News

The Berlin Film Festival kicked off its 75th anniversary edition February 13 with the opening-night world premiere screening of The Light, Tom Tykwer’s politically charged film that takes stock of German society in the first quarter of the 21st century. It starts 11 days of debuts including for movies starring Jessica Chastain, Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Rupert Friend, Marion Cotillard, Rose Byrne, A$AP Rocky, Emma Mackey and more.

The 2025 Berlinale runs through February 23.

Keep checking back below as Deadline reviews the best and buzziest movies of the festival. Click on the titles to read the full reviews.

Blue Moon

Section: Competition

Director: Richard Linklater

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, Andrew Scott

Deadline’s takeaway: Richard Linklater’s Broadway chamber piece looks back to a lost time and mourns a lost soul in Lorenz Hart as the booze is about to consume him. In a bravura theatrical performance, Ethan Hawke...

There’s an apt bluntness to the English-language title of Petra Volpe’s new feature. It says what’s necessary and gets the job done, not unlike the nurse at the center of Late Shift. It’s worth noting, though, that the Swiss-German film’s original title, Heldin, though similarly to-the-point, forgoes the just-the-facts modesty and cops to something that fuels the movie no less than the nuts and bolts of 21st century medical care: awed admiration. It means “heroine,” and there’s no question that Floria Lind, the devoted pro played with prodigious fluency by Leonie Benesch in this tense and immersing workplace drama, is as valiant as the most epically challenged protagonist in an action saga.

Volpe (The Divine Order) and her lead actor move through the hospital with a go-go-go energy that’s thoroughly gripping, never forced. Even before her shift begins, Floria’s engaged but terse...

Berlin’s European Film Market wraps up Wednesday with a handful of deals and a touch of optimism over the future of the international industry.

The biggest title of the market, the Lena Dunham-directed rom-com Good Sex, set to star Natalie Portman, kicked off a studio bidding war, with Amazon, Warner Bros., Netflix and Apple all vying for the project, which sees Portman play a 40-year-old relationship therapist who finds herself back on the market after the exit of her long-term partner. Worldwide offers are reportedly in the $45 million-plus range, but there’s no news yet of a final deal.

Most of the deals reported were smaller domestic pickups of international art house features, with Sony Pictures Classics taking North American and Latin American rights to Rebecca Zlotowski’s French-language murder mystery Vie Privée, starring Jodie Foster as a psychiatrist investigating a patient’s death. Goodfellas has also sold the project across Europe,...

If you've ever spent time at a hospital, you know how incredibly hard working and dedicated nurses are. And how essential they are to keeping a hospital functioning while taking care of all of the patients. This Swiss film premiering at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival is a tribute to nurses while also acting as an urgent call to the world to make sure there are enough nurses working to take care of everyone all over the world. Heldin (which translates to Heroine in German) is the latest feature film made by the exceptionally talented Swiss filmmaker Petra Volpe, her third feature film following Dreamland and The Divine Order (another one of my favorites from 2017 - I interviewed Volpe during the release back then). The film is an intimate, intense, riveting thriller following Floria, a dedicated & caring nurse, who works the late shift in the cancer ward at an overcrowded, understaffed hospital in Switzerland.

An elderly woman dies, and her three adult sons cling to each other, weeping, before turning on the duty nurse. She hadn’t seen their mother once, they blurt to the doctor. It wouldn’t have made any difference; there is nothing Nurse Floria (Leonie Benesch) could have done to prevent a pulmonary embolism. But the nurse flinches. It’s true. There are just two of them on the late shift and a full ward of 26 patients: Even in Switzerland, which has arguably the best health service in the world, there are serious staff shortages. The dead woman was designated last on her round. Floria failed her.

Petra Volpe’s busy, urgent cancer-ward procedural is exactly what it says it is: a shift in the life of a nurse, a pile of incidents encountered at speed. Judith Kaufmann’s camera races behind and around Floria, looking intermittently rough: what doesn...

There’s a thin, squiggly tattoo running down the forearm of diligent hospital nurse Floria, always visible past the short sleeves of her royal-blue scrubs, but hard to really get a look at, since her hands are constantly in motion, doggedly busy. Occasionally, as we follow her through the exhausting nighttime rounds that make up “Late Shift,” we catch a glimpse of the ink and wonder what it is, what it means, what it says of this woman’s life outside long hours of caring for strangers. Perhaps even Floria, bleary after hours on her feet, sometimes spots it and is reminded of who she is. Petra Volpe’s pacy, empathetic workplace drama ostensibly shows us only its protagonist’s professional persona, though that sometimes cracks and parts to reveal a fallible human in need of some care herself.

Floria is played by Leonie Benesch, the German actor with the clear,...

