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Anastasia.François Truffaut saved his most pointed barb for last. Ending a short review in 1957 with a kiss-off, the notoriously venomous critic urges: “Anatole Litvak despises you; despise him back.”1 He was writing about Anastasia (1956), “a most mediocre film which has for its theme a historical enigma, one of the stupidest and emptiest subjects in a category that never fails to fill the theaters.” Anastasia certainly filled the Jolly Cinema in Bologna this June, the opening night film in Il Cinema Ritrovato’s centerpiece retrospective on the Ukrainian filmmaker, himself something of a historical enigma.The selection made for a curious introduction to the first major showcase for a director billed in the festival’s program preview as “an unjustly overlooked master…[who] made some of the most riveting and innovative films in the history of cinema.” It’s on such approbative epistles that flights are hastily booked, festival passes acquired,...

Ingmar Bergman is the Oscar-winning Swedish auteur who helped bring international cinema into the American art houses with his stark, brooding dramas. But how many of his titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1918 in Uppsala, Sweden, Bergman started off as a screenwriter before moving into directing. His early hits “Summer with Monika” (1953), “Sawdust and Tinsel” (1953) and “Smiles of a Summer Night” (1955) helped make him a favorite amongst American audiences hungry for world cinema.

He hit his stride in 1957 with a pair of noteworthy titles: “Wild Strawberries” and “The Seventh Seal.” Both films dealt with the absence of God and the inevitability of mortality — the former concerning an aging professor (Victor Sjostrom) coming to terms with his life, the latter focusing on a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) playing a game of chess with Death (Bengt Ekerot...

In the latest installment in the “Beverly Hills Cop” franchise, “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F,” premiering on Netflix next week, “Zola” star Taylour Paige plays daughter to Eddie Murphy’s classic character Axel Foley, but it seems she’d rather be taking on his older roles. A huge fan of Murphy’s reinterpretation of the Jerry Lewis comedy “The Nutty Professor,” she said in a recent piece for The New York Times that she couldn’t help but quote it back to him on repeat.

“I recited every line to him almost every day I shot with him,” Paige said. “I had a lot of questions, like, ‘How do you play six to eight people believably?’”

Paige has spoken previously of her admiration for Murphy. In a profile for Empire, she said, “I grew up watching ‘The Nutty Professor’ and ‘Dr. Dolittle.’ It was like I knew him — it was surreal.

Martin Starger, the first president of ABC Entertainment who went on to produce such films as “Sophie’s Choice” and Robert Altman’s “Nashville,” has died. He was 92.

Starger died of natural causes Saturday in his Los Angeles home, his niece, casting director Ilene Starger, announced.

Starger was born May 8, 1932, in the Bronx, N.Y. He attended the City College of New York, where he received a degree in motion picture techniques. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953 and was assigned to the Signal Corps Motion Picture Location. He served as a motion picture photographer at the U.S. Army’s film production studio. He was sent to U.S. Army Headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii, and worked there in all phases of motion picture production. He wrote, directed, photographed and edited documentary and feature films for television, the Department of Defense and newsreels.

After his service, Starger spent several...

Martin Starger, a producer for such films as Robert Altman’s Nashville and Peter Bogdanovich’s Mask, died Friday at 92 in his Los Angeles home of natural causes. His death was confirmed by his niece, casting director Ilene Starger.

“He was a brilliant, elegant, remarkable man,” Starger said. “He had wonderful taste in projects, and, on a highly personal level, he was like a father to me, given that his older brother, my father, died very suddenly when I was a teenager.”

As the first president of ABC Entertainment, he helped bring such projects as Roots, Happy Days and Rich Man, Poor Man to television.

As an executive producer, Starger worked on films including Stanley Donen’s Movie Movie (1978), Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata, The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Great Muppet Caper (1981), Mark Rydell’s On Golden Pond (1981), The Last Unicorn (1982) and Alan J. Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice (1982).

Martin...

Martin Starger, who shepherded Roots, Happy Days and Rich Man, Poor Man as the first president of ABC Entertainment before producing such films as Robert Altman’s Nashville and Peter Bogdanovich’s Mask, has died. He was 92.

Starger died Friday at his home in Los Angeles, his niece, New York-based casting director Ilene Starger, announced. “He was a brilliant, elegant, remarkable man and had wonderful taste in projects,” she noted.

As an executive producer, Starger worked on films including Stanley Donen’s Movie Movie (1978), Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata, The Muppet Movie (1979) and The Great Muppet Caper (1981), Mark Rydell’s On Golden Pond (1981), The Last Unicorn (1982) and Alan J. Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice (1982)

He received Tony nominations in 1987 and 1989 for producing the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Starlight Express and the comedy Lend Me a Tenor, respectively,

Starger was born on May 8, 1932, in the Bronx, New York. After graduating from City College,...

