News

Das B3 Festival des bewegten Bildes in Frankfurt am Main hat sein Gesamtprogramm veröffentlicht. Die Veranstaltung, die sich nicht nur mit Film, sondern auch Kunst, Virtual Reality und Games beschäftigt und dieses Jahr unter dem Fokus Demokratie läuft, legt einen Schwerpunkt auf Italien und das Schaffen der Taviani-Brüder.

„Padre padrone“ der Taviani-Brüder

Das B3 Festival des bewegte Bildes in Frankfurt am Main hat sein vielfältiges Programm bekanntgegeben. Los geht das Festival am 13. Oktober mit Ehrengast Margarethe von Trotta, die für ihr Lebenswerk ausgezeichnet wird. Als Filmschaffende, die mit ihren Werken einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Auseinandersetzung mit demokratischen Werten leistet, passt sie perfekt zum Fokus des Festivals, der dieses Jahr eben auf der Demokratie ruht. Zu den Ehrengästen zählt auch Ermanno Taviani, Sohn von Paolo Taviani, den das Festival gemeinsam mit dessen Bruder Vittorio posthum für ihren großartigen Beitrag zum italienischen Filmschaffen auszeichnet. Der Italien-Bezug passt perfekt zum Partner Frankfurter Buchmesse,...

German director Volker Schlöndorff, who won the Cannes’ Palme d’Or and an Oscar for his 1979 drama “The Tin Drum,” is set to direct a film about how Antonio Vivaldi — the 18th-century Italian composer of “The Four Seasons” — formed what is touted as the world’s first all-female orchestra.

Schlöndorff’s still-untitled depiction of this lesser-known aspect of Vivaldi’s career is based on a book by German writer Peter Schneider, which has been adapted for the big screen by Italian scribe Francesco Piccolo (“My Brilliant Friend”) along with the director.

The plan is for cameras to start rolling later this year on the film, which will mark the first foray into Italian-language cinema by Schlöndorff, who is a fluent speaker. It will be shot entirely in Italy. Casting is still being decided, and sales are likely to be launched at the Cannes market in May.

Schlöndorff’s new project...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook.Newsa Different Man.IATSE, Teamsters, and the Hollywood Basic Crafts unions began bargaining jointly with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after a thousands-strong rally in Los Angeles. In Variety, IATSE president Matthew Loeb discusses the union’s priorities and the threat of another strike after the current contract expires on July 31.In an open letter, Carlo Chatrian, the outgoing artistic director of the Berlinale, and Mark Peranson, the festival’s head of programming, respond to the backlash that followed the closing ceremony, at which a number of award recipients called for a ceasefire in Gaza: “This year’s festival was a place for dialogue and exchange for ten days; yet once the films stopped rolling, another form of communication...

The Locarno Film Festival is leading the tributes to Italian filmmaker Paolo Taviani, who has died aged 92.

Alongside his brother Vittorio (who died aged 88 in 2018), the duo created numerous notable titles, including Sardinian countryside drama Padre Padrone, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in1977, and the Berlin 2012 Golden Bear winner Caesar Must Die.

In a statement, Locarno artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro said: “The story of Paolo and Vittorio Taviani is also that of Italian cinema after the end of the Second World War. Their work, which marked a crucial moment in cinematic modernity, was paid tribute to...

Italian director Paolo Taviani, who with his late brother Vittorio formed the revered filmmaking duo that in 1977 won the Cannes Palme d’Or for “Padre Padrone,” has died at 92.

Taviani died on Thursday in a Rome clinic after suffering from a short illness, according to Italian media reports. “Paolo Taviani, a great maestro of Italian cinema, leaves us,” Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Taviani brothers “directed unforgettable, profound, committed films that entered into the collective imagination and the history of cinema,” Gualtieri added.

Vittorio was the youngest of the Taviani Brothers, who emerged in the 1970s as the prolific pair whose works blended neo-realism with more modern storytelling in works such as “Padre Padrone” (1977), “The Night of the Shooting Stars” (1982) and Luigi Pirandello adaptation “Kaos” (1984).

Born in the Tuscan town of San Miniato, Vittorio and Paolo Taviani soon moved to nearby Pisa where...

Italian sales company True Colours has taken international sales on Venice Horizons opener “Princess,” a gritty drama about a young African sex trade victim, directed by Italian auteur Roberto De Paolis.

De Paolis, whose 2017 debut “Pure Hearts” launched positively from Cannes, recently described the film to Variety as “the unfiltered story of a young Nigerian who prostitutes herself in Ostia, outside Rome, in a seaside pine forest.”

“Princess” (see first-look trailer above) features Glory Kevin, a real victim of the sex trade, in the title role plus other non-professional actors with similar backgrounds. Rounding out the cast are Lino Musella (“The Young Pope”), Salvatore Striano (“Caesar Must Die”) and Maurizio Lombardi (“The New Pope”).

De Paolis in his press notes calls “Princess” “the result of merging my points of view with those of the young Nigerian women I met over a long period of time whilst researching for the film.

It’s no spoiler to say that Luigi Pirandello dies nine minutes into “Leonora addio.” This alternately playful and lugubrious work of reflection isn’t really about the controversial Italian writer’s life at all, but rather his legacy, and in a less literal yet ineluctable sense, that of film directors Paolo and Vittorio Taviani.

Over the course of half a century, the two cinematic siblings made movies together — including 1985’s “Kaos,” an omnibus-style collection of five Pirandello stories — bookending their career together by winning top prizes at the Cannes and Berlin film festivals. And then, in 2018, Vittorio died.

“Leonora addio” marks Paolo’s first solo feature. There’s almost no way not to read the film as a farewell by one sibling to another, or an even larger-aperture reflection on what becomes of an artist and his art after his passing — more relevant now than ever, with monuments being...

