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Isabella Torre is at Venice with her first feature “Basileia.” The film follows an archaeologist who, while exploring a tomb containing an ancient treasure in Southern Italy’s rugged Aspromonte mountains, unleashes mythical nymphs.

The dark fairytale – which is closing the fest’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori, also known as Venice Days – was developed at the Sundance Lab. It is produced by Torre’s partner, director Jonas Carpignano (“A Chiara”) and sold by Luxbox. “Basileia” is an expansion of Torre’s short “Nymphs,” which premiered at Venice Horizons in 2018. The film’s cast comprises Angela Fontana (“Indivisibili”) and Danish-American actor Elliott Crosset Hove (“Godland”).

Below, Torre and Carpignano speak to Variety about venturing into the non-conventional genre space with a tale that mixes mythology and present-day reality.

How did the story of “Basilea” germinate?

Torre: It’s all because of Aspromonte, which is not just a location — it became...

Screen can unveil the first trailer for Isabella Torre’s debut feature Basileia, set to world premiere out of competition as Venice Days’ closing film on September 6.

The Italian fantasy drama follows an archaeologist and his assistants searching for an ancient treasure whose digging unleashes mythological creatures that shake up the lives of the inhabitants of a remote village forever.

Cast includes Godland star Elliott Crosset Hove, Angela Fontana, and Koudous Seihon.

Shot on location in Calabria, Basileia is an adaptation of Torre’s short Nymphs which premiered in Venice Horizons 2018.

The film is produced by Jonas and Paolo Carpignano...

Swiss director Simon Jaquemet – fresh off the world premiere of “Electric Child” at Locarno – is considering an adaptation of “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” by U.S. science fiction writer Ted Chiang. His “Story of Your Life” already inspired Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival.”

“It’s very clever and complex,” Jaquemet said about the novella, published in 2010, which could serve as an inspiration for his future work. He is also thinking about a move into series, one that would take place after events shown in “Electric Child,” albeit still within the same universe.

“The story could take place after some catastrophic AI event. With series, you have more time – you can make it more complex. Some shows are even more daring than films [these days],” he stated.

In the meantime, Jaquemet is bound to provoke heated discussions with his new film, “Electric Child.” Echoing many AI-related conversations taking place at the festival, he...

New York-based Visit Films has acquired worldwide sales rights, excluding German-speaking Europe, Benelux and the Philippines, to “Electric Child” from Swiss writer-director Simon Jaquemet. The film will world premiere Friday at Locarno Film Festival in competition in the Piazza Grande outdoor theater. Variety has been given exclusive access to the first-look clip (below).

“Electric Child” tells the story of a father’s desperate attempt to help his newborn son by going far outside moral norms and into dangerously uncharted territory when he appropriates and reengineers a high-level, superpower AI simulation at his work.

“I aimed to depict human vulnerability against the backdrop of advanced technology,” Jaquemet said. “The goal was to immerse the audience in my main character Sonny’s journey, intertwining it with the unpredictable power of AI, creating a visually and emotionally compelling experience.”

Visit’s president Ryan Kampe said: “Humanity should be both excited and worried about...

Films directed by women dominate the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Giornate Degli Autori, which has unveiled a lineup full of first works and special events including “Peaches Goes Bananas,” French filmmaker Marie Losier’s tribute to iconic Canadian electropop provocateur Peaches.

Shot over the course of 17 years, “Peaches Goes Bananas” provides an intimate portrait of the former schoolteacher, who during the 1980s moved from Canada to Berlin and became a queer feminist icon, breaking taboos and “transforming her body into art,” as the doc’s synopsis puts it.

The competition of the Giornate – which is also known as Venice Days – comprises 10 world premieres, six of which are first works, within a selection that artistic director Gaia Furrer described in her notes as “rigorous” and “stylistically eclectic.”

Furer underlined that 16 out of the section’s 25 titles are directed by women, a fact she called significant “because many of them...

Paris-based sales outfit Luxbox has boarded international sales for Isabella Torre’s debut feature Basileia, produced by Jonas Carpignano.

The Italian fantasy drama is set in southern Italy and follows an archaeologist team whose latest dig accidentally unleashes mythical creatures. It is an adaptation of Torre’s debut feature Nymphs which premiered in Venice Horizons 2018.

Godland star Elliott Crosset Hove leads the cast with Angela Fontana, Koudous Seihon, Marco Raco, Ilaria Caffio and Ylenia Romano.

Carpignano produces Basileia through his outfit Stayback Productions while co-producers are Film I Väst, Snowglobe and Rai Cinema.

Torre’s second short Full Moon...