Following a couple who are hosting an event to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, director Arne Gjelten’s short film The Best Day of Our Lives takes a turn when one member of the couple reveals that he has no memory of their big day. The brilliance of Gjelten’s tense relationship drama comes in its tone and carefully construed depiction of a contemporary relationship. The soft colour palette, the lack of a score, the carefully constructed dialogue and camerawork. It all feeds into an awkward whirlwind that grips the viewer whilst subtly unpacking societal expectations of relationships and marriage. Dn is delighted to premiere Gjelten’s thought-provoking short alongside a deep dive with the filmmaker where he talks through the film’s inception as a satire, its tonal evolution through the writing phase and the process of nailing its uncomfortable ambience in the edit.

The Best Day of Our Lives,...

Since the second Academy Awards ceremony in 1930, 73 people have received acting Oscar nominations for their debut film performances, yielding a total of 15 breakout wins. Conversely, the list of actors who have earned recognition for their final movie appearances is much smaller, featuring only 18 general and two successful examples. Those who belong to this club gained entry in a variety of ways, with some having voluntarily quit acting altogether, others having specifically stepped away from film performing, and a few having sadly not lived long enough to bask in the glory of their farewell nominations.

Since film acting retirement can never be absolutely permanent while a performer is still alive, only deceased individuals can correctly be counted as official members of this group. Although most currently living retired actors did not pick up Oscar nominations for their latest films anyway, the academy did smile upon one – Daniel Day-Lewis – on his declared way out.

Exclusive: Boutique distributor Juno Films has acquired North American and UK rights to Liv Ullmann: A Road Less Traveled, a portrait of the iconic Norwegian actress and filmmaker from director Dheeraj Akolkar (Liv & Ingmar). World premiering in the Classics section of the 76th Festival de Cannes, the doc will make its North American debut at Doc NYC ahead of a spring 2024 launch in theaters.

Best known as the muse and one-time romantic partner of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, Ullmann performed in films of his including Persona, Cries and Whispers, Scenes from a Marriage, The Passion of Anna, and Autumn Sonata, among others. She received an Honorary Oscar in 2022, after scoring noms for The Emigrants and Face to Face, and has also helmed titles like Faithless and the Jessica Chastain starrer Miss Julie. Alongside her career in the arts is a run in philanthropy that’s seen her serve as a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador,...

Casablanca, released in 1942, is considered one of the greatest films in history and boosted the careers of its cast members. Humphrey Bogart, who played Rick Blaine, saw his popularity grow after Casablanca and starred in several successful films. Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Conrad Veidt, Dooley Wilson, and S.Z. Sakall all had successful careers after Casablanca.

Casablanca is widely considered one of the greatest films in history, and its impact was such that it boosted the careers of most of its cast. Based on the play Everybody Comes to Rick’s, by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, Casablanca was directed by Michael Curtiz and released in 1942. Casablanca takes viewers back to 1941 and to the city of Casablanca, which at the time, was controlled by the French, to meet American expatriate and nightclub owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), Rick’s former lover...

After giving the green light to Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2, Hulu is all about that cult life. Nicole Kidman is returning to executive produce and star alongside a gathering of new characters. Liv Ullmann, Murray Bartlett, Dolly de Leon, Maisie-Richardson-Sellers (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), and Aras Aydin star as members of the cast. More actors will follow.

Based on Big Little Lies author Liane Moriarty’s book, Nine Perfect Strangers hails from David E. Kelley, and “it takes place at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation as nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living. Watching over them during this 10-day retreat is the resort’s director Masha (played by Kidman), a woman on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies. However, these nine “perfect” strangers have no idea what will hit them.”

Nine Perfect Strangers...

Alan Gibson's 1982 TV miniseries, "A Woman Called Golda," isn't widely discussed in the pop culture firmament, but when it first aired, it felt like an event. A biography of Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 until 1974, "A Woman Called Golda" boasted an all-star, award-winning cast that boggles the mind. Meir herself was played by Ingrid Bergman in what would prove to be her final screen role. She was joined by the likes of Ned Beatty, who played an American senator, Robert Loggia who played Anwar Sadat, and Nigel Hawthorne, who played King Abdullah I of Jordan. Judy David played the young Meir. From 1917 to his death in 1951, Meir was married to a man named Morris Meyerson, and Meyerson was played by Leonard Nimoy, acting in scenes opposite both Davis and Bergman.