A fully occupied surgical ward staffed only by two nurses and a reluctant apprentice sounds like a recipe for disaster. “Late Shift”, a slight and simple drama about one nurse’s torrid night at the hospital, makes that clear, if it wasn’t obvious enough already. A fairly transparent attempt to show how tough life is for nurses even in clean, well-kept, highly advanced facilities, “Late Shift” even ends with cards of information about the shortage of nurses afflicting all four corners of the globe, and how it’s getting worse. But noble intentions aside, writer-director Petra Volpe’s film is ultimately too much think, not enough feel.

Leonie Benesch plays Floria, a worn out public servant (emphasis on servant) trying to coexist with chaos and finding those around her wanting. That much is similar to her breakout role in “The Teachers’ Lounge”, 2023’s Turkish-German classroom drama about a teacher...

Petra Volpe’s “Late Shift” – which plays at this year’s Special Gala in Berlin – plunges into the high-pressure world of an understaffed Swiss hospital, unfolding close to real-time through the eyes of a dedicated nurse.

Produced by Zodiac Pictures, Swiss Radio and Television Srf, with world sales handled by TrustNordisk, the film marks a departure from Petra Volpe’s acclaimed suffrage comedy “The Divine Order,” Switzerland’s submission for best international film. Instead, the director’s latest delivers a taut, empathetic drama that captures the stressful realities nurses face.

Volpe immersed herself in research before making the film, accompanying nurses on hospital shifts to understand their daily struggles. The idea for “Late Shift” took root after reading German nurse Madeline Calvelage’s nonfiction book “Our Profession Is Not the Problem – It’s the Circumstances.”

“Just reading it gave me heart palpitations, and it sparked my initial inspiration to tell the story of one woman,...

TrustNordisk has sold Petra Volpe’s Late Shift starring Leonie Benesch to Bim Distribuzione in Italy.

The film will debut as a Berlinale Special Gala this evening (Monday 17) at Zoo Palast.

Late Shift stars Benesch as a dedicated nurse on an understaffed surgical ward, whose nighttime shift threatens to run off the rails.

The film previously sold to France (Wild Bunch Distribution), Spain (Karma Films), Benelux (September Film Rights), Germany and Austria (Tobis) and Switzerland (Filmcoopi Zurich).

It is produced by Reto Schaerli and Lukas Hobi of Zodiac Pictures, in co-production with Mmc Zodiac, Swiss Radio and Television and Srg Ssr.

Germany’s film industry may have been hit hard by the economic slowdown, resulting in an overall gloomy outlook, but it’s still celebrating the biggest number ever of local films and co-productions at this year’s Berlinale and looking forward to a diverse lineup of 2025 releases, among them a number of high-profile sequels.

Compounding the sector’s overall predicament was the collapse of the federal government in November, forcing snap elections scheduled for Feb. 23. The political crisis left an ambitious reform of the country’s federal film funding system only partially implemented and a matter to be tackled by the next government.

The industry nevertheless welcomed the current government’s last-minute extension and increase of two key funding incentives in December that has ensured planning security for producers, studio operators and production service providers.

In the meantime, the local film community is cheering the strong showing of German titles at the Berlin Film Festival.

Scandinavia’s leading sales agent TrustNordisk has swooped on the international sales rights of Amanda Kernell’s “Brace your Heart” (“Förbannelsen”) ahead of the European Film Market in Berlin.

The Swedish drama, which starts filming this week in the Kiruna region, Northern Sweden, is Kernell’s third pic after the Swedish Oscar entry “Charter” and her acclaimed debut “Sami Blood” (a best directing debut at Venice Days 2016) which firmly put her name among Scandinavia’s most promising female voices.

Based on Kernell’s own original script, the story is set in a remote Sámi village, high in the mountains.

When Ejva (20) inherits her father’s reindeer herd upon his death, she takes over the family tradition and struggles to keep it thriving. At the same time, the local leader Heaika develops romantic feelings for her, and though hesitant, she feels compelled to accept, says the logline.

Everything changes when Nejla,...

Finnish producer Inka Hietala is launching Helsinki-based Into Films with a slate of film and TV projects including Flowers Of Farewell, that she is showcasing at Goteborg’s Nordic Film Market this week.

“We’re dedicated to showcasing new voices and celebrating diverse talent, creating bold, culturally resonant stories that challenge and inspire audiences worldwide,”said Hietala.

Finnish producer Petri Kemppinen joins Hietala as a shareholder and senior advisor at Into Films; the company will collaborate on projects with Kemppinen’s own Good Hand Production.

Flowers Of Farewell isthe debut feature of Finnish-Bulgarian feature Pavel Andonov. The€2.1mproject will be...

