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Kenzhebek Shaikakov was born in Aktobe, Kazakhstan, in 1977. He studied at the T. Zhurgenova Institute of Theater and Cinema and graduated with a degree in theater and film acting. He also works as a journalist, editor and producer for Kazakh television. His first feature film, “Tent”,” in 2014, was invited to the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. He is also an actor. “Scream” is his second feature film.

On the occasion of Scream screening at Fica Vesoul, we speak with him about the specific place the movie takes place in and how was the experience of shooting there, the various symbolisms in the movie and the women characters, Kazakh cinema and his future projects.

Can you give us some information about the specific place the movie takes place in and also tell us why you chose the particular location?

The nuclear tests that took place in Semipalatinsk lasted for 40 years, from 1949 to...

Three decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, an emerging generation of filmmakers born and raised in the independent countries of Central Asia is giving an exhilarating charge to the region’s cinema and helping to put their unheralded industries on the map.

Leading Kazakh film critic Gulnara Abikeyeva says these “children of independence” are bringing a “new attitude” to the screen and giving a jolt of energy to emerging industries that for decades were under Moscow’s thumb.

“The production of films is growing very fast in all Central Asian countries,” she says. “There have appeared so many young production studios who can make movies with public or private money.”

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, what Abikeyeva describes as the “euphoria of freedom” caught hold across its former Central Asian republics, which include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Filmmakers who previously had to submit their...

While the war in Ukraine has upended global geopolitics and ratcheted up tensions between Russia and the West, the impact has been especially profound across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where many inhabitants have themselves been the victims of Moscow’s aggression in the past.

In Kazakhstan, which shares the world’s longest land border with Putin’s rogue state and was the last of the former Soviet republics to achieve independence, the past two years have not only seen the disruption of traditional political and economic ties but accelerated a process of uncoupling from Russian language and culture.

Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “the young generation started to be more aware and be more awake and passionate about [Kazakh] culture itself,” says 26-year-old filmmaker Aisultan Seitov, whose feature debut, “Qas” (Hunger), about the brutal Kazakh famine of the 1930s, won best director honors in the Asian New Talent...

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In a welcome return to normalcy, the Tokyo International Film Festival rolled out the full red carpet, all 541 feet of it, for the first time since 2019, once again welcoming guests from around the globe to a new venue for its opening ceremony on a brisk autumn evening in the Japanese capital.

The Covid-19 pandemic had kept international visitors away for the last few editions, but the opening of the 35th Tokyo festival felt like old times. More than one hundred overseas guests are joining the proceedings this year — some paying their own way to Tokyo as sky-high airline ticket prices drained the event’s budget — up from just eight at the 2021 edition.

The red carpet, which clocked in at almost two hours, snaked its way from Toho’s famed Godzilla statue in front of Hibiya Midtown to the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater. Once a fixture of Roppongi,...

Tokyo International Film Festival’s 35th edition will include titles from Bui Thac Chuyen, Olivia Wilde and Hiroki Ryuichi.

The 35th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) today unveiled its line-up for its first full-scale physical edition since the pandemic started, with 15 international competition titles including its first from Vietnam - Bui Thac Chuyen’s Glorious Ashes.

Set to make its world premiere at TIFF, the film was a recipient of the Asean Co-production Fund (Acof) launched by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (Fdcp) and the Southeast Asia co-production grant (Scpg) established by the Singapore Film Commission (Sfc), as...

The Toronto International Film Festival returns in September 2022 for its 47th edition — 11 days of international and Canadian cinema, special events featuring some of the biggest names in film, and TIFF’s Industry Conference, offering diverse and innovative perspectives on the art and business of film. The full programme can be found Here.

Here is a selection of Asian titles:

Features A Gaza Weekend

A Gaza Weekend

Basil Khalil ­- Palestine, United Kingdom, 2022

A Long Break

Davit Pirtskhalava – Georgia, 2022

A Man of Reason

Jung Woo-sung – South Korea, 2022

Alam

Firas Khoury – France, Tunisia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, 2022

Autobiography

Makbul Mubarak – Indonesia, France, Singapore, Poland, Philippines, Germany, Qatar, 2022

Beyond the Wall

Beyond the Wall

Shab, Dkheli, Divar – Iran, 2022

Broker

Hirokazu Kore-eda – South Korea, 2022

Decision to Leave

Park Chan-wook – South Korea, 2022

Hunt

Lee Jung-jae – South Korea, 2022

In Her Hands

Tamana Ayazi, Marcel Mettelsiefen – United States of America, Afghanistan, 2022

Joyland

Joyland

Saim Sadiq – Pakistan, 2022

Kacchey Limbu

Shubham Yogi – India,...

