir. Clément Cogitore

Everybody Loves Jeanne (Fr)

Dir. Céline Devaux

Next Sohee (S Kor) (Closing film)

Dir. July Jung...

The 2017 Locarno Film Festival recently wrapped its 70th edition, where several aspiring film critics participated in the latest edition of the Locarno Critics Academy, an international workshop to educate promising writers in the craft and discipline of contemporary film criticism. This year’s participants will contribute essays on highlights from the festival. Here’s an overview of their backgrounds and interests.

Name: Jaime Grijalba Gómez

Age: 27

Twitter handle: @jaimegrijalba

Home: Santiago de Chile, Chile.

Cinematic area of expertise: Chilean cinema, film festivals, horror cinema

Best movie you’ve seen in 2017: El mar la mar

Favorite book (or piece of writing) about film: Bresson’s “Notes on the Cinematographer”

I’m taking part in the Locarno Critics Academy because… I want to think that criticism today still has a role that goes beyond those interested in film or in making them. It has a role in society, and I want to find it.

While it may not be that rare to see your arthouse cinema stacked to the rim with the latest and greatest from the world of European cinema, there are cavalcades of superlative motion pictures from every corner of the continent that rarely see the light of day here stateside, if ever at all. Thus, festivals like this year’s Panorama Europe Film Festival draw great importance.

Now in its ninth iteration, Peff sees Museum of the Moving Image in New York City teaming with the European Union National Institutes for Culture to bring to attendees some recent gems from throughout Europe. Be it a new documentary from Austrian auteur Ulrich Seidl or a science-fiction picture from director Kuba Czekaj, there are no films quite like the 17 fiction and non-fiction features that have been collected in this wonderfully curated series.

Leading the pack in my own estimation is the new film...

United States Of Love, Rams and Mustang will feature at the eighth edition of the festival; regional premiere of Mirjana Karanovic’s A Good Wife.Scroll down for full line-up

The eighth Prishtina International Film Festival (April 22-29) will open with a screening of Jonas Carpignano’s Mediterranea, which will compete as part of the event’s European Film Competition.

Tomasz Wasilewski’s Silver Berlin Bear-winning United States Of Love will also compete in the strand, as will Grímur Hákonarson’s Cannes Un Certain Regard-winning Rams and Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Oscar-nominated Mustang.

Completing the line-up is Juris Kursietis’ Modris, Carlos Marques-Marcet’s 10,000 Km, and Swiss 10-part Sci-Fi anthology Heimtaland. The films will compete for the festival’s Golden Goddess prize for best European film.

The Honey and Blood competition, which showcases Balkan titles, will this year feature nine films including Danis Tanovic’s Silver Berlin Bear-winning Death In Sarajevo - which will close the festival with Tanovic...

United States Of Love, Rams and Mustang will feature at the eighth edition of the festival; regional premiere of Mirjana Karanovic’s A Good Wife.Scroll down for full line-up

The eighth Prishtina International Film Festival (April 22-29) will open with a screening of Jonas Carpignano’s Mediterranea, which will compete as part of the event’s European Film Competition.

Tomasz Wasilewski’s Silver Berlin Bear-winning United States Of Love will also compete in the strand, as will Grímur Hákonarson’s Cannes Un Certain Regard-winning Rams and Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Oscar-nominated Mustang.

Completing the line-up is Juris Kursietis’ Modris, Carlos Marques-Marcet’s 10,000 Km, and Swiss 10-part Sci-Fi anthology Heimtaland. The films will compete for the festival’s Golden Goddess prize for best European film.

The Honey and Blood competition, which showcases Balkan titles, will this year feature nine films including Danis Tanovic’s Silver Berlin Bear-winning Death In Sarajevo and the regional premiere of Mirjana Karanović...

The lineup for the Berlinale's Panorama section is now complete. Today's additions include new work by Sérgio Andrade and Fábio Baldo, Aslı Özge, Alejandro Fernández Almendras, E J-yong, Rachid Bouchareb, Anna Muylaert, Alex Anwandter, Jordan Schiele, Ali Abbasi, Oliver Schmitz, Patric Chiha, Marcos Prado, Jan Gassmann, Sophia Luvarà, Sara Jordenö, Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, Rob Cannan and Ross Adam, Lee Dong-ha, Fan Jian, Monika Treut—and Tomer Heymann, Barak Heymann and Alexander Bodin Saphir. The festival's 66th edition runs from February 11 through 21. » - David Hudson...

