News

To celebrate the release of Pay The Ghost, available now on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download, we have an iTunes digital download code available to giveaway courtesy of Arrow Films.

Almost a year after his young son disappeared from his side on Halloween night in New York City, Mike (Nicolas Cage) is alone and haunted by terrifying visions of his son. Desperate but determined not to let go, he researches all the cases of missing children in the city and comes to a horrifying conclusion. After bombarding the detective in charge of the case with his shocking theory, he finally reunites with his estranged wife (Sarah Wayne Callies), and shares the supernatural mystery surrounding their son’s disappearance.

As Halloween night draws closer, Mike must follow a series of terrifying clues as he is led deeper into the ancient curse that could destroy him and all he loves.

Pay The Ghost...

Swiss cinema is to be put in the spotlight in Mexico and Brazil over the next two years.

At the Locarno Film Festival (Aug 5-15), Swiss Films’ MD Catherine Ann Berger revealed details to ScreenDaily about how Switzerland will be a guest country at next year’s Guadalajara Film Festival (March 4-13) against the backdrop of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mexico and Switzerland.

“To begin with, we will have a historical retrospective of Swiss cinema in the Cineteca in Mexico City this December, and then in March, there will be a programme in Guadalajara of Swiss films from the past two, three years,” Berger explained.

“In addition, there will be an industry dimension with co-production meetings and the opportunities for professionals from both countries to meet and discuss partnerships,” she added, pointing out that the focus in Mexico will be the first major project of its kind that she is preparing since coming to Swiss...

Teaser clip of Herzog’s documentary about the relationship between humans and volcanoes to be screened at Cannes.

London-based Dogwoof has acquired worldwide rights to Werner Herzog’s long-gestating volcano documentary Into The Inferno. A teaser clip of the film, in pre-production, will be screened by Dogwoof to buyers as part of their Cannes Marche promo reel on May 15.

Herzog, whose documentary films include Grizzly Man and Cave of Forgotten Dreams, will explore why, where and how human civilization is inextricably linked with volcanoes. Filmed around the world, Herzog will team up with volcanologist Professor Clive Oppenheimer to tell the story of the relationship between volcanoes, our planet and human society.

Dogwoof head of distribution Oli Harbottle negotiated the deal with André Singer and Richard Melman of Spring Films, the UK co-producer (in association with co-producers Herzog Film and Matter of Fact Media), for Dogwoof to handle the sale of all international rights, excluding Canada...

Being Werner Herzog's travel agent must be one of the most interesting jobs around. His documentaries and features have taken him around the world from the urban jungle of New Orleans to the very real jungle of Guyana, from deserts to the swampy interiors of South America to caves in France and the icy expanse of Antarctica. By this point, Herzog's Air Miles plan can probably buy him a few trips around the world. And it looks like his next adventure will take him to the edges of volcanoes. Upon the premiere of his latest feature "Queen Of The Desert" (review here) at the Berlin International Film Festival, word has emerged about Herzog's next couple of projects. In April, Herzog will head to the Bolivian salt flats to shoot the film "Salt And Fire." Screen Daily reports that Veronica Ferres ("Klimt," "Hector And The Search For Happiness") will star...

Brimstone

Robert Pattinson and Carice van Houten ("Game of Thrones") are set to join Mia Wasikowska and Guy Pearce in the thriller "Brimstone". Martin Koolhoven ("Winter in Wartime") penned and directs the film which begins shooting in May.

Pattinson will play an outlaw who has a crucial influence on this tale of retribution. Wasikowska plays Liz, a heroine on the run from her past and pursued by a diabolical Preacher (Pearce). [Source: Screen

Salt and Fire

German actress Veronica Ferres ("Klimt") is set to star in Werner Herzog's romantic thriller "Salt And Fire" which begins shooting in April around the Bolivian salt flats. Herzog wrote the script and will produce.

The story follows a scientist in South America who clashes with the head of the corporation responsible for an ecological disaster. When she learns of the potential eruption of a super volcano in the region, the scientist teams up with her...

