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Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon (2024) is now showing on Mubi.Moon.I remember one occasion that shaped me to this day: I grew up with Kurdish Iraqi parents who were paralyzed by the trauma of war and displacement. We were so isolated. They had to start over from scratch in Austria. We had no money, nobody felt secure. I love my family—everything changed—but when I was younger, I had to be the nice, calm, perfect girl who just stayed at home. I wasn’t allowed to be anywhere but in school and at home. I also know what violence means… One day I gathered all my courage to write about how I felt in an essay for an Austrian teacher. I was so nervous when I got it back, but the only comment at the end of the paper was, “Get a hobby, maybe?” I still remember that. It changed a lot for me.

An Austrian trainer goes to Dubai to work with three teenage sisters, and realises they are trapped. But there is no hero-saviour narrative in Kurdwin Ayub’s film

This claustrophobic drama-thriller sticks two fingers up at white saviour narratives with its story about a mixed martial arts fighter hired by a super-rich Jordanian to train his teenage sisters. It’s directed by Iraq-born Austrian film-maker Kurdwin Ayub, her script inspired perhaps by Princess Haya, wife of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed and half-sister of the Jordanian king, who fled to London in 2019. It’s anchored by a fierce, physical performance by choreographer and performance artist Florentina Holzinger.

She plays Sarah, an Austrian fighter whose career in the cage is over. The obvious next move is to become a trainer, but Sarah’s people skills aren’t really up to it: she’s blunt and hopeless at small talk. Then comes...

Kurdwin Ayub is not wasting time mounting what appears to be celestial bodies from the sky trilogy — as casting has begun on her third feature titled Stars. Ulrich Seidl‘s production co. is once again backing the Kurdish-Austrian filmmaker. After 2022’s Sonne (Berlin International Film Festival – Best First Film Award) and 2024’s Moon (Locarno Film Festival – Special Jury Prize), her latest is inspired by true events. Filming with take place in Jordan this coming autumn.

Star follows a young American reporter trapped in the crossfire as terrorists overrun Iraq. The war film explores the brutal realities of conflict and its profound impact on ordinary lives.…...

The 2024 global film festival circuit featured something for every taste — from celebrated Lithuanian art house fare, such as Locarno winner Toxic and Drowning Dry, to such audience favorites as Sean Baker’s Anora and Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez, from the highs to the lows, all garnished, of course, with a big serving of star power.

Some film events, such as Poland’s Camerimage, were hit by controversy, while others boosted their prominence, with Switzerland’s Locarno, for example, cementing its role as a top-tier global fest, and Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic showed once again why it is known as Central Europe’s biggest film party of the summer.

Here’s a look at The Hollywood Reporter highlights of the 2024 film festival season.

Female power at Cannes.

Anora, Emilia Pérez and body horror The Substance, starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, were among the revelations of the world premieres on the Croisette.

The Red Sea International Film Festival is now a Spike Lee joint.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker will preside over the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia film festival’s features-competition jury this year, Red Sea announced on Thursday via Instagram. Lee’s impressive filmography includes “Do the Right Thing” (1989), “Malcolm X” (1992), and “BlacKkKlansman” (2019), for which he won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. “BlacKkKlansman” was also nominated for Lee’s directing and for Best Picture.

The 2024 Red Sea Film Festival will take place in Jeddah’s Old Town of Al Balad from December 5-14.

Not in competition but newly announced to play at Red Sea 2024 is Thierry Frémaux’s “Lumière: Le Cinema,” the sequel to “Lumière: The Adventure Begins,” which debuted at the inaugural Red Sea festival. “Le Cinema” is a cinephile’s dream, described as “an unparalleled journey through the early days of celluloid,” it features 100 newly restored films. Frémaux is the director of...

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has added Thierry Fremaux’s Lumiere: Le Cinema to its international film lineup.

The Cannes Film Festival artistic director’s sequel to Lumiere: The Adventure Begins takes a look at the birth of cinema with a look at over 100 newly restored films. Fremaux, who is also director of the Lumiere Institute in Lyon, will be in Jeddah for his film’s screenings.