Four years after the death of his brother Vittorio, with whom he shared a celebrated career, Paolo Taviani is back in the Berlin competition solo, with “Leonora Addio.”

The brothers won the Golden Bear in 2012 with “Caesar Must Die,” about high-security inmates performing Shakespeare.

The free-form film he made –– screening on Feb. 15 –– takes its cue from a story titled “Il Chiodo” (“The Nail”) by Italian playwright and author Luigi Pirandello, written shortly before he died in 1936. That aspect of the pic is a long-gestating project that Paolo, who is 91, says he and Vittorio had long intended to film together.

The Taviani brothers previously drew from Pirandello, most notably for their 1984 drama “Kaos.”

“We even wrote it,” said Taviani, referring to “Il Chiodo.” “Then, when I started working on it alone, as always happens, I modified it. But that’s the origin [of “Leonora Addio”].”

The film begins with with Pirandello receiving...

Italy’s robust 2022 Berlinale representation of a half-dozen titles runs the gamut from the latest works by venerable veterans Paolo Taviani and Dario Argento to pics by fresh new Cinema Italiano voices including Chiara Bellosi, whose first film, “Ordinary Justice,” launched from Berlin in 2020.

Taviani, who is 91, is returning to Berlin but alone this time — his filmmaker brother, Vittorio, with whom he won a Golden Bear in 2012 for “Caesar Must Die,” passed away in 2018 — in competition with surreal drama “Leonora Addio,” inspired by a short story by Italian playwright and author Luigi Pirandello.

Argento, who set his 1977 chiller “Suspiria” in Germany, will be at the Berlinale for the first time as a director with Rome-set suspenser “Dark Glasses,” though he was on the fest’s main jury panel in 2001. Film unspools as a Berlinale Special Gala.

Bellosi is back with Panaorama selection “Swing Ride” (“Calcinculo”), about a 15-year-old named...

Italian director Roberta Torre, known for campy Mafia musical “Tano to Die For” and other anarchic pics, is making “Le Favolose,” about a group of transgender women who reunite after 20 years to commemorate a dead friend and do right by her after her identity has been violated.

“Le Favolose,” which translates as “The Fabulous Ones,” is being produced by Donatella Palermo, who is at the Berlinale with auteur Paolo Taviani’s competition entry “Leonora Addio.”

Palermo, who has a longstanding rapport with Torre, is the Italian producer behind two Berlin Golden Bear winners: the Taviani brothers’ “Caesar Must Die” and Gianfranco Rosi’s “Fire at Sea.”

“When a person decides to face the [gender] transition from man to woman it can be a very painful process in several different ways: social, physical, etc.,” said Palermo, who notes that “when a trans dies, most of the time their body is returned to their families.

Italian director and producer Roberto De Paolis, whose 2017 debut “Pure Hearts” launched from Cannes, is stepping up activity of his Young Films shingle and has completed his follow-up feature, “Princess,” about a young African woman who’s a victim of the sex trade.

Described by De Paolis as “the unfiltered story of a young Nigerian who prostitutes herself in Ostia, outside Rome, in a seaside pine forest,” “Princess” (first look image above) features Glory Kevin, a real victim of the sex trade, in the title role plus other non-professional actors with similar backgrounds. Rounding out the cast are Lino Musella (“The Young Pope”), Salvatore Striano (“Caesar Must Die”) and Maurizio Lombardi (“The New Pope”).

The film, which is produced by Young Films and Indigo Film (“The Great Beauty”) with Rai Cinema, is “an attempt to discover the complexity of the inner conflicts that run through the protagonist,” said De Paolis,...

Toni Servillo and Silvio Orlando are set to lead a cast together for the very first time in the Italian director’s third feature film, shot in a former prison in Sassari. Filming began on 12 November, in Sassari’s former San Sebastiano prison, on Leonardo Di Costanzo’s third feature film Dall’interno. Written by Di Costanzo alongside Bruno Oliviero and Valia Santella, the title will see Silvio Orlando and Toni Servillo play starring roles together, for the very first time, flanked by professional actors such as Fabrizio Ferracane (Silver Ribbon for The Traitor) and Salvatore Striano (Caesar Must Die), and joined by a cast composed of entirely new faces, uncovered by the director and trained over months of rehearsals and workshops. The synopsis shared by the production company is succinct, to say the least: in a prison in the process of decommission, a handful of officers and the last remaining inmates await.

Paolo Taviani, of revered filmmaking duo the Taviani brothers, is back behind the camera — this time without his brother Vittorio, who died in 2018.

Taviani is shooting “Leonora Addio,” a surreal drama that takes its cue from a short story by great Italian playwright and author Luigi Pirandello. It’s a long-gestating project that Paolo says he and Vittorio had long intended to film together.

Italy’s Fandango Sales has taken international distribution for the film and will be kicking off world sales outside Italy during the Toronto International Film Festival’s online film market this month.

Co-produced by Donatella Palermo’s Stemal Entertainment and Rai Cinema with France’s Les Films d’Ici, “Leonora” started principal photography at the end of July at Cinecittà Studios and will also be shooting in Sicily. Production is expected to wrap in October and Taviani said he expects to complete the film by year’s end.

Hyde Park International to launch sales at Efm next week.

Robert Beeson’s New Wave Films has acquired all UK and Ireland rights on revenge thriller Rose Plays Julie, which Hyde Park International will introduce to worldwide buyers at the Efm in Berlin.

Ann Skelly stars alongside Orla Brady and Aidan Gillen from fast-rising writer/director duo Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor.

Skelly plays twentysomething Rose, who uncovers more than she bargained for when she tracks down her biological parents.

Finding her mother reluctant to have anything to do with her is just the beginning for Rose as she uncovers devastating,...

