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Mexican filmmaker Carlos Reygadas and US producer and writer Joslyn Barnes of Louveture Films are among the among the jurors for the 2025 Locarno Film Festival (August 6-16).

Reygadas’ films include Cannes competition titles Silent Life and Battle In Heaven, while Barnes’ work as a producer includes Oscar-nominated documentaries Strong Island and Hale County This Morning, This Evening, Lucrecia Martel’s Zama, and she also co-wrote 2024 awards contender Nickel Boys.

Joining them on the festival’s international competition jury are Swiss actor Ursina Lardi, best known for Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon; and the Netherlands’ Renée Soutendijk, who won Locarno...

New York-based indie producer Joslyn Barnes (“Nickel Boys”), Mexican multi-hyphenate Carlos Reygadas (“Our Time”) and Swiss stage-and-screen actor Ursina Lardi (“The White Ribbon”) have been set as members of the upcoming Locarno Film Festival’s main jury.

As previously announced, Cambodian filmmaker Rithy Panh will preside over the Swiss indie festival’s competition panel. The jury also includes Dutch actor Renée Soutendijk, winner of the event’s female actor prize in 2023 for her role in Ena Sendijarević’s “Sweet Dreams.”

Locarno titles in the Cineasti del Presente competition, dedicated to emerging directors at their first or second feature, will be judged by Indonesian actor Asmara Abigail, known to Locarno audiences for her performance in Malaysian director Ming Jin Woo’s “Stone Turtle” (2022); La Frances Hui, who is the curator of film at New York’s MoMA and co-chair of the museum’s New Directors/New Films festival; and Indian actor Kani Kusruti,...

Mexican director and producer Carlos Reygadas, U.S. producer Josyln Barnes and actresses Ursina Lardi and Renée Soutendijk have been announced for the main jury of the 78th Locarno Film Festival in August.

They join award-winning documentarian Rithy Panh who was previously announced in May as the jury president.

Reygadas, who won best director in Cannes for Post Tenebras Lux in 2012, has connections with Locarno as producer of Eami, which was supported by its Open Doors program, as well as Sermon To The Fish, which played in the International Competition in 2022.

Barnes, who is a regular Locarno visitor, recently achieved acclaim with Nickel Boys, which was produced under the banner of Louverture Films, the New York-based independent production company she co-founded with actor Danny Glover.

Dutch star Renée Soutendijk, whose career spans both stage and screen, won Locarno’s Pardo for Best Actress in 2023 for her performance in Ena Sendijarević’s Sweet Dreams.

Sara Fgaier on Leo McCarey’s An Affair To Remember, starring Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant and Love Affair with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer: “I saw the two versions in Paris. It was incredible, because I already wrote the film [Weightless] and then I discovered them.” Photo: Anne Katrin Titze

Sara Fgaier’s Weightless (Sulla Terra Leggeri), a highlight of Cinecittà and Film at Lincoln Center’s 24th edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, stars Andrea Renzi, Sara Serraiocco, Emilio Scarpa, and Lise Lomi. The story by Fgaier and Sabrina Cusano, who both co-wrote the screenplay with Maurizio Buquicchio, links love and memory and in an exciting new cinematic way combines past and present, the life of the mind and that of physical remnants of what may never have been.

Lise Lomi and Emilio Scarpa star in Sara Fgaier’s Weightless

Fgaier chose a Julian Barnes quote from...

Weightless (Sulla Terra Leggeri) review - Sara Fgaier chose a Julian Barnes quote from Levels Of Life as epigraph: “We live on the flat, on the level, and yet - and so - we aspire. Some soar with art, others with religion; most with love. But when we soar, we can also crash.”

Weightless (Sulla Terra Leggeri) a highlight of Cinecittà and Film at Lincoln Center’s 24th edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, stars Andrea Renzi, Sara Serraiocco, Emilio Scarpa, and Lise Lomi. The story by Fgaier and Sabrina Cusano, who both co-wrote the screenplay with Maurizio Buquicchio, links love and memory and in an exciting new cinematic way combines past and present, the life of the mind and that of physical remnants of what may never have been.

A man, whom we will later get to know as Gian (Andrea Renzi) walks through...

Michelangelo Antonioni’s La Notte, starring Monica Vitti, Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau screens in Cinecittà and Film at Lincoln Center’s Monica Vitti: La Modernista

Before the Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà’s 24th edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema luncheon at Leopard at des Artistes, I asked Fabrizio Gifuni, star of the Opening Night film, Francesca Comencini’s The Time It Takes (Il Tempo Che Ci Vuole with Anna Mangiocavallo) and directors Andrea Segre of The Great Ambition (Berlinguer. La Grande Ambizione with Elio Germano as Enrico Berlinguer), Sara Fgaier of Weightless (Sulla Terra Leggeri with Andrea Renzi and Sara Serraiocco), Alissa Jung of Paternal Leave, and Ferzan Özpetek of Diamonds (Diamanti with Luisa Ranieri and Jasmine Trinca) to name their favourite Monica Vitti films.

Monica Vitti: La Modernista

Michelangelo Antonioni’s masterpieces L’Avventura (4K Restoration); L’Eclisse opposite Alain Delon, La Notte with Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau,...