Shivani Pandya Malhotra, managing director of the Red Sea Film Fest, said in a statement: “We are honored to host Lumiere: Le Cinema at the Rsiff. This film is a vital testament to the foundation of all modern audiovisual content, showcasing the early pioneers who revolutionized visual storytelling. Thierry Frémaux’s insights into cinema history are always invaluable, and we are thrilled to share this with our audiences.”

The sequel joins earlier-announced competition titles like Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon,...

The Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) has announced details of this year’s selection of films screening in its prestigious Red Sea: Competition strand, the projects which will vie for the coveted Yusr Awards.

The Competition values all cinematic forms, from narrative to animation and documentary, featuring films from Asia, Africa, and across the Arab world. Mahdi Fleifel‘s To A Land Unknown will have its Mena premiere, a powerful drama that traces the heartbreaking story of two Palestinian refugees stranded in Athens that received funding from Rsiff. Also debuting as Mena premieres are Sima’s Song directed by Afghan filmmaker Roya Sadat, a drama that explores the evolution of women’s rights during the Russian occupation in the 1970s, and Indian director Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon, a critically acclaimed comedy based on the true story of a group of amateur filmmakers who come together to create a film that honors their city.

Viola Davis will be honored by Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival, where the Oscar winner and four-time nominee will also be holding a master class highlighting her career.

On Monday, the festival — which will run Dec. 6 to 14 in Jeddah, on the Red Sea’s eastern shore — announced the main lineup of its fourth edition, which will open with the world premiere of Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s musical drama “The Tale of Daye’s Family.” The film follows an 11-year-old Nubian albino with a beautiful voice “who faces adversity due to his unique appearance,” as the provided synopsis puts it.

“For us, this a perfect representation of where this region is headed and what’s happening here,” said the fest’s managing director Shivani Pandya Malhotra at a press conference, noting that the inspirational film is a co-production between Egypt and Saudi.

The Red Sea fest – which is...

The fourth editon of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival (December 5-14) has unveiled the line-up for its Competition strand and has selected Egypt-Saudi co-productionThe Tale Of Daye’s Family as its opening film.

The Tale Of Daye’s Family by Egyptian filmmaker Karim Shenawi tells the story of an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy who faces adversity due to his unique appearance and who gets a chance to audition for an Egyptian version of talent show The Voice.

Scroll down for full Competition line-up

Speaking at a Red Sea press conference this morning, the festival’s managing director...

The Red Sea Film Festival has unveiled the bulk of the line-up for its fourth edition, which will showcase 120 films from 81 territories from December 5 to 14 in the port city of Jeddah.

The festival will open with Egyptian director Karim Shenawy’s The Tale Of Daye’s Family (aka Light) about an 11-year-old Nubian albino boy with a beautiful voice, who faces adversity due to his unique appearance.

Abandoned by his father and bullied by his peers, he dreams of following in the footsteps of his idol, singer and actor Mohamed Mounir. When he gets a chance to audition for The Voice, Daye and his family embark on a perilous 1,000-mile journey from Southern Egypt to Cairo.

Michael Gracey’s semi-biographical feature Better Man, inspired by Robbie Williams and portraying the pop icon as a chimpanzee, will close the festival.

Johnny Depp’s Modi, Three Days on the Wing of Madness...

Honors for and onstage appearances by Viola Davis and Egyptian star Mona Zaki (Perfect Strangers, Flight 404, Aserb: The Squadron, The Spider), Johnny Depp’s new movie as a director and a biopic about Robbie Williams will be part of this year’s Red Sea International Film Festival (Rsiff) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, organizers said Monday.

They also unveiled the competition lineup for the fest’s fourth edition. Organizers said that the overall lineup features 49 world and international premieres, also highlighting that six female filmmakers will be featured in the competition program.

Among the 15 competition titles announced are Reema Kagti’s Superboys of Malegaon, which bowed at the Toronto Film Festival, and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon, which had its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival where it won the special jury prize.

The Rsiff on Monday also added several galas to its lineup, plus unveiled its International Spectacular and its Families & Children programs.

France’s Les Arcs Film Festival has unveiled the line-up for its 16th edition of its mountaintop movie marathon, taking place from December 14-21, 2024.

Eight European films will vie for the festival’s Crystal Arrow awards.