"A Woman Called Golda" aired in two 2-hour parts, starting on April 26 on CBS. The project was overseen by Harve Bennett,...

Fifteen years have passed since Penélope Cruz broke new ground as the first Spanish woman to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Although her performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish-language film “Volver” was passed over in favor of Helen Mirren’s in “The Queen,” she bounced back two years later by triumphing in the supporting category for “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” Now, based on her work in Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers” (their seventh collaboration), she may have another shot at lead glory. If she does land in the lineup, she will join an exclusive club as the fifth leading lady to be recognized for two non-English language performances.

The first woman to accomplish this feat was Sophia Loren, who was nominated for “Marriage Italian Style” (1965) after winning for “Two Women” (1962). Both are Italian-language films directed by Vittorio De Sica. After losing on her second outing to Julie Andrews (“Mary Poppins...

Double, double toil and Oscar trouble.

Can Frances McDormand break the Best Actress bubble?

What bloody man is that, who would make such a prediction?

Is it based on fact, or Shakespearean fiction?

Be bloody, bold and resolute.

And when analyzing the derby, awards-astute.

Screw your courage to the sticking place.

Realize that McDormand can indeed make the race.

And must they all be hanged that swear and lie?

Not before reading these five reasons why.

1. She’s bloody Frances McDormand.

There’s nothing more to be said. The academy has shown that it loves this woman in a way that it loves few others. She has now been nominated six times in five consecutive decades. And she’s gone three for three in her Best Actress bids. She earned her inaugural victory for 1996’s “Fargo” – despite appearing in less than one-third of the film and facing stiff competition from...

Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, Danny Glover also to be honoured.

Norwegian actor and director Liv Ullmann will receive an Honorary Award from the Academy at the 12th Governors Awards on January 15, 2022.

Ullmann worked with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman on The Passion Of Anna, Cries And Whispers, and Autumn Sonata, and earned best actress Oscar nominations for The Emigrants and Face To Face.

She made her directorial debut in 1992 with Sofie and later directed Faithless from a script by Bergman. The actor started her career in theatre in her native Norway, made her New York stage debut in 1975 in A Doll’s House,...

Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, Danny Glover also to be honoured.

Norwegian actor and director Liv Ullmann will receive an Honorary Award from the Academy at the 12th Governors Awards on January 15, 2022.

Ullmann worked with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman on The Passion Of Anna, Cries And Whispers, and Autumn Sonata, and earned best actress Oscar nominations for The Emigrants and Face To Face.

She made her directorial debut in 1992 with Sofie and later directed Faithless from a script by Bergman. The actor started her career in theatre in her native Norway, made her New York stage debut in 1975 in A Doll’s House,...

Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann will receive honorary Oscars this year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday. Danny Glover will also receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Governors Awards ceremony on Jan. 15, 2022.

“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his dedication...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday that its Board of Governors voted to present the annual Honorary Awards to Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May, and Liv Ullmann. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award will be given to Danny Glover. The four Oscar statuettes will be presented at the Academy’s 12th annual Governors Awards on Saturday, January 15, 2022, in Los Angeles.

Academy President David Rubin summed up the recipients’ impact, cinematic and otherwise, in the following statement: “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers.”

Rubin added, “Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover’s decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Board of Governors voted to present Honorary Oscars to Samuel L. Jackson, Elaine May and Liv Ullmann, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Danny Glover, the Academy announced on Thursday.

The four Honorary Oscars will be presented at the Academy’s 12th Governors Awards on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, in Los Angeles.

“We are thrilled to present this year’s Governors Awards to four honorees who have had a profound impact on both film and society,” Academy president David Rubin said in a statement. “Sam Jackson is a cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide, while Elaine May’s bold, uncompromising approach to filmmaking, as a writer, director and actress, reverberates as loudly as ever with movie lovers. Liv Ullmann’s bravery and emotional transparency has gifted audiences with deeply affecting screen portrayals, and Danny Glover...

“Fauna” is a curious proposition. On the surface, the ninth feature from Mexican-Canadian independent filmmaker Nicolás Pereda consists of a series of dialogue-driven scenes taking place in a remote Mexican village where an estranged brother and sister are visiting their parents. Yet such a description can’t quite capture the slippery nature of Pereda’s script, which slowly reveals itself as a clever study in performance and identity that mines its cringe comedy to poke fun at contemporary narconovelas and their grip on that country’s cultural imagination.