Paternal Leave director/screenwriter Alissa Jung with Anne-Katrin Titze on Luca Marinelli as Paolo: “Luca's performance gave me the opportunity to really dive in …”

Alissa Jung’s perceptive and compelling Paternal Leave (a highlight of Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà’s Open Roads: New Italian Cinema) stars fantastic newcomer Juli Grabenhenrich and the wonderful Luca Marinelli (of Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden and Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-winning The Great Beauty) with Arturo Gabbriellini (from Luca Guadagnino’s We Are Who We Are), Gaia Rinaldi, and Joy Falletti Cardillo. Other films not to be missed include the Opening Night selection, Francesca Comencini’s The Time It Takes (Il Tempo Che Ci Vuole) with Anna Mangiocavallo and Fabrizio Gifuni; Sara Fgaier’s Weightless (Sulla Terra Leggeri) with Andrea Renzi and Sara Serraiocco (Lamberto Sanfelice's Chlorine); Ferzan Özpetek’s Diamonds (Diamanti), a celebration of movie costume design, with Luisa Ranieri and...

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Fringe is a sci-fi paranormal mystery thriller drama series created by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci. The Fox series follows FBI Agent Olivia Dunham, who is assigned to work with mad scientist Walter Bishop and his jack-of-all-trades son Peter Bishop, to investigate cases involving fringe science. Fringe stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Kirk Acevedo, Blair Brown, Jasika Nicole, Mark Valley, and Seth Gabel. So, if you loved the mind-bending storylines, thrilling mysteries, and compelling characters in Fringe, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

The X-Files (Hulu & Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Fox

The X-Files is a sci-fi mystery horror thriller drama series created by Chris Carter. The Fox series follows FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, who investigate various cases involving paranormal phenomena. The X-Files stars David Duchovny,...

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Severance is a sci-fi psychological mystery thriller drama series created by Dan Erickson. The Apple TV+ series is set in a world where people can undergo a medical procedure to separate their work memories from their other memories. The procedure is called “severance” and can only be done by a biotechnology corporation, Lumon Industries, where most of the story takes place. We follow Mark S. and his team of severed workers as they do mysterious work for Lumon Industries, but strange occurrences force them to question the reality of their existence and jobs. Severance stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, Patricia Arquette, and Sarah Bock. So, if you loved the mind-bending concept, thrilling mysteries, and compelling characters in Severance, here are some similar shows you should check out next.

In the remote mountain town of Vermiglio, Italy, a Sicilian World War II deserter dramatically affects the lives of a teacher's family who shelters him. Writer/director Maura Delpero crafts a sublime exploration of secrets, lies, and patriarchal dominance within a devout and insular social order. Vermiglio, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2024 Venice Film Festival and Italy's submission for Best International Film at the upcoming 97th Academy Awards, is largely seen through the eyes of innocent children as they try to comprehend the seismic events happening around them. The film's magnificent cinematography and score aid a glacial pace that builds steam to a sobering and deeply emotional climax.

In 1944, the Graziadei family huddles together in their various bedrooms to thwart the cold. The white-haired Cesare, the town's respected teacher, lies beside his wife Adele and their infant son, the parents' ninth child. The plot primarily revolves around their three daughters,...

Vermiglio is one of those great films that's hard to fully capture in writing, because it is and does so many things. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2024 Venice Film Festival (essentially second place) and is gaining steam as Italy's submission to the Oscars, which paints one picture. It's an indie box office hit in its own country, which paints another. It's artful, atmospheric, and observant; a slice-of-life film told in a hushed tone. It's dedicated to recreating a specific time and place and dropping us into it. There's a gentle steadiness to the way it moves.

Set in post-World War II Italy, Vermiglio explores the transformative journey of three sisters living in a small mountain village, prompted by the arrival of a soldier. The film chronicles their personal growth and the evolution of their relationships amidst the backdrop of a changing world.

Release Date December 25, 2024Runtime 119 minutesGenres DramaCast Santiago Fondevila,...

Exclusive: Bulgarian actress Irmena Chichikova, seen recently in SXSW 2024 breakout The Black Sea, has signed with L.A.-based boutique management and production company Rewind.

Chichikova appeared opposite Derrick B. Harden in his critically acclaimed American-Bulgarian comedy The Black Sea, co-directed with Crystal Moselle, revolving around a charismatic dreamer from Brooklyn who inadvertently ends up as the only Black person in a small town on the Black Sea in Eastern Europe.

The film was acquired by Metrograph Pictures for the U.S. shortly after its SXSW run and has just opened in L.A. on December 13.

Chichikova previously made her U.S. debut in 2023 in a recurring role in Marvel’s miniseries Secret Invasion, alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Emilia Clarke.

She also starred in the drama Viktoria, which made its debut in the World Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival, and won the Golden Rose National Film Festival...

Like any system that operates along gendered lines, religious-based patriarchy works well so long as those under its control are content to be confined. For many, there’s a certain comfort that comes with limits and an adherence to duty—in, say, the mother taking care of the home, the father earning the keep, and the children understanding that a certain slavish devotion to obedience keeps them in their parents’ good favor.

Vermiglio’s images are keyed to the simplicity of that kind of domesticity. Here, children tend to the cows before the milk is warmed over the stove for breakfast. Cesare Graziadei (Tommaso Ragno), the titular village’s school teacher, reads the paper devotedly for news from the Italian front as his seven children play and do their daily chores, while his wife, Adele (Roberta Rovelli), dutifully—and, it seems, happily—goes about her duties at home with tender devotion.

Spend some time in the mountains in Italy. An official trailer is out for the Italian film called Vermiglio, set during the end of World War II in the mountains in Italy. This first premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, where it won the second place Grand Jury Prize, and was described by critics as a Terence Malick-esque tale of Italians in the mountains. It just played at the Montclair & London Film Festivals, and will also screen at Berlin's Around the World in 14 Films Festival next this winter before a US release at the end of December this year. Set in 1944, in Vermiglio, a remote mountain village. The arrival of Pietro, a deserter, into the family of the local teacher, and his love for the teacher's eldest daughter, will change the course of everyone's life there. Starring Tommaso Ragno, Giuseppe De Domenico, Roberta Rovelli, Martina Scrinzi, Orietta Notari, Carlotta Gamba,...