TrustNordisk has added key territory sales on Petra Volpe’s Late Shift ahead of its Berlinale premiere next month.

The film has sold to France (Wild Bunch Distribution), Spain (Karma Films) and Benelux (September Film Rights).

Late Shift will have its world premiere as a Berlinale Special title next month. Swiss director Volpe’s third feature stars The Teachers’ Lounge breakout Leonie Benesch, as a nurse on a surgical ward caught in a race against time on an understaffed shift.

It is produced by Reto Schaerli and Lukas Hobi of Zodiac Pictures, in co-production with Mmc Zodiac, Swiss Radio and Television and Srg Ssr.

"Be careful!" Tobis has revealed an official trailer for a Swiss drama titled Late Shift in English, the latest from acclaimed Swiss filmmaker Petra Volpe. The original German title is Heldin, which actually translates to Heroine (a female hero), but they're not using this title for its international release. Late Shift will be premiering at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival in February before opening in German theaters late that month. German actress Leonie Benesch stars as Floria, a dedicated nurse, tirelessly working in an understaffed surgical hospital ward. On this day her shift becomes a tense and urgent race against the clock. According to the Who, the worldwide shortage of nursing staff is a global health risk. The film is both a respectful tribute to all care workers and a gripping plea for more humanity and social commitment. Last but not least, it shows how essential good care in the event...

Following last week’s lineup announcement, the Berlinale 2025 has now fleshed out its slate with the Competition, Special, and Perspectives sections. Highlights include the world premieres of Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon starring Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale, and Andrew Scott; Radu Jude’s Kontinental ’25; Hong Sangsoo’s What Does that Nature Say to You; Michel Franco’s Dreams starring Jessica Chastain; Lucile Hadžihalilović’s The Ice Tower starring Marion Cotillard; and Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Hot Milk with Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, and Vicky Krieps.

The festival will also include international premieres from Julia Loktev, Mary Bronstein, Kahlil Joseph, and more. In terms of omissions for films that potentially could have been a strong fit: there’s no Steven Soderberg’s Black Bag, Wes Anderson’s German production The Phoenician Scheme, nor Berlinale regular Christian Petzold, who wrapped Miroirs No. 3 only a few months ago.

Check out the lineup...

The competition line-up for the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival is being announced at a press conference at 11am Cet (10am GMT).

Scroll down for line-up

New festival director Tricia Tuttle is revealing the titles for the Competition and new Perspectives strand alongside co-directors of film programming Jacqueline Lyanga and Michael Stütz.

The announcement is being live-streamed on the festival’s social channels. Watch it live above.

Screen will update this page with the titles as they are announced. Refresh the page for latest updates.

As previously announced, the festival will open with Tom Tykwer’s Special Gala out of competition selection The Light.

Exclusive: Cora Olson and Michael Diamond, a pair of well-respected industry vets, have joined management and production company Range as Partners, we can reveal.

The pair join from Mgmt Entertainment, where they co-ran the lit division, representing writers, creators, filmmakers and producers.

Olson also has a robust talent business and works with numerous multi-hyphenates, both behind and in front of the camera, and between them, the duo will continue to represent a top-flight list of clients. The list includes Dan Levy, co-creator and star of the record-breaking, Emmy-winning comedy Schitt’s Creek; Michael Sarnoski, writer-director of Neon’s critically acclaimed Pig and Paramount’s hit horror prequel A Quiet Place: Day One; Emmy-winning actress, director and producer Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer); French writer-director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (The Mustang); writer Chris Kekaniokalani Bright (Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch remake); Golden Globe-nominated actor and filmmaker Simon Helberg (Florence Foster Jenkins); writers Jeff Kaplan...

With no new bust-out limited releases, repertory continues to do its part for the specialty box office, the latest a 4k restoration of Nostalghia. Kino Lorber said the Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1983 film, which opened Wednesday, will gross an estimated $22.87k at Film Forum in NYC for the five days.

It’s currently the top performer at the theater and will take in more than all other films screening there combined over that period. Two additional shows at the Roxie in San Francisco and the Austin Film Society bring combined grosses to about $29.4k. Expands next week to Philadelphia and Montreal with additional markets coming later. The film about a Russian poet and his interpreter, who travel to Italy researching the life of an 18th-century composer, stars Oleg Yankovskiy, Andrei Gorchakov, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano and Patrizia Terreno.

Kino Lorber had success with the restored 4k re-release of Bernardo Bertolucci’s...