They include Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap, a comedy about titular west Belfast hip-hop trio that is Ireland’s entry for the best international feature Oscar race and leads the Bifa 2024 nominations, Runar Runarsson’s Icelandic drama When the Light Breaks that opened this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard, and Kurdwin Ayub’s Moon about a former Austrian martial arts master hired to train...

Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap is among the five films nominated for the European University Film Award (Eufa) as announced by the European Film Academy and Filmfest Hamburg.

Irish-language hip hop biopic Kneecap is joined by Dea Kulumbegashvili’s Venice award winner April; Cannes award winnersArmand from Halfdan Ullmann Tondel and Three Kilometres To The End Of The World by Emanuel Parvu; and Kurdwin Ayub’s Austrian drama Moon.

The five selected features will be viewed and discussed across 23 universities in 23 countries with each institution choosing its favourite film.

A representative from each university will attend a three-day deliberation meeting in...

Kurdwin Ayub’s films shine light into complex cultures through outsider perspectives. Her previous work, Sonne, offered a Kurdish teenager’s vibrant yet conflicting life in Vienna. Now in Mond, the lens shifts to Florentina Holzinger’s Sarah, an Austrian martial artist drawn overseas.

Once a champion Mma fighter, Sarah now battles emptiness after a crushing defeat. When an opportunity emerges to train three wealthy Jordanian sisters, Sarah eagerly jumps at the escape. But all is not as it seems in the ornate desert home. The listless girls appear more interested in malls than training, living cloistered with strict rules and surveillance.

As Sarah observes their sheltered world, questions surface. Why did the family hire her, if not for fighting? Why this isolation? Her curiosities grow as unexplained events come to light. Yet cultural divides and nondisclosure agreements constrain Sarah’s understanding. Trapped between curiosity and duty and her own caged identity,...

The first batch of titles were announced in August, and now with Locarno and Venice firming up the selection process, we now have our second wave of films. Sixteen feature films (nominations of the European Film Awards will be revealed on 5 November) have been added and we find the likes of Venice competition winners in Pedro Almodóvar, Maura Delpero and Dea Kulumbegashvili, Orizzonti section winner Bogdan Mureşanu, Locarno Golden Leopard winner by Saulė Bliuvaitė and Toronto preemed Hard Truths by master filmmaker Mike Leigh.

April directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili

Conclave directed by Edward Berger

Hard Truths directed by Mike Leigh

Harvest directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari

Misericordia directed by Emma Dante (Italy)

Moon directed by Kurdwin Ayub (Austria)

Mr.…...

The European Film Academy has added a further 16 feature films to the longlist – known as the Feature Film Selection – for the European Film Awards. With the already announced 29 films the list comprises 45 titles.

These films will now be considered for the nomination stage of the European Film Awards. The nominees will be revealed on Nov. 5.

Among the titles are several Venice award-winners: Pedro Almodóvar’s Golden Lion winner “The Room Next Door,” Grand Jury Prize winner “Vermiglio,” Special Jury Prize winner “April,” and Horizon winner “The New Year That Never Came.” Other titles include Edward Berger’s “Conclave,” Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” and Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.”

The films were selected by the European Film Academy Board, who consulted with a team of invited experts.

The European Film Awards take place on Dec. 7 in Lucerne, Switzerland.

These are the additional titles in the Feature Film Selection:

“April,” directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili

“Conclave,...

Roland Teichmann, director of the Austrian Film Institute (AFI), has shared more details of the institute’s ambitious new funding programme for first and second features.

The Talent Lab scheme is being launched in collaboration with the Vienna Film Fund under its director Christine Dollhofer.

It aims to “identify interesting young filmmakers from all over the country whether they come from film school or not…this is the strategy to look for new talent from all over the place,” said Teichmann.

The €2.8m scheme offers emerging teams the opportunity to create their first and second feature films within “a structured...

Unfolding in two very different locations, “Moon,” the elliptical second feature from Iraq-born Austrian filmmaker Kurdwin Ayub (“Sun”) follows a mixed martial arts fighter who has reached the end of her competitive career. Faced with a lack of opportunity in her small Austrian town, she accepts a temporary gig training the daughters of an ultra-rich, but shady Jordanian family. While the multiple ellipses may annoy the more narratively-driven viewer, others will thrill to the mood Ayub creates and the way she plays with audience expectations. The film nabbed a special jury prize in Locarno competition as well as the independent film critics kudos, and should be in demand at further fests.