Dark Matter is a sci-fi thriller series created by Blake Crouch. Based on a 2016 novel of the same name by Crouch, the Apple TV+ series follows the story of a Chicago-based physicist as he is kidnapped and taken to an alternate universe. Now he must escape from there to stop his alternate self before he harms his real family. Dark Matter stars Dark Matter stars Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly in the lead roles with Oakes Fegley, Alice Braga, Jimmi Simpson, and Amanda Brugel starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved all the thrills and mind-bending story of Dark Matter here are some similar shows you could watch next.

Counterpart (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Starz

Counterpart is a sci-fi espionage thriller series created by Justin Marks. The Starz series follows the story of Howard Silk, a low-level agent at a Berlin-based United Nations spy agency as he finds...

After years of waiting, we finally have the much-awaited series adaptation of Liu Cixin‘s brilliant sci-fi novel series The Three-Body Problem. Created by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the Netflix series tells us the story of a group of characters in the scientific community, who try to find out the mystery behind several suicides of prolific scientists. 3 Body Problem stars Eiza González, Benedict Wong, Jess Hong, Jovan Adepo, John Bradley, Alex Sharp, Rosalind Chao, Zine Tseng, Jonathan Pryce, and Marlo Kelly. So, if you loved the sci-fi drama series here are some similar shows you could watch next.

Three-Body (Prime Video & Viki) Credit – CCTV

Based on the same book as the Netflix series written by Liu Cixin, the Chinese adaptation of the popular sci-fi novel is set in 2007 and it follows the story of Wang Miao, one of China’s leading nanomaterials experts who...

Io sto bene, Luxembourg's 2022 Oscar Submission for Best International Film, is set to finally premiere on streaming Sept. 15, and writer/director Donato Rotunnolone) couldn’t be happier. The movie was a labor of love for the filmmaker in that his own life experiences influenced the story audiences experience here.

“I was born in Italy, and due to the migration background of my parents in the '60s, we moved from south of Italy to Central Europe, in Luxembourg, specifically. So, questioning about having roots somewhere else, then being a part of a country as a Luxembourg citizen is something that I carry in me,” Rotunno shared, adding:

It's a very important question as a human being, as a father, as a producer, as a director. I have a chance to explore these questions in this movie. So, I took time, wrote the script for the actors, and tried to...

Maura Delpero’s second feature “Vermiglio, the Mountain Bride” – which is being presented at the Venice Production Bridge, the industry program of the Venice Film Festival, this week – has tapped Giuseppe De Domenico as its lead.

The Italian actor, known for “Zero Zero Zero” and Prime Video’s “Bang Bang Baby,” will play Pietro, a young soldier who in 1944 arrives in a small mountain village in Trentino, northern Italy.

As declared by the film’s tagline, change is around the corner: “Last year of World War II. In the Italian Alps, a single rifle shot ends a young woman’s innocence.”

“Maura saw many young actors and some of them were very good, but Giuseppe was able to stand out thanks to his subtle acting style. He understood what it meant to come back from a war,” says Francesca Andreoli, who produces for Italy’s Cinedora.

Roberta Rovelli in Maura Delpero’s “Vermiglio,...

Francesca Archibugi on Paolo Virzì: “We actually were students together. We studied with Furio Scarpelli, who was a great screenwriter. I think we both loved him very much.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

As a screenwriter, Francesca Archibugi has worked with director/screenwriter Paolo Virzì on his films Magical Nights (Notti Magiche) and The Leisure Seeker (starring Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland) with Francesco Piccolo. Dry (Siccità) starring Monica Bellucci, Silvio Orlando, Valerio Mastandrea, Vinicio Marchioni, Claudia Pandolfi, Sara Serraiocco, and Tommaso Ragno is Archibugi’s third collaboration with Paolo Virzì, this time also with screenwriters Paolo Giordano and Francesco Piccolo.

Dry star Tommaso Ragno inside the Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Piccolo is also the co-writer with Laura Paolucci on Archibugi’s The Hummingbird which was the opening night selection of Cinecittà and Film at Lincoln Center’s...

The Film Circuit begins with Telluride, a small but perfect film festival in the mountains of Colorado as simultaneously Venice unfurls the films that will soon be released in the wonderful arthouse cinemas of Europe, followed closely by Toronto whose films foretell the coming year’s Oscars nominees. It is a very exciting time to be on the festival circuit.

And simultaneously with these great screenings are sidebars, panel discussions, workshops, master classes and all around great networking for filmmakers around the world.

Venezia 79 Competition

Il Signore Delle Formiche

Director Gianni Amelio

Main Cast Luigi Lo Cascio, Elio Germano, Leonardo Maltese, Sara Serraiocco / Italy / 134’

The Whale

Director Darren Aronofsky

Main Cast Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Samantha Morton, Ty Simpkins / USA / 117’

White Noise

Director Noah Baumbach

Main Cast Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Raffey Cassidy, Sam Nivola, May Nivola, Jodie Turner-Smith, André L. Benjamin and Lars Eidinger / USA / 136’

L’IMMENSITÀ

Director Emanuele Crialese

Main Cast Penélope Cruz, Luana Giuliani, Vincenzo Amato, Patrizio Francioni / Italy, France / 97’

Saint Omer

Director Alice Diop

Main Cast Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville, Aurélia Petit / France / 123’