Why do we watch movies? We watch movies to entertain us, educate us, and take us to places we can never imagine especially if these places are in the past. Godland is the new film by Director Hlynur Pálmason and it explores the connection between people, their faiths, and the land they live in during the late nineteenth century. The film is presented in the 4:3 aspect ratio which is interesting as it brings the characters and the landscape closer to the audience. It forces the audience to pay attention as everything is happening in the middle of the screen but also makes them think as to what is happening outside of this 4:3 frame. Godland is a study of man’s beliefs and it shows how the staunchest of believers also succumb to transgressions when everything around them changes. The mesmerizing Icelandic landscape serves as an unforgiving character that...

This majestic tale about a Danish priest’s mission to build a parish on the Icelandic coast is a powerful reminder of man’s relationship with nature

• More on the best films of 2023

• More on the best culture of 2023

Like The Eight Mountains (No 11 on this year’s UK list/No 12 on the US list), Godland is predicated on the construction of a haven in the wilderness – this time, a church on the 19th-century Icelandic coast. Unlike its spiritual sibling in the 2023 film lineup, though, nature is no comfort here, rather an Old Testament-like chastisement in waiting for man’s ambition and hubris. There’s a lot more frightening Herzogian immensity and admonishment here than home-on-the-range John Ford cosiness and sentiment. Nor does director Hlynur Pálmason let himself off the hook: given Lucas, the Danish priest missioned to build a parish, is a photographer, then art’s worth in...

Our year-end coverage continues with a look at the best performances of 2023. Rather than divide categories into supporting or lead or by gender, we’ve written about our 35 favorites, period. Find our countdown below and start watching the ones you’ve missed here and here.

35. The Cast of How to Blow Up a Pipeline

The hallmark of a great ensemble is one where each player feels precisely in-tune with the tone and goal of the film, willing to shine in their moment while sharing the spotlight. Perhaps the most even-handed, harmonious example this year is with Daniel Goldhaber’s nail-biting eco-thriller How to Blow Up a Pipeline. Featuring Ariela Barer (also co-writer), Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary, and Irene Bedard, it’s a feat of perfect casting, each performance feeling lived-in and an essential piece to the heist puzzle. – Jordan R....

Exclusive: Black Bear’s management arm has signed the Swedish actor and model Simon Lööf for representation.

Lööf is currently on set in the lead role of Netflix’s Swedish thriller An Honest Life, directed by Mikael Marcimain, which is due to be released globally 2024.

Based on a thriller by Joakim Zander of the same name, the buzzed about production revolves around a disillusioned law school student who finds himself on the wrong side of the law, when he falls under the thrall of an anarchic, young woman he meets a political demonstration.

Simon Lööf made his acting debut in 2020 in teen ice hockey drama Eagles, which he followed with a co-starring role in the critically acclaimed Swedish series Threesome opposite Matilda Källström.

Aside from An Honest Life, Lööf’s will soon be seen in the series So Long, Marianne about the relationship between...

The film was a standout title from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard line-up in 2022.

Hlynur Palmason’s Cannes Un Certain Regard 2022 standout Godland will be the Icelandic contender in the 2024 Oscar race for best international feature.

The film also played at Telluride and Toronto 2022. In the US, Janus Films handled the theatrical release in early 2023, followed by a Criterion Channel streaming premiere.

Godland is produced by Katrin Pors, Eva Jakobsen and Mikkel Jersin of Denmark’s Snowglobe and Anton Máni Svansson of Iceland’s Join Motion Pictures. The companies previously collaborated on A White, White Day (also Iceland’s Oscar submission...

Exclusive: Black Bear, the production, management and financing company founded by Teddy Schwarzman, on Thursday announced its signing of Simona Tabasco, one of the breakout Italian stars of The White Lotus‘ second season.

The news follows the firm’s introduction to Tabasco as the producer of Immaculate, a forthcoming psychological horror film in which she stars opposite fellow White Lotus alum Sydney Sweeney.

In the Sicily-set second installment of Mike White’s HBO satire The White Lotus, examining the dynamics between employees and guests at luxury hotels around the world, Tabasco starred alongside Adam Dimarco, Michael Imperioli, Beatrice Grannò, Theo James and more. The 10x Emmy-winning series had her playing the role of Lucia Greco, a prostitute enjoying the high life alongside aspiring chanteuse Mia (Grannò), as she builds her business on the grounds of The White Lotus Sicily. For her performance, the actress was recognized with an Emmy nom...

Exclusive: Black Bear’s management arm has signed Danish-American actor Elliott Crosset Hove for representation.

Hove is best known for the well-received Danish/Icelandic feature Godland, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

His lauded performance in the picture earned him Best Male Actor at Denmark’s 2023 Bodil Awards, as well as a Best Actor nomination at the European Film Awards.