After her last go-round in the Mma cage leaves her sorely beaten and defeated, Sarah (Florentina Holzinger) falls into a depression. Previously, she lived to train and compete, but now she has a hard time figuring out her next step.

Saulė Bliuvaitė with her Golden Leopard for Toxic Photo: Locarno Film Festival / Ti-Press Saulė Bliuvaitė's debut feature Toxic Toxic (Akiplėša) has won the Golden Leopard top prize at the Locarno Film Festival.

Her drama is a gritty coming-of-ager, with experimental touches, set in a bleak industrial town in Lithuania. It also took home the First Feature award. The Special Jury Prize went to Moon, directed by Kurdwin Ayub, about a kickboxer who takes on a job as a personal trainer in the Middle East.

It has been a good week for Lithuania, with Laurynas Bareiša’s Drowning Dry also picking up multiple prizes. A puzzle box of a film, set around a family tragedy, it won the Best Director Leopard plus two of the gender-neutral acting awards for Gelminė Glemžaitė, Agnė Kaktaitė, Giedrius Kiela and Paulius Markevičius.

The other acting prize went to Kim Minhee for Hong Sangsoo’s By The Stream.

Lithuanian cinema, not typically that well represented on the international film festival circuit, was the big story of this year’s Locarno Film Festival awards ceremony, with two films from the Baltic nation taking a number of top prizes between them.

“Toxic,” an auspicious debut from writer-director Saulė Bliuvaitė, won not only the Golden Leopard for Best Film in the fest’s premier International Competition — from a jury chaired by Austrian auteur Jessica Hausner — but also, in an unusual double, the top prize in the separately juried First Feature Competition. Bliuvaitė’s compatriot Laurynas Bareiša, meanwhile, won Best Director in the International Competition for his sophomore feature “Drowning Dry,” while the same film’s ensemble also collectively took one of the jury’s gender-neutral acting prizes.

A hard-hitting study of alliances and rivalries between teenage girls enrolled at a modeling school in small-town Lithuania, “Toxic” stood out in the Competition...

Toxic (Akiplėša), the debut feature from Saulė Bliuvaitė, has won the 2024 Golden Leopard, the top prize at the Locarno Film Festival.

Toxic follows two teenage girls from a bleak industrial town who join an extreme local modelling school. Featuring a cast of non-actors, it was selected for Les Arcs work-in-progress programme in 2023, and was also a prize-winner at Meeting Point Vilnius this year.

Bendita Film Sales are handling sales. The film also won Locarno’s Swatch first feature award.

The Golden Leopard for best film includes a cash prize of Chf 75,000 to be shared equally between the film’s director and producer.

Akiplėša (Toxic), the feature debut from Lithuanian writer and director Saulė Bliuvaitė that explores the human body and mysterious model agencies, is the winner of the Locarno Film Festival’s 2024 international competition, which was honored with the Pardo d’Oro, or Golden Leopard, in the Swiss town on Saturday. Locarno77 organizers called the movie “an incisive portrayal of teenage girls and the crushing expectations imposed upon them.”

Meanwhile, the special jury prize went to Iraq-born Austrian auteur Kurdwin Ayub for her sophomore fiction feature Mond (Moon). The film follows former martial artist Sarah who leaves Austria to train three sisters from a wealthy Jordanian family. “It’s all about sisters, no matter where they come from, and about cages, no matter where they are,” according to Ayub.

Lithuania, which has a population of about three million people but was represented by two features in this year’s Locarno international competition,...

Bitter Moon: Ayub Concocts a Taut Domestic Thriller

“It takes time for a bird to escape, even after someone has opened the doors to its cage,” wrote Ayaan Hirsi Ali, famed author of The Caged Virgin, former politician, and critic of Islam who fled an arranged marriage as a young woman. Caged women, both mentally and physically, are the subject of Iraqi-born Austrian filmmaker Kurdwin Ayub’s sophomore narrative feature, Moon, which expertly exemplifies this frustrating struggle to flee an enclosure even when opportunities present themselves to do so. Although the narrative’s final moments suggest there’s no real satisfactory ending, even on an individual level, at least one of Ayub’s protagonists pivots to the possibility of self actualization.…...