Italian producer Grazia Volpi, best known for bringing many works by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani to the big and small screens, including their Berlin Golden Bear winner “Caesar Must Die,” has died.

Volpi was 79, according to Italian press reports. The cause of death has not been disclosed.

Born in the Tuscan town of Pontedera, Volpi during the early 1960s started working as a production assistant in Rome, subsequently becoming a casting agent and line producer, and then setting up her own production company during the mid 1970s. She became a rare case of a woman producer in Italy’s male-dominated industry.

Volpi started working with the Taviani brothers in 1969 as a casting agent on the drama “Under The Sign of Scorpio,” their fourth work and the first feature they shot in color. The close rapport she forged with Italy’s prominent directorial duo is testified by a cameo she played...

Italy’s Rai Com has taken world sales on high-profile documentary “Hui He, the Soprano From the Silk Road,” which is about the personal and artistic journey of one of the world’s leading sopranos and also marks a milestone Italian-Chinese co-production.

Hui He was born and trained as a singer in the Chinese city of Xi’an, which is the Silk Road’s eastern terminus and home to the famed army of terracotta soldiers. Today she is one of the world’s leading interpreters of Italian operas such as “Tosca,” “Madama Butterfly,” and “Turandot.”

He is currently leading the cast of the late Anthony Minghella’s Metropolitan Opera production of Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” in New York.

The long-gestating doc is “the story of a young girl who decides to excel in an artistic field that is not part of her culture and succeeds,” says producer Agnese Fontana, who...

Did starring in “The Shawshank Redemption” (and then directing “Dead Man Walking” the following year) leave Tim Robbins with a profound compassion for the members of America’s prison system, or was that profound compassion what compelled him to pursue those jobs in the first place? Either way, it seems the famous actor and sometime filmmaker still fervently believes in the words of Sister Helen Prejean, who Susan Sarandon played in “Dead Man Walking”: “Everyone is worth more than their worst act.”

Robbins’ first directorial effort since 1999’s “Cradle Will Rock” finds him going back to jail in order to help extend that ethos into the real world. , “45 Seconds of Laughter” takes us inside the maximum-security fortress of Calipatria State Prison, where a few special members of Robbins’ theater company (The Actors’ Gang) lead a troupe of violent criminals in a commedia dell’arte workshop that’s meant to...

“Everyone is worth more than their worst act,” said Roman Catholic sister and anti-death penalty advocate Helen Prejean, and it’s with these words that “45 Seconds of Laughter” closes. It’s an apt sentiment on which to leave Tim Robbins’ sincerely felt documentary study of the therapeutic acting workshops run by his own theater company in a California prison — not least because the film is itself at pains to identify its human subjects only by their present, not their past. But if it’s also an obvious callback to Robbins’ penitentiary-set 1995 drama “Dead Man Walking,” which won Susan Sarandon an Oscar for playing Prejean, the self-reference doesn’t exactly flatter the new film: Occasionally heart-stirring but also rather slight, Robbins’ mellow first foray into docmaking is far removed from his pre-millennial era of artistic and political urgency.

“45 Seconds of Laughter” is, in fact, Robbins’ first big-screen directorial outing since 1999’s “Cradle Will Rock,...

Inmates doing theater in prison has been captured on film many times before. In Italy, the Taviani Brothers shot their Golden Bear winner Caesar Must Die(2012), in which prisoners in Rome try their hand at Shakespeare, only seven years after the documentary Balordi (2005) looked at Neapolitan prisoners tackling Brecht's Threepenny Opera. In Lebanon, 12 Angry Lebanese (2009) saw inmates stage a production of 12 Angry Men while the nonfiction feature Shakespeare Behind Bars (2005), filmed in a correctional complex in Kentucky, showcases exactly what the title suggests. 

45 Seconds of Laughter is the latest addition in what has ...

Inmates doing theater in prison has been captured on film many times before. In Italy, the Taviani Brothers shot their Golden Bear winner Caesar Must Die(2012), in which prisoners in Rome try their hand at Shakespeare, only seven years after the documentary Balordi (2005) looked at Neapolitan prisoners tackling Brecht's Threepenny Opera. In Lebanon, 12 Angry Lebanese (2009) saw inmates stage a production of 12 Angry Men while the nonfiction feature Shakespeare Behind Bars (2005), filmed in a correctional complex in Kentucky, showcases exactly what the title suggests. 

45 Seconds of Laughter is the latest addition in what has ...

Veteran American publicist and producer Richard Lormand, a well-loved fixture on the international festival circuit, where he was instrumental in launching and championing scores of auteurs such as Fatih Akin, Amos Gitai, Lav Diaz and Alice Rohrwacher, has died.

Lormand, who was based in Paris, was 56. The cause of death was complications from cancer. Lormand, a tireless promoter with a genuine passion for film, had been fighting the disease for the past year while working almost nonstop at the Berlin, Locarno, Venice and San Sebastian festivals, among other events, his assistant, Federico Mancini, said in a statement.

Lormand’s FilmPressPlus slate announcements, which generated genuine buzz among many critics and journalists, always opened with an affectionate “Bonjour Film Lovers!” Over the past 25 years, he handled several Palme d’Or, Golden Lion and Golden Bear winners, such as the Taviani Brothers’ “Caesar Must Die,” which took the top prize in Berlin...

Amazon Studios has acquired North American, U.K., and Indian rights to “Rainbow – A Private Affair,” the last work co-directed by Italy’s revered Taviani brothers.

Amazon’s purchase from Paris-based Pyramide Intl. of those streaming rights follows Vittorio Taviani’s death in May, at 88, and comes as the film goes on theatrical release via Pyramide in France. The directing duo’s surviving member, Paolo Taviani, who is 86, told the French newspaper Le Monde last week that he would keep working even without his brother, with whom he made movies all his life, “until my devastated country rises from its ruins,” an apparent reference to Italy under its new populist government.