The 2022 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) has announced the international arm of its festival. Taking place September 8 through 18, TIFF previously unveiled Sally El Hosaini’s opening night film “The Swimmers” as well as Special Presentations including the world premieres of Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans,” Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” and Nicholas Stoller’s “Bros.”

“The Woman King,” “Catherine Called Birdy,” “The Menu,” “Moonage Daydream,” and “My Policeman” additionally debut at the festival.

Now, the Contemporary World Cinema slate has been announced for 2022 TIFF. The lineup includes features from more than 50 countries spanning the globe. The respective world premieres for “Bones of Crows” and “The Swearing Jar” are among programming highlights, as well as the North American premieres for Koji Fukada’s “Love Life” and Jerzy Skolimowski’s “Eo.”

“We are so proud of the TIFF Docs and Contemporary World Cinema programs,” Anita Lee, chief programming officer,...

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The Toronto Film Festival has announced new titles for its TIFF Docs and Contemporary World Cinema sections.

The TIFF Docs section will open with the previously announced Sacha Jenkins’ Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, and there’s a North American premiere for Laura Poitras’ opioid epidemic doc All the Beauty and the Bloodshed from Participant.

The festival will also feature newly-added world bows for Cine-Guerrilas: Scenes from the Labudovic Reels, by director Mila Rurajlic; Documentary Now!, by Alex Buono, Rhys Thomas and Micah Gardner; Sam Soko and Lauren DeFilippo’s Free Money, about a Kenyan village being given a universal basic income by an American organization; The Grab, from Blackfish director Gabriela Cowperthwaite; and Stephanie Johnes’ Maya and the Wave.

Other documentary first looks headed to Toronto include Mark Fletcher’s Patrick and the Whale; Sinead O’Shea’s Pray for our Sinners; Self-Portrait as a Coffee Pot,...

Sacha Baron Cohen’s outrageous 2006 comedy “Borat,” about a fictional Kazakhstani reporter traveling through United States, put the Central Asian nation in the consciousness of most Americans for the first time. Back then, Kazakhstan’s government had an understandable reaction to the comedian’s crude and stereotypical portrayal of the ex-Soviet republic. Now, 16 years later, with the release of the sequel” Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” the country is once again in the foreground; however, this time they are embracing the attention to boost their tourism prospects. For his part, Baron Cohen recently said he selected Kazakhstan as Borat’s nationality “because it was a place that almost nobody in the U.S. knew anything about, which allowed us to create a wild, comedic, fake world.”

While American audiences are now certainly aware of Kazakhstan, its actual culture and history remain a mystery to most. Although Kazakhstani artists have been making movies since the 1930s,...

Kazakh director Emir Baigazin emerged in 2012 with “Harmony Lessons”, which won Berlinale World Cinema Fund and the Silver Bear for the best cinematography. He impressed the audiences with his unhurriedly poetic, yet dark and cruel tale about entering the adolescence and the interconnections of power and violence. These themes resonated also in “The Wounded Angel”. With „Ozen” (“The River”), which premiered at Venice, the director concludes his informal trilogy of Aslan. All its parts included the character sharing this name, although it is not the same boy, just the figure used by Baigazin to introspect the coming-of-age tensions and the symbolic end of childhood. In the third movie, however, the director opted for a lighter tone than in the previous installments.

“The River” is screening at Across Asia Film Festival

Aslan from “The River”, played with engrossing maturity by Zhalgas Klanov, is the eldest of five brothers. The siblings live with their parents,...

Across Asia Film Festival (Aaff) in Cagliari, in the beautiful Italian island of Sardinia, is back on the 14th of December with a Programme focused mainly on the Philippines and Taiwan, including collateral events, guests and some interesting gems, like a restored edition of the classic Lino Brocka’s “Manila in the Claws of Light”, a Masterclass with directors Shireen Seno and John Torres and the Italian Premiere of “The Kalampag Tracking Agency” an ongoing curatorial initiative between Shireen Seno of Los Otros and Merv Espina of Generation Loss.

Across Asia Film Festival is focused on most interesting languages of recent cinematographic production from Asia, with the goal of promoting and developing cultural exchanges between Italian and foreigners communities. Stefano Galanti and Maria Paola Zedda are the creators and the artistic directors of the event.

“Nina Wu” by Midi Z

The Festival will kick off with “The Night of the...

Italian drama recorded an average of 3.4 stars from the six critics.