Taking a break from his signature documentaries for a while, Werner Herzog has just wrapped his Gertrude Bell biopic Queen Of The Desert, and will continue in narrative feature mode for his next project. He'll direct Salt And Fire, a volcanic thriller starring German actress Veronica Ferres (Klimt, Hector And The Search For Happiness).The story, according to available sources, will involve drama and romance in South America, where scientist Ferres butts heads with the head of a corporation responsible for an ecological disaster. When a local supervolcano starts to display ominous signs, however, she has to team up with her antagonist to stave off a natural disaster.Herzog wrote the screenplay and will also produce, alongside his Queen Of The Desert cohort Michael Benaroya.“I couldn’t be more pleased to be endeavouring on another journey with Werner Herzog,” Benaroya says. “He is a truly special filmmaker and person.

Exclusive: Golden Bear contender Werner Herzog is eying an April start on Salt And Fire, his Queen Of The Desert follow-up that is generating heat for sales agent International Film Trust.

German actress Veronica Ferres (Klimt) will star in the romantic thriller about a scientist in South America who clashes with the head of the corporation responsible for an ecological disaster.

When she learns of the potential eruption of a supervolcano in the region, the scientist teams up with her nemesis to avert a global catastrophe.

Herzog wrote the script and will produce with his Queen Of The Desert collaborator and Margin Call producer Michael Benaroya alongside Nina Maag of Construction Film and Canana Films’ Pablo Cruz. CAA represents Us rights.

The producers plan to shoot Salt And Fire on the Bolivian salt flats.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to be endeavouring on another journey with Werner Herzog,” said Benaroya, a backer...

Last night, the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation sent word that Swiss actress Annemarie Düringer passed away on November 26, her 89th birthday. "It was while playing the lead role in the short film Bourbon Street Blues directed by Douglas Sirk with students at the University of Television and Film Munich in 1977 that Düringer met Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She later played Cilly in Fassbinder’s Berlin Alexanderplatz and Dr. Marianne Katz in Veronika Voss." Düringer was primarily known for her work with the Burgtheater in Vienna, but cinephiles will appreciate her recent performances in Raúl Ruiz's Klimt and Margarethe von Trotta's Vision. » - David Hudson...

Last night, the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation sent word that Swiss actress Annemarie Düringer passed away on November 26, her 89th birthday. "It was while playing the lead role in the short film Bourbon Street Blues directed by Douglas Sirk with students at the University of Television and Film Munich in 1977 that Düringer met Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She later played Cilly in Fassbinder’s Berlin Alexanderplatz and Dr. Marianne Katz in Veronika Voss." Düringer was primarily known for her work with the Burgtheater in Vienna, but cinephiles will appreciate her recent performances in Raúl Ruiz's Klimt and Margarethe von Trotta's Vision. » - David Hudson...

Amour Fou by Jessica Hausner, one of my favorite directors, was, as all her films are, a surprise, rising out of a quietly building plot whose ending punctuates a philosophic idea that plays out like a melodic line of a larger song. Framed in the simple Beidermeyer style of 1811 Berlin, again the question of ownership over a person and a person’s soul is the subtle subject of this film. The shadows cast by the French Revolution, Prussian militarism and Hapsburg conservatism, slavery, the emancipation of the peasants, the birth of the working poor and the place of women as the chattel of their husbands are embodied in the personal drama of a fragile soul and interpreted by society as a tragic love story when in truth it is the story of a woman worn down by the societal tyranny of her pre-Freudian society who perhaps, barely perceives her true self only at the end of the film’s trajectory.

The simplicity of the production design by Katharina Wöppermann,the production designer of Lourdes, Lovely Rita and Raúl Ruiz‘s Klimt as well, was discussed in an interview with Jessica Hausner posted on the Austrian Film Commission site : “And there was wallpaper, there were carpets that covered the floor of the whole room like fitted carpets. Our film is set in the Empire Period, that short time between 1810 and 1815 when people followed the model of ancient Greece. You can also see it in the clothes [by costume designer, Tanja Hausner, Jessica’s sister] with high waists and soft, flowing, light material. In terms of interior design, they used ancient columns, draped curtains and Greek landscapes painted on the walls. This was also connected with the philosophical ideal of antiquity. The patterns and colors don’t really develop until the Biedermeier period, but it all started at the beginning of the 19th century. Another interesting point is that heating, light and comfort were generally concentrated only in one living room, which is why people would sit around a table - five, six or more of them together, and they would hear what the other people were talking about. To a certain extent there was a different kind of privacy in those days.”