“Rainbow – A Private Affair,” which launched last year from Toronto, is an adaptation of a short novel written by Italian author Beppe Fenoglio and set during Italy’s mid-1940s civil war, when partisans and fascists engaged in battles of attrition.

‪Richard Peña‬ on the Taviani brothers who won the Palme d’Or for Padre Padrone: "Vittorio's passing is a terrible loss for his family, friends and for the cinema, but we can comfort ourselves knowing how much great cinema he and Paolo have given us."

Vittorio Taviani died in Rome at the age of 88 on April 15. He together with his brother Paolo directed more than 20 films over five decades, winning the Palme d’Or in 1977 for Padre Padrone. The Taviani brothers had seven films screened in the New York Film Festival, Padre Padrone, The Night Of The Shooting Stars (La Notte Di San Lorenzo), Night Sun (Il Sole Anche Di Notte), Chaos (Kaos), Fiorile, You Laugh (Tu Ridi), and Caesar Must Die (Cesare Deve Morire) in 2012.

Vittorio and Paolo Taviani's Chaos (Kaos) closed the New York Film Festival in 1985

The former New York Film Festival Director of Programming and...

Vittorio Taviani, who along with his brother Paolo formed one of the world’s premier filmmaking duos, has died at age 88. His daughter confirmed the Palme d’Or, Golden Bear, and Golden Lion winner’s passing after a long illness. Beloved in their native Italy for decades and celebrated at film festivals the world over, the Taviani Brothers directed such arthouse classics as “Padro Padrone” (which won them the Palme in 1977) and “Caesar Must Die” (which took home the top prize from Berlin six years ago).

The two directed more than 20 films over the last 50 years, with “The Night of the Shooting Stars” winning particular acclaim at home; it was also awarded the Grand Prix at Cannes. In a statement, Italian president Sergio Mattarella called Taviani “a beloved protagonist of Italian cinema and culture” and said that the entire country is in mourning.

Born in the town fo San Miniato...

Italian director Vittorio Taviani, of the multiple award-winning Taviani brothers, has died at 88.

His daughter Giovanna told media he died in Rome after a long illness.

Vittorio was the older of the prolific Taviani brothers who emerged in the 1970’s as the revered filmmaking duo whose works blended neo-realism with more modern storytelling in works such as “Padre Padrone,” which won the 1977 Cannes Palme d’Or, World War II drama “The Night of the Shooting Stars” (1982) and “Kaos” (1984) which is based on Pirandello.

Born in the Tuscan town of San Miniato, Vittorio and Paolo Taviani soon moved to nearby Pisa where as high-school students they became aspiring directors. “We walked into a movie theater called Cinema Italia, which no longer exists, and there was a film playing called ‘Paisà’ that we had never heard of,” they told Variety in unison in a 2016 interview. That experience “really blew our minds,” they said.

Celebrated Italian writer-director Vittorio Taviani, winner of the Palme d’Or and Berlin Golden Bear, has died aged 88. He passed after a long illness, his daughter has confirmed to Italian media.

The director formed one half an acclaimed filmmaking duo with his brother Paolo: the two were known as the Taviani Brothers. The siblings became household names in Italy in the 1960s and worked on more than 20 movies together including 1977 Palme d’Or winner Padre Padrone and docudrama Caesar Must Die, which won the Golden Bear for best film at Berlin in 2012.

The former charted the story of Gavino Ledda, the son of a Sardinian shepherd, and how he managed to escape his harsh, almost barbaric existence by slowly educating himself, despite violent opposition from his brutal father. Caesar Must Die is the story of inmates at a high-security prison in Rome who prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Presented as a documentary about a prison production of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani utilize Caesar Must Die as a means to play with the perception of reality to blur the line between truth and fiction. The film begins with the final scene of the production staged inside Rome’s high-security Rebibbia prison, presented to an audience of inmates and visitors. The color footage immediately switches to black-and-white as we flashback six months to the initial casting of the production. We meet each of the thespian inmates, getting a feel for why they were cast in their respective roles. The Taviani's are endlessly intrigued by the way that real life and theater reflect upon and influence each other. The inmates bring their own personalities into Shakespeare's characters, just as those characters inform the inmates' "real" lives. Shakespearean dialog is seamlessly intertwined with "real life" prison drama,...

This Berlin flew by! A good overview is that of Screen Daily and if we're lucky, you can read it here without subscribing. My own activities flowed from two sources:

1) Education: I taught and led tours of the market for Berlinale's Talent Campus Meet the Experts, for Deutsche Welle Akademie Film Festival Workshop, and for Ina Sup, a TV, film and new media school based in France and linked to the French National Audiovisual Institute (Ina). This is the most rewarding work, seeing what talent is coming up in our world, seeing ideas take hold as the students learn about the market.

2) Our Consulting: Another pillar of our company, aside from blogging and professional education, is strategic planning with filmmakers. This Berlinale was very intense and very energizing for my partner Peter Belsito and me, with Beyond the Moonwalk having found a berth for international sales representation with Steve Arroyave's Arrow Entertainment and a U.S. distribution commitment, and more actively involving, with Donna Deitch's The Catcher, where a series of meetings with top German and Canadian producers and sales agents gave the project the momentum of a race horse bound for first place!

What follows are my impressions of various other Berlin events as they passed by -- ever so quickly -- but still with enough eye-catching power to capture my attention in the first place.

I was happy to see Jeff Lipsky and Adopt Films' co-managing executive Tim Grady cleaning up with 3 acquisitions; no time to waste anymore as the third Bingham Ray memorial pointed out to those who have the mind to realize the message. Sister (L'enfant d'en haut) by Ursula Maier (Isa: Memento, Swiss rights with FilmCoopi), I hear is A+, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) (Isa: Rai Trade) won the Golden Bear, and Chris Petzold's Barbara, all in Competition.