Golden Years, written by Petra Volpe and directed by Barbara Kulcsar, is an incredibly simple, comfortable piece of work. It concerns the plight of a long-married couple: Alice (Esther Gemsch) and Peter (Stefan Kurt). At Peter’s retirement party, their children gift them with a luxurious cruise vacation. Alice is looking forward to it. Peter is not. Then, all of a sudden, Alice’s best friend Magalie (Elvira Plüss) dies. Her husband Heinz (Ueli Jäggi), Peter’s best friend, is distraught. In a fit of sympathy (and perhaps selfishness) Peter invites Heinz to join them on the trip. Alice, of course, does not approve. It’s one of many budding fractures in a union that may break with more time spent together. Alice quickly realizes this cruise will not strengthen their marital bond. It will, in fact, do the opposite.

Despite the impending doubt, fear, and sadness that will surely come,...

BBC Making Sarah Everard Documentary

The BBC is making a documentary about the investigation into the tragic murder of Sarah Everard, which led to a major reckoning over misogyny and bad behavior in London’s Metropolitan police force. Sarah Everard: The Search For Justice looks into Everard’s murder, how the devastating crime unfolded and its impact. Everard was killed by a serving police officer, Wayne Couzens, who abducted her as she walked home in March 2021, and this became a watershed moment for the nation. There were mass protests against male violence towards women and the narrative of ‘one bad apple’ in the police force was destroyed. The force was placed in special measures and a major review of the Met Police found a culture of denial, widespread bullying, discrimination, institutional homophobia, misogyny and racism. BBC Studios is behind the single doc, which is being EP-d by Emily Lawson and Kirsty Cunningham.

Colombian director Laura Mora’s drama The Kings Of The World has clinched the Golden Eye for best feature film at the Zurich Film Festival.

The award follows hot on the heels of the film’s triumph at the San Sebastian Film Festival exactly a week ago, where it world premiered and then won the Golden Shell for best film.

The drama follows five street kids from Medellin who set off on a dangerous trip into the Colombian hinterland, after one of them is granted the right to a piece of land taken from his family by paramilitaries, during the country’s 52-year conflict which displaced more than five million people.

The Kings Of The World was produced by producer and director Cristina Gallego, whose credits include Birds Of Passage and the Oscar-nominated The Embrace Of The Serpent.

The film also previously screened to professionals as part of the TIFF...

Laura Mora’s “The Kings of the World” was named Best Film at the Zurich Film Festival Saturday.

The jury, led by Asghar Farhadi and featuring Clio Barnard, Daniel Dreifuss, Petra Volpe and Piodor Gustafsson, was taken with the coming-of-age drama about young friends living on the streets of Medellín, one that has triumphed at San Sebastian as well. Film Factory Entertainment handles sales.

“I am so happy the jury voted for it. I am convinced this film will stand the test of time,” artistic director Christian Jungen told Variety.

“It shows that film can be an art form, but it also provides social criticism on the situation in Colombia. Where poor, regular people can’t easily access their rights.”

Mora got the idea for the story while casting her feature debut “Killing Jesus,” she told Variety back in August.

“More than 90 boys we interviewed all shared a terrible feeling of exclusion,...

Asghar Farhadi will preside over the jury for the International Feature Film Competition at this year’s Zurich Film Festival.

Farhadi will judge the festival’s competition category alongside Swiss director Petra Volpe (The Divine Order) and producer Daniel Dreifuss (All Quiet on the Western Front).

The acclaimed producer Christine Vachon (Boys Don’t Cry) will head the festival’s Focus Competition sidebar. Vachon will be joined by Swiss filmmaker director Fred Baillif (The Fam), Austrian filmmaker Katharina Mückstein (L’animale), editor Maria Fantastica Valmori (Once More Unto the Breach), and Swiss journalist Roger Schawinski.

The festival’s Documentary Film Competition will be headed by Alexander Nanau, Atanas Georgiev, Joelle Bertossa, Nina Numankadić, and Sushmit Ghosh.

“We are delighted that the two-time Academy Award-winning Asghar Farhadi is returning to the Zff to preside over the Feature Film Competition jury,” Christian Jungen, artistic director of the Zurich Film Festival, said. “The producer...

Iran’s Asghar Farhadi, who directed the Oscar winners “A Separation” and “The Salesman,” U.S. producer Christine Vachon, whose credits includes Oscar winner “Boys Don’t Cry,” and Oscar nominees “Far from Heaven” and “Carol,” and Romania’s Alexander Nanau, the director of the Oscar nominated “Collective,” are among the jury members at the 18th edition of the Zurich Film Festival, which takes place from Sept. 22 to Oct. 2.