Blonde

Director Andrew Dominik

Main Cast Ana de Armas, Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Xavier Samuel, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Fisher / USA / 166’

TÁR

Director Todd Field

Main Cast Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Mark Strong / USA / 158’

Love Life

Director Kôji Fukada

Main Cast Fumino Kimura, Kento Nagayama, Atom Sunada / Japan, France / 123’

Bardo, Falsa CRÓNICA De Unas Cuantas Verdades

Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Main Cast Daniel Giménez Cacho, Griselda Siciliani, Ximena Lamadrid, Iker Sanchez Solano, Andrés Almeida, Francisco Rubio / Mexico / 174’

Athena

Director Romain Gavras

Main Cast Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek, Alexis Manenti / France / 97’

Bones And All

Director Luca Guadagnino

Main Cast Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Mark Rylance, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny, Jessica Harper, David Gordon Green, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jake Horowitz / USA / 130’

The Eternal Daughter

Director Joanna Hogg

Main Cast Tilda Swinton, Joseph Mydell, Carly-Sophia Davies / UK, USA / 96’

Shab, Dakheli, Divar (Beyond The Wall)

Director Vahid Jalilvand

Main Cast Navid Mohammadzadeh, Diana Habibi, Amir Aghaee / Iran / 126’

The Banshees Of Inisherin

Director Martin McDonagh

Main Cast Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan / Ireland, UK, USA / 109’

Argentina, 1985

Director Santiago Mitre

Main Cast Ricardo Darín, Peter Lanzani, Alejandra Flechner, Norman Briski / Argentina, USA / 140’

Chiara

Director Susanna Nicchiarelli

Main Cast Margherita Mazzucco, Andrea Carpenzano, Carlotta Natoli, Paola Tiziana Cruciani, Luigi Lo Cascio / Italy, Belgium / 106’

Monica

Director Andrea Pallaoro

Main Cast Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, Adriana Barraza, Emily Browning, Joshua Close / USA, Italy / 113’

Khers Nist (No Bears)

Director Jafar Panahi

Main Cast Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobaseri, Bakhtiar Panjeei, Mina Kavani, Reza Heydari / Iran / 107’

All The Beauty And The Bloodshed

Director Laura Poitras

USA / 117’

Un Couple

Director Frederick Wiseman

Main Cast Nathalie Boutefeu / France, USA / 64’

The Son

Director Florian Zeller

Main Cast Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Quarshie / UK / 124’

Les Miens

Director Roschdy Zem

Main Cast Sami Bouajila, Roschdy Zem, Meriem Serbah, Maïwenn, Rachid Bouchareb, Abel Jafrei, Nina Zem / France / 85’

Les Enfants Des Autres

Director Rebecca Zlotowski

Main Cast Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, Chiara Mastroianni, Callie Ferreira / France / 104’

Toronto is in spite of itself in a civilized sort of way in competition for the premieres with Venice, though the sequential festivals are serving different constituencies. Still, The Whale, for example is premiering in Venice and then traveling to TIFF.

TIFF Gala Presentations:

The Whale directed by Darren Aronofsky, produced and to be distributed in U.S. and actng as international sales agent A24.

TIFF says: “Brendan Fraser gives a career-defining performance in Darren Aronofsky’s arrestingly intimate drama about a reclusive English professor struggling with personal relationships and self-acceptance, adapted from the stage play by Samuel D. Hunter.”

Alice, Darling by Mary Nighy

Also playing are Alice, Darling (Mary Nighy) in which Anna Kendrick captures the anxious psychology of a woman in an abusive relationship as her friends try to reconnect with her while on a cottage getaway.

Black Ice(Hubert Davis) about Black hockey players facing systemic racism in the sport.

The Greatest Beer Run Ever (Peter Farrelly) about man’s story of leaving New York in 1967 to bring beer to his childhood buddies in the Army while they are fighting in Vietnam. An Apple TV+ production.

Butcher’s Crossing (Gabe Polsky) is a frontier epic about an Ivy League drop-out as he travels to the Colorado wilderness, where he joins a team of buffalo hunters on a journey that puts his life and sanity at risk. Based on the highly acclaimed novel by John Williams. Isa Altitude

The Hummingbird (Francesca Archibugi)Hunt (Jung-jae Lee)A Jazzman’s Blues (Tyler Perry)Kacchey Limbu (Shubham Yogi)Moving On (Paul Weitz)Paris Memories (Alice Winocour)Prisoner’s Daughter (Catherine Hardwicke)Raymond & Ray (Rodrigo García)Roost (Amy Redford)Sidney (Reginald Hudlin)The Son (Florian Zeller)The Swimmers (Sally El Hosaini)What’s Love Got to Do With It? (Shekhar Kapur)The Woman King(Gina Prince-Bythewood)

Special PRESENTATIONSAllelujah (Sir Richard Eyre)All Quiet on the Western Front (Edward Berger)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Blueback (Robert Connolly)The Blue Caftan (Maryam Touzani)Broker (Hirokazu Kore-eda)Brother (Clement Virgo)Bros (Nicholas Stoller)Catherine Called Birdy (Lena Dunham)Causeway (Lila Neugebauer)Chevalier (Stephen Williams)Corsage (Marie Kreutzer)Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook)Devotion (Jd Dillard)Driving (Madeleine Christian Carion)El Suplente (Diego Lerman)Empire of Light...