Highly intellectual in theory (the film debuted in the 2020 virtual Toronto Film Festival’s experimental Wavelengths section), “Fauna” is nevertheless a breezy, utterly beguiling affair, even as it switches gears midway through. At that point, Pereda gamely stages a new, nested narrative, one that reinvents the principal cast as playful film noir archetypes, further muddling the line between fact and fiction in the movie’s world.

Tribhanga (Netflix)

Starring Kajol,Tanvi Azmi,Mithila Palkar,Kunaal Roy Kapur,Vaibhav Tatwawaadi

Written & Directed by Renuka Shahane

Just like life, Tribhanga is somewhat off-kilter, a little askew, at times uneven and even patchy. But the story of three generations of women from one family, spirited, unorthodox, unfettered, holds together, moles, warts and all. Tribhanga is a fiercely original film, though cinephiles would like to see distinct shades of Ingmar Bergman’s imperishable classic Autumn Sonata in Renuka Shahane’s striking debut film. But that, like much in life, is only an illusion.

The film’s scenes are ignited by the presence of Kajol. The fieriest actress on this side of Fearless Nadia and Geeta Bali, Kajol brings to Tribhanga a kind of unrehearsed ferocity that is at once intimidating, intriguing, and irresistible.

Strangely there aren’t that many confrontation scenes between mother Tanve Azmi and daughter Kajol. Maybe Ms.

Shakuntala Devi (Amazon Prime Video)

Starring Vidya Balan, Jisshu Sengupta, Shakuntala’s husband, Sanya Malhotra, Amit Sadh

Directed by Anu Menon

The best part of getting Vidya Balan to play the maths genius Shakuntala Devi is that that they both, the maths genius and the actresss, make their job look so easy. While Shakuntala Devi rattles off gigantic numbers (caterpillaring on screen a la Hidden Figures) to an open-mouthed audience all across the world, Vidya Balan’s performance will in all likelihood would have the same affect on an audience as the amazing story of the “human computer”.

Shakuntala Devi comes to us unadulterated, unapologetic and refreshingly free of cloying sentimentality. Well, almost. There are sequences towards the end of the nifty narrative where mother Vidya Balan and daughter Sania Malhotra where director Annu Menon could have pulled out all tops.

Luckily, the mood in this buoyant bio-pic is forever sunny,...

Dau, the 700-hour behemoth of a cinema project, directed by Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, Jekaterina Oertel and Ilya Permyakov, caused quite a stir when two of its films premiered this year at Berlinale. The six-hour Dau. Degeneration and the four-hour Dau. Natasha both featured an extensive cast of mostly non-professional yet intensely watchable, often heartbreakingly convincing actors. Most of the project had been shot on the 42,000-square-feet set in Ukraine, which created an isolated, immersive atmosphere. With panache, some debauchery and plenty chugged vodka, the films inducted viewers into the universe of an isolated, top-secret Soviet research institute, where science and reason succumb to ruthless might and political machinations.In contrast to the sprawling Degeneration, and in line with the more intimate Natasha, the latest feature of the project to be released, Dau. Nora Mother, is modest. At just under one hour and thirty minutes, it feels slight, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

In the latest film from Hirokazu Kore-eda (director of the 2018 Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters”), Catherine Deneuve plays a legendary French film star who has just published a memoir titled, like this movie, “The Truth.” It’s a promise that her book comes nowhere near fulfilling; as for Kore-eda’s first film made outside his native Japan, it’s a fascinating exploration of the fallibility of memory and of how the truths we tell ourselves so frequently outweigh an empirical certainty.

Deneuve’s Fabienne falls into the great screen tradition of actresses capable of great emotion on stage or screen but less so off. (Think Bette Davis’ Margo Channing in “All About Eve” or Gena Rowlands’ Myrtle Gordon in “Opening Night.”) She also shares some DNA with Ingrid Bergman’s musician in “Autumn Sonata” or Shirley MacLaine’s movie star in “Postcards From the Edge” — have we acknowledged how much...

Ingmar Bergman would’ve celebrated his 101st birthday on July 14, 2019. The Oscar-winning Swedish auteur helped bring international cinema into the American art houses with his stark, brooding dramas. But how many of his titles remain classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1918 in Uppsala, Sweden, Bergman started off as a screenwriter before moving into directing. His early hits “Summer with Monika” (1953), “Sawdust and Tinsel” (1953) and “Smiles of a Summer Night” (1955) helped make him a favorite amongst American audiences hungry for world cinema.

SEEOscar Best Director Gallery: Every Winner In Academy Award History

He hit his stride in 1957 with a pair of noteworthy titles: “Wild Strawberries” and “The Seventh Seal.” Both films dealt with the absence of God and the inevitability of mortality — the former concerning an aging professor (Victor Sjostrom) coming to terms with his life,...