Farhadi will head the jury for the International Feature Film Competition. He is joined by the U.K.’s Clio Barnard, who directed the BAFTA nominated “The Arbor,” “The Selfish Giant” and “Ali & Ava”; L.A.-based Brazilian Daniel Dreifuss, a producer on the Oscar nominated “No” and “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Germany’s Oscar entry; Swiss/Italian screenwriter and director Petra Volpe, whose credits include Tribeca prizewinner “The Divine Order”; and Sweden’s Peter “Piodor” Gustafsson, the producer of Ali Abbassi’s “Border,...

UK’s Film & TV Charity Launches Cost-Of-Living Tools

The UK’s Film and TV Charity has launched a range of financial tools to help the sector with the impending cost-of-living crisis. Designed for freelancers who may experience less certainty with their income, and for those in employment who may also be experiencing significant pressures, the resources will provide advice and tips in the face of unprecedented financial uncertainty, according to the Charity, which has partnered with MoneyHelper. Tools include a Budget Planner, Bills Prioritiser and Savings Calculator. As with much of the rest of the world, the nation is preparing itself for a crisis, with gas bills skyrocketing and inflation still on the rise. Sky and ITV have already given staff bonuses and indie trade body Pact CEO John McVay has urged broadcasters to help producers with inflated budgets. “Our new financial tools aren’t a magic bullet to the cost-of-living crisis,...

Click here to read the full article.

Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi will head up the competition jury for the 2022 Zurich International Film Festival, judging this year’s winners of the Golden Eye honors. Farhadi will oversee the three-person jury, together with Swiss director Petra Volpe (The Divine Order) and producer Daniel Dreifuss (No, Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front), Swedish producer Peter Gustafsson (Border), and British director Clio Barnard (The Arbor, Dark River).

Acclaimed Killer Films’ producer Christine Vachon (Boys Don’t Cry, Far From Heaven, I’m Not There) will head up this year’s jury for Zurich’s Focus Competition sidebar. Swiss documentary director Fred Baillif (The Fam), Austrian filmmaker Katharina Mückstein (L’animale), film editor Maria Fantastica Valmori (Once More Unto the Breach) and Swiss journalist and media executive Roger Schawinski, will join Vachon on the Focus jury.

Romanian filmmaker Alexander Nanau, director of...

The filmmakers will head the Feature Film, Documentary and Focus categories.

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, US producer Christine Vachon and Romanian documentarian Alexander Nanau will head the juries of the 18th Zurich Film Festival, which runs from September 22 to October 2 this year.

Farhadi will lead the jury for the International Feature Film Competition, alongside UK filmmaker Clio Barnard, Swiss filmmaker Petra Volpe, Swedish producer Piodor Gustafsson and US producer Daniel Dreifuss.

Vachon presides over the Focus Competition jury, which is comprised of Swiss filmmaker Fred Baillif, Austrian filmmaker Katharina Muckstein, Italian editor Maria Fantastica Valmori and Swiss journalist Roger Schawinski.

The Zurich Film Festival has unveiled the first seven titles from its Gala Premieres section, a showcase of some of the year’s hottest auteur films. The films include the star-studded drama “The Banshees of Inisherin” by Oscar-winning director Martin McDonagh, the European premiere of the German film adaptation “All Quiet on the Western Front,” directed by Edward Berger, and the world premieres of Sönke Wortmann’s “Der Nachname” and “Die Goldenen Jahre” by Barbara Kulcsar.

Artistic director Christian Jungen said: “In recent years, the Zurich Film Festival has established itself as a springboard into the awards season. Of the last 10 winners of the Oscar for Best Film, six screened at the festival. This year, we will again present international auteur films that will later play a role in the Oscar race to the more than 120,000 visitors and the 600 accredited media.”

The complete program of the festival will be published on Sept.

Festival favourite to open in New York in November.

Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to Matt Wolf’s documentary and festival favourite Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project.

Andrew and Walter Kortschak of Los Angeles-based End Cue and Kyle Martin of Electric Chinoland developed and produced the documentary, which received its world premiere at Tribeca Film Festival and went on to screen at AFI Docs and Hot Docs.

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project centres on Marion Stokes, a radical recruited by the Communist Party, who became a wealthy reclusive archivist later in life and...

My Top Ten Oscar® Submissions for Best Foreign Language Film includes Darkest Horse: from Slovakia, ‘The Line’You know how, when you finally see a movie you really love, all things seem possible? How a great movie transports you to a new reality? Without that experience, normal life seems drab and dreary unless you use other means of transcendance, like hope, art, music, dancing, religion or drugs.

Have I yet raved about any of the 25 foreign language submissions?

Yes, but it was a long time ago when it won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, that I was so enamoured Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi’s Of Body and Soul (as I was with her previous film, the 1989 Cannes Film Festival Camera d’or winner, My Twentieth Century, which was seen by about a .02% of the population). But that was way back in February.