Jessica Hausner, an Austrian director and screenwriter is so lucky to have found in Philippe Bober, founder of The Coproduction Office, a kindred spirit whose patience and warm passion for developing projects fits perfectly with her sparse, introverted and deep examinations of souls whose human owners are not fully cognizant of them.

She has written and directed seven films since 1999 with Philippe Bober. Her first feature film Lovely Rita was developed with Philippe and screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. Lourdes won the Fipresci and Signis Awards at its debut in Venice Film Festival 2009. Before that, she shot a couple of shorts and was a script girl in Michael Haneke’s Funny Games in 1997 and went on to write and direct her first 45 minute feature Inter-View which was developed at Cinefondation where it won an Honorable Mention in 1999.

Philippe Bober works with people with a distinctive signature. In a previous discussion we had , he claims that it takes 10 to 20 years before an “auteur” can create a name for herself or himself which carries a certain weight in terms of raising money and appealing to audiences. Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, the most successful of her films began 12 years before its debut. He and Jessica have been working together since 1999.

Philippe’s job is to bring “auteurs” to audiences via sales and marketing. His work is to help them make decisions which will not compromise their art but will shape the films they want to make during scripting, casting and editing to be more accessible to audiences. One example of this pertains to the decision on casting to result in greater ticket sales. To do that one must know which past films made what box office numbers in which territory. There is no such recipe for scripting or editing in terms of making the message and story clearer to the audience without censuring the auteur. As he explains, sometimes this process takes two years and sometimes it can take up to 10 years.

Jessica Hausner shaped Amour Fou first around the idea of a double suicide, and then, in the course of her research, around the romantic poet, Heinrich von Kleist and his double suicide with Henriette Vogel.

Kleist subverted clichéd ideas of Romantic longing and themes of nature and innocence. He infused them with irony, taking up the subjective emotions and placing them into contextual paradox to show individuals in moments of crises and doubt, with both tragic and comic outcomes. As often as not, his dramatic and narrative situations end without resolution.

Hausner says, “His work is fascinating. I'm thinking particularly of the Marquise of O. It's an unfathomable story. Here I’m completely in agreement with Henriette's mother in my film, who says: ‘What an absurd idea, that a woman who is impregnated against her will by a man can come to love him in the end.’ That's a very male fantasy. And I think that's also what inspired my character of Kleist in the film. What kind of man could think up something like that? He'd have to be somebody who is very caught up in his own extremes, who doesn't step outside, and who can only accept extreme things.”

And so, after watching Amour Fou, we are left with the almost humorous unanswered question of what was Henriette thinking and about to say at the moment the trigger was released.

Amok is one of the twenty-three films selected for the co- production market of Film Bazaar 2013. We spoke to the director Valeria Sarmiento:

Valeria Sarmiento

Tell us about your project. What language will it be in?

In 1961 Goa, amidst strife between Goans striving for independence and the supporters of the Portuguese rule, beautiful Lady Appleby, trapped in an unhappy and childless marriage with a Portuguese diplomat, begins a passionate affair with Sanjib, a young Goan active in the independence movement. They are followed by a Portuguese doctor who becomes obsessed with Lady Appleby, spying on the couple and feeding voyeuristically off their passion. When Lady Appleby discovers she’s pregnant she faces an agonising choice: she’s always wanted a child but keeping the baby would destroy her marriage. She asks the doctor for an illegal abortion, but he refuses, revealing his obsession with her. Terrified, she returns to Panjim.

An Adaptation of the classic Elizabethan tale Doctor Faustus, starring Doctor Who sidekick Arthur Darvill as Mephistopheles, is among a trio of theatre productions heading to the big screen.