Liv Ullmann in Autumn Sonata Photo: Courtesy of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival has announced it is inaugurating a Lifetime Achievement Award with Norwegian actress and director Liv Ullmann as it's first recipient.

The 79-year-old star, who is also a Un Children's Fund goodwill ambassador, forged her early career as an associate of Ingmar Bergman - starring in 10 of his films during the Sixties and Seventies. She was nominated for twice nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars - for Jan Troell's The Emigrants, for which she won a Golden Globe, and Bergman's Face To Face. She also received two BAFTA nominations - for Face To Face and Scenes From A Marriage.

Ullmann made the move into directing in 1992, with Sophie, selected that year as Denmark's candidate for the Foreign Language Oscar.

In tribute to her collaboration with Bergman and in celebration of what...

Any passing visitor who’s toiled amongst the weeds of Ingmar Bergman’s vast garden of emotional entanglements will surely recognize the same familiar seeds of chaos, conflict, and spiritual carnage sown between the damned pistel and stamen of whichever variety of lovers feature into a particular film – but in Shame (1968), his scabbed and battered masterwork of wartime wreckage, the Swedish auteur lays fire to the roses. Incendiary combat between dueling psyches in intimate locations fuels much of his filmography – the mother-daughter melee of Autumn Sonata and frosty schoolhouse rejection in Winter Light immediately jump to mind – but Shame ignites a maximalist fuse within its scope that quite literally drops a bomb on the long-suffering couple at the broken heart of its story. By contrasting the domestic drama of Eva and Jan Rosenberg’s (Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow) decomposing marriage against a backdrop of military destruction and societal decay,...

Tomorrow is the centenary of the birth of one of cinema’s greatest directors, Ingmar Bergman, and to celebrate, The Criterion Collection has announced of their most expansive releases ever. This November, they will release Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, a 39-film box set comprising nearly all of his work, including 18 films never before released by Criterion. Curated akin to a film festival, the set features Opening, Centerpiece, and Closing Films, with many double features in between. The set also features 11 introductions and over five hours of interviews with the director himself, six making-of documentaries, a 248-page book, and much more.

As we await for its November 20 release, check out an overview from Criterion below, as well as the box art, the trailer, and the full list of films, in curated order. One can also see much more about each release and the special features on the official site.

With the...

July 14 marks the 100th birthday of writer-director Ingmar Bergman, whom Variety declared on Nov. 24, 1954, to be “Sweden’s top director.” Within three years, Bergman went beyond that: He was recognized as one of the top filmmakers in the entire world, thanks to the 1957 duo of “The Seventh Seal” and “Wild Strawberries.” A year later, Carl Dymling, president of Sweden’s leading production unit Svensk Filmindustri, told Variety that “Seventh Seal” marked a new era in moviemaking: “Bergman uses the film much as an author does his book. As a rule, one can’t afford to be too explicit about one’s own feelings in making a picture. But Bergman does it.” The director made global stars of Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow and inspired young filmmakers around the world for decades with his tales of existential crisis, the tenderness and brutality between individuals, and the pleasures and insanity of sex.

If her status as one of the most prominent fixtures of the Criterion Collection had been in contention before, Ingrid Bergman’s presence is now unrivalled as a star constellation within the lucrative label’s esteemed archives. Criterion has slowly amassed an impressive allotment of Bergman’s filmography, beginning with its early releases of her famed Hitchcock titles, an exiled stint with Jean Renoir, her late-career collaboration with Ingmar Bergman and a marvelous box-set of a trilogy she infamously embarked upon with Roberto Rossellini following their highly publicized and scandalous affair (Stromboli; Europa…...

‘Toni Erdmann’ (Courtesy: Tiff)

By: Carson Blackwelder

Managing Editor

It’s not too often that foreign-language films get recognized for anything at the Oscars beyond the best foreign-language film category — but it does happen. And, believe it or not, it happens more for best original screenplay and best adapted screenplay than many other categories. A prime example of that is Toni Erdmann, Germany’s submission this year that is proving to be a cross-category threat, which could score a nomination — or a win — for its writing.

The story of Toni Erdmann — which has a solid Rotten Tomatoes score of 91% — follows a father who is trying to reconnect with his adult daughter after the death of his dog. It sounds simple enough but, of course, the two couldn’t be more unalike. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and where it won the Fipresci Prize. Since then, it...

Norwegian actress and filmmaker announces end to directing on panel with fellow filmmakers Pernilla August and Iram Haq.

Norwegian actress and filmmaker Liv Ullmann, the two-time Oscar nominee and director of films including Cannes competition title Faithless, has announced that she doesn’t plan to direct again.