Pietro Marcello‘s Martin Eden has taken the top position of Screen’s complete 2019 Toronto Platform jury grid.

The Italian drama secured an average of 3.4 stars out of four across the six international critics. A score of three stars on the grid represents ‘good’.

Martin Eden won this year’s Toronto Platform Prize worth Cad $20,000 and stars Luca Marinelli as a sailor who struggles to reinvent himself as a writer and escape privation.

In close second with 3.2 was Rocks, the UK drama from Sarah Gavron which opened Platform. Rocks...

For the third time in as many films, Kazakh director Emir Baigazin has made the arid, disquieting coming-of-age story of a teenage boy called Aslan his subject. But it is not the same boy, and though the stringent, clinical perfectionism of the aesthetic is unmistakable, this is not the same film. “Harmony Lessons” and “The Wounded Angel” may have established the preoccupations of this self-described trilogy, but “The River” is a downstream delta where those ideas spread and swirl in compelling, sometimes creepy combination.

This time Aslan, played by Zhalgas Klanov with substratum intensity, is the eldest of five brothers. This makes him the de facto boss when his stern taskmaster father (Kuandyk Kystykbayev) is not around, which is often. His mother (Aida Iliyaskyzy) is a peripheral presence, sometimes murmuring a few of the hard-bitten script’s gentler words, but more usually slipping through the door frames of which Baigazin’s camera is so fond,...

The $34,000 prize is aimed at promoting gender equality.

The Goteborg Film Festival will open with Miia Tervo’s Aurora from Finland, about a party animal Finnish woman in Lapland who meets an Iranian asylum seeker, on January 26.

The festival will close with the world premiere of Swedish directors’ Måns Mårlind and Björn Stein’s Swoon on February 4. The period romance is about two young lovers from families who own rival amusement parks.

The festival will screen 376 films from 83 countries.

Full lists of the films in the festival’s five competitions below.

The festival will host Eurimages’ Audentia Award competition for...

What an incredible year for cinema. What an incredible year, particularly, for Asian cinema. Obviously, the world’s most populous continent and biggest emerging film market contributes abundantly to the cinematic arts every year, but in 2018, the variety and vibrancy of output from the still underrepresented- and -appreciated region (at least in terms of inclusion at A-list festivals or global visibility) really stood out.

The Hong Sangsoo fan club probably got a little more crowded thanks to the award-winning Hotel by the River, but it’s the crazy prolific Korean auteur’s first outing this year, the compact, richly layered Grass that most reminded me of his unique touch. Another Berlinale premiere, the 4-hour political document/musical Season of the Devil, probably cost Lav Diaz some fans, but, as always, there’s something singularly, almost perversely rewarding about making it through the work of Philippine’s guru of slow cinema.

Win marks first time a Singapore film has taken best film since awards launched in 1991.

Yeo Siew Hua’s A Land Imagined was declared best film at the 29th Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff), a historic first win for a Singapore film since the launch of the Silver Screen Awards in 1991.

Beating seven other Asian films such as Bi Gan’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night and Emir Baigazin’s The River, the Singapore-set drama, which revolves around the disappearance of a Chinese migrant construction worker at a land reclamation site, has been travelling and picking up awards since...

Award-winning dramas, “A Land Imagined,” and “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” are among the Asian films selected for competition at next month’s Singapore International Film Festival.

Also competing for the Silver Screen Award are Indian director Rima Das’ “Bulbul Can Sing” and Sri Lankan Suba Sivakumaran’s “House of My Fathers.” The eight-title competition is open to films by directors making their first, second or third feature.

Announcing its full, 104-title, lineup on Tuesday, the festival unveiled gala slots for “Dear Ex,” by Taiwanese directing pair Mag Hsu and Hsu Chih-yen, and “The Third Wife.” “Ex,” about a jilted widow who must make peace with her late husband’s lover, debuted to acclaim at the Taipei festival in summer and is prominently positioned at the upcoming Golden Horse Awards, where it is nominated for eight prizes. “Wife” is a hot first film by Vietnamese filmmaker Ash Mayfair. It...

The Silver Screen Awards will have four films by women filmmakers in competition.

The 29th Singapore International Film Festival (Sgiff) announced its full line-up today, with 103 films from 44 countries, and the launch of a new Sgiff Film Fund.

The new funding scheme aims to nurture up-and-coming Southeast Asian filmmakers through two grants. The Tan Ean Kiam Foundation – Sgiff Southeast Asian - Documentary Grant will support four mid-length or feature projects annually, with a cash amount of S$25,000 each, while the Sgiff South East Asian – Short Film Grant will support two short films annually, with a cash amount of S$4,000 and...