Hove’s previous feature roles include Rasmus Heisterberg’s 2016 feature film In the Blood, for which Hove was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Bodil Awards, and Hlynur Pálmason’s Winter Brothers, which won him a Danish Robert Award and Best Actor at the Locarno Film Festival. He has also appeared in Journal 64, Before the Frost, Parents and Wildland.

Most recently, Hove starred in Katrine Brocks’ The Great Silence and Simon Jaquemet’s Electric Child, which is currently in post-production, alongside Rila Fukushima.

The slowly unravelling Lutheran pastor in Godland joins a colourful procession of men of the cloth on film, from all-singing, Oscar-winning Bing Crosby to Robert Mitchum’s psycho killer in Night of the Hunter

Lucas, the wayfaring Lutheran priest at the centre of the extraordinary Godland, is having a rough time of it. Far from his native Denmark, and charged with building a new parish in the hostile wilds of Iceland, he’s losing his faith and his mind at an equal pace. But that’s par for the course in films about his kind. Few vocations get a worse rap on screen than the man of God, whether it’s forbidden desires or invading demons disrupting his regular business. Played with slowly unravelling composure by a marvellous Elliott Crosset Hove, Lucas isn’t as dark-souled as some of his cinematic brethren, but he rather overestimates his own spiritual strength.

This week’s streaming releases bring a heavy hitter in the form of a perennial Oscar contender who has been severely under-recognized over the years. Her new movie is a must-see that’s well worth the premium VOD price.

The contender to watch this week: “You Hurt My Feelings“

Nicole Holofcener should have several Best Original Screenplay nominations by now — for “Walking and Talking” and “Enough Said” in particular. She shared an adapted-screenplay nom with Jeff Whitty for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” but “You Hurt My Feelings” gives Holofcener another shot at her first solo recognition. It stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a novelist whose mild personal crises balloon when she overhears her husband (Tobias Menzies) saying he dislikes her new book. It’s a wise, funny, humanistic gem, like all of Holofcener’s work, and it features a euphorically good performance from Louis-Dreyfus. Rent it on VOD.

Other contenders:...

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

Armageddon Time (James Gray)

Armageddon Time is the sort of film usually invoked as a “portrait of the nation” or “state of the union address,” something taking the temperature of a country—most likely the United States—at a particular time in history. But it’s also a work that makes self-consciousness a virtue: its wonderful writer-director, James Gray, is informed up to his eyes about the virtues and pitfalls of films like these, and here makes something so idiosyncratically his own but that audiences and critics might still mislabel with one of those aforementioned ideas. – David K. (full review)

Where to Stream: Prime Video

Godland (Hlynur Pálmason)

Featuring onscreen text explaining how the film was inspired by left-behind photos taken by...

As we approach 2023’s halfway point it’s time to take a temperature of the finest cinema thus far: we’ve rounded up our favorites from the first six months of this year, many of which have flown under the radar. Kindly note that this is based solely on U.S. theatrical and digital releases from 2023.

We should also note a number of stellar films that premiered on the festival circuit last year also had an awards-qualifying run, thus making them 2022 films by our standards––including One Fine Morning, Saint Omer, and Return to Seoul. Check out our picks below, as organized alphabetically, followed by honorable mentions.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (Kelly Fremon Craig)

Like Judy Blume’s treasured young adult classic, Kelly Fremon Craig’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret begins in 1970 with 11-year-old Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) getting the worst news any...

The European Film Academy (Efa) has unveiled 462 film professionals as new members in an announcement timed to coincide with Europe Day on May 9.

The new arrivals will be eligible to vote in the academy’s European Film Awards, the region’s equivalent to the Academy Awards, as well as contribute to its other initiatives across the year.

The Efa said a record number of professionals had accepted to join the organization this year, adding that 50% were female, 49%, were male, and 1% defined as non-binary.

The bigger intake comes amid a drive to revamp the academy which recently announced it would be moving the Efa ceremony to January in 2026, from its traditional December slot, to make it more relevant in the annual film awards season culminating with the Oscars.

The Efa currently now counts 4,600 members based in 52 countries.

The new members mainly hailed from Germany (68), France (38), Switzerland (37), Poland (36), Italy (33), Spain (24), UK (28) and...

On a perilous quest to build a church in the wilds of Iceland, a zealous young Danish priest’s faith starts to crack in this striking historical epic

“It’s terribly beautiful,” says a troubled Danish priest in this 19th-century questing tale from Icelandic writer-director Hlynur Pálmason, whose previous film A White, White Day was his country’s official submission for the 92nd Academy Awards. “Yes, it’s terrible,” comes the reply, “… and beautiful.” It’s a subtle distinction, but one that lies at the heart of Pálmason’s quietly soul-shaking and wryly satirical epic, a cinematic tone poem that the film-maker describes as being “about inner and outer conflicts”, about miscommunication, and “a journey into ambition, love and faith, and the fear of God”.