Ullmann made the announcement during a talk today at Haugesund’s Norwegian International Film Festival.

“I don’t want to direct anymore,” she said during the festival’s annual public talk, The Amanda Conversation.

“I want to use my strength to act in a film - there I can use it with a sensitive director, and write. I took that decision right now,” the 77-year-old veteran said with a smile.

As an actress, she is hoping to work with Anthony Hopkins in 2017 on an as yet unannounced film. The duo previously worked together on 1977 feature A Bridge Too Far.

Challenges

This year’s Amanda Conversation was between Ullmann, whose most recent...

Ingrid Bergman’s oeuvre contains few performances that aren’t of note. Such is her power that, if a tear rolls down her cheek, you feel it. The release of Stig Björkman‘s new documentary Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words has prompted us to look back through the great actress’s filmography.

In our search for the essential Bergman roles, the performances which cemented her as a legend of cinema, there’s certainly a number of dazzling and iconic pictures to search through. Acclaimed examples such as Elena and Her Men, Joan of Arc, and Anastasia — the lattermost of which earned her a second Academy Award — narrowly and tragically found their way off the list.

Before checking out Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words, take a trip with us back through the career of one of the greatest talents to ever grace the silver screen. Enjoy the...

Stina Gardell, Pia Lindström, Stig Björkman with Anne-Katrin Titze Photo: Adrienne Halpern

Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (Jag Är Ingrid) opened in the Us at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas on Friday with the director Stig Björkman and Pia Lindström joining me for a post screening discussion. Pia, Roberto Rossellini, Isabella Rossellini and Ingrid Rossellini appear in Stig's film to comment on their mother, whose life story had been fodder for the press. It is truly fascinating to catch the constantly moving movie star from different angles in her home movies. Letters and diary entries read by Alicia Vikander guide us through the decades from Sweden to Hollywood to Italy and Paris and London.

Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious, Michael Curtiz' Casablanca, Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli, Leo McCarey's The Bells Of St. Mary's, and Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata are revealed to have special meaning. The memory of a distinctive Rossellini...

Producer Stina Gardell with Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words director Stig Björkman Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Ingrid Bergman won Oscars for George Cukor's Gaslight, Anatole Litvak's Anastasia and Murder On The Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet. In Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (Jag är Ingrid), Stig Björkman's warmhearted and elaborate documentary about the star, her four children, Pia Lindström, Isabella Rossellini, Ingrid Rossellini, and Roberto Rossellini as well as colleagues Liv Ullmann and Sigourney Weaver share their memories about the mother, the woman, who never threw anything away. Alicia Vikander's alluring voiceover, Bergman's luminous face - and the camera's love for it - are a perfect match.

At Payard on Houston Street, the director and Stina Gardell joined me to discuss Ingrid Bergman, her children, Michael Nyman, Liv Ullmann relating an Ingmar Bergman Autumn Sonata moment, Eva Dahlgren and praise from Arnaud Desplechin.

Being honored on the official poster for this year’s Cannes Film Festival wasn’t the only time Ingrid Bergman was in the spotlight at the event. The late, legendary actress was also the subject of a new documentary hailing from her home country of Sweden. Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words comes from writer and critic Stig Björkman and has been in the works since earlier this decade, when he met with Bergman’s daughter, Isabella Rossellini.

As reads the Cannes synopsis, “Through never-before-seen private footage, notes, letters, diaries and interviews with her children, this documentary presents a personal portrait and captivating look behind the scenes of the remarkable life of a young Swedish girl who became one of the most celebrated actresses of American and World cinema.”

As heard in the new U.S. trailer, voice-over comes from Alicia Vikander, while Ingrid Rossellini, Roberto Rossellini, Pia Lindström,...

Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.

Film Society of Lincoln Center

Want to see great movies for free? This Friday, Lincoln Center brings Film Foundation-restored titles to you at no cost. Ford‘s Drums Along the Mohawk, Scorsese‘s The King of Comedy, John M. Stahl‘s Leave Her to Heaven, Fosse‘s All That Jazz, Donen‘s Two for the Road,...

Ingrid Bergman ca. early 1940s. Ingrid Bergman movies on TCM: From the artificial 'Gaslight' to the magisterial 'Autumn Sonata' Two days ago, Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” series highlighted the film career of Greta Garbo. Today, Aug. 28, '15, TCM is focusing on another Swedish actress, three-time Academy Award winner Ingrid Bergman, who would have turned 100 years old tomorrow. TCM has likely aired most of Bergman's Hollywood films, and at least some of her early Swedish work. As a result, today's only premiere is Fielder Cook's little-seen and little-remembered From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1973), about two bored kids (Sally Prager, Johnny Doran) who run away from home and end up at New York City's Metropolitan Museum. Obviously, this is no A Night at the Museum – and that's a major plus. Bergman plays an elderly art lover who takes an interest in them; her...