Oscar Wilde may be the most famous person to face imprisonment for being gay, but he wasn’t the only one to suffer under an archaic legal system. Set in 1960s Italy, Gianni Amelio’s expansive historical drama “Lord of The Ants” uncovers the story of Aldo Braibanti, an Italian playwright, poet, and director who faced imprisonment for a consensual relationship with a younger student. “Lord of The Ants” holds a mirror to this shameful chapter in Italian history, painting

The film opens on an intimate moment between the handsome and dignified Aldo (Luigi Lo Cascio) and beautiful Ettore (Leonardo Maltese). Glowing with adoration, Aldo and Ettore recite poetry to each other in an outdoor Roman movie theater, ensconced in each other’s brilliance. At another table a kind journalist named Ennio (Elio Germano) observes them with sensitivity. “Braibanti, the myrmecologist,” he points out to his cousin Grazie (Sara Serraiocco...

Italian director Paolo Virzì (“Human Capital,” “Like Crazy”) is in Venice where his dystopic drama “Siccità,” which means drought in Italian, is premiering out-of-competition. The innovative pic, which features an A-list ensemble cast comprising Monica Bellucci, Sara Serraiocco (“Counterpart”) and Silvio Orlando (“The Young Pope”), is set amid a protracted drought caused by climate change in the Italian capital where the Tiber has dried up.

Virzì spoke to Variety about how “Siccità” germinated during Covid-19 and was shot amid tight pandemic protocols. Excerpts.

You worked with novelist and screenwriter Paolo Giordano on the concept and the script for this film. How did the collaboration start?

I knew Paolo, but it’s not like we had ever worked together. I knew him a bit as a writer and during the pandemic I read his articles in Corriere della Sera about what was happening at a time when there were lots of different fears going around.

Click here to read the full article.

Gianni Amelio’s chronicle of the persecution of Aldo Braibanti, Lord of the Ants (Il Signore delle Formiche), doesn’t avoid the propensity of many Italian period dramas for dense verbosity, with characters spouting great gobs of manicured prose. That’s perhaps especially the case since the protagonist was a poet, playwright and philosopher. But Amelio’s classical approach, and the dignified refusal of martyrdom in Luigi Lo Cascio’s lead performance, make this account of Braibanti’s controversial imprisonment for homosexuality in 1968 after a four-year trial a quietly stirring portrait of institutional intolerance.

The Braibanti case drew international attention in the wake of his conviction due to the number of influential public figures who spoke out against the travesty of justice — Pier Paolo Pasolini, Alberto Moravia, Elsa Morante, Marco Bellocchio and Umberto Eco among them.

What’s striking now about the courtroom...

Prominent arthouse sales company The Match Factory has closed multiple sales on Italian auteur Gianni Amelio’s Venice competition title “Lord of the Ants” ahead of its Venice premiere on Tuesday.

The Match Factory has sealed deals on Amelio’s latest work – which is a biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law – that will ensure the film’s theatrical release in Australia/New Zealand (Palace Films); Japan (Zazie Films); Spain (Surtsey Films); Sweden (TriArt Film) and Greece (Ama Films). Further deals are in negotiation, the company said.

Braibanti was convicted after a complaint from his partner’s father, who later forced his son to be treated with electroconvulsive therapy in an ill-conceived attempt to rid him of his homosexuality. The Fascist-era law that punished Braibanti, which made it a crime to lead innocent or unwary people “morally” astray,...

In spite of a disastrous box office situation, the Italian film industry is staying buoyant thanks to increased exports, a friendly rapport with streaming giants and support from the government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi that is pumping money into a revamp of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios.

“Production never stopped and ailing movie theaters have been able to get subsidies,” says Francesco Rutelli, the former Rome mayor who heads Italy’s motion picture association, Anica. The org recently broadened its member base to include executives from Amazon Prime Video, Disney and ViacomCBS, after Netflix had joined.

This move — which is unique in Europe — indicates the level of friendly dialogue between film producers and streaming platforms in Italy, best encapsulated by Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” Italy’s international Oscar nominee. Sorrentino’s Netflix original film was released theatrically in November across the country before dropping on the platform...

Italy’s True Colours has taken international sales on “Perfect Strangers” director Paolo Genovese’s new movie, a comedy drama titled “The First Day of My Life.”

The Rome-based sales company will be launching pre-sales at the upcoming online EFM market on Genovese’s latest concept pic, which has echoes of Frank Capra’s classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Based on Genovese’s novel of the same title, which was a bestseller in Italy, “The First Day of My Life” revolves around four characters on the brink of taking their lives who make a pact with a stranger with supernatural powers, played by “The Great Beauty” star Toni Servillo.

The mystery man gives them a chance to travel forward in time to see for a week how their friends and relatives would react to their deaths and what the world would be like without them. On the last day of the week,...

Efp Shooting Stars Celebrates 25th Anniversary

The 2022 cohort of European Shooting Stars have been confirmed. The initiative, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, comes from European Film Promotion. The seven actresses and three actors will be unveiled at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival at an event on February 14 at the Berlinale Palast. This year’s selected talents are: Gracija Filipović (Croatia), Marie Reuther (Denmark), Anamaria Vartolomei (France), Emilio Sakraya (Germany), Clare Dunne (Ireland), Hanna van Vliet (The Netherlands), João Nunes Monteiro (Portugal), Timon Sturbej (Slovenia), Evin Ahmad (Sweden) and Souheila Yacoub (Switzerland). They were selected by a five-person jury consisting of Levan Akin, Timka Grin, Sara Serraiocco, Bernard Michaux and Yun-hua Chen.

Screen Ireland Appointment

Screen Ireland has named Irish producer Niamh Fagan to the role of Project Manager within the agency’s creative Production and Development team. Fagan will work across Screen Ireland’s supported feature film and documentary projects,...