The lineup for the Berlinale's Panorama section is now complete. Today's additions include new work by Sérgio Andrade and Fábio Baldo, Aslı Özge, Alejandro Fernández Almendras, E J-yong, Rachid Bouchareb, Anna Muylaert, Alex Anwandter, Jordan Schiele, Ali Abbasi, Oliver Schmitz, Patric Chiha, Marcos Prado, Jan Gassmann, Sophia Luvarà, Sara Jordenö, Ester Gould and Reijer Zwaan, Rob Cannan and Ross Adam, Lee Dong-ha, Fan Jian, Monika Treut—and Tomer Heymann, Barak Heymann and Alexander Bodin Saphir. The festival's 66th edition runs from February 11 through 21. » - David Hudson...

Films include Shepherds and Butchers with Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il.

The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.

A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.

Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...

Films include Shepherds and Butchers, starring Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films.

The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.

A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.

Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...

Inaugural prize awarded as part of the Zurich Film Festival.

Swiss directors Michael Steiner and Jan Gassmann have won the first-ever Filmmaker Award, presented by Inglourious Basterds star Christoph Waltz at the Zurich Film Festival on Saturday (Sept 26).

The prize, set up by the Association for the Promotion of Film in Switzerland to support promising films, was open to Swiss filmmakers whose projects are currently in the late production or post-production phase.

Steiner’s project, Und Morgen Seid ihr Tot, received Chf 75,000 ($77,000) and Jan Gassmann’s project, Europe, She Loves, received Chf 25’000 ($26,000).

The two winners were chosen from a total of four nominated projects.

The presentation took place at Iwc gala dinner For the Love of Cinema, held as part of the 11th Zurich Film Festival, to which the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer had invited VIP guests from the worlds of film, media, politics and commerce.

Waltz, who headed the jury, said: “I am proud...

Oscar-winning actor will also hold a keynote conversation at the Zurich Summit and present a screening of Inglourious Basterds.

German-Austrian actor Christoph Waltz has been named as the president of the Swiss jury at the upcoming Zurich Film Festival (Sept 24 - Oct 4).

The two-time Academy Award winner will attend the festival on its opening day to and over the jury for the inaugural Filmmaker Award, which comes with a prize of more than $100,000 (100,000Chf) open to Swiss filmmakers whose projects are currently in the late production or post-production phase.

The star of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and upcoming James Bond movie Spectre will also take part in a keynote conversation at the Zurich Summit - the industry sidebar of the festival which runs Sept 26-27.

In addition, Waltz will walk Zurich’s green carpet before presenting a screening of Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, which proved his breakthrough performance and earned him a Best Supporting Actor at the...

Hong Sang-soo's Right Now, Wrong Then.The lineup for the 2015 festival has been revealed, including new films by Hong Sang-soo, Andrzej Zulawski, Chantal Akerman, Athina Rachel Tsangari, and others, alongside retrospectives and tributes dedicated to Sam Peckinpah, Michael Cimino, Bulle Ogier, and much more.Piazza GRANDERicki and the Flash (Jonathan Demme, USA)La belle saison (Catherine Corsini, France)Le dernier passage (Pascal Magontier, France)Der staat gegen Fritz Bauer (Lars Kraume, Germany)Southpaw (Antoine Fuqua, USA)Trainwreck (Judd Apatow, USA)Jack (Elisabeth Scharang, Austria)Floride (Philippe Le Guay, France)The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, UK/USA)Erlkönig (Georges Schwizgebel, Switzerland)Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre (Philippe Falardeau, Canada)Bombay Velvet (Anurag Kashyap, India)Pastorale cilentana (Mario Martone, Italy)La vanite (Lionel Baier, Switzerland/France)The Laundryman (Lee Chung, Taiwan)Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, USA) I pugni ni tasca (Marco Bellocchio, Italy)Heliopolis (Sérgio Machado, Brazil)Amnesia (Barbet Schroeder,...

World premieres for new films by Athina Rachel Tsangari, Hong Sangsoo, Ben Rivers; Southpaw, Trainwreck among Piazza Grande titles.

The 68th Locarno Film Festival (August 5-15) will open with Jonathan Demme’s musical comedy-drama Ricki And The Flash, in which Meryl Streep stars as a musician who tries to make things right with her family after giving up everything to pursue her dream of rock-and-roll stardom.

Written by Diablo Cody, the film gets a Piazza Grande berth alongside Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me And Earl And The Dying Girl, Catherine Corsini’s La Belle Saison and Antoine Fuqua’s Southpaw.

Also playing is Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter. Cimino is being honoured with a Pardo D’onore Swisscom and will be taking part in an onstage conversation.

14 of the 18 films competing in the festival’s International Competition section for the Golden Leopard Award are world premieres including Andrzej Zulawski’s Cosmos, Ben Rivers’ The Sky...