While We’re Young (Noah Baumbach)

The full line-up has been announced for this year’s Glasgow Film Festival, which runs from Wednesday 18th February to Sunday 1st March, and it features over 150 UK, Scottish or European premieres, as well as multiple rep screenings and special events.

The festival opens with the European premiere of While We’re Young, Noah Baumbach’s comedy follow-up to Frances Ha, starring Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried and Charles Grodin. The closing night gala on 1st March will be the UK premiere of Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s already much-vaunted darkly comic relationship drama Force Majeure.

Force Majeure (Ruben Östlund)

Additional UK premiere highlights include awards season darling Still Alice, Wim Wenders’ recently Oscar-nominated documentary The Salt of the Earth, Olivier Assayas’ Clouds of Sils Maria, starring Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart, and legendary Swedish director Roy Andersson’s A Pigeon...

By Anjelica Oswald

Managing Editor

With the addition of Marion Cotillard’s lead actress nomination for the Belgian film Two Days, One Night, 32 actors and actresses have been nominated for their performances in foreign-language films. Cotillard was nominated for her role as a young mother and wife struggling to salvage her job in Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardennes’ film, which was chosen as Belgium’s submission to the foreign-language category but failed to secure a spot on the Oscar shortist.

Though her performance did land a Critics’ Choice Award nomination, the Oscar nomination did come as a surprise for many pundits.

Cotillard was previously nominated for the French foreign-language film La Vie En Rose (2007) and won. She is one of six actors or actresses to win for a non-English role and is also the most recent winner.

The first acting nomination for a foreign-language performance went to Sophia Loren in 1962 for...

Following the trailer that heralded its premier at the Toronto International Film Festival a couple of months ago, here's a Miss Julie promo for the rest of us. Jessica Chastain takes the title role in Liv Ullmann's adaptation of the August Strindberg play. Collin Farrell and Samantha Morton make up the other two points in the psychologically fraught love triangle.Strindberg wrote the play in 1888, but while Ulllmann's film keeps to that period, the location has been changed from Sweden to Northern Ireland. The drama plots the events of a single night on the estate of an aristocrat. Chastain Miss Julie is the Count's daughter, who in an upstairs-downstairs tryst that would probably make Downton Abbey explode, first toys with but gradually falls for footman Jean (Farrell). Their mind-gamey shenanigans tale place under the baleful gaze of the cook, Christine (Morton) who also happens to be Jean's fiancee.If...

StreamFix keeps you up to date on the best streams of the web. Here's the best of what's up and coming for Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Crackle this November. Netflix "Portlandia, Season 4" Here is what you need to do: Go right now and watch the episode where Toni and Candice take over the Portland Trailblazers dance team. It is painfully funny, and their final dance routine is a shocking horror for the ages. "Snowpiercer" (Nov. 22) Chris Evans. On a post-apocalyptic train. With Tilda Swinton in her wildest getup yet. What are you supposed to do, not watch this?  "Nebraska" (Nov. 8) Alexander Payne's black-and-white Midwestern pseudo-road movie has a bunch of fabulous moments. The shot of Bruce Dern's relatives watching TV in the living room is sincerely one of the most memorable things I saw in 2013. And all hail June Squibb for showing us how to really...

Calvary

Directed by: John Michael McDonagh

Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aiden Gillen

Running Time: 1 hr 40 mins

Rating: R

Release Date: August 8, 2014 (Chicago)

Plot: A priest of a small town (Gleeson) has a week to live after being threatened by a random man during confession.

Who’S It For? Those who like dialogue-based films where the energy is in the ideas, and even its editing.

Overall

In Christopher Guest’s 1989 satire The Big Picture, Kevin Bacon plays Nick Chapman, nubile filmmaker who dreams of splashing into the world of directing by creating a rapturous black and white tome on life and death a la Ingmar Bergman for his first feature. Cherry-picked right from film school after making a hot short film, he attempts to create this supposed opus before the rest of The Big Picture’s narrative takes hold, in which Bacon loses creative control of his...

The next Austin Film Society Essential Cinema Series, "Liv and Ingmar," will run on Thursdays at 7:30 pm from July 3-31 at the Marchesa. The following column from programmer Chale Nafus provides some context for the films.