I would put my body...

By Jose Solís

I don’t remember exactly what horrible thing the new Us administration had announced it wanted to do the day I found myself walking into The Divine Order at the Tribeca Film Festival. I knew nothing about the movie and decided I’d give it ten minutes to capture my attention and help me escape whatever ghastly reality was shaping outside. I didn’t want to watch anything about war, genocide etcetera.

All I wanted was hope, and boy did Petra Volpe’s lovely film deliver...

Chicago – It is astounding to note that Switzerland did not have the vote for women until 1971. Writer/director Petra Volpe was also astounded at the ignorance of that history, so she set out to create a drama about the event. “The Divine Order” is set in a small Switzerland village, where the winds of change are coming.

“Order” features Marie Leuenberger and Maximilian Simonischek, portraying Nora and Hans, a couple whose marriage is at the crossroads. By happenstance, Nora is drawn into the Switzerland feminist movement in the early 1970s, against the dictate (the “divine order”) that states men are the absolute heads of the household, and are the only ones that can vote in the country. Nora’s journey represents the awakening of women in Switzerland, which brought a new equality. Writer/director Petra Volpe created a fictional village, with characters that symbolized the various factions both for and...

European Film Promotion highlights 28 European films for the 90th Academy AwardsPutting a spotlight on a record number of 28 European Oscar® entries, Efp (European Film Promotion) offers additional screenings of the films in L.A. for Academy members, journalists, U.S. distributors and international buyers. With the special support of the Efp member organizations, the event helps the productions to stand out among a record number of 92 submissions for the 90th Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

This year the Efp Screenings Of Oscar® Entries From Europe were held from November 2–15 at the state of the art Dick Clark Screening Room. The campaign is financially supported by the Creative Europe — Media Programme of the European Union and the participating Efp member organizations.

Many of the European Oscar submissions feature European Shooting Stars or were made by Efp-related filmmakers. Notably four films were realized by participants of this year’s edition...

Watching The Divine Order made me laugh and yet I know it was such a serious subject. To think that women not only could not vote in Switzerland until 1971, but “they were not allowed to open a bank account until 1988. They couldn’t sign contracts for an apartment. That’s one of the first things that women took on after the right to vote, they really said, we need to change marital law, ” Petra Volpe told me as we spoke over coffee at Alfred on Melrose Place today.

“You laugh because it’s so horrible,” says Volpe, “and you can also see at the moment how important comedy is in America because you derive some kind of solace from it…I love movies that make me cry and laugh at the same time and I think humor is a very powerful tool to seduce people to come to the cinema and to open their hearts.

At a time when the news cycle feels like a daily reminder of how bad things are, “The Divine Order” provides a welcome reminder that at the very least, they’re better than they used to be. With Switzerland’s selection for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, writer-director Petra Biondina Volpe skillfully balances the personal and political in a spirited, rousing chronicle of Switzerland’s women’s suffrage movement, filtered through the experiences of a handful of locals who are tired of being marginalized even — or maybe especially — in their small village. The year is 1971: Marie Leuenberger...

The opening transition from credits to film of Petra Biondina Volpe’s Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award-winning The Divine Order is absolute perfection. With Jo Jo Benson and Peggy Scott-Adams’ “Soulshake” playing atop images from America spanning women’s liberation, civil rights, Woodstock, and more, we begin to see the impact of political revolutions changing the very fabric of first world societies. And then with a record scratch we’re transported to a rural village in Switzerland at the exact same time: the quiet patriarchal status quo of men at work and women at home intact with seemingly no end approaching. The nation was one of the last developed democracies to grant women voting rights with some districts holding out until 1990. Volpe has captured that tenacious struggle.

She does it by creating a sleepy town of rigid conservatives. Think about those red states in America that were targeted by...

It’s hard to believe that up until 1971, “The Divine Order” was being invoked as the reason women did not have the right to vote in Switzerland. This sweetly moving demonstration of what can be accomplished with people band together (in this case, the women of a small village in Switzerland) is a joy to watch.Marie Leuenberger as Nora

“The more we push, the more the men do what they want,” Nora, played by Marie Leuenberger tells a pamphleteer encouraging approval of the referendum about to be voted upon granting women the right to vote in a very conservative Swiss village.

Nora is a young housewife and mother who lives with her husband, their two sons and her father-in-law in a little village. Here, in the Swiss countryside, little or nothing is felt of the huge social upheavals that the movement of May 1968 has caused. Nora’s life, too,...

