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Paris-based Reservoir Docs has acquired worldwide sales rights excluding Italy to “A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things,” a theatrical documentary by Scottish-Irish director Mark Cousins, featuring the voice of Tilda Swinton.

The film, described by the producers as “visually ravishing,” explores the art of the 20th century Scottish painter Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.

Swinton will voice the artist’s innermost thoughts, reading from her private diaries and notebooks, which have never before been made public.

The film is in late post-production for release in 2024. It is produced by Mary Bell and Adam Dawtrey for BofA Productions, and co-funded by the National Lottery via Screen Scotland, with the support of the Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust. I Wonder Pictures has acquired Italian rights from the producers.

“A Sudden Glimpse to Deeper Things” is the story of an unusual creative brain, and a magnificent lifelong obsession. One day in May 1949, Barns-Graham, then 36 years old and an...

Sundance documentary “Stephen Curry: Underrated” and SXSW television premiere “I’m a Virgo” will open and close Sffilm, the 66th annual San Francisco International Film Festival.

Sffilm unveiled the full lineup for the fest along with the openers and closers. The Bay Area film festival, which screens in theaters across San Francisco as well as Oakland and Berkeley, will host 50 feature film programs (includes Workshop and “mid-lengths”), 46 shorts, and one TV screening (“I’m a Virgo”). Both directors behind “I’m a Virgo” and “Underrated” — Boots Riley and Peter Nicks — grew up in the Bay Area, more specifically in Oakland. Other films from Bay Area filmmakers whose projects will screen include W. Kamau Bell’s “1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed,” Savanah Leaf’s “Earth Mama,” and Babak Jalali’s “Fremont.”

“It is Sffilm Festival season once again and I cannot wait to share this year’s program with local audiences,” Jessie Fairbanks, Sffilm’s director of programming,...

Chief Productions Sets Kashmiri Beekeeping Doc ‘Pot of Gold’

Chief Productions, the UK-based indie, today announced the production of a new documentary titled Pot of Gold in partnership with global humanitarian relief and development charity Human Appeal. The film marks the first fully foreign film to be shot in the mountainous region of Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. The film follows beekeeper Shakeel Khan who has committed his life to learn about the nature of bees and their delicate work. However, his story takes a turn following the impact of the most destructive earthquake the region has ever seen. The film is produced by Billy Offland and directed by Olivier Richomme. Colin Offland is Exec Producer, and Alan Hamilton is the writer. Colin Offland, CEO and executive producer at Chief Productions described the story as “poignant and distinctive.” He said: “It has been an eye-opening and fulfilling experience to be welcomed...

Festival runs October 12-23.

Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History Of Destruction are among the international competitions line-up at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival next month.

This year’s competitions include 10 films receiving their North American premiere and 17 getting their US premiere as the entries vie for the festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of international feature, international documentary, and new directors.

The festival runs October 12-23. The full international competition line-ups are below.

Playing in International Feature Competition are: The Beasts (Sp-Fr), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, US premiere; Before,...

Fascism – its roots, legacy and contemporary manifestations – is a leitmotif running throughout the 79th Venice Film Festival as Italy marks the centenary of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s fateful power grab in 1922, in an era when totalitarian leaders are once again on the rise.

Northern Irish, Edinburgh-based filmmaker Mark Cousin’s essay documentary March On Rome – which opens parallel section Giornate degli Autori on Wednesday (August 31) – offers an insightful cinematic primer into the events leading up to Mussolini’s forced appointment as Italian prime minister on October 31, 1922.

Opening with an extract of an interview with Donald Trump in which he openly quotes Mussolini, the film also provocatively connects the actions of latter-day populist leaders with the legacy of Italian fascism.

The infamous 1922 March on Rome grew out of a fascist rally in Naples on October 24 at which Mussolini declared: “Either the government will be given to us, or we will...