Elliott Crosset Hove plays an ambitious and zealous young Lutheran priest, Lucas, who is tasked by his superiors with travelling from Denmark to the remote...

Swiss auteur Simon Jaquemet’s “Electric Child” joins Ukrainian sci-fi comedy “U Are the Universe,” and “We Are Zombies,” from heavily rated Canadian trio Rkss, as three potential highlights at this year’s Cannes Marché du Film’s Frontières Platform, organized with the Fantasia Film Festival.

Focusing on genre, the Frontières showcase is emerging as one of the Marché du Film’s biggest market plays, supercharged by this year’s milestone Oscar triumph of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” smart genre’s popularity among an emerging generation of filmmakers and its rising tide as one of the most resilient of independent movie market propositions.

For Rkss, it’s a return, having had great success with their previous “Turbo Kid,” which went on to Sundance, and won a bunch including at SXSW and Fright Fest.

“U Are the Universe,” deserves a special mention, given the sheer challenge of completing a project...

It’s been an interesting year for cinema thus far, and that won’t be slowing down in April.

There’s Leonor Will Never Die (7 April) – a meta love letter to Filipino cinema, led by the marvellous Sheila Francisco – and also Lola (7 April), a Second World War time travel drama whose low budget shows that you can do impressive things with very little. Albert Serra’s Pacifiction (21 April) is an intoxicating descent into danger and, as with the Spanish filmmaker’s previous films, it may be divisive, but demands to be seen – even if just to form your own opinion.

Ben Affleck directs and stars in Air (7 April), which follows Nike’s revolutionary partnership with a young Michael Jordan. Affleck’s receiving some of the best reviews of his career for the film. Meanwhile, grisly horror Evil Dead Rise (21 April) has generated word-of-mouth hype since its premiere at South by Southwest.

Exclusive: Swiss filmmaker Simon Jaquemet returns to feature filmmaking with the forthcoming Electric Child. Today, Deadline can share a first look at the pic featuring Danish-American actor Elliott Crosset Hove.

Hove was one of last year’s breakout performers for his work in the buzzy festival pic Godland. He picked up a European Film Award nomination for his role in the period epic, which debuted at Cannes.

In Electric Child, Hove stars opposite Rila Fukushima (Annette), Sandra Guldberg Kampp (Wildland), João Nunes Monteiro (Mosquito), and Helen Schneider (Eddie and the Cruisers).

Production on the pic took place in Switzerland, Germany, the Philippines, and Portugal. Ascot Elite will distribute in Switzerland. Port au Prince has taken Germany, and Cherry Pickers will distribute in the Netherlands. The film is currently in post. Producers are aiming for an early 2024 release.

The film’s full synopsis reads: When his newborn son is threatened by a rare disease,...

Hlynur Pálmason’s working methods push against traditional notions of filmmaking in almost every regard. He lives in a remote Icelandic village with his family. He prioritizes time in his writing, sharing new drafts with his collaborators over the course of many years. He lensed the beautiful time-lapse photography in his latest feature, Godland, himself with a film camera that he kept in his car. His films are shot chronologically and the edit is a slow process that only involves watching the film a few times. This is all in service of cultivating an environment where ideas and threads can emerge naturally, something Pálmason recognizes can only occur with time.

Godland reunites actors Elliott Crosset Hove and Ingvar Sigurðsson who previously starred in Pálmason’s 2014 student short “A Painter.” From there they traded turns as his starring men, first Hove in 2017’s Winter Brothers and then Sigurðsson in 2019’s A White, White Day.

Elliott Crosset Hove is a true rising star in the Danish film world. The remarkable new film Godland, his third collaboration with Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason, just landed him a European Film Award nomination for Best Actor. On this episode, he walks us through his extensive preparation “check list” which he uses to stimulate his unconscious mind and build a defense system to combat doubt. He talks about how the stunning but grueling environment where they shot Godland helped him stay in the moment, his method for approaching a character from another time period, and much more. Back To One […]

The post “… I Just Had to Open My Eyes and Everything Was there”: Godland Star Elliott Crosset Hove first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Elliott Crosset Hove is a true rising star in the Danish film world. The remarkable new film Godland, his third collaboration with Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason, just landed him a European Film Award nomination for Best Actor. On this episode, he walks us through his extensive preparation “check list” which he uses to stimulate his unconscious mind and build a defense system to combat doubt. He talks about how the stunning but grueling environment where they shot Godland helped him stay in the moment, his method for approaching a character from another time period, and much more. Back To One […]

The post “… I Just Had to Open My Eyes and Everything Was there”: Godland Star Elliott Crosset Hove first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Filled with the brutal wonder of nature – both topographical and psychological – Hlynur Pálmason’s impressive period drama “Godland” drops us into the harshly beautiful terrain of Iceland for an austerely mesmerizing tale of mad conceit and errant conquest in the late nineteenth century. A sumptuous travelogue it is not; a visually stunning, soul-clenching examination of the curious push/pull between humans and the environment it most certainly is.