"Sometimes you need luck as a director. We always think it's all about control and it is a lot about control when you direct a movie, but it's also about things that you can't foresee." There's a film now playing in theaters titled The Divine Order, from Swiss writer/director Petra Volpe. The film is Switzerland's entry in the Oscars this year and it's obvious why when you see it. This very entertaining, exciting, engaging film tells the story of a woman in a mountain town in Switzerland who rallies other women to join in the fight for the right to vote. Swiss women only passed a law in 1971. I had a chance to talk with writer & director Petra Volpe and I'm so happy I did - she's a joy to talk with and had much to say about making empowering films. I highly recommend seeking out The Divine Order...

Better than ever, now in its seventh year, the spectacular program with its filmmaking guests and a committed community of dedicated and intellectually alive filmgoers invigorates the mind and activist tendencies already in play.

Take for instance, University of Arizona Professor Noam Chomsky, one of the most influential public intellectuals in the world, speaking with Regents’ Professor Toni Massaro about social justice and the environment. Here he is, in person, being honored as every word he speaks is treated as a jewel. Considered the founder of modern linguistics, Chomsky has written more than 100 books, his most recent being Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power. An ardent free speech advocate, Chomsky has published and lectured widely on U.S. foreign policy, Mideast politics, terrorism, democratic society and war. Chomsky, who joined the UA faculty this fall, is a laureate professor in the Department of...

The Divine Order (Die Gottliche Ordnung) will screen at Plaza Frontenac Cinema (Lindbergh Blvd. and Clayton Rd, Frontenac, Mo 63131) as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival. Tickets for the Friday, November 3rd, screening at 8pm can be purchased Here, while tickets for the Saturday, November 4th, screening at 2:30pm can be purchased Here.

The Swiss film The Divine Order tells the tale of a group of ordinary Swiss women in a little village during Switzerland’s fight for women’s suffrage. The shocking part is this story takes place in early 1971, as Switzerland is gearing up for a February 1971 national referendum on giving women the vote. Yes, that is right, Swiss women were fighting for the right to vote as the rest of the Western world was immersed in Women’s Lib and the Sexual Revolution. It is a lot of catching up to do all at once.

Not only are we knee deep in the fall film season, but over the last handful of weeks we’ve seen an onslaught of legitimate Oscar contenders finally arrive in theaters, particularly of the foreign variety. As more and more nations not only make their submissions for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar known but see domestic distributors toss them into theaters, some genuinely surprising discoveries are seemingly cropping up with each new slate of releases.

Few more genuinely moving than the latest film from director Petra Volpe.

Entitled The Divine Order, Volpe’s new film is Switzerland’s Oscar submission, and is a real discovery for those willing to take a chance on a lesser talked about picture. An award winner from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival Divine introduces us to Nora, a housewife on the brink of upheaval. Frustrated endlessly by her overbearing and controlling husband, the...

These days, it would be difficult to deny the appeal of living in an idyllic mountain town where time stands still — the kind of place that’s easily forgotten by the outside world, and where the outside world is easily forgotten in turn. And yet, all the rustic beauty in the world can’t stop Nora (Marie Leuenberger) from feeling like she’s been left behind.

A modest housewife in the postcard-perfect Swiss canton of Appenzell, her days are spent feeding her boorish husband (Max Simonischek), spoiling their two sons, and cleaning up after her old-fashioned father-in-law, who really needs to find a better hiding spot for his porn magazines. The year is 1971, and Nora can feel the fires of change burning all around her, hear the whispers about women’s liberation that are carried up the hills on the wind, but that’s the thing about living in such...

The Divine Order (Die göttliche Ordnung) Zeitgeist Films Director: Petra Biondina Volpe Written by: Petra Biondina Volpe Cast: Marie Leuenberger, Maximilian Simonischek, Rachel Braunschweig, Sibylle Brunner, Marta Zoffoli Screened at:Critics’ link, NYC, 9/8/17 Opens: October 27, 2017 In my next life I’d like to be born in Switzerland. Every movie filmed there makes the country […]

The post The Divine Order Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

The final deadline for submitting each country’s film for consideration for the foreign-language Oscar was October 2. Last year 85 were finally deemed eligible by the Academy; this year the number is a record 92. Haiti, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal and Syria are first-time entrants. These films are vying for the initial shortlist of 9, and final five nominations to be announced on January 23. See the final list below.

Read More:Oscar Announces Changes for Foreign-Film Voting: Now Simpler! (Sort Of.)

The frontrunners include Sweden selected Ruben Östlund’s hilarious Palme d’Or-winner “The Square” (October 27, Magnolia Pictures), an art-world satire shot in majority Swedish with some English from stars Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, and Dominic West, thus giving Östlund another shot after “Force Majeure” was a surprise 2015 Oscar omission.

Germany’s choice, Fatih Akin’s “In the Fade” (December 27, Magnolia Pictures), won Best Actress for Diane Kruger at Cannes.