Marlene Dietrich and Josef von Sternberg, John Wayne and John Ford, Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini, Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorsese, Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater. Throughout film history there have been directors who frequently work with one particular actor through whom they can realize their cinematic dreams. Familiarity with an actor's face, body, voice, mannerisms and psychological depths can provide a director a preview of how a movie might look and sound even before the cameras roll.

Such was the 12-year relationship between Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann and Swedish writer/director Ingmar Bergman. Together they made eight feature films and one television miniseries, beginning with Persona (1966) and ending with Autumn Sonata (1978). They...

There is Nothing, and I mean Nothing I love more present-wise than catching up on the Criterion Collection releases I may have missed throughout the year. Here are some I want to especially recommend for the holidays and gift giving. Behold the wonder of Chaplin and Cassavettes. The Martin Scorsese World Cinema Project and the massive Zatoichi The Blind Swordsman box set. Grand upgrades from DVD to blu-ray include Autumn Sonata and Eyes Without A Face. First timers to blu-ray include Robert Altman's landmark seventies film Nashville, Elio Petri's magnificent Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion and the whimsically weird and witty I Married A Witch. There is literally something for everyone in the Criterion Collection catalogue. ...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

You know us, dear reader, we’re on the side of the angels. Most days of the year will find us, Pollyanna-like, looking on the bright side of the movie world, championing the weak, giving succour to the neglected and finding the silver lining to every cinematic cloud. But not today. Because, screw that, we’re giving vent to the bile that has built up over twelve months of diligent moviegoing and letting it rip on those movies that just fucking suck. And while we still believe in reasoned argument and persuasive rhetoric to get our points across, forgive us if we occasionally lapse into hyperbole here, and remember that these are films that take two-odd hours of our (and your) lives and brainspace, that could be given to something much more deserving, rewarding and wondrous, and serve us mulch instead. I mean, Bergman’s “Autumn Sonata” is roughly the...

Before we get underway, once again I'll remind you Barnes & Noble is still offering their 50% off Criterion titles through the end of November! I have included some suggested titles along with links to my reviews, including my just posted review of Charlie Chaplin's City Lights from yesterday. Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman Samurai Trilogy (read my review) America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy (read my review) John Cassavetes - Five Films (Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night) City Lights (read my review) Frances Ha Tokyo Story The Uninvited (read my review) La Notte (read my review) Eyes Without a Face (read my review) Seconds (read my review) Autumn Sonata (read my review) Safety Last! (read my review) Repo Man On the Waterfront Brazil Godzilla (read my review) 12 Angry Men Rosemary's Baby The Killing Paths of Glory...

Criterion has announced their February 2014 titles and among them is the lone Wes Anderson film that was previously missing from the collection (edit: aside from Moonrise Kingdom and yes, this is Criterion's first animated film, post laserdisc era), Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was previously released by Fox Searchlight, but is now getting the full Criterion treatment. Here's a look at the features: New digital master, approved by director Wes Anderson, with 5.1 surround DTS-hd Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray Audio commentary featuring Anderson Storyboard animatics for the entire film Footage of the actors voicing their characters, puppet construction, stop-motion setups, and the recording of the score Interviews with cast and crew Puppet animation tests Photo gallery of puppets, props, and sets Animated awards acceptance speeches Audio recording of author Roald Dahl reading the book on which the film is based Gallery of Dahl's original manuscripts Discussion and analysis of the...

Before we get to this week's new releases, it's that time of year again and Barnes & Noble is offering tons of Criterion titles for 50% off! I have included a few suggested titles below and in some cases including links to my reviews. The best deal out there right now is for the 25-film Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman DVD/Blu-ray collection, which has a retail price of $224.99, but is on sale right now for $112.49, which is $87 cheaper than Amazon is selling it for right now. If this is at all of interest to you, click through and get a look at this set and I think you'll begin drooling. Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman Samurai Trilogy (read my review) America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy (read my review) John Cassavetes - Five Films (Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie...

Bergman Meets Bergman

By Raymond Benson

It was the first and only time two famous filmmaking Swedes worked together—the enigmatic, existential, and brilliant director Ingmar Bergman, and the glamorous, international star of Hollywood, Ingrid Bergman (no relation). According to Ingmar in a filmed introduction he made in 2003, he and Ingrid had met and agreed that one day she would act in one of his films. Then, apparently he and Ingrid met again at a film festival in the mid-70s. She reminded him of their promise; he told her about the script he was working on, in which Liv Ullmann would play the daughter, but he hadn’t cast the mother yet. Done deal. But, in a recently-filmed interview, Ullmann relates how the two Bergmans did not get along very well for the longest period. Ingrid wanted to do it one way, Ingmar another—and he had never dealt...