European Film Promotion has announced the 10 rising young actors selected for the 25th edition of European Shooting Stars, the promotional event held during the Berlinale that has been instrumental to boosting careers of top talents such as Alicia Vikander, Riz Ahmed, Alba Rohrwacher and George MacKay.

Due to Omicron-related constraints, this year’s Shooting Stars is taking place as a hybrid edition comprising some online events being scheduled before the Berlinale, while others will take place on-site during the festival. One of the program’s highlights will be the European Shooting Stars Awards Ceremony set for Feb. 14 at the Berlinale Palast.

The 10 selected European Shooting Stars for 2022 are: Gracija Filipović (Croatia); Marie Reuther (Denmark); Anamaria Vartolomei (France); Emilio Sakraya (Germany); Clare Dunne (Ireland); Hanna van Vliet (The Netherlands); João Nunes Monteiro (Portugal); Timon Sturbej (Slovenia); Evin Ahmad (Sweden); and Souheila Yacoub (Switzerland).

This year’s roster – three men and seven women – of standout actors,...

There’s a sense throughout “Io sto bene” that writer-director Donato Rotunno knows his characters deeply. Unfortunately, that impression doesn’t translate to three-dimensional portraits that might let viewers understand them as more than fleeting figures in a fragmented memory piece. The trifurcated tale of an elderly man who, while grieving his recently deceased wife, looks back on their marriage at the same time that he befriends a young woman, this Luxembourg production — the country’s Oscar submission — is

In Luxembourg, long-time Italian expat Antonio (Renato Carpentieri) is preparing for the unwelcome next phase of his life, accepting retirement awards, putting his house on the market and checking out nursing homes in the aftermath of his spouse’s death. Via a chance encounter, he strikes up a friendship with DJ Leo (Sara Serraiocco), whose own situation is hardly a bed of roses: She’s struggling to pay the rent on...

Cinemas

The Slovak government today declared a state of emergency will go into effect on Friday Nov. 25 in response to the deteriorating Covid-19 situation in the country. The state of emergency includes a curfew, with exceptions only for traveling to work, shopping and medical visits, and will run through Dec. 9. At that time, the government will re-evaluate the situation and decide whether to continue with the curfew.

In response to the notification that all cultural institutions, including cinemas, will be closed for at least two weeks as part of the curfew, Cinemax, the largest cinema operator in the country, announced across its social media profiles that it would pre-premiere Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci” one day early for those interested in catching in the theater. The film was originally scheduled to premiere in the country on Friday, Nov. 25. Bratislava’s Slovak Film Week, scheduled for Nov. 29 – Dec. 5, has yet...

Italian auteur Gianni Amelio (“Open Doors”) will shoot a biopic of Italian poet, playwright and director Aldo Braibanti, who was jailed in 1968 due to a Fascist-era anti-gay law. The Match Factory has boarded the pic and is launching international sales in Cannes.

Amelio is best-known for the Oscar-nominated “Open Doors” (1990) and also “Stolen Children,” which won the 1992 Cannes Grand Prix, as well as “Hammamet,” a portrait of disgraced late Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi’s final years in Tunisia.

Braibanti was convicted after a complaint from his partner’s father, who later forced his son to be treated with electroconvulsive therapy in an ill-conceived attempt to rid him of his homosexuality. The Fascist-era law that punished Braibanti, which made it a crime to lead innocent or unwary people “morally” astray, was repealed in 1981.

Amelio’s new film, titled “Il signore delle formiche,” which translates as “The Ants Man,” features an...

Italian twins Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo, who made a splash in Berlin last year with “Bad Tales,” are back on set with dark thriller “America Latina” toplining Elio Germano, who was at Berlin 2020 with two pics: “Bad Tales” and “Hidden Away,” for which he scored a Silver Bear.

Shooting started March 1 on “America Latina.” Its story details are being kept under wraps other than it’s “a love story and like all love stories it’s obviously a thriller,” as the brothers cryptically put it recently speaking to the Italian press.

“Bad Tales,” in which Germano played the sadistic father in a dysfunctional suburban family, won the Berlin 2020 best screenplay award.

“America Latina” is being co-produced by Lorenzo Mieli’s The Apartment, a Fremantle company, and Vision Distribution, which will release the film theatrically in Italy. Le Pacte is also on board and will be distributing France.

Vision Distribution, which...

Italian director Paolo Virzì has begun shooting in Rome on apocalyptic drama “Siccità,” set amid a protracted drought in the Italian capital and featuring an A-list local cast comprising Monica Bellucci, Sara Serraiocco (“Counterpart”) and Silvio Orlando (“The Young Pope”).

Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Gangarossa are producing for Wildside, the Fremantle-owned company behind “The Young Pope,” “My Brilliant Friend” and “We Are Who We Are.” Vision Distribution, which is jointly operated by Comcast’s Sky Italia and five prominent Italian production companies, will distribute in Italy with plans for a theatrical release.

The film follows a group of characters from all walks of life who are tied by a single tragic, mocking thread as each one seeks their redemption.

The story treatment was penned by Paolo Giordano (“We Are Who We Are”) in tandem with Virzì, whose English-language “The Leisure Seeker,” with Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren, was released in the U.

Produced by Medusa Film and Lotus, the new film by the author of Perfect Strangers will be toplined by Valerio Mastandrea, Margherita Buy, Sara Serraiocco and Toni Servillo. A story about the strength required to start over when everything appears to be falling apart around you: this is what is promised by Paolo Genovese’s new film intitled Il primo giorno della mia vita, on which filming commenced this Monday in Rome. This latest feature film put forth by the director of the international hit Perfect Strangers, which inspired a record 18 remakes around the world, is produced by Marco Belardi on behalf of Lotus Production (Leone Film Group), and by Medusa Film who are also distributing the work. Written by Genovese himself, together with Paolo Costella, Rolando Ravello and Isabella Aguilar, and based upon the director’s novel of the same name published by Einaudi, the story tells the tale of.