The Locarno Film Festival‘s 77th edition has been screening an eclectic lineup of movies, covering a broad range of topics and themes.

However, there are some recurring topics that are touched on in several films in the lineup of the Swiss festival, such as the theme of AI and digital technology.

“Another obvious theme is the conversation around the past feminist female identity and the different declinations of such identity in the present,” Locarno’s artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro recently told THR.

Several films at Locarno particularly present women relating to their kids in ways that go beyond traditional images of all-caring mothers. For example, Iraq-born Austrian auteur Kurdwin Ayub’s sophomore fiction feature Moon, which had its world premiere in competition at the fest, includes a scene in which a mother talks about her young kid with her sister in a way that is likely to make...

Writer and director Kurdwin Ayub was born in Iraq, but her family came to Austria as refugees when she was still a baby. Now, she is 34 and has been making a name for herself in the film world as an auteur.

Her 2016 feature documentary Paradise! Paradise!, which she wrote, directed, and handled the cinematography for, won the best camera honor at the Diagonale – Festival of Austrian Film. It follows Omar, the father of a family that has lived in Austria since 1991. Now, he plans to buy an apartment in Kurdistan as an investment. THR‘s review called the doc an “engaging intersection of the domestic and the geo-political.”

Her fiction short Boomerang premiered at the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis in Saarbrücken, Germany in 2019 and won the jury award for best short. “Adnan is obsessed with going to his ex-wife’s housewarming party,” explains a plot description. “Unfortunately, he isn’t invited.

The teaser (above) has debuted for “Moon” (Mond), which has its world premiere on Aug. 11 in the International Competition section of Locarno Film Festival. Bendita Film Sales has just come on board to handle world sales rights.

The film is written and directed by Kurdwin Ayub, whose first fiction feature film, “Sonne,” premiered at the 2022 Berlinale in the Encounters competition and won the best first feature award.

Ayub, who was born in Iraq and lives in Vienna, was also nominated for the European Discovery Award at the 35th European Film Awards for “Sonne.” It won best Austrian film at Viennale. Her feature documentary “Paradise! Paradise!” won best camera at the Diagonale – Festival of Austrian Film.

In “Moon,” former martial arts fighter Sarah leaves Austria to train three sisters from a wealthy Jordanian family. What sounds initially like a dream job soon becomes unsettling: the young women are cut off from...

Sarajevo Film Festival has selected 18 titles for its Kinoscope strand and seven for its In Focus section, including a range of 2024 festival hits from Berlin and Cannes.

The Kinoscope selection consists of 12 Kinoscope films, and six titles in genre strand Kinoscope Surreal.

Scroll down for the full list of titles

Titles include Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light, which won the Grand Prix in Cannes Competition this year; and Santosh, the debut feature of 2023 Screen Star of Tomorrow Sandhya Suri, which debuted in Un Certain Regard.

Guan Hu’s Black Dog, winner of the Un Certain Regard prize,...

Taking place August 7-17, the official selection for the 77th Locarno Film Festival has been unveiled, featuring a stellar-looking slate of highly anticipated films. Highlights include Hong Sangsoo’s second feature of the year, By the Stream, starring Kim Minhee, Kwon Haehyo, and Cho Yunhee; Ramon Zürcher’s The Sparrow in the Chimney, Wang Bing’s second part of his Youth trilogy, Youth (Hard Times), as well as new films by Radu Jude, Bertrand Mandico, Courtney Stephens, Ben Rivers, Gürcan Keltek, Denis Côté, Kevin Jerome Everson, Fabrice Du Welz (featuring Abel Ferrara!), and many more. Also of particular note is the world premiere of Tarsem Singh’s restored cut of The Fall, which features a slightly different edit as he recently noted.

Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival said, “We are very excited and happy with our selection for Locarno’s 77th edition, which we believe...

The Locarno Film Festival (August 7-17) has revealed the line-up for its 77th edition, with directors including Hong Sangsoo, Wang Bing and Ben Rivers world premiering their latest films in its international competition.

Playing out of competition at Locarno are world premieres from directors including Radu Jude, Fabrice du Welz, Aislinn Clarke, Bertrand Mandico, and Marco Tullio Giordana. Locarno’s famed Piazza Grande screenings include world premieres from Paz Vega, César Díaz and Gianluca Jodice.