The final deadline for submitting each country’s film for consideration for the foreign-language Oscar was October 2. Last year 85 were finally deemed eligible by the Academy; this year the number is a record 92. Haiti, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal and Syria are first-time entrants. These films are vying for the initial shortlist of 9, and final five nominations to be announced on January 23. See the final list below.

Read More:Oscar Announces Changes for Foreign-Film Voting: Now Simpler! (Sort Of.)

The frontrunners include Sweden selected Ruben Östlund’s hilarious Palme d’Or-winner “The Square” (October 27, Magnolia Pictures), an art-world satire shot in majority Swedish with some English from stars Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, and Dominic West, thus giving Östlund another shot after “Force Majeure” was a surprise 2015 Oscar omission.

Germany’s choice, Fatih Akin’s “In the Fade” (December 27, Magnolia Pictures), won Best Actress for Diane Kruger at Cannes.

German Film in 2017 is alive and highly visible at film festivals such as Toronto, Venice, Cannes, Berlin and all the way to the Academy Awards. The best new German, Austrian, and Swiss Cinema will once again be celebrated at the American Cinematheque, during the 11th Annual German Currents Film FestivaL from Friday, October 13th — Monday, Oct 16th, 2017 at the historic Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

Over the past decade, German Currents has offered a unique insight into German speaking cinema, bringing diverse and thought-provoking narratives, and “must-watch” documentaries to Los Angeles. German Currents once again features an impressive line-up of new German cinema during the four day festival, including U.S. and L.A. premieres, documentaries and films for children and families.

German Currents 2017 begins with an opening night gala and red carpet with some of Germany’s brightest stars on Friday, Oct. 13th.

In addition to film screenings, German Currents...

Ruben Ostlund’s Palme d’Or winner The Square is Sweden’s choice to represent it in the race for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. This is Ostlund’s third time at the rodeo for the Scandinavian country; his Involuntary was in the running in 2009 and he made the shortlist with 2014’s Force Majeure — before being shockingly omitted from the nominations.

When the filmmaker did not get a nom in 2015, he released a video that included what he called a “worst man-cry.” Today, he said, “I had a terrible experience last time. Watch the YouTube clip ‘Swedish director freaks out when he misses out on Oscar nomination’ and you’ll see what I mean. I really hope it’s less painful this time round.”

The Square stars Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West. The...

It appears that Switzerland has made the first move on the Foreign Language Film chess board as it was revealed today that “The Divine Order” will be the nation’s official submission for the 90th Academy Awards. The Petra Volpe directed drama has been a big hit locally and earned critical kudos at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival where it won the Audience Narrative Award, the Nora Ephron Prize (Volpe) and Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature Film (Marie Leuenberger).

Continue reading The First 2018 Foreign Language Oscar Submission Goes To Switzerland And ‘The Divine Order’ at The Playlist.

As the fall festivals loom, countries around the world are lining up their potential foreign-language entries. Switzerland has already submitted women’s suffrage dramedy “The Divine Order” by Petra Volpe (“Heidi”) to vie for an Oscar at the 90th Academy Awards. Last years 85 countries submitted Oscar-qualifying films.

Set in the ’70s, the film about a Swiss young wife and mother who fights the patriarchy and starts campaigning for women’s suffrage and sexual liberation won the 2017 Swiss Film Award for Best Script, Best Actress (Marie Leuenberger), and Best Supporting Actress (Rachel Braunschweig). The feature went on to win three awards at Tribeca, including the International Narrative Film Audience, Nora Ephron Prize for writer-director Volpe, and Best Actress awards. This week, the film also garnered two more two prizes at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival.

Read More2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Foreign Language Film

TrustNordisk from Denmark has world rights to the “The Divine Order,...

As the fall festivals loom, countries around the world are lining up their potential foreign-language entries. Switzerland has already submitted women’s suffrage dramedy “The Divine Order” by Petra Volpe (“Heidi”) to vie for an Oscar at the 90th Academy Awards. Last years 85 countries submitted Oscar-qualifying films.

Set in the ’70s, the film about a Swiss young wife and mother who fights the patriarchy and starts campaigning for women’s suffrage and sexual liberation won the 2017 Swiss Film Award for Best Script, Best Actress (Marie Leuenberger), and Best Supporting Actress (Rachel Braunschweig). The feature went on to win three awards at Tribeca, including the International Narrative Film Audience, Nora Ephron Prize for writer-director Volpe, and Best Actress awards. This week, the film also garnered two more two prizes at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival.

Read More2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Foreign Language Film

TrustNordisk from Denmark has world rights to the “The Divine Order,...