American indie works-in-progress have been granted a second chance to screen for European indie distributors (EuropaDistribution) at the upcoming Paris Film Festival in June. I have been invited to be on the jury of "U.S. in Progress" and am thrilled at the prospect. I was honored to have been invited to be on the jury in Wroclaw at the American Film Festival in November as well, for the first edition of this chance for U.S. filmmakers to win post-production and cash prizes. This is where the film Now, Forager was picked up by fledgling international sales agent, the only international sales agent in Poland, New Europe Sales founded by Jan Naszewski [jnaszewski At gmail.com] and Anja Sosic [anja At NewEuropeFilmSales.com]. The film went on to screen at Rotterdam Film Festival. Even hotter news will be forthcoming from Moma and The New York Film Society's New Directors/ New Films about one of the films at the Aff's "U.S. in Progress". If you missed it in Poland you will be able to see it in New York this April!

I was lucky to see two films during the market and after the market closed, this last Saturday and Sunday, when I caught some more films I was unable to see earlier due to my "real" work. Of the films I saw here in Berlin, here are my unique :) comments for what they're worth.

Children of Srikandi (Panorama) is a very personal account by a female filmmaker collective in Indonesia on what it means to be a lesbian in their society. The sweet intimacy of the film overrides its non-professional veneer (the "filmmakers" were all non-professionals). In fact, this could serve as a template for other non-professionals who want to tell their stories. Schools come to mind as possible candidates for this sort of filmmaking, as does my own pet project, The Literacy Project. The Indonesian contingent here in Berlin was interesting and sociable as they met their audience and fans. They were hosted by Berlin based producers Laura Coppens who is a doctorate student in ethnological studies in Zurich and Angelika Levi, doc filmmaker (My Life, Part 2 about growing up Jewish in Berlin).

Bergman & Magnani: The War of the Volcanos. This invitation-only work in progress with Wide House uses a unique way to show the emotion filled and the biggest jet-set love scandal of all times, the story of Roberto Rossellini, Anna Magnani and Ingrid Bergman as Rosellini and the volcanic Anna Magnani ended their relationship after making Volcano (1950) and the married Ingrid Bergman and Rossellini began theirs with the filming of Stromboli (1950), the name of the second volcano on this Aeolian Island which has been in almost continuous eruption for 2,000 years. The visuals of their stories are illustrated entirely with the scenes from movies starring them as they enact the real life emotions and the commentary of the doc. I am most interested to see how well this technique succeeds.

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's Caesar Must Die (Isa: Rai Trade) is a moving illustration of the transformative power of art as hardened criminals in an Italian prison rehearse and perform Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. The the 80 + year old Brothers Taviani deserve recognition for their artistic excellence. I can't argue with Mike Leigh and the jury's judgement except that on my emotional meter, Rebelle (War Witch) was the real winner.

Rebelle (War Witch) by Kim Nguyen (Isa: Films Distribution) should have won the Golden Bear. The Silver Bear for Best Actress was awarded to Rachel Mwanza, but this film is so deeply moving on the most primal levels, maintaining its African roots while touching our most sensitive emotions of parents, love, rape, pregnancy and infants as they are experienced by a female child soldier from ages 12 to 14. It should also win Best Foreign Language Film in next year's Academy Awards. Produced by the industry vets Marie-Claude Poulin and Pierre Even, it is yet another feather in the cap of the the Canadian film industry.

Dieter Kosslick observed that with 15 Competition titles confirmed at the time Screen International interviewed him, “both thematically and geographically, we have many films coming this year from Asia, and particularly China and Indonesia. There is also an interesting focus on France this year, beginning with the opening film Farewell My Queen (Les adieux a la reine) (Isa: Elle Driver) and going through all of the festival’s sections. Moreover, we have two French jury members [Francois Ozon and Charlotte Gainsbourg] in the International Jury.“ Eight titles selected to date have German majority or minority participation, so German filmmakers and (co-)producers will again enjoy a record presence in the Competition on a par with 2011’s tally of eight films involving German directors or German production partners." He also notes Competition films' trending toward "times of upheaval and new departures... with many films coming from Africa and Arab countries". My observation of the 23 Competition films finally selected is that the nostalgic look back at European aristocracy and top social tiers (A Royal Affair, Bel Ami, Farewell My Queen) and its mores stands in stark contrast to today's upheavals of families and children (Childish Games, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Postcards from the Zoo, Just the Wind, Mercy, Shadow Dancer, Sister, Rebelle, Home for the Weekend, Jayne Mansfield's Car, Coming Home). Seven other films continue the theme of social upheavals: Tey - which deal with childhood memories of Senegal experienced by an American, Captive about Phillipine hostages, Barbara an Eastern German looking to move to the West, Caesar Must Die about prisoners finding art in their sequestered lives, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate about upheavel during the Ming Dynasty, White Deer Plain about upheavel towards the end of Imperial China, The Flowers of War about the upheavel of China by the Japanese in World War II. The exceptions, Tabu and Meteora, deal with love, the Saving Grace.

Two major disappointments were Steven Soderberg's Haywire (Isa: Mandate) and Stephen Elliott's Cherry. Both about women, they left me puzzled with what the plot was about. Pretty, well done and negligible.

This Berlin Diary Part 2 will continue after I work on my new and soon-to-be launched website! I have spent an entire day on this blog and I still have much more to write!