“Shoplifters,” the Japanese drama that won the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year, leads the race for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. It is nominated for best film and in in two other categories.

The four other films nominated for best feature film are: Lee Chang-dong’s “Burning” (Korea), Adilkhan Yerzhanov’s “The Gentle Indifference of the World”, Khavn de la Cruz’s “Balangiga: Howling Wilderness” (Philippines), and Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s “Manta Ray”.

Nomination in 11 categories were announced on Wednesday. They include 46 films from 22 countries. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in Brisbane, Australia, on Nov. 29, 2018.

This year, films from Japan and China lead the tally with 7 nominations each. Films from Australia, India and Kazakhstan each received 5 nominations. Uzbekistan (actor Karim Mirkhadiyev for his role in “Fortitude”) received a nomination for the first time.

Best director nominations go to: Hirokazu Kore-eda for “Shoplifters”; Ivan Ayr for “Soni...

Bruce Beresford, nominated for Achievement in Directing at the Apsa Awards, on the set of ‘Ladies in Black’. (Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing).

Four Australian films – Ladies in Black, Gurrumul, Breath and Mary Magdalene – have received nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, to be held in Brisbane in November.

Overall, 46 films from 22 countries have been nominated for the awards, which celebrate films from the region.

The Palme d’Or winning Shoplifters, from Japanese auteur Kore-eda Hirokazu, is the only film to receive three nominations, including Best Feature Film, Best Screenplay and Achievement in Directing. It will compete for Best Feature Film against Burning (Korea), The Gentle Indifference of the World, Balangiga: Howling Wilderness (Philippines) and Manta Ray.

Competing against Kore-eda for the directing award is Australia’s Bruce Beresford, nominated for his work on 1960s comedy drama Ladies in Black. Also up in the category are Nadine Labaki...

As Asia’s premier film festival, Busan offers a comprehensive look at the latest cinematic gems from the vast continent, including the often neglected region of Central Asia. Hailing from Kyrgyzstan, writer/director Bekzat Pirmatov’s feature debut Aurora is an at times profoundly strange, at times simply profound postmodern parable. It marks the arrival of a potent new voice and deserves to be included in any festival lineup – Asian or beyond.

The episodically-structured film begins with an extended prologue: a newsreel informs us of a sanatorium called “Aurora,” a relic from the Soviet era tucked away in the mountains. We proceed to meet a middle-aged lady at a bar in said lakeside resort/institution who starts a rather silly argument with the bartender over the way he addresses her. The incident is followed by another, seemingly unrelated one in the restaurant next door, where a veteran TV presenter is...

Total of 16 titles set for this year’s Competition line-up.

Tokyo International Film Festival has announced the 16 titles that will compete in its International Competition, including the world premieres of His Master’s Voice, from Hungary’s Gyorgy Palfi, Fruit Chan’s Three Husbands, Veit Helmer’s The Bra and Liu Hao’s The Poet.

Tiff’s competition line-up will also include the world premieres of two Japanese titles – Junji Sakamoto’s Another World and Rikiya Imaizumi’s Just Only Love (see full line-up below).

Leading Philippines filmmaker Brillante Ma Mendoza is heading this year’s Competition jury, which also comprises Us producer Bryan Burk,...

Gyorgi Palfi’s “His Master’s Voice” will line up against Fruit Chan’s “Three Husbands” and Veit Helmer’s “The Bra” in the main competition section of the Tokyo International Film Festival. Ralph Fiennes’ “The White Crow” will also receive its Asian premiere in competition.

The festival announced its full line up Tuesday in Tokyo. The festival will run Oct 25. – Nov. 3, 2018 at venues around the Japanese capital. It previously announced Japanese films, “Another World” and “Just Only Love” in main competition.

Another earlier announcement revealed that the festival will open with Bradley Cooper’s Lady Gaga-starring “A Star is Born.” The festival will close with “Godzilla: The Planet Eater,” the third and final part in the animated “Godzilla” trilogy. Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s “The House Where the Mermaid Sleeps” was Tuesday confirmed as a second closing film.

The 16-film competition selection is balanced between Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas,...

India’s The Man Who Feels No Pain wins Midnight Madness award.

The period drama Green Book from Peter Farrelly has won the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) 2019 Grolsch People’s Choice Award and bolstered its awards season prospects given Tiff’s recent track record.

Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali star in the tale of an Italian-American bouncer who drives an African-American jazz pianist on a 1960s concert tour of the South. Participant Media produced and financed Green Book through its joint venture with Amblin/Dreamworks, and Universal will release the film in the Us on November 21.

The Tiff audience...

Both films recorded an average of three stars from the six critics.

Emir Baigazin’s The River and Benjamin Naishtat’s Rojo have tied at the top of Screen’s complete 2018 Toronto Platform jury grid.

Both films achieved an average of three stars out of four across the six international critics. A score of three stars on the grid represents ‘good’.

The River is about five young brothers living under a controlling father in a remote Kazakh village, whose lives are transformed when they discover a nearby river which had been kept secret from them.

Naishtat’s Rojo follows a...

Both films recorded an average three stars from the six critics.

Emir Baigazin’s The River and Benjamin Naishtat’s Rojo have tied at the top of Screen’s complete 2018 Toronto Platform jury grid.

Both films achieved an average of three stars out of four across the six international critics. A score of three stars on the grid represents ‘good’.

The River is about five young brothers living under a controlling father in a remote Kazakh village, whose lives are transformed when they discover a nearby river which had been kept secret from them.

Naishtat’s Rojo follows a strange...

Benjamin Naishtat’s ’Rojo’ still leads the way.

Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell and Simon Jaquemet’s The Innocent are the latest titles to land on Screen’s Toronto Platform jury grid, and have moved into third and fourth place respectively to date.

Her Smell achieved a 2.8 average, splitting the opinion of Screen’s grid critics. Both Justin Chang of the La Times and Radheyan Simonpillai of Now/CTV gave it top marks of four stars (‘excellent’); Vincent Le Leurch of Le Film Français was less enamoured, giving it one star (‘poor’).

Elisabeth Moss takes centre stage in the film as a talented,...

One score still to come for Benjamin Naishtat’s 1970s drama.

Rojo, directed by Argentina’s Benjamin Naishtat, has moved top of Screen’s Toronto 2018 Platform jury grid.

The film has achieved an average of 3.2 out of 4, with one score still to come in.

Rojo garnered top marks of four (‘excellent’) from Radheyan Simonpillai of Now/CTV and Vincent Le Leurch of Le Film Français, as well as two threes (‘good’) from Boston Globe’s Loren King and Screen’s own critic.

The film follows a strange man who arrives at a restaurant in a quiet provincial city in an...

Over the weekend, the Venice Film Festival gave out their prizes for the 75th time in their history. This time around, the fest opted to spread the love quite a bit with their awards. At the same time, they went back to the well in a way, rewarding filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron once again. Previously, they had honored him with a prize for Gravity, but this time around, it was for his passion project Roma. That led the way with the top prize, though overall, The Favourite from Yorgos Lanthimos was the most honored, among the In Competition titles. We’ll get to all of the victors soon, but before that, a quick word on the Oscar hopefuls that did well over in Italy. Below, you’ll be able to see every one of the awards given out at the Venice Film Festival. As a quick preview, the Golden Lion went to Cuaron’s Roma,...

Seven of 12 titles have taken their spot on the grid.

Three new films have achieved mid-range scores on Screen’s Toronto Platform jury grid, with Emir Baigazin’s The River, the first title to land, still leading the way.

With one score to come, Tim Sutton’s Donnybrook reached a 2.4 score, with three twos (‘average’) added to two threes (‘good’) from Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York and Screen’s own critic.

Sutton’s film stars Jamie Bell and Frank Grillo as an ex-marine and drug dealer respectively, who compete in legendary bare-knuckle boxing competition Donnybrook for a cash prize they both desperately need.

Alfonso Cuaron’s drama shifts to an awards season favourite with Venice victory; The Favourite also receives boost winning Silver Lion and best actress for Olivia Colman.

The Guillermo del Toro-led jury has awarded Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma the Golden Lion at the 75th Venice Film Festival.

Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite earned the Silver Lion grand jury prize at the awards ceremony on Saturday evening, while Jacques Audiard won the best director award for The Sisters Brothers.

In the acting stakes, Olivia Colman earned the Coppa Volpi best actress prize for The Favourite, and Willem Dafoe took the best...