With its landscape of volcanos, lowlands, and ice, and hubristic treks marked by doomed clashes and solemn grace, “Godland” – its majestic Academy-ratio cinematography ideally maximized if seen in a theater – is the kind of bold work about which one could imagine Werner Herzog, upon viewing, feeling very seen. And yet with his third feature, Pálmason’s stylized mix of viscerality and mystery is decidedly his own, heralding a talent fully aware of how to achieve ambitious storytelling with memorable execution.

Our protagonist...

The life and work of writer-director Hlynur Pálmason seems suspended in a liminal space between his homeland of Iceland and the neighboring Scandinavian nation of Denmark, where he studied filmmaking and has now raised a family. And nowhere is that interstitial status more evidently reflected than in his third and finest feature yet, “Godland,” about the arrogance of mankind in the face of nature’s unforgiving prowess, the inherent failures of colonial enterprises, and how these factors configure the cultural identities of individuals.

As in Pálmason’s previous studies of seemingly mild-mannered male characters on the brink of a violent outburst, “Winter Brothers” and “A White, White Day,” his latest maps the mental and physical decay of Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove), a 19th century Danish priest of the Lutheran faith tasked with overseeing the construction of a church in a remote corner of Iceland, at the time still a territory...

"I'm well aware that at times your task will seem… monumental." Janus Films has revealed a new official US trailer for the Icelandic film titled Godland, made by acclaimed Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason. This initially premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival last year playing in Un Certain Regard, and it also played at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival (where I eventually saw it and reviewed). It's a stunning, slow burn, mesmerizing film about how nature is God and how this young priest struggles to survive. In the late 19th century, a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and try to photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, the mission, and morality. The film stars Elliott Crosset Hove, Ingvar Sigurðsson, Vic Carmen Sonne, Jacob Hauberg Lohmann, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Waage Sandø,...

It’s the late 19th century, and a young Danish priest is traveling to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people — yet the deeper he journeys into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, his mission, and morality.

“Godland” is written and directed by Hlynur Pálmason, the filmmaker behind “A White, White Day” and “Winter Brothers.” Janus Films is releasing the acclaimed Icelandic feature on February 3 in New York and February 10 in Los Angeles, and IndieWire is sharing the exclusive trailer below.

“Godland” stars Elliott Crosset Hove, Ingvar Sigurðsson, Vic Carmen Sonne, Jacob Hauberg Lohmann, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Waage Sandø, and Hilmar Guðjónsson. Crosset Hove stars as Lucas, a Lutheran priest sent from Denmark to Iceland to watch over the establishment of a new parish church, but his faith is challenged by the harshness of life in rural Iceland, including the fact that,...

We don’t want to overwhelm you, but while you’re catching up with our top 50 films of 2022, more cinematic greatness awaits in 2023. Ahead of our 100 most-anticipated films (all of which have yet to premiere), we’re highlighting 30 titles we’ve enjoyed on the festival circuit this last year that either have confirmed 2023 release dates or await a debut date from its distributor. There’s also a handful of films seeking distribution that we hope will arrive in the next 12 months, as can be seen here.

As an additional note, a number of 2022 films that had one-week qualifying runs will also get expanded releases in 2023, including Saint Omer (Jan. 13), Close (Jan. 20), One Fine Morning (Jan. 27), and Return to Seoul (Feb. 17).

Alcarràs (Carla Simón; Jan. 6)

Big agriculture and a renewable energy company (of all people) threaten the livelihood of a Catalonian peach farming family in Alcarràs, Carla Simón’s latest sunny...

Ruben Östlund’s latest satire, Triangle of Sadness, dominated the European Film Awards with four wins, including Best Film, the evening’s top prize.

Östlund also picked up the Best Screenplay and Best Director Awards for his work on the film, and Zlatko Burić nabbed Best Actor for his leading role.

The film, which picked up this year’s Palme d’Or, follows Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), a celebrity model couple who are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged boat captain (Woody Harrelson). What first appeared Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island and fighting to stay alive.

In other top prizes, Vicky Krieps won the Best Actress award for the well-received period drama Corsage, and the Javier Bardem starrer, The Good Boss, won Best Comedy.

The awards ceremony, overseen by the European Film Academy, took place...

It’s a big weekend for awards watchers, with the Los Angeles Film Critics Association set to announce its annual film awards throughout the day on Sunday. But Americans aren’t the only ones having fun. The European Film Awards, which honor the best European-produced films of 2022, took place on Saturday at the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavík, Iceland. The awards are voted on by the European Film Academy, which currently has over 4,400 voting members.

