News

Loco Films, the Paris-based world sales and production company, has unveiled the trailer for Yulia Trofimova’s feature debut “The Land of Sasha” which is premiering today at the Berlinale, in the Generation 14plus strand.

“The Land of Sasha” tells the story of an indecisive 18-year-old struggling to pursue his desire to become a painter as his mother urges him to choose a safer career path. The sudden appearance of the boy’s estranged father complicates things further. But when Sasha has an unexpected encounter with an unusual girl called Zhenia, he realizes he has no choice but to finally grow up.

“The Land of Sasha” was produced by Katerina Mikhaylova and Konstantin Fam for Moscow-based Vega Film. The young director said she has always been inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson and Noah Baumbach, and watched “Francis Ha” many times while writing the script.

Trofimova said the film was a...

Loco Films has taken world sales rights on Alexander Zolotukhin’s “Brother in Every Inch” ahead of its world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival’s competitive Encounters section. The Paris-based sales agent has also acquired “The Land of Sasha,” the feature debut of Julia Trofimova, which plays in the festival’s Generation 14plus strand.

Zolotukhin’s sophomore feature is the story of twin brothers whose inseparable bond complicates their efforts to fulfill their shared dream of becoming military pilots. The film is produced by Andrey Sigle and Mary Nazari for Proline Film.

The son of a pilot, Zolotukhin was granted rare access to a working military base to shoot “Brother in Every Inch.” Acclaimed cinematographer Andrey Naydenov (“Dear Comrades!”) worked with military engineers to construct special camera cases that would allow him to capture high-octane flight scenes.

“I wanted to show the process of being a pilot as realistically as possible,...

Ammonite, Apples, Promising Young Woman, Supernova, The Dig, The Father and The Mauritanian are among the first wave of movies recommended by a European Film Awards committee for nomination at this year’s event.

A record number of movies have been suggested by the committee this year in light of the pandemic disruption. More than 40 films have been revealed today — features and docs — with more set to be revealed in September.

The feature films have been selected by a committee of the Academy Board and a range of European industry professionals. The documentary films have been selected by Efa Board Members Graziella Bildesheim (institutional/Italy) and Ada Solomon (producer/Romania), Katja Gauriloff, Kathrin Kohlstedde (festival programmer/Germany), Veton Nurkollari (artistic director/Kosovo), Orwa Nyrabia, Rada Šešić (festival programmer and filmmaker/Bosnia & Herzegovina/The Netherlands), Rajesh Thind and...

Other winners included P.S. Vinothraj’s ‘Pebbles’ and Martín de los Santos’s ’That Was Life’.

Russian director Philipp Yuryev was the big winner at this year’s Transilvania International Film Festival in Romania’s Cluj-Napoca, clinching the €10,000 Transilvania Trophy for his debut feature The Whaler Boy.

Distributed internationally by Laurent Danielou’s Paris-based Loco Films, the Russian-Polish-Belgian co-production also won the Director’s Award on its premiere at last year’s Venice Days.

It is the second Russian film in TIFF’s 20-year history to be presented with the top award: Ilya Krzhanovsky’s 4 shared the trophy with Juan Pablo Rebella...

Ten projects in development will be presented to industry professionals during the 8th Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps) at this year’s Transilvania Intl. Film Festival, with a hybrid pitching session on July 29 including a range of film funds, distributors, sales agents, producers and financiers both online and on-site in the host city of Cluj.

Launched in 2014 as a five-day workshop for first- and second-time directors from Romania and Moldova, the Pitch Stop expanded in 2017 to include a co-production platform with projects from neighboring countries. The program – which has become one of the leading industry confabs in the region – looks to foster cross-border collaboration while also nurturing and supporting emerging talent.

TIFF industry manager Ioana Lazareanu says the Tps’ mission is to help create “a synergy between the creative side in the industry and the business side.”

“On the one hand, obviously, [there is] the need to nurture, support and promote local talent…...

Selection includes 17 Russian projects and 9 international.

Russian state film body Roskino and project market When East Meets West (Wemw) have selected 26 projects for Wemw Goes To Russia, a new international co-production forum to run during the upcoming Key Buyers Event: Digital (June 8-10).

Some 17 Russian projects and nine international works from eight different countries will participate in the co-production pitching, through which they will be able to meet Russian producers and access a minority co-production support granted by the Russian Ministry of Culture, up to Rub 10m.

The inaugural edition of Wemw Goes To Russia is part of the third annual Key Buyers Event: Digital.

In addition, Nigina Sayfullaeva’s explicit drama Fidelity that is handled in the market by M-Appeal has been sold to France’s Arp Selection.

London-based sales agent Reason8 is to handle world rights on Berlinale Forum title In Deep Sleep by writer-director Maria Ignatenko.

It marks first film backed through Roman Abramovich’s private film fund Kinoprime to screen in official selection in Berlin. A drama about a man grieving for his wife in a world in a deep slumber, the film has an almost entirely female crew. It was produced by Katerina Mikhaylova through Vega Film.

In addition, Russian director Nigina Sayfullaeva’s Fidelity,...