Shakespeare's Globe in partnership with Arts Alliance Media have launched a Globe On Screen season by releasing the stage versions of All's Well That Ends Well, Much Ado About Nothing and Doctor Faustus to cinemas in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Originally staged at Shakespeare's Globe in 2011, the three productions will be shown in their entirety on screens in hundreds of local cinemas, including the Showcase in Coventry. A trailer for the upcoming season is included below.

All's Well That Ends Well kicks off the season on September 26 and is followed by Much Ado About Nothing on October 10 and Doctor Faustus from October 24.

With sumptuous costumes and acclaimed original music, All's Well That Ends Well is directed by John Dove...

The great Chilean director Raul Ruiz died before filming began on his latest epic. Now it's about to get its Venice premiere, with his widow in the director's chair

You wouldn't have put it past Raul Ruiz to direct a film from beyond the grave. The Chilean master was hard at work on a new feature, The Lines of Wellington, at the time of his death last August, aged 70. This was a Napoleonic-era epic, a "Portuguese War and Peace", set in 1810 as the French troops battled with a British and Portuguese army commanded by General Wellington. At Wellington's bidding, a daunting system of fortifications – the so-called Lines of Torres Vedras – was secretly built to repel the French invaders. Wellington pursued a scorched earth policy, which displaced huge numbers of Portuguese and British; it's their story the film tells.

The cast for Lines of Wellington, led by John Malkovich, Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve,...

"Gilbert Adair, the acclaimed critic who had some of his own novels turned into successful films, has died aged 66," reports Catherine Shoard in the Guardian. "Adair won the respect of cineastes with volumes such as A Night at the Pictures (1985), Myths & Memories (1986), Hollywood's Vietnam (1981), Flickers (1995), Surfing the Zeitgeist (1997) and with his translation of the letters of François Truffaut (published in 1990). He was a prolific journalist, writing a regular column for the Sunday Times in the 1990s, as well as for this paper — last year he interviewed the French filmmaker Alain Resnais."

As a screenwriter, Adair will be remembered for his collaborations with Raúl Ruiz (The Territory in 1981, Klimt in 2006, Blind Revenge in 2010) and Bernardo Bertolucci (The Dreamers in 2003, based on his own novel, The Holy Innocents). Richard Kwietniowski's Love and Death on Long Island (1997) is based on Adair's novel.

In January 2010, Adair wrote in the Guardian, "I yield to...

Four-and-a-half hours of ambiguous, interweaving fictions fly by in the expert hands of veteran director Raúl Ruiz

Raúl Ruiz, who died in August aged 70, left his native Chile following the 1973 Pinochet coup and settled in France to become one of cinema's most prolific and singular film-makers. Sadly his work has been regarded as too obscure or avant-garde for British audiences and only a handful of his 100 or more pictures have been released here. The most recent was the ambitious, enigmatic Klimt, shown here in 2007, starring John Malkovich as the Austrian painter. It was characteristically described by Ruiz as "a phantasmagoria in the manner of Arthur Schnitzler" and, interestingly, in view of Scorsese's Hugo, features a meeting between Klimt and the movie pioneer Georges Méliès at the 1900 World Exposition in Paris.

The Ruiz picture that made the greatest impression here was Time Regained (starring Malkovich as Baron de Charlus), his bold...

Prolific journalist and author whose novels were often adapted for the big screen, has died

Gilbert Adair, the acclaimed critic who had some of his own novels turned into successful films, has died aged 66.

Adair won the respect of cineastes with volumes such as A Night at the Pictures (1985), Myths & Memories (1986), Hollywood's Vietnam (1981), Flickers (1995), Surfing the Zeitgeist (1997) and with his translation of the letters of François Truffaut (published in 1990). He was a prolific journalist, writing a regular column for the Sunday Times in the 1990s, as well as for this paper – last year he interviewed the French film-maker Alain Resnais.

It was in cinematic adaptation that he found wider fame: the 1997 film Love and Death on Long Island, starring John Hurt as mordant writer Giles De'Ath, and Jason Priestley as the teen star he strikes up a friendship with, was based on Adair's 1990 novel of the same name.

Bernardo Bertolucci's successful 2003 film The Dreamers,...

Above: A TV Dante (1991).