The nominees were heavy on festival favorites, including Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning “Triangle of Sadness” and other Cannes hits like Lukas Dhont’s “Close” and Ali Abbasi’s “Holy Spider.” Those films led the pack with four nominations a piece, though Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage” is close behind with three nominations of its own. With several of those films trying to sneak into the Oscar conversation, Europe’s biggest award show is an...

The 35th European Film Awards are underway at the Harpa concert hall in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík. The awards have been voted on by the 4,400 members of the European Film Academy. (Watch the ceremony here.)

“Close,” “Holy Spider” and “Triangle of Sadness” lead the nominations tally, with four apiece, followed by “Corsage” with three.

Icelandic actor, screenwriter and politician Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir and Icelandic artist, author and stand-up comedian Hugleikur Dagsson are the masters of ceremony at the event, which is being attended by around 1,200 guests.

Presenters during the evening include Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Bulgarian actor Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), Italian actor Lorenzo Zurzolo (“Eo”), Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur, German actor Nina Hoss, French-Algerian actor Dali Benssalah and German actor Albrecht Schuch.

Honorees include directors Marco Bellocchio, who will receive the award for European innovative storytelling, Elia Suleiman, the European achievement in world cinema award-winner, and Margarethe von Trotta,...

Vicky Krieps was also a winner as best European actress for Corsage.

Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy Triangle Of Sadness was the big winner at the 2022 European Film Awards (EFAs), which took place today (December 10) in Reykjavík.

Scroll down for winners

The class warfare comedy won best European film, director, screenwriter and actor, for Zlatko Burić.

Vicky Krieps was also a winner as best European actress for Corsage.

Mantas Kvedaravičius’ Mariupolis 2 won the European documentary prize, whilst Alain Ughetto’s No Dogs Or Italians Allowed picked up the animated feature award.

Fernando León de Aranoa’s The Good Boss,...

The Efa ceremony is taking place December 10 at the Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavík.

The 2022 European Film Awards (EFAs) ceremony is taking place today (December 10) at 19.15 GMT in Reykjavík.

Scroll down for winners

Screen will be posting the winners on this page as they are announced during the live ceremony (refresh the page for latest updates). The ceremony kicks off at 19.15 GMT.

Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy Triangle Of Sadness is among the five titles up for the European film award, and is also competing in the director, actor (for Zlatko Burić) and screenwriter (Ostlund) categories.

Lukas Dhont’s...

The 35th European Film Awards have officially unveiled this year’s nominations.

Lukas Dhont’s queer coming-of-age drama “Close,” Ali Abbasi’s serial-killer thriller “Holy Spider,” and Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning “Triangle of Sadness” lead the 2022 nominations, with each film garnering nods in top categories: Best European Film, Best Director, and Screenwriter.

Marie Kreutzer’s “Corsage” lands three nominations, including Best Actress for Vicky Krieps. “Alcarràs” has two nominations, while Venice Golden Lion winner “Saint Omer” picked up one nod for Best European Director for Alice Diop.

The European Film Academy hosts the award ceremony on December 10 in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík.

German director Margarethe von Trotta will be honored with the European Lifetime Achievement award, and Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman is set to be celebrated with the European Achievement in World Cinema Award. Italian director Marco Bellocchio will receive the Award for European Innovative Storytelling for the limited series “Exterior Night.

“Triangle of Sadness,” directed by Ruben Östlund, and “Holy Spider,” directed by Ali Abbasi, lead the European Film Awards nominations in major categories, alongside “Close,” directed by Lukas Dhont.

“Triangle of Sadness,” “Holy Spider,” “Alcarràs,” “Close” and “Corsage” vie for best European film.

Those contesting for best director are Dhont for “Close,” Marie Kreutzer for “Corsage,” Jerzy Skolimowski for “Eo,” Abbasi for “Holy Spider,” Alice Diop for “Saint Omer” and Östlund for “Triangle of Sadness.”

Nominated for European Screenwriter are “Alcarràs” scribes Carla Simón and Arnau Vilaró, Kenneth Branagh for “Belfast,” Dhont and Angelo Tijssens for “Close,” Abbasi and Afshin Kamran Bahrami for “Holy Spider,” and Östlund for “Triangle of Sadness.”

European Actress nominees are Vicky Krieps in “Corsage,” Zar Amir Ebrahimi in “Holy Spider,” Léa Seydoux in “One Fine Morning,” Penélope Cruz for “Parallel Mothers” and Meltem Kaptan in “Rabiye Kurnaz Vs.

Click here to read the full article.