★★★★☆ Winner of the Golden Bear prize at last year's Berlinale, the Taviani brothers' Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire, 2012) is a humanist quasi-documentary about a group of Italian maximum security prisoners performing William Shakespeare's illustrious tragedy, Julius Caesar. A fascinatingly perceptive film that blurs the lines between art and reality, Caesar Must Die brings a whole new intensity to this Elizabethan examination of betrayal and duplicity. The Taviani brothers "let slip the dogs of war", thrusting the audience into their seats for the final scenes of the play, before observing the actors being rounded up and led back to their cells.

Read more »...

Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die)

Directed by Paolo Taviani and Vittoria Taviani

Written by William Shakespeare (excerpts from “Julius Caesar”), Paolo Taviani and Vittoria Taviani

2012, Italy

Anyone who walks into a screening of Caesar Must Die with the belief that they will be seeing a documentary should know this now: Caesar Must Die is not a documentary. It can barely be called a docudrama. It rather belongs in the curious category of metafilm, nestled among those pictures that blur and obscure the line between fact and fiction, demolish the fourth wall and are so conscious of themselves that they may disappear into a spiral of self-referentiality. Metafilms can be some of the most innovative and invigorating pieces of cinema when successful, but when they are not they can materialise as hollow exercise or dense nuggets of intellectual tedium.

This film by the brothers Taviani, awarded the Golden Bear at...

"The Imposter" and "Searching for Sugar Man" each received 5 nods from the Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking. 31 features and 5 shorts will vie for the best of the best in documentary filmmaking. Check out the full list of nominees below including the Audience Award and Heterodox Award.

Winners of the 6th Annual Cinema Eye Honors will be announced on January 9, 2013 as Cinema Eye returns for a third year to New York City.s Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens.

Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking

5 Broken Cameras

Directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi

Produced by Christine Camdessus, Serge Gordey, Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi

Detropia

Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady

Produced by Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady and Craig Atkinson

The Imposter

Directed by Bart Layton

Produced by Dimitri Doganis

Marina Abramović The Artist is Present

Directed by Matthew Akers

Produced by Jeff Dupre and Maro Chermayeff...

Nominees for the Heterodox Award, the Filmmaker-sponsored Cinema Eye award given to a narrative film that imaginatively incorporates non-fiction strategies and aesthetics, were announced today by Cinema Eye Honors. The five nominated films are: Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire), Craig Zobel’s Compliance, Jem Cohen’s Museum Hours, Pablo Larraín’s No, and Terence Nance’s An Oversimplification of Her Beauty. Said Scott Macaulay, Editor of Filmmaker Magazine, “In the third year of the Heterodox Award, our nominated filmmakers explore the interstices of documentary and fiction in fascinating and diverse ways, from situating their characters within the confines of …...

Best European Film Amour (Love) Austria/France/Germany, 127 min Written & directed by Michael Haneke Produced by Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka & Michael Katz Barbara Germany, 105 min Written & directed by Christian Petzold Produced by Florian Koerner von Gustorf & Michael Weber Cesare Deve Morire (Caesar Must Die) Italy, 76 min Directed by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani Written by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, in collaboration with Fabio Cavalli Produced by Grazia Volpi Intouchables (Untouchable) France, 108 min Written & directed by Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano Produced by Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou & Laurent Zeitoun Jagten (The Hunt) Denmark, 111 min Directed by Thomas Vinterberg Written by Thomas Vinterberg & Tobias Lindholm Produced by Morten Kaufmann & Sisse Graum Jørgensen Shame UK, 96 min Directed by Steve McQueen Written by Steve McQueen & Abi Morgan Produced by Iain Canning & Emile Sherman European Director 2012: Nuri Bilge Ceylan for B?R Zamanlar Anadolu’Da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) Michael Haneke for Amour...

★★★★☆ Having already picked up the Golden Bear prize at the Berlin Film Festival back in February and now Italy's official selection for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 2013 Academy Awards, octogenarian brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani bring their divisive docu-drama Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire, 2012) to the 56th London Film Festival. A pacey, 76-minute feature of significant narrative complexity, William Shakespeare's monumental exploration of betrayal and duplicity seems to have found a perfect new home in the form of Roman maximum security prison Rebibbia, where real-life inmates regularly put on shows and recitals for the general public.

Read more »...

AFI Fest 2012 presented by Audi, a program of the American Film Institute, today announced the remaining sections and films that will screen in the festival.s World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight and Shorts programs. AFI Fest, which annually presents the best of world cinema in the movie capital of the world, will take place November 1 through 8 at the historic Grauman.s Chinese Theatre, the Chinese 6 Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

World Cinema showcases the most anticipated and prize-winning international films of the year, Breakthrough highlights work discovered only through the submission process and Midnight.s selections are always haunting. Both World Cinema and Breakthrough feature a number of films making their North American or U.S. Premieres, including The Angels. Share, Greatest Hits, Laurence Anyways, Nairobi Half Life, Pieta, White Elephant and Zaytoun.

Two of the shorts in competition are from AFI Conservatory.s recent class of...

Today, AFI 2012 announced its complete lineup, after previously debuting its New Auteurs, Young Americans, Galas and Special Screenings we finally get a look at the Midnight, Breakthrough, Shorts, and deliriously good World Cinema Selections.

The Shorts section, with almost too many to count, features new work from Nacho Vigalando, Nicolas Provost, and even Shia Labeouf (Cannes selected), among many others. The four Midnight titles all played in Tiff 2012’s Midnight Madness selection, and here we see John Dies at the End making a stop here after originally premiering at Sundance. They’ve nabbed three North American premieres in their Breakthrough section, including Kid from Fien Troch, Nairobi Half Life from David Tosh Gitonga, and Oh Boy from Jan Ole Gerster. But AFI has managed to really impress with it’s World Cinema selections. Just as they nabbed Cannes premiere Holy Motors for their Special Screenings, they’ve nabbed several high...