RomaIn CompetitionGolden Lion – Roma, directed by Alfonso CuarónSilver Lion (Grand Jury Prize) – The Favourite, directed by Yorgos LanthimosSilver Lion (Best Director) – Jacques Audiard (The Sisters Brothers)Coppa Volpi for Best Actress – Olivia Colman (The Favourite)Coppa Volpi for Best Actor – Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate)Best Screenplay – Joel and Ethan Coen (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs)Special Jury Prize – The Nightingale, directed by Jennifer KentMarcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress – Baykali Ganambarr (The Nightingale)OrizzontiManta RayOrizzonti Award for Best Film – Kraben Rahu (Manta Ray) directed by Phuttiphong AroonphengOrizzonti Award for Best Director – Emir Baigazin (The River)Special Orizzonti Jury Prize – Anons, directed by Mahmut Fazıl CoşkunOrizzonti Award for Best Actress – Natalya Kudryashova (The Man Who Surprised Everyone)Orizzonti Award for Best Actor – Kais Nashif (Tel Aviv on Fire)Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay – Pema Tseden (Jinpa)Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film – Kado directed by Adity AhmadLion...

Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” took home the top prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, the Golden Lion for Best Film.

The film is a semi-autobiographical black-and-white film chronicling a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s.

“Roma,” produced and financed by Participant, will be distributed by Netflix.

David Linde, CEO of Participant Media and Executive Producer of “Roma,” said, “Working with Alfonso on ‘Roma’ has already been an amazing journey for everyone at Participant, and we are beyond thrilled that his brilliant film has been honored with the Golden Lion. This film is a gift to all audiences, transcending language and cultural barriers and inspiring compassion across the globe.”

The drama, which the streaming giant plans to release theatrically as well, was the choice of a Venice jury led by another Mexican filmmaker, “The Shape of Water” director Guillermo del Toro.

To the surprise of no one in attendance, “Roma” has won the Golden Lion. Alfonso Cuarón’s wrenching drama has emerged as the most critically acclaimed film on the festival circuit this year, and has been widely expected to take home Venice’s top prize since premiering there last week. Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” proved to be a hit as well, taking home Best Actress for a never-better Olivia Colman and the Grand Jury Prize as well.

Other big winners include Best Actor Willem Dafoe, whose masterful performance as Vincent van Gogh drives Julian Schnabel’s “At Eternity’s Gate,” and the Coen Brothers, who took home Best Screenplay laurels for “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.” Notable films that left the Lido empty-handed include Brady Corbet’s “Vox Lux,” László Nemes’ “Sunset,” and Luca Guadagnino’s polarizing “Suspiria” remake.

Cuarón’s close friend Guillermo del Toro led this year’s...

Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” a black-and-white drama drawn from the director’s memories of growing up in Mexico City in the early 1970s which marks his return to Spanish-language filmmaking, is the winner of the Venice Film festival’s Golden Lion.

Winners Of The 75Th Venice Film Festival Official Awards...

’Jessica Forever’, ’Mademoiselle De Joncquières’ also take spots.

Three new titles have scored mid-range on Screen’s Toronto Platform jury grid, leaving Emir Baigazin’s The River as the early leader.

Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel’s debut Jessica Forever scored exactly 2, although split opinion among critics.

Radheyan Simonpillai of Now/CTV, Boston Globe’s Loren King and Time Out New York’s Joshua Rothkopf all gave it one star for ‘poor’, while Vincent Le Leurch of Le Film Français and Screen’s own critic both awarded a top score 4 for ‘excellent’.

The film presents a dystopian world where violent misfits reign supreme.

This year’s grid features 6 critics, watching each of the 12 films.

Screen has launched its critics jury grid for the Platform strand at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival with Emir Baigazin’s The River the first title to take its place.

This year’s grid will feature scores from six critics:

Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times Radheyan Simonpillai, Now/CTV Loren King, Boston Globe Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York Vincent Le Leurch, Le Film Français Screen’s own critic

The River has made a strong start to the grid, with an average of 3. It scored consistently, with...

There’s the strong aura of a folktale or even a Bible story in The River, a luminous family portrait of five young brothers living and working in isolation on a farm on the dusty Kazakh plains, where the sudden intrusion of the modern world brings corruption, temptation, betrayal and deceit. Following Emir Baigazin’s festival successes Harmony Lessons and The Wounded Angel, the new film completes the gifted writer-director’s “Aslan trilogy,” reaffirming his growing reputation as a visual craftsman of uncommon discipline and expressivity. Some may find it aestheticized to a fault, but this is a seductive, sensual work,...

There’s the strong aura of a folktale or even a Bible story in The River, a luminous family portrait of five young brothers living and working in isolation on a farm on the dusty Kazakh plains, where the sudden intrusion of the modern world brings corruption, temptation, betrayal and deceit. Following Emir Baigazin’s festival successes Harmony Lessons and The Wounded Angel, the new film completes the gifted writer-director’s “Aslan trilogy,” reaffirming his growing reputation as a visual craftsman of uncommon discipline and expressivity. Some may find it aestheticized to a fault, but this is a seductive, sensual work,...