Lukas Dhont’s Belgian coming-of-age drama Close, Ali Abbasi’s Persian-language crime thriller Holy Spider and Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s satirical black comedy Triangle of Sadness, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, are topping the nominations for the 2022 European Film Awards (EFAs), unveiled Tuesday.

Each of the acclaimed titles, which also happen to be Oscar contenders for the 2023 Academy Awards in the best international feature category, received Efa nominations for best European film, best director, best screenwriter and an acting category apiece.

Also in the running for the Efa for best European film are Alcarràs from Spain’s Carla Simón and Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s period drama Corsage.

The European honors are often viewed as a bellwether for the Oscars. Although last year’s Efa’s weren’t a particularly strong Oscars predictor, Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World...

Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont’s Close, Danish director Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider and Swedish director Ruben Ôstlund’s Triangle Of Sadness lead the nominations for the 35th European Film Awards, which were unveiled today.

The films have each made it into four categories including best European Film, Best Director and Screenwriter.

All three films debuted at Cannes this year, where Triangle Of Sadness clinched the Palme d’Or; Close, the Grand Prize (in ex-aequo with Claire Denis’s Stars At Noon); and Holy Spider, best actress for Zar Amir-Ebrahimi.

Close and Holy Spider are also the entries for their respective countries of Belgium and Denmark in the Academy Awards Best International Film category this year.

Further hot contenders include Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, with three nominations, including best actress for Vicky Krieps, and Berlinale Berlinale Golden Lion Alcarràs with two nominations. Venice 2022 Grand Jury and best first...

’Alcarràs,’ ’Close,’ ’Corsage,’ ‘Holy Spider’ and ‘Triangle of Sadness’ shortlisted for European Film prize.

The European Film Academy has announced the nominees for the main categories of the European Film Awards, which takes place on December 10 in Reykjavík and will celebrate the best of European Film culture.

The five shortlisted films for the European Film award all have festival pedigree.

Swedish director Ruben Ostlund’s class warfare comedy Triangle of Sadness, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, is shortlisted, and is also nominated in three other categories: European director, European actor (for Zlatko Burić) and European...

After several acclaimed shorts, Katrine Brocks’ feature film debut “The Great Silence” (“Den Store Stilhed”) is set to premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival in competition at the New Directors strand.

The film follows Alma who is about to take her vows as a nun in a Catholic convent, when her estranged brother Erik arrives. His presence unearths a tragedy from their past and with the ceremony approaching, Alma is increasingly haunted by resurfacing trauma.

The cast includes Kristine Kujath Thorp (“Ninjababy”), Elliott Crosset Hove (“Godland”) and Karen-Lise Mynster (“C4”).

The film’s central themes stem from Brocks’ upbringing in a Christian community, where Jesus was the ultimate role model.

“With ‘The Great Silence’ I want to explore the existential struggle between the flawed and the flawless, the saint and the sinner and the basic human instinct to hide our ugliest, darkest sides away. Clinging to the light in...

Featuring onscreen text explaining how the film was inspired by left-behind photos taken by a Danish priest while visiting Iceland in the late 1800s (as opposed to how it was actually suburban American child Andy’s favorite movie in 1995), Godland takes on the heavy weight of a historical object. But though this is really a film fighting a battle between formalism and compelling dramaturgy, the questions it asks will actually be much simpler.

Our stand-in for the unnamed priest of historical record is the young Lutheran Lucas (Elliot Crosset Hove), assigned to help build a church in rural Iceland by his rather bored-looking superior in the ministry. Yet this is no easy task: Iceland is wild country and Lucas’ trek will take him into the so-to-speak heart of darkness.

Frankly, this writer was expecting Godland to be a slightly tougher sit, but the surprising brevity of its first third carried interest for a long time.

Janus Films has acquired North American rights for Hlynur Pálmason’s “Godland,” which bowed at Cannes and is bound for Telluride and Toronto.

The film follows a young Danish priest in the late 19th century who travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, the mission and morality.

It stars Elliott Crosset Hove (“Winter Brothers”), Ingvar Sigurðsson, Vic Carmen Sonne (“Holiday”), Jacob Hauberg Lohmann (“Shorta”), Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Waage Sandø “The Team”) and Hilmar Guðjónsson (“Sóttkví”).

Janus Films plans a theatrical release to be followed by a Criterion Channel streaming premiere.

The film is is produced by Katrin Pors, Anton Máni Svansson, Eva Jakobsen and Mikkel Jersin. Production entities include Snowglobe (Dk) in collaboration with Join Motion Pictures (Is) and in co-production with Maneki Films (Fr), Film I Väst...

Iceland-set period drama premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard.

Janus Films has acquired North American rights to Hlynur Pálmason’s Cannes Un Certain Regard premiere Godland ahead of screenings at Telluride and TIFF.