The Italian-Polish co-production directed by Mauro Mancini will world premiere at Venice International Film Critics' Week in September. Intramovies announces the international trailer for the film Thou Shalt Not Hate, to be world premiered at Venice International Film Critics' Week in September. We bring you the exclusive trailer for the film. Mauro Mancini’s first feature film, starring Alessandro Gassmann, Sara Serraiocco and Luka Zunic, tells the story of a doctor of Jewish origin who rescues a man who is the victim of a car accident, but when he discovers a Nazi tattoo on his chest, he leaves him to his fate. “Neither good nor bad, just human beings, ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances”. This is how the characters of Thou Shalt Not Hate are described by director Mauro Mancini, the author of numerous short films, TV mini-series and music videos, who also co-wrote the feature film’s screenplay with Davide Lisino.

Alessandro Gassmann, Sara Serraiocco and Luka Zunic lead the cast of Mauro Mancini’s debut film, an Italian-Polish co-production by Movimento Film and Agresywna Banda. These past few days, shooting has begun in Trieste on Non odiare, Mauro Mancini’s first feature film, starring Alessandro Gassmann, Sara Serraiocco and Luka Zunic. The title is produced by Mario Mazzarotto on behalf of Movimento Film, in co-production with the Polish firm Agresywna Banda, with Rai Cinema and in association with Notorious Pictures who will also distribute the work in Italy. The story of Non odiare unfolds in Trieste, at the very heart of Europe; a city awash with countless ethnicities and cultures and boasting deep Jewish roots, as attested to by its ancient synagogue, in which a film scene is set to be shot for the very first time. In the depths of the city and on the threshold of the historic Borgo Teresiano.

Why was Counterpart cancelled? Recently, Starz boss Jeffrey Hirsch discussed the network's decision to end the TV show after two seasons, Deadline reports.

The sci-fi spy drama stars Jk Simmons as Howard Silk, a low-level bureaucrat who discovers a major secret while working for the Un in Germany. The cast also includes Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Nicholas Pinnock, Nazanin Boniadi, and Sara Serraiocco.

Read More…...

"I can honestly say I've never killed someone who didn't deserve it." Netflix has debuted an official trailer for an Italian crime drama titled The Ruthless, also known as Lo Spietato in Italian (which just translates to The Ruthless). Set in Milan in the 1980s, the film tells the story of a rebellious teen named Santo Russo who grows up to become one of the city's most ambitious criminals. Riccardo Scamarcio stars as Santo Russo, with a cast including Sara Serraiocco, Valentine Payen, Alessio Praticò, Marie-Ange Casta, Fulvio Milani, and Alessandro Tedeschi. This looks as intense and as brutal as you'd expect for another Italian mafia film, with some of the usual gritty touches. Those greedy mobsters always try to take too much. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Renato De Maria's The Ruthless, direct from Netflix's YouTube: 1980s Milan is an economic boom-town, and youngster 'Santo Russo'...

Vulture Watch

What fate awaits Howard Silk? Has the Counterpart TV show been cancelled or renewed for a third season on Starz? The television vulture is watching all the latest cancellation and renewal news, so this page is the place to track the status of Counterpart, season three. Bookmark it, or subscribe for the latest updates. Remember, the television vulture is watching your shows. Are you?

What's This TV Show About?

A Starz science-fiction espionage drama, Counterpart stars J.K. Simmons, Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Nicholas Pinnock, Nazanin Boniadi, and Sara Serraiocco. Exploring themes including identity and fate, the thriller centers on a low-level bureaucrat, Howard Silk (Simmons), who toils away in relative obscurity at a United Nations spy outfit based in Berlin, Germany. After uncovering evidence that his agency is protecting a secret about traveling to a parallel dimension, Howard’s whole life changes. He soon...

Does Howard Silk fight the good fight during the second season of the Counterpart TV show on Starz? As we all know, the Nielsen ratings typically play a big role in determining whether a TV show like Counterpart is cancelled or renewed for season three. Unfortunately, most of us do not live in Nielsen households. Because many viewers feel frustration when their viewing habits and opinions aren't considered, we invite you to rate all of the Counterpart season two episodes for us. **Status update below.

A Starz sci-fi spy drama, Counterpart stars stars J.K. Simmons, Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Nicholas Pinnock, Nazanin Boniadi, and Sara Serraiocco. Exploring themes including identity and fate, the thriller centers on a low-level bureaucrat, Howard Silk (Simmons), who toils away in relative obscurity at a United Nations spy outfit based in Berlin, Germany. After uncovering evidence that his agency...

Starz TV series don't rule the Nielsen ratings, but since Starz viewers pay for the privilege of watching, the brass only has to worry about pleasing them, not ad buyers. Last year, the Counterpart TV show premiered and wound up ranked fourth out of the network's original programming. Now that it's back for a second season, will the audience return or even grow? Will Counterpart be cancelled or renewed for season three? Stay tuned. **Status update below.

A Starz sci-fi espionage drama, Counterpart stars J.K. Simmons, Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Nicholas Pinnock, Nazanin Boniadi, and Sara Serraiocco. Exploring themes including identity and fate, the thriller centers on a low-level bureaucrat, Howard Silk (Simmons), who toils away in relative obscurity at a United Nations spy outfit based in Berlin, Germany. After uncovering evidence that his agency is protecting a secret about traveling to a...

Network: Starz.

Episodes: 20 (hour).