Every year, the Efa People’s Choice Award allows film fans across Europe to elect their favorite film. When the European Film Academy invites its members, Europe’s greatest film stars, directors, actors and actresses, to attend the European Film Awards, the People’s Choice Award sheds a spotlight on the people films are made for: the audience. This year’s vote has started – vote now and win the chance to join winners and nominees for the awards ceremony in Malta!

Winners in the past have included films like Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver, Roberto Benigni’s La Vita E Bella, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s AmÉLie, Fatih Akin’s Head-on, and Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire.

From 1 September on, film fans can cast their vote on the official website: www.europeanfilmawards.euand win a trip to the 25th European Film Awards on Saturday, 1 December 2012, in Malta!

Nominated Are: The Artist directed by Michel Hazanavicius with Jean Dujardin,

Barbara directed by Christian Petzold with Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Rainer Bock, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Christina Hecke

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel directed by John Madden, written by Ol Parker with Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Dev Patel, Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith

Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) directed by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, written by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, in collaboration with Fabio Cavalli with Giovanni Arcuri, Salvatore Striano, Cosimo Rega, Antonio Frasca, Fabio Cavalli

Come As You Are (Hasta la Vista) directed by da Geoffrey Enthoven, written by Pierre de Clercq, with Robrecht van den Thoren, Gilles de Schryver, Tom Audenaert, Isabelle de Hertogh

Headhunters (Hodejegerne) directed by Morten Tyldum, written by Lars Gudmestad & Ulf Ryberg with Aksel Hennie, Nikolaj Coter-Waldau, Synnøve Macody Lund, Eivind Sander I

N Darkness directed by Agnieszka Holland, written by David F. Shamoon with Robert Więckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Agnieszka Grochowska, Maria Schrader, Herbert Knaup

The Iron Lady directed by Phyllida Lloy, written by Abi Morgan with Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colman

Salmon Fishing In The Yemen directed by Lasse Hallstrom, written by Simon Beaufoy, based on the novel by Paul Torday with Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scott Thomas, Amr Waked

Shame directed by Steve McQueen, written by Steve McQueen and Abi Morgan with Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy directed by Thomas Alfredson, written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan with Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Toby Jones, Stephen Graham, David Dencik, Ciaran Hinds, Simon McBurney, Kathy Burke, Svetlana Khodenchkova

Untouchable directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano with François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot, Clothilde Mollet

Our Media Partners: 7 meno dienos (Lithuania) * Arte * www.ciendecine.com (Spain) * www.cinemagia.ro (Romania) * Cinemania (Spain) * www.cineuropa.org * Diena (Latvia) * www.elokuvauutiset.fi (Finland) * www.film-demnaechst.ch (Switzerland) * De Filmkrant (the Netherlands) * www.filmski.net (Croatia) * www.filmski.rs (Serbia) * www.filmstarts.de (Germany) * Gragjanski (Fyr Macedonia) * Iftn (Ireland) * www.kinema.sk (Slovakia) * www.lovefilm.com * Nädal (Estonia) * La Rivista del Cinematografo (Italy) * www.stopklatka.pl (Poland) * Vikend (Slovenia) * Ernst & Young, one of the leading global professional services firms, continues to act as Official Tabulator, endorsing the voting procedures and confirming the winner. The 25th European Film Awards: Malta, 1 Dec 2012 Live on www.europeanfilmawards.eu

Patrons:centre Du Cinema Of The Federation Wallonia Brussels * Danish Film Institute * Eurimages * Film Fund Luxembourg * Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vaf) * German Films * MacEdonian Film Fund * Mfg FilmfÖRderung Baden-wÜRttemberg * Ministry Of Education And Culture Of Cyprus (Cultural Services) * Netherlands Film Fund * Polish Film Institute * Ab Svensk Filmindustri * Swedish Film Institute * Swiss Films * Telewizja Polska S.A. (Tvp) *

The European Film Awards 2012 are presented by the European Film Academy e.V. and Efa Productions gGmbH with the support of the Maltese Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment, the Malta Film Commission, Ffa German Federal Film Board, the German State Lottery Berlin, the German State Minister for Culture and the Media, the Media Programme of the EU, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Gls. Pascal Edelmann European Film Academy e.V. Head of Press & PR Kurfürstendamm 225 10719 Berlin Germany Tel. +49 30 887 16 70 Fax +49 30 887 16 777 visit us at www.europeanfilmawards.eu European Film Academy e.V. / Director: Marion Döring / registered at Amtsgericht Charlottenburg 14236 Nz...

The New York Film Festival announced its full slate of films on Thursday, a line up of 32 titles that largely serves as a catch-all compendium of standouts from other international festivals like Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Toronto.

Along with the previously announced opening night film (Ang Lee’s Life of Pi), centerpiece gala (David Chase’s Not Fade Away), and closing night film (Robert Zemeckis’ Flight) — all world premieres — the highlights of the festival include: Hyde Park on Hudson, starring Bill Murray as President Franklin D. Roosevelt; Ginger and Rosa, starring Elle Fanning as a girl growing up in 1962 London...

Amour

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the main slate of selections for the 50th New York Film Festival (September 28-October 14) including such notable directors as Olivier Assayas, Noah Baumbach, Leos Carax, Brian De Palma, Michael Haneke, Abbas Kiarostami, Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu, Sally Potter, Alain Resnais, Raul Ruiz and Robert Zemeckis.

Regarding the line up of 32 films comprising the main slate for the 50th anniversary of Nyff Richard Peña, Selection Committee Chair & Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, said, .The films making up the main slate of this year’s Nyff, have in common a general quality of fearlessness” that unites otherwise very disparate works. These are films that go all the way, works willing to take the risk or chance that by doing so they may be bringing audiences to places they might rather not go..

Award winners that will be presented for...

The 2012 New York Film Festival announced its main slate of movies Thursday. The 32 movies draw from a healthy mix of big named directors and indie favorites.