Below you will find the original language enteries for Notebook's series of commentaries and remembrances on Raúl Ruiz, entitled Raúl Ruiz: Blind Man's Bluff. Links are provided for the English-language translations by David Phelps.

Plus: Bonus, untranslated article by Cristián Sánchez Garfias, Klimt y La Muerte Recobrada, at the bottom of this post!

Recuerdos Chilenos

Había recién llegado a Nueva York a fines de los 90s, estaba completamente perdido, superado por la experiencia de tener que mutar, de dejar de ser solamente chileno para entender esta multicultural y devoradora ciudad, cuando me encontré con una raída copia en VHS de ‘On Top of the Whale’, un ovni cinematográfico que, además de dejarme aún más descolocado, me tuvo 5 minutos llorando de la risa. En medio de todo aquello que le daba vida esta enigmática cinta, aparece una de las vociferadas - o chuchadas, como dicen en Chile- más notables,...

Right now, the New York Film Critics are convening for the Nyfcc Awards for 2011 season. They are announcing their winners via Twitter, and the winners so far are (we'll bring you the latest winners as the information trickles in via Twitter, of course!):

"Margin Call" for Best First Feature for director J.C. Chandor. Zachary Quinto produced this brilliant film about the stock market collapse. Quinto also starred in the film alongside Stanley Tucci and Kevin Spacey.

The Best Nonfiction Film Award goes to Werner Herzog for his documentary "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" which explores the Chauvet caves of Southern France.

Best Supporting Actress goes to Jessica Chastain for her triple threat performances in the movies "The Tree of Life," "The Help," and "Take Shelter." (My interview with the actress for "The Debt" right here, I love her!)

Best Actress goes to Meryl Streep for "The Iron Lady!" I agree,...

Above: Ruiz's La recta provincia (2007).

Notebook is unfurling a series of tributes to Raúl Ruiz entitled Blind Man's Bluff: along with some previously published articles, here in English for the first time, the bulk a compilation of new, shorter pieces from a few generous critics and Ruizians on favorite moments from a vast, subterranean filmography. For more from Raúl Ruiz: Blind Man's Bluff see the Table of Contents.

Cofralandes, Chilean Rhapsody (2002)

There's a scene in Cofralandes, Chilean Rhapsody, the series of documentaries (?) for which Ruiz returned to Chilean filmmaking in 2002, that seems fascinating to me for its strangeness. Without any rational justification, Ruiz, who acts in the film, takes a TV remote and talks into it as if it were a cordless phone. It's one of those scenes that seem to have been dreamt by the viewer, but turn out to be revealing of different aspects of Ruiz as filmmaker.

German-based Bavariapool has signed actor Nicolas Cage to star in the psycho-thriller “Black Butterfly.” The actor will play a reclusive author named Paul, who became friends with a drifter with fatal consequences. The movie is based on a French television show “Papillon noir,” which starred Stephane Freiss and Eric Cantona. The Hollywood Reporter the Bavariapool also signed German actress Veronica Ferres (“Klimt,” “Rossini”). It will be the first English-language project from the German production group. Los Angeles-based production companies Paradox Entertainment will co-produce with Hyde Park as a co-financer. The $13 million budgeted film will start shooting in early 2012 in eastern Germany. Cage will be seen next year in the action film “Medallion” and the comic book sequel “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.” He was recently seen this year in “Drive Angry 3D” and “Season of the Witch.”Source: The Hollywood Reporter...

Above: La chouette aveugle (The Blind Owl, 1987)

Over the next couple weeks, Notebook will be unfurling a series of tributes to Raúl Ruiz: along with some previously published articles, here in English for the first time, the bulk a compilation of new, shorter pieces from a few generous critics and Ruizians on favorite moments from a vast, subterranean filmography. This small, mock-filmography shouldn’t be taken as anything like a comprehensive grip on Ruiz’s films or even incomprehensive grip: the Rouge annotated filmography remains the essential, critical card catalogue. Instead, something like this collection of close-readings can probably only show the ways Ruiz eludes chronology and anything but a kaleidoscopic perspective onto his work. Hopefully it can hint at the many phantom Ruizes unconsidered here while pin-pointing some pivotal moments in a pivoting career.