Seasons: Two.

TV show dates: December 10, 2017 — February 17, 2019.

Series status: Cancelled.

Performers include: J.K. Simmons, Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Ulrich Thomsen, Nazanin Boniadi, Nicholas Pinnock, Sara Serraiocco, Mido Hamada, Jamie Bamber, Kenneth Choi, and Bernhard Forcher.

TV show description:

A sci-fi espionage drama from creator Justin Marks, the Counterpart TV series delves into an enigmatic reality which everyday living conceals. The story centers on low-level bureaucrat, Howard Silk (Simmons), who toils away in relative obscurity at at a United Nations spy outfit based in Berlin, Germany.

After uncovering evidence that his agency is protecting a secret about traveling to a parallel dimension, Howard's whole life changes. He soon plunges headlong into a strange world...

Starz is saying goodbye to Counterpart. Deadline reports the network has cancelled the TV show after two seasons.

The sci-fi drama centers on a low-level bureaucrat, Howard Silk (J.K. Simmons), who toils away in relative obscurity at a United Nations spy outfit based in Berlin, Germany. The cast also includes Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Nicholas Pinnock, Nazanin Boniadi, and Sara Serraiocco.

Read More…...

Counterpart‘s doubly delicious spy games resume this Sunday at 9/8c, when Starz’s sci-fi tinged espionage drama opens Season 2.

During the series’ freshman run, Howard Silk (played by J.K. Simmons), a low-level wonk at the Office of Interchange in Berlin, was introduced to his “other” — the Howard Silk from a top-secret parallel world. A stone-cold, highly skilled spy, Howard “Prime” had covertly traveled to our side to track an assassin named Baldwin (Sara Serraiocco), then stuck around to complete his mission. The kindly, meek Howard in turn had to take his dickish doppelganger’s place over there, where he...

When it debuted earlier this year, I compared Starz’s Counterpart simultaneously to The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Fringe and The Parent Trap. Such was the unlikely yet appealing combination of genres and tones used to tell the story of Howard Silk (J.K. Simmons), a meek government bureaucrat who discovers that there’s a parallel reality whose own Howard Silk is a ruthless spy. At times it was a calculated Cold War thriller, at times a wistful sci-fi tale about the divergences between the two worlds, at...

Are you overwhelmed by how much television is available these days? Is life getting in the way of keeping up with the shows you wanna try out? We feel your tube-related pain, so here’s a handy feature to help you locate the hidden gems in this Peak TV era.

Counterpart

Network | Starz

Created By | Justin Marks, whose only previous major project was Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (really!)

Number Of Episodes | 10

Episode Length | 60 mins. (though technically more in the mid-50s range)

Premise | Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) plays Howard Silk, a low-level wonk at the Office...

Vulture Watch

What will become of Howard Silk, not to mention his dimensional counterpart? Has the Counterpart TV show been cancelled or renewed for a second season on Starz? The television vulture is watching all the latest cancellation and renewal news, so this page is the place to track the status of Counterpart, season two. Bookmark it, or subscribe for the latest updates. Remember, the television vulture is watching your shows. Are you?  

What's This TV Show About?

Airing on the Starz premium cable channel, Counterpart stars J.K. Simmons, Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Ulrich Thomsen, Nazanin Boniadi, Nicholas Pinnock, and Sara Serraiocco. The sci-fi spy drama delves into an enigmatic reality which everyday living conceals. The story centers on a low-level bureaucrat, Howard Silk (Simmons), who toils away in relative obscurity at a United Nations spy outfit based in Berlin, Germany. After uncovering...

"There are people hiding among us." Starz has just released the premiere date and trailer for season two of Counterpart.

The sci-fi espionage drama centers on Howard Silk (Jk Simmons), a low-level bureaucrat for the United Nations who discovers his agency is protecting a secret about traveling to a parallel dimension. The cast also includes Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Ulrich Thomsen, Nazanin Boniadi, Nicholas Pinnock, and Sara Serraiocco.

Read More…...

In Today’s TV News Roundup, BBC One released new images for its adaptation of “Les Misérables,” and HBO teased an image for its upcoming superhero series “Watchmen.”

Dates

Starz has announced the season two premiere of its espionage thriller “Counterpart” on Dec. 9 at 9 p.m. Et/Pt. This season will feature newcomers Betty Gabriel as series regular Naya Temple and James Cromwell in a recurring role as Yanek. Joining Gabriel and Cromwell is J.K. Simmons who will reprise his role as Howard alongside Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Nicholas Pinnock, Nazanin Boniadi and Sara Serraiocco. “Counterpart” was created by Justin Marks who will also make his directorial debut on the series this season with executive producers Gary Gilbert, Jordan Horowitz, Morten Tyldum, Keith Redmon and Bard Dorros. Watch the trailer for season two below.

First Look

BBC One has released new images for its upcoming adaptation of “Les Misérables.” The...

Starz has released the official trailer for the second season of sci-fi thriller Counterpart, and set a December premiere date for its return. Season 2 will debut day-and-date Sunday, December 9 in the U.S. and on Starzplay in the UK and Germany.

The 10-episode second season introduces new series regular Betty Gabriel as Naya Temple and Emmy winner James Cromwell in a recurring role as Yanek, joining star J.K. Simmons.

Season 2 finds Howard (Simmons) and his counterpart stranded in two different worlds, each having to adapt for survival. Howard Prime takes on his other’s life: going to his job, living in his home… with his wife. Howard Alpha is locked in a mysterious black site known as Echo, cut off from everyone he knows. As a cold war escalates between worlds deepening a fickle divide, both men find themselves growing increasingly like their other.