‘Godland’: Cannes Review

The story centres on a late 19th century Danish priest who travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, the mission and morality.

Elliott Crosset Hove, Ingvar Sigurðsson, Vic Carmen Sonne, Jacob Hauberg Lohmann, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Waage Sandø and Hilmar Guðjónsson star.

Every so often there comes along a film so impressively monumental that you feel it’s already a classic piece of cinema. Be it its religious-cum-historical theme or its awe-inducing 35mm shots, there is an aura of timelessness that surrounds the perfectly titled Godland. Precise and slow, Hlynur Pálmason’s tale of doubt-stricken faith rolls out as if it were an essential story, lifted straight from the literary canon of the 19th century that it is set in.

A young Danish priest is sent out as a civilising missionary to build a church in Iceland, which provides fertile ground for a clash between nationalities and cultures. There is a stroke of colonial arrogance in the way the priest behaves, often aimed at his Icelandic companions on the journey, particularly at his stern head-guide, Ragnar (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson). Smouldering tensions add up as they move through valleys and...

Lucas’ bishop warns him of the dangers before he sets out to minister to a remote community of Icelanders in Cannes Un Certain Regard title Godland. “It’s easy to go mad there,” he explains at his Copenhagen dining table, steadily chewing his way through the fabulous feast in front of him. Iceland, where the sun never sets on summer nights, where the weather is extreme, the landscape broodingly monumental: just remember the apostles, “a group of lonely men,” the bishop advises as he wipes his mouth. Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove) is not eating; one glance tells you he’s a priest of an ascetic bent.

He is clearly feeling his isolation as he sets out with guides and helpmeets across the sphagnum moss to his new parish. They have a tight schedule, with a fixed deadline of summer’s end to build his church and corral his flock into a weekly show of piety.

Hlynyur Palmason’s Icelandic drama has sold to the UK/Ire, Spain and Greece.

Jan Naszewski’s New Europe has closed a number of high-profile deals for Hlynyur Palmason’s Godland, which premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard.

Curzon has taken rights for UK/Ireland, with A Contracorriente buying Spain, Scanorama for Baltics, Vertigo Media for Hungary and One from the Heart for Greece.

Previously confirmed sales were to France (Jour2Fete), Benelux (Imagine), Poland (New Horizons Association) and Australia/New Zealand (Palace).

“Godland is a breathtaking piece of cinema filled with intelligent and subtle reflections on politics, art, history,...

As countries go, Iceland is probably one of the most fast-changing in terms of its biological make up, its intense volcanic activities reshaping its surface and contours at a speed fast enough to be perceived within a single generation. Paradoxically, it is also a place where time appears to stand still, with the sun omnipresent for half the year and absent for the rest. Hlynur Pálmason’s “Godland” is in tune with both contrasting realities, and the film’s very long takes feel extremely rich with meaning and texture even as they often show a whole lot of nothing.

These different temporalities are also embodied in the objective of Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove), a Danish priest sent to Iceland to build a church there and photograph some of the people of the island.

Continue reading ‘Godland’ Review: Hlynur Pálmason’s Hypnotic, Spiritual, Slow-Cinema Look At 19th Century Iceland [Cannes] at The Playlist.

Iceland is like no other place on Earth, and the films that take place there can’t help but reflect this. In “Godland,” Icelandic writer-director Hlynur Pálmason attempts to see his homeland through outside eyes, the way it must have looked to the Danes who claimed and controlled it until World War II. Icelandic period pieces are often set much earlier, à la “The Northman,” but this one — at once visually striking and emotionally austere, in its almost Bressonian restraint — takes the country’s colonialist past as its subject, pitting a late-19th-century man of faith against a force far stronger than him, like some kind of Arctic, art-house “There Will Be Blood.”

In the opening scene Lucas (Elliott Crosset Hove), a Lutheran priest, is sent by the Church of Denmark to establish a parish in Iceland, not at all prepared for what lies ahead. He’s a sincere and devout idealist,...

New Europe Film Sales has announced the first sales for Cannes Un Certain Regard-selected “Godland,” directed by Iceland’s Hlynur Pálmason.

The film was picked up in France by Jour2Fete, and the movie was also acquired by three distributors that worked on Pálmason’s Cannes Critics’ Week title “A White, White Day” – Benelux rights were sold to Imagine, Poland was picked up by New Horizons Association and Australia/New Zealand was picked up by Palace.

The film is set in the late 19th century, when a young Danish priest travels to a remote part of Iceland to build a church and photograph its people. But the deeper he goes into the unforgiving landscape, the more he strays from his purpose, the mission and morality.

The film is produced by Denmark’s Snowglobe in collaboration with Iceland’s Join Motion Pictures, in co-production with France’s Maneki Films, Film I Väst & Garagefilm in Sweden,...