Locarno’s international competition comprises 17 films, all of them world premieres, which will vie for the coveted Golden Leopard awards.

Scroll down for full line-up...

Locarno has revealed this year’s official selection.

Known auteurs Hong Sang-soo (“By the Stream”) and Wang Bing (“Youth (Hard Times)”) will now battle it out in the official selection, which will welcome 17 world premieres. Italy will be represented by Sara Fgaier’s “Sulla Terra Leggeri” and “Luce,” directed by Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino. Ala Eddine Slim’s “Agora” will also be shown, as well as Ben Rivers’ “Bogancloch,” “Cent Mille Milliards” by Virgil Vernier and Saulė Bliuvaitė’s “Toxic.”

“We are very excited and happy with our selection, which we believe represents the best of contemporary filmmaking. We have taken special care in highlighting those works that, while broadening the possibilities of cinema, are also consciously trying to spark a more meaningful conversation with the audience,” stated artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, adding that the fest “continues to offer itself up as a platform for intersectional dialogue.”

The...

Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival will debut 17 world premieres, including new works by Hong Sang-soo and Wang Bing, as part of its 2024 competition program. This year’s event runs from August 7 – 17.

The festival announced its competition lineups this morning. The Hong Sang-soo feature is titled Suyoocheon (By The Stream) and stars Kim Minhee, Kwon Haehyo, and Cho Yunhee. The Wang Bing feature is a France, Luxembourg, and Netherlands co-production titled Hard Times. Scroll down to see the full Locarno competition lineup, which also includes new titles from Ben Rivers, Mar Coll, and Christoph Hochhäusler.

The festival today also announced that French acting veterans Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet will receive the event’s honorary Excellence Award Davide Campari at the opening ceremony on August 7. Previous recipients of the award include Riz Ahmed and Aaron Taylor Johnson.

Locarno’s separate Piazza Grande lineup features 18 titles, including Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig,...

The Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland has unveiled an eclectic lineup for its 77th edition, taking place Aug. 7-17. The fest will screen 225 total films, including 104 world premieres, five international premieres and some debut features, including new films from such directors as Hong Sang-soo, Spanish actress Paz Vega and Radu Jude. Gianluca Jodice’s Le Déluge, starring Mélanie Laurent and Guillaume Canet, will also world premiere and open the fest, with Locarno on Wednesday unveiling that the two French stars will receive the Excellence Award Davide Campari on the fest’s opening night.

Beyond new fare, some of this season’s film festival favorites and classics will screen in Locarno’s main Piazza Grande section, taking place on the town’s main square set up with 8,000 seats. Films to be screened include Cannes hits such as Laetitia Dosch’s Dog on Trial, Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig,...

Fisa+ and ÖFI+ schemes have paid out €40m in grants since launch in January.

Austria’s new film and TV incentive schemes Fisa+ and ÖFI+ have already surpassed expectations since being introduced at the beginning of this year, with more than €40m paid out in grants and over €120m generated as “Austrian spend”.

The Fisa+ and ÖFI schemes offer a 30% grant on Austrian spend plus a 5% green filming bonus, with the maximum amount paid per project pegged at €5m for films and €7.5m for series.

ÖFI+ grants

Producer Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, chairman of trade association Film & Music Austria, told Screen that...

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

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

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

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

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

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

Iraq-born Austrian filmmaker Kurdwin Ayub has just begun work on Mond (the translation of the word Moon). She is re-teaming with Ulrich Seidl Filmproduktion on a project that will film in Jordan and Austria. The given synopsis sounds Orwellian and underground but out there in the open. We’ll likely get to confirm the film’s female protagonist.

Sarah, a former professional kickboxer from Vienna, accepts an offer to work as a personal trainer for three daughters of a wealthy family in the Middle East. She lands in a strange world, in a palace behind walls and without internet, where the sisters are monitored 24/7.…...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scroll down for winners

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Emphasizing its consolidated position as an important bridge between European creators and cinemagoers, the Seville Festival is expanding its reach with an ambitious sidebar, Essential Voices, to bring together decisive European filmmakers for a discussion forum.