Films From Noah Baumbach ("Frances Ha"), Roger Michell ("Hyde Park on Hudson"), Michael Haneke ("Amour," which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year) and Abbas Kiarostami ("Like Someone in Love") were selected.

As previously announced, Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" will open the festival, David Chase's "Not Fade Away" is the Centerpiece Gala Selection and Robert Zemeckis' "Flight," starring Denzel Washington, will close the fortnight.

"Passion," Brian De Palma's widely anticipated film, will also screen at the Venice Film Festival, which runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 8. A number of Nyff's selections actual make their bow at the Toronto International Film Festival, which begins Sept. 6.

Nyff runs Sept. 28 to Oct. 14. The full main-slate list of films is available below, direct from...

HollywoodNews.com: After a little bit of pondering on my part, the question of what will be playing this year at the New York Film Festival has now been answered. 32 films will comprise the main section of the fest, according to the Nyff website (here), and besides the movies already known about, we'll also be seeing 'Amour', 'Frances', 'Holy Motors', 'Hyde Park on Hudson', and 'Passion' represent some of the most notable entries. After the jump you can see the full lineup, but it's looking like a really stellar film festival (I'm especially interested in that new flick from Noah Baumbach). Amour (Michael Haneke, Austria/France/Germany) Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winner of Cannes 2012 is a merciless and compassionate masterpiece about an elderly couple dealing with the ravages of old age. A Sony Pictures Classics release. Araf—Somewhere In Between (Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Turkey/France...

After Venice and Toronto unveiled their strong assembly of titles, the 50th annual New York Film Festival have released this year’s primary lineup. Short answer: We won’t be left out in the cold this fall.

Though not necessarily on the same massive scale as last year, the Film Society of Lincoln Center look to be offering some of world cinema’s finest options for 2012. The biggest title would, unquestionably, have to be Michael Haneke‘s Palme d’Or winner, Amour, while “the rest,” if you’re so callous as to call it that, include some of our favorite Cannes selections — including Abbas Kiarostami‘s Like Someone in Love, or Leos Carax‘s Holy Motors. Sure, maybe Beyond the Hills was a flat bore that didn’t live up to its director’s last effort, but at least I get to find out for myself.

Past those obvious picks,...

Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die)

Directed by Paolo Taviani and Vittoria Taviani

Written by William Shakespeare (excerpts from “Julius Caesar”), Paolo Taviani and Vittoria Taviani

2012, Italy

Anyone who walks into a screening of Caesar Must Die with the belief that they will be seeing a documentary should know this now: Caesar Must Die is not a documentary. It can barely be called a docudrama. It rather belongs in the curious category of metafilm, nestled among those pictures that blur and obscure the line between fact and fiction, demolish the fourth wall and are so conscious of themselves that they may disappear into a spiral of self-referentiality. Metafilms can be some of the most innovative and invigorating pieces of cinema when successful, but when they are not they can materialise as hollow exercise or dense nuggets of intellectual tedium.

This film by the brothers Taviani, awarded the Golden Bear at...

At 9:00 a.m., the new film of the Taviani brothers, “Cesare deve morire,” in which theater, reality, and cinema mingle. In theory, the movie documents a production of “Julius Caesar” (“liberally inspired by the work of William Shakespeare”) performed by the inmates of a maximum-security prison. In practice, the drama constructed around the performance is artfully contrived. My favorite sequence: the inmates auditioning for the play’s director, performing a simple task -- giving their name, date of birth, and address to an official -- in two ways, pathetic and angry. The performances are astoundingly powerful. The invited audience sees the play in a theater on the prison grounds that looks very much like a miniature version of the Grand Hall we’re watching the movie in – plush red seats, modernistic décor. Kinda meta. I can’t help thinking of Jean Genet and Pier Paolo Pasolini, who would love this movie.

Rome – Paolo and Vittorio Taviani reprised their success at the Berlin Film Festival Friday by taking home three of the top David di Donatello prizes for Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die), the story of a prison acting troupe preparing to perform William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, while a non-u.S. film won the Best Foreign Film prize for the first time in eight years. All told, the Golden Bear-winning Cesare deve morire took home five David di Donatello statues including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Producer, despite being nominated in only eight categories. The film bested more dominant nominees

read more...

Going into this year’s Berlinale you could be forgiven for thinking that all the A-list talent was presiding over the jury. It’s an impressive roster: Mike Leigh is at the head, accompanied by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi (last year’s Golden Bear champion for A Separation), Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal, French auteur Francois Ozon (Potiche), Dutchman Anton Corbijn (Control), and Charlotte Gainsbourg. By comparison the competition line-up seemed extremely obscure. Whilst Cannes and Venice tend to lead with premieres from established directors, the Berlin Film Festival continues its recent tradition of backing more obscure auteurs.

Out of the directors in the main competition only Italian veterans the Taviani brothers (with drama-doc hybrid Ceasar Must Die) and actor-turned-director Billy Bob Thornton (Jane Mansfield’s Car) came with anything like a reputation. Most of the films come via relative unknown talents with few previous features to their name, such as...

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's "Caesar Must Die" surprised as the big winner of the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, taking home the Golden Bear for best film. Many had begged Christian Petzold's "Barbara" or Miguel Gomes' "Tabu" as the likely winner, as both received considerable critical acclaim. Instead, "Caesar" -- a documentary about criminals performing Shakespeare -- was handed the top prize care of a jury led by Mike Leigh. "Mixed reviews out of Berlin and an experimental production method may hold 'Caesar' back from much of a wide release," Eric Kohn wrote in his Indiewire review, "although it has enough unique appeal to make its way to an alternative release or perhaps a solid television deal." The film was picked up for Us release shortly after that review by Adopt Films. The other winners in the main competition were spread out to 6 other films, including both.