Nicole Kidman’s police thriller “Destroyer” and Elisabeth Moss’ rock and roll drama “Her Smell” have been selected for the Toronto International Film Festival’s platform section.

A dozen titles were unveiled on Wednesday for the festival’s only juried competition, with its focus on movies championing “risk-taking.” The platform section, now in its fourth year, was the launching pad for best picture Oscar winner “Moonlight,” “Jackie,” and “The Death of Stalin.”

“This year’s Platform selection stands out for the assured and precise directing on display,” said Tiff director and CEO Piers Handling. “We are thrilled to present a slate that perfectly embodies the essence of the program with so many risk-taking, challenging, and, at times, formally inventive titles that are the result of audacious directors making bold choices.”

“Destroyer” is directed by Karyn Kusama. Annapurna will handle the U.S. release, but has not yet dated the launch.

The Toronto International Film Festival’s Platform program has announced the fourth edition of Platform, a director-driven section that aims to showcase original names in international cinema. This year, Platform will play home to a dozen feature films, including new features from Karyn Kusama (her star-studded cult drama “Destroyer” is her first film since “The Invitation”), Alex Ross Perry (again teaming with his “Queen of Earth” star Elisabeth Moss for the rock drama “Her Smell”), and Tim Sutton’s “Dark Night” followup.

This year’s Platform lineup also includes four features (30%) directed or co-directed by women, and seven titles that feature strong women in leading roles. The wide-ranging slate features films from the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and all but two of the titles will be making their World Premiere at the festival.

“This year’s Platform selection stands out for the assured and precise directing on display,” said Tiff...

The Platform section of the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival will include adventurous films starring Nicole Kidman, Elisabeth Moss, Frank Grillo and Patricia Clarkson, Tiff organizers announced on Wednesday.

Films in the section will include Alex Ross Perry’s “Her Smell,” with Moss and Amber Heard; Carol Morley’s Martin Amis adaptation “Out of Blue,” with Patricia Clarkson and Toby Jones; and Emmanuel Mouret’s period piece “Mademoiselle de Joncquières,” starring Cecile de France.

Tim Sutton’s “Donnybrook,” which stars Frank Grillo and James Badge Dale in the story of a down-on-his-luck veteran who gets involved in brutal bare-knuckle boxing, will serve as the opening-night film for Platform, while Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel’s “Jessica Forever,” a directorial debut, will close it.

Also Read: 'Beautiful Boy,' 'A Star Is Born' Highlight Toronto Film Festival Lineup

All of the films except Emir Baigazin’s “The River” and Karyn Kusama’s “Destroyer,...

Jessica Forever from debut filmmakers Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel will close the section.

The bare-knuckle fighting drama Donnybrook starring Jamie Bell and Frank Grillo will open 2018 Toronto International Film Festival’s (Tiff) Platform, while Jessica Forever from debutants Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel will close the section.

The 12 films in the festival’s fourth annual juried programme include new work from Karyn Kusama, Alex Ross Perry, Ho Wi Ding, Alejandra Márquez Abella and Carol Morley.

The line-up includes four features directed or co-directed by women, while seven feature strong female lead roles. The roster includes what Tiff director and...

In a surprise twist no one saw coming The Coen Brothers’ initial anthology series, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, will be featuring at the 2018 Venice Film Festival as a full-length feature in the competition.

The film, which was declared a Netflix original, is made up of 6 of chaptered stories revolving around the American Frontier. As for chapter plot details, information is hard to find. Tim Blake Nelson stars as Scruggs alongside a cast that features names like Zoe Kazan, Liam Neeson and Tom Waits.

“We’ve always loved anthology movies, especially those films made in Italy in the Sixties which set side-by-side the work of different directors on a common theme,” the Coens said in a statement. “Having written an anthology of Western stories we attempted to do the same, hoping to enlist the best directors working today. It was our great fortune that they both agreed to participate.”

The...