At the same time, the Seff continues strengthening its industrial heft with the announcement of Sevilla Cinema Lab, an initiative which, kicking-off in 2023, aims to promote high-level training for film professionals, as well as the development of film projects in international co-productions. It is supported by Spain’s Icaa film institute and Europe’s Next Generation Funds.

Juan Antonio Bayona and Álex de la Iglesia, two of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers, will take part in the Essential Voices section together with revered Russian director Alexandr Sokurov and two animation auteurs, France’s Michel Ocelot (“Kirikou and the Sorceress”) and Latvia’s Signe Baumane (“Rocks in My Pockets”).

In addition to the joint presence of two European emerging talents,...

Dubai-based sales agent Cercamon will handle international sales on Fabian Hernández’s “Un Varón” (A Male), which has its world premiere in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight.

“Un Varón” tells the story of Carlos, who lives in a youth shelter in the center of Bogotá – a refuge meant to help mitigate the harshness of daily life. He longs to spend Christmas Day with his family, but as he leaves the shelter, he’s confronted with the brutality of his neighborhood, which is ruled by the law of the strongest and dominated by the ideal of the alpha male. Carlos must prove he belongs, even while these expressions of masculinity clash deep inside him with the decisions he must make in order to survive.

Cercamon’s founder, Sebastien Chesneau, said: “‘Un Varón’ touches us by the way the protagonist’s sensitivity is shown in this tough and masculine world. In order to fit into this environment,...

The Sun Also Scheisse: Ayub Explores Identity Politics in Modern European Diaspora

For her directorial debut, Sonne, director Kurdwin Ayub draws on her background as a video and performance artist to cull a contemporary coming-of-age drama centered on the life of a young Kurdish woman living in the cultural hub of Vienna. Old World meets New World in this Gen Z primed exercise featuring partial autobiographical elements of Ayub herself, whose family fled Iraq during the Gulf War, ending up as refugees in Austria. However, assimilation is never a stable certainty for first generation children whose parents are at odds with the cultural beliefs of a host culture, especially one evolving swiftly through the splintering intersectionalities of social media.…...

Top prizes for Hong Sangsoo’s ‘The Novelist’s Film’, Claire Denis’ ‘Fire’.

Carla Simon’s Alcarras won the Golden Bear at the 72nd Berlinale, in a ceremony held at the Berlinale Palast this evening (Wednesday 16).

“I feel like I should just move here, because every time I come here something amazing happens,” said Simon on accepting the award.

Alcarras: Berlin review

The award was presented by Competition jury president M. Night Shyamalan, who praised the film “for its extraordinary performances from the child actors to the actors in their 80s and for the ability to show the tenderness and comedy...

The winners for the 2022 Berlin Film Festival have been revealed. The in-person event took place this year February 10–20. The competition jury, led by president M. Night Shyamalan, included filmmaker Karim Aïnouz, producer Saïd Ben Saïd, filmmaker Anne Zohra Berrached, filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga, Oscar-nominated “Drive My Car” director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, and actor Connie Nielsen.

The festival’s top prize, the Golden Bear for Best Film, was presented by Shyamalan. “For its extraordinary performances, from the child actors to the actors in their 80s, for the ability to show the tenderness and comedy and struggle,” he awarded Spanish drama “Alcarras,” from director Carla Simon.

The festival did away with gendered acting awards once again, instead offering Silver Bears for Best Supporting and Best Lead Performance. Beloved auteur Claire Denis won best director for her romantic psychodrama “Both Sides of the Blade” — or “Fire,” as it’s known in the United States. (IFC Films has stateside rights.

Competition(Jury: M. Night Shyamalan, Karim Aïnouz, Saïd Ben Saïd, Anne Zohra Berrached, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Connie Nielsen)Golden BearAlcarràs (Carla Simón)Silver Bear — Grand Jury PrizeThe Novelist’s Film (Hong Sang-soo)Silver Bear — Jury PrizeRobe of Gems (Natalia Lopez Gallardo)Silver Bear for Best DirectorClaire Denis (Both Sides of the Blade)Silver Bear for Best Leading PerformanceMeltem Kaptan (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush)Silver Bear for Best Supporting PerformanceLaura Basuki (Nana)Silver Bear for Best ScreenplayLaila Stieler (Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush)Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic ContributionRithy Panh (Everything Will Be Ok)Silver Bear — Special MentionA Piece of Sky (Michael Koch)Encounters(Jury: Chiara Marañón, Ben Rivers, Silvan Zürcher)Award for Best FilmMUTZENBACHER (Ruth Beckermann)Special Jury AwardSee You Friday, Robinson (Mitra Farahani)Award for Best DirectorCyril Schäublin (Unrest)Generation — Kplus(Jury: Daniela Cajías, Nicola Jones, Samuel Kishi Leopo)Grand Prix for Best Film The Quiet Girl...