As we publish the pieces in batches by decade, the links below will be...

Chilean director Raoul Ruiz has passed away at the age of 70.

The moviemaker died at the Saint-Antoine hospital in Paris, France following complications from a pulmonary infection.

Famed for adapting novels for the big and small screen, he worked on Marcel Proust's Time Regained, Shakespeare's Richard III and Dante's Inferno in a 1991 TV series.

He also was behind several English language movies, such as Klimt, which starred John Malkovich, and A Closed Book, with Daryl Hannah and Tom Conti.

Producer pal Francois Margolin says, "He was one of our greatest living filmmakers, who left considerable work and will remain a reference in the history of cinema."

After fleeing Chile in the 1960s, Ruiz settled in France and made close to 100 films. He will be buried in his homeland.

Revered Chilean filmmaker Raul Ruiz has died in Paris at the age of 70.

The director and film aficionado made over 100 movies including Mysteries of Lisbon, Klimt, Time Regained, Shattered Image and The Golden Boat.

He made his feature film debut in 1968 with the movie Tres tristes tigres, and he quickly became a leading figure in Chilean cinema.

Ruiz was forced to flee his homeland for political reasons in the mid-1970s and he spent the rest of his life living in exile in France.

Often described as a cinematic genius, Ruiz was also a theatre director and playwright, and he taught at Harvard University.

Among his many accolades, the director was awarded the title of Docteur Honoris Causa by the Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon in 2005 and he also holds a Professorship at the University of Aberdeen and a Doctor Honoris Causa honour from the Universidad de Valparaiso, which he received earlier this year.

Ruiz was also presented with Chile's National Prize of Arts.

He is survived by his wife, Valeria Sarmiento, a Chilean writer-director.

Are you around the North East of Scotland this Monday? If so, you may want to be heading along to this very special evening.

Controversial and, wait for it, 'cult' director Alex Cox is the subject of the latest Director's Cut talk in Aberdeen.

This special series of events, run by the University of Aberdeen, has hosted such diverse guests as Simon Callow (Four Weddings & A Funeral), David Mackenzie (Hallam Foe), Nicolas Roeg (Don't Look Now), Guy Hamilton (Live & Let Die), Raúl Ruiz (Klimt) and Sir David Attenborough.

This Monday sees the director of films such as Repo Man and Sid & Nancy, Alex Cox, take center stage to talk about his life and work with BBC presenter Janice Forsyth (for broadcast at a later date). His film Walker, starring Ed Harris, broke new ground as an abrasive postmodern comment on the USA's military interventions in Latin America and his latest...

By Michael Atkinson

Our official "B-movie" distribution stream -- straight-to-dvd releases -- grows in number and variety every year, as fewer films can be, or at least are, affordably shown theatrically than ever before. And these titles still can't qualify for awards or polls of any kind, or often even reviews, as the number of theatrical screens continues to drop. Does this make any sense? Here're my favorites from this year, the movies that first saw American screens (big or small) on digital video in 2008, be they brand new or decades old.

1. "Sophie's Place"

Lawrence Jordan, U.S., 1986

The renowned yet all-but-forgotten avant-garde filmmaker's grand animated masterpiece, a Victorian-styled dream-collage-painting-fever-feature brimming with hundreds of inexplicable epiphanies and a sense of visual magic that is all but utterly unique to Jordan. This honey was ensconced in Facets' lavish, under-celebrated set "The Lawrence Jordan Album," which in itself is more of an...

• Rescuing a pair of foreign European pictures from obscurity, L.A distrib Outsider Pictures announced a double foreign film pick up – one from director Anders Thomas Jensen and the other from Raul Ruiz. Written and directed by Jensen, Adam's Apples is a dark comedy featuring a neo-Nazi sentenced to community service at a church who clashes with the blindly devotional priest. It features a wealth of Denmark’s best actors and was the recipient of and four Danish Academy Awards. The pic will preem in theatres this March.Klimt is a film about Austrian artist Gustav Klimt whose opulent, erotically charged paintings came to epitomize the art nouveau style of the late 19th and early 20th century. John Malkovich headlines the picture. This will be released in May....

...