Non-FictionThe programme for the 2018 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Tsai Ming-liang, Frederick Wiseman, Sergei Loznitsa, Olivier Assayas, the Coen Brothers, and many more.COMPETITIONFirst Man (Damien Chazelle)The Mountain (Rick Alverson)Non-Fiction (Olivier Assayas)The Sisters Brothers (Jacques Audiard)The Ballad of Buster ScruggsVox Lux (Brady Corbet)Roma (Alfonso Cuarón)22 July (Paul Greengrass)Suspiria (Luca Guadagnino)Werk ohne autor (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent)The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos)Peterloo (Mike Leigh)Capri-revolution (Mario Martone)What You Gonna Do When the World's On Fire? (Roberto Minervini)Sunset (László Nemes)Frères ennemis (David Oeloffen)Where Life is Born (Carlos Reygadas)At Eternity's Gate (Julian Schnabel)Acusada (Gonzalo Tobal)Killing (Shinya Tsukamoto)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesThe Other Side of the Wind (Orson Welles)They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (Morgan Neville)L'amica geniale (Saverio Costanzo)Il diario di angela - noi...

The Venice Film Festival is celebrating its 75th year in 2018 with a star-studded lineup that includes world premieres from Damien Chazelle, Bradley Cooper, Luca Guadagnino, and Alfonso Cuarón. The festival takes place August 29 to September 8 and marks the official kickoff of the 2018 fall awards season.

As has been previously announced, Damien Chazelle will open the festival with the world premiere of “First Man.” The space race drama stars Chazelle’s “La La Land” Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong and recounts the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. The world premiere will be Chazelle’s second Venice opener after “La La Land.” Also confirmed prior to the announcement lineup was Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born,” which marks the actor’s directorial debut.

Check out the full lineup for the 2018 Venice Film Festival below. This year’s competition jury is led by Guillermo del Toro, who won the...

The festival runs from August 29 – September 8.

The line-up of the 75th Venice Film Festival (August 29 – September 8) is being announced today at around 10am GMT.

The titles will be revealed at a press conference which is being live-streamed.

As previously announced, Damien Chazelle’s ‘First Man’ will open the festival in competition.

Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut A Star Is Born will also have its world premiere out-of-competition at the event.

We’ll update this story with the films as they are announced below. Refresh the page to get the latest titles.

Orizzonti

Sulla Mia Pelle (Alessio Cremonini) Kraben Rahu/Manta...

Rolf de Heer..

Award-winning director Rolf de Heer (Twelve Canoes, Charlie.s Country) has been named one of four recipients of this year's Mpa Apsa Academy Film Fund, designed to support new feature film projects at script stage.

Announced by the Motion Picture Association (Mpa) at the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) in Brisbane last week, de Heer will receive a $25,000 Usd grant to develop his script Mr Ward.s Incredible Journey.

De Heer's screenplay follows the true story of Aboriginal elder Mr Ward, who tragically died in the back of a police van in the outback in 2008. De Heer will once again collaborate with David Gulpilil on the film.

The jury described the script as both .elegiac and timely. and commended de Heer and his Gulpilil for their .courage in taking on such a critical story in the ongoing history of the race relations between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Australia today.

I Am Not Madame Bovary’s Feng Xiaogang took the best director prize.Scroll down for full list of winners

The jury of the 10th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) has awarded the best film prize to Mustafa Kara’s Turkish drama Cold Of Kalandar. The film won a total of three prizes at the regional film awards, which took place tonight (Nov 24) in Brisbane, Australia.

The best director prize went to Chinese director Feng Xiaogang for his satirical critique of bureaucratic indifference to the populace of mainland China, I Am Not Madame Bovary.

Cold of Kalandar’s Apsa best film win comes after similar honours at the Tokyo Film Festival, and Turkey’s Istanbul and Antalya film festivals.

In September it was selected as Turkey’s candidate for the foreign language Oscar.

The film depicts an impoverished family’s attempt to make a living through farming in Turkey’s mountainous northern region. Tensions between...

Following yesterday’s announcement of more than 60 new titles, AFI Fest has named the 30-plus films in its World Cinema section. Cristian Mungiu’s “Graduation,” Betrand Bonello’s “Nocturama” and Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or–winning “I, Daniel Blake” are among the more notable selections, most of them culled from Cannes, Venice and other festivals.

The weeklong event, which begins in Hollywood with the world premiere of Warren Beatty’s “Rules Don’t Apply” on November 10, also announced that Raoul Peck and Lav Diaz will present their films “I Am Not Your Negro” and “The Woman Who Left,” respectively, as part of the Masters in Conversation program.

Read More: AFI Fest Announces New Auteurs, American Independents, Midnight and Shorts Sections

“After Love” (dir. Joachim Lafosse)

“Albüm” (dir. Mehmet Can Mertoğlu)

“Boris Without Beatrice” (dir. Denis Côté)

“The Commune” (dir. Thomas Vinterberg)

“Crosscurrent” (dir. Yang Chao)

“Death in Sarajevo” (dir.