Winners have been announced at the 72nd Berlin Film Festival, with Carla Simon’s Alcarràs scooping the coveted Golden Bear prize as the best film of the festival’s International Competition. Scroll down for the full list of winners, which were revealed Wednesday night at the Berlinale Palast.

Alcarràs follows the life of a family of peach farmers in a small village in Catalonia, whose world changes when the owner of their large estate dies and his lifetime heir decides to sell the land, suddenly threatening their livelihood.

Simon previously picked up Berlin’s Best First Feature Award in 2017 for her debut Summer 1993.

Other winners in the International Competition included Hong Sang-soo’s The Novelist’s Film, which won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize (read Deadline’s review here); Natalia Lopez Gallardo, who picked up the Silver Bear Jury Prize for Robe of Gems (review here); and Claire Denis, who...

Social media, sexual politics and the struggle of a rebellious young woman to find herself are at the heart of Kurdwin Ayub’s fiction feature debut, “Sonne,” which has its world premiere Feb. 12 in the Berlin Film Festival’s Encounters strand.

Set in Vienna, the story begins as three teenage girls in hijabs lip-synch and perform a provocative dance routine to a pop song. A video quickly goes viral, turning the trio into overnight sensations, especially among Kurdish Muslims.

But for Yesmin (Melina Benli), the only one of the three with Kurdish roots, the sudden popularity pushes her away from both her friends and her culture. The distance only grows when her friends, played by Law Wallner and Maya Wopienka, fall for a pair of young Kurdish patriots.

The provocative first feature from Ayub, a writer, director and video and performance artist known for blurring the lines between fact and fiction,...

Böse Spiele (Wicked Games)

With filming taking place in portions between April 2017 to May 2018, it’s been a painstakingly long post-production process for Austrian maestro Ulrich Seidl‘s Böse Spiele (Wicked Games) so it’s no wonder that we’re now celebrating a fourth appearance (watch Nicholas’ vid below) on our yearly list. This may have to do with Seidl putting more of his time and creative energy into shepherding films as a producer such as Kelly Copper & Pavol Liska’s Die Kinder der Toten (2019), Andreas Horvath’s Lillian (2019), Peter Brunner’s Luzifer (2021), and Kurdwin Ayub’s upcoming Sonne (likely to have its world premiere at a major film festival).…...

Competition line-up includes new films by Jerzy Sladkowski, Bryan Fogel, Moara Passoni and Hubert Sauper.

Copenhagen-based documentary festival Cph:dox (March 18-29) has revealed its 2020 competition line-up, with 52% of the 65 titles directed by one or more female directors.

Notable world premieres include Ecstasy, the new project from Brazil’s Moara Passoni, who co-wrote the Oscar-nominated The Edge Of Democracy. Ecstasy is an autobiographical hybrid following Passoni’s alter ego Clara as she battles anorexia

Also in the main competition is the world premiere of Bitter Love from Polish filmmaker Jerzy Sladkowski, who won the main award at Idfa with Don Juan...

The institution has backed the new films by Benjamin Heisenberg, Adrian Goiginger and Kurdwin Ayub. During the Vienna Film Fund’s fourth session of 2019, the five members of the committee decided that 11 of the 22 projects submitted would be supported with a total sum of €3.15 million. Eight feature-film projects received production support, while three projects were aided with development grants. The highest grant for production went to Serviam - Ich will dienen, the new film by Ruth Mader. The director, whose movie Struggle screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, is readying a thriller set in a Catholic boarding school for girls. Ruth Mader Filmproduktion is producing the film together with epo-film. Furthermore, the sci-fi thriller Sojus, which will be the feature debut by Magdalena Lauritsch, was backed by the...